Gingerbread Houses & Paint

Sorry, I have been neglecting this blog.  

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Sunday Social

New to Sunday Social?

Here is how it works:

1. Please follow the Featured blogger.

2. Link up your blog's homepage.

3. Check out some other awesome blogs that linked up.

4. Have fun & get social!

The featured blog this week Auntie Em's Guide to Life.

Auntie Em is the bloggy alter-ego of Melinda Stanton, who is a wife to one, mom to 3, mom-in-law to 2, and choir teacher to hundreds over the past 20 years.  New to and very excited about the blogging world, she feels like the old chaperone of the bunch, but she’s just glad the “young-uns” invited her to the dance! With a 30+ year marriage, a paid-off house, no debt, and independent adult children who really like their family, Auntie Em has learned some things along the way and is glad to help others learn from her experience.

Silly facts:

1.       I had a 9-lb baby with no anesthesia. In four hours. This still just blows my mind. Three children-- 12 hours of labor, total. I was made for childbirth. And I really would rather have a baby than get a filling.

2.       I have a large store of impractical knowledge in my head. Six wives of Henry VIII? Got ‘em. Queen Elizabeth II’s great-great grandmother? Victoria. What Queen Elizabeth I said upon being told, “The Queen is dead; long live the Queen!”? “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (way too much about the British royal family) What’s on my grocery list that I forgot at home? *blank stare*

3.       My favorite color is blue. I like blue walls, carpet, ceilings, flowers, dishes, clothes, sapphires, aquamarines… I have a “blue” Pinterest board that makes me so happy!

4.       I love all lots of different kinds of music. When I used to order CDs from a club, I would get classical piano, choral, 70s soft rock, bluegrass, Motown… all in one order. During one short period  I was playing fiddle in bluegrass jams, piano at my church, and singing (German) Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with our Symphony Chorus!

5.       I love to grow flowers and I love to save money, so I have been known to pinch off stems from unsuspecting plants in public places. It used to embarrass my daughters, but now they do it too!

Don't forget to stop by Melinda's blog.

Let's get social!

Sunday Social

New to Sunday Social?

Here is how it works:

1. Please follow the Featured blogger.

2. Link up your blog's homepage.

3. Check out some other awesome blogs that linked up.

4. Have fun & get social!

The featured blog this week It Must Be So Liberating.

I used to be the girl who's kicking the coke machine and now I am a little more... well, me. I'm a wife and a daughter. I'm a non-practicing psychologist and a full-time mortgage analyst. I'm a socially conservative, politically agnostic, non-glamorous, sarcastic young woman who has repeatedly considered the possibility of leaving the big city for a small town. 

I'm a newlywed who's livin' la vida loca in Madrid, Spain - not that loca for that matter, but it sounds quite cool, doesn't it? I love my country and I'm so thankful that I live here! 

I love photography and traveling. And I probably eat more at breakfast than at any other meal of the day.

Hope you love the blog!

5 silly facts about me

1. Though I love watching horror movies every now and then, I'm always afraid I'll have nightmares because of them. I know, I'm a wimp. I'm also afraid of empty long dimly-lit hallways, eerie clowns and heavy metal - yep, it creeps the hell out of me..

2. I speak English, Spanish and Portuguese fluently but I tend to choose 'English' when I need to express feelings in writing. I guess it just sounds better. 

3. There are some things in life I will never, ever understand: how airplanes fly, decaf coffee and fashions shows - who'd wear those things? And since nobody really does, what's the point, then? 

4. I love clothes and accessories. And I'd love to have a huge closet full of beautiful new outfits, but I hate trying them on. I hate the actual visit to the store. 

5. I am totally addicted to podcasts. My favorites are This American Life, Planet Money and Freakonomics.

Stop by Luisa's blog and say hi!

Let's get social!

Sponsor Spotlight: Maggie McKenney Photography

You might remember Maggie from previous posts!  She is back.. just wait to see what she has to show you!

