Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Natural Highs

Hello everyone!  This morning while cleaning and organizing my office, I came across an email that I received and printed some time ago.  I thought it was worth sharing because it’s suppose to make you feel good.  It is called “Natural Highs” and you should read each one and think about it before going on to the next one. 

1.  Falling in love.

2.  Laughing so hard your face hurts.

3.  A hot shower.

4.  A special glance.

5.  Receiving a special package in the mail.

6.  Taking a drive on a pretty road.

7.  Hearing your favorite song on the radio and you sing it out loud.

8.  Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.

9.  Taking a bubble bath.

10.  Giggling.

11.  A good conversation.

12.  The beach.

13.  Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.

14.  Laughing at yourself.

15.  Midnight phone calls that last for hours.

16.  Running through sprinklers

17.  Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.

18.  Having someone tell you that you’re beautiful.

19.  Laughing at an inside joke with friends.

20.  Accidently overhearing someone say something nice about you.

21.  Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.

22.  Making new friends or spending time with old ones. 

23.  Playing with a new puppy.

24.  Sweet dreams.

25.  Hot chocolate.

26.  Road trips with friends.

27.  Swinging on swings.

28.  Making chocolate chip cookies.

29.  Having your friends send you homemade cookies.

30.  Holding hands with someone you care about.

31.  Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.

32.  Watching the expression on someone’s face as they open a much desired present from you.

33.  Watching the sunrise.

34.  Watching the sunset. 

35.  Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.

36.  Knowing that somebody misses you.

37.  Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.

38.  Knowing you’ve done the right thing, no matter what other people think. 

I don’t know about you, but I could relate to so many of these and how they make me feel.   

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So today, I thought I would start writing some of them on my kitchen chalkboard. I chose this one first…Hearing your favorite song on the radio and you sing it out loud.   

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You see, I really like music and I listen to it all day long and have caught myself singing out loud.  But I have to laugh at myself and thank God that nobody was here to hear me!  You don’t want to hear me sing but it sure does make me feel good even if I sound horrible!!!!

As always, thanks for your visit and your sweet comments.  They are always appreciated. 

Gail

Linking this post to:

Savvy Southern Style for WOW Us Wednesday

Monday, January 2, 2012

Winter Vignettes in the Family Room

Hello!  Now that all the Christmas stuff is put away, I’ve been busy creating a few winter vignettes around the house and playing with my new camera.   I got a Cannon EOS Rebel T3i for Christmas from Charlie. 

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I kept the mantel shelf simple this year for winter. 

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I just added faux pine with some pinecones.  

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I placed an old mason jar with some candles inside the wire cloche. 

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Do you use a photo editing program? 

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One of my newest HomeGood Store purchases about a month ago…a new cloche.  024

I love how big it is!  I placed a large pinecone with some winter greens inside. 

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Well how did I do with my new camera?   I’ve been playing with it but there is so much to learn.  If any of you can give me some helpful tips, I would love to hear them and would greatly appreciate it!

As always, thanks for your visit and for your sweet comments.  They are always appreciated. 

Gail

Linking this post to:

A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday

Northern Cottage for Party Time Tuesday

Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Years and My Favorite Three Projects of 2011

Hello Everyone!   It’s so quiet in my house right now I don’t know what to do with myself….LOL!!!   We have had a house full since the 19th of December with all of our children coming home for Christmas.  We had a wonderful time and feel very blessed that they were all able to come home this Christmas.  With the last of them leaving yesterday, I am now ready to get back to normalcy. 

Pamela @ From My Front Porch To Yours is hosting a New Year’s Party sharing our favorite projects/post for 2011 and I thought I would join in.  My favorite projects for 2011were the master and two guestroom bedrooms makeovers. 

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It will be a year in March since the make-over in the master bedroom and I’m still loving it today.  You can see the before and read all about the master bedroom transformation here, here, here and here.

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I tweaked this guest bedroom and you can read all about it here.

