{this moment}

{this moment} - Inspired by SouleMama. A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Rest

Goodness, has August flown by. I can't believe this is the beginning of the last full week of this month. In all the craziness that has been this month, I could really use some rest. Seems like this guy has the right idea.

{this moment}

{this moment} - Inspired by SouleMama. A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Because Sometimes That's Just How You Feel

Need I say more? I think this photo pretty much sums it up.

{this moment}

{this moment} - Inspired by SouleMama. A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Where's the Bacon?

More from the world of Chief, our fabulous little Pug. The other night the Hubby and I fixed Belgian waffles and bacon for dinner. Mmm...mmm was it good. After we were finished eating, we had a few small pieces of bacon that we knew our dogs would enjoy, so we shared it with them. Little did we know that this event would occur...

I kid you not, we watched this video like 5 more times after it happened and each time we laughed harder and harder.

Pug In A Blanket

Need I say more?

All I Want for Christmas Are Some Doggy Treats

...Well not me...but our pets sure do.
Looks like Chief, Kitty, and Jalen all made Santa's "Nice" list this year.

A Homemade Weekend

Is the weekend over already? And is tomorrow really Tuesday? Geez oh pete! Well, even though the weekend is over and the work week has begun, the Hubby and I are still feeling giddy about the fun, productive weekend we had. Both of us were immersed in our handmade hobbies...me with my sewing and him with his woodworking. (And don't forget the yummy homemade food that went along with the weekend).
On Friday I helped Dustin with the twin shelves he's making for our dining room. The weather was absolutely perfect for us to be out in the garage.Earlier in the summer we got beautiful new furniture (that came with not so beautiful throw pillows) so I covered them with Amy Butler's Nigella. They look A-mazing now.
Saturday morning was so relaxing. We've been able to open the windows for the past couple of days and sleep with the wonderful breeze coming in. When we awoke on Saturday, we found Kitty enjoying the breeze as well. Aren't those pillows amazing? There were two blocks from my quilt from A Notion or Two that were so delicatly made, that I couldn't bring myself to put them in the quilt that would be tossed around on our bed. So I made some beautiful throw pillows with them. This way we can enjoy the detail without worrying about messing them up.Chief wasn't quite ready to get up yet...until he smelled the bacon sizzling in the kitchen...because every Saturday morning should start with French Toast, eggs, and bacon.Later in the day I worked on some more sewing. I'm working on several gifts for the wonderful people in my life. Nothing makes me more happy than doing what I love for those that I love.I hope everyone else had a fabulous weekend. What special things did you do?

Just Call Him Sleepy

This is Chief. And Chief sleeps...a lot.
But don't ya just wanna kiss his little gremlin face?
Ah! I just love him!

Little Gray

Last November, during a cold and rainy night, we found a little gray kitty outside our apartment complex. Having loving hearts for abandoned animals, we couldn't just leave her out in the rain. So we took her in, hoping to find a home for her in the next few days that followed. Well, we didn't have any luck and we couldn't bring ourselves to call Animal Control, so we decided to ask family members back home in Virginia. Thankfully, the Hubby's parents came to the rescue and now the cute little kitty, named Little Gray, lives in Virginia where she has a big window to look out of every morning and a screened in porch to relax on during the afternoons.

While we were at their house, we got to visit her and give her lots of lovin. She's definitely the queen of the castle and absolutely beautiful.

Furry Friends

Taken with my 1984 Canon SLR film camera.

P.S. Happy Earth Day Y'all!

New Addition

We have a new addition to the family.
No - not a baby (yet). That will be in the works in the next couple of months...
Hmm...Was that too graphic for Blogger? I hope not! Haha!

But anyway...
The new addition is our new dog Chief. Some friends of ours from Virginia had to move and couldn't afford to keep their 8 year old pug, so while my parents came up this weekend, they brought good ol' Chief with them.

Isn't he just adorable? That little face is hysterical. And when he breathes/snores/growls he sounds like a little pig. It's hilarious! He's definitely quite a wacky addition to this family, but we are loving it...and so are all of the other animals.

They Say It's Almost Spring

Well this morning definitely felt that way. The Hubby and I were able to sleep in this morning and then enjoy some time on the porch as the warm March sun refreshed our winter-worn bodies. And with it feeling so nice outside, the animals couldn't help but join us.


