Doing the Friday Follow!

I'm participating in the Friday Follow for the first time this week! I've been a bit, uh...weak in my blogging attempts lately and I'm hoping to find some new inspiration by finding some new blogs to read and follow.

Wanna be my friend????

This Friday Follow celebration is hosted by One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapades! Anyone can link up and join in every Friday to get more blog followers and to follow other interesting blogs.

So, what are you waiting for? See the MckLinky below for complete Friday Follow instructions.

Happy Friday!!

Project Living Room is On!

Last week (has it really been a week?!?!) I dropped a picture hint about a recent furniture redo. Here's a refresher in case you've forgotten, or you missed it....




Different, yes? Unexpected splash of color? I really love it. Here's the story....


Back in the early 1990's, we purchased an armoire for our master bedroom. It was expensive (to us) and well made. It looked very similar in style to this one:





The finish was just like this one:


It lived in our bedroom for years. I can't believe I have no photos of the original, or that I forgot to take a 'before' shot. Oh, well. You get the idea, though.


When the armoire was about ten years old, we repurposed it to the boys' room. We painted it royal blue. The door mirror had been broken in a move, so we removed the door and placed their TV and video game system on the shelves.


In 2007, when we moved to this house, we repurposed it again. We painted it black, removed the door and drawers from the right side, and the shelves from the left side. We placed our big TV inside and added a shelf across the top for the DVD player. The large drawer held movies and video games.


We had been talking about taking the armoire out of our living room to open it up more. It was blocking a window and our living room is pretty tiny. So, last week we (and when I say we, I mean Tim) cut the armoire into pieces.


We ended up with a credenza of sorts. Tim had found some paint on clearance for $1.25 a pint. I had one pint tinted lime green and the other three tinted chocolate brown. I used these paints and ended up with the finished product....




We love it! It adds such a crazy punch of color to the living room!




I'm watching and waiting for some new drawer pulls (gotta be cheap, you know) and then it'll be compete.


I've found a few more things for the living room, like the fabrics from the store that was going out of business ($135.00 worth for $29.00!!) and some metal wall art. No pictures yet, but I'll post about that later. Here's my list of plans for the living room:

• redo end tables
• find yard sale coffee table to redo, or try a remake on our current table
• make a replica of an art piece I saw on someone's blog (gotta ask Sheri if she has the link!)
• sew a slipcover for a straight back chair for the corner
• find some funky lamps
• sew curtain panels from the gold and brown toile fabric mentioned above
• throw pillows for the sofa and love seat
• something new for the fireplace mantel

Quite a list, huh? Yes, and when that's done, I have some pretty lofty plans for a dining room banquette.... and copper. Should go nicely with the gold and green....

But that's for another day!

*This post is linked to:

Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage


Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Wordless(??) Wednesday~My Two Very Good Reasons for CHD Awareness!

Reason #1:

James Clint Schaffer

October 26, 1992-January 2, 1993

D-Transposition of the Great Arteries, Tricuspid Atresia, Coarctation of the Aorta, Atrial Septal Defect, Ventricular Septal Defect, Single Ventricle-HRHS

• Pulmonary artery banding and coartation correction at one week old.
• Spontaneous complete heart block at 3 weeks old.
• Pacemaker implantation at 4 weeks old.
• Pneumonia at 5 weeks old.
• PA banding retightening at 5 weeks old.
• Pacemaker replaced at 6 weeks old.
• Staph infection at 7 weeks old.
• Sepsis at 8 weeks old.
• Removal of medical intervention and life support at 9 weeks old.
  
  

Reason #2:

Elijah 'Eli' Wade Schaffer

4 years old

L-Transposition of the Great Arteries, Pulmonary and Subpulmonary Stenosis, Hypoplastic right-sided ventricle and valve, Atrial Septal Defect, Ventricular Septal Defect, Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome

• Defects created a balance at birth. No intervention needed.
• WPW related SVTs began at 3 months old. Hospitalized several times during the first year.
• Surgery at 3 years old: One and a half ventricle surgery-Bidirectional Glenn, subpulmonary resection, fenestrated ASD closure.

'And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' Job 1:21

Friday Ramblings....

Talk about time warp. I can't believe it's Friday. Just a moment ago, it was Sunday night and I was debating whether or not my kids were well enough to go back to school. Fast forward to today, Friday, and they are finally in school for the first time this week. Not because of sickness, though, but because of that second snow storm.

I had some REALLY unhappy boys this morning.

Two of them have been home due to previous snow and illness since January 28th. That's two weeks!

It's never enough, though. They were so hoping for additional snow last night. Oh, well. At least it is Friday and also a long weekend.

I'm still working on a post for CHD awareness week. If you didn't know, that is this week, with February 14th being CHD awareness day. It's still crazy to me that so many people know nothing, or very little, about Congenital Heart Disease. It is, after all, the number one birth defect and cause of death in infancy...

You can visit http://www.blog4chd.com/ to read personal accounts from a variety of bloggers directly affected by CHD.

I'm also working on a post about some home improvements. I'm trying to make some decor decisions and changes. I mean, we've been in our 'new' home for nearly 3 years now. It's time....

Here's a sneak peek of a furniture redo. Isn't it pretty?!?!? I love it! I'll expand on this in my home decor post:

I stumbled upon an amazing fabric sale a couple of days ago. This store was actually going out of business and all of their fabrics and trims were 75% off! What a true blessing! I was able to purchase fabrics for my living room redo at a premium discount. Suuhhh-weet......

I posted a while back that I had decided to cancel our Dish Network account. It was painful, I must confess. However, we found a great digital antenna on eBay at a great price and can now pick up about 20 channels. I can watch local TV for free!

