Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland
After seeing a tour of a Christmas home here, I figured it was time to share mine.
Just for reference, this is what my dining area used to look like...
This is the view of my dining area from my kitchen. I say area because it's not really a room. The tree in the left corner is actually no longer there because it was my mom's christmas present that I was storing at my house until this past weekend. I wanted, however, to show everyone the picture of when it was there because it made my dining area look a lot more full.
big difference huh?? Of course everything that I have added to this room since the first picture was taken isn't all christmas stuff. I now have my grandmother's kitchen table, I have the picture covering the breaker box (left wall), I have red curtains now and I have my aprons hanging (right wall).
Now for the details...
I made the tree in the middle by following the instructions here. The other two I got for a $1 each at the dollar tree.
I have big snowflakes hanging from my ceiling. I got these from the dollar tree for...a $1!!!!!
Snowflake plates and mugs found at Old Time Pottery. The mugs have little markers that come with them and you can label whose mug is whose if you have a little holiday party :).
I just threw a few snowflake ornaments on the table to add that extra umph. The snowflake ornaments were mostly purchased in bulk from the dollar tree and hobby lobby.
The cute tree that is no longer blessing my house...maybe I'll ask for one for my birthday? Yes, I added some snowflakes to it :).
Up close of the kitchen window...see the curtains are now red. Don't mind that one of the blinds are missing. I might or might not have tore them down while I was decorating...oops. Gary will fix it. Garland, silver balls and white snowflakes. The silver balls were purchased from the dollar tree. The garland was purchased from Old Time Pottery on black friday...got it super cheap!!
View from the living. There is garland hanging from the entry way and now I have christmas cards all across that little area between the ceiling and the garland. Maybe I'll take a picture of that later. Of course snowflakes are hanging from it.
The back door has garland with white snowflakes and red balls. Yes, I'm still loving my roman shade.
The 'first year' ornament my sister got me is a little big for our tree, so I hung it from the door handle. Isn't it sooo cute!!
The kitchen doesn't have much going on. Just some lighted (is that how you say it) garland and
a seasons greetings sign that I've had for years!!
Oh and some snowflake towels I got from the Dollar General.
On to the living room...
This snow decoration is hanging on the inside of my front door. I got this at Hobby Lobby for cheap, but it was all wooden before I added a little glue and glitter.
I have red curtains at the front of the house too, so white snowflakes and silver balls are hanging from the garland.
Since this rod is a little longer than the other two (the windows are further apart) I hung a Happy Holidays sign from the middle section. I snagged that sign from The Good Will for $.99. You know it had to have a snowflake :).
The tree is in the front corner so I can open the blinds for the world to see. You might remember when I made that tree skirt.
My tree is full of snowflakes and ball ornaments with snowflakes on them. I LOVE IT!!!
The black curtain behind the red couch has red snowflakes and red balls.
I bought the big black vase whenever my roommates and I had a fireplace at our house in Mount Juliet. I have been wanting to do something with it for years and finally I decided to grab some sticks from my parents yard (after the tornado they have plenty to choose from) and paint them white. This little guy usually hangs out in the corner where the tree is, but I wanted my tree to be by the front window, so I moved him and added some ball ornaments just for kick and giggles.
Now for my 'mantel.' We don't have a fireplace (sob sob), so I decided to add a shelf above my couch that I could change out season to season. You might remember that this is what it used to look like.
And here is it all decked out for Christmas...
I kept the clock., made another cardboard tree,wrapped some leftover garland around a heavy duty cardboard 'W' I got from Hobby Lobby.
and hung the stockings and snowflakes. The stockings were bought our very first Christmas from Bed, Bath and Beyond.
As I was walking around the room taking pictures, this is what Gary was doing. Whew I'm so ready for the first of the year so he will shave that beard!!
This is the final wall on the inside. As mentioned earlier, I have added Christmas cards on the wall, well I also made these. I don't have them all hanging in this picture, but they are all hanging now and maybe I can get a picture of them for you. I decided to do a candy cane stripe on the other two and hang only picture cards on them. I feel as though people like to see your picture cards, so if they are hanging too high they can't see them. It looks really cute!!
On to the outside...I had planned on making this door wreath, but as I was searching on pinterest the night I was about to create, I found this. I didn't really want to run to the store to get the craft sticks, but I really really really liked this one...SOOOOOO...I thought really hard and decided that I could make the same thing out of a cardboard box!!! And guess what I did!!!
I added the silver glitter to the circles. I think it turned out well enough to use for this year. I'll probably make a more sturdy one next year, but it looks great and guess what it was free!!!! The ribbon is a little crooked in this picture, but that has been fixed :).
