7.27.2011

Job and junk....

Hey Friends!
Well, last week I worked 3 days in a row.
Three 8 hour days.
I know,  I know, A LOT of people
 work really LONG days.
Im not complaining, honest.
The only thing I am going to say
is that I discovered very fast
 I need to have good shoes!
So, what better excuse to head to the mall:)
My mother in law, June, was
visiting for the weekend
and we spent Saturday shopping.
We had a fun time!
JC Pennys was having a great sale, and
I found some Clark shoes 
for a low price.
I also found 3 new jammies...
one very cheery and sassy one 
that Im sure my hubby will like (wink)
All that shopping made us
thirsty, so we went to Starbucks
for two tall iced coffees.
YUM

It was finally a hot, summer weekend
here in the NW.
We stayed outside on the patio
 for nearly the entire weekend!
We came inside to potty and sleep...thats about it.
However,
Come Monday...
we woke up to a thunder storm.
it was lovely.
I snuggled in under the blankies and slept
in late while listening to the rain
fall on our new patio cover.

I have been off for 5 days.
Tomorrow I start back to work for 5 days.
I laugh because I applied
for weekend help,
and so I guess I expanded the weekend to 5 days!

The store is a unique store
with a variety of styles, but mostly an Asian
influence. They also sell
scarves and jewelry, etc.
The tourists are a lot of fun!
They are usually in a great mood.
I love to hear about their trips.

I am still in training
I feel like a teenager again.
(If only I still looked like one!)
You know, that pit in the stomach when
you forget how to do something
on the register.
Mostly, it is very easy for me.
I love people, I love decorating, and
I love helping others decorate:)

Well, hubby and I are getting ready to enjoy
a movie on the tellie.
Have you seen "Source Code"?
We have been waiting for it to go to DVD.
I will let you know how it is...if I remember.
But first I need to go pick out my outfit
for tomorrow.
I know, Im a dork like that!
*Confession* 
when I was in highschool I kept a little notebook
to write down what I wore each day...
my goal was to never wear the same thing in a month...
or wear jeans two days in a row....ha ha ha)

Next week...
The painters start!!!
I will post pictures on the next one, I promise!!!
Enjoy your upcoming weekend,
I will too.

xoxox
Jodi

7.19.2011

New Adventure!

I have been a very lucky wife
and mom for many
years! 
I stayed home with my little ones
when they were little,
doing this and that to earn extra money
(not THAT)
When they started school
I worked in the schools and got to know
the teachers
and meet new friends.
I enjoyed having my own Home Staging Business
while the kids became more
 independent and my husband worked away from home.
This past year I have 
enjoyed making a home for us
in a new community,
but Im ready to get out more....

Tomorrow....
I start a new adventure!
I will be working in a retail furniture
and decor shop 
in Poulsbo, WA.

I still have my Fresh Vintage Home 
space in the Antique Mall
too!
In fact, EVERYTHING is 10% off!!!
I need to move some
things out so I can
bring more IN.

I'll be back soon to let you know how things are going:)
xoxox
Jodi

7.14.2011

Hammertime!

I thought I would share a little "Hammertime" on the playlist for today only:)

Last week it was the gutter,
and now it's the hammer...


Last week we had new gutters put on the house!


It's amazing what clean white NEW gutters
can do for a house.
No more rust! No more water dripping on our heads!

And AS IF that was enough to 
tickle my fancy...

TODAY

A ladder appeared outside my kitchen window....

A truck appeared in my back driveway.....

Aliens appeared on my roof (*remember "Signs"?)


TODAY we are getting a new roof!


*******


So, in other news....
We are on day 4 of Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet...
and its a good thing we like eggs!
Actually, it hasn't been too hard so far.
Ask me again in a few weeks...
or after the bridal shower I'm going to on Sunday...
I'm sure there will be yummy cake 
(* step.away.from.the.cake*)


Ummmm,
Since we are being held captive in the
house due to flying debris...
would you like me to show you my other
guest room?
It's called the "twin bed room"
Why?
because...it has twin beds, silly.



Top of stairs looking towards the guest rooms.





I found the old metal beds separately on Craigslist
for $50.
I just added the striped wool rug.
I don't know if I like it in here though.
It was only $10 at a yard sale 
but it has a lot of purple in it.
I'm not a purple fan.
BUT,
I'm thinking all white/cream on the bedding
and display accent pillows using
my grandma's quilt squares.
They have some purple in them...so maybe.....
(to be continued)
My attic is full of "maybe's".
Is yours?
You know... the things you love but just can't seem to find
the right place for.
I am so good at helping OTHERS pull their stuff together...
but I struggle with being satisfied with my own decor.
my.brain.is.tired.




Hey, stop by again soon!
I've missed you.
xoxoxo
Jodi



7.13.2011

Best spot in the house....

Its another cloudy Summer day
in the great Northwest....
but purrrr-fect weather for a cat nap!


Take time to relax in your favorite spot today!

xoxoxo
Jodi


7.12.2011

And...the rest of the story....

I think my calendar is wrong...
I missed a day this week, where did yesterday go?
I guess I shouldn't promise "tomorrow" unless I
have the post ready to go.
*Geesh*

Its been a weird few days. My sister and niece went
back home to Arizona on Thursday.
Jill, Jessica and me on the way to the Airport
(much to my decorating dismay we added a tv to the living room...)

Fun in Aunt Jodi's tub!

My son (my only one at home) went to
Whidbey Island to spend a week with his besties.

My husband is at work...
and I have slept til nearly 10AM 
each morning!
I think its the lull of the fan and quiet house.
Time to get with it girl!!

