It's All in the Details

Well my friends, we spent the day working on crown moulding in our bedroom. It's not quite finished yet so I can't show you pictures. Sorry--they're coming soon!

But, at the risk of getting behind on my posting (Amy), I thought I'd let you know what's going on in our world.

We've stumbled across the neatest and cheapest (less than $100 for a 13x13 room) way to do 'crown' (I'm sure that's the technical terminology that seasoned carpenters use--and trust me, after all the 'crown' that we'll be installing, 'cause we plan to do the whole house, we will be seasoned!).

We were inspired by the home of one of my dealers at the Antique Mall. They invited us over for dinner and we were just in awe of the beauty of this home. I'm SO stoked to update mine now!

So...'crown' here we come! We've been putting this project off for a while but it's time now!

Billy will have to finish up while I'm at work tomorrow. Then we'll take pictures and you'll see just how easy and neat it looks! (At least I hope it looks as good as the image in my head! Yikes!)

What a Day!!

Well everyone...It's been a really GREAT day!!

Today is mine and Billy's 29th Anniversary. (Yep, we're some of the crazy people who got married right at Christmas time. What were we thinking?!?) Actually, December 24th was my Grandparent's anniversary and they were celebrating their 50th when we got married.--It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Anyway, the kids came in this afternoon and we were having such a great time visiting and playing with their new Wii.

We decided to eat dinner at our newest restaurant Montana Mike's so we met up with our friends Donna & Steve and Sandy & John and Amy & Jason and the kiddos. We had 15 for dinner!! What fun!

We had all ordered and were waiting for our food to arrive when the girls told us to open our gifts. We got a great Dirt Devil from Chell & Jess. Love it!! Then we opened Tif & Steven's gift.

It was packaged really beautifully in a Macy's box. I hated to rip it open.

Okay, it's open now but I am having the darnedest time telling what's inside.

I need my glasses--It looks like...what...M&M's?? Hmmm...okay.

Why are we getting M&M's for our anniversary? They say something but I can't tell what it is. Do they say "Happy Anniversary"? Will someone get my glasses??

Once we got it opened this is what we saw...

I'll just let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

I'm gonna' be a Grandma!!!

Eeeek!! It's the Holidays Already!?!

Can you say "OVERWHELMED"? The Holidays have snuck (is that a word?) sneaked up on me AGAIN!

But, before I get into all that, let's have a moment of praise and thanksgiving for my sister-in-law Sandy, her daughter Amy, and my Billy--(moment...moment...moment). You'll understand why shortly.

See...I haven't decorated--I mean FULLY decorated my house for Christmas in 5 years. So I'm due right? Yes, it's time.

But I'm realizing now...I should have planned better!! (any of you who know me are laughing heartily right now because you know I really AM a 'last minute kinda girl'--sigh).

Well, I decided that THIS year I'M DECORATING! All out decorating. And, because I'm a crazy girl, (what was I thinking???) I'm going to have my family here for Christmas AND have a cookie swap for my girlfriends.

But hey, I'm feeling no pressure. Because I started planning all this over a month ago so there should have been plenty of time right?

WHATEVER!!!

HOLY COW!! The time went by so danged fast!!

Before I knew it it was December 9th and I hadn't done a thing to decorate for my party on the 16th!

Time to call in the cavalry!!

"Hello, Sandy?"

"Are you busy for the next seven days?"

"Wanna' come out of your comfy little world of calmness and order into the land of chaos?"

"Wait--what?"

"You would?!?"

"Seriously?"

"Yessssss!!!"

We rushed right out into the Oklahoma Ice Storm of the Century to pick her up.

Imagine her dismay when she arrived to THIS... (I didn't get pictures of the worst of the mess--these are the 'nice' pics)

But what miracle workers we are!

After 40+ Rubbermaid tubs from storage and too many boxes to count from the attic--WE DID IT!!!

We worked at the store all day and came home to decorate in the evenings.

On Friday we drove to OKC to pick up my niece Amy so she could come help us finish up--(Couldn't have done it withoutcha' Ame!). We had a few 3 am mornings but it all came together just in time for the cookie swap on Sunday.

We didn't get to decorate outside but, hey! there's always next year (I'll have plenty more time 'cause I may just leave all this up so I don't have to go through this again--grin)

Anyway...betcha' you're on the edge of your seat waiting to see the finished result aren'tcha? (Drum Rollllllll......)

