I'm His Water Girl

Brad is crossing one thing off of his bucket list and has signed up to run in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC on October 31st.  He started his training about a month ago and is already up to running 11 miles!  I'm a runner too...but not an 11 mile kind of runner.  I usually like to stay somewhere between the 3-6 mile range.  I'm always up for running 5K and 10K races (I'll be running the Marine Corps 10K while Brad runs the marathon), but I haven't quite challenged myself to running a half or full marathon yet.  Who knows, maybe sometime in the future...

Anyhow, I wanted to support Brad on his long runs, so I've been riding my bike beside him and having a nice supply of water ready whenever he needs replenishing.  I'm his official water girl!  Two weeks ago, I went out and bought a basket for my bike so Bailey can come too and we can make the marathon training a family event!  Check out these pics from Brad's last run...

My Mom Has 17 Pillows on Her Bed

Yes, that's right.  17 pillows.  (That number does include the pillows that she and daddy sleep with.)  Even with the high quantity of decorative pillows, mom still manages to make her bed every morning.  The only times I've seen her bed unmade is whenever she goes out of town and daddy is left in charge of the 17 pillows.  Here's a picture of her pillows...you can't actually see all 17 from this shot, but trust me, they're there.  (FYI...my grandmother, my dad's mom, sewed everything you see pictured...the shams, pillows, bed skirt, as well as matching curtains).

I'm writing this post not only to brag about my mom's 17 pillows, but to show you some pillows I've made to decorate my bed with.  The pillows I sewed look fancy, but don't let the fanciness deceive you...they were VERY easy to make.  If you can sew a straight stitch, you can make some fancy pillows too.  Let me share with you how these fancy pillows came to be...

For the past few months I've been working on fixing up our bedroom.  Unfortunately, our bedroom has been the last room of the house that I've taken the time to decorate.  It's become the dumping ground for things I wasn't sure what to do with.  I don't know why I've neglected our bedroom, because apart from our family room and kitchen, I'm in my bedroom a lot.  It's the room I use for projects, sewing, exercising, folding laundry, watching TV, and singing and dancing when I'm home alone and nobody else can see or hear me.

Because I was spending so much time in my bedroom, I wanted to make it into a place that was a reflection of me...I wanted to walk into my bedroom and feel as if I belonged there.  So, this past March I began "Operation Fix Up My Bedroom."  I bought new lamps from TJ Maxx for $29.99 each, new picture frames from Marshall's that were $6.99 or less, and even bought some fake flowers from Walmart that I stuck in a vase that my cousin, Susan, gave us as wedding gift.  You can really cover up the fakiness of fake flowers by adding green moss at the bottom of a vase like I did.  You'd never know these were Walmart flowers.

Here's a close up of my picture frames...they are childhood photos of Brad and I, along with our initials that I cut from the front of our wedding program.  The frame in the middle I cut from the first page of our wedding program...I know you can't read it because of the glare of the flash, but the verse says "As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so shall your God rejoice over you", Isaiah 62:5.  Love it.  Here's a trick I've learned from The Nester...you don't always have to put pictures in picture frames.  If there is a sweet note that your hubby wrote you, or something memorable that you have in your keepsake drawer...pull it out and put it in a picture frame.  Not only will this add contrast to your picture display, but it will make your display very sentimental.  I love sentimental...

I forgot...I'm supposed to be blogging about pillows.  Sorry...I got sidetracked with my good TJ/Marshall's finds.  So, to spruce up our bedroom, I needed to find some fabric that I fell in love with.  After searching high and low, I found some from a Charleston home store, GDC.  The fabric was $15.00/yard, which is more than I usually pay, but still reasonable.  The fabric was on sale and it had my name written all over it.  This fabric reminded me of something that my grandmother (Mama Ann, my mom's mom) would have picked out for her house.  She would have probably used it as curtains in her living room or dining room...I just know it. 

Now that I had my oh-so-beautiful fabric, I devised a plan.  I loved the look of my mom's white quilt with dressy pillows.  I knew I wanted to use a white quilt as my bedspread as well, and then dress up the rest of my bed with pillows, a coordinating bed skirt, and matching curtains.  Here's what my bedroom looks like after the makeover...I wish I had a before picture too, I'll try and be better about that for later projects.

I managed to make the ruffly pillow shams too, but I would have to do some serious rethinking if I wanted to do a ruffle pillow again.  I'm not going to lie, it was time consuming.   I ended up having two yards of left over fabric, so I made a throw that I'm keeping at the bottom of my bed. 

So how did I make that fancy pillow again?  It's simple.  I sewed a square pillow using a straight stitch, stuffed it with Walmart stuffing, bought a covered button tool (again...Walmart purchase) and made a covered button in less than five minutes.  I found some fridge that was cheap (Hobby Lobby and Walmart have the least expensive fridge), and hot glued it on the pillow.  That's another trick I learned from The Nester...she hot glues everything.  After all is said and done, I now have a bedroom that I love, 9 total pillows on my bed, and I make up my bed 70% of the time.

