Monday, December 31, 2012

happy new year!


 
Happy New Year!
I hope ya'll had a great Christmas and I hope you have an even better new year.
 
I'm so thankful for what I have been able to overcome this year.
 


Sunday, December 23, 2012

Seven years

Today Michael & I are celebrating our SEVENTH anniversary!
 
Seriously....where has the time gone?
We've been through good times and bad times,
 knock-you-down-times and so-high-you're-floating-in-the-air times.
We've been through a lot, needless to say.
Married on December 23, 2005.
Lived in England until August 2007 (aaaaaamazing!)
 
 
Bought our first home September 6, 2007.
First child born September 29, 2007.
Second pregnancy lost February 2009.
Third pregnancy lost August 27, 2009.
Second child born at 27 weeks on April 21, 2010.
I was diagnosed with Leukemia (APL) on November 21, 2011.
Lots of squibbles, fusses, happy times, memories and time apart in between.
But I wouldn't trade this man for anything!
Because who else am I going to pose in cheesy wooden signs with?
 
 
We've been through for each other through everything since day 1
 and I can't think of anyone else to spend my life with.
We're lifers.
Nobody else could put up with him
and I know there sure isn't anyone else who could put up with me!
 
Happy Anniversary, Michael! I love you!



Friday, December 21, 2012

oh frozen goodness!

 
 
My mom picked these up to try & since we're at her house, I fixed them for lunch today.
Yes, they're from a bag.
Yes, they're frozen.
But oh my -- they are SOOOOO good!
I'm pretty sure she got them at Publix & they will be a staple at our house from now on.
They're meatless, but you can't tell. I don't think they're gluten-free (it says they contain wheat-gluten) -- but I don't tink they'reTHAT ba. Much better than the alternative, for sure.
 
I just wanted to share before I forgot to -- because they are really yummy and EVERYBODY loved them. Even the hubs, who can be hard to please with this kind of thing!
 
By the way -- if you have any good gluten-free recipes or recomendations, will you please e-mail them to me at sweetteablogs@gmail.com, or leave them in a comment?
We're on the gluten-free path nd I need inspiration!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

sneak peak of our new master!

 
Last summer, we painted our master bedroom.
When we bought it, the builders had used a color called "Avocado" by Sherwin Williams.
I really liked that green color, but after over 4 years, it was old.
I had in mind a certain bedding set that I had spotted at Marshalls
and somehow managed to convince Michael that we could pull it off.
It was a damask (I think?) print, in a smoky gray-blue color.
Totally girly and TOTALLY nothing
he would have ever agreed to before.
 
Anyway, I had these frames all pickd out and spray painted and lined out
to make a gallery wall, Young House Love style.
Then I got sick, everyhing happened & anyway, long story short --
we just got back into our house
& while the girls went to spend a few nights with te grandparents...
we hung them.
Or...Michael hung them.
I just used frames from various places (usually Goodwill, a yard sale, Ross & Marshalls on clearance)
spray painted them in an antique white color (I think that was the actual name) and bam. Done.
We didn't have a hammer, but made do with using the tape measurer.
Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do!
 

This is how it turned out:
 

 

We made it this way so we could easily add on to.
But I wasn't waiting any longer to get it up, because I probably would have never done it.
I have one more set of pictures to hang & then I will debut our new master...
over a year after we started. Better late than never, right?
 
 

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

shopping, parties, & Christmas -- OH MY!

We started off on Wednesday when my sweet cousin came the hour & a half to our house to go shopping with me for Christmas. I can drive for the most part but being in the city makes me nervous still. This was what her backseat looked like on Thursday morning:
 

They were crammed in the back of her Explorer but they were SO happy to be close together!
This is proof that you don't HAVE to have a 3rd row seat when you have 3 little ones.
They are really nice, but not a necessity.
Will that stop me from wanting a Tahoe or Expedition?
Probably not. :)
 
Saturday we ad a SUPER busy day.
We started the day by going to my mom's  Christmas party that her work through.
It was downtown and just beautiful. They had the most amazing food (macaroni & cheese bar, mashed potato bar, cheese bar, & lots of other goodies!), a DJ playing Christmas music for the kids, a Santa to visit, free Christmas pictures by a professional photographer, and lots of games. My girls had a blast! We went with their little cousins & we were so busy & had such a good time that I barely got any pictures. Here are the two good ones I snagged:
 
Big sister Aubrey & little sister Kathryn -- she knew that beard was fake!
 

My mama and her sweet friend who prayed so hard for me!
 
My mama has been with this company for 26 years.
I cannot even begin to tell you the number of people who ran to me,
 hugging me and telling me how hard they prayed for me.
Some didn't believe it was me -- they thought for sure I would still be showing signs of "being sick." So many. It really touched my heart.
There ARE still good people in the world.
If you don't believe it, come to Montgomery, Alabama. I'll show you personally.
 
Then we had a birthday party for sweet Owen, (pictured above) who turned ONE yesterday!
 
