Thursday, September 18, 2014

Collage of Beauty

It's scary how easy it is to always be wanting more.
I find myself doing a lot of day dreaming...
picturing myself at the time in life where I will drive a nicer car, live in my own house, have a beautiful yard...and the list never ends.

I think it's important to look around at what you have right in the moment, and be grateful for being exactly where you are right now.
Not always easy to do, but definitely important.



I am surrounded by so many beautiful things and so many beautiful people.

The challenge in life is to not take that for granted.

I pray you all will feel contentment this next week, and notice all of the blessings you have in your life. Hope it is a wonderful week!



Blessings, :)
Olivia





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Tuesday, September 9, 2014

DIY: Key or Necklace Hanger

A simple DIY project...
A necklace hanger (what it was originally made for) or a key hanger, or really anything else you could hang from little knobs.



This was kind of a last minute project (used as a birthday gift) in which my hoarder dad, bless his heart, had all of the items hanging out in his workshop.


-an old drawer front
-a mini sample of gray paint
-an assortment of knobs
-screws
-sandpaper
-and even the little metal thingy that goes on the back to hang it! ;)



I'm sure most of you crafty folks can figure out how to DIY this, but just in case,
here are my 5 second instructions:

Paint the wood.
Once dry, screw in knobs where you would like.
Distress the wood lightly with sandpaper.
Hammer in metal hanger to the back.

TA-DA!


A nifty key or necklace hanger!


Blessings,
Olivia





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Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Cosmos in the Garden {not ready for summer to end}

So while all y'all (yes, I wish I was southern) are posting these
 "ready for fall"/"fall inspiration"/"so excited for fall" posts
I'm over here like waaait, can I just get one more month of summer!?

It's not that I don't like fall. I do like the lovely week-and-a-half of fall that we get here in Wisconsin.
It's more because we had a very, very, harsh winter this last year.
Like, we are tough over here in the Midwest, but it was sooo long and COLD. 
And, they are predicting this next one will be similar to worse. :'(
I'm not ready.

I didn't get outside much this summer, not having a yard and all. 
Currently, I want to cry at the thought of snow.
I think I will start planning a road trip to go down south...

.....

Anyways, enough of my protesting and complaining....
Here are some pictures of the Cosmos in my parent's garden, looking so full and lush.





Right before they are about to die...



haha okay, I'm done now, I promise...


Aren't they beautiful though?


And now, a short, corny, and slightly depressing poem.

Goodbye Cosmos.
Goodbye Summer.
September is here.
What A bummer.
It's your time to die.
The end.
Goodbye.


I know, I know, I'm an incredibly talented poet. ;)


Hope you enjoyed your summer!

Blessings,
Olivia



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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Heart House Hanger

Keeping it short and simple again this week.
I think this must really be adult life...
I can't seem to find time to write a post!

So, thought I'd share another one of my mom's projects with you.
She got this large twig heart at a garage sale for only a couple bucks.



Then she took some moss and a little birds nest and attached them to it to doll it up!
She's just so effortlessly crafty.




It hangs right on the front of the house above the dining room's picture windows. 
A lovely little welcoming heart.

I immediately questioned it when I first arrived back home, because I can remember my mom saying when I was little that she was "all hearted out". I believe she was referring to jewelry though! haha :)  
She had gotten one too many heart style jewelry items.

She must be warming back up to hearts though....

Remembering my mom's words of being "all hearted out", I decided at a young age that I didn't like hearts either! Hmm, someone wanted to be just like their mommy I think...

Anyways, it's growing on me. I've decided I like this heart, and that's a start right?


Are you a fan of hearts or not so much?
I love reading comments, so let me know!! 


Thanks for stopping by!


Blessings, 
Olivia




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Wednesday, August 20, 2014

A Country Girl's Playhouse

It's safe to say I was a spoiled toddler. 
My dad would often say, "You're spoiled! Do you know that!?"
To which I would respond, "Well yes, but at least I'm not a spoiled brat."

