Southern Hospitality » Family Friends and Me

My Blogging Story: Part 3

Rhoda — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:00:46 +0000

If you want to catch up with my story so far, read Part 1 and Part 2. Get settled in comfortably, this is a loooooong one.

We begin Part 3 at the end of 2008. I had been blogging nearly 2 full years by this point. I’ll start this post by giving some of you new bloggers some tips on how to start your blog. When I began, most everyone I knew started with a free Blogger blog. We chose a name and set up a Blogger blog and all ended in .blogspot.com. That was the norm and still is a good platform for starting a new blog. So, that’s what I did too, when I started mine in February of 2007. I was doing it for fun and a hobby and didn’t know that in a couple of years I would feel compelled to move from Blogger.

(via Etsy)

Blogger was a great platform to learn on. That first year was a complete learning experience for me as I learned how to size photos, change my background, make a really lame header, and play around with html. Blogger does a really good job of walking you through the process on adding things to the sidebar, etc. Learning html has been such a challenge and I’m not there yet, trust me. I know enough to be dangerous and I leave the real technical stuff to people that have a clue. I can run my blog all day long, but behind the scenes stuff, with coding and html? Way over my head!

I have been fortunate to learn all my computer experience with on the job training. I got my first computer in the corporate world around 1985 or so and after being initially resistant to learning it all, I completely embraced my PC and learned many programs along the way, including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and many other programs during those years. So, all those years in the Corporate world prepared me for blogging too. You younger girls can’t relate to that, since you all grew up with computers from grammar school on up, but we older gals did not have that luxury. I was already very comfortable with computers and had always been online since the beginning of the internet. If you are computer savvy at all, you can learn to blog. And even if you are not, you can learn. Computers are part of everyday life now and I would definitely encourage you to learn as much as you can about computers and how they work. I am not really young anymore, but I’m young at heart when it comes to staying up with current technology.

Although I still don’t have an I-phone.

(via Sitsgirls, Blog design article)

So, that is something to pass along to you if you are serious about blogging as a business. If you have aspirations to make it more than a hobby, then you may want to think about this:

Get your own domain name right from the start, (.com or .net), pay for a host service (I use Bluehost), and get yourself set up on WordPress. I didn’t do any of this until I had been blogging for 2 1/2 years (mid-2009), so if I had known at the beginning that all of this would grow and evolve like it has, I would have gone ahead and at least gotten a domain name and set up from the start on WordPress. Getting a domain name is less than $10 and paying monthly for a hosting service is not that much either, around $100 or less per year. Not bad at all. So, many want to know WHY you should move from the free Blogger service? Well, for me it was a matter of having complete control over my own blog. I did not like the idea that Blogger really owned all my content.

If you do decide to sign up with a hosting service, I have been very happy with Bluehost and I signed up as an affiliate, so if anyone signs up with them using my link, I get a small commission:

CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP FOR BLUEHOST.COM

If anything happened to their site and servers,then all of us on Blogger were affected. And those glitches did happen pretty often back then and probably still do. There were problems with loading pics at times, problems with leaving comments and loading posts. Blogger could even take down a blog at their own discretion at any time and I sure didn’t like that at all. So, after experiencing a few things like that those first 2 years, I began to make plans to move and finally get off Blogger and get my own domain name. That was definitely the smartest thing I did in 2009. It was scary, but the best thing I did. I hired a blog designer who could move me over and got all of that completed. At the time, I am not sure that everyone had it figured out how to not lose subscribers and I had to start over with my RSS subscribers at that time, but it quickly caught back up to where I was and surpassed my original number in a few months. I think now that many blog designers have figured out how to not lose anything on a move from Blogger to WordPress, so if you are contemplating doing this, I would say GO FOR IT! You won’t regret having complete control over your blog and WordPress is a wonderful blog platform. Make sure you choose someone who is very savvy on moving to WordPress. I still have no idea how all of that works, but I do love working with WordPress. Here are the advantages I see, that aren’t necessarily just WordPress, but things that I have learned:

Easy to use for posting. Once I got used to WordPress, it was just as easy as Blogger to learn. Blogger is really user friendly, but if you can learn Blogger, you can definitely learn WordPress. And WordPress has a lot of advantages that Blogger does not.
WordPress has built in SEO. If you are a new blogger, that might be a new term for you. SEO = Search Engine Optimization. You want people to be able to find all the great stuff that you have written and SEO is how they find you. So, when you are writing posts, make sure you title your posts something that describes what that post is about. Don’t use fluffy titles that are cute. You want to be sure those search engines can find key words that you are writing about to bring people to your posts. This is especially good for us home bloggers who post a lot of decorating projects. So, WordPress has built in areas that you can add your own tags and titles to optimize the search engine traffic to the max. I get a lot of organic traffic from Google, when people search for projects that I’ve already done and documented on my blog. Spray painting furniture black is one of my most clicked posts.
Name your pics. Another thing that I have just started doing diligently this year is labeling my pictures. If you keep the default pic name for your pics, no one will be able to do a search and find your pics. So, get in the habit of naming your pics so that they can be found easily in a search and they will show up in Google Images. This will get more traffic to your posts also. It took me a long time to get in the habit of doing this, but I have finally started to stick with it for the most part.
Resize your pics. My blog will hold a 500 pixel photo and I resize all my photos to fit my space before I upload. That ensures that they load as fast as possible too.
Watermark your images. This is another one that I just started this year. With the way pics are floating around the internet, if you watermark (add your blog name) to your pics, then they will be easily seen as coming from your blog. Just one more way to get your blog out there and protect your pics too.

Windows Live Writer: I started using Windows Live Writer when I was still on Blogger and when I moved to WordPress, I was advised not to use it (was told it adding extra coding in a post), but I have heard differing opinions on it and have recently gone back to using WLW for my posts. It’s the fastest way to load photos that I have found and it makes writing a blog post so much easier to me. Read my post on using Windows Live Writer that I wrote back in early 2009. Once you get it set up, it is easy to post pics and save the Draft to your blog. I post TONS of pics and this is by far the easiest way to post them that I have found. While I was still on Blogger, I ran out of picture space with Picasa albums, which is where pics are stored for Blogger blogs. I did have to purchase an upgrade for pics, since I host my pics on my site and don’t host them on Flickr or elsewhere. These are now hosted on my server. That post will give you all the low-down on using Windows Live Writer and I do really enjoy working with it. Speeds things up for me!

My blogging story may become a little out of whack as I go along, but I’m trying to think of real tips that I can pass on too as I write this series. Tips that will help those of you who are new to blogging as well as those who have been at it for awhile. My knowledge has been 5 years in the making and none of this was learned overnight. I still feel that I have SO much to learn at times! One thing with blogging, there is always something new to learn and learning keeps us sharp!

(via Etsy)

So, back to 2009! Going into that year, there was a new blog conference that had just been around for a year or so. Blissdom! Many of my peers were going and I really wanted to connect with them in real life. I made plans to go to Blissdom in January of 2009. If you get the chance to go to a blog conference, I would definitely suggest you do it. It was a perfect way for me to jump into learning more about blogging, where I wanted to go with it and to connect in real life to many bloggers that I had rubbed shoulders with the previous year. Meeting other bloggers in real life has been without a doubt, the most positive and energizing thing about blogging. We are all on the same journey. Those girls get blogging and how it works and learning from and being around them all was such fun. That first Blissdom conference, I met many women and most of them are still blogging to this day. You can read my experiences at my first Blissdom here and see all the Home bloggers that were at that conference. Compared to today, it was only a handful. (Emily, me, Jen, Sandy, Melissa, Kimba, Nester) This group was the beginning of the Home bloggers and we enjoyed that first year at Blissdom (actually 2nd official year, the very first one was really tiny) and have gone on to forge our own blogging paths. It was so fun to actually meet in person and connect with those girls whose blogs I had been reading for over a year.

(This was my first time to meet Julia, with Hooked on Houses too and it’s been great to get to know her.)

