Why I love Fall!! {warning: lots of fall photos}

Let's be clear, I love every season for different reasons, but it happens to be fall, so fall is what I'm focused on.  Plus, it seems that it could very well be gone tomorrow, no matter what the calendar says!  The weather has been unpredictable to say the least, so I'm learning to look for the gifts and capture them when I can! 

Today, Jessica, my daughter, asked me if I could take some pictures for her blog. She really isn't very fond of taking pictures and says that she's just not able to think of creative settings for the things that she wants photographed.  I literally jumped at the offer!!!!!  As soon as I asked her what the content of her post was going to be, the ideas just started coming to mind!  I couldn't wait!

I have these great adirondack chairs that I literally just look at through the window (how sad) and I knew that this was where I needed to start!!  The yard already provided a perfect backdrop, I just had to gather some of it together and get to work!  As I was on my way out the door I thought about a basket or some sort container, so I diverted and went to my garage!!  Old metal picnic basket, check!!  Back to the yard, I took three steps outside and thought "plaid blanket, burlap pillow"!!  Got it!!  I passed by the stump sitting on my patio although I was pretty sure that I'd be back for him!

 

I moved the chair over to the birch trees and started setting up!  Jessica came out and I mentioned that I should have grabbed a coffee mug -so she brought me one!  :) For me, this is such a great picture of a perfect fall moment.  It's chilly but not too chilly, the leaves are leisurely falling from their high perches, big cup of coffee or hot cocoa, warm blanket and a good book!!

 

 

I don't have any pictures of the books with chair and the birch tree, you're gonna have to go check out her blog to see them!!  But after staging under the tree I moved over to the picnic table, that happens to be under our other birch tree.  These are her recent book finds.  I just found a really neat editing app on my phone so I had even more fun changing the pics up a bit!

 

 

I spotted this little nook at the base of the birch tree that was covered with moss and surrounded by leaves, I grabbed my picnic basket and headed there next!

 

We are still getting roses from our rose bushes and even though the hydrangeas are dying out, they are still incredibly beautiful with their ombre color.  I love flowers and this home came with over 50 rose bushes and we promptly added plenty of other flowering bushes to the mix!  It's so nice to be able to step outside and have a fresh bouquet of flowers in your hand in a matter of minutes!  Such a gift!

 

 

Later in the day Jessica had commented that she felt that this had been the perfect fall week.  The weather has been a mix of chilly and warmish, the leaves continue to fall and we've seen our fair share of clouds, rain and sunshine.  Then in a matter of moments it started pouring and the wind wipped up out of nowhere!  It had been raining off and on throughout the morning but we had hit a dry spot.  In the next few minutes the sun was shining brightly and the sky was blue!  So crazy!! 

 

Our back yard is one of my favorite places to be.  I don't get to spend the kind of time that I'd like to out there, but I sure do spend my fair amount of time gazing out the windows and just taking it all in.  In every season this home and yard has been a gift, save for a few weeks in the spring/summer when the horse flies are as big as a hummingbird!!  {yes, we were warned!}  This last shot is my absolute favorite spot in the yard.  As the sun sets it falls perfectly into frame inside a cut out area between our evergreen trees!  I love to run out and capture that shot all of the time.  I don't think I can have to many copies of it!!

 

 

In two short weeks, the hubs and I will be heading south for a little vacation in Sweet Home Alabama!!  I've already started to think about what to pack!!  Do they have a fall?  Is it anything like ours? (I'm thinking not) What's the weather like?  Should I bring my boots and cardi's?  I really don't know what to expect but I can't wait to find out!!  I may have to ask my friend, Evan what he thinks I should pack!!

 

Have a blessed weekend friends!!  Go out and enjoy all of the gifts that Fall has to offer!!

 

God bless,

Lorraine

 

 

 



My Physical Therapy - Part Two

Hey welcome back!!!!  I was really hopeful through the week that I would feel good enough to shower, get dressed and fixed up and make it youth group.  That didn't happen.  Then I was excited at the thought of getting dressed up on Friday and maybe heading out with my man to do some birthday shopping (see this post).  I have been going mentally crazy thinking about Target and how long it's been since I've been there and I had myself all built up for this incredible night of feeling like a member of the functioning human race, getting out of the house, spending time with the hubs and doing a little shopping.  But as it's been for weeks now, my body doesn't match my mind and I was too tired and empty to make any of that happen. I am trying sooooooo hard to rest and rest in Him.  Trusting in His plan even in this time of sickness and recovery isn't very easy. 

Well that's enough about me, you came to see the house so here's the family room (aka the room in which I spend all of my waking hours).

