Everyday Ashlie

Old-School

2010-10-08T21:57:00.001-05:00

When we first moved up here to East Tennessee, I found myself among the countless Americans who are unemployed. It was an odd feeling, to be sure! I never pegged myself as one of those folks who judges their self-worth on what I “did,” but it sure felt weird to not be helpin’ to bring in the bacon, as it were. Thankfully though, my hubby had already started his new job and we were able to move in with my in-laws (I know what you’re thinking about that, but they’re great. Really) so things weren’t too tight.

In any case, with no job and nothing pressing to tend to, a girl’s got to find something to keep her busy, right?

(What? Did y’all think this was gonna be a somber post about the state of America’s economic affairs? Ha! No, ma’am, I don’t think so! I try never to talk about politics if I can help it.)

Anyway, in my first several weeks here in TN, my mother-in-law showed me all her favorite thrifting nooks. At one of the area rescue missions I found a cute little school chair for only $7! I saw it’s potential right away…a good sanding & some spray paint and it would be cute as can be!!

Buster posing (reluctantly) to give y’all some size reference

He got tired of posing pretty quick. Ha! I sanded the wood down to get the peeling varnish off.

I sanded the metal lightly too so that my spray paint would stick better. See the ink blot (or some kinda stain) on the front edge of the wood? It didn’t come out completely after I sanded, but I like that. Gives it some charm.

The little manufacturer’s seal says “American Seating Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.” in the outer circle. In the middle it says “Envoy- Made in the U.S.A.”

That skinnier bar across the back moves back & forth slightly to mold to your back a little better.

I didn’t take pictures of the whole sanding, priming, & painting process but here’s the semi-finished product. It’s a candy apple red. Fits the school theme, don’t ya think? Since this picture was taken, I’ve stained the wood with a natural stain. It looks like the same color wood as in this pic, just a little brighter.

I can’t wait to find a spot for it in our new house!

Help me, help me! Please?

2010-10-08T21:03:00.002-05:00

Blogger friends, I am in a quandary.

I've been trying to upload a post for the last few days now & Blogger is telling me that I'm out of room for photos. Whaaattt??!! How does that happen? Can anyone tell me how to get around it or how to fix that problem? I haven't posted nearly as many posts as some people so I know I can't have too many photos on here. I'm perplexed! Please help!

Thank you!!

A Little at a Time

2010-09-26T19:55:00.001-05:00

Since it's been so long since I've written to y'all and I have about a million (exaggerating) pictures on my computer that I want to share, I figured I would just pick a photo album from my files and blog about it. Knowing me & my tendency toward OCD (I don't actually have the disorder...at least I don't think I do) I'll probably go in chronological order. And no, I won't blog them all in one post. That would be a little much for you and me!

First up is the going away party that my parents threw us before we left Louisiana in March. Several of our closest friends came to bid us adieu and we had a great time visiting with them all! A few weeks after the party, we and all our worldly goods relocated to the great state of Tennessee. East Tennessee to be almost exact.

Food, family, & friends…all crowded in the kitchen. I love that!!

Kids playin’ in the floor

Some of the greatest friends in the world, Jarred, Katherine, & their sweet girl, Brynleigh

Our long-time next-door neighbors & wonderful friends, Jackie & Grace

Our buddy, Jerome (an Air Force friend of Nathan’s) holding Paula’s little boy Duncan

The sweetest woman in the universe, Mrs. Ruth, & her sweet granddaughter, Baylor

Friends that are more like family, (L to R) Nathan, me holding Martha’s baby, Baylor, Martha holding Boston, Mrs. Ruth, Amy, & her new husband, Mikey

Un-posed shot! Love it!

Paula, Duncan, & me! One of my closest friends, sure do miss her!

The two of us with Paula & Duncan

Nathan & Duncan…buddies! Don’t they look cute?!

Mama with Baylor. She loves the little ones!!

I wish I could remember what we were talkin’ about. It looks like it was hilarious! If Paula’s telling the story, it usually is!!

My Daddy & Baylor. This is my absolute favorite pic of the night. So sweet!

I found an old film camera (that had no film in it) & I thought Duncan might like to play with it. I was right! He kept blinding us all with the flash! Ha ha!

Our sweet friend, Linda. She’d do anything for her friends….including driving hundreds of miles so my Mom could see her mom & me!! You’re the best!

All of these people have been & are such a huge part of our lives. We have so many memories wrapped up in each one of you and with others that we didn’t get to photograph. I’m so grateful for the friends that became our family over the years! I miss you all so much and can’t wait to see you again! Much love to you all!

Reminiscing

2010-05-05T01:07:00.002-05:00

So, I've been looking back over several of my earlier posts and it's made me quite sentimental. Also, I really wish I'd had my "good" camera back when I first started this blog. The little mouse ornament I made would've benefited from it so much!! I can't believe how bad the lighting is in most of my old pictures! And I was always so satisfied with myself for playing around with my little Nikon point and shoot to get just the right settings. Ha! Shows how much I knew.

Don't get me wrong, that camera gave me tons of great pictures. It's just that the lighting in my old house was horrible, especially if the sun wasn't shining.

Nevertheless, there have been several changes in my life since I last wrote to y'all, many moons ago. My husband graduated cum laude (only one in his program) with a Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering Technology. I quit my job as a newborn nursery/post-partum nurse. We MOVED to Tennessee (which is why I quit my job)!! My hubby started a very promising new job at a company much like the one he was working for in Louisiana. And now, we are living in my in-laws' basement until our house back home sells. I am job-hunting, although I haven't been hitting the applications too hard, until recently anyway. I've now reached the point where I'm over the whole "I don't have to go to work, I can do whatever I want" phase and on to the "I don't have to go to work but I'm bored out of my ever-lovin' mind" phase. Ha!

I have a few promising avenues that I'm praying about but nothing definite yet. I just know that I do NOT want to go back to the 12 hour shift, every-other-weekend, whatever-holiday-they-decide-you-should-work routine. So we'll see where God places me. I'm looking forward to what He has in store for our future!

Y'all have a great day!!

Georgia on my mind

2009-10-03T23:34:00.001-05:00

At the beginning of September, my parents, Nathan, and I took a little trip down to Georgia to see my grandmother. Go-Go, as she's known to me and my sis. It was the first time I'd gotten to see her since my sister, Laura's, wedding 2 years ago and it was a much overdue trip. She's had a rough go of it since my grandpa died a few years ago. She owns a florist shop and business isn't all that great right now. I guess with the economy in the dumps, people are cutting back on frivolities like fresh flower arrangements.

She also had a scare last year when she blacked out in the parking lot of a store and banged her head up pretty bad. To top it off, she later had to have back surgery and my mom went over to stay with her for about 5 weeks while she recovered.

Now, I'm glad to say that her many doctors have given her a clean bill of health as far as the major organs go. Still, I hate the thought of her being so far away and living all alone. Given all of the above, it was so good to get to spend a little time with my spunky grandma.

Oh yes, she may live alone, but she is far from being pitiful. She is still sharp as a tack and witty, too. Can't get much by that one!

While we were there, we ate at a few new-to-us restaurants like Red Robin Cafe (gourmet hamburger joint) and Panera Bread Co. Oh, how I wish we would get a Panera here!! It was so good! We also went down to the River Walk area of downtown. It's so pretty and peaceful. There is a really nice, brick walk-way along the river and it's lit by the lamps you see in the picture below. There's an old mill at the edge of the waterfall that has an antique-y charm. The downtown area was once booming with textile mills and was called Milltown...original, ay?

The other side of the river is actually Alabama!

We had to take a few face shots as well. My honey has his binoculars around his neck so he could see what the guys on the other side of the river were catchin'. Ha!

Go-Go, Daddy, and Nathan

3 generations!

A pretty fountain

I liked the orange of the sign against the old architecture of this church.

We took a drive up to Callaway Gardens one afternoon just before sunset. There's a look-out point and country store that serves really yummy food!

Mama and Go-Go waiting patiently on the rest of us to finish looking at the look-out point!

Pretty flowers at the entrance to the country store

Everybody heading in for some dessert!

It was so homey inside! We got there a little before they closed so I didn't have near enough time to look at everything! No, Laura, I didn't get to read the labels on every jar and book, much to my chagrin!

And that's only one side of the store! I had to put the camera away & eat my apple dumpling before they closed up shop and booted us out!

Our visit was way too short, as always, but it was so good to spend some time with my Go-Go. Hopefully, the next visit won't be so far away!!

I have worms in my fridge

2009-05-28T01:22:00.001-05:00

See them? There amongst the leftover Capri Sun & Honey Buns from our camping trip this weekend...

