Paint... Shmaint. Revampin' Our Place

As of late, I have been making some changes in our place and making it a happier space.  For years, I have been looking at books, magazines, blogs, and trying to figure out what is my style.  It has taken some time, but I have finally figured a few things out.

1.  I am not a big spender (so I am constantly searching for the best way to do things).... so far, the best way is to do them myself.

2.  I have design A.D.D..  I cannot (Aron will vouch for me here) cannot!  finish a room.  I will start a space and then move onto another room.  It makes him a little nutty, but this is just how I roll.

3.  I am finding that we have great stuff, but I think our stuff is looking way cooler with a little bitta paint.  That is right, I am a paint-aholic

Take a gander at some of my fancy shmancy updos!  Seriously, just a little bit of paint can do so much.....

This was my grandmother's kitchen island.  She gave it to me many many years ago.  It was too big for her kitchen, but it was perfect for mine.  So, she made me a trade!  I can never get rid of it, but have often wanted to slap some new paint on it and darken the top...

Before

Tada!

 When we moved to our new home, almost 7 years ago, my parents gave Aron and I this old armoire.  It was a great piece of furniture, nice cherry wood.  It was so nice and just so very cherry.  Over a year ago, I called my girlfriend, Billie, who owns The Green Label in Bentonville, to come over and make it something beautiful.  She is in amazing painter and has inspired me to do so much in my own home.  She painted it red then a green on top of that, and it looked beautiful.

 This past week, I decided to change it up a bit and add some turquoise color and dark wax....

Voila!

This is my mantle....

after a little TLC....

 I have many ideas for the master bathroom...

right now it has goldy brown Venetian plaster and oak cabinets...

Now, we have grey with touches of silver and a white wash.  I am in love and we will be painting the walls as soon as I can get to that!

I have been working on many other things, but I will just add those to a later post.  Here are some inspiration pictures that I have come across from Houzz or magazines.

Brick floors.... I am in love with all things brick.  I want them in our entry and in our kitchen.  What do you all think?  Is brick a good thing?  I have been researching how to lay them, and I think I could totally do this.  Definitely a blog post about this in the future.  Here are some beautiful pictures I have found.

 I would love to have lighting above our bar, and I love the look of these.  Right now we just have can lighting... BOO!

 I... LOVE... BRICK!!

 This painted piece is lovely.

 I am currently transforming our bedroom furniture into all white.  Sorta like this photo.

 I think in this picture I just loved the distressed mirror.  I am all about distressing my furniture.

 I really like the pop of color and the original wood with this piece.

 brick fireplace... once again, I think I could do this myself.

 I am all over this white molding, in fact, I really want to paint all of our baseboards white, I think it will brighten up the place.  Thoughts?  To paint or not to paint??  That is the question.

 Curtains...  Yes, I will be attempting to make curtains and I love how these are ceiling to floor length.  I think it makes the room just look pulled together having a nice window treatment.

 screen door?  Yes please.

 Not sure why I liked this picture, but just thought it needed to be posted.

 I really like the picture grouping look.  I have odd spaces on walls that I need to cram in a few pictures on.

 I will be painting our bar stools, and I just love the look of a little seat cushion or cover for them.

 I just love this look.

It is so late, but I am now feeling energized looking at all of these inspiration pics!  Maybe I will paint something before bed!

The B-I-B-L-E

Over the past few weeks, Sophia has been singing a new song, The B-I-B-L-E.  She sings it at home, at church, in the line at Wal-Mart, in the car, at her grandparents house, at the park.... just everywhere.  It is sweet, to me, how she sings it loud and proud and is so unashamed.  She wants people to know about this book that talks about God.

Maybe you have heard it?

The B-I-B-L-E, Yes!  That's the book for me!

I stand up tall on the word of God!

The B-I-B-L-E!

She may not get the letters right, but she knows the book she is singing about!

I love the innocence of a child, and I think that at one time, I used to be just like that little girl.  I would sing about God, talk about God, and really wanting to share of His love for me.  Somewhere along the road, it became uncool for me to talk about it, and it became a taboo subject that maybe people just did not talk about.  Religion is a private matter.  No more praying in school.  Do not be a pusher of your faith, because it will make others uncomfortable.  If you talk about your faith then you could come off as someone who is not politically correct.

