Thankful

Today is a day that folks all over the US will be gathering with their loved ones, eating tons of yummy food and perusing the paper for Black Friday ads.  People will be giving thanks, playing football and watching parades.  The holiday season is officially in full swing.  I am sitting here in the early morning, drinking some tea and gearing up for the day.  Cornbread is cooked and roasted root vegetables are simmering in the crockpot.  This morning we will head over to my parents house to share in thanks with my family.  This will be one of the first years we will not be joined by extended family.  An intimate Thanksgiving, if you will.  This year my brother raised and butchered the turkey (aunts and uncles and cousins who aren't joining us are missing out :-)  I am looking forward to the homegrown goodness!  

I am thankful for so many things this year...My wonderful husband who is patient and kind, hard working and funny...My family, an amazing group of people who inspire me everyday...My friends, both old and new...Our new church that we love, a community of awesome people...I am thankful for events that have unfolded in the last year that have brought me closer in my relationship with God...I am thankful for food and shelter and the warmth of a home...I am thankful for insulin and good doctors, things that help me live a healthy life...I am thankful everyday for this wonderful life I have been given.  

I hope you all find many things in which you are thankful for today and throughout this Holiday season.  Oh, and I am thankful I don't have to do any shopping on Black Friday (be careful ya'll!).  Happy Thanksgiving!

My Pinterest Entrance

Hey Folks!  I figured it was about time I updated my blog, since it's about halfway through November already and my last post was on Halloween!  Oy!  I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving!

I have been doing all kinds of organizing around the house the past few months and I figured I should show you my favorite spot!  We put new floors in the kitchen (the last link to a loooong kitchen remodeling) and we had to move out our free standing cabinet.  Once the cabinet was in the dining room, I decided I liked it much better in there and that I should figure out a new arrangement for our little wall in the kitchen.  We enter our house mostly through the laundry room (updates on that remodel to come!) and this wall is right off the laundry room door.  We needed a place to put keys and wallets, etc and also a way to organize our mail.  

Now, I am addicted to Pinterest just like the rest of you...come on admit it, you can only begin to face your addiction when you admit it!  I found a lot of these ideas for our new entrance organization on Pinterest.  I have put links to the websites where I got my ideas.  

And...since I know you are just all biting your nails in anticipation...here is our new mail/key/entrance area!

 I still need to get a little basket for the bottom shelf of the table.  I found this table for $25 at a local thrift store.  We took it apart and painted it, it was awfully scratched and dinged up! It is a super solid table, we think the wood is teak, but not sure.  Either way it was a steal for the quality! 

 And I could not help but jump on the chalkboard bandwagon!  I got this frame from the thrift store for $1 and painted it red.  Then I painted the glass with chalkboard paint.  Funny sidenote:  My hubby, who always has to touch everything, touched the edge of my chalk heart, erasing part of it, I had to redraw it several times to get it right..observing this, he asked why I had to put a heart on the chalkboard and I said in a frustrated tone "cause our house is so freaking full of love, that's why!"

 I got this idea from Pinterest, you can find it here.  The wood was from a pallet in our shed and I just painted it white, the old keys were ones we had sitting around the house.  The GM key is from hubby's old car.  

 And, last but not least, our new mail organizer! (Not sure why the wall looks beige in this picture, our walls are green, I assume it is because of my lack of photography skills!)  I got the pattern from Noodlehead, you can find it here.  It was super easy to make!  The fabric I used is actually outdoor home fabric that I had gotten on sale a few years ago.  I was perfect for this project because it is more sturdy than normal cotton.  The top pocket is for bills, the middle for "action" items, and the bottom for things that need to be filed!  We use it every day and it really cuts down on the clutter in the kitchen!

If I can keep on the ball, I will show you some more of my projects as they get completed!  What kinds of projects have you been inspired to do?