Here is the view of the whole house from the road. I have always wanted some net lights and I found some at the Good Will for $2.99, however, there were only 2 boxes. I couldn't handle it and had to buy 6 more to cover all the bushes. You can't see three of them because of the cars. I already had a TON of white lights so I just wrapped them around some of that cheap garland I got from Old time pottery. It was easy and fast. A couple of years ago I climbed up on the house by myself to add lights all around. It looked really cute, but it was hard work. Who knows maybe next year I feel up to adding to the roof as well.
Well, that's it for our tour. I hope you enjoyed it!!! Stop on buy anytime and visit our Winter Wonderland!!
Merry Christmas,
Friday, December 16, 2011
Why I love this time of year
I honestly feel that the holidays brings out the best in people. Have you ever watched the news? I mean seriously, it's quite depressing!! I used to want to be a news anchor, but after 4 years of college and broadcasting school after that, I decided I did not want to deliver bad news to the public all the time...instead I do wedding videos, much more upbeat :).
However, this time of year the news is full of neat stories just like this one: (story via)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The young father stood in line at the Kmart layaway counter, wearing dirty clothes and worn-out boots. With him were three small children.
He asked to pay something on his bill because he knew he wouldn't be able to afford it all before Christmas. Then a mysterious woman stepped up to the counter.
"She told him, `No, I'm paying for it,'" recalled Edna Deppe, assistant manager at the store in Indianapolis. "He just stood there and looked at her and then looked at me and asked if it was a joke. I told him it wasn't, and that she was going to pay for him. And he just busted out in tears."
At Kmart stores across the country, Santa seems to be getting some help: Anonymous donors are paying off strangers' layaway accounts, buying the Christmas gifts other families couldn't afford, especially toys and children's clothes set aside by impoverished parents.
Before she left the store Tuesday evening, the Indianapolis woman in her mid-40s had paid the layaway orders for as many as 50 people. On the way out, she handed out $50 bills and paid for two carts of toys for a woman in line at the cash register.
"She was doing it in the memory of her husband who had just died, and she said she wasn't going to be able to spend it and wanted to make people happy with it," Deppe said. The woman did not identify herself and only asked people to "remember Ben," an apparent reference to her husband.
Deppe, who said she's worked in retail for 40 years, had never seen anything like it.
"It was like an angel fell out of the sky and appeared in our store," she said.
Most of the donors have done their giving secretly.
Dona Bremser, an Omaha nurse, was at work when a Kmart employee called to tell her that someone had paid off the $70 balance of her layaway account, which held nearly $200 in toys for her 4-year-old son.
"I was speechless," Bremser said. "It made me believe in Christmas again."
Dozens of other customers have received similar calls in Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana and Montana.
The benefactors generally ask to help families who are squirreling away items for young children. They often pay a portion of the balance, usually all but a few dollars or cents so the layaway order stays in the store's system.
The phenomenon seems to have begun in Michigan before spreading, Kmart executives said.
"It is honestly being driven by people wanting to do a good deed at this time of the year," said Salima Yala, Kmart's division vice president for layaway.
The good Samaritans seem to be visiting mainly Kmart stores, though a Wal-Mart spokesman said a few of his stores in Joplin, Mo., and Chicago have also seen some layaway accounts paid off.
Kmart representatives say they did nothing to instigate the secret Santas or spread word of the generosity. But it's happening as the company struggles to compete with chains such as Wal-Mart and Target.
Kmart may be the focus of layaway generosity, Yala said, because it is one of the few large discount stores that has offered layaway year-round for about four decades. Under the program, customers can make purchases but let the store hold onto their merchandise as they pay it off slowly over several weeks.
The sad memories of layaways lost prompted at least one good Samaritan to pay off the accounts of five people at an Omaha Kmart, said Karl Graff, the store's assistant manager.
"She told me that when she was younger, her mom used to set up things on layaway at Kmart, but they rarely were able to pay them off because they just didn't have the money for it," Graff said.
He called a woman who had been helped, "and she broke down in tears on the phone with me. She wasn't sure she was going to be able to pay off their layaway and was afraid their kids weren't going to have anything for Christmas."
"You know, 50 bucks may not sound like a lot, but I tell you what, at the right time, it may as well be a million dollars for some people," Graff said.
Graff's store alone has seen about a dozen layaway accounts paid off in the last 10 days, with the donors paying $50 to $250 on each account.
"To be honest, in retail, it's easy to get cynical about the holidays, because you're kind of grinding it out when everybody else is having family time," Graff said. "It's really encouraging to see this side of Christmas again."
