The Mermaid Chair

Actually, it's a cross, but I did read the book "The Mermaid Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd and since that was the inspiration behind me noticing this beauty, I'll keep it at that.
A few weeks ago, Dane & I went to some yard sales. At the last one, we meet a wonderful person named Kathryn and we struck up a conversation about kids and life. Then she told me she started painting & asked if I wanted to see what she had been making. Of course I said "Yes". We going into her beautiful house and she opens a closet & pulls out a basket FULL of all these beautiful crosses. All different. I wish I had taken a picture of all of them. Anyway, as we were looking through them, I noticed the one with the mermaid & commented on it. Well, that sweet Kathryn gave it to me!! And now it is hanging on my pretty green shelf in the foyer, first thing you see when you walk into our house.

Don't you just love it?? I really need to take a picture of that basket. If you could have seen the whole thing full of all this little beauties!!



And since I brought up the subject of reading, I've just finished my 16th book of the year!! I recently joined a challenge on PBS- A-Z Authors. It's really making me read some authors outside of what I normally read. But some of the books that I've read earlier this year were duplicate letters, so for the challenge I've only read 9 letters.

Do you have any reading plans for the summer? I'd love to hear some of your favorite books/authors. Please share!!

An ATC & Shrek 3

An atc and a little book to keep them in that I made for a swap I was in. The "Bee Queen" atc turned out so well, I had to make another one for myself:0) And I just love making the little books. They're so much fun!

I just found out last night that my MIL is coming to visit later today (from Mobile). This will be the first time ANY ONE from our family will have seen our new house! Kinda excited. I've taken lots of pictures to show everyone but it's not the same when they actually walk through the front door.





We went to see Shrek 3 last night. And it was funny as usual. I don't know who enjoyed it more, Charlie & I or Dane!! Very cute.

Ciao for now!

Thank You Heather

Yeah-I've finally got my banner back (after I tried to play around with the template thing and LOST it!!!) The good & sweet Fairy Heather helped me out with this one. Oh thank you the great & powerful Heather!!!

So, now I feel like posting. And it's been awhile, so I'm not sure where to begin.
All of us have been sick for the last 3 weeks. We went on vacation and have been sick ever since. Yuck. Seems to be allergies. Sneezing, watery eyes, coughing. An overall feeling of crude. I'm ready for it to go away.

Below are some pictures from Mother's Day (BTW-hope everyone had a good one).
My DH planned on everyone meeting for lunch at a very good resturant called
The Crab Trap in Perdido Key, FL. My MIL, SIL & her kids & boyfriend Bill from Mobile and my BIL & his gang from Pensacola all meet together. It was such a nice experience for all of us to get together. And the food was outstanding, as usual.






My hubby and his mom.



Angie, Alyssa, Dane & Bill.





Angie, Alyssa & Grammie.

Bohemian Manifesto

Bohemian Manifesto
Originally uploaded by Bella Grace.

"Who am I? I'm poet.

My business? Writing.

How do I live? I live.

In my happy poverty I squander like a prince,

my poems and songs of love.

In hopes and dreams and castles-in-air,

I'm a millionaire in spirit."

~Rondolfo, La Boheme

Pink Sunday Favorites

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature.

~Henry Ward Beecher

Happy Birthday(s)

(Some are late and some are on time-sorry!)

On Wednesday the 18th it was my mother-in-laws birthday.

Happy Birthday Grammie!!!!

Doesn't she look pretty in her pink??







The 19th was my most favorite celebrity's birthday, Ashley Judd. We were both born 1968. And she married her hubby on my birthday, December 12. Cool, huh? :0)












And today is my grandfather Papa's birthday. Born April 21, 1921. I guess today was the first time in 64 years that my grandmother wasn't there to wish him a happy birthday. But they lived a wonderful life together and he seems to be doing fine.

If anyone else is having a birthday or had one soon:
Happy Birthday!!

Family Time

Just wanted to share some pictures of the family in the last few weeks.



This is my sister-in-law and my niece, Alyssa. She is 16 months old. Can you see she got a little bo-bo on her nose?



My wonderful hubby trying to be a cowboy!!



I really loved how this picture turned out with the solid blue background and the horse being white. BTW, the horses' name is Angel.

Blue Sunday Favorites

Sacred space and sacred time and something joyous to do is all we need. Almost anything then becomes a continuous and interesting joy.

