You know you need new curtains when....

You've lost a curtain somewhere along the way and have replaced it with a towel, held up by the dog gate....and the one curtain that you do have up doesn't match anything in your house.

As embarrasing as it is to post this picture...here is the before picture of the livingroom windows.

Looks like an image pulled right out of Southern Living, does it not? ;-)

I can happily report that I have corrected this major decorating disaster and now have a nice pair of brown curtains up in place of the horrible red striped curtain and towel! :-)

Much better!

I am lucky enough to have a school holiday tomorrow! This weekend has been relaxing and laid back. Future hubster and I lounged around, watched movies, and played with the puppies. After my first week back teaching it was the perfect weekend.

I know future hubster will deny it if asked....but I even got him to watch some Lifetime movies with me :-)

The best part of this weekend :-)

It's weekends like these that really make me appreciate this time in my life. Getting to lounge around and watch movies, sleep in, and fix my curtains might not sound exciting to most...but it was the perfect weekend for me. I can't believe that in 116 days I will graduate college! Soon I will be married and possibly moving far away from home. My life will be changing so much soon and so it is on weekends like these that I cherish my last few months as a college student! I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend, and if you get Monday off..enjoy the extra time off! :-)

Dumpster Divin Diva

This summer my wonderful fiancé, well then he was my fiancé-to-be...I just didn't know it yet :-), noticed something out by the dumpster that he thought was a bit odd. He called me out to look, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing....eight perfectly good chairs dining room chairs. I thought that surely there was something wrong with them...but as I checked them over I found that they were fine...just a little beat up...okay REALLY beat up....but I knew that all they needed was some TLC. We lugged all of them inside and got an even better look at them. They were pretty bad off, they were dirty, really scratched up and needed to be repainted. This sounded like the perfect job for me :-)

They were all scratched up and filthy, but I knew that they were going to be just beautiful when I got through with them!

Now that I had the perfect chairs I realized that one minor thing was missing...a kitchen table that would seat this many chairs! I scoured Craigslist for a cheap table that would match my soon-to-be cute little chairs. Before I knew it I had found one, I got it for a steal...only $40! :-) Now this table wasn't perfect either, it needed some work...it was very scratched up as well. Here is a before of the chairs with the new table.

Not exactly my dream dining set :-)

The table is wonderful, it's sturdy and very heavy. I ended up completly sanding all of the varnish off of the top and leaving some around the trim. I also sanded the legs and painted them white, I couldn't believe the transformation! As I began to sand the chairs I coudln't believe how much work it was going to take! I had blisters on my hands and wanted to quit after the first three chairs! Another important factor...I was sanding these chairs outside, in the middle of July...in TEXAS. Needless to say...I was a little hot while slaving away over these chairs :-) The hard work paid off in the end.

Here is the finished product!

It turned out even better than I could've hoped for! :-)

So the next time you drive by a dumpster, think twice ;-) You never know what could be inside....or right outside, in this case!

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{Southern Hospitality}

My First Week in 1st Grade

This week I started my last semester of college and my 1st Grade internship began. Where did the time go? It feels like just yesterday I was graduating high school and now here I am....only 119 days away from graduation!

I am COMPLETELY in love with 1st grade :-) It is so different from the classroom in was in during the fall. Going from teaching 3rd/4th grade Gifted and Talented students, to teaching 1st grade is quite a change! However, my students are bright, inquisitive, sweet kiddos. I can't wait to watch them grow over this year! They are at such a precious age, they finally have the "school routine" down and are learning to love reading, math, and discovering new information. It's amazing how much children already know by the age of 6 or 7! And who doesn't love getting personalized artwork  daily basis? :-)

I'm pretty sure I'm the tallest one, with the blonde hair and long arms :-)

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11

Too Early for Spring Cleaning?

After being away from home for almost a month, the house was in dire need of a deep cleaning! As I began to sort the mountain sized pile of laundry I knew it was going to be one of those days...I wouldn't be content until every part of the house had been cleaned. Do you ever have those days? There wasn't one dust bunny or cluttered drawer that was safe! After hours of cleaning and organizing I am finally content. :-)

Christmas has been all boxed up and is ready to be put in the shed for next year!

As you can see some of it has spilled over...looks like I'll be buying another storage container.

The newest addition to the kitchen! (The Keurig Coffee Maker)

Future Hubster couldn't be happier! :-)

I got to add some of the cute little "cups" to my coffee/tea box...thanks to our new coffee maker!

My biggest accomplishment of today...CLEANING OUT MY CLOSET!!!!

 I'll need the room as I add all of my clean laundry to it!

Now all of my shoes are organized and easy to find.

And don't worry...I have more than three pairs of shoes :-)

This wasn't just an everyday closet cleaning experience...

I managed to get FOUR bags full of clothes and shoes to donate!

There's nothing like a clean and organized bedroom! If I could only have one neat, clean and organized space...it would be my bedroom. I make the bed each morning before leaving, and it just helps me start my day off right!

I just love my bathroom when it's sparkly clean!

On a completly different note....HAPPY BIRTHDAY Rachel....my Best Friend for the past 17 years! I hope your day was wonderful and that year 22 brings you lots of happiness and everything you hope for! :-)

Hello World

I have contemplated writing a blog for several months now, and I guess there's no turning back now! After spending countless hours drooling over other cute blogs, I finally decided to start my own. I hope to use this blog to share decorating tips, yummy meal ideas, and of course my furniture restoration projects...I always seem to have one going on  :-)

Happy Home will also be a place for me to record events going on in my life. The biggest thing in my life right now happens to be planning my wedding! I am engaged to be married to the most wonderful guy! Future Hubster, as he will be known on here, is kind, thoughtful, and a total cutie! :-) Yes, you will most definately hear about him!

There are also two very cute, spoiled rotten, furry babies that will make their way on to this blog quite often I am sure! Gracie is Daschund-Chihuahua mix, a "Chi-Weenie" if you will! She was rescued from a shelter in the summer of 2009. My other baby, Dixie, is part Pomeranian and was adopted from a shelter in the Summer of 2010. They are quite hilarious and have BIG personalities for such tiny dogs. I hope they entertain you as much as they do me! :-)

My sweet & sassy girls

 Gracie (left) and Dixie (right)

I am thrilled to be starting my blog, feel free to leave comments! I would love to know I have some readers! :-)