Summer Vacation

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Time for summer vacation!

Once again, this summer finds me packing, moving, and traveling. Don't know if I'll make it to a porch like the one above but I'll be on the lookout!

No, we haven't sold our house yet. We've decided it's more important to keep our family together even if it means renting a tiny apartment. Besides all the work awaiting me, I need to take this time to be with my children. Big adjustments ahead. Last year I lost a lot of followers during summer break. Sorry to disappoint if you follow for a daily or even weekly reading. At this point in time, it is impossible for me to keep up. I'd rather take a hiatus and come back fresh. Thanks to all of you who have offered encouragement and prayers on this new journey we are about to begin. It means so much.

Wishing each of you a summer filled with cool breezes, warm sunshine and a happy heart.

143

Roses- the universal flower for love.

The Doc doesn't send flowers routinely. He likes for it to be a surprise when he does. Sometimes on special occasions, sometimes just because.

 

Today I was pleasantly surprised.

The Doc was surprised too, but not in a good way.  Yesterday was our anniversary. He's working out of town so he called me several times. I never noticed he was waiting on a response. At 9:00 last night, he asked me to go turn on the back porch light and look outside. I couldn't imagine why but complied. Then he asked, "do you see anything?" "Nothing." "Go look all around." "What? Why?" I had to have a reason if I was going to walk around on the damp grass in the dark. 
Aww...I felt so bad for him.  Grrr...he was upset. The florist did not deliver the flowers.

Today these showed up. And because they were a day late, so did a full refund.  

 I'd call that a very happy anniversary. 
143 has been our little code for years. The number of letters in "I love you." 

We've never looked at life through rose colored glasses. There were too many thorns in our path. But our love has stood the test of time and continues to bloom into a full blown love story. Unlike these flowers, it will never fade. We are tending to it daily and that's how I know.

To my sweetheart-
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Setbacks, Pretty Doors and A Little Q&A

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The vote is in. Windows on the carriage style garage doors wins hands down.

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I was so excited about these doors until...

we found out our door is an odd size. It must be special ordered and will take weeks/months be delivered and installed. We really hope to sell the house before then. So, we'll  just give an allowance to the buyer to replace what's there now. 

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The real estate market has changed so much. I'm sure that's not breaking news to anyone but, it's become our reality. The realtors are telling us, "Don't waste your money upgrading any more than you already have. You will not get a good return." 

Design Chic is an awesome blog by a mother/daughter team, Beth and Kristi. They always post the best decor photos. It's like a candy shop to me. I am honored to be tagged by them for a fun game.

I normally don't participate in tags but this one came at a good time and it was fun. Here's answers to 11 questions.
Questions:
 1. If you were given the choice between a million dollars and maintaining your dream weight for the rest of your life what would you choose?
At this point in my life, I think  it would be easier to achieve the million dollars so I'll take the dream weight.
 2. What is the best lesson you learned from your parents?
The importance of family. My dad had a stroke at age 43 which left him paralyzed. It forever changed our lives. I learned how valuable it was to stick together as a family during hard times. My parents led us by example with their faith in God. I am where I am because of the prayers and support of my parents.
 3. Where would your dream vacation home be?
I'd want a beach home within driving distance of wherever I lived. The closer the better because it would mean the more time we could spend there. It's a dream that I hope comes true some day!
 4. If you could only wear one color for the rest of your life what would it be?
Teal blue
 5. What is your all-time favorite movie?
May sound sappy, but Gone With the Wind 6. If you could choose an animal from any movie to be your pet what would you choose? (i.e. Babe, the monkey from The Hangover...)
Now that we've established my sappiness, Lassie. When I was little I'd cry every time I watched an episode.
 7. Up to this point, what has been the best day of your life?
The day I was baptized and filled with His Spirit.
 8. If you could date any famous person (assuming you were unattached, of course!) who would it be?
I would not want to date a famous person. I value my privacy too much. But if I could hang out with a famous guy for a day, it'd probably be Ralph Lauren, just to get inside of his head and watch him design.
 9. If you could take a one year sabbatical and go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Paris, of course.
10. If you were given a million dollars to donate to your favorite charity/cause, what would you choose?
The Susan Cohan Cancer Foundation. My father in law died a few years ago from colon cancer. Another life altering moment in our lives.
11. If you could go backstage to meet any musician, dead or alive, who would it be?
Maybe Elvis. I'd just like to hear him sing in person. I was very young when he died but his songs still ring in my head and take me back to the happy days of childhood.

