So Long 2011. . .

. . .And a big hello to 2012! I ain't gonna lie, 2011 just about kicked my butt! There were a lot of things that happened in 2011. Some good. A lot not so good. A lot of changes. But I think that's what life is all about ~ learning to deal with the changes and taking the good with the bad. So, here's hoping that 2012 is a better year in every way for all of us. And I'll leave you with this Swedish proverb that sums up how I'm approaching 2012:

Fear less, hope more. Eat less, chew more. Whine less, breathe more. Talk less, say more. Hate less, love more. And good things will be yours!

Happy New Year!!!

Until next time. . .

The Easiest Cookie Ever and An Awesome Giveaway Win!!

I have found a recipe for what has to be the easiest cookie ever! If you are a lover of Thin Mints (Girl Scout Cookies), then you will definitely love these. They taste exactly like the original Thin Mints! And the best part - only two ingredients!! Ritz crackers and Andes mints baking chips.



All you do is melt the baking chips and dip the crackers into the chocolate. Then lay them on wax paper until they are cooled. That's it!! They are so good!!



These have become such a favorite at our house. I've made several batches and they sure go fast around here!

In other news, I was the lucky winner of Tammy's Christmas giveaway over at Country Girl at Home. Here's my goodies which arrived before Christmas, allowing me plenty of time to display them.



Thank you so much, Tammy! I have really enjoyed everything you sent me!

Well, I, for one, am glad that Christmas is behind us for another year. This was my first Christmas celebrated without my son, who lives in Arkansas, and I was not looking forward to it at all. But, it turned out to be a good Christmas anyway. Scott took me to the Smoky Mountains for a quick over night trip on the 23rd of December. We had a great time. We went to the Dixie Stampede dinner show. If any of y'all are planning a trip to the Smoky Mountains, we highly recommend this show. It's great! We also enjoyed seeing the towns all lit up for Christmas and the weather was good too. Not too cold and no snow! Yay!

I have some big plans for improving my home in 2012. I cannot wait to get started. I hope to be able to finally finish my kitchen reno that we started this past spring. I am also planning on a bathroom makeover as well as a laundry room makeover. So I will be very busy in the upcoming months, I'm sure. What plans to you have for 2012?

Until next time. . .

Wishing You and Yours. . .

. . . the Merriest Christmas ever and peace on your corner of the Earth!

Until next time. . .

Another Christmas Giveaway!

Hurry over to Kristen's Creations to enter to win this awesome Christmas giveaway:



You'd better hurry! A winner will be drawn on Tuesday, December 13!!!

Until next time. . .

My Wish List for Santa. . .

I hope all my friends here in blogland get their wishes granted this Christmas!!

Until next time. . .

A Christmas Giveaway. . .

. . .is being offered by Tammy of Country Girl at Home! But hurry, because it ends on Monday, December 12th at 9 p.m. Central time. Oh, and be sure and tell her I sent ya!! Good luck!

This is what Tammy is offering:



Until next time. . .

Decking the Walls, um, I Mean Doors!!

I decided to attempt a version of this frame wreath project that I found via Pinterest:



I don't plan on putting up a tree this year because I just don't have the energy or Christmas spirit to do it. So, in lieu of that, I have been creating small little vignettes and projects to decorate our home for the holidays.

My kitchen, which is still a major work in progress, is decorated in a black, white, and red color scheme so I decided to take the above picture and recreate it in colors that would compliment my kitchen decor. I hung it on the inside of my back door which separates my kitchen area from my dining area. Here's my version:



This was so easy to do! I already had everything I needed on hand except for the black and white gingham ribbon which I found at Wal Mart for less than two dollars. All I did was take an old picture frame that had no glass, spray paint it with some red paint and attached some small ornaments to the frame with ribbon and hot glue. I used epsom salt to give the ornaments some texture.



I am pleased with how this turned out! Just the right touch of Christmas for my kitchen! I'm joining some of my favorite linky parties listed at the bottom of my blog. Please be sure to check them out. There's always tons of inspiration to be found!

Until next time. . .

Look What I Won!!

A few weeks ago, I entered a wonderful giveaway offered by my friend Patti over at Pandora's Box. I was thrilled when I found I was her lucky winner! I got my prize in the mail on Saturday and here she is:



A rice sack pillow that Patti made! Isn't it gorgeous?? Patti's sewing skills are just amazing! I am really enjoying my new pillow and I think it looks great on my sad, worn out couch with my other pillows:



Thank you so much, Patti! I am loving my new pillow!!

