SPRING

Yesterday I had high hopes of taking the kiddos to the zoo. When we arrived there wasn't any parking spots. Yes, you heard me right. It was insane. So in my frantic desire to do something fun with the kiddos without going mad I went to the Botanical Gardens a street away. They ran and explored. We had a blast. I visited the shop Leaf n Petal while there and fell head over heels for the decoupaged wallpaper. The colors were quite gorgeous to say the least. Such an inspiring day it ended up being. Today we are getting up a bit earlier and trying for the zoo once again. Fingers crossed.

*images taken on iphone4

A Crazy Day + New Lamps

Sorry for the missed post yesterday. We had quite an eventful Tuesday and not in a good way. That morning we got a phone call from my husbands coordinator at work, her husband was in a motorcycle accident. Praise God he is doing quite well. A true miracle really. The Mr. spent the day at the hospital with them. During this time KJ quickly became ill. Never seen him so sick, I was quite scared to be honest. His fever reached 103 and we (dr and I) had a hard time getting it to go down. He wasn't alert and kept on falling asleep. When he did speak he just kept repeating that he was burning. He ended up having strep. Had no idea it could get so bad. A few other things thrown in and wow, it made for quite a day.

I am sure you are ready for me to get back to design so here are a pair of lamps that I got at Scott's in Atlanta. I didn't purchase the shades, but it's on my to do list. I will share as soon as I do. They are in the master and make me quite happy.

For more design related posts you can come see me on Mrs. French. I have a new one up and I am quite smitten with the inspiration image.

A Short Recap

If you follow me on twitter then I am sure you got tired of me talking about our vacation to Disney World. It was the first time for all of us and we had a blast. Although I do wish I started training for the trip in advance. I simply had no idea. Here is a short recap of our trip...

KJ's Favorite part was getting to meet Buzz Lightyear. "To infinity and beyond" has now become part of his daily speech. He really can fit it into any circumstance. It's a hoot.

Ellie's favorite part was doing the princess experience in the castle. We surprised her. They decked her out like a princess head to toe. She then got to meet a bunch of princesses and she was in high heaven.

My favorite part was getting to spend some much needed time with the Mr. Oh, and the food was amazing too. I am now in need of a detox. This friend is going to help me.

The funniest part of the trip was when Aladdin and Jasmine kept on asking Ellie if she remembered certain parts of the movie. She kept on saying no. They then asked if she ever even saw the movie. She said no, they were heartbroken. Ellie simply wanted to meet the pretty princess. ha. No worries though last night we watched the movie.

* Today I am also on Mrs. French.

SMITTEN

Happy Valentine's Day! I know for some this leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, but I think Valentine's Day is to be shared with those you love and well, I am pretty smitten with all of you.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

* I will be a bit MIA this week. If you follow me on twitter then you know why. Posts will resume as usual though. oh happy day!

7 Things

I have been awarded the Stylish Blogger award, many times over so I thought it was about time that I played along. So sorry that it has taken me this long. I honestly can not remember who all awarded me so please, pretty please, email me and I will be sure to link you. I really do appreciate it. So here are my 7 things. Some fluff and some that have been life changing, if you only have time to read one please skip ahead to #7...

1. I LOVE to cook. If you have been reading for awhile then you will know this is a new thing. I had no idea how to actually cook until last year. I was the one who could mess up mac and cheese out of box, now we don't eat out of boxes. It was a resolution of sorts for me to learn, so I did.

2. My family. Well, what can I say I am passionately in love with them.

3. I was born in Venezuela. My mom was in an exchange program to Colombia in college, loved the country and stayed, met my papa, married, and moved to Venezuela. I was delivered by a man who may have had too many drinks and I was just over 4 pounds. About 3 months later we moved back to the US.

4. Photography was a hobby for the Mr. and I and it has become a full blown business the last couple of years. We are grateful to those who took a chance on us in the beginning. It is most definitely a blessing many times over.

5. I have a cleaning lady that comes every other week. There I said it. I used to be embarrassed by it, but now I embrace it. This past year I had a surgery that kept me from doing much, so the Mr. hired a lady to help around the house. After I got the go ahead to resume my daily routine the Mr. said I could keep her services, so I did graciously. Wow, glad to get that off my chest.

6. Gardening is my form of therapy. Love getting my hands dirty and seeing the miracles that this land can produce. I hope and pray that all my flowers come back this year, it has been quite a rough winter.

7. This one has been a life changer for me lately. My only hope is that I can convey my thoughts properly. Pastor Billy Hornsby, who happens to be our Pastor's wife and Ellie's teachers dad, has fallen ill. He went from sick to critical much too quickly. It is cancer. I have known him for quite sometime since my husband is on staff at this church. He is the President and founder of ARC and has been changing lives for years. He and his family lived over seas sharing the love of Jesus. He is an author. He builds leaders. I can go on and on. The part of his life that I admire most though is that no matter what he has done he has remained humble and that is rare. He truly just loves Jesus, his family, and helping people. He has built his life around it. He is ready to go home if that is what Jesus has for him. We of course are praying for him to stay a bit longer.

{This is Ellie's class and a few middle schooler's praying for Pastor Billy, She is the one holding on tight looking up at him.}

What has changed my life I suppose is just seeing the peace that he has with leaving this earth to go to Heaven. Believers can say they will be ready, but are we ever that ready? He knows he has done good here and will leave this earth without what ifs. A crazy amount of people from all over have flown in to see him. He is leaving a legacy based on loving others. Isn't that what life should be all about? When it is my time I too want to go out knowing that I did my very best for my savior, that I was a great wife, mom, sister, daughter, friend, and helped others that I have yet to know. That I loved others with passion, not with how they fit into my life, but how can I fit into theirs.  That my family know at all times that they are number one. Of course, me and the Mr. will fight, but I want him to forever know that I love him, really love him. That my babies never feel that they come second to what I am doing at that moment, aka blogging, cleaning, sewing, etc. That I will drop everything for a friend in need without hesitation. That I will drop everything for a stranger in need without hesitation.  Since coming to know Christ nine years ago I have said that loving people would be my passion, I have had my ups and downs in this category, and now I have gotten too comfortable in my life and need to go back. Need to go back to the place where I feel for people. Happy and sad people. Not pity that's something different, but love. A simple love.

*Pastor Billy spoke this past week during service for a few. If you would like to listen go here and fast forward to 30:38 although the whole message is good too. He also spoke here before he became critical.

Thank you! Live Love Small, Real Estate Style, Creative Outpour,  Constant in Chaos, Style for Living, Lona De Anna, A Dance with Grace which was actually awarded to Mrs French, Desire Design Delight