This is so wrong. Please forgive me, Mama! But my man must have fresh worms for reelin' in those big beauties!

Ick! Let's keep the lid on shall we? Hey Honey...don't you wanna go drown some worms? Please??!!

2 Years of the best Blessing ever!

2009-05-19T17:02:00.001-05:00

On this day 2 years ago, I married the sweetest cutie pie ever. Around this time, my bridesmaids and I were in an upstairs room of the church getting dressed and putting finishing touches on our makeup. I can't believe it's already been 2 years!! It's absolutely flown by! In honor of this momentous day in mine and my hubby's life, I thought I'd post some favorite shots from our special day. I hope you enjoy!

Me & my bridesmaids eating at Strawn's before going to the salon for hair & makeup. All of us are sans makeup!

Hair in progress and seeing my bouquet for the first time! Daddy & his brother, Greg, in the background

Hair and makeup is done! Now on to the church!

Me and my sis with our Dad

Me with Mama

My goofy bridesmaids (Katherine does not have to go to the bathroom--she was just showing off her pregnant belly!)

the stage setting

walking down the aisle

I love this shot!

Our ring-bearer :)

saying our vows

having fun at the reception (which was on the veranda of a Barbecue restaurant!)

about to get my garter yanked ;)

throwing the bouquet...Nathan's sis, Courtney (in black & white) caught it!

our First Dance (please excuse the liquor banner in the background, that was an uh-oh on the restaurant's part!)

walking in the field behind the restaurant...one of my favorites!

leaving the reception

one last shot with friends who are more like family!

We had such a beautiful and fun wedding! Thank you to all our friends who helped out so much! Nathan, I love you forever!!

My Birthday Boy

2009-05-18T11:43:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday, May 14, Nathan turned 27! He's as old as me now!! A fact that he does not like and frequently reminds me that I'll always be older than him, even if it is only by 9 months! Ha!

We had a very low-key celebration since it was a Thursday and Nathan had school that afternoon in Ruston. I cooked supper and a chocolate Butterfinger cake and we had our good friends P & K over to eat with us.

Before we ate, Nathan opened his cards from family and his gift from me. He's intently reading some sweet sentiments...

Nathan requested to eat his dinner on the "Red Plate." It was a wedding gift from some friends of Nathan's dad. It came with a marker to write each special occasion on the back. I think a birthday qualifies as a special occasion, don't you?

After dinner, I pulled the cake out of the fridge... It's iced with Cool Whip and has crushed Butterfinger bars on top and between the layers. Not to mention the Sweetened Condensed milk and caramel ice cream topping that's mixed together and poured all over it. Yum!

I had bought some fun, crazy candles for my sweetie. We put on all 27 and lit 'em up!!! It was so pretty, but the candles melted so fast! We had to hurry BIG TIME!

Nathan turned 27 in a blaze of glory!! At least on the cake anyway! Happy Birthday, Babe! I love you!

Polka Dots make me happy

2009-05-08T18:24:00.001-05:00

A recent trip to Lowe's got me all excited about a new project idea. Rows and rows of gorgeous flowers had my heart beating fast. Then I saw the section overflowing with sweet potato vine. I've wanted some of this forever but never got any because it can get out of control and go everywhere. We already have some ivy that goes its own way no matter how much we try to tame it!

But, that day, when I laid my eyes on that bright green vine it called to me. Begged me to take it home. So, I gave in. I even had the perfect spot picked out for it in my mind...it would brighten up that little bare spot in the front window box so well. I knew I would need to attempt to contain it, though, and that's when the idea hit me.

Why not paint up a pot all cute? With a little spray paint action I could have it done in no time. Thus, the Polka Dot Pot was born!

I got the 14" terra cotta pot and spray paint at Wal-Mart because, hey, it's cheaper than Lowe's!! Don't hate.

It took several coats of primer to get good coverage. That terra cotta soaks up paint like no tomorrow! Oh, and if you're gonna spray paint something, you have GOT to get one of these little trigger thingies. I learned that lesson after I couldn't feel my fingertip for 2 weeks the first time I sprayed something. True story.

I made a polka dot template using my handy quilting mat (for the grid it provided) and used acrylic gloss paint for the dots. It says it's for indoor/outdoor use. We'll see how well it holds up...

Traced my dots using a white paint pen (which was hard to find, by the way). My dots are a little wonky because the pot is curved and my pattern was, um, straight. Now I know for next time, right?

I almost forgot to tell you! I picked out this blue paint because I thought the bright green of the vine would look amazing against the blue. And I got it in a glossy sheen because, duh, I love shiny stuff! However, I think I had to do like 20 million coats before you could even tell that it was glossy. Remember how I said the terra cotta soaks up paint? Yeah.

I filled in my dots with 2 coats of the glossy acrylic, let it dry overnight, and then hauled it outside for a little sealer action. 3 coats of High Gloss spray sealer later, and we were in business. Well, after it dried anyway.

**this stool gets the pleasure of supporting most of my painting projects, hence the weird markings. :)

Add some Miracle Gro potting soil, the sweet potato vine, and a kalanchoe, and voila! You've got yourself a bright little garden jewel!

The kalanchoe is part of the succulent family. I can't wait 'til it's blooms open up!

I love this shot of our window box. Feels like I have my own little cottage garden! I really need to cut that silverleaf back though.

Nathan has had this rose bush for years. It's so pretty and is loaded with blooms every year. Smells divine!

Have a great day, everybody!

Saved by the blood, washed in the water

2009-05-04T12:51:00.001-05:00

On Easter Sunday, Nathan made the decision that he needed to be baptized. He had been studying all week in preparation for leading our Small Group in our study of Malachi. While studying, he had been reading about the temple priests who were doing the Lord's work with blemished hearts and motives. The Lord was angry with the priests for giving Him their second-best offerings and for not leading the people to serve the Lord with sincerity. Take a look at Malachi if you've never read it. The study of it has shown me just how easy it is to let myself become lazy with my service to the Lord!

After leading our small group, Nathan and I went down and participated in a wonderful service. Our good friends, K & P, had come to join us and our pastor, Bro. Scott, spoke about our Lord's death on the cross to pay for our sins. He spoke about the hope that we Christians have while walking this life because of Christ. When the time came for the altar call, Bro. Scott invited anyone that felt the need, to come down to the front and pray. Nathan headed down there, and later told me that he just felt like he had to go. He said that while he was praying, he remembered all the things he had learned while studying for class. And he felt that if he hadn't obeyed God by doing the one thing He asks us to do after accepting Him as our Savior (being baptized), then he was no better than those priests in Malachi!

A little background here: Nathan had accepted the Lord as his Savior while at a summer camp when he was a kid, but had no real discipleship or spiritual guidance at home. So, he grew up remembering the Lord kind of in the back of his mind until he joined the Air Force and moved here to Louisiana. He was never baptized after initially accepting Christ. After he had been here in La for a few years, Franklin Graham (Billy Graham's son), brought his ministry here for a Revival event at our local arena. Nathan, myself, my sister, and several of our friends all attended together. After a simple message from Franklin, there was an altar call. Nathan says he felt the draw to go down and recommit his life to the Lord and really start following Him, but he was hesitant. Fortunately, he whispered this hesitancy to my sister, and being the outgoing girl she is, she said, "Well, go on, and I'll go with you!" So down they went, and Nathan rededicated his life to the Lord.

Well, shortly after that experience, Nathan was deployed to Diego Garcia with the Air Force and, again, the opportunity for baptism slipped away. Life went on and a few years passed. Nathan would occasionally mention that he would like to be baptized, but I suppose it really wasn't in the forefront of either of our minds. Until Easter Sunday, 2009. That's when Nathan decided that the time had come. So, the arrangements were made, and the day for his baptism was set.

April 26, 2009, 11:00 a.m. service!

My parents were there along with several of our friends (even a few watching on TV screens in the nursery!) to be witnesses to Nathan's obedience and to covenant to pray for him in his walk with the Lord. Of course, I was able to get a few pictures of his special day!

This is Bro. Scott pointing out all the friends and family that were standing in the audience to support him! (Bro. Scott asks friends & family to stand during baptism so that the one up there in the dunking booth can see just how many people are promising to encourage & pray for them).

Bro. Scott explaining the ordinance of baptism. Nathan is about to be washed in the water! With this act, he's publicly declaring that he has decided to follow Christ and that his old self is being buried (lowered into the water) and he is rising a new creation (coming up out of the water) to live a new life in Him. Praise God!

Congratulations, Honey! I'm so proud of you!

Note: If you'd like to know more about what baptism is all about, you can click here or here.

Better late than never. Right?

