Good Times!

I haven't been in blogland for a while. I've been soaking up the good times with family and friends, and enjoying every minute.

We finally have a girl in the family! My youngest nephew got married a couple of weeks ago. He is in the Coast Guard so they will be moving to the west coast. I finally get a niece, and she's moving far away.

 My parents came into town twice in the past couple of weeks. Once for a family Christmas party and once for Christmas Eve and Day with us. Their trips are so short and the time goes by so fast...I wish they lived closer! I took my mom for a pedicure to thank her for taking care of my house the first couple of days when I had my surgery.

We found a new place that was wonderful!! It was clean and the staff was friendly and even though they were short-handed and swamped-they didn't cut corners or rush through.We will go back!

My mom brought her sewing machine and together, we pieced a large bag of hand-stitched quilt squares (that I got a couple of years ago at a garage sale) and I sewed them into a queen-size and a twin-size quilt tops. I haven't used a sewing machine for years, and highly doubted my ability to sew a straight line, (Are you surprised Auntie? I did it!!) but it all came back to me and we zipped them off in a few hours. I don't plan to finish the quilts-I like them just as they are and they look great in my old pie safe.

We had three squares left over. I need a creative idea for them...

My boys have been enjoying the time off from classes. They've been having friends over a lot! I've been enjoying the camaraderie and the laughs. I even got to play cards with them one night! It's so much fun to hear the laughter and shouts from the basement! Tonight, a couple of them tried their hand at sushi making. It started out a little rough, but by the end, I was helping, and the three of us ended up doing a pretty good job.

 Have you ever played Shanghai Rummy? It's a lot of fun and a great game for a crowd!

Making sushi with the sushezi. It really is easy and works great!

 The first one-it looked really rough!

 This one had salmon, tofu and crab.

 The final two rolls-not too shabby! 

Smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber.

Last Saturday, Mr. and I took a long adventure. We drove to Findlay,Ohio to Jeffries Antiques. I forgot it was Saturday. I was just feeling cabin fever, and wanting to get out of the house and see some vintage goodness. It was packed!!! I've never been there when it was so busy! I found a few things, and then we moved on to the Maumee Antique Mall. It too was very crowded but another fun place to wander through with lots to look at.

We stopped for lunch in Perrysburg and found a Chik-fil-a-YUMMM!!!

On the way home, I dropped him off at Cabela's and I took a quick trip to the Swan Creek Candle Outlet in Dundee. I love their antique shop in the basement and on the second floor. The selection is always good and the prices are great.

I've gone out to lunch with friends and caught up, and today I had a great lunch date with my cousins. The last few weeks have been full of laughter, love and great memories and I wouldn't have it any other way!!

I hope your last few weeks were rich in laughter, love and great memories too!!

These are my treasures from our treasure-hunting adventure...

I kept thinking I was reading the tag on this Texasware bowl wrong. It was priced at about a third of what they usually sell for. 

 This lovely bowl is about as close to mint as you can get!

 All of this was from Swan Creek. I LOVE the table!!! I'm looking forward to getting some material to go around it.

I think I'm becoming addicted to cobalt glass bottles. I can't get enough!

Here are some random shots...

 This was at Maumee...an old bed springs with Christmas lights-I LOVE this so much!!

 I need more corners in my house! I am addicted to corner cabinets!!!

 A beautiful sunrise on my way to work the other day. 

 The sweet little face that is always following me around and watching everything I do-I LOVE this girl!!

I only got a few Christmas decor shots-I got busy and forgot to snap pics of the rest.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year with good health, lots of love, laughter and great memories!!

What a Week!

I survived my first week back at work, barely, but I survived. My first day back there was a funeral for a sweet friend's husband, who 8 weeks ago found out he had stage 4 cancer with basically no symptoms before the pain that sent him to the doctor. Everyone was touched by their life story and the kind, loving and giving man that he was. I never really knew him, other than passing in the hallways at church. His wife is a sweet, vivacious friend, that I've known for at least a decade.

