InstaFriday {Love Day}

Valentines Day isn't something we typically "do" around here.

Our anniversary is the week before and so by the time the big day o' love rolls around, we just always feel like we've covered all that.

Apparently, this year, my man felt like he had forgotten something.

Making me fat.

My man: 1

Me : 0



It's ok though.

I know how to fight fire.

My man: 1

Me: 1



Then came the sucker punch.

While I was busy consuming copious amounts of buttercream, he had another mass weapon of destruction up his sleeve.

Antiques.

My man: 2

Me: big snotty ball of putty in his hands

I never stood a chance people.

A piece from the year I was born.

Complete with color galore.

He gets me.



Our homeschool tutorial hosted a Valentine's Banquet this week.

Did I mention my son is almost a man?

Or that we are trying our hand at courtship? {Apparently arranged marriages are a hard sell these days...sheesh.}

Or that these are uncharted waters for us and we do not pretend to have all the answers?

Or that some folks think we're nuts?

Or that we don't really care because from what we see of dating these days and considering the rate of failed marriages in our country, it seems more like a tutorial on how to get divorced one day?

Or that we feel much safer trying our hand at something that once produced marriages lasting 50+ years?



This picture doesn't have anything to do with Valentine's Day really but it does have to do with love.

Poodle love.



"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Jesus Loves Me

He loves me more than my father.

He loves me more than my husband.

He thinks I'm beautiful even though on the inside I am so very ugly.


He thinks I am perfect even though I see so many flaws.


He does not remember a single thing I have done in my past to disappoint Him. 


He does not give up on me when it takes what seems like forever to understand what He is teaching me.


He does not get offended or hold a grudge when I do things my way instead of His.


He knew that He would face a brutal death, at the mercy of beaming faces, just to save my life.


He knew it would take 21 years of pursuing me before I would fully accept His love.


He found me to be worth it all.

"And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and 
how deep his love is." Ephesians 3:18

"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Romans 5:8


May you know His love today.


Happy Valentines Day!





"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

InstaFriday {That Time I Cut Five Inches Off My Hair}

Spent last weekend celebrating my 13th wedding anniversary.

You can read more about our adventures in annivertiquing here.

We ran across this and I just loved it.

It reminded me of my Maggie and all of the creative women I meet here through the wonderful world of blogging.



On Monday my mom and I went thrifting and I snagged this precious pillow made with the yummiest vintage fabric.



The rest of my plunder.

I figure if Nester can hang horns on her wall and make them look cool, surely I can rock some George and Martha silhouettes.

That family portrait was my fabulous find of the day.

It had me at round wooden frame and convex glass.

I'm just gonna pretend we are related somehow.



This will be my new dining room table.

By the way, this is not my house in the picture...didn't want you to send the crew from Hoarders my way.

It's in my garage for now...just need to find 5 chairs that speak to me and I will move it inside.

Considering leaving it the natural color that it is and just adding color to my chairs.



If you homeschool and have an iPad, you need MathBoard.

You're welcome.



Had a really refreshing time out with a few ladies from church.

Thank goodness they make me laugh cause I inhaled way too many appetizers in one sitting.

Laughter does burn calories right?

Right???

And yes that is a ginormous piece of chocolate cake, sitting under mounds of chocolate drizzled ice cream, sitting in front of me.

How the heck did that get there?!



I saw this piece last weekend at an antique store and fell in love with it.

But it was the first store we had gone into and I didn't want to spend most of my budget right away.

I thought I would come back at the end of the day if was still speaking to me.

It was....but they were closed.

I nearly cried.

Fast forward to Monday evening...

My husband brought it home to me.

This time I did cry.

My man gets me.

Just look at it....made by a sweet little 8 year old girl in 1837.

Ok, so I have no idea if she was sweet or not but it's what I choose to believe.

It was that backwards "S" that stole my heart.

When I look at it I can't help but think of how her mother must have been so proud of it...or the fact that she and her family are gone now...but I have their sweet Emma's embroidery work hanging in my house.

::sigh::



Remember last week when I said I needed a haircut?

Well, I pulled the trigger.

I took the 3 pictures with me and told her the things I liked and hated about each and she gave me the Renee version of the 3.

I actually wanted to go a little shorter but she's smart and all and told me to let it grow two more months so that my layers would be perfect.

I love it.

Amazing how sassy good a new "do" can make you feel isn't it?







"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Annivertiquing {13 Years}

There is so much I could say about my marriage...but I feel I said it all when I wrote The Story of Us.

A not so pretty story about a very broken guy and gal, a very broken marriage, and a God who heals and restores.

A story of Redemption.

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Annivertiquing: An-ni-ver-tiqu-ing [an-uh-vur-teek-ing]

verb

1.Celebrating your wedding anniversary by spending the an entire weekend perusing the delicious lovelies of days gone by. 

2.Pure bliss.

3.Heaven.

Annivertiquing...it's what we do.

Every year. 

This past weekend we celebrated 13 years of marriage.

13 years of saying yes to a promise made.

13 years of divorce is not an option.

13 years of growing old together.

{Gosh...isn't 2nd Avenue gorgeous? I heart Nashville}



This was the 6th year straight that we celebrated at The Melting Pot.

