Pink Saturday

It's Pink Saturday again and I had so much fun last week I thought I would join in the fun again! Thanks to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for starting this fun event. Be sure to visit Beverly's blog to see a complete list of participants for this week.

Since I showed you the pinks in my bathroom last week, I thought that I would show you one of my guest bedrooms this week. This room is a work in progress.(actually - all of the rooms in my house are!) We moved here in June and we are still trying to put things together! There is so much left to do.


I am such a girly girl and wanted one room in my house to be really feminine. I can only do so much "girly" stuff in the Master bedroom. My husband is pretty good about letting me do whatever I want - but I try to tone it down for him. I decided to go all out in the guest room though. I still need to get a headboard for the bed yet, but it's a start!

I love the bedspread for this room - I was happy to find it at TJ Maxx (don't you just love that store?) I have put the softest sheets and blankets on this bed - I want our guests to be comfortable in here so they will stay a long time. ~smile~



I've had this picture for a long time and I am so glad that it works well in this room. I love bunnies and flowers - a perfect combination!








I bought this picture many years ago for my husband on our anniversary. I have always loved this passage from the Bible. One more picture for this room - I didn't know I had so much pink!



As I was looking around for pink in my house, I ran across this precious book. I bought this for my mother years ago. It is a journal that is made just for mothers to put their thoughts down so that children can hold onto memories when they may not be there to tell the tales of their lives.

My mother, as I have written about before, had been sick for a long time and we knew that her time with us was short. By giving her this book I was able to capture things about her that she had never told me before. I only wish I had given it to her sooner as her memory was starting to fade. What she did write I will always cherish. There are beautiful writings in this book about her relationships with her siblings and parents. It is such a treasure! The book asks questions that your mother is supposed to answer - such as:

• Describe one of your favorite dress-up outfits as a child. On what occasions would you wear it?


• Who was your favorite teacher and why?


• When did you first go to church - what are your first memories of church?


• What are the things you are most glad you tried?

I could go on and on! The questions in this book really help you to get to know the beautiful person that your mother was/is. It is priceless to me now!

If you haven't seen this book, I highly recommend getting this for your mother, or getting it for yourself to write in it for your children. I found the link on Amazon if you would like to look at it.

This cute little tea cup and saucer were given to me by my mother in law. It held a little tea rose bouquet. I love how unique it is! Right now it sits in my dining room hutch but I may end up putting it in my guest room. I may put it atop the nightstand with an african violet in the cup!

Of course Ginger wanted to show you her pink for today! How could anyone mistake her for a boy - She is such a little lady!

I hope that you enjoyed my "Pinks". Look for updates to come on my room projects - as I finish the rooms I will be showing you the end results!
Blessings,

Kymber

Builders for Christ - W.I.P. Wednesday

I have been so busy this week that I haven't been able to get too much done for my W.I.P. Wednesday post. I am excited to share with you what I have been up to.

Our church doesn't have a building. We are a small mission congregation that has been meeting for the last six years in a recreational facility. We have been steadily growing and have finally started the process of ground breaking for our new church home. I am so excited to be a part of this process! It has been very frustrating at times - because we have had to rely on the availability of the rec center and our evening meetings or special events have had to be held at other locations at times. We will finally be able to have a church building to call our own!

There is a wonderful organization that is helping us build our church. It is made up of volunteers who are mostly retired. They are dedicated individuals who serve the Lord through the ministry of building churches all over the country. If you want to learn more about this wonderful ministry, click here. You can watch the video and see what a blessing these dedicated volunteers are to the congregations they serve.

The Builders for Christ workers arrived here in Georgia about a week ago. As you know the weather hasn't been the best here, so work has been slow - and they have had some problems here and there. This wonderful group of people have been so calm through it all. They are used to the pitfalls that arise when you are building a structure and they haven't let it phase them. I think WE - the members, have been more nervous about it all then they have! Whenever a problem arises - they take it directly to the Lord and patiently work it out. I am in awe of the dedication to the work involved and the gentle witness of these wonderful brothers in Christ!

