And 2018 Begins.

Happy New Year!!! Since we are only halfway through the first month, surely I'm not too late. I made my "resolutions" for lack of a better word, and am working on my life. So thankful I am so blessed that resolutions are something I can focus on because I don't have to worry about my basic needs. So thankful.

In the recent cold snap...heck, deep freeze!...I gave thanks for a protective and warm shelter, warm electric blanket, and running water when I woke up in the mornings. I'm hoping I don't have frozen pipes this morning as I forgot to leave a faucet dripping! I have yet to figure out how you people in the north survived crazy cold winters and don't have frozen pipes. Baffled. Beyond my comprehension.

 So what have I been up to, you ask? Because it's obvious it hasn't been blogging. Last year was a tough work year. What should have been our down year, recuperation time, reorganize and get the office back in order year, became one of the busiest years I think I've ever experienced there. Including an election on Halloween!!! And the week of Thanksgiving! But my sweet nieces came to see me at work so I wouldn't miss out. Little Miss trick or treated from desk to desk.

I've spent my downtime exploring many interests, including family history and genealogy. I find this fascinating! This pic, my great grandmother and brother sitting on the porch of the house I live in now.  Wonder if the paw prints were in the concrete at this point or if it was repoured at some point. Anyway, I've hit a roadblock on my great great grandfather that will take some real digging and hopefully that will crack the case.  Although this is a "big" election year, I still think it will be less crazy than last year. So i should be able to find time to take some days off and Visit the historical center. I'll let you know if i figure it out.

Y'all, I started this entry early yesterday morning, having no idea what had happened overnight.  Our police officers were ambushed, four sent to the hospital.  One barely hanging on to life.  I'm not sure why it is settling so heavy on my heart, but it definitely is. I am familiar with two of the officers through my work.  Even if i weren't, the images in my mind of the chaos, fear, adrenaline, grief, anger, confusion...the families at home having no clue anything had happened.  Or maybe listening to it unfold over a scanner, and feeling so totally helpless.  My heart physically hurts for the officers, their family and friends. Please pray for them and especially for officer Doty.

Thanks y'all.

2014 Wrap Up

2015 has already been quite eventful, and I haven't even had the chance to wrap up 2014 yet! So let's do that before 2015 totally overtakes me and I just blow off the 2014 wrap up all together.

January - It seems I started doing a photo a day in January.  Here is the first post. I'm not sure how long this lasted - I guess we'll find out as I move through the year.  I kinda hate I quit because it's great to look back and see what you were doing on a day by day basis!

February - February brought snow to the South.  Yes, we kinda lose our freakin' minds when it snows because we don't see too much of the fluffy white stuff around here.  So photos galore and happy children playing in the snow is the theme of this Photo Challenge Wednesday.

March - I was pretty darn happy in March.  The ice and snow melted and Spring slowly started to emerge.  Lots of fun photos of pretty sunsets and flowers and all things nature. And sweet niece voting! See more here from one of my Photo Challenge Wednesdays!

April - I love otters, did you know that? I think otters rock! I also love Spring, flowers, mild/warm temperatures, and cuteness on babies. :)  April I only posted three times - all three Photo Challenge Wednesdays, which I find impressive.  Check one out here.
























May - Spring time photo shoot with the chappies!  Sweet niece #1 is a perfect princess to pose for photos. She is really photogenic, too.  Sweet Niece #2 ... well it's a bit harder.  You can check out some of the pics here. Just looking back over May, I can see how work was pushing me under without a breath, trying to drown me!

June - Things got ugly in June.  June was sickness for me and about 8 doctor visits?  June was sickness and emergency surgery for my sister, too, which was obviously stressful.  And an election, which is what my job is all about.  Read some here, which was written before we realized she would have surgery.  It also shows photos of my house all cleaned up!, thanks to the goodness of my mom and sister. But there was a lot of good in June, too, as this post shows. Painting party being one of them!

July - Let's finish up the medical drama, including mom getting shingles, in this first post.  You'll also get fighter niece! HI-YA! And then, because I know no one wants all that drama, I shared fun photos of both kids and great scripture verses.  

August - Ahhh... August.  With August came EDISTO.  (Or Edislow as it's called).  Man, if we all didn't need a break to soak up salt water mist and melt into warm sandy beach.  Yes, Edisto is good, and you can see how good here and here. I also got crazy crafty with my LOVE canvas here and the office-grown pumpkin, fru-frued up for the fall holidays, which is featured here. :) 

September - It's my birth month! But during an election season - yeah, it's not as much fun.  But I got Downton Abbey so WHOOPIE!  Also took Baby Sweet Niece to a pumpkin patch - loads of fun! Check it out here! 

