The same pillow

Good Morning to all. I thought I would begin this fine Friday by giving you a small glimpse of our previous home. Although we miss it, there is no comparison to our current, darling home. Jake had lived in "the Bachelor pad" before I came along, so when we got engaged he did some renovations. One of them included my favorite room in the house, our bedroom. He built this incredible archway over the bed, enclosed the front porch to expand the bedroom and added french doors. It was such a beautiful bedroom for the first years of our marriage...and the first year of Tyler's life. He was born in this home so it will always hold special meaning to us. I will never forget that cozy June morning, climbing into my own bed with our newborn son in my arms. Delight. Relief. Joy. Awe.
And now onto our current home in progress. Here is a picture of our bedroom before we moved in. The floor was in desperate need of being leveled, (it was about 7 inches off level)!! It seems that nothing is square in this house, but those little quirks just add to the character of it all. The "front" of our home was built in the 1882 and the "back" (kitchen/master bedroom) weren't added until the 1900's. A man named John stopped by a few months ago who had lived here for 20 years. He had quite the stories to tell about this home. It's so special to know it's history. He said the front is log cabin underneath....so, in the future we would like to expose the inside beams. My brother Tom owns a home in Strasburg and has done the same thing...it's amazing! Maybe I'll post some pictures of his home someday. By the way A VERY HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR BROTHER TOM!!! I LOVE YOU!!!! MAY THE NEXT 40 BE EVEN RICHER!
Here Jake is with my brother Leon and my brother-in-law Lin, leveling the floor. They laid 2x4's right over the existing floor and then plywood on top of that and finally some plush carpet. I'm a big fan of carpeting in the bedroom. I like a cozy floor for my feet.

Tyler, our ever present little "helper"...18 months old at the time!!
Jake and I, (and Luke inside, I was 7 months pregnant at the time) painting our bedroom. We decided to paint it the same color as our previous bedroom. Our bedding matched that color and we had really grown to like the cocoon feeling that this blue gave us.

There were no closets in the bedroom, so Jake built a "his and hers" on this far wall. This is "hers", twice as large as the "his" version!! Thank you Honey!! They are lovely.

"What a happy and holy fashion it is that those who love one another should rest on the same pillow." ~Nathaniel Hawthorne~ And I couldn't agree more....

Bellies filled

Yesterday we had my husband's family over for Thanksgiving dinner. It was our first real "dinner party" since we purchased our home almost a year ago. In one word, it was delightful. The food was incredible, thanks to the loving hands of my mother-in-law Annie. We enjoyed each others company into the evening. I am just so thankful for our beautiful, cozy home. We are blessed to have food before us, for the chance to have our bellies filled. Let us not forget that many, many Dads and Moms, boys and girls, baby's and toddlers, Grandpa's & Grandma's, sisters, brothers, wives and husbands go to bed with an empty, growling stomach.
Two of my handsome nephews, Calvin and Samuel. These "boys" are growing into such amazing men, right before our eyes!!
I was surprised with a beautiful, (and delicious) birthday cake! My 29th birthday is on Wednesday. I'm so thankful I was born. "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

Hello to Uncle Sam and Aunt Cheryl in Canada! WE MISSED YOU, it just wasn't the same!!
Jake's brother, friend, confidant and business partner, Reuben and his daughter Rosa.

After dinner most of our family played the dreaded "Rook" game! I only say "dreaded" because once my husband picks up those cards, I literally will not see him for several hours!!!

Tyler and his precious cousin and pal, Deborah. They get along so well and truly LAUGH a lot!

It was a "heavenly day" as my new song sings: "Tomorrow may rain with sorrow. Here's a little time we can borrow. Forget all our troubles in these moments. Right now the only thing that we really have to do is have ourselves a heavenly day." ~Patty Griffin~

It's NOT winter yet!!

