Inspiration ....

I'm a lucky girl. I am blessed with some of the best friends a girl could have. I've decided that I'm going to 'call out' these girlfriends on my blog and let them know how much I appreciate them. Since I've got one with a birthday coming up, I'll start with her first. Here's where it all begins.

I want to spruce up Kennedy's room ~ NOT re-do it ~ as my poor husband has threatened my credit card if I dare bring another paint sample into this house. See, I have my very own personal Martha Stewart, without the arrests and diva-attitude, and she inspires me almost daily to 'do something' to my house. Whether it be planting a new flower, moving a piece of furniture, buying a new lamp (which I ALWAYS find for $10 or less when I am with her) and this time, it's no different. She wanted to make a tapestry of sorts -- 4 different pieces of fabric, sewn together and then hung on a beautiful curtain rod. Well, I was cleaning out our hall closet and I found some leftover fabric I used in Kennedy's room. I then asked her if she thought she might would want to help me make a 'tapestry' for Kennedy's room. Of course, as the song goes, "She said YES!" and off we went to JoAnn's to find 2 more coordinating pieces of fabric. We got the idea to add some embellishments (paging Kim Wheeler - aisle 2) and so hopefully within a few weeks or so, we'll have it done. This friend is Kandi Kirkland. She can make/cook anything and I can ask her "Will you show me how to do this?" and she will say "Well, what are you doing now?" and there you have it. She always makes time for me, even if it is to go to Home Depot at 8:00 at night because I don't want to go by myself. She introduced Chad and me to our church, of which we have become deeply involved and which I count as pretty much changing my life! She encouraged me to go to a women's retreat, that I honestly thought would just be a nice getaway for the weekend, which in turn, was another life changing event that I can HONESTLY say, cleared a lot of JUNK out that I had been holding on to for so long, for whatever reason. I have a bond with Kandi that I can't quite explain ~ although I am certain it is a "God thing". Her birthday is this week ~ so I want to send her a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY wish ~ and THANK YOU for all you do for our family! Kennedy and Cameron LOVE you too!!

OK ~ back to our inpiration .....
I was cruising around some websites, I stumbled across one that gave decorating ideas. One lady emailed in about what to do with empty spaces ~ and they suggested an assortment of plates on the wall ~ so then it dawned on me that I had some of my grandmother's china in my china cabinet that is just sitting there, collecting dust ~ so I pulled out the plates and take a look:



PERFECT - huh? I'm going to put 3 plates on Kennedy's wall above her bed. It will be just perfect. For those of you that know me, you know that I have a very strong relationship with my Grandmother Steen. I don't say "had" because even though she passed nearly 9 years ago, I speak to her almost every day. She was such an amazing, wonderful woman, and if I grow up to be 1/10 of the woman she was, I'll be doing ok. I know she is looking down on me - proud of me and thankful that I 'FINALLY' got it together with my relationship with God. She was the most GODLY woman I have ever come across. My mom is her exact recreation and I count my blessings each and every day for the relationship I have with my mom and I pray that Kennedy and I will have that same relationship (we will ... )

Here's wishing you a week where you become INSPIRED!

** UPDATE ** Kandi finished her tapestry and it is FAB-U-LOUS. I'm going to see if she'll let me take a picture of it to post here. The fabrics above are the ones she helped me pick out for Kennedy's tapestry!