Are you ready for Monday?

When I first became a homemaker, one of the greatest nuggets of wisdom I received was to be prepared for Mondays.

Mondays.


You know, the day when you hit the ground running (or wobbling) as soon as your feet hit the floor? Reaching for that first cup of glorious coffee, you look around your house through half-shut eyes wondering where to begin your day.

I resolved to be as prepared for Mondays as I could. And it's helped make the rest of the week go smoothly. In homemaking (and life), one small thing often affects the next, good or bad.

My routine for preparing often begins a couple hours before bed on Sunday night. It will take a good 30-45 minutes, so make sure you leave yourself enough uninterrupted time to get everything done. (If your free time happens to be in the mornings, then by all means, do it then. Do what works for your family!)

There are several things I need to accomplish during this preparation. I like having all the tools at hand so I don't have to get up every ten minutes to get something I forgot. For my purposes, I gather my:

• agenda/schedule 
• homemaking binder 
• recipes 
• notebook 
• and a pen 

Light a nice smelling candle and pour yourself some water or cup of hot tea. It makes the experience that much more pleasurable and adds a bit of calm to the routine. :)

 Go down the list of the things you need to accomplish this week and divide them up. For my household, I follow this plan:

1. Ask God to bless your week and watch over your family. Reflect on the things you want to accomplish this week. Ask him to help you plan your week so that it is all for His good and glory.

2.Weekly Menu Plan: Plan your menu for the week. Then make a grocery list of all the things you will be needing, making sure to check your pantry so that you don't buy something you don't need.

3. Agenda check: Use this time to take a quick glance at what your upcoming week holds. Are there any doctor appointments, dance classes, or soccer games you forgot about? Make sure your dinner plans revolve around these activities so you are prepared. Not planning is a sure fire way to make sure you unnecessarily spend money on eating out. 

4. Home cleaning/organization plan: Plan the things around the house that need to get done this week. It is always a good idea to have one big task each week. For example, does your fridge need cleaning out? Do the holiday decorations need to be put up? Doing one big thing per week allows you enough time to get it done without having to be a harried mess.

5. Weekly Bible study plan: What things do you want to learn and read about this week? Make a plan for it each day so that you actually do it. You have a better chance of getting it done if you write it down.

Finally, it is so important to actually get to bed on time. It is a bad habit of ours to stay up late on Sunday nights. We don't want the weekend to end. Let me tell you from experience, staying up late makes your Monday mornings that much worse!

Of course, this only works for our family. Your list will look different, especially if you have children. Use this as a starting point and tweak it to work for you and your needs. Once you get into the groove of things, I promise it won't be a chore. I love this little time away to prep for my week. It gives me a sense of calm and order and prepares me for the lovely days ahead. :)

Sweet Pudding Puff Pastries

As promised, here is the recipe for the sweets shown in my Romance Your Hubby post. Hope your man enjoys them as much as mine did! :)

Sweet Pudding Puff Pastries

Filling: Decide on what you want your filling to be and prepare that according to the directions. Keep it chilled in the fridge until your puffs are complete.

Pastry Puff Shells:

* Preheat oven at 400 degrees 

• 1 cup water
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt {I used salted butter so I left this out}
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 eggs {use three eggs and the only the egg white of another}

1. In a medium size pan combine water, butter, sugar and salt (if needed). Bring to a boil.
2. Lower temperature to low and add flour. Stir the mixture until it forms a ball. Transfer the pastry to your mixing bow. Let it cool completely. 
3. Once cooled (10-20 minutes) turn on the mixer and add one egg at a time. Keep beating the pastry until it is smooth and thick.
4. Using a tablespoon drop mounds of the dough onto a parchment lined sheet. 
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes and then lower the temp to 350 and bake for 25 minutes more. They should be golden brown on the outside and moist on the inside when done. Once cooled, split in half with a bread knife.

Lastly, fill with your pudding and enjoy! :)  

Yummy! Thank you to Aunt Ruthie for this recipe! :) Love her!! 

Why I Love Aprons

I am a firm lover of aprons. I always wonder why they have been given such a bad rap. It isn't too often that I see women wearing aprons any more. The feminist movement declared them shackles to the home. I might be in the minority, but I love being 'shackled to my home.'