In other news, the weatherman is calling for 2-4 inches of snow for us here in Virginia tonight. I am thankful that I don't have to get out and drive in that mess! Why is this, you ask? Well, I am currently unemployed, AGAIN!! The job at the lawyer's office was just not my cup of tea. I felt like a fish out of water there and I knew pretty quickly that it wasn't going to work out. On a good note, Scott was hired by a company much closer to our home which offered him a lot more money so we will be o.k. financially until I can find something else. I tell ya, this year has just been a mess for us and I will be so glad to put it behind us and start fresh in 2012. Now you know part of the reason why I don't have very much Christmas spirit this year. But, I have been trying to do a few small things around the house to make the season bright and I hope to share one of those projects with you tomorrow.

Until next time. . .

French Onion Soup

A few weeks ago, while grocery shopping, I stumbled upon a product in the soup aisle that I had never seen before. Bagged dry soup mixes from Cugino's. They had a few different varieties and since they were only about $3 each, I grabbed a couple to try. I chose the Baked Burgundy French Onion and Chicken Enchilada mixes. I made the French Onion one over the weekend.



The directions were simple. All I needed to do was add one large sliced onion and seven cups of water. Combine these ingredients along with the soup mix and cook on medium heat for about 25 minutes. It smelled soooo good!



After cooking, the package directions suggested to ladle the soup into soup crocks, top with some crunchy croutons or crusty french bread chunks, top with some cheese, then broil in the oven until the cheese is melted. I did this and then sprinkled some paprika on top. I didn't have any crusty french bread on hand, so I used some garlic Texas Toast croutons and I used provolone cheese since that was what I had on hand.



Here's what it looked like straight out of the oven:



This soup was so good! It was quick and easy to prepare. And it made a good sized pot which Scott and I were able to make two meals out of. The croutons soak up all the good flavors of the soup and the cheese just finishes it off. This is a product I will definitely buy again. With winter time upon us, I am a big fan of soups and stews and this one is a great one for busy weekday dinners when you crave something warm and yummy! I haven't tried the chicken enchilada one yet, but I'm betting that it will be just as yummy. The directions for that one call for water, cooked chicken and tomato sauce.

I received no compensation from this company for this review. They don't even know that I exist! These are only my opinions and when I find a product that I like that fits into my busy schedule, I'm all for sharing it with y'all. I'd love to know if any of y'all have tried this product and what you thought of it if you have.

Until next time. . .

Holiday Copycat Challenge!

Hey guys! Debbie over at Debbiedoo's Blogging and Blabbing is hosting another one of her fantastic copycat challenges. This one is a holiday themed challenge. Now, I know I said in my last post that I don't have much Christmas spirit this year, and while that is still true, I just love these copycat challenges and I wanted to play too.

I found this image in the December 2011 edition of Woman's Day magazine and used it as my inspiration:



The only things I had to purchase for this project were two spools of red ribbon at Wal Mart for $1.97 each and a foam wreath form I got at JoAnn's for $4.99. Which would have been cheaper had I remembered to bring my 40% off coupon but I forgot it so I paid full price. Oh, well. All I did to create the wreath was to cut my ribbon into 6 inch strips and then tied a knot in the middle of each strip. Then I hot glued them to the front of my wreath. Easy peasy. I did change my copycat up a little bit in that I used a pre-lit garland I had in my Christmas stash to which I added some of that awesome mesh ribbon that is all the rage right now. Then I had two little nutcracker figurines I picked up at the Dollar Tree a while back and I used them in my hurricane vases (also created from Dollar Tree items). I added epsom salt to the vases so it looks like my nutcrackers are standing in snow. Then I placed some Dollar Tree ornaments on a glass pedestal like they did in the inspiration photo and I also randomly placed them along my garland. I will warn you, it's been cloudy and yucky outside all day here today so these pics are not the greatest and don't really show how great my copycat turned out. Plus, I just plain suck at taking pictures, so please, don't judge me too harshly!

A close up of my wreath:


My ornaments on their glass stand:


And the whole thing:


I wish I could have gotten a good photo up close that shows everything better. I really need a new camera. But we work with what we've got, right? The garland was lit when I took these pictures but it doesn't really show that well.

