When Life Gives You Lemons....

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's been too long since I last blogged. I haven't really felt like blogging, and don't have much to blog about, so please forgive me. And throughout the tragic loss of our baby, I realize that I have the best family and friends any gal could ask for. So, I decided to show just a few pictures of what helped get me through and made me smile while I was still recovering.

Brutus smelling the flowers. He was so funny. He would sit there on the couch and just sniff and sniff. Plus he is super cute, even if I am biased!

The day after I was released from the hospital, Joseph had to leave on a business trip, so my mom stayed with me. I also have the most awesome mother-in-law in the world, because she came down and stayed for a few days, and was such a blessing to us! My dad, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew also came up for a day. I love this because Barrett found Joseph's chap stick and was pretty much licking it. It was replaced to its original place, but I still laugh everytime Joseph puts on a nice coat of it. He is still none the wiser that this happened or Mr. Nice Nasty would flip!

Nothing like having Barrett snuggle with you makes you feel better!

I even got Stacey to FINALLY come snuggle with me too! But I'm sure that had more to do with Barrett than me.

So these are my sweet things that help make the lemon juice a little more tolerable!

Head Case

I got a hair-brained idea one day. And it all started because I was bored and went shopping downtown. Of course, I had to go in the fabulous fabric store to see if they had anything new. I was actually looking for fabric to make some pillows for the couch or curtains for the kitchen. Instead, I found this.

A beautiful silk plaid and a nice floral. (yes, I am grandma-y. Love me some plaid and florals. Get over it.) If you notice it is the pink version from this previous post. There is a method to my madness.

So my attention turned to my upholstered headboard.

This is the before. It has seen its better days after Joseph and I have been leaning up against it for two years. I don't think that I ever shared how I made this. Really simple. I simply went and got a piece of OSB from Lowes. Just plain old 7/16", Georgia-Pacific, Hosford, Florida made OSB. (I used to work at the plant were it is made, so I always look for our product, and I had to make sure it came from that plant before I bought it. I told you I was weird.) I think it might have set me back 3 or 4 bucks. Good for me, not good for GP's bottom line. Then I got some 2" foam from my local craft store, along with some batting. I cut the OSB to the width that I wanted and got to work. I took spray adhesive and glued the foam onto the board. Next, I wrapped it with batting and secured that in place with a staple gun. Then came the fabric. The damask in the picture above is really showing up against the camera flash, but it is much more subtle in normal light. After the fabric was stapled in place, I nailed on some cheap boards that I also picked up at Lowes that I cut to the correct height. Wah-lah. Instant headboard.

But I was ready for a change, so I got to work on changing things up. At first, I was going to make a slipcover for the headboard, since the legs were nailed into place and I didn't want to take the time to take them off. But I decided against that simply because I was too lazy to get my sewing machine out. So I just decided to work around the legs.

First, I laid the fabric out on the floor.

Then I placed the headboard on top and got to stapling.

That's it. All done. Pretty simple, yeah. And its great because you can instanty change your look with just a couple yards of fabric!

Here it is all finished.

My plan was to pick up a duvet in either white or a soft green or tan, but like most best laid plans, they change. Not long after I recovered this headboard, my husband and I decided to go get my king size mattress from my parents house. We hadn't done it before because my bedroom furniture that is still at my parents is extremely massive and our little room now just won't hold the bed, but it will hold the mattresses. I do believe that our new bed has saved our marriage. Really. We now have room to get away from each other while we sleep. The three dogs (I know) now have room to spread out on their blanket away from us. So I am no longer kicking my precious babies all night, waking me from a deep sleep. It is awesome. So there you have it, a little headboard change and bed hopping!

As Conway Twitty would say.....

....."Happy Birthday, Darlin". Stacey thought that since my internet was down, that she would get away without a birthday post. It may be late, but it is here nonetheless. Wednesday, my bestest cousin in the whole wide world, celebrated her 27th birthday. It was a fun evening of cake, shrimp & grits, and music courtesy of the ipod. So, happy birthday, darlin! You are one special lady!!

Now a little look at the party.

With a few decorations here and there:

And a few of Stacey's favorite things to eat (not):

And we were ready to party!!

Even the puppies joined in on the festivities!

It's always great to have a reason to celebrate, especially when that reason is a person who you couldn't imagine life without!! Happy Birthday, Stacey Suzanne!  

The Hunt for Red October

No, I'm not searching for rogue Russian submarines. I have been searching for a cute camera bag for when we travel to California next month. Yes, I could go with a standard black, blah bag, but I'm a little bit more stylish than that! The hunt lead me to the epiphanie website (http://www.epiphaniebags.com/). They have the cutest bags, that actually look like real purses. Love it! They are slightly pricey, but I figure that I pay more than that for a regular purse and this one I will always be able to use. They are so cute! Take a look. They only have three styles at the moment, but are in plans of coming out with new styles. I chose the Lola bag. I think it is a nice pop of bright color.

The nice thing about these bags, other than being so freakin cute, is that they have compartments for all of your camera gear.

And there are places to put your phone, makeup, etc in there as well. I think it will make the perfect travel bag and keep my camera nice and safe! So, if you have a really big camera and want a stylish way to carry it to and fro, check these girls out. They are fabulous!

A Little Bathroom Redesign

I want to redo one of the bathrooms. I just have to convince Joseph first. Right now the shower in our bathroom looks like this.

Yes, we are using it as a closet. As you can see, the shower is itty bitty. We don't ever use it. My poor 6'5" husband and this shower just don't jive. So, I am thinking of a slight bathroom redesign to make this bathroom more functional. Here is the basic layout, off course, not to scale.

This is kinda what I have in mind to do.

I want to seal off the door to the hallway and have the closet open up into the hallway. Then expand the shower to make it bigger. I drew this picture before I went in the bathroom to see what kinda space I would have. I can nix the bigger vanity, so that area will need a little bit of work. But, that is what I have in mind. I'm thinking I can probably get it done (doing it ourselves) for well under 1000 bucks. I'm sure the hubs will veto this, but maybe he can be seduced with the thought of rainfall showers and maybe a few shower jets. Stay tuned for the verdict! Ha ha!

Perfect Saturday Morning

Nothing is better than sleeping late, getting up, having a cup of coffee while reading the new InStyle magazine and then doing a little online shopping. I finally got around to using my gift card from Christmas. I knew there was a reason why I Heart J Crew.

They love them some Dachshund as well! Happy Saturday, ya'll!

100th Post and One Year Blogiversary (that's late!)

This is my 100th post (and 4th today). Wow! Time flies. I can't believe that I missed my one year blogiversary. My first post was published on March 5, 2009. So, I am a few days late. Oh well! This past year has been filled with lots of new, exciting stuff. First, we added to our family by bringing home JR and Brutus. They are now a big part of our home and have made it their home as well. We also had the addition of a new nephew, Alex. We went to the beach, Savannah, and celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. We will soon be leaving at the end of April for California for a little getaway to Napa Valley. We are both looking forward to that one! I have lost my job and Joseph's job has taken him to places such as Tennessee, Kentucky, Washington DC, and Virgina. We redecorated the guest bedroom and then turned it into Joseph's man cave. My sister-in-law was in a horrible accident and is finally able to see a little light at the end of the tunnel, as far as her injuries go. My cousin, Stacey moved to Thomasville and I have enjoyed having her so close. There have been ups and downs, joys and sorrows, and somehow we have made it through another year. We are truly blessed by God and are so thankful to be called His children. So thank you for reading this little blog of mine. I truly enjoy having you fly through our window to get a little peek at our lives! Thanks for letting us share it with you.