New Year and new DECADE!

WOW! Here we are... quickly approaching the new decade (how is this happening?). I have to say this last 10 years was AMAZING! I can not wait for the next! To think, in y2k (HAHA) I graduated high school and started college at Collin County Community College, those were the days! I worked at TGP where I met (Zip) my best friend and roommate from 02-03. We had a BLAST and have memories imprinted! ; ) Of course I had to waist much of my time with a boyfriend (why do girls do this to themselves!?) for four of these years. I did learn so much from that and I am thankful! 2003-2005 were some of the most memorable years of my life! I changed jobs to work at an AMAZING dance studio and I was fortunate to be a professional dancer for the Dallas Desperados AFL team. I also got hired to work at Palm Beach Tan...and we all know who I met there!!! : ) Kevin and I quickly became friends (in a boss employee type way) and after about 3 months we started dating and a few months later we knew this was it! At the end of 2005 we started attending an incredible church called the Village where Kevin came to know Christ and was baptized (AMAZING! I got to baptize him). Summer of 2006 we were engaged and married only 3 short months later...2 months after that we started building our beautiful house. In 07 we moved into our home and I got my first big girl car after I totaled my old one. 2008 was full of ups and downs...our great love Rider came into our lives, but Kevin lost his job for over 3 months! We have seen great blessing in 2009! Kevin has a great job and we got our second little joy Lola. Along with all of these memories I have seen my best friends and family get married, buy houses, have beautiful babies, laugh, cry, and trust another day that God's plan is far greater than we will EVER know on this earth! Cheers to the last ten year and prayers for the next 10! I love you all!

I will post some pics of 2000-09 tomorrow! Just need to find the scanner!

ROAD TRIP

Zach and Paige

Me and Paige

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law have just embarked on a nationwide road trip that will take place for the next I think 6 months or so. They have started a blog and are stitching off daily to update it. I find it fascinating yet CRAZY what they are doing. I would never have the guts to do something like this (most wouldn't) which is why they are allowing us to tag along through their blog! They left the day after Thanksgiving from their home in Portland, Oregon. If you are looking for a new blog to stalk THIS IS IT! I am sure there will be many incredible stories to come! Good luck Zach and Paige! Can't wait to see you when you make it here for the holidays!

Zach and Paige

Overwhelmed!

Do you ever desire for God to literally shake the ground you walk on? Well He is shaking mine alright! All I can do is rely on Him and thank Him for the blessings He has given to me. A month ago I would have been shocked if someone had asked me to train for a half marathon. Then my mom and I made a packed to do the best we could and prepare for one. I was in minor freak out mode at first and we picked a half in Austin we wanted to do. I have been consistent with my training and have not given up. This Saturday we did a 5k (my mom got first in her age group...whoop! go Pam!) and this sucker was all hills! It about killed me and made me reconsider my Austin goal (mostly hills too). I remembered my friend Kelsey said she was doing one the week before mine and it was here in Dallas so I talked to my mom and we decided on that. Well a few hours later and now I know that Amber, Sarah, Kelsey, and Benny B are all doing it too. THEN I got a call from my cousin saying she decided to train for a half (not knowing about me doing it) and she is doing the same one with her hubby and of course my mom is training too! All this to say when we want something God will send in the reinforcements to make sure that it happens! I am so excited for the next few months to see how all this goes! I can not wait to see every ones successes!

See you all out there for the Rock 'n' Roll Half! March 14th!

Holiday Challenge

I struggle a lot with the Holidays. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the smells, the lights, the music, the family, and especially the true meaning of Christmas... but I have to say-the gift giving and pressure to give something special even when you feel you don't have the means to do so tends to get in the way. There is something about surprising someone with the perfect gift on Christmas that lights everyone up but I just feel like anymore people just expect it. It is so sad when we have SO MUCH and there are so many people out there with so little. We just sit here and hold our hands out for more! I would like to challenge ALL of my readers to give something to someone less fortunate this holiday season! My family has decided this year that we will be giving gifts to each other from the World Vision Gift Catalog. 100% of your money goes to exactly what you purchase from the catalog and they will send you a card to give to the person that you bought the gift in their name! Say I buy a cow for a village in a 3rd world country (they can use for milk, dairy, and even meat!) the cow is $500... I can give a card to my sister telling her I bought a cow in her name! I could send a girl to school for $140! That is Crazy to me! My heart goes out to this and I am so pleased to be able to do this!

