Brrrr! I almost can't stand it!

Well we just had our first official "cold" front of the season pass over us. Yes-sir-ee, it's going to dip down to a high of only 85 today! Woo! Hoo! *she said, dripping with sarcasm*
But you know what? I'll take it and I am going to "officially" decorate my home for Fall!

I'm a bit behind you all, unless you consider my sad attempt last week, actually decorating.
And because my last few posts have been a bit wordy and nobody really likes wordy, I'm keeping this short today. I just wanted to make sure you knew just what I'm going to be doing today with my windows shut and my A/C running!
Welcome Fall!

I'll post pictures tomorrow!!

The Partial Make Over Revealed!

Well half the moment you've been waiting for is here. I'm going to let you see the awkward room makeover first as the kitchen part just isn't done enough to reveal as of yet. But when it is I will be having a fun giveaway in honor of it. So be on the lookout for that!

The awkward room has been many things throughout the years. Dining room/ computer room, dining room/ family room, dining room/kids play area etc. We just never really knew what or how to put the room together. Until a few weeks ago when I got so frustrated with my small kitchen that I started to brainstorm. Yes my friends I started thinking outside the box. *Gasp* Who's says my table has to be where it has been for the past 11 years just because the people before us had their table there? Huh? Who? I can tell you right now my friends, it ain't there no more. No sir!

I never thought I could have a hutch because of the location of the table but since I moved the table we were able to buy a used hutch, give it a face lift, and now I have plenty of room to store my extra stuff that was over flowing from my kitchen.
Everyone that has come in our home since the makeover has commented on how cozy and wonderful it looks now. And it took me how long to figure this out? Yeah, 11 years! Oy!
So here are some really poorly taken before and decent after pictures!

We had already starting moving things around so not everything was where it originally was but you'll get the idea.


Yup! Here's an ugly sliding glass door with ugly white blinds. Yawn...boring. Replaced with nice curtains and a matching sheer. The flowers were part of my daughters tea party decorations but I'm going to dress them up for Fall because they looked kind of neat there.

Here's a really bad picture with bad lighting looking from my kitchen into the awkward space. My table was to the right there. You can barely see it.
Different angle of a before picture. With more bad lighting. That's what I get for being in a hurry!
The table was in this weird awkward L-shaped area.
But now it resides more in the middle of the "now not so awkward area" next to my new used hutch. I was able to salvage keeping one recliner in that area to make a cozy reading chair but the other one had to go. My husband wasn't to crazy about that. It was his favorite chair. *sigh* Sorry honey!Doesn't it look cozy now?


The computer hutch in the distance is where the table "used" to sit. We are going to sell the hutch and my husband is going to custom build a work station in the L-shaped area. It's going to be wonderful!
The future workstation area. I can't wait. It's the last thing in this area that we need to finish and we'll be done. Yeah!
Now I know you really want to see my little kitchen face lift but you'll have to wait just a tad longer. I need to find a few more things for it and then call it done.
So stay tuned in!

LOVE YOU MY FRIENDS!

It's official!

We are now the proud parents of a beautiful 16 year old young lady!
And you wouldn't be my friends if you didn't want to see some highlights of the weekend.
It's going to be mostly pictures so relax.
I took about 150 pictures but don't worry I'm only going to show you half! LOL. Just kiddin'. I don't have that kind of time to kill. But I will show you the highlights.

Once upon a time ,16 years ago, I gave birth to a sweet, beautiful, precious baby girl. And now she has grown into our sweet, beautiful, precious young lady.

My daughter decided on a formal tea for her party and that's what she got. Complete with non-hired help. A.K.A. me and her Aunt Kathy! Aren't we cute? LOL

The attendees.

The beautiful cake made by Kathy.........whatever! LOL
The table setting.

I love this picture of the girls sitting on the deck. Very classic.
I got some great shots but I really liked this one. I had them all look at her while she looked at me. I think it turned out cool.It was a wonderful party. They had fun games to play and yummy food to eat.

