Garage Sale GLORY

I know to half the world...

including both of my parents -

The mere words Garage Sale

send hair standing upon end ....

To ME however....

They make me so excited I almost WET my PANTS..

Yesterday... My friend April and I set out on a

glamorous day of Garage Sale Glory..

She is from Ft. Worth and knows this area....

So our adventure was all the more exciting.

April.... who is the world's greatest organizer..

Had us a list of 38 places arranged by zip code and direction.

We left out of here at 9 a.m. and started out on the quest

for the person who was accidentally selling their most wonderful possessions.

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NOTICE how after only a few sales her SUV was almost already loaded down..

Next time we are taking Brad's truck...

I found the greatest.. Most wonderful things...

I can't wait to redo them and make them come back to life as something

OVER THE TOP INCREDIBLE !!!!

WE only made it to about 2o of them and I had to ride all the way home with a table in my seat... HENCE the stopping of our adventures..
There was no more room for another purchase.
I even had to go back for a chest of drawers and desk I bought.

Here are all of my items unloaded...

Not counting the antique chest and desk I got for 15 total. WOWOWOWOWOWOW

As we were unloading the SUV,

cars were stopping by my house thinking I was having a sale.

Now that is funny!!!!

YES...... all of this fit in that car we were in..

HOW I AM NOT exactly SURE...

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Here are Little Brady's treasure...

You've just got to love having a child young enough

that Garage Sale toys make you jump with JOY...

Notice the worst looking animal

(the brown monkey in the middle)

was already ours.. MR. Monk Monk

Brady carries him everywhere...

So I bought some new monkeys to add to our pack..

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Now if that's not a fine day of living...

Then I just don't know what a girl is looking for..

May we all find a treasure that make us sparkle with JOY..

River Wonderland

I've already posted some of these pictures in other places...

but wanted to share them on my BLOg...

This BLOg

is my very favorite of all communication venues..

It gives me a space to release the Joy that is in my Heart..

And a place to share with all my friends

how incredibly fast "Little Brady" is growing up.

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Here is my little man on his big boy bed at the river.

Brad and I have spent the past 3 weeks working off and on

(Mostly ON) out there getting it ready

so we can spend the rest of our summer on the water.

We have sweated buckets, seen several copper heads, killed a couple,

Brad's been bitten by a brown recluse, and we had to dig

an entire new water line and septic system....

But... Now that it is all done... it fills us both

with such an awesome sense of WOW

knowing we did it ourselves.

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Here is the tiniest bathroom in the world..

But.. it's got everything you NEED so the rest is just gravy..

This is our one and only bedroom..
The wall had to be torn down because a pipe busted inside the wall.
So Brad put me a new wall in and turned the panelling the opposite direction.
I just painted that little fellow, and called it a "headboard"
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Here is our living room in the trailer..
I traded a friend for this couch years ago...
and it's still the all time
MOST COMFY COUCH in the entire world..
It's gone through many slip covers, and pillows..
but the ole' girl is still the best sitting place around.
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We look straight out any of our windows and this is our VIEW...
Less than 30 yards away is the most amazing place to be.

We were all afraid that Brady would be scared of the water.
Little did we know that the child had "No Fear" what so ever.
Every morning he would wake up and say "River Please."
Now who could resist that..
So..... needless to say we spent a great deal of our 4 days in the water.
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As the days went on...
He got more and more brave.
He was falling down in the current and standing right back up like a trooper.
He'd laugh and say "Drink"... haha
We tried many times to tell him that this was not where you drink
but he said it every time he fell in.
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Watching water is the most peaceful, relaxing thing I know of..

I sat on our deck every morning and every night

watching the current flow down river..

Something about the sound of the trees rustling,

the unbelievably clean air

filled with the sound of moving water

gives my soul a place to rest..

To me it feels like it's HOME..

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To my precious son...

who will one day live on this river...

I hope your heart too is filled with the peace

that only Love and Nature can bring.

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May we all have a place that our spirit calls HOME!

Perfectly Precious

Words are not made to express how absolutely precious little 1 year olds can be..

What a treat is was to spend an afternoon with this little doll..

Here are a few to share with all my BLOg friends...

It honestly makes me want to go buy a tutu and wear it around my house...