Tuesday was a regular Tuesday, except we noticed our refrigerator seemed to not be cooling very well. Mr's ice cream was a little too soft. So we pulled everything out and put it into coolers and in the sunroom. Without the heat on, that room usually only gets a few degrees warmer that the outdoor temperature. Good thing this happened at this time of year rather than July!

 Wednesday we had a very emotional staff meeting/Bible study (more tears) and a  big event in the building that evening causing everyone in my area to be running in high gear.  During my lunch break on Wednesday, I went with a friend from work to her uncle's house to notarize paperwork for advance directives-he is in his last days, and he wanted to get everything in line for his family. He is such a sweet man, and his entire family, though I never met them before, were so sweet and kind. I know he's lived a long life and knows the Lord, but it still touches your heart to know he won't be here much longer.

Later that evening I went and watched my team play in the playoffs. We had three subs! One girl sat with me and watched because she injured her knee, another was in Hawaii and me-still recovering. They won three out of five matches and we finished in third place for this season. The next season starts as soon as school is back in session and runs through the end of April. I can't wait to get back to playing! We all went to dinner after the game to hang out one last time and had a fun time blabbing and catching up.

Thursday was the first day a repair person could make it to look at our fridge, and it wasn't good news. Our fridge that was brand new less than 3 years ago, is not repairable. We could have put $1100 into it, but the repairman said he would be back in a couple of months to do it again, because it was a design flaw in this particular model. So after work on Thursday, my oldest and I visited 5 places looking for our next fridge.

Thursday I also found out that I forgot to schedule our online payment of our credit card-I went through the process the week before, but must have forgot to click submit, because it was late! The suit that I hunted down for days and eventually had to order for my youngest for my nephew's wedding next Saturday came and the pants were too small!! I ended up having a mini meltdown/ pity party. I'm claiming an emotional week, just getting back from surgery (being less back to normal internally that I thought), and a hectic time of year-that's my story...and I'm sticking to it! :)

Friday, Mr and I went to three more places and finally found our next fridge at Lowe's-the third one we visited. You'd think they would all carry the same things right? I'm glad we went, because it turns out that they don't always have the same thing-especially when they are running sales. This particular store had 7 of this model in stock and my store (that is 4 miles away), and the next furthest store didn't have any.

Then I find my Nexus 7 tablet has died! I did some online troubleshooting, and tried all kinds of things, and got it to come back to life just long enough to set it up again, and it flickered and went out totally! It is less than 3 years old as well!! This week has been a week and a half!!

So, after that week, last night was spent relaxing with pizza, and vegging out in front of the tv, and a good night's sleep, we are getting ready for the new fridge to be delivered. It's smaller than the one we have now, by about 3 cubic feet (my guys tell me that amounts to 3 gallons of milk), but the design was right and the price was incredible. Plus slowly but surely, our two guys will be graduating college and moving out so we won't need so much fridge space.

Tonight we are going to dinner with Mr's coworkers in downtown Ann Arbor to Metzger's, it's a German restaurant, and we've never been there before. I'm looking forward to having a night out and getting away from the longest week ever!!

I did manage to find a great deal online this week, and it arrived yesterday. I wasn't planning on buying anything for my collection, being this close to Christmas, but it was such a great deal, that I couldn't pass it up! Now, I'm on the hunt for lids!

I hope you've had a better week than I've had, there was a bunch more, small things that added to the craziness of it all and I'm just glad it's over. I'm looking forward to a new week, and my parent's coming in on Friday, and going my nephew's wedding on Saturday!

Here's my deal of the week!

'Tis the Season!

Today was the day for Christmas Open Houses at a couple of local antique malls. It has become a tradition that Auntie and I go to the Williamston Antique open house every year. I can't remember when we started going, but it's been a long time! I remember in the beginning, my youngest son would love to tag along because of all of the free food they put out. Just thinking about that makes me smile!

