My Beautiful Days

It feels a little strange to be writing a new blog post when I haven't been blogging for over a year, but this is something I want to share with the world, and my blog is a great venue to do so ... so - I'M BACK! In the past year, Claire (our oldest) has graduated high school and moved on to college, our family has moved to a new home to be near extended family, our kiddos have enrolled in a new school, I left my job to be home with the kids during this transition, and Monte has continued to be a rockstar in keeping us all sane through these transitions. While all of these things deserve a blog post of their own, the thing I am focusing on today is our new home - more specifically, decorating this home!  It is no secret that decorating is not my forte.  My mom, Sharon, and my sister, Tanya, are amazing  decorators and seem to have this crafty eye that comes naturally to them.  I, on the other hand, was not blessed with this gift so it is no surprise that I turn t...

A few weeks ago I wrote this post  in which I shared that we had recently remodeled our kitchen.  I was feeling a bit hesitant in posting about it due to some negative feedback I had received from a random reader when posting about our home addition a couple of years ago.  After I had written the post a few weeks ago, however, I received so much wonderful feedback from you that I decided to go ahead and open the window of my blog up and share our renovation. In keeping up with something that I started WAY too long ago and haven't kept up with it at ALL, I am including this as part of my "A Peek Into My Home"series. I do have to give a few shout-outs to the people who helped Monte and me make this renovation a possibility!  A big thank-you to Stacy Klone from KitchenWerks  for helping us to look at our space and figure out what would be best for the functionality of our home and for introducing us to the people who helped make it all a reality!!  We are ...

Imagine, if you will, a peaceful retreat.  One place that you can go to get away from the insanity of life.  One stop for silence.  I have this peaceful retreat inside my home, only it's not somewhere you would normally think of to fulfill this description; you see, my peaceful hide-away is my baby's bedroom!  I can't deny, though, that looking into the room from the doorway tempts me to sit and let the cares of this life fly away as I rock back and forth in this most comfortable chair: As I sit in this chair, I smile as I think of all the times that I have played with Ethan in here!  Looking to my left, I see his dresser and changing table and just have to giggle when I think of how frequently he tries to pull down the wall hanging every single time that I am changing his diaper! As I look to my right, I see his beautiful crib - his place of rest.  I love the blue and brown combination in this room, and his crib and wall hangings tie it together perfe...

I'm starting a new feature on my blog which I'm titling "A Peek Into My Home".  You see, there are so many aspects about my home that I just love and I want to be able to share these places with you.  So, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy some time with me as we begin a tour of my home, starting with our balcony. Right off of our master bedroom are these beautiful french doors that lead out to a private retreat where Ethan is happily playing! Ethan also enjoys seeing his reflection in the glass of the french doors! :) There are two chairs and a table out there, as to sit and enjoy the view of the lake and the sounds of the woods while sipping on a beverage of choice. One side of our balcony is empty, holding limitless possibilities as to what to put there (perhaps a comfortable chaise lounge?!). The balcony is a haven, a place to relax with friends or family ... or (for our boys) to be shirtless, just like dad! The reason that my first home feature is my balcony...