Sometimes, changes are a good thing!!!

 

There have been so many changes in the last three years that have been challenging.

I've been fighting sadness daily.

Truthfully, I'm so ready for a wonderful change.

Well, it's happening!

Our son Brad is moving in with us to help us in every way possible

AND

We have rented a space very close by to sell our goodies together! 

(That's Brad above...such a happy child!!!)

Here are a few photos of it now, we just moved in this past weekend.

The funny thing? Brad and I have always been collectors and gatherers

of all things wonderful!

With him moving in with us it makes me edit my things and he's editing as well!

He sells on Etsy and eBay and he inspires me to do the same!

We will see what I can accomplish!

It's amazing how your kids can inspire you and give you energy

to get going to do what you love!

Hugs and love,

Dawn

It's been awhile but I'm okay, I think.

 I have to admit it.

Real life is not always pretty.

It can be, of course but

I've finally realized that it's not and

can't be all of the time.

Yes, our family has experienced hard times,

trials and tribulations as everyone does.

But it seems like it took me until my mama passed away

that this degree of loss can happen to my family too.

 

I've been trying so hard to break this feeling of doom.

But I guess I've finally realized that

grief never really goes away.

We try to live with it but sometimes,

some days,

a wave hits us and the hurt is as fresh as ever.

I think it's because of our true love

for those who have gone before us.

It's just love.

It's been almost a year now since I've posted here

but that doesn't mean I don't love sharing.

I'll share a few photos from this past year

but haven't really accomplished much...

I'm just trying to get my groove back is all!

Swimming a bit last August before closing the pool!

Making boutonnieres for our son Chase and his wife Ashley's wedding.

Junking for frames to create artwork for our home.

Freshening up our front door!

October....Chase and Ashley's beautiful wedding.

I actually made and sold a few faux birds nests...I loved it!

Christmas time!

Repurposing one of my mama's frames for a print that

I purchased the digital on Etsy.

I had it printed in a local print shop and framed it!

More junkin' finds!

New plants for spring.

Opened the pool this past May!

Redecorating the small guest room/office to be

ONLY an office now!

Decorating our master guest suite has been so much fun for me!

Now I'm creating a sewing room from our old den.

It will give me so much more room in the studio too!!!

This is basically my year in pictures.

I'm just plugging along and loving my precious family!

I so hope to post again soon...

Thank you so much for visiting me,

Hugs and love always,

Dawn

Venturing out with my sweet Dad ~

 

Our goal with our new home is to make it beautiful!

Dad wants to do it for my precious mama and also for my husband and I.

It makes us happy knowing she's looking down from Heaven smiling!

We have a very ugly concrete retaining wall behind our pool

(which is still non-operational) that needs to be covered.

We were looking for something evergreen and beautiful.

We ended up buying a couple of pots of Star Jasmine and

will attach plastic fencing to the wall for it to grow on.

We will of course need more plants but it's a start!!!

The concrete wall is the last photo...

We visited The Plant Emporium in Griffin, GA and

Collier's Greenhouse in Jackson GA.

We will see how this plant works to do the job we want!

The ugly concrete block wall:

I'm so sorry for all of the photos but it was so beautiful
BOTH nurseries were!

I enjoyed a wonderful day with my daddy

and we stopped to have dinner together
before heading home.

Treasure your moments together, always.

Hugs and love,
Dawn

My precious mother ~

 

It has been two months since my last post.

Seems as though we have had one trouble after the next!

But all the septic issues were solved.

We purchased a brand new air conditioner so now we are cool.

My precious mama asked my husband and I after all of this,

do you love it here in our new home?

We both agreed that we LOVE our new house and are so very happy!

It was a short two weeks later that my mom had to go to the emergency room

for shortness of breath and terrible swelling of her legs and ankles.

That was a Friday afternoon and by Monday afternoon mama had passed away.

Little did we know that her oxygen levels were off. The swelling was a sign.

They took off the fluid but it didn't work. Her organs were failing.

The beautiful thing about my precious mama was this was all her plan.

And the Lord's plan as well.

She approached Dennis and I and said, Let's buy a house together!

We loved the idea and went for it!

She was worried about my dad and

knew in her heart that she was declining.

That was my mama.

She knew what she wanted and well, it got done!

She adored her family and her husband so very much.

We are all still trying to live our lives without her

but she's always on our mind.

I'm so very thankful and honored to take care of my daddy...

And that we had a few short months of living in our new home together.

We have good days and bad days,

she is always on our mind.

When you love much, you grieve much.

I still can't even believe it.

I love you precious mama and will see you again in Heaven.

hugs and love,

Dawn

Happy New Year dear friends!

Yes...I know. I know.

I've been gone a long, long time.

But I really do love this blog and SO pray

that I can connect with you all

much more here this new year.

The transition of moving was so easy, the move?

Not so much.

I hate to keep harping on that fact but it truly was a hard thing.

We are now settled in our sweet new home and now that Christmas is over

I feel like I can now concentrate on decorating AND

of course working on the new studio!!!

When you have the amount of STUFF that I have, because believe me

when you are an artist you really need the items, materials and supplies

to create what comes to your mind...it's a daunting task to organize it all.

So that is my goal for the new year!!

To get the new studio organized and ready to make beautiful things!

My muse is poking me and I am ready to create!!!

I pray you had a beautiful Christmas, we really did!

And now that it's the new year it's time for me to shake off the old

and begin with the new.

Our small tree with big love...

I watched our precious grandbabies while mom and dad had appointments.

Can you believe baby Tilly??? She will be a year old Jan. 25th!!!!

Nine year old big sister Clara is always willing to help! Tilly loves her like a second mama!

And brother Murray chills watching his very favorite show!

Then the princess Tilly sleeps!

We decorated for Christmas...

We celebrated our sweet grandson Owen's 2nd birthday too!!! Born on Christmas eve

and now his daddy and mama, David and Heather are expecting a baby girl in May!!!

We are all SO excited!!! Her name will be Lily...how beautiful is that??

Happy New Year precious friends,
I'm praying for a wonderful one for each and every one of us!!!

So now I will get back to getting my new studio in order because
I am so ready to get back to creating!!!
Wish me luck angels!
I'll share progress soon, promise!

Hugs and love,
Dawn