Lissa's blog

As soon as the builder was finished with our house, Jim couldn't stop commenting on how the front porch needed a railing. I agreed that it would look nice, but I wasn't quite as obsessed as he was with the idea.

On the first weekend in July, Jim started working on building a railing for our cottage-style house. And while he focused on cutting, sanding, and priming, I worked on shopping. I found these used wicker chairs at an antique store here in Nolensville for just $70 total. I bought new cushions at Target, the white tray for $2 at a garage sale, and voila! A beautiful sitting area for our fabulous front porch. (Too bad it's too hot to sit there.)

The railing finally got hung a few nights ago, and I have to admit I love it!  I helped Jim to pick the style, but he designed and implemented it all by himself.  He did such an amazing job.  Jim is nothing if not detailed and thorough.

I can't even picture the house without the railing now.  Can't wait until fall, when I plan to sit out there, watch Brennan ride his scooter or bike, and let Cora crawl around.  Now she won't fall off the porch.  Of course, I'll need to get a great outdoor rug.  Yes!  More shopping! 

Remember this picture of my family room?  Well, the room looks a little different now.  Today it looks like this:

Can you figure out what is different?  Believe it or not, very little has changed.  The biggest difference is the drapes.  My mom bought us fabric for our anniversary so I could make them.  (I have had this fabric picked out since we signed the contract on our house, but you know how it is with priorities.)  I am so excited to see these up, finally!  They really change the look of the whole room, I think. 

The only other changes are the plant stand in the corner with beautiful hydrangeas (given to us by our church as a gift for Cora's surgery) and the pillows.  I took away the red ones and removed the covers from the floral ones. 

Now I need a little advice.  I know that the painting over the couch isn't the right scale.  I think I can remedy the situation with some objects flanking the painting.  But the room is already painfully symmetrical.  Ideas?  Also, I like having the covers off the floral pillows.  Should I go with white, or would something else look better?  I had thought of using black and white ticking, like the fabric I used on the top of the drapes, but I wasn't sure.  I'm sort of digging the white.  What do you think?

Also, I am planning to recover my grandfather's chair at some point.  (It's the formal-looking mint green arm chair.)  What colors or fabrics would you recommend, keeping in mind that I have two small children and three pets?

In other news, we also got an anniversary gift from Jim's parents.  See it?  Here's a closeup:

It's the fabulous Ballard Design bar stools I wrote about when I was deciding whether to paint my kitchen table and chairs.  Aren't they awesome?  Brennan loves to sit at the island and snack or color while I'm cooking, and it's the best.  And the stools look absolutely perfect with my table.  (I'm still thanking myself for that table decision.)  How did I ever survive without bar stools?

Okay, I have one more question.  

We have this bulkhead that runs through our entire family room and kitchen.  It houses ductwork and other annoying, essential things.  I have often thought it would be the perfect place for a quote or some kind of awesome display.  But I'm stuck.  Anyone have any brilliant ideas?  I could just do something above the armoire or in the family room portion, or it could run the length of the entire two rooms.

Let me hear your thoughts! :-)  (And if you're responding from facebook, please reply on the blog itself instead of on facebook.  I have friends and family members who read this blog who aren't on facebook.  Thanks!)

Our little peanut is ten months old.  Where has the time gone?  I always tear up when I think about the fact that in two short months she'll be a year old.

Cora is constantly learning new tricks.  She is starting to figure out how to hold her bottle and use a sippy cup.

And the other night, when she should have been sleeping, she figured out how to do this:

Every day is an adventure and a joy. And I need to start thinking about a first birthday party!

I know I have been a blogging slacker this month.  We have had a lot going on, which means I should have more to write about. But, as usual, time has been the issue.

We have been really blessed by family visits over this past month.  Sharon is here visiting for all of July and August, staying in a condo a few miles up the road.  The first week of the month, Jim (her Jim, as we say) was here with her, and my mom came and stayed with her the last two weeks of the month after Jim had left.  Mom just left yesterday.  Unfortunately, I don't have many good pictures of this family time.  :-(  I'm so disappointed.  But, I was just too distracted by a few of the many things we've had going on:

Trunk shows and lots of new jewelry...

...taking care of two sweet kids...

...and taking that littlest sweet kid to have tubes put in her ears.  I don't have any pictures of that either (thought about it, but it seemed weird). Suffice it to say she did really well and is much happier after just two days.