Debbie hosts these copycat parties once a month now, I believe, and they are so much fun! It's a great opportunity to use your imagination and see what you can do without spending much money. Please click on this button to visit Debbie's party and get ready to be inspired by all the awesome copycat talent out there in blogland:






Until next time. . .

Somebody's Ready for Christmas!

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. What can I say? Life has just gotten in the way this past month.

Unfortunately, there hasn't been a whole lot of Christmas cheer here at our house this year. I'm not even putting up a tree. What's the use? No one visits us and Scott and I don't buy gifts for each other for Christmas. Our boys are grown and out in the world and all they want is cold hard cash. So I haven't even had to do any shopping. Our families are so spread out all over the country, we don't even bother to exchange gifts with them either. I'm sorry if this sounds sad and depressing. That is certainly not my intention. Just wanted to explain why we do things like we do. I have done a little bit of decorating here and there around the house, but nothing really blog worthy. I did find Sophie a cute little Christmas shirt at Target and dressed her up a little bit:



Her little shirt says "SANTAS LITTLE YELPER". How cute is that?? I think that counts as decorating for Christmas, don't you?

I do plan on doing a little bit more decorating this week and if I get anything accomplished, I'll share it with you. Also, after the holidays, I plan on starting my laundry room makeover and I'll have a sneak peek of some of that for you later this week.

Until next time. . .

A Tile Transformed

Here's a quick, easy and inexpensive project that would make a wonderful Christmas (or anytime) gift. Go to Lowes, Home Depot, or any home improvement store and buy some ceramic tiles. I chose the 6 x 6 size for this project. They come in several different textures and colors. I chose the Rialto White. It's really more of an off white color and this particular tile has a lot of texture which I love. I can't remember the exact cost of these tiles, but I believe there were around eighty cents each. Definitely less than a dollar!!



Next, I gathered together the rest of my supplies. I used scrapbooking stickers. I found some really nice scripture verses which have a clear back ground. Perfect for this project. I also used some black swirly stickers with a touch of silver "bling" to accent my verses. Then I found some old jewelry charms, some black ribbon for trim, and I also used some black felt to cover the back of my tile. You don't have to use the felt, but I feel it gives the piece a more professional, finished look.







Now comes the fun part! Using your imagination, place your stickers how you want them on your tile, then using ribbon and a hot glue gun, attach your charms. To finish off your piece, glue some black ribbon all around the edge of your tile and glue a piece of black felt, cut to fit, on the back. That's it!! A beautiful, elegant piece of art for mere pennies!! Although I chose to go with a religious theme for most of my pieces, the possiblitlies are endless. And with the wide range of scrapbook stickers available, you can make yours look however you want them to. I also purchased a nice scroll look easel at Wal Mart for around four dollars to display mine on. So for less than ten dollars, you have the perfect Christmas gift that didn't break the bank! Gotta love that! Here's a few of my finished pieces:




I'll be sharing this idea with some of the linky parties listed at the bottom of my blog. Please be sure to visit these wonderful blogs to get endless inspiration!

Until next time. . .

Things Are Looking Better!

A quick update to my last post. First, I want to thank each one of you who commented on my last post. Your words, prayers, and well wishes mean so much more to me than I could ever express. Y'all are the greatest!

Since my last post, I have secured a job! Yay, me!!! I am now employed as a legal assistant for a small firm in my home town. It is only about a ten minute drive from my home and I am making more money on the hour than I did at my last job! So far, I am really liking it, although I am a bit overwhelmed as it is so much to learn and everything is very new to me since I've never worked in the legal field before! But I can and will learn it and I think I am going to like working there very much.

Scott and I went to Duke for his consultation with the surgeon regarding the CT scan he had done here that showed some suspicious spots on his brain. We drove four hours to sit in the doctor's office for five minutes! Ggggrrr!!! The surgeon was very nice, although he talked so fast and because he is from South Africa, he had quite an accent and it was very hard to understand some of what he was saying! He said the scan did show something although he said it was not definitive enough for a diagnosis. So he wants Scott to come back to Duke for some follow up testing. His office is supposed to be contacting us to set this up, but Monday will be two weeks since the initial appointment and we still haven't heard anything from them. On a good note, Scott has not had a single migraine since the Monday we went to Duke! Praise God for that!! I think it was mostly stress related, with me being unemployed and our finances dwindling, his truck being broken down, and just general life issues. Thank you all again for your prayers for him ~ obviously, they have been working!!!