If I can get at least 7 of my blogger friends to give to an organization (of your choosing) this holiday season and POST about it I will double my gift of $25 I was already planning on giving in the name of my blogger friends. Specifically to the help for sexually exploited girls. This is an area that brings me to tears just thinking about it and I am passionate about. Like is said I am already giving gifts from this catalog to my family so this will be on top of that! Are you up for the challenge? Comment here so I will know if you have joined the challenge! Try to get others in on it too!

Happy Holidays!

Here are some great ogrinazations:
World Vision
Samaritan's Purse

Giveaway!

One of my oldest friends Ashley is doing a surprise give away in honor of her 100 followers (although now she is way past 100 already) GO ASH! If you are interested in entering today is the LAST DAY! GO to her page and enter now!

OPK and PT's

Hello lady blog friends! I know many of my readers are married and are trying to have babies : ) I found this website that you can order 10 ovulation and or prego test....FREE! No surveys no credit cards! They are a none profit organization that help women try to conceive! How cool is that?!?! I just ordered mine... go ahead and try it!

Brag Sesh!

My little Ruby is a Rock star! Her cousin is a model and her agent saw Ruby's pics (the ones I posted a few weeks ago) and signed her that day! This was late last week. Ally got a call like Friday telling her to be in LA for a Baby Gap audition. (this was her first audition EVER) After waiting a few hours and watching hundreds of babies go in and out Ally got word they wanted her back the next day for a "call back". She showed up today and they sent her away and said we will call you in a couple hours. They called her and said bring her back now we are starting the fittings!!!!! She got it! From what I hear this is for their whole campaign except TV. Advertising, store use, and catalog!

Sooo proud of you lil peanut!

Run Lizzie Run!

Well, I am doing it! I am training for a half marathon! I am extremely freaked out and so sure I will fail! But I am going to give it my all! When I run I lose focus really easily and then I want to stop! I need to learn the mind games to keep me going! My mom is on this kick where she wants to do a 5k once or twice a month. She has already done one this month and we plan on signing up for one on the 28th, two in December, and a 10k in January. The half we are wanting to do is called Zooma. It is a race geared towards women's health and it is at the Hyatt Spa Hotel in Austin. After the race they have wine tastings, mini spa treatments, food, and shopping! Just sounds like a fun time : ) I would love to have good times for the 5k's but lets be honest I have some short legs and these baby's turn over really fast but don't get me very far LOL! My pedometer reads 2.6 miles and my google map reads 2.1 miles : ( This means I am working .5 miles harder then my husband that is 6 ft. and can finish a 5k at around an 8 min mile. My best time right now is 11.20 min miles and I feel like I am sprinting! UGH! Oh well this is why I just want to prove to myself I can do it. If I ever do a half again I will go for time.

WISH ME LUCK! I THINK I AM GOING TO NEED IT!

Followers

I would love to know who is reading my blog! My friend Ashley just reached 100 followers! WAY TO GO! If you read my blog will you show me by following me? I just would LOVE to see who is! I will FOR sure do a giveaway when I reach 50!

Halloween or not?

This year the thought of Halloween stressed me out! I was planning on going to Oklahoma to visit my good friend Anna and plans ended up changing last minute and did not want to rush costumes together for me and K last min. We decided to hang back and pass out candy to the neighborhood kids. They were all soo cute decked out in there costumes! Aside from passing out candy I did my friend Haley's hair and makeup for the party I would have gone to. Amber also came over and hung out! She helped with passing out candy when my hands were full of makeup brushes and hair! LOL! Here is and iPhone pic of Haley (not great quality)

After Haley left me, Amber, and KRock went to OTB for some much need food and drink! I was sad that Amber left when we got home but happy to curl up and watch Mad Men!

Also here are some pics of my niece, Ruby Layne's, costume that my crazy talented sister made!

This one she has her little Cabage Patch shoes on!

I just love her to pieces!

