My Dining Room On The Cover Of A Magazine?

Bringing The Outside In ~ In An Alabama Dining Room
Decorating With Colors From Nature
This is my Dinning Room, as you can tell I love to decorate with earth tones, and I love to mix in furnishings that you may find outside. I'm a inside out girl, and a outside in girl. You can see my Living and Dining Rooms on my Friday, April 4th, 2008 post.

Smart Shopping Ideas
I always try to shop thrifty unless it's something I really, really, fall in love with then it's kinda touch and go and a lot of guilt but, I get over it.

Fat Free Living
I've been trying to eat fat free and decided to post my weight loss on my blog, right now I'm at a complete stand still. Last I posted 166. and this morning I weighed 166, but this evening I weighed 168 but I figure it's just the weight of the things I ate and drank today. I have lost a lot of inches I'm in a size ten women's in bottoms and a large in tops, when I started I was in a 14 bottoms and XL in tops. I still have some tummy weight that I want to loose. But right now I'm just tired, of the attention I'm giving it. I'm still on board though.

Quick And Easy Meals
My quick and easy meals, result to a sandwich.

Living With High Blood Pressure
I have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and I'm doing pretty good with my meds, I must start back exercising, I have stopped completely, that's probably why my weight has not changed.

Making Exercise Fun
If you can find out how to make exercise fun, let me know.

Meeting New Friends
I have met a lot of great friends blogging. Women and men, and I'm so thankful for you all.

Sharing With Others
I enjoy sharing thoughts, ideas, lives, and the hearts of all of you.

My Husband, My Friend
My husband is my best friend, and I am his. We are always there for each other, don't get me wrong we have our arguments (over the TV) but we get through it. :O) There are a few other arguments that crop up from time to time but nothing major, probably my fault mostly but, we'll save those for another day.

How I Found Jesus
I found Jesus through a very tragic time in my life but, I'm so glad I found Jesus.

Giving Praise and Thanks to Jesus
Giving Praise and Thanks to Jesus is the one thing we all should incorporate into our lives.

It's All In The Name Of Jesus
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:8-11

My Country Den Is No More ~ Before And After

This is the old den, loved it but, my little country den was in need of a change.

The fireplace surrounded with the things I love. I have transfer most of it to our grand kids room I'll show it in a later post.

Well all my thrift store finds have been put away and there are no remnants of the country past. Now for the new and hopefully improved updated den.

As you can tell I love earth tones, I used Bittersweet on the walls which is brown, and used Old Mill on the trim which is a green, the trim paint was used on the fireplace mantel as well. Oh, and I did all the painting myself, I love to paint. Kandace my daughter, picked out the coffee at Mazer's furniture store. It's a close-out store and they have beautiful furnishings at discounted prices. I love it too, I'm glad she brought it to my attention!

The picture above the couch I found at Hobby Lobby, they had 50% off all their wall art. As you can see I went on a shopping spree around the house and brought in my monkeys from the screened porch area and they now have a place on the inside along with just about all the other things that were out there.

The clock I moved from the dining room and replaced it with a metal art piece that I found at JC Penney. I was planning to use the metal piece in this spot but, I didn't like it here but I love it in the dinning room. Great swap and JC Penney was having a wall art sale too, so I got a 100.00 piece at 60% off plus an additional 15% so I ended paying only 39.23. I'll show it later too. The clock I've had for a few years, I purchased it at Kirkland's for about 69.00.

New drapes from Burlington's, I got 3 panels and used the third to add to the length since I wanted to raise the height of the rod to a few inches below the crown molding. The throw on the couch is the valance that was on the third drapery panel. The Roman Shades are from Wal-Mart and we used two. We had price them custom at Lowes but they would be over 400.00, and we thought not. So these are wider than the windows and can be cut but we didn't cut them. The two meet in the center and go pass the window casings about 41/2 inches on each side but the drapes hide that. The chairs and the couch came from Rooms To Go. My husband wanted a leather couch but I didn't like the chairs that came with the couch they were too huge for this small room. So I browsed around until I found these, I had the guy that was helping us to place the chair with the couch so I could see how they looked together and I was hooked. That's my same end table I used in the country room. It fits in perfectly.