In celebration of AUTUMN, (which technically it still is) I wanted to show you a few of the decorations I have around our home. I saw this idea in a country living magazine, (pictured above). This is my interpretation of it...
Needless to say, it didn't last too long with these two little curious hands hanging around day and night. A few weeks ago I accidentally locked us out of the house!! Thankfully I had left the kitchen window cracked open. I took Tyler to the window and tried my best to explain to him how he was going to come to Mommy's rescue. I hefted him into the window, "now, go open the door for Mommy, you can do it!!" (secret prayer: "God, please let this work!!) I run around to the door and proceed to knock and play the game we usually play, "knock, knock, look who's here, it's Mommy...." No answer. I try again. Still no answer. "Tyler, come open this door right now!" I peek through the window and there he is, shoving candy into his mouth and watching me out of the corner of his eye, knowing his limited time is precious indeed. Okay, so I'm cracking up and trying to be stern at the same time, not working. I turn my face away so he can't see me laughing and say, "Come open this door for Mommy RIGHT NOW." He walks to the door as if nothing odd has happened, unlocks the door, "Hi Mommy!!" Well, hi there son...how about a piece of candy for rescuing your Mom?? Who knew that the dollar tree had such great fake leaves? Alone they look really cheap, (which they are) and tacky. I paired them with dried hydrangeas and plastic berries. I like the outcome.
Earlier this year my husband and I were heading home from my parents house. We were stuck in traffic in Strasburg, (a regular occurrence from June-September). Much to my delight I look to my left and see this "ugly duckling" in someones TRASH pile! I saw the graceful white swan it could be and just had to have it!! With a little sanding, and love from my favorite cleaning product it became all that I thought it could be. It still has the original hardware on it and decals from I don't know when. I store Luke's wipes/diapers/etc. in the deep bottom drawer and the remotes in the top drawer. Very practical and useful. I had to think of my own life while I was restoring this piece. God sees us "on the side of the road" of life and sees such great potential in us, He longs to have us in His home. He takes us, cleans us up and then makes us into something practical and useful...and then shows us off on His blog, (earth).

"He restores my life, my self, my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." Psalm 23:3 (Amplified)

The tour continues...

Here are some before and after shots of our upstairs bathroom, the only full bathroom in the house. We were happy to have inherited a newly tiled bathroom with beautiful 4 foot wainscoting. The paint color was left unchanged as well. I like that I have the option of completely changing the color scheme of the bathroom on any given day!! I'm a seasonal decorator, so I would say that this is my spring/summer bathroom...I have yet to find/create my fall/winter bathroom decor. Oh, what fun lies ahead!!!

This is a picture of the landing at the top of our steps, just before you enter the bathroom.

First things first, "honey, please take down that shower door right away!!" The first day we started remodeling, sure enough, the shower door was taken out. I was 7 months pregnant at the time and felt so crammed when I was in that shower. By removing the shower door I had the illusion of more space! (side note: it is not recommend to move into a new house while being 7 months pregnant and chasing after a toddler. If this should happen to be your fate, you will survive, I promise!)

that's my Mom in the background! What a hard worker! Thanks for all you did!!!

We have a pottery barn outlet near our home so I had a fun time decorating with some goodies from there! My color scheme originated from a beautiful card, (framed below and hanging on the wall) that my friend Jeane gave to me. I kept it for many years thinking, "someday I will have room that is apple green and pink!"
Here's an old shutter I found at Goodwill for $1,
I use it for my jewelry.
That's all for now.
come back soon,
I'll be here...

little project for the day

I found this old step stool at a yard sale a few years ago. It's been collecting dust in the attic until today. I used a regular old sharpie marker to write this adorable quote on it. Too sweet!!


Tyler's taking a nap right now,

but when he wakes to find this,

I'm sure he'll think he's such a big boy!!

The heart of the home.

Hello to all on this crisp Fall day! As unbelievable as it is, we've been in our new home for almost one year! October 26th of last year our offer was accepted. I thought I would put together a little journey of sorts through our home. Jake and I, (mostly Jake!!!) worked day and night to get all the remodeling finished before we moved in on January 6th, 2006. Here are some before and after pictures of our kitchen, the heart of the home. Here is the door you enter when you first come into our home...it steps up into the kitchen: WELCOME!! These are some pictures of our kitchen the day we purchased our home. And here it is after many hours of some good ol' tender, lovin' care!We started our "good ol' tender lovin' care" session by ripping up the floors,

all the way down to the joists/foundation, (that was fun)!!

He leveled the floor, insulated and put new flooring down!

Here's my hubby working hard!!

We found an old well in the one corner that

had unfortunately been filled with rocks!!
I still think we should have dug for treasures,

but time didn't allow for that project!!

I lost sleep over the perfect shade of yellow and then
we added wainscoting underneath the chair rail.I am very pleased with my yellow. It's bright, yet warm.

I found this little kitchen at goodwill a few years ago and just recently
"remodeled" it by painting it the same color as our kitchen
and adding new/matching hardware! The kitchen cabinets were my "project" of sorts.
I spent countless hours sanding, priming, painting,
distressing, sealing and then putting them back together again!
SO rewarding! Hope you enjoyed your little tour!
Come back again!
I hope to continue our tour in the months ahead...

"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel."--Anonymous