I'm not sure if any of the 10 people that read this blog go to church, have a real relationship with Jesus Christ, or just think that the whole Bible is a whole lotta fiction, but I am a believer.  I attend a church and love that the place I go to worship because it is filled with people that share in my love for the Lord.  The relationship that I have with God is so real to me, it calms me when I am going through stressful times, it gives me peace when I am in times of loss, and it gives me hope that the life I am living on this earth is not my final resting place and that one day I will be able to spend an eternity with Him in heaven.  I am a follower of Christ and a lover of ALL people.  I do not go around judging others for things that they may be doing in their lives, because I know I daily make and have made plenty of nut job decisions in my day(s).  I feel that my purpose on this earth is to show God's love in my everyday life (to my husband, my children, my family, someone I see at Wal-Mart, or to someone I see at the local McDonald's, and my friends), and I also believe that I am not only to show this love but also tell of God's love, to witness.  I struggle with this.  I love God so much, but I also know that not everyone loves my God.  I never want to offend someone.  I never ever want to make someone feel uncomfortable.  Someone may have a different faith, or no faith.  Someone may feel that that God I serve is nothing but a person who allows bad things to happen.  Someone may feel like the Bible (which I believe is the inherent word of God) is terribly out dated and wrong, it is unloving, not kind, not happy, it is mean spirited.  What if someone challenges me on my faith and I simply cannot explain it?  I get it.  I hear it all of the time and I see the many mean and hurtful comments about God, religion, and it's so called followers.  Then, it makes me crazy when I see someone boasting about their love for the Lord, but putting so many down in the process.  It hurts my heart, and it makes me sad to know how it would make someone else feel.

Then I think about, if I do not share my faith, something that I believe whole hearted, with my friends, family, acquaintances, then I feel like I am keeping some great secret.

I mean, I could live this life (loving God and talking all about him and trying to live in accordance with what the Bible says I should do), until the end of my time here.....and 1 of 2 things will happen: 

1.  I go to heaven and I will spend all of eternity with God, and I will be happy.  I will feel that I lived a good life, loved others, and had no regrets.... or

2.  I die and there is no heaven, no God, but I lived a good honest life, loving God and others, treating others kindly, and I just stay in the ground.

I am a follower of Christ.

I believe that His son, Jesus, was born of a virgin, and was sent here for all of the world.  (Sounds so unbelievable, but it is not for me to explain)

I believe that God sent His son, Jesus, to die on a cross, for my sins.

I believe that one day (could be tomorrow, next year, or in 10 years) that Jesus will return to this Earth, and take His believers to spend the rest of eternity with Him in heaven.

It sounds so out of this world amazing, but I have no doubt in my heart about it.

Yesterday at church, our pastor, made the comments:

Am I in the will of God today?

Am I living where God wants me to live?

What is my greater purpose?

Am I really obedient to God and my faith?

Do I share my faith with others?

Ugh!  Totally convicted at church!  Does that happen to you?  You feel like the preacher is talking only to you?  Well, I felt it.  I sometimes want to talk to someone about my faith or share what amazing things God does, but I feel like I cannot do it!  Seriously, it makes me flustered, but I am totally letting go and letting God take control of my life and the words that I am talking, and I am going to stop being quiet about something that is such a wonderful thing to me!

Hopefully, you will still stop by and check in on our family on this little blog.  Hopefully, you will not de-friend/ un-friend me on Facebook or the Twitter, because believe it or not, I really do genuinely like all of you folks!

 

Matthew 5:11-12

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

Matthew 4 :19

"Come, follow me", Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men".



Cheers to 7 Years!

Seven years ago, today, I met up with all of my bridesmaids, we had just gotten our hair done and eaten some lunch, and now we were on our way to the church.  Only problem.... I had forgotten my dress!  So we arrive to the church to get ready for pictures, and I think it all finally set in....Umm, I am getting married (enter school girl screechy scream here!)  I could not believe it!  I was going to be Mrs. Wesley Aron Foresee.  We would get married.... I would go on a vacation (with a boy and no parents to chaperon)... when I get home I would be moving in with said boy.... we would have 7 children (4 boys that look like Aron and have his sporty genes and 3 daughters that have my wit and happy heart, seriously a match made in heaven)!  I was so excited.  I was so nervous.  I was a little emotional (Lord only knows why?  I was only moving a few blocks away from my parents and would still talk to them 7 times a day, but I was just a little weapy that I would no longer be their baby.... I would be their married baby.)  Anyways, I was getting married in two hours, and I could not have been happier.  My girls were getting dressed, and then I looked around thinking, "humm, maybe I should do that."  Well, I forgot my dress.  I forgot my shoes.  I forgot everything.  Praise Jesus I could call my parents (who were terribly busy, entertaining family and getting ready themselves), they quickly brought my stuff.  Until then, I just stared in the mirror for what seemed like hours applying lip gloss (I was nervous, and I felt like I needed to be slathered in Lancome's Juicy Tube).

