Happy Thanksgiving!

I will be out for a few days, but hopefully will be back with some great beach pictures!  Maybe even a craft or 2 that I planned with my nieces!  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoys being with family and friends!

Thanksgiving

First off, I just have to say that I am SOOO incredibly thankful to have MR.P back home.  I almost forgot what it felt like to have a husband!  Ok, just kidding.  It's just really nice to have him back.  This is how excited we were to see each other!

(terrible quality, but you get the excitement!)

So anyway, onto the point of my post today.  I wanted to share some things I am thankful for.  Not only because its the week of Thanksgiving, but because I should always remind myself of these things and thank the Lord for blessing us sooo much!  I am thankful that the Lord blessed me with the gift of marriage and to the best husband ever!  I am thankful for our families and the fact that we are all believers.  MR.P and I have been left with such a heritage of believers and for that we are sooo incredibly grateful.  I am also thankful for our new house.  I can't believe that we actually have a house!  It's been such a learning process, but so good for us.  I am thankful for our our friends and family.  I am thankful for our jobs...the list could go on.  Sadly, some days I don't feel so thankful.  I grumble and complain about anything and everything.  Can you believe that???  I have so much to be thankful for, yet, so often I ask God WHY?  Why haven't you given me this?  Or blessed me with that?  I pray that through this Holiday season I can learn to be thankful on a daily basis.  I pray that I would have a heart of gratefulness even in the things my heart desires.  God knows exactly what we all need and the exact timing for us. 

What are you thankful for?  What are you learning about this Thanksgiving?

P.S. We are headed to the beach with my family for Thanksgiving this year.  I am sooo excited about this.  MR.P and I get almost a whole week with all my nieces, sisters, brother, brothers-in-law, and my parents!  We are very blessed!

Sweet friends that kept me company this week

So I can now tell you that MR.P has been gone for 2 full weeks!!  He will be home today and I can barely concentrate!  So during these 2 weeks I have had sweet friends and family to keep me company.  I have appreciated everyone so much, I can't even begin to express myself. 
Day 1 my sweet sisters-in-law came over after church and spent the entire day with me!  How incredibly sweet of them :)

(This is an old picture, but I love it.  This was for my girls weekend before MR.P and I got married.)

Day 2 I had Dgroup (bible study).  They all kept me great company.  I don't have a picture of them all, but they know who they are :)   BUT, my sister in law "Beans" came over @ 9:45 that night because I got a little scared.  I'm such a whimp!  As a thank you I got her a Vanilla Coke from Sonic.  She said it made her night.

(She caught the bouquet at our wedding :)  too funny!)

Day 3 I went and spent some time with my friend Katie!  I went to her house and she made me the best dinner ever!  We hung out for a little while, ran to target and then Wal-mart.  It makes me so sad that my time with her goes by so fast!  We live pretty far away from each other so we have to make the most out of our time together.

(pic from my girls weekend before MR.P and I got married)

Day 4 my mom spent some time with me. It was soo nice to get some alone time with my mom. We went shopping for some crafts for a sisters/girls night we are planning :) Oh and "Beans" came over again.

 Day 5  My friend from college came over that I haven't seen in years!  She was so sweet to come eat dinner with me and just hang out.  Then "Beans" came over again...is it getting hold yet?  Just kidding.  I appreciated everything she did for me these past 2 weeks.

Day 6 I had the wives of the guys that were out of town with MR.P over for dinner.  We had a blast.  We got take out, talked, and just had fun.  One of the girls has a mac and so does her husband.  So we planned for us all to talk with our husbands.  Soo much fun!

(MR.P is on the far right side)

It was SOOO nice seeing MR.P's face.  I missed that face A LOT!!!

Day 7 my friend Joy came to visit.  We had a great time.  We went shopping, had lunch, talked a TON, and just relaxed.  I really appreciated her coming to visit.  It was exactly what I needed :)

(We tried way too many times to get this pic right...sad!)

Day 8 I visited a new Church that MR.P and I are looking into.  My newest niece fell asleep on my chest and it made my day!  I guess she knew I needed her since I was husbandless during church.  Then my sisters and I headed to celebrate my "little" brother's 15th bday.  The whole family was there except MR.P.  Sad day :(  We all missed him a lot!  Then us girls went and did a little shopping.  This is only 3 out of the 6 of us (my mom included).

(We were sending a little hello text to MR.P)

Day 9 I had Dgroup again.  This week we did a little Thanksgiving celebration.  I finally got a pic of all of us!