A sweet, yet spoiled, child I was...
My playhouse is proof  of me being spoiled.
Most children have miniature, plastic playhouses (you know the ones with the little teal shutters and no floor). Not I.
My dad build this charming, rustic, retreat for me (when I was about 2 or 3 years old) from the trees they had taken down while clearing out yard space. 


No plastic shutters here! I had a real picture window (I believe it was actually a french door turned sideways or something like that - hehe). 

Back in the day their was a sandbox out in the front yard and a mailbox off to the right. 
The swing-set was also near by. 
Does it get much better than that!?

And, of course, my mom had it all decorated. At one point I remember it being a schoolhouse theme.




It certainly got good use! I have many special memories in my beloved playhouse.

It is now a garden shed...
Although I would imagine when little grand kids come along it will be converted back to its original purpose. :)


What a blessed little girl I was...and still am!


Have a wonderful week!!


Blessings,
Olivia



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Monday, August 11, 2014

Adorable Outdoor Table Makeover


Yes, another outdoor table makeover! Why? Because my parents love me! 
This cute little outdoor table and chairs was my first anniversary present from them!




Remember not that long ago when I shared my parent's outdoor patio table makeover?
The glass top had shattered, and they made it look all cute like with a wood top... ;)

You can read more about it HERE!



Anyways, one day my mom was at the dump dropping off the garbage and she saw the base of the table and chairs just sitting there. Yes, at the dump!! Looking all adorable and FREE. 

With her recent project in mind, she asked if she could have them. 
Of course she could have them! They were at the dump because they didn't have seats or a top!
(Ohhh silly, wasteful people....)




Just let my mother's creative mind get going (and my father's handy carpenter skills!!), and you've got your self a whole new table...and probably a much cuter one that how it looked originally.




It came with this lovely, natural patina. I love the chippy goodness! 
Maybe that was another reason it was at the dump, but my eyes are just like
CHIPPY = BEAUTIFUL! 




And then, there is this amazing color on top! The pictures don't even show how beautiful it is.
It's a combination of a few different colors I guess, so sorry, I can't tell you the exact name or anything.
It's like a blue/gray/emerald green/beautiful. 


Now I'm just missing the house and cute patio to put it on. ;)


Thanks mom and dad!!! Love yous!



Blessings,
Olivia




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Saturday, August 2, 2014

My soul will rest in Your embrace...


I've been wanting to share a really beautiful song with you all that I've been loving on lately!

The song is Oceans by Hillsong United and it is sooo pretty.

It instantly calms me and causes me to close my eyes and picture myself next to the water.


The lyrics are so beautiful and always cause me to sing along.



Here it is! I hope you enjoy. :)




That is all for now! I will try to post more next week, but have been kinda busy with starting a new job. :) Have a lovely week!


Blessings,
Olivia



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Thursday, July 24, 2014

My "Something Blue"

Every bride needs...
"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."

I struggled with what I wanted my something blue to be, but eventually decided on this cute idea - my new name put underneath my dress! 

All of these awesome pictures of my "blue" where taken by Sara Thiry of Wonderful Life Photography ...that is why they are so much nicer than the low quality ones you may be used to me posting ;) 



Mrs. Matthew Godfrey
July 13, 2013




It was sewn in upside down, so that when I flipped my dress up, others could read it!
(I really only flipped it up for my husband and the photographer to see though.)


I guess if I ever have a daughter that wears this dress she will have to have her new name stitched on top of mine. Or underneath - that would be pretty cool too!


I was very happy to become "Mrs. Matthew Godfrey" ...if you can't tell!



Okay, so now I'm curious...If you are married, what was your something blue??


Thanks for stopping by and reading along! 
I am thankful for all of my followers. :)


Blessings,
Olivia




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Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Back into the Woods {a first anniversary get-away}

Camping. What better way for a poor, young couple to spend their first anniversary? 

