Let this test be your testimony

"Don't worry about the future
Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing Bubble gum
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind
The kind that blindsides you at 4 p.m. On some idle Tuesday"

If you ever listen to the radio around graduation time, you are probably familiar with this quote from Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen. It's a sort of song that has fantastic advise. Its the first thing that popped in my head when I was thinking, I should I start off this blog post? On June 7th, I thought it would be another idle Tuesday, but that kind of thinking is when God shows you who is in control, and HE is in control, always. 

If you follow my blog you probably noticed I have not posted in 12 days, I sure did miss posting everyday joy's on this little blog and starting this again is a sign that things are getting back to normal and I am doing stuff to make me happy. Life has so much joy and I always want to focus on that and look back on happy times.

With out going into a really long story, a little recap on what has gone on with my family. My sweetheart was in the ICU hospital due to aspirated pneumonia that turned into a sepsis infection. There was fluid in his lungs and it was really scary. Scary meaning critical. 

But thanks to a healing and loving God, he is starting to get better but has a long way to go. Healing and trust take time, one day at a time.

When scary stuff happens you see just how blessed you are. My entire family, friends, work, and church were so supportive, encouraging me and standing in when I couldn't be there. I will be forever grateful. Not sure how long it will be until I start posting daily again, but this is a happy step forward and I want to say thanks to all my readers for sticking with me.

I am going to turn this test into my testimony telling everyone no matter what, God is good and can perform miracles. Never give up hope or let fear come in, that is letting The Devil in. And there is no room for that. Defeat him and keep remember God loves you and will be here for you always.

Anyone know a good bridge from pneumonia to a bathroom tour?! I can't really come up with one but I am sure there is one out there, maybe flushing out the old and on with the new?!  I wanted to give you a little tour of our downstairs bathroom, it's the one our guests use, not too big but I just love the colors. Let me know what you think!

When you open the bathroom door this is the first wall you see. I have always loved the color combination of mint and coral so that was my inspiration for this room. I think the paint color from Home Depot was called mint cookie, just like those yummy Girl Scout Cookies we all love! I printed off some abstract photos of just random coral and mint pictures and I painted some cheap wood frames from Michael's this coral color. I painted this canvas the same coral color and used a circle glass for mint green polka dots.

These little fans are one of the best things I found on Etsy, I just love the color and how much fun they are. They came in 3 different sizes and I just used some command tape to hang them up, they are very lightweight and hang over the toilet seat.

Right across from the toilet is a small sink and mirror. When we moved in we had a simple white pedestal sink, it was cute but I was looking for something that had more storage for like toilet paper and soap. We found a nice sink, cabinet and mirror at Home Depot for under $200. My Mom gifted me with this adorable lamp that matched the bathroom perfectly, I like it better then the bright vanity light. She actually gave me 2 and one is at my office desk...SCORE!

This is the bottom half of the vanity, I just keep toilet paper and a small trash can inside, but it gives more coverage then what we had before.

Another great Etsy find! You can monogram anything including a cute chevron night light. I want to get more of these around the house, I have also given them as gifts!

The Etsy monogramming didn't stop of the night light, I found this little soap dispenser to!

I love this little swirl decal so much I have it around my house in different rooms and colors, it's from Etsy also.

I have always loved mermaids so when I found these 2 towel hangers I knew they would be perfect in the bathroom!

I picked up this sign at Home Goods a few years ago, mainly for the coral color but I also love the message! I can hear the waves crashing now!

I take a lot of pride being a Georgia girl, its where I was born and love all things about living in the South. The heart represents our city, its where my family is!

I got this curtain rod at Walmart and these cute little pot holders from Ikea and put some coral artificial flowers in them.

Last but not lease the carpet, I found it on Walmart.com, love some chevron!

I hope you enjoyed this little bathroom tour!

 

 

 

Pool Party

This weekend our neighborhood had our opening weekend pool party and boy did they plan a fun one! It made our annual HOA fee's a little easier to handle when I see what the money is going to! They had a DJ, Jim N' Nick's BBQ, Tin Lizzy's frozen margarita's, and an snow cone truck! We had a great time and so did the girls!

This may be a sign of my hubby's favorite things! The BBQ was so good, I had pulled pork, mac and cheese, bakes beans and a cookie. Hubby had the chicken and loved it, even Taylor has some!

I got this baby float for Taylor 3 years ago and it still works great! It has a shade to keep to sun out, Nicole did fantastic in it, she was so relaxed and just floated along happy as can be!

