tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-141128162024-03-12T23:27:41.315-04:00On Eagle's WingsBenitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.comBlogger389125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-5967459072013883312013-01-12T23:00:00.000-05:002013-01-13T00:42:24.231-05:00I'm "Plum Crazy"!<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B-AfSf2mrjw/UPI-S5crWWI/AAAAAAAAC00/Psmbhh85tqY/s1600/2006+Dodge+Charger+Daytona+RT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B-AfSf2mrjw/UPI-S5crWWI/AAAAAAAAC00/Psmbhh85tqY/s320/2006+Dodge+Charger+Daytona+RT.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">About 2 months ago, I had this crazy thought in my head to list my 2006 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T for sale on Craigslist just to see if I would get any interest in it. I got some emails with low ball offers which I just ignored. And then a guy that was looking for a car to take to Florida<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>claimed he was really interested in mine, but wanted to 'shop around'....never did hear back from him, so I guess he wasn't <i>that</i> interested. But then a few weeks ago, a guy emailed me & said he was very interested in i<span style="font-size: small;">t, but it took us about a week or so before we could set up a time that <span style="font-size: small;">worked for both of us for him to come & look at it with the holidays & everything. He came & saw it, kept looking at it & I could tell he was in deep thought. B<span style="font-size: small;">ut then he gave me his offer.....$1,0<span style="font-size: small;">00 less than what I had it listed for. I told him I couldn't go that low & that I really didn't <i>have</i> to sell it. Afterall, she's my baby! A few days later, he text me & told me to let him know if I changed my mind....well, I didn't reply because I didn't change my mind, lol. Then on New Year's Day, he called m<span style="font-size: small;">e & <span style="font-size: small;">gave me another offer....this time, only $500 less than my asking price. After thin<span style="font-size: small;">king about it & talkin<span style="font-size: small;">g to the hubs about it, we decided to go through with it. Let me tell you, it was one of the hardest things I've done! I've had this car since 2006 & was the original owner....she was my "Christ<span style="font-size: small;">ine" :) She took care of me back & forth <span style="font-size: small;">several times to Pennsylvania. I honestly <span style="font-size: small;">thought I would <b>never</b> sell her<span style="font-size: small;">! That is, until I found this to replace her:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UI12FvgB_6o/UPI9xrMzOlI/AAAAAAAAC0E/K9s0AwN9vtI/s1600/2010+Dodge+Challenger+RT+Plum+Crazy-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UI12FvgB_6o/UPI9xrMzOlI/AAAAAAAAC0E/K9s0AwN9vtI/s320/2010+Dodge+Challenger+RT+Plum+Crazy-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">A PLUM CRAZY 2010 Dodge Challenger R/T Classic! I have been wanting a Challenger ever since we went to the Detroit Auto Show in 2008 & saw that they were bringing the Challengers back. I just love the fact that they actually look like the old Challengers of the 70's, unlike the new Chargers that have 4 doors....that's just not right! LOL I used to own a 1970ish Challenger & really wish I still had that car! Dumb, dumb, DUMB for ever selling that thing! She'd be worth a small fortune right now! And I won't even bring up the 1970 Plymouth Barracuda I used to have.....nope, not going there! I sold that car to go to Athens, Greece! Yep, I'm completely crazy! </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M96sK0yW_cY/UPI9z7RrjYI/AAAAAAAAC0M/IXXGBv0ZhwY/s1600/2010+Dodge+Challenger-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M96sK0yW_cY/UPI9z7RrjYI/AAAAAAAAC0M/IXXGBv0ZhwY/s320/2010+Dodge+Challenger-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But now, I finally own my true 'dream' car :) Okay, so a Dodge Viper would be nicer, but that will probably always remain just a dream.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VUrM6sOlqDg/UPI92Ou1vII/AAAAAAAAC0U/OXq-aIUP2Cc/s1600/2010+Dodge+Challenger-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VUrM6sOlqDg/UPI92Ou1vII/AAAAAAAAC0U/OXq-aIUP2Cc/s320/2010+Dodge+Challenger-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was so close to buying a 2012 Stinger Yellow Challenger, but after numerous problems with the deal & dealership (first, it had a chip in the paint on the front fender, so they had to repaint that, then I ran out of gas on Telegraph Road (a very busy road, I might add) when taking it for a test drive....it took the salesman over 15 minutes to get to me, but luckily a police officer finally came up behind me to block traffic from rear-ending me), anyway....we decided to walk away from it & I'm so glad I did cause it lead me to this one.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ujA8rwQRCRE/UPI94rn0zDI/AAAAAAAAC0c/K27yFkXhDbo/s1600/2010+Dodge+Challenger-Exhaust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ujA8rwQRCRE/UPI94rn0zDI/AAAAAAAAC0c/K27yFkXhDbo/s320/2010+Dodge+Challenger-Exhaust.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After everything that happened with the deal on the yellow one, I told my husband that if I'm going to get one, then I want the color I want & that color has always been purple (even though, at one point, I had considered a Panther Pink one, but purple has been my absolute favorite color <i>forever</i>). So I waited, but didn't have to wait very long. When I found this one online at a local dealership, I couldn't move fast enough to go & take a look at it. It had one owner, just a little over 13,600 miles & is in excellent condition. It had one minor scratch on the rear bumper, but they were able to buff that out & I found a very small stone chip on the hood that someone tried to fix. Otherwise, it's spotless both inside & out. And now it's mine....all mine :)</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q63WF0kjLmA/UPI97N9tvXI/AAAAAAAAC0k/fBFj4OQ_OEE/s1600/2010+Dodge+Challenger-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q63WF0kjLmA/UPI97N9tvXI/AAAAAAAAC0k/fBFj4OQ_OEE/s320/2010+Dodge+Challenger-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The guy bought my Charger on Monday, January 7th then Jim & I went to picked my new baby up that same night. The hard part was having to basically bring her home & winterize her already. I did drive her for a few days & again today since it was so nice out, but now she's sitting back in the garage, all clean & covered up, patiently waiting for Spring to arrive. Jim & I talked about it & we both decided that we're only going to take her out during the Spring/Summer/Early Fall & only when it's completely dry out....no snow, no rain...only dry roads for this baby! And definitely <b>NO</b> dirt roads! I figure I waited 50 years to get my dream car & I'm definitely going to baby my baby!</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BR6ZfQb9zZg/UPI9927NcEI/AAAAAAAAC0s/H9t6KmMQ6yo/s1600/2010+Dodge+Challenger-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BR6ZfQb9zZg/UPI9927NcEI/AAAAAAAAC0s/H9t6KmMQ6yo/s320/2010+Dodge+Challenger-4.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are 2 things that it doesn't have that I wish it did....a navigation system (but I'm okay with that since I have nav on my cellphone) & a sunroof.....I'm seriously considering having one installed someday, though. The one thing it <i>does</i> have that I love is a 6 speed manual transmission :) Now it's really all mine because Jim can't drive stick, lol. I've tried teaching him before & he just never got the hang of it, but he claims he's okay with not driving it (so he says, lol).</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Make sure to wave if you see me on the roads :)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Benita <~~a little more 'plum crazy' each day!</span></span></div>
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Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-66350476976370058872013-01-03T12:18:00.000-05:002013-01-03T12:18:06.794-05:00Back To Blogging!<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sZ0ERKoQOAg/UOW74x6-5WI/AAAAAAAACzo/9CBc_ZwjHQA/s1600/099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sZ0ERKoQOAg/UOW74x6-5WI/AAAAAAAACzo/9CBc_ZwjHQA/s320/099.JPG" width="320" /></a>
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm back :) It's a new year, so I decided it's time to stop neglecting my poor blog & get back into posting. I was kinda scared when 2013 came because I was actually a little sad to see 2012 end. 2012 was a pretty good year for us....I had no complaints, really. We finally starting seeing our granddaughter again :), both of our kids moved out & we are empty-nesters for the first time ever! Since I already had Shawn when we got married, we never had any real alone time, so this is all new to us. And so far, we're liking it! Although I will admit, I do get a little lonely sometimes during the day. But then I sit here, relaxing in the quiet of my home & realize, this ain't so bad after all, lol!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had a WONDERFUL Christmas this year! We got to have both of our kids here & they spent the night on Christmas Eve & we played Uno & got a little toasted. Then we woke up & saw that Santa came so we opened our presents & afterwards, I made breakfast. Later we had ham for dinner & went to see the movie This Is 40. While the movie did have some funny parts to it, they could have cut about 45 minutes of boring parts out of it! </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">New Year's Eve was also really nice. Shawn & his boyfriend came over & the 4 of us played Uno all night & ate jello & pudding shots :) They spent the night because I wasn't going to let either of them drive! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The above picture was taken on Christmas Day....it's the first family picture we've had taken in YEARS! I'm definitely going to be framing this one! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's all for now....my goal is to get back into blogging at least once a week. Hope I still have some readers out there :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy New Year,</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Benita </span></span></div>
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Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-33292732289867827492012-06-23T22:00:00.000-04:002012-06-24T22:13:08.841-04:001 1/2 Years<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7JwA8MdX3s0/T-fEzcviTiI/AAAAAAAACzQ/tnPbzZSYSek/s1600/HomeSweetHome-New.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7JwA8MdX3s0/T-fEzcviTiI/AAAAAAAACzQ/tnPbzZSYSek/s320/HomeSweetHome-New.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">As of today, June 23, 2012, we have been in our new home for 18 months. Wow, that seems so hard to believe! What seems even harder to believe is how much we've done to this house since we bought it a year & a half ago & how different it looks now. Not only on the inside since we've painted almost every room, put in new countertops, new appliances, etc., but look at the outside differences. The above picture was taken the day we put our offer in on the house....would you have purchased this house with the grass looking like that??? Granted, it was in November, but still....we thought for sure we were going to have to completely re-sod the entire yard....seriously, it was<i> that </i>bad! But look at it now, a mere 18 months later (yeah, I should have closed the garage door before taking this picture, huh?):</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hi_2JAelYyo/T-fE2blRENI/AAAAAAAACzY/y82uTpHfD5k/s1600/HomeSweetHome-18+months.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hi_2JAelYyo/T-fE2blRENI/AAAAAAAACzY/y82uTpHfD5k/s320/HomeSweetHome-18+months.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">We have grass! And it's green :) And it's growing like crazy! Our secret....fertilizer :) But not just <i>any</i> fertilizer....Triple 19 fertilizer. This stuff is AWESOME! Our grass is so thick & soft now & to think, we thought it was hopeless. We also just got our sprinkler system working this year....the previous owners actually took the controller box when they moved out....seriously!?! So after installing a new box & a new back flow (the old one was rusted out), we have 11 wonderful zones of sprinklers....yep....<span style="font-size: large;"><b>11! </b></span> The sprinkler guy said they kinda went overboard with all the sprinkler heads we have, but then he also said it's better to have too many than not to have enough. Now I'm just scared to see my water bill! YIKES! But it'll be worth it cause my grass loves it & so do all of my new gardens :)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">We're in the process of getting quotes for our next project(s)....a stamped concrete walkway going from the driveway along the side of the garage to the step area. And eventually, a deck, although that project may be waiting another year.....or two.....or three. But all in all, we absolutely love our home & our neighborhood....it feels so good to be 'home' :)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Benita </span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-65660921773134437622012-06-14T11:02:00.000-04:002012-06-14T11:02:01.764-04:00One Month Later...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DQnaNMxnIJY/T9nw429OILI/AAAAAAAACyE/wH9N-m93joU/s1600/Garden+June+2012-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DQnaNMxnIJY/T9nw429OILI/AAAAAAAACyE/wH9N-m93joU/s320/Garden+June+2012-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">...and my gardens are blooming like crazy! If you go back & compare the pictures I posted a month ago to what they look like now, you can really see the difference, especially with these huge Hostas along the side of our house....they have literally doubled, maybe even tripled, in size since last month. But they probably won't be here much longer....either in the fall or next spring, I plan on removing them, separating them & either giving most, if not all, of them away or moving them to the other side of the house & completely redo these beds....that is, if I have any energy left when that time comes around! Gardening is tiring!
