Turning 1...

This past week Lilly, our precious niece, turned 1. We celebrated all together this weekend. She was up and walking, very busy, and in love with a new doll.

She was the center of attention and the star of the show! And, like any star should have, she was dressed in her finest tutu.


Perfection.


We love you, Lilly!

Aunt Nat & Uncle Josh

Man of my dreams...

This is how I was greeted as I entered the door yesterday.

Yep, Darth Vader had obviously stopped by say hello.

Wow.

There really are no words...

Yep, man of my dreams. There he stands. Welding helmet and all.

Try not to be jealous, ladies.

A little pug inspiration for a Tuesday...

Suziebeezie via DIY

I saw this today on Suziebeezie's site...had to share.

Anything involving a pug has to be shared. It's a given.

Rose, my little girl pug, loves gingham. She would totally be into this.

Happy Tuesday!

In Memory...

It's been a tough couple of days. Last week we lost my grandfather, Robert Allen Thurman, at the age of 81. He was such a wonderful man, and I was incredibly blessed to be able to spend so much time with him over the past few years. He was married to my grandmother, Sissy, for 61 years...61 years! Amazing.

Friday we had a memorial service in San Antonio for him and Saturday we said our final earthly goodbyes in Longview, Texas. My brother came in from Virginia to help conduct both services. It was so incredibly personal and intimate to be able to celebrate his life all together as a family.

I miss him very much and it is all a little surreal that he is no longer here. Grandpa was a believer in Christ so I know that I'll see him again. That is the only thing that has made all of this so much easier. I know he is actually with Jesus right now. Amazing.

I wrote his obituary last week and thought I would share it with you all.

The Lord called Robert Allen Thurman home on August 18, 2010 at the age of 81. Robert was born on December 26, 1928 in Alexandria, Louisiana to Eva Burke and Bryan Thurman. He grew up in Alexandria, Louisiana and Kilgore, Texas, where he met the love of his life, Dolores “Sissy” (Carlton) Thurman. He attended Kilgore High School and Kilgore Junior College. Sissy and Robert relocated to the West Texas oil fields where Robert started as a roughneck and moved up to management until his retirement from Dresser Industries. Upon retirement Sissy and Robert returned to East Texas to fish and enjoy life together before moving to San Antonio to be closer to family.

Robert is remembered for his quick wit and sense of humor, his generosity and care of family and friends over the years, his loving callused, hard working hands, his always present smile and his devotion and dedication to his soul mate Dolores. He had a soft spot for any animal, a passion for fishing and hunting, and a love of Travis Club cigars. Robert was a humble man who wanted to live by the word of God and love and provide for his wife and children in every way that he could.

Robert is survived by his loving wife of 61 years Dolores Carlton Thurman, son Michael Thurman and wife Kari, daughter, Delia De Los Reyes and husband David, brother Lane Thurman and wife Nancy, grandchildren, Natalie Jones and husband Josh, Cory Thurman and wife Magen, Amy Cox and husband Mike, and Julie De Los Reyes and husband Stuart Noble along with 5 great grandchildren.

Thanks to all of you for your calls and emails this past week. Your support and prayers have meant so much.

Grandpa, we miss and love you.

Inspiration...

Happy Wednesday! Here's an awesome piece that I found on Dreamy Whites blog recently. I heart everything about this.

I love the color, the chicken wire, and the ironstone inside.

Inside it is painted with a light grey paint rather than your traditional white.

Check out Dreamy White's blog for more color details.

Ahhh...it's just too cool. Just had to share on this hump day!

xoxo

A funny for Friday...

It's Friday! Wohoo. I'm happy that the work week is over and the weekend is beginning. It's been a loooooooong week.

Do you need a laugh?

I do.

After this week, I really need a laugh and a margarita (to be totally honest).

Prepare yourself...Anthropologie, a store that I love but mainly window shop at, carries fun and eclectic pieces that you just don't see everywhere else. I like the charm of the pieces, the unique details, and the soft edginess of the design. I've been excited to see what they bring out for fall. We are going to Jackson Hole, WY in December and I've been eager to see if there will be a few special pieces that I could pick up for the trip.

I'm afraid I might be disappointed this season. My sis-in-law called me and told me about this.

