Sold!

Introducing our next office chair:

Found here. Seen here.

(Ok, ok, so I'm not sold yet. First I have to finish paying for a wedding trip and a baby shower. Then this chair is mine. Can't wait!)

Where is Home?

Home is... where your heart is.

Home is... where you hang your hat.

Home is... where you can say whatever you want because no one listens to you anyway. (I found that online, ha!)

So I left "home" in Louisville to go "home" to West Virginia this past week while my mom had surgery. Her first night in the hospital, I really didn't want to stay at her apartment by myself. I thought for sure that I could stay with a good friend, so I went back to my mom's to gather my belongings. I started driving toward my friend's house, but she didn't answer her phone. I called my sister (in law), Julie, but she was with her friends. Suddenly, I was driving to nowhere to be with no one. I ended up in the parking lot of my grandmother's nursing home. I knew I could go and spend time with her -- and she would love it -- but it was 9:00 p.m. and I was exhausted after spending all day at the hospital with my mom. I had a small breakdown and called my husband crying. "I don't have a home!" I sobbed. "I don't have anywhere to go!"

He gently reminded me that I didn't live in Morgantown anymore; that my home was in Louisville. But Morgantown is home, too, I thought. It's where I'm from. But as I sat in my car with all of my belongings in bags and suitcases -- with tears streaming down my face and with nowhere to lay my head at the end of a long day -- with my beloved miles and miles away and no one to hold me when I cried -- it didn't feel like home at all.

Wesley also reminded me that I could go back to my mom's apartment, or into Sundale to be with my grandmother until someone called. I ended up choosing the latter, and my grandmother was delighted to see me. I slept on the twin bed in her room until Julie called at 11:15 p.m, and then I gratefully went "home" with her. The next day I went "home" to Charleston, to stay with my (Wes's, but my) family. That felt a little more like home. Now I'm back in Louisville, grateful to be home for good.

Home. What a cherished, elusive thing it is.

Here's a little more insight into me: My parents divorced when I was 7, so I grew up never quite knowing where home was. I switched houses every week and lived out of a suitcase for the most part. To this day, I hate traveling. I hate packing my belongings in a suitcase, trying to figure out what to take and what to leave behind. When we moved to Louisville, I wouldn't rest until our aparment felt like home (my poor, poor newly-married husband really put up with a lot!). Home means a lot to me... but I often don't know what or where it is.

Where -- or what -- is home for you?

Share the Love: Design Favorites

Here are some things I'm loving in the design world right now:

Wood floors painted white:

(Picture from Light Locations - click over for more beautiful pictures. Also, check out Anna's post here for more inspiration and a tutorial - she took the plunge!)

In the same theme, stenciling/painting floors:

I love this runner:

And this floor stenciling job is crazy impressive!

Finally, I'm enjoying offices in closets:

(Click here for the above picture and more info.)

That seems perfect for a small space, doesn't it? And I must mention Anna again -- not only does she have a closet office, but she painted its floors white! Perfection!

Bed Love!

If I were to happen upon $3,000 tomorrow, this is what I would buy:

The Williams-Sonoma Presidio Bed. King size. Natural linen, please.

Omg, I seriously love it. And want it. I think I need a better-paying job....

On The Road Again

I'm traveling to West Virginia this weekend by myself. Since my hubs has to stay in Louisville, I need a traveling companion:

Who am I kidding? Juds would be coming even if Wes was! Are you telling me that you travel without your stuffed lion?

Natural AND Tasty? Yes, please!

Believe it or not, I do try to take a look at the ingredients of food before I buy it. Sometimes poor ingredients seem unavoidable (evidenced by the fact that I can't find a flour tortilla on the shelves of Walmart or Kroger that doesn't have partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil in it!), and sometimes I just don't care (evidenced by the Snickers ice cream bars that currently reside in my freezer). Sometimes I care, but I don't want to change... and this used to apply to my choice of peanut butter.