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yvNZv1ndtFA/T9nw_QEf1RI/AAAAAAAACyM/9W8PULPgdho/s1600/Garden+June+2012-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yvNZv1ndtFA/T9nw_QEf1RI/AAAAAAAACyM/9W8PULPgdho/s320/Garden+June+2012-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">Along the side of the garage, I took out the bird bath & added a beautiful lavender rose bush where the bird bath was plus I added 2 pink Double Knock Out rose bushes. The Rose of Sharons are finally turning green.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k9jDw6jP_q8/T9nxMWmpwNI/AAAAAAAACyU/uqkFe2URmU4/s1600/Garden+June+2012-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k9jDw6jP_q8/T9nxMWmpwNI/AAAAAAAACyU/uqkFe2URmU4/s320/Garden+June+2012-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">I placed the bird bath in the front flower bed that's along the side of the driveway & sidewalk. I also moved the Lilac Bush from here because I was afraid it would get too big & added another Knock Out rose bush in it's place. The Detroit Tigers flag was a Christmas gift to Jim, but with the way they've been playing lately, I'm almost ashamed to display it! </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-75h_z2bYJRo/T9nxRJKFM6I/AAAAAAAACyc/149UrpiKAJE/s1600/Garden+June+2012-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-75h_z2bYJRo/T9nxRJKFM6I/AAAAAAAACyc/149UrpiKAJE/s320/Garden+June+2012-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">On the other side of the garage near the sidewalk, I added 2 more red Double Knock Out rose bushes & moved my Bell flowers here, but it looks like one of them isn't going to make it :( My Daylillies are blooming now, too :)</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-quuS6e7S90w/T9nxYg5QE4I/AAAAAAAACyk/FyfbJxBy1Pc/s1600/Garden+June+2012-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-quuS6e7S90w/T9nxYg5QE4I/AAAAAAAACyk/FyfbJxBy1Pc/s320/Garden+June+2012-5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">In this flower bed in front of the porch, I just recently removed the 3 Hostas & gave them to my next-door neighbor & in place of them, I added 2 Hydragneas & a fuschia colored rose bush in the center. I also moved 2 pink Garden Phlox to this area.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lBY9avFrYuU/T9nxtdVztyI/AAAAAAAACys/GHaEjZe29aM/s1600/Garden+June+2012-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lBY9avFrYuU/T9nxtdVztyI/AAAAAAAACys/GHaEjZe29aM/s320/Garden+June+2012-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">My 2 Hydragneas along the side of the porch are getting ready to bloom....that is, if the dang 'cute' deer stops eating them! If you enlarge the picture, you can see where he/she chopped off some of the flowers. Luckily, my husband has since sprayed them with deer repellant & it seems to be working....so far.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8X7QO7CUGLQ/T9nx4aT_t6I/AAAAAAAACy0/t7X-sZpM4Aw/s1600/Garden+June+2012-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8X7QO7CUGLQ/T9nx4aT_t6I/AAAAAAAACy0/t7X-sZpM4Aw/s320/Garden+June+2012-7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">And here is one of my newest flower beds....last year, it started out about 1/3rd of this size & just last week, I decided I wanted to not only enlarge it, but plant only pink things in it to honor my sister & her battle with Breast Cancer. We bought a Kwanzan Cherry Tree that already bloomed this year, but I'm hoping it will be beautiful next Spring. I also added the Lilac bush that I removed from the other flower bed along with 2 Pink Hydragneas, 2 Pink Bellflowers, some Garden Phlox, Dianthus, 2 more Pink Double Knock Out Roses, 2 Balloon Flowers & more Lamium. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nGLSK3-i8gc/T9nx9anRQmI/AAAAAAAACy8/bC6e1lmRKoA/s1600/Garden+June+2012-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nGLSK3-i8gc/T9nx9anRQmI/AAAAAAAACy8/bC6e1lmRKoA/s320/Garden+June+2012-8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">The other day, my next-door neighbor told me that as she was taking her kids to the bus stop, she saw a deer in this flowerbed eating my Kwanzan Cherry Tree! She went to grab her phone to take a picture of it, but just as she did, she said it took off. No longer will I call those deer CUTE! LOL So Jim sprayed the tree & the Hydragneas with the deer repellant & I added one of my bigger angels in front of the tree because I had heard that they are supposed to be afraid of statues....I hope it's true! This flower bed wasn't cheap, between the tree, all the plants,the rocks & the mulch, but I absolutely love the way it turned out :)</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1Ji9Nw5R5hE/T9nyDTUoMfI/AAAAAAAACzE/-GdDeCF430M/s1600/Garden+June+2012-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1Ji9Nw5R5hE/T9nyDTUoMfI/AAAAAAAACzE/-GdDeCF430M/s320/Garden+June+2012-9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">A close-up of the Double Knock Out rose, the Bellflower, Hydragneas & one of the VERY heavy rocks! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">Next up, my newest, newest flower bed that I'm still working on in the backyard....it's not as big as I would have liked, but that's because I had to work around the sprinkler heads (which, btw, we finally got our sprinklers working....yay! We had to replace the box (the previous owners took it with them) & the back flo, but our grass is finally green :) ). Stay tuned.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">Benita </span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-9787585719780691572012-05-14T12:30:00.000-04:002012-05-14T14:54:27.186-04:00Growing In My Gardens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fD3DQCGfxiQ/T7EqCVmA00I/AAAAAAAACww/xiTwpCqNF-c/s1600/Garden+May+2012-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fD3DQCGfxiQ/T7EqCVmA00I/AAAAAAAACww/xiTwpCqNF-c/s320/Garden+May+2012-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">I am extremely happy with the progress that my gardens are making this year! I'm not much of a gardener, but luckily, I have a friend that is & she has helped me out A LOT with picking plants, choosing where to place them & she has even given me a couple of her extras from her garden. I can't take credit for this first picture, though as 99% of what is shown here was already here when we bought the house. These are on the side of our house along where our stone steps are going down to the back of the house (we have a walk-out basement). I was planning on separating the Hostas this Spring, but then never got around to it & well, with all the rain we've had, it's almost like you can stand out there & watch them grow! I expect that they will be HUGE again this year, so they will definitely need to be separated either in the Fall or next Spring before they sprout!</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_cdHhYkHM-4/T7EqHKP-hBI/AAAAAAAACw4/_iqaUYOP2ek/s1600/Garden+May+2012-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_cdHhYkHM-4/T7EqHKP-hBI/AAAAAAAACw4/_iqaUYOP2ek/s320/Garden+May+2012-2.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">Everything planted in this photo above was all done by myself....this is right next to the garage & when we moved here, there was nothing but a bunch of small rocks & mulch in this space, so I wasn't even sure if anything would survive here. But luckily, everything is thriving really good. I have Iris (that haven't bloomed yet & I'm not sure if they're going to this year :( ), 2 Rose Of Sharons (the ones that look dead, but they aren't....they are just later bloomers & just starting to show some signs of green), some different types of Lillies, 2 Knock Out Rose Bushes that I just planted a few weeks ago, a Clematis behind the bird bath & some other miscellaneous plants (meaning, I can't think of the names of them right now, lol).</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YmINAO6edCY/T7EqLKBsO5I/AAAAAAAACxA/bJ6_HAkmvq0/s1600/Garden+May+2012-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YmINAO6edCY/T7EqLKBsO5I/AAAAAAAACxA/bJ6_HAkmvq0/s320/Garden+May+2012-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">The garden area shown above was all planted last year....there used to be grass here & I knew I wanted a flower bed, so my friend helped me with this one. I love the way it turned out! I have since added a Lilac Bush this year, but I'm having second thoughts about where I put it, so I may end up having to move it.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NxUYV0uq5Tw/T7EqQHkY6WI/AAAAAAAACxI/e4Bbk_im1hg/s1600/Garden+May+2012-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NxUYV0uq5Tw/T7EqQHkY6WI/AAAAAAAACxI/e4Bbk_im1hg/s320/Garden+May+2012-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">Close-up of this flower bed showing some of my Lillies,Violas & Lamium, one of my favorites.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EgQvCphslYw/T7EqUiDelZI/AAAAAAAACxQ/lDfV4u1TJ6c/s1600/Garden+May+2012-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EgQvCphslYw/T7EqUiDelZI/AAAAAAAACxQ/lDfV4u1TJ6c/s320/Garden+May+2012-5.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">Another close-up with more Lamium & my Peony that my friend gave me from her garden....can't wait till it blooms!</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jRd0xouc97Q/T7EqYSbI37I/AAAAAAAACxY/kidy9B1iwgM/s1600/Garden+May+2012-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jRd0xouc97Q/T7EqYSbI37I/AAAAAAAACxY/kidy9B1iwgM/s320/Garden+May+2012-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">Here is my garden along the side of the garage by the sidewalk. The Lillies were already here when we bought the house, but I added the Lamium (told ya I loved that stuff! LOL), some Phlox, a Lavender plant & a Clematis, that I just planted recently. What you can't see in this picture is off to the left there is a Hydrangea & off to the right by the downspout there is a Rose Bush & 2 Hibiscus (but I'm not sure if they survived). </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5oVN5lZSS-c/T7EqcwuYioI/AAAAAAAACxg/Dl0XSoD3Sp0/s1600/Garden+May+2012-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5oVN5lZSS-c/T7EqcwuYioI/AAAAAAAACxg/Dl0XSoD3Sp0/s320/Garden+May+2012-7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">This is the flowerbed in front of the front porch....this bed was shaped this way when we purchased the house, but I've changed out almost everything as far as the flowers go....the only things I didn't change were the Hostas & the Hyacinths (they're already done blooming). I added the 2 Bloomerang Lilacs that are supposed to rebloom later in the summer (keeping fingers crossed that they do!), the Silver Mound, Violas, more Lamium (hehe), Tulips (also already bloomed) & some more Phlox. I should also have some Balloon Flowers in here (somewhere, lol), but they haven't started coming up yet.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dln085IgjTk/T7EqhincdVI/AAAAAAAACxo/FFVbdHc1NMA/s1600/Garden+May+2012-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dln085IgjTk/T7EqhincdVI/AAAAAAAACxo/FFVbdHc1NMA/s320/Garden+May+2012-8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">Close-up of same bed.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--egaFW9n46c/T7Eql9h5H3I/AAAAAAAACxw/_9K4Xw1q5yw/s1600/Garden+May+2012-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--egaFW9n46c/T7Eql9h5H3I/AAAAAAAACxw/_9K4Xw1q5yw/s320/Garden+May+2012-9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">Close-up of the Bloomerang Lilacs....they smell SOOOO GOOD!!! I'm still trying to remember what those tall, skinny leaf things are on either side of my angel....guess I'll find out once they bloom.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kdRRedwBtIs/T7EqqPQNxrI/AAAAAAAACx4/fLllYMYyBng/s1600/Garden+May+2012-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kdRRedwBtIs/T7EqqPQNxrI/AAAAAAAACx4/fLllYMYyBng/s320/Garden+May+2012-10.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">Along the side of the front porch, I planted 2 Hydrangeas. Looks like they are lovin' this area. I just hope the deer don't get to them when they bloom!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">Now I just need to get busy on the backyard someday....after all the gardening I did last year, though....I'm still pooped!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">Benita </span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-84060720931698907152012-04-17T10:30:00.002-04:002012-04-17T10:44:38.712-04:00Project Life<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">As promised, here is my version of my Project Life. I'm not really doing it in the fashion that it's meant to be done (week by week)....heck, when I first started it, I wasn't even sure if I would take a picture everyday, but now that I'm doing it, I find myself sometimes taking a bunch of pictures a day! Other days, I may forget to take a picture, but then I find something around the house to photograph & will end up backdating it.....IMO, there are NO rules to Project Life. And for me, I'm glad there aren't any rules because this is the first time I've scrapbooked in over 2 years, and it's made me realize just how much I've missed this hobby! As you look at these pages, you may notice a few spots where it's not completely done yet.....oops! Just try to ignore those if you can :) You'll also noticed that I'm using all different sizes of the PL page protectors.....I like variety.