SOMETHING NEW FOR THE SCREENED PORCH...AND AN EPISODE OF HOARDERS...

So as you all know, we have been working on the screened porch since about the first of May.  It was a complete and total rebuild and it really didn't take us that long...well, except for the decor part of it...in my world that part takes time as I have to wait to do things as time and money allows. I think that's pretty much true of all of us. Right?

Anyway, I set my mind to having the porch done by the end of summer.  A very tall order for sure and one I didn't think I would be able to fill as summer is a VERY busy time for us.  However, I have tirelessly plugged away at getting my little porch decorated and with the exception of one thing, I'm DONE!  Whoot, Whoot!!! I found one more piece to the puzzle over the weekend.  Can you see it?...

Here take a closer look...

I got a brand new, bright, shiny, pretty lamp!  You like?

Now I will say that there was nothing wrong with the old lamp that I have had for a thousand years...

I just wanted something that went a little better with my current decor on the porch.

I had been looking at different places for just the right one and found several that I liked but they were WAY too expensive.  Not only that, most places are selling the base separately from the shade nowadays. I HATE that.  It's like paying double for one lamp.  OUCH!!  Anyway, I found this one at Ross and I paid one price for the whole lamp. Base, shade, everything, and got it for less than what I would have spent on just a base somewhere else. A good deal I think.

Speaking of lamps, when you see these next few pictures you are going to wonder why in the world this chic would need a new lamp...hehehe...but I digress...

The hubs told me that he was okay with me buying a new lamp for the porch, since all the money would be coming from my bonus money from work, but I would have to agree to let go of a few that I don't use anymore. Oh, it KILLS me, but I agreed. So we are having a HUGE yard sale this weekend.

I have been hoarding home decor for a LONG time. Well, not really hoarding....

Okay, hoarding!!...Yeah, and there are more lamps there than meet the eye. There are two hidden in the boxes and one large one without a shade behind the three you can see here...there are even more in the basement...do you think I have a problem?  Hehe.  With all defense, I have had most of my lamps for well over ten years so it's not like I go out and buy lamps every other day.  So there, hubs!!

Nevertheless, this house really does need a good purging!!! My storage areas are bursting at the seems, but I just can't help it.  I pay good money for things and I just hate to get rid of them when my style or tastes change. Besides, I like that I have a stash for when I want to change things out here and there but alas I have TOO much stuff...

All of this is not even the tip of the iceberg!

We have at least this much more stuff in the basement ready to go out on the lawn tomorrow morning. I have rugs, furniture and a few other lamps to boot. We are also clearing out the garage...which is mainly the hubs' hoarding grounds...though I have tried taking it over too. I have an antique french bed frame and a few other things out there. Oops!!...AND, there is stuff in other places that we will be going through tonight.

Oh my Lord! Please don't call the hoard busters on me, mmmkay!!

You know truthfully I can't even believe our little house could hold that much stuff without it being noticed by the naked eye.  Good house!! However, this purging is really starting to make me feel so much better...like I can breath again...like the house can breath again.  AHHH!!

Yes, these hoarders are selling it all and the prices are going to be EXTREMELY low so if you are in the area (and in the market for a new lamp) be sure to stop by.  I will make you a great deal!!!

CHECK OUT MY NEW "OUR HOME" PAGE...

Hello, happy day before the weekend to you.  Hope your week has been good!

I want to come clean and be completely honest with you all today...I have been somewhat embarrassed about the sad state of this here blog for a while.  For the most part it's a good blog and I think it's easy to navigate and read but there have been a few things undone for quite a while.  One of those things is my "OUR HOME" page.  It's been "under construction" since day one!! Not a good thing as I have had several thousand viewers wanting to actually "see" our home...our entire home. Truth is I haven't been completely comfortable showing our entire home.  There are just so many things that still need to be done.  Not one room is even remotely close to being finished and in all honesty, I have feared the critics! There I said it!  But I have good news...I finally feel the house is at a place where it can be seen...IN PUBLIC...without the possibility of being judged too harshly; and so, I have finally taken the OUR HOME page out of the construction zone and compiled a group of pictures (from different posts) that give you the general idea of what each room in our home looks like today.  Sort of a full home tour if you will.  YAY!!  So if you are just dying to see...actually really see...all the rooms in my house in one place...click on the picture below or click on the OUR HOME tab at the top of the page to take the tour.

I hope you enjoy!