After the foundation was finally set in place, they quickly got to work - they broke ground and are starting to build the walls! The builders are staying in RV's on the property, and in our members homes. The only thing that they ask of us is that we feed them breakfast and lunch with two snacks each day - they usually take care of their own dinners.

Our Ladies Group has been busy preparing meals everyday for them. This is no easy undertaking as we have about 30 builders (including their wives) here working for us.

Today is the day that my meals will be served. I prepared them this week and took them out to the parsonage last night. I had to do it this way because I work and couldn't take the time to go out there today. The wives arrive at the parsonage in the morning and warm things up and then call the men to come eat. It has worked out well so far - it's just a gamble at how MUCH to prepare. I hope I made enough to satisfy them!

I really LOVE to bake and wanted this meal to be extra special. I chose to make Cinnamon Rolls for their breakfast and cut up strawberries to go with it.

In the corner you see the butterscotch krispies that I made for them to snack on during the day.

I made Watergate Salad which has crushed pineapple, pistachio pudding, coolwhip and marshmallows in it. You can't tell by this picture, but it is a green color and it is delicious!

The entree dish is Chicken Tetrazzini. I made enough to fill two foil roaster pans full. I wanted to make a lunch that was not too heavy because they would need to go back to work after eating it!

I am probably going to stress out today until I find out that it was enough for them. It is so hard to know what will be enough to feed 30 people! This has been a labor of love - We all feel so blessed to have them here!

In February, we are having a Ladies Group get-together to honor the sacrifice of these wives who follow their husbands around from state to state. They don't even get to enjoy the quiet life of their retirement years! Actually, they all say that they wouldn't have it any other way. They truly enjoy getting to meet new people and travel to new locations. What a ministry this is!

I will be sure to post about our fun evening that we have planned for these special women when the day approaches.

I need to get going - need to go to work, but if you would like for me to post any of these recipes, just tell me which ones and I will be happy to. They are all tried and true!

Blessings on your day today,

Kymber

Blue Monday!

It's Blue Monday time! Of course I have lots more to share with you today. Special thanks to Smiling Sally for hosting this fun event. Hop on over to her blog to see the list of participants. Edited to add: I apologize if everything went a bit wonky here for a bit. I tried out a new picture format but Photobucket's picture sizes don't correspond well with Blogger so - back to the drawing board! Flicker seems to be more compatible. I am trying to make my pictures appear larger so they are easier to see. Also - any ideas for this newbie as to how to add "click on a picture" as a feature to make them larger?

I am running late on posting today - I was hoping to get this done this morning, but life happened so here we are!

My picture above is of my kitchen dining table. I fell in love with the placemats - got them at Cost Plus World Market a few years ago. I really love my blues and yellows!

Here is another picture of our eating area - different table cloth as you can see. Even Ginger's towel on the floor under her "eating area" is blue. ~smile~

I may be asking some advice eventually about how best to hang window treatments for these windows that overlook our deck. I have blue toile fabric that I want to make some sort of valances with. Not sure what to do over the door - if anything (?)

Here's a close up of my plates. I may change them out someday. I hope to get some plates that will look more uniform up here.

Ginger wants to show you her blue item for today. This is her little bed tucked in a corner behind a chair - beside our fireplace. A nice warm little "cave" for her - she has a window view of the squirrels on our deck. It makes her feel like she is "policing" the area. After all - that's her job right?

Ginger - everybody has already seen Cranky Kitty! You've shown him before in other posts! Can you tell this is her favorite toy?

Here is a decorative knob on my cupboard doors in my kitchen. I need a few more of them - I am kicking myself for not picking up more when I found them in a cute little store in Port Townsend, Washington. When I purchase blue delft outlet covers, more knobs, and put blue and white toile curtains up - this room should look finished. I will be happy when I can call ONE room in this house done!

