My Heart Hurts

I went along today in ignorance.  I had not heard of the tragedy.  I went shopping, had lunch with some old friends, laughed and enjoyed their company.  I was ignorant to the tragedy.

I came home some time in the afternoon with all my packages and bags, plopped everything down on the couch and logged into Facebook.  I started seeing reports from different sources.  Then I read it on a status "....18 children dead, and 6 adults.."

I burst into tears and have hardly stopped crying since.  The unthinkable happened.  Just when you think you have probably seen it all, it happened.  And I sit here in Georgia helpless to do anything.  I'm here with all my children, trying to enjoy the kids coming home from college and the start of their Christmas break, and I'm a mess.

May God bless and watch over the brokenhearted.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18)

Just a quicky Halloween decoration

Hey just a quick little post - I am working on one about my daughter's wedding, but wanted to share some photos of my mantel decorated for Halloween.

I don't do much, but I love what I do :-)  I don't have a lot of energy to change the mantel completely, so I add a few little things to make it a little spookier.  The candle holders come out of storage for this occasion.  I have looked high and low for black candles but could not find any, so I took some cheap white ones and sprayed them with flat black paint.  Sprayed the branches also which I got out of the back yard.  I bought the black feather wreath at Kirkland's this year (on sale!), and the little sign hanging on the brick I got at the Country Living Fair last year.  I think I got the skeleton head at WalMart or Target for $3.

I think I might grab a few more branches - I like that look!

That's it!  Not much, but it sure makes me happy!!!


Love, Kelli

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Bringing Sexy Back:: Updating an upholstered bench

Been so long since I've done anything creative in this house :(  Time to change that.  For me, getting started is the hardest part.  I always have GREAT ideas:: but actually DOING them??  Not so much.

I admit it.  I've been kind of a lazy person.  I mean I go to work, I keep my house pretty clean, etc., but doing the extra stuff, ugh, it's so hard to get started!  When I see the floor that needs sweeping and the dust piling up on the nightstand and the counters that need cleaning I tend to spend all my energy doing those things - the dreaded housework!  So that pretty much ZAPS my time and any little bit of creativity goes out the window~

Well, not anymore!  We used to have a cleaning person way back last year and we had to stop for a while due to lack of extra funds..  now we got her back!  Not only is she the bestest cleaning person, she's my bestest friend too :D  I am ready to get back to doing some fun projects!

A couple weekends ago I was able to jump right into a little project (since my floors were clean and all sheets were washed!)  AND my wonderful sister, Khrissi, was here to help!  I inherited this bench when I moved in with Hubby.  It's not bad, but I really wanted to jazz it up a bit.

[believe it or not, this is the largest place in my house to do this, other than the garage - that's why we are smooshed in here]

We got the Rub n Buff and just started applying it with our fingers... humm... something didn't look quite right... hummm...

Well - if I had actually READ any of the awesome instructions from one of my favorite bloggers, Sammy at ReNew ReDo, I would have learned how to do this properly!  She is amazing and has detailed instruction on how to use this product.  So, we stopped half-way through and read Sammy's instructions.. We realized we needed to go on and finish what we'd started and then wait 24 hours to buff it.  So we did and then moved on to the cushion.

It's awesome to have a helper~!  Khrissi removed all of the cording, and there were a go-zillion staples!  We planned on covering right over the old fabric.  It was in great shape so no need to remove it.  We cut our fabric, lined it up where we wanted it, then pinned it in place.  I forgot to take pictures of that :(

The following weekend I finished up the Rub N Buff on the base using Sammy's instructions (but since I had gotten them backward I had to be very careful with it), and started stapling the fabric to the cushion. 

I cut off the extra fabric and then set it on the frame just to see how it would look..  still needed to make the piping, but that was going to have to wait another week..

Throughout the week not much gets done around here other than going to work, piano lessons, confirmation classes, dinners and the occasional shower [just kidding, we shower more than occasionally]. So, finally, yesterday, working at the kitchen table as I have no sewing room, I took the old piping and covered it with fabric.  First. Time. Ever.  I'm so proud of myself!

Then I stapled the cording to the bottom of the cushion [which I also did not photograph.. ugh] and put the whole thing back together!  Voila!  Ain't she purdy?

See how the piping just finishes it off so nicely?  And here it is back home at the foot of my bed..

Are you guys asleep yet?  Is this the longest darn before & after post ever?  Are you still with me?  If so here's one more look at the before & after!  I'm in love with this bench now!  So Sexy!!

I have much work to do in the Master bedroom, so, don't judge!  We'll eventually get to it :o)  For now I'm just going to enjoy my little victory, and have a seat on my bench.

Love, Kelli

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love & marriage

Went to a pretty wedding today - a dear friend's first-born married her sweetheart.

I sat there listening to the pastor, listening like he was speaking to me.  The words he said rang true.. He spoke about standing by your partner when everyone else has gone, about getting through the hard times, about enjoying the good times, and about the ups and downs of living your life with one person, now and forever.

As I watched her dancing with all of her little flower girls and ring bearers (she had 5 of each!) I couldn't help but feel so lucky to be married to my best friend, and to hope for her the same thing.  I wish I could go to a wedding like every month! - it's good to hear the vows and promises again and again.  It makes you remember the vows you spoke, how special your relationship is, and to always, always put your marriage first.

I don't know about you, but I feel pretty lucky.  Happy marriage to you!