The truck is still broken down but we are working on getting the stuff needed to get it fixed. Many moons ago, Scott worked as a mechanic for a local trucking company, so we are blessed that he can usually fix stuff on our vehicles when they break. Right now, I am having to get up at 4 a.m. to drive him an hour to work, then drive an hour back home and get ready so I can be at my job at 8 a.m. and then when I get off work at 5 p.m., I drive the hour back to his work to get him if he isn't lucky enough to be able to catch a ride with someone from work who is traveling thru our area. Whew! It's been rough, but we do what we have to do, right??!! The good news on this front, Scott got called for an interview with a company that is located close to home, about a five minute drive from our house, and word has it, they really liked him and he will probably get a call back for a second interview. We are really excited about this because it's also more money than he is making now. So God is really moving in our lives right now, and I am so thankful!!! We still have a ways to go to get outta the woods, but we are getting there!!

I just want to say thank you again to all my wonderful friends here in blogland. Who knew that people you may never get a chance to meet in "real life" could become such close and wonderful friends. I love you all and appreciate all your prayers. Please keep them coming!!

Until next time. . .

Taking a break -- REALLY need your prayers!

Just wanted to post a quick note to the two or three people who actually read my blog to let you know that I will be taking a blog break for a while. As some of you know, Scott has been experiencing extremely bad migraines for a while now and a CT scan he had done a couple of weeks ago is showing some suspicious spots on his brain. We traveled down to Duke University Medical Center yesterday to see a neurosurgeon. This is a four hour drive one way for us and yesterday was just a consultation at which we were told he is going to have to undergo further testing to determine what is going on. Which means, of course, more long trips to Duke in our future. This is going to be extremely difficult for us due to our financial situation at the moment. I have not worked since August and ours is definitely a two income household just to make ends meet. I am desperately trying to find a job, but so far have had no luck as jobs in my field are few and far between in our small town and surrounding area. We are really struggling to keep our faith during this trying time. Of course I want my husband to be healthy and we will do whatever we have to do to make sure he gets whatever treatment he needs. Thankfully, we do have good health insurance thru his employer. The main issue is that he doesn't have any vacation time left this year or sick leave so that means for every trip to Duke, he has to take a day off without pay, which really hurts us. But it could be worse.

I am really scared, friends. I am not strong. I cry. A lot. I'm not sure I'm ready for this journey that we are being forced to take. But I don't have a choice. I love him so much and I will be there for him. No matter what. He needs me and I need him more. We will face this together, which means a lot of shared pain. But it could be worse.

As if this isn't enough to deal with, we are down to one vehicle due to the fact that his old truck broke down on us last week (fuel pump went out) and we just can't justify spending the money to fix it right now. I guess the saying "when it rains, it pours" really fits us right now! We are thankful to have one vehicle that is in good working condition, it just requires some juggling of schedules to have to get up at 4 a.m. to take him to work if I need the car. But it could be worse.

Anyways, I just wanted to let y'all know a little bit about what is going on here. There are some other issues we have that I won't get into on here. I just wanted to ask that y'all remember us in your thoughts and prayers as we trudge along on this unknown journey. Scott is my world and I don't know what I would do without him.

Until next time. . .

Just Me ~ From A to Z!

Hello all! Just plugging along here in Virginia, wishing Mother Nature would make up her mind! Our weather has been crazy this past week. One day it feels like summer, the next it's raining and cold! Enough already!

Several of my friends in blogland have been doing a "Getting to know me A to Z" kind of post. It's been interesting and funny learning about them and I thought I'd jump on the band wagon and share a little bit about me with y'all so here goes:





A ~ Age: 44 (yes, I'm old!)

B ~ Bed: Queen size and it still ain't big enough for me, the hubby and Sophie who insists on sleeping right smack dab in the middle of the bed. Really cuts down on snuggle time for me and the hubs! ;) She HATES for her Daddy to hug and kiss on her Mommy. Can we say jealous??!!

C ~ Chore you hate: Washing dishes!!! I don't currently have a dishwasher so everything has to be washed by hand. This was my main chore growing up and I hated it then and I hate it now. Really hoping Santa brings me a dishwasher for Christmas this year - we will see!

D ~ Dogs: Yes, our little Sophie. She's a Yorkie who just turned 2 years old last week. (Although, don't tell her she's a dog, she thinks she's a DIVA!!)