Something however tells me that it wouldn't look quite the same..

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A water colored angel!!!

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Thank you Allie for sharing your little girl with me..
Pink cheetah never made me smile quite so big.....



Now that...... my friends - looks like a gal having some FUN.



Give a girl a new dress and a pair of high heels and watch what happens..
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What a wonderful job I have..
Watching little smiles break across puffy cheeks, arms flying in the air,
chubby little feet, and precious eyes beaming with the wonders of life
is a blessing I am grateful for each day..

May we all look into the eyes of a child and remember where our JOY began.

A Bride... A Friend

I decided about 8 months ago that I was not going to do any more Weddings.

They are wonderful.... and I love to do them, but they also take up lots of time.

And since the stork dropped off my sweet Brady....

My time has become increasingly sparse..

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But.... as you know with many things in life....

There are exceptions to the rules..

This wasn't just any Bride.....

It was a precious girl that I am proud to call... my friend.

AND.... her mother just happens to be one of the dearest
people I know in all the world...
So.......... of course
I was more than happy to be a part of their special day!
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Here are a tiny few of the zillions of pictures I took at "my last wedding"

Thank you Taren....

for your wonderful smiles, your incredible courage, your fight to overcome ,

your willingness to change, and your desire for a life filled

with fairy tales......

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May God bless you always on your journey ahead..

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And may it be filled with a lifetime of dreams...

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May we always leave room in our life for an exception to the rule...

TuTu Tremendous

Ok... This is just a tiny preview of the fun to come, but I couldn't resist sharing one.

Man what a doll...

Stay tuned Thursday for more Tutu Tremendousness.

Some day in the near future I'm gonna wear a Tutu everyday with my cowboy boots, big giant jewelry, and drive my polka dot 1959 Turquoise car...

Well at least a girl can dream!!!

May we never be too old to want a new Tutu...

An Old Friend

Never in all my life did I think I would be taking this picture.

I hadn't seen Jammie in literally 25 years.

At my High School Reunion a few weeks ago we sat and talked for over an hour.

I told him I was a photographer and he said he hadn't had any family pictures

made in many ,many years.....

Then - - - -

WHAM.... Out of the blue

he called and said he and all 3 of his kids were going to be up this way if I had any time..

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As luck would have it.....

My Friday cancelled and moved to Tuesday so it worked out perfectly.. It was the best fun to see him again and to meet his kids.. This is the very last picture we took and for sure one of my favorites.. His little girl was just the best.. Now that is a good time I never expected to have.. Thank you guys for driving all this way to let me share in your family pictures.

May we always remember that even 25 years isn't too long to reclaim an old friend.

My PITY Party

For years and years when I am having a gloomy day

or my own personal pity party

I've said

"Maybe tomorrow I'll just wake up as Farrah Fawcett."
Then it dawned on me that she doesn't get to wake up ever again....

soooooooooo in the midst of my YUCK day it sobered up my party right quick.

I have felt sorry for her family for 2 days.. Not to take away anything from Michael Jackson's family ( I know that they are full of grief as well), however..... her death has seemed to be so almost forgotten. It was totally engulfed in his shadow.. I remember so well the day of my brother's funeral as we were leaving the service I could hear children somewhere in the distance screaming and laughing. My first thought was "How dare them..." then, I realized that they didn't even know my brother.. To them life was just moving on as usual.. The sting of that moment has popped up in my mind many times over the last 5 years. Each time I pass a cemetery and see a funeral taking place - I know to them if feels as if today has stopped time. It is almost unfair that the rest of the world can't see their hurt as they go on with the nerve to giggle. But.. That's the way life happens and I'm sure for good reason..

So...while I wanted to throw a fit, cry, or go buy something fun and expensive

I pulled up my (already too high waisted) shorts....

got over my pity party and moved on with my day.

May we all be reminded that everyday is full of some one's pain, and learn to be more thankful. Even for the days that make you want to go to bed at 3 in the afternoon just so you can start over fresh in the morning.

Waiting for a SLOW down

So sorry to all my wonderful BLOg friends that I have been so

YUCK at updating these last few weeks.

My computer issues have put a knot in my tail,

and left me not even wanting to fight it...