Let me tell you something, teenage girls can put away some food. I'm just sayin'.

Here's the after math of the party.
My poor kitchen. There is a counter top under there somewhere.

Now Sunday was her "actual" birthday and we played it off like we weren't going to do anything special because of her party the day before. But then we told her that we would let her pick whatever restaurant she wanted to go to for dinner. She picked Carrabba's and on any other night I would have been really excited, but little did she know I had already made reservations to a very classy restaurant that she's never been to before.

Notice at the top what it says. Isn't that neat that they personalized it for her!!
Our precious!
She didn't know at this point that we were expecting other guests. (Uncle Mike, Aunt Kathy, Mr. Jason, Mrs Debra and sweet Josh!) She thought it was just going to be us, because "usually" on birthdays we just do a family thing, but tonight we were reaching out to some very special extended family. Skipping ahead to dessert because I didn't take pictures of the food. Duh!
Her yummy Lave Cake!!! If you've never had one, I highly recommend!

Now for some reason, I didn'tt got a decent picture of anyone that came. It wasn't my fault. I was mostly behind the camera so it's theirs for making the faces and not stopping long enough to give me a sweet smile. So instead I'm going to show you what you probably SHOULDN'T do at a classy upscale restaurant.


You probably shouldn't threaten someones life with a spoon.
I'm just sayin'.
Don't ever ever try to look smarter then everyone else or they most definitely hand you the bill at the end of the night.
Never leave your mouth hanging open in hopes of more food. It's just wrong.
Don't give the squinty eye to the one you love.......it sends bad signals! LOL

I'm pretty sure this is just wrong right here.
Don't set the remnants of a lava cake in front of your 4 year old and expect him not to scoop it up and do this. Oh and I caught my 7 year old licking his plate but didn't get a picture, but I'm pretty sure you shouldn't do that either.

Now hate me if you will but for the first time in my life, there wasn't a goofy picture of me on my camera. Hey someone had to hold it together before they kicked us out, right? RIGHT?I know I left out details and pictures and all that fun stuff, but I'm pretty sure you're over it by now and this is taking forever anyway!

But if you did make it this far, I am going to do some major revealing on my room makeover tomorrow. We aren't completely finished but the last part is going to take a bit longer to do.
So be looking out for that!

Thanks for sticking it out with me my friends and letting me share a bit of our weekend fun!
BIG HUGS!!

Happy Day Before My Daughters Birthday!

It's going to be a busy weekend so I thought I better post this today.
We are having a Sweet 16 Tea Party for my daughter today. I'm so excited for her.
I will be of course posting about it next week AND you know that I'll be equally excited because then I can actually decorate for Fall! LOL!

My daughter is truly becoming a beautiful young woman. Inside and out.
She is completely opposite of me in personality, talents, and temperament. But we love her anyway! LOL! In fact if she didn't look so much like me I'd have wondered if I actually gave birth to her! LOL. The good thing is is that she thinks I'm funny and we get in some good laughs each day! I wouldn't change a thing about her!

So Happy 16th Birthday My Sweet Daughter!!!We love you!

I really did try to find a "normal" picture of the 3 of them together but this is all I could find. Sorry honey!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Friday Funnies

Oh man! I didn't realize it but last week was my Friday Funnies one year anniversary. I can't believe I've been hosting it for that long. Boy time does fly. I hope you all have enjoyed it as much as I have.

If this is your first time here and you want to join in on the fun, just go post your family friendly funny and then come back here and link directly to your post.
Let's spread some funny today!!



MENTAL HOSPITAL PHONE MENU

Hello and thank you for calling The State Mental Hospital.

Please select from the following options menu:

If you are obsessive-compulsive , press 1 repeatedly!!!

If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you.

If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5 and 6.

If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want. Stay on the line
so we can trace your call.

If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be forwarded to the Mother
Ship.