E ~ Essential start to your day: Coffee, coffee, coffee!!! 'Nuff said!

F ~ Favorite color: RED!!! Hubby hates it but I love it and would have red in every room of the house if he would go for it.

G ~ Gold or Silver: I'm a silver wearing gal! But white gold works too!

H ~ Height: I say 5'7" cause that's what they always told me when they measured us in school but seems like every time I go to the doctor and get my height measured they say 5'5". ???

I ~ Instruments you play: Um, does the radio count???

J ~ Job title: Well, as I'm currently unemployed (really hoping that changes real soon!) does Domestic Goddess count????!!!!

K ~ Kids: One son, Brandon, who is 18 years old and getting ready to leave for the Air Force. Proud and scared at the same time pretty much sums up my feelings on this one!

L ~ Live in: Virginia, born and raised!

M ~ Make of car you drive: 2006 Chevy HHR. Purple. The "gangsta mobile". Not my choice. Hubby saw it, fell in love with it, it came home with us. One day I will choose the car "I" want and hubs can have his precious HHR. For now, it's got four wheels and it runs. Good enough.

N ~ Nicknames: I don't really have any. I have an Aunt who calls me Lynn cause it's my middle name and a friend who calls me "D" (not really sure why) but other than that, I got nothing.

O ~ Overnight hospital stays: Several while I was preggo with my son due to blood pressure issues, two nights when I had my hysterectomy, and two nights when I had my gastric bypass. Other than that, I'm healthy as a horse!

P ~ Pet Peeves: Rude people. Especially drivers who insist on going 10 miles slower than the posted speed limit while driving in the "fast" lane. Drives me insane! Pun intended. :)

Q ~ Quote from a movie: "I love ya more than my luggage." From Steel Magnolias. I've seen this movie a billion times and I cry. Every. Single. Time.

R ~ Right or Left handed: I'm right handed. Although I can sign my name with my left hand and it is readable. If you're a first grader!

S ~ Siblings: I am the oldest of 3 and the only girl. My brothers and I are very close in age (2 years between each of us) and even though we live far away from each other, we still have a close relationship with one another. I am very thankful for that.

T ~ TV shows: I'm a reality tv show junkie. Amazing Race and Survivor are my two favs with Big Brother being a close third. Sad, I know. . .

U ~ Underwear: I'm really racy in this area - give me good ole cotton briefs any day! The bigger, the better! Ah, comfy!!!

V ~ Vegetable you hate: Beets. Ugh!!! Barf!! Gross!!

W ~ What makes you run late: Nothing! I absolutely hate to be late and get extremely irritated if I am late. (refer back to the pet peeve list!)

X ~ X-Rays: The only one I can remember is when I was in high school and had been having terrible tummy aches. They made me drink some chalky junk and then x-rayed my stomach. I barfed. And had to do it all again.

Y ~ Yummy food you make: Well, according to the hubs, everything I make is yummy! Do I have him trained well, or what??? I used to hate to cook, but about five years ago, I really started to get into it and I love to try new recipes. I'm not a very talented baker, but I'm gonna blame that on my ancient oven that never cooks anything right!!!

Z ~ Zodiac sign: I'm a Taurus. Yep, a bull in a china shop!!

So, there ya go! A bunch of stuff you probably never wanted to know about me! This was kind of fun and I hope y'all will join in and give it a whirl too!

I have been working on a few small projects this week. I am redoing a lamp shade on a small lamp I've had in my kitchen for a while. It's not turning out exactly like I had hoped, but I'm not giving up! I am also getting ready to start a total laundry room redo. I have a small laundry room and I will be trying to make it a more work friendly space. I can't wait to show y'all how that turns out. I'm trying to redo it for under $50 so we will see how that goes. I'm going to be reusing a lot of things I already have on hand here at the house. It's going to be a challenge!

Until next time. . .

A Visit to the Punkin' Patch!

Last week was such a horrible week for us here at the "B" household. I won't go into all the gory details, but suffice it to say that between hubby's health issues, my job hunting issues, financial issues, and just plain ole pain in the butt life in general issues, it ain't been a bed of roses around here!!! I've been so stressed out that I actually had a MAJOR meltdown on Friday. Thank God it didn't last but about an hour or so before I got myself back under control (somewhat), but I hate feeling like I have no control over anything in my life and by Friday afternoon, I'd had about all I could take!! So, hubby decided we both needed a stress free, worry free, fun filled day and on Saturday, that's what we had. We took off to an orchard located about an hour's drive from our house and we had a ball!! The weather was perfect and we just let ourselves be carefree! Here's some pictures of our adventures:

A covered wagon filled with hay started our journey to the corn maze and pumpkin patch. Fun, fun, fun!



