Happy Back to School!

What a week of getting back to school. I'm lost in data and codes...but every child's formal education should begin with pictures like this taken from proud parents like me!!

I did shed a tear, but he sort of laughed at me.

I’m sure in 12 years he will laugh at me again when I take this same picture and the falcon looks small…

Thank you to enthusiastic students, hard-working teachers, and supportive parents all over this nation.

Happy Back-to-School!!!!!

A surprise feature

Busy, busy week here. My first week back to school as a full time teacher!!

Just a quick minute to share....

As bloggers, sometimes we blog to show our best and sometimes we blog just because....

Since I just threw in this little gardening tip on a random whim, I was delighted to find it was a feature in the fabulous "Cowgirl Up" party!!

Check out the party!

More Tables – Fall Fun

I’m a teacher.

I’m a TEACHER.

I’m A TEACHER.

I’M A TEACHER…but…

I can’t give it up. I L-O-ve merchandising. So…when I can squeeze it into my schedule…this is my hobby.

A hobby that pays you. Gives you a discount on fabulous stuff and let’s you shop for the latest, greatest. That’s where they derived the term no-brainer.

Autumn tends to naturally be a little but country. So do I.

This year though…fall is getting some glitz. While homes are scaling down with the “less is more” mentality and loving clean-lines and clutter-free living. Fall decor is stepping up and saying…use a bit less of me but let me be “WOW”

The good news for us is that makes it even easier to blend autumn, Thanksgiving, and the BIG ONE. Yes Christmas!! Shhh!!! I said it.This table above is an example of how to take earthy, woodsy decor you already have and BAM – give it glam!

Think outside the mum on foliage too…these silk protea are GORGEOUS!And for the first time in months…soon an extra layer of fashion will be welcome!

Bringing in the harvest is fun and I can’t wait to share a couple of new and old recipes with you!

Just in time for Football Season!!!! Go HAWKEYES!!!!

          

Thanks for letting me share my hobby with you…

Linking to…

Beyond the Picket Fence

Nifty Thrifty Treasures

Tabletop Tuesdays

Overflowing with Creativity

Cowgirl Up

Thrifty Tuesdays

Kelly’s Corner

Tables…

I’m participating in Kelly’s Corner Show Us Your Life. It’s always fun to have someone give you a topic. OK…maybe that’s just the teacher in me that thinks that’s fun. But ANYONE will think it’s fun to see everyone’s tables! Tables all over your home. What’s on them?

Here’s a real life glimpse at ours…no prep or staging…ready?! I’m not!!

In the Girls’/Guest Room

In our Dining Room…

For those of you who might be thinking ‘get real!’ you can have a clean dining room table too! The key is keep anything other than dishes that goes to and from the table on a tray…It keeps me happy to see my table and his play things are always within easy reach…

I was just thinking…I learned the “tray trick” in my early blogging days…so if you’re bored…look here.

Our living room.

We don’t have a short table in front of furniture…otherwise known as coffee tables…I love that our clutter has to be contained to this one little table. I’m learning so much from our expanded down-sized living space :) You’ll see cards and a score pad on a table somewhere in our house at all times. I L-O-ve that my husband and son both love to play cards with me.

Because this is about all the counter work space I have in my kitchen…

 

I use this little table as my work space…don’t mind the trim just leaning instead of being put up…

Now…since this is my workspace…it doesn’t really look like this. I tried. It’s not reasonable. Of course, sometimes I’m not reasonable either. To my sisters, my mother, and my husband. Go ahead print this. I’ll sign it. I confess.

Really my table looks like this

Yes…that’s a hammer. A left-behind item. Not a cooking utensil

I added this tub to the top and really it works quite well to hold my pot lids, extra cutting board and bread

I’d love to show you more about my creative, cozy kitchen but we are talking tables and I have just one table left to show you.

After this I may never return to blog again, but we are keeping it real – right?

This is my side table! Such a terrible habit to use it as a dumping ground!

Even my cowboy’s table put’s mine to shame!

Maybe I should post this and clean up my night stand…or maybe I should just be glad I have a sip of water handy and curl up on the bed and see what everyone else has on their tables….

In case you didn’t know

I have a little secret. Nothing earth shattering. Maybe not even something new to you.
But…if you’re in the mood for a quick, cheap, maintenance-free yard spruce-up then scroll on.

I’m ashamed that the gardener in me has mostly been on vacation for 2 years now. I still L-O-ve my containers.

Like these that I grew last summer so we could use them when we tied our knot.

(He’s grinning like he’s about to get married or something!)

Or remember these?! (I inspire myself!)

If you’re as beat by the heat as most take a peek back here. You won’t regret it!

Alas…this isn’t about me previously being a dirt diva and currently being a swing sitter…

It’s about a quick fix for this!

Cowboy is the handiest man I’ve ever met (in every way – oops. wrong blog) BUT he is not a fan of trimming. He claims it’s due to flashbacks. Something about scissors and a fence….

The FIX!

I pulled the weeds first because it had just rained and it felt good to pull them out so easy, but you can just smother them too!

No weeds are getting through here for quite a few years!! 

I used newspaper so that if I want to plant something later I can dig right through it. If you are clearing a new area or never plan to plant…carpet and rug remnants work great!!! I won’t put edging or rocks to trim because this is SO easy to mow around and then no weeding is involved. Don’t mulch more than a few inches deep or it’s no good for the tree (despite what you see in many parks)…

I think now I’ll go back to sitting in the swing.

PS….those cannas by the swing. Same trick. Haven’t pulled a weed there in 2 years…

Linking To:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Beyond the Picket Fence

Cowgirl Up

It's Overflowing

Encouragement from Incourage

You’re Right, Christian Women {and (in)courage Writers} Aren’t Immune From Cliques

The last time I really dressed up to impress a man was probably a decade ago when Peter and I were still in the do-you-notice-me-not-noticing-you-noticing-me phase. The last time I dressed up to impress another woman was yesterday morning when I painstakingly blow-dried my hair before escorting a group of preschoolers on a field trip to the farm.
To. The. Farm.

Micah’s teacher is the opposite of me in every way. She is petite and effortlessly fashionable with truly great hair. So 7:30am found me determined to tame my own unruly mane. There may also have been eyeliner and a cute purse involved.
No one can make us quite as unsure about ourselves as another woman.
We can stand knee deep in witty conversation holding cup cakes in one hand and our cell phones with brilliant Twitter commentary in the other only to retreat to hotel rooms and whisper in quiet tears to our roommate how left out we felt.

We want to matter to the people we think matter.
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask."
“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
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