Marriage. Husbands to Wives.

You know whats really amazing...when your pastor rants and raves about another pastor you really love!

Amazing video on marriage.  A while back this pastor gave us a major kick in the pants and it was sooooo good!!  Life changing.  This video is one of those. 
 Voddie Baucham was recently invited to the Shepherds Conference hosted by John McAurthur. This is the video from the conference.

General Session 4 - Voddie Baucham from Grace Community Church on Vimeo.


http://vimeo.com/channels/sc2012#38534629  (just incase video doesn't show up)

If you are a Mom you'll totally laugh at this

First off, let me just say...I never ever watch this show.  Someone showed me this and I swear this is my 3 year old!!!  Flippin HILLAIOUS!!!!!!!!

How did I not know about this Film???

just in case video does not show up...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JJW-JgHVac&feature=related
It just won best Documentry at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.
I am very anxious to watch this now!!

...And then I went on yahoo to check the news and my email and this is what popped up first:
James Hooker -- the 41-year-old married father who left his wife and kids for his 18-year-old-student...
http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/teacher-leaves-wife-kids-high-school-student-225300504.html

DIY Bench, Vintage Tray, and a very cool African Bowl!! Oh yeah, and a Wooden Stump and some Orange Mid- Century Chairs.

The space under my new picture was looking a little bare so I though a bench, for more seating, would be perfect.  I had a picture in my head of what I wanted my bench to look like so the search was on.  To save you all of the boring details of my endless search on Craig's list and multiple trips to Goodwill, I finally found one at the Goodwill for $25.  Goowill you have been so good to me lately!
This coffee table was pretty beaten, rusted and burnt but nothing a little sanding, paint and fabric couldn't fix.

 

wet tin foil and some baking soda= no more rust




before



after





The base of this coffee table is awesome and will definitely be re-purposed later.  It is solid stainless steal.  So worth it's $25!!

 I didn't take a picture but you obviously know what I did with the top...yup, sand and paint.  Then I took some of our extra ply-wood we have from construction and cut a piece.  Added a piece of 3 inch foam and some awesome fabric I found that was 50% off  to make the seat.

 We were recently in Colorado and I found this super cool vintage tray at an antique store. Love it!!

My family room is slowly coming together one Craig's lists and Goodwill purchase at a time. 

While we were in Colorado I saw this totally awesome hand made African bowl.  My very kind mother-in-law thought I needed to have it ;).  So glad she did because I LOVE it and it's going to look great on our new cabinets in the family room...once those are finally finished.

When we moved into this house there was a big wooden stump in our back yard.  At one point I told my husband to burn it in the fire pit but he thought it was a cool wooden stump.  Never thought wooden stumps would be cool???  But did you know, they're the thing to have now?!?!  Who would have thunk?

Here are some examples I have seen...

West elm $200



Gold leafed I imagine?




An end table...exactly what I needed.



As I was strolling thru Z Gallerie a light bulb switched on...



Can you tell it's silver?  Hmmm, I'm liking it!



Here is my plain ole stump...

A bit too plain for my taste.

So I silver leafed it.  I have never silver leafed in my life but turns out it is really simple.  I sprayed it with some spray adhesive then layed the silver leaf on it and lightly went over it with a soft paint brush and presto...a silver leaf wooden stump/ end table!

I love that the wood still peaks thru



So it's not the most level end table, as my father in law pointed out lol.  He already offered to make it level but I don't think it will stay an end table forever so I am thinking I will keep it the way it is.  As you can see it still works.

 

Some of you may have seen those orange Mid- Century chairs I had gotten on Craigs list a while ago.  They have been sitting in the corner begging me to finish them.  $50 for both of them!!!  I have seen these exact chairs in mid-century design pictures and they sell for $500+ depending on the shape. I can't tell you how excited I was to find these!!!!

 I did attemp to take a chair apart and it took me alllllll morning to do so!  At least 3 hours.  And my hands KILLED afterwards.  I think that is when I secrectly decided this was a job for someone else... and so they sat and sat and sat until I finally decided to swollow my pride and pay someone to finish them.

    Anyway, they are finally finished and I still spent wayyyyyy way under what they cost normally.