 

This is my keeping it real shot!!  Julia is laying on the couch because she's not feeling well.  There are things all over the ottomans/tray, but hey, this is life!!!  This at least gives you the set up of the room.  The couch is a little big to be in this position, but I like that it's facing the fireplace and it makes the space feel nice and cozy!!  Some day I'd love to remove the panel and paint.  It's a dark,  errr warm room and I'd love to see how much bigger it feels to brighten it up a bit!!

I was previously using this spool as an end table and since there isn't much room on either end of the couch for a table, I would have either had to pack it away orrrrrr get creative!! 

 

This fireplace is ginormous!!  On one hand it's great, because I can decorate it like crazy.  On the other hand, I don't know how to keep it simple.  Which would be fine except that I'm really craving simplicity. 

I tried a few different configurations and over the course of  a few weeks, I stripped it all down again and took a completely different approach.  I always shop the house first!  I happen to have a small door and few wooden boxes and drawers at my disposal.  I like the old books, it adds fall color and some height to display my jar of mini gourds and pumpkins.  (they're not real so I can use them year after year)

I kept the yellow candle stick from my summer mantle and thought it'd be a great perch for a fun faux pumpkin!!  I added an old camera for some fun and few fall fabric balls that I made years ago.  On the right side, I used a few birch rounds (from our birch trees in the back yard), a frame from summer that I picked up from Hobby Lobby, and an old berry crate.  There's also a little fall garland that I made with string and scrapbook paper and a glue stick.  Easy Peasy!

 

The bushel basket of pinecones and birch logs have been here all summer and I just added a small chalkboard with a seasonal quote "Autumn is a second spring" (where every leaf is a flower).  I decided to stack my old kettles, which I should have emptied first, right Jessica? :)  I also added an old mustard shutter to the back to break up the old brick and just add another layer of interest.

 

On the other side of the fireplace, I decided to bring down a few of my picnic baskets.  I love the red plaid one, it conjurs up all kinds of fun images of great fall picnics under beautiful maple trees bursting with color, warm wool blankets and hot apple cider in a thermos!!  Like the little one on top!  I'm still getting gorgeous roses in the garden and figured I'd better take advantage of that gift before they're done. 

 

Once the roses started to wilt and die, we resused them for a wonderful foot soak!!  Julia had the idea of letting me soak my feet and relax. She's such a sweetheart!!

 

We added some fresh lavendar too.  I soaked for a long time and my feet felt wonderul afterward!!  This is something that I'm going to have to do more regularly!!

 

I haven't done anything to speak of in the kitchen, most of it's a mess honestly.  It's the most used room in the house, so I have to catch it in its rare state of spotless!! lol  So this may or may not be the end of the fall tour.  We'll have to see!!   I'm taking each moment as it comes and can't make any plans. 

 

I hope you've enjoyed the small tour.  I pray that your home is a place of warmth and comfort as we head into the cooler seasons (cooler, ha!  It's 82 degrees here today)  Have a blessed week!!

 

<3 Lorraine

 

 

My Physical Therapy

We've already established that I've completely missed the month of September and I've been stuck on the couch doing nothing.  If you know me, you know that that doesn't fly for very long at all.  Eventually I'm gonna crack and have to CHANGE something!!  I love decorating my home for fall and I was so afraid that I was going to miss the opportunity entirely!!  Not happy.  I had my kids bring down my fall boxes from the attic and I vowed to go through little by little and take my time.  I figured that it would be good physical therapy and decorational therapy (is that even a word?)!!  It would get my creativity flowing and also get my muscles moving.  So, although I didn't get to link up with any of the amazing fall home tours, I decided to do one of my own.  Come on in and have a look around!! 

Welcome to our home!!  I haven't done anything on the front step besides hanging this wreath.  I don't really feel like dealing with spiders and cobwebs but hey, if we did celebrate Halloween, I could consider my front step finished!

I am keeping it rrrreal simple in the foyer.  I moved out my small table and mirror that used to occupy this corner and instead just went with my old basket hanger and a few signs of the season.  Don't mind my purse hanging there, feel free to hang yours there as well, or maybe your sweater!!

 

This little cabinet joined the foyer a few months ago.  The girls had it in there room for a long time and it housed Julia's little knick-knacks.  In a simplifying effort by Jessica, I ended up with it!  SCORE!!  One day I think I will end up painting the inset portion of the door with chalkboard paint.  It's a cute place to leave little notes for guests or just sweet reminders for us as we pass by this way throughout the day.

 

The inside isn't very fun but it is functional.  Instead of a drawer full of spare keys and sunglasses, they now reside here!  All of the spare keys are in the little brown crock.  I want to hang a few hooks in here to rest our functional keys on, but we'll see. 

 

Off to your right is our dining room.  I can always feel God's presence in this room in the way the light streams across the table and the hutch, in the two large windows that lead to a beautiful view of the fields and trees across the street, so colorful this time of year.