October - Man I love autumn and the beautiful leaves of the season.  Love it.  Enjoy lots of it here. And a stroll down a Friday's Letters Lane here. 

November - This is a very excited Ellie! She's part of this Friday's Letter! Along with Shrek, Sunsets, Macy baking cookies, ... all kinds of funness.  And one little Thanksgiving blog with no photos here. 

December - Obviously, the Election is over bc I finally caught up on Halloween and Thanksgiving here!  A new kitten appeared in this post "Run Faster, Catch Up With Life!"

And I think I will end it there.  Of course there were dozens of posts outside of those highlighted here, but eh, that's the past! Onward to the future! :) And to the first post of 2015! :)  Thanks for joining me on the journey. 

Friday's Letter

It's a Whitman's Sampler box, turned tacky. :)

Dear pen pals, I'm glad you are ok with me attempting to be creative... even when it turns out pretty darn tacky. But it's the thought that counts, right? RIGHT?! Look at how cute these are at Creative Breathing... but understand it's the THOUGHT THAT COUNTS.  ;)

Dear friends, I have had two of you share with me how much you appreciate my support and encouragement in the past.  While I'm slightly baffled - I don't feel like I did anything special or out-of-the-ordinary - I can't explain how wonderful it felt to hear such high praise from people I care about. I'm all about telling people what they mean to you and really appreciate you sharing with me! IT MADE MY DAY WEEK.

Do you see how large this is? Check out the person on the left... it's big.

Dear High School Christmas Show, I'm really glad we randomly chose you to see last night! It brought back all kinds of high school band nerd memories... But even cooler was the HUGE gumball art of horses running in the hallway. Seriously awesome.

Dear Week, you've been busy!  Work Christmas gathering, babysitting Macy, visiting with an old high school friend, visiting with Sara, ... this weekend promises to be packed, too, but it's ok. I'm happy to have people who want to spend time with me. :)  Just let me get a little sleep, please.

Store front and street in Downtown

Left: bedroom pencil tree   right: tabletop living room tree

Dear Christmas lights, I love you. I adore you. I light up like a little kid when I see your flickering and twinkling - you seem to just explode with joy and happiness. *sigh* I love it. I also loved getting my trees up in the house and adding to the festive feeling at home. It's all warm and cozy. 

Dear Christmas Cards - I'm so thankful you have been mailed already. Now I can sit back and enjoy seeing cards come to me!  My fridge is enjoying the decoration. :) 

Dear Macy, because no posting is truly complete without your adorable little face, here is a post from my babysitting date.  You are all drool-y and smile-ly and slobber-y. It's kinda nasty and sweet at the same time.  :) 

Dear Pressed Clovers - another sale this week! Holy cow, Batman, it feels so good! :) Thank you for believing in me and my work!

Dear Lord, You are amazing. Thank you for holding my Dad in your hands, keeping him close to You during each cancer treatment. Thank you for the many people praying on his behalf all across the country.  Thank you for bringing baby Ryan through his surgery, too! (I've picked him out to be Macy's first boyfriend...).  You are good in all things and I thank You.

Join us over at Adventures of Newlyweds to link up your letter! 

Thanksgiving!

find it here

So true!! Today we will have about 25 people gathered together to feast on some seriously delicious Southern food. And we are all very thankful for our families, our friends, and the many blessings we have each received over the past year.

I've shared two days of Thankful Things, so I'd like to wrap up Thanksgiving with just a few more things I'm so very grateful for in life.

My home. I love my home. Every room, every square inch is a testament of my family's love. Every family member - even my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, gave to creating this cozy cottage for me to live happily ever after.  It's perfect for me. :)

My job.  I have learned more about myself and my hidden talents through this job and I'm so very thankful for the opportunity to give back to my nation, state, county and community through this position.

The lessons learned.  I told you, I'm trying to be thankful in all things, and you know, I have learned a lot through my mistakes, mess-ups, shortsightedness, and thoughtlessness.  And although I know I've hurt people (and myself!) along the way I can at least say I'm learning.

