My snowball bush has bloomed! It makes me so happy to finally see everything blooming in our yard again. It was looking pretty gross in the dead of winter.
I picked some blooms and placed them around the house today.
This makes me happy.
Oh goodmess…
It is an unfortunate and wonderful thing when life gets away from us. This is exactly what has happened to me this year. In 2013, Parker (my hubs) and myself purchased a fixer-upper house, traveled Europe and discovered that we will be expecting a new little family member in May. To add to that I started a new career as a 6th grade English teacher. Needless to say, it has been a big year.
All of these things are nothing short of a blessing, however, they have caused me to let go of some of the hobbies I most enjoy, one of which is posting on my blog and projecting. Speaking of projects, look at this doozy…
This is just the living room, the same is happening to our master bedroom, so we live upstairs until we are finished. I like to pretend it is a penthouse… it makes me feel better. I am blessed and have a husband who is skilled in this type of undertaking. For those of you who fix up your own house, whilst living in it, I am giving you an imaginary hug. Those of you who hire someone or just don’t do it, well… you are very intelligent. Otherwise, you would have hallways that are filled with things like this…
and your kitchen would have piles like these…
Although I sometimes want to rip out my lustrous locks, I am really excited about all the new changes in our house. The entire house had carpet when we moved in and now it is a mixture of tile and hardwood floors. Once we get them sanded and stained, the rest of our projects will seem like cake… right?
Even though this project and my messy life is swirling like a tornado, I realize my need to get back to basics. This means I need to take time to do the things I love, like writing in this little space I like to call mine. I am excited about the new year full of even messier excitements and I can’t wait to share them with my fantastic readers.
Happy New Year and don’t forget to enjoy the good in every day!
At Night
Siena, Italy
Siena. Such a beautiful, enchanting city. This was the view from our hotel in Siena.
This is astonishing for how much we paid for the room. It was cheaper than some of our hostel stays and much more comfortable.
This was a restaurant right outside of our hotel. We ate there one night and relaxed and talked to some of the locals. It was so great getting to eat dinner at a relaxed pace. The waiting staff did not rush us, and encouraged us to take our time.
Every meal we ate we savored and made sure to have every course. Dessert and a cappuccino is a must have after every meal.
My favorite part of Siena, besides the ridiculously delicious food, was the little details we would see on the buildings. Everything was original and unique.
The most beautiful part of Siena was when the sun went down and the city turned on it’s lights. The view from our room will forever be a photo in my memory.
Old Door
I saw this old door while in Switzerland. We were exploring an old cathedral and everything inside was so classic. Every inch of the cathedral was beautiful, but this old door caught my attention as we were leaving.
It may sound silly, but to me the door symbolized so much about the cathedral. This door has been used by countless people coming to see this cathedral for so many different reasons.
Ours was just to marvel at the beauty of something created long before our time, to understand what they were wanting to accomplish when they first started building this marvelous structure. To feel the reverence they felt for their God by creating a beautiful place to worship him.
For others, it could be any reason in the world, and the first step of their journey was through this door.
In Love with Switzerland
During my travels recently, I was lucky and got to see the Swiss Alps. I never thought I would get the opportunity to see them and I must say, I was astonished. They were so incredibly beautiful! I took a million pictures, but it was impossible to capture how beautiful they really are.
Old Bird Feeder, New Flower Bed
Our back yard is literally a mini forrest. We haven’t had time to conquer it yet. A lot of work needs to be done in the flower beds, we need to cut down dead limbs, take out old benches and broken down furniture that the previous owners left.
One of the things they left was an old concrete bird feeder. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it, or if I wanted to keep it at all. Along with the rest of the backyard, it is on the back burner while we finish the inside remodel.
Fortunately for me, our little roommate, my niece Caitlan, decided to adopt it and make it into a flower bed.
She got some inexpensive flowers from the local grocery store and went to work.
The end result was beautiful! I love it.
One less thing on my checklist!
Time with Nieces and Nephews
While in Virginia, the kiddos and myself went to Chik-fil-a for dinner one night. We had so much fun!
The straw wrapper stuck to the window. We were pretty amazed.
Photo Inspiration: Same Photo, Different Look
High Contrast
Black and White
Aged
Back to Blogging
I am back!! I have not been able to post anything on here in quite some time. Busy is the understatement of the year for how crazy it has been lately. Thank goodness for good friends and family to get me through it all.
Two jobs, a complete reconstruction of our house and family visiting have completely locked up my extra time. These busy times are a blessing. I feel so lucky to have all of these things in my life to fill up my time.
Life is wonderfully busy. More to come!
All Things Good 