Lori Stearnes of Omaha also benefited from the generosity of a stranger who paid all but $58 of her $250 layaway bill for toys for her four youngest grandchildren.
Stearnes said she and her husband live paycheck to paycheck, but she plans to use the money she was saving for the toys to help pay for someone else's layaway.
In Missoula, Mont., a man spent more than $1,200 to pay down the balances of six customers whose layaway orders were about to be returned to a Kmart store's inventory because of late payments.
Store employees reached one beneficiary on her cellphone at Seattle Children's Hospital, where her son was being treated for an undisclosed illness.
"She was yelling at the nurses, `We're going to have Christmas after all!'" store manager Josine Murrin said.
A Kmart in Plainfield Township, Mich., called Roberta Carter last week to let her know a man had paid all but 40 cents of her $60 layaway.
Carter, a mother of eight from Grand Rapids, Mich., said she cried upon hearing the news. She and her family have been struggling as she seeks a full-time job.
"My kids will have clothes for Christmas," she said.
Angie Torres, a stay-at-home mother of four children under the age of 8, was in the Indianapolis Kmart on Tuesday to make a payment on her layaway bill when she learned the woman next to her was paying off her account.
"I started to cry. I couldn't believe it," said Torres, who doubted she would have been able to pay off the balance. "I was in disbelief. I hugged her and gave her a kiss."
Being a Christian, I feel as though we hear these types of stories more often than others. So, I love seeing people making the news for such awesome deeds!!
Remember to give this season,
Kimberly
However, this time of year the news is full of neat stories just like this one: (story via)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The young father stood in line at the Kmart layaway counter, wearing dirty clothes and worn-out boots. With him were three small children.
He asked to pay something on his bill because he knew he wouldn't be able to afford it all before Christmas. Then a mysterious woman stepped up to the counter.
"She told him, `No, I'm paying for it,'" recalled Edna Deppe, assistant manager at the store in Indianapolis. "He just stood there and looked at her and then looked at me and asked if it was a joke. I told him it wasn't, and that she was going to pay for him. And he just busted out in tears."
At Kmart stores across the country, Santa seems to be getting some help: Anonymous donors are paying off strangers' layaway accounts, buying the Christmas gifts other families couldn't afford, especially toys and children's clothes set aside by impoverished parents.
Before she left the store Tuesday evening, the Indianapolis woman in her mid-40s had paid the layaway orders for as many as 50 people. On the way out, she handed out $50 bills and paid for two carts of toys for a woman in line at the cash register.
"She was doing it in the memory of her husband who had just died, and she said she wasn't going to be able to spend it and wanted to make people happy with it," Deppe said. The woman did not identify herself and only asked people to "remember Ben," an apparent reference to her husband.
Deppe, who said she's worked in retail for 40 years, had never seen anything like it.
"It was like an angel fell out of the sky and appeared in our store," she said.
Most of the donors have done their giving secretly.
Dona Bremser, an Omaha nurse, was at work when a Kmart employee called to tell her that someone had paid off the $70 balance of her layaway account, which held nearly $200 in toys for her 4-year-old son.
"I was speechless," Bremser said. "It made me believe in Christmas again."
Dozens of other customers have received similar calls in Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana and Montana.
The benefactors generally ask to help families who are squirreling away items for young children. They often pay a portion of the balance, usually all but a few dollars or cents so the layaway order stays in the store's system.
The phenomenon seems to have begun in Michigan before spreading, Kmart executives said.
"It is honestly being driven by people wanting to do a good deed at this time of the year," said Salima Yala, Kmart's division vice president for layaway.
The good Samaritans seem to be visiting mainly Kmart stores, though a Wal-Mart spokesman said a few of his stores in Joplin, Mo., and Chicago have also seen some layaway accounts paid off.
Kmart representatives say they did nothing to instigate the secret Santas or spread word of the generosity. But it's happening as the company struggles to compete with chains such as Wal-Mart and Target.
Kmart may be the focus of layaway generosity, Yala said, because it is one of the few large discount stores that has offered layaway year-round for about four decades. Under the program, customers can make purchases but let the store hold onto their merchandise as they pay it off slowly over several weeks.
The sad memories of layaways lost prompted at least one good Samaritan to pay off the accounts of five people at an Omaha Kmart, said Karl Graff, the store's assistant manager.
"She told me that when she was younger, her mom used to set up things on layaway at Kmart, but they rarely were able to pay them off because they just didn't have the money for it," Graff said.
He called a woman who had been helped, "and she broke down in tears on the phone with me. She wasn't sure she was going to be able to pay off their layaway and was afraid their kids weren't going to have anything for Christmas."
