Highlights - Week 14 of 52

Hi friends!

This week marked my sweet mama's 6th birthday in Heaven.  

While it's usually a time of celebration for me, this week has been a tough one.  

Just like every year, I picked up balloons to fill with helium.  We all wrote messages to Mom on the balloons and Jim and I released them.  

It's a quiet time of remembrance and while sometimes it makes me feel closer to her, this week was just the opposite.

The higher the balloons flew, the farther she felt.  

Dang, Mom.....we sure miss you down here! 💜

Our family has had their fair share of illness lately.  It was no surprise that I ended up at the neurologist's infusion clinic getting IV's for a migraine.

They even tried trigger point injections this time (see above).  

Because my neck, shoulder and back muscles had locked up on me, the doctor put about 47 lidocaine injections around the affected area.  

It looks horrible - and hurt like a bitch! - but it worked!

On a lighter note, look at this cutie!  Denise is back to her beautiful brunette self!!

She looks ten years younger.  💛  My bestie since 2nd grade, I would be lost without her.  

Next week is our annual MS Walk!  

I can't wait to see everyone in their new tshirts!!

And.....as I'm typing this, Delanie and Hanna are off on an adventure!!

I'll tell you all about it next week.  

See you then, folks!!

Highlights - Week 13 of 52

After all the craziness last week, week thirteen was definitely one of rest.  

Here are the highlights...

I came across this gem on Instagram and it stuck with me all week! 💜

I took this photo while out running errands over the weekend.  This crazy dog has a custom-made mattress in the cab of Jim's truck and this is how she rides.....propped up on the console so she can see everything Jim sees.  

Freak.  😂

My biggest project this week was to organize my closet.  

Good grief....you should have seen it before I started!

Am I the only one who doesn't hang up their jeans??

I am a true Converse lover.  💙

I wish I could tell you this was my entire collection.

LOL!! 

I was today-years-old when I found out that you can fit more sweatshirts in a smaller space by rolling them up.

Who knew??? 

Those sweatshirts take a beating.  I buy four or five every year from WalMart in the biggest sizes available.  

Every day after work, I change into pajamas.  "Pajamas" for me means knit capri pants. size BIG Polo tshirts (bottom cubbie below) and one of these huge sweatshirts.

Last but not least....my baseball hats.  

I'll never get too old to wear baseball hats.  

You will see me strutting my 80-year-old stuff down the aisles of Target rocking one of these bad boys.  LOL! 😆

Next up......SHOES! 

Like my mama, my whole life has been a love affair with shoes.  💚 

The MS Walk is coming soon so I printed out these sweet little bee cards for Charlene to use as thank you cards for those who participate.  On the back, they say "I love you".  So cute!!

While I was printing and folding, I made a few note cards of my own.  

If you followed my old family blog (www.ourminnesotamove.blogspot.com), you'll know that the phone ABOVE was taken at our bon voyage party when we moved from Texas to Minnesota.

I came across the whitneydaynesdesigns Etsy shop back in 2017 and asked her to create a watercolor copy of our family photo.  

This is what I used to make my personalized note cards.  

Remember that wood my neighbor and I snatched from the trash pile?  The photo (above) is what that beautiful rustic fence looks like.  Gorgeous! 💙

  

Remember those old windows that I carried in my backseat for almost a month?  

One has found a place above our liquor cabinet.  

I'm just not sure what I'm going to do with it yet.  😉

Doesn't my sweet Lauren look soooo cute in her EMT uniform?!  

I'm so dang proud of her!! 💜

When I read the quote above, I instantly thought of my job.  Most days I'm praying my way through the day for patience, for the chance to be a witness for Jesus, etc.  Needless to say, this one spoke to me.  

And then I came across this quote.  

LOL! 😁

If you're shocked about the F-bomb, you might not know me quite as well as you think.  According to my husband, I swear like a sailor.  He's right!  

And.....I love dirty jokes.

And.....well, you'll see.....to know me is to love me!  Haha!! 

Highlights - Week 12 of 52

Hi friends!

How is it already the end of March?!

We celebrated the first day of Spring this week by decorating the front porch.  

This is always one of my favorite days of the year.  I could walk through the garden section of Home Depot for hours.  💜

Our front porch isn't huge but, because of the way it's set up, there's a lot of space to fill.  I brought this beautiful tree home and put it in a pot before realizing it was a peach tree.  Bonus!  😂

The pink blooms are just gorgeous!

No matter how big your space is, there's always room for these happy daisies.  

Fun fact:  My grandmother's name was Daisy. 

💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

I love the way it turned out!  

I made the porch post and signs.  

(You can pick them up in my Etsy shop by clicking on my logo at the top right corner of the blog!)

I think my favorite part is the layered welcome mat.  It gives it a little something unique.  😉

My sweet husband is STILL not feeling better.  

He went back to the doctor this week and they made him wear a mask.  Poor guy....he's going in the right direction (after a steroid shot and a second round of antibiotics!) but just not 100% yet.  

This was a common sight throughout the week.  Jim's poor body is whipped from fighting this virus and he has the perfect nap buddy.  😊

One day at lunch, I got a wild hair (LITERALLY) and decided to try eye brow threading.  

Holy wow......I was surprised at how much better it is than waxing.  

My eye brows were getting pretty bushy but it still only took the thread-lady about 3 minutes to whip them into shape!

She talked me into threading those baby fine white fuzzies I have on the side of my face.  

If I end up looking like the circus bearded-lady, it's not going to be pretty.

So far so good! LOL! 😋

Bill and Bea came to spend a few days with us this week.  She had a few doctor appointments in Dallas (more on that later) and it's much easier on her than driving 5 hours round trip.

Ruger cozied right up to Bill.  Let's be honest.....Ruger could not get enough of Bill!!  

He has made a friend for life.  

I tried a few new recipes out but my favorite dinner was the salad bar.  

I'm all about eating the rainbow and I've made it a habit to build a big salad each Sunday that I eat for lunch most days of the week.

I did a deconstructed version this week.  Everyone got to build their own.  

We had grilled chicken left over from the night before and I stopped by Chik-Fil-A on my way home this evening to get chicken strips.

YUM!! 💪

I enlisted my sweet neighbor - Susan - this week for a bit of wood burglary.  😨

Our subdivision sits on an old portion of Brinkmann Ranch and as the developer is adding new phases of homes, he's hacking down these beautiful fences.

We couldn't resist the chance to bring some a lot home with us!  So much, in fact, that my SUV hatchback had to stay open on the way home.  

We were definitely on the lookout for the wood police but we did it!!  The true crime would be to let these perfectly weathered pieces end up in a bonfire.  Right?  Right!!

I can't wait to start painting these suckers.  Stay tuned!

Speaking of getting creative, I finished my Easter "chick" cards.  

I can't wait to send these cuties out!

Want to know how to make them???  

Check out the next "In The Studio" post.  I'll share the entire process step by step.  

You know it's Spring in Texas when these cotton-ball trees start blooming!!  

They give me all the 😍😍😍😍.

I honestly couldn't tell you the name of them.  

Bradford Pear?  Bartlett Pear?  Something Pear?

 Delanie used to call them cotton-ball trees and it just stuck! 😉  

Bring on the warm weather and sunshine!!

Have a great week, friends!! 💙