In memory

It has been a year today that my beloved Granny passed away at the young age of 87. My grandpa, her love, passed away back in 1995 and there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't miss him. So I am happy that they are reunited in Heavan, happy that she no longers lives by replying on strangers in a sterile "hospital" type enviornment, happy that I know she is finally happy and at peace. But boy do I miss her! She was the most sweetest, most caring, most beautiful soul I have ever had the honor of knowning. She helped shape who it is I am, and even more so, who it is I desire to be.

This picture was taken many many years ago, at my Grandparents house. I am the little face pearing out behind my cousin. Behind me is my uncle, my grandparents youngest child who is also a twin. Did I mention today is their birthday? Their mom passed away on their birthday and they saw that as a honor. I think that is wonderful. So happy birthday Uncles!!

And my Granny, here's to you I miss you more and more as the days pass but know one day I will see you again.

~ Marcia

Holiday weekends finds

Yay! I was able to get a little more juice out of my batteries today. Just enough to snap a few pics of the great finds I picked up over the long weekend. So, without further adieu...


These cute little shoes I picked up at the local Kmart. It's the first time I went in and was amazed! All the other Kmarts I ventured in were dirty, clothes and housewares strewn across the floors. The prices were outrages for the store we were in!! So to say I went in very apprehensive is an understatement. Well, to be very honest, I needed to use the girls room and this store was close on our outing. Anywho, it was great!! The store was immaculate, and the prices were very reasonable. (And the washrooms were clean!). I fell in love with these shoes. They came in four colors and its the first time I purchase shoes outside of black or tan. I love them!! They were all of $18.95!

Hubby and I have a GPS that we received from my in-laws last Christmas. It has saved us from being lost countless times! What we like to do is ignore the directions and travel about different streets we have not ventured on before. We especially love doing this in residential areas. We found some gorgeous homes this way. And this past weekend a lonely little rummage sale. We got out and I quickly acquired this little guy for $5! I am going to spray paint it white and plan on using it on my front hall table that I have yet to purchase. Sidenote: I went to a rummage sale and was interested in buying the wicker writing desk the lady had for sale. She was asking $100, for the table, the small bench, and a few other things I did not need. I asked her how much simply for the table, she said rather rudely, "Do you mean writing desk?!" (In all fairness, it was the only table/writing desk on her front lawn!), anyway after some explanation as to how it would be much more expensive if I did not acquire the rest of her possesions, she rattled off a price of $75! For a second hand, wicker, writing desk that I would need to spray paint anyway. I said a quick "thank you", which I do believe she heard "than.." as she quickly turned her back to me and walked away. I realize it is opening season for rummage sales and there will be plenty more on a Saturday morning, I just wonder if she does realize this very thing.... Anyway, all this to say I am still searching for a front table to put my newly purchased wreath holder, which I plan to use for a different purpose. (Btw, I did NOT purchase it from that lady. In fact I purchased nothing and simply walked away and will not return to her yard sales). Hmmph.

Our apartment complex has a book swap at the gym. There are shelves of books that you can take or leave if you're done reading something. I think its fantastic! I have dropped off a few books and magazines and found some great reads! I recently picked up this one after a workout with hubby. I loooove Dorothea Benton Frank's novels. She is a great summer read. I have yet to visit the Lowcountry in South Carolina but after reading a few of her novels I feel that it is a place I must visit. This was a free find!! Is there anything better?


~ Marcia

I am starting off a little late, I'm still in the long weekend mode ;)
I had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend! As I hope you all did too! The weather was gorgeous, high of 89 degrees. Warm temps, lazy days, it was fantastic. Hubby and I stopped at random garage sales, we took the pup out for a long hike and we had dinner with family. Hubby also surprised me on Friday with our first "official" date night. We went out to Red Lobster. Yuummm! This Friday is my turn and I'm checking around to see our options. I am real excited to surprise him with something fun!

Tomorrow I will post pictures. I apologize, my cameras batteries has died. Sigh....

Until tomorrow wishing you all a great Wednesday!

~ Marcia

My first award!

I am so excited! I received my very first award!! Thank you sooo much to Mervat who not only writes one amazing blog, but TWO! And she's a Mom, a scientist and a soon to be novelist! She can be seen at http://www.isthatnew.blogspot.com/ (I SO wish I could learn to link!). I am so grateful Mervat, thank you so much for nominating me!