2009-04-24T18:37:00.001-05:00

My friend, Destiny, was so sweet and gave me an award! It's been a few weeks since she asked me to pick it up at her blog, but I'm nothing if not a procrastinator. Also, the nature of the award had me wanting to be able to showcase some type of crafty goodness when I told y'all about the award, but alas, my only project since Christmas is very small and more importantly, not done. So, I decided that if I waited to post about this fun award until I had something to show for it, I would never get around to it. How's that for logic?

Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, Destiny! Please accept my apologies for not putting it on here before now!

The rules of the award state that I should list 7 things that I love and then pass it on to 7 deserving bloggers. Obviously, I love my family, God, and my sugar-pie husband so instead of getting really deep or serious, I thought I'd do a picture list of things that make me smile.

1. Our sweet puppy, Buster

2. The robin's nest on our back porch. She built it and then abandoned it (maybe she's camera shy?) but I loved watching her work!

3. The pretty pinwheel I got from Hobby Lobby. Look closely and you might be able to see rain drops falling!

4. The amaryllis in our backyard garden. It's gorgeous!

5. The Martha Stewart Everyday collection soap dispenser that I got for 5 bucks at K-Mart. I was so excited 'cause those things are usually like $10 or$12! Why that is, I have no idea...

6. The bird feeder on the back porch. I love watching the little birdies out the bathroom & kitchen windows. They're greedy though, I just filled that sucker up 2 days ago!!

7. Ladies, this stuff is AWESOME!! Nathan even loves it! Click on the picture so you can read the name of it and then go getcha some! It has little scrubby beads in it, and when you rub it between your hands to lather, it instantly warms up! So yummy! Feels like a miniature spa visit, right in your own shower. Oh, and it really makes my acne scars look smoother, too! Yes, Aveeno, you're welcome for the free product endorsement.

Okay, now I'm supposed to pass this on to 7 Kreativ bloggers. Here goes...

1. Laura (my little sis)

2. Martha

3. Anna

4. Sharron

5. Jessica

6. Amy

7. Carrie

Come and get 'em, girls! :)

If it hadn't been for the cold, we might've done some good

2009-02-19T12:57:00.002-06:00

Several weekends ago (the day of Jessica's visitation for my local buds), Nathan and I woke up really early and headed out to a fishin' hole that he'd heard was really hot. As in, the fish were biting really well, because it was definitely not hot outside! It was super cold and we both had on ski masks and hunting jumpsuits. It was definitely not my best fashion moment but to be honest, I didn't even care! I was COLD, y'all. Even with all my garb on, the ride out to our destination was mind-numbing. Seriously, you know how when you eat ice cream too fast, you get brain freeze? That's what my poor forehead felt like the whole ride there. Like a million tiny ice picks all flying at my skin at the same time. That wind cut right through the dinky little ski mask I was wearing. And don't even get me started on the hunting gloves of Nathan's that I was wearing. Ha!

Once we got there and got set up, the wind wasn't so bad. It was blowing just enough for Nathan to have to keep his foot on the trolling motor pedal. I brought my camera in hopes of getting some good action or nature shots, but my hands were so dang cold I was afraid to get it out of the case! I just knew I would fumble around too much and drop it or something. I've never been what anyone would call graceful. So anyway, we set up the crappie (read: croppy) poles and had about 8 poles going across the front of the boat. Nathan has these cool crappie rig things that hold 4 poles at a time so you get maximum bite-age. Yeah, I know that's not a word, but it sounded good when I thought of it. ;)

We, along with about 5 other boats, calmly sat in our fishin' chairs waiting for a bite while the wind rocked us gently around the cove. After we had waited a while, we waited some more. Needless to say, the fishin' hole was not hot that day! I think we ended up catching 2 or 3 really small crappie (which we threw back) and a few of our own lines. Towards the end, I started getting antsy, so I decided to be brave and get out the camera. Thankfully, my hands had thawed some and I was fairly confident that the camera wouldn't go flying out of my fingers into the beautiful Louisiana river water. **I hope you all know I'm being sarcastic about the water. It's not beautiful at all, unless you're enamored of Ovaltine.**

I ended up getting a few decent shots, but nothing spectacular. However, in keeping with the tradition of posting pictures along with words, I'll show you what I got. Try to keep in mind that we don't get beautiful winters down here in LA. We get gray and brown foliage along a muddy river mixed with a little haze in the air from the humidity. And said humidity always seems to be trying to decide if it should freeze or rain. That's right, we have noticeable humidity even in the winter. Lucky ones, aren't we? With that in mind, here you go...

One of the many stands of grass, weeds, whatever, that grow along the rock-wall jetties

Some of our bait, otherwise known as minnows, scrambling to be the last one picked for the team

A lonesome little buoy, just hangin' out

Me, in all my get-up, helping hubby load up the boat. What? You can't find me?

See? Here I am!!

And the post wouldn't be complete without a pic of my favorite fisherman! He's so cute! Muah, Sweetie!

'Til next time...Y'all have a great day!

Color in bloom

2009-02-18T16:05:00.006-06:00

Look what my sweet hubby gave me for Valentine's Day! He showed up at my work with these pretty flowers and lunch from Subway! I was so surprised...I was just sitting there charting and all of a sudden I hear a knock on the nursery window. When I opened the door, he peeked around the corner and said "Happy Valentine's Day!" It made my day! But the poor thing was embarrassed 'cause when I gave him a kiss, my head nurse stuck her head in the room and said something like, "Oooh, look who's gettin' some sugar!" Nathan's face turned so red and he didn't stay long after that. Ha! I guess that's why he's not too fond of coming up to my work, all the older ladies like to tease him!

You'll never believe it, but the flowers are still going strong! I've added more water to them once and they seem to show no signs of fading just yet! Nathan asked the florist to add a calla lily to the arrangement since he knows they're my favorite flower. Wasn't that sweet? I thought so! :)

Sittin' pretty in the afternoon sunshine

Isn't this little glittered heart just the sweetest? It reminded me of candy!

Sweet little details on the basket...

Such a beautiful flower!

Have a beautiful day, Y'all!

50mm Miscellaneous

2009-02-10T15:35:00.001-06:00

I'm loving playing around with my camera! I thought I'd share a few random pics taken with my 50mm lens. It makes everything look good, no thanks to me! Oh, and I took the button header pic with it, too! Enjoy! By the way, these are definitely random, ha!

That's all for now! I'll talk to y'all again soon!

2009-02-05T13:42:00.002-06:00

I don't seem to have much inspiration to blog lately, but I decided to play around with my blog look today. I wanted something brighter and more open-feeling and Cutest Blog on the Block always comes through! Oh, and what do you think of my header pic? Funny, huh? I probably won't keep that up there very long but hey, it's different, right? Well, y'all have a great day and I'll see ya sometime soon. Gotta go run some errands! Bye now!

Whoa, oh, oh, Lookin' out my back door...

2009-01-27T18:03:00.001-06:00

We have been invaded around here! Our backyard is always full of little birds fighting over the bird feeder and squirrels rooting around in the grass. I have such a great time watching those little birdies flit around and run here and there! They're so active & inquisitive! Just look how cute they are! And be sure to click on the pics to get a better look!

They spend a lot of time fighting for space on the suet feeder! A fresh suet cake draws a big crowd!

See? So inquisitive!

Look! A pretty little dove coming to check out the little hidden water bowl I set out for the critters.

And I think my favorites are the cute little squirrels with their fat white bellies!

Just at look at that little face! He (or she?) was scratchin' around in the dirt just past our back porch stoop.

See where he scratched up the dirt? Not sure what he was lookin' for, but I thought it was neat!

I hope you enjoyed meeting my little friends! What's in your backyard?

In memory

2009-01-19T09:32:00.001-06:00

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4

I don't quite know what to say this morning. Our beloved pastor, Bro. Scott Teutsch, and his family lost their precious daughter, Jessica, to a car crash Thursday morning. She was on her way to student teach at a middle school in Texas when another driver crossed the center line and hit her car.

I can't wrap my head around the fact that Jessica is really gone from us. It's not real that I won't see her singing with the praise team at church. It's not real that we'll never pass in the hallway and she'll never give me that shy, bright smile again. My heart aches for her family and the friends that loved her so much. We all loved Jessica. Her sweet, gentle spirit and quiet strength compelled us to do so. That was evident at her memorial service, which was filled almost to capacity with people who loved her.

Her family is a strong one, their faith in God tangible. Jessica was, as one of the ministers said, a humble & quiet servant. She learned that from her parents and took it to heart. And, as Bro. Aaron so eloquently said, her life was not lived in vain. In serving others, she served our Lord.

I left her memorial service with a sober heart asking God to reveal to me ways to serve others. I don't want to have lived my life in vain. When the time comes for my memorial service, I want to be remembered for the difference I made in the lives of those I encountered. Not a huge, attention-getting difference. Just a difference that feels personal to each one.