On the 13th Matt and I celebrated one year of marriage...which is absolutely crazy to me, because I feel like our wedding day could have been yesterday. Anyways, to celebrate we headed out on a little camping trip to the beautiful East Arbutus Campground near Black River Falls, WI. 



God took care of us this last weekend for sure... what we had planned would have made me a cranky wife. We arrived at the campground that we had originally intended to stay at, and it was terrible! We thought it was $12 a night but it would have actually been $24 because we would have to pay for the vehicle too. The water was definitely un-swimable, it was miniature and weird, and I was not feeling it at all. 

When we got to that campground it was after 8:00 p.m. and so we had less than an hour of daylight left to figure out what we were going to do. I wanted to cry. We had picked up a camping information booklet at a road-side information stand in Black River Falls, and I told Matt that I was going to the bathroom and he better start calling some of the other campsites in the booklet because I was not staying at this one! (I can get a little sassy when I feel things are going wrong...)

I came back to the car and he had called East Arbutus Campground (a very nice campground that had showers and was on a nice, swimable, lake). They had 193 sites, and 10 of them were still available, and it would only cost us $15 a night! So we drove back the way we came 16 miles and set up our new tent in a beautiful little site! Yay!




Here is our new tent that we were so excited to use. It is a Coleman 4-person tent that we got for $35 at Aldi. When I was at Target I saw the same exact tent in a different color for $50! Woo-Hoo! Score!




We still don't own sleeping bags or a blow-up mattress so we hauled out the down bedding and our 3 inch memory foam topper - it was very comfortable! I feel like we were almost "Glamping"!
(Saturday evening it rained so we spend a lot of time in the tent playing cards.)



My beautiful view of the trees in the morning!




My husband's charming fire artwork. :) 




If you've been on the "outdoors" section of Pinterest, you've most likely seen these two popular fire starters.One is a TP roll stuffed with lint and wrapped in newspaper. The other is a cotton pad dipped in wax. I decided I would make both, let my pyromaniac husband use both, and give me his opinion to share with ya'll. 
And the verdict is....
The dipped cotton pad worked awesome!
In fact, he kinda hated the other one. He ended up taring it apart to just light the lint on fire.




Saturday morning we played tourist and got some ice cream at this adorable shop! They also had lots of cool candies, antiques, and home decor.




Oh and check out the original cash register...that they still use to check people out! 



I have that same clock...in storage somewhere.


While we were shopping at an antique store in BRF I got my first piece of Jadeite! I figured this was a good time to start my collection because I have wanted to collect Jadeite for a while, and when I saw some pieces at the shop I figured our 1st anniversary would be a good way to remember my first piece. I just love the color of it. Let the collecting begin!!


When we got back to La X, we got all cleaned up to go out to dinner.


Then we came home and got to eat our cake topper for dessert!
It survived its year in the freezer beautifully and tasted so wonderful!


It is Italian Wedding Cake and is extra special because Matt's mom made it and all the other cakes we had at our wedding. :) 

 We also opened presents. I got Matt an Acer Iconia tablet, (also partly his birthday gift) and he is loving it! He got me a T-shirt that says Trophy Wife and has a picture of a trophy on it. Hehehehe!

It was such a wonderful weekend for us! I am so happy to be his wife!!



Blessings, 
Olivia



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Friday, July 11, 2014

A Charming Country Cottage


How adorable is this little cottage out in the country? Adorable enough for me to whip out my camera like a creeper and tell my dad to drive by very slowly so I could get a picture. 
That's okay to do right?



When I saw the little arch-way off to the side that was covered in vines I just couldn't resist.
And I love the shade of green on the door!




If I owned this cottage I imagine I would have a lovely garden of roses out back. Ahhh, I can be such a dreamer.




If the owner of this darling charmer ever comes across this post, I hope they are flattered and not creep-ed out! It really is adorable. 


Thanks for visiting or following along!

Blessings,
Olivia




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