So...Ta Da!!--(Notice you can see the floors now) Enjoy!! Now, if you'll excuse me...I'm going to take a nap!

Notice the tiny little white tree next to the snowmen? That was our very first Christmas tree on December 23, 1978 (the date we got married 29 years ago). Christmas is never complete without it.

Ice Ice Baby!

I know everyone's heard about the ice we've been experiencing in Oklahoma. Thankfully, we weren't hit as hard here in Clinton as our friends and relatives in the rest of the state were. Never-the-less here are a couple of pictures I took of the ice here in our little town. (Just Click on the Picture to get the full effect).

The first picture is my climbing rosebush outside our front door:



And here is the fountain at our bank:



Please take a moment to pray for all the folks here that are without power (2/3 of the state!). It's SO COLD here and we're expecting 3-6 inches of snow this weekend.

Glittery Fun on a Dreary Day

My Sister-in-Law Sandy and I have been busy little elves this week decorating the house for Christmas and a Girlfriend Cookie Swap that I'll be having on Sunday (more about that later).

It's been tough work because I can't just put up a tree and call it Christmas...Oh No, I'm a little crazier than that. (In fact Sandy calls me her Crazy Sister-in-Law to anyone who'll listen. Hmmphfff.[grin])

Well, today she's crazy right along with me because we just finished decorating a gift box for a young girl in the 7th to 9th grade. This young girl (who we have no idea who she is) is one of over 500 children in the Bus Ministry at Sandy's Church in OKC and this may be the only gift she receives...we're not sure. Anyway--Sandy has filled a box with all kinds of goodies and, thanks to some inspiration from my friend Holly (Hollydoodle Designs--Hi Holly!) we just 'went to town' decorating the outside of it using anaglypta wallpaper, figurines, and fake snow.

Remembering what it was like to be a child we were hoping to give her a little bit of time in 'Make Believe Land'.

So, for your enjoyment, here are some pictures of our finished project. (Just click on the pictures to get the full effect). WE HAD SOOO MUCH FUN!!!

Now This Is NEAT!!!

Okay my friends...this is really cool!!!

Have you ever bought items on-line and when you get ready to pay there's a little box where you can put in a 'Discount Code', or a 'Promotional Code, or a 'Coupon Code'?

If you're like me you're wondering "how can I get that code?!? "

Well, I've found a couple of sites that have all those codes & discounts in one place. HOW FUN IS THAT!!!

So...drum roll...here they are!! Discount Codes and Current Codes. Let me know how they work for you! Have Fun!!

Bustin' Buttons

I am just bustin' buttons with pride over my little great-niece. She's just one of the three beautiful children that belong to my niece. We just love spending time with all of them and they make us feel so special (my niece's youngest even gave me my newest nickname "LaLa"). Each of her children are truly beautiful and have such magnetic personalities. You are just drawn to them.

Anyway...I digress...

Here is last year's Glamour Shots ad featuring my niece (that's her face on the left)

And this is the television commercial that was released in Oklahoma on Thanksgiving Day. My niece is the little girl praying (twice).

The sweetest part of the whole thing is that she was sincerely praying. She is a kind-hearted, sweet-spirited girl who is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. God has truly blessed our family!

Thanks for letting me share!

We Got Elved!

Okay, this is the funniest thing I've seen this season!! One of my high school girlfriends and fellow DV Doll (another story) Steph sent me a pic of her family getting "Elfed". It was so hysterical that I just HAD to do it myself. Sooo.....here we are!!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9574568722
Have some fun and "Elf" your family too!
Happy Thanksgiving!!

Can You Say Awesome?!

I'm a true believer that God brings people into your life for a reason. And He's really blessed me with some AMAZINGLY talented friends.

Today I just have to brag a little bit on my newest friend Adrienne. She's actually The Dreamin' Bohemian and I met her when she moved into one of the shops on The Mountain in Canton, TX.

You know, I'd always thought that I was kind of artistic but I've come to realize that I'm like a finger-painting kindergartener sitting in a college level class with Adrienne. See, I can pretty much paint most anything--IF--I can look at it. But Adrienne dreams it, sketches it, and paints it up. Just like that! She is SO DANG CREATIVE!! She amazes me with every project.

