And Life Goes On

We had a great Memorial weekend!  After the renewal, we had to put things away and that was a job since it's been close to 90.  But I'm not complaining, I'll take the sunshine over the weeks of rain anytime!

Remember the arch we made?  I thought about selling it, but decided to keep it.  We have it sitting at the basement door  for now.  We have some work to do to make it permanent.  But I am loving it there...it'll be pretty at Christmas!  I always say that when I do something new outside...my mother does too.  We always think about what things will look like decorated for Christmas!

The flowers are enjoying the pretty weather we are having.  See that little tree on the stairs?  Well, Lucie kept digging it up from another planter I had at the basement door.  I finally had to put it here so she wouldn't destroy it.  Poor little tree barely made it out alive!

Just look at that sweet face.  You'd have no clue she is a digger would you?  

She has dug up our little garden and destroyed many plants.  She even started to dig up these hydrangeas!  That's when my sweetie decided to hook her up at night so she wouldn't have free reign to DESTROY!  lol  But she is a true sweetheart...we love her so much!

There is a song  by John Denver called Country Roads.  It's about West Virginia and we all love it!  This photo is a true sentiment of what a country road truly is here in our beautiful state!

It is HOME and I love it!

I snapped some photos one evening and thought about how much I adore living where we do.  

There is beauty all around us!

Our back deck needs some fresh white paint, but I still think it's beautiful all chippy in the setting sun.

All of our flowers are doing so well too!  

Keeping the porch clean is a task with all of the pollen, spider webs and birds...

But even the spiders are beautiful weaving their webs that glisten in the sunlight.

I finally broke over and cut some of the peony blooms.  They smell so good sitting on the porch with the warm breeze.

After making our bouquets that we carried, I had so many fresh flowers to do something with.  Adding baby's breath, to these peonies in this bird stand, gave that shabby touch that I adore!

I love the pinks with the aqua mason jars!

I have spent so much time on the porch so far this summer...it truly is a sweet place to sit and relax on the swing.  Much needed after this weekend!

I hope all of you have a wonderful week!  

~All Because Two People Fell In Love~

 We couldn't have asked for better weather or a more perfect day!

For weeks we've watched the weather forecast, it kept saying rain.  After having this day planned for many months and dreaming of an outside event, it was disheartening to see.  But I have someone in my life that created  the weather...GOD.  I prayed for a beautiful day and He answered.

This day was amazing!

I've always dreamed of having a spring/summer, outdoor wedding.  When we were married 25 years ago, it was in the Winter (my most favorite season of all).  I had wanted a cold, snowy day, but instead we got warm temps and lots of sunshine.  Kinda ironic isn't it?  But it was a gorgeous day then and it was another gorgeous day this time as well.

We used everything from around our home.  The canopy was draped with painters drop cloths to hide the bright blue tent.  Then panels were stapled to the ends to create curtains on the front.  Old louvered closet doors from the girls closets were used on the back ends.  Flowers were gathered from the back deck and the chairs were brought from there and inside.  Mike and I made the arch from some tree limbs and a column that we split in two.  Silk flowers came in handy to decorate the tops with.  A sign I've had for years was the perfect finishing touch representing our 25 (really almost 29 with dating) years together. 

"All Because Two People Fell In Love"

We kept it small and simple, only a handful of people were invited.  Not because we didn't want to share this day with others, but because we wanted this day just for us.

We had a very special photographer, her name is Sarah and is best friends with our oldest daughter.  She captured some amazing shots and I can't begin to thank her enough for making our day last forever!  I've had a blast editing them all...so here is our day!

It really is a blessing to have a family that is so talented.   My sweetie DJ's in his spare time.

The song we walked out to was by Third Day called Mountain of God. The words represent us so well.

 The twists and turns, all of the bumps, the ups and downs....well they've not been easy.  BUT....through it all, we've clung onto God and each other.  I pray we make it another 25!

We've made a beautiful life together.  Our daughters, our love, our home....without God, none of this would be here.

Our pastor, Scott, has been right by our side most of the way.  He's seen us fight, love, and cry...but he's always been there for us.  There was no other that we would want to officiate our renewal.   

Telling our life story brought tears to our eyes.  It was truly the most special day!  Having our two daughters standing there with us made our life story visible to everyone.  Two of the most beautiful young women, inside and out!  

We wrote our vows to each other and let me say, we both cried.

