The end of April gave my family some good news and some bad. There are going to be some busy and exciting days ahead for us, but also some really tough days for one of my family members. Please send good vibes, prayers, and love. Not sharing any details, but I may not be posting as much. But will still be hosting the Love Your Body series and you can find me on Porch.com too if you don't see me on here. 

Make the best of May, make the best of every day and fill it with love and family. 

xoxo

Hello March!

I'm pretty excited about it being March, shall I name all of the reasons why I love it so much?! 

1. It's my birthday month, along with my older sister's. 

We were born two years and one day apart! Yep, I was that kid sharing a birthday party with a sibling. Though I'm sure she disliked it more since she was the older one who had two years of celebrating alone! HAHA! I actually love sharing it with her. 

{Turning 5 and 3 and celebrating at McDonald's!} 

Family History

I was hoping to have a Christmas wreath round up post on the blog this week, but as you know life doesn't always go as planned. I've been feeling really groggy lately and that is bad news when you're trying to write. When my head is cloudy and I can't think straight, I just can't be bothered to put together a thoughtful post!

I hate going to the doctor but I can't keep putting off this feeling that I probably have a sinus infection. My voice has been horse at times and squeaky as well for about a month now and with my family history of thyroid issues, I need to get looked over. It's kind of crazy because the "family history" went from my mom being diagnosed about six years ago and having her thyroid removed to my aunt (her sister) having the same diagnosis earlier this year, and most recently my older sister was diagnosed as well. Each had stage one thyroid cancer and had the thyroid removed. My sister is still healing (her surgery was just last month) and is now discussing radioactive iodine shots with her doctor.

 I actually had my thyroid checked last year with an ultra sound after I felt a hard lump in my throat area, but thankfully it came up negative (could have been a swollen gland). Ever since my mom's diagnosis and surgery six years ago I have been concerned about my own health, and now with two other women in my family going through the same thing my stress level over it has definitely risen. 

{ My sister a few days after her surgery }

{That's me, my younger sister, and older sister}

This is a recent picture of my sisters and I from just this week when we went to my mom's for dinner. You can see my sister's cut right below her throat is still healing. It looks a bit darker in person, she edited this photo on her phone before posting. 

{My mom about seven months after her surgery}

{Mom, sisters and I in March}

As you can see my mom's scar has healed up nicely and she has been doing well health wise. My aunt moved to Florida a few years ago and recently came up to visit. After her surgery her voice was a little horse, her doctor told her there was a chance of that. It could get better overtime or it may stay like that. She's a bit older than my mom so her body may take more time to heal. 

These ladies are so strong and brave. I just can't imagine hearing that word cancer, but if I ever do I know that I have an amazing support team who will be there with me every step of the way. 

Now that the family history has grown larger, I need to be on top of this and so does my younger sister. Ladies, if there are health issues in your family, don't push it aside and put it off until it's too late. Get to your doctor and get checked. 

OK, I'm off to the doctor...wish me luck. 

DIY Spray Painted Mason Jars

If you follow me on Instagram then you may have seen a little preview of the DIY spray painted mason jars I made for my sisters a few weeks ago. Well, after I made theirs (pictured below) I may have gone a little crazy with the spray paint and painted every jar in our house!

My younger sister was celebrating her 25th birthday and my older sister had been going through a lot of personal stuff, so I wanted to do something special for both of them. But first I needed to make sure I had their favorite colors right. My older sister is a Dallas Cowboys fan (boo!) and loves wearing anything that has their symbol on it, which means wearing a lot of blue. However, she also likes to wear pink on occasion. Since I had planned on spray painting the mason jars one solid color, I decided to send my younger sister a text to see if she knew which color Jenn (older sister) preferred more.

I already had the Krylon® fluorescent pink spray paint in my hand thinking Jenn liked hot pink more than blue...plus I just had this idea in my head that a pink jar would be so much prettier! Christina (younger sister) wrote back and said blue. UGH, but I really wanted the mason jar to be pink...decisions, decisions!

