New Look

Hope you like our new look! I did a little re-decorating in my etsy shop and decided to carry it over to my blog. I got my new banner and avatar from my favorite designer on etsy. Visit her shop right here.

Enjoy your Sunday afternoon. :)

Market by way of Atlanta

It's time for the countdown to begin. I have less than 3 weeks before I leave for market. I'm way behind, okay I'm past WAY behind. I've got a lot of ground to cover in the next week. Designs and ideas are in my head but not actually started. I've got a good idea of the amount of each item I'm carrying, but haven't ordered most of it yet. Am I stressing you out? Yeah, me too. :)

This will be my third trip to AmericasMart as a vendor. I've been a few times as a buyer, but just started last year doing the vendor thing. If you aren't familiar with market, it is a mega huge wholesale market. It is spread out over three multi-storied buildings. The area that houses the show I attend (immediate delivery show) is on the bottom floor of the 3rd building. Basically, it is rows and rows of vendors that allow you to purchase items one at a time with no ordering required. The items are available at the show (hence immediate in the show title). This means that I must carry mass quantities of my items with me. I'm talking hundreds of each thing.

This is a picture of the inside of building three. The white lines going across are actual balconies on each floor. Over on the right side you can see two glass elevators just to give you an idea of the size of this place. It's huge!

Here is a sample of some of the things I'll be carrying this time.

Monogrammed key chains.
Monogrammed tumblers.

Monogrammed Bow buttons and ponytail holders.

I've got my work cut out for me! I'll keep you posted.

Catching Up

Today was a bit hectic. We are trying to recover from a really busy Easter weekend. So much to do, so little time. I made a quick list of things for me to tackle today last night before I went to bed. My most dreaded task was finding a house for our Mother's Day trip. We've made this a tradition in the last couple of years. I do a show in Rosemary Beach, FL each summer and the first show date always falls on Mother's Day weekend. What a perfect excuse to pack up my whole family and take a mini vacation. :)

We now all travel (my family, my sister's family and my mom) to the beach for a long weekend. Yes, I do have to work during the time we are there, but it makes it so much easier when you've got the whole fam along. This year I had great luck. The very first house I called about was vacant and had a special going. I'm sure I can thank the economy for this. It is quite pretty and is in Seacrest Beach, not much more than a block from my show.


This should be the perfect spot for a little r&r after my long week in Atlanta. (Never mind the show I'm doing at Rosemary- it's a blast.) I'll be sure to tell you about my upcoming ATL trip really soon. :)

Stylish Storage

Today took me to a website I've never visited. I picked up a Kitchens & Bath magazine in line today and bought it without taking a peek inside. (My line was moving faster than normal) I did not realize until I was home that it was from Woman's Day. I found some really good ideas inside. I am secretly planning to update my kitchen and bathrooms. My husbank, I mean husband, will only figure this out when it is too late. "Sorry honey, I just happened upon this great new flooring and just couldn't resist." You know, one of those kinda projects. Go ahead and call me sneaky, if the shoe fits.......

Anywho, once I found my way to their website, I found some really thrifty ideas. The above fabric covered storage boxes would be perfect anywhere. I am thinking of doing a few for my work shop to see if they really are as easy as they look. They'd be perfect in the children's bedrooms or our living room. At least that's where all the small toys like to live, no matter how many times I carry them back to the children's rooms. How perfect to have a nice stylish box for them to hide in until their adventure with Sand and Ev. I'll let you know how they turn out. :)

Keeping the Faith

Psalm 25:10- All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful.


Today was not a normal day. I spent the entire day at the school working diligently on getting the word out about our postponement of Wheels and Deals, our spring PTA fundraiser. (In case you are wondering, it is a car show and craft show.) The horrible weather we are having in southern Alabama did not help with the matter. The students spent the first 30 minutes of their day in the hall because of a tornado warning. Warning = tornado spotted, watch= good conditions for a tornado to form, not a real tornado. So this was serious, but ended with no excitement. That was a good thing. We had a chain of events that led to the postponement of Wheels and Deals that I hope to never see again.

In our small town we had not one, but two horrible occurrences yesterday. First, sometime in mid-afternoon, we lost one of our special needs students. He was in the middle of a lengthy 7 hour surgery and just couldn't make it through. His little body just couldn't do it. He was a beautiful ray of sunshine on our campus, and needless to say, we are all heartbroken. He was 10 years old. His wonderful mother is our school nurse and my heart just breaks for her.