Blissdom is a great blog conference with many various types of bloggers. Many women who started in blogging way before I did began as moms and writers, those who were aspiring to become writers and share their stories on the web. Many of those bloggers we heard on the panels at Blissdom were coupon bloggers too, so that 2009 Blissdom was a time of learning and figuring out which direction to go next. Many of us who were there definitely fit in the home niche and we bonded over that. We were not mommy or coupon bloggers, but had a whole different slant to our blogs. We wanted to share our home decorating ideas with the world and that was the commonality we all had. There were only a handful of us at that conference, but it was a great start. Since that year, the home/DIY niche of blogging has just exploded, as I’m sure you have noticed!

(This sweet girl, Susie Harris, was there too. We are still great friends and I can’t wait to see her at Haven this year!)

Some of the things we heard at the conference was way over my head. I had already been with BlogHer ad network for almost at year at this point, making a few dollars along the way, as I mentioned in Part 2 of my story. I was certainly not looking at blogging as a full time job, but still just a fun hobby that earned a small little income. At that time, I didn’t feel the absolute need to grow my blog and make it work. I was married at the time and didn’t rely on my income to make it. But, going to Blissdom gave me more confidence to try to grow my blog for the fun of it and why not? If I was going to stay home and do it for fun, I figured that if the possibility was there to make it more and make a little more income, then why not? I still loved the whole blogging community and sharing on my blog and leaving Blissdom gave me the push to add my own personal sponsors on my blog. So, when I came home that year, I did just that. I added small business ads in my sidebar and opened it up to see what would happen.

I did get a few advertisers that first year of starting my own sponsors, but certainly it wasn’t huge. Still not anything close to a sustainable income. I started off by charging sponsors only $20 per month, certainly not a lot of money, but it was a start. Later that year, I went up to $40 and then $50, which I stayed at for way over a year. I have recently gone up to $60 per month and will probably not go up too much from that. Many bloggers charge different amounts for ads and I have tried to stay competitive and reasonable at the same time, for my blog size. Back then, I’d say my monthly stats were around 50,000 hits a month, and over 100,000 pageviews. I currently get over 600,000 pageviews per month and per most blog advertising formulas, I could charge much more than I do, but I would rather keep those sponsor ads reasonable. Most of them are small business owners like myself and this helps both of us to grow.

In July of 2009, I officially moved from Blogger to WordPress. I chose my new domain name and moved. I didn’t understand all of that at the time, but quickly learned that I would need to pay for a domain name (less than $10) and then find a host service. I ended up on Bluehost after moving from the first one. I am still on a shared server at Bluehost, but if I keep growing, will probably have to move to the next tier up to make sure my blog loads and runs smoothly (I think the next tier up is a VPS server). I’m still fine for now, but that is always an option. Many of the bigger blogs are on their own servers, to handle the traffic that their blogs get. I would love to have that problem, but for now, the shared server is fine.

I hired my blog designer, Darcy, to do that for me. She is one of the prominent blog designers out there and did a lot of my blog peers blog designs. At the time, I still had not had a complete blog design makeover and it wouldn’t be until Spring of 2010 that I would get that done (also by Darcy). Darcy with Graphically Designing is a very saavy designer and she helped me walk through the scary process of moving over to WordPress. That meant that all my content, 2 1/2 years worth, would have to be moved over. All the posts, comments, pics, everything had to be moved. We successfully did that with minor inconveniences and I still have it all with me now, thank goodness. I did have to go in and manually fix some broken links, but for the most part, it was very easy. And as I mentioned, I had to start over with my RSS subscribers (those of you who sign up to read by a reader or by email). I do think that has changed now and most that move over to a new domain name, can take it all with them. Be sure to get a really savvy designer and technical person who can do it all for you. If I had tried to move myself to WordPress, it would have been a complete disaster for sure. That is not something I would ever feel comfortable doing myself.

I did things a little backwards and moved to WordPress before I got the whole shebang blog makeover to make my blog pretty. My old banners were way too big and once I got a new design, I was really happy with it. The new blog design was about 6 months after the move to WordPress. So, word of advice. Get it all done at the same time! Don’t drag it out like I did. If you can afford to get a blog design and move, that’s the best time to do it all. I may eventually do a new header, but for now I’m still fine with it as it is. It really expresses who I am and what my blog is about and that is the most important thing with a blog header. Does it portray WHO you are?

By the end of 2009, I felt very good about where I was going. Still not getting rich by any means, but making a decent part-time income. My income more than doubled from 2008 to 2009, I’m not going to continue sharing how much I’ve made over these last couple of years (most people don’t go around talking about their $$ income), but I will say that it has grown tremendously. As my blog traffic has grown, so has the monetary compensation and that has been the biggest blessing in my life at the moment. I’ll get more into all of that in later posts, so stay tuned.

I hope that sharing my story this way is not too disjointed. All this information that I want to share pops into my head and I’m trying to make it somewhat cohesive and easy to understand. I thought the best way to share my story would be to describe it as I lived it, one year at a time. If any of you have questions along the way, please feel free to ask in the comments and I’ll be glad to answer.

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*Hadley Pottery: Handmade blue & white pottery
*Willow House: Distinctive gifts & home decor accessories
*Miss Lucy's Monograms: Personalized gift ideas
*HomeTalk: A site devoted to everything you want to know about the home! Check them out.
*Ruby Lane:Unique items for the home
*Southern Hospitality shop:Buy my favorite beadboard wallpaper directly from my shop!
*Fabricadabra:Beautiful organic pillows and linens
*European Vintage:European vintage treasures
*Cutting Edge Stencils:Beautiful stencils to create feature walls and more in your home.
*Janery:A celebration of fabric.

Word Up: Hope

Rhoda — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:00:41 +0000

Since my friend, Layla, is having a word of the year party (scheduled for early Monday a.m.), I thought that would be fun to join. I am not one to often make New Year’s resolutions. Those seem to be lists doomed to fail for the most part, so why set yourself up for that? But, as I approach my 5 year blogging anniversary the first of February, this is a good time to stop and count my blessings.

Choosing a word for the year seems to be a good way to start the new year off on a positive note. A sweet word can stick in your head and heart and help guide the way through the days and months that lay ahead in the coming year. So, why not a word? I pondered and thought and read some devotions, bouncing a few words around that I thought I could embrace.

And I came back to one that continues to grip me.

HOPE.

At four letters, a little word, but a powerful word.

(via Tumblr)

What do I put my hope in? Who do I put my hope in?

(via itthings)

Oh, that has certainly varied over the years. As little girls, most of us hope for a Prince Charming to come along and sweep us off our feet. A wonderful knight in shining armor that we can fall in love with and one who will complete our lives, bring us happiness and with whom we will live happily ever after. Magical words. You know, just like the fairy tales we grew up reading? Oh yes, I had those hopes and dreams too, as a little girl blossoming into a young woman. I looked for my Prince. Found a few hopefuls and had my heart broken along the way. Married this one and that one. But, unfortunately, my Princes didn’t complete me, in fact made my life worse instead of better in so many ways. I’m sure I was not the Princess they had hoped for either.

(via Pinterest)

Those dreamy young-girl hopes were dashed. Reality was not as I had hoped for in my dreams and life did not turn out as I had imagined.

What do you do when your hopes and dreams don’t come true?

It would have been so easy for me to give up with what happened in my life the last year. To crawl under the covers and go into a deep depression. Hide from the world. I could have easily stopped blogging. How in the world do you talk about the ugly side of life on a happy home blog? Grief, loss, and failure was a big part of all of that.

One year ago, I was sitting in a big house, alone, facing the realization that my life was about to change in huge ways that I couldn’t even imagine. The man I was married to had just run away from facing some big responsibilities, instead choosing to leave me with the aftermath of his horrible choices, all of which created a domino effect. A house that I had lovingly made a home for the past 5 years was going into foreclosure and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I was also sifting through lies and truth, trying to get to the bottom of what I was really facing. I still don’t know the 100% complete truth, but I knew plenty enough then to know I had to get out of that situation as quickly as I could. My ex-husband continues to sit in jail in AL since last April, facing some serious financial fraud charges and I have no idea when that trial will happen. When it does, I will be at the trial unless there is a plea bargain first. Life can certainly turn ugly sometimes.

