Just Letting You Know...

Hey guys! Hope everyone had a splendid weekend! We spent Saturday night at Aaron's best friends house, laughing until our sides hurt, and then Sunday afternoon was the perfect day for a wedding! One of Aaron's cousins had a beautiful outdoor wedding. It's always fun to go to weddings, and sit there to relive your own!!

So... on to the meat of this post.


I thought I would just give you all a heads up, let you know what's going on...


I am appearing in another play, and if you've ever been involved in one, you know that the world of the theatre is all-consuming, especially when it's community theatre and everyone involved, from actors, to directors to backstage help and set designers, is a volunteer. We've had a couple of "read throughs" - where the entire cast sits down together and "reads through" a script - and tomorrow we start our blocking - where you actually start moving around... usually this entangles some tricky moves because you are trying to move, walk, act, and still read your script!

So if I am absent for a period of time, it is because of that. Theatre is a beast... especially this play. It's all super hush-hush so I can't really share any of what it is with you. I can say that it was not actually a play, that we've gotten permission from the writer for this to be adapted into a play, and at one point it was one of the top shows on television. If I tell you anymore, I'll have to kill you, and then there goes all my readers and I have to start all over again... and I ain't got that kinda time.

I will have my days free, but because this show is such a huge thing in my community, most of my days at home will be spent with my script in my hand, and my nose stuck to this particular TV show. I may sit down occasionally and write out a post, but this will seriously delay the first Simple Life YouTube video... :( Saturdays will probably be spent painting flats or picking our set pieces with our set designer, or sorting through the costume room... you know... I am also acting as sound designer on  this show so I've got music for pre-show, intermission, post-show and the music and sound effects for the show to compile...

So as you can see I have a plate full of things to do... and all this while my poor lil' Pontiac gets a new front end. Fortunately the insurance company sent me a voucher for a rental car, so while my car is in the body shop, I'll have something to drive. It'll be my first rental car experience!! I will update you when the doll baby gets all fixed up. I've got to get it cleaned out really good (I don't keep "stuff" in my car, but living in the country sans garage means you get lotsa grass and leaves and junk that just sort of track themselves in on your shoes. Fail.) and get the oil changed because, some how or another, we've managed to book a family vacation to the Smoky Mountains with Aaron's family the last weekend of October! Yay for us! Pictures to come, of course. We are taking my car because of it's amazing gas mileage and to be honest, I just can't wait! By this time next month, I'll need the break!


Will I be M.I.A. completely? No, probably not. I'll randomly pop on every once in a while to catch ya'll up on how things are going, I may add some house tips, reviews and what not, but I will definitely (unless I get the wild urge to do so) not be adding any videos to the YouTube page for the next month and a half.


Ok, that's it! That's my news! I'll talk to y'all when I can! I love you guys!

$80 Kitchen Remodel Reveal!

When I tell people I redid my kitchen, including now countertops, for around $80, they always look at me like I'm nuts. But it happened, and I've got to say I'm so proud of my thriftiness and creativity!

To get caught up to speed, you should probably read my post on my original PLAN for this room. I followed that up with a step by step of what I had decided to do in Let's Talk Kitchen Renovation! A lot of prices and products I used are listed in those posts.


This project was a LONG time overdue in happening, but now that's it's over I am kicking myself that I didn't do it like this when we originally did the room 5 years ago.  Remember how it looked before?? (The various was it looked before? haha!) To see how it looked in the VERY BEGINNING of our lives here, you can check out the KITCHEN EVOLUTION post.

Yeah, all that's gone now! I can't believe I lived like that for almost 5 whole years!

BUT HERE IT IS NOW!!

Let me show you around! - I would like to note that I got this project finished while I still had all my summer decor out, but now it's all fall-ish at my house, so things decor-wise may look a bit different now.

Yeah! It's so much brighter!! I love it!

I love how the table looks (it's showing up very red in this photo. It's not that red) with the new wall color, so much prettier!

I kept a lot of what I already had over my cabinets, including my big "BLESSED" that I got on sale at Hobby Lobby a few years ago.