We also celebrated our ten-year anniversary with a weekend getaway to Chattanooga.  While we were there we ate tons of great food (seriously... tons), did lots of window shopping, and attended a hilarious comedy show done by Henry Chow.

On Sunday morning, we decided that we should give in to the hype and go see either Rock City, the incline, or Ruby Falls.  We were just going to do the incline, but as we headed up the hill toward Rock City, I was in tears at the beauty around me.  (I've always been like that... beautiful scenery literally takes my breath away.)  So, we paid the admission and started the hike through the mountains.  Now, if you don't really care about scenery or nature, you wouldn't love Rock City.  But me?  I thought I was getting a little glimpse of heaven.

At the top of Lover's Leap, you can see seven different states.  (Forgive the noon sun photos.)

It was a wonderful way to celebrate ten years of marriage.  We are incredibly grateful to my mom and Jim's mom for watching our kids so we could escape and focus on each other for a few days.  It was  no trip to Europe, but we'll take what we can get.  And what we got was pretty great for a two-hour drive.

Ten years ago, as I walked down the aisle to take your arm, I could never have known...

...that we would live in six different homes in our first ten years.

...that you would cradle me at a 45-degree angle throughout the night when I had pleurisy during pregnancy.

...that you would be the first person to tearfully introduce me to each of our children.

...that the process of paying off tens of thousands of dollars' worth of debt would strengthen our marriage and change our lives.

...that we would be such a hands-on couple, tiling bathrooms, making curtains, and putting ourselves into every detail of our homes.

...that you would love God so much and become the spiritual leader of our family that I had prayed for.

...that hearing our son exclaim that his mommy and daddy love each other "ssoooooo much" would be such a blessing.

Ten years ago, as I walked down the aisle to take your arm, I could never have known that love could be this good.

Happy Anniversary, Jim.

The only thing cooler than having a real street sign in your house...

... is having the real street sign from where you grew up. (No, Jim did not live on the street. I know how some of you people think.)

When the city of Jamestown (New York) redid their street signs years ago, they took this one down and left it by the curb. After it was clear that no one was going to come and get it, Jim's dad took it.  And now it is ours.  The plan was to put it in Brennan's transportation-themed bedroom. However, it is big and heavy and I can't figure out a great way to mount it safely in his room.  When I put it on top of the armoire to protect Cora, I really liked it there.  And for now, there it stays.

I consider it to be such a blessing that Jim and I have a rich, long history.  The house where he grew up is where we had our first date, it's where Jim lived when we met at age four, and it's also where he lived when we fell in love.  The street sign means as much to me as it does to him.  And it sure beats a plant.

The little town of Nolensville, population 4,000, is the most amazing little place to live.  There is only one stoplight, a smattering of antique stores, and lots of farmland.  When it is time to run to the store, to, say, buy charcoal that you forgot to get for your 4th of July burgers, it can be a real pain.  But the benefits of living in this small town are amazing.  People are super friendly, the schools are great, Cool Springs, downtown Nashville, Smyrna, Murfreesboro, and other areas are all within a short drive (20 - 30 minutes in any given direction), and the antique stores I mentioned are fantastic. Plus, we have a fair amount of land for our kids to run on, and we can see this from our back porch:

Our first fourth of July in Nolensville confirmed what we already knew: This is a great place for us to raise our family. After church we all gathered near our neighborhood swimming pool so the kids could participate in an Independence Day "Parade."

(Check out Brennan's new big boy bike!)

After the parade, there were popsicles, games, grilled hot dogs, and more.  Sadly, it was extremely hot, there was no shade, and the parade ride wore most kids out.  After a few rounds of game play, we headed home.

But Grandma and Brennan made a quick trip back for this:

I was at the store getting the charcoal, but apparently the kids got to check out the truck, and as it left, they sounded the siren.  Since our fire department is all volunteers, this is pretty sweet.

The afternoon consisted of playing inside while Jim and Jim worked on sanding and priming some wood that will be used to build a front porch railing.  (More about that in another post.)

After a delicious cookout (eaten IN, thankyouverymuch), we mixed up some vanilla ice cream into various forms of patriotic deliciousness.

And the town of Nolensville didn't disappoint as we ended our fun day with some fantastic fireworks.  

It is nice to know that Mayberry still exists in 2010, and my sweet kids will reap the rewards of living in this wonderful little whistle-stop.