I remember last summer the pool was my favorite place to be, it was the only place my pregnant swollen ankles could take the weight off, and it was a lot of weight!

Taylor gets bigger and braver every summer when it comes to swimming, she can't swim with out the floats yet, but she is learning to jump in and swim without hold on to us. She also loves this splash fountain!

Two kids at the pool is a lot of work, but my husband is a great help. He & Taylor love to play together. Notice the cup holder he found for his frozen drink?!

Nicole let us know she was ready to go before Taylor was, so we split up and I walked Nicole home. Lucky us it was right before a huge rain storm came in! Give me that water Mommy!

We are looking forward to more days at the pool with our swim diapers on :-)

Star Wars Movie Night

Que the opening crawl and famous theme song, we had Star Wars Movie Night and it was out of this world fun!!

This was the most expensive DVD I have got so far since it's so new it was not for sale on Ebay yet, but it was worth the full price from Walmart.com, we had a blast!

I put some Princess Leia Buns AKA cinnamon rolls in the oven and got the tablescape ready for my little Jedi's!

I picked up 2 light-saber's from Walmart, each about $10. These did not light up or make noise, for 2 of those it would have been like $40 bucks, not really in the budget! But we had fun with these too! I also had some Star Wars Honey Maid graham crackers to munch on.

Hubby showing Taylor what a light-saber is, I got a blue one and a green one!

Taylor loved them! And so did my husband, look at his face!!

Nicole is just too cute with this light-saber, she is my little R2-D2!

May the good force be with you all!!

Simple joys & what I wore

The first work week of June if almost done, yeah!! With temps in the 90's in Georgia right now, I went ahead and pulled out my Hello Summer front door decor, I figured the temperature was just right!

I got this lemonade in a Mason Jar door hanger a few years from Etsy it is one of my favorites! I love the bright yellow color!

I picked up another new Pioneer Woman mug at Walmart and love it! It is so bright and big, perfect way to get the day started!

Most of the time when I stop by Starbucks I am wanting something cold and sweet like a frappacino, but on our way home my husband and I tried these fruit refreshers and they were great! I got strawberry and he got mixed berry. Cool and refreshing! And pretty :-)

These 2 love playing with each other! The other day I walked by Taylor's room and they were putting together a Jake and the Neverland Pirates puzzle! Taylor is getting to the age were she is becoming interested in puzzles and with my husband's math brain its a perfect fit!

I picked up a couple of these Arnold Palmer's from Walmart, there were $1 each and perfect for my lunch box! I love sweet tea and lemonade, especially together!

My hubby made a special trip for me when he went down to Atlanta and picked up my favorite Swan House dinner! I cam home to chicken salad, fruit salad and cheese straws! How lucky am I, and I can tell you it was so good, no leftovers!

My cubical neighbor Donna was going to Chipotle for lunch, can you believe I have never eaten their?! Boy, have I been missing out! I ordered the chicken burrito bowl with cilantro lime white rise and all the toppings, it was heaven! I will for sure be going back there for more!

What better way to start a new work week then with a new Lilly P dress?! It's another Ebay item I scored for about $30, its so pretty and comfortable, perfect for warm weather!

I also love the blue & black combo, in this case teal! I have had this pencil skirt and shirt from Walmart for a few years, I paired it with a teal necklace that is very light weight, it really stands out against the black shirt.

This outfit idea came from Pinterest, I was looking at what to wear with my white capri's and saw this coral shirt and leopard flat combo. I already had all these items and its super comfortable! The necklace and shirt came from Charming Charlie's.

When my husband saw me in this outfit he started singing the Kenny Wayne Shepard song "Blue on Black." I do love that song!! Did you know Kenny is married to Mel Gibson's daughter? This top is from Walmart, it has some cute lace cap sleeve and my black capri's are all about stretch...SCORE!!

 

 

2016 Summer Bucket List and yummy biscuit's

Since we are right in the middle of the first week of summer break, it's time again for our Summer Bucket List! I made one last year and we got a lot of it done! Some of our activities have changed since Nicole is here, but will still be just as fun! This list hangs in our kitchen and can be added to if we think of more fun things to do!

