Naked Projects

Nothing makes me want to change all the decor in my house more than taking Christmas decorations down.  It seems so naked after Christmas!  All this "nakedness" has got me doing all kinds of different projects around the house.  Here are a few...

Bedroom Set

Almost 12 years ago, I made my first big purchase as a newly working woman.  I bought a bedroom set.  I hadn't really figured out my decorating style at the time, and I really wasn't concerned with that at that point in my life.  The set has been with us throughout our whole marriage and has served us well, but I've realized that it's not exactly my cup of tea anymore.  Over the last year or so I've contemplated painting it, but it seemed like an intense project.  I really couldn't wrap my mind around it.  Well, until last week.  

I got a bee in my bonnet and decided to throw caution to the wind.  I forgot to take full-on before photos, but use your imagination.  I painted the main furniture white and spray painted their silver pulls a brushed bronze.  The mirror and the bench I painted gray, although it looks blue.  I really want our bedroom to have a sentimental feel, if that makes sense.  I want the decor to mean something to us.  I'm still working on that.  

Pre-painting 

Mid painting

By the Front Door

I decided the area by the front door needed a perk up.  I really liked this mirror, but it needed something and that something was paint.

I couldn't find a close-up pic of the mirror and I'm too tired to go take one.  This one will have to do.  I painted it a grey color.   

Here it is from afar.  

I just love this old tool box that Mom Murrill got me for Christmas.  The little Classic Poems book was Mumsie's from when she was a little girl.  She earned it for having perfect attendance in school:)

Old Hutch

Remember this old hutch thing I got last summer?  I don't think I ever showed you the finished product.  I painted it with blue chalk paint and lined the walls with vintage wallpaper.  

Little Cabinet in Kitchen

I decided to paint this little cabinet gray. 

It really lightened the area up. 

Coffee/Tea Area

I have always wanted to do a little area for my coffee/tea/hot drinks.  At one end of my kitchen there is a little area that doesn't get much use.  I thought it might be nice to put it there.  It's still a work in progress. 

When I was home in Oklahoma, I found this in the garage.  It was something my dad had made years ago.  I'm excited to be able to use it in my kitchen! 

I've got a few more projects I'm working on that I look forward to showing you soon!  I also went rummaging through the remnants of a barn that was being torn down.  I can't wait to figure out what to do with all of the wood!  Stay tuned! 

Barn finds 

Heinrich Visit!

After being away from home for so long, I struggled feeling a bit overwhelmed.  In fact, I was a little depressed.  Lucky for me, I had something to look forward to!  Our friends, the Heinrich's came to visit and it was wonderful!  

Our five kiddos!   

Visiting the falls 

Group Shot! 

Our hike was full of tears, falls, mud & potty stops.  Kids are hard.  

Khloe!  

Kiki loves animals and babies.  She can't get enough of them, especially adorable Alice! 

Kids in height and age order.  Rosie 5, Colton 5, Kiki 3, Khloe 3, Alice 11 months

I love this girl!  We always have so much fun together.  I laughed so hard my stomach hurt! We also did a pretty fantastic job of shopping all over Asheville.  I wanted to give Tasha a taste of this place.  I think I've got her sold!

We can't wait for them to come back!  I think it's going to be a yearly thing now!  Actually, let's make it a monthly thing;)

Vivian Imogene Bohannon a.k.a Mumsie

I feel so blessed to have had my Mumsie in my life for 34 years.  She was truly a light.  Everyone who knew her, loved her.  In all my life, I never heard her speak an unkind word or heard one spoken about her.  Her best friend was most definitely Jesus, and her words of advice were always so thoughtful and Godly.  Everyone in our family joked that Mumsie seemed to have a direct line to God.  She was such a prayer warrior!  I remember calling her throughout high school and college to ask her to pray about something on my heart.  Mom is certain that Mumsie prayed me into existence.  She prayed every day that I would be a girl and I think my mom's screams of excitement were only outdone by Mumsie's, when I did, in fact, end up being a girl.  So many of my childhood memories revolved around her and my Papa.  I will always remember the legacy of love that they left.

