It's Good to Be Back Home Again

After a few whirlwind months we have finally arrived back home again.  And it feels wonderful!  We have been unpacking, unpacking and more unpacking but hopefully soon there will be an end in sight.  In true Leslie form, I had the house accessorized after the first day, Mark left with the kiddos for a little while and I went to work, I have to have a place for everything in order to maintain my sanity.  Tomorrow demo starts and I expect life to be chaotic for a while.  I am excited about the end results though. 

I really wanted to feed the birds once we got back up here so my mom bought us a birdfeeder as a housewarming, it took a few days but finally we saw some birdies!  Mark hung it in the lilac bushes for me!  I cannot wait to see these lilacs bloom!

 Same stuff different house.

The first few days we were here we got some major snow!  Look, it is up to the window sill!!!

After several trips back and forth sitting like this..... (see our new Ipad, love it!!)........

And feeling exhausted like this....
 

We Are Home!!!!



The kitchen will be the first of our renovations to tackle.  Have you seen the new Martha line at Home Depot???  Love it!!!

I would love any suggestions as far as cabinets, appliances, sinks, faucets etc..... I am feeling a bit overwhelmed right now!  One of my  questions is should I do black knobs or brushed nickel/silver??  It kind of sets the tone for the house I think.  Crazy I know!  I would like a cottagey/craftsman ish feel to the house. What do you think???   And don't think that everything is coming up roses around here, last week we had 2 snow days during the blizzard,  Dayton jumped in a snow bank and separted his a c joint in his shoulder and they think he tore his rotator cuff (cupp, whatever it is!) ,so back to the ER we went, he is in a sling for now, we will see what the orthopedic dr. says tomorrow.  Please pray for a quick recovery, (once again!)!! Thanks!!!

Our Silver Day

Love is not a matter of counting the years... But making the years count. ~ Michelle St. Amand ~

We met in elementary school and started dating in high school, I was a sophomore on the Varsity Cheerleading squad and he was a senior on the basketball team.  If you zoom in closely you can see his class ring on my left hand!

 For our 1st anniversary together we had these Valentines photos taken, we look so young!! Him: 18 Me:16

 Stealing a kiss before our engagement dinner together circa 1991

Wedding gifts were arriving during our wedding week!  June 1993

Our goofy selves.  Wedding Day June 26, 1993

 A new baby to love!  Dayton arrived May 1, 1995

 Hmm, thinking this was around 2000

The day we first saw Myah's face! 2006

 This was last Spring Break our family has grown by one more, we brought Myah into our family in 2006.

 My 40th at the Grand Hotel July 2010

My hubby and I are celebrating our 25th dating anniversary today.  We started dating when I was just 15 and he was 17. This day has always been so special to us, just as important as our wedding day to us.  Our love has grown in so  many different ways through the years, but one thing remains the same, I am his and he is mine, all mine, all his.  I love him so deeply, I really cannot describe how much he means to me.  I thought it would be fun to let him have a chance to write on here for a change. I still have his class ring in my jewelry box. I chipped the stone shortly after he gave it to me and he nicknamed me "chip" for a while, that little chip is such a sweet reminder to me of how our life has not been perfect but through all the flaws we are still strong as ever.  I love you sweet baby, you are my world! 

From him:

Twenty five years ago today I asked Leslie to be my girl. That  was the best decision I have  ever made. We have been through so much over the years, but one thing has always stayed true and that is our love for one another. She is my best friend, my favorite companion, she makes me laugh and brightens my days. There is no one else I could ever imagine spending my life with. She is a wonderful mother and a great best friend. I sure do love her....

He is so sweet, bless his heart he is falling asleep on the couch and he sat up and wrote this for me.  He has been working so hard lately on making our transition from this home to our new home, he sacrificies so much so that his family can be happy and comfortable.   God has truly blessed us with a wonderful marriage and family way beyond anything that we could have imagined on that  Super Bowl Sunday, January 26, 1986.  Remember when Refrigerator Perry was in the Super Bowl Shuffle video?  Yes, it was THAT long ago!!! And we have said Happy Anniversary every month to each other on the 26th ever since!!




Then and Now, I just had to see the comparison for myself!!

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

 Love these two pillows my sister gave me yesterday! 

I was in TJ's a few weeks before Christmas and saw this awesome Parisian subway art sign and my heart started to flutter the way it does when you see something that you have wanted for a really long time.  However, it was the holidays and I had other ways that I needed to spend my moola.  I went back later and it was gone, one of those things you just think must not have been meant to be.  Until today!  I spotted this huge piece of art way down the aisle and I thought for a minute that I must be seeing things.... and I started to turn down another aisle, then it hit me like a rocket, "hellllooooo, you have wanted this for a long time, you better get your booty down that aisle and make sure no one else gets their mits on it! "  So I did!  And don't laugh when I tell you that I actually tried to put it in my cart, well, I am no engineer or anything but I could see clearly that "it just ain't gonna fit".  So I kindly asked the saleslady to carry it up to the register for me and hold it while I finished my shopping.  I am in love with this thing!! Can I just say, we are getting ready to move in a few weeks and I finally feel like my family room the way it is.   Isn't that always the way.  Anyhow, this baby is moving with us and I can't wait to use it in the new/old space! 