So, this is the hope that we have in Christ. That even though our lives on earth will end, we will yet live to worship the Lord forever in Heaven. Faith in Christ and a desire to make him our personal Lord is all that he requires of us. Jessica is gone from us for a time, but I take comfort in the fact that the moment she drew her last breath in a mangled car in Texas, she sang her first note of praise in Heaven. I pray that all of you who read this also have that hope in Jesus. If not, please feel free to e-mail me with questions. I don't have all the answers, but I am willing to search them out with you.

Please pray for the Teutsch family. Though they know their sweet girl is in Heaven, they are still human and will be going through a hard time adjusting to life without her. I want to leave you all with a favorite verse of Jessica's that really spoke to me at her memorial service...

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8: 38-39

In loving memory

Jessica Elise Teutsch

February 27, 1987 ~ January 15, 2009

A few days late, as usual...

2009-01-12T15:39:00.001-06:00

I have been such a lazy blogger! I haven't posted in weeks and I've just barely managed to make the rounds of keeping up with everybody else! I suppose I got caught up in all the Christmas craziness and work has been super-busy lately too. By the way, if you have any pregnant friends, you should probably go visit them in the hospital. I'm almost positive that every local pregnant woman has delivered in the last week...at my hospital!

Our Christmas was wonderful, the only thing that would have made it better is if my little sis & her husband had been with us. Don't worry though, she sent us a couple pictures that made it feel like she was there. Ok, so it didn't feel like she was there at all, the pictures just made us cry! Thanks a lot, Laura!

We had Christmas with Mama & Daddy on Christmas Eve and ate way too much. Here's a few pics of us opening gifts.

Silly Daddy!

Sweet smile, Mama!

Uh-oh! He's hooked! (that's an ornament shaped like a fishing lure)

I love my necklace, Sissy!

Then, on Christmas morning, Nathan and I couldn't wait to open our presents so we jumped out of bed at 5:30 a.m. and ran to the living room. Actually, I stumbled in there while Nathan was hollering enthusiastically for me to "get outta that bed!" He likes to be all happy and bouncy (translation: loud) in the mornings while I cringe at the sound of a light being switched on!

Anyway, we huddled on the couch together while Nathan read the story of Jesus' birth from Luke. We prayed and gave thanks for the bounty that God has blessed us with, and then we took turns opening our gifts. Nathan did an amazing job with my gifts. Thank you Sweetie! He got me a gray peacoat that is so cute, an electric Dewalt hand sander (sometimes a girl needs her own tools), and....are you ready for this?...a Canon EOS 50d SLR camera with 2 zoom lenses!!! Ahhhhhh! I cried when I opened it. I had fallen in serious like with my friend Martha's 50d and told Nathan that was the only thing on my Christmas list. Well, we talked about it and decided that since it was not a cheap camera, that we would wait and save for it. So, I had my mind all set that I was not getting the camera for at least 6 months and I tried to shove it to the back of my mind. When I opened up that box and saw it sitting there, I was completely overwhelmed and blubbered out a heart-felt thank you on my sweet husband's shoulder. My Dad chipped in on the camera,too, so I was sure to tell him thank you when we went over for Christmas dinner!

Needless to say, we had tons of fun playing with it that day. I think I have about 100 pictures of each of my living room's decorations since I was playing with all the different settings. We went out to the waterfowl reserve on the Air Force Base and took lots of pictures of the ducks milling around out there. Nathan likes the camera just as much as me, he would hardly let me have it while we were out at the reserve! Check out some of the neat pics we got, or should I say, shot? :)

Let's go, Ashlie!

Every hunter's home away from home

Look at that sunshine!

We spooked them a little

Birds of a feather flock together

Flyin' high

Handsome pose, Baby!

A trail less traveled

I'm lovin' my new camera! I'm half-way through the instruction manual (yes, I'm one of those nerds) and I play with it every chance I get. Oh, and is it just me, or does anyone else feel like they should have pretty nails when they handle a pretty camera? I've painted my nails three times since I got it. I just feel like my hands should be pretty to match the camera! I know, I'm weird. Oh well, at least I'm a weirdo with pretty paws!

I hope all of you had wonderful Christmases. I just took our decorations down this week! Ha! I put them up late, so I felt like they needed to stay up a little later too. Y'all have a great day now, ya hear?

2008-12-24T10:37:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas, Y'all! Things at my house are still going full speed in preparation for Christmas dinner and dinner with my folks tonight. I hope you too are anticipating a wonderful Christmas with your families!

As for me, the out-of-town packages have been sent and all the remaining gifts are wrapped & hanging out under the tree. The last couple of weeks have been a blur of crazy-business at work, decorating for Christmas, and finding something special for all my loved ones. This year, instead of spending tons of money and breaking the bank to buy gifts, I tried to remember that how much you love someone is not measured by how much you spend on them. This was hard for me because I feel the need to lavish lots of presents on everyone! But, I'm trying to keep in mind that Christmas is not supposed to focus on the number of boxes and bags under the tree! In that spirit, I fashioned several handmade gifts for a few of the people on my list. Y'all, I hope you like them!

I have to make a last-minute run to Wal-Mart for provisions, so I'll say goodbye for now. Take the time this evening and tomorrow to truly cherish the loved ones around you. Thank the Lord for sending His son to be born in a manger so that we might live in mansions. Merry Christmas!

Maybe mice aren't always icky

2008-12-05T23:57:00.006-06:00

Remember how in one of my recent posts I told you all that I'm having fun with felt these days? Well, today I got to visit with my new-found friend for a good chunk of creative craft time. And since it is the Christmas season, what better to make than an ornament? Nothing, I say.

It also helped that I needed an ornament for an o-swap (sorry, tired of typing "ornament") that was occurring tonight. At a Bunco party. A game that I have only heard of in passing, yet not ever participated in. Which was actually really fun and not too taxing on my strategy-deficient brain. If I have to think about more than one or two things at a time while playing a game, then forget it. If I have to think about those things and-be-quick-about-it? Nah. I might as well hang it up!

So anyway, I spent a chunk of my time today with my friends the needle and thread. Oh, how I love them! My sweet hubby actually came up with the idea for this ornament. I asked him on Thursday night, "Sweetie, I want to make an ornament for the Bunco party but I don't know what shape I should make. What do you think?" At this point, I expected a glassy stare and a "Huh?" To my surprise, however, he immediately spouted, "I think you should make a mouse. Holding a chocolate chip cookie."

Wha??!!

Genius, darlin', just genius!

And I commenced to fashioning a big, fat mouse holding a chocolate chip cookie. And since it IS the Christmas season, which abounds in all things sparkly, I made his belly out of white felt covered in glitter. Which you will probably not be able to see in the ensuing photos. Oh, well. Just use your imagination. Or go look at the felt display at Hobby Lobby. Whichever is easiest for you.

Without further ado, here is "Sweet Cheese".....

Her whiskers are floral wire painted black! Thanks for the idea, Sis!

Back view, with a little surprise....

The ONLY mouse allowed in my kitchen. How do you think she snitched that cookie in the first place?

What she's made of: embossed felt, pillow stuffing, blanket stitching (love it 'cause it's so versatile!), one big jingle bell on the inside (for some fun), two tiny pink buttons for eyes, and the aforementioned floral wire for whiskers. The pattern for the ball shape came from Grand Revival Designs (look in the sidebar under 'free patterns'). All other embellishments came from my crazy mind. Except for the whiskers, those were from Laura's crazy mind!

I hope you're all having fun getting ready for the Holiday! I still don't have a tree up but I. Will. Not. Stress. About. It. Nor will I stress about the fact that I only have 2 gifts bought. I always work better under pressure anyway! Ha! Have a great day, Y'all!

I really must have too much time on my hands!

2008-12-04T12:38:00.006-06:00

Hello everybody! Guess what I'm doing right now? Sitting at home typing at you, that's what!

I'm actually supposed to be working today, but I was put on call this morning. And I called work to see what the possibilities of me getting called in were, and they said it probably won't happen. Woo hoo! Although, if I did get called in, I would be making time and a half. So, it's good either way, I guess.

Anyway, I've been playing around on the computer and I found the neatest thing! I get e-mails from Better Homes & Gardens about decorating ideas and projects. Through one of them, I found a little site where you can make your own virtual snowflake! It's so neat! And you can even add a Christmas message to it when you're done. If you want to go to the site and look up my snowflake, there's even a place to click on and find it! Ha! Who would've ever thought?! To find my flake, just type in my name (Ashlie, duh) and my location (Louisiana). Oh, and since I already looked it up, and saw that there's another "Ashlie from La", you might want to put in the first line of my message, which is "this was so fun!" There are already several million of them and it's so fun to look through them. Although I realize that nobody has enough time on their hands to look at 7 million snowflakes!