TODAYS LIST:
*write this post
*sew the summer slipcovers for the couch throw pillows
(before FALL arrives, ha ha)
*Remember to eat the right things 
(Hubby and I are on day 2 of Phase One
of the South Beach Diet!!
Long overdue......)
*Hmmm, do I dare add painting something to the list??

<FOCUS>
So, now after 4 eggs and 1 cup of coffee I am fueled up....

********************************
The REST of the story...
(continued from Sunday)

After leaving Wisconsin,
my daughter, Janelle, and I drove ALL
the way to Pennsylvania
I think it was like 14 hours,
$60 in tolls, 2 anxiety attacks in the tunnels
and a lot of potty breaks.
One of MANY toll booths

Anxiety attack about to happen...

Pennsylvania!

Once there, we got her settled into her
new home. I stayed with our
really good friends. I wish I would have taken
pictures of my friends GORGEOUS house!

She has such a beautiful home.
**Almost as beautiful as her heart **

Diane, (a very tired) me, Geri

After a few wonderful warm days of visiting there,
I went to Virginia with my friend Diane.
On the way, we stopped at 
LUCKETTS!


Here are some photo's from other vendors in the store





I was so happy to finally see
space.



Marion is now in the process of moving inside the building.
I am so happy for her, she's VERY talented
and was a huge inspiration to me when
I was considering the blog thing.
She also lives in the same town where my daughter
is now living.

As you may remember, I went from Virginia to
Arkansas as my step father underwent
open heart surgery.

He is doing well now, praise God!

The days prior to the surgery we did some reminiscing by
going to my old stomping grounds.

After graduating from High School in Arizona in *ummm*
the mid eighties *gulp*
I moved to Arkansas to be near my father and his new wife, Karen.

I lived on the 3rd floor of this amazing old building in the
heart of old town Rogers, AR.
My apartment was the top corner (The cross wasn't there then)

Looking up at my old apartment

The doorway in from the street

The stairs up to our apartment. Sometimes this was a little
scary. One time a guy climbed through the window to the roof
and was spying on my friend Laurie!

I loved the Coca-Cola mural on the side of the building.
It was recently restored.

There was a working bakery on one side of the street, 
so every morning I woke to the smell of fresh bread!
The streets are brick, there were office buildings on the first floor.
Across the street the old movie theater was a antique mall.

The DAISY B.B. gun museum is on that street now,
and the old theater is a theater again.

There were only 4 apartments in the building.
I lived in the 3rd floor facing the street, my best friend, Stephanie, lived
across the hall way and our other best friend, Laurie,
lived on the 2nd floor below us. There was also
a "really old" (probably my age now, ha ha)
 man that lived below me.
Some of my very best memories are from that time!
SO.MUCH.FUN...and D.R.A.M.A.

I worked at THE BANK of Bentonville as
the switchboard operator. 
I started as a bank teller, but let me back up a little.
Actually, I was a waitress at Kings Pizza when I first moved there.
A TERRIBLE waitress!
One day I was waiting on a table with
the bank president and bank officers.
I spilled a soda on one of them.
I was offered a job at the bank on the spot.
I'm not sure if it was because I was a terrible waitress
or I just handled it well, ha ha.
Flash forward (a few weeks)...I am now a 18 year old bank teller,
hardly a clue what Im doing, and my first customer
approaches the window.
I should have known by the dead silence that fell upon
the teller line....

Me:  Good morning sir, may I help you?

Sir:  Good morning, I would like to cash this check please.

Me: Ok, may I please see your I.D.

*Gasps among the other tellers*
Hands me his drivers liscense.....

Me:  Ummm, Ohhhh, Mr. (SAM) Walton. I am so sorry,
this is my first day on my own.....stutter.

Mr. Walton:  Thank you for treating me like a regular guy.
Then he went in to talk to the bank President. I thought I was fired for sure.
But they called me in and praised me.  *whew* (I was a terrible teller too,
but a good talker, so they "promoted" me to switchboard operator...I loved it!)

I made $210 every 2 weeks and my rent was $190 month!
I lived there until Stephanie and I went on a big
adventure and moved to Jacksonville Beach, FL  a few years later.
(That's where I met my husband, but that's entirely another story!)

Now that Walmart has become so big and Mr. Walton has passed away, Its fun to remember how our lives crossed for just a brief moment.
My step mother's mom worked for the
5 & Dime Store on the Bentonville town square
before it became the Walmart we know today.
Now there is a really neat museum in that building!

Another place we stopped by is Susie -Q!

It has been there FOREVER.
My grandpa took me there when I was 9 years old.
I love their Cherry Lime-aide! Soooo good.




We also went by the Veterans Cemetery so I could see my dad's
Memorial Headstone. This was very special.



During my stay, my moms brother Uncle Don and Aunt Donna came over to visit.


Their daughter, my cousin, Angie was visiting
from Kansas City. She and I are like two peas in a pod.
We always have a great laugh. She has a beautiful family.


I spent most of the time with Mom and Ron at the hospital and at their home.
I enjoyed helping mom around the house
 and planting flowers for her.


I also went out to visit my stepmom, Karen, and step siblings
Stacy and Traci.


I had not been back to the "family farm" since my dad passed
away in 2007. It was bitter sweet, and very healing.
Karen took me out to the family homestead in Pea Ridge. We took
pictures of the old family cemetery and the original old house
that my grandparents lived in when they were first
married.






The hundreds of acres that have not been
touched since the Civil War are now plotted and for sale for
development. Life moves on...
I wish I had the money to buy it all and restore the house to its
original glory. Oh, it was spectacular.

After 2 weeks there, I headed back to my family in Washington.
Its always fun to go back to where you came from,
but really there is no place like HOME!

What was it like when you moved from home for the first time?
I'd love to hear your story!

xoxoxo
Jodi