It says "Missy's Kitchen, est. 2009" The bottle is a "Cheerwine" bottle. It's a lot like Cherry Coke but more cherry than coke. My Mom used to love it when she was in her early 20's and first married. I think she actually lived in the town where they made it, but I'm not sure. We found this at Cracker Barrel and bought a few bottles! And then the Mason Jar is filled with rocks that I picked up from out of the ocean in the Bahamas when we went in 2013.

My giant "R" was also from Hobby Lobby. I painted the bottle and the star blue with leftover front door paint! And, ya gotta have the glass "RC Cola" bottle. It's Aaron's favorite drink, ever! 

I thought it would be cute to have some photos of Aaron and I in the kitchen when we were little on display. This one is of him, ear to ear in chocolate pudding. How adorable?!

And this one is me, in my Dorothy costume, making biscuits with my Mama. I was probably 3 or 4. 

I change out this picture seasonally, but it's always a shot of me and my Dad. This one is a fun memory. He'd been fishing and pulled up in the driveway yelling for my Mom to bring me outside. He said "I caught a fish that's as big as my baby! Bring her out here and let's measure them up!" And, as you can see, the fish is as big as his baby. :)  Currently there's a shot of him and me, as Little Red Riding Hood, on Halloween in the frame by the window!

The pantry stands out so much more than it did before! It's easier for me to see what I have now!

Here's my iPad/TV set up in the kitchen! It's such a small space I wouldn't have room for a TV, unless it was teeny, so I just hook the iPad up to this iPod dock, put the iPad on an easel, and there ya have it, instant television! :) I use the heck out of this system! (I do need a less obnoxious easel though!)

 My microwave area! It's amazing to me how much easier this room is to keep clean now!! This section of the room was the first to get "finished" and for a moment I thought it was all too light, but after living with it for a few days, I had no regrets!

The stove (it's even prettier now!), and my little helper! She hung in there like a trooper with me while I was doing all of this! I did purchase the hand towel, and pot holder and oven mitt set specifically for the new kitchen and it was a $5 set from Dollar General!

I decided I was too tired to cook the day after it was all finished (I finished it around 2 or 3am, actually) so I stuck a meal in the crock pot! 

I leave this butcher block cutting board out all the time. It's arranged a bit differently now, for fall, but it's still out all the time. A very good idea, and super easy to clean up!

DIY EVERYTHING! Haha! DIY lotion, and DIY lamp! I painted both the lamp base and the shade! If I eventually find something I like better, ok, and if I don't I like this just fine! 

 MORE DIY! I did the "EAT" out of cardboard. I free-handed the letters, cut them out with an exact-o knife (it's not perfect but I didn't expect it to be), painted them blue with leftover front door paint and attached them to the wall with 3M tape! I LOVE it!  The curtains over the windows I found on sale at Dollar General for $5 a panel. I bought 3! (The one over the sink I cut in half and split up the middle!)

 My flowers and DIY table runner! My cooking utensils are actually living in the owl pitcher now, and I'm using my glass cake stand full of homemade cookies as a centerpiece! I loved that I could still use this runner! My Mom made it for me and monogrammed our last name initial onto each end. There's enough teal blue in it that it works!

 Chandelier is even more beautiful now!

The room is a small room. and we have a large table, but it all feels so much BIGGER now that it's so light!
 

I find myself WANTING to be in the kitchen now. I just LOVE how it all turned out.

Be sure to visit the posts linked above for prices on items (including my "new" countertops) and names of paint colors and such! I'm tickled pink and blue (wink wink) with this room and can't tell you how satisfying it was to completely change it for such a small price!

Thanks for catching up with me today! See y'all soon!

How I Wash My Vera Bradley Purse!

I LOVE Vera Bradley. I could live in a world of Vera Bradley and be a happy woman.

Because of this love, I carry my "Vera's" to death, like, until they literally fall apart on my shoulder. I carry lots of stuff in my purses at any given time and so I like to carry the larger tote bags as purses.

My current purse (but I am cruising ebay and outlets for a new one in this same style) is the Go Round Tote in the Priscilla Pink pattern. This is a stock photo, cause it's all pretty and perfect and new.