<br /><br />Now, onto my layouts....<br />Layout 1: picture of the pudding shots I made for NYE, our neighbors dog that was sick & later, passed away :( , my gallery wall & a shot of my sisters picture on my cellphone. As you can tell, I got a slow start to doing this & it's kinda plain:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GwYdh7Jvp00/T413soJ6RVI/AAAAAAAACwY/xtIp1NuN0Zk/s1600/Week%2B1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 302px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GwYdh7Jvp00/T413soJ6RVI/AAAAAAAACwY/xtIp1NuN0Zk/s320/Week%2B1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732369509289444690" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 2: Warm temps in January, my baby is covered, the Lions made it to the play-offs & pictures of a hot air balloon going over our house....in JANUARY:</span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fiXba84M4qQ/T413mFQZG5I/AAAAAAAACwM/X1KMK0o4w8g/s1600/Week%2B2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 154px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fiXba84M4qQ/T413mFQZG5I/AAAAAAAACwM/X1KMK0o4w8g/s320/Week%2B2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732369396842175378" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 3: Cleaning off my desk (a never ending task, it seems), my purple half bath, pictures in my home, my favorite morning drink, happy mail day, stamp organization, books I'm reading on my Kindle Fire & more organization:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hj2_J99n0pM/T413h--tbLI/AAAAAAAACwA/9K1pZVLxOCI/s1600/Week%2B3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 155px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hj2_J99n0pM/T413h--tbLI/AAAAAAAACwA/9K1pZVLxOCI/s320/Week%2B3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732369326437919922" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 4: Our new central vacuum system, cool looking clouds, a Peterboro basket that I found at a thrift store & one of our few snow storms where the snow plow tore up our yard again:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6P8aa_efpcU/T413cldU8NI/AAAAAAAACv0/VdH9b5qvc5U/s1600/Week%2B4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 203px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6P8aa_efpcU/T413cldU8NI/AAAAAAAACv0/VdH9b5qvc5U/s320/Week%2B4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732369233687670994" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 5: Jim's 47th Birthday:</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zccTb0gdkh8/T413RWwskoI/AAAAAAAACvc/ZZDxJDQJ20c/s1600/Week%2B5-Jim%2527s%2BBirthday.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zccTb0gdkh8/T413RWwskoI/AAAAAAAACvc/ZZDxJDQJ20c/s320/Week%2B5-Jim%2527s%2BBirthday.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732369040763818626" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 6: Jim's birthday present....seeing Bill Engvall, Larry The Cable Guy & Jeff Foxworthy at the Palace, a gorgeous sunset:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-75bnpYRmIow/T411HiF8DGI/AAAAAAAACvQ/KtDJcUnBtdM/s1600/Week%2B6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 158px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-75bnpYRmIow/T411HiF8DGI/AAAAAAAACvQ/KtDJcUnBtdM/s320/Week%2B6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732366672983755874" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 7: Our new ride, getting a replacement cellphone, going for a walk, Super Bowl Sunday, new recipe & my newest love....Zone Perfect Protein Bars:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mm_FAr0EZH4/T411C4Fl_NI/AAAAAAAACvE/15C93tRsWg8/s1600/Week%2B7.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 159px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mm_FAr0EZH4/T411C4Fl_NI/AAAAAAAACvE/15C93tRsWg8/s320/Week%2B7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732366592988544210" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 8: A view of our neighborhood street, my Slanket, self-portrait, another new recipe, snow, trying a new restaurant (this is one of the ones that's not finished), another new recipe & then the start to Valentine's Day:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nitEtbSok1s/T4109VOVvRI/AAAAAAAACu4/VbD7a5yukYU/s1600/Week%2B8.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 154px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nitEtbSok1s/T4109VOVvRI/AAAAAAAACu4/VbD7a5yukYU/s320/Week%2B8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732366497730641170" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 9: Valentine's Day :) This one is actually 2 full pages plus a 6X12 insert page:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-78NBI4y5YGk/T4104x37aEI/AAAAAAAACus/nnlAdUVmeiA/s1600/Week%2B8-Valentine%2527s%2BDay.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 154px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-78NBI4y5YGk/T4104x37aEI/AAAAAAAACus/nnlAdUVmeiA/s320/Week%2B8-Valentine%2527s%2BDay.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732366419521923138" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Valentine's Day continued:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9bt6PUzISvU/T4100LqRNTI/AAAAAAAACug/ArUGaWbYX20/s1600/Week%2B8-ValentinesDay-2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 199px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9bt6PUzISvU/T4100LqRNTI/AAAAAAAACug/ArUGaWbYX20/s320/Week%2B8-ValentinesDay-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732366340544607538" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 10: Lots more organization as I'm determined to get organized this year, bowling in a tournament & collecting coupon flyers:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hPcUimDt-iE/T410vfQabCI/AAAAAAAACuU/gqWcNkKBIns/s1600/Week%2B9.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 167px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hPcUimDt-iE/T410vfQabCI/AAAAAAAACuU/gqWcNkKBIns/s320/Week%2B9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732366259905522722" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 11: Going shopping, finally taking down the Christmas Village, another happy mail day, Fat Tuesday & snow....here today, gone tomorrow:</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M9A1h1gzsPQ/T410rfl4OfI/AAAAAAAACuI/pnHRqml0IAY/s1600/Week%2B10.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 164px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M9A1h1gzsPQ/T410rfl4OfI/AAAAAAAACuI/pnHRqml0IAY/s320/Week%2B10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732366191276079602" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 12: Calm before the storm, the storm that wasn't as bad as they said it would be, Chicken & Dumplings recipe, a grape jar that I found at a thrift store, Girl Scout cookie time, going to Scrappy Chic, pretty clouds & the Daytona 500:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uC8q0Nlit_Q/T410i8X3NhI/AAAAAAAACt8/4Ca3mfjeLJc/s1600/Week%2B11.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 166px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uC8q0Nlit_Q/T410i8X3NhI/AAAAAAAACt8/4Ca3mfjeLJc/s320/Week%2B11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732366044383098386" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 13: Flowers from Jim, ice storm on Leap Day, bowling, awesome dessert, shopping & a wind storm that knocked over our mailbox:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-upNBIRAV3Sw/T410eoQYGWI/AAAAAAAACtw/PC-iraL-eFs/s1600/Week%2B12.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 166px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-upNBIRAV3Sw/T410eoQYGWI/AAAAAAAACtw/PC-iraL-eFs/s320/Week%2B12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732365970263513442" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 14: My new cabinets in my scraproom, organization of the drawers, a sunset, another beautiful day, a fire in Auburn Hills, installing the rest of my shelves in my scraproom & a visit to Archivers:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RWggF3ZRQYI/T410aiW2zgI/AAAAAAAACtk/1VvkbPfdop4/s1600/Week%2B13.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 153px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RWggF3ZRQYI/T410aiW2zgI/AAAAAAAACtk/1VvkbPfdop4/s320/Week%2B13.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732365899960602114" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 15: Forecast for the next week, Jim grilling out for the first time this season, putting out our Tiger flag, flowers starting to come up, finally finding a typewriter at a thrift store for $6.00, taking a walk with the mutts, jello shots made for West Branch weekend, corned beef & cabbage for Jim a day early:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ahDRUyu5zhc/T410WoLSIpI/AAAAAAAACtY/nE6F607-T0U/s1600/Week%2B14.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 166px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ahDRUyu5zhc/T410WoLSIpI/AAAAAAAACtY/nE6F607-T0U/s320/Week%2B14.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732365832803197586" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 16: Bowling in the Best Frame tournament in West Branch with great friends, my FitBit arrived, Jim's new grill, a foggy morning, the sunroof is open & the flowers are blooming:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wmmOo8HBsRk/T410Se35ZyI/AAAAAAAACtM/ACHrTzcWaYo/s1600/Week%2B15.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 168px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wmmOo8HBsRk/T410Se35ZyI/AAAAAAAACtM/ACHrTzcWaYo/s320/Week%2B15.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732365761586489122" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Layout 17: going for a walk when the temps reached 85 today, my Magnolia is blooming, our new ceiling fan in our bedroom, Martha Stewart books I bought at Dixieland Flea Market, my Magnolia flowers didn't survive the cold temps we had :( , my addiction to Washi Tapes, new stamps & playing the lottery:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rm1KmTQ1Yb0/T410MQPUNXI/AAAAAAAACtA/zp73HhyaaCI/s1600/Week%2B16.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 152px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rm1KmTQ1Yb0/T410MQPUNXI/AAAAAAAACtA/zp73HhyaaCI/s320/Week%2B16.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732365654578967922" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">That's all I have photographed right now, but I'm still pretty much up to date on my Project Life. I have been having so much fun doing it & my only regret is that I didn't start doing it YEARS ago!<br /><br />Hope you've enjoyed my layouts.....be sure to check back for more in the upcoming weeks & throughout the year.<br /><br />Benita<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-31669287580924802502012-03-15T10:30:00.003-04:002012-03-15T11:09:29.382-04:00Storage & Organization<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Here are the pictures I promised of my storage & organization of my new cabinets (note: I took these pictures before I installed the knobs & drawer pulls).<br /><br />This is the very bottom drawer in the corner filled with tools (embossing gun, Crop-A-Dile, etc.):<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qx3WQo0x4Qg/T2H9WjaLaHI/AAAAAAAACs0/KEZw5CCteaw/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-1%2BTool%2BDrawer.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qx3WQo0x4Qg/T2H9WjaLaHI/AAAAAAAACs0/KEZw5CCteaw/s320/Craft%2BRoom-1%2BTool%2BDrawer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720131565641230450" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Above that drawer is my extra Xyron adhesives....I stocked up when they were on sale once:</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2TUstCg-rkw/T2H9SRlRGeI/AAAAAAAACso/vSZRdfqCb7A/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-2%2BAdhesives%2BDrawer.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2TUstCg-rkw/T2H9SRlRGeI/AAAAAAAACso/vSZRdfqCb7A/s320/Craft%2BRoom-2%2BAdhesives%2BDrawer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720131492136425954" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">In the top drawer, I store my label makers & tapes:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sxMJ5dum6ss/T2H9OYZIs-I/AAAAAAAACsc/lWzTcT9ANIw/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-3%2BLabel%2BMakers.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sxMJ5dum6ss/T2H9OYZIs-I/AAAAAAAACsc/lWzTcT9ANIw/s320/Craft%2BRoom-3%2BLabel%2BMakers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720131425245115362" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">In the next cabinet, I store all of my Project Life page protectors along with chipboard & felt pieces & my Martha Stewart scoreboard:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kJSCJxHCt6Q/T2H9I6bJjrI/AAAAAAAACsQ/Ybes720DklU/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-4%2BCabinet-1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kJSCJxHCt6Q/T2H9I6bJjrI/AAAAAAAACsQ/Ybes720DklU/s320/Craft%2BRoom-4%2BCabinet-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720131331301150386" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">In the drawer above is where I store some of my punches & my long reach stapler:</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rOSrKR_j0_w/T2H9D0208jI/AAAAAAAACsE/DDh4MsupvzQ/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-5%2BPunch%2BDrawer.