Feeling pretty hopeless at the time, it seemed that my life was crumbling to pieces. I ran home to the safety of my parents, which is the best thing I could have done.

Oh, that the Lord has brought me this far!

And now, for me, my reality has taken me down the path of gratitude. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, for the disappointments in life that have come my way, instead of wallowing in self-pity, I choose to keep hope at the forefront of my mind.

Not hope in a new man. Nope, not that, not yet anyway. One thing I have discovered in my personal journey is this: No one person on this earth can make you happy and complete. You have to find that in and for yourself and the only one in whom we can find wholeness and healing and true joy, is the one who created us.

Jesus Christ, he is my hope. He is the man that I count on and rely on. I know his promises will always be yes for me, promises for a brighter future, a good tomorrow. And that gives me more peace and contentment than money could ever buy. Not an easy life with no problems, but I know that He is always there to walk with me no matter how rocky the road. And boy, was last year rocky.

(via Pinterest)

In spite of lost houses, failed marriages, and money woes, I’m hopeful for a future that will be better than anything I’ve experienced thus far. Finding a little fixer-upper house will be one of those things in my future that I’ll be looking forward to the most. I will be so excited when that happens and will wait for the right one, which gives me hope that I can find something affordable. I just know it’s out there waiting for me!

I have no idea if God will bring love into my life again. If He does, then I’ll know it and be ready for it, but it’s not going to be something that drives me. Besides, anyone that comes into my life will have to run the gauntlet of family and friends. They’ve got my back. A complete background check wouldn’t hurt either.

I can be content single, enjoying my friends, both single and married and loving life. I have a joy and a purpose and blogging is a big part of that. God has blessed me so much this past year in bringing me through the torrential rain, into a place of safety and peace. And gratitude. And joy.

(via Etsy)

Jeremiah 29:11 says it so well and is one of my favorite verses of the Lord’s love for Israel. I can hold this promise in my heart as well.

This year, I will have hope in:

First and foremost, Jesus as the Lover of my Soul.
My family, who love me unconditionally
My friends, who support and love me through it all
My purpose and work, from sharing this blog with all of you to experiencing so many new and exciting things that I know are going to come along this year, including a brand new blogging conference, Haven, that I’m privileged to head up here in Atlanta.
New opportunities and open doors that I can’t open myself, but only God can do. I gladly trust Him to do that.
Enjoying life one day at a time and really reveling in the journey. Living life like never before.

And my hope is this, that these words will speak to someone out there who is losing hope, wondering if there is an answer for you. Does God really care about you and your situation? I hope my life and experiences will speak to you and let you know that yes, there is hope, always. When we trust in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He will never let us down. His plans are so much higher than anything we could ever dream of.

(Lamplightart.com)

We all face trials and difficulties in life and what and who we put our HOPE in will determine the outcome.

I know I’m not the only one who has gone through divorces and disappointments. It happens all the time to so many women. No one ever goes into a marriage with intentions of failing and you can come out of divorce feeling like a great big Loser, with an L on your forehead. For those of you who have experienced hard marriages, I feel for you. I know exactly how it feels to live in disappointment, deception, emotional pain, and loss.

If you found your Prince Charming as a young woman, had his babies, and are now living happily ever after, you are blessed indeed. Be thankful every day for that! It didn’t happen that way for all of us. That was my dream too, to meet my Prince Charming, have a couple of kids, and to live happily ever after following God’s perfect plan.

One thing for sure, I cannot give up. YOU cannot give up! We must keep going and know that there is a reason for it all. Hard times make us stronger. I’m definitely stronger than I’ve ever been, but my strength is not in myself, it is in my Lord. Not on what I can do, but on what He can do. When I am weak, He is strong. It feels so good to lean on Him and not try to fix it all myself, as I so have a tendency to do.

And one thing I know. Nothing is impossible with Him!

Nothing, do you hear me?

Hope.

A small word, with a heaping helping of meaning. Hope endures. Hope believes when we can’t see.

Do you have a word you are clinging to this year? Please leave a comment if you do, I’d love to hear it.

My Blogging Story: Part 1

Rhoda — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 23:00:01 +0000

Without a doubt, the most-asked question I get when I tell someone that I’m a full-time blogger, is this:

How did you get started blogging?

Then they will ask what I blog about.

Then they ask if you can make money blogging.

Most folks who don’t know anything about blogs, will tilt their head slightly, smile, eyes slightly glazed over, and want to know what in the world a blogger does. There are many people out there who don’t have a clue about this online world we live in. Many people don’t log on every day to scour the internet for ideas and inspiration. Sure, they might go on news sites and check their email, but they are not getting mesmerized by the blogosphere.

I know many of my readers are not bloggers, but I hope you’ll find this series interesting too!

Heck, so many people don’t even know the blogosphere exists. Most bloggers feel like we are at the center of what is hot and hip. How could the rest of the world not see that? We try to stay informed and up to date on what our passion is all about, but there are plenty of folks out there who just don’t know anything about this thing we call blogging.

There is no one size fits all manual for “how to blog”.

But oh, how blogging has changed my life.

In February I’ll hit my 5 year blogoversary, truly a milestone. Sort of like dog vs. people years, 5 years in blogging is a long, long time.

So, in celebration of that 5 year mark, I thought it might be a good time to look back and document my blogging journey. I’ve seen several bloggers do just that and even though at times, I think what else can I add to the conversation about starting a blog, sustaining a blog, and turning a blog into a business, I realize that yes, I do have things to share!

Blogging is truly a learn it as you go type of thing. On the job training, so to speak.

Just from the sheer amount of years that I’ve been doing this thing called blogging, that alone makes me something of an expert on the subject. Do I know it all? Oh noooooo, of course I don’t and at times feel like I’m still such a novice on all thing blogging, especially the technical side!

Do I have plenty to share about my personal experience with blogging.

Oh, yes I sure do!

Anyone that blogs has a blog story. I have my own unique perspective on it all and I’m hoping that sharing my story will give inspiration and insight to those of you who are new to this crazy blog world.

The blogosphere is still growing and growing and growing. Where it will go, no one knows. That is one of those unknown things that none of us have the answer to.

So sit back, grab something to sip on and here begins my blog story. I’m going to break it into at least 5 parts (maybe more, I have no idea how rambling I’ll get on all of this), for every year that I’ve been blogging. February will start my 6th year of writing this blog and I would never dream that I’d have that much to talk about, but it seems that I do!

It seems that another unique thing about bloggers is the fact that most of us, when we started blogging, had no idea where it was going to lead us. I started on a whim, just for fun. A hobby. Something to do that was an outlet for my passion of interior decorating, DIY projects, and thrifting for the most part.

My journey began in February of 2007.

I had been living in Birmingham with my husband at the time for a little over a year. I quit my corporate job in Atlanta when we moved over there at the end of 2005 and set up house, with plans to be a stay at home wife. I had worked my whole life in the 8 to 5 corporate world, so staying home was a novelty to me at the time.

I had long been involved with online decorating boards, since around the mid-90′s. Better Homes and Gardens and GardenWeb’s That Home Site were 2 sites that I frequented constantly back in those days. So, I knew my way around the web, it was a fun world for me to hang out in.

In early 2000, I joined an online site called Great Impressions, which started as a public site, then went private due to large growth. It was started by a small group of us who spun off from Better Homes and Gardens decorating boards and quickly became a popular hangout for like-minded women who loved their homes and were devoted to decorating. We talked paint colors, we shared projects and celebrated design triumphs. We talked each other through design dilemmas. We were able to set up photo albums online and look at each others’ houses. Now that was a new and exciting thing, to actually be looking at other house pics from all over the country. That was a mere 12 years ago, that’s how fast this online world has evolved. It was a really great group of women and it was very fun for about 5 or 6 years. There are still some from the old group that read my blog and occasionally I will get a mention of that in a comment.