Several weeks ago Cora and I took a short trip back to Jamestown, NY for my mom's retirement party. After a lifetime dedicated to teaching, Mom decided it was time to live a life of luxury and learn how to golf keep teaching.  Even though she has retired from public school teaching, she is still teaching on the college level at her local community college.  So it's semi-retirement, I guess.

Anyway, Jenny and I were both able to go and be there for Mom's retirement dinner, which was thrown by her school.  It was a really nice night.  My mom was is a really great teacher, and  she will certainly be missed.

In addition to the retirement party, we did a few other fun things while I was in Jamestown.  It was fun to shop and go to lunch with my mom and sister, and we were sure to fit in Lena's pizza and Eklof's cookies.

I also did a Stella and Dot party for my mom on my last day in town.  It was a relatively successful show for tiny little Jamestown, especially since no one there has ever heard of Stella and Dot.

It was a fun all-girls weekend.  Back here in Music City there was a boys' weekend going on, but I'm still not privy to all of the details.  I just know that there was a water park visit and a meal that included both ice cream and brownies, which I was not supposed to find out about.  Don't boys know that moms always figure things out?  (Just kidding.  Brennan is a total blabbermouth.)

I have no idea how I first heard about Stella and Dot.  I think I probably saw the jewelry as a giveaway on someone's blog last year, but I'm really not sure.  All I know is that as soon as I saw it, I knew I had found something special.

My friend Rachel invited me to my first Stella and Dot trunk show last month, and as soon as I arrived and wiped up my puddle of drool, I realized I was seeing more than beautiful accessories.  I was seeing an opportunity.  That night I went home and told Jim that I wanted to sign up to sell Stella and Dot.  I prayed about it for about a week, checked our finances and schedule, and I signed up on June 1st to be a stylist.

I want to start by saying I generally hate direct sales.  I avoid direct sales parties like the plague.  But Stella and Dot is different.  I went to Rachel's party because the product is irresistable, and I wanted to get my hands on it.   And that's what is making the company successful.  It isn't about recruiting women and hoping people will buy a few things on the side.  It's all about the jewelry.

This past Friday night was my launch party.  It was so fun.  Not a ton of people showed up, but with the sales that night and some outside orders, I still made money.  More importantly, I got to show off the awesome jewelry, help women to accessorize and feel beautiful, and hang out with other women - without the kids.

There are a lot of things to love about Stella and Dot, besides the beautiful obvious.  They have been featured in tons of magazines, on Oprah, and are worn by celebrities all the time.  My experience so far is that the compensation is generous, the product is really high quality, and the stylists are well trained.  And the hostess rewards are awesome.  If you have a few girlfriends over for coffee or a glass of wine, you can earn stunning, free jewelry.  It makes my job that much easier.

My financial goals for this next year are to save money for a vacation (our ten year anniversay is coming up next month, and we have yet to take a real honeymoon!  I want an anniversary trip one of these years!), put some money aside for a bigger car, and attend Hoopla, a S and D sales convention in the San Fransisco Bay area, next summer.  I hope to host between 60 and 70 shows in the next year to meet some of those goals. But even if I don't meet every one of my goals, I will still have fun, meet great women, earn some money, get out of the house in grown-up clothes, and wear striking jewelry every day!  Not a bad deal!

The heart of our house is certainly our open-concept family room and kitchen.  They are a nice size, they are comfortable, and they are homey.  When we designed our house, we chose to have the family room (and adjacent study) carpeted.  I'm sure some people would disagree with our decision, but I am so happy we opted for carpet in just that space.  It was the right decision for our young family. 

Another unusual (odd?) decision we made was to not put in a fireplace.  I do love a fireplace (and a mantel!), but I don't love gas fireplaces, and neither does Jim, and that was the only feasible option.  If it couldn't be wood burning, we knew we would never turn it on, and it wasn't worth the cost.  So... I got a photo collage wall instead! I've always wanted a wall of beautiful black and white photos.

The rooms are still very empty.  They needs drapes, another small lamp, something in the corners of the family room to fill in the space, and, don't tell Jim, but I secretly wish we could do board and batten on the walls.  (I think that would be way down on the project list.)  I also plan to redo some of the pillows in black and white to bring in black from the kitchen, and I plan to make a large chalkboard over the dresser.  We also want bar stools for the island.  I have so many projects to do in this house I'll be lucky to finish before my kids graduate from high school!

How happy am I that I painted our kitchen table??!!  Soooo happy.  It looks fantastic in this space!

The house is coming along, one room at a time.  I know it will never be done, but it is sure nice to not live in chaos!