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rOSrKR_j0_w/T2H9D0208jI/AAAAAAAACsE/DDh4MsupvzQ/s320/Craft%2BRoom-5%2BPunch%2BDrawer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720131243907281458" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Next 3 drawer cabinet....in the bottom drawer is my Thickers obsession/hoarding :) These used to be on my homemade Clip-It-Up, but I ended up having to take that down as it was too close to the top of the countertop:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zh6b1KfeiAU/T2H8-UvursI/AAAAAAAACr4/on_TgqQBSoU/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-6%2BThickers%2BDrawer.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zh6b1KfeiAU/T2H8-UvursI/AAAAAAAACr4/on_TgqQBSoU/s320/Craft%2BRoom-6%2BThickers%2BDrawer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720131149388230338" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The second drawer stores all of my bling embellishments.....another obsession I have:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2jdPhJrnAeo/T2H85Nvpq0I/AAAAAAAACrs/pvFpjXxmsL4/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-7%2BBling%2BDrawer.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2jdPhJrnAeo/T2H85Nvpq0I/AAAAAAAACrs/pvFpjXxmsL4/s320/Craft%2BRoom-7%2BBling%2BDrawer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720131061609507650" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Top drawer in this cabinet stores my loose glitter, flocking & beads</span>:<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IhymI4h2H8M/T2H8zzPtYTI/AAAAAAAACrg/9mLw_lKr6ko/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-8%2BGlitter%2BDrawer.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IhymI4h2H8M/T2H8zzPtYTI/AAAAAAAACrg/9mLw_lKr6ko/s320/Craft%2BRoom-8%2BGlitter%2BDrawer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720130968596865330" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Onto the next cabinet.....bottom drawer is Heidi Swapp & miscellaneous chipboard:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ShwhL4ccgIQ/T2H8uw8geoI/AAAAAAAACrU/elXdTYKFqCY/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-9%2BChipboard%2BDrawer-1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ShwhL4ccgIQ/T2H8uw8geoI/AAAAAAAACrU/elXdTYKFqCY/s320/Craft%2BRoom-9%2BChipboard%2BDrawer-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720130882080111234" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Middle drawer is my Tim Holtz Grungeboard, Deluxe Designs Plain Jane chipboard (I wish that company was still in business!) & my large jars of embossing powder:</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NIQA9mtsWFA/T2H8pmCycBI/AAAAAAAACrI/DFfaZQV76_s/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-10%2BChipboard%2B%2526%2BGrungeboard%2BDrawer.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NIQA9mtsWFA/T2H8pmCycBI/AAAAAAAACrI/DFfaZQV76_s/s320/Craft%2BRoom-10%2BChipboard%2B%2526%2BGrungeboard%2BDrawer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720130793254318098" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Top drawer holds all of my sanding/distressing supplies:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W7kBihAUJ3E/T2H8kbGXxcI/AAAAAAAACq8/f8I8rBXvKl4/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-11%2BSanding%2BSupplies.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W7kBihAUJ3E/T2H8kbGXxcI/AAAAAAAACq8/f8I8rBXvKl4/s320/Craft%2BRoom-11%2BSanding%2BSupplies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720130704417211842" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">In the next 12" cabinet, I store all of my Cricut cartridges, mats, tools & the plastic Cropper Hopper embellishment boxes hold all of my tiny brads, eyelets & American Crafts & Bobbin ribbons:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rNoaO2zlen0/T2H8exOZBoI/AAAAAAAACqw/5DqOLbkIvRY/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-12%2BCricut%2BStorage.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rNoaO2zlen0/T2H8exOZBoI/AAAAAAAACqw/5DqOLbkIvRY/s320/Craft%2BRoom-12%2BCricut%2BStorage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720130607277213314" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The drawer above holds my embossing powders, distress paints & Perfect Pearls:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UuyXcVf4FKw/T2H8ZBsG3hI/AAAAAAAACqk/5LxMxP7_oBg/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-13%2BEmbossing%2BSupplies.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UuyXcVf4FKw/T2H8ZBsG3hI/AAAAAAAACqk/5LxMxP7_oBg/s320/Craft%2BRoom-13%2BEmbossing%2BSupplies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720130508617604626" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Last cabinet, bottom drawer is where I keep all of my packaged embellishments (except for some from specific lines that I store in the Target cubes)....see the Paperkins? Yep, I still have a few of those ;)</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-akxurnMggFo/T2H8UjewnII/AAAAAAAACqY/YTQsVR3PaLc/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-14%2BEmbellishment%2BDrawer.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-akxurnMggFo/T2H8UjewnII/AAAAAAAACqY/YTQsVR3PaLc/s320/Craft%2BRoom-14%2BEmbellishment%2BDrawer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720130431789079682" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">This is another miscellaneous drawer....I have my epoxy stickers in here along with mesh pieces, etc.....I need to organize this drawer better someday:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HRdC2zl6-Bk/T2H8OmnjnMI/AAAAAAAACqM/672Ca3BAs7o/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-15%2BEmbellishment%2BDrawer-2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HRdC2zl6-Bk/T2H8OmnjnMI/AAAAAAAACqM/672Ca3BAs7o/s320/Craft%2BRoom-15%2BEmbellishment%2BDrawer-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720130329552067778" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Last drawer holds my stamping supplies, foil, bead trays, etc.:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b6eWViRJJGI/T2H8IkUtedI/AAAAAAAACqA/C-9-UJjm0yU/s1600/Craft%2BRoom-16%2BPaint%2B%2526%2BStamping%2BSupplies.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b6eWViRJJGI/T2H8IkUtedI/AAAAAAAACqA/C-9-UJjm0yU/s320/Craft%2BRoom-16%2BPaint%2B%2526%2BStamping%2BSupplies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720130225856936402" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">And there you have it.....I may change some things around once I find out what works best for me. Organization.....it seems to be a never-ending job! But I am absolutely lovin' my new cabinets....there were just what I needed!<br /><br />Now, to catch up on my Project Life & start posting my pages....stay tuned :)<br />Benita<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-83840149094086306482012-03-09T11:00:00.002-05:002012-03-10T16:48:18.492-05:00Newest Addition...<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">...to my scraproom.....cabinets :) When I saw <a href="http://cindysthisandthat.typepad.com/">Cindy's</a> room on Two Peas, I immediately fell in LOVE with her cabinets & knew that was the answer to my storage problems! I was so tired of my plastic storage & my 2 brown desks, especially since I was trying to keep a white & black theme in my room. I had been stalking <a href="http://www.craigslist.com/">Craigslist</a> hoping to find some black or white desks on there with no luck, Then I even thought about moving our kitchen island into my scraproom, but Jim talked me out of that....for now. That is, until he gets his new kitchen cabinets that he fell in love with at Home Depot (sorry, babe, but the deck comes first!) :) So anyway, like I said, as soon as I saw the cabinets Cindy had, I decided to take the plunge (getting an income tax refund helped with that, lol). Here are the <span style="font-style: italic;">first</span> cabinets we bought:</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-24cFjZ1J6XM/T1ofWeWiq-I/AAAAAAAACp0/ueHkNhlJ-Ps/s1600/Craft%2BRoom%2BCabinets-1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-24cFjZ1J6XM/T1ofWeWiq-I/AAAAAAAACp0/ueHkNhlJ-Ps/s320/Craft%2BRoom%2BCabinets-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717917147865459682" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">I say first because after I got them set up, I realized 1: how much of a pain it was to access the cabinet doors near the corner of the wall & 2: I NEEDED MORE DRAWERS!!! The storage in the door cabinets just wasn't cutting it, especially since the shelves weren't as deep as the cabinets. I even tried doing the pull-out shelves, but nope, that didn't really help either. So back to Home Depot we went to exchange the 2 big cabinets for these:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5QhT1FM7aAg/T1ofRKB84dI/AAAAAAAACpo/1L-6oxVNUE8/s1600/Craft%2BRoom%2BCabinets-2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5QhT1FM7aAg/T1ofRKB84dI/AAAAAAAACpo/1L-6oxVNUE8/s320/Craft%2BRoom%2BCabinets-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717917056511042002" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">2 more of the 18" drawer cabinets & 2 12" base cabinets. Yep, that was <span style="font-style: italic;">exactly</span> what I needed...more drawers...especially since I was replacing 7 Iris drawer plastic units. Then came the countertop.....I originally wanted to get granite & found an awesome price on a slab at Menards ($299) & it would have fit perfectly, but since I ended up spending more going this way on the cabinets, I decided that the granite was out.....for now, anyway. My sweet hubs told me that when we replace the kitchen cabinets & countertops, I can get my granite then :) I went with a $44.00 formica pre-made countertop at Menards in a color called "Gold Flake Granite"....hey, it has Granite in the name at least, lol. Once we set it in place on top of the cabinets, we realized we were about 1/2" too long & it was hitting the doorway, so a friend of ours came up with the idea to add a 1X4X8 to the back wall, push the countertop up against that & then add a piece of quarter round molding to the top to take away the gap in between the wall & the countertop. Also, if you look closely, I removed all of my hanging embellishments from my 'home-made' Clip-It-Up & will be taking it down since they would have been hanging too close to the top of the countertop, therefore, I wouldn't be able to put anything on <span style="font-style: italic;">top</span> of the countertop.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UFp4TYkuZT0/T1ofMyZbgcI/AAAAAAAACpc/LHlCeKXTjQk/s1600/Craft%2BRoom%2BCabinets-3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UFp4TYkuZT0/T1ofMyZbgcI/AAAAAAAACpc/LHlCeKXTjQk/s320/Craft%2BRoom%2BCabinets-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717916981447590338" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Then the finishing step....adding the drawer pulls & knobs (I also copied this from Cindy :) ). At first, I was thinking about doing black ones, but when I saw how good these ones looked on Cindy's cabinets, I knew I had to get the same ones.....it took 3 trips to 3 different Home Depot stores to finally find them (next time, I need to remind myself to look for them online first to see which stores carry them before driving all over the place!). The cabinets aren't completely finished yet....tonight, we have to cut a hole into the top of the countertop & the back of the one cabinet to access an electrical plug & run a surge protector so I can plug in my Cricut & get some lighting hooked up....we thought about adding outlets above the countertop, but then I changed my mind because I really don't want to have cords all over the top of the countertop. Then it's just a matter of attaching the countertop to the cabinets & attaching the toe kick. I already have all the drawers filled. I will post pics of how I organized them all in my next blog post.<br /><br />Until then, have a great weekend,<br />Benita<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-29878037224941359952012-02-17T16:00:00.002-05:002012-04-07T13:53:29.463-04:00Finally.....the long awaited reveal....<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">....of my new craft room. When we first purchased this home, I couldn't decide exactly where I wanted my craft room to be....at first, it was in the 4th bedroom upstairs, but I realized I would hardly ever use it, being that far away from everything that goes on downstairs....and I didn't use it once! Soooo.....I decided that if I was ever going to scrapbook again, it needed to be moved downstairs & that's exactly what I did. I moved it into the room that we never really figured out what it's supposed to be.....a formal dining room? A formal living room? I guess it could be either, but since we're not 'formal' people, it became my craft room :) And I just love the fact that it has 2 doors in which to enter it through....one near the front entryway of the home (seen below with the glass door) and one off of the kitchen. It's so nice to be able to close the doors so you can't see the mess & the dogs can't go in there & get dog hair all over the place!</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IPFRgz1OeNk/Tz650PYVVLI/AAAAAAAACpQ/ceaME3R7piU/s1600/Scraproom-1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IPFRgz1OeNk/Tz650PYVVLI/AAAAAAAACpQ/ceaME3R7piU/s320/Scraproom-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710205684685296818" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The entrance.