Feeling the Love

I cannot imagine a better start to my blogging experience than the one I have been thoroughly enjoying this week! So many have found me and left me comments and sent emails to welcome me to blogging.  It was like attending a party and I am definitely feelin' the love!

That picture is a sneak peek at some upcoming Valentine's Day projects that I have in the works and will be sharing some photos with you in the near future.  It's a big ol' box of Valentine yumminess.  I can't wait to show you what all I am planning! And yes, that little tube of E-6000 glue is supposed to be in the picture. Sort of.

Speaking of Love...

One of the blessings of being "slowed down" by life (many of you don't know that I had a major illness last March, more info on that is coming soon, I promise!) is that in slowing down,

 my heart has been turned back toward my home.

At the time I got sick, I was working on building my home based business and working constantly. Like-the-12-14-hours-a-day-kind of constantly.  I was working in my home, just not on my home. I had really been lax in this area. I really didn't make the time to care what it looked like, and had become comfortable in my clutter. 

With having been pretty housebound for the better part of the summer and early fall, and with my focus on my health instead of my work,  my attention on feeling good, I suddenly became more aware of my surroundings and didn't like what I saw. Let's just say I was no longer comfortable with my clutter. My poor hubby, you met him in my last post right? Mountain Man. Yeah, he HATES clutter. With a capital H.A.T.E.S. He is a saint in my eyes, for having put up with my chaos. If there were a contest for Queen of Chaos, I am fairly confident I would be current reigning champion and wearing a crown as I type this to you. Yeah. A big ol' shiny crown. You can't see me, but I am waving "the wave" at you right now. :)

After I got out of the hospital, my mom and dad basically moved in with us (and all of my clutter) for the first six weeks of my recovery, solely to be my care providers so that Mountain Man could return back to work.  Mom and Dad, I love you both for the sacrifices you made during this time, and if I haven't told you enough, I am telling you again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. (There's a love theme happening here.  Purely unintentional, but I am lovin' it!)

If there were a female version of Mr. Clean, my mom would be her. Except she has hair. Bleach is her weapon of choice and she knows how to use it. It may sound strange to you, but every time I smell the smell of bleach, I think of my mom. And I mean that in a good way. :) 

So, couple the fact that my mom is Mrs. Clean and Mountain Man hates clutter. Without me being able to supply a daily dose of clutter, the house didn't stand a chance against the two of them. Seems we constantly had weekly cleaning and organizational projects going on. I wasn't strong enough to help, but they humored me by regularly asking my opinion about things that should be kept, tossed, cleaned, sorted, etc. I was sitting in the midst of dueling white tornadoes, each unknowingly trying to out clean the other on a daily basis. The windows would be flung open in the morning and by noon, the smell of bleach would be wafting throughout the neighborhood. I was both dazed and amazed by this daily process. God slowed me down so that I could take in all of this and learn from it, even at my age. (And you can keep right on wondering what age that might be.) What I was completely unaware of was, that as I kept getting stronger, so was my desire to keep the house looking neat and tidy. I liked having the clutter removed. Who knew?

In our 26 years of marriage, I have always loved to decorate our home. I never stopped liking the decorating process.  It was just such a chore to decorate when you first had to empty out so much stuff, then clean where the stuff had been, before any decorating fun could begin.  It is much more fun to decorate a clean house than to decorate around the clutter in one.  I can remember many a day that I had to find the table before I could set the table, and that led to a lot of dinner's in front of the TV.  Nowdays, we get to sit at this pretty table setting and actually talk during dinner.

Now, I am not telling you all of this because I have recently invented the latest greatest cleaning methods (don't make me laugh!) or that I have written a great new organizational book (now that would be hilarious!) but only that we have found a new comfort in our home that we are throughly enjoying. It isn't perfect, not by a long shot, but it is comfortable once again.  

I don't recall where I first saw it, but some lovely blogger that I came across out there had the awesome idea of using epsom salts to resemble snow in candle holders and I fell in love with the look.  This is my version of it that currently sits on our table.  I love the clean, uncluttered feel of it.  There's that love word again!

I also love that I was able to use some of the great pieces of blue glass containers that I have recently started to collect at thrift stores!

Such a calm and serene look after all the busy holiday decorations came down. Kinda reminds me of watching snowflakes falling real slow like, onto the ground.  We seem to get to do that a lot around here.

Quiet.  Restful. Warm. Uncluttered. Feels like home.

With one exception.  Reality check coming up.

The day I set this pretty little scene, I turned off all the lights and had just the candles burning and dinner almost ready. Hubby walked in from work without looking up and asked "Why's it so dark in here?" and immediately flipped on the lights, ruining the entire ambiance.

Guess I'll have to break in the Mountain Man slowly.

Once again, I will be linking up to some pretty great Linky parties going on out there.  Be sure to check them out for inspiring stories and photos!

I am linking with:

The Inspired Room

Between Naps On the Porch

Thanks again for stopping by! 

Have a great weekend!

Lisa

Up and Running...