Secondly, one of our teachers lost her nephew to Krabbe disease. He was 17 months old. He lost his battle in the early evening. This teacher is a life-long friend of mine. She graduated from this very school, just like myself. With such a small school (about 800 students k4-12th grade) we feel as if we are all one big family. Our whole school and community is completely devastated by the loss of these very special children, especially on the very same day.

Psalm 25:10- All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful. I read this verse today on another blog and I knew it was meant for me to see today. You see, my heart is broken. Being a mother, I can only imagine how these mothers feel. And, knowing both sets of parents and all of their families doesn't make it any easier. But, I can find peace in knowing that Our Father knows what is best. His will is never wrong. He is always loving. He knows what is best for these sweet little angels. And I know they are both in the very best of hands today.

The Truth

"You will know the truth and the truth will set you free" John 8:32

I have recently been faced with a very difficult decision. I've been told that the right path isn't always the easy path. I totally get that phrase now. As I pondered the outcome of my decision, I began to feel guilty because my actions would directly effect some one's life, not in a positive way. Even though I did nothing wrong, I still felt a tinge of guilt. The verse above made me realize that the information I had needed to be shared and that it wasn't my place to feel guilty about what someone else did. I did not have control of their actions nor was it my place to worry about the consequences they would face. Once I accepted this I was able to get the whole burden off my chest. Although the outcome has not been determined, I feel completely freed by knowing that I did the right thing.

Failure

Some of you might remember this little guy from a previous post. Quite the little sneak that HBK. Always in some sort of trouble, keeping me from my work. Well, today was no exception. I returned home from taking Sanderson to school to see his mother standing near a thick patch of trees where an old house once stood in our pasture. She began calling to me and I knew something wasn't right. Yes, I said calling to me. Our cows rely on my husband and I to make things right. They moo "call-out" to us in times of trouble and different moos mean different things. I know, it sounds strange, but I promise it's true. Her calling was one of desperation.

I went into the house, radioed my husband, and slipped on his rubber boots. Mine were full of water and leaves from the rain last night and this morning. :( I always let my husband know if I'm out in the pasture by myself. You just don't know what might happen and at least they would know where to look for me. A quick head count told me that in fact, our HBK was missing. His mother's frantic actions and aggression towards me let me know that something was really not right. I decided to drive the truck instead of walking to look for our lost little guy.

Everette and I made our way around the pasture looking for his white little face. We had no luck. I looped back around and headed to the other side of our pasture near the old home site under the trees. As we rounded the back side, I saw him. He was lying down near in an area under the trees that was cross fenced. As I walked over to him I could see that he was wrapped in old barbwire. He was unable to stand from all of the wire.

I made a quick trip to the seed & feed next door and luckily found the owner there. He came back with me to cut the fence loose and help HBK get back up. We cut & removed the wire with no trouble. Luckily he didn't even have a scratch. Getting him to stand was another thing entirely. We finally manage to get him to stand long enough to fall in a better location. Things just didn't look good.

I made another trip back to the store to take Wayne back and pick up some penicillin for HBK. By the time I got it warm enough for an injection my father-in-law had arrived to help me get him up. You see, if you don't get them back on their feet, they'll die. Cows don't have much will to live, and exhaustion takes a big toll on a cow. Little HBK had fought that wire all night long and was completely worn out. If we couldn't at least get him into an upright position he'd be doomed for sure.

We found him exactly as I'd left him. I gave him the injection before we tried anything to get him going. We were finally able to get him in an upright position, propped up on some stacked wood we found in the left overs of the old house. He had no desire to stand. And even though he is a young 5 months, he already weighs over 200 pounds. There is just no way to make him get up if he doesn't want to. Believe me, I did some serious begging and tugging, but he wouldn't hear of it. We left him in his propped position and I told him I'd be back in a few hours to check on him. Surely with a little more rest, he'd be up to standing.

When I returned later this afternoon, it was just as I had hoped it wouldn't be. Our sweet little HBK decided he just couldn't handle the fatigue. He lost his will. I lost my battle. I failed his mother and as a cattle farmer today.