Feeling Fall In the Air and Life Updates

Hello friends and happy fall to you!

I decided to take a few minutes to check in and let you all know I am still alive. LOL!

Most of you probable heard about Hurricane Matthew hitting Florida as well as other states on the east coast. Fortunately for my area, we didn't suffer any major damage. We had some wind and very little rain. Other areas if Florida were not so fortunate. As bad as it was on our east coast though, I feel so bad for Haiti. Those poor folks had nowhere to go and the death rate there is staggering. My prayers are with them. 

Due to the hurricane approaching and not truly knowing how bad it would be in my area, school was cancelled Friday, which gave me a 3-day weekend. I had a lazy day Friday and played around with my Heidi Swapp light box that I purchased a few weeks ago. I bought some beautiful clip art on Etsy and designed a fall sign.

Here it is unlit. It was glaring in the photo so I had to turn it off. It adds some fun to my buffet vignette.

I didn't purchase anything to decorate with this year. I just dug out all my stuff from the shed and picked some favorites to use. I love this wooden pumpkin and the Scrabble tiles. 

I also love the fall colors with my favorite aqua blue color.

Here's the light box again.

The china cabinet just got some fall foliage and the banner I made a few years ago using tags and grapevine twigs.

I finally used my chalkboard blocks I purchased from the Target dollar spot several weeks ago. 

A couple items on the bookcase. I would like to put some fall colored candy in the pumpkin, but I would be too tempted to eat it!

The table centerpiece.

Another candy dish on the bookshelf. Yes this one is empty too.

And here is the entire room. I draped a floral garland around the chandelier above the table to add some more color. I love how it turned out, 

I also changed up my kitchen shelves a bit. I added some branches to the milk pitcher and placed a fabric pumpkin beside it. Sorry about the quality of the photos. It was dark when I took these and even when it isn't I don't have good natural light here in the woods. Anywho, I was excited to find a set of saucers and small bowls to match my fall plates and large bowls that I got a couple years ago. I found them at TJ Maxx for $7.99 a set. So, I fibbed when I said I didn't purchase anything new. I forgot about these. I placed a set of vintage glassware beside them that belonged to my hubby's granny. They have orange, yellow, and green bottoms and match perfectly. I thought we might use these dishes more if I left them sitting out, and I can enjoy looking at them as well. They are so pretty and the colors are so vibrant.

And that is all I have today my friends. I do have a couple blog posts planned to share. Hopefully I can carve out time soon. I am happy to report that I am still working out 3 days per week with my trainer and getting stronger every week. My goal this week is to start walking on the days I don't work out now that the weather is cooling off. My workouts are outside and I work up a sweat in this lovely Florida humidity, so I haven't felt like walking and sweating too. I know that's not a very good excuse, but baby steps! I am sad to say I have never been a very active person so the fact that I am working out hard 3 hours a week and loving it is huge for me. I feel so much stronger than I ever have! I am really hoping to get up to North Georgia to see the fall leaves on the trees and go hiking at the end of the month. I have always wanted to do that and never have. Hopefully this is the year! I am excited about and loving life more than ever. I have some good news about my daughter, Miranda too. Not sure if I mentioned it before, but she works for a travel company about an hour away and is loving her job. It is her favorite job yet. She is hoping to move  closer soon. Also, she is dating a very nice guy and they have really hit it off. She is happy and doing well and I am so happy for her! We recently celebrated her 27th birthday and just a few days later, on October 8th, the hubby and I celebrated 28 years of marriage. I am blessed with a wonderful husband and can't imagine life without him. 

I hope you have a delightful week! 

Until next time.....

A Spectacular Weekend!

Hard to believe a week ago I was sitting in Jacksonville Veteran's Arena watching one of the most amazing shows I have ever seen! The Trans Siberian Orchestra concert was just as spectacular as the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular, and any of the Broadway shows I have seen...Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. It was awesome! The hubby and I both loved it and are planning to go again next year. Our hotel and the restaurant and concert venue were all in downtown Jax. This was our beautiful view while we were eating before the show. The harbor area is so beautiful at night!

This fountain was so pretty as were the palm trees and benches surrounding them.

We enjoyed a stroll along the waterfront and fountain after we finished eating and then we headed to the concert arena. We are early birds and were among the first couple hundred of the nearly 10,000 that were there that night. 

There was no way to capture just how amazing the show was, but here are just a few pictures to help you imagine. There were huge screens surrounding the stage and photos, graphics, and videos were changing constantly.

The fire that you see here is real. Every time the fired up the flames, we could feel the heat on our faces. We were not close to the stage either!

There were so many talented musicians and singers. I was in awe of their talent and the special effects throughout the show. I especially loved the narrator who told a story in between performances.

The laser lights were amazing!

You can click here to see my favorite. I tried to put the video on the blog, but it would not work. Not sure why, but maybe my Facebook link will work for you. Every performance was just as good as this one! I can't wait to see them again!