 

I am on a constant quest for simplicity in my home.  I have a lot of furniture and even more things to decorate with and after a while it starts getting to me.  I love everything that I have and it's hard to know what to get rid of, so that usually keeps me from truly moving forward.  But I started the simplifying process in the foyer and dining room and I hope that I can continue that throughout the house.

 

Come back to see the family room, and prayerfully the rest of the downstairs space.  Like I said I'm taking this slow, so it may be Christmas before we finish here!!  Kidding!!!  It better not take that long.  My patience is wearing thin already!!  

 

Have a blessed weekend!!  Thanks for stopping by!!  See you next time!!

 

<3 Lorraine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Disappearing Act

So I've been sick with pneumonia for the month of September, yes the month!  I feel so much better than I did when this started but now I'm left with exhaustion, weakness and the repeating question "Are you coming?".  Like most people, my September comes in like an explosion, full of activities, celebrations and just a busy daily life.  So you can see, the timing is all off!!!  Not that there really would be a better time to get sick.  Maybe winter, to nestle into the couch with a comfy blanket and a box of tissues doesn't sound as bad as it does in September!!  Birthdays have come and gone, first soccer games (and several after) have come and gone, kick offs have been executed and enjoyed.  A lot of life is lived in September. Memories have been made and people are probably still talking about the Fall Kick-Off Nacho Bowl!  I, however, have missed them all.  Not easy.

However, here are a few of the memories that I have made in the month of September, all was not lost!!! haha!!

I can now say that I have watched television for four weeks straight!!  Never have I ever been able to say that! Ha! Me and Netflix are tight!! Let's see, I've watched four out of five seasons of "My Fair Wedding" with David Tutera, several seasons of "Kitchen Nightmares" with Gordon Ramsey, more movies than I can list or remember, including "Safe Haven" and "October Baby".  Needless to say, I needed tissues!!!

at least I had a window to look out of

I got in a good ab workout in the first few weeks due to the lovely tight chested hacking I did!  I believe I dropped a few lbs as well!!  I wore a comfy rut in my couch from being there for 10 plus hours each day.  I'm so glad it's a comfy couch!!!

I have played a few rounds of Monopoly Millionare (and won once) with my girls and then again with my boys and then with one of my girls and one of my boys!

Jaysen and Julia

 

Jessica and Julia

 

I spent some time outside and even got in a little walk around the yard last week.  A HUGE refresher for me!!

My parents came over in the beginning and brought me a "sick basket"!  What's that you may ask?  Well when my kiddos were smallish, I would make them up a basket of supplies when they were sick on the couch, it would include tissues (if the sickness required them), snacks, a juice cup, books to read, coloring books & crayons, small toys to play and of course it was wrapped with all the love and prayers for a quick healing that I could give.  They loved it. 

my sick basket

There is nothing worse (well, there is but for the sake of the story, go with me, m'kay?) than being alone and sick on the couch while the rest of your family happily lives out their days.  Talking, playing, laughing, etc.  A sick basket makes the sickee feel special when they are confined to such torture!!  So it was a very happy surprise to see my momma bring in that basket o' goodies!!  Magazines, tissues, Vicks Vapor Rub, cough drops, chicken noodle soup, snacks and more!

Let's see, what else..............well, I wrestled a bit, a lot actually.  I wrestled with the fact that I had to miss out on so many great activities.  On the one side of that was the sadness that I wouldn't be a part of those events, on the other side was the guilt of having to back out of responsibilities.  That was tough!!  I take my responsibilties very seriously and I don't like telling people No or that I can't uphold my end of things.  Although I am very aware of the fact that I had a perfectly good reason and no one would even second guess or question my reason, it is foreign to me to back out of something that I commit too.  There were eight events that I had to sit out of (and that was just the first TWO weeks)!!  Plus three out of my five children celebrated birthdays, well, there wasn't much of a celebration.  They pretty much came and went.  That was probably the hardest. It was really, really, really, really hard.

After getting antibiotics and a strong cough syrup, I wrestled with being forced to stop and just be still.  I don't do that well either :/  My friends and family are now laughing out loud (aren't you??)  I don't know how many people lovingly said something to the affect of "Well, I guess God had to slow you down somehow!"  I know they meant well, and I'm not saying that they aren't right, but honestly, I don't want, or rather I didn't want to hear that.  I'm out there doing good, why would He want me to stop??!! It made no sense to me!

would love love love to renovate this some day

I still haven't wrapped my head around that one, but I do know when He says REST, I will rest.  I was asked the question the other day, "Are you just resting or are you resting IN HIM?"  There is a very large difference and I'm sad to say that I've barely just rested and I don't think I've even come close (maybe a tiny bit) to resting in Him.  I believe that He knew it would be a struggle and that resting in Him may not even come until I am well on my way.  There are a lot of layers that He has to dig through in order to get to the raw places of my heart and mind. 