The stipulation of this award states that I must list my 5 least favorite things before I can nominate some of my own favorite blogs. Therefore, here are my 5:

1) I really dislike waking up to an alarm. It bothers me so that I can't even eat breakfast right away. I must wait about an hour to be able to eat so as not to be sick.

2) I very much dislike my kitty's habit of using our carpet as his very large litterbox. He is 9 years old and rather skittish so when he is afraid or angry he'll let me know by urinating on the carpet. Just when I think all is well, he'll do it sometimes in his box, sometimes on the carpet. Arrgh.

3) Confrontation. I try to avoid telling someone that what they did/said or didn't do bothered me. Then it eats me up inside and I spend all this time rehashing what they could've meant. It is a frustrating waste of emotional time.

4) Storms. I am unjustifiably afraid of tornados, earthquakes, tsunamis. Anything that can take my house away. I panic, even though I do not live in an area that these natural disasters frequent, I still panic.

5) Much like my fear of storms is my very real fear of being in a car crash. I am the "backseat driver" everyone hates to have. My foot automatically slams on the non existent passenger brake. I will tell hubby, "he's braking" when the guy is four car lengths in front of us. As I get older this fear has gotten stronger. It's not as though the people I ride with want to get into an accident and I am the only one that doesn't. So I don't really know where this fear came from...

Now here are 5 of my favorite blogs:

BellaDella

Wsprsweetlyofcottages

Bless our Nest

Lady Liberty Patriot

Farm Wife Primatives

~ Marcia *Smiles*

Let the planning begin!

Yesterday I approached hubby about my idea of a weekly date night. We have gotten lucky by getting paid each alternate week so I decided the week I was paid I had to come up with a planned activity for our date night. The rules are simple, it does not need to be extravagant. It can be a planned meal and a rental movie, a dinner out, stopping at a new trail and then going for ice cream. It just has to have some thought put into it. I was actually surprised by how readily he agreed! I thought he would've put up more of a fight! Don't get me wrong we always do things on weekends and he is great at stopping at shops we haven't been before, or wanting to take Cinnamon on new walking trails. I just wanted date night to be something special, something of thought that we put in to show each other how much we care and the time we spend together.

So, I have been racking my brain trying to come up with a great first idea! (I got off easy, it's his date night this coming weekend ;) I think for the first date night I plan we're going to take a haunted ghost tour. We have to meet at The shop of Ms. Somebody (?) and then we walk with lanterns around the area while our guide explains the history and hauntings of the area! (No worries on ruining the surprise, hubby doesn't read my blog).

I am so exicted! I am really pleased we are going to do this. So to cap off this blog I decided to share with you my favorite photo of the two of us, our wedding photo. It does require a little explanation.

We decided to get married but in order to file the required paperwork (as I was not born in the US ),we chose to marry in front of the justice of the peace instead of taking a year to plan an elaborate affair. We did however, wish to have a big celebration with family and friends afterwards but money, as always, had other ideas. LOL.
We got married at my in laws big old Victorian house. She is a gorgeous old dame! That day we had a blizzard so severe they had not seen one like it in 20 years! Don't let the picture fool you, I was freeeezing. The dress was a steal! I wanted something beautiful for the pictures that we took but I was on a tight budget. It is hard to tell in the photo but it even had a little cathedral train! I bought this dress at Herrburgers which is something like a JC Penney. It was marked down 80% and I paid a grand total of $23! Thrilled I tell you, thrilled!! Hubby looked so handsome and asked me if I minded if he wore his trademark bandana. Who am I to say no? I wore leopard shoes!

~ Marcia

A weekend gone by

One of our favorite weekend things to do is to find new walking trails. Here is a favorite of mine that we visited earlier this month.


This is the one we visted on the weekend.

Here is a picture under this gorgeous tree.

And here we are :)

On another note, I am planning a special date night! Hubby and I seem to be in a rutt. Things have hit us hard in our short marriage. Being new to the area its usually just the two of us and we've enjoyed exploring our new home. But now I want to do something a bit more planned., something out of the norm that we'll both enjoy.

