Happy 100

It's friday! Woo hoo for one of the longest weeks of my life being OVER!

And if that wasn't exciting enough...

this is my 100th post!

 Not that anyone out there has actually read all one hundred posts, but it's like a little journal, diary, blog of possibilities, inspiration folder for me. And I enjoy it.

Everyone have a fabulous weekend! Be back next week.

emotional.

I find more and more how emotional I am. I can cry at the drop of a hat. It really freaks my husband out. Like, a good commercial can bring tears to my eyes in seconds. I cry when I hear a sad story about a complete stranger; Someone was mistreated, someone was abused, someone didn't feel loved...it all brings a storm of sad emotions. But then there are the happy ones- the story of the couple who tried getting pregnant for years, were almost finished with the adoption process, AND found out they were pregnant. You might as well hand over an entire box of kleenex because I'm going to need it.

But I've also found that I get great ideas, or make some decisions based on emotions. Like the fact that I'm totally obsessed with living on a farm in a big white house. I probably saw a beautiful white farmhouse one day and the idea took off from there. Next thing you know, I'm wanting to raise chickens! I can read a book about the way poultry is raised in the U.S., or how many hormones are injected into the meats we eat, and decide I want to be a vegetarian. It all depends on the day:)

Or I can see this picture and decide I want twin boys..badly.

(and pray I look that good afterward.)

Are other women like this, or is it just me?

If you're in the mood for an incredibly poignant read, go to Kelle Hampton's blog and read her daughter, Nella's birthstory. It is amazing, and I cried for 2 days:)

whipped.

I'm gonna be honest, I.AM.WHIPPED.

I've been with children 9837583465837 hours so far this week, including 2 over- nighters.

Which included getting hit in the face with a sippy cup at 3 am, a certain 5 yr old wetting the bed, being woken up at 4 am to ask for breakfast and cartoons, several slaps to the face and kicks to the ribs; Amounting to not much sleep at all.

And tomorrow's only Thursday.

This is me in my current state.

Beautiful House Wednesday

Here it is- the great Cottage Chic style I once referred to as

Modern/Bohemian/Vintage.

picture perfect

Bright and eclectic

Yay for mismatched dining chairs and chunky farm tables!

Get a load of that window

Eat-in kitchens with area rugs..nothing better.

So cozy. And they didn't even bother to hide the alarm clock and remote, love it!

more HERE

Check it-

Book of Possibilities

Has anyone ever seen "The Last Holiday" with Queen Latifah?

It is such a feel-good movie. My three roommates and I went and saw it in the theater on Valentine's Day 2006. In the movie, the main character has this "Book of Possibilities" that she puts together. It holds pictures ripped out of magazines of things she wants to accomplish, places she longs to visit, photos of meals she's cooked in hopes of opening her own restaurant, even ideas for a future wedding, AND a future man:) My roommates and I were all single at the time (and weren't going on many dates..ha!), so we decided it would be fun to make our own Book of Possibilies since our lives were just beginning.

We had a lot of fun with our scrapbooking skills. Mine has four pages devoted to travel destinations, a few pages of fashion (including an incredibly fabulous walk-in closet, of course), pages gathering ideas for a future engagement, wedding, children etc. I pulled out the book in preparation for Wednesday's "Beautiful House Wednesday," because I have been obsessed with Designer, Tia Zoldan's home since 2006 when the Book of Possibilities made its' debut!

Yes, I actually scrapbooked Zoldan's home back in 2006 into my book of possibilities, because even then I found every detail of it very inspirational. Gone are the days of sitting hunched over on the livingroom floor with my three roommates, arguing over magazines. We have this fabulous new technology...blogging. My very own Blog of Possibilities.

stay tuned for more of this California cottage tomorrow...

girlfriends

"My friends are my estate."

-Emily Dickinson

I truly cherish my girlfriends. A couple weekends ago, we all got together for food, drinks, laughter, and Mary Kay makeup!

Sara, Ashley, and I

Mom and Grandma are two of my BEST girlfriends!

Mom and Kerri

She likes to show us how it's done.

Saturday, Sara and I went to the fair/flea market/festival.

I begged her to go on the tilt-o-whirl with me, often known as the "twirl and hurl." She was going to make me go alone until I just bought her tickets and she couldn't back out. For old times sake, right?

Well, the twirl and hurl wasn't good to her, because it took 15 minutes post-war to rid her of her nausea.

But we still had fun. Elephant ear- check! Cinnamon toasted almonds- check! Weird animals- check! 

head-butts

So, my husband and I often butt heads when it comes to the area of my cooking. Probably because it's not really my thing. To be honest, I've cooked more in the last 7 months than I have in my entire life, but it's still not what he's used to! So, could I work on my skills? Yes. And could he not whine about it so much? Yes.

Tonight, I think I'll give it a whirl. This one's for you, Honey.

crush-turned-husband

In participation with Kelly's Show Us Your Life Friday, here is the story of how Jake and I met:

I was a senior in high school, had never dated, never had a first kiss, and told my best friend that there was no one in our town I would date...except maybe Jake. He was a good friend of my older brother's, 5 years my senior, we had no mutual friends, had never hung out, or even had a long conversation. I simply thought he was gorgeous. I'm not even going to talk about the stalking we did!
He would say hi in passing, and was always really friendly, but showed no interest in me other than that. Afterall, I was "Dale's little sister." Much to my dismay, he began dating a girl I kind of knew. So, all hope was lost. After I graduated, I moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and almost forgot about Jake. Because there was no chance there, and I had other things on my mind.
My brother planned to come down with my mom and visit for a long weekend, over Mother's Day. I told him he should bring a friend along, so while we were doing girlie things, he would have someone to hang out with.
The next day, my mom called and said, "You will never guess who your brother's bringing."
"Who??"
"Jake!"
She obviously knew about my minor infatuation.
It would be the first time we ever really spent any time together, and he would be staying at my house for 3 nights! I was pretty excited.
So, the four of us had a great weekend. Jake and I discovered we had so many things in common, like our love for Johnny Cash and Stevie Wonder, our outlook on a lot of things, our very-obvious (to my brother, of course) physical attraction to one another. We danced our first dance together to "I Just Called to Say I Love You." Which happened to be sentimental to us both, and that night he hinted that he thought I should move back to Michigan.
My response? "Yeah, that's not going to happen."
So again, I pushed him from my mind as best I could.
A couple of months went by, with little contact, and then I went home for a visit. We hung out non-stop, I experienced my first kiss, and then again, it was over. Well, God has a funny way of working things out, because I moved back to Michigan that August, for reasons other than him.
We were official a couple of months later, engaged 2 1/2 years later, and married 7 months after that!

Our first photo together, Nashville '06

September 5th, 2009

flower power

Ya know, with the "Power Quote" from Wednesday, I figured some Flower Power was long over due. I realize the two have nothing to do with eachother. And I also realize that the.... pardon my language...."word vomit" often takes place while I'm blogging. But I just had to say, I am loving Hycinths!!

I discovered our backyard DOES have something to offer! (Other than a bonfire pit and a fence that keeps Layla contained.) The monsters, my pet name for the kids I watch, were outside and came in with a bunch of these vibrant pink flowers, that are so incredibly fragrant! Being the garden school dropout that I am, I thought they must be weeds. This place is a rental, and Lord knows I didn't plant them. But my friend looked them up for me online and they are, in fact, a flower. So did the previous renters plant them, or do they just grow by themselves?? (In a dandelion-sort-of-way.) If you have any knowledge, do share.

Also, along the lines of flowers, Molly found some really great yellow daffodils on the side of my house, picked every. single. one. and brought them inside to me. I was like, "Oh Molly, they're so pretty! Thank you so much!" Thinking, she picked them for me, like she often does.

And she came back with "No, they're not for you. They're for my mom." And proceeded to take them home with her for her mom to enjoy:(

Goin' Stag

So, this is all the rage right now.

styleathome

Deer heads, stag horns, you name it...they're totally chic.

And you don't even have to live in Northern Michigan:)

domino

Lonny

the style files

These crazy rustic-chic accessories can be found all over, in a variety of materials; Wood, metal, steel, porcelin, paper. Personally, if I'm going to have a deer head or deer antlers adorning the walls of my home, I would like for them to be the real thing, and I prefer to shoot it myself:) It's on my list of things to do before I die.

So, what do you think? Yay or nay to the stag horns?

Beautful House Wednesday

I feel like Wednesdays come up so quickly, which is actually a great thing. This means my weeks are no longer moving in slow motion, and I know, one day I will come to resent the fast pace of life.

This house, I call the Glam Atlanta:

The entry way is absolutely ridiculous.

Fun, chic, and clean lined.

I'm lovin' the roman shades, "brave white furniture" (as I like to call it!), and the lucite cocktail table!

Is this the same house? A pop of color was definitely a pleasant surprise in the guest room.

Love, love the area rug, Karlee Chairs (cause they should be mine), and that slate blue-gray wall color.....

I think those are Karlee Chairs as well:)

This house was found at Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles

Power Quote

 "Simply because you can't put your hands around something doesn't mean it's not there. In fact, the things that are most precious to us are the things that are invisible, aren't they? Love, tenderness, happiness, air, feelings, emotions- those things we cannot touch, but they are very real. And so it is with God's power: It may not be touchable, but it's real and it's obtainable." Walking with the Savior- Max Lucado

Anthro

I have a problem.

I LOVE Anthropologie.

And their website is far too convenient.

Wish List:

for the kitchen (which is funny, because I'm not much of a cook.)

for the home:

I'm a little obsessed with rugs at the moment, especially the "Solid Foundations" and "Red Barn!"

and just because:

Staghorn vase and watercolors clutch....to put a smile on my face:)

The House that Built Me

I have been in love with this song since I first heard it, then just the other day Jake said he finally found a song sung by a female country singer that he really likes! (miracle?) Apparently, we can both relate to this one. Fortunate for us, our parents still live in the houses we have most of our childhood memories in, but every time my brother and I pass my grandparents old house in the town they still live in (separately now), we talk about how we would like to go up, knock on that door, and politely ask if we can take a look around. And reminisce, of course. There are so many memories packed  into that big, brown, house on the lake. Like the time my cousin and I were locked in the bathroom and cried hysterically until my uncle broke in. Or hiding the porcelin faced dolls so they wouldn't stare at us when we were made to sleep in the "blue room". The times we played house in the apartment over the garage, or when my friend dropped Grandpa's weights and broke her foot while my brother was babysitting, the day my 2 yr old cousin fell off the pontoon boat and quickly learned to swim:) Or how about birthday parties on the back deck, and singing in the livingroom on our brand new karaoke machine? And of course, those Christmases where the entire family stayed the night on Christmas Eve, we got to open all of our presents surrounded by cousins in matching dresses, and listen to Uncle sing "Walkin in a Winter Wonderland." Those were the days. If only we could go back.

I was so happy that Miranda won Female Vocalist of the Year!

they're packin'

The fear of downsizing in the near future is getting less and less scary. We'll need a storage unit and will definitely have to weed out the things we don't need for our day to day life, but we're only living in 1,000 sq ft now...what's a couple hundred less??

This apartment is only 593 sq ft and packs a lot of style!!

Totally cute, right?

more HERE

And how about this one...only 700 sq ft!

700 sq ft, seriously?

You can definitely make small look good, with a little more thought.

HERE