Extreme Blog Makeover!!

It surely was time, wasn't it? I mean, the backgrounds were always fun, but the blog itself was annoying. Hard to read the text (small and bad colors), no date showing for a post, no search box...why didn't I change this before today? I'll tell you why. My engineering degree did not teach me anything about websites. Can you believe that? The only programming class I've ever had was in high school. Goodness. I've been stumbling around for the last 2 years with this whole blog thing, but I read enough blogs to recognize that mine needed help. Thank goodness for Google and their helpfulness. draft.blogger.com Check it out. It is as easy as 1-2-3.

What do you think about the new layout? Yay or nay?

Easy Roman Shades

February 6, 2012

I don't know why the dates never show up on my blogs, so I will start putting the date at the beginning of each blog. Problem solved.

I cannot take credit for these shades since I simply followed the tutorial at Imparting Grace. They are Faux Roman shades, which mean they are for looks only. Once you put them up. they are always up. They cannot be lowered like regular roman shades, which is fine by me.
I have 3 side by side windows in my living room that are so plain and boring. I think these spice them up a bit.
I did this as a surprise while my hubby was having a boys weekend in the country. The only comment he made when he saw them was, "They look girly." My crafty bubble has been busted.

:(

Final product: China cabinet

My co-worker that I got this china cabinet from finally found the matching shelves in his garage! Yay!

Wish I had a more contrasting backdrop and a better camera to take this picture, but here's the finished product. Totally worthwhile.

If you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime

See that handsome guy in the middle? That's Pap. He's my grandpa. Pap is 84 years old and he still mows his yard (riding mower), does his own edging/weed eating, drives a truck, fishes at Lake Belton, goes to coffee with his life-long pals every morning, flies to Atlanta to visit his son and grand-sons, and goes to Austin and Houston to visit his daughter and grand-daughter. Pap is my hero. He had open heart surgery a few years ago and decided to start wearing a life jacket when he goes fishing. He is the wisest man I know.

Yesterday, Pap was fishing with his 86 year old friend R.A. and R.A.'s brother. Pap fell in Lake Belton yesterday. We are all so thankful that he was wise enough to wear a life jacket. He was floating and was safe. R.A. and his brother tried to lift Pap onto the back of their fishing boat. This fishing boat was not made to have a lot of weight in the back. Long story short, the boat started taking on water and eventually sank to the bottom of the lake. R.A. and brother were not wearing life jackets. They were able to swim to some trees that were growing in the water and hang on. The water temperature of the lake was 60 degrees yesterday. I don't know how long they were clinging to those trees. Pap considered swimming to shore to get help, which was pretty far away. I don't believe he would have made it there without having a heart attack. Thankfully, some fishing buddies of theirs saw them when they were headed back to the dock. They rescued them and brought them to shore. R.A. drove Pap home to get dry clothes and went to get some himself. They went back to the lake and got the owner of the marina to help them get the sunken boat out of the water. They were able to pump water out of the boat and get it on the trailer. I am in awe of my Pap and his friends. How can 3 men in their 80's retrieve a sunken boat from the bottom of a lake??? These guys are my heroes.

My Granny (pretty lady on the right) was playing bridge while all of this was happening and had no clue that there was anything amiss. She got home and noticed that Pap's wallet was open on the counter and all of his money and credit cards were out and soaking wet. She found him laying on the bed and asked him immediately if he fell in the lake. He said yes. She asked him if this was his last fishing trip. He said yes.

I am deeply saddened for Pap, because fishing was his favorite thing. He said that God isn't finished with him yet and that's why he's still here. He's not going to fish anymore, but he isn't going to stop living life either. I love you Pap and I pray that we have many more joy-filled years together.

A day to celebrate

Our sweet Katie Bug married the love of her life Chris Kilmer on 10-22-11 in La Grange, TX. The wedding was at Carby Chapel on the grounds of LutherHill. It was absolutely beautiful and everything that Katie wanted.
We all had a great time.
Even Jacob.

And mom and dad. I love this picture of them.

China Cabinet Makeover

I got this perfect china cabinet from a co-worker with the intent of giving it new life. It needed some major help.
I decided to paint it and distress it at first. The distressing didn't turn out as planned so I just painted the whole darn thing a grayish-white color and left it that way. I painted the inside gray and later painted some of the trim gray too. Spray paint was perfect for revitalizing the knobs and pulls. Wishing I had a better camera to do this piece justice right about now. Forgive the cell phone pics.

I actually ended up removing the glass doors because they were warped and didn't close. Now it is open and in need of some shelves. Those will be coming soon!! Finished product pics, hopefully with better camera, are on the way.

More clips

I've added a few more clips to my repertoire. Is that how you spell that weird word?

Ice cream cone

Flower