A couple of makeovers

Summer is here... yay!  We are just that much closer to my very favorite time of all... FALL!  YAY!  Hehe...

Just a quick post to show a couple of makeovers that I've been working on lately.

I've been wanting some glass containers for tea bags and kool-aid packets.  Found these at an antique mall for regularly $9 for both.  They were on sale for $4.50 for both so I grabbed them up!

I sanded the lids down a bit and painted them with a barn red acrylic paint.  Then I topped it with a couple coats of black.  When it was dry, I used ebony Bri-Wax to finish it off.  One of my favorite features about using the Bri-Wax with steel wool is that it automatically sands the piece for you.  So I sanded, antiqued, and sealed it all in one step!  Gotta love that!

Perfect!  Just what I wanted...

Another little project I finished...

I didn't get a before picture of my unfinished, hand-carved wooden bowl I brought home from Mexico last year but here it is in a picture with some other goodies that came home with me.

It was very porous so I sealed it with a spray sealer.  I use and love Rust-oleum's American Accents clear top coat in matte.  It's $4.99 at Hobby Lobby but I always wait for the 40% off coupon they have every other week and it's a little bit nicer price.

All I did was paint this with black acrylic paint because I wanted the wood and not a color to show through.  Again, finished it off the ebony Bri-wax and steel wool to sand, antique, and seal it.

Not only do I love the way this turned out... but I really LOVE the way it looks with Sarah from All Roads Lead Home's fantastic salt dough bowl fillers!

Isn't that a lovely display?  Let me tell you, it looks wonderful in my patriotic living room!  Go visit Sarah at All Roads Lead Home and see the rest of her fabulous salt dough bowl fillers... much talent that girl has!

Thanks for stopping in to see what I've been up to.  I delight in your visits and comments!  

Have a wonderfully beautiful and blessed week my friends~

Birthday Blessings

What a precious Birthday week I've had!

Started the weekend off at the Tulsa Flea Market setting up booth space with my friend Nancy.  We always have such a good time!  Her daughter Marie joined us this Saturday and we really enjoyed her company.  Marie bought some flowers from the fresh flower vendor and the sweet vendor gave her some FREE flowers!  So Marie found another vendor selling this awesome gallon mason jar for 5 bucks!  She added water to the jar, stuck the flowers in, and gave it to me to take home.  Sweet, sweet!

Sunday was Father's Day.  We invited MIL over for a hamburger cookout and swim.  She surprised us with a trip to the store... not only furnishing our whole meal, drinks, and dessert but also bought my favorites... strawberries!

Monday being my actual Birthday came and went with little fanfare.  Oh, I had the usual spoiling of not having to cook, clean, or take care of any kids... they took care of me.  I also was allowed to do whatever I wanted all day long, hehe.  I love my family.  It was a day spent

•  shopping with a friend
• a little decorating in my home
• strawberries and ice cream
• spending time with family
• ending the evening with scrapbooking

Wednesday was a special surprise!  Amariah and I were swimming before lunch.  She said we should get out and get dressed.  I didn't understand why... she couldn't give me a logical reason, keeping the surprise under wraps.  She got out so I decided to do some yard work in the back, wearing only my swim suit.  I was back there raking away and I hear someone hollering at me.  I turned around and there was one of my sisters, a niece and her 3 boys, and mom all the way from Missouri, about a 3.5 hour trip for them to my house!  We laughed all day long about the super surprised look on my face, me trying to hide behind a tree so I didn't blind them with my whiteness until my son rescued me, bringing me a towel, hahaha!

We left her 3 boys and my 2 boys at the house with sweet hubby =] while we went shopping!  We started out with lunch at The Pecan Porch.  A wonderful tea room with the best tortilla soup I have ever tasted.  We sat outside under the trees and enjoyed the nice, quiet country view.

After a delicious, filling lunch we set out to go shopping.  Boy, my niece can S-H-O-P!  We didn't even touch the mall.  We hit:  Garden Ridge, Burlington Coat Factory, Ross dress for less, Old Navy, Academy, SuperTarget, Kohl's, Seasonal Concepts, Gordman's, Hobby Lobby, $1 Jewelry Galore (for Amariah), Kirkland's... that I can remember.  I know I am leaving some out but goodness, she wore me out, lol!  In between all that, we tried out Kupcakz and gave it a 5 thumbs down.  Sadly all cupcakes went in the trash without being fully consumed.  But that's okay... cause we ended our full day of shopping at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner!  Yummy!!  We headed home after dinner.  After a little visiting with all the boys, they loaded up the car and headed back to Missouri.  How very blessed I am that my family cares enough about My Special Day to leave their homes at 7:30 in the morning and make it back at 1:30 the following morning!