During those years of Great Impressions, one of my online friends from that group, Kim, started a blog called Daisy Cottage. She was smitten with an older cottage home and had always wanted to live in an old home, so we celebrated with her when she moved into Daisy Cottage, her beautiful cottage in Florida. Kim and I became buddies and we were kindred souls. I would visit Kim’s blog and look at her pretty pictures. She would encourage me to start my own blog. I laughed, not really planning to do it, but one day in early 2007, on a whim, I decided to set up a free Blogger account. Later, in 2008, Kim and I met in person when I was visiting Florida for a few days. We are still good friends to this day and I love her dearly. She is such a sweet, supportive, and creative friend. That was part of the journey for me of meeting other bloggers in person and that hasn’t stopped either. It has just gotten better over the years. Bloggy friendships have absolutely been the best part of blogging for me.

So, Southern Hospitality was born.

I don’t even know what made me choose the name. It just seemed to me that Southern Hospitality was a phrase that would embody what I wanted to share on my blog, so that was it.

My blog had a name. An identity.

That free Blogger account started me on my blogging journey that month in early 2007. I had no idea what I was doing. Back then, there were hardly any decorating or design blogs at all. It was mostly crafting, sewing, artsy sort of blogs and it wasn’t all that huge in numbers. I remember going through blogrolls that I would find on other blogs and that’s how I found most of the blogs that I would visit and leave comments on. Back then, it was a pretty small community and getting to know other bloggers happened easily.

I would click from blog to blog, leave a lot of comments and then all of a sudden I began to get comments back on my blog. Oh, how exciting that was! Someone was actually reading my blog. They liked what I was doing. It felt good to share and have others validate my projects or ideas. I think I’m going to like this blogging thing. It’s a lot of fun! I had a little point and shoot camera and knew nothing about getting great photos, but I started seeing beautiful photos on other blogs and wondered how they did it.

That year of 2007 moved on through the summer. I felt the need to go back to work in mid-summer of that year. I knew that there were some financial issues going on at home and we needed more money coming in and so I began to look for a job. I was enjoying my blog and keeping it going by blogging about 3 times a week or so. Whenever I had something to share, I would share it. I didn’t have a real schedule in mind with blog posts, but when I did something fun or completed a project, I would put it on the blog.

In August, I landed a really great job working for a local privately owned company in Birmingham. I was the assistant to the President and it was a nice place to work. I planned events, took care of his calendar, ordered office supplies, and handled a lot of things around the office. That was the type of job I had in the past, so I was used to working in that sort of environment. I shared my office and all about my new job on my blog. I had lots of comments and encouragement and my readers wondered if I would keep blogging. I said I was going to keep blogging. I enjoyed that creative outlet too and didn’t want to stop. It was a fun online world that I enjoyed being a part of. Many of my original readers are still with me, I’m happy to say!

My job lasted until the end of that year and I quit after Christmas, at the request of my ex-husband after only 5 months of working. Looking back, I should have kept that job, although it would have done nothing to stop the unbelievable avalanche that would happen 3 years later. It would have helped us a lot, but I deferred to his request and quit. I wrote all about that too on my blog.

And if you are new here and have no idea of the drama of a year I’ve been through, read Life is Not a Magazine Cover for all the details (my divorce is final, by the way).

I had no idea at the time that this blog would be my lifesaver down the road. No idea that 3 years later, my life as I knew it would completely fall apart and crumble to pieces.

BUT…..God in His infinite wisdom, knew!

So, that first year was just for fun, sharing my hobby of decorating and my passion for the home. It was great fun getting to know so many other bloggers out there, but it was nothing like the sheer volume in this home/DIY niche now in 2011. Not even close! 2007 was my first year of sharing and share I did.

I shared my projects at home, along with my yardsale adventures. I found out there were lots of girls out there who were addicted to yardsales too. I wasn’t alone in my penny-pinching ways.

Back then, I remember spending hours and hours learning how to change my background, getting my feet wet with html. And wow, is that a crazy world! Html will drive you insane. I have always been good with computers, so learning new things has come easy for me in that area. I made my very first header all by myself and boy, was it pathetic. I wish I still had it saved, but sadly I don’t.

That first year was a complete learning experience. I saw many new bloggers come on the scene in that first year too and it was a great time of growth and just learning the ropes.

There was SO much to learn and learn I did. I had no idea what I was doing, nor where I was going, but I was having fun. I decided when I quit that job that it might just be time for me to start my own business and pursue the decorating thing that I had always wanted to try.

So, 2008, was the year for that.

I announced on my blog that I was starting my own decorating business with hopes of getting my own clients in person as well as offering online services.

I got my business license and officially became a self-employed business person in early 2008 and shortly after established my business as an LLC. I was on my way to doing something different.

I was traveling a new path and where it would lead, I had no idea.

To be continued……I will write another post later on, continuing my blog journey. No posting schedule on this series, but I will keep writing until I get to the finale to date, which is where I am now. I’m going to share lots of tips and details on blogging along the way too, so hopefully at the end of this series, you will feel like you’ve learned something.

Family Thanksgiving

Rhoda — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 10:00:26 +0000

I get comments when I share my family with y’all, that you enjoy seeing the folks that mean the most to me, so I appreciate that and since this blog is inspirational as well as a way to document my life, sharing family is part of that. Once again, those memories are what we hold on to, year after year. This year was no exception, my extended family gathered in Duluth, GA at my cousin, Brenda’s house for a feast and it was a memorable day as always. There were 22 of us this year.

Brenda’s parents, my aunt and uncle, who we just stayed with in Florida for our family reunion, came up to share in the festivities, along with Brenda’s brother, Dennis and his 2 daughters.

I hope you enjoy seeing how we celebrate Thanksgiving and I know that all of you enjoyed the day as well.

My cousin’s pretty front door.

Dining room sideboard decked out for Fall.

Dessert table. My Aunt Mary made these delish chocolate candies. We got the recipe, so I just might have to share it with all of you too. Loved them!

Check out Brenda’s Fall corn display, I loved this idea too.

We did not lack for sweets.

We did not lack for anything. Squash casserole and pineapple casserole. Our family puts out a spread of food every holiday.

I’ve shared this before, but here it is again:

Pineapple Cheese Casserole

2 sticks butter or margarine

2 large cans chunk pineapple

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup each, sugar and flour, mixed together

Crushed Ritz crackers

Layer 1 can pineapple on bottom of round baking dish. Top with 1 cup cheese, 1/2 of the sugar and flour, 1 stick melted butter. Add another layer of pineapple, sugar and flour and melted butter. Top with crushed crackers. Bake @ 350* until brown, around 1 hour. Eat and enjoy!

Deviled eggs, cranberry congealed salad, potato salad, cream corn.

Greens, beans and gravy.

Mashed potatoes and dressing.

Ham and fried turkey.

Sweet potatoes and dressing.

My plate. Ugggg, I was miserable after eating all of this, but it sure was good.

Table centerpiece.

My cousin, Brenda and her mom, Aunt Mary. These 2 can cook up a storm too.

Lauren and Renee.

Cousins, Hailey, Denise, Layna.

Newlyweds Philip and Lauren

We managed to get a family pic just before we left to go home. So glad we did!

(left to right: BIL Bruce, me, Mom, Dad, Renee, Lauren, Philip)

Brenda’s family lives in a pretty John Wieland neighborhood in Gwinnett County and their house sits up on a bluff overlooking the Chattahoochee River. It was an outstandingly beautiful day, so after lunch we hiked down to the river, down 80-something steps.

It’s so pretty down there.

Cousins hanging out together. Lauren and Philip brought their new puppy, Stickers (a girl). She had fun playing outside in the leaves. We are all crazy about Stickers. Lauren named her that because she has always loved playing with stickers.

Cousins, Layna, Dennis (their dad) Hailey

Philip, Lauren and Stickers, the grandpuppy.

