The Fabulous Fox

Shane surprised me Saturday night by taking me to the Fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta.  We saw The Sound of Music--my favorite!!!  The last time we went was in January 2005 to see Beauty and the Beast.  Shane had it all planned out so that I had NO idea where we were going (or even that we were going anywhere!)  Here is his smirky-smirk I-know-everything-and-you-know-nothing face.

Hope came to my store around 3:00 Saturday and told me to leave and follow some directions very carefully.  The directions were to go home, put on my prettiest dress, and pick up Shane at 6:00 at the Macon store where he was working.  I went home and tried on a white linen Ann Taylor dress I bought for my bridal showers FIVE years ago and it fit perfectly!  I was almost as excited about that as I was about going somewhere unknown!

I LOVE surprises but I'm not very good at waiting for them, so I was very curious.  Here's my best I'm-so-curious-I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-myself face.  I think I would maybe make this face if you were about to kill me, too.

The play was WONDERFUL and I enjoyed every second of it.  Thanks, Shane, for the wonderful early birthday surprise!!!

Birthday Coming Up!

Last night I worked on a couple parts of my brother's birthday present.  He will be 28 next week, on Wednesday.  Anyway, I made two related but different things for him.  Here's a hint

I also got him a "real" present so he doesn't feel totally gypped, although to be honest I think he'll like my homemade presents almost as much as his real gift.

To Uruguay!

Today my mom and her sister are flying to Conchillas, Uruguay to revisit old friends in the town where they grew up.

Aunt Miriam is leaving from point A, Mom is leaving from point B, and they are meeting up in Santiago, Chile, point C to fly together point D. 

The Loot!

While I was up at my parents last week we hit several thrift stores--plus my mom had several things she'd picked up for me.  Nothing is better to me than when my mom says, "I have something I bought for you...at Goodwill!"

This is what I brought home with me!

My mom got these nesting baskets for me--they look pretty new.   They were free to me, I think my mom said she got them for $5.00.

 My mom apparently started hoarding lampshades--she picks them up here and there when they're a dollar or two and in new condition--when she found out I was buying lamps she gave me her stash!  I bought one of those little ones for $1.99.

 I found these plates at a Goodwill that sales wholesale--basically they have huge bins of stuff to go through and they sell by the pound.  Two green plates and three white plates = $2.00 total!

I got these six Oneida mugs for $0.50 each...I'm not sure how much they retailed for, but surely more than that!

This Target frame may not have been worth the $1.99 I paid for, but it called to me!

Big blue lamp=$4.99, small blue lamp=$1.00!  I think the little lamp looks kinda like the ones I got from TJ Maxx a few days ago.  That pink vase there at the bottom was $0.99.

I wasn't crazy about the lamp with the seashells inside, but I do like the glass lamp and I think I'll give the seashells to my mom...I paid $2.99 for it.  The little white lamp was $1.00 and the candlestick was $0.99...it's a nice heavy one, plus I got two other candlesticks for $1.99 each.  The green...planter? urn?...anyway, it's metal and I loved it and it was a total splurge at $5.00!

The lamp with the potpourri is totally ugly...but hopefully will be better when I de-potpourri it (don't worry, I won't give it to my mom!), it was $4.99.  The two brass swiveling lamps were $1.99 each and if they turn out like I hope they will, I may buy 100 more...seems like I found them everywhere!

Let's see...what did I miss?  The glass bowl, originally from IKEA,was another wholesale Goodwill find, it was probably $1.00 or less.

The miniature dresser was actually my grandpa's...it held Samantha's clothes when I was little (Samantha was is my American Girl doll)--and some of her things are still in there.  I found it when I was with my parents and claimed it again.  The green thing on top was a $1.99 find and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it but I really liked it.

So total that I spent was $34.92 (and a few more bucks on tax, of course).  I think I did pretty well on finding things I love--or will love, after a little work.  Plus, I have a while's worth of projects to work on!  If you're still with me here, you get a gold star!  I personally love seeing other people's finds and knowing how much they paid for thrift store finds!

What should I start with?

I'm Back!

Sorry I've been gone without warning...I left Friday morning to go up to North Carlina to my parents'.  My dad found out Thursday that the college he was working at was closing.  This is the last week he's going to have a job there.  It was a big shock and so I went up to help move his office and library (about 200 boxes of books, I think? Maybe more?).  No worries, my parents are going to be fine--my mom is a teacher so she'll start school in a few weeks and my dad is still pastor of a church.

They have some wonderful thrift stores up in NC so we hit a few of them while I was around...and I got some great deals on some fun things...I can't wait to show you everything!

Ruffled Necklace

I LOVE this necklace from this seller at Etsy.  

LOVE!

Grey jersey, glass beads, and pearls....yum!

Home from Texas

I had a WONDERFUL visit with my sister-in-law, Courtney.  Loved every minute, but I'm happy to be home!

 How great is it that we're both wearing the same earrings as we did in this picture of us from her visit to GA in May?

Little Trip

I'm taking a little trip this week:

Thanks Google Maps!

I'm going to my brother and sister-in-law's house in Texas for a few days--many thanks to Shane for letting me go!  I have a post lined up for tomorrow and then Shane's going to post about a project going on at our house and who knows what else on Wednesday.  

Be back soon!

 

Adorable-ness

There aren't many things more precious to me than watching my husband play with kids.  We don't have any of our own yet, but we get plenty of playtime with Ari, my best friend's eight month old cutie-patootie daughter.

Ecuador

I've been to Ecuador four times and the last time I was there we spent a couple nights at Hotel Real Audiencia in Quito.  It's a gorgeous hotel and when you eat in their restaurant, this is what you see:

Photo Credit

That's the Plaza de Santo Domingo, complete with the cathedral that's over 400 years old.  The mountains bordering the city are covered in houses.  It's hard to tell in the picture, but all those little specks are houses--it's incredible!  