If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you
which number to press.

If you are manic-depressive , it doesn't matter which number you press, nothing
will make you happy anyway.

If you are dyslexic, press 9696969696969696.

If you are bipolar, please leave a message after the beep or before the beep or
after the beep. Please wait for the beep.

If you have short-term memory loss , press 9. If you have
short-term memory loss, press 9. If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.

If you have low self-esteem , please hang up. Our operators are too busy to talk
with you.

If you are menopausal, put the gun down, hang up, turn on the fan, lie down and
cry. You won't be crazy forever.

If you are blonde, don't press any buttons, you'll just mess it up anyway.



Happy Friday Everyone!!!

I finally succummed to the pressure!

I couldn't stand it any longer. It was either give in to the pressure or quit reading blogs all together and you know it wasn't going to be the latter of the two.
Who cares if my daughters sweet 16 party is in two days and I'll have to "un"decorate just to decorate for her party. I had to do it. I had to decorate for Fall.

Yes my friends, I caved to peer pressure. I'm not proud of it but I must say I feel a whole lot better knowing that I am now with the elite group of "Fall Nesters"!
So you can thank yourselves for what you are about to see. The sweat, the tears, just so I can say that, I too decorated for Fall.

Here you have it......
......the before.......


......wait for it.........








.....and after!
Now don't be calling Southern Living and Good Housekeeping trying to get my house showcased in their magazine. No, I'm just a humbled housewife with an eye for detail and I'm keeping it all to myself!



Okay, tell me you laughed at this? Because it had my daughter and I rolling yesterday. The "real" story behind the pumpkin is that I had bought it the other day and I was unwrapping it. Not knowing where to keep it until next week, I plopped it on top of the hutch, walked away and said, "Phew, fall decorating is exhausting!" and my daughter lost it. Which in turn made me lose it cause I realized just how funny it looked. Then the whole idea of posting it and taking a before picture was born. I'm sorry, it's how things roll in my house!
I hope it gave you a giggle!!!

BIG FALL NESTING HUGS TO YOU MY SWEET FRIENDS!!

You want a little teaser?

Of course you do! I figured since this makeover is taking longer than expected due to the fact that I keep wanting to move things and add things and make things and fix things and paint things and all that fun stuff, I better give you a little sneak peek.
You've already seen my lamp makeover here
And my bar stool makeover here.
Now I will give you a little glimpse of something I did in my kitchen. It's going to give away the fact that we did repaint the kitchen but it's just a small portion. But it's a fun portion due to what I did. I personally really like it. (Of course if I didn't I probably wouldn't have done it.)
What do you think?
Before....
....After!
You may have to click on the picture to see it better.

Having looked at the things I made over, you know, the lamp and the stools, do you see a theme here? It's all actually coming along really well and I'm so happy with the transformation. My handy husband had to get in the attic to move the phone line so that I could move the computer on the other side of the room. He's so handy and without him I couldn't have done most of this makeover. I love you honey!!

Oh and he's so jealous of my eyeballing abilities. He said if he would have been doing the lettering he would have been there all day with his level and measuring tape LOL. I've always eyeballed everything and I don't think it came out to bad. What do you think? I know most of you probably wouldn't have done that in your kitchen but what can I say, I'm a goof ball! LOL!

Oh and don't forget when it's all said and done, I'm having a giveaway so keep your eye out. It's not to far away!!

Happy Caffeinated Hugs to You!

Calendar Recommendation!

I'm on the hunt for next years calendar already and while perusing in a Hallmark store the other day I came across this calendar. I'm seriously thinking about going back and getting it.

First off I love to surround myself with things that make me smile. So when I came across this calendar it did just that. One thing you should know is that I take my calendar picking very seriously! Think about it, your going to be looking at these pictures and such for at least 30 days at a pop. (more like 40 if you forget to change over like I do. )LOL!
I also prefer a wall calendar because it's on the wall, I don't have to go looking for it and I can write things down right away in the nice big boxes.. It totally works for me!