I'm in such need of the warmth of Spring and Summer. I hope it comes soon and stays around a while.

Sunday Afternoon Naps

Handsome Kitty

Borrowing a friend's camera for a wedding that I'm shooting tonight and thought I'd get some practice in by taking pictures of our fat Mr. Purrvilous - or Kitty as we call him.

A Holly Jolly Christmas

I was so excited when the day after Thanksgiving finally arrived. No, I wasn't interested in the Black Friday Sales or the crazy traffic here, there and everywhere. I was excited about decorating our home for Christmas. I had been waiting for it since September [I know...I'm a nut job].

It all started with getting out all of the ornaments. I didn't realize how many we actually had. Oh and by the way...can you tell which one is NOT an ornament? *Tehehe* Our Kitty was so not interested in the holiday cheer around the house.

Here is our beautiful tree all decorated and surrounded by presents! My Hubby and I like to get our Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving so we don't drive ourselves crazy trying to rush everywhere to get presents so close to Christmas.

And now for a few close-ups of some of the ornaments on our tree...




Olivia is by far one of my most favorite literary characters.


I have this thing with fish ornaments...They just have so much character. Don't you just love the one with the big lips!

During our first Christmas, my Hubby and I found some really great penguin ornaments. Each has it's own personality.

This is a new idea that I came up with this year. In September my mom and I found an antique store that sold vintage Christmas postcards from England. Each one is from the early 1900s. So I decided they would make a really neat addition to the tree. I just sat them on different branches throughout the tree. Perhaps next year I will frame them...who knows. There's so much creative room to do something different with them each year.

Two years ago, my mother-in-law gave me a canvas with a tree painted on it. She got it from someone she works with and gave me the idea to decorate it however I wanted. So last year I turned it into our Advent Calendar. Each ornament unfolds and reveals a Bible verse that corresponds to Jesus' birth and the reason He came to earth. Each day, we read a different verse as we prepare to celebrate Christmas and remember that God loves us so much.

Here is the Christmas table runner I made earlier this Fall. I was so excited to finally put it out and it fits perfectly on this table. [Again notice the item that is NOT a Christmas decoration - I tell ya...that Kitty is somethin' else].

This is the Nativity scene that my parents had while I was growing up. My Dad built the actual manger. Each year, it was my job to set it up. Last year, my parents blessed me and Hubby by giving it to us since we didn't have a Nativity scene yet. So now we have Dustin's Christmas tree from when he grew up and we have my Nativity Scene that I had while I was growing up. It's so neat to have different things from our parents as part of our own Christmas.


Oh the ambiance of Christmas. And last but not least...

...Kitty...under the tree...Look at that look on his face. Could we say, "Bah Humbug!" He can't get behind the tree anymore b/c of all of presents. And again, that has upset him. Oh well. He'll just have to get over it and enjoy this festive time of year.

A Day for Giving Thanks

This year our Thanksgiving was so relaxing. We got up bright and early (7am) to put the bird in, whom we named "Tumnus." (It's a family tradition to name the Thanksgiving Turkey). This was the beautiful morning view on our chilly Thanksgiving morning.
This was the first year that Dustin and I had every fixed the turkey, and Dustin did such an amazing job on it! It was so juicy and filled with so much flavor.


Our kitchen counter was filled with different ingredients and cookbooks all morning.


Once everything was cooked and ready to go, we loaded up the car and headed down to Nick & Jamie's house, two of our really good friends, for our Thanksgiving Feast. Since our family is all the way in Virginia and it's such a long and expensive trip to go there for Thanksgiving, we decided to have it with Nick and Jamie. Every time we go down there, we take our pup Jalen with us. He has such a good time playing with the Hampton's dogs. Well, since the car was filled with food, I sat in the backseat with Jalen, while the food sat in the front seat.


Look at all of the goodies on the table. We fixed way too much food...which meant plenty of yummy leftovers.





Jamie was so excited about how perfect her pies turned out. Not only were they pretty to look at, they tasted good, too.

And here's the happy couples, sitting down to our Thanksgiving Feast.


We have so much to be thankful this year and this meal with our great friends was definitely something to be thankful for. What are you thankful for?