If you are anything like me, you know that there is a lot of work to be done and by golly, I have to do it and do all of it.  We (can I include you in this so that I don't feel like I'm just picking on myself?  I can? Thanks) WE tend to think that we are the only ones in the world that can do our jobs and seriously, if anyone else even dared to try to do our jobs, surely they wouldn't do it as well!!  Right?  So with that reality alone, there was a lot that I had to wrestle with in order to come to terms and admit that that is a stupid thought!!!  Do we truly believe that God can only use US?  Who would admit that?  Not m.....well, yes, I am admitting that. 

We Americans tend to wave our "busyness" high over our heads like a banner.  Like the busier we are, the more holy and righteous we are.  What silliness.  It couldn't be further from the truth.  The busier we are (even if its with holy things) the further away from God we can become.  In fact, we then become our own god, proclaiming "Look at all that I can accomplish!!"  and when people compliment us on that fact, our heads just swell up even more and more space develops in the chasm between us and our Father.  It's sad.  I can picture God sitting there, sighing and shaking His head while He patiently waits for us to have a lightbulb moment.

I'm glad that He will allow things to pop up, at the most inopportune times, to get our attention.  He has mine.  He didn't get it easily, that's for sure.  But He has it now.  Another thing that I've learned is that I tend to do everything because of what I think someone's expectations of me are.  That doesn't leave any room for true downtime or for saying NO.  Whether there is a tangible reason or just the pure need to say "no, I can't", I will typically push through, no matter what I'm feeling or needing, and just do it.  You asked, you need me, I must comply.

At this point in the sickness, I believe the pneumonia is gone.  I still have a cough, it's nothing really compared to the beginning, and I'm really, really tired.  I can hold a conversation easily enough and I'm not lethargic on the couch, so I appear fine.  It is expected that I would have returned to my "duties" by now.  But I haven't.  After receiving much wise counsel from others, I know that I need to take this really slowly.  I can't rush back just because I feel a big difference from when this started.  I don't want to end up back on the couch. 

Bill managed to snag the seat next to me
 on the couch once or twice

To continue telling my husband that I'm missing yet another weekend of soccer games is really, really hard. To see my 9 year olds face fall when I tell her I'm staying home is really, really hard.  The expectation that I will be there is great and rightfully so. Guilt is pounding at my door and I can't let it in.  Ugh, that's hard.....I'm sure you know how hard it is, or maybe you still fling the door wide open when guilt comes a knockin'.  Either way, we are all familiar with the power of guilt and condemnation.

Romans 8:1 says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,"  Hmmmmm that's interesting!  I have been so tempted to just suck it up and push through, it's what I do.  It's what my husband does.  Standing up against that is a challenge.  But if I proclaim to know the truth and believe the truth, then I am required to follow the truth and not the lies.

There are a ton of lies that I believe and yet at the same time I say that I believe the Truth.  I can't have it both ways, I must choose who I will serve.  Boy am I thankful for His Grace!!!  He knows.  HE. KNOWS.  And He loves me anyway.  That is a beautiful truth!  One that I am desperately holding onto.

I don't know when I'll be back to regular life.  I don't know if this downtime will result in my saying NO to things more often, or if I will just be more mindful of times of rest, not merely rest, but rest in HIM.  I am taking each day and moment as it comes.  I know that I am getting better each and every day.  Thank you to those of you who have checked in on me and have faithfully prayed for me and for my family.  I can't imagine what things would be like over here if it weren't for my family.  Jessica, specifically.  She has gone above and beyond that of a 16, oooh sorry, SEVENTEEN year old would do.  She has cooked and cleaned and homeschooled her siblings for me along with carrying her own college workload and other resonsibilities.  My parents, husband and children are truly a blessing to me.  They continue to do what is needed and I know that I can always count on them.

I am going to try to put "me" first a little bit more.  I want time to blog regularly (its a committment that I made and I want to keep it), I want time to read, to spend time with friends and family, I want to Rest in Him, each and every moment of the day.  I want to say NO to guilt and condemnation and I don't want to believe the lies any longer.  I am a daughter of the King and that means that there is no place for the father of lies in my head, my heart or my home.

I would love, love, LOVE to hear from you!!  Please tell me how you've enjoyed the first month of fall!!  I want to hear about how you decorated your homes for the season, the events that you've been a part of, the experience of the sipping the first Pumpkin Spice Cappucino, all of it!  I promise not to get jealous, but I will sing praise and thanksgiving for the gifts that He's given you and me in the month of September!!

Be blessed <3 Lorraine