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Last but not least another guest bedroom makeover.  I call this room my vintage inspired guest bedroom and you can read all about it here and here.

As always, thanks for stopping by and let the countdown to a memorable year begin!  Happy New Year my bloggy friends!!!!

Gail

Friday, December 23, 2011

Christmas is a special time…..

Christmas is a special time of year, filled with peace, love, and thankfulness.

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May you have it all this Christmas and be guided by the strength of the Lord in the coming year.

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas my Bloggy Friends,

Gail

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Welcome to our Home for Christmas

Christmas Greetings My Friends and Welcome to our home for Christmas.  It’s warm and cozy inside, so come on in and join us as I share our home with you for Christmas.  You may have already seen some of our home but I thought I would share everything in one post and I’ll start in the family room. 

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The entry wall leading into the kitchen. 

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The Christmas apron was my Mom’s and she would wear this apron every Christmas.   011

A Christmas countertop vignette I made using a wreath, lights and a Joy plate I purchased at Wal-Mart. 

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The dining room with a little Christmas cheer.

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I added a little Christmas green to the buffet….

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 and placed silver jingle bells under the cloche. 

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The staircase and front entry way all decked out for Christmas.    

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 A night shot of the staircase with the candles lit.

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The tobacco stick sled I made last year is still part of the Christmas decor in the front entry way. 

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The Nativity is a family heirloom that was my parents and I can remember it being placed under our Christmas tree when I was living at home.  Although I don’t place it under my tree, it is still a part of my Christmas.  001

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed seeing our home for Christmas. 

Christmas is God’s gift to us.  May its blessing bring you joy and peace the whole year through. 

Gail

Linking this post to:

No Minimalist Here for Open House Party 

Kristen's Creations for Share Your Creations
DIY Show Off for Holiday Highlights

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

At The Picket Fence for Inspiration Friday

2805 for Potpourri Party

Monday, December 19, 2011

Christmas Dining

Hello everyone!  With Christmas less than a week away, I thought it was time to share my dining room with you.   This was one of the first rooms I did for Christmas and for some reason I forgot to share it with you until today.  

This year I decided to go a little more rustic with the table setting.  I used a silver charger plate and layered it with a grapevine wreath with my white dishes.    

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I placed a bird’s nest at each place setting and added a little green and pinecones inside with a Merry Christmas tag.

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Behind each Merry Christmas tag is a child’s wish list tag for four children.

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For the last few years Charlie and I have pulled a child’s wish list tag off of an Angel Tree to purchase the gifts they asked for.

This year, Charlie and I decided to get one Angel Tree wish tag for each of our grandsons.  We wanted our grandsons to experience giving to other children who otherwise may not receive any Christmas gifts.

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A couple of weeks ago, we found an Angel Tree at our local hardware store.  So, we pulled three wish list tags. As we were leaving, we noticed there was one tag left on the tree.  As we drove home, we talked about that, but it didn’t take us long to turn the car around and go get that last wish list tag.  

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We purchased the gifts from each wish list tag and asked the boys for their approval.  They liked what we purchased, but the best part was that they really seemed to understand why were doing this.  And that is a Christmas gift to all of us.

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As always, thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the happy things this very special holiday brings!

Gail

Linking this post to:

A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures

Savvy Southern Style for WOW Us Wednesday

 

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Keeping It Real

Hello Everyone!  Yesterday Sonny @ 155 Dream Lane did a post called Rainy Imperfectly Perfect Day and it was an awesome post on keeping it real.   Since reading that post, I thought I would share with you just how my kitchen and family room has looked like since yesterday.     

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I’ve been wrapping gifts and this is where I wrap….in the kitchen.  I can’t tell you how many draft post I have that I don’t publish because I feel that they are not picture perfect but not today folks!   I wanted you to see the good the bad and the ugly. 

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Now I need to get those gifts under the tree with the rest of the gifts. 

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Thanks Sonny because I’m giving myself the gift of less stress too, just like you!

Be safe and enjoy your weekend. 

Gail

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