It's Giveaway Time!!!

Drop Leaf Table BEFORE.....

I almost couldn't do it. I love this before & after so much, that it took all my power to not keep it! But I can't - it's GIVE AWAY TIME! I don't have many followers, so your chances of winning are really good! How to enter? Simply leave me a comment. I'll use a random generator to pick the winner this weekend! Good luck!!

Drop Leaf AFTER!

A dark brown top coat, black dry brush overlay

White, heavy distressed bottom, brown dry brush overly

Closer look.... Closer Still..... Fancy this in your bedroom? Living room?

There's Few Things Better...

*MY NEXT POST WILL BE THE DROP LEAF TABLE GIVEAWAY! CHECK BACK!*

....than the combination of chocolate pudding, graham cracker crust, and whipped cream. Really. I'm a simple gal, and simple's the way I roll. I like my house small & quaint. A good book. A cozy blanket.The sound of clothes rolling in the dryer. A cup of cream with a little coffee......ahhh.....

Speaking of simple. We've gotten one step closer towards simplify..... no satellite. We canceled our service. There's zero.....0......nada......TV watching going on in our house. Now, we did start a Netflix service, so whenever we do get an itch to watch something, we can have a good movie or Disc 1 of Season 1 of the "Gilmore Girls" (yes, my hubs will often come home and say, "Wanna watch the next episode??" tee hee.) Talk about a great way to save some $, too. $80 satellite bill replaced with a $14 Netflix fee. Check! In place of the white background noise of tv, we've read alot more books. I've finished three so far, and am currently reading "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, who wrote "Seabiscuit".

GREAT Book.....

Read a Few Chapters and Want to Read More.....

My hubs and I wondered if canceling our service was the right thing to do. Without a shadow of a doubt, it was.

It's a Small Blogger-world!

Sometimes I need a little reminding that I have a brain. I know when I'm focused on the wrong things. I know when I'm doing well in certain areas. I know areas that need help (there are too many). I know when I'm lying on my deathbed, the last words out of my mouth will NOT be ...."If I could only blog one more time....." (Fun image, huh?)

But I also know that God gave us joy. passion. creativity. And all of it flows through us from Him. The Zumba certification didn't happen. I didn't think about Zumba. I liked it, but that was about it. But what did happen, was I somehow got started doing this furniture refurbishing thing and well.....passion happened. I truly enjoy it.....and I haven't had a passionate hobby in a while. I look forward to each new piece and the process of finding it, restoring it, then saying goodbye.

.....AND meeting new people in the process.....enter Mavis & Harriet. This sweet woman scours yard sales and sells her "finds" on her blog. Prices are good, so I began to follow close.

Low and behold, this little sweetie recently came up......

It's adorable as is, but I plan to "Flo" it up a bit!

I hopped on the phone. To my surprise, it was still available *yippee*! As I was giving her my name, she stopped and asked......"Are you Flo Ferrell from the blog?" Why yesssssss! And here we go on a brief, but interesting conversation about how we both read each other's blogs. She was sweet, and I could tell, a kindred spirit. She mentioned reading about Amazima Ministries off my link and telling her husband about the amazing story of Katie.......what a deal! A story of a woman doing God's work being passed by word of blog. I sort of feel it was God's way of telling me, "Dear one, I'm going to get the glory. Find joy in that."

Mavis & Harriet also have other precious finds - that aqua bed is just too cute! Go take a peek!

More Finds From Mavis & Harriet

Pride Comes Before The Fall

Shaun Groves blogged about his experience going from his old flip phone, to a Smart Phone, and back to the old.

Ahhhh......a fellow comrad. Where the texting world is incredulously slow, you still "flip" your phone to answer, and touch screen? Ha. I spit on my finger and clean my screen. That's the only touch it receives. My friends laugh because there's a 50-50 chance my phone is not only turned off, it's dead. And if I need a phone, I usually just borrow my hubs'. I'm not a tech person. I'm not addicted to my phone. I don't scroll at the table. My attention is where it should be.....I was feeling pretty good about myself (that pride thing really sneaks up on you, can't it?) when all of the sudden I realized........

