A Dream Come True!

I went to the Roseville Antique Market last Sunday and was blessed to meet the very lovely and talented Christie Repasy!! I have been a HUGE fan of hers for over 10 years...she's been featured on HGTV and in Romantic Homes Magazine. Steve loves her work just as much as I do and over the years has purchased her paintings as anniversary and birthday gifts for me.

Christie is so very sweet and kind...especially as I was falling all over myself telling her how much I loved her work..to me it was like meeting a rock star!! :-D

Christie has a BLOG now, too!! Be sure to go visit..it is so beautiful!

Christie came up from Southern California with her sweet Sister-in-love, Rita. Steve and I had a lovely chat with her, too. But alas, forgot to take pictures of her and her wonderful jewelry. I bought a necklace from her that I'll have to show you later..(forgot to take a pic of it at the moment). Rita also has a BLOG and you can view her jewelry and altered bottles there...

I shall leave you with some of Christie's art that we have in our home:

In the corner of the Master Bedroom

A close up..

In the kitchen, bottom shelf, behind the tiny teacup..

Hallway...

Dining Room..

Above the mirror in the family room..

 Above the mantle in the sitting room, and one on the left propped up in front of the mirror..

Her paintings are so beautiful~so serene and calming. They add romantic loveliness to a home! ;-)

I'm so grateful (and fortunate) that I have such a romantic husband that appreciates these paintings as much as I do....speaking of my sweet husband, I have taken all the sweet affirmations off the mirror (they were beginning to curl from the steam in the shower!) and have stored them in my 'Beloved' box.

I was so encouraged by your comments. I am so glad my previous post helped some of you, and you helped me feel not so alone in all of this. It has still been a battle every day to 'take every thought captive', but I'm working on it.

I am going out of town for a few days~Steve will be holding down the fort while I'm away. I'll check in as soon as I get back! Have a wonderful week and be sure to tell Christie I said 'hi' when you visit!!

The Land of D.

Through a series of events recently I had gotten distracted, wasn't looking where I was going and bam~found myself wandering around in the Land of Discouragement. Oh, how I hate that place!! 

It looked normal and familiar, but because I hadn't been there in awhile, it didn't FEEL normal. So I knew almost right away I was where I shouldn't be. A few things I noticed about the Land of Discouragement..the ground is really sticky. Makes it hard to move forward, or in any direction for that matter. It wants to keep you stuck just where you landed. And it forces you to see and hear your immediate surroundings~which is never good, either. My surroundings looked dark, dismal, foggy. And the sounds...you know how fog softens sounds? It's like that..soft, subtle sounds at first. But as I stayed stuck there, I started to make out words, sentences: "You are a failure"..."You are boring"..."You don't matter"..."You are________", well, you get the picture.

So as I stayed stuck there, listening to all that over and over, I started to believe it. But then I prayed.."Lord, show me the Truth. YOUR Truth."

My husband, Steve, noticed I'd been away and the change in me. He sat me down and asked where I'd been. So I told him about my trip to Discouragement, and my frustration of being stuck there.

My husband is a wonderful man and I love him with all my heart. He has so many amazing qualities that I appreciate so much, but I must tell you, encouragment is not one of them. He is just not gifted in that way. And he longs to be an encouragement to me~he's told me so over the years. And there have been times he has. But there are other times when I felt I desperately needed to be encouraged that he fell short and he's agonized over that. I have learned not to put that expectation on him so much, just as he as learned not to expect an immaculate house from me! ;-)

A couple of days ago Steve had left to go out of town while I was out with Courtney. My darling daughter treated me to lunch, then we did a little shopping. When we came home, I went upstairs and walked into our bathroom and I beheld this sight:

Over my sink were notes taped all over the mirror!

I got closer and began reading them...as best I could what with the tears streaming down my face and all..

And the best one of all:

I read these notes of affirmations over and over again until I started to believe them.

I found my feet had come unstuck from the Land of D. and I was walking on solid ground again.

I am so grateful God used my sweet husband to speak His Truth over me!

When you are interiorly free you call others to freedom, whether you know it or not. Freedom attracts wherever it appears. A free man or a free woman creates a space where others feel safe and want to dwell. Our world is so full of conditions, demands, requirements, and obligations that we often wonder what is expected of us. But when we meet a truly free person, there are no expectations, only an invitation to reach into ourselves and discover there our own freedom.


Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be. ~ Henri Nouwen~


Psalm 30:2-4 (New International Version)



2 O LORD my God, I called to you for help


and you healed me.


3 O LORD, you brought me up from the grave


you spared me from going down into the pit.


4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his;


praise his holy name.

Philippians 4:8 (The Message)

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Touring a new friend's home..BEAUTIFUL!!

Recently I was invited over to a new friend's home. We had met at church and really hit it off. Sue B. is an interior decorator and, oh my! does she display her talent throughout her home!!

This is the view when you walk in the front door.

Love how she created the vignettes!!

To the right is the living room..and formal dining..

Then the kitchen and family room..

I just love all the colors she used..very English Cottage!!

down the hall to the guest room..

..all in black and white toile!!

Love that scoll work above the bed!!

So cozy!!

Here is the Master Bath...I missed taking pictures of the Master Bedroom tho! :-(

I love the display on the counter!

Their house is built on the side of a hill and they dug out a space under the house and built a home theater!

This is what greets you at the bottom of the stairs before entering the theater..Sue doesn't miss a decorating thing!! :-)

Ta Da! It's very impressive in real life! The french doors lead out to the backyard.

'nother cute detail!

 Their grandchildren are in high school and love bringing their friends here. Are they the coolest grandparents, or what?? :-D

At the end of the "tour" she had a beautiful little snack for us to nosh on whilst we chatted.

So fun!! Sue is as warm and gracious as her home is!

EVER FEEL LIKE THIS????

Winner-Winner...Chicken Dinner!!

Thank you all for the sweet and wonderful Birthday wishes...and for playing along in my Giveaway!

I had a lovely weekend...with good friends, good food, good wine, and lots of laughter!!

And now, without further adieu, I used the Random Generator to pick the winning number.

And number twelve was Karla from Karla's Cottage!! Congratulations, Karla!

Announcing my Birthday Giveaway!!

Please enter my Birthday Giveaway!! My Birthday is this Saturday and I'm celebrating by having a Giveaway to all my blog friends who have made blogging so much FUN!!

For the giveaway you can pick one item of your choice from my ETSY!!

It will be packed up, (along with some other goodies) in this fun purse!

All you have  do to is leave a comment on this post...if you post about it on your blog, let me know and you'll be entered twice!!

Our BFF's (Dave and Laura) are coming up Friday to join us for Passport Weekend~A wine tasting event in El Dorado county. We'll be celebrating all weekend!!

Getting sick threw me off schedule...so I probably won't be online much until after I get the house cleaned!

The winner will be announced next Tuesday, April 13.....