This style bag is retired (I'm pretty sure) as is the pattern. I LOVE this pattern. I've got a checkbook cover, small cosmetic bag and small wallet (that holds my iPhone) in this same pattern. It once retailed for $82. I got mine for a steal at an authorized dealer for about $22. I had a gift certificate, it was marked down to $40! If you are interested in this style the "Get Carried Away" tote is very similar... and $92. There's always ebay if this is the style you absolutely must have. Also, if you go to a Vera Bradley outlet anytime in your birthday month they give you a discount as well! Our nearest outlet is Nashville, but I don't mind making the trip for some super savings!


Ok, so after a few weeks of use, my purse gets a bit dull. (A tip that I recently got from a friend who's mother works at a Vera store is if you spray the bag with Scotch Brite before you ever use it or wash it, like as soon as you get it home from the store, that it keeps it from getting that dull appearance.) The first thing I gotta do is clean this "Mary Poppins Bag" out.

And now my kitchen table is covered in stuff. I sort through all of it, throw away the junk and the bits of paper -- the gum wrappers, I'm addicted to gum. I make sure everything has a home. I like to carry a lot of my little "bits," the things I want to carry around but don't want lost at the bottom of my bag, in little cosmetic bags, and a couple of things end up in plastic sandwich bags, just 'cause.

Does any one woman NEED this many lip products in her purse? Do they? I mean, honestly? Is there a Lip Products Anonymous Meeting nearby I can go to? Just in case you were wondering, I've labeled everything in the photo above. I've got to say, these are my most favorite lippies and the ones I'm always hunting for.


So now that that's done, I put the bag in the washing machine. The care tag tells you to wash it in cool water on a gentle cycle. So... that's what I do.

After it's finished, I hang the bag upside down using a pants hanger. I clip it to the bottom of the bag and hang it over the back of one of my kitchen chairs and let it dry overnight. I NEVER put my Vera's in the dryer. It says "line dry" on the care tag, so that's what I do.... without the line. :)

In the morning I put everything back in my bag and its ready to go for another little while! I don't have a specific schedule when it comes to washing my Vera bags, just whenever I feel like they need it.

There's enough room left for me to throw in my planner and my Kindle Fire AND, if I'm feelin' froggy, my current crochet project!

Taking care of your Vera's is VERY important, they're fabric, after all. A good wash every now and again do them a world of good! Vera Bradley bags are not inexpensive, so I see them as an investment, and you always take care of your investments, right?! I was terrified of washing my first Vera, but after I bit the bullet and did it (and obeyed the instructions!) I'm so glad I did!


Hope this post finds you all well! Don't forget that you can PIN this post if you like it! Just click on the "P" logo below!

Thanks so much! See y'all later!

The above shown Vera Bradley was purchased in 2013 with my own money and a gift certificate I was given as a Christmas gift. I follow the washing and care guidelines listed on the tag inside of the bag. They're there for a reason! All lip products mentioned I purchased with my own money. I am not affiliated with Vera Bradley in any way other than being addicted to their products! :)

Car Accident Update!

So ya remember my 2nd to last post? The Dude, Get on Your Side of the Road!! post? Yeah, that one.

Well today we got the accident report back. And lemme just tell ya, I was a dat-blamed nervous wreck. I woke up this morning shaking like a maniac. I was too nervous to eat any breakfast or lunch. If the report said it was my fault we would be out a ton of money to get my car fixed. And a ton of money we don't have. If the report said it was the other drivers fault, well then the heavens would open up and sing the "Hallelujah Chorus."

Now, KY is a No-Fault State. And I had a question about this from my cousin on Facebook, and I thought I might ought to mention it here, just in case you were wondering too. She was under the assumption that "No-Fault" meant that no matter what happened, it was no one's fault and your own insurance paid to get your car fixed. No. That's not what no-fault insurance is. If I had been hurt in the accident, say I busted up my leg, or got a huge gash on my head, or hurt my arm, if I didn't want to wait around on the other persons insurance, if their insurance wasn't a really good plan/didn't have good coverage, maybe they didn't even have insurance, I wouldn't have to file a claim through their insurance company. I could use my own insurance policy to pay for my medical bills. It's a Personal Injury Policy (they call it "PIP") and has nothing to do with your car.