*Star Wars Movie Night

*Mini Golf

*Panama City Beach & Miracle Strip

*Fro Yo Night

*Back yard camp out with s'mores

*The Secret Life of Pets movie

*Make your own pizza night

*Merry Go Round at the mall

*Aquatic Center

*Bubbles water gun and watermelon

*Atlanta Zoo

*Post Road Library Story time

I cooked 2 new recipes this week and both came out great! The picture above was all the items I needed. I saw them on Christy Jordan's super cute website, Southern Plate. If you love southern food with easy, at Walmart ingredients, her website is for you. I first made a yummy Creamy Cucumber salad, easy, cold and no bake in the summer heat:

Creamy Cucumbers

Ingredients

1. 3 cucumbers

2. 1 cup of sour cream

3. 2 tablespoons vinegar

4. 1 tablespoon sugar

5. 1 teaspoon salt

6. 1 teaspoon dried dill

 

Instructions

1. Peel cucumbers and slice then. Place in a mixing bowl.

2. In a small bowl, stir together all other ingredients.

3. Pour over cucumbers and stir to coat. Serve and enjoy!  

These little things just may be one of my favorite biscuit's EVER! If you like piemnto cheese and fluffy, creamy biscuit's, you have to try this like tonight! Its super easy!

Ingredients

1. 2 1/2 cups of baking mix

2. 1 cup of pimento cheese spread

3. 1/2 cup of milk

4. 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients in a mixed bowl and with a mixer stir it up.

2. With a spoon scoop out a big ball of dough and place on to a sprayed cookie tray.

3. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Enjoy!! 

Look at all this yummy goodness! I made mine into a ham sandwich and served with the cucumber salad and fruit salad, it was really good!!

 

Memorial Day

It was so wonderful to have a relaxing long weekend to celebrate and remember all those who serve on Memorial Day weekend! I saw so many posts from people who are proud and thankful Americans. We have been given so much and are truly blessed. We spent the weekend at my parents who live in Columbus, GA. It was a lot of fun and HOT! Summer is here, especially in west GA! Here are some pics of all the fun and food we enjoyed together!

Just like me, my Mom loves The Swan Coach House, we have celebrated many wedding and baby showers there and absolutely LOVE their food! One of their most famous dishes if their frozen fruit salad and my Mom re-created it for us. It was filled with yummy strawberries, blueberries and cream. For an extra touch she put it into her beautiful Country Rose dish collection, so pretty!

Look at that face, she looks just like her Daddy when I ask him to cut the grass!

I was so excited when I found these matching patriotic dress at Walmart, they were $8 each...SCORE! I hope I can use them on the 4th of July too! Nicole is sitting on my parents dock, my Mom has it decorated so pretty, I just love these American Flag Buntings!

Summer time means swimsuit time, eek for me but Taylor looked adorable! I said can I take a picture and she did this pose all on her own! I KNOW I am going to have my hands FULLER then I already do with this girl!

Taylor is getting bigger and braver every swim seasons, she put on her life jacket and jumped into the lake with Granddaddy! She was laughing and crying all at the same time, I want to get out, I want to get in!!

Just look at that little, kissable, squeezable face, I can never get enough of it XOXO

Sittin on the dock of the lake, fishing with her Paw Patrol fishing pole, my sweet girl :-)

Isn't this what the good life is all about?! Gigi and Taylor waving at the boat's going by!

I just love these hanging lights going into my parents dock, they really sparkle at night!

My Dad made us some delicious home made vanilla ice cream and my Mom set up a cute little ice cream platter, the perks of going home!

We took an evening boat ride around Lake Oliver, Taylor had a blast but Nicole, lets just say it was not the highlight of our trip. She screamed the entire time! So much for a relaxing boat ride!

But even with all the screaming we were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset, my favorite time of the day!

We picked up s bucket of Popeye's fried chicken and had lunch by Columbus' famous river walk. Its a walking trail that runs along side The Chattahoochee River. There are all kinds of things to enjoy like white water rafting, zip lining and yummy restaurants along the river. We stayed under this bridge for some shade, summer was alive and well in Columbus!

I've said this before but my Mom's house could be in the next issue of Better Homes and Garden's, she has always been such a great decorator. She is working on an update for her garage now, I hope to share pics from it soon! Right now she has this lovely patriotic bench and pillow on her from porch. Taylor adds to the cuteness! I just LOVE this pillow, I want one of my own!

My husband found a lizard to taunt Taylor with, isn't that what Dad's do best?!

We closed out the weekend with a delish all American lunch, Clearview BBQ, chips and a Coke, what could be better except the .99 cent price tag!! It was worth every penny! I feel refreshed after a long weekend, a big thanks to my parents and brother who made it so much fun and my Mom for watching Nicole so I could get some extra sleep, get my eyebrows done and run to Michael's!! It's great to live in THE BEST COUNTRY on Earth, thank you to all who have served!