what is there to be thankful for?

I know blogs are usually happy and fluffy and thanksgiving is tomorrow, but Justin and I were talking the other day and I told him, "2009 has been my least favorite year." Marriage has been harder, because our work has been so stressful. My family has suffered major heartache. Mostly it feels like everything I've asked the Lord for has gone the other way. I refuse to believe that woe is me and I can boldly claim in His name that He will not give me more than I can handle and He will give me the desires of my heart. I know I will one day look back on 2009 and realize aha, this is why things didn't turn out MY way!

It got me to thinking, though, surely beyond all the frustration and the stress and the heartbreak there is something to be thankful for? When I looked around, there was much to be thankful for.

~I'm thankful I'm not Kate Gosselin. When I think about her life, damn. I have learned from her how not to speak to and treat my husband. I vowed to love, honor & cherish him, which starts with my words and manifest in my actions.

~I'm thankful that God has entrusted me with 25 lives that I get serve and love every day. As crazy as work gets at time, I cherish the moments when I look around and think holy cow (no pun intended) how were we lucky enough to get this opportunity?

~I'm thankful that hamstring injuries heal. My body has so graciously allowed me to do things this year that I never dreamed of doing and pushed itself to limits I never knew were possible.

~I'm thankful for candle warmers. I love the way candles smell, love to have them burning, but dang they melt down fast. Not with a candle warmer! Best $5 I've ever spent and now I need like 5 more.

~I'm thankful for our neighbors. I haven't know or been friendly with neighbors in YEARS. Our neighbors feel like an extension of our home. They go in my home when I'm not there (even if my house is messy) and I've let their dogs sleep in our bed. Honestly, if they moved or we moved I'm not sure who would be the saddest ~ us or the babies.

~I'm thankful for waking up every morning. The best part of my day is when I wake up and see my 2 favorite loves sleeping peacefully. With those two by my side, how bad can things get?

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends.

Princeton, KY

As mentioned in the previous post, Justin & I got out of Mississippi for a night and a day and headed up to Princeton, Kentucky for Justin's grandmother's Christmas open house at her antique store. Please ignore the fact that you've already recently seen me in the shirt above, thank you! Princeton is actually smaller than Kentucky, but we enjoy going there especially this time of year, because the fall is beautiful and life is simple. And I always seem to find fantastic treasures at Antiques on Main.

Here's Justin in front of the store. Now that I think about it, I can't believe I didn't snap any pictures inside. Probably couldn't have done it justice and I was too busy looking for what was going home to my house.

First off, I found these Santa mugs and immediately handed them over to Justin for safe keeping. The open house brings the whole town out, so you have to get while the getting is good. I then snagged this beat up wash bowl and old Noel dish rag. I'm thinking this is going to make a great holiday centerpiece on my kitchen table!

Justin had his eye on this 8 paned window, and we already have several windows with glass in them, but we kept coming back to it.

I recently saw this idea on another blog and I'm going to get creative with my pane and figure out a way to incorporate it into a pot rack. New project!

Finally, I took full advantage of the Christmas love ~ my mother in law wanted me to pick something out and I immediately fell in love with this entry way table! It also came with a shelf, but I find myself without a hammer and nail, so this is how it's currently set up. Justin's grandmother was sweet enough to give me 4 milk glass plates that I hope to string with ribbon and hang on the wall.

I just realized that I'm missing a table! I found this fabulous round scallop~ey table that will be perfect once I take my sander to it and give it a fresh new coat of paint! Guess that table will have to have a post all it's own!

Happy thanksgiving week, friends! Our life is about to get CRAZY!

What's the Deal ~Long Bauble Necklace~

A couple of weeks ago Justin & I had the good fortune of going to his grandmother's Holiday Open House at her antique store. Indeed God was looking out for me when he had me fall in love with Justin who recently acquired a grandmother who owns the greatest treasure bearing antique store in Kentucky. Of course we had to make a trip to Wal*Mart during our 24 hour stay, because I forgot to pack Justin's shoes, but as it turned out, it was a 2 week old Wal*Mart and just about the nicest one I had ever been in!

As we were checking out I came across this black bauble necklace that caught my eye. There were clear ones, multi color ones, but only one black. I debated in my head and thought ~ you know, this is really fun and for $10 I think I can splurge.

It's different ~ all the little beads are tied together in a messy pattern and then tie in a bow at the top. Here it is all displayed on one of my newest treasures from the antique store. I can't wait to show off all those new treasures!

Here I am actually wearing the necklace last weekend in Birmingham.

Today I walked into Ann Taylor Loft, because I was lured in with a 30% off Friends & Family coupon that was burning a hole in my pocket and look what I found!

