This image will forever be etched in my mind. I remember exactly what I was doing the morning our towers were attacked. I was living in Nashville - only having been there just a few short months. I was listening to the radio and remember the dj saying that 'something' was wrong and an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I immediately called Big Daddy and he turned on the television - he YELLED when the 2nd plane hit - watched it happen.

I went on to work and everyone was talking about what happened. It never, seriously, crossed my mind that this was a terrorist attack. I just didn't think like that. We watched tv in our office for the rest of the day, until our manager just decided to send everyone home. It was very stoic.

That weekend, Big Daddy had to leave for a show in Minnesota. I left and went to stay with his parents. I did not want to be by myself.

During the show - there was no wind. No real breeze.

Big Daddy started singing a song about the flag, called "Red, White & Blue" ~ as he started singing, the flag slowly started to wave. By the middle of the song, the flag was waving - he said like God taking his breath and making the flag wave. After the song ended, the flag slowly fell back to it's original position.

Do you have chills?

I wish I could post the song, but it was never released and I * think * I only have it on my iPod.

So today, I remember what I was doing, the feelings I felt - nothing compared to what those actually in NY felt. I can't even begin to imagine and quite frankly, I don't want to.

Thank you to all our servicemen and women that give their lives daily!

Happy Friday, my sweets! Have a great weekend!

Fall Dresses

Since I live in Florida, we really don't see super cold weather here. It MIGHT get a little below 60, but not until Feb/March and it doesn't last long. I do not own very many sweaters at all - but I have become a dress fiend. I LOVE THEM!!

While picking up some skinny jeans for Princess, I came across a couple dresses at Old Navy - YES, OLD NAVY - and thought I'd share them with y'all. I do not have a 'favorite' place to shop (except for my jeans). I pretty much just buy what I like. I do like transitional pieces though - ones I can wear all year long. My job is also business casual, so I can get away with more. I do dress nicely for business meetings and presentations - those clothes normally come from Banana Republic - another staple for me because it always just fits so well --- and y'all all KNOW what my favorite jeans are, right?

Here's one my twin sister turned me on to! How cute with the gray/white/black leopard print scarf I just got! I think this will be adorable with some ballet flats. It's a great jersey material, too - AND - it was a steal at just $15.00!!



This is another one I purchased. Lucky for me, I buy all the kids clothes at Old Navy - SO - after we did our back to school shopping, I got some coupons in the mail. I saved 20% AND had another $30 in gift certificates. This dress will be adorable paired with some chunky jewelry and flats. I got it in a dark purple - beautiful jewel tone color for fall. Again - this one was only $15 and it's a soft jersey material as well!

This dress is just 'me'. I LOVE. IT. I love it with the boots too! I didn't get this one, but it's definitely on my wish list! The winter white is just gorgeous!

This is another dress that screams "NATALIE" - it's so me! I didn't get this one either, but I think it's adorable. I'm not sure about the booties though. I have REALLY skinny legs and not sure I could pull it off.

I get emails DAILY about the next fall fashion find - dresses are definitely at the top of the list!

What's your favorite fall item??

Have a wonderful Wednesday, my sweets! Until tomorrow!

What works for me .....

I've really been trying hard to keep my house clean ~ all. the. time. While it is a daunting task, it's not one that I don't feel like I can't accomplish.

It just takes patience.

I have a friend that lead a bible study for me last summer. We all talked about cleaning our homes and how sometimes it's just a mundane chore.

BUT - if you add some music and then turn the focus to Jesus ... it certainly changes things.

IE: Shining your toilet for Jesus .... think about it. If you were to just CLEAN your toilet, well, that's boring. BUT - if you were to clean your toilet and say OUTLOUD "I'm shining for Jesus" - well, that just changes things, doesn't it??

I'm not trying to be funny - really. Everyone that knows me well, knows that I have struggled with keeping a clean house (all the time - I'm one of those people that USED to not let people in if my house was a mess -- not anymore -- well, because it's not a mess anymore). I'm not talking about those people you see on Clean House or anything - I'm talking about just mail everywhere, dishes in the sink, laundry that needs to be folded that stayed housed on our large recliner.

I have gotten so much better - because I changed my attitude about it! Knowing that I'm cleaning my house to show thankfulness and a grateful heart to Jesus makes it seem much less mundane.

I've met some super women on twitter - yes - a social networking site. These girls are great and we have decided to hold each other accountable with flylady.net. That is a great website to get you started on getting your home in order.

SO to start off this week - since yesterday was a holiday - I'll ask all my fabulous readers this question:

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE/BEST TIP IN CLEANING? Something you do that you can share with blogworld that will help others?

Mine? I always start and FINISH whatever load of laundry I got going. Meaning - it's folded AND put away. I used to fold, stack and then place in the bedroom -- now it's completely put away and done -- takes me MAYBE 10 seconds EXTRA to do this and boy, does it help in the long run!

Have a great Tuesday, my sweets!

Just call me Marjorie ....

Marjorie is my grandmother's name. She could sew anything. I'm talking ANYTHING. That gift, along with cooking, as been passed on to my mother and quite possibly my twin sister (minus the cooking part). I'll never forget the first time my husband got to 'experience' a true Southern "Steen" meal -- he literally looked at me and said "WHAT HAPPENED??" ...