Love, Kelli

End of Summer Weekend

Summer is my most favorite season of all - it always make me a little sad as the kids go back to school and the hum drum routine starts back.  Then as the air starts to cool I suddenly remember all the fun fall things we get to do!  Football games, backyard fires, and drives through the Georgia mountains to look at the turning leaves - then I don't feel so sad :o)

We had our last of summer who-rah this weekend up in Blue Ridge with our best friends: eating out, watching football, shopping, boating, and plenty of adult beverages!  We had a great time, and as always, it flies by so fast and then it's over.  Came home to clean the house and get ready for the week (albeit a short one!).

And guess what?  I forgot to bring my camera along, so I only took like 3 pictures with my phone!  Bummer!  Actually we all forgot to bring our cameras so I can't even steal some!  Here is my husband and one of the other guys on the thing they pull behind the boat..  what's it called??

And here are the girls..  hehe!  I did ride it but no one took my picture!  yeay!  On the upper right side of my blog page you can see another picture of my besties on Instagram with their funny "tickle monster" gloves on - oh the jokes we made about those things... 

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Labor Day weekend!

Love, Kelli

Who's ready for some FOOTBALL??

We are!!  And Ken had a great idea a couple of weekends ago - Falcons Football training camp!

The Falcons Training camp is about 45 minutes from where we live.  The facility was so big and pretty!  Three football fields side by side.  The players were so close.  We had very good seats right next to the field. We just walked up with our soccer chairs and plopped them down in an open spot - turned out to be the best seats in the house. Everything was happening right in front of us!

After the practice several of the players stayed behind to sign autographs - the kids were loving it (as well as the adults).

We had a great time, but I was ready to get in the car with air conditioning (it was crazy hot out that day)!  Here I am all hot and sweaty, just lovely, I know..crazy hair and all.

We are really looking forward to all the college and pro games. Go Dawgs! Go Jackets! (sorry, we love both teams!) Go Falcons! Go Brownies (Ken is a huge Cleveland Browns fan)!

How about you?  You likey some football too?

Love, Kelli

PS:  Photo credits go to the hubby except the 2nd and 3rd pics I took :o)

Family Time

We headed to the beach a couple weeks ago for a little R&R with some of the kids.. Rachael had to work and Wes was not home yet from New Zealand so we just had Chelsea, Tyler, and Robbie (and it was VERY humid so please do not focus on my hair..  !!)

We found (at the last minute) this place to stay.. it looked great on the website, but when we got there it wasn't as nice in person.  It wasn't awful, but it wasn't what I was used to; we made it work.  If you ever go to Panama City Beach, don't stay at the Cabana Cay unless you talk to me first ;o)

We made the most of our short trip and hit the beach, did some fishing, shopping, eating out, and of course some pool time.  My favorite thing is sitting on the beach!  I could do just that the entire time!

Ken likes to be a little more active so he took Tyler and they did the fishing thing.  How'd ya like them big o'fish??  They didn't care - they just loved being there!  The rest of us went to Pier Park, a big shopping complex with lots of fun stores and restaurants.  We had fun and bought some cool stuff! 

So what have you been up to this summer?  Been on any trips?

Love, Kelli

long ago renovations

Since not much is going on around here in the way of changes I thought I would share some great before and after pictures from my previous house.  This was my sweet little kitchen that I adored.

I moved into this little house about a year after my divorce.  The place was yucky, but it was all mine.  Luckily my new boyfriend (and now husband) had just the right attitude "Oh yeah, we can change anything we want" - music to my ears!

While we didn't do a lot that first year other than paint every ceiling and wall, he started stashing stuff for my house.  He is a renovator so when he would build someone a new kitchen and they ripped out their old counter tops, he would keep them.  He kept cabinets, MDF, a sink, and a great faucet.

When we started working on the kitchen/dining room we had to completely rip out two closets that divided the space.

 Then he relocated the return ducting for the furnace and the vent pipe to the wall and boxed it in.  He also fixed the ceiling and textured it to match the rest..

 I dug a shelving unit out of the garage to use in place of my now-gone pantry, and we lived this way (pic 4) for several months.. 

Then we started painting the dining room side and Ken installed two small base cabinets for an "island" off the bump out on the wall.  He also put bead board around the room and wrapped the back of the island and trimmed it to give it a finished look.  He topped the island with a piece of MDF which I covered with various table clothes.. and we lived with it like this for a while..

Then the most awesomest thing happened - hardwood floors!! This was so exciting that I really didn't take many pictures.  But it is the most beautiful floor anyone ever saw ;o)

We turned our attention to the kitchen side of the room - and there was LOTS to do.  Since we were doing this on a very strict budget we were keeping all the cabinets and appliances.  Paint was our best friend.  We (well, Ken) removed the wood between the upper cabinets and ceiling to open it up, installed bead board on the back and crown mold on the cabinets and then painted them white.  I painted the base cabinets black. Did I have enough stuff on my fridge??  sheesh!

We lived with it like this for a while too - with the MDF on the island and the completely ugly faux butcher block counters and back splash.. But Ken came through again with a counter he got from one of his clients, along with a sink and faucet.  He ripped all the old, ugly stuff out and installed the new-to-me counter and sink.  He bought 12" marble tiles, cut them down and installed them subway style as the back splash.  He also got a perfect size of corian for the island from another client; only had to cut about 3" off and it fit like a glove!

I found the red stools at a yard sale for $10 each.  They were perfect.  I spent a little bit more than that on the adorable chandelier above the sink, but it was so worth it.

I miss my little kitchen a lot, but look forward to renovating the kitchen in my current home.

Whew!  Did you think I would ever finish this? 

Love, Kelli