Isn’t she cute? They adopted Stickers in New Orleans about a month ago from a shelter and she is about 6 mos. old. They were told that she is a mix of Chihuahua and Boxer. I know. Think about that one for a minute. Yeah, it’s a crazy thought. But, she’s a really cute puppy. She’s so sweet and cuddly, loves to sit in laps.

She got some exercise playing with sticks.

We had fun playing with her.

And Stickers loves her Aunt Rhodie!

Enjoy your weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Rhoda — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:00:36 +0000

Hi, my friends!

I want to take a moment to say Thank YOU to all of you out there who faithfully stop by and read this blog, from a reader, from email, or just popping in to visit when you can. I’m thankful for YOU!

It truly means the world to me that y’all take time out of your busy lives to spend time with me. I’m honored and grateful for all the friendships I’ve made through blogging and I feel like I have thousands of friends out there across the country and even the world.

I feel extra thankful this year, for all that I’ve been through. Thankful for my family, my sweet friends, and for God’s gracious blessings on my life. I’m so happy to be where I am right now, with my sweet parents, enjoying life with them.

(Lauren and her hubby will be here, along with their new puppy, Stickers. I’m in LOVE with Stickers).

This year, I savor the sweetness of this special holiday and I’m going to enjoy every minute from now until Christmas. Life is precious and I don’t want to rush any of it. Today, I’ll be with my extended family at my cousin Brenda’s house in Duluth. Her family will be there too and we will laugh, eat a lot and love spending time together.

I wish for each of you peace and happiness with your families too. Enjoy this day of Thanks, eat some great food, and be well.

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

Family Reunion in Florida

Rhoda — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:00:39 +0000

There is nothing better in life than family.

It’s not often that my little family, consisting of my parents, my sister, niece, and I can all get together for a trip like we just got to experience. These are rare occasions when we can all be free at the same time. I think the last time we did this was in 2008, when we planned a long weekend trip to visit my dad’s birthplace and where he spent the first 12 years of his life on the coast of Florida, near Wakulla Springs.

What started as a family get together with my mom’s brothers, turned into a full fledged family reunion, once the word spread that there was going to be a fish fry. My mom is the youngest girl in the family of 7 and had 2 older sisters and 4 younger brothers. Her 2 sisters are gone now, so she is the only sister left. I have fond memories growing up of going to the Tampa, Florida area to visit my mom’s extended large family. We have spent many fun days in this part of Florida. One of my mom’s brothers has a nice plot of land with a barn, cows and horses. Every time we visited at my uncle’s house, we had to ride horses and go out to the barn and hang out. There are so many great memories of these growing up experiences and riding horses were such a part of that. Playing in the creek and wandering through the cow pasture were also fond memories for these girls raised near the big city.

So, my whole family, my mom and dad, sister and niece, Lauren who was home for a visit, all of us piled into the car and took a trip to Florida for the weekend and had a wonderful weekend with our large extended family. It was another time of catching up and reliving old memories with all of them.

I’m discovering as I get older that we need to hang onto our family with all we’ve got. I love the family I came from and am so grateful that I’m a part of this wonderful heritage. My mom’s family is a Godly family, rich with pastors and missionaries, built on a solid Christian foundation that I would not trade for the world. Not a perfect family, but a sweet heritage to be a part of.

My sister, niece and I stayed in my aunt and uncle’s travel trailer, which sits in the backyard. It was cozy and a fun time for us girls to be together. I am treasuring these years more than ever now. We do not know how much longer we have with our parents and I’m savoring every minute that is left. Listening to their stories, reliving memories of our childhood and other family reunions that we’ve experienced. Sharing our lives together.

I forgot my big camera at home, so these were taken with a little point and shoot.

So, thanks for indulging me with family stories and fond memories of the heritage I was born into. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

The barn where we all have such fond memories growing up, at my mom’s brother and sister in law’s house. Such fun times spent at this barn. It is nothing fancy, but holds a lot of treasured times.

My uncle has a few orange trees growing in the backyard.

Lauren, my niece and our cousin, Layna, with Layna’s new puppy, Jake. Layna rode us down the road on the golf cart when we got in on the first day.

Layna’s Dad, Dennis, my first cousin, saddled up Layna’s horse, getting ready to take him for a ride. Layna is a wonderful horsewoman and does barrel racing. She has been through some serious health problems in the last year and and half and we are so thankful that she is doing better right now, but she is not able to ride her horses the way she used to. Not yet anyway.

Dennis took her horse out for a ride to give him some exercise.

Dennis knows his way around horses too, since his dad, my uncle has always had horses around. He used to raise and race quarter horses for many years.

One of the things that I always loved and looked forward to seeing here in Florida is the moss hanging on the trees.

There is nothing like it and I still love it to this day.

Down the road from their house is another little ranch with cattle. If any of you have ever heard of Durant, you are probably a native of this part of Florida. That is where my mom grew up. It’s not too far from Plant City, the strawberry capital of Florida.

Layna and Lauren on the golf cart. My uncle still lives on the road where my mother was born and raised. The old house is gone, but not the memories.

We had fun playing with little Jake.

Enjoyed the horses.

Waiting to be fed.

Another one in the stall, they have 3 horses now. At one time, there were many more. We all laughed about the time one of my uncle’s horses, Magic Man, bucked me off. He was a BIG horse and it just about scared me to death!

We stayed in the camper in the backyard and it was fun.

Jake is part hound dog, a barn dog and will have a happy life playing around the horses.

These big birds hang out in the pasture too.

All three horses waiting to be fed.

We had some beautiful weather while we were there and Lauren and I couldn’t resist riding horses. I got a sweet old girl named Rose and she was just my speed. I would have had to beg her to run. She would barely keep up with the other 2. She’s the mama and they are her 2 boys.

Layna came out too and we all three took a few turns around the pasture. It was so fun to be on a horse again.

Lauren, Renee, and Layna, enjoying the beautiful weather.

Our big event was on Saturday. We had around 60 people, a group of family and friends gathered for another of their famous fish fries. Our family has been having fish fries since I was a little girl down here in the area.

Cousin Dennis is frying up the hush puppies.

Uncle Eugene is the expert fisherman and fish fryer. He fishes often and catches tons of Speckled Perch in the lakes in Florida, which he filets and fries up to a golden brown. This is the best fish!

He uses a coating of mostly cornmeal, with a little flour, salt and pepper and they always turn out perfectly.

Of course, they are deep fried. Yummy food, nothing better!

We have been having fish fries in this family for as long as I can remember. Back when my sister and I were girls and all our cousins were small, we were having fish fries here in Florida. Here’s an example of my plate. Grits, baked beans, cole slaw, deviled eggs and plenty of fish and hush puppies. Plenty of dessert too. We did nothing but visit and eat the whole weekend.

I have to give a shout-out to The Strawberry Hut in Plant City. I had their Cuban sandwiches a few years ago and we had to fit in a visit there. They are the BEST Cubans I’ve ever had, so if you are in the area, GO. Also, we had lunch at Fred’s Market one day, also in Plant City. It’s home cooking, all you can eat buffet, you can imagine how we felt when we left there. So, you can see we had no shortage of good food. My family loves to eat!

Here’s a small portion of some of the family members who were there. Aunts, cousins, and their babies too. From the left, my Aunt Evelyn, my mom, Aunt Mary, me, Lauren, Renee, cousins Joy, Carla, Jackie, Jackie & Joy’s mom, Aunt Frances, Jackie’s daughter, Jennifer and Jennifer’s 2 girls. These are all such special people to me and I treasure them all.

We had to take a pic of the older generation, my mom and her brothers. There were 7 and now there are 5. I love my family so much. My mom’s family has 2 preachers and my mom is a preacher’s wife. One of her brothers is blind (2nd from left) and even that didn’t stop him from becoming a missionary for many years to South America. My mom’s brother next to her is also a long time preacher. God has been so faithful to my family and all of their children. It was a special time for all of us to be together again and to be reminded of God’s faithfulness and grace to this entire family.