Oh, and if you make one, be sure to let me know so I can go admire your handiwork!!

****On a completely un-related note, Catherine Holman, painter extraordinaire, is having a giveaway on her blog. She's giving away the cutest little Christmas Cupcake painting you ever did see. And just to give you a sneak peek, here it is...

Head on over to her blog and enter to win. Or don't, because then I'll have a better chance of scoring it! Ha!

Welcome back, December!

2008-12-02T13:49:00.001-06:00

Well, y'all, my blog is all decked out for the holidays, but my house has yet to get the same attention. Hopefully, that will change this evening. Hubby and I are gonna have chicken & sausage jambalaya for supper and then deck the halls. Should be fun with the local Christmas station playin' on the radio. And this year is going to be low-key as far as the tree goes. We had a real tree last year but decided not to get one this year. And I don't want to pay full price for a faux one, so I'm going to wait until after the holidays and try to get one on sale.

Don't worry, though, we won't be completely tree-less. I have a topiary tree that I used in my wedding and I plan on sprucing it up for the season. I'm gonna try something different this year and make a Christmas vignette. I have a picture in my head of what I want it to look like. We'll see if I can bring it to life!

I'm just starting to get into the Christmas groove. I just can't bring myself to even think about Christmas until December actually gets here. I know lots of people start decorating in the middle of November, but well, that's not gonna happen in my house. Not with the procrastinate-itis I've had since birth. I'm doing good if I get the goodies up by mid-December! Oh well, it stays up 'til January anyway!

So, since I don't have any Christmas pretties to show y'all yet, I thought I'd give you a peek at what's been inspiring me lately. Here's a little photo show-and-tell...

A 3-layer yellow cake with chocolate frosting and fall leaves sprinkles; recipe for the cake came from Bakerella. Yum!

A cardinal ornament made from felt and corduroy. A jingle bell & a little stuffing on the inside give it a little pizzazz!

Blanket stitching around the edges holds it together and double French knots give him his eyes. He was a gift for Martha. I hope you like him!

The ingredients for a new Christmas project!

My sweet Mama made us an Advent Bag! You open a bag each night and it has a verse and some treats. Fun! Thanks, Mama!

I'm having fun with felt these days. The possibilities are endless with this stuff!

Buttons, and glitter, and beads, Oh My! What can I make next? I love stash-building!!

Have a lovely day, y'all! Now, I'm off to work on that Christmas project! Mmm, fun!

2008-11-26T23:45:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

You look like a turkey,

And smell like one too!!

I hope y'all have a wonderful day full of food, family, and friends. Don't feel bad about eating too much. God knows it's a requirement on this day, and therefore waives the rule about not being a glutton. Just for one day, though. What you do with the leftovers is on your conscience, not mine.

That said...Eat! Drink (non-alcoholic drinks, of course)! And be merry!

This is the kind of thing you only hear about happening to other people

2008-11-23T17:54:00.002-06:00

My family and I were side-swiped by a HUGE blessing on Friday.

The morning started out normally, until I read my mom's text that said, "Ash, call me as soon as you get up. I have a problem I need advice for." I immediately thought, "this can't be good." I mean, what does my mom need advice from her daughter for? She's the one with all the wisdom, right?

So, I called her right away and she said there was something wrong with her eye. A floaty thing in her left eye that darted back and forth when she turned her head. And she'd been seeing the floaty thing for about a day. Uh. Oh. A floater? That could be really bad news. When I had my Lasik surgery back in April, the doctor told me to call immediately if I ever saw any floaters because they can be a sign of retinal detachment. Which, hello! That can lead to BLINDNESS!

Why is she seeing a floater dart around in her eye, you ask? Well, she's had a monstrously bad sinus infection-slash-bronchitis for about a week now. And apparently she's been coughing hard enough to tear a hole in her retina! Yikes!

Naturally, when she asked me to call my eye doctor and see if they could fit her in, I got right to it. The doctor's office agreed to work her in at 1:30 pm and I breathed a sigh of relief that she'd be seen that day. When I got there, my parents were already in the exam room with the doc and I came in on the tail-end of a conversation which contained the words, "Laser surgery...today...can not wait... must be done today...you came in early enough..." You get my drift? I think the doctor was adamant that it be taken care of that day, don't you? Oh, and in case you think I'm callus enough to show up late for such an important appointment, just know that my dad misunderstood the time I told them and my parents got there like 30 minutes early.

So, the doc told her assistant to call the local state hospital's eye clinic and let them know that my mom was coming right over and needed to be seen ASAP. Except that nobody was answering the telephone at the state hospital's eye clinic. Maybe they were all out to lunch. Or maybe they decided to start the weekend a little early. It was 2 pm on a Friday after all. Whatever the case was, the doctor eventually found out that the retinal specialist wouldn't even be there until Wednesday, which would clearly be too late. You know, seeing how my mom had a hole in her retina and all.

We ended up going right down the street to a privately practicing retinal specialist's office. And by private practice, I mean expensive. Don't you love the medical field's code words? Anyway, we waited for what seemed like forever but really wasn't, only to find out that Mama did need laser surgery today. Then, we waited another forever while I tried to remember that they were fitting us in and all the other people there already had appointments. To make matters worse, there were absolutely NO magazines in any of the waiting rooms. Just some decorative books that looked like they came from the thrift store. But then, if you're there to see a retinal specialist, I guess you can't really read a magazine, huh? And I'm sure the doctor doesn't mind saving a penny or two on magazine subscriptions.

Swerving back from the sidetrack...the actual laser procedure took about 15-20 minutes and Mama said it just felt like somebody was thumping her lightly in the eye. Gotta love those numbing drops! We walked up to the front desk to check out and my Dad asked the dreaded question, "So will y'all send us a bill?" And do you know what that receptionist said?

"There will be no charge today, sir."

What?!?! No charge? You mean, as in, we don't have to pay for the laser that just karate-kicked the hole in my mom's retina? For real?! Praise the Lord!!

Yes, it's true. We didn't have to pay a dime for that saint of a doctor's time and service. Apparently, he doesn't go to Mexico or overseas on mission trips and chooses instead to do his good deeds right here in our town. That came straight out of the receptionist's lips, y'all. And if I wasn't afraid of wackos knowing exactly where I live, I'd shout that retinal specialist's name all over this blog. Suffice it to say that, Dr. B, you are the man!!

So, next time you're questioning whether or not human kindness is just a fondly recalled myth, remember our story. And remember that even though they don't get front-page status very often, many followers of Jesus are still out there just trying to be His hands and feet in a really mean, uncaring world.

"He who is generous will be blessed..." Proverbs 22:9a

Yay! It's Kelly's Bloggy Baby Shower Day!

2008-11-17T14:07:00.001-06:00

Jenna, Faith, and Heather are throwing Kelly a baby shower today and we're all invited! Click on the link to Jenna's blog to mingle with the attendees!

Kelly's blog was one of the first ones I found when I started my own blog about a year ago. Her cute layout and fun personality had me hooked from the start! I've been keeping up with her almost daily since I found her (she updates way more frequently than I do!) because her blog is such a fun place to be! There are yummy recipes to try, super-cute outfits to see, sweet friends, and encouraging words from the Lord. Even in the midst of a very real and very emotionally draining struggle with infertility, Kelly kept her eyes on the Lord and her faith in Him was unwavering. She claimed Ephesians 3:20 as her promise from God, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us..."

And we were all so ecstatic when she announced on her blog that she was, indeed, pregnant!! Kelly, and her husband Scott, had waited for that day with great anticipation and it was finally here! Yay! Praise you, Lord!

See their huge smiles? Yep, they're happy alright! Actually, they were at a Razorback game supporting their beloved team, but you know little Harper Brown wasn't too far from their minds. Oh, did I forget to mention that they're having a girl? That's right, they're having a sweet little girl who is going to be every bit as beautiful as her parents. She's already got a gorgeous room waiting on her and it's filled to the brim with all kinds of pink frilly stuff! There's even some zebra and giraffe thrown in for a little extra sass. She will be a very stylish baby, that's for sure!

Kelly, thank you for sharing your life with all of us bloggers. I have so enjoyed getting to know you and your family. And, it has been a pleasure to pray with you through your struggles. Each time I open up your blog, I am blessed in some way. I pray that Harper arrives safely into your arms and that her presence fills you and Scott with a joy like you've never known. Enjoy this day to honor you and your precious baby. God bless you!