I really am still in awe that I found these on craigs list for the amount that I found them. I know this sounds silly, or maybe it dosen't, but everytime I find a really great deal on a piece of furniture I thank the Lord up and down!! I have ask the Lord to help me find bargins. I really love re-finishing things and working with my hands not to mention save big time while decorating my house in a style I love.

Enough about funiture. 

 The girls love to play dress up...and the dogs are usually apart of that.

Rupunzel, let down your haaairrr.

Mid-Century Planter

 It's always good to have life in the house (beside people).  A little green adds a lot in a room.  I of course love the mid-century planters 

 Some guy by the name of La Gardo Tackett made these and they can get preeetty spendy!  $1000 for a planter...pshaw...whatever!!!

There are plenty DIY mid-century planter ideas out there like this one and I was actually planning on doing one but that was like #48 on the list of 50 other things I want to do.

Today I took a stroll thru the Goodwill and low and behold...there it was!  It's authentic, it's mid-century, it was $15.00 and I am doing the happy dance!!  So off to the nursery I went to get me some Yucca.

What is that, Velvet?

 Another great Missouri find.  The the final trip my in-laws made in their move from MO to AZ I had them pick up one last great craigslist find.  It was $20 and my MIL cracks me up when she talks about the first time she saw this chair.  I wish I had taken pictures of the back!  It was a cats scratching post.  You can tell this chair belong to the cat and it drove my dog CRAZY!!  It was a mustard yellow corduroy.  It didn't look like much but I could tell she was going to be a beauty!! 

Helloooo love, welcome to your new home!!!

The funny thing...it's my MIL's favorite chair now.  She is trying to convince me to give it to her. 

I'm trying to decide if I want to paint the legs? 

It's Been a While...

I haven't had much time to sit and write a post lately and if I did get a second the last thing I wanted to do was sit on the computer and re-cap the craziness.  In short November, December and January has been completely packed to say the least.  Thanksgiving, 6 birthdays, 2 Christmas gatherings, a baby shower, the death of my Grandma and a memorial service.  And most of that took place at our house.  When building our family room addition we prayed that God would use it and we are soooo thankful He has done just that!!  I am most happy when I see many people gather in my house.  It is a huge blessing to my heart to see people coming together...laughing, crying, sharing and creating memories.  A little piece of Heaven if you ask me!

My Grandma recently passed and since she was in her 90's she had out lived most of her friends so what was left was family.  We decided it would be nice to have the memorial service in a more comfortable setting (our home) then in the chapel of the nursing home, which felt a bit generic and impersonal.   

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4

Blessed and comforted is what we all felt this past weekend during her memorial service.  We were comforted by the fact that God brought our family, both near and far, together, in one room.  What a gift that was.  We were blessed with all of the sharing that went on, on behalf of my Grandma.  Her smile, her soft hands, her blue eyes, the smell of her perfume and her love for bowling and the game Yahtzee.  If you ever want to bless me, ask me to play Yahtzee with you.  My Grandma loved her family dearly and our tummy's knew it well!!  She was an amazing cook and people who visited her home for dinner couldn't believe people ate like that.  Her heart was filled with love and her life was evident of that in her servanthood.  It spoke volumes to everyone.  It was evidence in all that was shared.   We have been given a legacy that reminds us to always love and to always serve.  She was a great example to Matthew 16:24 and now she is reaping the rewards in glory. 
It has been so hard to see my dad, aunt and uncle walk this journey but what they don't know is how much they have blessed us all.  They have honored their parents the best they could and that has brought much wisdom to their children.  As much as I hated seeing them go through this, their love, honor and sacrifice for their parents affected me so deeply.
Another blessing in this was for my for my girls.  We had talked with them many times leading up to the memorial service to prepare their hearts and what to expect.  They did so well sitting and listening to the many memories shared and seeing their family members share tears.  Having my girls watch family members honor another family member was such a gift. The intimate talk we had with our girls after the memorial was filled with wonderful questions, a challenge to live a righteous life, a beautiful conversation about salvation and prayer for the family members who may not know the Lord.

 O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?  The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
I Corinthians 15:55-57

We cried and we are mourning her loss but the sting of death has been removed and our soul feels it.