.....wait. Good gosh. I might not be 'touch screen-scrollin' all the time, but I've got a definite desire to check the ol'blog. Check my email. What's going on in Facebook world? Craiglist, anyone?

My friend once told me that she did her bible reading online, but then realized, her children don't know what she's doing on the computer. To them, it still looks like "mommy's on the computer again". There's a slew of articles in Time every week about the long term affects of our addictive, constant-communication but no "real" communication society. It's a scary world when my husband can ask his highschool class how many of them have received a genuine "I'm proud of you" verbally.....not in text form......and not a single hand was raised.

My pride unswelled when I checked the log in my own eye. Thanks Shawn Groves!

But still.....long live the flip phone!

Goodwill Giveaway Sneakpeak!

Oh, it's comin' along! This teaching job of mine limits my refinishing work to the evenings when the girls go to sleep. But after a couple sessions of sanding, two deep brown top coats, distressing, and dry brushing, it's nearing giveaway time!

My buffet is SOLD!!! Woo hoo! It was two full days of tons of emails on it, but no official takers. I was beginning to have doubts. Did I ask too much? Was it really not that good and my friends were just being "friends" and encouraging me? Did it look unprofessional? Those self-doubt boogers can really do a number on you. Finally, on Day 2 I had three back to back "I'll take it!!" emails. Confidence restored.

Top of the Drop Leaf Table...Mid-Process.

Deep brown, distressed, black dry brush overlay...

Sealing Coat Next.....

Another View....

I don't know if it's "your" style, but something about distressing makes me wanna sing!

Quiche and Qousins

Here's the Quiche....

Here's the Qousins....

Here's My Quties!
I qould play on that "C" sound forever......qlass. Qlown. Qrazy...me? Yes.

It's Springtime and gone are the big, chunky casseroles and heavy stews. In come the quiches! They're quick, easy, and even my hubs admits he likes them
(they're the quintessential girl food, right?)

We had Grace's cousin Landrie over for the last of the Spring Break weekend. My sister and I....we don't know how to produce boys....but we sure know how to produce pretty girls!
I am a bit partial though.

Basic Quiche Recipe:
1 frozen pie crust
saute some chopped onions, minced garlic, and any veggie
(I use broccoli, squash or whatever's 'round the house....chop into little pieces)
Put the sauted items at the bottom of the pie crust
Add cooked chicken (I use about 2 breasts, cut into chunks)
Mix 1 cup milk and 3 eggs, salt & pepper
pour in the crust
Sprinkle a heap of grated cheddar
Bake at 400 for 20 min. Reduce to 300 and bake another 10-15 min.
It's ready when the center is firm. Cool 5 min.

*PS* The buffet is still available! I've had tons of emails on it, but no 'official' buyer yet. The Goodwill drop leaf table is nearing finishing, too. Check back for the drawing!

Buffet - Before & After!

This is the antique buffet I spent my Spring Break with...

lovingly sanding, painting, distressing, and dry brushing.

Here's the finished piece!
SOLD!

Details, details!!


More Details!

I had so much fun!

Now here comes the hard part! Parting with it.....I plan on selling all my refinished pieces to help with the costs of my Uganda mission trip! I also will be GIVING AWAY in a drawing my next piece....the Goodwill table in the last post. Check back in a few days to enter your name in to win it! I don't have a ton of followers, so you have a really good chance!!

Goodwill Find!

I really need a workshop of some sorts. My "furniture finds" are taking up too much garage space. Here's a little drop leaf table I picked up at Goodwill. It was just sitting there.

Lonely. Alone. Burdened by lack of love.....not bad,eh?

I can picture it restored back to beauty very soon.