A field full of pumpkins, as far as the eye could see!



With lots of different pumpkins in all shapes, sizes, and colors!





We got lost in a corn maze. This was so much fun and the first time either of us had been in a corn maze. I've already been scouring the area we live in to find more of these. So much fun!!



Hubby took a pic of me inside the corn maze to show just how tall the corn stalks were.



There were lots of things to do here at the orchard, including a pumpkin chunker, apple chunker (for the kids, sooo cute!), a pick your own indian corn section which I just loved, lots of goodies to eat and drink like fried pumpkin pies and some delicious apple cider. It was so much fun!!

On the way home, we drove on some back roads to enjoy the leaves and the beautiful fall day. We stopped off at an overlook on top of East River Mountain. Awesome views!!




And finally, a picture of us ~ stress free and worry free. . .well, at least for a day!



Until next time. . .

Easy Peasy Apple Spice Cake

Today I'm sharing what has to be the easiest cake recipe I've ever tried. It has two ingredients. Yes, I said two ingredients! And it tastes great, too!

Here's what you need:



1 box spice cake mix (any brand)
1 can apple pie filling

Mix cake mix and apple pie filling together until well blended. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.



That's it!! Easy peasy and so delicious. This would also be good with some warmed caramel topping on it or served with a dollop of whipped cream or even both. Served this way would definitely not be waist line friendly but so worth it! I enjoyed a piece of it today with a cup of pumpkin spice flavored coffee. YUMMY!!!!

Until next time. . .

A Weekend of Firsts

This weekend was a weekend of firsts! Scott and I did our first craft show. And I'm pleased to say, it went much better than I anticipated. We paid $5 to rent our table and after deducting our expenses (table fee, lunch, and amount of money we took to make change with), we came home with $148 in our pocket! Now, I know that doesn't sound like a windfall, but considering it was a very small craft fair and the weather was nasty out, I think that was pretty darn good!! Here's a pic of our table. Being a novice at this, I didn't even think about taking a cloth to put on the table and my displays weren't the best, but it got the job done.



It's funny because a lot of the stuff I was sure would fly out the door, didn't hardly sell at all and the stuff I was iffy about went like hotcakes! We did end up bringing more home than I wanted to, but that's fine because I can use some of the stuff as Christmas gifts and I plan on taking some of it to my former coworkers because they've asked me to bring some stuff to them. We also donated some items to the lady who set up at a table across from us. She sells stuff to raise money for the Cancer Society's Relay for Life and she was thrilled that we gave her some of our "treasures" (her words, not mine!).

Another first was the weather! On Saturday morning this is what we woke up to:



Can you see it??? Yep, it's SNOW!!! On October 1st!! Somebody must've made Mother Nature mad!! As far back as I can remember, we've never had snow this early in the year. I sure hope this is not indicative of the winter we are going to have this year. Oh well, not much we can do about it, I suppose, except to grin and bear it. Ugh!! Thank goodness it didn't hang around very long and didn't stick to anything for longer than a few minutes. But it stayed cold most of the day with the high temps barely reaching the mid 40's. Bbbbrrrr!!!

Scott has been suffering with horrible migraines for the past couple of months. He's always had a history of them since he was a teenager and had a brain aneurysm that he had to have surgically repaired at age 14. We went for a CT scan last week and will hopefully have some answers by Tuesday. Please keep him in your prayers. I hate to see him suffering with these awful things.

I also would appreciate prayers for me. I haven't shared this with too many people, but I have been unemployed for the past month or so. I left my old job because I hadn't had a raise in over three years, no benefits, and the 70 miles driving each day to and from work was killing us with gas prices so high. I thought I had a better opportunity with another company located much closer to our home, but after working there for about two weeks, I realized I had made a mistake in leaving the other job, bad pay and all! The job was nothing like it was advertised to be and I was so miserable and would just break down in tears each morning before work. Scott knew I was miserable and I think he was afraid I was having a nervous breakdown, so we talked it over and decided it would be best for me to quit there and look for something else. I was extremely hesitant to do that because we need both incomes just to survive, but Scott said my health and sanity are more important than a paycheck. Besides, with what we are saving in gas and him getting to work some overtime, it's almost made up my salary. So anyway, I have my first job interview on Tuesday and I'm praying that God will lead me in the direction He wants me to go.