Because I have devoted my time and energy to my home, it is a place of love and refuge for us. And each day that I do the things that some women now consider drudgery, I'm wearing a beloved apron. The pockets hold mismatched socks and the mail. The bib keeps my clothes from getting soiled and wet. And when I tie on the strings, I'm reminded that this is exactly where I want to be.

Aprons are feminine and beautiful. To me, they are more than ties to home in terms of the cooking and cleaning. When I don my apron, I'm expressing my role as a female and where I stand in my marriage. I'm a wife and a homemaker. And that does not put me behind Southern Hubby. We both regard my job just as important as his.

I think they should be cherished, for they speak of our creativity and resourcefulness as women in today's demanding and often chaotic world. They remind us of simpler times gone by when being a homemaker and mother was an honorable job.

I'm thrilled to hear they are making a small comeback. Hopefully women will see them for what they truly are- a beautiful symbol of what it means to be a woman and the glorious work that God has entrusted us to do. 

Secrets to a Joyful Home

While I'd like to think I channel Donna Reed and Martha Stewart while performing my homemaker duties, cheery and creative disposition is not always the case.

Sometimes I can be quite grumpy and I know it needs to stop. I'm so privileged to be a homemaker and caretaker of my family.

I'm trying to take stock of the times I'm the grumpiest so I know how to prevent a "Roseanne" attack from coming. Cause really, who wants to be married to her?

Here are just a few things I've noticed that keep me in the best of housekeeping moods...

credit: Country Living

Keep laundry maintained: Nothing sets my teeth on edge more than laundry room full of overflowing dirty clothes bins. For my family, all it takes is one load per day to keep us looking organized like the picture above (which sadly is not my laundry room)

Keep your dining room table for eating: I can't tell you how many homes I've walked into where the dining room (or breakfast table) was the home to careless clutter! A dining room is for just that-dining. It's not for housing the bills, or the laundry (see above) or the kid's school project.

While I admit, I do sometimes craft on my dining room table because it is so large, I clean up afterwards. Once I had a quilting project stay on my table for weeks and I winced every single time company stopped by, or I even passed by the room. It was an eyesore. So, do your mood a favor and keep it nice and tidy.

Invest in picture frames: Don't keep your cherished memories locked away. Frame them and show off your family! Every time I walk by a framed picture, I'm taken back to that specific memory. What a joyful thing it is to walk about your house and get to smile each time you walk through a room.

Be thankful: No matter if you have 1000 sq.ft of space, or 10,000 sq.ft., be thankful for what God has given you. Discontentment means that you don't trust God's judgement to give you what he thinks is best for you. Be thankful for the roof you do have over your head and work to make it a welcoming place to come home to.

Have parties: There is no better way to create special memories in your home than to invite people over for parties! It brings a special energy to the house and let's you flex your hospitality muscles. It also gives you something to work towards to beautifying your home- whether it's mopping those floors, or mowing the grass.

Candles: This one goes without saying. I'm always uplifted when I light my candles. Always. And more often than not, it puts me in the mood to make my surroundings as clean and homey as possible. I once told Southern Hubby that the greatest compliment someone can give me about my home is that it smells good. Hearing that just makes my soul soar! :) My favorites are Circle E, Luxe, and Tyler Candle Co. I just ordered some Scentsy stuff so we'll see how that goes. ;)

Be prepared for unexpected guests: Nothing puts me in the worst of moods like when there is a knock at my door and I know that I'm not prepared for guests. Whether it be an un-made bed, direty guest bathroom or a sink full of dishes, I'm always so embarrassed! Keep your home as if you were expecting someone to drop by. Might I add that this also includes having several different drinks on stock for people's different tastes. I can become quite mortified when all I have to offer people to drink is water and Diet Mountain Dew. Yipes!

                       *******

Theses are just a few things that I like to keep in mind while I go about my daily life. It really takes quite the effort to keep a home maintained and clean. I really do applaud those women who go out there and work for most of the day, only to come home and have to do what I do at night. Thank God we women are equipped to handle the stresses of daily life. :)

Are there any tips you have for keeping a happy and joyful home? I'd love to hear them!

