Joining in for Gratitude Sunday

Hey Yall!  Did you know there's a new linky party in town with Linda at A La Carte?   It's such a wonderful idea and I hope there will be many who will want to join in.  I know I sure do!  What's it called, or all about you ask?  Well, it's called Gratitude Sunday, need I say anymore?

  I really like this idea so much.  During the month of November I took the gratitude challenge on FB and posted something I was grateful for everyday.   Let me just say it was hard!   I learned that while I am always very keen on how grateful I am about the "Biggies" (you know all the important stuff) I don't really take the time to appreciate all the little stuff in life like I should.  It's high time I slowed back down more, smelled the roses and pay tribute to the little things in life just a bit more and this party is just the boost I need to encourage me.  Thank you Linda!

That being said, I am sharing something with you that many of you may have already discovered.  But... if there is that one chance that there is just one of you who reads this who also loves reading in general and does not know about this then I will be pleased to have shared.  So, what am I talking about?

  It's called Kindle for Pc and I got it totally free.  Did you know you could download a FREE kindle for Pc app for your computer? Well I sure didn't, until just about a month ago.  You can also download this app on your phone too.  I know I am behind the times y,all so humor me okay?  Just go to this link HERE if you also are interested in starting your own little online library.

I have learned that you can also download hundreds of books online for FREE too.   I just googled the words "free online books" and got several links to all sorts of sites to search for books that you download into your kindle for Pc.  I really love to read but find I have so little time to go to the library like I used to.  This app has been such a blessing to find.  Here is how the page of a book looks when you are reading it.  

Since I have a laptop I have been enjoying laying on the couch and reading away.  My latest topic has been a bit of an obsession with royalty.  You know back in the day!  I have been enjoying savoring all the details of royal etiquette, dress and their day to day affairs.  Even if what I am reading is fictitious and slightly slanted towards romance.  It's still quite interesting and enjoyable.  Hehe!

  Do you see the little blue mark on the top of the page in this picture.  That's a bookmark.  It's so cool.  You can electronically bookmark your page too.  How cool is that?  

Yep!  To say I am grateful for this little freebie is an understatement indeed.  I am just so thrilled to have found this for my computer at long last.  Reading in the evenings is a small pleasure I have been missing for some time.  I even enjoy scoping out books online that I may want to read in the future now too and storing them in my library shown above.  This app certainly doesn't replace the feel of a real book but it does keep me enjoying a favorite pastime in a very convenient new way.  For this I am truly grateful!

How about you?  Have you gotten on board with reading books online yet?  If you have I would love to hear of any sites you use as well for finding online books. 

Happy Reading everyone!

Please be sure and pop on over to Linda's and read a few more posts for:

Gratitude Sunday 

Have a blessed evening and thanks for stopping by!

Out with the Old and In with the New....

....and all that jazz!  How's that for a new motto?  Sound familiar?  How many times have you started out the new year thinking this same thought only to let it go somewhere throughout the year.  I know I certainly have!

The problem lies not so much in the second part of this motto, "in with the new" it's the "out with old" that we struggle with right?  If your like me, and I know many of you are, you really do want to organize and declutter and the New Year offers us just that kind of commitment.  

Let's take my new drapes for example.  It wasn't very hard to decide to change them out after I found them on the clearance rack at Hancock Fabrics.  I was even more thrilled to learn there was a further discounted sale on top of that to boot.  

I have been wanting to change the gold plaid drapes out ever since I repainted the den this past summer.  They just didn't quite go with my new color and had a dull look to them.  I've been wanting something new with a black background.

Why black?  Because my room is so large and the dramatic color draws the room in more making it much more cozier.  Additionally, I think black seems to be a wonderfully crisp and fresh accent in home decor.  Black makes such a classic statement in a room but it's the freshness that I am in love with.  Just paint any old piece of furniture black and suddenly you have a fresh new look.

If you wondering if my color of the year is going to be black...well, I doubt it, but maybe.  I do plan to finish off a few pieces in black that I have been hesitating on though.  I want to do this because it will get me towards the goal I have set for myself this year in choosing a "word for the year".

So without further ado....my word for the year is....

FRESH!

After giving this "word for the year" thing some serious thought, I couldn't help but grab hold of the thought or a feeling if you will, that has been in my head quite a bit recently.  I simply want more freshness around me.  

