Lovin' The Photo Wall Mural

So, when I was young, I think I was a bit of a wallflower.  I tended to want to blend into the crowd.  I didn't wear much color so I wouldn't stand out.  I've noticed that since I've gotten older, that has started to change, not only in my wardrobe but in my design choices.  I love color and I love bold choices.  The newest bold design choice that I am obsessed with is photo wall murals.  Now, I guess my mother was before her time on this because we had a wall mural in our dining room growing up.  It was a landscape in a room without a window, but what I am obsessed with is photos of people turned into wall murals. 

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The next one is my absolute favorite!

eclectic living room design by atlanta interior designer decordemon

(I cannot got this photo to move to the center.   Sorry it's whopper-jawed)

I would love to have a big black and white photo of the kids blown up to cover one wall.  I'm just not sure what room I would put it in.  I've noticed most of the photos I've seen this in are kind of a modern or contemporary design so I wonder if it would work in a more traditional space. 

So, what do you think?  Would you do this in your home?

God's Plan

So, I've been REALLY busy and have had a crazy summer so far.  As you may know, my BIL, SIL and niece have been staying with us for a few weeks.  You see, when they were on their way back to Houston from visiting us on Spring Break, they felt that God was leading them to move to Arkansas (they moved from here to Houston four years ago).  We NEVER expected them to come back our direction.  They were both born and raised in Texas and love it there.  But, when God tells you to move, you move.  So, they moved, knowing God had a reason. 

Sometimes when God has a plan and we are asked to do things, we don't always know WHY we are asked.  We don't always get to see God's plan unfold before us.  In this case, we did.  We may not know all of his plan, but we know at least part of it.  Let me explain.  Last week, we found out my MIL has cancer.  She was not showing signs of cancer when they were here in March.  She has always had her share of health problems, but nothing immediate.  The cancer is rare, inoperable and fast growing.  We don't know how much time she has left, but we do know that God has a plan.  And in that, we are comforted. 

So, for now we are trying to spend as much time as possible with her.  As I said, we know God has a plan. 

It's All Lauren's Fault!!!

Webster's dictionary describes obsession as a persistent, disturbing preoccupation with something.  Yep, that's pretty much what I've been dealing with.  You see, my friend Lauren at Not Yor Average Southern Belle posted the other day about a mirror project and a wingback chair project that she was working on.  She said she blamed Pinterest for these projects.  "What's Pinterest?" I thought.  So, being my nosy self, I had to click the little link button, which took me to Pinterest, aka my latest obsession. 

So, Pinterest is a website where people share creative ideas of all kind via photos.  Wanna see what I mean?  The photo below is inspiration for my dream backyard:

Photo Credit

or if you need some Fashion Inspiration:

Photo Credit 

Need some decor inspiration?

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How about a fabulous new recipe?

Photo Credit

The inspiration goes on and on.  I'm still learning the ins and outs of everything, but I'm loving all the creative ideas.  It's like ceative, computer crack.  Are you feeling the peer pressure?  Come on, go ahead, click the link.  Try it, you'll like it.  Pinterest. 

You can browse all you want, but you have to get an invitation to "pin" (save) your favorites.  It took me several days to get an invitation.  It may go quicker if you ae invited by a friend, like me.  If you want to be "invited" by me, just leave me your email and I'll send it out to you. 

Go ahead, click the link:  Pinterest.  I dare ya!

Love Me Some Flower Power!

So, y'all know I love a pillowcase dress, right?  LOVE them!  E has one that I made her three years ago that she can still wear as a top.  I love them.  So, a few months ago, I got a really good deal on a yard of fabric that I really love.

It's even prettier in person.  I love Jennifer Paganelli's Flower Power line.  I've made E at LEAST four outfits out of it.  I think it's my favorite fabric line of all time. 

AND, Old Navy was having a sale on their capri length leggings.  The bright pink matches perfectly.

LOVE the bright colors.  AND, she'll be able to wear it for several years.  Gotta love that!

Jimmy Crack Corn

So, ya know when your watching Food Network and they do those little 90 second spots during the commercial breaks that feature one of their on-air chefs and just a quick recipe or cooking tip?  It was one of those snippets where I discovered one of my new favorite recipes.  The snippet featured Claire Robinson from 5 Ingredient Fix.  Have y'all seen that show?  Well, here's the new recipe.  Claire calls it Grandma Moore's Creamed Corn but I renamed it "Jimmy Crack Corn".  Why?  Well, the first ingredient is corn AND y'all know that all the recipes I love have to have "crack" in the title.  Y'all ready for this? 

Ingredients

• 6 slices bacon
• 8 large cobs fresh corn, preferably white, shucked and cleaned
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crisp. Turn off the heat and transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Reserve the drippings in the pan.

On a cutting board, cut the stalk ends of the corn cobs to make a flat surface; stand them up and shave the corn from the cobs with a sharp chef's knife. Return the skillet to medium-low heat, and add the corn kernels.

With the back of the knife, firmly scrape the cobs over a shallow plate to extract as much liquid (milk) as possible (I just scraped it against the bowl).

Add the "milk" to the corn pan. 

Season corn lightly with salt and pepper and cook until broken down and creamy, about 30 to 45 minutes, stirring often; add water if the pan gets too dry.  Crumble bacon in and stir. 

