New Year, New Kitchen

I spent the first week of the new year re-doing my kitchen thanks to friends Vicki and Leanna. Leanna just bought a house (her first) and is busily re-doing it to her liking. What fun I've had doing that so many times! Vicki has a gorgeous kitchen which I would love to imitate (which is the sincerest form of flattery, right?) Anyway, with their inspiration, I tackled the job.

This beige and white kitchen came with this house. I immediately added the wallpaper border (with hub's help) and a few French accessories. I hated the beige countertops. I loved the white cabinets (like I've had in several houses). I have a white refrigerator. I have almond dishwasher and stove. Yuk! yuk! YUK!

I thought I'd love to have a dark granite countertop, but the money is outrageous. So Vicki showed me how easy it is to stain the cabinets which is what I did this week. A little stain, a lot of work, new knobs and ceiling fan....voila! new kitchen!! And guess what...the almond countertops don't look so bad any more now that everything goes together (with the exception, of course, of my white refrigerator and microwave ..sigh! )
Thank you, friends, for the inspiration!

Deck the Halls

Well, Christmas is right around the corner. It's coming early for our family on Dec. 22.
The decorations are done, the gifts are wrapped, the groceries selected, the menu planned.

Hurry, Christmas!

Goofy in Love

yes, that's my son looking goofy at a kiss from his wife....ah, love! It can make a grown man melt!

Another Thanksgiving post

I know everyone has been posting about Thanksgiving, but now it's my turn!

We celebrated with family, as many people did. I love this photo because it shows four generations of our family:
Right to Left:
1st Generation:
Mawmaw was able to attend with her husband and really enjoyed the day. Although she hadn't felt well all month, special effort was expended to join us. I am thankful for that.

2nd Generation:
Next is me. I was happy to be with my family on Thanksgiving and always enjoy the feasting. I'm thankful that God has allowed our family to remain close, healthy, and happy.

3rd Generation:Next is daughter-in-law, KarenD. She hosted this year and did a wonderful job. She always makes everyone feel welcome and even included a family friend who was alone for the holiday as our dinner guest.

3rd Generation: Next is daughter, LydiaN. She and her husbend spent the day with us also. She always adds fun and laughter to our celebrations as well as her expertise as photographer. It's always a joy to have her around.

4th Generation:
Baby Ian!! We can't see his dear features yet, but we felt his movements inside his mommy's tummy. We can't wait till he makes his appearance in late February so we had hold him and love on him. I patted him and told him to hurry up 'cause Grandma was ready for him! :)

I am thankful for my family and grateful to God for His wonderful blessings to all our generations.

Special Lunch

On Sunday, I and six other Arbonne consultants from our Region went to Dallas to have lunch with Stacy Thorn, Executive National Vice President. Stacy lives outside of Tulsa and has been with Arbonne 10 years. The first four she spent as a District Manager, then decided to get serious about building her business. Since then, she has steadily grown her company...and now makes almost $80,000 per MONTH!

Yes, network marketing can do that. It is hard work in the beginning, but pays off BIG in the long run. I am excited about the possibilities that anyone can do this!

Someday I will meet up with Stacy again...at a VP dinner! I appreciate all referrals from my dear readers and will travel to do presentations anywhere.

Kudos to Hubby

First of all, let me say that my hubby has done it again! He has spent the weekend creating another sitting area in our backyard and did an excellent job. I went to two stores to get the decorative items, and we'll add more as the seasons change.

This will give us a stopping place halfway down the hill to the bottom of the yard. We are going to move the chimenea down there to get it out from under the wisteria that now grows completely over the pergola.


I know we will enjoy this new spot very much. Thanks to the hub!

Maker Faire

KarenD did a good job of posting photos of our weekend trip, but I'll find one or two to add here.

We did have a great time at the Maker Faire outside of Austin. Weird people from all over were there. I enjoyed gawking at them as much as at the robots and other cool gadgets around. There were also booths with organic foods. Hubby bought some bison jerky which was really good. I got honey from Round Rock. This photo is the DietCoke/Mentos demo. They had those spurts of Coke dancing, swaying, crossing in patterns; it was awesome! And a little wet!!


Whole Foods was once place I did not take pictures and wished I had. It was amazing! Did you know there's PINK salt? There were so many unusual foods my eyes could hardly take it all in. And, there's a restaurant where you can get delicious food (gourmet variety) to go or eat in. The bakery was awesome as well as the cheese counter, spice aisle, and oils, to name a few. We also got a "splurge" bottle of oil/spices combo for dipping bread...yum!


Katz's Deli was interesting. The decor, food, and service were like being in a NY deli complete with subway theme and Jewish food. We had links and sauerkraut topped off with a HUGE cheesecake we all shared! mmmmm

IKEA was an experience, too, although this one was Swedish! While the furnishings are not necessarily my taste (too angular) I loved the accessories and gadgets they had. I got out of there for under $100 which I thought was good! Here's Alan at the end of our shopping:

Yes, our carts our full! haha

It was a beautiful fall weekend for an outing, and it felt like we had a much-needed mini-vacation! Sweet!