This is just the view from the couch. The monkey holds a plate of decorative balls. I didn't have to buy any table accessories so I only purchased the picture, mirror, and the urn you see on the fireplace over to the left.

The fireplace is country no more. I wasn't to sure what to place on the mantel but this will do for the time being, I have ordered sconces to go on each side of the mirror. There's my other monkey holding the fern. Here you can also see the green trim and mantel. I got the mirror at Hobby Lobby too, at the same time I bought the picture. So it was 50% off too.

Just a different shot of the fireplace.

My little desk area is still in this spot but I did change out the chair. I borrowed it from downstairs. So this is still where I visit with you.

Just the clock up close, the shot also shows the true paint color as my camera is on the blinks and I have such a hard time getting it to perform. Well this concludes the tour of my new den my husband loves it, he never felt comfortable in the room with the teddy bears. :O)

CATCHING UP

I'm way behind posting about this but, due to circumstances beyond my control. My good friend Kindra has a Etsy store, she has all sorts of neat things. She specializes in Primitive Decor but she's so very talented I believe she can make just about anything. I had her make for me a custom sign that reads... Whatever You Are Be A Good One, I saw that saying in a magazine similar to a Country Sampler, but I don't remember the name of it. I always thought it was a cute saying and although a lot can be read into it, I just choose not to think of the negative. When it was delivered I was so excited!

Kindra had it packaged to make sure that it reached me in tip-top condition. I had fun with the bubble wrap later too. Very large bubbles, I had to step on them. I'm such a kid!

Also there was the cutest little thank you note, along with an apology because the first sign that Kindra made never reached me. Great mail system uh? It was very upsetting to Kindra just getting started with her store and to have this happen. It was very upsetting to me because she's such a lovely person I hated to see this happen to her. Kindra was so gracious and made me a second sign, and I promised her that if it ever shows up I will have it shipped back to her.

Look how beautiful it is. It's pretty long, and it was very reasonable too at 19.99, considering the one I saw in the magazine was around 40.00 and much, much, smaller. Kindra, the place I had chosen for it didn't do it justice. I need to place it somewhere that I can see it all the time. I'm in the process of changing a lot of things around in here as I am redecorating my den. I will show you it's final resting place soon. Deb

Also in catching up, when I had my boys over, I'd promised them I would take them to our amusement park called Alabama Adventure, today I will be taking them and will try to get lots of pictures to share. I'm just about done with my den too. I just need to hang the Roman Shades, and shop around the house for accessories. I will share it soon too.

IT'S NOT THE END

It's almost 3:00am, I should be asleep but I haven't been able to sleep at all. I'm dreading today with a passion. This will close another chapter of my life. I feel sick inside, seeing his body for the last time, I know it's just an empty house that could no longer contain the spirit but, when I look at him I want him to speak to me, I want more time to show him how much I love him. I know he's happy where he is and he wants me to be happy too but, I'm so very sad. I have a lump so thick in my throat I can hardly breathe, soon it will all be laid to rest. Lord you are the All Mighty you can do anything, Lord please help me, help me be strong, help me to stay focused on you and know that this is not the end because I know it's not the end but, I will miss him so. Lord I feel your presence and I know that you are with me, I just want to say, Thank you Jesus.

THANKS FRIENDS

Thanks everyone, your thoughts and prayers really mean a lot. I feel that you all are the best friends that I've ever had, I care deeply for you all. We will be having my daddy's funeral on Wednesday at 12:00pm. I don't know exactly when I'll be posting but, I'll find the time to visit with you soon.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 1:3

Deb

FLY AWAY HOME DADDY

Today my daddy passed on, ever since he left the hospital he'd been having a low grade fever that would come and go. This morning my step-mom called and said that his temp was really high and so was his blood sugar he had been battling diabetes for 40 years, most of both his feet had been amputated. She call the paramedics and they didn't think he wasn't responsive, Daddy wouldn't have wanted to go back into the hospital and would have wanted to be at home.