We enjoyed out evening and night on the town. It was a nice little getaway.

I attended a couple other Christmas events on Sunday. A new flower shop in town hosted our first annual Christmas Tree Walk. Local businesses and organizations were asked to decorate a tree. My principal volunteered a tree to be done by our school. I volunteered to help with the project and was put in charge of choosing the theme. So, I went with the same theme I used at home this year....Peace On Earth and Joy To the World. I had one class per grade level make a different ornament. I chose what I wanted them to make and provided the materials and directions for each one. It was a lot of work, but so worth it. Let me show you what I had the students make.

This was the Pre-K ornament. Their little hands were traced and then folded and glued into the peace sign with a heart.

My kinders made the Earth with a peace sign using recycled Cd's, construction paper, and popsicle sticks.

First grade made paper chains using old dictionary pages.

Second grade made these heart using very thin cardboard and dictionary pages.

Third grade traced doves onto dictionary pages and cut them out.

Fourth grade wrote about the gift they would like to give to the world. (Loved the things they wrote!)

The art teacher had a group of fifth graders paint planet Earth.

Fifth grade also made these tiny banners using map paper. They said Peace On Earth and Joy to the World. 

They also worked on the topper.

I made a faux chalkboard sign.

Here it is on the left. You can see some of the other trees as well. I love how some of the businesses decorated their trees to match their businesses. For instance, a baker who used cupcake wrappers to create ornaments. Or a lady who gives painting lessons who used paintbrushes and palettes to adorn her tree. I wish I had taken more pictures!

I truly love how our tree turned out and so did everyone else! It cost $1 to walk through and all the proceeds went to the local scholarship foundation for our local students.

After the tree walk, I went to church and watched the Living Christmas Tree performance by four local church choirs. It was beautiful!

Last thing and I promise, I am done! I just wanted to share the adorable candle holders my kiddos made this week. I had several glass baby food jars I had saved for years. They painted them white and added the faces. Aren't they cute? Even the one on the left who has a runny nose...lol! And, the photo ornaments I made for the parents. I do a photo ornament every year. I love how this one turned out!

And, that's it! After a busy week including both mine and my hubby's work parties, a night Christmas shopping in the big city, and my class party, I am pooped! I am officially on Christmas break though and am looking forward to the next two weeks! Tomorrow I have a graduation party to cook for and attend for my oldest niece, followed by a Christmas party and Christmas with my mother-in-law. The break is starting off busy, but it's OK! Life is GREAT and I am blessed!

Until next time....

Christmas In the Living Room

Hello friends! Oh, I can't tell you how happy I am to see Friday arrive. I haven't felt up to par this week so I am so happy to see the weekend in sight! Tomorrow after work, I am going with some of my work friends to see Mockingjay Part 2. I am excited to watch the last of the Hunger Games trilogy but also sad to see it end. I enjoyed reading this series a few years ago and have enjoyed the movies almost as much. Anywho, it has been a long week and I am pooped so a relaxing evening at the movies and a nice supper out is just what I need.

Today I want to share the last of my very minimal Christmas decorations. This is the living room decor. First up is the tree. I chose this adorable little Frasier Fir from Lowe's. It was a great price and came with the water pan attached so all I had to do was bring it home and water it. It is such a sweet little tree. It looks so nice sitting on my aqua and gold stool. I used a little of the black and white gingham from my mother-in-law to wrap around the pan and act as a tree skirt.

Here's the view from my favorite chair. :)

I made the chain, the topper, and some of the ornaments from a vintage children's Christmas music book. I had everything on hand and didn't purchase anything except the tree and a couple strands of white lights.

And I printed a vintage map graphic and tore it into small pieces to mod podge on some styrofoam balls. Actually I used half Elmer's glue and half water.  

Next to the tree is my oldest globe. I made a little banner for it and just added some pine scented candles and fresh cedar beside it.

Here's the banner I printed and cut out. I placed fresh cedar in a couple of my creamers/pitchers on the shelf and also in the copper colored bucket to the right. It is hanging from the bracket.

The coffee table holds a red and white buffalo checked runner that I thrifted a few years ago and some fresh cedar and candles. 

The gallery wall clipboard holds a print that goes with my theme. I look forward to searching for free printables to place on this ever changing "art" display.

Some more red and green.

This vignette is just a few of my Christmas novels along with a couple candle holders and more cedar.

And so is this one.

And lastly is the top of the little shelf by Hubby's recliner. Trust me, you don't want to see the other shelves...lol! They are full of racing magazines and catalogs and a host of other junk things. LOL! That's OK though, he deserves his own space in the living room. I try to keep the top pretty and added some cedar to the jars that were already in the box. This was a gift from a student last year. His mom made awesome things from wood! 

And that is it! Simple and easy to put away after Christmas. Most of it gets thrown away and the few things I made will be boxed up and added to the pile in the shed. I hope you have a lovely Friday and weekend. I'll be back soon!

Until next time.....