All comments, thoughts, ideas and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism are welcome so don't be afraid to let me know what you think...I mean that, I sincerely mean that!! I only ask that if you really are a critic,...(I share the words and wisdom of my mother with you)..."if you don't have anything NICE to say, don't say anything at all!!  THANKS!!!

Oh and, I hope to be back tomorrow to share a little something I got for the screened porch.  See you then...

VACATION 2015...WHERE WE STAYED, WHAT WE ATE (IT WAS PINTERESTING) & MORE...

Okay so this is the last post about vacation this year.  Bet you're glad to hear that...haha...but I didn't want to finish this segment without giving you all the details about where we stayed...you know, in case you are planning a little vacation of your own to Mark Twain Lake.

Anyway, we stayed at Cannon Dam Cabins in Perry, Missouri.  A REALLY nice place and pretty inexpensive.  I mean you get a whole cabin with a nice large bathroom, kitchenette, master bedroom with more beds in the living area, for about as much, or maybe even a little less, than what you would pay to stay in a motel....$65.00 per night, and if you rent the cabin for a full week, you get the last night FREE!  Great deal!!!

Funny story...we stayed there all week and I had planned to take a lot of pictures of our cute little cabin and campsite but...I FORGOT!  Yes, the camera toting traveler forgot to take ANY pictures of our slice of paradise and didn't even realize it until we were halfway home. Soooo, I have no pictures of the cabin to share with you today...well, none of my own pictures that is...I stalked their website and found a few to share because internet pirating is my expertise....Hehehehe

The one with the arrow over it is the one we stayed in, #28. As you can see we were close to the playground area.  We also were only a few more feet away from an indoor pool house.  Each cabin has their own little picnic area with picnic table, firepit and BBQ grill.

Here is an aerial view of the campground just so you can see everything available...

Though the cabins look small they are actually pretty spacious...

I was pretty impressed by the size of the bathroom. There was plenty of room to shower and get dressed without feeling cramped.  Plus it was super clean and modern.

In the main living area there is a queen bed and set of bunk beds and through the door on your left is a bedroom with another queen size bed. You could easily fit 6-7 people in the single family size cabin comfortably.

The kitchenette is equipped with pretty much everything you need as far as dishes, utensils and cookware...short of a sharp cutting knife and a potholder, it was a nice space and easy to work in. The only real difficulty I had in working in the kitchen is that the refrigerator door opens the wrong way. Other than that, I loved our little kitchen.

Speaking of using this kitchen, we made a lot of good food here. We tried several of our Pinterest recipes and for the most part they turned out DELICIOUS.  I had a few favorites. One of them was the Cornbread Waffles with Chili...YUMMM!

Another was Omelets in a bag...

These were genius.  So easy, tasty and no clean up!!

A few tips on these two meals though...Make sure you use good quality ziploc bags for the omelets because they do go into boiling water.  Cheap bags will melt.  I used quart size freezer bags and they did great!

Also, the cornbread waffles were the bomb.  The recipe however had a little glitch and I had to add a little plain cornmeal (which luckily I had on hand) because the batter was a little too thin.  This is why it was too thin...

These are both Jiffy Mix boxes and both the same size box. However, one must have fewer ounces of the baking mix in it or something. Notice the discrepancies in the recipe? The one box says the recipe makes 3 7" waffles and the other says it makes 2 7" waffles.  One calls for 3/4 cup milk and the other calls for 1/2 cup milk? Yeah, I didn't realize this until after I used 3/4 cup for each box and my batter turned out too thin.  I give you this information just in case you try this recipe for yourself and use more than one box of mix.  READ THE LABELS CAREFULLY!!!  Hehe.

One of the coolest Pinterest foods we made was this fabulous Tin Can Campfire Bread...(oh all the pictures of the food are mine...so you can actually see how it all turned out!!)

I saved and washed out some tin cans from other meals and used them to make this quick and easy bread...

I cooked mine in the oven because we didn't have a campfire going that night. They turned out great and though I didn't have enough time to let it rise all the way, it was still tasty and everyone loved it.

One of our other favorite meals was the Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes. They were yummy too but...uh oh...I didn't get a picture of those. Sorry!

My least favorite Pinterest food this week was the Grilled Banana Boats...

I discovered that I DO NOT LIKE cooked bananas....YUCK!!!!  Everything else in them was delicious but the banana was HORRIBLE!!  Not even kidding!!! Gagging just thinking about it. That's not to say that you wouldn't like them...the hubs and kids did.