Day 10 "Beans" came over again. 

Day 11 I went to my sister Laura's house.  She has 3 sweet, precious girls and I got to spend a little time with them.  We moved some furniture around in her house to make it flow better.  That was fun!  We were going to turn her bonus room into their play room, but it got a little late.  Bummer...we'll do it next time.

(this is us with her new precious baby, Elizabeth Anne)

Day 12 My 2 sisters-in-law came over for dinner.  We went the easy route and got Moe's.  It also happened to be my favorite night of tv, so that entertained us.

Day 13 Because he won't be home for a while today I will have to entertain myself.  I work all day and then have a few errands I need to run.  But, I tell you, I miss that MR.P.  I can't wait to see him tonight! 

Sorry for the long post.  I just wanted everyone to get a shout out who so sweetly entertained me even though I was probably pathetically missing MR.P.  Thanks everyone!

Clothes pins + Christmas!

I am not trying to skip right over Thanksgiving...really, I'm not.  I'm just so excited about this cheap little project I did the other day.  I saw a picture in the Pottery Barn magazine of a wreath with pictures attached and decided I could do something similar with some things I already had.  I had clothes pins already, so I just bought glitter glue to make a smaller mess.  It worked perfectly.  Here's the finished product.

(I'm a sucker for polka dots)

I plan on using these to attach Christmas cards and pics to this piece on our wall over the fire place.

(don't have any christmas pics yet, so I just used ones I had)

with Christmas lights on the tree I think these will sparkle and stand out a lot. 

Sadly I have to take them down because it's not Christmas yet.  Oh well.  Excited about Thanksgiving!  Our family is going to the beach!

Finished Product

So I finished it.  Not without a few burns though.  Thankfully a friend left a comment on my blog and gave me a great tip I somehow missed on the tutorial.  Use a pen or pencil.  It sure did work!  Thanks friends! 

So go on over to the tuturial on Living with Lindsay and try it out.  I think they add some depth but without calling too much attention to the wall.  You can't beat the price either...$1 for the wreath and depending on if you have a book you can tear apart another $1. 

Ok, quick question.  This is in our living room.  on this wall....

Do you think it goes?  For some reason I keep feeling like it should go somewhere else :(

An update

Most of the time I like to give a little teaser and then let you see the final product.  This is going to totally give away the element of surprise.  But, oh well.  It's fun :)

Last night when I got home I started working on the blank wall.  I got this far before I had to leave for Dgroup (bible study).  I like it because it's nice, neat, and organized.  Gives everything a clean look.

I was slightly nervous that it's a little informal.  But then I remember that MR.P and I are not formal people.  I think it's very welcoming.  I also believe that what people have on their walls tells what is important to them.  So these are some of our wedding photos of friends and family.  So Marriage, Friends, and Family are all very important to us...so let's show it off! 

I added the wreath just for some vizualization.  I am in the middle of making this wreath out of book pages.  The book I mutilated was actually a good one.  The Once and Future King.  I decided I wanted my book wreath to to be made out of a classy book just in case someone decided to read the words :) 

I got the idea from Living with Lindsay.  It's not nearly done.  Actually this is only the back of the wreath.  So let's hope I can make it look LOTS prettier tonight.  I was just too excited to share :)  Also, warning if you try to do this as well.  Watch out for some MAJOR burns.  I walked away with only one battle wound, but it was a good one.  Still hurting...

So once I'm done I'll post the end results.  Cross your fingers it's good :)

A little switcherrooooo

I have this one wall that I can't figure out what I want to do.  This is what was there last night as of 7:00 pm.

I have wanted to use these frames in a different room for a while now.  So last night I took them down.  It was tough, but it just had to be done.  I do know, that I want this to blend in instead of POP out like these frames.

I haven't figured everything out yet, but I have a good start.  I am learning to put things up slowly, even if I don't have everything I need.  That way, I can just vizualize everything and make it what I want.  Patience is a virtue, you know (said to me by my mother all the time growing up).

So just to leave you with a little something, this is what I am using. 

I already had these in the house, from a recent project.  So no sweat, no added expenses ;) 

I might need something like this too, just not sure yet.

(pottery barn)

I've always wanted some nice ones, so maybe that could be a good christmas present...hint hint MR.P ;) 

So Happy Monday everyone.  Hope you are all having a great day.

Kitchen Table Reveal!

