Littlest Things

It was probably not my best idea to agree to update a house while simultaneously finishing my master's degree and starting a full time job. However, progress has been continuous (mainly due to the hard work of the Pastor) and we've gotten to the point where we can focus on the littlest things.




We've been working really hard. Let's Kiss!







Vases above the front door.



Hall bath. Choctaw Princess, and wood carving by my Dad.



Vintage Indian postcards.




Hello my pretty.

home improvement

I think home improvement stores should be required to keep stats on the marriages of their customers.

I should be able to know, before I enter a store to say look at granite for four hours with my spouse, that the customers who shop at that store have an "x" percent success rate in their marriage.

Stores could use this as part of their marketing. "More happily married couples chose their appliances at this store."

Also, all those shows on HGTV? They should be required by law at the end of the program to tell you if the couple is still married.

Just a thought.

conscious coupling

After a decade together, the Pastor decided to commit to this relationship. We got a mortgage together.

The house we bought isn't just any home. It is special. We bought a show home. Fancy, huh? A show home from 1985. We plan on making some updates. Unless the rust-ish, mauve-ish countertop color is coming back into style?

I love this house. I could not fix a single nail hole, paint a single wall, replace a single wooden toilet seat cover, and I could still be happy, especially with this guy sitting on the front porch with me -

Here's more.

living room -

dining room -



kitchen -

"free" microwave -

master bedroom -

master bedroom view -

master bath -

his & her vanities -

"free" stuff in the attic (they were empty)

love -

picture this

More stuff hanging around the parsonage ~





vintage postcard (sometime between 1898 - 1913) women's suffrage, less than $1 at an estate sale




Castle picture on the right from an estate sale that was around the corner from us a number of years ago. Also more vintage framed postcards. We've been to all these places and I have found it is much easier to pick up "souvenirs" like this than to lug them around on a trip. I like it when I can find postcards at estate sales, but only when they are cheap.




Plaques - I think I will hang these cuties up in our bedroom. $2.99 each.




I do love this plaque too.




One more. When I was a little girl, I dreamed of living in a green and yellow house. Slowly but surely my dream is coming true.




"Whoo" wouldn't want cute owls like this hanging up in their bedroom? I have a pair of them, framing a window.




vintage valentines, the bag of them less than $5 at an estate sale

Now that I have the girl/boy plaques I may take the valentines down or I may just rearrange and incorporate the girl/boy. I haven't decided yet!

times are a changin'

We have lived in 5 houses in 8 years. Every couple of months I think we either need to move or rearrange everything. Plus, I like to frequently move things around to confuse the Pastor. If he doesn't know where anything is, then he will need me.

Also, I am frequently finding new goodies at estate sales and Goodwill. I have made myself stop going to estate sales because I'm constantly struggling with wanting to be minimalistic and have less stuff even though it is fun to dig for cheap treasures. I do not buy pricey items - I try to stick to $5 or less.

We've been in this house for 15 months now and here are some bits and pieces of our current living situation -



I think it is a magazine/newspaper rack. Not sure. But the stars make it mid-century fabulous and it was $2 at the Goodwill.






I got rid of the fancy dining room furniture and china cabinet, and had to figure out where to put my pretties. The set that looks like grapes with gold trim came from Goodwill and the Pastor bought it for my birthday.



Old typewriter, prints we bought on the street in New York and a pic I rescued from the trash of Times Square dated 1964. My lone green thing, jade, against a west wall for good luck. Hasn't worked. The vase is inside an old pencil cup I picked up with change at an estate sale.






Painting by Nate.



Living room. Triptych by Nate. Lamp on the right rescued from the trash. Nothing else new here.



Cast iron dog. I've never talked about dog before. Dog was from my Great Uncle Clark and Aunt Hazel's house and I always loved it as a kid. It makes me happy to have it in my home.



Jesus, painted on the back of an old coffee table top, dated 1973 and rescued from a dumpster. No one puts Jesus in the dumpster.



Pear painting by Nate. Owl utensil holder was a planter that I picked up at an estate sale. Betty Crocker kids cookbook from an estate sale. I love to look at old cookbooks because you can tell when they were well used and the recipes that were made again and again. There's usually notes or other recipes scribbled on scraps of paper stuck in between pages. Old kitchen timer rescued from the trash.



Tupperware container (free) missing lid repurposed into utensil holder.



Old card.



I'm always fascinated with what people put on their fridge. I love old postcards and my dream is to someday go to Niagara Falls. I love the postcard we picked up at Graceland of Elvis eating.



Owls. I've tried to get rid of this old bar cart on Craigslist but I haven't been able to sell it and finally gave up.



Desk.




1940s metal toy typewriter picked up at Goodwill for $9. Photo by Nate.



Books and knick knacks. Nancy Drew collection is on the top shelf. When I was a little girl my dad traveled for work and would bring books home for me to expand my collection - this was before Amazon.com.



The great thing about having an artistic son is that he makes a lot of art. Finding places and ways to display it all can be a challenge. The cedar chest was my grandma's, made by her brother. I'm going to give it to my brother if he will ever come and pick it up. :-)



Mantle. The tall blue 1960's vase came from an estate sale. Owl lamp with a missing eye was rescued from the trash. Blue bowl in the middle I got at a garage sale for 50 cents. 1950's blue and gold asian vase came from Goodwill - it had survived so much in it's life and naturally I chipped it right away.



Replacement dining room table, rescued from a university science building. Includes a hole in the middle for a Bunsen Burner and has some bored student's initials carved in it. Chairs from an elementary school in Aline, Oklahoma and unlike the wood and microfiber ones we had before - virtually indestructible, Plastic flowers dated 1969. I bought them for less than a dollar at Goodwill and thought I would use them to make jewelry, but decided for now I like them on the table.



And finally, in the kitchen a handsome couple from a booklet that came with cookware. It reminds me of how in love the Pastor and I are in our dream home.

Cream and Sugar

moving for fun and profit

I think I made enough money from what was left behind in the teenage boy's room at the old house to buy a snocone.