Now since this is actually a DIY and HOME DECOR blog that is supposed to be all about HOMES and HOUSES and NOT vacation, I saved this picture for last...

In an area where there are mainly small cabins and cottages, this house (castle) seemed really out of place but it was so GORGEOUS I couldn't resist taking a picture of it to share with you

I bet the homeowners (if they were there) considered calling the police after we passed the house not once but circled back to pass it twice, then circled back again to stop in front of it to take a picture...and, since that picture wasn't good enough...because I was leaning halfway out the car window in a contorted fashion and nearly breaking my neck...we then backed up and pulled into the driveway to snap another before pulling off at a high rate of speed... Do you think they thought we were stalkers?

The things we bloggers do to get the picture...hahaha...

Anyway, we had a really good, COMFORTABLE week staying at Cannon Dam Cabins, enjoyed all the day trips and adventures...that you can read all about HERE and HERE, and ate really well to boot...(so well in fact that I had to put myself on a little diet when we got home).

What did you do for your vacation this year?  I would love to hear all about it.

TWO COVERED BRIDGES, A LONG WINDING TRAIL AND A LITTLE RANDOMNESS...VACATION PART 2!!!

Howdy!  How's y'alls week been going?  Mine? good! Though I wish vacation didn't have to end I'm kinda glad to be back at work and that life is back in full swing. Can't wait for church tonight.  I have missed it!

Speaking of vacation, I have just a few more things to share with you today from our week trip to Mark Twain Lake in Perry, Missouri...well, it's really things to share from the surrounding area since we weren't able to do much on the lake. You can read about Part 1 of our vacation HERE...

Anyway, not far from the lake are two of Missouri's remaining four covered bridges.  As you know I have made it my summer mission to visit all four of them.  I have now seen three.  YAY!!! We visited Sandy Creek covered bridge a few months ago and you can read all about it HERE.  This past week we visited Union covered bridge near Paris, Missouri....

and Locust Creek covered bridge in Brookfield, Missouri.

 This bridge was a 1/4 trek through muddy, dense rain foresty type woods. The hubs led the way...

You can't see it very well in this picture, but the roof of this bridge is caving in...so sad!

I have to say that both of these bridges were somewhat of a disappointment.  Not because they weren't great (or beautiful) bridges...and I LOVED every minute of it...but because they were both in dire need of repair. Written to say, I was too SCEEEERED to walk across either of them...hehehe, and there was a lack of recreation/picnicking areas around them...well, all except for the ONE picnic table located in the parking lot 1/4 mile from Locust Creek covered bridge, there was no place to sit, relax and just enjoy their beauty...

Not quite what I consider recreation.

It seems that even the State, the entity who set out to esteem, revere and preserve these lovely bridges, has forgotten they exist or just don't care to maintain them the way they deserve.  So sad really!  I think I am going to write the State of Missouri and inquire about getting these treasures fixed up. I hope they will listen. With all that said, I am looking forward to seeing the fourth and final bridge located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri in the fall, whether it's in good shape or not! Of course, as always, you know I will share it with you here.


Located a few miles from Locust Creek covered bridge is Pershing State Park. There were plenty of places to sit and relax there but what we really enjoyed was the 1 1/2 mile trek into the wetlands of Missouri along this very cool bridge...

and long and winding boardwalk trail...

We didn't really see any wildlife, which I'm kinda glad about since it was just me and the kiddos on this lost in the woods kind of adventure...but it was a beautiful (and LONG) walk nonetheless.

Whew! Glad to be back to the parking lot!!!

While in the area we also discovered a very beautiful conservation lake...Long Branch Lake and State Park...which had not suffered the flooding, muddiness and debris Mark Twain Lake had, so we took advantage of a little day trip there as well.

We arrived early in the morning and enjoyed swimming and boating before anyone else arrived. The bubs and I swam while hubs and sis went fishing. It was a fabulous day!

While there, the bubs and I tried a little Pinterest inspired photo op when the sun was straight overhead...

Not sure ours looks quite as good as Pinterests but not a complete fail...hehehe.

While there we toured the prairie lands at the State Park area where we did see some wildlife...in the form of BUNNIES...

LOTS of bunnies!!!

Awwww, so cute!

Well, I was going to try to finish up with sharing our vacationing escapades today but there's just way too much left to share and this post is getting WAY too long so I guess I will just have to do another post later this week. SOOO, with that said, I hope I haven't bored you to tears and you come back...hahaha!

Have a fabulous day, friend!