Ok, so Kitchen Table Reveal + 8 cuties. 

Last night I went over to my parent's house because my mom and I had some errands to run for a fun girls/sisters night we are planning.  I could hardly contain my excitement knowing 2 of my 8 nieces would be there to greet me.  My mom (Gigi - Grandmother Greer) was taking care of them so my sister could go see a friend and her new baby boy!  So here they are :)  They were too cute! 

(I am looking a little rough after a long day of work)

Also, I am loving how my nieces have 2 different pair of crocs on.  Aren't they funny?? 

And just for kicks aren't these cuties too??

Just can't get enough of my nieces! 

Ok, so onto revealing my Kitchen Table!!  This project has been on my brain for a really long time.  We bought this table off of craigslist in April with the hopes to redo it.  Well in April we were in an apartment and then moving.  So there was no time to do the table...Until now!

Like I said before, I found the paint for the table in the garage.  It took a few nights to paint because I've been pretty busy.  Gave it 2 coats + 2 coats of polyurathane for a glossy finish.  Also, instead of using a paint brush ( I HATE paintbrush strokes on a table top) I used a big roller.  It really gave the table a nice finish.

Before:  It was white washed and had some water stains.  Not a good look.

The Working Station.  It was like this for 4 days.  I cannot stand messes like this, but it was worth it to do it right.

The finished product.  I sanded the edges down.  It was sooo easy!  Much easier than my chairs.  Maybe its practice?  Maybe it's because the table actually has edges?  Not sure :)

Here's a close up of the sanding work I did :)  It was really fun and a nice stress relief!

After:  I am so excited that this is another project I can scratch ( feels so much better to scratch off than to just check!!!) off my to do list...especially since it was FREE!! 

A NICE BIG thank you goes out to "Beans" my sister-in-law who helped me with this project.  I really really appreciated her input and help with the project :)

So this weekend I am hanging out with an old, BUT GREAT friend.  We have a business meeting on Saturday for our business and we are really excited about the potential.  Pray for us!

Have a great weekend!!

Individual Chicken Pot Pie

On Tuesday night I went to hang out with my friend Katie.  Well, as usual, she wowed me!  I show up and she has made the easiest little chicken pot pies I have ever seen!!  So I tried my hand at it last night.  Thanks Katie for the genius recipe off of Pillsbury! 

I don't actually like cooking so this was perfect for me:)

Ingrediants Needed:
1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® Flaky Layers refrigerated original biscuits - $2.00
1 can (19 oz) Progresso® Traditional chicken noodle soup - $2.00
1 to 2 tablespoons butter - most people already have - FREE
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning - most people already have in their spice rack - FREE
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder - I already had - FREE
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (1 oz) - I already had - FREE

TOTAL - $4.00 - Now that's my kind of cooking!!!

Before you start, heat oven to 375°F. Lightly spray 8 (2 1/4x1 1/4-inch) muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.

1.) Separate dough into 8 biscuits; separate each biscuit into 2 layers. Place 8 biscuit halves in sprayed muffin cups, pressing to cover bottom and sides.

2.) Drain soup; store in tightly covered container in refrigerator or freezer for later use. Spoon drained soup evenly into biscuit-lined cups. Place remaining biscuit halves over soup; gently seal each biscuit.

3.) Spread biscuit tops with butter. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Top each with 1/2 tablespoon cheese.

4.) Bake at 375°F. for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are golden brown. To remove from pan, run knife around edge of pies.

AND Hopefully it will turn out like THIS!

These were so easy, even I couldn't mess them up!  I have to admit.  I enjoyed making them too.  I made them for my friend who was coming over to hang out.  We haven't seen in each other in a few years so it was GREAT to catch up.  Then my sister-in-law "beans" came over and she enjoyed them as well!  Thanks Katie for helping a sad, helpless sister out with her cooking.  This one is being added to the list!

Glass Containers for Make-up, hair accessories...

I know that everyone uses chalkboard paint and that some people are tired of seeing it.  But really, why wouldn't we use it?  It helps organize us, lable things...it's just great stuff.  So in saying that, I present my latest little craft.  I had these glass jars for MR.P and my wedding.  We filled them with our favorite candy for our guests. 

MR.P's fav - He loves the skittles!