Whew, I surely didn't mean for this to be so long winded! If you are still with me, thanks for listening to me rant!! Until next time. . .

Touches of Fall

I'm really enjoying these cooler temps we've been having here in Virginia the past few days. Makes it really feel like fall! I've been noticing all the fall decor on display here in blogland and have discovered some really cute and easy ideas to incorporate in my fall decor. I usually don't do a whole lot of fall decorating but this year I've gotten on the band wagon and since I'm currently unemployed, I have more time to piddle with stuff. I saw this cute idea for scrap wood pumpkins over at Dandelions and Dust Bunnies and just had to give it a try! I had Scott cut me some different sized wood pieces out of some scrap 2 x 4's and 2 x 3's that he had in the basement, painted them orange with hints of brown, added a rounded "stem", and dressed them up with some bits of raffia and ribbon and berry stems I had lying around. I really like how they turned out:



The best part of this project is that it didn't cost me a dime since I had all the supplies, including the paint, on hand. Gotta love projects like that! The picture doesn't show all the wonderful detail that the brown paint adds because when I took this picture, it was overcast and I had to use the flash. Plus, my camera isn't the best in the world, but we have to make do with what we've got, right?

Scott and I are going to be vendors at a small craft show this Saturday in a neighboring community. I've made several sets of these scrap wood pumpkins to sell. I've also been busy making tile coasters, tile plaques, post it note holders, birdhouses, pumpkin yard signs, and a few other pieces to take to the sale. Wish us luck!!

I am linking this post to some of the fabulous parties over on my sidebar. Please be sure to check them out for some great inspiration!

Until next time. . .

Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Can y'all believe it's the first day of fall?? Already?? Seems like the summer just flew by. And before we know it, old man winter will be rearing his ugly head! Ugh! Winter is my least favorite season. I guess because I hate snow! Yes, I said it. I hate driving in it, I hate being cold, I hate the shorter days, well, there just ain't much about winter I like at all! But I do love fall. The cooler, but not cold, temps, the beautiful colors of the leaves, apple cider, pumpkins, hay rides, and corn mazes. So much fun! Scott and I are planning a day trip to a farm about an hour from our home to do all that fun stuff. I can't wait! What fun and exciting plans do you have for fall? Whatever your plans, enjoy each day to the fullest. Because before we know it, winter will be here. Ugh, again!

Until next time. . .

Family History

Do you ever wonder sometimes where you came from? I mean, who your ancestors were? Some of you may be lucky enough to already know the answers to these questions. I've never really thought much about genealogy and have certainly never done any research to find out who my relatives are. Yeah, I'm just lazy like that, I guess!

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to find out a little bit about my family history. I have a great aunt who lives in Danville, Virginia. I have only met this lovely lady once before and that was over ten years ago. She recently contacted my mother and wanted us to come visit with her again. She didn't know that my Mom is now living in Arkansas and wouldn't be able to drive up to see her. So she contacted my uncle (Mom's brother) who lives in the same town as I do and asked him if he would drive up to see her. He was excited to do so and he called me and asked if Scott and I would like to go too! I jumped at the chance! So we all took off early yesterday morning and drove the three plus hours to visit Aunt Kat at her home.

Aunt Kat is a genius at genealogy! She has tons of information on our family tree and I spent a good portion of our visit yesterday just pouring through books of old family photos and records. She gave me this picture of my great, great grandparents on my mother's maternal side of the family. I believe it was taken in the 1920's or early 1930's.



She also gave me this wonderful picture of my beautiful mother. Mom is about 13 years old in this picture. I am amazed at how much she and I look alike! Everyone is always telling me that we favor one another, but I didn't realize how much until I saw some of these pictures!



She also had a picture of my great, great, great, great grandfather taken sometime in the 1800's! Unfortunately, she only has one copy of that photograph right now so I didn't get to bring one home with me. But it was awesome to see it! She is in the process of getting everything transferred to discs so that all the family members that want a copy can get one.

I was so glad that I thought to take my camera with me. I just had to have a pic made with this wonderful lady. She turned 79 years old this year.



We had such a nice visit yesterday and I cannot wait to go back!

Until next time. . .