For the Bama fans...

I got into the game day spirit just a little bit. ;)

No better way to celebrate than with red velvet cake! 

And houndstooth just makes everything cuter. It never hurts to throw in some extra chocolate either. 

Roll Tide, Y'all!

Retail Therapy...

...it's good for what ails ya. 

Isn't it cute?! Ruffles, rosettes, turquoise, on SALE.... it's like taking a happy pill. 

And it's on CLEARANCE at a Cracker Barrel near you! =)

Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to all of you who participated in the giveaway! And let me tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of your wonderful, and hilarious suggestions! You guys sooo crack me up.

Some of my favorites...

*Redoing the Rectory (good one, Karen!)

*One Can at a Time...and it Only Cost Me a Dime! (June, you know me too well...)

*The Krylon Kottage (very clever.)

And I just have to share an emailed suggestion from my Mom:

*Brushstrokes and Little Folks. 

Is that not clever?! So cute. Now why did I not get some of her smarts...

There seemed to be quite a large consensus voting for The Painted Parsonage, so that's what I finally decided on. And I think it suits this blog pretty well :) So, for the very first time...

WELCOME TO THE PAINTED PARSONAGE!

And now without further ado...

Mr Random Number Generator has selected.....

***drum roll please***

Number 17,

Brenda Stevenson! 

Congratulations, Brenda! I'll get the prize to you a.s.a.p. 

There were 22 valid entries, I had to delete a few who left duplicate comments, just to be fair to everybody!

Thanks again for participating, and for making it fun!

I know SUMMER TIME'S a comin' when...

1. I find myself spending more time OUTside than INside.

2. I can wear those white summer skirts again.

Love 'em, Love 'em.

3. Two sweet little boys bring me 17 weed bouquets per day.

Love those, too.

4. The azaleas totally come alive.

5. I can find cute shoes at the kiddie shoe store.

(Is it just me, or are summer shoes just WAY cuter than winter shoes?!)

6. Kindergarten is OVER!

And a very happy little guy has mailed off his LAST package of school work.

Did I say VERY HAPPY little guy...

7. The Ice cream truck starts making himself a regular visitor.

8. I have to put up with blue mouths. (Thanks to the afore mentioned ice cream truck...)

9. Crocs and sandals have completely taken over our entry way. (Yes, mine and Jackson's are the same size. Yes, I know he is only 6 years old. And yes, it makes me wanna cry. But NO, we do not share. He has stinky feet.)

And finally, my favorite...

10. Spike's back.

Hello, Sweet Summer Time! I've missed you so...

Spring Fever.

I sure hope it's...

right around the corner.

Happy Friday!

Love me some CUTE SHOES!

I'm not ashamed to admit it. I LOVE shoes. As a matter of fact, as a small child, I would rather get new shoes and purses than a toy any day of the week. Trouble is, I have ridiculously small feet, which makes finding shoes a complete pain. I've been looking for some comfy leather shoes for walking (translate - shopping), so while on vacation, I hit the outlets. I have always loved Born brand shoes, but they don't carry any small enough for me. But last week, I found my new best friend...Don't LAUGH...the Stride Rite Outlet store!

I found these kids Born sandals dirt cheap. Aren't they so cute?! I love 'em!

Finally. A perfect fit. Happy Day!

Then we went to the Unclaimed Baggage Thrift Store, where I found another pair of kids sandals...

Cha-Ching! I am officially on a roll.

And how cute are these? I found these for fall.

And here's a project that's in the works...

I got these lamps at a local Thrift Shop for 3 bucks each! I have big plans for them. And yes, it involves spray paint. I'll show you how they turn out when I'm finished.

So have you found any good deals lately?

Happiness Is...

a fragrant bunch of fresh picked hydrangeas in my favorite transferware pitcher...

A fun camera to play with...

A big gooey Cinnabon with extra frosting, brought to me by a very thoughtful hubs who loves me even though I've got my share of quirkiness...

A sweet boy asleep on the porch, with his shoes on the wrong feet, pants on backwards, showing his little Thomas the Tank undies...

I'm enjoying the simple pleasures of life today.

Take the time to look around you and find some things that make you happy. It's funny how we can find so much joy in the simple things.

Bringing Facebook to the Blog...