I'm totally speechless.


This is what they have put out in their New Arrivals for Fall section...a horse face sweater with shaggy arms. WHAT?!? Is this what fashion is coming to? Puppets on shirts? Ponies on your chest? What?!? Do they want you to be a muppet? Is this some kind of tribute to Mr. Ed? Maybe the horse is to draw your eye away from the heavy cabbling on the sweater that will add a good 10 lbs to your midsection!?! Do you wear this with boots? Chaps? Some kind of riding helmet?!

Fashion fail! I had to laugh.

Looks like I am going to be out of style again this year. Darn.

Happy Friday!

Redneck pool...

Remember this image that I posted back in May as a possible alternative to the pool that we are craving? It was in this post Splish Splash.

Country Home

Well, I couldn't get it out of my mind and Josh couldn't get the pool out of his. Since 2010 isn't going to be our year of hitting the lottery, we decided $120 in galvanized pipe, fittings, and a water hose could fit into our budget.

So we made one...an outdoor shower...and it is awesome!

In the time it took to drink the Dos Equis in the top of the photo, we had an outdoor shower ready to be mounted onto a wall. Here's what we did...

We gathered our supplies. It took 2 runs to Home Depot when it was all said and done, but we were ready. We needed galvanized pipe, a few couplings to join them together, reducers to make the shower head and water hose fit the pipe, plumbers tape, a few tools, a rain shower head, a hose, an on and off valve, and a beer. Not too bad.

I drank the beer and Josh started twisting things together one by one.
It reminded me of fitting Legos together.

He used his manly strength to get everything tight.

At each bend or place where we added an elbow joint or coupling,
we wrapped the pipe in plumbers tape to get a better seal before screwing them together.

More manly twisting.
We were each really good at our specific role.
Josh got it all built and the beer was finished.
Good job!

When it was all connected together, we took it out to connect it to the water hose that ran from the house. A little more tightening at the base was needed to fix a leak at that seal.

With a few rock screws and some braces, it was mounted in a matter of minutes.

A single twist of the handle and it was on!

Cool, refreshing rain pouring down!

So fun!

We tried it out immediately after sweating in the sun while hooking it up.
It felt amazing!

For $120 we found a way to cool off in our backyard without a pool. I love the industrial look of it all and the practicality of it too (Katie and Kenzie, line up...you are getting baths).

I tried to get Josh to sit in a bucket for my final picture to get the real Country Home look that I had seen. He wouldn't go for it.

Sorry girls, I tried.

iPhone shopping...

My trusty little iPhone has been my saving grace so many times. It allows me to answer work emails quickly and efficiently while waiting at the doctor's office. I can search for directions to wherever I'm headed and see exactly where I got lost when I realize my blue dot is no longer on the purple line. I take notes on it constantly...what I need at the grocery store, measurements of a wall that I am trying to find a furniture piece for, great books that are recommended to me, ideas for an upcoming birthday, etc. I was never an Apple supporter or believer until I found the iPhone. Thank you, Steve Jobs.

Lately I have been using it more and more for home decorating. It's such a handy gadget to pull out in order to snap a quick photo of a furniture piece, piece of fabric, art print or inspiration piece to go home and really think over. I try not to be a spontaneous purchaser and this allows me time to think about something and later go back and look at it when I am out of the shop and out of the impulsive moment. Plus, Josh and I have a pretty good agreement about only purchasing important home pieces together. This allows me to take him the image of a piece that I am considering...instead of dragging him to the store only to hear him say, "You really like that?" Been there, done that.

Lately, I've captured these images...

A cool beat up storage cabinet that one salesperson said was original...I needed to think about it. It would be a big purchase.
When I called the store back to find out more about it
I realized it could be ordered at anytime making it much
less appealing since it wasn't a unique piece.
Cool looking piece just not what I had in mind.
Thank you, iPhone.

A floral/feather piece that a store had priced at $250.
Were they smoking crack when they labeled it?

Having a photo of it lead me to this though...

I made 2 of these with $40 worth of supplies from Hobby Lobby.
Thank you, iPhone.

A cool wine barrel chandelier that I found in an antique store majorly discounted.
It reminded me of this...