He's home now with the Lord, his amputated feet are whole and his arthritic hands are crooked no more. And his fuss box is crying Holy! Holy! Holy! He was sort of a fuss box at times :O) but, he loved the Lord. My stepmother told us that he prayed all day Sunday and would not accept anything she tried to give him. I remember when he was in the hospital, and I was trying to find something on TV for him to watch, he told me to find something that I liked because he wasn't interested in any of that stuff anymore, all he was interested in was Jesus. That made me smile, I said, "daddy that's a good thing".


Pray for my family, and for me, for I'm feeling so much sorrow. I love my daddy, and Iam going miss him so much. I know the Lord is with me, it's His promise and I'll be holding on.


I love you daddy, and I'll see you again.

Still a million things to do!

I have three of my grandsons over, and will possibly add a fourth. I have set up a few things that will possibly keep them occupied. I never finished my plans to get some work done around the house but, I'm going to still try.

I have the tent, in the backyard and have put in a TV with the VCR built-in they can watch old movies.

They have also taken a few toys and video games out there. If it gets too hot, I will make them come in but so far it's been cloudy. These are some pictures I took yesterday. It's suppose to rain today, I'll keep watch. I may let them play in the pool if no thunder storms are in the forecast.

Here they are, they thought they would be brave enough to spend the night out there but the little one on the right wanted to know what was the noise in the trees last night, and once he came in the others followed. They are too funny!

I never finished my plans to get some of the work done around the house. I'm still in the process of getting things thinned out around here, someday I would like to have only what I need, a place for everything and everything in it's place. Do you think there's is such a home? Anyways I'm still behind, haven't had the yard sale or put things together for one, but I had to be there for my dad because for some reason the elderly don't get the attention they should in these hospitals. If you have elderly relatives in the hospital, go and tend to them because the hospital staff won't help them eat or hand them a tissue if they need it. We had and issue with one of the nurses saying that my dad, loves the call button which I thought was inappropriate for her to say to us, so I did let her know that if someone would show up from time to time he wouldn't need to stay on it. My father has arthritis in his hands and his finger tips are curled over and he can't do a lot of things for himself, and we did have issues concerning the care he got in the hospital. But he's home and we won't be worrying over his care, I thank God for that and thank you all again for your prayers. Now it's time for a little excitement! I have purchased new furnishings for my den, YAY! they will deliver it on the 17th, so I have to get the room painted and the trim done before it comes. I will also be getting back into the swing of things with my diet, NAY! :O(

I'm going to start taping off my window panes this evening, for my trim work and I'll keep you posted. Deb

DAD'S HOME

My Dad went home this afternoon, Thank God! It has really been a very tiresome week for me. But I'm happy to say that he's well. He had not been able to keep anything food or water down since about 4 days before entering the hospital, everything would come right back. Day before yesterday an endoscopy revealed that he had a piece of meat enlarged in his esophagus which was blocking food or water from entering his stomach. Why it took them so long to find this problem is a mystery to me, but at last it's over. My sister works and my stepmother is 79 so my help was truly needed, I've spent the majority of my days there at the hospital, and trying to keep my life in tact also. I want to thank everyone for your prayers and thoughts of us, it was truly needed and appreciated. I can't say that I've lost any weight because I've been on cafeteria and fast food all week. I weighed this morning at 166.4 so I'm only down 4oz., but the least of my thoughts have been about dieting. I'll have to get back on the band wagon this week. We have been invited to a gathering at my cousins for a 4 day of July celebration, I've just finished the potato salad, if I can find my camera, I will take pictures tomorrow, but somehow I've hidden it from myself. Have a great day, all of my friends, I really care for you and have missed you all a lot. Deb

Prayer Needed

Hi everyone, I wanted to let you guys know that my father was admitted to the hospital on yesterday evening. He's 85 years old, and very frail, his condition is not life threatening but at his age, you never know. This morning I will be at the hospital sitting with him, and won't be posting until he's out of the woods and home again. I want to ask that you lift him up in your prayers.


17"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
18" But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." Daniel 3: 17-18

Much Needed Break!

I'll be taking a break for the rest of the week, I'll be getting some much needed things around the house done, and also preparing for a yard sale the week after the 4th. I'm totally convinced that a break from blogging will be the only way that I can get this done. I pray that you all have a great week. And hopefully I'll be back on Monday. Deb