All of you facebookers are probably tired of seeing the latest "tag" - 25 Random Things About Me. It seems to have taken over facebook in the last few days. Problem is, I just happen to prefer the Blog to facebook, and lots of the blog readers have no clue what facebook is...so I thought I'd bring the tag on over to Blogger. Is that legal?

So here they are - 25 Random Things About Me:

1. One day of winter is one too many.
2. I hate snow.
3. I despise being cold. (are you seeing a trend here?)
4. I LOVE Spring and Summer.
5. I wear a kids size 3 shoe. (yes, some of my shoes have velcro closures.)
6. I still think my husband is the most handsome man I ever met. ( and he didn't even pay me to say that)
7. I have 2 little boys that can take a perfectly clean 4 bedroom house and completely destroy it in 3 minutes flat.
8. I don't enjoy cooking. But I do it out of duty.
9. Eating out is a huge weakness of mine.
10. I have been married for 10 wonderful years.
11. We had our 2 boys by In Vitro, they each had a twin that miscarried, and we plan to have 2 more in vitro babies......eventually. Oh, and one more thing...In Vitro is NOT for wimps!!!
12. I cannot swim. Water terrifies me.
13. I've never flown. Airplanes terrify me. My dear husband just corrected me - I HAVE flown. One time we took a 10 minute helicopter ride over the Smoky Mountains. Does that count? I know it's weird, but helicopters don't terrify me like planes.
14. We've moved 9 times in 10 years and I do Not recommend it.
15. I have a sweet tooth as big as Dallas. There's a special place in my heart for The Cheesecake Factory.
16. I'm a Goodwillin' Thrift shoppin' Bargain huntin' ebayin' craigslistin' nut. Oh, and did I mention I love to shop?
17. I get a thrill out of remodeling old houses. I've remodeled 5 of the houses we've lived in.
18. My husband calls me "Pharoah" (he don't get the same thrill from remodeling)
19. I turned 30 this year and I'm still not over it.
20. I love toile. In any color. It speaks to me.
21. I Love to take pictures. There are currently 7,849 photos on my computer that I've taken in the past 5 years.
22. I prefer Blogger to facebook. Blogging is my therapy. Really.
23. I love animals, scrapbooking, and chocolate.Not that those 3 have anything to do with each other...
24. I am a neat freak - I attack clutter with a vengeance.
25. I am a Pastor's wife, a stay at home Mom, my family's cook maid secretary barber accountant nurse teacher photographer referee counselor etc etc etc......And I love every minute of it....well...MOST minutes of it anyway...

We Have A WINNER!!

I like to do things the old school way. I know there is a random number picking website out there somewhere, but where's the fun in that? I mean, can you really call that a "drawing"? Nahh, I don't think so. I put the names of all of those who left comments in a hat (compliments of Jackson) and my sweet hubby did the honors for me. Honey, the envelope, please...

And it looks like we have a winner! Congratulations to Melissa of the Farmgirl Report! I hope you enjoy these pages as much as I enjoyed scrapping them. Oh, yes, "scrap" is now a verb. You know, just like "blog". Thanks to all of you who participated! You guys were all great sports to humor me and my little contest. I even got to "meet" new people this way. I hope you continue to visit even when I'm not giving something away. And let me say I loved reading through every single comment. Either you are all very very kind, or you thought flattery would help you win. The jury's still out on that one. And for all of you who want a scrapbooking buddy, you just come on over. I'd love it. For that matter, even if you DON'T want a scrapbooking buddy, you come on over anyway. You can watch my kids while I scrapbook. Ok Ok, I jest. Anyway, thanks again for each comment.

Oh, and stayed tuned...I just might do this again sometime. ;-)

Post Number 100 !!!

When I started this whole blogging thing, I never thought anyone would actually be interested. I still can't believe it when I glance over there to my "counter". Has this piddly little site actually been visited over 12 thousand times?! Wow, I've even managed to snag a few "followers". I don't know what brings you back time after time, but let me say THANK YOU!

Thank you all for taking the time to read my silly posts, and thank you for all of the kind comments that have been left. Sometimes, those comments are just the "pick-me-up" that I need. This blog has actually been sort of a therapy for me. I am NOT an outgoing person, I have a terrible time talking to people, and so through the years I have kept to myself, and stayed in my own little comfort zone. But when I type, I can talk. I guess because nobody's standing right there in front of me, intimidating me. So it has been good for me. I have a much easier time "meeting " friends through cyber space.