Do you have any special date nights? What are your favorite times spent with your hubby?

~ Marcia

Yay for Friday and being present

The older I get the more I realize just how quickly time passes. I just said to my coworker who graciously picks me up each morning until our car is fixed, that "Didn't this weekend just blow by? It's already Monday". And here we are facing another weekend. If you measure time by weeks it is easy to see just how short life is. How living in the NOW is so important, especially to someone like me who relives the past and dreams about the future. I am trying to learn to focus on the now. Be present and accountable. I have a tendancy to realize just how great something is after it has happened. Doesn't make for such a great lifestyle. So I am becoming more aware of today, its sights, smells and sounds. I am also attempting to put a more positive spin on things such as if its a rainy cold drizzly kinda day, its no longer a yucky day but rather a perfect day to stay in and cook, or curl up with a cup of tea and read a good book. Even if I have to trudge through it to get to work.


So bringing me back to today. I LOVE Fridays. It's always been my favorite day of the week. The last day of school and now work, anticipation of the weekend and now the day of my alltime favorite TV show Ghost Whisperer. Mom and I watch it then we call each other (she's in Canada) and discuss exactly what just took place. Tonight is the season finale! Poor hubby, I get off at 8pm, he picks me up, race home and I dont speak to him until after the show is over. Yes, I love it that much. ;)


I just received my first paycheck! Woohoo for a second income!! I am planning to pay bills then do a little shopping. I'm thinking of hitting up these two places and then go rummage saleling...(is that even a word?)

Do you have a Christmas Tree Shop where you are? It's amazing! Very good finds on lots of different things. I bought a great little light there for $3.95 once. I think its in one of my first posts.

What are your weekend plans?

~ Marcia

It's all in the eyes....

I posted the other day that I am just inspired by the gorgeous homes you ladies have. I would love to incorporate more lace and "girly" textures to my home. Right now it's a work in progress, but with work it's one step at a time. I realize on my home tour that I didn't show you our bedroom. That's because it is no where near where I'd like it to be. Once it is I will definetly open the doors to you!

I've been thinking, who better to ask than a slew full of talented ladies! Now, my question isn't in a decorative nature but rather a frugal one as I really wish to only purchase one and hopefully the right one from the start! :) I wear sunscreen daily, always on my face. But am noticing fine lines and wrinkles getting bigger by the day! I love to smile but am so self concious about it because my eyes just wrinkle right up! It's terrible! And yes, maybe vain, but I do wish to feel comfortable in my own skin. Hubby says it's an onset of having to work with the younger end of 20 year olds and he just may be right. But again, to me, its just being comfortable in my own skin.

I have heard of the old wives tale of brewing green tea, leaving it in the fridge and then using it as a compress in the morning. This does seem to work a little but do you ladies have any tips, tricks or secrets of the trade? Do you have a great eye lifting serum that's worked wonders for you?

Please share your secrets!! LOL. I want to pick up something this weekend and am looking for something that works.

Thanks!!!!
~Marcia

Giving Thanks

It seems lately that sadness is all around me. My best friends mom is fighting cancer, one of our good online friend's friend's hubby passed away suddenly. My childhood friend just lost a close friend of hers also suddenly. Do you ever get the feeling that the earth beneath your feet has yet to settle?

My dad's passing marked it's 3rd month a couple of days ago and I was a wreck. I know he has passed on and is in a better place but yesterday for a split second I forgot. How I could forget when he is the first thing I think of when I wake and the last when I put my head on the pillow is beyond me, yet somehow, for a split second I forgot he was gone. And then it dawned on me, I would never hear my dad's voice again. I had to steady myself from bawling at work. My desk sits in front of rows and rows of windows. It is truly a gorgeous spot. Anyway, after my realization this little brown bird flew up to the window, he was so close you could hear the fluttering of his wings against the closed window. He looked right at me then flew away! What does it mean? I am not sure, but it brought me comfort when I was at a low point. So I give thanks to the little bird and maybe his poor eyesight. ;)

What I wanted to blog about today is giving thanks, when things seem tough or uncertain. I am trying be more of the glass is half full, rather than its half empty personality. I decided to create a "grateful journal" and write daily what I am grateful for. It is so easy to see the negative when life is so chaotic and ignore the positive. So today's thanks is to meeting all of you. Being invited into your homes, your lives and your journey through life. Thank you! I am also thankful for family. Here and above, for who they are has shaped me and who it is I desire to be. I keep this little gem I purchsed at JoAnn Fabrics for $1.99 last Thanksgiving, right next to my kitchen sink. I don't think I could have said it any better.

