Movin On Up!

We FINALLY got a king sized bed recently! I've waited for this for YEARS! I even registered and received two sets of king sized sheets at my bridal shower FOUR YEARS AGO! I know I shouldn't shout so much, but I'm just really dang excited!

We tried to stay under a certain budget, so at the time we were only going to purchase the mattress. The plan was to buy a bed frame and maybe make a head board out of some old doors we have. Well Charlie being the awesome husband that he is, not only helped me buy a mattress, but scoured Craigslist that week and found a bed for $400! Up until now we hadn't found a bed that we agreed on and any ones that we did like were in the $1500+ range. Yikes! At first I wasn't 100% sold on the bed, but Chuck said "we're getting it" and that was that. He was right and I'm so glad we bought it! I'm not sure how old it is, but it's real wood and it's been refinished. We bought it from Shabby Pickins if anyone is interested.

The bedroom looks a million times more put together now! We were sleeping on a 15+ (I know it's gross, don't judge!) queen mattress that I've had since high school and Charlie's bed that he's had who knows how long and it just wasn't our style.

It was super hard to get a good photo in that room, but here is the before and after for ya. I can't wait to get some updated nightstands and matching lamps, hang up some artwork and photos, and get my parents to bring down my Grandmother's cabinet that I have big plans for.

BEFORE:

Muuuuuuuuuch better AFTER:

Jean

I mention with sadness that my Grandmother passed away on April 25th. She was a wonderful beautiful soul and I loved her very very dearly! As a child I never went to daycare, I stayed with my grandparents during the day. She was like a mother to me. She will be greatly missed, but I am very happy she is at rest now. I visited her at the nursing home she was in a few nights before she passed and she was very restless. She looked sad and in pain and I truly feel she was ready to go to Heaven and be with my Papa (who was something of a favorite of mine). I held her hand and kissed her forehead and told her that I loved and missed her. She didn't really speak very much toward the end, but she looked me in the eyes and shook her head yes and I know that she was saying she missed and loved me too. I am so grateful to have had that moment with her and that I got to say goodbye.

Her name was Jean. I don't dare post her whole name, because she never liked it. She was very spiritual, very kind, nurturing, and a wonderful cook! She always had something in her cake stand on her dining room table. And no matter if you had just eaten, if you went to Grandma's you ate again! My favorite thing she made was fried squash (no body made it as good as she did!) and her French coconut pie. She knew how much I loved that pie and every time she was making one she ended up making a second one just for me! Loved that woman! I have all of her hand written recipes and I'd love to post a few on here and maybe even veganize (it's totally a word) a few someday.

I used to sit in Nana's lap while she would rock me to sleep, and as I got older I'd sit beside her on the couch and throw my legs over her lap and tell her all my troubles. She told me I'd never be too big to sit in her lap. And I guarantee I'd still be doing just that if I could! She used to sing me to sleep to songs like Frankie and Johnny (my favorite!), Two Little Orphans, & Froggie Went a Courtin. I wish very much I had recorded it.

She always had a way of comforting me. Of making everything seem all right. I knew that no matter how much I messed up Nana and Papa would always love me. It was pure, true, unconditional love. She called me her tender-heart (and occasionally pumpkin-eater). I learned so much from her. My only regret is that I there is still so much I wish I had learned from her. I wish she could have been at my wedding, known Charlie better, met Otis, and see the ranch! I know she would have loved it all!

I wanted to post this today on the 4th of July because this day makes me think of her. We have a big family. She had four sons, all of which have children, so I have lots of cousins. We'd always get together at her house on the 4th and have a cookout and homemade ice-cream. Nana made the best ice-cream!! We usually had chocolate and two ice cream makers full of vanilla (my fav). All of the guys would be on the deck watching the ice-cream to make sure it was just right and even turning some of the crank type ice-cream makers.  Nana would be inside mixing up a batch of ice-cream mixture in a huge metal bowl in her kitchen. Kids would be running around the yard. Then we'd all gather together and fill up our solo cups with as much ice-cream as it could hold. I miss those days, the days of my childhood. I have such wonderful memories and Nana had a big hand in those.

I miss you so very much Nana! But I am so glad you're at peace now! I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!

The Fox

Charlie recently took me to see The Lion King at The Fox Theatre. I love going to The Fox! It's my all time favorite building ever. Anyway, while I was there I snapped a few crappy photos from my phone (cause I stupidly forgot to bring my DSLR or what I call my "fancy camera"). It's beautiful inside. It looks like you're watching a play outdoors in some far eastern place under the night sky. There actually is a night sky above you complete with twinkling stars! I wanted us to get married there, but it was above my budget. We did have a few engagement photos taken outside of it though. If you've never been, I highly recommend a visit!

I apologize for the PDA, but I couldn't resist. 

I got a Nikon camera, I love to take a photograph...

So Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away... Sing it with me!

