I called her Annie.

Not the red-headed, tiny singing, cutie pie girl who stole the hearts of Americans so long ago. No.... I'm talking about my grandmother. I was the first grandchild, and I couldn't quite say "granny" when I was young- so I made up something new. It stuck... and there was her name.

One of the most influential people in my life was my grandmother. I truly have no idea why, but she was. My memories of her are sincerely precious, and I adored everything about her.... I have more childhood memories with her than anything else, oddly enough!!! I like that. There are days that I crave for just one more conversation with her. Funny that, as time goes on you remember more things and SMILE :)

I mean, Grandmothers are great for cooking and teaching you how to bake things like CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES and fudge. 

Or, having a different purse in her closet for any outfit imaginable (I really took this fabulous life-skill to heart).

And, enjoying screened porches and watermelon....

But one thing that I have a love/hate relationship about with my grandmother is her love for cards. When she passed away, she had an entire drawer in her dresser full of every card she had ever received from her friends and family. She treasured it. To my dismay, I am the same way. I constantly have to FORCE myself to throw away a hand-written card....... It's always a power struggle-- keep the cards that mean so much to me (it's terrible that my major love language is words of encouragement) or keep collecting them until I create a forrest equivalent of paper in my home???!!!! 

Choices, choices. 

Thinking about cards, pictures, and posters recently have led me to like this post by Belle Maison. She had some cute ideas on displaying the things you're a little bit attached to, and ones that are sooooo cute!!! 

Aren't they adorable?

Happy Monday, Friends.

Only a Grandma.

Evening Guests

About two months ago Krista and I found a litter of kittens behind our apartment. Boy were we THRILLED!!! Kittens of our very OWN?

Well, being the sneaky stalkers that we are (pure excitement, of course!) we peeked at them daily... and every time the mother had moved them. We didn't touch them or get too close!!!!! But, perhaps they could smell my desperate DESIRE to hold on..... To our dismay, a few days later Krista found a kitten dead on our patio. I was at work, and was not aware of the tragedy. My heart mourned a few days... but about a month later we found three PRECIOUS kittens at yardsale!!!!! FREEEE!!!! Several of my students were selling them, and when they found out we were taking them home they were SO THRILLED.

That was a fun day. :)

We had forgotten about the other kittens, because we had assumed they were all dead. Today I found out that I was very WRONG!!!!!!!!

Look at the sweethearts who graced me with their presence tonight.

Charming, aren't they?

Happy Summer, world!

It Is Finished.

Graduation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alyssa and Kaitlyn are done with high school. My two little sisters all grown UP now... Who would have thought? Congratulations to both of them, considering they had all As or high GPA or whatever it may be! I'm proud of them and their accomplishment. Congrats, girls!!!

When I went to their commencement ceremony, it was a little weird. They sang the same songs that they sang for MY graduation five years ago. They marched the same way, smiled, and rejoiced like us too. However, I can't help but think that my class was fabulous... and the best there ever was :) Of course, class spirit, right?!

Weird now... to be out of high school and out of college. Two robes. Two pieces of paper. Two big stories and accomplishments.

Thank goodness THAT is OVER!!! Ha.

Oh, but the memories...... :)

 

Thrift Store Finds

Today, I found a few treasures.... nothing cost more than two dollars :)

See my new favorite colors?

Yellow. Blue.

Oh, the joyness!!!

Do It Yourself...

It's something I'm into lately.

Projects that I can do without spending a lot of money and making it MORE adorable than what I'd find in a store??!! YES. Count me in.

Lately, I've been dreaming of finding an old chandelier or re-doing one. Who knows where this idea came from, but SOMEONE knew I was thinking about it. A blog that I follow daily, MadeByGirl, had a blog post this week about chandeliers. But this time?!

How to MAKE one.

Yes!!!! Oh guys, how fun would that be? It's something I must tackle, and SOON.

Thanks for reading about my random obsession today.

Check out the post on the pretty cute things for yourself: DIY Lighting!

Ten Things

I haven't been blogging. If you haven't noticed..... Life has been OH.SO.BUSY.
Would you like to know about it?

1. My parents bought a house, and have had to pack up their own house in one week. I helped all weekend.
2. My sisters graduated from high school, and we threw a party.
3. I started a babysitting job, and taught four girls how to sew by hand.
4. I started a second job, and worked ten hours my official first day.
5. I had three nights of fabulous girl time with three best friends: Krista, Jeanne, and Bethany. *happy sigh- best parts of the week*
6. I found and bought two new pairs of jeans. Oh yeah.
7. I managed to spend time with my kittens late one night, watch Cake Boss and Glee, and do the laundry.
8. Cleaned our home so my roommate could relax on her arrival home, and drove back to South Carolina.
9. Drove all night to the coast, and now? I'm at the BEACH....

And something about number 10 of the list of the things I've been doing actually results in why I'm blogging today:

10. I've been dreaming. And yardsale shopping. AND blog stalking tonight.

I have two ideas that have been overwhelming my senses lately. Two ideas are of COLORS.... I'm sooo in a toss-up... still........ why? I have trouble finding my sense-of-style.

Blue? Yellow? Black? Grey? Red?

Brown? Green? Red? Orange?

YIKES. How is a woman to KNOW??!!!

There are a few pictures that have been inspiring me today. Who knew there were people out there who love color like I do? Ha! Take a peek from Shoebox Decor's Blogspot Site.......

Pretty, right??? Oh yeah.

This is why I'm having trouble trying to decide on ONE.. just ONE design for my bedroom. In the meantime? It's so much fun dreaming. :)