On a personal note

I believe I told you all about the dungeon that magically appears almost every Saturday morning in our front room. Well, we found a way to bring the dungeon from our front room to our wedding. I had the idea of making the groom's cake a mock D&D board. I remember mentioning it during a sort of brain-storming session during our planning and watching my betrothed's face light up. He had no idea that could even happen (or that I'd want it at our wedding). I was all for it! It was actually high on my list of priorities, which made me spend a little more money and a little more time on it.


My groom took this idea and ran with it as well. He actually hand-painted every single topper on the cake. He made a host of epic "bad guys" and made each groomsman as part of the "good guys". Those figurines represented a character that each groomsman had played in a game with my groom. It was their gift to take at the end of the wedding. Oh yeah, my groom made the trees out of twisted copper wire as well. This cake was truly the most personal thing my groom had to represent him, his hobbies, and his friends at the wedding. It was a total hit too! Those that understood it (and it was a small group) absolutely loved it.


Oh, and it was delicious too.


Photos by A Love Story Photography. Cake by Delicious Cakes! Figures by Reaper, painted by my groom.....one by one.....and some painted twice because he's a perfectionist.

A little redecorating

Did you notice the new banner?! The gorgeous smiling man in that photo made it for me. How cool is that?! I picked the photo. He picked the quote from three about marriage and happiness that I found on www.thinkexist.com. I just wanted to put a little something personal for you all to see.

Not only did he do this for me on Monday, but he also picked me up a new cell phone so that I could go to my dance class. Yeah, he's that good.

So, what do you think?! Do you like it?

Edge of Monday

Standing on the edge of Monday, staring out into the week....I am definitely unprepared. Between the emotional drain from the death, the excitement of car shopping, and the chaos of a family Easter luncheon, I am completely spent. And it's only Monday morning. How on earth will I make it through this week??

Oh......I didn't mention the car shopping, did I?! Hmm. An oversight. There is definitely a new car in my hubby's future. Oh yes. Soon, very soon, something spiffy will be next to my beautiful Element outside. I assure you it is definitely not a boring car. As we do not yet possess it, I don't want to jinx anything. I'll show it to you as soon as we DO possess it. Pins and needles till then!

Easter Sunday

Making the house ready for family. Eggs are boiling for deviled eggs from the fresh eggs the little gal down the street raised. The dishwasher is running to make way for all the plates that will be piling up soon. Ah.....good food then a nap. That's what I hope for today.

We'll see how that goes.

Happy Easter everyone! (Or the preference of your choice, of course.)

Photo from Photobucket.

The compulsion to make casseroles

I've been so very blessed in my life. Things haven't always been smooth or happy, but most things have not been genuinely tragic. I've lost one person I cared very much about, my great grandmother at 82. Yesterday, one of my very best friends, hairdresser bridesmaid, lost her father. He was in a car accident which lead to other issues due to his immobility. He succumbed after a very hard fourteen month yesterday morning, very peacefully. He was such a good man. He literally acted as a stand-in father to me, and I loved him very much for that.

I was oddly surprised by how affected I was by his passing. I can usually be a little cold - or at least, people have told me I can be and I don't deny it. But I found myself at my desk at work, welling up at memories and had an undeniable urge to make casseroles. NOW! So, I left work, bought ingredients, and made two casseroles to take to their family. The casseroles were met with much appreciation and a lot of tears. I'm not quite sure why the death of a loved one requires a casserole, but it does. And I felt so much better afterward. Perhaps it's because we're southerners, and that means that we use food to comfort the soul. If that is the case, I genuinely hope that it worked.

He will be missed, but I hope that they are comforted and carry on.

Do you Etsy?

I'm strongly considering selling my beaded jewelry on Etsy. I started making it solely for the wedding, and it seems I can't stop! Since the wedding, I made a thank-you gift for our photographer, a birthday gift for hairdresser bridesmaid, and another birthday gift for maid of honor. A coworker commissioned a piece for our banquet, and I made it specifically to match her dress. I even bought beads for myself on my honeymoon at a quaint shop in the heart of Baltimore. It seems I am firmly addicted to my new craft. I've never considered myself creative AT ALL. So, it's oddly exciting when I come up with an idea for a piece of jewelry and actually manage to make it work!

I opened an Etsy account and named it for this blog: 2ndchancehappiness. I'll let you all know when(if) I have some wares to sell!

It doesn't take much...

The little cabin in the woods I lived in when I met my hubby was so tiny. It was under 400 sq. ft., and essentially one room with a pony wall running down the middle.


The wall had two opening in it, which actually helped the house feel larger. The front was the "living room". The back was my bedroom/kitchen/bathroom. The refrigerator was literally at the foot of my bed. The front room was all windows from about three feet off the ground to the ceiling.

And this is the view those windows gave me every day. The house was tiny, but the yard was literally a field. The house seemed huge when I let the shades up.


The house wasn't exactly luxury living. There was a ton of wildlife and flooding to deal with. But it was a wonderful house for that period in my life. It also reminds me that I can be happy with very little in my possession. That keeps me grounded when I start longing for some silly thing that I don't actually need.

The little house that I feel in love with my husband in will always hold a special place in my memory.