Savoring today

These are the moments this homemaker dreams of...

The kitchen is clean from the breakfast rush. The dishes are washing. Cups of coffee have been consumed. Laundry is folded. The pups are quietly sleeping in their comfy beds. (I even had a few quick moments to knit this morning.)

So, I figured I'd take advantage of this time to blog.

As of right now, we're still in the midst of getting the house in order. I'd say the downstairs is about 90% finished. We just had some built-ins installed in a space that was wasted and I finally got around to decorating them.

I did some fall decorating. Not my best work, but it will have to do.

I'll be back soon to show you some of them,  but for right now I wanted to share this awesome coupon class. In no way am I a coupon diva. I don't clip. I don't print. I don't save. BUT- I want to be! I'm fascinated by those women I see at my Kroger with the huge coupon binders. I want to be her! Weird, I know, but true.

So, I was thrilled to stumble on The Frugal Find. She just made her coupon class free to everyone! I may not be a coupon diva, but I do know free is a good thing! :) I don't know this girl from Adam and I wasn't paid to endorse this class, but I just had to pass it along. Right now, I'm only a couple classes in. Before you know it, I will be one of those cool coupon divas! Yay!

I'll be back later this week with my quick attempt at making my house look somewhat fall-ish. :)

PS- If you do take her class, don't forget to give her some love. She's doing this out of the kindness of her own heart (and out of her pocketbook!) and as a ministry to others. :)

Knit Wit

I've been doing a lot of things to keep myself busy this summer. Seeing as I only have a tiny apartment to keep tidy, I need lots to do or else I probably would go nuts.

One thing I've picked back up is knitting. I set a couple goals for myself this year, and learning how to knit socks was one of them. Marching myself down to the local knitting store, I picked up a $35 Lucy Neatby DVD, a $5 pattern, $10 double pointed knitting needles, and $20 worth of yarn. You'd think after spending that much and watching the DVD twice, I'd be a sock knitting guru...well, it didn't quite work out that way.

Frustrated beyond measure, I scanned YouTube, which is what I should have done in the first place. There was a plethora of free tutorials. Then the crafting angels smiled on me and I ran across some videos from Staci at Very Pink. Turns out all I had to do was spend $8 on one of her patterns and follow her YouTube sock tutorials. I've got to give it to Staci (who happens to be a native Texan), she knows what she's talking about. 

It took me a good couple days to get through them all but after finishing the first sock, I've been churning them out. They're a quick and satisfying project. And I like quick. I'm an instant gratification kind of gal, I guess.

The clouds are heavy today in north Texas. We're scheduled to get some rain. A perfect day to curl up with my needles.

Have a lovely Thursday.

xxoo

My anonymous friends

I'm not a fan of anonymous posts. In fact, I really, really dislike them.

First of all, spammers use this method to spread their dumb sites. And I reject those because if I hate having to sort through them, I know you'd hate reading them.

Secondly, blog writers get the occasional snarky, weird comments and 99.9% of them hide behind the anonymous option. Not that these comments keep me up at night. I can take fair criticism. But sometimes I'd truly like to respond to them personally/privately and I'm not able to when I don't have their email. One comment in particular made me raise my eyebrows... And please know I'm not meaning to be snarky in my own right, as I don't think this person was trying to be mean.

They mentioned something about me being "less of a homemaker and more of just unemployed." My first response was to immediately list what I've been doing each day in order to take care of my family. But as I thought more and more about it, I began to think about the blogging community as a whole. This person also mentioned how much they used to enjoy reading my homemaking posts and because I had not posted any recently, they assummed I must not be doing anything at home. Of course this couldn't be further from the truth, as we are in the middle of a move, but to an outsider's view, I guess I could see how it would seem so.

Suddenly I realized how easily I could have been this commenter. I do depend on certain blog writers to update their blogs regularly. I check daily and wait eagerly. For example, Aunt Ruthie- oh man, I love that gal! And my heart skips a beat when I see she's written a new post. She just wrote a wonderful post mentioning that as much as she loves blogging, she loves her family and home more.