They had them in clear, multi color and turquoise, but no black. Guess how much they cost?

$34.50

The only difference that I can see is that the ribbon around the neck that you hope no one sees was thicker! My advice ~ if this is a necklace you'd like to add to your collection try and hunt it down at Wal*Mart first and save yourself $24.50 ~ that way you can get a cute shirt to go with it!

~Harper~

When we first moved to Tupelo almost a year ago {gasp!} I found an instant friend through this blog, Shanda. It was so nice to be in a new place and already have a built in shopping buddy, going out to eat buddy & wine drinking buddy!

Not long after we met the Lord saw it fit to bless Shanda & Brett with a baby! Our shopping and wine drinking turned into shopping for nursery furniture!

Ladies ~ you have to see how good Shanda looked! Here she is 2 months almost to the day before Harper was born! Yes, I realize I might look more pregnant than her, but that's a compliment, because she looked amazing!

{Labor Day Party September 2009}

[holly, christina, brittany, ME & shanda (harper)]

If Justin and I are good for anything, we are good for food! So last night we loaded up the car with Chick-fil-A Sandwiches and sides and Chicken Spaghetti for a later meal so we could distract Mom & Dad and get some Harper time!

And without further adieu... Miss Harper Eden.

Little Miss Princess stayed asleep our entire visit, but woke up just in time for pictures! Right as her Daddy snapped this one she exploded into her diaper. Does that mean she likes me?


Now she's looking at me like she's not so sure about me. Or maybe she's thinking she needs one of my flowers to put on her headband. She'll have to ask nicely.

All this picture taking can wear a girl out! I would have taken more pictures, but that would have meant that I would have had to hand her off to someone else. I did let Justin hold her for a minute.

Shanda & Brett ~ we LOVE her already! She is simply beautiful and we can't wait to see her again very very soon!

Pumpkin Time

I ended up buying those pumpkins that I had been eyeing the other day. Justin didn't want to get the gourds, because they were bumpy and he thought they looked cancerous, so we went with a big pumpkin and some mini pumpkins!

The only thing left to do with a big pumpkin is to carve it! Justin drew out the design ~ Mississippi style! Our Jack-O-Lantern is missing some teeth in his grill!

My job was to pull the guts out! I love this part and can't wait to roast them seeds! Please please forgive how nasty I look! Only hours before I let Jillian kick my butt and boost my metabolism. Rough!

Can you see the best part? He made the ears detachable so they'd stick out! A master carver if I do say so myself!




Ready for the lights...

Happy Fall Y'all from the Flowers'

Rhinestone in the Rough!

A few weeks ago when we were in Texarkana I picked up a Texas shirt at TJ Maxx. They only have Mississippi shirts in my TJ Maxx here ~ the nerve! Justin bought some Mighty Mend-it the other day and it came with a bottle of Mighty Gem-it and an idea was born!

I love my other rhinestone longhorn, so why not rhinestone this longhorn?

{Other Rhinestone Longhorn ~ Last year @ Okla St. Game}

So, I made a last minute trip to Hobby Lobby last week before the game to pick up my supplies ~ various sizes of rhinestones.

Then I prearranged my rhinestones on my longhorn so there could be a uniform pattern and very very carefully glued them on. I think it took around 2 quarters!

24 hours later ~ my Mighty Gem-it had sealed completely and here's the final product!

I'm very proud of how it turned out. The Mighty Gem-it is so strong that it glued the shirt together, so I had to pry it apart! All is well that ends well! I can't wait to debut it tomorrow and I'll post pictures of me modeling it for you!

Hair DID!

If you do not follow me on Twitter then you might not know that I got my hair cut, and I felt I had to share this with y'all after the last hair debacle that I suffered.

My neighbor suggested a while back that I visit her hair girl and I stalled until I could stall no more. I love a good choppy, angled cut, so that's what I asked for and that's what I got! I didn't realize that choppy and angled meant GOOD BYE to 4-5 inches of my hair! WOW ~ it had gotten longer than I realized!

Please excuse my photographer, he couldn't be bothered with standing up, so you have to live with the most flattering angle possible of me!

From the front, from the front...

To the side, to the side...

To the back, to the back...


I love it! I think she did a great job and everytime I look in the mirror I'm like whoa, I look like a different person! I'm so excited about my new fall do!

For the record, I've seen the "bad" hair girl a few times outside of our restaurant. She walks by, gives it a look and then a major hair flip and looks away like she's dissing us with her body language. I'm so fine with her diss... WAY more her loss than mine!

PS~ If you've ever wanted to hear what my actual voice sounds like, go to WWW.FourFatChicks.blogspot.com! I posted my first ever videoBlog!