A different kind of beauty

Here in West Texas while driving down roads of small towns you see a lot of these kinds of houses. Most of them are not in this good of condition though. There is something about an old run down abandoned house that makes me want to break out my camera. I have passed this house many many times as I drive the 62 mile trip to see Michael at work. Today was a special trip… the sole purpose of the trip was to take this picture…and I am so glad that I did. When I look at this house I wonder what kind of family lived in it? For how long? Why did they end up moving? Did they have any kids that played in the yard or a dog that chased birds? So many things run through my head. I know people that are not from around here wonder how we can see tumbleweeds, mesquite bushes and run down houses as beautiful… but to us they are beautiful time capsules that show us a glimpse of history.

Ps… Like my font I was trying something new with Windows Live Writer :)

Such a beautiful day!

Today it was a wonderful...cloudy....breezy day with a high of 76*!

It was amazing!!! And that is a huge thing here in the west parts of Texas.

Here are a couple pictures I took while I was out today.

Hope you have...

...a wonderful relaxing Labor Day!

I am going to spend today at home with my kids because Michael had to work. I will more than likely work on my room since I would like to have the walls done by Wednesday. And I will probably run some errands and/or work on the backyard some before we go to our friends tonight for dinner.

Bedroom...Check! Paint...Check! Sponge...Check!

Today I started painting my bedroom. And I have to say boy! is it a lot of work! I am exhausted... and I only got 1 wall done! I am going to do at least a wall a day until the next three are done. It is a little harder to get done with two little ones running around acting like animals :)

I have had white walls since we moved in over 5 years ago and I wanted something different. Something versatile, so that if I wanted to change decor later on down the road I could. And these sponge painted walls seemed perfect!

*Disclaimer: Please excuse me for the messy bedroom*

This is my bedroom before I painted the walls. I had started with the base coat when I realized I forgot to take a picture. The color I used for the base coat was called Antique Beige (it's a Glidden color but I had them match it with Behr paint).

Another shot of the walls. Are they ugly or what?!?




It took me all day but one wall is complete! Yay!!! I like it. I know it's not the best job out there, but I did it and I am proud of my hard work :) The color I used for the sponge painting part is called Warm Caramel (it too was a Glidden color that I had them match with Behr paint). I used 1 part Warm Caramel paint with 4 parts Behr Faux Glaze. I then used a sea sponge that I had dampened (be sure to ring out all excess water) and used a paint brush to brush on the paint and faux glaze mix. Once it was on the sponge I just went to town sponging the wall! And here it is....

Breakfast Tray

WoW! Seems like forever since I have posted! It's just been busy busy this last week. Sooo happy to be back :)

Today as I was cleaning up my room to start painting tomorrow, I saw this breakfast tray sitting in the corner collecting dust. I got it at Target a couple of year ago to use while I was reading in bed. As I was looking at it I got a bright idea DING! the light bulb went off. I had bought paint samples the other day at Home Depot, you know those 8oz. Behr ones you can make any color and are only $2.47, well I got one in Caribbean Blue because I thought that is what color I wanted to paint my bathroom. Well, I had this paint and this breakfast tray... so I decided to paint my tray Caribbean Blue and use as a bed tray once I get my room complete. And I am so happy that I did because I LOVE IT!!!!

Here is what the tray looked like before...

(I forgot to take a pic so this is the one from the target.com website)

After I primed it...

Here is my new breakfast tray in Caribbean Blue!

Love it!!!

For the Love of Turquoise

My recent obsession with the color turquoise has turned into a absolute love for it! I can't wait to decorate my house using this wonderful color! Something about it makes me smile :) During my search of the internet today I collected my favorite photos showing how I would love to use turquoise in my home. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do.

I am totally in love with the cabinets below. I am wondering how well they would work in my kitchen?!?

I absolutly love the kitchen below. My kitchen looks nothing like it, but I am wondering how hard it would be to recreate the colors. And I could always restain my cabinets to make them that rich dark color.

And since I don't have the space like this maybe I can paint my buffet or table this color to give it that pop of color!

I reallly like the kitchen below too... oh my! there are so many ideas that are dancing in my head! I really want to put that kind of tile in my kitchen. And there they go again with the wonderful rich dark wood cabinets...

I looove this bedroom! I could see myself sleeping here every night with a smile :) on my face.

These pics below are the ones that I am looking at for my guest room/office.

On the Menu Tonight....

I was really impressed with how well this came out.

It smelled excellent and tasted great!

And it was a huge hit with my family!!