Mumsie's funeral was incredibly inspirational to me.  Everyone spoke of her love for God and her love for others.  She NEVER raised her voice ever.  Not even when she was frustrated with her children!  How does one do that?!  It's definitely something I want to strive for.  Even the nurses who were with her for the last few years, said she was different than anyone they had met.  She was a living example of Jesus to them.  

I'm so grateful that my girls got to spend time with Mumsie and that they loved her so much.  They couldn't wait to see her!  I'm especially thankful we got to see her just a few days before she passed!

Meeting Rosie back in 2009

2013

2014

Mumsie's teenage years!

4 generations 

Here are a few pictures from the weekend of her funeral...

The cousins with Uncle Stephen

Sweet girls 

Rosie thinks Kamryn is pretty awesome!

They also loved Uncle Mark!  

Memphis Blues

After our trip to Kansas City, we headed towards home and a much anticipated weekend with the Baughmans.  We hadn't had any quality time with them in forever!  We ended up having a wonderful time but only one picture was taken.  It was a pretty wonderful picture, though.

This is Kiki's last picture with her beloved Crosby.  He passed away a few days ago and has left a hole in all of our hearts.  

I swear the next time we are there, we have to take some pictures.  It doesn't help that we usually don't dress up while we're there.  There's really no need to impress people that know pretty much everything about you--the good and the bad.  I mean, Kay has seen me throw the biggest temper tantrum of my life as a little girl.  She certainly doesn't care if I'm wearing make-up or not.  Thus, very few pictures.   

So, we were supposed to head home on Sunday morning, but Kay and I tried everything to get Mark to agree to let us stay until Monday.  The decision became easier, when the guys went to go get us morning donuts and found that someone had broken into our van during the night.  We'd have to wait until Monday to get a new window.  After filing a police report, the guys tried again to get us donuts, but got a pretty devastating call when they were out.  My grandma, Mumsie, had passed away.  At 96-years-old, I knew it could happen, but I really wasn't ready for it.  

I was so glad I was with Kaylee when I got the news.  She was wonderfully supportive and allowed me to grieve in my own way.   We had a hard time figuring out our next move.  We had already been away from home for quite some time and we didn't know if we should go home first before heading back to Oklahoma or just go straight there.  We also knew that Mark needed to get back to work.  We finally decided that we would drive back to Oklahoma and Mark would fly back to NC to work for the week.  So Monday morning, after we got our window fixed, we headed back to Oklahoma.  

Mark's parents offered to take the girls for a few days to make things easier.  We met Mom Murrill in Arkansas and she took the girls and we headed on to the Tulsa International Airport so Mark could catch a flight back home to work.  It was a crazy few days!

Being without the girls freed me up to help my family with funeral preparations and just to be a support to mom.  It was hard having my little family in three different places, though!  I felt very strange!  On Friday, I met Mom Murrill to get the girls and Mark flew in that night.  We were all happy to be reunited!  

After picking up the girls from Mom Murrill.  We then headed back to Tulsa!  Our van saw a lot of road time!  

The funeral was on Saturday afternoon and that night we got back on the road to head home to North Carolina.  In the end, I was away from home for 20 days!  It was hard coming home to Christmas decor still being up and a van full of presents and laundry to unpack, but we were glad to be home for sure!  I swear I never want to go anywhere again;)!  

The girls were happy to get back to their bathtub.  

Family Pictures

I mentioned before, but when we were in Oklahoma, we did family pictures.  The photographer sent our pics to us this week and we're supposed to let her know the ones we want edited.  I had a feeling ours weren't going to be that great because lately Kiki's been toying with a new camera smile.  There were literally about 30 of these...

Where did my sweet smiling little girl go?!!!  

Here are a few of the ones I'm choosing from...