Confession!!! (No it isn't a bad one)

So I have a confession, no it isn't where I have been. Because I really can't explain that. My confession is I am a deco mesh hoarder.

I have 10 different colors of deco mesh and you will see it through out our Christmas decorations.

Yep our front door has been decorated since the day after Thanksgiving, but either the weather has been nasty or I haven't been home during the day to get a good picture of the day door.

The door actually took me quite a bit longer than I thought it would. It took three hours, but I had several neighbors stop to chat, which helped because after awhile my arms were rather tired.

I made the wreath a few weeks ago and it came together pretty quickly. I started with just the red and white stripe, but decide that it just needed more. I may be a deco mesh hoarder, but I also think more is better.

I love our night door. We have an LED spot light instead of turning on our overhead light. Well our overhead light can be a bit temparmental and it only comes on when it wants too, so we just keep it off.

Stay tuned because I will be posting the decorations we have up shortly. We bought our tree yesterday and I plan on decorating it tomorrow. I will be playing Santa for the Animal Rescue Foundation on Saturday so it will be a very interesting weekend. Who knows the next picture may be of Santa at our front door.

31 Day Challenge - Day 6

Woo Hoo - I got a raise today:)

This is literally the very first raise that I have gotten since 2007. Well that's what I get for working in the construction industry for so long. I am over the moon.

I also got to go to my nephew's football game today. His team lost but Hunter recovered a fumble. SCORE!!!!!!! This weekend is going to be nuts so stay tuned:)

31 Day Challenge - Day 5

The craziness of having dogs. Yep at times in this house it feels more like a zoo than a home.

Shea our first at our old house.

For example last Thursday night 15 minutes before leaving two of the three dogs come running in covered in mud. Gee thanks so they had to have a bath immediately before I left. Friday night before leaving the one dog that didn't have a bath the night before came in caked mud. So dressed completely up, I picked up a muddy, wriggly dog who refused to get a bath. That was just a taste of things to come.

Wolfie our second yep he is on the counter at our old house.

The dogs have all had a total of 10 baths in the last week. They are by far the cleanest dogs in the neighborhood and perhaps in Mobile at the moment.

Next up by dogs have sonar hearing. Yep they have turned into bats. They can hear the raccoons in our backyard. I mean it has gotten so bad the neighbor has asked to borrow our Shea to get rid of the raccoons. Um, raccoons are scary and carry rabies. I am sorry I can't do that to her.

Joe are newest and nuttiest.

Well our dogs definitely help us lead a crazy life. If it is bringing squirrels into the house or taking underwear into the yard you never know what they may do.

Fall Yard Update

Driveway beds before.

I so wish my mums would bloom

For those of you who know Dennis and I know that the reason that we bought this house was because of the backyard. Yes the deciding factor of the house was because our dogs would love the back yard. Our front yard wasn't to shabby either. We really haven't had to do much to either the front yard or the back yard, but there was something that was driving me crazy.

Ready for the mums to explode.

We had no color several times during the year. Yep that's right there was no spot for any perennials. We had tons of dailies, azaleas, and camellias, but no where for different color throughout the year.

Before around the mailbox

Well for the fall I wanted to change that. I pulled up the dailies around the mailboxes and at the end of the driveway. I also pulled up the half dead camellias and remade the flower beds

I redid the beds with mums and filled them new pine straw. I can't wait until December for my favorite, pansies and kale. Yippee!!! One of the good things about living in the South. Pansies in the dead of winter:)

Well that is my fall yard. I know lame.........I just can't quite get in the decorating spirit quite yet. 85 is just to hot for fall.

   

My wreath did make it out on the front door and I am stoked...don't you love the door color (or course I am kidding)?

Look at our Satsumas, we can't wait.

I linked up to Thrifty Decor Chick's Fall Yard Party.

31 Day Challenge - Day 4

So in this Crazy Life I have to deal with Migranes.......

The first one I remember is when I was a freshman in high school. It was the most horrible pain that I had ever felt....so I thought.

I was wrong. The older I got the worse they became. In fact up until two years ago I was getting them two or three times a week and going through a 500 bottle of Advil ever two months. Not good. Dennis finally put his foot down and told me that I needed help. Boy did I ever. I was prescribed Topomax that I take everyday. Well it helped the headaches tremendously and I lost 15 pounds. So a win, win.

Now when I get migraines though they are huge and I have been dealing with one for a few days now. So life hasn't been that crazy for the last couple of days. Sorry, I hope to have more craziness tomorrow.

