A year in review....

Some of my favorite photos from my blog over the past year. I like going back and doing "my year in reviews" by looking at my blog and remembering how blessed I am. My very first blessing and perhaps one of my favorite photos of the year, was at the ball field when Garret had a ball game. I got all 5 of the grandbabies in one pic....even if they were making their funny faces.

I got to see Garret's first football game as a freshman. It was the first year he has played football and I was thrilled to get to see his game.

Caleb was very illusive in pictures this past year. He just doesn't like having his picture made. But I did catch a few of him when he wasn't looking. 

I got to go watch Alexis perform in her school Christmas program. 

And went to see Shelby do her dance performance at Boo at the Zoo.

Colby had his birthday party when he turned 3 and he was beyond thrilled with what his Mommy and Daddy bought him. We could barely get him to finish opening presents. 

I did a lot of reorganizing this year. I loved when I found the idea of putting my purses on shower curtain hooks to organize the closet. 

And the wonderful idea of using a shoe organizer inside my craft closet for all those supplies needed to craft.

I rearranged my office/craft room and loved the results...even though I have bought new curtains since then. 

I spent a lot of time going through old pictures and found quiet a few of me with my parents and siblings from back in the day. 

Found some awesome Pyrex finds this past year. Like these "new in box" coffee mugs.

And some gorgeous material for my projects.

Got a lot of decorating ideas from Pinterest and made some egg wreaths that were adorable for Easter. 

Fell in love with the McDonald's commercial that said "Fishy, Fishy." Even downloaded an app on my phone that I could do it like the lady on TV. It was really neat and I had a lot of fun out of it.

Found a really old picture of my daddy and my cousin. I was only about 1 or 2 when this was taken. Miss him everyday. He has been gone 14 years.

Found some cute fabric and made an Easter table runner.

Finally redecorated my bathroom and used the beach theme I wanted. I have been happy with how it turned out. 

A dear friend gave me a day bed and I had a quilt that fit it perfectly. So I got to totally redo the grandkids' room and it didn't cost me a penny.

I made several trips to McKay's to trade in my old books for new ones. This is just one of the many hauls I got that didn't cost me anything because of the trades I took in. 

I finally found a Hazel Atlas mug and it was at a roadside yard sale for .75 cents. I made a lot of cookies this past year, too.

I went to so many yard sales I couldn't count them. I was always looking for the unique and different. This little penquin pill box sure fit that description. One of my favorite finds for just .25 cents. 

Finally cleaned out some of my nail polish that was old. But it left me with over 50 bottles of nail polish that are still usable. 

I was obsessed with homemade sausage pizza bread this year. I fixed it at least once a week for awhile.

We took our first beach vacation in three years. It was so relaxing. We stayed 7 days and I spend some time every single day just sitting in my chair reading. 

I made a lost of coasters in plastic canvas. Somehow I have given most of them away. I need to make some more. They only take about an hour and are really fun to make. 

Had some wonderful times with my Pre-K Sunday School class. In September, they graduated to the next class up so we had them a little ceremony. I made hats from construction paper and red Solo bowls and yarn. They were just too adorable. 

I had quiet a few open houses for my Thirty-One business. But my favorite one was when I was able to use a lot of my Pyrex to serve in. It was awesome.

We got our first real tree in over 15 years. I loved it. It was so big and beautiful. May do it again next year. 

I got a mini donut maker for Christmas and made a batch of cinnamon sugar one that were delicious. 

We have had a cold winter so far and a little snow flurries, but the best snow of 2013 was actually back in March. It was unexpected because we had been having some really nice weather. It was pretty though. 

And my favorite moment of the year was getting a pic with me, Papaw and all our grandkids. Some of the faces just cracked me up. But with 5 of them trying to sit still, you take what you get. 

Hope you can look back over your year with happiness and wishing you the best in 2014. Have a safe and Happy New Year. 

Weekend Wrap Up

I finally got all the Christmas put back up and the house put back in order. Every year when I do that, I decide to change or rearrange something in the house. This year wasn't any different. I have my two favorite tea sets in my office and decided to move them and my tea cart into the living room. 

I also put a couple of my favorite tea for one sets in the living room. 

I love the way this corner ended up. It is normally very cluttered so I moved some things to other areas of the house and once I brought the tea cart in here, I like this corner a lot better.  

I also placed some of my favorite tea pots in my entertainment center. I love floral and my living room definitely shows it. 

My favorite corner is still my reading chair. I love the little stand with the oil lamp on it. 