However... it is so true

( I can't remember where I read this)

but

I need my computer

because all my friends live in there...

Brad has taken 2 weeks off so we could finally start on our River Weekend Home.

We've had the land for almost 2 years and not done a thing with it until now..

I will have wonderful pictures coming soon of our temporary travel trailer,

we're staying in it while we build our cabin....

I'll give you a hint....

Brad's friend bought it for $ 500.

Then he gave it to us

because he didn't want to haul it to the dump ground.

I'll leave you with that thought in your mind...

But... It is so wonderful I can hardly stand it...

May we all have something free that turns out to be fabulous!!!!

Computer CRAZY & Busy WEEK

If ever there were a time when I understood the term

"Drive YOU Nuts".... it's now!!

My computer issues have not ended yet,

and I can't find the time to leave it to be fixed for 3 days.

So.. I am posting this at the speed of death.
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Here are the first of my pillow projects.

I must say I was even kinda proud of myself.

AND as always....

after you do something new

you find an appreciation

for those who do it on a regular basis.

There are tricks and machinery I feel certain that would have made it easier. haha

None the less....

I made pillows and really had a good time.

I used all kinds of fabric

and made my flowers using bits and pieces of material

that matched my living room curtains...

Even MY MOM... who does know how to sew was impressed.
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Here is the one "like my grany" that I made using our new family picture.

I LOVE THIS PILLOW.....

Here's what it looks like on my bed with my new fun summer colors...

Just give a southern gal

some color and a few polka dots and she goes CRAZY...
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Recently a friend and I went on a treasure hunt for someone elses old treasures. ha

I found my NEW favorite thing.

Of course I am going to put some polka dots on his butt....

But I just couldn't leave the little fellow there.

He was begging to come live in

"The land of La La"

where he could feel like he belongs.

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Here are April and I with our next treasure

(fake) designer sunglasses... hee hee

Since Brady steps on mine

or I sit on them on a regular basis

I felt a real pair of designer glasses would be a tad silly.

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OK... I have got to say that this is the greatest saying ever ever ever invented on EARTH..

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II've been in the jewelry making mood since I got my new wonderful necklace from Stormy.

I made this one, and YES...

I have a new appreciation for this too... I am old and so are my eyes. And my fingers are fat and the beads are tiny with small wires.. That does not make for a lovely combination. ha

So... I went back to a project where my fat fingers didn't matter.

I painted polka dots on my clock... Now that is much easier.

AND.... I painted polka dots on my new fish friend..

Brady and I named her Lola...

He has to kiss her with his lips all poked out like a fish every morning. She's become an unexpected pet at our house.. But she is a fun addition I must say. And here is my new family picture. I ordered a 20x30 stand-out and I love seeing it every time I pass. There is just nothing like the people you love to put a smile on your face.

I made another pillow to go in this front room too. And of course it has polka dots...

They just make me SMILE every single time..

My final project was making dominos..

I saw one someplace and have wanted it ever since. Brad was doing a construction project and I was grabbing all the drop off wood. However I think the big piece I took before it was truly a left over.. haha It looks better on my mantle anyway.

Then... My my final shoot of the past week.

Brad and I went to the State Track Meet. His roommate from college's son was in 3 events. I got a press pass and got to go right down on the field and get a shot of Weston as he crossed the finish line "The State Champion of Texas" in the hurdles. Now that is a wonderful way to end your week. I'm heading out of town again tomorrow and won't be back until Saturday.. Thank you to all my BLOg friends for being patient with my computer crisis..

May we all have an issue that makes us grow patience.

I really am going to post something new..

I'm having to do this one from my laptop which has no pictures on it..

My computer is still a total mess..

I have tried everything..

I ran the registry cleaner..

Around 50 - 100 problems is normal I was told.....

Mine had......... 1442..

Now that, my friends, is a problem..

I was so excited though because I thought it would be fixed and fabulous again..

Not so much..

Still a mess.. I ran a defrag thing...

That too took forever because there were so many problems...

YET... continues to be so slow that you forget the joy of computers. I could truly draw my post faster than it will work on that darn computer..

So... bare with me.... It is going to the dr. tomorrow...

And hopefully will be good as new soon.