incredible testimony

This young lady has an incredible story. Her birthmother tried to abort her & {obviously} failed. This is no only a pro-life story, but a pro-adoption story, and most of all a pro-God story. Please take the time to watch these two videos {part 1 & 2}. I wish I was as passionate about sharing Christ as she is! We all should be so bold in declaring God's glory. Love this.

purge & merge

I've been reading/hearing/seeing a lot about purging lately. The Nester has been writing about purging her home of stuff, along with her sister Emily, and also Kimba and Thrifty Decor Chick. And the other day, I was watching The Nate Berkus show and this chick was talking about only buying things for your home that you LOVE. So I started looking around my house thinking, "do I really LOVE that piece?" There are a lot of things in my home to which I just respond with a "meh". Those things need to go.

So, all of this talk about decluttering & simplifying & purging has been inspiring me, so I contacted my fam jam to see if they were ready to combine forces to host our annual multi-family yard sale. Hopefully, we'll be having this yard sale extravaganza in November...which means I better get crackin' on this purgin'! I haven't even started yet. Unless you count sorting things in my mind. :)

On a slightly related note, the hubs & I have decided to transform our dining room into a study. For several reasons: 1) We hardly ever use our dining room. We have a breakfast room where we eat as a family, and we rarely have guests over for dinner. When we do, our dining room really isn't big enough anyway. 2) Our dining room is more a part of our "living space" than our current study, which is in a bedroom. It would be nice to be a part of the "living space" when I'm on the computer, or when the hubs is painting his customized sports figures {shameless plug}. 3) Disclaimer: I am not pregnant, nor do I expect to be any time soon. However, should we find ourselves with child #2 before we can afford to sell our current house & build the house of our dreams {ha!}, we will need the current study to be a bedroom for said child. And of course since my mind has already started thinking about this, I'm ready to start the transformation, like, yesterday.

Anyway here are some before pics of the two spaces. Yes, the current study is an absolute MESS. I can't believe I'm actually revealing its current condition to the www. Yet another reason to move it out into the open - so that we don't have the excuse of just closing the door to hide the mess; we will be forced to keep it clean! {Yeah we'll see about that.} Our study serves multiple functions: 1) Computer desk area, 2) The hubs' painting workstation, 3) storage, storage, and more storage, 4) display area for the hubs' sports figures. Now, I know what you're thinking. "Laura, are you really gonna let your husband display his sports junk - I mean, memorabilia - in the open area of what is now your dining room?" Well, the answer is a resounding...kinda. I'm looking for a way to do it in a sophisticated manner. Of course not ALL of these figures will be able to be displayed; some will have to be put away. But really, who needs like 173 Atlanta Braves dudes or 347 Alabama football dudes on display? No one. {Baron, are you reading this? If so, sorry to rain on your parade.}

So...soon, Baron...you will have to say goodbye to your man cave. Go give it a kiss & hug. You had your one room to decorate for a good 4 years, and now I'm taking over. Maybe someday, when we have our dream house, you will once again have a man cave where you can proudly display your letter from Bear Bryant, and your 3D Jaws movie poster, and your 1,568 sports figures.

Here are the before pics. Stay tuned for pics of the progress we've made, and to help me make some decisions regarding the new space!

{ the study }

{ I'm having an anxiety attack over here because I can't believe I'm actually showing these pics...I mean I could have at least straightened up before taking them. sheesh. }

{ does anyone have a good suggestion for how to store an exercise ball? I mean really...it doesn't go ANYWHERE. }

{ the dining room }

{ p.s. anyone wanna buy a dining table + six chairs?? }

falootin' palooza giveaway!!

Ok, I absolutely love the stylin' children's clothing over at Falootin'!! It is adorable. If you haven't checked it out before, GO NOW. And then, head over to pure + lovely for the Falootin' giveaway!! For reals y'all!!

and the winner is...

The winner of the $35 gift certificate for CSN Stores is...



drumroll please...



Stephanie Hall!!!
And all because of her last entry telling me she blogged about it. :)


Thanks to all of you for entering! Keep reading...I plan to have more giveaways in the future!

Special thanks to CSN Stores for sponsoring this giveaway!

the great escape

I've been longing for this weekend for awhile now.

Baron & I, along with another couple-friend of ours, are going to the beach. This has been a long-awaited vacation for me, for sure! I cannot WAIT. {Side note: we are leaving Natalie with my parents. For the whole weekend. Three hours away from ME. Of course I am SO looking forward to the break...but I know I will miss my baby girl while I'm gone! I digress.}

Pre-kiddo, it took me all of about 20 minutes to get ready for a weekend trip. Now, it takes me a full week of mental preparation, along with several days of laundry/packing/1,000-trips-to-WalMart-because-I-keep-forgetting-stuff. Natalie is not going with us, so I don't have to pack beach stuff for her...but she is going to my parents' house {Mimi & Paparoxy}, so her packing is for an entirely different trip. In all this preparation, I've noticed the difference between Baron getting ready to leave, and me getting ready to leave. It goes something like this:

Daddy's prep:
Thursday night, he is playing PS3. I kindly point out to him that he should probably pack. {Friday night is game night & we are leaving directly after the game, and this leaves him no time to pack on Friday, as he is at the school all day on Fridays.}
Spend all of about 15 minutes packing.
Pay bills. {He likes to do this whenever we go out of town...in case we die while we're gone? I'm not sure why.}

Mommy's prep:
Type up Baby's schedule, because I'm OCD mom & feel the need to tell my parents how to take care of a baby even though they've raised 3 of their own. {Ok, fine...it's not just a schedule. It's a schedule, with directions on how to mix formula & cereal, and tips for how Baby likes to spend her play time, etc. Gimme a break, it's my first kid. :)} Revise Baby's schedule because it changes about once a week & I typed it too early.
Laundry.
Bathe Dog so he's not disgustingly skanky when visiting Mimi & Paparoxy's. {Hmmm...guess same goes for Baby, too... ;) }
Trip to WalMart #1 - items forgotten from weekly grocery trip.
Get oil changed in car. {Or, as the oil dude said, "Gettin' that erl changed?"}
Laundry.
Mental prep: how much of this baby junk will Baby "need" at Mimi & Paparoxy's house?
Trip to WalMart #2 - need more baby food so we won't be depleted when we come back.
Print coupons for outlet mall trip on the way back. {Baby desperately needs some clothes that fit!}
Laundry.
Pack Baby's bag. Don't forget sound machine & monitor, to be packed later, since they are in use during the day. OCD moment #2: measure out cereal into bowls for 2 breakfasts & 2 lunches. Label each bowl "breakfast" or "lunch", of course.
Call Mimi: Do you need the Bumbo? Do you want her playmat? Should I bring her bath seat? {Note: reserve U-Haul next time to lug baby crap to g-parents' house.}
Clean out trunk to make room for 4 adults' luggage.
Stop to blog about all this. {Seriously...why am I blogging? Procrastination much?}
Pack my OWN bag.
Pack the DOG'S stuff.
Put address for beach condo into GPS.
Wash & pack baby bottles.
Make bed, finish putting away laundry, etc. {I can't stand coming home to a messy house!}
Trip to WalMart #3 - how did I not know we were out of baby food veggies? And also, we will need some sort of breakfast food for tomorrow morning at the beach. Thank you, Pop-tarts, for existing. And also...being the kind wife that I am, purchase major caffeine/sugar supplies for late-night drive to the beach tonight.
Kick myself over & over for not getting baby food veggies at WalMart YESTERDAY. UGH. It's not like I can just run to the store & back anymore! Geez Louise.
Take Baby & Dog to Mimi & Paparoxy's house.
Cry. {I know, I know. Baby will be fine. But it's not HER I'm worried about! :)}
{Insert whatever I've forgotten to do HERE. Because there is always inevitably something that's been forgotten.}

Shew. I only thought I needed a vacation before, but after all this preparation, the beach is looking more & more desirable! Catch y'all on the flip side!

it's a giveaway, y'all!!

If you've been reading my blog, you may remember the two product reviews I've done for CSN Stores. Well, now I have the chance to offer one lucky reader a $35 gift certificate to CSN Stores! CSN Stores has so many products, from Corelle dinnerware (which I just got some for Christmas last year and I LOVE, BTW) to bean bag chairs & other furniture to luggage. Check them out today!! Seriously, they have so many different stores - there's something for everyone!

Here's how you can enter for the giveaway:

1. Leave a comment on this post. (1 entry)

2. Visit CSN Stores, browse their 200+ online stores, & leave another comment telling me what you would get with your $35. (1 entry)

3. Post a link to this giveaway post on your Facebook page, and leave another comment telling me you did. (1 entry)

4. Tweet about this giveaway, and leave another comment telling me you did. (1 entry)

5. Blog about this giveaway, and leave another comment with a link to your post. (1 entry)

**Limit 5 entries per person**

Entries will be accepted until noon on Wednesday, September 15th. That gives you a whole week to get all of your entries in! The winner will be chosen from random.org & I will post the winner on this blog. Please remember to leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win. Good luck!!

sike!

Recently I revamped my entry table, using suggestions that y'all gave me. Well, when I posted the "after pic", I was just kidding. Really I was waiting for Natalie's 3-month portraits to come in, so that I could do this:

I'm not sure if the pics/frames on the table will stay as-is, but I just had to share that canvas with you because I just love how it turned out!

Baron's mom wanted to get 3, 6, 9, & 12 month portraits of Natalie from Stan Foster Photography, so obviously we let her. ;) They turned out great!


And Ashley, I do still plan to paint that table, just for you! ;) Say goodbye to the honey-colored stain!

a pure + lovely giveaway!!

Hey, check out this awesome giveaway over at pure + lovely!! These would look so good in my house... :)

Go enter! Now!