This is a dish that my husband got for me one year for our anniversary. He went into an antique store and picked it out himself! You would have to know my husband to understand why that is such a big deal. He NEVER steps foot into a store if he can help it. The thought that he went in and picked this out without any prompting from me made this gift extra special to me.

He knows that I love antiques and blues - a perfect choice! What a guy huh?

That is all I have time for today -I am sure I can find lots more to show you later - I seem to have an inexhaustible amount of blue in my home.

I am off to drool over your blue treasures!

Blessings,

Kymber

Gratitude

I had so much fun yesterday - visiting everyone who participated in Pink Saturday. Thank you all who stopped by to see my collection of "Pinks" and took the time to leave a comment. It was great to hear from all of you!

The song that I am sharing with you today can be taken several different ways. The love of a parent for a child and the love God has for us. I am so grateful that even though life can be difficult at times that I remain - forever safe in the comforting arms of God my Heavenly Father.

I am missing my children today. Even though they grow up and move away they always remain in your memory... the small child that you remember holding safe in your arms.

Congratulations to my beautiful son who got his first job on Friday! He is in college and his schedule will be crazy busy, but son - if you are reading this - I am so proud of you!

Blessings,
Kymber

Pink Saturday

This is my first Pink Saturday post and I am so excited to be joining in the fun! Thanks to Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for starting this fun event. Be sure to visit Beverly's blog to see a complete list of participants.

I thought it fitting to show you a bathroom in our home that is made up of various shades of pink and burgundy. I call it the Rose Room - can you see why? :-)

I have enjoyed collecting rose items over the years. I have a few things left that I want to do in here - namely choosing a color for the walls that will compliment and not overwhelm this room. As you can see - there is a lot going on in here!

I love this heart plaque. I have always been drawn to "Victorian"decor. The shelf is something that I embellished years ago out of necessity.

When my daughter was young, she was in gymnastics. She loved to do cartwheels throughout the house. I had a hutch where I displayed all of my fine china that I received from my great-grandmother... Do you see where I am going with this?

My sweet daughter clipped the edge of a beautiful teapot that my grandma had given me and it fell to the floor and shattered into pieces before I could catch it. I was devastated and so was she!

I saved all of the pieces because I couldn't bear to throw them away. One day I read about mosaic designs in a magazine and I knew what I was going to do with the pieces. my girlfriend came over and finished the deed of breaking the teapot into smaller pieces because I couldn't bring myself to do it. After adhering the pieces onto the painted shelf, I grouted it, wiped it clean and what you see is the finished result! It was a fun project to do. If you are interested in doing a mosaic project of your own, check out this great HGTV article.

I am still able to hold onto a part of my beloved grandmother - all was not lost after all!

I hope one day to do more mosaic pieces like this - unfortunately, I have MORE precious items that weren't able to survive my children's roughhousing. I guess when you have seven children - you are likely to have some mishaps now and again. :-)

I found this shower curtain on ebay. It was one of the few times I actually won and got a good price in the process! I hope to pull a color out of this shower curtain to use for the paint color in the room. Maybe a light shade of mocha perhaps? I really am at a loss when it comes to paint colors!

(Pay no attention to the towels in this bathroom - I didn't even notice that they were all askew when I took the pictures!)

Okay - now the towel is straight - but it is off center - Grrr!

Isn't this a cute metal toleware piece? I got it at one of my favorite stores here in Atlanta "The Classy Flea." I am always on the lookout for toleware pieces and couldn't pass this one up.

Okay.... again - Do.not.look.at.the.towel! ACK! What was I thinking? Did I just throw things together in here?

I am really proud of this picture. It was a card that I got free from Hallmark - some promo deal they had going - I don't remember. I picked up the frame for .25 at Goodwill and voila! A cute picture for pennies! I will probably spray paint the frame white to match the bathroom colors better.

Can you tell I also love candles? When guests come over they are always afraid their hair will go up in flames - but really - doesn't everything look better in the glow of candlelight?

I am so glad that you stopped by for my first Pink Saturday post! It has been a lot of fun showing all of my pink treasures to you! Now I am off to see what you have to show today!