The next part of this game is for me to tag 11 people with 11 questions. Please don't feel obligated and if there's anyone who wants to join in, please do!
1.Oakview Cottage
2.  Podso
3.  Ms. Smartie Pants
4. On Sutton Place
5.  Hyacinths for the Soul
6.  Blondie's Journals
7.  Tattered Hydrangeas 
8.  A Collection of This and That
9.  Sunny Simple Side
10.  Love and Life at Leodora
11.  Random Thoughts

Questions:
1. Who was your hero growing up?
2.  What are 3 things you can't live without?
3.  Barefoot in the sand or a pretty pair of high heels?
4.  What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
5.  If you had to move to a state other than the one you live in, where would you move?
6.  When thinking about colors of the rainbow, which color are you?
7.  If you could do anything, or wish for anything that would come true, what would it be?
8.  If you could visit any country in the world, where would you go?
9.  Are you usually late, early or  right on time?
10. Are you old fashioned?
11. You've been given the choice of a vacation or a shopping spree. Which would you choose?

Carriage Doors

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Do you like carriage style garage doors? 

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I happen to love them and now it looks like we'll be buying one. Seems the tenants backed into our garage door and didn't inform us. Here's a tip. If you make the slightest dent in a garage door, repair immediately. If not, over time the door will weaken and eventually crack, which also affects the way it rolls. If your door is making a popping sound when rolling up, it's not the opener but the door itself. Ours is now cracked in 3 places. It could have been prevented but on the bright side, maybe this will add just the curb appeal for a quick sale.

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I love the look in the first two photos, the craftsman/bungalow style. Our house is more traditional like the above photo. I suppose it doesn't matter the style of the house. Looks good on both, in my opinion.  
Wouldn't the HOA flip out if I did something like this?

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I think the red is really stunning. But it clearly wouldn't look good with my brick.

Our house- tree  has been cut back so you can now see the arched window.

 I was surprised to find the carriage style is only a couple of hundred dollars more than the plain. Now the decision is windows or no windows? I vote yes, hubby votes no, but will let me decide.
What do you think?

A Sweet Day

My two sweet boys.  

Can you tell by their faces which one is more expressive?  

This was a little staged on his part. I always make breakfast and put out their goodies on Easter morning. His exaggerated excitement made it fun.

I never like to mention my birthday because it feels as if I'm soliciting wishes. But I have to share one of the sweet gifts I received.

My precious friend from FL sent me this beautiful box. Want to see what was inside?

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I'm showing you photos from the site because my box is almost empty. These are from Cheryl's Cookies. Really delish.

The best part about my day was hearing from so many wonderful friends. I even received a card from Cindy all the way from Canada!

I've made a mental note to show more thoughtfulness. It really does make a person's day!

Postcards from B

It's a card party! Joining the party over at A Haven for Vee .  
Vee asked us to choose 4 photos from our blogs that we'd make into cards. 

I've fancied these up in Picmonkey to make them postcard worthy.  My theme is "Vintage."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Have a happy day!

Say What?

Better Homes and Garden

Has anyone had to buy more storage from Google for photos on Blogger? Hoping I didn't get scammed. I can download photos from other sources, but not my own. It also takes 24 hours to complete the purchase process. $5 for 20 GB, automatically renewing each year. I'll have to watch my billing. What a pain. 