Can I just stop right here and say that my man may never be hotter than when he has a fondue fork in his hand?!

Mercy.

Fabulous food...romantic horrible for taking photos lighting.



Yin and Yang...our favorite chocolate fondue.

Quite fitting for us I do believe. 

There will be chocolate fondue in Heaven ya'll.

I think I read that somewhere in 2 Chronicles.



After a night of dunking fat enough on their own desserts in a hot tub of chocolate, we set out on a mission to get our antique on.

One of the first things I discovered was this 4 piece Pyrex set in nearly mint condition.

Had the original box even.

It was 85 bucks though...my blood runs a little too thrifty for that.



We've come a long way ladies.

If only I had a vintage breast pump collection.

Dang.



This wedding gown took my breath away.

All I could think was, "Rose Dawson."




I nearly fell over when I looked up and saw this gorgeous thing hanging on the wall.

Suddenly I was 15, sitting in Mr. Peter's Geography class.

I wanted this piece soooo badly.

I'm a homeschooler nerd.

Again though, pricey.

It does however still beg me to come and rescue it every time I look at it, so who knows.





























We ended the day by hanging out at Puckett's Grocery Store in Lieper's Fork.

I could write a whole post on how amazing this place is.

It has been around since 1953.

Ridiculously good food and live music every night.

And there is still a real grocery store in the back.

Did I mention they have Chess Pie like my Grandma Margaret used to make?!

They told us that Trishia Yearwood had just been in the week before filming a cooking special for Food Network.

As neat as that was, all I could think was Shhhh!!...don't tell anybody about this place!

Apparently I'm stingy like that when chess pie is involved.



Thanks to my mom and step-dad, we were able to have two full days together alone.

It was fabulous.

I love this man with everything I've got.

Looking forward to 13 more.

"Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to be,

The last of life, for which the first was made:

Our times are in His hand

Who saith "A whole I planned,

Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!''

-Robert Browning

"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

InstaFriday

"Thank you Jesus for Jeannett and InstaFriday.
Without her my blog would never stay this updated."

Amen.



 I avoid Wal-Marts {only in the South is it plural} like the plague.

 But I needed some Scotch tape and spray paint so I sucked it up.

 While there I caught this sweet moment...Maggie treating her brother to candy...on her own dime.

Heart of gold that girl.

 

I found these in the half off flower bin.

As you can see here on the blog...I'm just a little bit in love with tulips.

My kids loving on each other and cheap flowers....almost made my trip to hell Wal-Mart worth it.


Almost.



Thanks to E-Mealz, I was able to whip up these bad boys this week.

Barbecue and Buffalo Chicken Pizzas.

Divine.

Three home cooked meals in one week....my family is officially scared.

*Be sure to check them out at the bottom of my page.



I found a new love this week.

Agave nectar.

Where have you been all my granulated sugar lovin' life?!?

Delish on fruit.



65 degrees in January = park day with the poodle.

Water bowl optional.



I've been camping out on this verse this week.

"He will fight for me"...I love it.



Tonight I shall fondue till my pants need loosening.

I shall partake of copious amounts of food dipped into molten hot vats of chocolate.

I shall laugh till my cheeks cramp.

I shall flirt with my man.

I shall celebrate 13 years of saying yes to marriage.





"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Thursday's Mindless Ramblings

Is it a boy thing to sleepwalk and pee in random places?

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I take the crust off of my Pop-Tarts.

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E-Mealz may have just saved me from jumping off the "what's for dinner?" ledge.

A computer print out of 7 meals complete with a grocery list to boot.

Meal planning for dummies folks.

Praise the Lord.

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My grandpa Sammy was my biggest fan. I miss him today. I used to say that I could commit murder and he'd be the one to hide the body.

 I could do no wrong in his eyes.

I played ball in high school and he would come watch and bring the whole team Snickers bars. Or he would randomly stick wads of cash in my purse and say, "Now don't tell anybody that I gave you this...not even Grandma."

 Oh what I wouldn't give for just a brief moment to tell him how much his unconditional love meant to me. I didn't appreciate it back then.

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I swore I wasn't gonna watch American Idol again this year.

I swear this every year.

It is way too dramatic for me.

Let it be about the talent people!

After last year, I was determined to stick to my guns.

Sorry, but Scotty was not my cup of tea.

Anyhoo. I caved.

I'm pathetic.

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I need a haircut desperately. It is officially a beast that needs to be tamed.

I've been itching to go shorter lately.

I need some sass I'm thinking.

I'm really digging these cuts right now...but I'm a big fat chicken.

And smart enough to know that there are probably personal stylists and expensive hair products galore behind these looks.

With my hair it would just end up looking like a dandelion gave birth on my head.

I'm a 10 on the frizz meter.

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My son will be 16 in exactly 2 months.

I'm pretty sure I am having a mid life crisis about this.

Did I mention I was 19 when he came into my life?

Or that I never gave him permission to grow up?!?!

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I hate politics.

Ditto for elections.

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Tomorrow I will begin a weekend long celebration of 13 years of marriage.

It has not been easy...at times ugly even...but oh so worth the fight.

I wish every couple understood that sometimes the "better" comes after the "worse."


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Have a great weekend friends. 


"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"