road trip

hotel room in a college town...so cool...it's a "green" place...don't know much about green hotels, but i know it was beautiful

the other queen bed is there to the left...amazing layout for a hotel room

girlie and i had fun!

the view from our "green" room...

another view...with sound! 

the college was founded by the Dutch

lots of buildings on campus begin with Van...love that!

fun to visit the campus

but even more fun to have a silly-fun-girl getaway

livingwords

how wonderful that someone put my "mother heart" on a sign

i've always wondered what advice i would write down for my children...

these 7 gems kinda sum up what i would write

and they're good reminders for me, too

thinkdeeplyspeakgentlylovemuchlaughalotworkhardgivefreelyandbekind

*and don't forget to hug your mother

wink

there is nothing like a college campus in the fall

walking through downtown, our daughter said "i feel like we're walking through a movie set"

as we were waiting for an admissions counselor...after our campus tour

a former student sent me her daily text

{every day she sends all her contacts a short & sweet verse}

i read it and passed my phone to our daughter

for i know the plans i have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. plans to give you hope and a future.  jeremiah 29:11

i love it when God sends us little winks

*i snapped this photo because look at those gorgeous leaves THROUGH the building's window!

bOiNg!

jumping up to shout a hello

busy week in & out of my little yard...

how 'bout you?

hospital visits and college visits...

football games...

soccer games...

a big crown from the dentist!

oh, my...wonder if i'll have any jumps left in me by week's end?

{photo: neighbor dog doing his jumping tricks behind the 6 ft fence}

the afters (plus 1 before)

all but one wall {in desperate need of repair} have been painted

calm...serene...simple...warm

me!

{actually i'm not all that calm or simple, but i love the look}

busybusyBEFOREdidisaybusy?

mrs. dunbar requested a before and after so i was forced to include at least one before shot

oh, how i love this print from Teresa Sheeley

we nabbed 4 of these wooden trim pieces from a house being demolished

{at least 10 years ago}

i LOVE them up there!

can i just take a bow now?

i pounded a hole in a cork and shoved it over the nail

brilliant.  if i do say so myself. {grin}

love these 1-4 plates on the soffit over my sink

{what a funny word soffit is!}

tucked this keep calm sign in an out of the way place...

so as i'm cooking i can glance up and be reminded to carry on

now i need to carry on in the dining room...

so many treasures...

{patty, do you see my little sign on the bench in the lower left corner?}

so little space to display them all!

25 teenagers coming over tonight so i better get off this computer and start putting away and cleaning up

happy wednesday everyone...hope it's a sunny day wherever you are

xoxo

scrape, scrape, peel...

so i've been taking down wallpaper

forever

really.  for me? forever.  both my husband and i usually tackle jobs with a gusto...get-r-done mentality

but wallpaper...not so much

if i've said it once during the past few weeks, i've said it a thousand times

"i.will.never.wallpaper.again."

i tried paying my children to finish the scrape, scrape, peel

no takers...the huck finn strategy {"it's fun!"} didn't work

so as of 8:30 last night

no.more.wallpaper

dining room is finished and accessorized

today, the kitchen gets painted after sanding the spackle

i used to be a "let's fix her up!" kinda gal

but not so much anymore

wallpaper will do that to you

{beauty}

beauty

full

patty (dew drop) and i will be flying away from our team-up photography project for awhile

but we'll flutter back soon

because beauty is even more beautiful...

when shared