I called the City Hall, they said "yes, we have the report you can come get it." So I was like, OK! I hoped in my little crippled car and off I went. I got the report and the first thing I did was get in the car and read over it. It was almost like I was reading ancient Latin. The one thing that stood out to me was under a box marked "HUMAN ERROR" it said the other driver was improperly turning (der, he was in my lane!) and under mine the words were bright and bold "NONE DETECTED." My brain said "not guilty!" You know, like that one girl from Chicago? The blonde one? Yeah, my life is a movie voiceover. But I wasn't sure.

My next stop was Aaron's office. He's my brilliant insurance agent and all. He looked the report over and agreed with my brain, but had his boss look over it just to be sure. His boss asked which "Unit" I was listed as, Aaron replied "2." His boss quickly spoke up and said "Not her fault." They deal with this all day every day.

NOT-GUILTY! NOT AT FAULT!

My next step was to get an estimate with a body shop and thankfully we have a family friend that owns one. I took it over to him and he determined I need a whole new front end, from hood to fender and that the grand total would be a little over $2200. I took the estimate back to Aaron, he filed the claim.

So now the ball is rolling and I feel so relieved! I'm so ready to have this whole car mess over with! And when it is I'm having the poor thing detailed!

Y'all Gotta Check This Out!

Hey guys, I wanted to pop on very quickly to share a link with you all!

Holly is her name and she is a friend of mine and she just started up a fantastic blog called "Almost Bluegrass." She's got several very detailed posts up already so be sure to go check her out! Her Teriyaki recipe sounds super yummy!

I thank ya, and Ms. Holly thanks ya!

Dude, Get on Your Side of the Road!!

^ a bit of an odd post title, no? Well, keep on a-readin' to find out the joy that was my Friday afternoon.

So Friday, 9/12, was a big day for me. My best friend, Mandy, you've all heard about her, was headed to my house to spend the day. She lives in Alabama and was up for a week to visit her parents and me. There's a new Schlotsky's Deli that opened up about 15 minutes from my house, so we decided that's what we were gonna do for lunch. 

I woke up feeling great! I was excited, and so happy to get to be with her. Plus we were going to go out with my Mom and Aaron after they both got off work at one of our favorite restaurants ever, so there was plenty to be excited about. 

So, we go to lunch. Then we stop by the Dollar General (are you surprised? Didn't think so.) so I could pick up a few needed items and then we were headed back through the winding country back-roads to my Mama's house, so I could give her the "grand tour."

We are minding our own business. I'm being a very responsible driver. Mandy is one of the 3 most dearest people to me in this entire world, and I wasn't going to risk driving like a maniac and getting into a bad accident with her in the car. No way, no how. The radio is turned down, I'm not even touching my cell phone, it's in my purse in the backseat. She may have been texting her husband, I don't know.

We come around a curve, very slowly....because I know the road, I know how bad it is, and how big of a blind spot it is these days with the overgrown corn field right beside it. I'm hugging my side of the road because, again, I know the road. But just then, out of, literally, no where, a black 97-ish Altima just appears, on my side of the road no less. I swerve into the opposite lane to miss him, and he swerves out toward a lawn, but then swerves again to miss the lawn and a mailbox... swerving right into my front passenger side. (Next time, bub, hit the freaking mailbox, mmmmk?)

:( My car has a black eye. I drive a 2007 Pontiac  Torrent - a TANK. I paid for this car in CASH in 2008. It's my baby. 

Yeah. Considering HOW FAST this guy was going, this accident could have been SO much worse than it was. If I hadn't have been going like 20mph (seriously, couldn't have been much more than that) it would have completely ruined the front of my car. 