Pressed Clovers.  My very first venture into stepping into the great unknown of sales but I'm happy I did it and put myself out there.  No, I'm not selling out on Etsy, but it amazes me the sales that have been generated on a local level from advertising the Etsy shop.  God has it all in His control, so I'm not longer worrying about it.  But I'm so very thankful that step was taken this year.

My readers!! I'm thankful for you!! I know, I call you my imaginary friends, but you are very real and I greatly appreciate you bringing me into your home for a read on my life.  Thanks for dropping in and say hi from time to time, I'd love to hear from you.

So, with this, I'm wrapping up and letting you enjoy your Thanksgiving feast.  I hope your holiday is fabulous! Gobble til you Wobble! :)

Saturday.

Since it's almost 5pm, I think I can sum up my one day off this week... Productive. Work. Success.

We've been put on notice, this is our last day off until after the election. Instead of resting, I have really accomplished some stuff.

Like getting over the stomach bug. Ugh.

Really making a dent in the Christmas orders for Pressed Clovers.



Yes, Christmas has exploded all over my house and glitter is popping up everywhere.

Muffin is helping... Yeah right.



Did I tell you she chewed an entire stack of pages ready to make into two books? Yeah, not a happy mommy.

I installed a new toilet seat I got for my birthday and only dropped the screwdriver in the toilet once.

I halfway swept.

So yeah, I'm ready for a nap but instead plan on working on my books a bit more and maybe making an apple cake. If I jack the air conditioning down far enough, it almost feels like autumn...

Because you haven't seen an Ellie pictures lately, I'll leave you with a picture or two from dinner last night!






Leave me a message and let me know what exciting things you are getting into this weekend! Or a link to your favorite autumnal dish!

posted from Bloggeroid

The details of a home

I did get up and get moving. I'm cleaning house because I know there is a time quickly approaching where I'll be working seven days a week and housework will be a dream.

I'm not done, but I've made headway. In the process, I've fallen in love with my house all over again. Here are a few detail shots. To see a better overview, look to the right and read "Before and After".


The vanity in my bedroom sports this beaded purse I found for $5 at a shop in Abbeville, SC.


The right side of my vanity, with a pic of me and my great-grandma, whose house I live in. My mom recreated a flower arrangement sent to me on my birthday over 10 years ago and it's in the back.


My quilt rack holds three quilts, one from my grandmas on each side and great-grandmother. Probably the last one she made as she died the month before I was born and she had already given it as a baby gift to me.


Also four sets of pillow cases embroidered by my grandma, mom and sister.



My bathroom mirror, an old and heavy as all get out relic I found at a yard sale. The silvering is chipping off the back, the border isn't perfect but I love it. Wish it were bright white but I'm not repainting it.


As you already know, I'm sentimental. So this painting in my bathroom is so perfect to me-painted by my mom! Wisteria, which I love, too.





My corner cabinets in the dining room. I searched like crazy until I found matching cabinets. Now they hold all kind of mismatched treasures, but they are all "me." The baby booty with Macy's footprint on the bottom, the made in occupied Japan figurines, pottery, my Palmetto tree monogram, the delicate blue crystal glasses...little pieces of me. :)

I'm very blessed to be in a family home and for it to be so beautiful. My dad really went all out, along with tons of other people, to make this house a home for me. Now to go finish cleaning It!

posted from Bloggeroid

Susan understands SAD

As usual, my heroine, SUSAN BRANCH, understands the Seasonal Affective Disorder. Or whatever it's called, I'm too lazy to look it up. Basically, as the days get shorter, my happy face gets droopier. This was apparent in the six day vacation from work last week, when storms started blowing through and my desire to clean my house began to diminish.

Even though I know we need the rain, my flowers and trees are begging for rain, the overcast gray skies just bring me down.  In Susan's Blog, she shows her cure - a light lamp.  Mine, I prefer something decorative and cutesy.  So I turn off the overhead lights and start turning on the lamps and glowy-things.

This would be a glowy-thing. A vine ball wrapped with white lights.  I spent part of my time off decorating for autumn and added the wreath.  I love the soft glow that just seems so warm and cozy.  I have light up twigs, mixed with real twigs that also make me very happy.  So basically I close all the curtains and ignore the fact that it's gloom and doom outside and make my little part of the world a bit cozier.

