Has it been that long...

Hello,

Is there anyone out there still listening??  I have been playing catch up since my life has had some drastic changes in the past year, to say the least.  I'm happy to report all GOOD changes!!

Last April I had my first date with the man of my dreams.  I didn't know that at the time, however, I can assure you now, he is beyond a shadow of a doubt the man I should have married 28 years ago!  Instead, I married him on New Years Eve 2010.  We were pronounced husband and wife on 1-1-11.

His name is David and he is the most amazing, wonderful, kind and loving man! He truly treats me like a princess!  I say this on the day a true princess was crowned when kate married William. And yes, I awoke at 4:30 a.m. to watch the festivities.

The only downside to our recent marriage is David lives 2 1/2 hours north of where I currently own a home and work.  I have been actively looking for a job to be with him all week versus just the weekends.  He lives in northern Michigan and for any of you who are familiar with northern Michigan you can understand why I travel north to see him each weekend.  It is so beautiful up there and we have a view of Traverse Bay which is truly spectacular! We hope to have the logistics taken care of soon, and I will be a permanent residence of his home!

I have included a few photos of the past year, thanks for checking in and I hope to post more often!

We have a professional photographer friend! 

We couldn't be happier! 

Happy to have both of my amazing children home and together! 

Survived a brutal winter! 

It was beautiful though...as will our life be together! 

It's a Wonderful Life!

Hello,

It's has been months since I last posted and so many wonderful things have happened in my life, namely a new love interest!

I have met the most amazing, wonderful, kind, compassionate, thoughtful and sincere man EVER!  His name is David.  We currently have a long distance relationship of approximately a two hour commute.  We see each other primarily on the weekends, however, his job enables him to work remotely from my home as scheduling permits.

I have included a few pictures of him and some events of the great times we've been sharing both together and apart.

I also hit the BIG 50 in May!!  I must say having such a wonderful man in my life made the reality much easier to accept! ;-)

Happy summer Everyone and I'll attempt to post more regularly!

Tammi

 February was enjoyed by a visit from my daughter and a trip to Frankenmuth for the Ice Festival!

 A business trip to Chicago...I couldn't resist the Chicago style hot dog from Portillos!

 So good but soooooo bad!

During spring break, my son I headed to Raleigh to visit my daughter/sister during the Duke/MSU basketball playoffs!  Who do we root for??  We cheered for both!

Parties for friends turning 50! 

A Jimmy Buffet concert in Indianapolis was loved by a sea of people!!

 Yup! I turned 50!!!!!  Yikes, that makes me a 1/2 century old! 

But this guy makes it all OK!!

Fun in the Sun in Northern Michigan!

Good times with my daughter while visiting in May!

Coffee in the morning by the water with my Mr. Wonderful!
Ahhh, life is good!

This was the view...

More friends turning 50!

Beautiful Sunsets...

...and Sailboat Races

Weekend of Weddings! Wedding #1...

With Mr. Wonderful of course!

Wedding #2...

Poor guy he endured the torture of two weddings in two days and barely knew anyone!
He was a great sport about it all and participated with a great attitude and a smile!

And...he was my biggest cheerleader during our 5K race the morning of the second wedding. 
I took third in my age division, but only because of his encouragement!! 

Life is good, I am blessed!

Pink Christmas Cactus

Happy Pink Saturday Everyone and Happy New Year!

First off I would like to thank Beverly from How Sweet the Sound for hosting Pink Saturday each week. Click on the Image in the right sidebar to visit her site.  I have been away from blogging for a while.  I'm so happy to be back!  You can catch up on my life while I was away in the So Many Updates post below.

Today I am blogging about my beloved Christmas cactus.  I have been trying to get this poor thing to bloom for 6 years.  I have re-potted it, put it in a dark place for several months, watered it and lovingly cared for it.  It just wouldn't bloom.  It has flourished in size but just no blooms...until now!

I think I have finally solved the problem, the location!  I moved into my current house just over a year ago and found a nice window with indirect sunlight.  I was told it should be in a southern facing window but this one faces the north.  I suspected I would be bloom doomed again this year, but low and behold I have these beautiful pink flowers!  I'm so excited!  I have more buds appearing daily, a little after Christmas but that's okay with me!  It's BLOOMING!!