 Finally, the dress. vail, and shoes arrive.  I could dress!  I was so excited to show my friends the dress.  Brooke looks terrified the back had a bajillion tiny buttons she was getting ready to button!  Bless her heart.

I was dressed and the butterflies started!  Momma was so proud (probably because she would soon be able to rest).  I just love her face in this picture.  She radiates happy to me!  That quickly changed as I bent over to do my shoes and she screeches in her southern voice, "Caryn, do you have on lime green stripe underwear?"  Me.... "Yes".  "Caryn, the whole town of Bentonville will be able to see those lime green panties, I'll just call your daddy to go get you a new pair."  I... WAS... DYING!  My father (my sweet daddy, was getting ready to go get me a pair of underwear for me to wear on my wedding day, out of my packed "honeymoon" suitcase!  Sweet Jesus, he needed some prayers (I'm sure he was scared for life"

On the other side of the church... my future husband awaits.  To this day, I have no idea how he was feeling, was he nervous?  No clue, Aron is not a super big talker (so, he was probably just sitting around... quiet).  He is my love!

We decided to see one another, by ourselves, before the wedding.  It was a very sweet moment.

As soon as I saw him walking up the stairs, I just could not wait to hug him.  I was so ready to start this journey, and yes, I only had to wait an hour longer, but it was an hour too long!  I was getting married to my best friend!

I had never been more sure about anything...

 

It was a special occasion, because it was also the 50th anniversary for both of my grandparents.  So, not only were we celebrating our marriage, but the success of theirs.  50 years is such a long time, and I have learned so much from all of them.

 

I guess our wedding party could be seen as a bit large, but whatev.  We are a lover of family/ people.  We wanted all to be a part of this time.

The junior bridesmaids... my cousins and baby sister.

 The groomsmen and bridesmaids

 The pictures were done and it was time for the ceremony.

My brothers and momma.

When I came out of the bridal suite and was getting ready to make the big walk down the aisle, I had such a precious moment with my daddy.  It was just us.  I just started to cry.  I have no idea why.  Maybe it was just seeing the first man in my life.  The man who first held my hand and had taken care of my for 26 years.  It was emotional, and he was now giving my hand to this other guy.  He did not cry, just a little teary eyed.  I was a wreck!  He just reached into his pockets, flipped them out, and said, "honey, I don't have anymore money."  It was funny, and broke up the tears!  That Mike Curry, he is such a kidder.

 I just giggled and smiled the whole time.  I think I was so excited I quite possibly could have exploded.  Did y'all feel like that on your big day?  I am pretty sure Brother Phillip thought I was a nut!

 Our reception was at the church.  We invited the church, and we were blessed with having them be able to come.  I wish I could post all of the pictures, it has been fun to look through them today and see so many family/ friends that were there to support us.

The cake.  I remember it to be delicious and above all beautiful.  Momma and I sure did know how to select a cake.

Aron's cake was gone with in a few minutes (we did not get any of it, but seeing as it went quickly, I think that it was pretty tasty)!

The garter.... can we say awkward.... Hey lift up my dress in the Lords house... moving on

 Next, we hosted a big dinner and dance that ended well into the night.  It was wonderful

We danced... to Keith Urban, I'm Gonna Love You.

 Aron and his sister, LeAnne

My dance with daddy.... My Girl.

Momma had to join us to break up the tears.

What have I learned in 7 years, a dog, two babies. There are fabulous days and there are moments that I would like to erase, but above all I married my best friend, for better for worse, in good times and bad, for richer and poorer, and I love him more than I did September 16, 2006.  That Aron Foresee, he swooped in and stole my heart and has made me so happy.  I love you!