Well, I guess the new year is just about the best time I can choose to launch this blog of mine that I have been thinking, worrying, pondering and procrastinating about. So many of my friends and family have been telling me "You really should start a blog," so here I am... blogging. Now what?

I guess the best thing I can do is to just jump in with both feet and get started. I have to tell you though, I am not sure I can ever keep up with some of the amazing people out here in blog land that post daily, sometimes more than once a day, with absolutely incredible stories, projects, and goings on in their lives. It makes me tired and breathe heavy just thinking about trying to keep up with them for a day. Not gonna happen. So, in my little blog, I will share when I can, no promises for daily awesomeness here. My goal is more likely to be little, sporadic doses of awesome. You know, the kind that fly out of left field and knock you on your butt when you aren't looking awesome. That would be me, the Sporadic Awesomeness Blogger. Sounds like I just invented a new super hero.

Yeah, that was my intent...

(This is Bella by the way, my Golden Retriever, and yes, sometimes my super hero.

I am sure you will get a kick out of her antics here as well. Again, more about that later.)

I have been so blessed lately by finding incredible blogs and collecting inspiration and ideas for home decor, recipes, craft projects, stories that make me cry, stories that make me laugh, photos of projects run amuck, etc. I drool over all of the wonderful things I see others doing. They inspire me daily, so I suppose I should just share the inspiration and quit hogging it all for myself, huh? I kinda feel like Gollum in Lord of the Rings. But instead, picture me in a deep, dark cave muttering "My precious, my precious" and sitting in a pile of magazine article clippings, craft supplies, amusing stories and anecdotes, amongst my thrift store finds, clasping a few close to my chest. Mine, mine, mine, me, me, me...

Uhem... Time to share.

I HAVE amassed quite a collection of photos that tell the story of projects that I have worked on. Amazingly enough, some I've even completed. We won't discuss the one's that are still waiting, and if you should ever visit my home, be forewarned, open all closet doors SLOWLY. That's all I'm gonna say about that. I have also been told that I can tell a good story now and then. Perhaps that will be part of my blog as well. The Lord saw to it that I have a story to tell, but it's more like a mini series, so more about that later perhaps.

I guess there is no better time than the present to start sharing. So with that said, I present to you... oh, where to start, where to start... I present to you... aaaaahhhhhggghhhhh... the pressure of making a good first impression... just choose one already... Okay, okay....

The Bench

Have you ever experienced the perfect find? Kindred spirits will know right away what I am talking about. For the rest of you, the perfect find is when you come across something while out in a thrift shop, yard sale, flea market, etc. and it speaks to you. Symptoms of the perfect find may include but are not limited to:

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  Head to toe chills.
  
  
  
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  Sudden onset of school-girl giddiness.
  
  
  
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  Hot or cold sweats.
  
  
  
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  Heavy breathing.
  
  
  
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  Grabbing a total stranger by the shoulders and screaming "Isn't it beautiful?"
  
  
  
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  Jumping up and down and shaking said stranger violently.
  
  
  
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  Inability to sleep the night you bring said item home due to an overactive imagination that is pondering all of the possibilities that this new treasure is going to bring to your life.
  
  
  
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  Typing run on sentences when writing about the perfect find.
  
  
  

This is the story of the perfect find.

My daughter and I were out shopping at the Salvation Army Thrift Store (one of my favorite thrift stores in the area, and one of my favorite charities) early this past fall when I came upon this little pretty. She was stuffed in amongst a dozen or so downtrodden dressers. I glanced in her direction (yes, for the record she IS a she) and looked away to the next row when suddenly my neck snapped back in her direction at the speed of light. I swear I heard harps off in the distance. No, really. (Insert head to toe chills here.) Using the utmost caution, I approached her slowly, as to not cause a commotion. I didn't want someone else running up and claiming her as their own, when it was oh so obvious that she was going to go home with me. (sounds kinda like a bad country song, right?) So as I meandered over to the aisle she was in, trying to look uninterested, when in reality my heart was pounding, I rounded the corner to find another lady headed in her direction. Suddenly, out of the blue I am in an all out adult game of musical chairs and the music had just stopped! Let's just say my pace quickened. I got to her and sat down with a jolt, right on the price tag. I do believe it was all in my imagination though, because the lady passed us by without even a glance in our direction. (insert heavy breathing and hot and cold sweats here). Forgive me Lord. I do love this bench.

So, after regaining what little dignity I had left... oh, who am I kidding? My dignity had flown out the window the second I thought someone else was interested in her. That should read: as soon as I could again see straight, I scooched aside, and with one eye tightly shut, the other slightly opened, and with a look that said "Please , Lord, let it be something I can afford" etched into my face, I looked down at the price tag I had been sitting on. "Please?"

Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord,

and He shall give you the desires of your heart."

