I'm bringing Camelback!

You were singing like Justin Timberlake.  Weren't you????  I am going with the in-between color of Camelback.  I knew it in my heart.  I just need to hear it from my peeps!  Thanks ya'll!!

My new couch comes today!  I will try to post pictures soon.  I am going to hang up some pictures and things and try to pull it all together!

Nothing like a baby shower at your house to motivate you!!

Your time to vote again!!!

Hello blogger buds!

My next challenge is WHAT COLOR TO PAINT!!!!  I have done two samples and would love your opinions.  The first one is Whole Wheat and the second is Baguette.  I like both a lot.  The BHW said if I was going with the lighter, not to even paint at all!  This room does not get a ton of natural light.  I will tell you... there is a color right smack dab in the middle called Camelback that I think might do the trick, but I value all your opinions so now it is your turn to give me your two cents!!

In the daytime with the big fake tree kind of blocking the bottom color!

More evening with a warm glow

What do you think?  These colors go very well with the new sofa fabric and it will also flow through basically the whole house as this area opens up to all the halls, upstairs, foyer and kitchen!  

I think I am leaning for the in between, but would love your take on it!

Here is a sneak peek at the cabinet all painted white!

I will be posting her as soon as I get her more organized!

Thanks!

Ready, Set, Vignette!

I adore Beth at the Stories of A to Z and I really wanted to join her vignette party.  This is a very simple vignette that I have on my foyer table.  As it has gotten warmer here, I am longing for the beach!  We have been a few times this year so far, but it is too chilly to get in and the wind has about blown us away!  We don't care.  We still go because there is nothing like smelling the salt air, listening to the roll of the waves, and digging your toes in the sand.  Here a few of my favorite things!

My baby girl!  I took this picture on our last beach visit last fall.  She loves the ocean and is not afraid.  She will just lay on her back and float on the waves.  I have a beach baby!  I think this frame is kind of crazy, but I kept going back to it because it reminded me of water.  Walmart - $6!

Shells... need I say more???  We collect shells on every visit and I add them to this jar.  It is funny that I thought I had so many and would fill this up in a jiffy, but not quite there!  A few more trips should do it!

This plate was a souvenir that I bought in Greece when we went there on a cruise.  We fell in love with the Greek Isles.  I have never seen water that shade of blue.  It was absolutely mesmerizing.  I love this plate and every time I see it, it reminds me of that magical trip!

Like I said, it is very simple but holds so many special beach memories!

Join Beth at The Stories of A to Z to see more lovely arrangements!

I ran a 5K!!!

I have a friend who has been one of my best friends since, well let's see.... forever!!!  Her great grandmother and my grandmother were best friends so we have been buds since the beginning of time!  She has always been able to convince me to do many things.  This wasn't always smart or safe in high school, but we did have fun!!!  Her 40th birthday was in March and she asked me to run in the Disney 5K with her to celebrate.  I jumped on it as I need motivation to lose some weight, I would get to go to Disney, and best of all, I would get to spend some "girl" time with my buddy!  I signed up.  I used to do boot camp where they kicked my tail so I thought 3.1 miles would be pretty easy.  You have to do a mile in 16 minutes.  That's the rules.  I kept telling myself, "Self, this is no big deal.  You can do that easily!"  So, I put off training thinking surely this wouldn't require a lot!  

I was wrong.

Don't ever try this.

3.1 miles is longer than you think when you are timed.

About 2 weeks out, I thought I better get going.  I was all clever and decided to download 16 minutes of music to my iPod and take off for one mile.  This would be a breeze!

I was wrong.  

Not a breeze.

More like me wheezing like a goat (do goats wheeze?) and my thighs were on fire!  I did it, but I wasn't happy about it.  

Two nights later, I add more music and set off for a mile and a half.  Better, but jeez...why did I think this would be easy?!? 

Two nights later.  More music and two miles.  After the first mile, I kind of got in a groove and didn't think I was going to die right there on the concrete.  Here is my method.  I know it is very official and you will all want to run out and try it.  I walk fast to the first song and then jog on the chorus of every other song after that!  Very scientific.  I did 2 miles in 28 minutes!  As I used my inhaler after the walk/jog, I was feeling pretty proud of myself once my thighs quite twitching!   I also realized that I really needed new shoes.  Uggghhhh....  I am a procrastinator extraordinaire!  

I adored my old New Balance.  Best shoes I had ever had.  Loved them so I marched down to get another pair.  Guess what?  That didn't carry my kind any more.  They were old, so they recommended the newer ones.  I went for it.  I even let them throw my old ones away (this is the new cleaning/purging me!).  I got home that night and decided I was so good at this that I was going for it and going to walk the whole thing since the race was in four days!  

When did I lose my mind????  