This man has had my heart, he's always had it from the first time he said "I love you" to me.  That look of love and care, it just melts my heart over and over.

~True love at it's best~

~THE KISS~

Freindships, love and family....

And I was so happy to have my mother and Uncle here to celebrate this day with us just like 25 years ago!

~FAMILY~

~MEMORIES~

~PROTECTOR~

~TRUE LOVE~

~MY HEART~

~BEAUTY~

~THE WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES~

~HARD WORK~

Every ounce of our marriage has been worth it!  The smiles we smile are for real, the tears we've shed have turned into hugs and forgiveness.  And our lives have been a result of the commitment and hard work we give to each other.  Neither of us have been perfect, but we TRY....each and every day, we TRY!  And thanks be to the good LORD up above, we have made it this far.

~MY BEST FRIEND~

Thanks for sharing in our day!

A Little Ladder and Some Flowers

I'm all for adding charm but it has to function and have a purpose in our home.  Space is not meant to be taken up by clutter in my book.  

Our counters and cabinets were raised from the typical height when the house was built.  I usually have to drag a chair over or a stool from the hall or have my oldest daughter  come and get it for me.   

So when I came across a little step ladder for sale at a thrift shop, I knew I could use it somewhere.  My first thought was add some charm to the deck and use it for flowers.  How quickly my mind changed that evening when I had to grab a dish and needed help.

I had brought it in and sat it by the refrigerator....and I thought how it fit perfectly there.  Immediately I knew I was going to paint it pink!

A pale pink that matches my walls.  I love how it turned out!

I have no clue how old it is but it has been gently used.  To be from a thrift store, it is definitely solid and sturdy!

Now, I can grab it pretty easily to finally be able to get what I need from the top shelves.

It fits perfectly in every little corner too!  I couldn't be any happier with how it turned out.   It's really cute and added some much needed function.   

As I was out watering my flowers the other evening, I noticed there were 4 yellow butterflies enjoying them.  I grabbed my camera (because I love to capture God's beauty) and began to snap away!  Isn't God just amazing?  Can you just imagine what Heaven will be like with the beauty we have here, how much more glorious it will be?!

How the sun glistens through the trees as it gently sets in the evenings...it is so relaxing and calm to me.  Like God is saying sweet dreams and goodnight.

And there is something about sitting on a porch swing with a gentle warm breeze blowing during Spring.  I am truly blessed with beauty all around me.  I love it with every season!

No matter what we face in life, if we look, we will find beauty.  Even death has it for those that love the Lord.  What a glorious day that will be when we see Jesus!

Happy Mothers Day to Me

My family knows I look forward to Mother's Day every year...because they always buy me oodles of flowers!

They take me to our local Farmers Market and let me choose what I want.  I got nuts every year!  We ran out of room so Sara had to sit up front on Hannah's lap as we took her to her car.  We all got a big laugh out of that!

The memories we make are priceless!  And the photos I capture will always tell the tale.

Of course work begins as soon as I get home....the possibilities of what everything will look like is so exciting to me.  My ex brother in law brought me the gorgeous bird bath, free!  My sweet hubby came up with the idea with planting flowers in it since the fountain no longer worked.  This is what I came up with....sitting a huge hanging basket on the very top to allow it to cascade down into the pool of water from all of the rain we've had.  The little birds love it!

Petunias always do so well, so I made sure to get plenty for all of my planters.  I love to mix in other flowers too.  This is some type of lavender bloom with the petunias, it smells so good!

This large hanging basket is absolutely gorgeous!  It has some type of potato plant in it....it is huge!

We worked on cleaning the back deck on Mother's Day.  Now I need to paint!  See that gorgeous scroll piece above the windows?  I found that on one of the yard sale sites on facebook.  Of course I painted it white....

And what porch or deck isn't complete without a fern?

A few years ago, I bought the diamond patterned window grid and had the bright idea the other night at adding shutters to it.  I think this is my favorite decoration on the deck...besides all of my gorgeous flowers!

The window boxes all have white petunias in them.  I think it showcases the pretty pink on the boxes perfectly.  I can't wait until they grow!

See Lucie laying under the bench seat?  Thankfully that fencing keeps her out or she'd tear up all of my flowers!

It's now a day after Mother's Day and I think after all of the planting and cleaning.... I will sit on our swing and relax on the deck for a bit and enjoy how pretty everything is.

I hope each of you Mom's out there had a very blessed Mother's Day and the ones that we no longer have were fondly remembered with tender love.