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dahnSqx7F88/Tz65vul9s8I/AAAAAAAACpE/13JDGHhhA0Y/s1600/Scraproom-2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dahnSqx7F88/Tz65vul9s8I/AAAAAAAACpE/13JDGHhhA0Y/s320/Scraproom-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710205607164621762" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">My antique window that I altered to look like a scrapbook page....I have this hanging on the wall in between the entrance to my craft room & the front door.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IjlzAiwYuAk/Tz65phxxdJI/AAAAAAAACo4/uUCb48gluSU/s1600/Scraproom-3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IjlzAiwYuAk/Tz65phxxdJI/AAAAAAAACo4/uUCb48gluSU/s320/Scraproom-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710205500645274770" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Welcome to my craft room :) This is what you see when you first enter the room.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ckyiHAAkrOo/Tz65lLAKodI/AAAAAAAACos/wh0eO1_NqSM/s1600/Scraproom-4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ckyiHAAkrOo/Tz65lLAKodI/AAAAAAAACos/wh0eO1_NqSM/s320/Scraproom-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710205425812152786" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Right as you enter the room, I have an Expedit bookcase laying on it's side underneath the one window which holds my stereo, my antique typewriter & lots of other decorations. I purchased the draperies from Target about a year ago.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sjfSTRxOTAg/Tz65e58Q43I/AAAAAAAACog/jchpiCXKlq0/s1600/Scraproom-5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sjfSTRxOTAg/Tz65e58Q43I/AAAAAAAACog/jchpiCXKlq0/s320/Scraproom-5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710205318153167730" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">In the corner, between the 2 windows (one thing I LOVE about this room....it gets LOTS of natural light!) I have a black storage cabinet that I picked up at a thrift store really cheap ($15.00) that was handmade along with some Michaels storage cubes & some boxes that I got at Hobby Lobby a while back. The pictures on the walls are mostly of my sister, Karen. The Spider Plant is no longer in this room....it was just there temporarily until I could figure out where to put it.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YdaVYD_mQEc/Tz65Y7GAhRI/AAAAAAAACoU/vCNLlsj4bu4/s1600/Scraproom-6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YdaVYD_mQEc/Tz65Y7GAhRI/AAAAAAAACoU/vCNLlsj4bu4/s320/Scraproom-6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710205215383258386" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">In front of the second window is a desk that belongs to Jim.....it was a gift from his Mom back in high school. Originally, it was unfinished pine, but this past summer, I </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">finally</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> got around to painting it. I really like how it turned out & it's actually getting used now (instead of sitting in the garage collecting dust!). I'm still debating whether or not I want to change out the handles on it.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W436pwjDJ6s/Tz65USl_UGI/AAAAAAAACoI/b5u7WhYMINw/s1600/Scraproom-7.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W436pwjDJ6s/Tz65USl_UGI/AAAAAAAACoI/b5u7WhYMINw/s320/Scraproom-7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710205135792066658" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">These are the shelves above my main work desk area which hold all my jars of Prima flowers, some baskets with stamps, etc., some antiques & my homemade clip-it-up hangs underneath the bottom shelf. Eventually, I will be adding shelves to the side wall as well as a tv somewhere.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UAmUIbCkYB8/Tz65P0humtI/AAAAAAAACn8/1zk1RM5b22o/s1600/Scraproom-8.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UAmUIbCkYB8/Tz65P0humtI/AAAAAAAACn8/1zk1RM5b22o/s320/Scraproom-8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710205059001653970" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">This is the wall in between the 2 doorways where I have 2 Expedit bookcases....a 8 cube one (like in the other picture) standing vertically as well as a 16 cube one.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IXf7NXC4em8/Tz65J0L_fMI/AAAAAAAACnw/v3y4tOu7otw/s1600/Scraproom-9.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 255px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IXf7NXC4em8/Tz65J0L_fMI/AAAAAAAACnw/v3y4tOu7otw/s320/Scraproom-9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710204955831270594" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The 16 cube Expedit holds all of my albums along with some magazine holders, jars & nick-nacks. The baskets in the bottom row hold lace, loose ribbons, etc.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jouXvqanJew/Tz65DAGUQVI/AAAAAAAACnk/kYMRqEO9fOE/s1600/Scraproom-10.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jouXvqanJew/Tz65DAGUQVI/AAAAAAAACnk/kYMRqEO9fOE/s320/Scraproom-10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710204838769606994" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The 8 cube Expedit stores all of my 12X12 papers, both pattern & cardstock, in Cropper Hopper paper holders that I have turned on their backs. I didn't want to cut the tops off of them & actually like it this way better because I can access the paper easily....you don't have to pull the paper holders out since the paper faces outwards. </span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SUdTYmsQ7lY/Tz649rZVtPI/AAAAAAAACnY/Iv13RGhr2Tc/s1600/Scraproom-11.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SUdTYmsQ7lY/Tz649rZVtPI/AAAAAAAACnY/Iv13RGhr2Tc/s320/Scraproom-11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710204747312903410" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Above my Expedits is my Mom's memorial board that I made for her funeral & framed into 3 frames. I had the hardest time trying to decide exactly where I wanted to hang this when we bought this house, but then when I put my craft room together, I knew it had to go in here & it fits perfectly above the bookcases! My Mom has always been my inspiration to scrapbook & although I did take about a 2 year break from it when she passed away, I am finally getting back into it & enjoying it, once again.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Well, there you have it....my new space. If you have any questions, I'll gladly answer them. Thanks for taking a tour of my new room & have a great day :)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Benita</span><br /></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-84187347275642709252012-02-14T11:30:00.002-05:002012-02-14T11:38:22.720-05:00Happy Love Day<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ava-8AaGe5k/TzqKyEyLesI/AAAAAAAACnM/UwFU49I4pRk/s1600/Valentines%2BDay%2B2012-1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 258px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ava-8AaGe5k/TzqKyEyLesI/AAAAAAAACnM/UwFU49I4pRk/s320/Valentines%2BDay%2B2012-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709028070527826626" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Today is Valentine's Day....a day for lovers, aka another reason to go broke buying overpriced flowers that die within a few days; another reason to gain weight getting chocolates from your sweetie.....I think you get the idea. I told my hubby a month ago that I didn't want chocolates or flowers for those very reasons & this time, he actually listened :) He got me the most romantic card (sorry, but I'm not sharing what he wrote inside ;) ), along with a 'blooming' paper flower and these:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UDwC2tylZzY/TzqKtTrRtsI/AAAAAAAACnA/W3BbpX4IVxM/s1600/Valentines%2BDay%2B2012-2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 254px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UDwC2tylZzY/TzqKtTrRtsI/AAAAAAAACnA/W3BbpX4IVxM/s320/Valentines%2BDay%2B2012-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709027988626060994" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">(He went to Jared, lol)<br />2 new charms for my Pandora bracelet....the newest Breast Cancer one & a heart cut-out one. Can I just say that....I LOVE THEM BOTH!!! He really hit the nail on the head this time :) Although I think our sales lady at Jared probably helped him out in picking them, lol. Either way, it doesn't matter.....I'm so blessed & lucky to have the best Valentine in the world.....my husband of 22+ years, whom I love with all my heart & soul! Today, we are going to see a matinee movie & then go out to dinner afterwards & then.....who knows ;)<br /><br />Happy Valentine's Day!<br />Benita<br /><br />P.S. I honestly do have plans to start updating my blog more often.....I just started working on my version of Project Life about 2 weeks ago, so I need to take pictures & post them. Hope my faithful blog readers haven't given up on me :)<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-36866707451765812482012-01-01T13:30:00.000-05:002012-01-01T13:45:36.661-05:00Happy 2012!<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Today is a new day to another new year....2012! This year will be a year that I embark on a lot of new memories.....and hoping that a lot of those memories will involve this little girl:</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8wTcbgVrShQ/TwCmP50JWFI/AAAAAAAACm0/Rph2OiFx6FU/s1600/Era-Christmas%2B2011-18.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8wTcbgVrShQ/TwCmP50JWFI/AAAAAAAACm0/Rph2OiFx6FU/s320/Era-Christmas%2B2011-18.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692732721144092754" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I am so grateful that I am finally getting a chance to spend some time with my granddaughter again! She truly is a blessing to me!<br /><br />2012 will also include some milestones.....for one, I'll be turning the BIG 5-0 this year! I'm still not sure how I feel about that number yet. But I'm determined to continue on my weight loss journey & lose at least 50 pounds by the time I hit 50! I figure I have a little over 9 months to do it & it's an attainable goal. After all the food/jello shots/pudding shots I had last night at our party, it made me realize that I need to change....and I need to change starting TODAY!<br /><br />2012 is also going to be the year that I get more organized & that is going to start today! Our basement is a complete mess ever since we put up the Christmas decorations, so today & tomorrow is "decoration take-down day"....that is, after the Lions football game is over :)<br /><br />Speaking of the Lions.....Jim & I had an absolutely FANTASTIC time at the casino/hotel & the game on Christmas Eve....his words summed it up perfectly: "it was the BEST anniversary present ever!" And now I think he has me completely addicted to watching the Lions...ssshhh.....don't tell him, though :) <br /><br />Hats off to 2011 & bring on 2012! Happy New Year!!<br /><br />Benita<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-16627437364330947392011-12-24T01:00:00.001-05:002011-12-24T01:00:03.970-05:0022 Years Of Wedded Bliss<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9w0laDJEvok/TvTz4r3BGCI/AAAAAAAACmo/NIcjyY_dlNY/s1600/Benita%2B%2526%2BJim%2B12-11-09-2-Cropped.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9w0laDJEvok/TvTz4r3BGCI/AAAAAAAACmo/NIcjyY_dlNY/s320/Benita%2B%2526%2BJim%2B12-11-09-2-Cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689440384447485986" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">(note: I wrote this earlier & set it up to post on the 24th)</span><br /><br />Today, Christmas Eve, Jim & I are off celebrating our 22nd anniversary at Greektown Casino & Hotel in Detroit & then we're going to the Detroit Lions vs. San Diego Chargers game. <span style="font-style: italic;">Finally</span>.....after 22 years of wedded bliss, we are actually <span style="font-style: italic;">doing</span> something together on our anniversary! :) <br /><br />We reserved the hotel for Friday night instead of Saturday so we could be home with our kids on Christmas Eve after the game. On Christmas Day, we will wake up & watch our kids open their presents, go see our granddaughter & watch her open the presents we got for her, then come home & make dinner & afterwards, we're going to some friends to play cards. It's going to be a very LONG, but fun Christmas weekend :)<br /><br />Wishing you all the best for this wonderful holiday season!<br />May you & your families have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!<br /><br />Love,<br />Benita<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-29778857365785003892011-12-18T23:00:00.000-05:002011-12-18T23:06:43.606-05:00What A WONDERFUL Night!<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rh7nAmZqpa0/Tu61dPPtzEI/AAAAAAAACmc/Gnl7zMB_mWk/s1600/Era-12-18-11-1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rh7nAmZqpa0/Tu61dPPtzEI/AAAAAAAACmc/Gnl7zMB_mWk/s320/Era-12-18-11-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687682893328796738" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">And this beautiful, little girl is why it was a WONDERFUL night! After not being able to see this gorgeous granddaughter of mine for over 2 years (Thanksgiving 2009 was the last time I got to see her), I couldn't have asked for a better early Christmas gift!