"I have prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him." 1 Samuel 1:27

It's her official debut, so be kind, please

2008-11-13T09:41:00.001-06:00

The sewing project I mentioned in my last post? It is done! Finished. Finito! I wasn't able to finish it before church on Sunday morning but I made a lot of head-way and got it done late that evening. Late, as in, 1:00 Monday morning! And I had to work, so I was going on 4 hours of sleep! It was so worth it, though! I have lots of pictures to illustrate the process (well, some of it. I got impatient) so lets get to it.

I found an entire yard of zebra print suede-like fabric in the remnant section of Hobby Lobby awhile back. At the time, I had no idea what I would make with it, but I was 900% positive I could find a use for it at some point. This fabric was just too fabulous to pass up! Scrumptious, even!

Then, at JoAnn Fabrics (I'm sorry Hobby Lobby. I'm not cheating on you, I swear! You'll always be my first love!) I picked up several fat quarters in various blue patterns. Once I brought these new pretties home, it hit me! A purse! I shall make a zebra purse with blue lining! And I'll use the fusible fleece that was supposed to be used for our stockings last year as the interfacing! And I'll put a zippered pocket in the lining even though I've never even looked twice at a zipper that wasn't already sewn in something! Oh, and I'll put one of those magnetic clasps in there too! Oh boy, I can't wait to get started on this purse!

Yeah, excitement & enthusiasm will only get you so far, ladies. Once I came down off my creative high, I realized I had no idea how to put in a zippered pocket, a magnetic clasp, or interfacing! Therefore, I commenced to researching the process. I typed in "how do I sew a zippered pocket in the lining of a purse?" (not joking) into Google and this is what I found. Autum, from Creative Little Daisy, has several amazing tutorials. It was exactly what I was looking for, and even had pictures!! Yay! I am such a visual learner. You can try to tell me what to do all day long and all you'll get is a blank look with an occasional nod. But, you give me a picture, and watch out! Sista's goin' to town!!

I started out by using the measurements from one of my favorite purses to make a pattern. I just rolled out some parchment paper and used the measurements on my cutting mat as a guide. I wanted a not-quite-rectangular shape so the bottom is 18" wide, the top is 16" wide, and it's 12" tall. I like 'em big, y'all.

Then, I ironed my fat quarters and pinned the pattern in place.

I cut it out and voila! The lining is born!

I did the same with the outer fabric. I get excited all over again just looking at it!

Next, I laid my pieces onto the fusible fleece and cut it out. I had to be careful because that stuff can shimmy around on you even when it's pinned! I fused the fleece to the fabric, which was kind of frustrating, because you can't have the iron too hot or it will melt your fabric. And you can't let the iron touch the fusing medium cause your iron will become gross and sticky and have to be washed with soap 500 times. And you have to go slow and count to 10 another 500 times while pressing really hard with the iron or it won't stick to the fabric. Yes, experience is the best teacher.

Once all the pieces were fused, I cut a 1.5" square out of the bottom corners of the lining & outer fabric. This is to make a gusset, which will help the purse stand up on its own. I cut out a 9"x14" rectangle from a contrasting blue fabric for the zippered pocket. I'm not going to go into all the details because I only took a few pics of the process. If you want to see exactly what I did, and I mean exactly, then go check out Autum's tutorial.

Here's a closer look at the 0.5"x7" rectangle I drew for the zipper opening. You may have to click on it to get a good gander.

The zipper opening all sewn and pressed. Isn't it purty?

The zipper in its place. Autum said to use fusible tape to hold the zipper in place while sewing, and I do believe that's the best tip I've ever gotten! That stuff rocks!

And...the pocket open. See the little polka-dots? Gotta love 'em!

Okay, so this is where I got impatient and just wanted to get it done. I don't have step-by-step pics anymore so you'll just have to settle for the end product. I'm sorta glad, though, because if you could see what the top seam looks like on the inside, you would be scared. Let's just say a zig-zag stitch combined with about 3 inches of fabric and a needle on its last legs makes for a less-than-tidy look. Good thing all is well on the outside! Ha!

I needed pockets on the inside for my cell phone and card wallet, so I whipped one up out of the same polka-dot fabric and used a little Pellon Craft Fuse to give it some oomph. Oh, and see the magnetic clasp? Super easy. I just followed the instructions on the package!

All my stuff. This is stream-lined, mind you.

The straps. Those little tabs connecting the D-rings to the straps were, oh, how should I put this? A pain in the patooty! But only because I'm a genius and didn't exactly follow the directions. And, I didn't realize I didn't follow the directions until all four of them were done. I tried to fix one but only made it worse. Thankfully, you can't tell I had technical difficulties. Can you?

The finished bag. Oh, how I heart her.

That little silver button is actually the center of the black velvet bow. See?

**Never mind all my clutter. I can't make stuff and be tidy at the same time.**

Maybe this is better? I really hope you can see it. I know it's hard since it's such dark ribbon. But did I mention it's velvet? Fabulous, I tell you!

Okay, now where can I go today so I can wear my sweet little purse on my arm? And what should I wear so we'll coordinate? Hmm, I'm gonna go peruse my closet. And I think Hobby Lobby is having a sale on some stuff I need *ahem, want*. Y'all have a great day, now!

Achoo! God bless you!

2008-11-09T05:04:00.002-06:00

Me, that is. God bless me since I'm the one sitting here trying not to sneeze and let nose juice run down my face.

We had a Sunday School party last night and the hosts had 2 weenie dogs, dachshunds is the proper name, I believe. Don't get me wrong, these little dogs were super cute and I would puppy-sit any time. It's just that some animals wreak havoc on my allergies. It's crazy, really, because I live with an enormous black lab and he doesn't mess up my sinusoidal cavities at all. And my in-laws have 2 cats, whom I couldn't even tell were there, when we stayed at their house for a week this summer. But you put me in a room with rabbits, or certain breeds of dogs, and watch out! Here come the wheezy, sneezy, snot works!

So naturally, by the time we left D & A's house last night, I had that deep-down wheeze goin' on that made me sound like a smoker begging for one last drag. And this morning I awoke to a constant tickle in my nose that has me keeping a box of tissues close at hand. Good thing the box is cute (it's covered in Gerber daisies) or I'd already be getting tired of this. Hey, y'all think about me today whenever you're able to look at a light without sneezing, ok? I'd appreciate it. Meanwhile, I'm off to try and finish a sewing project before church this morning. It is only 5 am after all.

Oh, and by the way, we had a great time fellowshiping with all our Sunday School peeps last night! I don't want y'all to think the night was a bust or anything. The hostess fixed 985 appetizers which were all delicious (my fave were the green bean fries from TGIF's). My hubby fried some awesome fish/hush puppies/french fries. And we laughed non-stop. I love gettin' together with friends. I just wish we weren't all so busy so we could do it more often! We missed y'all that weren't able to make it!

Have a great day, y'all. And don't forget to think about me when you look at those lights!

First Down and Found

2008-11-08T09:29:00.001-06:00

After my last post about the amazing concert we went to got a little long, I decided I should break that post up into a couple bite-size posts. I just didn't think that telling you about my hubby's first buck of the season went very well with tales of Christian band good-ness and starving children. Although, I'm sure those starving children would be very grateful for a bite or two of Nathan's grilled venison tenderloin...yum!!

Yep, on his very first day out hunting this season he brought home a 10-point buck. The antlers of which are lying on the recliner waiting to find their new home on one of our walls. They've been cleaned, of course, and just need to be mounted on one of those antler-mounting-thingys you can get from Bass Pro Shops.

He was so excited! He called me at 7:15 that morning and I just knew he'd fallen out of his tree stand or something. I don't think too clearly when being woken up out of a dead sleep, ok? I said, "Are you okay?!" and he said, "Yeah, but the buck's not!" At that point I got really excited for him, all while exclaiming & proclaiming in a whisper. Hey, he was whispering so it was my natural instinct to whisper as well. He shot the deer with a crossbow he had borrowed from his boss and apparently it was "like shootin' ducks in a barrel" (his words). After we hung up, I promptly fell back asleep for a few hours and that afternoon he came home with this...

The serious hunter pose...

My personal favorite...gorgeous man + nice buck = great picture!

That afternoon we took the deer out to a processing shop in my parents' neighborhood after stopping by Mama & Daddy's to show off the goods, of course! They were duly impressed but also a little grossed out, I think. Ha! We got the meat back about 4 days later and had those grilled venison tenderloins for supper a few nights ago. Nathan had marinated them all day in some kind of concoction and they were absolutely delicious! Better than the steak at Outback even! And venison is a very lean meat so it was even good for us!