Back in late May I did a guest post on The Sasse Life blog….a little bit about our major painting project that started with me just wanting a room for my “stuff”. Absolutely inspired by discovering PINTEREST (hey, go follow me!) awhile back…I wanted to create a place like the stuff I was pinning!  A place to bead, paint, store all my camera things, sit, think… Lucky me to be converting our old “computer room” into a place for ME. It took on a life of its own. Starting with painting walls and ripping out ten year old carpet…my husband and I embarked on doing an overlay of concrete and then staining it ~ a process….not too hard but time consuming, you must be up for the challenge.   so here are a few pics I took along the way to my happy room. . . and now I am guest posting again on Kim’s blog today...completed one little circle. Phew.

in the beginning~ dull beige turns to classic grey (benjamin moore)

overlay has to dry 25 hours or more….then the fun begins.  protect newly painted walls~…

the large pump (Lowes) and various colors of stain to suite your fancy~ (Vancrete Concrete in Tulsa)

 and a smidge of turquoise! you use the spray bottles while your hubby sprays main color….a two person game!

let it dry.~ add more stain or not…its just like a canvas! I added more! and more…

I ended up adding more of the darker “golden” color…

don’t forget to seal it! I did so about 4 times….with a paint roller. very easy~

this project is OVA’ ~ so to speak. Now when I look down the hall.. I want to GO THERE~ no more yicky carpet and sad room. A space for me to feel creative~

I collect things. I like beads of course, in soft colors moslty, I love velvet ribbon and glue & paint, stamps and brushes……pencils, pens, old jars and buttons~…the old chair I recovered was my mom & dads first real chair, the bench needs a new cover…I just put fabric that I had around it for now…(next project! find cute fabric and make new comfy seat~)

I love crosses & other pretty pieces… I keep thinking I will make a necklace , but like them right where they are for the time being 

favorite words to live by ~ I read this every day. Please feel free to take this for yourself~ but don’t forget to share it.

I think if you are going to make a room for yourself you should have it contain all of the things that you love, that make you feel good. My sister in law Mary gave me this mirror & I treasure it. I love mermaids!!!

pretty ribbons~ I do not sew.. I may weave them into something? or just keep them on the shelf till one of YOU inspire me to do something with them!

some random pastels in a shell and my great grandmothers hammer~ which reminds me to hammer my own stuff!

Oh thank you dear, amazing, beyond inspirational Georgia for paving the way~~~

colors make your heart grow

the owl rock I painted at Camp Eagle Island when I was 11~ tiny glass kitty I have had since I was even smaller…orange pot made by little Luke in 3rd grade….ahhhhh~ love…

if we could all just be kind….I got this sign at The Gleeful Peacock...Nichole is adorable. I support her. Her shop is in Tulsa  but she has an etsy shop too!

If you are like me and have may things you love~ well…do them all. Or just surround yourself with what you love… I have dreams and they keep me going.

I bought a new plain brown journal so I would start to write. I have not begun ….but I will. Some thing just take time.

~ and I feel a bit like Scarlett …thinking I always have tomorrow. Yes! I shall begin tomorrow!

please pass this post along~ sharing is really the only way we get anywhere. 

Maggie 

ps. thank you Mark , for my room ~ and thank you Kim for having me again!

~new friends , please go “like” my FACEBOOK page!

So how in love are you in with that room?  I'm in LOVE with it.  Maggie, you and your husband did a AH--MAZING job with that concrete floor.

Comments are off so you can stop by Maggie's blog and show her some love.

Sunday Social

New to Sunday Social?

Here is how it works:

1. Please follow the Featured blogger.

2. Link up your blog's homepage.

3. Check out some other awesome blogs that linked up.

4. Have fun & get social!

The featured blog this week is My Three Bittles.

I'm Amber. I'm 27, a mom of three, married to a soldier and living in Georgia.
I love all things high heels even though I rarely get to wear them. I live on coffee and for big sunglasses. My ittle bittlesare my world, even when they drive me crazy. And I find myself funnier than I probably am.


1. I twitch my foot to fall asleep at night.
2. I lose sunglasses like it's nobody's business.
3. I can NOT eat salsa without spilling it on myself. Seriously! EVERY SINGLE TIME!
4. I own more shoes than I could wear if I wore a different pair a day for a month.
5. Wet wipes and magic erasers are my best friends.

Make sure to stop by Amber's blog to say hi!