I finished my wall painting in my dining room – it’s nothing fancy or complex, but I love the organic, natural feel of the concept. On my way home form Mississippi, I got this inspiration for a wall painting & I quickly sketched out the design and got to work when I made it home. This wall is located in the foyer when you walk through my front door. As you can imagine, before this painting, this was a big empty space that left my entrance pretty bare and cold!
I was in a creative mood this evening and went treasure hunting at our local thrift store in search of some decor to spice up my new buffet table in the dining room. I was specifically looking for a lamp of sorts and came away with some really good finds!
I found this awesome vintage/retro lamp for only $10 that has to be straight from the 70s – they just don’t make things like this anymore. These gold metal plates offer a great backdrop to my table, and at $2.50 each, I couldn’t pass them up!
I finished my Buffet Table over the weekend. It was a more time-consuming project that originally planned for – I spend a good 12 hours sanding, priming and refurbishing this piece – but that was exactly what I was looking for. I know the bits and pieces aren’t perfect, but I think that is what gives it a bit of charm!
PS – I couldn’t get a good shot with lighting once I brought it in my house – I should have taken a picture before moving it in, so this is the best I could get!
By the time Sunday evening comes, I barely have time to get caught up on the busy weekend, let alone get ahead on the week. Having today off has been glorious. It’s been a catch-up on life day: my house is clean, bills paid, laundry done, groceries bought, car vacuumed & yard work complete. And I actually have time to do one of my favorite things – cook!
I’m trying a new recipe tonight for a chicken dish because I’m growing basil like crazy in my garden and I needed to use it up before it starts going bad so I found a simple basil lemon chicken recipe. The chicken was so easy to make, it took 5 minutes of prep time and just grilling it. It was the perfect amount of lemony-zest flavor and I’d recommend this to anyone who’s looking for a light, summery meal!
Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breast halves
2 tbsp chopped basil
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp spicy mustard
1 lemon juiced
1 dash of salt
1 dash of pepper
Directions:
In a food storage bag, combine chicken, basil, olive oil, mustard, lemon, salt and pepper. Seal and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Grill for 5-7 minutes on each side.
We finally saw my nephew today for the first time! He’s 3-1/2 weeks old, 5lbs, 18 inches long with sandy-blond hair and looks just like his dad. After my 10-year-old nephew held him, he said “He head is like a peanut!” and it really is. Robert James is the tiniest baby I have ever held and I completely fell in love with him!
Finally wide awake for us! Beautiful blue eyes.
His whole hand wrapped around Aunt Lisa’s finger.
My mom and I were relaxing on my patio last night and this prince was waiting for us! He was definitely incognito with his camouflage skin on my outdoor carpet but I found the little guy.
Just after a huge storm this evening, we walked my sister and her boyfriend outside and noticed 2 full-blown rainbows shooting across the sky above out house. I haven’t quite figured out how to properly take photos of the sky yet, especially a cloudy one, so these photos aren’t that great and really don’t do that rainbow any justice.
“When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” -Genesis 9:16
Yesterday we spent the day down in Mineral City at the Alive Christian Festival at Atwood Lake. Alive is a 5-day Christian music festivals with over 50 Christian artists and bands. I call it the modern-day Woodstock for Believers. There were thousands and thousands of people, families, youth groups, churches, that camped at Atwood all week. Because we didn’t plan ahead and we had the baby shower Friday night, we decided to go just for the day yesterday. The main person I really really wanted to see was Chris Tomlin, and he just so happened to be playing Saturday night as the headliner. So it was perfect timing. We’re already planning ahead for next year to take the week off and make a camping vacation out of it.
Obviously Chris was my favorite artist we saw all day. While other bands and artists made Christian music cool with their rock songs, Chris was a pure and genuine worship leader. His set was beautiful and uplifting and I my heart felt so full when we left. In the middle of his set, we looked around the amphitheater at the 10,000+ Believers on the hillside, standing up in worship, their hands raised to God, and it was just beautiful. The sense of community was awesome and I didn’t want the night to end. They had 4 different stages set-up throughout the park that had different bands playing all day long, and there were workshops and seminars going on with some pretty big names. We also saw Phil Stacy, Family Force 5, and Need to Breathe, which reminded me of Kings of Leon. I can’t wait for Alive11!
If our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?
Mission Balls with the Gospel written on them. These are available in 40 different countries around the world!
The baby shower went perfectly! Obviously since my sister couldn’t be there, it was more like a big family party with baby gifts. She did a green & yellow Winne the Pooh for the baby’s room, which is just adorable! She also wanted a “green” shower, so everything we used for plates, forks, centerpieces, even the invitations were either recycled or made out of plant, which was a very cool theme. She also asked that all the gifts be wrapped in something re-usable (such as storage bins, baby blankets, bags, etc.).
My baby sister and her husband just has a beautiful baby boy on June 8th, and I’m so excited to have a new nephew! Because he was born prematurely, she actually had him BEFORE the baby shower, which is this Friday evening. And since he’s still stuck in the hospital in Maryland (they were on their honeymoon in D.C. when her water broke!), neither of them will be joining us Friday night as well. So my other sisters and I have been helping my mother get ready for the big party and here are few of my favorite treats we made!