Thursday evening was spent rocking the night away with two of my favorite bands along with many friends that came out to support them...  My husband, Rich's Christian Rock band Sending 68 and the national Christian Rock band Disciple.

A perfect way to end my Birthday week... a free night's stay at the Doubletree hotel in downtown Tulsa, a gift certificate my husband won this past year.  MIL came over to the house to spend the night with the kids while Rich and I headed out for an early dinner at Santa Fe Cattle Co, our favorite restaurant.  He insisted we hit Target for some snacks, then one more stop... to the AT & T store to get me a new iPhone!!  I was so shocked and surprised!  My iPhone had been dropped one too many times by my little guy and my home button no longer worked.  Every time I wanted to check out another app, use the phone, send a text... I had to shut down my phone and power it back up.  It was a booger to maneuver.  What a sweetie to buy me a new one!  We headed to the hotel, got the new phone up and running and just relaxed the night away.  It was so quiet without 3 kids running around.  So relaxing not having to take care of or clean up after 3 kids.  A perfect ending to a perfect week!

I am grateful to be surrounded by family and friends that love me enough to desire for me to have a very special Birthday week!

A week full of blessings and Birthday goodness~

One year ago...

This post is a week behind, for I wanted to post on the exact date but it didn't work out that way.  Such is life.

One year ago on June 17, I quit my job of 19 years.  I started working at Hobby Lobby in Springfield, MO in Oct. '91.  It had been a most enjoyable job.  Thus... the longevity.  I always enjoyed all the people I worked with and believe it or not, I always had terrific bosses.

In '94, I started traveling around with Hobby Lobby's "set-up crew".  We remodeled stores and set up new stores.  This was most definitely the highlight of my career... as much as Hobby Lobby can be called a "career".  I was living in Missouri at the time and Muskogee, Oklahoma was the first store outside of my state to remodel.  The second store was in Tulsa, OK.  I immediately fell in love with the people and the town.  I worked in Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, and Mississippi but I always found myself coming back to Tulsa to visit.  That's how I ended up in Oklahoma after living in Missouri for the first 25 years of my life.  Such an exciting life, huh?  Lol!

I had felt for a couple of years that I should quit but then we bought a house so I kept working.  A few years later, I had that feeling again.  Every time my husband and I would talk about it and pray about it, it just never felt right, I never felt the release.  Plus... I didn't want to quit!  I absolutely loved my job!  That doesn't happen very often.

Then I knew the time had come.  I was fighting it hard.  I wasn't ready to quit.  But I could tell by a few things that happened within my family that I wasn't available for, that things had to change.  Still... I fought it.  Now I can look back and realize I was only fighting God.  At the time, I thought I was just fighting myself.  

I had a really, really bad week at work which was very unusual for me.  Oh yes, I always had the occasional bad day... who doesn't?  But I never had a bad week.  My husband suggested it was time for me to quit.  He saw it but I didn't want to see it.  I went back to work that next week and WOW!  I was still having a hard time at work for the oddest things.  So I took some time and spent it with the Lord... at least half the day with no interruptions.  Having 3 kids at home, I usually get an hour here or there but I made sure I had hours to spend with Him.  In that time, the Lord showed me.  He showed me that I never stopped long enough to be silent and hear what He had for me.  I was doing what I wanted to do, not what God wanted me to do.

I went back to work and put in my two week's notice.  Guess what?  I wasn't sad at all!  I finished out the two weeks and on that last day, I just felt happiness, I felt that release and it felt G-R-E-A-T!! 

The reason for this post isn't to bore you with my story but instead to give God glory for all that He has done for me... especially in this past year.

We were never worried about the income loss, we trusted God to provide for us.  He was the One moving us in this direction so we trusted Him.  All I can say is WOW!!  God blesses for obedience and I was thrilled with the blessings He was bestowing on us for finally following Him (okay... me for finally listening)!  We did not feel the loss at all.  As a matter of fact, we had more $$!  It literally drew our family closer together because I was available for them.  I wasn't too tired like I was every night when I worked.  Then on my days off I was feverishly doing house chores.  It was different now.  The way it should be.  We've always had 'sit down at the table' dinners but now I was able to really enjoy them and not be so tired.  I actually enjoyed cooking for them, lol.

Now, a year later; in so many ways, little and big, I can see God's Hands over all we do.  I'm grateful that He allowed me to work outside the home to help support our family.  But I'm even more grateful that the Lord now allows me to be home to raise my kids and take care of our home.  Isn't God so very good to us?