Blessings,

Kymber

W.I.P.(Work In Progress) Wednesday

Another Wednesday is upon us and it's time to show the progress I am making on my handcrafts this week. Posting my progress every week has really helped me stay on task. Even if I am the only one it motivates - it is helping me to get these projects finished - and that is all that matters - right?

I am up to the "F" and "G" Blocks now as you can see. If I keep going, I should be able to have this alphabet book done by my granddaughter's birthday. I have other things that I want to make her as well - so time is of the essence!

I have also been adding to the baby blanket when I need a break from all of those tiny stitches. I have come a long way on the blanket and am now completing the edging - there is an end in sight! I'm not making this blanket for anyone in particular - just finishing a project that has been sitting around unfinished. Of course - if there should be an occasion in the near future for this blanket to be used (hint, hint - to my daughters out there!) it will be ready and waiting. Not that I am being pushy or anything! ~smile~
It has been fun to see how much I have been able to accomplish - just by picking up my sewing when I have a spare moment here and there. All of the moments that I have taken advantage of have really paid off. When I sit and watch televison in the evenings and when my babies that I "nanny" for are napping, I can get quite a bit done.

Just a few more finishing touches needed for each piece. I need to add buttons to this charming gingerbread man and maybe a ribbon bowtie. Some french knots all around each block and they will be done! A few precious moments relaxing in front of the television - will turn into a fun finished creation!

Check out this inspiring gal! She really motivates me because she is SO productive with her time. She is extremely talented with a needle and thread. Whenever I need a burst of fresh inspiration I visit her and my creative juices flow with new ideas!

What unfinished projects are you working on this week?

Blessings for a creative week ahead!

Kymber

Blue Monday

My very first Blue Monday Post! I have wanted to participate for some time now. Thank you Smiling Sally for inviting us all to participate with you!

I LOVE the color blue and have to try really hard not to put it in every room. I am just drawn to it - I can't help myself

This is a little vignette atop my refrigerator. I bought this planter at a great little import outlet store years ago and I love to fill it with faux flowers for the changing seasons. All right - all of you faux flower police - I know it is a decorator no no - but I really needed to step outside the box and add more "sunshine" to my kitchen area. I just love the look of yellows and blues together and it shows off an area of my kitchen that normally wouldn't be seen.

Just look at the details - This is one of my favorite treasures!
My husband thought it was kind of strange when I put the Carpet Balls in this jar but I like the blues and yellows together.

This is a little corner of my kitchen counter. (I wish the rooster plate was big enough to cover the outlet behind it!) I bought these at my favorite store here in Georgia - Hobby Lobby.


Here is another cute find. I got this little rooster at The Classy Flea. He is so fun - I want to find him a cute little yellow polka dot bow for around his neck. :-)
I have my eye on some delft ceramic outlet covers from ebay - Cross your fingers that I can snatch them up before someone else does!

These beauties were my mom's. They are sitting in a shelf that I have in my kitchen. It is actually a pillar that has shelves built in all the way to the ceiling. I have thought about painting the inside to help my treasures stand out more - what do you think?

These pieces are in the hutch in my dining room. I love the yellow plates behind the blue glassware. My husband's boss gives us a new plate every year and it has been fun to see what he picks out for us. I love how unique they are! I would love to display them all but some of them are too big. I may have to hang some of them on the wall to enjoy!

I hope you liked my pretty blues for this week. I look forward to showing off more of my treasures in future posts.
Blessings on your day today!
Kymber

Through Every Storm, Lord

Two Awards

This post is long overdue! I have received two wonderful awards from this lovely lady. If you haven't visited her blog yet - check it out - you are in for a treat. She posts nearly every day and always has great ideas to share.

This first award "focuses on the friendships that blossom here in blog land.
Blogs who receive this award are 'exceedingly charming' say its authors. This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Thank you Susan! When I started blogging ,I had no idea the wonderful people that I would be privileged to meet and call my "new friends". I have enjoyed starting my day with you all here in blogland - the problem had been for me - when to stop! I find new blogs every day that I like to visit. There are so many talented writers out there! I have to pull myself away from the computer some mornings!