"You know, 50 bucks may not sound like a lot, but I tell you what, at the right time, it may as well be a million dollars for some people," Graff said.
Graff's store alone has seen about a dozen layaway accounts paid off in the last 10 days, with the donors paying $50 to $250 on each account.
"To be honest, in retail, it's easy to get cynical about the holidays, because you're kind of grinding it out when everybody else is having family time," Graff said. "It's really encouraging to see this side of Christmas again."
Lori Stearnes of Omaha also benefited from the generosity of a stranger who paid all but $58 of her $250 layaway bill for toys for her four youngest grandchildren.
Stearnes said she and her husband live paycheck to paycheck, but she plans to use the money she was saving for the toys to help pay for someone else's layaway.
In Missoula, Mont., a man spent more than $1,200 to pay down the balances of six customers whose layaway orders were about to be returned to a Kmart store's inventory because of late payments.
Store employees reached one beneficiary on her cellphone at Seattle Children's Hospital, where her son was being treated for an undisclosed illness.
"She was yelling at the nurses, `We're going to have Christmas after all!'" store manager Josine Murrin said.
A Kmart in Plainfield Township, Mich., called Roberta Carter last week to let her know a man had paid all but 40 cents of her $60 layaway.
Carter, a mother of eight from Grand Rapids, Mich., said she cried upon hearing the news. She and her family have been struggling as she seeks a full-time job.
"My kids will have clothes for Christmas," she said.
Angie Torres, a stay-at-home mother of four children under the age of 8, was in the Indianapolis Kmart on Tuesday to make a payment on her layaway bill when she learned the woman next to her was paying off her account.
"I started to cry. I couldn't believe it," said Torres, who doubted she would have been able to pay off the balance. "I was in disbelief. I hugged her and gave her a kiss."
Being a Christian, I feel as though we hear these types of stories more often than others. So, I love seeing people making the news for such awesome deeds!!
Remember to give this season,
Kimberly
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
The angels rejoice!!
Last night after I left work, went christmas shopping, grabbed dinner, started dinner and was about to eat my cell phone rings. Gary answered the phone and I overheard 'baptized' and 'right now.'
I knew who it was as soon as Gary hung up the phone. My cousin, Evan, was making the most important decision of his life! I was soooo excited. I called my sister, my mom and I would have called other people, but we don't live that far from the church :).
Unfortunantly, when we got to our church building the water in the baptistry had been drained. Luckily, we are super close to plenty of other churches that were willing to open their doors to us.
Gary and I were the first ones to arrive at Old Jefferson besides the man who graciously unlocked the doors for us. Just a few mintues later the rest of the crew started showing up. Within a 30-45 minute time frame Evan had gathered just about his entire family to witness his new birth. It was an incredible moment to know that I have a HUGE extended family that are believers. I am blessed to not only have an amazing church family, but it feels like, a lot of times, that I am related to most of them.
A list of who was there last night:
Gary and me - Evan's cousins
Aunt Kecia and Uncle Paul - Evan's parents
grandmother and granddaddy - Evan's grandparents on his mom's side
Granny and Pawpaw - Evan's grandparents on his dad's side
Uncle Eddie - his dad's brother
Aunt Luana - his dad's sister
Aunt Paula and Uncle Tommy - his dad's twin sister and her husband
Elizabeth - Evan's sister
Paul Jr - Evan's brother
Matt Wilber - Evan's youth minister
To gather that many people in such a short amount of time goes to show you how incredible it is!!
God is AWESOME and I know he was sooooo excited last night to welcome a new child into his family!!!!
Please pray for him as he starts this incredible journey. We all know that it's not an easy road, but it is the road that is the most joyful, comforting and has the best family anyone could ask for!!!!
Rejoicing,
I knew who it was as soon as Gary hung up the phone. My cousin, Evan, was making the most important decision of his life! I was soooo excited. I called my sister, my mom and I would have called other people, but we don't live that far from the church :).
Unfortunantly, when we got to our church building the water in the baptistry had been drained. Luckily, we are super close to plenty of other churches that were willing to open their doors to us.
Gary and I were the first ones to arrive at Old Jefferson besides the man who graciously unlocked the doors for us. Just a few mintues later the rest of the crew started showing up. Within a 30-45 minute time frame Evan had gathered just about his entire family to witness his new birth. It was an incredible moment to know that I have a HUGE extended family that are believers. I am blessed to not only have an amazing church family, but it feels like, a lot of times, that I am related to most of them.