"I decided that my evenings are to be spent with my husband and family…..not working on a project or at the computer blogging or surfing the Internet. As much as I LoVe, LoVe, LOVE blogging and reading all the fabulous blogs and web sites that are available out there, I have to put a limit on my time devoted to that. Seriously, I could spend hours on the Net …it’s that fascinating to me! But that would not be wise or fruitful. There are people to love and feed and a home to take care of! That’s why my blog- posts are usually every other week, it’s because I need to treasure my family and take care of my home. As you know my blog is about happy homemaking….well what kind of a homemaker would I be if I neglected my family and home? If I’m gonna talk the talk, I’ve got to walk the walk."

And once I read that, I knew that's what I needed to do. Actually, I knew it all along, but sometimes you just need to hear it once more for it to sink in. So, I hung back a bit, only blogging when I really wanted to, when I was itching to get things out of my crazy brain, and definitely when I had down time and wasn't taking any time away from Southern Hubby.

So, rather than turn this into a silly rant where I defend myself, I just want to point out that just because blog writers don't write daily, doesn't mean we're not doing anything. I try to restrain from writing about the mundane. Believe me, I've probably saved you a couple hundred posts alone that are just Matty and Jacks pictures! :)

And in the spirit of reciprocity, I need to remind myself to give my fellow blog writers the same respect and space. I'm sure Aunt Ruthie could give a flying poot that I wait on pins and needles to gobble up more pictures of her lovely home and nuggest of homemaking wisdom. I've just learned so much from her and reading her words inspire me a great deal. She's the real deal when it comes to prioritizing- faith first, then family and friends, then everything else.

I promise to try to start rotating some more homemaking posts back into my blog. (It's going to be a little hard as we move and go through showings and open houses.) But I'd sincerely appreciate a little break every now and then- I'm truly trying to fit it all in- faith, home, friends, furbabies, crafting, blogging, Life Group, Women's Bible Study homework (Beth Moore knows how to pile it on, y'all!) reading, ect. Whew!

Hope everyone is having an awesome week. I've got some posts coming up on an AMAZING new artist I found as well as our upcoming 5 year anniversary! Yikes!! :) I'm trying to stay dry here in North Texas- the rain is crazy!

xoxo

Today...

... I will be completing my second day of training of the Couch to 5K program. My first day's training kicked my butt. Thank God, I had my Polar F7. It really did help keep me going and I was able to see how many calories I'd burned afterwards. 804 kcals, baby! Worth every cent I paid for it!

... My throat is hurting a bit but I'm more focused on Southern Hubby who is really a sicky-poo right now.

... I finished my J.Crew wanna be ruffle shirt. It cost me $7. Much less than the one I was going to get from J. Crew. I got the shirt at Joanns and used some old knit shirts that I found in my Goodwill pile. It was pretty easy to make. If anyone would like a tutorial for it, let me know and I'll see if I can get one up! 

... I got a surprising email from a national cable TV station with an interesting opportunity. Hmmmm...

 ... I'm wishing I had a couple leftover Superbowl cookies I made last weekend. But not enough to have to re-clean up the mess they made during the last round.

.... I plan on doing the same thing I did last night. Have a cup of tea, read, and work on some knitting. Yes, I'm a gal in my late 20's. No, I do not spend my nights in bars anymore. And I like it that way, thankyouverymuch! ;)

... I dreaming of another ruffle project to do. So many possibilities!

Today will be a good day. :)

xoxo

My Daily Schedule

In an effort to pursue my goal of ::creating:: a welcoming home, I've revamped my daily schedule. If you've been reader for a while, you know that I follow a daily routine, which changes day by day. When I started working on my schedule last year, I took inventory of all the household chores I did in a week. I split them up according to section of the house and made a daily to do list.

Sometimes everything gets done. Sometimes nothing gets done. I'm working on my addiction to perfection because I like my house to be perfectly in order. But it's most certainly not. And perfection is not mine for the taking anyway- it's best left to God.

“. . . There have been wives who in their zeal for Christ’s work outside have neglected Christ’s work inside their own doors. . . . While they were winning a place in the hearts of the poor or the sick or the orphan, they were losing their rightful place in the hearts of their own household.