31 Day Challenge - Day 3

Yesterday was rather tame, but we did make a huge decision after eight months of fostering a dog we made the decision to officially adopt Joe yesterday.

Let me tell you that Joe has brought some craziness to our life. Dennis found Joe and his friend back in February in the warehouse that he works in. It was one of the coldest days of the year and he couldn't leave them there. Dennis use to be always one of the first people out the door (he doesn't do that know since his promotion he has to make sure everyone leaves) so when he was still there one of the other guys asked if needed help. Not surprisingly he didn't need much help. Joe was shivering and jumped right in but Pete took a little longer to coax in, but Dennis finally did it.

We had the two of them in our house for a month. In that month Joe was banned from going to adoption and Pete was adopted. Joe was banned because he screams like a girl and couldn't stand to be out of my sight. I should have known that was going to be a problem.

Fast forward a few months.....Joe has been expelled from doggie daycare because he flipped out when I left. He had the police called on him. (We had a dog lunge at us on a walk one day and our big dog stepped on him because she got scared. Joe started his screaming like a seven year old girl. Five minutes later here come the cops.) My neighbor who I have never met has had hours of laughter because of what I say to Joe. "Joe, if you would just potty we could go inside and get warm. Please poop....." or my favorite "JOE, why is my underwear in the yard?" (We have a doggie door and I have found my underwear, shoes, remote control, the bath mat, and a couple of books in the yard.)

We love Joe and when we finally had a great adoption application for him I couldn't let him go. I am sure that he will bring craziness for many years to come.

Shea and Wolfie are still deciding how they feel about this addition.

31 Day Challenge - Day 2

Just about me......

Yesterday wasn't nearly as "Crazy" as some days around here in fact it was rather calm.

I did have breakfast with my parents and nephew. Upon my return from breakfast yesterday there were was someone walking up my driveway to my front door. What does any "normal" person do? Why of course they go around the cul-d-sac and pretend they don't live there. I drove around for about 10 minutes talking to my little sister and then came back. Luckily by that time they were gone.



Stay tuned tomorrow it is all about the crazy dogs.



Now don't get me wrong I like talking to people as much as the next person, but I am extremely leery of answering my door. Our last house was broken into twice in three years. In fact the second time was when I was getting quotes for several repairs on the house. Not to say it was one of those people but it was rather suspicious. I am much much more careful these days. (Plus the second break in is why we sold our house.)

We also went to a street party last night. It was one of Dennis' best friends. We had a really good time especially since Auburn had pulled off a win and Alabama was winning.

Now me being me and I did have things to say. One of Dennis other friends was there with his brother. They live in the same town and hadn't seen each other since June. Come on. Then I got on to both of them because I knew more about their grandfather's travel plans than they did. Neither one of them had seen him or talked to him since before Labor Day. In fact one of them had been in Disney World at the exact same time his grandfather had been and didn't even know it. I gave a lecture. They needed it. Both of their grandparents are over 80. I probably don't talk to mine often enough but I would know what their travel plans are.

Well I am going to end this post with a couple of good lucks........Good luck Dennis on your final round in the club championship. Good luck Alexis in your Homecoming Race Today (my little sister has organized a run of about 500 at Alabama for Homecoming, it would freak me out). Good luck to the Saints I would really like a win today:)

For the rest of you guys I hope your weather is as wonderful as it is here in southern Alabama.

31 Days of Just Me

I am joining a group of ladies in doing the 31 day challenge. The 31 Day Challenge is where you have a blog post for each of the 31 days of October.

I am going to share my journey through the month of October every single bit of it. I have has always said that I have a Crazy Life, but now I am going to share how insane it really it.

First and foremost........how did you guys all make those awesome buttons? I must learn.

Today is October 1st and it is only 6:00am. Note my husband and I don't have any children the dogs just think it is their duty to get up this early every morning no matter if it is the weekend or not............

War Eagle and Roll Tide Roll. It's game day and we have a street party to attend. Dennis also has a golf tournament this weekend.



A Thursday night dinner party for my dear friend Miranda.

 Hope everyone enjoys this day that has been given.


Day 2 - Running away from people at your front door.
Day 3 - Adopting a crazy little dog.
You can see all post here The Nester

Front Door Wreath

Well currently my front door wreath is sitting on  the kitchen table..........

I love it especially with its witch legs, but I couldn't put it out today due to about two inches of rain. So that's about how my week has gone so far. At least the wreath didn't come crashing down when I put it one the hook on the wall.

I am having a bit of a problem putting a hook in the back so it was hanging up by ribbon. Ugh!! I need a fix for that issue.

What do you think about those legs?