Also, now that I'm totally 100% in on this furniture restoration thing, I will be attending the twice a year Gresham Barn Sale in Tyler on April 15th or 16th. I just found out about it and it's sort of like a little Round Top right around the corner from me! Super excited.

Anyone wanting to join the Gresham party, email or comment me!

Starting Early

Olsen Field in Aggieland!

As parents, we always are teaching our children the important things in life: God's love & sacrifice......what a healthy marriage looks like.....being a good friend......integrity.....things of that nature. Well, in the Ferrell household, we feel it's an obligation to fit all things "Aggie" into that list. Another Spring Break? Why.....another teachable moment! Baseball in Aggieland!

Boog Looks REALLY Enthused!

We took the girls on a guided tour of Aggieland, showing them stuff they want to do now.....

The Coolest Rock Climbing Wall Ever

And stuff they'll want to do later....
Climbing the Silver Taps pole in front of the Academic Building
Stuff they'll need to know.....
The tradition of Placing a Penny at the Foot of Sully for Good Luck on Tests
(this one had some Mardi Gras action!)

The Century Tree....Where Fellow Aggies Propose to their Mrs. To Be
(if she says yes!)

We showed them ways they could get their college paid for.....
Swimming/Diving Scholarship! Holla!

And we showed them their legacy.....
2 Parents, One Aunt, One Uncle are Graduates of A&M

I'm hoping some of our early efforts will pay off!

Oh Let Me Remember....

The funny things these precious girls say:
Grace: "The ghost is clear!"

Sophie: "It's not MY birthday!" (quoting Dora)

Grace: "It's in the liv-in-it room"

Sophie: "Old McDonald had a farm and Bingo was his name-o"

Grace: "Jose can you see...." "through the peril-let's fight!" (the Star Spangled Banner)

Sophie: "No....I'M Beezus!" "No....I'M Mona!"
Grace: "I live in Star Harver" (it's really Star Harbor)

Sophie: "I want trock-trick milk" .....yes, she means what you think!

Oh my goodness. Kids make life fun, don't they?

I Heart Dry Brushing

Sometimes you learn more from doing it the wrong way first. After taking the Altard workshop, I came home completely hopeless with my glazing experience (you remember that post?). Glaze did not work for me. It was difficult....you had seconds to work with it before it set.....it was thick. I was no good at it. But I loved that weathered look.....

Fortunately, the internet has a lot of information out there on how to achieve that same look without using glaze. Enter whitewashing and dry brushing. After watching a few Youtube tutorials, I decided to give it a try. AND.......I.......LOVE.......IT!

I Took This Old Mirror And I Painted, Distressed and Dry Brushed the Heck Outta It
You Can See It More Clearly Here.....

For me, it's the way to go. Forget the glaze....for now, at least.

Here's a sneak peak at how the
buffet is coming along. I whitewashed the top and began dry brushing a dark brown on.

A few more things to do.....

Furniture Projects!!

I'm putting my Altard workshop skills to use this Spring Break.......

Materials and paint? Check.....

An old mirror ready to be painted and distressed? Check......

Another wonderful Craigslist purchase that's ready to be brought back to life? Check....


I really can't wait to get started!

Orange-Tomato Couscous with Chicken

Okay, so my healthy recipe for the week was Orange-Tomato Couscous with Chicken. I paired it with fresh grean beans and a strawberry spinach salad. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to soak my chickpeas, so I went without.

Couscous....hmmm. I'm not sure about it. I'm a texture eater (hence the main reason why I cannot eat shrimp) and it's grainy texture in my mouth was....interesting. As a whole, the dinner was good. The orange in it was a different flavor that I'm not used to, but I'm trying to unnerve my tastebuds, right? Shock and rearrange 'em into healthier eating.

All in all, an easy, easy meal to prepare. I'll try it again with the chickpeas next time. And guess what? Not a hint of butter in the entire meal.......good stuff!

Recipe here.