“Let it be remembered that Christ’s work in the home is the first that He gives to every wife, and that no amount of consecrated activities in other spheres will atone in this world or the next for the neglect or failure there.”                      
                                                               - from The Wife’s Part in The Family by J.R. Miller

Now this is where ya'll come in, well, at least my technology savvy gals. ;) I've scanned this in and uploaded it, but I know that does absolutely no good because you will need to adapt and edit it to suit your home's needs. Is there a free file sharing site that I can use to share this with everyone? I'd love to be pointed in the right direction!

Also, the fonts and little pictures can be found at Kevin and Amanda's website. Amanda is amazingly talented and shares all her goodies with you for free! Love it! Although this is not a requirement, you will need to download the fonts if you want to get it looking like mine. Oh, and if you're dying to use my handwriting, you can find those there. too. ;)

Pea Jacks & Matty Font

Pea Jennifer Bee Font

Pea The Bees in Love Doodles

Once I can get this in 'file sharing' mode, I'll be going through the little sections with you, as well as explain my "5 Things" theory. Till then...

xoxo

Here's to new beginnings..

Would you believe this was taken at almost 10pm at night? The moon was beautiful last night so I had SH drive me to a field so I could shoot it. It was breathtaking. Here are the pic details for you photography freaks out there: focal length- 22mm; shutter speed- 1/32; f/stop 11; ISO 1600\

2010. A new dawn. A new day. A new decade. I cannot believe that I've been at this blog for a year. Where did 2009 go? My blogiversary passed at the end of December...maybe I'll have a fun giveaway to celebrate. (If you're a vendor or home based business, contact me for details on sponsoring a giveaway!) I heard a ton of people saying how horrible 2009 was for them. These people weren't homeless or dealing with major problems like unemployment, disease, drugs. I didn't get it.

This year was wonderful for me. I had a roof, faith, food, friends, family, health. I didn't land in jail, or make any major news headlines. Southern Hubby and I went on plenty of dates, smooched some, and we brought Matty in our family. I'd say that was a pretty good year. ;) No, we didn't win the lotto, and I didn't spend 4 weeks in Aruba, but I had what really matters.

Anyway, in the spirit of new beginnings, I wanted to touch a little more on my word of the year- create. I loved everyone's words- ya'll are some creative and  inspiring gals!

:: create a hospitable and welcoming home :: I often feel that people do not think my home is 'comfortable'. I've gotten many compliments on how warm and inviting it is, but I want people to feel at ease. I want to create an atmosphere of  comfort and joy. I don't want people asking me if they can use a certain throw I have draped over my couch, or if they can use cloth napkin. I want to de-museum my house and make it so that people feel comfortable plopping down on my couch with a glass of sweet tea. But keep your feet off my coffee table. A girl has to have her limits!

:: create a deeper relationship with God :: This one is pretty constant in my life. Southern Hubby and I finally found a church we can call home. And I'm going to renew my committment to my bible studies. I had a lapse when the holidays started and I do find myself losing that connection with Him. I can't expect us to have a solid relationship if I do not pray and confide in Him. It's a simple as that.

:: create peace throughout my home :: I firmly believe that an organized home is a happy and peaceful home. I've re-designed my daily schedule sheets, and created a grocery shopping list. I'll be sharing those with ya'll in the days to come. I love it and think that it really makes me a more efficient housewife.

:: create more opportunities for adventure and fun :: I thrive on consistency and routine. I'm not big on change. But I know those kind of lifestyles can turn into major ruts. And there is a big difference between routines and ruts. In 2010, I want to create more drama in my life. No, I don't mean crazy soap opera drama, either. I want to be more spontaneous. I want to live life. I want to remember that just because I'm heading towards the big 3-0 *gulp* that doesn't mean I've got one foot in the grave.

:: create and cultivate a new friendships :: I've never been a super shy girl. I don't mind striking up conversations with anyone anywhere. (I think we keep to ourselves too much these days. There's nothing wrong with saying hello to a stranger.) But somewhere down the line, I closed myself up to any new friendships. Guess it has to do with that routine rut I created where we only hung out with the same people. We weren't trying to be snobby, we just didn't have time to cultivate new friendships. New friendships took time. And time was something we had little of. But no more. We need to create time for our friends and family, not for pursing things that only bring superficial happiness.

