What makes me smile. . .

I just came across Heathalee's "What makes me smile" post and wanted to participate.

I am at work, and am doing this last minute so here are the few things, I had on hand to work with.

I may have to do a revised version when I get home. :)

First and foremost, these two make me smile.

Every.single.day.



Sometimes they make me madder than fire, too. ;) But, I would be lost without them.

My "It's a Wonderful Life" sign. I have had it for years and love it still.




Clocks and barn stars are a constant through my home.

Seriously, I have LOTS and still find myself wanting more.






Music.

Love, love, love it! I post one of my fave songs on my blog every Friday.

My new Pier One rug!


My parents bought me the rug, I have been been yearning for as an early birthday present.

Dont'cha just love it?! :)

And of course, our friends and family and most importantly, God.

My life would not be complete without them and they truly are, what matters most.

Ok, now I am off to see what makes you smile! :)

Fave song Friday. . .

Love this song because it's just light hearted and fun.

Always puts me in a good mood, when I hear it. :)


Hope you have a great weekend!

My first feature. . .

Here!

Remember this little project?

I was super excited to see today that I was featured on her blog, and had to share it with y'all.

Plus, she really has a fun blog and it just amazes me how innovative people can be!

The possibilites are just endless.

Oh, and remember these?



I finally found some candlesticks this wknd that I thought would work.

Started painting them last night, and so far, so good!

Pics of my version to come soon, I promise! :)

Father's Day weekend. . .

We had a low key kind of weekend but it was definitely enjoyable!

On Saturday, Maddie had plans to go to the local waterpark with her best friend, so Jeff and I decided to skip housework and venture uptown.

We hit a few of the local thrift stores looking for any sort of hidden treasure, much to our dismay there were none to be found.

Then we hit up Jeff's fave store, it's just a local clothing store that sells some of his fave brands.

We got him some duds b/c he desperately needed some and called it his father's day gift. My husband loves nice clothes so he was quite happy with this.

Then, we headed to my parents because my aunt was visiting and we spent the remainder of the day with them. It was so wonderful to just spend the day there and just chit chat.

The older I get, the more I cherish that time with my family.

We really had the best time, just hanging out.


Later that evening, we picked up stinkerbelle (aka Maddie) who was just beyond exhausted from swimming all day and we all headed home.

Yesterday, we spent the day at home, chillaxin' and had a hearty and delicious meal from a local mexican restuarant otherwise known as Taco Bell.

As you can tell, we really pull out all the stops on Father's Day! ;)

Maddie went swimming again, Jeff was content to just watch tv in his favorite chair and I attempted to work on a couple of my things on my to do list.

It was just a much needed, easy going weekend.

Hope yours was too!

Just wanted to say. . .

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to two of my most favorite people, in the world today!

My mom and Sandy!

Love you guys, bunches and bunches!

I hope you both have a FANTABULOUS day!

Fave song Friday. . .

Just a fun little ditty by Sara Bareilles.

Who doesn't love, Sara Bareilles?!?!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

My latest guilty pleasure. . .

Real Housewives of New Jersey.


OMGOSH, do you watch it? Don't you just love it?

I am not a big tv watcher, but this is a must see here.

I LOVE it!

Plus, it just cracks me up when they say "bubbies".

What's your lastest guilty pleasure?

Back from the beach. . .

We headed to the beach this past weekend and crammed as much as we could into 2 days.

It was fun but oh, so tiring!

Unfortunatley, no cameras were taken so I have no pics for this post but wanted to share anyway.

We got up EARLY Saturday am to head out and 2.5 hrs later, we arrived at Jeff's grandmothers house. It's been a while since we had seen her so we were all very excited.

Hung around there for a bit, then Jeffro took Maddie to the beach for a bit.

I stayed behind and helped Jeff's grandmother put together the most bee-you-ti-full flower arrangement for moi!
She is so very talented and should have done this professionally but she just does it for fun. But, boy is she good at it!

She had me pick out some of my fave flowers, (tulips, hydrangeas, peonies and even daffodil) and she just took it from there.

Seriously, it's HUGE and I love it! Now, I just have to find a place to put it.

I know, this will be something I will never get rid of either just because of the sentimental value of it and plus, it took me 12 yrs to get her to make me one! LOL
Just kiddin' but I have been pesterin' her for a while.

Then that evening, we met up with Jeff's aunt and some of her friends and went crabbing at the inlet. Oh wow, that was seriously fun! Maddie, who never meets a stranger, quickly befriended a little girl named Daisy and off they went.
Of all my years of going to the beach, I had never been crabbing and I really enjoyed watching them do it. I soo wish I had my camera so I could have taken pics!