We've brought people from work with us on different occasions, but mostly, it's just been her and I. We have a "route" that we always take when we visit, and we usually can get through pretty quickly. It was really packed with shoppers today, and with dealers. We got there early and were pleasantly surprised that they opened early and let everyone in.

We went to Mega Mall's open house after Williamston and we both found some treasures there as well. The two open houses couldn't be more different. Where Williamston has a huge spread of food as soon as you walk in the door and trays of finger desserts in a good portion of booths, Mega Mall has a tray of cookies with punch and coffee as you enter. Williamston has a store-wide discount of 20%, and Mega Mall allows vendors to set their own discount (or not). Even though they are different, they are both nice in their own way.

We even took a quick side-trip to The Little Red Schoolhouse today! It was a fun day. We caught up on what each other has been doing, and we hashed over life's little issues. It's always good to have a good friend to speak your mind to, in a judgement-free zone. You get things off your chest, find out if you are crazy, mean, harsh, or right on track...it's a good thing!!

I'm still smiling, thinking about Auntie finding a treasure at one of the malls today. I was a few feet ahead of her and I heard the intake of air and the little squeak of delight. You know that sound. We all have our own uniquely special squeak, or squeal of delight. I love it when it's me making the sound, but I think I enjoy it just as much when a friend finds something that makes her heart smile and that sound just slips out. My heart is smiling just thinking about it!

While I've been off work, I've been reading and pondering a little book that has just been incredible-in my opinion. I am really finding it speaking to me, and wanted to share the title so you can see if it's something you might be interested in. It's called the Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent. All I can say is WOW! It has really given me a lot to think about and ponder these last few weeks. It's one of those books you an go back to again and again. I've been marking it all up as I go through it, and when I'm done, I plan to go through it again right away.

I didn't get much today. I don't really need/want much any more. Most of my collections are either full or getting full. There are only very specific things left that I'm looking for.I have a huge pile of vintage Pyrex that I'm hoping to trade for a couple of garland snowflake 501's and a 502, or a butterprint 441 or 442-other than that, I'm out of room!!

Here are my treasures from the malls today...the biggest treasure is spending time with a good friend!

A very bright vintage tablecloth, a couple of bottle brush trees (to go into Mason jars with some fake snow), a Fiesta smiley luncheon plate (been on my wish list for a long time), and a yellow refrigerator dish. I actually almost bought the refrigerator dish a couple of weeks ago when Mr. and I visited Mega Mall, but decided to put it back. I'm glad I did, I got a 40% discount today!!

I was very happy to see a LOT of vintage Fiesta at Williamston! I saw THREE vintage relish trays! I've never seen so many at an antique mall before. Just seeing one around here is a big deal! With 20% off today, the prices were pretty reasonable, considering how much they sell for online.

I had a big find online last week. I finally got the center for my relish tray!! So now mine is complete!

I would have preferred to have a different color in the middle, but I'm glad to have it complete!

Here are some of the fun things I saw today:

 I was doing some serious drooling over this lovely vintage green carafe! It was way out of my price range, but it was gorgeous!!

 How fun is this tricycle!?!? I loved it! No place to put it, but I loved seeing it!

 This is the biggest head vase I have ever seen!!

 This is made out of glass baby food jars!

 I've never seen a suitcase mod podged before, I have some pins on my pinterest board with plans to do this some day, so I was super excited to see this in person today! I wouldn't rip the map up into pieces if I were to do it with a map, like this person did, but that's just my personal preference.

While we were at my parent's for Thanksgiving, my mom and I spent some time in her glass room working on fused glass, so when I saw this, I snapped a pic to send to her so she has another idea of a simple, cute ornament.

These four are things that I made. I made three more, but I gave them away already.

Tomorrow will be get the tree up, hang the outside lights and get stuff together to start cookies day-then back to work and most of my usual routine on Monday. Hope you have a great rest of the weekend!! Looking forward to seeing the treasures you find!! Happy Hunting!!!