What does your word mean to you? What are you looking forward to in 2010?

xoxo

A 20-something's look at feminism

Feminism can be quite the slippery subject. Brought up in a crowd of high powered lawyers, and you might be given one opinion. But bring the topic up to a crowd of stay at home wives and mothers and the opinion may be the exact opposite.

But what happens when you bring the topic up to a group of young college graduates, who were more often than not raised by working mothers that grew up in the bra burning era?

I was dying to know.

And this is where you come in...

Most of us know where I stand. Like many of you, I hold a college degree. In my family it was not an option. You graduate high school then go on to college. Period. But after one year of working, I knew the classroom was not where I was meant to be forever. In that one year of marriage, my heart changed. I longed to be home. I wanted to wake up every morning, get the coffee going, make the bed and get Southern Hubby off to work. I wanted to join bridge clubs, volunteer, learn to sew and quilt. I wanted to be the PTA president, have fresh cookies baked when my child arrived home from school; I wanted to dig my hands into my home- knowing that I had a hand in every clean toilet, every streak free mirror, every dust free shelf, and every precious tradition.

To me, there was no greater gift I could give my family.

But I had to come a long way to get to that point. As a child, I do remember wishing my mother was home. As a teen, even though an empty house allowed me many freedoms, deep down I longed for her to be there. But I didn't know any different. None of my friends had stay at home mothers. That was a figment of a 1950's past. Real women had jobs. Real women juggled home and work. Real women were told they could have it all. Right?

What do you think? Where do you stand on this hot topic issue? Can you have it all?

My mother in law is coming into to town, so my posts might be spotty! I can't wait to read y'all's answers!

Happy crisp fall day! Only 2 more days until Halloween!!!

xoxo

UPDATE: Of course, as all the great comments come in, I am reminded of how 'small' my view of feminism was presented in my blog. No, I do not think it is only work vs. home. I am so passionate about this subject, I could have written thesis length post, but I decided to spare my readers. :)

Suffice it say, I believe feminism is about women being created equal. And here is where my view will get me in to trouble with many women. I believe we are equal, yes. But I believe we were created different- with different strengths and different weaknesses.

My views, which are based on my Christian beliefs, tell me that although we are created equal and are equal in value (in God's eyes), we are here to do things differently. God made women delicate and feminine. We are nurturing and creative. He made us soft and caring, with empathic hearts. To me, these characteristics serve well at home.

Many women will say, "I'd love to stay home but we cannot afford to be a one income family."  But let me leave you with this thought...Why do you need two incomes?

In the 1950's and 60's, the average American home was less than 1500 sq. feet. That size has doubled today. It was considered normal for two boys to share a room. There was no dedicated 'TV/media' room. No pool table area. Only one bathroom was needed, not one for each person. Women sewed. Some made their own clothes. Children's lunches weren't expensive 'lunchables', they were left overs, or homemade sandwiches. A lot of women made due with what they had in order to stay home. I think the whole mentality of 'keeping up with the Jones' is a big reason women cannot afford to stay home. Alot of people buy into to this mentality, me included. (BTW, no where in this am I saying that I'm perfect or above these ideals.)

And the ramifications were tremendous. I noticed a shift in society when women went into the work force. Morals went down. Crime went up. Women were not at home monitoring what their children got into. A two income lifestyle lead to more wants, more 'needs', more, more, more. The simple life no longer existed. Like one commenter said, you cannot have it all. Something will suffer.

 And I think that is where 'femininsts' sold us a raw deal....telling us we could have it all. Life doesn't work that way. It only drove women crazy. Their self worth suffered because, although they got that raise at work, Timmy fell behind on him homework and has to repeat a grade. They put in their 60 hours at work, but felt guilty over sending Molly to school with store bought cupcakes, not homemade kind like she wanted. If you are not "Super Mom," then you're a failure. Super Mom does it all. No one tells them that Super Mom is a big fat lie.

I could write on and on, but I'll save that for another post. Just thought I'd add this in, too. Whooo, this one stirred the pot for sure...have at me gals! ;)

Custom Apron Giveaway!

