Christmas Decor

 "Christmas is not a season. It's a feeling." -Edna Ferber

New Rug

When we bought our house in Arizona, we bought a basic, inexpensive rug at Lowes. All we needed was something to cover the cold tile floor!

Since we moved to Tennessee, we have been looking for an upgrade. And we found it at Target! 

Before... 

And After! 

Fall Front Door

Fall--- ahhhh. 

The thought alone of pumpkin, cool weather, cozy sweaters, and warm drinks makes me giddy and happy inside. I made a farmers market run Saturday morning to find a few things for our front porch. You should have seen me driving with the corn stalk sticking between my drivers seat and passenger seat. But I love it... Totally worth the ants in my car and the itching and sneezing I endured on the drive home (followed by a shower and a dose of Benedryl.) 

Just wanted to share one more thing-- I was amazed at this view of sunlight streaming in through our front door Sunday morning. How beautiful??

Hope you have a great week! 

Fall Decor

The low temp will be 42 tonight, so I finally feel that some fall decorating is justified! :) 

Welcome...

Dining room centerpiece

The ceramic pumpkin was made by my sweet Great Grandmother. My Grandmother gave it to me this weekend when we were in Louisiana. 

Entryway 

Above the fireplace 

Can't wait to share some fall recipes with you!! 

Second Guest Bedroom: Ready for Guests!

In the month of July, we have family coming in town 3 separate weekends. And I. Cannot. Wait.

So Billie and I decided to outfit our second guest bedroom to accommodate. 

Simple. But I love it. Billie thinks it's girly. Sorry in advance to our male guests. :)

Curtains: TJ Maxx ($17, can't beat that)
Curtain Rod: Hobby Lobby (7.99 plus my 40% off coupon, can't beat that either)
Bedside table: TJ Maxx, price will remain unmentioned
Lamp: Target (can't remember)
Bed: Matress Express
Bedspread: from my single days

A Little Home Decorating

We've been in desperate need of den curtains. The sun sets behind our house, and while it is beautiful, it is blinding!

So when Billie was gone a couple weeks ago, I pulled the trigger and bought some curtains on sale at Pier1. I had tested and returned a few patterns from other stores until I found some I liked. I even considered having some made, but the price would have been much higher. For both curtains, I paid $70 instead of the $130+ it would have cost to buy fabric, liners, and have them sewn. 

WINNING.

The bold colors made me a bit nervous, but my taste is probably plain to most people!

I was determined to surprise Billie. So I hung these bad boys myself. With a drill and everything. 

 

I've also been wanting a painting for our dining room. So I bought the paint and painted one myself. I would be embarrassed if a real artist saw this, but I think it's just right for an amateur's wall. :)

 

 

These Majolica plates were a wedding gift, and I finally bought the hardware and hung them! 

It was a game when Billie got home... "let's see if you can find everything I changed/added/organized." He won. :) He even noticed the organized spice cabinets. 

And this is the view I'm currently enjoying with my coffee and blanket on the couch this Saturday morning.

Have a great weekend!

9 years + a Coffee Bar

This past week was nine years since my oldest sister passed away. She was 23. I was 17. Sometimes I long to know what our relationship would look like now, as our stages in life have changed.

Honestly, I had forgotten the importance of this week. Until Thursday morning when my husband hugged me extra long and told me he would be thinking about me all day. Then it clicked. By the time I got to work, I was so flooded with memories of Leigh Ann and the day that she passed away that I burst into tears when my first patient asked how I was doing today.

Very professional.

Then I got surprise tulips from Billie. Leigh Ann's favorites. 

After work, I felt like coffee and down time. So I checked out a new Café. I sat with my coffee and non-Paleo Blondie. And wished Leigh Ann was sitting across from me.

The café is part of Miss Lucille's, which I have blogged about before. It's a warehouse of everything you could want in the way of furniture and home decor!

