Oh Happy Day @ Pier1!!!!!!

 Rattan Charger, White Coupe Dinner/Salad Plates, and a spice yellow napkin with a gold border. The napkin ring is shades of chocolate/amber/yellow etc. I bought just 1 place setting to see if I still love it in a few days. I've learned myself! :)

 The mirror still needs to be hung!! 

  The secret to staying cool here in S Florida...light coverlets. NO COMFORTERS!!!

  Rustic trinket tray

  Breakfast trays are very useful for decorating. Love this one.

  You can kind of see the wood color in this pic

  Burnished copper lamp with a silk champagne shade. 

  Emmett is sure I did all this work for him.

 I bought this piece of art when we first got married. I loved it then, and I still love it!! We still need to hang it. It's going above the bed.

Rich says he feels like someone is looking at him :) The colors don't show true in the pic. It has warm oranges, reds, yellows, chocolates etc.

Cheers to Pier1!!!

A Day in Hair History

When I hit puberty, my hair was suddenly possessed by demons. My long, soft curls looked, as my brother Michael so kindly put it, "like an explosion in a steel wool factory." I tried relaxers, straight perms, everything that was available to tame curly hair. Yet time after time, hair stylists would shake their heads and say "I've just never seen such thick, coarse, spiral curly hair. I don't know what else to do." When I was 14, I heard that there was a "Japanese straight perm" new on the market that could tame the craziest hair. I didn't really believe it could be true, and plus it cost about $1200 to get it done in California. When I went to visit my grandma for the summer, I left CA with crazy curly hair. Her hair stylist did the Japanese straightening treatment for $300. I decided to give it a go. I could not believe how straight, silky, and shiny my hair was when I left the salon that day. My mom and grandma saw me in front of the mirror later at home, eyes big--just running my hands through my hair, saying, "It's a miracle...."

For the past 8 years, I have successfully squelched every curl on my head. In fact, if you didn't know me before I was 14, you'd have no idea that my hair is, indeed, a story of epic proportions. There is enough money invested in my hair to put a down payment on a very nice house.

But today, I decided to be human. I have grown weary of the 2 hours it takes me to blow out and straighten my hair to polished perfection. I'm just running errands today. So, I gave my hair permission to show its true colors for the first time in 8 years. I've actually straightened it so much, that I've broken the curl. Now it's just a wavy-ness. I scrunched it with Jonathon Silky Dirt (my favorite EVER hair product) and actually put in a few curls with a curling iron. Then I played around with my new camera (which I still haven't figured out how to use fully) to create photographs for the archives of the epically unbelievable. I am leaving my house with curly hair today :)

I know, it's rather shocking. For me, too.

Almost smiling. :)

I think you get the full effect this way. I took this pic from the mirror. :)

Illogical? Yes

Emmett loves to sleep in his cat carrier. Nevermind that if I take him outside the house in it, he shrieks, screams, and attacks the inside of the carrier. When the carrier is back inside the house, suddenly he loves it, and it is his bed of choice. See his satisfied little face as he rests in his plush sherpa bag.

WasteNot Basket

Of all the things I will throw money at, I REFUSE to spend money purchasing those little garbage bags for bathroom/bedroom wastebaskets. I save and use Publix, Wal-Mart and Target bags for that job. I like this wastebasket a lot. It is a neat way to use up all those plastic grocery bags!! You can find this wastebasket HERE!!

Finally, a Little Sanity

I have finally gotten most of my kitchen stuff put away. Tonight I took the last box off of the kitchen counter and finally, I can cook in my kitchen!! This always makes me feel a little more sane! Even though the kitchen is galley style, the wall on the "sink side" has a large cut out so that it is open to the living room, which I really like.

Easter Afterthought

After the Sunday service at our church, we had a communion service for the church family. Rich and I were sitting with David between us, Victoria next to me, and Carolyn next to her. During the start of the service it seemed that some of the younger teens might need some "guidance" (hehe) and Carolyn went over to sit by them. This left Rich and me to make sure that somehow a 7 and 9 year old kept their eyes closed during prayer and didn't spill their juice. I thought that was the hard part. I must have told Victoria three times to be careful to sit still and not to spill on her Easter dress. She was so careful and adorable to hold her little cup carefully, and kept glancing up at me with her eyes shining, the cup grasped tightly in her hands. David sat like a statue, too. I ended up being so careful and attentive to the kids that I ended up moving my own hand and spilling all over myself!! I immediately started laughing and so did Victoria and David. What a picture we made, two great kids sitting there grasping their cups tightly, and me in the middle with juice all over my lap, laughing during the middle of the Lord's Supper. It reminded me of the "dates" my dad used to take me on when I was a little girl. To this day I can't remember where we were going on this certain one, but I remember that I got dressed up in this pink flowery dress, and we went to grab a quick dinner before going to wherever it was that we were going. Dad told me repeatedly not to spill anything on my dress. I was sooooo careful, and I ended up without a spot while he spilled something all down his white shirt and he had to go home and change.

David is 9, Tory is 7, and Maddie is 3

It was great to spend this Easter with the friends we have made since we have been here. We hit it off with our Pastor and Pastor's wife (Tom and Carolyn) immediately when we met them, and we love their kids too. Madelyn doesn't get mentioned in the story because she is only 3 and was in the nursery. She is a pistol--everything from cutting her own hair, to coming in from the yard looking like she rolled in the mud--then she becomes a giggling little girl, playing with her dolls in the tub to clean up.

Tom & Carolyn

It makes me think of our friends Jim and Nanette from CA. We vacationed together with them in January. They had their 3 kids with them, and we had a great time! We really miss them, but thankfully Nanette is great about taking pictures and letting me keep up with the kids that way. :)

Nanette & me, Chloe is all bundled up in the middle and Seth in the front pack. It was freezing!!

Happy After-Easter! :)

Moving!!

                                                             I think this face really says it all!! We are surrounded by moving boxes, wrapping paper, bubble wrap, and tons of loose items everywhere!! We have gotten a fair amount done in the last 2 days, considering our schedules. On Wednesday we moved all of our stuff from storage into our new place, and moved our clothes and personal items from the townhouse. Thursday morning was our furniture delivery. We love our new bedroom set and dining set. I snapped a few pictures around the house but I still haven't figured out how to use the flash properly on my new camera, and they look super dark! As you can see the dining table is functioning beautifully as a catch-all. There's so much stuff still to put away!! Then Rich installed a fan/light fixture thing in the master bedroom. I have to admit I married a pretty smart guy :)

Thursday afternoon we went and picked up an entertainment center, which Rich put together by himself.  He never reads the directions for anything, but somehow he puts together everything perfectly--extremely fast. The entertainment center is all done except for the doors we ordered for the two towers. We wanted a special type of door, so when they are in then he will be able to finish that. You can kind of see the living rom in this pic of him putting everything all together. 

Then there is my fab find. That would be a piece of art for the living room. And surprisingly I found it at Ikea. We were browsing through and I saw the Golden Gate bridge!!! I knew I had to have it!

I love my bridge!! It's a nice reminder of the place I spent most of my life. I love having things in the house that mean something in one way or another. I can't wait to get things more put together!