Almost Time to go Back to Work!

I can't believe how fast time flies!!! I know I've said it before, many times before, and every time I say it, I really mean it!! Tomorrow will be 4 weeks since my surgery and on Monday, I return to work and most of my normal routine. I'm feeling back to normal. I feel like I can do everything I was doing before the surgery, but there are still restrictions-for another 4 weeks.

The part that is killing me the most is not being able to play volleyball. Mr, and my oldest son are changing their clothes and getting ready to head out the door to our usual Tuesday night game, and I'm sitting on the couch. I know I can't see the things on the inside that still need to heal, and that is the reason for the extended rest time, but it sure is tough waiting!!

I've been driving since one week after, and have had a great time living life by my own schedule. My family has benefited too because I've cleaned and organized closets and cupboards and have been making big meals for dinner-all because I have the time to do it! I've even baked a couple of pies!

My first antiquing trip was 10 days out. I went to two local antique malls with Mr.. I walked through them both and felt great. I wasn't tired or worn out-and even though I didn't buy anything, it was fun to get out and look.

Since then, I've been to the Maple Street Mall in Mason, Mega Mall, and The Little Red Schoolhouse in Lansing, and the Antiques Warehouse in Saginaw (on the way home from my parents Thanksgiving weekend).

Thanksgiving weekend was great! All four of us were able to be off work, and we all went to my parents house in the Upper Peninsula. At first, we thought we'd have to drive two cars and arrive and leave in shifts, but at the last minute, it worked that we were all able to ride together.

We laughed a lot during the car ride-both ways. I soaked it all in, because I'm thinking that our trip might be the last we all take in the same vehicle, at the same time. If not the last, it will probably be a long time before we can do it all together again.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving was Cookie Day at my cousin's house. It was our second annual Cookie Day, and it was so much fun! We all made 8 dozen cookies, and since there were 8 of us, we got 8 dozen or so of a great variety of cookies to take home. It was so much fun, I'm hoping to get us all together more often in the coming year than just the one time.

Today, I went into work for about an hour and half for a meeting. It was great to see everyone again! I'll be glad to get back to a normal routine, but will also be sad to give up the freedom of doing what I want, when I want.

Thank you all so much for the emails and cards, checking in on me! They really mean a LOT, and I REALLY appreciate every single one of you for taking the time to think of me and/or pray for me and contacting me--THANK YOU!!!!

Here are some photos of the past couple of weeks in my life...

 My first post-surgery outing (day 4) with my youngest. He took me through the drive thru at KFC. 

 Mr's birthday lunch at Red Robin.

 We had to put a shaker on the napkins to hold them down-we were seated under a vent that was hurricane force! They were packed that day and there weren't any extra tables.

 Homemade blueberry pie.

The next few items were in a giant box of individually wrapped vintage goodies from my cousin's MIL. It was like Christmas morning for Mr. He had a blast opening each bundle.

He also got a giant jar of old keys, and skeleton keys, that was the best part of the treasure box!

 This was a super cheap online find. Sometimes I get lucky throwing in a starting bid price and ignoring it until I got the email that I won!

 It fits right in with the individual creamer. 

 I have all of the colors I want in the individual creamers and nut cups except for original green. 

 I actually volunteered to make a run to Lowe's at about 2 1/2 weeks, to buy a replacement spark plug for our snow blower-just to get out of the house! Look what I found!!! LOVE them!!!

 While cleaning out the spare bedroom, I found these plates and this server. Should I paint it, or leave it gold? If I paint it, what color should I pick??

 The day I went into the spare bedroom to clean it out...I sat on the floor for a minute to make a plan for some serious clearing/cleaning time. The second I sat down, this little peanut popped onto my lap. 

The next few shots are from our trip to the U.P. for Thanksgiving. It was absolutely gorgeous!! The snow hung on the trees and powerlines and it was so quiet and peaceful...the pictures don't even begin to do it justice. 