My willingness to make a fool of myself must have been highly entertaining to Him, because as I looked down and focused my one squinched eye on the orange price tags that I am way too familiar with, it read $34.99! If you could read my thoughts (technically, you are already doing that...) they would have went something like this: "Oh Joy! Oh Jubilation! Oh my goodness! Today is 25% off wooden furniture day!" I quickly did the math in my head. Twice. Because I know I have been wrong before and probably will be again. The price for this treasured girl was a mere $26.24. (Note to self: I should get a calculator for my purse for such occasions. Nuff said.) In one swift motion, I reached down and tore the orange price tag in half. Don't worry, I wasn't on a rant or anything. You are supposed to do that. That is what let's others know that the piece is already spoken for, should they happen across an item that has already been purchased or is in the process of being sold. As I sat there, my mind racing with the possibilities this girl had in her, I was trying to reason out in my head what had drawn me to her. My hands gently went across the seat, which was in bad shape and needed some TLC. Nope, that wasn't it. I ran my hand across the curve of the sides. Nice, but no. Then I stood up and suddenly realized what it was.   The SPINDLES! I loved the style of them, the shape of them, the size. Everything about them is what gave this little bench her personality and charm. I loved them so much that I was running my fingers back and forth on them, making a noise similar to when you stick a baseball card in bicycle spokes, when my daughter interupted my daydream with "Momma, whatcha doin?" Before you go picturing her as a small child in your mind's eye, I need to tell you that she is 22, but yes, she still calls me Momma.

This is my daughter, Meagan, on her wedding day.

Sigh. Love that girl.

In the above mentioned definition of a perfect find, I stated that you could perhaps grab a stranger by the shoulders while shaking them and shouting "Isn't she beautiful?". This works equally as well with family members. In fact, my daughter is used to this behavior coming from me, and well... sometimes she expects it. Especially in thrift stores. (insert sudden onset of school girl giddiness here.) On the way home we stopped off at my friend JoAnn's place ( you may know Joann, Joann Fabrics? Yeah, she has a lot of friends...) I knew exactly what I needed. Grabbed two foam pieces that looked like they would fit and guessed on the fabric amount I would need. I KNOW! I never measure anything. Most of the time it works out. Sometimes it doesn't. I do a lot of Plan B projects around this place.

So, flash forward to my yard. That is where the photos were taken. I knew that this beauty had potential and I wasn't going to waste one minute of daylight in getting started on this project. I brought her home, brushed her off with a whisk broom, got a screwdriver to remove the seat, and started painting. No, I didn't prime. No, I didn't clean her with a wood cleaner. I simply brushed her dust off and took a damp paper towel to the really dusty parts. (If you are looking for the "How to Refinish Furniture Perfectly" blog, then sadly, my new friend, you are at the wrong blog. ) Then I spray painted. Satin finish black spray paint. Sorry, I don't recall the brand name or even where I bought it. I know, bad blogger, bad blogger. I will do better next time. Maybe. Maybe not.

I started spraying at one end and by the time I finished at the other, it was dry already. Thank you Jesus for a nice sunny day! So I gave it a second coat and while that dried, I went in the house to deal with the seat.

I had two of these:

That needed stapled to one of these:

I was so happy to discover that it was such a perfect fit, that I forgot to take pictures of the process of getting the fabric and foam attached to the seat. It went something like this: Place the foam down on the bench seat. Lay fabric over the top of the foam. Flip. Check to make sure they stayed lined up. Nope. Adjust. Fold fabric over the bottom of the bench seat like you are wrapping a big present. Staple. Staple. Staple. Staple again. Again. Staple. Keep stapling. You got the idea? Good.

When I got it done, I realized that the place that the hinges had come out of were now 2 inches below the top of the 3 inch cushion I just added to the bench seat. Ooops. See, there is always an oops in my projects. Never a quitter, I tried and tried to squish the seat cushion out of the way, but I simply wasn't strong enough to do that and hold the drill in place to set the screws. I needed backup. At that very moment, my son Matt came walking in the door from work. "Whatcha doin' Momma?" He also calls me Momma, he's 24.

Sigh. Love that boy.

So, after Matt took over with the drill while I stood on the seat bottom, we managed to squish the foam flat enough to allow us to install the hinges back on the bench. It was soooo worth the effort. Look at my girl in all her glory! Just don't look at the unfinished beadboard walls behind her. We are in the middle of a kitchen redo around these parts.

Here she is posing with some of her new friends:

So there you have it. My seemingly neverending first blog post. Wow. If you stuck around this long, you must a.) think me incredibly funny and charming; b.) need a new hobby or c.) be one of those people I paid to come here. Either way, I am glad to have had your ear for a while. If you are so inclined, leave me a comment to let me know you were here, otherwise, I will feel that I spent all this time talking to the walls. Not that I mind that, they are good listeners. It's just sometimes human interaction can be nice. ;) Speaking of human interaction, the dinner timer just went off and I am going to go have dinner with this man:

My hubby of 26 years, Bob, who I call Mountain Man.

(talk about the Perfect Find! :)

I am linking up to:  Between Naps on the Porch   A Soft Place to Land Blue Cricket Design Domestically Speaking Somewhat Simple The Shabby Chic Cottage

Be sure to check out all the other great projects!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lisa

P.S. I would do one of those cool signatures that I see on other blogs all the time, but I don't know how. If you do, could you leave a comment about that too? Thanks!