I would love to pass this award along to some of the women that fill my days with laughter, sunshine, inspiration and joy.

I read an assortment of blogs. Some of them craft, some of them repurpose, and some are such great decorators they take my breath away and I want to come live in their homes.

These great ladies do all of the above:

Penny - Lavender Hill Studio - Penny is a crafter that makes the most beautiful mosaic pieces that I have ever seen! You will literally drool into your keyboard when you see what she creates. Even though we have never met, I feel like I know her - just from reading her blog! She shares her heart with you and you come away feeling like you are sitting across the table from her sharing a cup of tea!

Kathy - Kathy's Cottage - Kathy is such a sweet lady! She has a beautiful home and creates some beautiful handmade pieces that make me want to run to my sewing room! After reading her blog from the beginning, you really get a sense of the beautiful spirit behind the words. Check her out and be inspired.

"Picket"- Picket's Place - this sweet gal shares her beautiful home as well as her fun sense of humor. She draws you in with her big personality and you truly feel like you are one of her friends when reading her posts.

Rhonda - Scooterblu's Whimsy - I can't say enough about this great lady. I am always happy to see her new posts come in - she is so talented and has great ideas to share. She definitely deserves this award!

Dana - The Stone Rabbit - Dana has such a great sense of humor. I highly suggest reading her blogposts from the beginning - you won't be disappointed. She stages her blog around her mischevious Stone Rabbit friend. He is very curious and must be involved in everything she does. Dana's Pink Saturday posts will have you rolling on the floor with laughter. She deserves this award for sharing such a large part of herself through her words.

The Muse - A Diva's Hammer..Wielded By The Muse - The Muse is such a fun gal! She has the most fascinating posts and draws you in by getting you involved. She always takes the time even though her site is extremely active - to give encouragement and extends friendship to all. I have throughly enjoyed getting to know this special lady.

Ann - LifeAtAnnsPlace - From the beginning Ann has shown me such kindness and love. She has encouraged me along the way and checked in on me when she knew times would be hard. Ann - I don't know if you have received this award or not but honey you are the epitome of the word "friend". I know many of you out there in blogland have been touched by this special lady. Happy to know you my friend! You deserve this!

Gloria - Happy To be - Gloria has also become a dear friend. I am truly happy to know you sweet lady! Check out her blog to see her beautiful home and get to know her. You will be blessed by her too!

I wanted to add one more deserving lady to my list here to receive this award. Her name is Glenda. Many of you know her - I am sure. She doesn't have a blog, but always sends words of encouragement to those of us who do. I have tried to get her to join us, but she is happy to sit on the sidelines. She always has so much to contribute to conversations. I am truly happy to have gotten to know this special lady and for once want HER to be recognized for what she is to so many - a beautiful friend.

Susan also chose to share the Georgia Friends Award with me. Susan (WAVING HAND FRANTICALLY) How did you get the award to say Georgia across it? And how do I put it on my sidebar? Whenever I try to cut and paste,it just takes me to your post. Any suggestions? (I feel like such a newbie sometimes - grrr!)

ANYWAY - Susan gave the links to a few fellow Georgia bloggers out there but I do have two more to add.

At Home In Georgia - She is a military wife here in Georgia. She has two beautiful kids and shares her lovely home. Pop over to say hi and welcome her into our new "club"

Yvette - The Charm House - Yvette is a sister Christian and is such a talented writer. I am so happy to add her to our new club!

Thanks Susan for forming this little group.What fun this is - -a chance to meet new people in your own back yard! Are there any more of you Georgia gals out there that would like to join us? I would love to meet you - please drop me a line to say hi and I will pass your blog name along to Susan to be added to the list.

I just wanted to say a special thank you to all of you who take the time to visit me and leave such sweet comments. I enjoy getting to know you all and am so glad you stop by time and again to read my ramblings. You all brighten my days!