And because Tuesday felt like Monday, I think you need another picture of Muffin. Just because I want to. :)

One of her favorite places, sitting on the edge of the tub. She is such a sweet kitty. Ok, not really, but I love her anyway. :)

I'm so ready for fall and thankfully, we've had a break in the unbearably hot weather.  I'll admit, it was crisply cool last night, enough for me to wish for a light jacket. And this morning was a tad bit nippy. BUT, I'm loving it! Looking forward to the Beautiful leaves that will hopefully start changing colors just in time for my mountain trip with Gary. I want to do nothing but relax and look at beautiful scenery. :)

Speaking of beauty, please admire my very own roses, which I have grown myself!

Yes indeed, these came from the $5 clearance bin at Lowe's And they are loving my house, which makes me oh so very happy. These were taking just last week, so they are still blooming and being happy.

With all this now being shared, I believe I have spoken enough and it's time for me to head home and help dad peel pears for pear preserves. :)  His favorite. Have a great tail-end of the week!

Before...and After!

The photos I promised of my house, before and after.  Just a little history on my house:  this is my great-grandmother's home built in the 50's.  There was a large two-story home here that burned to the ground and destroyed most of the contents. My great-grandmother replaced the large home with this smaller one. It started out as a three bedroom, 1 bath house, but I made a few changes to create a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house. This project would never have been possible without my parents, siblings and in-laws. Thanks to all of you so much! Also a lot of help from my dad's brothers and lots of prayers!

Understand, we took this house down to the studs and added: new sheet rock, new electrical, a heat pump for central heating/air, new plumbing, new roof, I can't even remember what else. A lot.

So here we go on the house tour!

Dining Room before and Dining Room After. In the before picture - Bye Bye wood paneling!! The gas heater in the far left and the a/c unit in the window were the only methods of heating and cooling the house.  The large archway was removed. The archway separated the living and dining room area but now it's just one open space.

The Living Room before and the Living Room after: There was a door that lead into the back of the house, but I just made it a plain opening - no door. The first before and after pics are taken from the dining room area, looking into the living area.  The other before pic is taken from the hallway/doorway area. The circle on the far wall is actually a glare from the mirror. :)

Bathroom before and Bathroom after: Before, when you took a hot bath, your head was in the toilet. This was a very little bathroom, the door opened against the wall. Now, the door opens against the shower because we moved the tub into the closet of the bedroom next door, giving LOTS of extra bathroom space. And upgraded the sink, tub, etc. :)  The picture you see is hanging where the tub was. The toilet is in the same place.

The Master Bedroom before and the Master Bedroom after: Because we were using the third smallest bedroom as a closet for the master bedroom, we removed the existing closet.  Where the potted plant is below is where the closet was before.  In the bed picture, you can barely see the doorway we added to the new closet for the master bedroom. Painted in a soft grey color, it's really pretty and restful.

The Third Bedroom before and the Master Closet after:  As you can see, we had some roof issues.  Major water issues throughout the house.  This closet you see below in the before pictures is where we put the tub. We walled in the hallway into this room to create a linen closet and added a door from the master bedroom to create a huge storage area for the house. I have two rows of storage tubs behind the door, two rows to the left of the bookcase, another row to the right of the bookcase, an entire row of closet hanging space on the right wall, a full length mirror in front of one window and the bookcase blocks the other window.

Spare Bedroom before and Spare Bedroom after:  I decided to keep a twin bed in this room, along with my computer and office set up.  This is where I am right now!  Muffin loves to lay on the bed and watch the birds outside the window.  :) 


The Kitchen before and the Kitchen after: Gosh, I don't know where to start here. We ended up moving the doorway to have space enough for upper and lower cabinets against the left wall.  The sink unit that was in here was really cool - a 50's era feel to it. But didn't match what I was going with. So we took it out. More water damage in the ceiling. Finally fit the fridge in here (before it was in the utility room). LOVE my kitchen. Granite counter tops and tile floor and back splash. LOVE IT. (Thanks Clay!)




The last room - Utility Room! This room was added on by my dad a million years ago. I can't remember a time when it wasn't there, but it's the only room in the house with 8 ft. ceilings. :)  This room did have the fridge, washer, dryer, hot water heater.  We moved the fridge back to the kitchen, the hot water heater outside and left the washer and dryer.  But we had to add the air handler in here. Regardless, I plan on moving a treadmill in here soon, so obviously, it's a sizable room. Thank heavens!

Alrighty, there is your tour of the Covington Cottage!  I can't tell you how much I love living here and how much I appreciate all the people who put blood, sweat and tears into helping me remodel and move in. It was a rough several months, but look how beautiful it is now!