A New Year...

Where will the road go this year?

I decided to close my book of dreamy ideas and just wander, letting

the road of unknown surprise me along the way with its own story.

I'm letting go of my fantasy dream business and just live in the now and grow

with what I have, where I am.

I've had my butt handed to me several times, thinking I knew

for sure that my plans were going to pan out. It doesn't help to have an 

encourager that agrees with my every whim.

Hhmmph.

The last door slam just made me laugh. Out loud and loudly.

It was one of those laughs where you want to cry but you can't

so you just laugh because, hell, it was just that unbelievable. 

Hubby {my encourager} can attest to that.

I think the words, "Hahahaha! Of course this would happen!", came out of my mouth.

Seriously, that was the last straw for me.

I wanted so badly to just shut it all off, crawl in a hole and do nothing anymore.

Some days I still feel like that.

Remember, I was the one born with no patience.

I did have LOTS of good days, though.

How can I not? I have a loving family, hilarious kids

and a cat that thinks I'm the meow. 

One of my greatest achievements of 2014 

were some experiments I did.

I played with scents for linen and room sprays and played with 

some fantastic ingredients in the kitchen.

My most favorite product is my Baker's Vanilla.

I've made a few batches with different ingredients and gave some

away as gifts (my testers) to see if it was worthy.

I've gotten wonderful response, so far. 

The best part of this vanilla is there is no sugar and you get delicious 

bean seed in every teaspoonful.

I am waiting on my labels and cap sealers so I can

peddle my goods. 

It will be interesting to see what 2015 will bring.

{So far, it's starting out sweet and it hasn't even started!}

I wonder what I'll be talking about

this time, next year.

Regardless, this year is going to be my year

of homestead gardening.

I'll be sharing my glories and failures, my discoveries and

my recipes because I plan on cracking open some of my

many awesome cookbooks.

I am so excited to get some beautiful color in they yard, too. 

My English roses will be coming sometime in January. 

Alright, 2015...

I'm ready! I've got my walking shoes on, let's go!

Let There Be Light!

I hope every single one of you had a wonderful Christmas.

This year, we focused more on what Christmas truly is.

We still shared gifts and Santa finally made it to our home

but we talked about Jesus and the reason we celebrate his birthday.

With short attention spans, I'm hoping a few words stuck with our

simplistic explanation.

Every year, the day after Christmas, a sense of newness comes over me.

I'm ready to see what the New Year brings and to see 

where my life path leads. 

I had written another post about my disappointment

in myself and what I set out to accomplish and failed,

but I threw it out. I didn't think anyone would care to hear that. 

New Year is a chance to start anew, with clear {realistic} eyes and 

set small goals instead of The Big Picture.

Unfortunately, I was not gifted with patience. 

As promised in my last post, I am sharing my 

birthday present with you. 

My new bedroom windows.

The Before:

Much better, don't you agree?

We haven't done a thing in there except those windows!

I will be painting the logs, white {loving that look so much!}

and my master drywall guy will be applying extra drywall screws and mud

to the sheetrock before we paint.

I soo badly want a chandelier in our room but being in the South...

{ I don't need to finish that sentence}

The amazing mirror hanging over our bed with given to us 

by a friend that was cleaning out their barn.

It was so dirty, very wobbly and a few pieces were broken off.

In just a few hours with some elbow grease, this piece

just looks amazing. I think our friend will be very happy

to see this Antique piece hanging. 

We love it!

I'm thinking we need to add something to either side of it

 but until I find the right thing, it will stay as is. 

Maybe it will just stay as is, period.

Two of the throw pillows I have on our bed are actually

Antique, hand embroidered/crochet, pillow cases.

Our neighbor gifted the two sets to me a few months ago

and I was so excited. They are king sized {perfect} but 

I didn't not want to use them on a daily basis.

I still have a healthy stash of pillow forms so I stuffed them

and just folded the top over.

So simple yet so pretty.

I love knowing where they came from

and having so much history living in our home.

I really cannot tell you how much

I love the light coming in. 

I plan on planting camellia's along the fence in front of 

those two windows just to add some interest and color.

One last photo for the road...

my wedding dress basking in the sun.

See you soon...

Sharing a bit...

I can't believe it's been since December 7th

 since my last post!

Well, all of our hands have been working 

and several projects have been completed. 

Hubby surprised me with squeezing a few 

days off in between jobs so we could

get some of the painting done while

 the kiddos were still in school. 

Grab your coffee or tea and come over...

I love our great room. It is such a bright 

and cozy place to linger.

We haven't purchased a log insert yet because we are still 

debating on building a real fireplace, 

installing a wood stove or keeping the gas.

We have an endless supply of oak so the cost 

of heating would be minimal except for

the initial cost of either of the first two choices.

 Of course the natural gas is cleaner but

I could find so many uses for the ash. 

We'll see...

The stairs are done!

Didn't my Mr. do a beautiful job? 

So glad I found a man of many talents.

I always love the part of Miranda Lambert's song, 

The House That Built Me, 

"Daddy gave life to Mama's dream". 

The treads, trim and cap are all painted to mimic a rich wood.    It's a time consuming job but the results are well worth it. 

The wood underneath is pine, which didn't even match the oak floors before we fixed that issue and instead of ripping them out, paint was the best solution. 

I have lived with painted floors before so I know that as long as we keep that top coat up to par,

we'll be alright. I'll be giving our dining 

table top the same treatment. :)

Next on our agenda: 

The boys bathroom, which is the downstairs

main bathroom. But, since this week is Christmas, 

we will be waiting till

after New Year to do that. 

We are doing a farmhouse bath with

bead board and using an old antique dresser

 I've had for the vanity.

All of our material is here and waiting!

I also have some pretty photos to share of 

our bedroom with the new windows but

that'll be next post. 

Wait till you see this amazing antique mirror we saved.

It's good to know people that are cleaning 

out their barns of "stuff".

Joyeux Noel! 

Merry Christmas!

I am going to wish you all a Merry Christmas now

even though it's still a few weeks away,

just in case.

We've been on a roll getting things finished up in the house

and one project feeds another so

I will take advantage of it!

Our tree is only decorated 1/3 down

{thanks to my fellas}

and I still need to pull the rest of the decorations up

from the basement.

I have the wreaths and garland in the windows

and the picket fence is lit up

but we decided no lights on the house this year.

Once I clean up the dust, put the furniture

back in place and breathe,

I'll decorate and photograph!

We went out and took some 

long overdue family photos but I'm

only sharing one. ;)

From our family to yours, 

Merry Christmas

Cheep! Cheep!

Alas, the day has come!

The French Pressed Home has babies!

Eight little peeps

filling their bellies, warming under the heat lamp

and singing their cheepy song.

The kids will be so excited when they get home.

Now to pick names and keep reminding

Lu and Mia that...

Curiosity killed the cat. And dog.