Alicia has always chided me about my choice of peanut butter. Her peanut butter has peanuts in it. And maybe some salt. That's all. Mine? Here is the ingredient list:

"Made from peanut butter--

As a side note, it's probably a bad thing when the product states that it's made from the product it's actually supposed to be, right?

"(Roasted peanuts and sugar, contains 2% or less of: molasses, fully hydrogenated vegetable oils (rapeseed and soybean), mono and diglycerides, salt), honey, sugar."

I think fully-hydrogenated oils are less bad than partially-hydrogenated ones, but I really don't know. What the heck is rapeseed oil?! BUT it tastes just marvelous. I love the hint of honey. Seems worth the rapeseed oil(?) to me. Yum.

Last night I went to the grocery store, and I saw this on the shelf:

It grabbed my attention, so I bought it. It was only a few cents more expensive than the kind I normally buy. And for good measure, I bought a jar of the chunky, non-honey kind for my hubs. When I got home, I took a spoon and marched over to Alicia's house. I wanted her to see my reaction to what was probably not going to taste very good.

But you know what? I like it! And it only has four ingredients: peanuts, honey, sugar, salt. Nice!

I will say, though, that like most natural peanut butter, the oil separates at the top. When trying to mix it all together, I splashed it all over my shirt. Even an instant spray-and-wash application and thorough washing in cold water couldn't save the shirt. So sad! But I do thank God that I decided to wear an older Target sweater yesterday instead of a newer TH one. I would've been really sad if I had ruined a new sweater!

So that's my product recommendation for the day: yummy peanut butter with an ingredient list about which you don't have to be skeptical. Tomorrow I'll tell you all about a $180 coat that I got at Macy's yesterday for 78% off!

What's Not to Love...

...about my Grammy???

I know I just blogged about her, but seriously. I have so much love for her it's hard to put it into words. I get to see her in three days, and I'm so excited!

What Was I Waiting For?!

Why in the world did it take me 2.5 years to decide to clean my faucets? I'm almost embarrassed to show you what I've lived with for so long.

Before:

Five Minutes Later:

So easy!

Step one = Pry off the cover with a flat-headed screwdriver.

Step two = Remove the screw holding the faucet head in place.

Step three = Scruuubbb!

Step four = Replace facuet head, screw, and cover.

Step five = Admire. Wonder why you didn't do this a long, long time ago.

A Valentine's Day Assortment

I have an assortment of things to share today. Think of it as an assortment of chocolates on Valentine's day, except without the calories (yeah!).

-I got Wes a card, wrote him a letter, tied a ribbon to his favorite bottle of italian soda, and even made him a chocolate chip cheesecake (sooo good) for Vday.

Fun!

-I bought Bethany Dillon's new CD over the weekend, and I love it. BD's music is refreshing & real to me. I really enjoy her.

-We got rid of Wes's desktop! Well, meaning we unplugged it and put its cords in bags. It is now ready to be wiped, have XP reinstalled, and then we hope to sell it. But at least it is gone, along with its many cords. I hate cord clutter. A lot. (Check out Nicole's great cord storage solution here.)

-I am giving up Diet Coke and Facebook for Lent. Go ahead and laugh, but I'm serious! Pastor Daniel encouraged us to think of things that occupy our time and/or preoccupy our thoughts. I spend a lot of time on facebook, and I've been interested in cutting back on my DC intake for a while. Cutting them both out of my life solidly for 40 days will be a real eye-opener, I think, of how much time/energy/affection I do spend on them. Cutting facebook will open a lot of time that I can spend in God's word (which I desperately need), and cutting Diet Coke will leave me thinking, "I need a Diet Coke right now!" And then I will hopefully counter that with, "No, you don't. You need the Lord."

-I want to learn how to wear a skirt in the winter. Like, with leggings and boots. But I am nervous. Would someone who's fashion forward like to help me with this endeavor?