Some years I go cutsie, some years funny, other years practical. I guess it depends on the mood I'm in. I'm feeling like I'm in a pretty silly mood this year, so I'm swaying that way! Who would have guessed right?
What kind of calendar do you use and do you have a favorite that you go to every year? Or do you switch around like me?

You want to see a picture of the calendar in question? Of course you do! So here you go!Doesn't that look like fun?
I'll give myself another month to look around and then I'll make my final decision. If you have seen anything that you think would be perfect for me, let me know. Or better yet just buy it and send it to me! Oh how I kid! LOL!

LOVE YOU MY FRIENDS!!

I'm "Fall"ing for Fall!

I admit I'm a bit jealous of all the fall decorating going on in all your houses. I really want to start decorating my house but I'm going to wait until after my daughters sweet 16th birthday party at the end of this month, because it would be silly to decorate and then "un"decorate a week later!
But I have to say that I have been getting into the "Fall" mood with my taste buds.
The other day while on an outing with my friend Kathy we decided that a coffee stop was in order. Lo' and behold right in front of our eyes was a Starbucks! (You'd of thought we planned that!) I guess everyone else and their brother decided to go at the same time because we had to park waaaaaay far away and walk forever to get there.
See?!
Do you see how far we had to walk? Geesh, what a girl won't do for her coffee.


As I perused the menu I saw that they had a "NEW" Pumpkin Spice Latte'( that I got iced because it is still in the 90's here)! And upon further inspection I saw that they also had pumpkin bread! I would say that that is just about the perfect combination, wouldn't you?

Doesn't this just look YUMMY?!It was as good as it looks, trust me!

Unfortunately for the people around us, the DOUBLE espresso started to kick in really quick and Kathy and I started to get a little goofy. I know I know, you don't believe it, but it's true.
We have a tendency to go into our little "friendship" bubble but seem to forget that it's very transparent and everyone around us can see and hear what we are doing.But that doesn't seem to stop us. Uh uh! But on this day an incident happened that caused us both to lose it. We tried our best to keep the hysterical laughter quiet but I was about to explode with laughter and finally told Kathy that we needed to go.
Upon getting up, the lady behind Kathy turned around and said, "I gotta know. I gotta know what you all were laughing about?" And I just told her that it was a visual and it can't be repeated! LOL! We hid our heads and walked quickly out the door.
I'm ending that story there to save time.

Then the other day I got this new tea from Publix just because it had fall yumminess written all over it!
And I couldn't decide which side of my cute, perfectly matching Garfield cup to take a picture of so I took both sides of it and now I'm posting them both even though you really could care less about my cup! Phew!


The tea was quite good too. You can taste the spices and everything in it. As I was drinking it I thought how good it would taste with a little Pumpkin Spice creamer in it. I'm sure that's coming out soon. What's a little artificial creamer that has absolutely nothing good for you in it, every once and awhile?
Have you stuck with me or did you do a quick skim and just look at pictures? Uh huh. I know what some of you do! You can't fool me! LOL! But I love you anyway.

BIG GIANT HUGS TO YOU ALL!!!

YEE! HAW!

After 3 extremely long weeks we finally have our computer back!
(And all of God's people said....AMEN!)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday Funnies!

Are you ready to laugh? I am ALWAYS ready to laugh. If you have a funny to share today go post about it and come back and link directly to your funny post using the linkage love below!

This joke that was sent to me so reminded me of something my son would do. Because as you all know, he is a genius! LOL

2 Quarters or a Dollar Bill

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.

The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other,

then calls the boy over and asks,

Which do you want, son?"

The boy takes the quarters and leaves the dollar.

What did I tell you? said the barber. That kid never learns!

Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store & says, Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?

The boy licked his cone and replied,

Because the day I take the dollar, the game's over!

Oh you gotta love it!!!

Happy Friday Everyone!!!