After I got everything completed like I wanted it. I decided to try out my new mini donut maker I got for Christmas. I went with buttermilk spice donut recipe and rolled them in cinnamon sugar. They turned out great. 

Sunday Morning Song - I Believe

Moving forward...

It seems like 2013 was full of great ideas that I never acted on. The upcoming year is going to be different. First off, I mentioned yesterday that I wanted a busy book to hold all my notes, ideas, craft instructions, etc. Since this is the year of ACTION, I immediately got up this morning and created My Busy Book. I am going to start today when I see something I want to make or do, I will print out the instructions and pattern and put it in My Busy Book. I am happy. I have a plan. 

Step 2 of my plan will involve My Busy Bag. I am going to order the new Zip Top Organizing Utility Tote from Thirty-One to keep my craft project in. I pick projects that are usually small in size and something I can work on in my craft room or in the living room while watching TV. This bag will be perfect to carry with me wherever I am working. I think I will order it in the Citrus Medallion pattern personalized with "My Busy Bag" in either the turquoise or lemon yellow thread.

I am going to work today on getting all the Christmas stuff put up so I can go through my craft closet to see what I want to work on first. I came home last night all excited to take down the trees and get all the Christmas decorations put away. I started with the living room tree. It is the biggest and will take the longest. It always seems that once that one is down, the rest of the house gets in shape pretty fast.

I was excited to get back to normal. I was full of energy. I grabbed a grocery plastic bag and started pulling all the icicles off first and stuffing them in the bag. That in itself is an entire process. Once I was finished with that, I went to get the ornament box out. I had meant to ask Hubby to get all the boxes out of storage before he went to work and I forgot. As I stood there staring at the amount of boxes I need to haul out in order to get started on my clean up project, I did what any red blooded American girly-girl would do....I closed the closet door, took a bubble bath and ordered a pizza. 

Then I did something I rarely ever do. I turned on the TV and found a movie to watch. I picked Country Strong. I just love that movie. You can't go wrong with anything that has Tim McGraw in it. 

So today, I am faced with the project of getting my house put back into shape. Then I won't feel guilty about spending time on Pinterest and FreePatterns.com looking for new projects to do.

It's just around the corner...

Well, 2014 is just around the corner. Have you started thinking ahead to your resolutions. I am going to focus on several things next year. But I am not going to make "resolutions" of them. I am going to strive harder to reach my goals and stay organized. If I can do that, everything else will fall into place.



I already have several projects lined up for 2014 and I am putting processes in place to insure that each project is successful.




On the fun side, I am going through Pinterest and deleting all those boards of things I had hoped to make or do that never panned out. I'm going to do some serious crafting this year. If I accomplish no other crafts, I want to make one of those bow wreaths that look so easy. I may try that for Valentine's Day.



I want some type of project that can allow me to create something new for my front door for every month. I'm a woman on a mission. Any ideas, send them my way.



Well, I'm off to work in a few and just wanted to get these thoughts down. In order to be a success in 2014, I need to finalize some projects from 2013 first. I have a busy weekend planned to help me do just that. I need to get me a Busy Bag or a Busy Binder to keep all my ideas in for this year.

What a wonderful Christmas....

Christmas started on Christmas eve when the family came to visit. We actually got one picture with me and Papaw and all the grandkids. It was definitely a "take what you can get" picture. Papaw hid his face, the kids either got the giggles or tried to escape. It was a perfectly natural picture and I wouldn't trade it for all the "posed" pictures in the world. Love my grandbabies.

I got some wonderful presents. One was the Town & Country Pryex Cinderella bowl. This is one of my dream pieces. I didn't think I would ever get it because I have never seen it in the wild. Thrilled beyond words to add it to my collection. 

I am a blanket fanatic and have been wanting a really soft blanket for snuggling on the couch and watching TV. This blanket is awesome. I was warm and toasty watching TV under it last night. 

I got a cute pair of house socks with little cats on them. Wore them all day on Christmas day. My feet stayed warm and toasty.

Hubby got me a donut maker. I love to bake and donuts is one thing I have never conquered because I hate rolling pastry dough. This thing works with a batter for cake donuts...which is what I love. I'm trying it out this weekend. I'm going to make some with cinnamon sugar and some with chocolate icing. Yum. Can't wait. 

Hubby got me the most fabulous clock for my kitchen. We are doing a vintage/nostalgic theme in the kitchen and this clock was PERFECT! He did great. 

Got a bunch of other stuff too, but these were the highlights.