Well, as you can see I couldn't decide! Actually, the white I already had on hand and the metallic gold wasn't purchased until the next shopping trip!

 I figured it would be better to test out both colors on Jenn's mason jar and go from there. I set up a few cardboard boxes on my husband's workbench to create a little cubby so I wouldn't get pink and blue spray paint on everything and got to work. 

 After cleaning the jar I spray painted each side with either the pink or blue (forgot to take a photo of that step) to see which color I liked best. That's when the light bulb went on in my head and I got the idea to paint the jar with both colors in a fading ombre effect. Genius idea, right?! I know it's been done a million times before, but I have yet to see an ombre effect done in the spray paint colors I was using.

I quickly cleaned off the pink and blue paint and started over again, which is what you see in the photo above! 

I let the blue dry for an hour or so then sprayed the top with the fluorescent pink. While that dried I started on the red and black mason jar for Christina. There was no need to double check on her favorite colors, red and black are pretty much the only two colors she wears and decorates with! 

Wondering about the little mason jar?! Well that was a gift I kept for myself! I experimented on that little jar over and over again until I settled on the pink and black...that was before I grabbed the metallic gold on my next trip to the store! But those DIY spray painted mason jars are for the next post! 

I'm just so impressed with how beautiful they turned out, I'm pretty sure this is my favorite DIY project of all time! 

Note: Each jar has two coats of both colors of spray paint on them. 

I cut zinnias from my garden to fill the mason jars with, but I wasn't happy with how empty they still looked. So, I picked up a supermarket bouquet and divided it up between the jars to fill in the empty spots. 

I also made a pillow for Christina using two skull bandanas and pillow stuffing. As you can see she loved her gifts...and really loves the color red! 

After the gift giving we headed to Six Flags for a fun sisters' day out and bumped into Marvin the Martin and Daffy Duck while there! 

I can't wait to show you the other DIY spray painted mason jars I made, I may have gone a little wild with the gold...oops! 

Thanks for stopping by today, have a great day! 

Linking Up At:

AKA Designs Weekend Retreat, The Crafted Sparrow Creative Collection, The 36th Avenue Best DIY Projects and Recipes Party, and The SITS Girls Sharefest.

Busy Bee....

I'm still here...just being a very busy bee since last week! My stepdaughters are very active and both have many school sports and clubs going on and this week alone my one stepdaughter has 5 softball games in a row! There were many games canceled at the start of the season because of the rain and now they are all clustered together...not fun! But this passed weekend we had a nice time just hanging around the house, going for walks in the park and even a nice surprise visit from a friend! I hope you're all enjoying your week and have great plans for Mother's Day weekend. I took my mom out yesterday to lunch and shopping, it was a great time together! What are your plans?

This is my heart tree!

Softball...ugh...lol!

We have a few of these bushes...I think they're lilac!

Quack...Quack!

This is actually by the Dairy Queen!

At the park!

Night Vision!

Happy...

Who doesn't love a great weekend with the family, friends, and happy surprises in their email! Hmm where do I start? My best friend and her family came over on Friday and we had a great night of scrapbooking till 330 am!! I have to take some photos of the mini album she showed me how to make with scrapbook paper! In a few weeks were going to head to a scrapbook fair a few hours from where we live...can't wait!

Then on Saturday night with the hubby, I went to a friend's surprise birthday party! O.M.G their baby boy is so adorable!! Sorry I don't like to post pics of other people's kids. But here is a picture I love of us at the party!

Happy 40th Birthday Kevin!

So over the weekend I got a lovely, very sweet email from my friend Nan over @ Dancy Days...what fun people her and her husband are..check out her blog if you haven't already...you must!

She saw a beautiful cabinet piece on another blog and wanted to share it with me since I posted about the one my SIL gave me for my birthday...you have to see this renovation, it's beautiful before and after...but WOW the after photo is amazing.

Thank you Nan!!!

And another email I had in my inbox was from the wonderful Rachel about her amazing volunteer work and organization Just b.Cause...please continue to read about her at my other blog @ Wedding.Allwomenstalk

So how was your weekend? Have you ever recieved any emails that just made your day so much better?