A list of who was there last night:
Gary and me - Evan's cousins
Aunt Kecia and Uncle Paul - Evan's parents
grandmother and granddaddy - Evan's grandparents on his mom's side
Granny and Pawpaw - Evan's grandparents on his dad's side
Uncle Eddie - his dad's brother
Aunt Luana - his dad's sister
Aunt Paula and Uncle Tommy - his dad's twin sister and her husband
Elizabeth - Evan's sister
Paul Jr - Evan's brother
Matt Wilber - Evan's youth minister
To gather that many people in such a short amount of time goes to show you how incredible it is!!
God is AWESOME and I know he was sooooo excited last night to welcome a new child into his family!!!!
Please pray for him as he starts this incredible journey. We all know that it's not an easy road, but it is the road that is the most joyful, comforting and has the best family anyone could ask for!!!!
Rejoicing,
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tis the Season
This past weekend, we were involved in all things Christmas!! The excitement started on Friday evening when we attended a play at Chaffin's barn.
The play we went to see wasn't Christmasy, but it still felt seasonal because we never go the theater. We got there about 6pm and enjoyed an AMAZING buffett until the show started at 8. We went with a couple from Crieve Hall that has been inviting us for months. It finally worked out and I honestly hope it's not the last time! The play was Boeing Boeing and it was hilarious!!
It's about a man who has 3 fiances and they are all from different airlines. He keeps a time-table of when they will be in their hometown, in the air and in Paris with him. I won't spoil the play, but just know that his time-table got a little unhelpful :)!
On Saturday morning, I hosted the ornament swap for the Secret Sisters at church. We had a Great turn-out and lots of yummy brunch food! I meant to take a picture of all of us with our ornaments, but alas I forgot. I even wanted to get all of the ladies to take a picture of themselves with their ornaments, but I wasn't sure of how good of a response I would get. So, sorry there are no pictures to document it, but I promise it happened!!
After the ladies left and I cleaned up, my aunt, sister and cousin came by to get me to go Homecoming dress shopping for my cousin, Elizabeth because...guess what...she's on the HOMECOMING COURT at MTCS!!! This is their first year at that school and girl has already made the friends, I guess. We were sooooo excited and even found this super cute dress!! There are rules:
1) Must be white
2) Must be long
3) Must have straps
Now this dress doesn't currently have the straps, but my aunt is going to add them. Isn't she soooo cute!!! I think they ended up finding it online for a lot cheaper than it was at David's Bridal :).
Now, I know that wasn't very xmasy either, but it was still fun and not something we get to do everyday :).
After the dress shopping was complete and she 'said yes to the dress,' Gary and I headed down to AL where we will be every single Sunday until the end of February. Gary will be teaching class at Merdianville CofC this whole quarter. You can actually listen to his first lesson here. So, if you are in the area swing by any Sunday and me the Gar will be there!! Anyway, went to AL to my parent's house and I had told my mom that if she wanted to save her tree until we were there I would help put it up. And that's just what we did on Saturday night!! Mom and I put the tree together, while Gary sat on the couch and watched The Fugitive, might I add. Then we had to wait for dad to get there to put on the lights. He is pretty OCD about the lights. Once he had eaten and was putting on the lights, the tradition began...Home Alone was on, mom was making hot cocoa and we were decorating the tree (every year never fails!!!!!). Gary and I have already watched Home Alone several times this year, but it doesn't compare to watching it with my dad!! I even have to sit in the right spot so I can see his face!! He turns bright red from laughter and I know which parts it's going to happen, so I don't even watch the movie, just him :).
After church Sunday morning, Gary and I had to rush back to Murfreesboro to get to a family xmas with Gary's extended family. We had Thanksgiving with them last Sunday and there wasn't another day that we could all get together again expect for this Sunday. Yep, Barlar (Gary's mom's side) Thanksgiving one week and family Christmas the next!!! We played a little dirty Santa and Gary got some nerf guns!!
They are single shot with whistler nerf bullets. Oh it has been a war zone in our house every night this week. If you walked in, you would think we had kids because there are nerf bullets everywhere. We like the surprise attack on each other. When the other isn't expecting it we will shoot and that has caused some full out hide behind the doors and walls shooting match. We laugh and giggle and it's fun until someone gets hurt. Let me just say that a nerf gun straight to the mouth doesn't feel so great. The wound has healed (if there even was one) and the exciting nerf action has continued. I can't wait to get home and ambush him!!!
So, that was our fun-filled Christmasy/not so Christmasy weekend!!
This coming weekend is my cousin Page's wedding!! Congrats to him and Mary Beth! I'm excited that she is joining the family!!
Happy Christmas,
Kimberly
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