Godly heritage is a blessing from the Lord and for my Christian foundation, I’m so very grateful. If you have a large family, I hope that you are thankful for them too.

Do you still have family reunions? Do you go and enjoy them? I hope you do!

Weekend in Dalton, GA

Rhoda — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:07:40 +0000

Over the weekend, I had the chance to get together with 5 of my college friends up in North Georgia, Dalton. One of my long time friends, Susan, is from Dalton and invited the rest of us to visit for a long weekend. We had so much fun and it was great to catch up again. We had a larger reunion earlier this summer here in Atlanta and that further opened the door for us to stay in touch again and this mini-reunion was planned.

Susan and I grew up in Georgia and are both preacher’s kids. We met at summer church camp when we were teens, so we go WAY back together.

With 2 married couples and 3 of us single, we managed to pack in plenty of fun and just hanging out together. The girls went shopping one day and then we did a day of all of us browsing in Blue Ridge, GA. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. From a Friday night football game at the local high school, to browsing some shops and lunch out with the girls, it was a memorable time together. I’m so grateful for my long time friends. We haven’t all been in touch over the years, but I think that will change going forward and we will do a better job of staying in touch. Old friends are the kind you can pick right up where you left off, even if it’s been a few years.

Cindy, me, Chris and Susan. We all think Cindy looks like Paula Deen and she says she gets told that ALL the time.

We hit a few spots around Dalton on Friday, Handsel’s is a cute shop to check out, so do that if you are in the area.

Lots of Christmas inspiration already in place at Handsel’s.

See how pretty these ornaments.

Ribbon galore.

Pretty ornaments, I love these!

We hit the Meander shoppe for a look-see at antiques.

Painted furniture.

Cindy is going to be a new grandmother in the spring, so she picked up this little adorable.outfit.

More painted furniture.

Rolling pins.

Vintage suitcase, I always love these.

Mirror browsing.

We stopped in another shop and Susan brought home this “The South” plaque, which is a perfect sentiment for growing up and living in the South. No truer words were said!

Saw some pretty architecture. This beautiful old house is now a dentist office.

This log house is 175 years old! Loved it.

We stopped and had a photo op in the backyard with the girls.

Later that day, it was time for a parade for the high school homecoming game that night. Now, I have to tell you that my friend, Susan, is a middle school teacher and has lived in Dalton all her life. I’ve visited her many times up there and gone to several games over the years. We called her Miss Dalton, because everyone in town knows Susan. I am sure if any of her students are reading this right now, they will agree. The girl gets around and is hilarious to hang out with. Everyone loves Susan! She has been teaching school long enough that now her first students have children in middle school that she is now teaching. That’s pretty funny!

Dalton is like Mayberry, small enough that everyone knows each other. I love that! The homecoming parade was a fun look back at how small town America used to be. High school football is king in Dalton and they have had 52 winning seasons.

It is a big deal to ride in the homecoming parade.

Look how cute they all look.

This is Susan’s hubby, Ron, who is Asst. Principal and Athletic Director at Dalton High School, so everyone knows him too. He’s driving Susan’s pride and joy convertible.

Here we all are at the football game that night. It was chilly in the 30’s, but not bad at all. Of course, they won! It was an exciting time to be there.

The next day, we all took off to Blue Ridge, GA for the afternoon. It was a splendid Fall day of browsing the shops and having lunch out. We couldn’t pass up a photo op like this one at the apple barn.

Fun times!

Lots of apples to choose from.

Being silly at the Harley shop.

This is as close as I’ll get to being a Harley girl.

We ended the day with this beautiful scene, Fall in the mountains is a gorgeous event.

Friends: Susan and her hubby Ron, Chris, Cindy and hubby, LaRell, Mike, Me.

Friends from college are forever in our hearts. Those bonds made during our early years are hard to break and I’m so glad we all have connected again. I don’t think we’ll wait another 30 years to keep the friendships going.

The giveaway winner for the Royal Designs stencil is Judy from Shear Judy! Congrats, Judy, hope you enjoy it!

Before: My Sister’s Bedroom Renovation

Rhoda — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 22:00:40 +0000

This post could actually be titled, “How a small plastic water hose bursting in a powder room can create an avalanche of renovations in one house”.

Or Updating a 90′s bedroom. Take your pick!

Here’s how things went down.

My sister and her hubby, Bruce, were out of the house one Saturday a few weeks ago for the whole day. Little did they know, that as they were off having some fun, a small plastic water hose in their main level bathroom decided to give it up and split, creating a major water leak and flood that flowed all day long. When they returned it was too late to salvage the stuff that had been ruined by sitting in water all day.

On the main level, hardwoods in that bathroom and the nearby den area were completely soaked and buckled. The nearby bedroom, which is Lauren’s room when she comes home, had carpet in there that was soaked. All of that had to be ripped out, as well as some baseboards that were ruined. Are you still with me?

All that water that ran flowed down the walls into the basement below, soaking laminate flooring that had been installed just 6 mos. previously. All of that flooring was ruined and had to be ripped out.

So, the end result was the the main level and basement were completely turned upside down and the insurance company came in with estimates on getting it all repaired and back to normal.

You know what that means, right?

While we are at it, let’s change some things that we’ve always wanted to do. How about we add hardwoods to the master bedroom, which is on the upstairs level? Yeah, since the house is going to be a dusty mess anyway, let’s go ahead and get that carpet out of the master and have site finished hardwoods put down. Since it all has to be sanded down anyway and restained, let’s stain all the wood downstairs and up in the master the same color. She’s always wanted to go darker anyway. And while we are at it, let’s paint the stair railings black. Never liked that blonde wood anyway! The stairs had to be resanded and stained darker too, so might as well go all the way with the reno.

And since Lauren’s bedroom lost the carpet, let’s take the hardwood on in there too! Baseboards had to be removed and some of the drywall was damaged, so that means the room needs to be repainted. So, how about a new paint color in there, as well as getting rid of the dark red that was in the fateful bathroom. Might as well change that paint too, right!!

So, you see where this is going?!

For the insurance settlement, they were able to get most everything done that they wanted to get done. Even those things on their wish list, so why not go for it? How often is a house torn up from top to bottom, from the basement, main level and top floor? Hopefully, never again so they are going to to it all this time around! As you can imagine they have been in a tizzy at their house, even having to take the 2 dogs and move into a hotel for about 5 days while the floors were being finished.

When my sister, Renee, married her husband Bruce almost 12 years ago, she brought in bedding that she already had. She has never changed it out in all these years and so it is time to update and refresh their master bedroom suite. With those new hardwood floors, it was time to go ahead and update it all.

And when I say suite, I mean HUGE suite. Bedroom, sitting room, and master bath. They spend a lot of time in this space and they even installed a gas fireplace to cozy it up for winter months. They watch TV, read, and relax in their room and I have always been envious of how big it is.

Back then, the darker jewel tones were all the rage and these colors were on everyone’s radar. Fast forward to 2011 and these colors are not the height of fashion. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, but after almost 12 years, it’s time for an update. If you still have these colors and love them, well that is fine too. I know I enjoy the lighter and airier look that is more trendy now and my sister is ready for a change too.

Renee’s ready to lighten things up in this space now and you can see how heavy the colors look currently. This space is going to totally change in the next few weeks.

Swags and opulence were definitely more in back then, but she is leaning towards the more simple and elegant instead of fussy.

Here’s the sitting room on the other side of the columns. It’s a spacious area with plenty of room for their TV, her makeup vanity and a couple of chairs for relaxing. Their 2 dogs live here too in their crates. It’s going to look so great with the new hardwoods!

The sitting area has a nice vaulted ceiling so that makes it even more spacious feeling.

So, it’s time for an update and guess who gets to help?!! Yep, I’ll be helping along the way. She has great taste and has already decided on her color palette of creams, beige/taupe, and a little gray/blue thrown into the mix. Everything is getting painted and this sitting area is getting the beadboard wall treatment.

