Our Little Cabin In The Woods!

This past weekend we left the city for a Memorial Day Weekend at our cabin, which is about an hour away near Greer's Ferry Lake.  We bought the cabin a couple of years ago from Paul's parents.  It was a log home which they had built and lived in for 30 something years.  When they decided to sell, we really had no thought about buying it!  One day while chatting with Matt we got to talking about what a cool place it was and we hated to see it leave the family.  The more we talked the more we began to think that maybe we should look into buying it for our family.  It was away from the city, but not too far.  It was close to the lake and six acres came with it, so we could spread out a little while we relaxed. We could ride 4-wheelers and fish...plus Paul's brother lives just a couple of miles away.  We started to get excited and before we knew it, we were proud owners of a 2nd home.  Thus...the work began!  The home needed major renovating!  So Paul and my brother plus our wonderful kiddos put in several months of hard labor and the results were amazing!  WE LOVE IT!  It has turned out to be such a wonderful place where we love spending quality time with our friends and family.  We have a few things left to do, but it is will be a work in progress for years to come. Below are a few pictures of the den, dining room and kitchen.  I will post the rest of the cabin later!

The wall that Paul stripped, sanded and stained. He brought it back to its original logs and it looks beautiful!

The above two photos are of the den/living room!  We spend lots of time in here.  Most of the furniture in here is Paula Deen!  The rug is Pottery Barn.  I love this room so much, just wish it was larger.  Our family is growing!

The above two photos are of the dining room/eat in kitchen.  It is a large open area that allows several people to eat and fellowship together!  The blue color on the wall is not quite as bright as it appears in these photos!   

These two shots are of the kitchen. You can see how it opens up into the dining room! My brother Donnie built the cabinets....he was/is amazing!!  We could never have done all these renovations without him!!

A few more photos of the dining room.  The wall above is another wall that Paul brought back to life.

That is a mini tour of our cabin!  Join me later to see the rest!

Blessed Abundantly....Lisa

There Is No Place Like Home

I'm sitting in my office which is on the back side of my house listening to Savannah and her friends swimming in the pool!  There is so much laughter coming through these walls right now  I love it..the sound of kids chatting it up and singing to the top of their lungs and the loud music blaring....oh to be a teen again!! Paul, being the awesome dad he is, came straight home from a hard day at work and began grilling burgers for all of them.  And boy can they eat and drink!!  Not sure how many cokes and Dr. Peppers we've gone through tonight.:)  Next week is the last week of school so I am sure we will have many more nights like this...music, kids laughter.....life is good!

Speaking of Savannah, we attended her Mayor's Youth Council Banquet this week.  She and several of her friends received recognition for their community service.  They are such a great group of kids who really give so much back to their community.   I saw some great future leaders in that room!  Thankful that they see how rewarding it is to give their time to worthwhile projects.

This week was lots of decorating!!  I worked with Sandra Alfonso on a house that they helped a young man purchase.  He has always lived in Mobile Homes so this is his first house.  I love helping people that have no concept of how great their home can be!  So fun to see their expressions when they walk in the room.  You can tell they are nervous and do not know what to expect!  They are always so excited and then proud that their furnishings can look so nice!

I continued on Laura Leigh's bedroom...it is so stinking cute!! I am almost finished!  Love it!

Spent one day working with Tani and Kelly Joiner at their restaurant that will be opening in a couple of weeks.  We hung all their signs and art.  The walls are looking good. The Box closed a few months ago because their location was bought by USA Drug so they will be reopening in a new location shortly!  YEA!  They serve wonderful, juicy burgers.  Can't Wait!

Mother's Day was wonderful.  We had everyone over for a chill and grill day at the pool!  I got the sweetest gifts and cards.  Love my kids so much.

Ben, my son-in-law, passed his insurance exam this past week.  Such a big answer to prayer.  I am so proud of him!  He has been studying so hard over the past couple of weeks.  It was a big weight lifted off his shoulders!

I started boot camp almost two weeks ago.  I decided it was time to get this old body in shape.  I am going with my friend Joy Brown.  I was so sore the first week, I thought I was going to die....but I kept going and it did get better. Hopefully, I will see results....hate to think I am doing all this for nothin'!

Also worked on my friend Cecile's house this week.  She is doing MAJOR remodeling and it is coming together beautifully!!!  I will try to post some photos when we get it all done!

Well...that is another week.  I love this crazy life I live....

Blessed Abundantly....Lisa

Mother's Day and Rehearsal Dinner

It seems I write most of my posts on Saturday mornings!  Not sure why, maybe I am a little more reflective on the weekend or have a little more time. Today is a rainy day and I decided to sit/lay back down in the bed and catch up on blogging. 


It's Mothers Day tomorrow and I KNOW I have been blessed in that department.  I have such a wonderful mom who has always made any bad day I'm having much better.  She loves me, supports me yet always has taught me the importance of thinking beyond myself.  I love her so much.  At 78, she is still so much fun to be around.  She tends to think I can do most anything and do it well, even when I really am not very good at it at all!   Everyone needs someone like that in their life!:)  So Happy Mothers Day to my sweet mama!!

This is a picture of my sweet mom with all my children, plus son-in-law at Matt's wedding! 

Speaking of wedding....yes we celebrated Matt and Jessica's wedding two weekends ago.  It was so much fun!  God was so good to give us such a beautiful day.  The wedding was outdoors at BoBrooks Farms and it was wonderful.  The weekend started off with a bridesmaid luncheon at the Turk's home.  The food, which Jessica's mom had prepared was so good.  She is a wonderful cook!  Then after lunch we headed over to Trio's to decorate for rehearsal dinner.  (I need to devote a whole blog post to my dear friends who helped me so much that day!  What would I do without them???)  I (actually my sweet friend Tracy) made really cute table runners for the tables.  The fabric was black, white and green with a geometric design.  Loved it.  We used fresh flowers and candles for centerpieces.  For the head table I had the runners monogramed with an S and T.  I gave the runners to the Turks and Matt and Jessica for gifts after the dinner.  Such a sweet time hearing all the wonderful words that their friends and family had to share about them.  It was a great start to an absolute wonderful wedding weekend. 

 Two shots of the head tables.  I used paper lanterns over the head table to define the space!  They added so much to this area!

 Two of my dearest friends that ALWAYS help me!!  Love them!

Here I am with Jessica's beautiful mom, Shara.!  No we did not plan our dresses.lol  We thought this was pretty funny and we matched the decor!:)

My wonderful husband and dad of the groom...Paul Stagg!

Parents of the bride...Les and Shara  Turk

We had everyone "bless" Matt and Jessica with good fortunes!

Matt and Jessica...so cute!

Two more of the best friends ever...Joy and Donna

Sweet Sister of the groom...Savannah

Sweet Sisters and Friends!

Table full of wonderful people!