How cool is this cafe?? Just my style. Plus they were playing Bon Iver and Mumford. Win.

***

The past few months, I have been on the lookout for a piece of furniture to use as a coffee bar in my kitchen.

And this day, I found it! With Billie's encouragement (thank goodness for modern technology and picture texts), I bought it.

Happy early birthday to me?

Coffee chats are the best. 

And you're invited...

I'll tell you about Leigh Ann. :)

Easter decor + weekend updates

Yesterday, I got spring fever... fever to decorate for spring, that is.

Check out my new wreath:

 

All from cut-up floral bits from Hobby Lobby. 

I cooked and cleaned and enjoyed a pretty afternoon... windows open, sun streaming in, house smelling good, soup on the stove.

And did a little Easter decorating before our friends came over for dinner.

 

We served roasted red pepper soup and hummus crusted chicken with veggies. 

My friend Louise, who is from Ireland, made this REALLY good custard. She said they make this for dessert often in Ireland. It was like a mix between cheesecake and sponge cake. And it. was. good.

Her husband Ben, who works with Billie, made me my very own wooden I-Pad stand! Isn't this gorgeous?? I loved the one he made for Louise, and so he surprised me with one too. I think he could sell these!

Kitchen Table

We finally got one!

The joke is that our house was advertised as having a "large country kitchen"... There's nothing large or country about it.

But it's homey. And our kitchen nook needed a tall but small kitchen table. 

So we found this counter height table and stools at Bed, Bath, and Beyond online. I'm digging them. 

In other news, I've had a couple slick drives to work this week! For a Louisianian, this is a lot of snow!!! :) 

Looking forward to a fun weekend. Our friend Jared came in town last night, and we are heading to Nashville today! Updates soon.

New things...

This week brought a few new additions...

First up: Tobacco stick ladder from Miss Lucille's. Haven't decided what exactly I'm doing with it yet. But I like it a lot. $10

Second up: curtains for the guest bedroom!! Our friend Jared is coming to stay with us next weekend. And I figured he would appreciate a little darkness come Saturday morning. From Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Billie says this room is "girlie." But I like the words "pretty" and "cozy." You're welcome to visit anytime! 

Thirdly and most exciting... I got my very own Speech Therapy office at work!!! I was previously doing therapy in the corner of the rehab gym at the nursing home. But the noise and people can be very distracting for my patients with hearing, language, or cognitive impairments! So an OT I work with went to the big dogs on my behalf. And she made it happen! I'm oh-so-thankful! 

 It's a small space.  But it's mine. And it smells really good. That's all. 

Have a great week friends! 

All moved in!!!

Friday morning started bright and early. We arrived at the house at 7:30. A cleaning lady, a painter (for touch-ups), and the floor guys were here (checking on the wood floor stain they had applied the night before!) Then the moving company arrived at 8:30am. While Billie checked off boxes as they came inside, I started unpacking as quickly as I could. The movers were gone 4 hours later, and we were left in a mess of paper wrapping and cardboard. I had to stop and take deep breaths frequently! 

Any time I would get stressed during the move, I would have a ittle talk with myself. It went a little like this: 

Self, how blessed are you that it took you two very full days to set up all of your stuff? (And it is just stuff.) Seriously. #firstworldproblems

Plus, we "closed" on this house in 12 days flat. I'm so incredibly thankful for the way God worked out our timeline. It's so nice to be settled before we both start work tomorrow! 

Here are a few house pics for your viewing pleasure. :) 

Entry way 

Den 

Please excuse all the boxes on the back porch! 

Our bedroom 

Guest bedroom

Dining room- I want to save up for a huge painting for that left wall! 

Kitchen 

There is an upstairs bonus room which is still in progress. More pics soon. 

We are going to check out a church this morning. And did you hear... Crazy winter weather is coming in?? We are supposed to expect around 4 inches of snow in Clarksville! I will probably be driving half the speed limit on my way to work tomorrow. :)