Wishful Wednesday

'I wish' ...I was six years old and going trick or treating, and my costume would be:



Wounder Woman!!! I used to have this costume when I was like 5 no joke! LOVED IT! I would dress in it every day and my bro would pick me up and fly me around. I have pics I need to find them : )






Visit Kelsey's blog to find out more about wishful wednesdays!

My Touch

Well... I have arrived! Into this century that is : ) I , for the first time, actually bought a cell phone. I am so that person that has REFUSED to buy a phone. I was always like...I don't care if it has a camera, I don't care if it is small, I don't care if it comes in PINK! COME ON! I just need to talk and it to be FREE! Through a series of events or eh ehmm....toilets. My phone did not work right. I would type a text on the "regular keys" not the "qwerty keys" and anytime I would hit a key on the left side of the pad it would send my unfinished text without my consent. This quickly became the bane of my existence. I ended up having to call everyone and explain why I just said "ho"..send..."how are y"....send. AHHHHH. Dial them up. "That was supposed to say How are you doing"! well after a torturous year and 1/2 of this I am in full text capability now. The other reason for the new phone is because my ipod and Kevin's ipod have both decided to crap out on us. I HAVE to have a music devise for work. Without further adieu here it is:

It is basically the same thing as the iphone just made by google not apple. I am OBSESSED right now! I can't stop playing with it!

Can I just say how much I enjoy the blogger world?? I mean everyone is SOOOO encouraging and has the nicest things to say to each other. It is the healthiest Internet environment I can think of! Need someone to brighten your day? Read a blog... or go and re-read the sweet things people say about your own! I just love the network of empowerment and encouraging going on here! Keep it up girls! I love you all!

A few bloggers who have touched my heart:
Rawlings Report
Ramirez Family
The Seattle Smiths

Three years going on 80

As I said in my last post it was our anniversary yesterday! The whole day was planned out. We woke up and I cooked french toast, eggs, and (supposed to be mimosas turned into just) orange juice. (we were not feeling the champagne at 8:30am). We then went to an 11am showing of Paranormal Activity... SO SCARY! After that we ran to our cars in the rain and headed to our "couples message" that I surprised Kevin with. He had never had a message before and I think I made a fan out of him for sure. When we finished that at around 2:30 we were starving so we went to Corner Bakery for lunch...YUMMY! With our tummy's nice and full we headed to Strikes bowling ally where Kevin kicked my booty in 3 out of 4 games. I was ready to head home for a little R&R at this point so we popped in the old wedding video. I was really disappointed to see that it kept skipping! UGH! The whole DVD skipped! So we had to work on it for a while and ended up watching what we could of it on the computer. By this time we were ready for dinner. Kevin and I jumped back into the car and headed to Saltgrass Steakhouse. It was so good and I just sat there not wanting the day to be over. Looking into his eyes thinking about how much I love him. AMAZING! Of course we topped the day off with cuddling up on the couch and watching our DVRed shows. Perfections!

Thankful Thursday

This was from our wedding reception
Yesterday was me and Kevin's THREE year anniversary! I have to say I did not think it was possible to love him even more than the day we were married....I DO! I DO! It is crazy to me that people can not see God in the blessings of our lives! Even when things are so bad for me Kevin is always there to remind me what is important. He is constantly showing me how to be a better christian. Watching him grown in the Lord is AMAZING to me. To think back that he did not even have a personal relationship with God when we met is such a testimony. I can always remember the day he excepted Jesus into his heart. 04-05-06...pretty easy huh? I don't even know my own spiritual birthday! We were engaged about four months later and married just 3 months after that! I knew he was the one for me! They always say first year is the hardest. We were good for about 7 months then for the next 7 months was a little rocky (we were buying a house). I don't really talk about this much, but after a year of marriage we started trying for kids thinking.... we have a house....extra rooms to fill... but no baby : ( six months later no baby and six months later no baby. Then... Kevin lost his job. I thought, thank you LORD! You no WAY better than I do on when we need a family. How could we have supported a family when we had no income for 3 1/2 months! Finlay in Feb of 09 Kevin found a job! Better than what he had before! Financially we are almost to the place that we can start saving again and get back to the place we were pre job loss. Having a baby is still important to me but I have learned this is something I can not control and that God's timing is perfect! He has shown His faithfulness to me time and time again. Kevin, Family, House and Friends. I am thankful to God for all of these things.