<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kk1XIPVllcE/Tu61WYrv3oI/AAAAAAAACmQ/ZUYCm069BI0/s1600/Era-12-18-11-2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kk1XIPVllcE/Tu61WYrv3oI/AAAAAAAACmQ/ZUYCm069BI0/s320/Era-12-18-11-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687682775603207810" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">I am so thankful that God brought this little girl into my life! <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MR8wXtSQFiY/Tu61Q4Al1qI/AAAAAAAACmE/WssX41-D-3I/s1600/Era-12-18-11-5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MR8wXtSQFiY/Tu61Q4Al1qI/AAAAAAAACmE/WssX41-D-3I/s320/Era-12-18-11-5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687682680932914850" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Although she isn't very little anymore.....she has gotten SO tall! Definitely takes after her Daddy there! <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zcl08NDoACQ/Tu61ImDe-0I/AAAAAAAACl4/nd2GIrL43yQ/s1600/Era%2526Me-12-18-11.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zcl08NDoACQ/Tu61ImDe-0I/AAAAAAAACl4/nd2GIrL43yQ/s320/Era%2526Me-12-18-11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687682538674256706" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">I have been having dreams about this night for the past week & right now, I am on cloud 9 :)<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l85JPo-TBVQ/Tu61CWHZtGI/AAAAAAAACls/y_vMhbTlNgo/s1600/Era%2526Us-12-18-11.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l85JPo-TBVQ/Tu61CWHZtGI/AAAAAAAACls/y_vMhbTlNgo/s320/Era%2526Us-12-18-11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687682431316505698" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">And if everything goes as planned, I will hopefully be able to see her again on Christmas Day :) And this time, I will definitely make sure my memory card is in my camera (hence the fuzzy cellphone pictures :( )!!!<br /><br />Blessings,<br />Benita<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-87733328485162791342011-12-07T08:00:00.000-05:002011-12-07T08:28:29.981-05:00Miss You Mom!<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yILjDzDqnM4/Tt9naZ4-TjI/AAAAAAAAClg/9DMn_78cZqo/s1600/Mom%2527s%2BOrnament-2011.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yILjDzDqnM4/Tt9naZ4-TjI/AAAAAAAAClg/9DMn_78cZqo/s320/Mom%2527s%2BOrnament-2011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683374958088965682" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 51);">Remembering my Mom, today & always!<br />12-28-32 ~ 12-7-09<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h3xLfJN0ONw/Tt9nUsrvItI/AAAAAAAAClU/0EHSe-LfWvw/s1600/Mom%2527s%2BMemory%2BOrnament-2011.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h3xLfJN0ONw/Tt9nUsrvItI/AAAAAAAAClU/0EHSe-LfWvw/s320/Mom%2527s%2BMemory%2BOrnament-2011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683374860054504146" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 51);">And missing her more than ever!<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-72226351014761543932011-06-23T13:30:00.004-04:002011-06-23T13:50:46.336-04:006 Months<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kaKA1gL8wUU/TgN4qXOdBsI/AAAAAAAAClM/fOuf5i00Ego/s1600/Home-December%2B2010.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kaKA1gL8wUU/TgN4qXOdBsI/AAAAAAAAClM/fOuf5i00Ego/s320/Home-December%2B2010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621469429072987842" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">I can't believe that 6 months ago today, we closed on our new home! Wow, how time flies when you're having fun.....or should I say, doing repairs, painting, gardening, replacing fixtures, etc., etc., etc. The never-ending joys of home ownership! But every single day, I am thankful for owning this home......every single day! We looked for MONTHS until we found the perfect home for us.....and luckily, we had an amazing realtor that never gave up on us! She was there for us all the way & we've now become close friends. The above picture was taken the day we looked at the home & put our offer in on it. Notice where the for sale sign is.....we have since planted a Magnolia tree in it's place as a way to 'mark' where our sign was :)<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I_E8I05x5as/TgN4TRZcs8I/AAAAAAAAClE/zxl99u87gHc/s1600/Home-6Months.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I_E8I05x5as/TgN4TRZcs8I/AAAAAAAAClE/zxl99u87gHc/s320/Home-6Months.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621469032371499970" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">And here is what our home sweet home looks like now (after a rainstorm). We've taken out the two bushes along the garage near the front sidewalk as well as the little pine bush, currently working on bringing the grass back to life (we've been told that the previous owners never watered it last year), added a bunch of angel figurines, hanging baskets, some rose bushes, fixed the fountain, installed a storm door, replaced 3 light fixtures (front porch & by the garage), resurfaced the blacktop driveway & put our rocking chairs on the front porch.....and that's just what we've done to the outside! The inside is a whole nother story (see previous post about all the painting we've been doing)! And in case you're wondering, yes, Jim & I do use the rocking chairs quite often in the evening, sitting out there relaxing, listening to the birds, frogs & crickets & just enjoying our new home :) I can honestly say that with the 3 homes we've owned in the last 20 years, this one is by far my favorite of the three! We both absolutely love our home & our neighborhood & realize just how blessed we are to be here! It truly is our Home Sweet Home! And I told Jim that he's going to have to bury me in the backyard cause I'm NOT moving again :)<br /><br />Truly feeling blessed,<br />Benita<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-17434749489072090012011-05-25T15:00:00.000-04:002011-05-25T15:04:01.175-04:00Buh-Bye Boring White Walls!<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">After living in our new home for the past 5 months, we <span style="font-style: italic;">finally</span> added some color to it! I just couldn't take the white walls any longer.....the kitchen was white, the family room was white, the entryway was white.....everywhere you looked, white, white, WHITE! I felt like I was living in an apartment! But I gotta say, I <span style="font-style: italic;">am</span> glad that the bank had the walls painted before we bought the house because from what we've heard, it was almost all blue.....navy blue! They also replaced all of the carpeting, which was also blue & there was wallpaper in the kitchen (see first before picture), which they removed, thank goodness! We had the kitchen painted first & here is what it looked like before (pictures were taken before we purchased the house):</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aW-zyIgEt18/Td1RE5H4aNI/AAAAAAAACk4/SKjddGfF9pc/s1600/Kitchen%2BWallpaper.jpeg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aW-zyIgEt18/Td1RE5H4aNI/AAAAAAAACk4/SKjddGfF9pc/s320/Kitchen%2BWallpaper.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610729855268710610" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rOrtMHJwJbg/Td1J5emt-rI/AAAAAAAACkw/Kbd3MyppkfI/s1600/IMG_9189.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rOrtMHJwJbg/Td1J5emt-rI/AAAAAAAACkw/Kbd3MyppkfI/s320/IMG_9189.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610721962590337714" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">And what it looks like now.....color is called Hazy Sage & I really like it, although now, we need new countertops cause the greyish/blue now looks too blue, but that's gonna be a while until we replace them:</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hcDTCuLsKpI/Td1JpX6PTRI/AAAAAAAACko/caWVH1wGvc0/s1600/Kitchen.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hcDTCuLsKpI/Td1JpX6PTRI/AAAAAAAACko/caWVH1wGvc0/s320/Kitchen.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610721685915258130" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Next was the 2 story entryway which took 2 days to get it all done along with the hallway upstairs & the entry area to the garage & laundry room. Here is the before of the entryway:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-os7iBDNDBZk/Td1JfHKW8fI/AAAAAAAACkg/JQizIjCBQj0/s1600/IMG_9188.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-os7iBDNDBZk/Td1JfHKW8fI/AAAAAAAACkg/JQizIjCBQj0/s320/IMG_9188.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610721509620773362" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 102, 51);">And the after.....this color is called Mushroom Bisque & I absolutely LOVE IT! Sometimes I just stand in the entryway & stare at it :) It matches really good with the carpet & my 2 Thomas Kinkade pictures:<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MZGGdpHMCpI/Td1JBK06ZvI/AAAAAAAACkQ/Lls5eXA9EjE/s1600/Entryway-1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MZGGdpHMCpI/Td1JBK06ZvI/AAAAAAAACkQ/Lls5eXA9EjE/s320/Entryway-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610720995208488690" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 102, 51);">You can see the hallway that leads out to the garage in this picture which I had painted the same color.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ha8TnV3I7o/Td1I4_yXg1I/AAAAAAAACkI/XG8raLaXTtE/s1600/Entryway-2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ha8TnV3I7o/Td1I4_yXg1I/AAAAAAAACkI/XG8raLaXTtE/s320/Entryway-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610720854806070098" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 102, 51);">I was so scared when Woody (our friend that did all the painting for us & at a VERY reasonable price, I might add) did the part around the steps. He had a 2X12 board going from the steps to a ladder then an extension ladder on the board. Rose, his wife, and I had to leave & went garage sale shopping so we wouldn't have to watch! Luckily, Jim was here to help him out that day.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nbaHVaL2UWU/Td1IyVYflmI/AAAAAAAACkA/aPZ6_pqQtzY/s1600/Entryway-3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nbaHVaL2UWU/Td1IyVYflmI/AAAAAAAACkA/aPZ6_pqQtzY/s320/Entryway-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610720740344043106" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">And lastly (for now), the family room. Here is the before (picture taken before we purchased the house):</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Btnf0ROWsaI/Td1Io3BCgqI/AAAAAAAACj4/nn7FuHuGVM4/s1600/Family%2BRoom%2BBefore.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Btnf0ROWsaI/Td1Io3BCgqI/AAAAAAAACj4/nn7FuHuGVM4/s320/Family%2BRoom%2BBefore.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610720577573782178" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">And the after.....this color is called Fortune Cookie.....cute name, huh? :) <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2QAMcKC2dJM/Td1IWuJrT8I/AAAAAAAACjw/JrU8D0L5_FI/s1600/LivingRoom-2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2QAMcKC2dJM/Td1IWuJrT8I/AAAAAAAACjw/JrU8D0L5_FI/s320/LivingRoom-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610720265956446146" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">Woody just did this room yesterday & I truly love it! Before, the fireplace got almost lost in the white walls....now, it just pops out! And the color is almost an exact match to my curtains. Last night, Jim, Shawn & I went to the Tigers game, so we had to leave the room completely torn apart to let the paint dry, but when we got home, Shawn & I put everything back in order because I just couldn't go to bed until it was done. I have been looking all over for this ceiling fan as Rose & Woody have one exactly like it & I've always loved it, so one day, I was searching craigslist & stumbled upon it for.....$50.00! This fan retails for $250, so I'm </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">very</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);"> happy with that price :)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Next up.....the master bedroom, hopefully next week. This gives you a hint of what the color(s) will be :)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Until then, have a fabulous Memorial Day weekend & stay safe! Jim & I are heading up north for a one-night getaway.....he deserves it after all the hard work & long hours he's been working!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Benita</span><br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-32888873889315124832011-04-24T01:00:00.000-04:002011-04-24T01:00:01.409-04:00Happy Easter<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kwFgGOjJZJA/TbOt607S3VI/AAAAAAAACjg/es1Ms-_zphg/s1600/Easter%2BDecorations-5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kwFgGOjJZJA/TbOt607S3VI/AAAAAAAACjg/es1Ms-_zphg/s320/Easter%2BDecorations-5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599009987903020370" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">Hope you have a wonderful & happy Easter!<br /><br />Benita<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-1765885168283884122011-04-12T23:45:00.001-04:002011-04-13T00:22:31.287-04:00I'm Still Here.....<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">.....are you? Although it's been over 3 months since I last blogged (where DOES time go???), I am still here & I am still reading all of my favorite blogs. The question is.....are any of my blog readers still here? I have been debating just deleting my blog since I don't tend to update it that much anymore. But then where would I write about what's going on in my life? Where would I go to vent (besides facebook)? Where would I share my thoughts, my dreams, my passions, my mistakes, etc., etc., etc. So here I am, blogging again. But are you still here reading?