And yesterday, the mailman delivered our new Roku box. Have you heard of Roku (http://www.roku.com/) ? With as little as 10.00 a month for Netflix, you can stream TV shows and movies right to your TV. Brilliant!

Yesterday we watched the movie Bolt, some Spongebob, and pieces of several movies. It is super easy to hook up and the stream is quick (instant) with DVD quality video.

So, for 15.00 a month for Netflix (we chose the 2 DVDs at a time option), I have all the TV and movies I will ever need... So cool.

We also cut our home phone and switched to the MagicJack (http://www.magicjack.com/). For 20.00 a year, you get unlimited local and long distance phone service. I wish I could say this was a success, but I can't. The MagicJack customer service are super great to work with, however, our audio quality is less than stellar. I really want to love it, but I don't.

Okay, that's enough rambling for now. I hope each of you have a wonderful weekend and a fun Valentine's Day!

Speaking of Valentine's Day.... Here's a photo of me and my Valentine, circa 1984. (Note the class ring. I thought I was hot stuff....)

Wordless Wednesday~MORE Snow?!??!?!?!

So pretty....

We Had H1N1 and Lived to Tell About it!

I may be a little premature as some of my family are still battling the "great flu". I'm hopeful that corners are being turned, though. Since we (and by 'we', I mean 'I') are moving into the back stretch, I thought I'd post a little H1N1 survival guide for those of you who, like us, neglected to get that all important vaccination.


When the first family member goes down, buy lots and lots of these:

Squirt the Purell all over you, your husband, your kids, and the infected member, just for good measure. Try to convince the infected member to use the Purell constantly. It probably won't work, because this person is so ill they do not care if you get sick or not!


Supply the infected member with lots of Kleenex. Don't skimp and buy the cheap store brands. If anything, splurge and get the Puffs with Aloe and lotion. Trust me....


I didn't get a photo, but buy a couple of cans of Lysol. Spray it on everything that is not living and breathing. It's probably too late, and it probably won't help, but it'll make the Mom in you feel better.


Keep an array of over-the-counter medications available for each family member. Here are ours. Notice that "don't skimp and buy store brands" does NOT apply for OTC meds. Equate, I think I love you and your effective meds at low, low prices. Especially for a large, sick family. That last statement doesn't sound quite right, but you know what I mean....

If you or any of your family members have high-risk conditions, take thee to the doctor, at once! Or better yet, get the vaccine. (Boy, have I changed my tune.....)

In all seriousness, do not mess around with high-risk conditions and H1N1. Asthma and heart disease patients need special consideration. (Note the Tamiflu and prescription meds in the photo above.)

I am so thankful to report that our little one handled H1N1 like a pro, hardly slowed down at all, but seemed to know exactly when it was time to take a break for meds and rest. His heart rate was a bit elevated, but he is doing pretty well today (day 5).

Our boy with asthma has had a rough road. He is on day 7 and is still under the weather. His meds are doing the trick, though, and improvements are visible. Thank the Lord. (He had me worried.)

And finally, make sure you have lots of easy recipe ingredients for those who feel like eating, plenty of fluids (very important!), and movies....lots of movies.

Unless, of course, your child happens to love one particular movie. Then you are DOOMED.

We've watched Men in Black and Men in Black 2 about 893 times over the past 5 days.

Even though these are a couple of my very favorites, variety would be nice!

Aprons?

Isn't it funny how something as insignificant as an apron can bring childhood memories flooding back? Dam bursting, banks overflowing, squeezing in your chest memories?

I wrote about my Granny's apron. You can read about it at Deep South Moms.

My Word and Verse for 2010 and The 2009 Connection

I know what you're thinking. Yes, I do realize that it is February.

I am a little late with the Word of the Year stuff. But it's important so I'm posting about it.


The whole idea behind the Word of the Year is that you contemplate your weaknesses, or areas that need work, then you choose a word that you can use as a reminder to spend time developing and strengthening those weak areas.


Some people automatically know what word will be their focus, while others spend time in prayer, asking for guidance to choose the right word. I chose the prayer route, once again. I mean, I want to focus my life's direction in the way of the Lord, right?


I have found that a funny thing happens when you choose a word like this. When you begin to focus on your word, you will tested, stretched, and grown in more ways than you can imagine. And it begins immediately! Choosing a Word of the Year is so much better than making a resolution....not necessarily easier, but definitely better.


Last year my word was BELIEVE. It served me well. My faith was tested, and ultimately deepened, by my resolve to believe that God is with me, always. To be honest, I was a little sad to put this word away.


As I was searching and praying for my new word, BELIEVE kept popping up again and again. I struggled to understand why I was unable to move past it. It seemed like every bible verse I settled on had a reference to faith and believing. Maybe I need more work in that area? I don't know. And then, I came across this verse:

Ephesians 4:1
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a
life worthy of
the calling you have received.

Okay....Now we're getting somewhere!

I knew instantly, like being hit by a ton of bricks,

that my word for 2010 is ..................

WORTHY

Worthy. Wow.

Wouldn't that be the same as believing in yourself?!?! It's no coincidence that my daughter gave me a new coffee mug for Christmas that says, "BELIEVE believe in the power of believing in yourself". How awesome is that?!?! It was the perfect tie-in from the old year to the new year and I didn't even catch it until the first week of January....after I had chosen my new word.

I've spent the past year believing, but not necessarily believing in myself. I have definitely put myself on the back burner. Most days I never even made it on the stove top, if you know what I mean...

Isn't it great to see God working in you, on you, and hopefully, through you?

So, it's February and I've been living under the word WORTHY for a month now. And yes, I am being stretched and tested already. I can see great possibilities in 2010.

And that, my friends, is definitely a good thing.