Sisterhood of the Rogers Clan

Every year, the Rogers side of my family has a Cousin's Weekend Retreat at the home of my Aunt Juanita.  If you have ever been to Big Cedar Lodge on beautiful Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri then you know what beautiful country it is.  Well my Aunt lives a couple of miles past Big Cedar in a huge two-story house on the lake all by herself.  Oh my, I did not want to come home, hehe!

It was a very nice June weekend and most of our time was spent outside on her double deck.

I left Catoosa, OK Saturday morning and met my mom in Ozark, MO for a wonderful cashew chicken lunch.  I left my car at my sister's house and then we headed on down to Branson.  Aunt Juanita is so gracious to open her home up to all of us!

As you can see, it is a fabulous time of laughing, eating, laughing, eating, and on and on.  I wish I had thought to get pictures of all the food.  Oh my!  We could have fed an army for weeks, lol!  The food was on the table, crammed in the fridge, covered the counters completely and we even had bags on the floor.  WAY too much.  But that's what we Rogers gals like to do... eat and laugh.  =]

I have to share these two picture because I love my family and I'm proud of my heritage!  My Aunt Juanita, our fantastic hostess, is on the left in the lime green shirt.  Then on the couch is Great-Aunt Vivian, Connie my mom, Great-Aunt Pauline, and Great-Aunt Susie.  Although they are my "great" relatives, we drop the great and just call them aunt (and uncle).  My grandma Blanche Anna was the oldest of 11 children.  Every year we have a huge family reunion of the Rogers clan in September.  It is so awesome because we are all so close and get along so well.  Good times, always!

Normally for these weekend retreats, it is girls only because we have a big slumber party.  There are plenty of beds in Aunt Juanita's huge home!  But sometimes, the men come down for a few hours during the day.  I love my Uncle Glen and Aunt Vivian.  They are the sweetest, cutest couple.

Breakfast Sunday morning on the deck was my absolute favorite part of the weekend... well besides spending time with all my aunts, sisters, and cousins.

Fresh fruit, homemade bread, and cinnamon rolls, beautiful view and weather, wonderful company... I mean really, can it get much better than this?

We had a most wonderful time together without the interruption of phones, kids, husbands, and just everyday life.  I missed my family and was ready to get back home but this weekend was much needed and will always live in my heart.

The Rogers family is faith based and has a strong love for His Word.  I'm grateful for the family that God has put me in and the heritage that goes along with it.  I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such a huge family that loves each other and gets along so well.  

I'll leave you with the Rogers family Bible verse (yes, we have a family verse) that we use to maintain the principles of our ancestors.  "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

~Micah 6:8

Joplin, Missouri

As I was coming home yesterday from visiting my family in Branson, MO, I was trying to decide if I should take a drive through Joplin to see the tornado damage from exactly two weeks ago.  I was by myself and very curious to see if my favorite antique shop survived but I knew I wouldn't be able to handle what I was about to see.

I have no family and no close friends that live in Joplin, just acquaintances.  Since living in Oklahoma the past 15 years, I have made many, many stops in Joplin on the way to Ozark, MO to visit my family.  Joplin is the half-way mark between my parents home and my home; where I sometimes meet my parents to drop my kids off in their care or pick up my kids, or we will stop there to stretch our legs and get a snack.  I meet family and friends from my old home town to shop and eat.  

For the past two weeks I have seen numerous photos and news accounts from this devastation and heard numerous stories from family and friends that have been to Joplin the past two weeks to help out.  Everyone that has been says you can't prepare yourself enough for what you are about to see.  You can't even get a picture that shows what this devastation is all about.  You can't grasp it until you experience it.  Truth!

I'm at mile marker 15, the main Joplin exit is mile marker 8.  I start crying... wanting desperately to see the damage but wanting not to see it because I am and always have been an emotional girl.  On the outskirts of Joplin, you see a touch of where the tornado came across the interstate.  Although it destroyed a home & many trees and damaged a few around it... it still doesn't even prepare you for what you are about to see.

I drive up that exit ramp praying, crying, breathing deeply.  I look around and I'm relieved to see so many recognizable places.  I make the right turn off of Range Line Road and travel down to my antique shop "Antique Gallery".  I breath a sigh of relief as I see the little white building peeking out of the hill only to pull in and see a closing down sign.  I wonder why?  Did he lose his home?  His family?  Was he one of the 141 confirmed dead so far?

I get back on Range Line Road and travel further down the road.  I can't stop the tears from flowing.  I don't even know which fast food restaurant this is from... there is nothing left to identify it.