-Wes is going overseas this summer for two weeks, and I confess, I am already thinking about the many projects I can do while he's gone. He doesn't always enjoy my projects. :) I am thinking about painting our desk. But on the other hand, I don't really like it (the build of it), so part of me thinks I should just put up with it for another year and not take it with us when (if?) we move. I'm not sure a coat of paint will really make it any better. I think I mainly don't like it because it's bulky and heavy, and I'd rather have a more streamlined desk. Paint won't solve that.

-This is the latest picture I have of us with Grammy. Isn't it cute?

This is the last picture we have of Wes & Nana. We miss her. Wes officiated her funeral; did I mention that? He did a great job.

-I am currently reading East of Eden. Then I am going to read The Fiction Class (I picked it up at Books A Million for $4; it looks good!). Then I am going to read A Prayer for Owen Meany. That's as far as I've gotten on my book list. Any suggestions? I just started watching Bones, at a friend's suggestion, so hopefully I can pull myself away from the TV long enough to actually make a dent in this reading list I've developed.

-Ok, talking about all those books has made me want to read. And have a piece of cheesecake. :) Happy Valentine's day!

Did You Know

that this is one of my favorite songs?

I wish...

... I was making these for Valentine's day!

Read more about this super-cute baking idea here.

We don't really do much for Valentine's day. Do you?

Lovely Trellis

Coco pointed out these note cards in a post today:













I love them! But... they're $60 for a set of 10. Yikes! I don't know how I could bear to part with them to actually send them.

I think I'll stick to shopping in the TJ Maxx stationery aisle....

Need To Know: 5 Question Edition

There are a few things I need to know -- 5, to be exact. If you read but don't comment, I need you now more than ever! (Yes, I have a penchant for drama.)

1. How, oh please tell me how, HOW can I get my dear, sweet hubs's white undershirts from smelling AWFUL? I opened the dryer tonight expecting to smell a lovely combination of clean laundry and fabric softener, and BAM. Body odor like WHOA. Help!!

2. I know I've already blogged about this, but should I spend almost $80 on shoes? Even if I will wear them a lot?? I really like them, but gosh, that is a lot of money. (Kari, do you get a discount at Zappos?! PS: I like your red hair!)

3. My hubs and I need to fly to Pittsburgh for a weekend in May (have I mentioned that my BFF is getting MARRIED?! love you, Chels!) and the tickets are going to be around $500 round trip. This makes me sad (especially since that's how much we paid to fly to California this summer!). Anyone know of a way to get an amazing deal on tickets?

4. And this I definitely need to know -- have you gone here and gotten any sweet coupons yet?We play every day and have been pleased at the amount of meals we've been able to eat at Qdoba for $1.50 each recently. (We hold out for a "Free Craft 2 with regular drink purchase" coupons before we go!)

5: The million-dollar question: Should I quit drinking Diet Coke? Is one a day really going to kill me? (If you have a soap box about aspartame, now's your chance to get on it!)

I think that's all I have for now. Thanks for your advice!

Under My Umbrella

I keep seeing this image in blog land and I love it. We're currently snowed in the mountains of PA, so I have little internet access (read: this is all I've got for you!).

Download it for free here.

Nana

Wesley's Nana died on Tuesday. Our days have been filled with driving, sitting, standing, hugging, praying, and waiting. They have been joyful and tearful. We will miss her, but we do not grieve as men who have no hope.





























Steven Curtis Chapman said it well:

We can cry with hope,
We can say goodbye with hope,
Because we know our goodbye is not the end.

We can grieve with hope,
Because we believe with hope
There's a place where we'll see your face again.

We love you and miss you, sweet Nana!

Nella

I don't have much to say currently, but this is worth reading.

And Then There Were Four

My best friend, Jessi, just had a baby. In South Africa. After 40 hours of labor (!!!). She is a champion, and I love her. This is her beautiful family:

Welcome, Kya Grace! Your mommy already has two children. Your Auntie Beth doesn't even have a puppy yet. Life seems a little unfair... but that's beside the point. Auntie Beth loves you very much. :)