Hey y'all! Things have been so crazy hectic around here, I wasn't able to put up yesterday's Preppy Blogger of the Week. In case you missed it, it was Summer Wind. (I want her headband collection!!!) She is adorable with a capital A, so head on over to Hopsy's blog to catch it!

Today I wanted to let y'all know about a FAB girly and domestic giveaway! Melissa over at Custom Aprons & More has generously decided to give away one of these sweet aprons! Y'all, this is the exact one I have, made of super cute Amy Bulter prints, and I LOVE it! It is seriously so well made and sturdy, yet frilly and feminine- definitely wish I had her sewing skills. :)

But Melissa is going to let you customize your own fabulous apron to match your personality. Create your own whimsical apron choosing from a wide selection of prints! :)

Here's the lowdown!

- Contest ends on October 19th, Monday night 11:59pm (central time)

- To enter, leave a comment telling me what wearing an apron means to you! How do you feel when you put one on?

- For a second entry, become a follower or let me know you already are one.

- For a third entry, twitter about it leaving your link in the comments section.

- Again, please leave a different comment for each entry. It makes is a jillion times easier for me to count them all up. For example, if you enter twice, then you will have two different/seperate comments for each entry. Got it? Good! :)

Good luck yall and have a happy, preppy week!!

xoxo Y

My Fall Decor: Kitchen

Welcome back to my little home tour. Glad to see you here. :)

Thanks so much for the all the lovely comments yesterday. I didn't take pictures of everything in my kitchen, but you're not missing much. Maybe a wreath or pumpkin here and there.


I 'shopped' my house for this one. When I went through my uber-primitive phase, I got this wooden bowl from a cute boutique. The vintage veggie dishtowel is from Etsy, my fave place ever. And I probably should have taken a close up of the fall leaf napkin rings, they are so cute. The place mats and napkins are from Tarjay.

My favorite little chicken lamp ever! Harvest Time sign from Hobby Lobby, enamelware candle from Walmart and pumpkin from a local boutique.

I am so loving my new fall tassel. This one is from Tassel Castle and isn't like a regular hanging tassel. It sits perfectly flat on any level surface. They call it a 'table top' tassel. I think it would look precious on a stack of books, or inside on of those glass lantern hurricanes, or as the main object in your table centerpiece. And this week, they're having a free shipping sale, so hurry and head on over there!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week! This next weekend, we're going camping yet again. October 17th is Southern Hubby's 31st birthday, but on that Saturday we will be, you guessed it- camping. So we're having his annual outdoorsy celebration the weekend before.

Be back tomorrow with decor from my dining and entry rooms.

Happy hump day, y'all!

xoxo Y

“Thank God, O women, for the quietude of your home, and that you are queen in it. Men come at eventide to the home; but all day long you are there, beautifying it, sanctifying it, adorning it, blessings it. Better be there than wear a queen’s coronet. Better be there than carry the purse of a princess. It may be a very humble home. There may be no carpet on the floor. There may be no pictures on the wall. There may be no silks in the wardrobe; but, by your faith in God, and your cheerful demeanor, you may garniture that place with more splendor than the upholsterer’s hand ever kindled.”

— Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage, D.D

Moving on...to pizza

Morning gals! After praying on it a bit, I've decided to move on. I'm going to be a bit more a cautious of what I write and the pictures I show from now on though.

Anyway, (just in time for lunch!)I wanted to share a fun recipe with y'all. The other evening, I had the biggest craving for pizza. I loooooove cheese pizza. Love. I'd never made pizza dough from scratch, but I figured it was a good day to learn. I ended up using Paula Deen's dough recipe and it was fabulous! It's very easy and hard to mess up. :)

I had to use my Lucy pizza making skills when tossing the dough. As you can see, it didn't turn out in a perfect circle. But that doesn't affect the taste one bit, thankfully!

And it was really a fun time in the kitchen with Southern Hubby! I'm always on the lookout for bonding opportunities with my husband and this was a great one! We tried to see who got the best circle, had fun with the flour, and ended up with some funny memories. :)

Do this one tonight, gals. :) Promise you won't regret it!

Happy cheesy pizza!

xoxo