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">I'll admit, I really have no excuses as to why I haven't blogged in so long......okay, well maybe one excuse.....I've been busy setting up my home....</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">.</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">still! We've been in the house almost 4 months now & I'm </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">still</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"> not done doing everything I want to do. But then again, are we </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">ever</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"> done??? I haven't even taken very many pictures of the inside yet because all of the walls are still white! Can you believe it.....me.....living with all white walls??? I can't! And now that I look around the house after hanging up all the pictures, curtains, valances, blinds, etc., I realize I have to take all that stuff back down to paint! ARGH! Anyone wanna help? Maybe I'll start with something small.....like the trim around the side garage door, or the front door.....something to put me in the mood to paint. Yeah, right.....it's not often I get moods like that :)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Anyway, here are a few pictures that I've taken recently of the exterior:</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AD_oEMhYKPo/TaUgDR8aULI/AAAAAAAACjY/1M3zL4UQWi8/s1600/Flowers.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AD_oEMhYKPo/TaUgDR8aULI/AAAAAAAACjY/1M3zL4UQWi8/s320/Flowers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594913352806191282" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">My first flowers of Spring :) It's exciting seeing what flowers I have coming up as I have no clue what the previous owners planted, so it's all going to be a surprise to me.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-faFlbdBUEXk/TaUf8oi8ZwI/AAAAAAAACjQ/eRpq6MW5ft8/s1600/Front%2BFlower%2BBed-1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-faFlbdBUEXk/TaUf8oi8ZwI/AAAAAAAACjQ/eRpq6MW5ft8/s320/Front%2BFlower%2BBed-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594913238614304514" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">My front flower bed. The other day, Shawn & I redid all of the stones going around the bed & now we need to mulch it. Unfortunately, I found out that none of my outdoor lights are working so I'm either going to replace all of the batteries in them or just buy new lights. The problem is, replacing rechargeable solar batteries are almost as expensive as replacing the lights! </span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YcfU_DJgYDk/TaUf2kmqbWI/AAAAAAAACjI/6rAbDFjO0J8/s1600/Front%2BFlower%2BBed-2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YcfU_DJgYDk/TaUf2kmqbWI/AAAAAAAACjI/6rAbDFjO0J8/s320/Front%2BFlower%2BBed-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594913134476946786" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Another view of the flower bed. Today I picked up a pump & some hose to get the fountain working only to find out that it leaks around the bottom :( I'm hoping I can find something to repair it with. Plus there's a few pieces of stone that are broken off of it that I need to try to fix......or I may just have to replace the whole thing, but I love it. Not sure if you can tell, but it's an angel fountain & goes perfectly with my yard angels (most of which are currently on my porch until I figure out how I want to put them in the yard). And yes, the grass currently looks like crap! We're going to fertilize it & hope to try to revive it....wish us luck! </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">The one thing that is taking some getting used to is listening to all the crickets, frogs & other bugs at night. Right off to the side of our house is a pond/swamp area (not really sure what you would call it) & ever since Sunday, when the temps got into the 80's, they've been chirping away every night. I feel like I'm living in the country. It sounds really cool, except for when you're trying to sleep with the windows open. Like I said, I need to get used to it, I guess. I remember loving that sound when I was a teenager & used to sleep outside.....those where the days!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">That's all I have for now.....hopefully I'll take some inside pictures soon & post them, white walls & all :) So stay tuned.....that is, if you're still with me.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Benita</span><br /></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-53460066204521743112011-01-01T16:00:00.001-05:002011-01-01T16:08:52.532-05:00Happy New Year 2011!<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TR-TkDBTe-I/AAAAAAAACi0/1Xj-o8k99BY/s1600/HomeSweetHome-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TR-TkDBTe-I/AAAAAAAACi0/1Xj-o8k99BY/s320/HomeSweetHome-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557322712693832674" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">It's official......it's ours, ours, ours, ours, OURS!! Okay, we'll it's ours & the banks for the next 30 years ;) We closed on the house December 23rd & have been going NON STOP ever since! We rented a Uhaul truck for 5 days to move all the big stuff & it's slowly starting to become our home. It will probably take months until we have everything unpacked, but I don't care! We finally have a home, sweet home again :) <br /><br />We have hit a few snags along the way.....it seems that after our inspection, they re-winterized the house, but we don't think it was done properly as we've had some problems with some water lines, etc. Right now, we have a leak in the master shower that we hope is just coming from the caulking. The house is only 9 years old & when we had it inspected, the inspector said it was in excellent shape. When we found out about the plumbing problems the day of our walk through (also our closing day), we almost didn't close! It was either close on the house, or be out our deposit, inspection & appraisal costs. Since the house was a foreclosure, we were buying it 'as is'. I just pray that we didn't buy the Money Pit (like the movie!). <br /><br />On December 27th, Jim, Shawn & I took a much-needed break from moving & went to see Jeff Dunham in Saginaw. O-M-G!!! He was so hilarious! We laughed non-stop! It was exactly what the doctor ordered! If you ever have the chance to see him, I HIGHLY recommend it! You will NOT be disappointed! Trust me! <br /><br />Last night, for New Year's Eve, we went to a friend's house & played cards, ate, drank, ate, played more cards & ate lots & lots of jello shots that I made. We had a blast & we were already told that next year, the party is at our house. I can't wait! <br /><br />Once I get the house more organized, I'll be sure to take & post lots of pics of the inside.....stay tuned :)<br /><br />I hope you have a fabulous 2011! So far, ours is off to a pretty good start.....let's just hope it stays that way! <br /><br />Benita<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-41469403109315375212010-12-21T13:30:00.001-05:002010-12-21T14:24:32.356-05:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">S*T*R*E*S*S!!!</span></span><br /><br />That word doesn't even begin to describe what I'm going through right now! We are supposed to close on the house this Thursday......<span style="font-weight: bold;">Thursday</span>, the 23rd of December! But right now, nothing is even 100% guaranteed yet! We're supposed to get the <span style="font-style: italic;">final</span> approval sometime today & then we just have to pray that nothing else comes up between now & Thursday. I have the reservation for the moving truck to be picked up Thursday afternoon, I've been packing as much as I possibly can to be able to still continue to live, but I haven't even begun to wrap any Christmas presents yet. Then to top it all off, I went down into the basement at the house we're renting to do some laundry today & saw that the water heater is leaking! JUST FREAKIN' GREAT!!! What the heck else can go wrong??? DON'T answer that! Cause at this point, I don't wanna know! All I want right now is some time to relax.....to be able to enjoy the holiday season.....to take a nice, LONG bath! Which is exactly what I plan on doing just as soon as we are settled in this:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TRDxnAuFK6I/AAAAAAAACio/ZJdidvha7UI/s1600/Tub-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 188px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TRDxnAuFK6I/AAAAAAAACio/ZJdidvha7UI/s320/Tub-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553203993058290594" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">:)<br /><br />If I don't get a chance to post again for a few weeks, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas & a wonderful & safe New Year!<br /><br />Love to all,<br />Benita<br /></span></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-57140957243514365292010-12-07T07:00:00.002-05:002010-12-07T07:00:08.136-05:00Hard To Believe...<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TP2iGxUoGwI/AAAAAAAACig/JK8ZtuYXJ-M/s1600/Mom%2527s%2BHeadstone.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TP2iGxUoGwI/AAAAAAAACig/JK8ZtuYXJ-M/s320/Mom%2527s%2BHeadstone.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547768553193085698" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">....that it was a year ago today that I lost my Mom! How could that be??? Where did this past year go? One year already?? I don't get it! It still hasn't even completely sunk in that she's gone! And now she's been gone a year? Maybe I still don't want to accept it. Maybe I don't want to believe it. Maybe I'm still in shock. It's been a very difficult year for me, I know that. Right after she passed away, I ended up with the swine flu (or H1N1 as they now call it), so it was like the whole month of December just flashed before my eyes last year! And now here I am, a year later, and still not dealing with losing my Mom. <br /><br />It really hit me last night, as I was attempting to decorate our Christmas tree. I found this Mother ornament that I purchased last year & that's all it took for the tears to start flowing! When does it get better? People say it takes time.....sometimes I think they're wrong! <br /><br />When I went to Pennsylvania this past August, I found these angel statues called The Reunion Heart. I purchased a large one for in my garden & then a smaller version that sits on my desk. I just love the poem & wanted to share it:<br /><br />The Reunion Heart<br /><br />Since Heaven has become your home<br />I sometimes feel I'm so alone;<br />and though we now are far apart<br />you hold a big piece of my heart.<br /><br />I never knew how much I'd grieve<br />when it was time for you to leave,<br />or just how much my heart would ache<br />from that one fragment you would take.<br /><br />God lets this tender hole remain<br />reminding me we'll meet again,<br />and one day all the pain will cease<br />when He restores the missing piece.<br /><br />For Jesus heals each tiny part<br />that holds your memory in my heart.<br />This tearful heart reminds me of<br />when He'll unite us in His love.<br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />And with that beautiful poem, I will end this post here.<br /><br />Benita<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-44238913142559462532010-11-25T14:30:00.002-05:002010-11-25T17:00:18.832-05:00Happy Thanksgiving<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Today is Thanksgiving.....a day to be thankful. And this year, I have a LOT to be thankful for! I have a wonderful husband who is not only kind, loving, considerate & compassionate (except for when he gives me his cold!), but also a pretty good cook as he is doing almost all of the cooking today :) I'm thankful for my 2 great kids & even though they drive me up a wall sometimes, I'm glad that they're mine! I'm thankful for my family back in Pennsylvania & although I can't be home with them today, I know we are all thinking about each other & we love each other! I'm thankful for my Lord Jesus! And lastly, I'm thankful for having a wonderful realtor who has been there for us as we searched & searched & SEARCHED for a home until we finally found this one:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TO65ZyMWL3I/AAAAAAAACiY/WT6Qi6mSfto/s1600/HomeSweetHome-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TO65ZyMWL3I/AAAAAAAACiY/WT6Qi6mSfto/s320/HomeSweetHome-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543572043961085810" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">It is everything we've been looking for & more! 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, HUGE eat-in kitchen & even bigger pantry (okay, so I'm exaggerating a little, but the pantry is BIG!), fireplace in the family room, 2 car garage, a partially started finished walkout basement, hardwood floors in the kitchen & entryway PLUS brand new carpeting throughout the whole house! It does need some things (all appliances since it's a foreclosure & they took them all out including the garbage disposal!), a deck, garage door opener & the landscaping could use some work next Spring, but we are so happy to have <span style="font-style: italic;">finally</span> found a home! If all goes as planned, we should be closing right before Christmas :) And now the fun begins.....packing!!! ARGH! Any volunteers to help? :)<br /><br />Today is also a bittersweet Thanksgiving for me since 1 year ago today was the last time I spoke to my Mom on the phone before she passed away :( I remember our conversation like it was just yesterday! She was in a good mood & glad to hear my voice. When she told me that she loved me, I cried because I wish I would have gone home to spend Thanksgiving with her! And if I would have known that it would have been her last Thanksgiving, I would have been there! But you just never know! So hug your parents, spouses, children & family members tight and be thankful for each & every day you spend with them!