What are you all grateful for?

~ Marcia

Inspiration

I've surfed many a blog before ever attempting to create my own. There are a slew of blogs that I have admired, the homes you all have created. They are sanctuaries, areas where I could imagine curling up and reading a good book. Homes that I would love to stand by a window, watching the snow or rain outdoors, holding a hot cup of coffee snuggled in my plush robe. I am in love with your homes! The colors, the textures, the plush pillows! You ladies are my inspiration. I love your homes, I love how you keep them so beautiful, so filled with love, havens from the outside world. So here's to you, hats off to your gorgeous homes. Thanks for all the inspiration!

~ Marcia

Wishing you a Happy Mother's Day!

I just want to take the opportunity to wish everyone a very blessed Mother's Day. To all you Moms, Grandmoms, Foster Moms, "Adoptive" Moms and Moms to the furry kind, to everyone who cares for someone outside of themselves, who loves deeply and hurts badly when it concerns the well being of someone they love.

To all of you, have a very special Mother's Day.

To my Mom, my sisters who are mom's, my MIL and my cherished Grandma up in Heaven, I love you ladies very much!

~ Marcia

Home tour.....take 4

Today we move onto the kitchen. It's a tiny, galley style kitchen but it works well for me. The standard appliances are a little dated but they are in great working condition so there's no real complaints there. It has a dishwasher, which being two people, I have yet to use, and a garbage disposal which I Love! Not sure how I managed without one before. ;)

The cabinets are low enough that I can put decorations on top. I love that! Here are some of my favorite things.

I admit, I do have an affinity for roosters!

~ Marcia

Home tour....take 3

Good morning!

Today's rain makes for a perfect day to sit back with a cup of Joe, light some scented candles and read all your great blogs. But alas, I have rejoined the working world and am off to my first day of work! Yay for a second income!! Booo, for not being able to leisurely enjoy my days anymore. I do hope in my career to be able to find work that I can do from home....but for now, I am very thankful to the powers that be to have found a good job at all!! So here's today's quick blog then I am off to get ready ;)

This picture is of our tiny yet efficient laundry room. I love, love LOVE having a laundry room in our apartment. It keeps me from carting laundry down to the main laundry, coin operated rooms. The appliances are a little dated but they work and I am so grateful to have them here.

Right next door to the laundry room is our bathroom. For an apartment it is rather large. I don't believe the pictures really show this but it's very roomy, perfect to leisurely baths.

I don't know about your kitties but mine loves to drink out of a dripping faucet! The wooden star case holds T.P., and Kleenex. Here's another shot of the little shelf.

Hope you enjoyed today's tour. I must go and get ready. Wishing you a happy Monday!

~ Marcia

Home tour....take 2

Today's tour will continue in the living room and dinning room. From the front entrance the living room is situated to the right. The TV stand is actually my grandma's old sewing machine. I put the lace cover to protect the wood from the TV.

The sofa is on the right of this picture. It also came from my grandma. The blue blanket you see is to protect it from Cinnamon.

If you look closely you can see Cinnamon and Roscoe both wanted to be in the picture ;)

I love to have pictures of our families and friends. I don't agree with real estate professionals who say to take down all the family pictures when showing your home. I think it makes the house look loved and happy. Anyway, I have a ton of pictures and am running out of room! The shelf is actually meant as a fireplace mantle that my parents gave me when I had a home with a fireplace. I asked huby to put it up above the window. I like it there.

From the living room it opens into the dinning room. It's a tiny little space off the kitchen but I think it's cute. I like that for an apartment it's seperate from the kitchen.

I don't care much for the standard issued light fixture or the carpet in the dinning room but otherwise I like it. I am going to put tall candles in the candle holders on the table. You can't see it from the picture but they are in an old silver serving tray I got at a thrift store for .99 cents. The door is off to the little "porch". I'll show you that in another tour.

Hope you liked it!

~Marcia