I can't seem to get into the fall decorating yet because it is still getting close to 90 here. This weekend is suppose to be much cooler so I hope to get a bit more in the fall decorating spirit. That is one of the things about living in the deep South. I am excited about Halloween because it is the first one in our house.

What the wreath looked like before the Deco-Mesh (I love that stuff.)

By the way I am super glad that it did rain because I planted a whole bunch of mums (yep in 90 degree heat) and they sure need some water. Please stay tuned for the reveal of the new and improved entrance.


I linked up to the Southern Hospitality's Fall Door Party
Remodelaholic

The Bar Stools are Half Way There!!!



When we moved into our house the former owners left us some nifty little treats other than the mirrors. One of those treats were four bar stools. I was extremely excited about the bar stools except for two major things, their color and their fabric. I am not real sure though if you have priced bar stools lately but they are super expensive, so free is always the best.

Ugly blue.

Easy fix to the color problems........but one that has taken me almost a year to get to. Surprise, Surprise seems that it takes me awhile to get around to everything.

I decided to only do two at a time because we use these babies all of the time and if I had all four of them missing I would be lost. We don't eat these, but when we have friends over (which isn't often enough) everyone sits at these stools so they have to be gorgeous.



 So first two bar stools headed to the garage for what I thought would be a quick little project. Wrong, Again!! I bought Rustoleum Gloss White Protective Enamel. I guess I should have read the directions a little more carefully. I had to wait a whole 24 hours between each application, but hey I was only going to need two max....right?!?!? Wrong!!! I needed three and could have used four, but I was super impatient to finish the project. It was a good thing that I painted these in the garage because it was an oil based paint.

 Well once I was finished with the painting I removed the ugly blue fabric thinking that maybe I would find some pretty cushions. Ha, Ha, my life is not that easy. Yep those ugly cushions are what I found. O well I had already prepared myself for a cushion change so it didn't bother me that bad.

Well after three coats of paint and recovering the cushions with some of my lovely stash fabric I am in love. I was actually looking for a different fabric but couldn't find anything that I absolutely love so I used fabric in my stash that I loved.

 I love the way these look can I say, I think they fit me to a tee. I can't wait to finish the other two then we will have a matching set of four. I think they will help pull the bar area together.

Perhaps the completion of this little project will get me started thinking about curtains.  By the way stay tuned I think I am going to reveal the craft room on Monday. Yippee!! By the way I have some more post coming this week, I promised that I was a busy girl.

Linking to Primitive and Proper.
                Domestically Speaking
 






Remodelaholic

Is It Fall?!?!?!?

Really??? Can it be time for fall already? Well here in the deep south we did have a little blast of fall last week...that means our high was in the low 80's.

I was supposed to do yard work today and finish my craft room. I found a rug that I need to purchase tomorrow for the craft room and I didn't do any yard work. So basically I didn't do anything on my to do list. (Again!)

I did do my fall mantle. It needs a few adjustments, but this is what it will look like for awhile. I spent a grand total of $9.00 on it. Woo Hoo!!!

Everything else I had from last year. I had planned on decorating our house last year, but we surprisingly sold our house much quicker than I thought so I had tons of left overs from last year.

The only new items I bought were the pumpkin from Hobby Lobby for 1/2 price and the candle in the lantern for 1/2 price.


On to making my making my Halloween wreath!!! Stay tuned on my To Do list this week is also to do the bar stools. (We will see how it works out!)

Have a great rest of the week!!

I have linked up to The Inspired Room's Nesting Party!!!
I have linked up to The Lettered Cottage!!!!

Brand New Blog Design!!

Today I launched my Brand New Blog Design. There are things that I will be changing here and there over the next couple of days so please be patient with me. I had this scheduled long before our dear friend passed away so I am a little bit overwhelmed trying to get everything done right now. (I think it is him playing a joke on me, or that could have been the Auburn game Saturday.........)

I still have several projects that I am working on including my craft room which is just about finished and our bar stools that I have been wanting to do since we moved in.

Plus it is that time of year....Fall. The air is actually crisp here in Mobile today. I have several projects planned for the season, decorating and in the yard. So please stay tuned and keep me on my toes.

By the way I would like to thank the ladies over at Smitten Blog Designs for getting this blog looking like something that I can be proud of.

Jump Start on Halloween

Well I am linking to Nester's Wreath Party and I had no intention of having a Halloween wreath, but I am rolling with the punches. I had intended on doing a wreath supporting the football teams that Dennis and I support, but my crimson Deco-mesh is on backordered. O'well.