I hope each of you will enter this GIVEAWAY.  For those who facebook, please go like E.W. McCall. All for a good cause!

Savannah Tour and A Winner

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Last weekend we attended a wedding in Savannah, GA. I really miss living there. Hope you don't get tired of me saying that.  If you haven't visited yet, you should plan a trip. Here's a little clip of the gorgeous architecture and sites downtown.



Thanks to everyone for all of your nice comments on my foyer. You'll never know how long it took me to get it to that point. So simple but yet so hard. It was quite hilarious how many times I changed things before taking photos.

I'm still sick with the flu. I pray none of you get this stuff. It will not go away!  Hoping I'll be back to a normal schedule of blog visiting next week.

And for the winner of the Shabby Apple skirt...
Congratulations Erika of Just Peachy Photography!

 Wishing each of you a restful weekend. May you sleep like a baby!

Light=Love

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No flowers for me yesterday. 

This is what I requested.

A new light for the foyer. It wasn't what I originally had in mind but the bargain bin at Home Depot convinced me otherwise.

I thought the style flowed well with the dining room light. You know, the other light I wanted to get rid of.

Notice anything different? Those metal leaves which were making the globes look like tulips have been removed. Amazing how fast those things snapped off.  I left enough leaves on other parts to tie in with the foyer light. 

Here's the foyer before.

Just felt a little dated to me.

We're getting closer to putting the for sale sign out on the lawn! 

And to the Doc's credit, he did buy me a huge heart box of chocolates. He even got up early this morning to go fill my car up with gas so I wouldn't have to. Yes, I'm spoiled and I love it.

Have a Heart

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Happy Valentine's Day!

My weekend revolved around heart day. We went out for dinner on Saturday since the family usually spends a quiet evening at home on Valentine's Day. I'll cook up a special dinner with heart shaped anything and everything tomorrow.  After dinner, we went to Home Depot where I finally found a light fixture for the foyer. It wasn't the lantern style I was hoping for but it's pretty. (I'll show it in my next post.)  I told Doc my Valentine gift would be for him to put it up immediately, which he did. Woo hoo! Things like that usually don't happen so fast.

Little Man and I made a valentine mailbox for school. It was his homework. (When did they stop having time to do crafts at school?)  I used left over Christmas gift wrap and a set of playing cards.

He was all for the title.

You may remember the banquet I decorated for a couple of weeks ago. I was asked to decorate again, this time for Valentine's. Since it was a different group of people, we just repeated the same decor. It was last night and I didn't even take one picture! I'm tired.  
To add a heart theme, I bought these frames at Dollar Tree and printed out love quotes. They sold all but two of them after the banquet.

This one was for the dessert table.

Had to throw this one in for the single ladies.

Now, here's how you can have a heart...
Susan over at My Place to Yours, is sponsoring a Valentine Project for the girls of Hope Unlimited for Children. Valentine's Day in Brazil is not until June. So she is asking us to please send a couple of cards to these girls via her organization in CA. It will make their day! You will find the information HERE.

Happy Heart Day!

Good Impressions

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The vote is in from my last post. 
2 to 1 in favor of installing a new light fixture in the foyer. It'll have to be a bargain at this point. Guess I'll go look this weekend. Sorry to drag this thing out. I've figured out it's harder to make a small space look right than it is a large one.
I saved the above photo because I have a lantern light on my porch and a transom window above the door. Here they used the same style, yet different fixtures inside and out and it still looks nice.  I'm leaning towards something simple like the lantern.
If I wasn't selling the house, I'd go for something funky, like one of these chinoiserie fixtures or something in red.

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But I don't want to scare potential buyers when they walk in the door. Not even sure if it'd look right. Just a fancy I have. It'd be memorable though. "Remember the house with the red light fixture?"


We want good first impressions. I'd say these all fit that category. 

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Wish me luck.