Just take a look at her latest creations:

See! I told you she was talented! You can find even more of her neat designs on her website Dreamin' Bohemian or in her Dreamin-Bohemian ebay store.

And her sons are just as gifted! Her middle son Tucker can make anything he sets his mind to. In the short time I've know him I've watched him create macrame bracelets, pencil drawings, and clay sculptures. I hear he's creating all kinds of things with duct tape now.

So, I think I know the reason God brings friends into our lives...It's to make us better people and Adrienne is one of my friends that has done that for me.

Tomorrow I get to talk about another of my incredibly talented friends Nancy! Stay Tuned!!

Recycled Santas

Most of you know that I own an Antique Mall called The Mulberry Bush here in Clinton, OK and we get visitors from all over the world.

Really?? in a little town without even a Wal-Mart?! Amazing huh? But we've had some folks from The Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Canada... Mostly they are traveling along Route 66 (which runs right through our town and we have a really great Route 66 Museum here).
ANYWAY...back to my story. I had a really neat guy, Charlie, from Arkansas (and a Texas Longhorn to boot!--Bless his heart--I know what it's like to be a Longhorn in a foreign land~~sigh). Oops, I've strayed from my story again. Well, Charlie and his wife stopped by to shop and he bought an old strainer like this one:

I told him that I thought it was a pretty neat strainer and he said he was going to make a Santa out of it. Wait...What?
Now y'all know how much I love trash-to-treasure projects so I couldn't resist asking him how in the world he was going to make a Santa out of a Strainer?!?
He gave me his card and told me to check out his website. His business is called Recycled Santas and his website is http://www.recycledsantas.com/. It is just too cool!! Here is what that little strainer is going to become:

Now How Cute is That??!!

It was a truly a pleasure meeting Charlie and his wife and I especially loved being able to share his art with y'all. Hope it inspires you like it did me!

Take Care 'til next time!

~Cheryl

Remembering Who's In Charge

Well, I had an especially upsetting day yesterday at the store and when I arrived at work this morning this is what greeted me in my flower pot at the front door.

Even with below freezing temps last week...less than adequate water over the weekend...and unintentional neglect...

...I felt as if God said, "Look what I left for you! I hope you love it!"

Hook 'em!

We've been SO lucky this year to be able to attend not one, but TWO Texas Longhorn football games!

We went to Austin a few weeks ago, compliments of my son-in-law (Thanks Steven!), to watch Texas beat Rice. What a great day we had walking through the tailgate parties, strolling around the campus, visiting the bookstore, and having lunch at Thundercloud Subs. This is one of the cool cars we saw at the Tailgate parties. I know, my phone camera kinda stinks but it was the best I could do. And I couldn't get a good picture of the running of the flag but this is the co-ed service fraternity I was in at UT and one of my most favorite memories. It was just like old times and we had SUCH A GOOD TIME!! Of course my favorite part of the whole game was watching the Longhorn Band at halftime. And best of all they did a 'Throwback' halftime show from the 70's so it was just like we'd never left. They performed 'Wall to Wall Band' (which is solid band from sideline to sideline/goal to goal). It was just as impressive 30 years later! They truly are the Showband of the Southwest!

THEN...this past weekend we drove down to Waco to watch the Horns play Baylor. We took our youngest daughter and her boyfriend and once again had a great time! Billy wore the BU Dad/UT Grad shirt that the girls designed and gave him to wear when we went to the games while they were in school.

The crowd turnout was amazing! There were more Longhorn fans at the game than Bear fans. This is just one picture of the visitor side of the stadium. Notice all of the orange? There was almost as much orange on the home side too. All I can say is "HOOK 'EM HORNS!!" And I can't wait to go again!

I'm Suffering From a Severe Case of Blog Block!

Well...I've pondered for MONTHS as to what I should say in my very first Blog. It seems like such a big step--so monumental that I feel like it should be something really profound, something really interesting, something really noteworthy, something really cute and cool. SOMETHING! And...in the quest for that perfect subject...I've posted NOTHING--for MONTHS!
I've wondered...will people really care what is going on Around The Mulberry Bush? Then I realize that I LOVE reading other people's blogs so why shouldn't others enjoy reading mine? Okay! So enough is enough! As I'm recovering from my Blog Block I'm sharing with you my very first blog.
Now that it's all behind me and the pressure is off I just know the words will start flowing. WHEW!