Free business cards!

In this economy we are al trying to find creative ways to make some money...right? Well these sites are here to help! They are offering 100's of different styles of FREE business cards! Just put your info in and they do the rest. I will be getting some for my makeup artistry and maybe some more for my dance teaching! Do you have a company you are trying to start but don't have a lot of money to invest in it? This is a great idea for you! Here is the website! and another!

Face - Lift

I have decided I want to blog more soooo.... I gave my blog a face lift! I am no longer staying with the origin of this blog. I will at times post about my "master bedroom" BUT I will be saying other things as well. I am still going to try to keep with my restoration theme. As I was contemplating the big "Change" I realized....HEY! I am ALWAYS in need of some restoring. Inside and out! I found this (1 Peter 5:10) verse and it looks like God does some restoring on all of us all the time!

Today I have been thinking about what is holding me back from restoration. I so often chose to rely on myself and not on God. This tends to where me down and also causes me to be even more complacent. My goal today is to give all my worries and fears over to Him!

What is keep you from restoration?

MY BESTIE

Please send some prayers out to Amber and Josiah this weekend as he deploys over seas for another 4 months! This pic was taken 1 year and 2 months ago. Since then Josiah has already been gone on a 4 month deployment! I can't even imagine how hard this is to go through for them. Josiah is a hero to all of us! We are so proud of you Jo! I am also so proud of Amber. Such a patient wife staying in Abilene making sure all the bills are payed and the home is in order. For most not that hard of a task but she has only lived there a short time and is still trying to make good friends. Yes...I am only a phone call away but it just isn't the same I am sure. I just want you to know that I love you! You are such a good and loyal friend! Our prayers are with the both of you as you go through this journey together!

A Little Brag Sesh

My sister's sister in law is an awesome photographer and she gets AMAZING pics of her kids all the time! LOVE IT! This past week she took some photos and I just got a glimpse of them. BEAUTIFUL! Ruby is the most diva-litious baby of all time! She is always making the "prissy" face and is breathtaking! Of course I am partial because I am her aunt! Oh! Did I mention my sister? She is crazy beautiful too! UGH! Unfair! So without further adieu here are the pics and some other ones Julie has taken of my sis and her fam!

http://www.julsmegill.smugmug.com/

Paint and bedding

I painted ONE wall in my room! I did not have time to paint them all yet. While I was painting Kevin asked me "Do you want me to go get your camera so you can put this on your blog?" LOL! He is such a sweety pie! I also put my bed together with my new bedding. Ever piece of bedding is from a different place!

Thankful Thursdays

I love this idea Ashley... and it will keep me blogging in the meantime! Just list the things you are thankful for!

**I am thankful for what God has provided me. I would never had even planned my life to be this good. Yes... I can't just go out and buy anything I want at anytime, but when I do I am that much more appreciative of what I have been blessed with.

**I am thankful for a God fearing husband that clings to the word of God and leads our relationship and family accordingly. He is a hard working, HOT, and dedicated husband that loves me as Christ loves the church. What more could a girl ask for?

**I am thankful for cleaning b/c it is then when I look at my house and realize how thankful I am to have it to clean!

**I am thankful for my dog! He is such a blessing! He teaches me responsibility every day!

**I am especial thankful for my family today. My sister is in town with my precious niece and nephew and they are here for a family reunion next week. Last night I was holding them and loving on them and my heart just wanted to jump out of my chest with aw and amazement at Gods creation!

Here are the little angels: Maddox and Ruby

TV stand

I got and put together this cute whimsical TV stand from Ikea! Well....not supposed to be a TV stand it is really meant to be a sideboard/buffet table. When I say I put it together really I mean I read the instructions and Kevin put it together. Ikea's instructions are supposed to be "universal". They have NO words LITERALLY! I was confused most of the time here is a pic of the instructions and Kevin putting it together:


After we got most of it together Kevin was getting tired so I stepped in and tried to put the drawers together. Ummm well... I failed! I put two of them together wrong and they were hammered together with this crazy plastic screw that was meant to never come out! Woops! Needless to say Kevin was pretty upset with me. Rut roooowww : (
I was able to talk my dad into saving the drawers for me and we got them in so this it what it looks like in place: (Note - the walls are not the color they are going to be, It will look much cuter when they are and I have decor around it)

Firplace Restoration

I am finally finished with my fireplace! After taking a nearly two month hiatus of working on it : ) My before picture is just a few post down check it out as a reminder. Here are the after pictures!