After all the excitement on Saturday, you'd think we would be ready for a quiet Sunday, but it turned out to be busy too! We had church in the morning, and we drove separately because Nathan went early to set up chairs and I had a wedding shower to go to after church. I ended up driving all the way back home after church anyway because my high heels were killing my feet, the weather warmed up more than I anticipated and I was burning up in my fleece sweater, and I needed to go to Wal-Mart to get a gift card! Whew! After rescuing my feet and braving the Sunday afternoon madness at Wal-Mart, I headed to the shower where I got to "ooh" and "ahh" over all the pretty gifts. The yummy shower food and getting to chat with friends was a plus, too.

After the shower, Nathan and I had to run an errand and on the way home I saw that several people had already put their trash out for Monday. In our town, the trash guys will pick up anything you put out so I always keep my eyes peeled for trash that I can turn into treasure. I had never seen anything I wanted to save until that day. We pulled over and I hopped out to put it in the truck bed just as the owner was coming around his truck to walk his dog! Talk about embarrassing! Not only was I dumpster diving, but I got caught!! Eeek! I calmly asked the man,"Do you mind if I take this?" (I knew he wouldn't care since it was in his trash pile, but I had to say something instead of standing there like an idiot!) And of course he said, "Sure, go ahead. It's a nice...chair." Were you getting antsy wondering what I was risking my dignity for? Ha!

It is a nice little chair. Slightly uneven legs, a seat that completely comes off, and a paint job that's decent but dirty. What does that spell? POTENTIAL, my friends. There's no telling when I'll get around to potentializin' (I just made that word up & spell checker is having a cow) it, but you'll be the first to see it when I do. What do y'all think? Leave it brown and paint antiqued white over it, then sand it so the brown shows through? Or should I paint it red, then black to have red show through after sanding? Help me out and give a girl some suggestions! It could also be a cute little plant stand since the seat is just laid on the frame and comes completely off. Oh, the options! How will I ever decide?

Unexpected Blessing

2008-11-07T11:35:00.001-06:00

A couple of weekends ago we got an unexpected blessing. A friend of our's called Nathan at work to say that he had 2 extra tickets to see Mercy Me in concert if we'd like to go. Of course we decided to drop all of our Friday night plans to go see one of the most popular contemporary Christian bands ever. Actually, we had absolutely nothing going on and it was a double blessing just to look forward to going somewhere. Sad, huh? We like to keep things low-key around here.

We got to the church where they were playing in time to park a million miles away and walk uphill in the pouring rain just to get in the doors. No, not really. I would totally have made Nathan drop me off at the door if it had been pouring rain. But we did have to walk quite a-ways! Once we were inside, we found our friends and our seats, which were really good, and waited for all the wonderful-ness to begin. And let me just say that before we got to the concert, I had been having one of those blah days where I was happy to be going to the concert but not super-excited. You know, one of those days where you don't want to stay at home but you can't think of anything to do or anywhere to go that would just make you jump up and down? That was me on Friday. I can't believe I forgot how much concerts, especially Christian concerts, touch my heart and pump me up! This was probably the 4th time I've seen M.M. live, and every time it's amazing. And in case you've never heard of them, they have a song called "I Can Only Imagine" that you've probably heard on secular radio.

Mercy Me's opener was Bebo Norman, whom I was not very familiar with, but now love. In a I-can-listen-to-that-song-all-day kind of way. He sang with just his guitar and his back-up-buddy-musical-genius friend and it was amazing! He has a great voice but he sealed himself into my heart when his back-up guy broke out the dulcimer. There's just something magical about that instrument, I think.

So since I was having a wonderful time worshiping the Lord, I had to take pictures to share with all of you. Hopefully, some of the moment will come through so you can feel it too. Remember to click on the pics if you want a better view.

This is Bebo and his back-up guru praisin' the Lord.

Back-up guy playing the dulcimer while the crowd sings along. I love when the whole crowd is lifting their voices in song!

Mercy Me's lead singer, Bart, sharing something riveting with us. Probably about how his son has Juvenile Diabetes and asked his dad one day, "How come we can't send doctors to the poor kids all over the world who need them?", which led to Mercy Me creating a foundation called Imagine a Cure that helps do just that. Told you it was riveting!

Rockin' out for Jesus!

This was so cool. They had a Q&A time and Bebo went out into the crowd to hold the microphone for the fans who had questions. We found out how they got their name, how Bebo got his name, what their favorite songs to sing were, and other interesting tid-bits. See on the big screen there? That's Bebo with a guy wanting to know how he can get closer to Jesus. Awesome!

Up close and personal...

The crowd listening intently to this guy's question...

Mercy Me and Bebo both work closely with Compassion International, which is an organization that provides financial & spiritual support to impoverished children all over the world. For only $32 dollars a month you can sponsor a child and help provide clean water, food, education, and love to a little kid who might be otherwise forgotten about. Nathan and I sponsor 2 kids through World Vision which is another organization along the same lines. If you're interested in sharing your wealth, then click on the links and help somebody! Oh, and if you're saying to yourself, "I'm not wealthy!" just know that if you didn't have to worry about where you'd sleep last night or what you'd eat today, then you're one of the wealthiest people in the world. That's pretty sobering if you ask me! And don't feel guilty if you can't do it right now. It's not about guilt, it's about a desire to be the hands and feet of Jesus in places that most of us will never go.

P.S. If you want to read some stories from someone who is getting first-hand experience in what Compassion Int. does, go read Big Mama's blog. She's in the Dominican Republic right now with Compassion workers!

P.S.S. I think this is a record for number of links I've put in one post! Have fun clicking through them! There's some neat stuff there. I know, because it's taken me almost 2 hours to write this post! I had to look around and make sure I was sending y'all to the right places! *wink*

Excuse me while I get the sock fuzz out of my mouth...

2008-10-31T16:05:00.002-05:00

Pleh! Blech! Pleh!

That's me spitting the fuzz out of my mouth from where I just about swallered my foot!

I hate when I do that. Stick my big ol' fuzzy-sock-covered foot in my mouth, that is.

Last night I stopped by the Circle K for an after-dinner treat (because we are fans of treats around here) and that's when it happened. I was standing in line to check out and noticed that the cashier was a young man with a very jovial personality. I was in a good mood, since I was getting a yummy King Cone, and thought I'd exchange some friendly banter with said cashier. I noticed that his name tag said "Semaj." See if you can tell where this is going.....

I jokingly said, "Is your name really 'James'?!"

**I know y'all have seen the silly names that crazy teenagers sometimes put on their name tags, right?**

The poor guy gives me a semi-pained smile and says, "No, it's 'Semaj'- James spelled backwards." What could I do but just give a deflated and simple, "Oh." I felt like such an insensitive moron!! The poor guy probably gets that all the time. But, he was very gracious about the whole thing and even gave me a very sweet, "Have a nice evening!"

What was his mama thinking?! It's not the worst name I've seen, 'cause in my line of work you see some crazy ones, but it was definitely a contender for the "poor little thing" category. It's a good thing he has a great personality, 'cause a name like that could really put you on the defensive, ya know?

Next time, I'll just keep my mouth shut!! That way, my sock fuzz will stay on my socks and some poor soul's feelings will be spared. Y'all try to learn from my mistake, ya hear? Wouldn't want you choking on your own fuzz!

Not your everyday tag

2008-10-25T16:54:00.001-05:00

I've done tags before where I had to tell little-known facts about myself or things that I love/like/dislike etc. But this tag from JuJu required a little more thought. I'm supposed to tell 3 things that I love about myself! The three things can be physical or personality traits.

I don't know about you, but this is kind of hard to do! I don't spend much time pondering what I love about myself. So, after a few days of mulling it over, here's what I came up with.

1) I love that I am a good listener and my friends (sometimes even strangers!) feel comfortable confiding in me.

2) I love that I am sentimental and keep random things just because of who gave it to me or what the object meant to me at a certain point in my life.

3) I love that I am dorky and have several quirks that make my husband and family roll their eyes. Life is more fun when you can laugh at yourself!!

Okay, I'm going to pass this tag on to a few beautiful women. Take a few minutes to appreciate yourself! Thanks for this great tag, JuJu!

There are far too many beautiful women on my blog list to tag, so if you'd like to do this, feel free!! Let me know when you post it so I can come give you props!

Go rest high on that mountain, Daniel.

2008-10-22T22:12:00.002-05:00

My heart is heavy tonight. This dear man went home to be with the Lord today around 4 pm. He fought a short but hard battle with cancer and won the victory today. Not in the way you might imagine, his body was not cured, but his spirit was set free. Free to be with Jesus forevermore.

