My 1st Landscape Venture....

About a year ago, My husband & I built our home.

As Spring approached, I had an idea...

You see, my mother-n-law, Mary at http://wwwframedandtagged.blogspot.com/ has a "GREEN THUMB" & is very talented at planting! Me on the other hand, inspired by her flower beds and willing to do what it would take to freshen up our new home asked for her help to create a landscape for the front of our home. So we hopped in the truck and headed to the Plant farm...Here, we bought all sorts of beautiful things, called my father-n-law,Frank,on the way home and asked him to meet us with the tiller! This 2- day venture turned into something that I could have never imagined! As a team, we prepared the soil, dug our holes with a shovel, placed our trees where they best fit and then began placing the plants & flowers appropriately. With exhaust,we finished by pouring bags of mulch and stepped back to study our design. AMAZED & IN AWE, I WAS VERY EXCITED TO HAVE MY VERY OWN LANDSCAPING!
It was like "putting icing on a cake!"

It was of great surprise to my husband when he returned home(Surprise!)& then he came up with idea of trimming the beds with some extra stone we had left over from building! I am now Daydreaming of this Spring & can't wait to see what new ideas Mary has in store for us this year!

MY FIRST AWARD!

I am so GRATEFUL to receive my

VERY FIRST AWARD.

Being new to the "blogging world" I want to say THANKS SO MUCH

to Jenny@ http://lotsofloveformine.blogspot.com/
for giving me the LUV Award!

Here are the rules and such...official business I guess to keep the LUV going!

1. Put the logo on your blog or post. (You can highlight the photo and text of this post and copy/paste wherever you need to...start your highlight from the bottom up to get the photo)2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show GREAT ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received the award.To continue the LUV-fest I have to nominate 10 blogs! This proved to be MUCH harder than I thought. Why you ask...or not?! Because there are so many grateful and creative people out in blogland!

1. Mary at http://wwwframedandtagged.blogspot.com/

2. Joni at http://oldcentennialfarmhouse.blogspot.com/

3. Dawn at http://myhydrangeahome.blogspot.com/

4. http://savvycityfarmer.blogspot.com/

5. Kelly at http://rosevinecottage.blogspot.com/

6. Becky at http://sweetcottagedreams.blogspot.com/

7. Ele at http://abitofpinkheaven.blogspot.com/

8. Anita at http://wwwcastlescrownscottages.blogspot.com/

9. Debbie athttp://talkingwhitetrash.blogspot.com/

10. Beth at http://oldetymemarketplace.blogspot.com/

My LOVE of RED......

RED.....ahh what a Great COLOR!

My love of RED has been ongoing as I use it

in decorating our home...

Dishes, Picture frames, Pillows & Fabric, Candle Glass Vases and Lamps! A piece of furniture...wow, does it pop!

An old suitcase or even a small table & chairs for your kids playroom!

I use it wherever and whenever I can!

My love of Red continues...

HEART necklaces for that "SPECIAL SOMEONE"

With Valentine's Day right around the corner,I wanted to share with you
these FUN Heart Necklaces

$32 each plus FREE SHIPPING.
You can find these at my boutique, http://www.notsoshabbyinteriors.com

The "Cubby Hole" in the Kitchen

I decided to re-decorate the "cubby hole" in the kitchen. If you will look below at my kitchen photo's, you will see that I have a small cubby above the refrigerator. Here, I wanted a few of my favorite things so of course, I started out with the RED BIRDHOUSE and then went upstairs to my "extra junk" closet to find all sorts of GOODIES....an old clock that was broke, a flag that I usually pull out for the 4th, an old pickle jar full of little things-another face watch and WOW, THE SCRABBLE GAME......yes, the one we used to play as kids! I used it to Spell our last name,WILLIAMS and topped it off with a few of my favorite things including a BIRD,someBIRD EGGS & AN OLD RUSTY WATERING CAN,a small American flag pillow and a finial. So what do you think? I think it looks much better...more "homie" and more me!

Enjoy what you have been BLESSED with....

Melissa @http://theinspiredroom.net/ has encouraged me to live A BEAUTIFUL LIFE by setting 12 months of goals....
As I go through this what seems a VERY LONG WEEK, one of my goals is to ENJOY WHAT I HAVE & ALL THAT I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH... I thank God everyday for my life because he has blessed me with a wonderful family, gracious friends and the love of a little 3 year old boy, my son, that just brings so much light into my world! This world is a very fast-paced world and so I have started taking time in the morning to sit on the porch with a cup of coffee in hand....enjoying the blessing of the sunrise, picking my son up from preschool and spending the few hours in the evenings that I have with him, laughing,swinging,playing!! The precious hours of our daily time flies by so quickly so I have been taking the time to just sit back, take a deep breath,look around and be thankful for all that I have been blessed with.....I hope you will too!

My Kitchen

My Kitchen......well, I absolutley love it! We placed it in the center of the house so that we could enjoy conversation from all parts of the house. I decided to paint my island along with my mantle focal point a green and then make it look old with a stained faux! I then wanted to bring in the rest of my cabinets in a faux creme to accent the green. I have always loved the color green and you will see it more throughout our home. The floors are a distressed wood in which I love because they can with-stand all of the cars and toys my 3 year old son plays with! I used a simple granite that would compliment the old brick veneers as a backsplash. Of course, I had to have a copper farmhouse sink that I love! It is very large but very durable and we have really enjoyed it! I also love the mantle above the stove because I can decorate it for each season!

Our Side Porch

As a new blogger, I have decided to start by showing you a few of my favorite things & places... We will start with my favorite place at our new home...the side porch! This is where I begin my day with a cup of java in hand. Watching the sun rise and the peaceful and still of the morning before my day begins and then the serenity of dawn as the sun sets and all things refelcted upon that day begins to shut down in my head.... what a wonderful place to begin and end my day....this is definitely one of my favorite places!