My parents and my brother are spending time here this summer with a team of other missionaries.  They'll be teaching classes, working with kids, and most importantly, spreading the Gospel.  Please pray for them.

Happy Anniversary!

This is the picture that hangs above our bed.  A big 16x20 print.  It's what four happy years together looks like!

Happy anniversary to my one and only Shane!

Happy Anniversary Eve!

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary.  Four years ago I married my amazing Shane.  I don't think either of us realized when we got married exactly how perfect we were going to be together.  I honestly can say that I don't think we could be a better match.

In honor of our anniversary, I took a picture of a picture my mom just mailed me.  Apparently she was a little slow in getting some pictures developed...

...like four and a half years slow.  This is me in September 2005 (sometime over Labor Day weekend).  It's the first time ever I tried on my wedding dress.  I think it was the third or fourth dress I tried on.

Here's a quick time line for you--this is in 2005.
May - my brother graduates from Mercer University (where I was going to college, too)
July - my dad, mom, and grandma move from Cordele (about an hour away from me) to Mount Airy, North Carolina (about 7 hours away from me)
August - Shane FINALLY proposes the week before school starts and Victor (my brother) moves from North Carolina (he moved with my parents) to Texas
September (Labor Day weekend) - I drive up to NC to see my parents for the first time since I got engaged and go wedding dress shopping with my mom (where she took pictures in secret and horded them for years)

So basically all in one summer my family all moved away.  And I got engaged.  And started my senior year of college.  And started going to church with my fiance instead of my brother.  It was a pretty crazy time in my life.

And here we are four years later with our house, our dog, three bookstores, and a crazy-good life.

Read my 6 1/2 favorite things about Shane.

Kitchen Cabinets--Week 3

We wanted to start and finish painting our kitchen cabinets in a week and a half, but last week was crazy busy with business stuff.  So we've done only one side. The good news is that the one side is completely finished...except for the door and drawers...

Today when I get home I'm hoping to put on some paint clothes, grab my MP3 player, and get to work on the cabinets on the other side of the kitchen...

P.S. I am listening to E. Nesbit's The Enchanted Castle on my MP3 player.

Speaking of Courtney

 A couple days ago I commented how excited I was for Courtney's visit this weekend.  My sister-in-law is so fun to be around but since she lives in Texas I have to content myself with phone chats.  Anyway, she wrote a post for the Baptist Women in Ministry blog, which you can read here.

It's about the live of Lucie Eddie Campbell-Williams, a woman who I'd never heard of, but was an incredible influence in many aspects.  Courtney's working on her Ph.D. in Church History with a focus on the Civil Rights era and so her telling of a black woman who lived in the midst of it is very interesting.  Check out her blog post here.

(the picture above is one of my favorites of Courtney...isn't she the cutest thing?)

BIG WEEK

We have a big week ahead of us.  Tomorrow the Warner Robins Chamber of Commerce is going to be at our Warner Robins location to award us with the Small Business of the Month Award (for April).  We also have a couple guests coming to see us this week...including...

My wonderful, smart, funny, and beautiful sister-in-law Courtney!!!  Horray!!!

We will probably stay up late giggling, have a pillow fight, paint each other's nails....umm...or just play Scrabble.

In the works...

I have a couple projects in the works to show, just can't show them yet.  One I made as a birthday present and don't want to spoil the surprise and I'm waiting for some time to finish up the other one.

I'm nervous about both. 

In other news, we've been working at home getting some books out of our house and into our stores.  We sort and price while we watch this:

We just started Season 5.  See why I haven't been blogging much this week?

Pairing Socks Makes Me Thankful...

...that we have two pairs of feet in this house--I am not alone.

...that I can throw away the socks with holes in them because we have other pairs.

...that we have a washing machine and dyer that work!

...that wearing striped socks can make me smile all day.

Linked to Chatting at The Sky

Enjoying the good of our labors

I love how sometimes when I read a familiar passage seemingly new parts "speak" to me.

¹ To everything there is a season,

      A time for every purpose under heaven:
       ² A time to be born,
And a time to die;
      A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
       ³ A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
      A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
       ⁴ A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
      A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
       ⁵ A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
      A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
       ⁶ A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
      A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
       ⁷ A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
      A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
       ⁸ A time to love,
And a time to hate;
      A time of war,
And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task

 ⁹ What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰ I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. ¹² I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³ and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
     

Currently Reading

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time.  Set in the 1930s, I Capture the Castle is a girl's diary of the going-ons in the castle in which she lives.  It's a bit of an awkward title, but it makes perfect sense.  I'm about 2/3 through it and am trying to slow my reading down to make it last.  I just love books that make me want to do that.  There was a movie of it made a few years back, I'll see how that compares.

I'm also listening to the audio of this.  I haven't gotten very far into it, but it's one of those books I've always wanted to read but never got around to it.  So far so good.  The nice thing is that there are a lot of books in the series so if I fall in love I have quite a bit to look forward to.

This week when I've picked up my Bible to read I keep getting drawn to 2 Corinthians 5:

¹ For we know that if our earthly house, tent,is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² And, in fact, we groan in this one, longing to put on our house from heaven, ³ since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ Indeed, we who are in this tent groan, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ And the One who prepared us for this very thing is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.
    ⁶ Therefore, though we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— ⁷ for we walk by faith, not by sight — ⁸ yet we are confident and satisfied to be out of the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or bad.

Goodbye Jeep, Hello Murano!

We just traded my Jeep Liberty in for this beautiful Nissan Murano!  After driving it for 1/2 a day now, I can say that I LOVE it!  So comfy...plus the a/c works!