IF NOT WHY NOT?

Do watch commercials and grade them on their effectiveness?

Why I do I do not  know, but I do.

One such commercial that has struck me so funny lately is the 

Reagor Dykes Auto Group

Bart Reagor played football at Texas Tech and while he might have been a great player and now a great car salesmen...he's not much of an actor...but he tries so hard and that's the thing I like best about him.

In his latest over animated commercial, he asks if you are pumped about your car...do you go out and look at it and feel like you can't wait to jump in it and drive it?  If not...WHY NOT?

I think this is how we should feel about the place we live

I have lived in many a fixer upper--8 to be exact--

homes that began quite humbly, including this one

but no matter what house I was living in and working on, there was only one thing that it had to be and that thing was

CUTE

today, I live in the house that I will live in forever

and I am pretty pumped about that

I look at it a lot from all angles

I never hesitate to enjoy that hard work that we have put into it

TEAM PURA VIDA

Mr. P.V. mows his grass, with a push mower, once a week

I wash the windows, on a ladder, myself

I feed the roses epsom salt mixed in water often

my nails are proof

and when it's fall, I find big pumpkins and use flicker bulbs

we celebrate

and think about the kids who drive by and wish they could live here when they grow up

just like I did when I was 8

I consider it a privilege to clean the muck out of my fountain 

I consider it a privilege for Mr. PV to do that too when it's his turn

you can't see my comfy chair, but I sit here often

with a glass of wine and wait on the butterflies to eat my parsley

yes, I am pumped about my house

but I was pumped about each one of them while I was there

if you're not pumped?  

WHY NOT?

just a little bit of seed...

GET PUMPED!

VELVET PUMPKINS

I might always be late to the trend 

but 

that has no effect on my obsession with it!

This year it is the 

VELVET PUMPKIN!

via pinterest

probably what started it all for us...

TO.DIE.FOR.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I wanted one hundred the first time I ever laid eyes on them

but I am also on the cheap side and wasn't willing to pay that much money for them

so I decided to wait until Hobby Lobby carried them

which is one year before Wal-Mart

and this year? neither!

it was going to be up to me to figure this thing out because 

unlike some trends

they are so beautiful they will never go away

and I don't care who has them as long as I do!

My first realization...it's all about the fabric

SILK VELVET

so I ordered some odd colors in fat quarters, robbed my toiletries of dental floss and bought some cheap rice at the grocery store

I knew I was on to something obsessive because if I know anybody I know me

and I love to blend my loves....peacock velvet meet my pumpkin pattern

I happen to have a teeny pumpkin patch so I robbed the stems and then realized I would be needing more....hello eBay!  

first came the experiment with some leftover fabric

I know...you like them too don't you?  

basking in the morning sun

what I really wanted initially was some for my pink dining/music room

PINK  VELVET PUMPKINS

that's all

I just kept having enough left over fabric to make just one more little one

and gosh before I knew it....I had oodles of pink velvet pumpkins

to go with

this gorgeoso blown glass beauty

and then I saw the shades of purples and lavenders

that go so nicely with my paisley tablecloth

wondering if I should fill my copper pot with them?

and then I just about forgot that moment I ordered another fat quarter in midnight blue and she had back surgery and didn't ship in time so she sent me two to be nice and well....

maybe a few blue ones here?

good grief!!!

and wouldn't ya know it?  Market Street in Amarillo 

CAME THROUGH!!!  

and so I bought some in 

what?  ORANGE?  

and I'm embarrassed to show you the lime green ones!

but they look lovely with these!

and let's not forget silver...yes...silver and pumpkins are two pumps in a kin patch for sure

I think silver silk velvet would be gaudy don't you?

NOT

HABITS

The wedding took place at a historic antebellum mansion in Dallas

with a string quartet

and lovely flowers with greenery from the yard of her parent's home

her sisters stood with her

their vows were written by each of them

but the most amazing thing came by way of something unexpected

~the toast of the best man~

*my sister told me that Adam was very regimented and he had a to-do list that was very specific

We are supposed to eat the gourmet cupcakes at 8:05 PM.  And he means 8:05.

The best man said this at 9:15

I have known Adam for over 10 years and now Mary almost that long.

Adam is a man of habit.  

He is a man of good habits.  He does good things and he does things right. 

And then I met Mary, and she fit in so well with him because she is also a person of good habits.

But this couple is special, because together, they have created a life in which they will do good things and do good things together.  

Their habits have made a lasting impression on me.  

Their marriage will be one that is an example to all of us sitting here right now...

they have made a habit of kindness for each other

They have made it a habit 

to love

when I told my sister in law the toast her response was this

It's just not that hard 

I think this new generation is going to change the course of marriage in our country

I happen to agree

MARY MARGARET

Saturday October 17, my sister will have her first bride

when I saw her photos in her wedding dress it took my breath away 

I can't wait to show you the dress...she is stunning

on her too cute throw back Thursday....

this photo also brought tears to my eyes

Mary is in her dad's arms...he will give her away to a very fine young man named Adam

baby brother Joseph could be "on the way" in this photo..they were pretty good at having kids!

the mother of the bride is one of the most beautiful women I know

inside and out

I think I will cry a river at Mary's wedding...happy tears... for a very sweet precious family that I am so privileged to be a part of

love

God's most wonderful gift on earth

pura vida

MY BEAUTIFUL CHOCTAW MOTHER

Often the most stunning photos ever taken are those that are just a random moment in time that capture a random moment in time.

This is my favorite photo of my mother.  I have many and it's hard to choose just one, but this is it. She is about 17, she's at a fall dance and what you can't see is that she's sitting in the hay with a boy.

I have it hanging in my dressing room and I see it every single day.  She is so beautiful to me.

I really enjoy it during sports events, when the camera men use the power of their lens to capture all the pretty girls.  I also like it when they capture cute kids and couples kissing and well...just life has it unfolds as we go about our lives.

While it might seem vain, this youtube of the gorgeous girls is very sweet to me.  It's a snapshot of our time and the way things are.  I'm guessing they know more about the game they are not watching than it appears.

At my nephew's graduation this May, the reporter was no different than normal...he used his powerful lens to snap a photo of the most beautiful woman in attendance.  It made the front page of the Wise County Press.

My sister sent our family this photo with this text

"our beautiful Choctaw mother made the front page"

LIFE ALERT

Most days baby bo peep calls me on her way from work for the drive home to lunch

I always enjoy our chats, but today was 

EXCEPTIONAL

It has to do with technology and all the ways it can go wrong

and I am still laughing...I hope you enjoy the story too!

She had a long evening meeting

Coach Been is the head coach at Anton (Lubbock) and also teaches Chemistry and Physics

Her boss texted her and said her daughter was having a bit of trouble understanding physics

She lined up a tutor session without asking Coach Been

during a break in the meeting she tried to call him to give him a heads up that the student would be arriving soon.  No answer.  Call. Call. Call. Call. Text. Text. Text. Text.

NO. ANSWER.

She was sure he had fallen asleep on the couch

so

from her phone

she

cranked up the heat

87

that should wake him up!

She also decided to turn on the "AWAY" alarm so that even the slightest move from him or the pups would wake him.

both worked

 when he went to open the door 

the alarm went off

the company tried to call him...except his phone was dead (because they only have one charger and she took it...so that explains why there was zero communication from him)

they had no choice but to send the police

in the meantime the alarm company called her and she told them the dilemma so she also called her neighbors

who, like a good neighbor, arrived next door amid police and alarms and barking dogs to find a very sweaty coach with 18 missed calls and texts as the cute student drove up for her physic session