A few shots of a wonderful, much needed vacation

Trying to make it look vintage (they struggled not to smile) ;)


Normal :)

Overflowing Treasures....Or Trash?

I have this problem and perhaps you can sympathize with me. I'm a very organized person which is great. My complication? I have a hard time getting rid of things. In other words I keep just about everything that means something to me or I think can be useful sometime in the future. I think this can be good concerning some stuff but overall is this a good or bad thing??

Holly has called me a pack rat for awhile now. Looking around my room and seeing everything organized and in order, I always thought it wildly unreasonably that I would be so....until I did some deep cleaning. All I have to say is: oh brother!

I have hung on to almost everything that holds any sentimental value to me. They are the most difficult for me to let go, so therefore I usually don't. It drives me crazy but at the same time it would kill me to give it up or throw it away. I couldn't believe some of the things I discovered packed away in boxes and such, some stuff I've had and hadn't seen in ages. It's like this raging battle taking place inside of me. I don't need it but I just can't trash it!

I'm doing a little better and the last cleaning excursion of my room was profitable as I finally begun letting things go. But the bad things is that I have discovered this struggle recently appearing in other things, such as my text message inbox and my e-mail. They constantly remain full because there's too many messages/e-mails I wouldn't consider deleting. AHHHHHH!

This really is a struggle. The problem is that I don't see any solution but letting go of some things. I feel like just throwing up my hands over this. Am I a hopeless case?

Flowers Are a Beautiful Touch

What do you do with your wilting flowers? 

Throw them out the window? Toss them in the trash? Well, instead of getting rid of them I'd encourage you to preserve them.

Drying flowers is a very easy way to conserve old blossoms and to decorate your home frugally. Mom let me have the remainders of her Mother Day's roses and I tried this for the first time and it worked out very nicely. 

There's three different methods for drying plants but I prefer the air-drying one the best. Even though this one takes the most time it's the easiest and doesn't cost you a thing. 

What you do is first strip you flowers of their leaves (if you prefer). Gather the stems together and tie them with a string or secure them with a rubber band. Then hang the bundle upside down in a well-ventilated area. A closet or garage is the best place for this. 

Let them dry for about a month then spray them with hair-spray to set and you're done!

I put them in a large jar because I love the country decoration/old fashion style they bring.    

Even though they're not the bright red roses they once were, they are still lovely and look great on my dresser.

My Aunt loves drying flowers. She has an assortment of plants in her back-yard and enjoys using them to decorate various rooms in her home.

This is on her dining room table. Isn't it lovely?

This one is my favorite! It's absolutely gorgeous with all the different varieties of flowers and colors.

So, next time before you throw out your flowers, won't you think about drying them instead?  Experiment on different kinds and see how it works. Drying is a wonderful thing you can do for unwanted plants. It recycles, it's easy to do, it's frugal, and it adds a beautiful touch to your home.  Give it a try  :)

Something I hope I Don't Forget

For some reason, April was a very dry writing period for me. Last month my blog was empty and my journal bare. When I occasionally had a subject I would sit with pen in hand and my mind would go blank. No inspiration whatsoever. Don't you hate intense periods of writer's block?? I'm not sure if it was that or if I was just too busy to think but it's funny because now I'm going through some kind of writing phase. My mind has been racing with thoughts, my pen running at furious speeds, and my journal filled with pages of cursive writing almost daily. Writer's block is way behind me. It's a great feeling since I love to write and hopefully this month my blog will have way more entires.

Before I conclude this post I must share a story with you.

Back in January, my Dad and I were driving out of our driveway when I noticed something brown escape into a ditch inside a tunnel. We stopped and I went out to check it out to find a timid puppy's face looking back at me. Finally after a long attempt of graceful puppy calls, the nervous thing finally came out. Amber and Autumn were on the scene now and he took to them quickly. I guess we just adopted him from there because he never left.

After a few months of keeping this pooch lets just say I discovered he wasn't my favorite dog. When a dog always tries to jump on you every time you exit the house, you're bound to be annoyed. Especially when he does manage to get mud on your Sunday clothes. With an occasional drooling face and bounds of hyper energy, you just never know when he'll attack by throwing up his paws or either licking you on the leg. Perhaps by now if you called "get!" he'd come running and think it was his name. This is one dog that will drive you crazy.

Well, last night I was driving home from a Bible study and my headlights revealed a dead dog close to our driveway. Brown and short, it was our adopted pet. It must have been chasing a car and finally met it's doom. It lie there lifeless, all alone, gone forever. I almost cried. Yes, he was annoying but deep down I'm sure he was just looking for love and I never gave it to him. I felt pretty bad and decided I'd better give special attention to the dogs that were left. Walking up the driveway I called for our beloved dog Sugar when out of no where the crazy, brown mutt appeared. What? I thought you were dead! I was pretty surprised to say the least. He furiously wagged his tail and looked at me with his big eyes and obnoxious grin. I honestly wasn't sure what to think but I decided to do something I never did.........I petted him. The first time he tried to lick my hand but after taking interest in a nearby crawling bug, he let me pat his head. He was soft and he didn't seem to notice. I slipped inside the house and pondered what had just happened.

All I could conclude was the simple fact that we don't appreciate things until we don't have them. Isn't this true in all of life? We take so much for granted and when they're gone from our reach is when we finally realize how much we actually needed, appreciated, loved it. The simple solution is gratitude.....gratitude for all we have. It makes me want to examine my life for everyday things I don't thank God for giving to me.

I don't know what my relationship will be with the pup from here on out. I'm sure he'll continue to attack and I will continue being irritated, but you know, I was reminded something valuable yesterday which I hope I don't forget. It's a life long lesson we all should keep close to heart. And because of that every now and then I'm gonna try to pet that crazy brown mutt...That is if he doesn't jump on me first :)