The next few pictures are of our second annual Cookie Day! My cousins and I spending the Saturday after Thanksgiving baking cookies, laughing, and hanging out--FUN times!!

After my fork incident (when my Kitchen Kraft fork jumped off the cabinet and broke), I found a plexiglass holder that will display them better and protect them from from future mishaps. I'm still so very thankful to my blog friend Chanelle, for finding me a new fork!!! THANKS Chanelle!!!

This was the first snow at our house, early in my recuperating time. This was my view from the sun room windows. 

After sitting around the house so much, I found many things that needed moving, tweaking, dusting, organizing...this is my pie safe, it was in the living room, overwhelming the room. I cleared it out and got  my guys to move it to the spare bedroom.

 This room used to be my oldest son's room. He got creative after he graduated high school and did a custom paint job on the walls.He's moved downstairs to our finished walk-out basement, while he commutes to college. I've yet to enforce the "your're going to repaint this room when you move out" lecture. I'm not sure if I want to do a really pale pink, or an off white color-so it sits as he left it. 

Aprons going back in.

 All the quilts and tablecloths going back in. 

About 2 weeks post-op, I went to our church to try to help with set-up for a major Women's Ministry event. I started by putting some lettering on a banner, and when that went well, I jumped in and started helping with pipe and drape and room organization. I lasted only about 2 1/2 hours. I stopped 

at a table to look at a set-up map and immediately felt like I could pass out on the floor! I reached my limit, and was worried I might not be able to drive myself home! It was kind of scary!! I made it-slow and steady and back roads. 

This is part of the giant display in the middle of the gym. 

The grasses were incorporated in the display. 

This was the finished display. 

One weekend, Mr. wanted to go to a gun show at the Ingham County Fairgrounds, so I tagged along and while he was drooling over guns and knives, I went into Mason and wandered around the Maple Street Mall. I just LOVE this building! Every time I visit Mason, I love to see this.

It's a really quaint downtown, with a feeling of going back in time. 

These next pics are things that I saw while wandering around the mall. 

 What a great idea for an old window! I'd like to try this with one of my old windows!!

I LOVE ornaments in jars!!!

After I wandered a while, and picked Mr up, we went to Mega Mall and the Little Red Schoolhouse. 

A lot of booths were having sales. This Saturday is their Christmas Open House...I'm hoping to make another visit. 

I always find lots of Pyrex at Mega Mall. 

This pile of Pyre came home with me to join my collection.  

The hotpads and apron came from a local estate sale. On the last day, in the last hours. Worth $1 to me!! Glad I stopped!

The next pics are things I found while clearing out the spare room. I have a few ideas for using the items in repurpose projects. The card game has all the cards and the instructions. I've never heard of it, and found it inside another game box that I bought at a garage sale in the U.P. last summer. I'm looking forward to trying to play the game with my guys when they are free from college over Christmas break. 

On the way home from our Thanksgiving trip, we stopped at the Antique Warehouse in Saginaw-to "stretch our legs", and let the guys run into town for lunch at Culver's. I got the stink-eye and questioned again because I was cruising through at a quick pace. I knew what I was looking for, and I knew the general location of my favorite booths, so I wasn't wasting any time. The worker who questioned my this time, wasn't as friendly as the guy last fall. I guess they aren't used to people making a quick stop in the middle of their road trips. 

I bought a really cool old purple bottle. I forgot to snap a pic of it though-oops! 

That's what has been going on around here for the past few weeks. I've also been hunting for a dress to wear to my nephew's wedding on the 20th and trying to find a suit and dress shoes for a 6'5 20 year old who wears a size 15 shoe! I think we finally found what we need-what an adventure that was! :)

Monday will be here before I know it-so I'm going to try to soak in all of the living without working freedom that I can in the next few days. 

Hope you're having a great week, and I hope you all had a GREAT Thanksgiving with your family and friends-making lots of new memories,sharing good food, lots of laughs and love!!