My fav - I can't get enough!  Although, trying to lay off because of the holidays :(

So I decided to use them as flour and sugar containers.  And you know what?  Never really used flour and sugar all that often :( I am a terrible cook.  So I cleaned them out this weekend and decided they needed to be used more.  I taped them up with painters tape and gave it the old chalkboard paint make over + some string.

Here's how they turned out!  Nice, clean, and organized.

These are in our bathroom.  We have black and white checked flooring so I think they add a nice touch!

I needed a better place to put my make up and hair stuff.  This works out perfectly!  Much less crowded.  And the good part is I can change the use later if I want since it's chalk board :)

Any fun projects y'all have done lately.  I'd love to see!

Just a little teaser!

It's kind of like a teaser to myself since I can't work on it tonight :(  I have a problem not being able to finish a project in one night...but painting just can't be done.  All that painting, drying, painting, and drying.  Anyway, after my bible study group last night I decided my kitchen table was ready to be tackled.  I have wanted to paint it for a while, but haven't known exactly what I wanted.  I couldn't decide if painting the legs white and refinishing the surface or painting the whole thing white was best.  But then my mom found a beautiful picture of a white table in a Pottery Barn book I have.  It totally made my decision for me.  Thanks mom!  Oh and the fact that its cheaper = Free :)

(better homes and garden)

(PB)

Well, the other day I found some pure white paint in the garage from the previous owners.  I was cleaning out the garage...pays to organize!  So yay for free!  We needed pure white since all the trim in our house is pure white.  So major score!  I was able to start, but not finish.  Just a little teaser of what's going on at the Peele house this week :)

Annslee's Savvy Silhouettes!

This past Saturday MR.P and I went to Dahlonega with his mom and sisters.  We walked around and enjoyed all the cute antique stores as well as great fellowship.  Here is our documentation of the event :)

While we were there my sweet friend Katie emailed me pictures of her friend Anslee's Savvy Sillhouettes.  I think they are really cute and creative!  She sells them for $10 each.  Aren't they just adorable?

I love the contrasting fabrics together on this one. 

Wouldn't it be cute to get one of your house numbers?  I'd love to get mine!

She has a great collection.  You should definitely check Anslee's stuff out. 

Here is her contact info if you are interested!

Annslee Hillyer

Cell: 334.663.2273

Email:  annsleew@hotmail.com

What a giveaway!!

Peanut Petunia is doing a giveaway for this awesome galvinized cabinet from pottery barn!  I hope I win, but go on over and enter to win!!

Good Luck!!

Blog Awards!

Sweet friends Cottage Instincts
(gave me this award)

and Ducks in a Row
(gave me this award)

gave me awards today!  Another exciting day over @ Design A-Peele. I feel so honored today.  Thanks girls.

I already told y'all some things about myself here.  Do you really want to know more?  Probably not.  So I will just nominate 7 other people that I enjoy reading.  So choose the one you want because all of you deserve them ;)

Polka Dot Pig - you are so creative!  I loved checking out your family blog too!

High-Heeled Foot in the Door - I love reading about your business adventures!

In Stitches - I love your recent furniture redo!

Shorely Chic - I love seeing you create your new line!  It's exciting to see someone go before me in their new business.

Funky Junk Interiors - You are WAY too creative!  I love everything you do!

Farm House 5 - She has amazing art work.  Check her out!

Just a Girl - Great blog!  She knows what she's doing ;)

I think this might be my last tag for awards.  I don't have any more interesting facts about me!  Thanks girls!

Family Values

Ephesians 1:16-19 "I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  I pray also that they eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may see the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for those who believe.  That power is like the working of his mighty strength."

MR.P and I went on a date a few months ago to Brio. We were discussing 4 family values we wanted for our family now and for the future. I have to admit, it was slightly stressful trying to think of these values. Our main question to ourselves was this..."Is this something we just want to teach our children or is it BIG enough that we would put this on our wall?" (you know, like frame it) So after discussing this during our date, plus a more days we came up with these.

1.) Faith - To always remember what Jesus did on the Cross for our sins. We want to teach our children the gospel. We will fail everyday, but we pray that we can teach them about the Great God we serve and hope they will accept him as their personal savior.

2.) Stewardship - We hope to teach our children to handle their money responsibly as well as being generous with it.

3.) Authenticity - To be real with people. I thought this was something I was really good at until a few weeks ago. MR.P is really good at this so I will just follow his lead :)

4.) Hospitality - We love hosting friends and family at our house. We hope to be able to instill that into our family and future children's lives.
What are your families core values??  I'd love to hear them :)