These pictures look small.  Please take the time to click on them, pull them up to get a better look at the destruction and pray for these people and the workers that are trying to restore this town.  

The Hobby Lobby store that I helped get ready to open many years ago was still standing.  Then I drove down a side street and another and came across this picture that was so eerie to me.  The playground was still standing but the subdivision it belonged to was completely destroyed with not a thing left standing.

This is the subdivision that the playground belonged to

Two weeks after the tornado struck, you can see where much work has been done already.  The streets are cleared and the piles are being made.  I just stood in awe in the middle of the street.  Every direction you look, there is piles of rubble that used to be a home.

Major clean-up started immediately after the shock of the tornado wore off and people realized there was much work to be done.

I can't even emphasize enough the feeling of eeriness this was for me.  I traveled through at 8:00 pm on Sunday evening after all the workers were gone for the day.  No one was out sifting through the remains of their home, it had already been done.  There were a few drifters like me out assessing and taking pictures.  The loneliness just consumed me and I couldn't quit sobbing.  I imagine this is what a ghost town must be like.  Or maybe even the rapture when Christ returns?

Amazing how the stop signs are still standing in all of the pictures that I took.  What normally seems so nondescript, now stands tall amongst the piles of wreckage all around it.

Yes, Thank You America!

Although I could not stop crying throughout this journey, it was somewhat comforting to see signs like this and the ones that said "God Bless You", "God Bless Joplin". The American flags amongst the ruins were a welcoming sight as well.

How can there not be more than 141 deaths in this catastrophe?

After driving down street after street you realize they are all the same.

Eeriness... you can see the dishtowel still hanging on the rod under the sink.

Eeriness... you can see a box fan dangling by its cord hanging off the side from what was at one time the second floor.  Also hanging off the side is bedsheets and clothes.

I stuck my camera out the window and took this picture as I was driving down the road.  It was the weirdest feeling to be surrounded by so much devastation for miles.  Oddly enough, the water tower still stands although their water was not safe to use for the first week.

Ironic... Yes, Alabama knows, don't they Cora?

I saw this as I was slowly driving down the street.  I had to turn around and go back by it again for it immediately caught my eye.  It was on the main street so I couldn't stop and take a picture.  Although it is blurry, it was a drive by shooting and I didn't think it would turn out but I'm glad it did.  In the pink and purple bedroom of a little girl, there is a little pink dress and a little purple dress still hanging in the closet.  So very eerie to me...

There is hope.  They will survive.  They will rebuild.

Please pray for them.

I had sensory overload in this short hour which seemed like it lasted for weeks.

• the smell... rot, decay, death
• the sound... deathly quiet
• the touch... of my broken heart for these poor people
• the sight... of nothing like I've ever seen in my entire life

The only word I can describe this experience with is Eerie.  To see so many things that I use every day in my home that I don't think a second thought to and seeing these same things laying around in the rubble of what used to be another's home... really brought this tornado destruction to light for me.  Now it's not just pictures I see or  stories I hear... it is another person, like me that is now without a home, their belongings, their family heirlooms, their memories in pictures or photo albums, or worst yet possibly without their loved ones.

I cried the rest of the hour and half drive I had left.  I prayed for these people.  I prayed for the workers as the past week and week ahead have been 90+ temps that they have been and will be working in.  I thanked God for my family and my friends.  I praised Him for all that He is and He has blessed me with.

My family will be heading that way sometime to help.  I'm not sure how soon I can go back but I know that I must.  As heart wrenching as this situation was for me, I am so very grateful that God allowed me to experience it.  I was fully reminded that God's grace is receiving what we do not deserve and His mercy is not receiving what we do deserve.

Joplin, Missouri

As I was coming home yesterday from visiting my family in Branson, MO, I was trying to decide if I should take a drive through Joplin to see the tornado damage from exactly two weeks ago.  I was by myself and very curious to see if my favorite antique shop survived but I knew I wouldn't be able to handle what I was about to see.

I have no family and no close friends that live in Joplin, just acquaintances.  Since living in Oklahoma the past 15 years, I have made many, many stops in Joplin on the way to Ozark, MO to visit my family.  Joplin is the half-way mark between my parents home and my home; where I sometimes meet my parents to drop my kids off in their care or pick up my kids, or we will stop there to stretch our legs and get a snack.  I meet family and friends from my old home town to shop and eat.  

For the past two weeks I have seen numerous photos and news accounts from this devastation and heard numerous stories from family and friends that have been to Joplin the past two weeks to help out.  Everyone that has been says you can't prepare yourself enough for what you are about to see.  You can't even get a picture that shows what this devastation is all about.  You can't grasp it until you experience it.  Truth!