Then we went back to Jeff's aunt and throughly enjoyed her pool!

On Sunday, Maddie called her new found friend and invited her over and of course, more swimming was to be had. They had a blast and seriously were just like 2 little fishes. It was hard to get them out of there!

Finally, much to our dismay, we packed up and headed home. But, not without a final stop to see a bit more of Jeff's family.

It was soo late when we got home Sunday night, but it was well worth it and we get to do it again in 3 weeks and I can't wait!

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Fave song Friday. . .

Well, today's song was chosen by that sweet little girl of mine.

She asked me if I would put her fave song on here today and I decided to oblige her.

Plus, I will admit that I kinda like it myself! :)


Happy Friday!

No Spend Challenge Update. . .

Well, I failed. I managed to spend $25 this wk and $11 of that was for lunch yesterday.

BUT, and it's a big but, I still consider it a success because. . .

Every meal but one, has been either been eaten at home, or brought from home.

I did break down and buy myself the super cute measuring cups at Pier One but I managed to just spend $10 rather than $50.

I was a LOT more aware of my finances and what I spent our money on vs. looking into my purse and wondering where all our money went!

As bad a I wanted to stop by Sonic and Michael's, I resisted the temptation!

Better yet, I even think I managed to lose a couple of pounds.

So, I think even though, I still managed to spend some $$ it was definitely worthwhile and need to challenge myself more often. :)

My turn with a little chalkboard paint. . .

Totally jumping on the chalkboard paint bandwagon, here.


I found this super cute plate on clearance at Pier One and just had to have it.






Because, I wanted to do this with it!



Isn't that the cutest idea?

I am already thinking Christmas gifts!


Here's my version and I LOVE it!


Now, I am looking to see what else I can find around here to chalkboard paint!

To paint or not to paint. . .

Jeff's grandmother gave us this armoire when she sold her home.

I love it because it's the perfect size to hold our tv in the living room.

Don't get me wrong, I like it in it's current state but I am seriously toying with the idea painting it antique white to brighten up our living room a bit.

What do you think?

Leave it as is, or paint it?!

It does have a few places that I need to fix on it, so I do need to do that.

But other than that, it's in great shape.

So, give me your insight, paint it antique white or some other color or leave it?!


Here's a couple of pics to help you, to help me decide. :)







ETA: I know my tassels don't match the armoire but they are too big for my lamps so I haven't found the perfect home for them yet. :)

Fave song Friday. . .

Woohoo, it's Friday!

Lovin' this song right now and the video really hits home with me, because my dad is retired from the military.

Brings back a lot of memories. :)

Anyhow, Happy Friday!

No spend challenge. . .

After reading this guest post on Kimba's blog, I decided I wanted to take the No Spend
challenge and Amy was able to do it for a whole month.

But, I am a wimp and am gonna try and do this just for one week and maybe, just maybe go from there. We'll see.

Have you ever done this?

What were your results?

I honestly, think, I mean I KNOW, I can do this.

Goodness knows, I have plenty to do at home to occupy my time.

Normally, I am not a big spender but it's little things that I buy that add up.

You know, a Sonic tea here, a lunch out there, etc. By no means, are these major purchases but they do make an impact on my bank account over time.

So, I am gonna make a pledge to not spend anything but necessities (gas, food, etc.) for one week.

I'll let you know in a week, how I did!

BTW-don't you want to join me? :)

Just a little lunch time craftin'. . .

I work in a small, small town and there's not a whole lot to do there.

So, most of the time I catch up on my blog buddies, facebook, etc. during my lunch hour.

Well not today, because last night I stopped by the Dollar Tree and found a few goodies.

So, I decided today during lunch that I was gonna make a little somethin', somethin'.


and this is what I did...




(Ignore the wonkiness of the pic, apparently I am a bit lopsided)

I found the white hanging frame at the Dollar Tree, messed around in my Word program, found a font and size I liked and made our monogram.

Then I printed it out, cut it to fit and VOILA!

A cute framed monogram!


Super easy!

I think I may even change out the ribbon out, with some cute black and white ribbon that I have in my stash.



Gotta love the dollar tree and easy projects!

Go check out Wendy at The Shabby Nest for more frugal ideas! :)

I did it!

I went to a yard sale and two thrift stores this weekend!

Such a BIG deal for me and I scored a few goodies!

I got Maddie several in brand new condition paper back books. She is a bit of a book worm and she was so thrilled with her new stash and best yet, they only cost .50 a piece and I got her 5!

I also found a candle holder that needed a bit of love for .50 and added her to my project stash.

Seriously, I had a great time and it was a bit like treasure hunting!

I may just do it again, this weekend. ;)