That night, I had my music downloaded.  Songs like "Tik Tok, Don't Stop" and "Almost There".  Motivational... that's me!!  I took off and was moving.  As I round mile 3, I feel my heels hurting.  That's what I get for buying new shoes, but did I let a little pain stop me?  Oh no, I did not!!  I finished the whole thing in about 32 minutes!!!!!  Go me!!!!  I was not going to picked up by the sweepers!!!!  

Have I mentioned the sweepers?  It appears that if you don't finish up your each mile in a 16 minute time frame there are golf carts with people who swoop you up and carry you to the finish line so you don't officially finish the race. Well, that wasn't going to happen to me!  No sirree!  I, for some reason, was obsessed with not getting picked up by the sweepers!

As I took off my shoes I discovered MONSTER blisters on my heels. Nice.  I guess I should have seen that coming.  Well, I knew I could do it so I gave myself a break before the race.  I deserved it!  I had been really going for it!!  :-)  This is how it all works out in my mind!  

I left on Friday morning and headed down to Florida to meet up with Chris and some of her friends from Alabama.  I have left my child with my mother-in-law and husband.  This is the first time that I have ever been away from her for more than one night.  She is in excellent hands, but I have to say, that I was already missing my child!   I had books downloaded on my iPod and off I went.  

After a LOT of traffic and almost wetting myself because I was stuck in Orlando traffic and had to go to the bathroom, I made it to the ESPN Zone to meet the girls and pick up my packet.  I was so proud to see my name on my bib!

We all went to eat at the Olive Garden that night and checked into our condo.  We hit the hay early since we had to get up at 5:00 to go to the race.  I don't really know if I slept a lot.  I was nervous and excited!

We arrived with about 2,500 other and got in line.  Now, I had been averaging an 11 minute mile so I was supposed to get in with that group.  Well, the masses were already in line and there was not a whole lot of squeezing through so we were stuck in the back with the walkers and baby strollers.  Oh well, I knew I could at least beat the strollers!!  

The theme was the Princess and the Frog.  I was so excited because I love this movie and they gave us a t-shirt with it on it.  I knew one special 4 year old would claim it quickly.  It was all exciting with music and then the start took off with fireworks!  I did a thumbs up picture for Jemma because this is her little cute thing she does!

When you are in the back with the masses, it is hard to get your groove going because you have to weave and bob around everyone.  Oh well, I was running by people so I knew I was probably safe from the sweepers.  We ran all through Epcot.  It was neat since I had never been there.  There are characters scattered throughout and you could have your picture made.  I could not figure out how people were stopping!  Didn't they know they didn't have time to do this?  The sweepers were coming!  The sweepers were coming!  As I passed people meandering, I started to get the picture.  There were no sweepers.  They save the big guns for the 1/2 marathon on the next day.  After this realization hit, I decided to have fun with it and had my picture made with Sleeping Beauty and took pictures along the way.  

Chris and I crossed the finish line together at 53 minutes.  Yes, this is past my 16 minute a mile deadline, but oh my friends, it really wasn't! I had one minute left on my iPod music!  We didn't start until much later because of the masses!  Ha!!!  I had done it!!!!!

We spent that day and the next at the Magic KIngdom and Epcot.  I missed Jemma and Tom so much because this was a place for families and little girls were everywhere all dolled up, but I will say, it was so much fun to do all the adult things!!   We rode all the roller coasters that we wanted and I got to do the Tower of Terror!  We had such a good time!

Downtown Disney

Test Track - this one is for you BHW

Ole!

We all wore Southern Belle shirts.  Mine read "Carolina girls make the best mamas"

Chris's birthday dinner at the Sci-fi restaurant

Our light up drinks!

Happy Birthday!!!!

 

I am actually motivated to do the 1/2 marathon.  We received a "medal" that was the hard rubber shaped like a crown.  Don't get me wrong, I am VERY proud of my medal, but the 1/2 marathoners got a gold crown with sparklies on it.  I know that isn't a great reason to run.  There is the health thing and the weight loss thing, but come on... I really want the sparkly medal!  Unfortunately, it seems I have developed plantar fasciitis.  If I can get over this, I may just start training... early!!  Anyone want to join me?  :-)

Do you believe in ghosts?

Our best friends were here for a week and Cindy and I always go on a ghost tour in downtown Charleston.  She totally gets into these and takes a ton of pictures looking for orbs.  I knew nothing about these orbs until I went on my first ghost tour.  Orbs are supposedly balls of energy that a spirit transfers from energy around it such as people, electric lines, etc...  in order to manifest itself.  They say that they are spirits of people who were not ready to leave earth and if you look closely you can see faces inside true orbs.  I always thought they were dust particles that are reflected with the flash.  That's just me.   I don't believe in ghosts, but I don't disbelieve.  I know that is stupid to say, but I don't know.  I have never really had any experience, but I know people (trustworthy people) who have had some very scary/crazy/real experiences.  Back to the orbs... as I was taking pictures, I would get some areas with lots of these orbs in the old city jail.   Like this one.