Then with my dad's side of the family.
My four sisters, my brother-in-law, niece & nephew, and my sisters boyfriend, plus my dad & us.
Twelve people up in that house makes for some fun times!
 My mind wandered for a minute and I thought about what it was going to be like when we're all married with children.
Personally, I want 6 or 7 and so does my youngest sister.
 Pretty sure my daddy might want to think about building a bigger house sometime in the near future!
Just kidding, daddy. We will happily make you feel like a stuffed sardine in the old homeplace!
I didn't get any pictures from them that are worth sharing, but I will take better pictures at home & try to sure them with you. My oldest sister Elizabeth made the girls  a beautiful hair bow holder -- think re-purposed old white frame that she painted, super cute owl fabric, chicken wire, and some ribbon she snagged from my house that I had gotten to use in their room. I'll have to share!
 
I hope ya'll had a good weekend. We spent the first part of the week in Atlanta (more on that later) & now Christmas is sneaking up on us! I'm so excited!
 
 

Sunday, December 16, 2012

He put a little sunshine in

Today at church we had the pleasure of a visiting preacher.
I've known their family forever. I literally do not remember a time when I didn't know them.
He started off the sermon today with a poignant statement.
"Before a car stops running, it starts missing."
 
This struck me slap in the face. I'd never heard it put like tat before.
I grabbed my planner and started noting as he spoke.
These are just my thoughts -- I hope you, the general public, respect them --
even if you don't agree.
 
A long time ago, I went to church faithfully. Looking forward to each service, whether it was at my own church, or a fellowship meeting, Saturday night service somewhere else, revival, youth camp or campmeeting...it was so exciting to think about going. As a child it was more about playing with my friends that I didn't get to see often. As I grew into a young teenager, it became a balance of being excited to show off the perfect outfit or the perfect hair and anxiously wondering what the Lord was going to do for someone in that service.
 
 
Sometime around the time I graduated high school, my "car" started skipping.
You know, a person doesn't just stop going to church on a dime, just like a person doesn't commit a murder at the drop of a hat. The downfall happens slowly...it starts with something minor and then eventually snowballs into the inevitable. In the past few weeks, I had began to allow myself and my girls to do things that weren't necessarily sinful, but was more along the lines of putting ourselves in situations that could eventually place me on the road to a life that I did not want anymore.
I didn't go through what I went through to turn back now.
Several months ago, we were in campmeeting, and this same preacher told of a story.
His oldest son was just a child, and on a particularly rainy day he came out of the church basement and told his parents that "Jesus took my heart all to pieces, but now He put some sunshine in!"
At that precious, young age, even he realized that there was a greater Power that we could have in or hearts to comfort us and guide us.
 
Fast forward ten years later. We all know what happened in 2011 --
and if you don't, the short of it is that I was diagnosed with Leukemia and was on my literal deathbed.
When I woke from my coma, I immediately prayed, laying in an ICU bed alone, for Jesus to save my life. There is an old hymn that we sing that says -- Jesus took my heart all to pieces and He let a little sunshine in. Well, Jesus literally took my body, mind, and health all to pieces, and tore my life into shreds.  But it was ALL worth it, because he let a LOT of sunshine into my heart and into my extended family. It's no secret I'm okay with what I went through and even though it sounds crazy, I'd do it all over again. I really, honestly, would. I'm not saying I'd look forward to it, but I would do it.
And mark my words, if some people in my family don't wake up soon -- I'm worried about what will happen next. God's obviously been trying to get someones attention lately. My cousins baby passed away in 2010, three days after our sweet June Claire made it home from her 3 month stay in the hospital. I fought what I had to fought.
What's next? What will it take?
 
I have often had people comment to me, "I don't understand why ya'll go to church so much. If you do it right, you only have to go once a week."
I heard the perfect response today.
If you're living right, then it's not a burden and you will enjoy it.
 
 
I know this is different material for me to write about, but sometimes I have to just get it out.
It's all jumbled because I just wrote from the heart and didn't outline anything -- but I hope it helps or touches someone, somewhere.
 
I want to leave this with you --
 
Before you get the victory, you have to go through the battle.

Friday, December 14, 2012

a whole lot of randoms!

-- So I've been gone a long time. 3 weeks I think? It's because we moved back home!
We don't have internet access yet, but it's coming soon. :)
 
-- A couple days ago, my phone starting spazzing out and completely shutting down.
Why? Because I had 778 pictures/videos on it. Whoops!
(By the way, I have the Samsung Galaxy S3 and it is amazing.)
 
-- While uploading said pictures & videos to my mom's computer,
(because we have not joined the 21st century yet & isn't unpacked)
I found this gem:
 
It's June and Charlie crashed in front of the front door.
So sweet!
 
-- June and Sara had appointments with their pediatrician last week.
June will probably be getting glasses and will definitely be going to speech therapy.
Sara is actually now on the growth curve!
She's 40 inches and 32 pounds, and June is 28 pounds and 36 inches.
 

My sweet cousin Bo is in basic training in SATX.
We've been writing lots of letters to him and we finally got one in the mail this week!
It's on our fridge and it's like it's pure gold or something!
 
 
-- I ha sort of a bad appointment with my eye doctor last week.
I'm going to Atlanta on Tuesday to see a Neuro-Opthamologist, I'll know more then.
 
 
I'll be back for good before too long! Hope ya'll are doing well and enjoying the Christmas season!