Holiday Happys

It has been quite a while since I have participated in the Thrifty Treasures party over at Southern Hospitality. Since we do not need any more "everyday junk" around our house right now, I turned my focus to rounding up some holiday decor. Here are my finds over the last few weeks.

Christmas Tree (just like one my in-laws found in the trash 30 years ago) - $2 at Goodwill
Red Jingle Bells - $5 at estate sale (may be used for gifts or ornament swaps)
Candy Cane Stamp - $.25 at yard sale
Candy Cane dip and spreader set - $.69 at Goodwill
Jack-o-Lantern candle holder - $.25 at yard sale

Cauldron - $.59 at Goodwill

Decorating for the holidays is somewhat of a therapy for me, so there were good buys. Getting a good deal is just fun! So, hop over to Southern Hospitality to see everyone else's Thrifty Treasures from this weekend.

Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater

So, I've been cheating this week - a lot. There were no tests but plenty of opportunities to cheat. I am confessing. Cleansing is good for the soul.

I cheated on my diet. I am not really on a diet, but I am trying to not gain more weight.

Chocolate chip cookies do not help. Did I mention they were still warm here?
To my benefit, that's Breyers half fat ice cream.


I bought a lamp at TJMaxx for $7 when I do not have any money
left in my August "Me" budget. I actually bought two lamps. This one didn't have a shade, so I bought a gaudy gold one for $10, switched the shade to this one, with intentions of returning the gaudy gold one with no shade.
Shady, I know! (pun completely intended)
I have decided to take back both lamps.

I didn't wash the dishes one night. Okay, two nights.
Okay, I do this often.
(Head bowing lower and lower)

There are canned goods holding up my picture frames. I yanked off that easel thing so I could hang the frame on the wall (just a few weeks ago). I refuse to pay money for some of those little picture easels. I guess this doesn't really constitute as cheating. Whatever.

Oh yeah, after cheating you have to eat pumpkin, right?
So I cooked up the pumpkin hubby's parents gave us and froze it.
Wish we had more. I could eat pumpkin stuff all fall long.

{insert devious little look}

Do you think I could cheat and eat it before fall?
Hmmmm.

Guess I will have to confess more cheating later!

Wonderful Grateful

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for,
but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
with groans that words cannot express.
-- Romans 8:26

It has been several years now that I have received a verse with a little devotional thought in my email everyday. When I worked in an office everyday, it was one of the first things I read each morning. Nowadays, I sometimes delete the email without reading the scripture. I am glad I opened and read today's verse from Heartlight above. This one hit me hard this morning and needed to read it again.

There are things Jacob and I have been praying for lately and sometimes we just do not know what to say. He knows though. I am so very thankful for a God who created a way to fill that gap between my feeble, finite thoughts and His infinite power.

What wonderful aspect of God has impressed you lately? I am curious, so leave a comment telling me how God has revealed Himself to you in recent days.

image taken by Yours Truly on a recent escape to Dauphin Island, AL

In case you need a little sunshine....

The weather here has been fabulous, like we had the windows open on Saturday kind of fabulous. Ahhhh! Sunny and breezy and light. Do you know what is a good color to represent this "it's still summer but here's a little fall teaser" kind of weather? Yellow. Think about it. You can have bright and sunny and summery. Or you can have warm and mellow and fallish. From lemonade to mums. Yellow is a good color, and I've been hooked on it lately. See?

via flickr

via design*sponge

via design*sponge

via anthropologie

via flickr

my favorite
sunshine floor to ceiling!
via design*sponge

via anthropologie

my second favorite
via flickr

Yellow is just a happy color, wouldn't you say?

10 years

This past weekend marked ten years since several girls met on the 3rd floor of a dorm they did not want to live in. We soon changed our minds about living there and we didn't leave for three and a half years. Oh the memories of dance parties, devos, and a little bit of studying.

Back in the day, Spring Break 2001

The infamous "open mouth smile" at our wedding.

The growing gang

These girls changed my life forever and even though we cannot be together as much now, I know I will see them in heaven. As one of the girls always says, "Find me."

Anthro-drool-olgie

Hubby leaned over my shoulder the other night while I was perusing the Anthropologie website. We were equally impressed by the eye candy and disgusted by the exorbitant prices. We enjoyed looking around but will not be enjoying any of these items in real life.

He Likes:

She Likes:

Darjeeling Bluestone

It all started with a stumble upon the blog, Little Green Notebook, where I took in every piece of what this designer had to offer. (I had time because it was one night when I couldn't sleep.) Then I came across the post about her $25 coffee table she had transformed into an ottoman. She's brilliant I tell ya and daring too! A great combination. Then, came the fabric. Here it is. Isn't it pretty?

So, I went on a little mini-hunt and found this fabric, which is a close-enough substitute, at Calico Corners. I am going to find a way to get it cheaper and then recovered a much smaller but free ottoman we have in our living room. I cannot wait!

I really need no more projects. Here is my current wish list for the living room: recover two wing chairs, have the sofa recovered (this will be a while), and revamp the table Jacob built for me. But this fabric gets me excited and motivated.

running behind....

Well, lo and behold, I actually did something besides yard saling, creating more messes (I mean projects), and hunting for a job this week. Hallelujah! I went to visit my best friend, Lindley, over at her new place in Middle Tennessee. She moved this past weekend and I went to check out the digs and help decor-ize (I can make up words if I want to). She has a great new job teaching Physical Education at one of the top schools in our state. She has a great new apartment in a booming little town filled with charm. She has a great outlook on things to come! She needed all this newness and greatness. God has given her a special task to fulfill there - I just know it!

Lindley and I have been best friends since I don't know when, but she claims it was around 4th grade. She doesn't lie and she has a freakishly amazing memory, so I believe her. Her mom is very dear to me also. Our moms were friends back in the days of us growing up. Her mom has kind of always been a second mom to me and I realized this past weekend how much I have missed that. Lindley's mom has the best laugh too. We all get tickled at each other and can just laugh and laugh.

Good times, good times. We even got some cupcake action in there at the last minute. There is a new GiGi's cupcakes open just down the road from Lindley's new apartment. They were to. die. for. Here you can see Lindley modeling her and her mother's selections.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Miss Princess - the name suits her
White cake with fresh strawberries, cream cheese frosting,
topped with pink sugar

I had the Strawberry Short Cake and got the Wedding Cake to take back to Jacob. Yum! Jacob did call as we were leaving GiGi's. The conversation went a little something like this. "Hey, what's up?" Me: "Nothing." Jacob: "Cupcakes?" Me: "How'd you know?" He knows me and loves me just the same.

Here's a pic of the cupcake that I got for him. It didn't quite make it back to Memphis in the same grand presentation in which I had bought it. However, it tasted just as wonderful.

Oh yeah, and about the title of this post.....I've run/walked/elipticaled over 8 miles since I have been back trying to keep that cupcake off my behind!