Craft Day!

The other day my friend Rachael and I had a little craft/ shopping day! We found some fun things at the "schoolhouse" sale which my friend Pam puts on every year. It is full of vintage pieces that have been re-covered or painted.

First, I found this fun frame!

Then I headed to Lowes to get some chalkboard paint and needed to get some board cut to fit the frame. I took the frame in and then asked a guy there if he could cut this massive piece of board for me. The board only cost $6.00 and they cut it for me which was a huge plus and no extra charge.. The chalkboard paint cost $12.00 and the frame $20.00.

Ta-Da! Finished product. What do you think?

This is now hanging in my kitchen that was once a blank wall.

I then found this fun vase with bright orange flowers and added it to my mantle. It was marked down half off at the schoolhouse dale and it came with the flowers! I think it was $20.

 I was excited for a small change on the mantle.

Then Rachael found this great little window at the sale. I believe she paid $12.00 for it, which was a steal. I had the idea to paint and distress it for her. So she found some cream colored paint on clearance at Lowes which cost about $4.00 and she also bought a sandpaper scrubber so we could distress it!

Before!

taping the edges

All painted!

And distressed! This was my first time to distress something and man it was hard work.

But I think it turned out great!

After!

We had such a blast having a craft day and adding some relatively cheap pieces to our homes!

What do you think?

Just for Fun

I work at a church and I got this in my email last week and thought it was too hilarious not to share. I also attend the weekly communication meetings, which is where we decide what goes into our "bulletin" or "communicator."
So this makes me really laugh!

From Real Church Bulletins...


1. Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.

2. Announcement in a church bulletin for a national PRAYER & FASTING Conference: "The cost for attending the Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

3. The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water." The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus”

4. Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall - Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.

5. Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands.

6. The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

7. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "Hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.

8. Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

9. Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not pass this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

10. For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

11. Next Thursday there will be try outs for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

12. Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons.

13. The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing: " Break Forth Into Joy."

14. Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

15. A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.

16. At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What Is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.

17. Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

18. Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

19. Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

20. Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.

21. The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.

22. Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow.

23. The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

24. This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn sing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

25. Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.

26. The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

27. Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.

28. The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.

29. Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

30. The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday:
"I Upped My Pledge ! - Up Yours!"


I hope you enjoyed these as much as me. I think 1 and 29 are two of my faves. Which ones are your favorites?
Happy Monday!

Winner, Winner!

I used  True Random Number Generator
and this was the RESULT!

2,  which is Leah!
 
Congrats Leah! Trail mix bars and $25.00 to Sams is coming your way.
Thanks everyone for entering and following my blog. It was fun.
 
Hope you all had a great weekend!
 
 
 
 

Sams and Snacks

So its been a tough week and I have been on the go a lot. If you have ever traveled with me you know I always carry snacks with me. My hubby is the biggest snacker I know so I always have to be prepared on road trips. One of his new favorite snacks is the trail mix fruit and nut bar. They are tasty and hold him over til the next meal.

Another thing we love is to go to Sams club and just walk around. Sometimes we have date nights there. Lots of times we will go after church and have pizza and walk around and try samples. We love SAMS! The other thing is that its right by our house so we love that too!

So for all of those out there that love snacks and Sams club, I'm giving away a package of the Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Bars (48 ct.) and a $25 gift card that you can use at Sam's Club. So get excited! The giveaway will end Sunday, June 27th night at 5pm!

To ENTER:

1. Become a Follower!

2. Leave a comment letting me know that you are!

Thats it! I will announce the winner Sunday Night! Good Luck.

*General Mills has graciously provided me with the free product, information, and gift cards through MyBlogSpark!

Happy Dads Day

Happy belated Fathers Day to all of our Dads!
I was able to see 2 out of our 3! I was at home again in Little Rock so I got to spend most of the day with my sweet dad on the lake!

First, I made him some breakfast brunch! The menu was: bacon, blackberries and yummy baked french toast!

best boat captain ever!

Thanks dad for being so great. I don't know where I would be without you. You are one amazing husband and father. Thanks for raising me in such a loving home. I promise to never take that for granted.

Marc went home to Northeast Arkansas to see his dad. His dad has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's so I think it was very special and important for him to be there with his dad. He was also able to help do some work on their farm, which I think was fun for him to get his hands dirty!

Their most favorite thing to do together is HUNT!!

We love you Nick! Stay strong and know that we are praying for you. You are such a wonderful dad and father-in-law.

This pic is from their hunting trip together this past November~

We were both able to see Bear, Marc's second dad! He helped raise Marc into the man he is today. He was the one to always take Marc things that he had forgotten such as his backpack, etc. Although, Marc still loses things, we both still love him! Ha! Bear and Brenda (Marc's mom) both live here in NWA at our old house. We are so thankful to have them close by. They mean so much to us, especially LOUIE! He loves them way better than Marc and I. They are the best dog grandparents ever. I can't imagine how spoiled our kids will be. Louie is smitten with Bear.

obviously!

We love you Dads!