This is by the doorway that lead into the women's portion of the prison.  I continued to take pictures as we moved downstairs into the area they believed was used to probably torture some and the morgue area.One orb was especially bright and I zoomed in to take a look.

I actually gasped when I zoomed in as it is the image of a child.  This picture is zoomed and flipped to see the image.

It was very freaky and the guide was excited!  She asked me to email her the pictures and they are going to use them on their tours.  Believe... I don't know.  Freaky... definitely!!  The Bible talks about angels and demons.  Demons are here to tempt us and lead us down the wrong paths.  Do these take the form of ghosts as a way to tempt and deceive?  I don't know.  What do you think?  Do you believe in ghosts?

Spring Break Recap!

This is a snippet from our Spring Break weekend! I made bunny cupcakes for the preschool Easter party with Jemma's help. I have gone a little cupcake crazy for the holidays lately. Turkey's, rainbows, and bunnies, oh my!! We went to Florida to visit Tom's parents. They live in a motorcoach resort and it is fabulous! They spoil us rotten. They fix breakfast in the mornings, we hop in the golf cart and go swim, lunch when we come back, swim in the afternoon, nap, or tour. Then they fix dinner in the evening. It is a hard life... We are so grateful that they are there for us and we love for Jemma to spend time with them. On this visit, we got to do to a local park and watch them play bluegrass music.  Tom's dad plays the autoharp and his stepmom plays the guitar.  It brought back so many memories from my childhood and it was so fun to watch Jemma dance around and enjoy the music.  We visited a big train set that a couple have through their landscaping and of course, the Easter bunny came for a visit and hid eggs everywhere!  One was even in Nonno's hat!

One of the best parts of the trip was seeing the shuttle launch.  What an amazing sight and experience.  We got up around 5:30, bundled up and headed out to the 8th tee box on the golf course.  At 6:21, the ground in front of us just lit up in an explosion of light.  Then the shuttle took off like a fiery flame.  The sound hit a few minutes later and shook the ground.  It was phenomenal to watch and I am so glad we got to see it before the shuttle program is done.  This was to be the last night launch and what an experience it was!

White it shall be!!!

Thanks everyone for your votes!!  I am going white.  That was my gut the whole time, but I just struggle with it in my house.  I have decorated other friends rooms and said, "Oh, do this and this and this."  When it comes to my own house, I just fall apart!  So sad, but true so I am going to start putting it out there to you guys!  You are awesome!!  I will definitely have pictures of it when it is done.  Our best friends from Tennessee are here for the week so I will start on the monster next week.  Not looking forward to that, but I will be so proud of myself when it it done!!!  Have a great week everyone!

Paint or Stain

Hello all my blogger friends!!!  We had an awesome weekend in Florida with the in-laws!  They spoil us rotten!  I will be posting about our trip soon!  First, I must ask a very serious question...

I have said before that I just can't envision how this house should be decorated.  I knew exactly what I wanted in my last house, but this one is just not coming together.  Our living room is very odd.  One wall that is 16 ft. long.  Across from it is a half wall that is only 13 ft. long.  We have two full size leather sofas, a big leather chair with ottoman and oversized end tables and coffee table.  We have about come to blows over the living room and arrangement.  He loves his chair and wants to be able to see the t.v.  Arrrggghhh!!  I came up with a plan and the first step was having an entertainment cabinet built to look like a built in.  It is done and it is gorgeous.  I have joked in the past and said I am going to let YOU decorate my house by doing it Today show style.  You know when they have the wedding and everyone gets to vote on it.  Well, here is my version!!  Please let me know what you think about the cabinets and should I paint or stain.  My plan was to paint it white.  I have had several people say I should stain it the dark cherry in the kitchen.  I have also thought about painting it white with a chocolate glaze.  I even considered black, but the BHW gave me a weird look!

I have ordered a new sectional sofa with some extra pieces.  I did a corner wedge with a side arm chair on each side instead of the sofa on one side so we will have a mini curved couch.  I also bought two armless chairs to match to go on each side of the entertainment center with the leather chair in the corner.  If we ever need lots of t.v. viewing seats, I will just move the BHW's chair to the corner, add the two armless chairs and voila... mega long couch!!!

I would love to know what you think and you won't hurt my feelings!  You can't say though that it doesn't go there, because then I might have to come through the screen and beat you up!

Here she is in all her glory!

 Please ignore the random decorations.  I haven't done anything in here yet!  We had this whole thing custom built for only $1600!  You can't even touch a big piece like this at Pottery Barn for less than $2500!

This is to show how the mantle is painted white.  It would be the same.  

This is the dark color of our cabinets

I would seriously love to hear your thought and opinions!!!!!