As you can see, this concept has been in my head for sometime.  Would you believe that right in the middle of all the holiday madness when I had so little time to even breath I literally spent one  morning polishing my silver.  Why?  Not because I actually used it, but because I was tired of looking at the tarnish that was accumulating on it.  The tarnish was a metaphor for all the things that seem to be piling up everywhere and detracting from the real beauty I want to see.  Now I can find beauty in the tarnish, really I can, but I don't want to.  I want a FRESH look.  I really do!

My new wine glasses and candle that my son and his girlfriend gave to me for Christmas were a wonderfully new FRESH addition as well.  The glasses are crackled at the bottom and slanted on the top.  I just love how sparkley the crackled glass looks.

The candle they gave me is an old wine bottle that has been recycled and has a wonderfully

 FRESH clean scent.  The bottle has this year's color of the year...emerald green.  Now that's a color I could easily embrace because is so FRESH.

I plan to embrace this word in all my home decor decisions this year.  I will ask myself before buying, is it fresh?  I will ask myself while decluttering and deciding on what to throw out, it is fresh?

I want to also add this to my blog decisions as well.  Is what I am bringing to you fresh?

For me, this doesn't mean that everything I blog about will be a new project or something that hasn't been seen before.  It means that it will not be some of the same old same old that you have seen around here with a little tarnish on it.  It means is will be something new and different from me, something FRESH.  

Now this is a word I can strive to live with.  How about you?

Thanks so much for all of you who have hung in there over the years with me.  I'm still hanging in here.  I will most definitely be fewer and further in between posts and I really do appreciate each of you who understands.  I am looking forward to the new year to see what it holds for me and definitely looking forward to seeing what all it holds for you!

Happy FRESH New Year Everyone!!!

Shipwrecked two days before Christmas!

Funny how just when you think you are sailing right along, something comes along and reminds you how very off course you are.  In my case the something I am referring to was a tremendously strong wind storm.  Well, that's the wordly version of the something that came along.  I know in my heart there was a greater something behind it all, but I will get back to that in a bit.

Remember my pretty little Nautical Christmas tree on the porch?

Well here's how it looks now after my husband picked it back up off the porch floor...

...where it landed after a terrible storm blew through here on Friday.  Notice anything?  

That's right, where's all the ornaments?  Well they scattered and shattered all over the porch.

But my wonderful sailor man lovingly picked them all up and cleaned up the broken mess and bagged them up for me.  He left them on the table so I could determine if they were going back up or not.

On the front porch my welcome sign was blown off the stand and right out of the frame.  Don't worry, it's fixable with a little hot glue.  A few of the wreaths on the dormer windows outside blew off too but luckily were found on our walkway.

On the inside, my dining room is another shipwreck in itself.  There are presents and wrapping paper piled high waiting to be wrapped.  I am in a serious time crunch because I am working a mandatory 6 days a week, even today will make 7 days in a row now. Yet here I am typing out a post on my blog.   Why?

Because I want you to know that despite the mess on my porches and in my home I am blessed!

    I have a job where we work hard everyday.  I have coworkers who push each other along through the mess of all the ship wrecks we encounter daily.  We support each other with understanding about those coworkers who's work ethics are not similar to our own.  We support each other in regards to those amazing customers who go from being a sweet little old lady to a nasty fire breathing dragon in a matter of minutes over a 20 percent coupon that they thought they could use that does not apply.

I am blessed because I have a husband who supports my time away from home.  He helps to keep things going during these hectic times where everything is not picture perfect.  His mindset is not that I am superwoman and can do it all and work too.  His mindset is that I am working and therefore need more help around the house.

I am blessed because I know and believe in the true meaning of Christmas.  I have not been able to attend church at all lately due to my work schedule.  In fact it's been quite a few years now since we have regularly attended church.  When I do get a Sunday off I tend to use it literally as a day of rest which for me means sleeping in and trying to catch up on a few winks.  I am so tired yall!  I feel terribly guilty about this.  I really do.  I feel disconnected from others who go to church.    I feel as if the rest of the world must think I am believer who is shipwrecked.  

But then a storm comes along, no wait, let me reword this.   God comes along and reminds me that Christmas is not in all the trappings of the season.  It is not even in the regular attendance of church.  It is in the heart!  I know that I am justifying here but you see I have too.  Because if I don't the guilt will eat me up.  But the guilt that I feel is tempered with the fact that despite my circumstances God has surrounded me with Godly people.   They are not the ones who sit along side of me in the pews whom I rarely ever see outside of church, or who don't even speak to me outside of church when I do see them.  They are the ones who I live along side of daily. 

 It is the husband who helps me out at home to keep me on track and working.  He knows I love my work, even though I hate the hours away from home.  He knows we could use the extra money with a child in college.  But mostly he knows I need to be out in the real world among others, helping and listening and being a part of another's life.