Serve warm or at room temperature.  It's even good warmed up the next day! 


***I would like to point out that the hand featured in the above photos are the hands of Hubby.  I promise that I am not that hairy.***

Summertime TV

So, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love my TV.  When we were trying to cut costs around the house a few months ago, my Hubby was threatening to cut off my satellite.  I went into automatic Mama Bear mode.  "No, not my satellite!  I'd rather sell my left kidney on the black market."  You see, I have always been a TV lover.  I remember watching not only Sesame Street as a kid, but also Emergency.  There's nothing like a good hospital drama. 

Summer used to be a time of reruns, but not anymore.  Now, we have many series that come on between May and August to fill those primetime slots.  Many are reality shows, including my summertime obsession, Big Brother.  It comes on three nights a week during the summer and it starts tonight.  Let the obsession begin. 

There are also many summertime dramas like my favorite from last year, Rizzoli and Isles on TNT.  I love a good cop drama and Angie Harmon is the star of this one.  I love Angie Harmon. 

Also returning on  TNT this summer for the seventh and final season is The Closer.  This show stars Kyra Sedgewick as a southern detective with a sweet tooth who moves to LA to head their Major Crimes Unit.  Thank goodness for these two shows.  I gotta get my cop drama fix during the summer too. 

As far as good dramedys (Drama/Comedy) series for the summer, my picks would be Franklin & Bash, on TNT, starring Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar of Saved By the Bell fame.  I also love Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime and Royal Pains on USA, which is filmed in the Hamptons.  Oh my goodness!  If I ever have millions to spend, I would have to rent a house in the Hamptons for the summer. 

Nice, right?

So, as I said, I love my TV.  I feel like it's my escape from the craziness that is my house in the summer.  I can totally zone out and ignore the bickering between E and J.  I can block out the loud squeals of L.  It's a good thing, as Martha would say. 

So, what about you?  Are you excited about any summer TV?  or is it just me?

I Think I Need A New Swimsuit

Ok.  So, I need a new swimsuit.  We spent Saturday with my family at the lake, including the favorite cousins, my sister and brother and my SIL and BIL and my aunts.  We ate lunch and then took all the kids down to the dock to swim.  The girls and I floated out in the water on our rafts to get some sun.  It was a good day. 

Couldn't resist adding this picture of my nephew, M.  He's so cute.

There was some not so good part though.  You see, I have this cousin.  She's a 20-something beautiful redhead.  She's a newlywed, sweetest girl EVER and all her body parts are exactly as they should be.  Do you remember that time in your life?  I do!  Okay, so I was never a raving beauty, but there was a time when I was cute and I could wear almost anything.  Those days are SO OVER!  I am about 20 pounds overweight (according to those doctor charts) and sadly, this weekend, I figured out that my boobs can do tricks.  Seriously, they will "lie down" on command.  Okay, so they actually "lie down" all the time (Durn kids!).  They will also "roll over" if I am lying on my side.  Okay, so they don't actually "roll over", more like "flop over".  But you get the idea, right?  This is the thing, I love my kids but they ruined my boobs!  So, I either need a boob lift, which I don't have the $$ for, or I need a new swimsuit with some kind of underwire and/or support of some kind. 

So, I love this one from Victoria's Secret.  The color is fabulous and it has actual cups (although the way she's standing makes her boobs look crooked), but I'm thinking nobody wants to see my muffin top hanging over those bottoms.  Not good.

Didn't seem to bother her, though.  She has more courage than me.  You go girl! (Google image)

There is this one.  It's cute on top, but see how far down the legs come?  That's so not a good cut when you have heavy thighs like me.  I need high cut legs and some color.

Hmmmm.  Not bad and it comes in lots of colors and specific cup sizes too.  But, the tank part looks awfully, um, slim for me.  UGH!  So frustrating!

Oh well, I'm off to keep looking for a swimsuit.  Who wants to bet I'll be back at the lake with my same old "soft cups for support" swimsuit.  They really shouldn't say they're for support, more like light encouragement.  "Come on boobs, stay up here where you're supposed to be". 

Disclaimer - I am sorry for my probable misuse of the "lie/lay/lying" thing.  I couldn't find my english lesson from Richella on the subject.  I aplogize to those of you who have excellent grammar. 

What I've Been Up To

I am such a bad blogger, but in my defense, it has been a little NUTS around here lately.  The kids are out of school, except for L who is in summer school (so he can get his therapy, keep his routine going and give me a little sanity time).  The kids had bible school last week and we were getting ready for the arrival of our houseguests.  You see, my BIL, SIL and niece just moved back from Texas and will be staying with us for awhile.  So, we've been attemping to purge some junk and move some stuff around to make room.  They finally arrived a few days ago so at least all the heavy lifting is done for now.  WOO HOO!  We are so excited to have them. 

I've been working on the girls' room a little.  The twin beds and the girls' comforter sets are in, but the rest of the bedding has yet to be made.  We're still working on picking out fabrics, etc.  The girls' are beyond excited about it. 

Here is a picture of their bedding.  It was a set for a loft bed so there was no bedskirt included.  E says the bedskirt has to be pink.  Gotta work on that sometime soon.  We've also got to make the headboards and pick out the fabric for that and find some new curtains.  The brown has GOT to go.   So much to do, so little time.