I'm at mile marker 15, the main Joplin exit is mile marker 8.  I start crying... wanting desperately to see the damage but wanting not to see it because I am and always have been an emotional girl.  On the outskirts of Joplin, you see a touch of where the tornado came across the interstate.  Although it destroyed a home & many trees and damaged a few around it... it still doesn't even prepare you for what you are about to see.

I drive up that exit ramp praying, crying, breathing deeply.  I look around and I'm relieved to see so many recognizable places.  I make the right turn off of Range Line Road and travel down to my antique shop "Antique Gallery".  I breath a sigh of relief as I see the little white building peeking out of the hill only to pull in and see a closing down sign.  I wonder why?  Did he lose his home?  His family?  Was he one of the 141 confirmed dead so far?

I get back on Range Line Road and travel further down the road.  I can't stop the tears from flowing.  I don't even know which fast food restaurant this is from... there is nothing left to identify it.

These pictures look small.  Please take the time to click on them, pull them up to get a better look at the destruction and pray for these people and the workers that are trying to restore this town.  

The Hobby Lobby store that I helped get ready to open many years ago was still standing.  Then I drove down a side street and another and came across this picture that was so eerie to me.  The playground was still standing but the subdivision it belonged to was completely destroyed with not a thing left standing.

This is the subdivision that the playground belonged to

Two weeks after the tornado struck, you can see where much work has been done already.  The streets are cleared and the piles are being made.  I just stood in awe in the middle of the street.  Every direction you look, there is piles of rubble that used to be a home.

Major clean-up started immediately after the shock of the tornado wore off and people realized there was much work to be done.

I can't even emphasize enough the feeling of eeriness this was for me.  I traveled through at 8:00 pm on Sunday evening after all the workers were gone for the day.  No one was out sifting through the remains of their home, it had already been done.  There were a few drifters like me out assessing and taking pictures.  The loneliness just consumed me and I couldn't quit sobbing.  I imagine this is what a ghost town must be like.  Or maybe even the rapture when Christ returns?

Amazing how the stop signs are still standing in all of the pictures that I took.  What normally seems so nondescript, now stands tall amongst the piles of wreckage all around it.

Yes, Thank You America!

Although I could not stop crying throughout this journey, it was somewhat comforting to see signs like this and the ones that said "God Bless You", "God Bless Joplin". The American flags amongst the ruins were a welcoming sight as well.

How can there not be more than 141 deaths in this catastrophe?

After driving down street after street you realize they are all the same.

Eeriness... you can see the dishtowel still hanging on the rod under the sink.

Eeriness... you can see a box fan dangling by its cord hanging off the side from what was at one time the second floor.  Also hanging off the side is bedsheets and clothes.

I stuck my camera out the window and took this picture as I was driving down the road.  It was the weirdest feeling to be surrounded by so much devastation for miles.  Oddly enough, the water tower still stands although their water was not safe to use for the first week.

Ironic... Yes, Alabama knows, don't they Cora?

I saw this as I was slowly driving down the street.  I had to turn around and go back by it again for it immediately caught my eye.  It was on the main street so I couldn't stop and take a picture.  Although it is blurry, it was a drive by shooting and I didn't think it would turn out but I'm glad it did.  In the pink and purple bedroom of a little girl, there is a little pink dress and a little purple dress still hanging in the closet.  So very eerie to me...

There is hope.  They will survive.  They will rebuild.

Please pray for them.

I had sensory overload in this short hour which seemed like it lasted for weeks.

• the smell... rot, decay, death
• the sound... deathly quiet
• the touch... of my broken heart for these poor people
• the sight... of nothing like I've ever seen in my entire life

The only word I can describe this experience with is Eerie.  To see so many things that I use every day in my home that I don't think a second thought to and seeing these same things laying around in the rubble of what used to be another's home... really brought this tornado destruction to light for me.  Now it's not just pictures I see or  stories I hear... it is another person, like me that is now without a home, their belongings, their family heirlooms, their memories in pictures or photo albums, or worst yet possibly without their loved ones.

I cried the rest of the hour and half drive I had left.  I prayed for these people.  I prayed for the workers as the past week and week ahead have been 90+ temps that they have been and will be working in.  I thanked God for my family and my friends.  I praised Him for all that He is and He has blessed me with.

My family will be heading that way sometime to help.  I'm not sure how soon I can go back but I know that I must.  As heart wrenching as this situation was for me, I am so very grateful that God allowed me to experience it.  I was fully reminded that God's grace is receiving what we do not deserve and His mercy is not receiving what we do deserve.