Enjoy your day and stay warm if you're in the northern climates like I am.  A foot of snow and temperatures in the teens...I want to live somewhere warmer than this!  Hopefully soon!

Hugs,

Tammi

It's a Birthday Party!

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to share with you that Sue from CollectinTexas Gal is having a Birthday Party and of course there is a give-a-way.  Click her Birthday Party invitation on the right and sign-up today!

Have fun and good luck!

Tammi

So Many Updates!

Hello everyone...it has been months since I last posted and so much has happened in my life, some pretty ordinary, some fun and some very sad.

The photo above is from one of the highlights over the past few months.  My daughter Elizabeth, lovingly referred to as Betsie (she hates that name) came home for a visit in late October.  She currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina; I have been searching for months to find a job there to be closer to her and to get out of the miserable Michigan cold weather!

I mentioned some bad...well, while Betsie was home, I was sooooo sick.  My "unofficial" diagnosis was the swine flu.  I missed 6 consecutive work days which has never happened before!  I had body aches, a temperature, sore throat and major lung and head congestion.  It was awful!!  The doctor diagnosed me with a variation of a strep infection and prescribed antibiotics.  One week later,  I left for San Diego.

This photo is from our recent trip to San Diego, my first ever trip to southern California.  What a breathtakingly beautiful place!  I would love to live there.  This was our view from the patio of the quaint restaurant where we had breakfast on the last morning of our visit.  What a great place to recuperate from the flu!

 

Let the holidays begin!  Dinner for two on Thanksgiving.  We had a nice time, but I missed my kids and the family togetherness!

Christmas decorating...my favorite time of the year! 

A very  very sad day for me was December 17, 2009, the day I said goodbye to my sweet boy Toby.  He suffered through liver cancer for weeks and I held him for hours on his last night on earth.  I love you Toby and your memory will live in my heart forever!

Cookies for the neighbors!  I put my baking skills to the test, they were enjoyed by one and all (including me, hehe)!

Christmas with the family (my son and me) at my sister's beautiful home, minus my daughter.  She stayed in Raleigh working both Christmas eve and Christmas day; we missed her!

The week between Christmas and New Year's was spent in Raleigh with my daughter!  We had a great time and enjoyed a lot of Mother/Daughter bonding.  In addition, I got to meet the new man in her life!  What a great guy, she seems truly happy!

Now it's back to work and surviving the winter doldrums...did I mention I hate the COLD Michigan winters??? 

I promise, I'll be back soon!

My First EVER Award!!

I am so incredibly flattered!  Sue  -Collectin in Texas Gal left the nicest comment about my recent post and...she gave me an AWARD!  Needless to say I'm thrilled.  Thank you so much!! Please visit her incredible blog!  You can find her here.

 

In Turn, I get to pass this award on to 10 other deserving bloggers!  These are just a few of my favorite blogs.  Please visit them and see what inspiring things they have to say about life, love and home! Enjoy!

Coralie @ Vintage Cottage Home

Tami @ Cottage Style Pinkbuttercreme 

Caroline @ Forever Vintage

Dolly @ From My Cherry Heart

Kim @ Happy @ Home

Stefanie @ Rose Petals and Rust

Cass @ That Old House

Sandy @ The Shabby Cottage

Lynn @ The Vintage Nest

Sandi @ Wayside Treasures

To accept this award: 1) Show the Image of the Award and State the Rules.

2) Post the Link of the Person who gave you this Award.

3) Display 10 Blogs in which you grant the Award.

4) Advise the Blogs Listed.

Better Late Than Never

You know how the saying goes...well, I FINALLY decorated my mantel for fall.  It takes a visit from friends to force me to find the items and make it happen and that is exactly the reason it's done now.  I am hosting our first ever Bunko night tomorrow evening so I spent the weekend with my dear friend Ann searching high and low for the items that complimented my decor'.  This is my first actual fall in my house, last year I was moving in at this time, so needless to say, decorating wasn't a priority.