I haven't seen Daniel in years but he's one of those people that you never forget. I'll always remember his huge smile and ready laugh. The sound of his voice raised in song is something I'll treasure forever. This was a man who made impressions on everyone he met. Impressions that last a lifetime. Go look at his blog and read the comments from all the people who love him, then maybe you'll get a sense of who he was. He was a man who deserves to be remembered.

He wanted everyone he met to know that Jesus loves them and died on the cross to give them a second chance at true life. And if he wasn't sure if someone was a believer, he'd ask! That is cause for awe in my timid mind. I pray that I can be as bold for my Jesus as Daniel was. Do you know Jesus? Do you want to know Jesus? My fervent prayer tonight is that you'd seek Him out and listen for His voice. Find a Bible and read it. Talk to Him and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Ask someone you know who is a Christian about Him. If you feel uneasy or uncomfortable with where you are in life, it's probably because Jesus is tugging on your heartstrings. He's asking you to follow Him. Please, don't turn your back and walk away. For Daniel's sake. For your sake.

The secret's out!!

2008-10-21T00:39:00.001-05:00

No. I'm not pregnant. Let me just squelch your excitement now.

I'm talking about a project I was working on that I couldn't show y'all until now. You see, I made a Ragamuffin Garland to send to my sister and I didn't want her to see it before it arrived in the mail! That would have defeated my whole intention of sending her some unexpected Happy Mail.

Once again, this is a copycat project, which I found on the ever-creative Darlene's blog. In case you didn't know, I am not above copying other people's creative ideas. We can't always come up with masterpieces on our own, now can we?

Anyway, this was a super simple craft and really fun to make. I made one to send to my Sis and of course I had to make one for myself. I'm a little selfish that way. Our two garlands were slightly different but don't worry, I'll show you both of them! Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Let's get started...

I painted my wooden letters "Antique White" so they'd have a good base for the Mod-Podge.

I bought fall scrapbook paper to decoupage onto the letters. Don't forget to scrape the bubbles out!!

After they were all mod-podged, I trimmed the paper really close to the edges and sanded it down the rest of the way to give an aged look.

The backs of the letters got some distressing with brown paint. They have to look good from both sides, ya know!

I used some cafe rod clips (from Wal-Mart) & hot glue to attach the ribbon hangers. My handy little upholstery tacks (with most of the post clipped off) served as a finishing touch and hid the blobs of hot glue.

I had several fat quarters in my fabric stash and I bought some seasonal fabric on sale from Hobby Lobby. I tied some fall leaf buttons to the end of the thin brown ribbon. I found several cute rolls of ribbon on sale that I used as well. I cut them all into strips with pinking shears. My strips were about 8 to 10 inches long and 1 to 1.5 inches wide. Honestly though, after the first few pieces of fabric, I just started to eyeball it. I was a little impatient. Oh well, it turned out well in the end. I may just tear all the fabric next time. My hand was aching after all that cutting!!

I forgot to take a picture of the jute string I used to tie the ribbon onto, but it came in a big skein from Wal-Mart. You can get it at any craft store, though. I measured where I wanted to hang the garland and then I tied a loop in each end of my jute string. Hmmm, I guess I also forgot to take a pic of the actual tying process too. Oh well, here's what I did...I tied on a piece of fabric (just a single knot) to the string and pushed it up tight against the loop at the end. Make sure you slide it over the tail of the loop. Then I alternated tying on fabric, ribbon, fabric, ribbon, etc. Push all the pieces up really tight against each other so the garland will be full & fluffy. At the end of each round of fabric/ribbon, I tied on a ribbon with a button at the end. They hang down and give it a little somethin' extra. I added all my hanging doo-dads when I was done tying all the pieces to the string. You could use curtain clips that slide onto the string, but I wanted to be able to take them off easily.

Here's my Sis's finished garland...(I didn't use the buttons in hers)

Some hidden pretties...

More hidden pretties...

I hung mine in our kitchen window.

Close-ups of the details

The cafe rod clips are just clipped to the fabric.

So there you go! A cozy little garland to add some fall flair to my home. I still have some fabric left over so I'm thinking about getting one of those wire wreath frames and making a Ragamuffin Wreath! Wouldn't that be cute for Christmas, too? Or any occasion for that matter. Babies, Easter, 4th of July, you could go raggedy all year round!

Have a wonderful day, Y'all!!

I should've done this 6 months ago!!

2008-10-16T13:01:00.001-05:00

Back in April, we gave our teeny tiny bathroom a much needed face-lift. Nothing major, just a new coat of paint and some pretty accessories. I would have dearly loved to get rid of the mauvish-pink tile that surrounds the shower and lower half of the walls. But, that was a bigger task than Hubby and I were willing to undertake. I suppose pink tile was popular back in the 60's when our little abode was built.

We changed the room's paint color from flat white (we're talking chalk consistency here) to a warmer tan with a hint of pink undertones. The windowsill was the original stained wood but I wanted it to stand out against the tan walls. So, I painted the windowsill "Gallery White" in a gloss finish. The cabinet doors got a good sanding and a coat of Gallery White in a satin finish. Supposedly, if you change up the finishes of your paint, it gives the room interest. I don't know how well that works in our bathroom, which is the size of most people's pantries, but at least it looks brighter in there. Funny how painting the walls a darker color can make a room look brighter, huh? Maybe I'm just crazy!

Fast forward to now. We had put up blinds in the bathroom for privacy, but I never got around to hanging any sort of window treatment. We had to mount the blinds directly to the molding of the window due to how it was made, so the blinds kinda stick out a-ways from the wall. Therefore, I thought I needed a curtain rod to make the curtain stand out. Well, I've had a pretty little valance from the Shabby Chic line at Target since we finished the re-do. But, I could never find a rod that "struck me," you know what I mean? Do you see where this is going? Yeah, perfect recipe for me to procrastinate once again.

However, I am happy to say that yesterday I put my curtain rod woes behind me. I know many of you read the Nesting Place blog. And, I'm sure you've heard her mention her window "mistreatments." She even had a "Mistreatment Club" where everybody linked to their posts about beautifully haphazard window treatments. So, I followed suit and "mistreated" my little bathroom window. Here, take a look and tell me what you think! Oh, and don't forget, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them!

My pitifully bare window...

The tools of the trick. Yes, those are upholstery tacks!! And yes, they are resting on the top of the toilet. I had to stand on something to reach all the way up there! I told you our bathroom is tiny. There's no room for a stool!

Can you believe a little upholstery tack can hold up a curtain?!

This was super-easy! It only took me 5 minutes, I promise! And, I am super-OCD. I usually have to measure EVERYTHING and make doubly sure that it's all even. I didn't break out the tape measure once! I just had my Sweetie tell me if it looked even. I'm pretty darn proud of myself for wingin' it!!

Oh, if it looks uneven to you, please DON'T tell me! It will drive me nuts!!! Here's a peek at the whole room...

Just pretend you didn't see my open makeup bag on the counter. We can't always "stage" every picture, now can we? But, I did iron my shower curtain for y'all, even the ruffle at the bottom. Ha!

The fabric of the valance is a little too sheer, and I might mess around with adding some more fabric underneath it. Oh, who am I kidding? It took me 6 months to do this! I'm most likely not gonna touch it anymore! Anyway, it was lots of fun to do something the "wrong" way. Hehe! Let me know if y'all decide to try it too!

It doesn't take much to amaze me.

2008-10-12T16:09:00.003-05:00

I just got done cleaning my towel hamper. Yes, you heard me right. My towel hamper. With a Clorox Disinfecting wipe.

Why? You ask. Well, after putting in a load of towels, the hamper was empty, naturally. And I guess I've never really inspected the bottom of the thing before, but it was nasty!! Really, you should all go take a closer look at your hampers. You'll be amazed just like I was.

Of course, we do live with an ENORMOUS black lab so I expected a little dog hair to be in there. But the dirt and stains that appeared to be coffee (I hope)? No clue. I mean, how can a hamper get so yucky when it only holds towels that have dried off a clean body? I'm just going to assume it's all the more visible because it's made of white plastic & has "vent" holes on all sides.

While I'm on the subject (soap box), who invented white plastic, anyway? It's really never a good idea. Think about it...your white plastic tupperware? Stained with spaghetti sauce. The white plastic trashcan with a lid common in about 90% of American homes? Stained with God-only-knows-what that won't come off even with bleach. Now that's gross! Oh, and my white plastic towel hamper? You already heard that story.

*Sigh*

Now that I've aired my dirty laundry for the world to read, I suppose I'll have to keep a closer eye on the state of my hampers. Great! One more thing that has to be cleaned. Who would've thought?

I'm off to check the CLOTHES hamper. Wish me luck......

This Little House

2008-10-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

Little house, on a little hill

You've been such a sweet home,

Humble and still.

Your footprint is small,

Your walls not too tall