It is the coworkers who are of faith that struggle with the same dilemmas as I.  Some who seem to juggle it all so much better then me and are an example of Godly living in the world.  I am blessed by those who could also use a little more support with their faith.  I hope that I can bring some of that support and shine a light for them that we are all still growing as Christians while we are still here on earth.  

Even those beautiful perfectly put together Christians (with the holy and haughty bad attitudes) whom we encounter on a daily basis at this time of year easily remind me how blessed I really am.  Surely God did not create Christmas as an excuse to treat those who really are working for you so badly.  Yes, seeing such a hardened heart in others can be a blessing for those who feel like they are falling short.

The fact is we are all "shipwrecked" folks!

Each and every one of us.

But we don't have to stay that way, because there was one who was sent to save us.  He did not come to save only the well to do, and the perfect, or even just those who try and do everything right who can meet the demands of church life.  He came to save us all!

The gift was for all of us who choose to believe.  The promise was that the gift would be offered for all!  Does your Christian life reflect this?  I sure hope mine does.

Thank you God for all the storms!  I hear you!

Thank you for setting my heart right again just in time for Christmas.

Now, what to do about the tree on the porch?

IDK!

May God bless each of you as well.  

Merry Christmas Friends! 

Christmas in the Dining Room

Whew!  Baby, it's cold outside!  Just in time for Christmas too.  Yay!  I just realized I haven't shown you all my tree in the dining room this year.  Soooo, since it's getting late and I need to rush out the door I thought I'd show you some photos without alot of chatter.

I've been playing with Picasa and thought this looked kinda snowy and nostalgic.

I have a silver gold and ivory tree in the dining room.  This year I drenched it a little extra with the white opaque tinsel.

My dining room tree was started to highlight all of my lenox ornaments that I have collected since my husband and I were first married.

This is my newest ornament this year.  I got them from work at Stein Mart.  They are very heavy and are stainless silver with lot's of bling!  

This was an old ornament I rolled in glue and glitter to revive it years ago.

I love my tree in the corner here.  It's wonderful to dine by when the family is all gathered around celebrating Christmas dinner.  I highly recommend a tree in the dining room if you haven't done one yet.  It's a great feeling!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas yall!

See ya again soon!

My First Nautical Christmas Tree

Hey Yall! Did you catch of glimpse of my newest tree on the last post?  I guess you could say this year I've decided to test the waters a bit with a new "to us" Christmas tree.

I've had a very small tree I've put on the screened porch for a few years now but this year I decided to put the slightly larger tree that I use upstairs on the porch.  I also decided it was high time I started a nautical theme.  I always see such cute nautical ornaments while on vacation and never get any because I've never thought they would look right on my trees.  

Well, all that has changed now that I've finally given myself permission to add a new tree to my collection.  And what better place to put a nautical tree then on my screen porch.

I decided to try this one out here to see how well it would tuck right in beside the hammock.  This is sort of a test to see if I want to get a larger tree.  I think it's passed the test with flying colors.  I love it!

Of course a nautical tree just had to be blue right?  This is the first time I've done a tree with mostly blues.  It's really been kind of fun!

I bought a few new things but used a few things I already had as well.  These blue branches I used for the topper and throughout the tree came from Michael's.   I got them at 60% off.  I bet I'll find more of these after Christmas too.

The mermaid ornaments I already had.  I will have to get more of those now for sure!  Do you recognize the white anchor.  It's the napkin rings I made 2 years ago.  LOL!   The ships wheel, fish, and other small wood nautical ornaments all came from the wooden crafts section at Michael's. They were all already painted too and all I had to do was hot glue the ribbons on to hang them with.  Woohoo!

These balls where from Michaels and I knew I had to get them because they looked like fish scales to me.  The little wooden boats I already had as well.

 I decided to tuck my Sailing Santa right underneath.  I think he will make a nice tree topper on a bigger tree, don't you?  Hmmm??? Oh well, maybe next year!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day friends!

The Glow of Christmas

Tonight the lights.... burn sweetly!

Even though a few strands are testing our patience,

Our home for the most part is ready for Christmas!

A strand on the dormer window on the left is giving us a fit.

But....my den is finished, cleaned and decorated.

The kitchen is full of merriment!

The dining room is all a glow in splendor of silver and gold.

And the back porch is floating in a sea of light.

That's what happening at my house in the land of 

The Decorative Dreamer.

Your all invited back for a closer look at a few more rooms decorated and detailed later next week. Thanks for stopping by!