Happy Birthday Sunni! ~ And a day of browsing for me.

This is our daughter Sunni, today is her birthday. I won't disclose her age or anything but she is my husband's middle daughter. Sunni stopped by today and I asked if I could post her picture and a small tribute to her for her birthday. She lives only a few blocks from us and was on her way to dinner with friends. See that smile? It's there all the time. She is a fun loving, hard working, mother of one daughter, 11 years old. Please join me in wishing Sunni a most beautiful birthday and wishes of many, many, more. We Love You, Girl!

I hope this won't be too long but I've had a busy, busy, day. First I dropped Kandace off to her hair appointment. Silly me, I had the camera I could have shown a before and after but didn't think of it. Then I'd been summoned by my sons to pick up tickets they'd purchased over the phone to the Comedy Show this weekend at the Star Dome.

I love this place!

The Headliner for this weekend is none other than, Bruce Bruce.

Got the tickets and was on my way, I had a few hours before Kandace would be done.

So I thought I'd take a trip to one of our local Salvation Army Stores. I thought I'd look for a small end table to go on the side of the sofa in the den but I'm really leaning towards nesting tables that I saw else where.

This is what I believe to be a souvenir spoon holder, it was priced at 24.99 which I thought was outrageous.

I loved these chairs, although my picture is not good, the pair have nice detail and the one in front is pretty nice too. I didn't price them.

I'm a sucker for a leather chair but, nothing to big, so this one caught my eye. It was 32.00

I thought this was a nice leather ottoman at 39.00

This lamp had a nice base for a country room the shade would have to be changed and it was 16.99

This table and stool set was 129.00

I loved these chairs but I didn't think they went with that table but I think the chairs were being sold with the table because I couldn't find a price for the chairs and the table was 129.00.

Loved it! I don't remember what the price was.

I thought the base of these lamps were nice, but I didn't like the shades.

Here's a close-up of the body of the lamp, and they were not priced.

See those glasses on the end of the counter, there are seven of them, and they're only 2.99. I snatched them up quick.

This is a picture of the things I purchased there. The clear platter for 1.99, that large white bowl for 2.99, (it was made by some guy named Ed in 1980, he'd scribble this info underneath), the small candy dish for .99 cents, the cherub for 2.99, and the clown plagues to hang on the wall were .99 cents for the pair. The glasses are not shown because Sunni admired them, and I gave them to her.

Here are the clowns close-up, one has lost his pants and the other is laughing about it. I thought they were darling and they look like little baby clowns.

I also visited Marshalls today, this is one of my favorite stores.

This pair of birds have been here for a while, I admire them each time I'm there but I have no place for them.

These caught my attention they have a place for tea light candles I bet they are pretty lit.

This was cute also it's a sconce that resemble a license plate.

Loved these chairs, especially the iron work.

Pillows! There was a time in my life when I was addicted to pillows but they were nothing but trouble, I was always fluffing. So I got rid of them.

They had a lot of beautiful pictures.

Bling, but not to my taste.

Rose dishes and a blue one.

This white bowl was 12.99 compared to my bowl to the thrift store's 2.99.

I wanted this but decided not to get it, it was 7.99.

This was the cutest wall art in shape of a garden gate. It was 39.00.

I really liked the big pot with the leaves, second shelf from the bottom.

But I really fell in love with this one.

How about this, so funny, the hare riding the back of the tortoise.

I never fool around this aisle. I always think that maybe that stuff isn't fresh.

This statue I almost bought, but I didn't have any place to put it. It was only 9.99.

WOW! This really caught my eye! This sign is so whimsical!

It is going with me.

Alright, I guess this will do it.

Here we are. Home Sweet Home!

Out of these four wall expressions, I was only interested in the @. I thought it would be fun over by my computer desk. Now I have all the others and no place to put them. Time will tell.

I chose the Once upon a time sign to accompany it.

I think they fit perfectly together. Once upon a time @ Deb's Country Kisses......

And the new pot adds that perfect splash of color to break-up all the mono tones. I have used another colorful pot on the coffee table but forgot to take a picture of it. I hope this wasn't too long but, I had a long day. I enjoyed it, I hope you did too. Deb

An Award and a Meme

I was given this award by my good friends Kady and Dot. Kady's @ Life On Bonnie Lane and Dot @ Picket's Place. Dot and Kady are warm, kind, Christian ladies. They both have a tremendous love of family, friends, and decorating. I love visiting them both and if you haven't visited please do, it's always a treat. Thanks Dot and Kady, for thinking of me, it's a beautiful award.

The rules are to show the logo, link back to the person that gave the award, and choose 7 to pass it along to and links to their blogs. Then notify them of the award. My choices are :

Living Beautifully - Connie is a beautiful person, she so full of fun and life, there is never a dull moment. She has a shop where she sell a little bit of everything. She also sells items that she has handmade herself. I think she's really special.

Pearls Sentimental Journey - Pearl a true delight, so thoughtful and kind, loves pink. Pearl will be a friend to the end, and I'm very proud to call her mine friend.

Bold & Free - Jan is a lovely person and Minister, she always offers encouraging words of faith.

Life At Number 17 - Shelia is a lovely person, she has a genuine love for animals as she has a few. She shares great ideas for the home, and has a very humorous approach about it.

Momstheword - Very kind lady, always helping someone, she a God send to anyone around her. Very funny stories and happenings.

Front Porches Sweet Tea & Old Aprons - Shanda is a very busy lady, she has beautifully decorated her home, she farms, and has started to participate in a farmers market in her town. She has a very interesting life.

Farmhouse Blessings - Lea is such a joy, she's thoughtful, kind, Christian, a loving mother and friend. She shares great recipes, frugal shopping sprees and most of all Colton. Colton has been a God send to us all, it's amazing how much he understands about the Lord and that the Lord want us to love others as we love ourselves. His love of God has to come from a loving family, Thanks Lea, for raising an Angel.

Also over at Picket's Place, Dot has challenged anyone that wants to play to list 6 unimportant food tidbits about ourselves. A lot of them I shared with Dot, so I tried to think of some that were not on her list.

1. I will not eat large white Lima Beans, the green ones are fine but, the large white ones have these little white things that detached themselves from the bean and look like maggots and for some reason I can't get around them.

2. Caviar will have to be my second, why does anyone want to eat fish eggs? I just don't understand it, and I hate the way they look.

3. Craw fish I don't get it, they look like big bugs, and they have eyes. People say to eat them, you take off the heads and suck the insides out. There's no way I can do that! I would surely die!

4. I don't eat beef cooked rare, I don't want to cut into a steak and get a drainage of blood. Make mine well done, all the way.

5. I don't like boiled okra, fry mine please!. Boiled makes me think of slugs.

6. Last but not least, oysters and mussels. Boiled, steamed, smoked, fried, on a half shell, how utterly ridiculous, and I dare not say what they look like.

It's funny what we will eat and not eat. This pass weekend I had my 3 little grandsons over again. For Sunday dinner, I made baked ham, collared greens, baked sweet potatoes and mac and cheese. I kinda tired myself out and did not feel like making cornbread. So I had this bright idea that hush puppies would be a good stand in. So I deep fried a few, and they were okay, my husband didn't mind he's not a big fan of bread anyway. But I over heard the boys in the kitchen complaining that they didn't want the little balls. The littlest one K.J., had been asleep he woke up, I fixed his plate and he joined them. Then I heard Omari tell K.J. eat your meat balls, they taste so good, and then I heard Chris just burst into laughter and Omari joined in. When I went to clear the table after them, all the balls were there. The one KJ had tried after being told it was a meat ball, was there, bitten and spat out. So much for hush puppies.

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)