We Don't Have Any Drawers in Our Bathroom

We don't have any drawers in our bathroom.  We have Jack and Jill sinks with those silly false drawers underneath.  A drawerless bathroom is a pain.  Whenever you want to do the simplest thing, like brush your teeth, you have to reach under the cabinet and pull out the shower basket that you bought when you went off to college.  Ultimately, items get left out on the counter because you're tired of reaching under the cabinet to get your basket.  It's a vicious cycle and one that has yet to be rectified in the Porter household. 

After getting fed up with our bathroom looking like this (above), I did a little research and did something about it.

1.  I bought these cool tip-out trays and hinges online from The Hardware Hut.  They were a little more expensive than I wanted to pay, but let's face it, something needed to be done and I was willing to pay the price.  $35.00 including shipping.

2.  I bought some pretty decorative hardware from Target. 

3.  I hired a cute Clemson grad to do all the work for me.

4.  I served him lemonade when he got hot and sweaty.

Now my bathroom is completely functional and I don't have to use my shower basket any longer!  The finished drawers look like this...

And my bathroom will stay clean like this...

An Update on "My List"

When I started my blog back in June my first post was "My List."  "My List" was basically a list of resolutions that I wanted to achieve this summer.  Nobody has been holding me accountable to the list except myself, so I thought I'd give you an update on how I'm doing. 

1. No TV until after 8:00 pm. 
I thought this one was going to be hard, but it hasn't been at all.  I haven't missed watching TV in the afternoons and it has kept me from taking two hour afternoon naps. 
2. Always be reading a book
What Happens When Women Say Yes to God by Lysa TerKeurst
What Happens When Woman Walk in Faith by Lysa TerKeurst
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
3. Get to know my neighbors
4. Work out 4 times a week
Running...lots of running.  Brad's been training for a marathon, so I've been joining him on his shorter runs.
5. Memorize scripture (new verse once a week)
I've missed a few weeks here and there, but I'd definitely like to keep up on this one once the school year begins. 
6. Call my Grandmother every week
My grandmother is the busiest 79 year old woman I know...I've tried calling her, but she never seems to be at home!  We've been able to talk a few times on the phone, but I do have plans to visit her in two weeks.  She's claimed that she'll "pencil me in" her schedule ;)
7. Keep my fingernails painted at all times to keep from biting them!

8. Start a blog [check]

4th of July

Growing up my family spent a lot of 4th of July's at my grandparents' house in Red Springs, NC.  I loved 4th of July in Red Springs because we always spent the day swimming in the pool with my big cousins and eating watermelon.  There's something about the pool and eating watermelon that brings back so many 4th of July memories.  We always ended the evening with a traditional 4th of July dinner which consisted of steak, corn, and potatoes.  I know many people love the grand fireworks shows that most cities host, but to me, it's not a complete 4th of July unless there are sparklers.  We always did sparklers in Red Springs.  They aren't big or loud or grand, but they sure are fun and they always make me think of summers with my cousins.

This past 4th of July Brad and I found ourselves without any plans, so in keeping with family tradition, we tried to recreate a Red Springs 4th of July.  We cooked a traditional Red Springs dinner and topped it off with sparklers over at our neighbor's house.  Our dog Bailey and my mom's dog Gracie even joined in on the fun...I made them 4th of July doggie biscuits!  We tried to have the dogs eat at the dinner table with us, but that didn't work out too well.  Check out all the fun we had...(Oh...the babies pictured below aren't ours...but I LOVE this picture).

Gracie

Bailey

Baby Jack and Baby Rawls

Baby Grayson

After we got back from cruising I was able to visit my sister-in-law, Lindsay, and baby Grayson!  We met for lunch at one of my new favorite NC restaurants, Mimi's Cafe.  Check out this cute little bundle of love...

Porter vs. Jenkins Vacations

When it comes to vacations, the Porters love to relax and the Jenkins love to "go."  A typical Porter vacation would involve a pool, a book, and lots of chocolate.  The Jenkins, although they love to relax and they definitely love to eat their sweets, they enjoy going and doing and seeing everything.  A typical Jenkins vacation would probably involve horse back riding, white water rafting, hiking, biking, along with some sort of competition...whether it be a sand castle competition, or who can swim the fastest, who can hold their breath under the water the longest, and any other game you probably did when you were five years old, but is just as cool to play today.  After you get back from a "Jenkins vacation," you'll probably need to take a "Porter vacation" just so you can catch up on your sleep.  If I had to choose which type of vacation I prefer, I definitely couldn't make a decision.  Both are fun and have lots to offer. 

One of the favorite Porter vacations is to hop on a boat and take a cruise...it doesn't matter where the boat takes you, as long as you get to relax the Porters are happy.  When Brad and I were planning our summer vacation this past winter, we decided to go Porter vacation style and yes, take a cruise!  Our cruise was super relaxing.  Most days were filled with eating cookies and ice cream, reading a book, sitting poolside, and taking a mid afternoon nap.  Did I mention that we ate cookies and ice cream?  We probably ate cookies after and in between every meal.  They were disgustingly delicious.  Although we were able to kick back and relax Porter style, we definitely threw in some Jenkins adventure and took advantage of some of the excursions on land.  Check out our week in the Western Caribbean...