This week I've been reading up on aperture, shutter speed, & ISO and really trying to improve my photography skills.  I've forced myself to use manual mode for a while now, but up until yesterday it was trial and error. This week I really tried to put everything together. Plus, I'd gotten really lazy lately and had pretty much defaulted back to automatic, which explains the crappy photos on the blog up until now. Please excuse them as technical difficulties. Anywho... for the past week I've been reading these posts from it's overflowing and they have helped me tremendously. Can't wait to delve into metering next!

This post will be pretty much all photos, but who doesn't love that??  So here are my straight out of the camera (with the exception of an added watermark) completely unedited photos from yesterday. It was overcast yesterday so I was working under less than sunny conditions.  I'm no expert and these aren't museum quality, but they are much better than the photos I have been taking lately. Here's hoping I never default to lazy automatic mode again!

Otis super loves his plastic peanut butter "bone". I think he'd marry it if he could.

Silly Otis!

Department Store Couponing - AKA getting crap you want anyway for almost free!

This past weekend I had a fun day out just me and my Mom. We went to a boutique in Cumming, GA called Parsons. They were having a fashion show and giveaways. The fashion show was fun, but not really to my clothing tastes. I did win a candle holder, which I gave to Mom. Later in the day, we happened across a free photo booth at a nearby mall and this happened...

Anyway, back to Parsons. The real excitement for me was the $5 store coupon they handed out to everyone. I didn't see on the coupon whether or not there was a purchase limit. Normally when department stores give out coupons like this they make you spend at least the amount of the coupon. I know this isn't coupon rocket science, but I treat these occasions as a personal challenge to get as close to the coupon amount as possible. Now I'm not condoning buying a bunch of crap just because you have a coupon. That is a no no. But if there happens to be something at a store that you have a coupon for, that you need / would have purchased anyway / could gift to someone, then by all means milk that puppy for all it's worth! I've gotten birthday gifts for people for $5 or less this way, by using the coupons to purchase a clearance item I knew the receiver would love. I've also gotten a Food Network oven mitt for 50 cents. I have an Aunt that purchased a new fluffy white towel each time she received a $10 Kohl's coupon in the mail. With patience and persistence she now has a linen closet full of new towels for most likely less than the cost of one towel.

Some might call me cheap for doing this. They'd be right. But I can't help it. It's so much fun! Anytime I get one of these coupons from a store I know I could use something / find a gift, I walk around the entire store and pick out a few things I want / need for as close to the coupon amount as possible, while still being just a weeeeee bit over or right at the mark. This time at Parsons with my $5 coupon I found two hair elastic bands that I've been dying to try for $2.50 each. I picked two out, took them to the register and got them for free!! That's the closest I've ever gotten in this coupon "game"! I normally try not to spend over a buck or two. Definitely not even $5 over (unless it's a gift. $5 for a gift ain't bad!).  It's fun to see what you can get for free or under a couple dollars. So bring on those $10 coupons Kohl's, World Market, & DSW! I'm on it!!

Junk Mail Make Me Lose My Mind

Yeah, I'm totally singing the title of this post to the tune of this song...

Mail piles up quick and makes the biggest mess doesn't it?? I try my best to go through it regularly, but it does still get out of hand from time to time. This may not be entirely normal, but occasionally I think I might lose my mind if I see one more piece of mail from Xfinity or State Farm. Those two are the absolute worst for me. Imagine me shaking my fist at them and yelling out "I wish you people would leave me alone!". Well instead of the neighbors finding me in the yard ripping envelopes into tiny pieces, while muttering softly to myself, I decided to take action. 

I really appreciate it when companies make it easy to remove yourself from their mailing lists, and I do take advantage of that. These two companies however, listed no information whatsoever about being removed from their mailing lists. The State Farm mail had an email address, so I sent an email kindly asking them to remove our address from their list. Xfinity had a 1-800 number and after sitting on hold for way too long, I finally got a dude who had never even heard of a do not mail list, but he put me on hold again, figured it out, and took me off the list.

It feels really great to have finally taken care of that. It's the little things! 

People Let Me Tell You 'Bout My Best Friend

Meet Otis. Silliest dog this side of the Mississippi.  AKA The Tan Terror.

We adopted him 4 & 1/2 years ago from a local shelter. We were supposed to adopt his brother Oscar as well, but the shelter messed up and adopted Oscar out before we arrived. I am still a little heartbroken they had to be separated, but I supposed it wasn't meant to be.

Otis is a Shih Tzu. I'm pretty sure he's full blooded (i.e. not a mixed breed). He will be 6 years old this April.

Otis' favorite things include:

• Napping (the more pillows involved, the better)
• Dinner time
• Treats of all kinds (especially his dental chews and fresh veggies)
• Staring into the wind looking majestic
• Generally being terrified of just about everything 

In summary:  We loves him! (Anybody else watch Derek?)