I also had planned on doing a larger wreath for our front door for Halloween, but I ran out of black ribbon so I did an indoor wreath. Our Michael's is moving and the ribbon department has already left and of course Hobby Lobby isn't opened today. Hancock wasn't opened today (not real sure why does anyone have a guess?) This is what that wreath will be made of. I can't wait.

I am not quite sure how I feel about it, I have never been a huge orange fan. I also used pipe insulator from Lowes. I cut one in half. I learned this trick from Pinterest. By the way take note you may get smart remarks from men in Lowes telling you it isn't the right time of year to insulate pipes. Thanks!!

I used orange deco mesh ribbon and just regular ribbon that I purchased at Michael's. And yes I can make a bow, but as the rest of this project went I am out of wire and hot glue stick. (How does that happen?)

Hope that you guys stay tuned for our house divided wreath along with our front door Halloween wreath. Think witches feet.

I am also about to have a huge change on the blog so you will have a big surprise in the next couple of days.

By the way we are having a very rainy day. We have had a bit more than 10 inches since Friday....ugh. Luckily the house just has some debris,but our Florida room door is leaking so we will have to check that out. I hope everyone else is doing well from Lee.

The Hardest Post

This is by far the hardest post that I have ever had to write....

My very first follower and one of my best friend unexpectedly lost her best friend, the love of her life, her husband last Thursday. They are the couple that everyone looked to as having the perfect couple. I know they had little spats, but nothing huge. They ate dinner at their table every night without the T.V. on.

Jeremy was one of the most fun loving, easy going guys that I have ever had the pleasure to meet. I can at least say that he and Miranda knew what love is. There are not many people out there that know the kind of love these two experience. They had been together for 16 years, which is a very long time in this day and age when they started dated when Miranda was 15.

Jeremy was 33 years old and at this time they believe that he had a brain aneurysm. This has been very difficult for everyone we know because of how much the two of them were loved by everyone. I believe that every person they met became their friend.

This is what Miranda had to say about him and it is completely true. "He was known for his generous spirit, easy laugh, and love of fishing.""Also his soft spot for animals"

All I know is I would give anything to hear is laugh one more time.

Jeremy, Dennis and I will love and miss you always you touched our lives in more ways than you would ever know.

My Favorite Shop

This entry was to be much longer but because of what happened last week, which you can read about here, but bring tissues it is a bit shorter.

My favorite place is Charles Phillips Design, just south of my home town of Mobile, AL. There is something about trucking through barns to look at furniture and accessories that are half the price of what you see in Pottery Barn.

I have several pieces as do two of my best friends, my mother in law, and my aunt. So as you can see when I go I get instructions from Dennis not to buy to much.

I am planning on designing a coffee table sometime this fall so I can't wait for that. I highly suggest if you are in the area to Like Charlese Phillips on Facebook and just take a look at what they have in stock. I promise you want be disappointed.

By the way I am not paid advertiser just a happy customer.

MIA - Again, but I have been a busy girl.....

I need to stop missing in action so much. I may have been missing in action, but I have been super busy so stay tuned for some big reveals coming shortly.

In the meantime sit tight and take a look at some of the things that I have been working on.

First and foremost I have been working on some art for my craft room, (yep after eight long months it is almost ready for the big reveal.) I am not an artist. I will never claim to be. I love to paint on canvas, but what I see in my head doesn't always come out on canvas. Sort of like my singing I am like one of those American Idol singers who think they sing well and they really don't. At least I know I can't sing. Plus I literally make dogs howl with my singing, true story.

I found a picture on Pinterest that I loved and copied it to my liking so it shown at the top of the post. I am a good copier, in my opinion and that is the only one that counts. Right?! By the way the way the original is from World Market - who has the best tissue paper by the way. Two Girls Being Crafty have a good tutorial that is easy to follow if you would like one of your own.

My second painting is my own personal impression of cherry blossoms. I hope you didn't laugh too hard when you saw it. Hey, I said I wasn't an artist. Dennis also informed me that the colors are going to clash with the other painting....thanks honey. I love you too....................

Linked To Remodelaholic's Pin Party

Table Runner

Table Runner in Progress......

Please be aware I am the slowest seamstress (in training) in the world. So I actually have to do progress pictures because I am so slow. I can't believe how fast some people can get projects done, but I am not one of them.

In a perfect world it would have been finished around 7:00 tonight. It didn't happen, perhaps tomorrow.

I couldn't find a table runner to fit my dining room table that I actually like so I decided to make one to look similar to the one on my kitchen table.

This is what I have so far. I am going to have to redo one end because I don't like it so I am going to fix it. Hopefully it will be done tomorrow.