Jillian's 30 Day Shred: Day 1

Jillian really kicked my butt! Day one down... 29 to go!!

$1 Goodwill Necklace Holder

I stopped by Goodwill last Friday to see what was there and was pleasantly surprised to find this...(sorry, i started to paint it and then remembered that i hadn't taken a "before" pic)

A cute display stand. I thought...oh, I could use that for my necklaces! I have so much and it's getting out of control on my dresser! So I used a little of my pretty blue paint I already had..

And ta-da... my new necklace holder for $1!!! I'll post the final pic (with necklaces) after it dries!

Craft Room Shelf Revamp

I scored this shelf off of Craigslist for $15. I had been looking for some type of shelves to hang in my craft room to hopefully help with all the clutter!! I decided to paint this "Asparagus" green and mod podge some scrapbook paper to the back for a little more flare!

This is the before. Red and black distressed.
This is after my 3 coats of "asparagus" green. It was starting to look so much better!
I picked this cute scrapbook paper. I thought it was fun and had lots of great colors. Matching the lines while mod podging it wasn't easy. I'm not the greatest mod podger in the world either!
My sweet hubby hanging it in the craft room. i love how it turned out. Now I need to fill it up and take some great "after" pics!

$15 Craigslist Find

$0 Paint I already had

$7 paper at hobby lobby

$0 mod podge

TOTAL for my super cool shelf... $22!!

Getting Spooky at the Ellis House!

I have put out a few of my Halloween decorations for this year. I can't believe September is already over! The weather has been changing here...no more 105 days, more like 68 and 70's.

I do enjoy this time of year. The bitter cold and ice is what I never look forward to! This year I will remain positive about the bitterness and the iciness though! :)

Love my glittery skulls I got at TJ Maxx for $5!

This is the first in my Bethany Lowe collection. Isn't she wonderful!?

More of my new "whimsical" decor!

Forever and a Day!!

Sorry! It's been forever and a day since I last posted about much of anything. I think I can blame it on my new camera! Sounds weird, I know...but my old camera I would just take pics, toss the camera in my purse, and blog when I was at work and had some "free" time. Now, my camera is big..and nice...and requires it's own special bag, so I don't really bring it here to the office much. Excuses, excuses!

So better late then never.....

We celebrated Laynie's birthday with a scavenger hunt at the mall with her friends. First, we ate cupcakes, opened presents and had fun at home.

The birthday tablescape. Used a shower curtain for the tablecloth..

I love vinyl lettering. I wish I had my own machine! I think I would put it everywhere! This was just a $5 Hob Lob frame and I used a piece of scrapbook paper for the background and ordered her name in vinyl..then stuck it to the glass. It's on the outside, so if she changed room colors I can change the paper out.

I rolled up the cute shirts I had made for the girls.
Cute party girls.

Laynie & Lydia throwing the peace sign!

Can never have too many purses!

In the middle of all the fun, Kerri brought over a cake with 30...yes 30, candles on it (since it was technically my birthday).

We had a great time and made fun memories!!

Today I Turn 30

I turn 30 years old today! Even though I dont feel a day over 25 (most of the time) I have come to realize that I am growing older every day. Funny that you spend your whole childhood wanting to be older and your adulthood wanting to be younger.

I dont think I will subscribe to that way of thinking! Sure, there are things that I thought I would have already done by now, but I'm still young. I can still go to Greece, see the mountains of Colorado, take a cruise to Alaska, see Niagara Falls, take a bath in wet noodles (oops did I say that?)..

Well you get the point.

Today I am rejoicing in my age. Rejoicing because I am blessed beyond belief. I have a wonderful husband who loves me unconditionally, two glorious step-kids that are a blessing in my life, a warm home that I have grown to love, precious friends by my side, family that is supportive and loving, a great job that is stable and secure in this crazy economy... my health, my sanity...

I have love in my life and a lot more to give.

I can't wait for what's to come!

Laynie's 13 Today!

I can't believe that our little Laynie is a teenager today!!! My sweet, shy little 8 year old (that's when I met her) has blossomed into a friendly, funny, beautiful young lady!

Laynie, Carly & Me at her 9th birthday sleepover! Wow!!

Laynie's pancake breakfast this morning!
I was going to put 13 candles in her pancake, but I figured I would wait to do that to her cake.

Sweet Laynie!

We are planning a scavenger hunt at the mall with her friends tomorrow. We got her a Vera Bradley purse and 13 $5's ($65). Clint wanted to be creative with the money! How cute!

Tonight Blake has a baseball game at 6pm and Laynie is joining her team for their away game (she can't play because of her nose).

Laynie's 13th Birthday preparation

Laynie turns 13 this Thursday! I can't believe it! She has really blossomed into a sweet, caring, helpful, generous, kind, spirited young lady! I'm so proud of her!

So this year she has decided that she wants to have a scavenger hunt at the mall. I was good with that...so the planning began over the weekend (while sitting on the beach).

I am having t-shirts made for the girls that look like this: Front:

Here's the back:
And here's what happened to our sweet girl over the weekend!
Nothing like your little brother breaking your nose!!! UGH!!

Quicky

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on now that we are home from Padre, but here is a pic my hubby took while we were there. This is what happens after a few beers, long day on the beach, and the realization you are OLD now!!

Day One- Done

So the guys are pretty sure they came in first this leg! They start again tomorrow morning for the second leg of the race.

South Padre, TX

We are in South Padre, TX for the Ruff Riders Regatta. Last year was our first time here and Clint and his Dad did awesome! This year we are here with our friends, Jeff & Kerri Due. We got here Wednesday night after 16 hours of driving! So, since then I've done a lot of this....

And this.....


So it's been really nice! Tomorrow is the first day of the race. The boys have already gone to bed for the night and we just finished watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Interesting movie!! I'll post about the race tomorrow.