~Joseph Campbell

A Special Thank You

I would like to say "Thank You" to all the wonderful people that sent kind thoughts and words to me about the loss of my grandmother. Your kindness means so much to me. I still think about her almost every day-something I'd like to show her or something Dane has said or done. But I knew awhile back that my days with her were numbered-at 93 years old it's no secret. She lived a long and fulfilling life and my goal now is to live a life that I know she would be proud of. Hugs to all of you.

Happy Easter

I would like to wish everyone a wonderful and Blessed Easter. I hop(e) the Easter Bunny brings you lots of goodies!
What do you have planned for the day?


I wanted to share some pictures of my Easter display.




The tall gray bunny is from the very talented Rose Marie of The UnionRose from ebay. I love her creations-she is one talented lady.








My Easter Tree
Not sure if you can really see the wall color but I had attempted to try something new and it didn't turn out quite as I had planned. So now the wall is painted a beautiful golden color and I color washed the shelf which was made by my father almost 20 years ago. I thought it made the perfect backdrop for all my pretties!

Another of my little creations. I made these little birdies many years ago and they still bring a smile to my face when I see them.

HAPPY EASTER

Sea World

Here are some pictures from our trip to Sea World



















There was so much beautiful foliage everywhere!




Feeding the dolphins was the Best. I don't know who had more fun-Dane or me & Charlie.







This is taken outside a restaurant in Orlando called "Race Rock". For any of you that love any kind of racing-car,bike,boat this is the place to go. It's great for the kids too!

Steel Magnolia

Grace "Gigi" Nuckolls
November 9, 1913-March 26, 2007
A true Steel Magnolia-they just don't make 'em like that anymore.

Nuckolls, Grace R. NUCKOLLS Grace R. Nuckolls, a native of Baldwin County, AL and a resident of Mobile, AL died on Monday, March 26, 2007. She was a member of Azalea Hills Christian Church and retired from Gayfers after many years of service. She is survived by her husband of 64 years Mr. Charles Scott Nuckolls of Mobile, AL, son Gaylon S. (Judith) Nuckolls of Mobile, AL, granddaughter Kristal (Charlie) Leaver of Tallahassee, FL and great grandson Dane Leaver of Tallahassee, FL, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Graveside services and interment will be held on Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 10:00 AM in Mobile Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be held on Thursday 9 AM until service time at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers family request memorials be made to the American Heart Association or to The Diabetes Association. Funeral arrangements by MOBILE MEMORIAL GARDENS FUNERAL HOME 6040 Three Notch Rd. Mobile, AL.

I miss you so much

Pieces of Me

I started making some flip flops again. I have this pair listed on ebay along with a really nice vintage black and white purse. Ebay is so finnicky sometimes. I know the purse is a really nice one and so far there are 5 people watching it but no one has bid on it. I still can't believe no one bid on my little cross stitch piece last week-she is so cute! (At least I think so!!)
I'm going to make some more flip flops in different colors and list them on Etsy. I'm going to see if I have any better luck with Etsy than on Ebay.

There has been some really upsetting things going on in our lives lately. Yesterday, DH had to fly to Charlotte for a four hour meeting with his company. Basically, they are restructuring and after 7 years, 9 moves to 4 different states, they are moving him down to a store manager. It's very frustrating to him to not get any kind of recognition for all his hard work. And there are some other things that I just don't want to get into now. But life is trying to tell us something right now, and I'm really worried. I've cried almost everyday since last Wednesday when we found out. As much as I want to say that it's not fair, I know Life isn't fair. But I'm not going to let someone else take all of my dreams for me and my family away. I feel that all of this has happened at the same time and now Charlie and I have to work together and find out which direction we have to take.So for all my blogging friends,just say a little prayer for us. We could uses it :0)

{Dane helping me with my display for my ebay items}

That's What Dreams Are Made Of

I started reading a book about being an instant millionaire. Someone on another site had recommended it. It's a very short book, but I will have to tell you, it really had alot of punch.
I won't get into all the boring stuff, but the part that really got me was that the secret was loving what you do. And for me, being off work for a year and not really feeling like I'm going anywhere, it really hit home.
See, I've really been trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up :0) And the number one thing that keeps popping into my head is my little shop that I've dreamed of owning for about the last 20 years. But I always had an excuse for not doing it. One thing or another. And I can still put it off-we don't have the money right now. But I'm not going to. I am going to give myself a deadline to have all the credit cards paid off and my car and some money in the bank, and then I will do it.
And to really put the icing on the cake was this morning. I was looking something up on the internet and came across a blog that was started by a business owner for other women who want to open up their own shops!!! Can you believe it! Her name is Deb Neerman and her shop is Curious Sofa. Check it out.