<br /><br />Hope you & your family have a safe & blessed Thanksgiving!<br />Benita<br /></span></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-71803847381760841322010-11-21T15:00:00.002-05:002010-11-21T15:17:05.779-05:00OOPS!<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">So much for another challenge! Seems I suck at doing challenges & never stick with them! Ah well.....I do have a LOT to be grateful for this month, even though I forgot to post about them all. Guess one of my New Year's Resolutions will be to </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">not</span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"> do any challenges, lol. I have been taking pictures of things I'm grateful for, just not everyday. So here are a few more:</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5r4zxkEI/AAAAAAAACiI/acQTWKmQvbA/s1600/30%2BDays-Day%2B2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5r4zxkEI/AAAAAAAACiI/acQTWKmQvbA/s320/30%2BDays-Day%2B2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542094611346985026" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">I'm grateful for my right to vote, which I did on November 2nd :)</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5wl7MnwI/AAAAAAAACiQ/uHnNJlD-cXg/s1600/30%2BDays-Day%2B4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5wl7MnwI/AAAAAAAACiQ/uHnNJlD-cXg/s320/30%2BDays-Day%2B4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542094692177190658" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">I'm grateful for my job.....which is one of the reasons why I haven't been able to keep up with this challenge! Right after Halloween, I was </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">super</span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"> busy doing the changeover to take down Halloween cards & put up Thanksgiving & Christmas cards. Having to do 5 stores has it's own challenges sometimes, but I do like my job.</span><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5g31izAI/AAAAAAAACiA/ag35hnhV3TE/s1600/Facebook.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5g31izAI/AAAAAAAACiA/ag35hnhV3TE/s320/Facebook.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542094422107409410" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">I'm grateful for Facebook & all the friends I have found from my past & present :) I've connected with some old friends from high school & friends from when we lived in Virginia.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5aS-LUdI/AAAAAAAACh4/bom1mY6WrGs/s1600/SmileyFaceMug.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5aS-LUdI/AAAAAAAACh4/bom1mY6WrGs/s320/SmileyFaceMug.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542094309132292562" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">I'm grateful for this cute smiley mug. I sent this mug with some flowers in it to my Mom a few years ago & when she passed away, I got the mug back. It now sits on top of my computer & I look at it every single day & smile back at it, knowing that my Mom is smiling down on me :)</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5WYQ3BqI/AAAAAAAAChw/TxhXNLDcx9U/s1600/ChocolateChipCookies.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5WYQ3BqI/AAAAAAAAChw/TxhXNLDcx9U/s320/ChocolateChipCookies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542094241833354914" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">I'm grateful for Chocolate Chip Cookies! LOL This was actually a new recipe that I tried adding pudding to the dough.......they were YUMMY!!!</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5MbNaXmI/AAAAAAAACho/2DgtAvZ05is/s1600/Reeses.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5MbNaXmI/AAAAAAAACho/2DgtAvZ05is/s320/Reeses.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542094070825508450" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">I'm grateful for my pets.....this is one of our mutts, Reeses.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5GPQQOoI/AAAAAAAAChg/rbDEr_yJVRs/s1600/PiePumpkin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl5GPQQOoI/AAAAAAAAChg/rbDEr_yJVRs/s320/PiePumpkin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542093964536986242" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">I'll be grateful when Jim makes Pumpkin Pies out of this Pumpkin for Thanksgiving :)</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl4_AWFw5I/AAAAAAAAChY/tLonCUm5CqQ/s1600/Jim%2BBarBQing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl4_AWFw5I/AAAAAAAAChY/tLonCUm5CqQ/s320/Jim%2BBarBQing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542093840275850130" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Speaking of Jim, I'm grateful for having such an awesome man that knows how to Bar-B-Q! Yes, he even does it in the dark!</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl41SwnRVI/AAAAAAAAChQ/wSiPB9xBX8Q/s1600/PinkRibbonShoes.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TOl41SwnRVI/AAAAAAAAChQ/wSiPB9xBX8Q/s320/PinkRibbonShoes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542093673420244306" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">I'm grateful for my new Pink Ribbon Sketchers Shape-Ups Shoes. Yes, I realize they may be ugly, but they are the most comfortable shoes to wear when I'm standing on my feet at work!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">As Thanksgiving approaches this week, I'm sure I'll have a LOT more to be grateful for! What are some things you're grateful for in your life?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Until next time,</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Benita (the one that sucks at doing challenges!)</span><br /><br /></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-31856970962786770762010-11-01T21:55:00.007-04:002010-11-01T22:14:26.639-04:0030 Days Of Gratitude<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">I was catching up on some blog reading tonight & found this challenge on Evelyn's blog called the 30 Days of Gratitude. I guess each day we are supposed to take a picture based on different things that we are grateful for. The prompt for today is Home.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TM9xKrBxe6I/AAAAAAAACgo/Ac8Dw7axyZo/s1600/House-5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TM9xKrBxe6I/AAAAAAAACgo/Ac8Dw7axyZo/s320/House-5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534766895224421282" border="0" /></a>Jim & I have been looking for a home for, hmmm.....longer than I care to remember! We thought we found the perfect home a few weeks ago.....we put in an offer, they counter-offered, we counter-offered their counter-offer, they accepted, we had an inspection & found out that the roof needed to be replaced badly, so we counter-offered again, but they then decided to take the home off the market :( So not only are we out $370 for the home inspection, but now we're back to the drawing board.....yet AGAIN! But hopefully, that will all change this week as we just put an offer in on another house this past weekend. Only problem.....they have multiple offers, so we are praying that ours is the best! </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TM9xuR_7j-I/AAAAAAAAChA/S3FpQf6Likc/s1600/House-4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TM9xuR_7j-I/AAAAAAAAChA/S3FpQf6Likc/s320/House-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534767506981097442" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">These pictures are of just a few of the houses we've looked at over the last several months.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TM9xoj4mmPI/AAAAAAAACg4/Y3RLXBnnLSw/s1600/House-2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TM9xoj4mmPI/AAAAAAAACg4/Y3RLXBnnLSw/s320/House-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534767408702986482" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">We looked at private-owned homes, short sales, foreclosures.....you name it, we looked at it!</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TM9xi_ksTBI/AAAAAAAACgw/UvTiH1FP-Dk/s1600/House-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TM9xi_ksTBI/AAAAAAAACgw/UvTiH1FP-Dk/s320/House-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534767313056451602" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">3 bedrooms, 4 bedrooms, unfinished basements, finished basements, 2 car garage, 3 car garage....the list goes on & on!</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TM9xy8ZBgsI/AAAAAAAAChI/3SQWy1dlhtY/s1600/House-3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TM9xy8ZBgsI/AAAAAAAAChI/3SQWy1dlhtY/s320/House-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534767587080110786" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">One of my favorite ones was this one pictured above, but come to find out, we couldn't finance it due to it having an in-ground pool because of the type of financing we're doing. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">But my absolute favorite one will be the one we end up buying.....whenever & wherever that one is! We WILL find it! And when we do, it'll be perfect......for us :)</span><br /></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14112816.post-13773930800209664072010-09-30T10:08:00.007-04:002010-09-30T10:48:23.098-04:00Seriously....I'm Blogging???<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TKScA_KOohI/AAAAAAAACgY/lp00-k5qkQo/s1600/Fall+Wreath.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 274px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TKScA_KOohI/AAAAAAAACgY/lp00-k5qkQo/s320/Fall+Wreath.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522710583831339538" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Oh poor, neglected blog.....yes, it's been 3 months since I've posted on you! I didn't forget about you.....honest. See, it's this thing called Life that has taken over.....life has gotten in the way of blogging, but I promise I still love blogging & that is why I'm writing on you today :)<br /><br />Above is my newest creation that I made.....my fall wreath. I've been wanting a nice looking fall wreath to put on our front door, but the ones that look really good are so expensive! So I decided to buy the stuff & make my own. I purchased a grapevine wreath for $2.39 ($3.99 minus a 40% off coupon), a leafy vine for $7.50 (half price), a floral bush for $5.00 (also half price) & 3 floral picks that have little acorns on them for 99 cents each (yep, you guessed it.....half price on those, too). So for a grand total of around $19.00, I now proudly display this wreath on my front door :)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TKSfQPsswlI/AAAAAAAACgg/n4HUcRKDU_o/s1600/August+29,+2010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TKSfQPsswlI/AAAAAAAACgg/n4HUcRKDU_o/s320/August+29,+2010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522714144503808594" border="0" /></a>At the end of August, Shawn & I went to Pennsylvania to visit my family along with Karen & Jimmy's grave. God, we had such a blast while we were there! We went out every night with Barb & I found a new love.....PUDDING SHOTS!!! OMGosh are they YUMMY! Now I'm homesick & wanna go back already :( Here are Barb, Dad & I at the grave.....it's hard to believe that it's been 6 years since they left us! <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TKSb0R02W4I/AAAAAAAACgI/AM2wqAEN-uM/s1600/At+Mom%27s+Grave.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BSdwqDYk_Wk/TKSb0R02W4I/AAAAAAAACgI/AM2wqAEN-uM/s320/At+Mom%27s+Grave.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522710365503642498" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">The hardest part of going home was visiting my Mom's grave for the first time since she passed away :*( When she first went into the nursing home, I made a promise to myself that whenever I went home, she would be the first person I would visit & the last person I would see before I left. So now, I'm continuing that promise to her.....as soon as we arrived in Williamsport, the first thing we did was go to her grave & on the morning we left, her grave was the last place we went. When we first got there, I wasn't sure how it was going to affect me.....the first thing I did was put some new flowers on her grave, then I cleaned off the headstone & just stood there......that's when I lost it! I asked Shawn to give me some time alone with her so I could talk to her. I cried, I talked, I cried, I talked.....and right now, I'm crying as I'm typing this :( Damn, I miss my Mom!!! While we were in PA, I found this solar lighted cross & decided to buy it for her grave. I then bought some stickers to dress it up a little. I didn't get a chance to put it on her grave until the morning we left, so I didn't get to see it lit up yet. But I hope it's beautiful, just like my Mom!<br /><br />Okay, enough with the downer post.....that isn't what I wanted this post to turn into! So before it gets worse, I'm going to stop here. If you're still with me, out there in blogger land, thank-you!<br /><br />Benita<br /></span></div>Benitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05692932308369258692noreply@blogger.com3