What a Whirlwind

Whew, I'm just flat out exhausted. The past couple weeks have just been crazy. A wedding, 2 funerals, and lots and lots of driving to Little Rock. I feel emotionally and physically overwhelmed. There have just been so many emotions going on. By last night I could no longer hold it in and the meltdown began. I just started crying and couldn't stop. I felt it coming and there was no stopping it. I had been holding it in and trying to be strong for everyone else, but I broke last night. Although I cried myself to sleep, I feel much, much better today.
As I have been trying to process the past week, God has revealed himself in so many ways to me. I can feel Him closer to me than I have in months. Death and funerals really get me thinking a lot about my purpose and what I'm on this earth for. I always try to imagine what it will be like on the other side. I know for a fact there will be no more pain or suffering. I'm so thankful to be saved by grace. I think about what a terrible sinner I am and how I take things for granted, but yet I'm still loved by our Heavenly Father. I'm just in awe.
I know it's so hard to understand why some people's lives are cut short, but He always has a purpose and reason even if we cannot see them at that time. When I'm at funerals, I often pray for those that may not know Him personally to be able to just get a glimpse of the Lord and maybe get them thinking about how they want to spend eternity. I think it will be one big party in Heaven and I can't wait!

John 11:25-26
 "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (NIV)

Randy Alcorn has a couple of books on Heaven. I have read "Heaven for Kids" and it was so wonderful. There is also "Heaven" for adults if you are interested. I'm not the best reader or deep thinker so much, so I really enjoyed the one for kids!

Marc and Babies

Think someone is ready for a baby?

Umm slightly...
Everyday I hear in this cute little pathetic voice, "please make me a baby." "I want a baby." "I will be a good dad, I promise!"
Well those cute, little quotes SCARE the mess out of me. BIG time! Those cute little bundles scare me even more.

That's all.  Happy Hump Day!

One sweet Dad

Today one of my best friends lost her dad. He lost his 4 year long battle with cancer and fought so hard. He fought so hard to stay alive til her wedding. We moved up her wedding 1 week so he could be there. Praise our maker he made it and she was able to go down that isle with him. It was the most bittersweet moment I have ever experienced. Please pray for the French family during this time of loss. He was a great husband and father to 3 wonderful grown children (2 of which got married recently). My heart is breaking for them.

We love you and our praying for you French family.

Project Closet

Project closet happened a few weeks ago. My great, GREAT friend Rachael came over to help me re-organize my life. She is an awesome organizer and I simply am not. My closet had become so overwhelming, I was desperate for help. She was so wonderful to sacrifice part of her Saturdays to help me.

Here are the BEFORE's:

yikes

It was bad...Really Bad

AFTER!!!

So, So much better now. Look at all of those extra hangers!

Rachael kept telling me "My Glory Days are over." Apparently I had a few outdated things and "smaller" things that I may or may not have been hopeful to wear again. Dang you slower metabolism. 

This was her thank you treat! Funfetti cookies!!! Oh my word these are so yummy. You can buy this cookie mix at target and its fabulous. You can even make double doozies!

Thank you Ra for helping me re-organize! It is so much better getting ready in the mornings. Cuts my time down by at least 10 minutes because I can actually find things. And just for the record, it is still very clean!

Happy Weekend!

Memorial Weekend 2010

After Megs graduation we headed to my favorite place ever... THE LAKE!!! Ahh I can't get enough of that place. I have grown up there most summers of my life and just love it. I have the greatest family and friend memories from there and could not be more thankful. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at the lake for memorial weekend.

And this one was no different...

Marc and I attempting to surf together!

I. heart. skiing.

and love spraying other boats (i knew them by the way)

just a tad out of breath

me and my beautiful momma

We all had a blast minus a few pop up showers here and there. We ate some great food too. One thing we had was breakfast casserole. I love making this for a house full of people.

If you have company or a holiday this is a great recipe. Marc's step mom gave me this several years ago and it it definitely one of my faves!

Ingredients:

8 eggs

6 slices of bread (cubed & enough to fill the bottom of the pan)

1 1/2 cups of milk

1lb of mild sausage (i like jimmy dean maple flavor)

dash of salt and pepper

1 C shredded cheddar cheese

-Brown sausage.

-Spray pan w/ Pam

-Place cubed bread to cover the bottom of a 9x13 dish

-Mix eggs and milk together.

-Place browned sausage over bread. Pour egg/milk mixture over sausage. Cover top with cheese.

Cover and store in fridge overnight.

Bake at 350 for 30-40min or until eggs aren't runny.

Hope you like it! Once you make it the first time its easy breezy the second time.

Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions!

Happy Graduation!

Well my little sis is all grown up. As you know last wednesday we threw her a fun graduation party/lunch with all of her friends. It was a blast. Here are a few pics from it in case you didn't see them on Katies blog.

Katie really did out do herself with helping us. It turned out amazing and the girls really loved all of it.

This was my mom and dad's favorite part-

SAWYER!!!

seriously- melt.my.heart.

Then on friday she had the actual graduation. She was the 14th graduating class from Little Rock Christian with 107 in her class, side note- I was the 6th at that school with 55. Needless to say I felt really old and had a flood of memories come back from mine.  It makes me realize how fast time flies by. I felt like I had just been there where she was sitting. I seriously can't wait for my 10 year reunion. My class was soo close and I miss all of them so much.

Ok I know I sound like her mother, but I did help raise her and I'm truly so proud of her for not only finishing school, but doing it with honors. She also has had to go through a whole bunch of crap this year, which I know can't be easy especially being a senior. She is so strong and grounded. I'm so thankful she will be coming up here next year and we can finally live in the same city again.

If you need a babysitter next year, she will be a great one!

CONGRATS MEGAN!

I love you tons and you are such a wonderful sister.