ENJOY!

Long time no blog...

I promised myself this blog would be only about my restoration and not about my life. Unfortunately my life has gotten in the way of my restoration lately! Since the end of March I started painting my parents old house that they are trying to sell. THE WHOLE HOUSE! BY MYSELF! I agreed to do this b/c I need money for my room decorating : ) I can't get everything I need unless I have money right? A few weeks ago my neighbor came to me and asked if I could look after her precious 8 month old baby girl. I could not turn down the opportunity to spend some time with her! So I just spent the last two and a half weeks playing mom. I know... I know... it is different watching someone else' kid than your own, but it was fun to pretend what it could be like at times. I did earn some more money towards my restoration for doing that too! Now I need to get back to work on my parents house and then once I am done it will be full steam ahead on MY room! YIPPPEEEE! Sorry it has been so long since my last post, but I PPPPRRROOOMMIISSSEEE there will be TONZ to talk about in the coming months. : )


Here is a pic of Carys!

Amy Butler

I love amy butler! She is FANTASTIC! Her colors together just make me feel happy inside! I am totally excited about using her stuff in my new room! I will for sure be using fabric from the BELLE line and possibly some of her other stuff too. : ) If you are looking to make some pillows or a bag or even a hat! Check out her fabric you will not be dissapointed she has something for everyone. Here is the link to her website!

painters hand

Okay well I am on day 2 of restoring the fireplace. I have come to realize it is not so easy. My hand hurts really bad and I realize as I am painting I need to go back and sand some more before the second coat... I woke up this morning with this horrible pain in just one hand I couldn't figure it out... then I realized it was from the spray paint! Holding the nozzle down for that long is quite the workout. It is starting to look much better though. I am still excited! I would like to be done with it by the end of next week. (It is my spring break! not that I need it I only work 1 day a week)

We all could you use a little restoration ourselves,
I leave you with this:


Restoration

---

The act of restoring or bringing back to a former place, station, or condition; the fact of being restored; renewal; reestablishment; as, the restoration of friendship between enemies; the restoration of peace after war.

---

The state of being restored; recovery of health, strength, etc.; as, restoration from sickness.

---

That which is restored or renewed.

Spread Sheet

I am using an Excel spread sheet to document the items I want to get for the room. It has the item, how much I will be willing to pay, and how much I actually paid for it. My goal is to come in thousands of $$$ off the original price. For example... I have been searching antique fireplace mantels for the last year. Most of the ones I see in stores, say downtown McKinney, cost upwards of $400. I decided to "budget" $200 for one. I found a Mantel I LOVED on craigslist and after bargaining the seller down we landed on $50! That is a savings of $150!

Moral of the story....you can ALWAYS get the look for less. NEVER settle!

First Restoration

I will be restoring this antique fireplace I found on on craigslist:



I am very excited about it! I have some really cool ideas for the mantel (btw that is painters tape around the inside) I will post the finished product when I am all done!

YES...I HAVE A BLOG!

MY BFF Amber has been asking me to start a blog for quite some time now and I have been SUPER hesitant because well, as most of us know, I am not much of a writer. You will notice I am not very witty on paper nor am I much of a speller (thank the Lord for spell check) ...BUT I will do my best and hope I can make this fun and interesting enough for people to actually read. If you don't you will not hurt my feelings : )
The reason I started this blog was so that I could track my experiences and explorations of creating the best master bedroom (for me) ever! I will be restoring antique furniture, collecting cool accessories and even sewing a thing or two!....WATCH OUT! I'm going Martha on yo behinds! I am venturing out into many uncharted territories (for me) and I am just hoping everything turns out like I planned. My next entry will be some pictures of an antique fireplace I will be restoring...

Until then....Here are a few pictures that will demonstrate the color scheme I have landed on:
*Note items will not actually be in the room just for color purposes.