An inspiration photo that I had kept while thinking about how to decorate my dining room.
While holding a pic of the chandelier and dining room image up in the actual room,
I realized I was trying to add too many large pieces to one room.
Thank you, iPhone.

An original whiskey barrel that an antique store had made into a chair.
I knew Josh would love it for his whiskey parlor.
He saw the photo...voted yes...and we picked it up that weekend.
He thanks you, iPhone.

A lamp that I thought looked so cool in the store...not so cool on the phone.
We both voted no.
Thank you, iPhone.

A chandelier that I found that reminded me so much of a Horchow chandelier that I liked.

Horchow Chandelier

Yep, very similar. Still thinking about this one.

A cool lamp that I had to be very sneaky about photographing.
It got a thumbs down from Josh. Boo.

A hutch that I am considering for our living room to put TV components in...

Josh doesn't love it, but he is willing to go with me to see it in person.
Thank you, iPhone.

We'll see what happens on this one.
I'm hoping I don't get a, "Are you sure you really like that?"
It's too soon to tell.

My iPhone has actually saved me a lot of time and $$ if I really think about it. It allows me to look back at what I was considering and really decide if I like it (rather than just trying to remember what things looked like in my head later when I'm trying to describe it or purchasing something right then to take home and see if it will work in the room and then have to find time to return it).

I'm sure Steve Jobs never intended this little black gadget to be used for decorating and marriage preservation...but then again he's Steve Jobs, maybe he did.

Correspondence...

Today people seldom sit down to write letters. Some of us still hold on to the tradition of sending an occasional thank you note or greeting card, but a letter with an actual stamp, written just to say hello and correspond with someone about life, is seldom the means of communication that we choose to use. Now it is all about email, wall posts, and text messages. Short and to the point. Letters have become a thing of the past...even the post office is downsizing because of the lack of letters that are being sent.

I remember writing letters to friends and family as a child and how much I loved it. I am sure this is when my paper and stationery obsession began. I remember practicing my handwriting with the Big Chief tablets. I remember loving it when they finally taught us how to write in cursive. Yes, total geek...I know.

Recently my dad brought me a copy of a letter that I had sent my grandparents as a child. He found it in a box of old photos and memories. I had to share.

If you know me, you can imagine me writing this at about 8 years old or so...I was probably sitting on my ivory daybed with gold trim, side ponytail with a scrunchy in the hair, with some kind of matching neon outfit or awesome koolot on. You can picture it if you grew up in the 80's.



I like the 1985 stationery...the use of pigs and hearts. They are images that just don't get enough credit these days. I'm drawn to the peachy/brown and orange color palette. It's just not utilized the way it once was in design. Cranes should think about a new line incorporating these ideas.

Most of all, I love the dramatic tone in my writing. Poor me. Crying for 10 minutes...driven up a wall! Where's the justice? Didn't my parents recognize this. Obviously Mikey was too busy selling an old pizza store.

Wow.

Drama queen at 8? Yeah, maybe. My poor parents.

Maybe now I'm understanding why I love correspondence so much...perhaps it is the communicative release to my personal pain.

Please tell me you can sense the sarcasm? Hee hee.

Hello, August!

July has been a rough month. I'm actually incredibly happy to welcome August...even with the horrendous heat that comes with it. A change, even if just on the calender, has needed to happen. This just wasn't my month...concussions, family illness, fighting off viruses, handling work disasters, etc.

Hello, August! You couldn't get here fast enough. Don't let me down.

Since I'm still catching up, I'll let Snippet and Ink's darling Summer Honey post inspire us a bit.

Top row from left: yellow gingham honey jar favor via Creature Comforts, iced tea and sweet tea cocktails from Martha Stewart Weddings, photo in a field from Real Weddings, vintage yellow dish via Green Wedding Shoes
Row 2: beehive cake via Design Mom, invitation with kraft paper and yellow gingham via Elizabeth Anne Designs, yellow rose necktie by Chinny Chin Chin via The Constant Gatherer
Row 3: picnic basket from Longaberger, short wedding dress from Martha Stewart Weddings, bumblebee invitation by Ceci New York, bouquet with garden roses and bunny tails from Martha Stewart Weddings