Aren't their new reusable bags so cute for 99 cents!!?

Make Me Smile Part 2

I had to add this one, Redwing is a special song in our famliy!

Makes Me Smile Today

Today is the 2 year anniversary of my Dad's passing away.  I am trying to find as many things to make me smile today as possible.  My Dad's dear friend sent this to me, he was the last friend that my Dad talked to, he flew in from Florida just to say goodbye.  My Dad has spent a few weeks at Mayo clinic and my Mom says that they listened to people play this piano in the lobby.  This precious video is of a sweet couple, Marlow and Fran Cowan who are 90 years old and married for 63 years.  The lady looks so much like my Grandma it is scary!  I am a lover of all things to do with piano music and old people, seriously!  They sure know how to tickle those ivory's!!!  I thougth I would pass this along to you all today, to make you smile too!!! ***you will want to pause my music at the bottom of my blog in order to hear this **** Scroll through the link on YouTube to see an interview and more concerts with the adorable couple, they are so sweet, I could just eat them right up!!!

Second Hand Rose

If you have been following me for any amount of time you know how much I love to thrift shop. I have had some withdrawls lately with no garage sales during the winter months, so I have been hitting up a few second hand stores to acquire a few new to me treasures for our new home.  Although this first item was not second hand it was in the last chance section of Ikea, I am not sure if it was returned or what but it had a few scratches on top causing it to be priced at $50, you should have seen me loading this into my car with a slipcovered chair and a buffet that were all priced too good to pass up.  The other day I found these baskets that fit under the table just perfectly, I don't know why I was surprised, it's Ikea, they do those things on purpose ya know!  I just love the weathered gray finish!

Onto the second hand portion of my post.  This beautiful pillow my sister gave to me the other day, I took it and ran basically when she offered it to me!  Love it on my Ikea couch!  Seeing a pattern here???

 I think I gasped out loud the other day when I spotted this chicken dinner sign with a barnwood frame at my local consignment shop, goes so well with my love of black and white lettering!  This will go somewhere in the new kitchen fo sho. 

 I knew it was a sign when at my favorite antique mall I spotted these super cool old stamps, there were just a few left and they happened to have the numbers in our new address and our initial, cooincidence?? I think not!!!  I am not sure what I am going to create with them yet, they are about 3 inches tall, so awesome!! 

I had seen a photo of a kitchen that I loved in the Cottage Living Fresh Ideas magazine last year, these stools were my favorite (photo above), I wanted them so badly!  I found this super old stool at a garage sale this summer and paid $15 for it, it has been around forever, the people I bought it from said it was in their old house that they bought from some very old people,  how is that for specific???  Anywhooo... I begged my neighbor to make me a slipcover for it, she told me it would take her a while, she is a busy grandmother, I gave her a copy of this photo and the material that I wanted her to use back in May, yesterday during a snow storm she brought it over to me,  I am so excited!!! I had kind of forgotten about it,  Doesn't she look purty in her new dress??!!!

 before:                                                        after:

I love shopping second hand, everything is a special treasure to me and I spent a fraction of what I could if I purchaed retail.   I love the character of things that have been loved on through the years. 
Thank you all so much for your sweet and supportive comments regarding our move,  we are so happy!  I need your help though, I would appreciate any good advice you can give me on picking out a kitchen, adding on, creating built in bookcases etc,  if you have any great sites or places that I can visit I would sure appreciate your help. I am going to try and document every step on here of our renovation, this is going to be fun!! We love doing this sort of thing!!!  You know my style, please help a girl out!!!! Thanks!!!
P.S.  Thanks to my sister for hijacking my blog last night and making a new header for me, I have no patience for that right now and bless her heart I just sent her the images I wanted to use and she did her magic!!

The House That Built Us

A fresh new start.......

A new place to blossom and grow.......

A new place to nest.......

 A  new beginning........ 

 A new place to call home....... (well sort of)

disclaimer...although I did take all of these photos they are not of our new home......

New year, new life.  That is our motto.  I won't get into all of the details but we are moving.  After the past few months events we have been presented with a wonderful offer.  We are moving back home, 2  hours north, to live amongst our family and friends.  Where we grew up.  We are just thrilled and can hardly stand the excitement.  We are buying my mother in law's home, we are so thankful for this opportunity.  This house is special to us, 25 years ago this month Mark and I started dating, we spent many days and evenings making wonderful memories there.  A house full of love.  So much so that Mark proposed to me in front of our families there.  A place that we announced we were expecting our first child (Dayton) a place that we took our prom pictures, the place where we last saw Mark's father alive.  So many memories have been made there.  We are so blessed to be keeping this special place in the family. 
I have so many things to pack, organize, clean, paint etc....my head is just spinning, but I am just filled to the brim with joy, we all are.  I will share details later but I wanted to fill you all in on the new changes coming to our lives.  Please pray for an  easy transition!!!