She trusts my opinions and let’s me guide her decisions along the way, so it is fun for both of us. I have a lot of ideas for this space, including a stenciled wall behind the headboard wall.

Ventless fireplace. Their sitting area is so cozy with this in there.

Looking back towards the bathroom. Bruce had shoulder surgery recently and moved my striped recliner up to their room to use (they are keeping some of my furniture for me) and has been liking it, I hear. She is going to recover her 2 wing chairs she already has, one of them you see here, the green one.

She is keeping her pretty cherry dresser and plans to do an upholstered headboard. I’m having a fake plant intervention too. I’ve already told her most all of these will have to go! I got rid of most of my fakes a couple of years ago and haven’t regretted it for a minute. We’ll find something to bring in the warmth of plants, if not real, at least some that are natural and woodsy.

Chest of drawers that is part of her set of furniture. She found these pieces at an antiques store several years ago. They will be lovely with the lighter feel of the linens and paint.

Another view of the bed.

Here’s the master bath. It’s getting a new coat of paint too, Comfort Gray, off the famous Sherwin Williams color strip that is oh, so popular now. Beautiful gray blues on that strip if you are looking for the perfect color. Other colors on there are Sea Salt and Oyster Bay.

Her vanity. They framed out the mirror using my instructions a couple of years ago.

We might paint that bakers rack another color.

She already has a pretty lantern hanging in here.

That valance will be replaced too.

Overview of the bedroom.

So, you can see that a LOT of work is in progress and I can’t wait to show you the end result when we are finished. They are knee-deep in a mess a the moment and had to move to a hotel for a few days. But, I know in the end they are going to love their new space and all the improvements.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the progress so far.

Here’s a peek at the empty room with new hardwoods. That’s the new wall color too. We used the same one I used in the bathroom reno, Sherwin Williams Windsor Greige. Lovely color!

I spied this pretty striped wool rug at a local rug store and she got the manufacturer #’s and color and found it online for over $200 less. It’s SO beautiful and will be the perfect rug accessory on those gorge new floors.

Here are most of the fabrics we are using in here. She found that scrolly print one at a local store and that started the color palette. I went fabric shopping with her and we found some things at our local Fabric and Fringe Warehouse, one of my fave fabric stores near my house. Love them! I’ll tell you more about the process of choosing all the elements for this room and how we put them all together in coming posts.

I’ll show you all the details when we are finished! It’s going to be gorgeous!

Here’s a peek at the stencil I’m using. I got this last year and have been dying to use it. This wall was the perfect wall to accent. I’ll show you all the details in a later post.

Have you ever had a flood or disaster that caused you to do major changes because of it?

How did it turn out?

Thanks for your prayers about my divorce hearing last week. You know, I don’t really enjoy talking about all the mess, but it is a part of my life and since I’ve talked about this whole sordid ordeal, it just seems fitting to share it with my friends. The hearing went as well as could be expected and my divorce should be final in about 30 days. There is nothing in life that could possibly prepare me for seeing a man I once cared about so much be escorted into a courtroom in an orange jumpsuit and shackles. That is not a world (thank God!) I have ever been a part of. I’m not a hard-hearted person and it made me very sad to see someone ruin their life as he has done to himself by making some very bad choices that affected me and so many other people. But, justice will be served in a future trial and I will be better off with all of this behind me. There is nothing I can do to change any of it, but I can keep my focus positive and uplifting and that is where I choose to live my life in the future.

I’ve got plenty of positive things to keep me busy!

Looking and Feeling Our Best & $50 Giveaway

Rhoda — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:00:36 +0000

{Giveaway is Closed}

In spite of the fact that I was a major tom-boy growing up, makeup has been a huge part of my life since I was around 14 years old and began experimenting with those lip glosses and blushers from Woolworth’s. Oh, how exciting it was to pick up those shiny containers of makeup and start using them on my youthful face.

(Thrifty clothes finds from yardsales: Chico’s skirt and Ann Taylor shirt, shoes from TJ Maxx, necklace from yardsale).

I wasn’t officially allowed to wear much makeup until I turned 15 or so and boy, did I have some fun then! I didn’t go overboard with makeup (until those over the top 80′s hit, then I confess I got a wee bit carried away), but I remember how it made me feel to get that color on my face. My eyes glowed and came alive. Mascara made those blonde lashes of mine come to life. Blusher on the cheeks gave me a rosy glow. Oh, how I fell in love with makeup back then.

It’s been a love affair ever since. Without a doubt, makeup is the single biggest transformation a woman can do to make herself feel good. Like she can conquer the world with the right shade of lipstick. Gather courage with artfully applied blush and highlighter.

Evening out skin tones comes first, along with applying coverup under the eyes. Those undereye circles can be ugly you know. Get the face primed with makeup and then you have a face ready to add color. I use eye liner to bring my eyes out front and center, usually a gray or blue/gray or even brown.

I finally came to the conclusion that brown shades on my eyes actually make my blue eyes bluer, so now I alternate between browns and grays. Three shades of eye shadow are always added, with the darkest shade contouring the eyelid to show it off to the max. Mascara is the final touch, making those eyelashes extra long and lush, the better to flirt with you know?! Oh, how adept I became at putting on the makeup and making myself the best that I can be. Not that I’m an expert, I’m not.

Yep, as mentioned above, here’s a funny pic of the girls in my family, circa 1985, Mother/Daughter banquet. Big hair ruled and apparently I thought that more makeup was the bomb back then. Heavy handed any? I definitely took that tight skin for granted. My sister will probably kill me for putting this up, she was still a brunette in those days. Wasn’t that Lauren a cutie-pie back then too? And our sweet mama has always been a pretty lady.

So began my journey with makeup. And it hasn’t stopped to this day. Now, my young and dewy face is a thing of the past and middle-age has arrived (uggh, when did that happen?!).

What’s a girl to do?

Well, for one thing, makeup still covers a multitude of sins. I don’t care how naturally beautiful a woman is, makeup definitely enhances that beauty and not one single woman I know looks better without makeup. Not a one! Have you see Oprah without her makeup? Or any Hollywood celebrity for that matter? Sort of makes me smile when I see a celebrity without her makeup and looking so plain and normal. Yep, they look just like you and me. Makeup helps us all and I’m a huge proponent of cosmetics to make me look and feel better about myself.

Talking about this subject is easy for me. These days, working from home, I often go a couple of days without putting my makeup on, but I can tell you I sure don’t feel pretty without it. And if you saw me, you’d most likely agree! I can totally look like a hagatha some days.

Makeup enhances and just gives me that inner security that I need to get out there and face the world. With my face made up and dressed in some stylish threads, I’m a new woman.

Back in June, I went to a college reunion along with about 100 people who graduated from the college we all went to back in the 70′s. It was a lot of fun. Getting dressed up and feeling good about how I look at this stage in my life was a big part of the experience. We all want to look our best at a high school or college reunion. We still want to feel cute and matter. I did feel good at my reunion and here I am with a couple of my long-time friends from college, Susan and Chris. We all felt good for that matter and yes, we are all wearing makeup. (if you click on that link above to a post about the college, you can see what me and Chris looked like from the yearbook photos that year).

How about you? Don’t you feel SO much better when you have your full arsenal of cosmetics on the face and a cute outfit on? I know you do! Being made up just does something good for a woman.

So, when I was asked to try out the new COVERGIRL LashPerfection™, I was thrilled to accept. Try out new makeup? I don’t need my arm twisted for that. I was sent a new package of Black/Brown and started using it that very day.

I used to be a snob about makeup and only shopped at the department store counters. You know, the pricey stuff. I’m not that particular anymore. I’m just fine with inexpensive mascara, as long as it performs well.

Can I just tell you this?

If you really want to humble yourself, ask your practically flawless now-29 year old niece to take close-up pics of your eyes all made up and try to get a decent one without showing all the sags and wrinkles. She will be happy to oblige, all the while looking at the after pics and your eyes in person, with an equal mix of pity and I’m-so-glad-I’m-still-young smugness on her face.