The other car (which I won't post here... just doesn't seem right, it's not MY car, ya know?) has a lovely set of scrape marks down their passenger side and a big ol' dent in the back passenger door. For a second I thought he'd just kept on going, cause he didn't even slow down when he hit me. I pulled into a nearby driveway to be sure Mandy and I were both ok, and then when I saw that the other car had actually stopped (gone down a piece and turned around actually), I jumped out to be sure they were ok (there was a man and woman and three kids, one in a car-seat. My heart SUNK when I heard a baby crying.) Everyone was alright. thankfully. But the first thing the woman said to me was "ISN'T THERE A STOP SIGN THERE????" And the answer to that was "No, there isn't. But I had slowed way down to take the curve anyway." The little girl - about 11 I'm guessing - quickly piped up and said "Oh great! This is our 2nd wreck in - so many weeks-." She was quickly shushed. 

Next thing we did was call the cops - the joys of that are too numerous to tell. And, of course, my insurance agent husband. Mandy called the cops for me, and I called Aaron, who instructed me to immediately take photos of the damage to both vehicles, be sure to get an accident report written up and to remain calm, above all else, as I tend to be a very jittery, anxious type person in those situations.  My headlight lens was sprattled out all over the side of the road (MY SIDE of the road, I might add)

The cops - COP- came and wrote up an accident report but wouldn't say for sure which car was at fault. He just kept telling us the accident report would be ready on Tuesday. (Goody.) The way I saw it then and still see it now, the guy was in MY LANE and  I swerved to miss him, and he did the same but still hit me... in a hurry.  It took the cop forever to get the report written and he spent more time with the driver of the other car than he did with us. Mandy gave a good witness testimony for me there on the spot, backing up everything I'd said, reiterating that the guy was in our lane, going too fast. 

Aaron and I hadn't been married very long, and I was working late hours at a bridal shop. One afternoon a girl I work with and I come out of the store into the back parking lot to see that our cars have been hit (her car had a dent, mine just a scrape). No note. No one had come into the store to tell us they'd hit BOTH of our cars... because the damage to my car wasn't serious at all (not even a dent, just a scrape mark) we painted over it and I've never given it a second thought, you honestly can't tell it's even there. (Funny story to go with that one...  a few days later I was at our "main" store in a different town, and the boss called me in to her office and said she's been told by a reliable source that I had actually been the one to hit my co-workers car. She said "so and so up at the Dairy Queen" -small town folks- "said that they saw you back into her car." I was stunned. So after I stopped laughing I reminded the boss that we weren't even at that store the day that it happened, we were at the store in a completely different town! -  so how could so and so at the DQ have seen it? I also reminded the boss that my car had mysterious damage too, and it was not the type of damage that comes along with backing into into someone, it was like I'd been sideswiped and she'd been backed into, we were parked next to each other in a tiny parking lot.)  A few years ago I rear ended a guy at a stop light, so the drivers side of my front bumper has a teeny little cracked place. But now the passenger side is sporting that super attractive black eye. So the whole front bumper will probably have to be replaced. My blinker is GONE. :(

Woe is me. 

And this couldn't come at a worse time for me either. I go into rehearsals for my next play starting Monday night - the 22nd. This is an every night for 8 weeks thing. It's gonna be tough getting to and from rehearsal in a car with no blinker - a ticket waiting to happen, and I can't afford that, especially if I have to pay to get my car fixed.. And then whenever we get it fixed - hopefully sooon!! - I'll be without it for a few days...maybe weeks. And on top of it all, the last weekend in October, we are going to the Smokey Mountains with Aaron's family and we were planning to take MY car! That's not gonna work with no blinker and a flappy bumper. 

Naturally, being as anxiety stricken as I am, my biggest fear is that somehow or another it will be determined that the wreck was my fault, which it was NOT, but it's a small town and you never know what mood the cops will be in. Aaron, looking at the photos from a professional stand point and listening to what happened from me AND my BFF thinks it will be determined to be the other drivers fault. My BFF is convinced it's the other drivers fault, but I can't help but be a bit mentally tormented. I'm terrified. I've gone to close my eyes on Friday night, and last night and all I can see is the two cars colliding and then reading the accident report and seeing that it was my fault. Lord help us, I can't handle it. 