As to those of you enquiring about my health - I am feeling much better after a visit to my doctor. He supplied me with lots of meds to set me on the road to recovery. My advice to you all - GO TO THE DOCTOR if you have an illness lasting more than a week. Your body may be trying to tell you something and it is best to listen to it.

Blessings on your day today!

Kymber

Note To Self

Note to self: When attempting to take a luxurious bath in your jacuzzi tub for the very first time, always run the jets for awhile first to clean them out.

I have been suffering from some sort of bug for the past two weeks. Actually, I have had it off and on since Thanksgiving. I come home everyday from work feeling exhausted and have been crawling into bed directly from the dinner table. Thankfully I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday to get to the bottom of this.
My husband suggested a bath to help me relax and when he told me he would draw it for me, of course I jumped at the chance! I don't know what it is about the bathtub. I have been looking forward to using it since we moved here, but for some reason, I find every excuse not to. It DOES take forever to clean - so maybe that is it.

This is a picture of the tub in my Master bathroom. Now remember - I am starting with a blank slate here. I am trying to redo everything in this room. I want to change my colors in here to blacks, whites and golds. Moving to this big house has been a challenge because everywhere I turn - there is work to be done. Lately I have been letting the store sales dictate what room I work on, but now I am going to concentrate on this room for awhile.
I am digressing...
Back to my bath.
My hubby went upstairs and ran the water while I got my wine and CD'S ready. Why not go all out right?
He filled the tub to the top with hot (scalding actually!) water and I added lavender bath salts. Oh it smelled heavenly! I was wondering what took me so long to do this!
I shooed him out of the room and turned the music on, turned some lights off and lit my candles. The atmosphere was so relaxing!

This is when I realized our mistake. I TURNED THE JETS ON. Sediment started to come out of the pipes. I yelled to my husband to help me and between the two of us, we were able to clean it out. I was not quite sure at this point if I wanted to continue, but I didn't want to discourage my husband as he was so nice to draw the bath for me in the first place. The problem was that he had used all of the hot water filling the tub so if I were to drain it at this point, I would have had to forget the bath until the water heated up again.
I reassured him that it was okay - and he left the room. I lowered myself into the scalding hot water and tried to get comfortable. I turned the jets back on and settled back - lulled by the soothing spray of the jets. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something black hurtling at me from the jet spray. I jumped up in panic to see that it was quite large. I turned off the jets and to my horror, I realised that I was sitting in a tub full of water with a big black SPIDER!! It had crawled into the pipes at some point and was now in the tub with me. I am deathly afraid of spiders - alive OR dead. This one was dead, but it really didn't matter. I screamed and bolted out of the tub. The walls and floor were sprayed with water. I didn't care. I am quite sure I will never be able to enjoy a jacuzzi bath again!

I know - most of you reading this are probably saying - well you idiot - you should know to clean out the jets first! I really hadn't thought that far ahead. I was just so astonished that my hubby would do such a sweet thing for me that I didn't think about anything else. Believe me - I have learned my lesson! My worst nightmare came true - swimming with a spider...ICK!
So back to my decorating dilemma. it is hard to know where to start. I definitely NEED to start with some rugs.

The mornings can be brutal when you have to stand on this cold tile floor! The bathroom is quite large and right now, too stark. I want to put a big white linen cupboard with glass doors against the wall where you see the scale and candle in this picture.

I need to add a big picture or a large iron work piece for the wall over the tub. I think when I start filling it up, it will look so much better and warm it up a bit. Any suggestions on colors for the walls?

As you can see I have my work cut out for me. I really DO welcome any suggestions that you may have for this room. Also - if you can tell me a way to get my husband to upgrade from using the Pert Plus shampoo that you see in the shower - I would truly appreciate it. He has used this ever since we have been married. If I were to use it on MY hair - I am afraid it would all fall out or be FULL of tangles. I have tried to get him to use my Salon brand - but he seems to think he will turn into a woman if he tries it ~smile~

Blessings,

Kymber