Book Worm

Yesterday MC's library had their annual book bazaar. Last year I went and only got two books. I read both of them and enjoyed them. So this year when they announced the book bazaar I was excited to go and see what books I might find. The past few years I have been reading more and more books and have made myself a personal goal to read at least 12 books a year. So far this year I have read 10 books and I am about to finish my 11th.
Well, I visited the book bazaar 3 times yesterday leaving with something new each time. By the end of the day I had purchased 13 books for only $17.00. I am looking forward to reading all of these new books I got. If you have read any of the books, let me know. I know that we all have different options about things so keep you comments nice. I want to read each of these books with an unbiased option.

Check out my loot!!!
1. A Wedding in December By: Anita Shreve
2.Four Blondes By: Candace Bushnell
3.The Godmother By: Carrie Adams
4.Redeeming Love By: Francine Rivers
5.While My Sister Sleeps By: Barabra Delinsky
6.Secrets of My Hollywood Life By: Jen Calonita
7.The Started Wife By: Gigi Levangie Grazer
8.Water for Elephants By:Sara Gruen
9. Knit Two By: Kate Jacobs
10. Icing on the Cake By: Laura Castoro
11. The Undomestic Goddess By: Sophie Kinsella
12. The Senator's Wife By: Sue Miller
13. The Firm By: John Grisham

This is where you will find me as I try to read all of these books!
I will be putting my read chair to good use!!

Our new, much needed TV stand

A few months ago Justin and I went to Country Originals just to see what it as all about. A friend of ours told us about this place so we wanted to go check it out. We were not looking for anything in particular that day, just window shopping. However, when stumbled across this beautiful piece of furniture that you see below.



We wanted to get a new TV stand, but had not really found anything. We were using Justin's old TV stand that he got his junior year of college, and it was kind of on it's last leg.

Justin was the one who spotted it first, and when he showed it to me I knew that it would be perfect in our living room. After looking the piece over we found the price...it was more than we wanted to spend but we both really loved it. It was in a separate room on the second floor so I thought that maybe it was on sale and the price marked was wrong.

We asked a lady that worked at the story and she told us that the price was marked correctly. This was a little disappointing, but because of our hesitations she quickly said, "I can take $100 off." I was trying to play it cool and just looked at Justin for guidance. We told her that we needed to think about just a little more. Getting $100 off was great but really wanted to get a little more off. So Justin and I talked about it and came up with a plan.

We knew how much we would be willing to pay for the piece so we offered a price a little lower than that. Our hope was that we could make a deal, or that she would just take it. She didn't take it, but she did come down another $50. It was the right price, so we bought it.

We loved the piece just as it was but thought we would change the knobs to add a little color. We found just what we were looking for at Anthropologie.

All our DVD's and games fix nicely in the drawers. I really like that everything has its place. You can still see the cable box and our gaming stuff but I really can't complain about that.

This piece could stand alone but I did want to add a few things to either side of the TV. I looked around my house because I really didn't want to spend any more money. The pretty green and white vase and flower that was once on the mantel now has a new home next to the TV, as well as this candle holder I made at one of those paint-your-own-pottery places. As you can see I painted it a speckled green color and had then do an iridescent glaze on it so it added more texture. The green in both the candle, and the flower really do bring out the green color in the furniture itself. It was a very cheap arrangement since I already owned everything.




If you know Justin you know that he is not one to just see something at a store and just get it. So when he said he really liked this TV stand I knew I had to jump on the opportunity!

Check out the before and after pics and tell me what you think.I know it is a very big change.

Before
This is from Justin's college day, scary I know!!

After

Happy Birthday Lindsey!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet and beautiful sister-in-law.

Jamie and Hannah's Wedding

On September 4th, Justin and I packed our bags and headed to Carrollton, GA for Justin's best friend's wedding. Jamie married the beautiful Hannah Farish. She looked lovely in her wedding dress. It was a great wedding!!!! Not only was the food delicious but the atmosphere was wonderful. It was great for dancing the night away,and that just what Justin did. I am sad to say that when it comes to dancing Justin blows me out of the water. Justin was the best man and did a good job looking after the ring on the day of the wedding, as well as many of tasks. Justin and Jamie have been friends since they were in the 7th grade. I have also known Jamie since I was in the 7th grade. Jamie was the one who introduced me and Justin, so I am very grateful for my friendship with Jamie and Justin's friendship with Jamie.

I could go on and on about how much fun we had or our great everything was but I am just going to let the pictures speak for themselves. I hope you enjoy them!!!

Front Door Makeover

Our front porch has been in need of a little makeover for a while. Since we are not out in the front yard all that often I don't notice how bad it has been looking until we were getting ready to have people over. At that point it is a little to late to do anything about it.

Now, we do have a wreath on our door along with a potted plant and some sort of seasonal decor welcoming you to our home. But, it's been this way pretty much since we moved here and after living in our home for almost two years, I was ready to make some changes. Just because I am not outside looking at my front porch does not mean I can't make it look nice for others, right?

This whole front porch makeover will take place in phases. I was going to paint the front shutters as well as do some other things to the front porch but this post will only be about the front door.

A few months back I got this square moss wreath and was really excited to hang it on the front door. I wish I could say that I made it myself, but I didn't. It hung on my door for about a month with nothing on it. I knew I wanted to get a bow made to go in the corner but never got around to it. This is what it looked like for about a month (sad...I know).


About a month ago I finally went to a florist and got some summer colored ribbon. I have not mastered the art of bow-making so I handed the ribbon over to my friend Aimee and she made me a beautiful bow. As soon as I got the bow home, I hung it on the wreath. I loved the new look but still thought something else was needed.

After talking with a few friends and looking at the new treads I decided I needed to put our initial in the middle of the wreath. I went on a search for the letter "G". I found one at Hobby Lobby and got it, along with a small can of spray paint. I spent some time thinking about what color I should use. At first I thought about a nickel color, but I thought that it might not show up very well again the frosted glass on the door. I looked for a color that would match our somewhat burnt red door and found a very close match. I painted the G and added it to the wreath with some fishing line. It now looks a lot better than the above picture.


What is so great about this wonderful new wreath is that I can change the bow depending on the seasons. I already have my fall bow ready, and can't wait to make the change. Be on the lookout for the new bow sometime in late September or October!

The front door stayed like this for about a month until I found this new doormat at Crate and Barrel this past weekend. As soon I as saw it in the store I new that it would look so cute welcoming our guests to our home.

This was an easy update that really made a big difference. While I was outside admiring the new doormat I noticed that out house numbers looked awful. The first thing I thought about was just replacing them. It would only be around $15.00 and would really update the door. Well, before heading to Home Depot I thought ...what if I just spray painted them? So I went to Wal-Mart and got a $3.00 can a nickel colored spray paint. I took the numbers off and give them a quick wash and after letting them dry...

Before
VOILA!!!

So this is the finished product. Like I said this was only a front door make over but stay tuned for a whole porch redo. I hope you enjoy this mini makeover!!