Vacation....what a great time!!

Almost time to go back to work. But what a great family vacation we had! Family fun, great weather, fun rides, and great sunny days on the beach! It couldn't have been better...well maybe if we lived like this every day!!

I LOVE SCRAPBOOKING!!!

I must say it again...I love scrapbooking! It's such a wonderful craft and very relaxing. It gets your mind in such a creative state and it's tons of fun when you scrapbook with other people...like I did last night with my step-daughters to be! I'm almost finished my scrapbook my fiance gave me for Christmas...which is All About Me and what and who makes me who I am. I started off with pages of me and the things I am like a scrapbooker, a writer, a listener, a soon to be wife, etc. Then I made a page of pictures of me growing up and then started with pages of people in my life starting with my fiance all the way to my grandparents, cousins, etc. So here are the three pages I've created last night. The first one is of my grandparents( my mom's parents in the black and white photos and my dad's parents holding me in the colored photo!), the 2nd is of my aunts and uncles, and the last one is of my cousins.

Blessed

I am truly blessed this Christmas. I am surrounded by those who love me and appreciate me for who I really am. I am blessed for I have a wonderful fiance that I love more than this world, who has wonderful children who have taken me in as part of their family and loved me as much as I love them. For my parents, though they have struggled at times, I'd like to think they raised me right. I am also blessed with two sisters, who I have struggled with, but they are mine and I am theirs and I love them. For many great relatives (aunts, uncles, etc.), who have been there for me throughout the years. And for a soon to be in-law family who have blessed me with their open hearts. As I surround myself with the people who I am blessed with...I hope you are blessed as well this Christmas. Put all those differences aside and think about how blessed you really are.

Christmas Favorites!

1. What is your favorite Christmas Movie? Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and A Christmas Carol.

2. Favorite Christmas Song? "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree!"

3. Favorite Holiday Memory? Seeing the faces of the kids, my fiance, and family members when they open their gifts.


4. What kind of cookie/treat do you like to make? The easy kind! As a kid we always put out Chocolate Chip Cookies for Santa!

5. Have you ever made an igloo? Um maybe something more like a snow fort when we had a blizzard!

6. When did you stop believing in Santa? I think I was about 8 years old maybe? I know my younger sister was born...so I was 7 or 8. But I got sick one Christmas and came downstairs when mom and dad were wrapping presents. Well that's the story I remember!


7. What makes the perfect Snowman? A small head...a good sturdy middle...and a big bottom!

8. Best gift you have ever received? My Husband-2-Be!

9. Which movie do you like better Rudolph or Frosty the Snowman? I like Rudolph because of the cute little misfits!

10.Silver or Gold? I like the color silver.


11. What is your favorite Christmas decoration? I love the tree and the lights...and the angel on top of our tree!


12. What's your Christmas decorating style? Traditional

13. Do you hang stockings? Yes, I love hanging stockings!

14. How many days do you celebrate Christmas? We put our decorations up the weekend after Thanksgiving and we will probably take them down soon after the New Year. So I guess that explains it!

15. What was your favorite ornament on the tree as a child? I loved all the ornaments that I made in school...especially the one that had my picture in it!

16. What do you look forward to at Christmas time? I love driving around looking at all the lights on the houses and I just love the spirit that Christmas brings. And of coarse spending Christmas with the ones I love.

'Tis the Season!

Thanksgiving is coming around the corner...and before you know it Christmas will be here! And the TV ads and store windows won't let you forget that it's our favorite time of the year to go shopping! I think I saw Christmas decorations at the mall the week before Halloween...it seems to get earlier and earlier every year! But Christmas isn't all about gifts...it's about family. However, I do love buying gifts for the girls!! Last year I went a little overboard...so we will see how I do this year. I'm hoping to just get a few art supplies and craft kits for the oldest girl and a doll house for the younger one...and probably a few things here and there! Deck the Halls...and get ready for the most wonderful time of the year! HO,HO,HO!