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So to celebrate the 100th post and to say THANK YOU to all you readers,

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(insert drum roll here)

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*add a little space for suspense*

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*and a little more space...*

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I have a prize to giveaway! I created a 2 page scrapbook layout called "Fall Fun". All you gotta do is add your own photos or journaling.

I've grown kinda partial to this little guy, I might just have to make one for myself.
Everything on these pages (except the flowers) is handmade. So it's truly an original!
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment under this post. We'll put the numbers in a hat and draw one out to pick the winner. I guess we need a few rules, huh? Lets see... Okay, One entry per person, no entries after midnight Saturday night. Winner will be announced right here, Monday morning.

Good Luck!!

Summer Scraps

I've been messing around with digital scrapping for the first time. It's pretty addictive! Here are some pages I'm making for a summer album:

I used scrapblog.com. It's free and you can save your pages as a JPEG image or share them online as an album slideshow. It's almost as much fun as buying a new pair of shoes! ;-)

Slip 'N Slide!

I thought this video clip was pretty cute. Can you tell these are Southern kids?!

"Mom" according to Jackson

Jackson brought me this card home from preschool today. It's interesting to see how your children think about you! You may have to click on the picture to be able to read it all.

Funny... I can't even swim, I don't care for bacon, I'm only 5 feet tall if I stand real straight, and I weigh a lot more than 12 pounds! But it's nice to know that I'm more important to him than his trains...

I've Been Tagged...

I was tagged by Melissa. So here goes...

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Hmmm...April of 1998 found me sitting on the front lawn of BMI with the most handsome little fellow I'd ever met. He plucked a dandelion out of the grass, handed it to me, and asked me to marry him. I laughed and threw it at him because I thought he was joking. He wasn't. I finished up the year at BMI (my second and last year) and moved back home to get ready for our November wedding.

2. Things on my To Do list today...
Watch IHC online.
I should be taking Jackson to preschool, but he's sick, so instead I'm scrubbing throw up out of his carpet.
Hem a skirt.
Buy Groceries.
Paint Pews.
Take the boys outside - it's a beautiful day.

3. Snacks I enjoy...
Cinnabon, anything chocolate, Krispy Kreme, Homemade cookies, goldfish, Golden Flake B-B-Q chips, this list could go on and on...

4. If I were a Billionaire, I'd...
Support Holiness home mission churches
Hire a christian school teacher for my kids!
Find a lovely spot and build a new church and home.
Get a Nikon, and the biggest version of Photoshop!
In case David's reading this, I'd get him his dream recording studio all at once, instead of building it one piece of gear at a time.
I'd take the family on vacations. Our vacations are always going to camp, which is good, but a real vacation would be nice!
I'd build my mother-in-law a big yellow house.

5. My worst habits...
Leaving laundry in the dryer ...
Putting off ironing, excercising, and taking vitamins
See number 3! I have a huge sweet tooth.
Speaking my mind when it would be best to hush up.
Leaving the lense cap off my camera. David asks me 87 times every day, "Where is your lense cap?"

6. Places I have lived...
Jasper, Alabama
Rock Island, Illinois
Knoxville, Tennessee
Cordova, Alabama
Davenport, Iowa
Adamsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama ( actually Hazel Green)

7. Jobs I have held...
I grew up working in my Grandaddy's home town auto parts store.
Companion to an elderly lady
Gatehouse manager at BMI
Nanny to a family with 6 children
Pastor's Wife
Mother (this job works me harder than any other job I've ever held!)

8. People I would like to tag...
Ellen , Gillian , and Amanda

Brrrr.........

I'm freezing.

So I've been browsing through pictures from Spring time and Summer time

in an effort to warm my spirits. So, humor me here...

Ahhh, doesn't the beach sound good?

And Daffodils? I can't wait.

I just read that the third week of January is the time when more people are likely to become depressed. I don't doubt it, I tend to get depressed in the winter time myself. So I am making a valiant effort to beat the blues. I think I'll go scrapbook some spring pages....But not until I put on my big fuzzy socks.