I do not cook - HOWEVER - I am learning and TRYING {that's what counts, right?}

So fast forward to today -- remember forever ago when I decided to redo my master bedroom after we got back from our fabulous trip to Dominican Republic? One of my dear friends was recruited as 'design consultant' and we decided to go 'cream, green and serene' - meaning neutral walls, with accents in the fabric, wall decor, etc.

I searched high and low for bedding. I couldn't find ANYTHING. I called my Mom and asked her how hard it would be to make a duvet and she said it wouldn't be hard at all - gave me some tips and I decided I would make it. I chose this fabric, but not before I sent it to my 'consultant' to approve. She loved it and that's when we decided to also paint the master bathroom to lighten it up. It was on sale, so I ordered enough yardage to make the duvet plus 2 king shams.


I * FINALLY * decided today would be the day I was going to make it. I started around 2:00 and finished about 2.5 hrs later. I took my time because I get easily frustrated. NOW, let me tell you, it is NOT perfect - but - I reminded myself that it did not have to be perfect to be beautiful. My seams do not match up perfectly, but it's ok. They *somewhat* match and that's good enough for me. Honestly, if you are that close to my duvet IN MY BEDROOM, then I don't want you in my bedroom anyway ~ right?

So I'm finished for today! I will make the shams another day. I need to get some backing material for those and honestly, I'm so happy to be done with this, I don't know that I have the energy to start the shams - BUT - I will have them done before the weekend is over!

Happy Labor Day, my sweets! Be safe!

Wordless Wednesday

Reflecting

August has been one of the busiest months, I think, in a really long time. We had SOME sort of commitment each weekend, not just one day, but both days, every single weekend.

Never any downtime.

While I know I am blessed to be able to BE busy, to have friends and family that love us and want to be with us, I am tired. I am mentally and physically exhausted and I'm looking forward to September - where we have few commitments. I am looking forward to calling friends on a Sunday afternoon and saying "Hey, come over for lunch, let's hang out" - casual and nothing planned. I absolutely LOVE entertaining and doing things for others. It fills my 'love tank' and my love tank is overflowing- thank you JESUS!

I am also spiritually tired. Meaning, I feel like I've been neglecting my quiet time. With activities comes preparation, and I've been putting my quiet time on the back burner because I need to get this room clean, or get those groceries bought. I'm starting to feel it now.

Our pastor did a sermon last weekend about calamity and getting your house in order. Now while I know he meant spiritual house, I also know he means our personal house. Big Daddy and I sat down over lunch and talked about this sermon. It was, by far, the best sermon we've ever been taught in the 3yrs we've been attending our church. It spoke to me more than any I've heard. We have agreed to go, room by room, and get our house in order.

It started with our closet - not trying to be funny - seriously - but good LORD - it was so bad it would have made a preacher cuss! It looks amazing now and I will post pictures as soon as I finish the minor details.

I say all of this to get here ~ yesterday, in between services, I sat down and just opened my bible. I find it NO COINCIDENCE that I opened it up to the following verses:

Matthew 5:3-12

³"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

⁴"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

⁵"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

⁶"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

⁷"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

⁸"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

⁹"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

¹⁰"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

^11-12"Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

Now I am not a bible thumper, stumper, or jumper - but I have become less scared of sharing a word when it comes to me. You never know who may need to hear it. I read a blog last night and it was EXACTLY what I needed.

I hope y'all have an awesome week - one of my goals is to get back to blogging regularly. I still need to post about Shawn's AMAZING birthday brunch - it was beautiful and perfect. I also need to post some recipes from the baby shower we hosted this past weekend!! OH MY GOODNESS - did we have some AWESOME food here!!

Weekend Away ....

As you all know - Big Daddy and I celebrated his birthday this past weekend. We went to the Don Cesar Beach Resort for one night - NO KIDS - and had a wonderful time. Our goal was to relax and catch a sunset! By the looks of this first picture, you'd think we would not see the sunset .... this was just as we were arriving!

We decided to have dinner by the beach (obviously - look at my hair!) - after dinner, we headed down to the beach with a bottle of champagne - to catch the sunset.

We had Big Daddy's friend take this picture of us. Did you hear that?? Big Daddy's FRIEND. He went back up to the room to grab the champagne (we had it chilling on ice - yes, we brought our OWN!) and as he was getting on the elevator, he heard someone calling his name. It was a friend of his that he has known for over 20 yrs!! GO FIGURE! Big Daddy ALWAYS sees someone he knows ... yes, even in the Dominican Republic! What's funny is she was with a group of girls, and two of them were great friends with one of my great friends, Debi - total 6 degrees of separation. SO we chatted with them for a little bit and watched the sunset - it was really fun!
The obligatory ghetto ghangsta shot -- I do this alllll the time - Big Daddy HATES it.

The kids were with Shawn and she kept them entertained. When Shawn brought the kids home, Wild Child walked in the door, arms crossed, pouty face, saying he DID NOT WANT TO COME HOME - he wanted to stay with Miss Aunt Shawn. I laughed but also was loving that he is that comfortable with our friends. It's a great problem to have!

Shawn - THANK YOU for keeping the kids for us. I know that even if they were terrible, you wouldn't tell me and I appreciate that! We had a wonderful time and it was JUST what we needed!!

OK -- more blog posts to come tomorrow - I'm back on my blogging kick!