If you have any suggestions also, I would love to hear them. I could use all the advice I can get!


Have you see the previews for Sandra Bullock's new movie? I can't wait!

DH has had a really stressful last couple of months and needless to say, both of us are in need of a vacation. So I've made reservations at a hotel in Orlando for Sunday & Monday and ordered us tickets to Sea World. I have really been wanting to take Dane to see Shamu. Hopefull, we can relax and enjoy ourselves minus a telephone ringing every few minutes!

My latest cross stitch. I had this listed on ebay, but no one has bid on it yet, so I think I'll take it off. I was going to complete one for us anyway, so I guess I'll just keep this one. I hate it when no one bid's on your stuff ;0(


I would like everyone to take a second and hop over to sweet Maija's blog and say a prayer for her and her family. Her mother was diagnosed with terminal lung caner. Maija, we will all keep you in our prayers.


P.S. these pictures are from a shop that was here in Tallahassee. It's since closed.

Better Late Than Never

Okay, I'm kinda late posting pictures from Dane's birthday party. Oh well!
We had a little party for him. Charlie had to work that day, so we planned on having the party after he got off from work.
I baked cupcakes and decorated them with the colors of bright blue and green and Charlie brought home pizza!!. Since we don't know many people in Tallahassee, I invited Mary Alyce & her daughter Chelsea.

Dane got some really nice things-some more pieces to his Fisher-Price train set and a cool castle from Playmobil.
Mary Alyce & Chelsea got him some coloring books and a neat tag set that teaches things in English and Spanish.
Of course he received phone calls all day long from his grandparents and great-grandparents.
Overall I think he had a great 4th birthday.
NOTE: Even 3 weeks later, as Charlie walks in the front door each evening, Dane asks him if he has a present for him :0)

The Kiss

It's finally finished!!! I started this on January 31...2003!!!!! And I finished on January 27, 2007. But I wasn't able to starch & iron it because, somewhere in a box in the garage is our iron. Then yesterday at a yard sale, I found a nice iron for $3-couldn't beat that. So here it is all pressed and ready to be taken to the frame shop :0) I can't wait to hang it in our bedroom.



Dragonfly pic is the detail of the four corners

Getting my MoJo back

I've been so busy with moving into the new house and trying to get unpacked, putting the other house up for rent and just taking care of life in general, I haven''t done as much crafting as I would have wished.
But now I'm trying to get together at least 10 items together and start selling on Etsy. I've been selling on ebay for quite awhile, and I'll still continue with items that don't fall into the Etsy guidelines.
I would really like to make a little money each month to contribute to the household.
When I stop and really focus on it, I have so many wonderful items in my head, they just seem to get covered up with all the other day-to-day stuff. So I guess for March, I will try to focus on the creative spirit inside me more and do things that bring that spirit to life.

GO SPIRIT!!!!

Happy Birthday Dane

It's been four years from this:


To this:

Our little man is growing up. We will have a birthday dinner for him tonight when Daddy gets off from work. I can't wait for him to open his presents. I really think he'll like all his toys. And I've been working on getting his room together. I still have a few things to do (paint the trim and get some organizers for his stuff) but it should be ready by the end of the month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANE

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you have a wonderful time today, even if you don't have a "Valentine" to spoil you. Spoil yourself! You are worth it!

Where there is great love, There are always miracles.
-Willa Cather

Goal Journal-January

Here are the January pages from my goal journal.The first page is a recap of what I've done to achieve my goals from December. What kind of steps I've taken. The second page is a list of new goals for January. I originally was just going to add 5 new ones each month, but since starting this I've discovered so many little projects that are unfinished, I think I'll go for 10 each month. Anywhere between 5-10 new gaols each month.

I've completed 3 so far. I completed the cross-stitch piece '"The Kiss" (but in the moving, my iron has been thrown in a box & I can't iron it out :0( I registered with Do Not Call.org. And we now own a rental property! We finally got our old house rented out.
I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do to reward myself for things accomplished. I was thinking maybe $2 per goal, so for every 5 I'd get $10-or should each goal be $5 so for every 2 goals I'd get $10? I don't know. I hate to make it monetary I just don't know what else to do. And I've got a list of things I want-Books (I have a whole List of Books) music and movies. Hummm, I'll really have to think about this. Anyone has suggestions? :0)