In this house, I didn't want the expected fall oranges, reds, etc.  I wanted something a little lighter and decorations that would blend better with room colors, etc.; I think I found the perfect mix!  I spray painted the grapevine an off-white, added white lights and the remaining decorations are artificial items I found over the weekend.  I'm so happy with the end result.  This will take me through Thanksgiving and then it's on to the Christmas decorations! What do you think? 

Peace to all of you!

Pink Saturday

 Happy Pink Saturday Everyone!

For all the new Pink Saturday visitors, this wonderful event is hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.  You can visit her blog here, I promise it's well worth the click!


Today I put together a collage of photos I took of my teacup collection.  To me this collection speaks pure love.  It was given to me after my Mom passed away several years ago.  She collected these teacups for many years.  My favorites are displayed in the shadow box you see in the photo.  I included individual photos of most of those that have pink in them!


My wishes to all of you for a wonderful day and a relaxing weekend!

Pink Saturday!

Hello Everyone,

Here is my second PS post.  Sorry about the blurriness of these photos.  I have to work on my camera settings.  I quickly shot these this morning before I left for work and I didn't realize until I got there how poor the quality is.

This is a collection (that I never intended to start) of vintage pottery vases and planters. I found the first two at a garage sale last summer and from then on I was hooked.  They were the perfect compliment to the book shelves in my family room. I have no idea which (if any) are considered to have any value in the world of collectibles.  They were all under $30, and really their value doesn't matter, because I love the way they look! I will do my best to stop my collecting obsession...ummm, no guarantees!

I'm off to a local antique festival, the last for the season, and I WON'T look at vintage pottery.  No my fingers aren't crossed, really they're not!! hehehe ;-)

Have a great day and blessings to all!

Pink Saturday Rookie!

Hi Everyone,

This is my first ever Pink Saturday post! Beverly from How Sweet the Sound hosts this wonderful event each week. I've been following the posts for some time and finally got in ahead of the deadline (I remembered)!

I have many, many pink treasures to contribute in the coming weeks, but this week I decided to add a final glimpse of summer from a photo I took last month of my bucket of pink petunias.

Bask in the memories of the warm sunshine, the chirping birds, the laughter of neighborhood children, the warm breeze gently blowing the curtains, the aroma of freshly cut grass, leisurely evening walks, the smell of a BBQ wafting from a neighbors yard, a glass of wine on the patio, the sound of crickets in the still night, fireflies blinking so sweetly and...

Goodbye summer, you will be missed.

Before & Afters

I'm finally posting the before and after photos of some of the projects I have completed this summer. Earlier in the summer my neighbors had an estate sale. Their Mother had passed away in November and they had a LOT of stuff to unload. The family had lived in the house for over 50 years. I purchased a few treasures, one of which is this dressing table.

This is how it looked after a good scrubbing! It was painted to look "antiqued" over a dark wood veneer. It was very dingy and dirty looking! The pictures don't do its poor appearance justice.

After the first coat of paint. It took two more coats!

The finished product, complete with new crystal knobs, I love the wooden wheels. The drawers are really really hard to open, I even bought wax to run along the edges but their still tough to open. Any ideas? I think I may need to do a little sanding.

I now have the perfect place for the old dresser set I purchased in Raleigh last spring while visiting my daughter. We love to junk around together! I really miss her! :-(

The next project was painting the porch...ummm, do you think it needed it???

A couple of closeups of how bad it really was!

I didn't want a midnight black, I wanted more of a charcoal color. Do you think I could get it right the first time? Of course not...it took one coat of the dark grey that had a bluish tint. I thought for certain it would dry darker, um NO, it still looked blue! I took the paint back and asked the paint person if she could darken it. I told her about my blue concern, she said "hmmm I don't know why it's showing blue" she read off the colors and in no way did any of them seem BLUE. After a couple attempts we got it darkened up and I must say I'm about 90% happy with the finished product...maybe just a little darker/blacker would have been nice, but I'm not going to add a third coat (not this year anyway)! ;-)















These photos look much lighter than it really is...I think another coat next year may be on the agenda!