Now, wasn't that the most thrilling way to spend your Friday afternoon? YES! I don't recommend it. Skip it. Don't and say you did. No, scratch that... just DON'T all around.

So on Tuesday I'm taking my ol' black eyed Pontiac and headed to get the police report. Wish me lots of luck and send me super good vibes that everything works out. I just don't know what we will do if it goes the other way.  

I am so thankful that no one was hurt and that the damage to both cars was as limited as it was! This accident could have gone out of control VERY quickly and very easily. 

Catch Up Saturday

Good afternoon everyone! It's a beautiful day here in KY! The sun is shining, it's warm but not super humid, and Aaron is off work! So the three of us (him, me and Princess Tabby) have been laying around watching movies all day! (Expect a What I'm Watching soon!!) He wants to get out of the house, but has no idea what he wants to do, so.... there's that!

I thought, for a quick post, I would play a little Catch Up and show you all what I've been up to lately!

I watched Gone with the Wind for the 17bajillionth time. Nothing else is important except this! You haven't lived until you've seen GWTW on Blu Ray on a huge TV screen. You see all kinds of fun stuff in the background. Like a sign during the bazaar that reads "Buy a hankie, beat a Yankee." Or a teeny tiny hair net keeping Melanie's over the ear 'do from flying everywhere. It's amazing. Truly the best! 

Aaron and I went on an overnight in August - his Southern Gospel Quartet sang at the KY State Fair - and about half way there I thought I'd forgotten my makeup, a DISASTER for this girl. Thankfully we stopped off at a Dollar General and I picked up some things.... only to discover, once we got to our hotel, that my makeup bag was nestled safely in my suitcase the whole darn time. Needless to say, I stopped on the way back home to return everything! I did manage to find a new pretty awesome foundation that I've been using out of this deal. I'll share it with you all soon!

Here we are that next morning, headed off to the fair. It was a good idea for me to wear that jean jacket, the place where they always hold the Southern Gospel contest is always freezing.

I decorated for fall. I succumbed to peer pressure. Hilary from My So Called Home  made me do it. She posted a picture on her Instagram the day after Labor Day of pumpkins saying she was decorating. That's usually the day I to it too, but Labor Day came so early this year.... but after seeing she was doing it, I had to do it to! Thanks for the push Ms. Hilary! Check out her blog and her YouTube channel. She is suuuuch an inspiration to me! 

I fell in love with the art of "Hand Lettering" recently. This was the first piece I ever did. I ended up "inking it in" and mod podging it to a canvas and putting it in our bedroom. I love doing this! It's so relaxing! This is a quote from Wuthering Heights, my favorite book. 

I redid my kitchen and did a little DIY art project! Tour coming soon!

I got to visit with my college girlfriends! We hadn't all been together in 5 whole years, and we picked up just like we'd never been apart. We are ALL married, some of us with kids, now, but it was like nothing had changed!

Aaron, my Mom and I went on a road trip to visit my brother! I love road tripping with these two! I say it a lot, but my Mom and I have a very very special relationship, and she is more like a friend than a "mom."We always end up laughing till we cry! Aaron's a champ hanging out with us two crazies! But he will be the first to tell you, my mom spoils the heck out of him! She adores him!

I got to meet my new niece for the first time! She's such a stunningly beautiful little baby girl! I'm excited to have a new niece and to get to spoil her! My brother and sister in law make such pretty babies!

I learned how to do my own acrylic nails at home. It's easiest to do "clear" tips and paint them, instead of the white tips, I personally think. This picture shows a new nail polish color by Clinique that my Mom got me that I couldn't wait to try out! I took my nails off to redo the kitchen, I can't wait to put them back on! I love them! Super easy to do, too!

Did you hear I started my own YouTube channel? It's called "The Simple Life" - just like the blog, and  I'm busy planning out some videos to put up for you all! There is a link in the left side bar for you to check out! I'm sooo excited about getting this phase of "The Simple Life" started and cannot wait to see where this takes me!

Thanks so much for visiting with me again! Hopefully I'll see y'all on YouTube soon! 

xoxo,