Love you, Lauren! As much as it seems to be in the way distant future, this aging thing will happen to you too one day.

Cropping helps! This will do nothing for your self-esteem, but I’m keeping it real and showing you anyway. Look you can see my contacts floating up close and personal. I’m blind as a bat without my gas perms.

COVERGIRL LashPerfection™ in Black/Brown performed very well and got my stamp of approval! It went on smooth, didn’t do much clumping (which I hate) and wore very well. I hate when I get a new mascara and the wand is so clumped up with mascara that it’s hard to brush it on without it clumping up my eyelashes. Did that make sense to anyone but me? Clumpy mascara is not my friend. This one did a nice job and I would definitely recommend it.

So, tell me girlfriends…don’t you just feel better when your face is all made up and you have on some stylish clothes?

While we’re on the subject of make-up and looking great, you might want to check out the “Looking Your Best” posts in the Life Well Lived section of BlogHer.com. There are some great application tips and ideas for switching up your look for fall!

I’d love your take on makeup! Do you love it as much as I do for a self-esteem booster?

Great news! I’m giving away a $50 gift card from Drugstore.com!

You can try out some products too!

BlogHer.com Prizes and Promotions page
Sweepstakes Rules.
Covergirl’s Website

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

Leave a comment telling me your favorite beauty product, what ONE product can’t you live without? Not brand name, just item, like lipstick, mascara, etc.
Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post.
Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post.
For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here. Enter between October 4 and November 4th, 2011.

Life is Not A Magazine Cover

Rhoda — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:00:54 +0000

Today is one of those posts that I take a deep breath, click the Publish button and hope for the best.

In the going on 5 years that I’ve been blogging, I’ve shared bits and pieces of my personal life along the way. If you had told me then that I would be a full time blogger in 2011, single again, without a home of my own, and living with my elderly parents, I would not have believed it. That would not even have seemed a possibility to me at the time. You just can’t plan for things like that to happen in life. Sometimes life takes a sharp left turn and you are not prepared for it.

{Two of my treasures, one of which is never too old to sit in her granddaddy’s lap}

This is not going to be a downer post, but one rather that I hope uplifts, gives glory where glory is due and gives all of you out there the shot in the arm that you might need to believe that things can be good. From bad. Faith is the key word here.

As blogging has gotten so popular in the last few years, we are all invited into each others home. Even encouraged to peek in the windows. How many times have you clicked on a blog and looked at the pretty pictures of the home, the homeowner, the homeowner’s beautiful children and cute husband and figured she has it all together? I doubt that is true in real life. None of us totally have it all together.

But the blog world sure can paint a pretty picture. We are what we portray on our blogs to the world. No one truly knows all that goes on behind the scenes of anyone’s life, but our friends and family. Those folks get to see the real us all the time. So, it’s easy to be a little wistful when we see a gorgeous home, beautiful family and think that person is so, so fortunate to be living such a good life. A dreamy life. Those glossy magazine picture perfect pics can be deceiving and no one lives the perfect life.

{Mother’s Day, 2011: my sister, Renee, Mom, Lauren and me}

My life certainly hasn’t been perfect by any means. I have been transparent at times, but I’ll spare you all the gory details of my bad choices, disappointing failures, and marital non-bliss that have been such a part of my life. You know from what I’ve shared this year, that it’s been a heartbreaking one for me on many levels. Life just doesn’t always turn out the way we plan or dream or hope for. That, my friends, is reality.

But, I’m here to tell you that there is a silver lining to the black clouds. There is hope in the midst of a storm. There is a new day and a brighter tomorrow. We all go through trials and pain and sorrow in life. There is no escaping that. The Bible gives us plenty of clues that life just ain’t always a bed of roses. God allows us to walk in the rain and brings storms into our lives, sometimes for months and we can’t always see where that is leading.

What good could possibly come out of all of the bad?

I do not have all the answers, but I’m here to give some of you hope. I’m a middle-aged woman in the midst of a life crisis. It’s not over yet. I’m in the middle of getting a divorce. My soon-to-be (I hope) ex-husband is in jail for good reasons, related to, but none of which have anything to do with the financial devastation he has done to me (for those of you waiting for some scoop, there you go!). Maybe one day I will write that book, you never know. It is certainly an interesting story, one that I am still in disbelief over the fact that it has been a part of my life.

So, life goes on. I am alone again. I have no idea if I’ll ever find (true) love again. Do I hope that there is love for me in the future? Yes, yes I do. If God allows it, my heart would be open to it. In the meantime, I will keep doing what He has allowed me to do and continue on the path He has led me on. I will be patient and wait.

I started my own business about 3 years ago, which grew out of this blog. I love being creative and always dreamed of doing something other than working in the Corporate world and when I started blogging almost 5 years ago, I had no idea that it would turn into my dream job. Working from home. Sharing decorating and design inspiration. Talking about my travels. Sharing my family with all of you. Cooking recipes. Getting to go on fun trips. Doing life. I’m so, so grateful that God allowed it to blossom and bloom into what it is now. I’m so fortunate that He has blessed me so much just since I moved back home with my parents in April. So many new doors have opened and opportunities have come my way. It makes me all teary-eyed to think about it.

Is there anything I’ve done to make this happen? No, not at all. God has done it for me. I’m not getting rich from blogging, by any means. But, he has allowed this to become my source of income. Something that I love to do. Some days, I will tell you that I get sad and a little down, remembering what I used to have. I had a nice house, 2 of them in fact. Now I have neither. I miss having a house that is mine to do with what I want to do. I miss being creative and having fun with that. Being a blogger can just magnify that part too.

But, you know what? That is OK. I have to believe that I will have a house again. So many folks in this country are going through hard times. Many have lost jobs and lost homes. These are tough times. I am not alone. I’m learning to appreciate the small things in life and be content in my circumstances. Peace and contentment cannot be purchased. They are priceless. I may never have the financial security I thought I once had again. That is up to the Lord too.

I have to remind myself daily that I’ve got SO much to be thankful for and believe me, I AM thankful. God has allowed me to still have my parents at my age. They could easily have been gone already, but they are here for me. They love me unconditionally and give me the emotional support I need all the time, as do my whole family and my wonderful friends. I am grateful for all of them!

So, if you are going through a hard time, let me just remind you, that God is still there. He cares. Ask Him to help you and He will. He might not do it the way you expect, but He will always, always take care of his children. I’m a testimony to that. I have no idea what my future holds. This whole blogging thing just might blow up and we all may be on the street and if it does, that is OK too. I know that He will take care of me.

Let me just take this opportunity to once again thank all of YOU out there who faithfully come to visit me. Each and every day. Many of you just lurk and never leave comments and that is OK too. I know you are out there and I’m grateful that you take a little bit of your precious time each day to spend with me. I don’t take that for granted.

If you have always dreamed of doing something from home (or not from home) and never had the chance, I want to encourage you to give it a try. You never know if you don’t try. I started my business with the hopes of having a full fledged decorating business and it has turned out not so much about that as being able to write and share about decorating through this blog. I would love to develop that side of my business more and maybe it will come with time. In the meantime, I continue to do what I’m doing and as long as it is blessed, I will stay on this road. I consider this blog my ministry of sorts too.

Don’t give up! If you have dreams that have never been fulfilled, don’t give up. It’s not too late. If I can reinvent myself in my mid-50′s, you can certainly do it too. Follow your heart. Follow your dreams and do what you are passionate about and I truly believe you will find a way to be successful at it.

So, that’s it! That’s my pep talk for today. I hope my being vulnerable will help someone else realize that you, too have much to offer and a God-given talent that you can use as well, to fulfill those long ago dreams that you might have been putting off. Waiting for another day.

As the old Nike tag line says, Just Do It!

What are you dreaming of? Please tell me, I want to know.Is there something you’ve wanted to try and haven’t because of fear or uncertainty?

{I’ve been camping out in the old Streams in the Desert devotional this year and there are some great nuggets in there. Psalms 138:8 The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; your mercy oh Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of your hands}.