Soooo Spoiled

I have this dear friend who spoils me absolutely, positively rotten. She has given me so many lovely things, I can't begin to name them all. Her latest gift, though, takes the cake!!! I had no idea she was scheming this, and last night when I got home after a particularly rough day, there was a darling package in our mailbox. The package was decorated in a valentines theme, and was in itself a thing of beauty. Inside, she'd wrapped this gift of the heart in Valentine themed tissue paper and tied it with red ribbon and a tiny card that said "hugs" for the tag. It was too pretty to open, really. But when I opened it, tears sprang into my eyes. Her thoughtfulness is incomprehensible! What did I see? An apron, made from a vintage feed sack! It is the most darling thing you can imagine! I've been wanting an apron for a couple of years now, and even bought fabric and a pattern for that perfect one, but haven't had the time to make it.

Oh, Dianna, you will never know how you've touched my heart!

I'm Gonna Miss Her

Today we helped some friends move. I was so sad to see them go. It was a real bummer to discover that our husbands got along famously and we could have been great couple friends! (Dear friend and I had just been girlfriends , but never involved the guys.) However, life is not over, and we have an open invitation to visit them in their new home which is two hours from the mountains and three hours from the beach. What an amazing setting that must be! The first picture is the guys working hard, or is that hardly working? The second is us girls taking a break.

Christmas Decorations

Traditionally, I have put up Christmas decorations very, very early. However, the past four years of living in our tiny space caused me to delay decorating and to use minimal decor. Well, NO MORE!!! Our house is really starting to feel like home. We don't have a full sized tree up yet, but here are the items I have out so far:

This is the piano our church gave us a few weeks ago. I am soooo blessed to have it. I have decorated it with nativity scenes. Most of them were gifts from former students. The clear glass one was my first, purchased for my college dorm room in 1994. The white one on the far right is illuminated, and was a gift from my bestest friend in the whole wide world, (besides Jesus, of course) Jenifer.

This is our Christmas tree for now. It's about 14" tall. :)

This cabinet was a gift from my friend and former boss, Claudia. Isn't it pretty? It is home to my snowman collection, which was a gift from my Momma.

Yesterday we moved our new piano. I was so upset when I woke up and saw it was snowing. (If you look closely at the cedar tree on the right you can see the remnants of the snow. This was taken on Sunday evening, after it had snowed off and on all day, but the ground was too warm for it to stick.) I was afraid our helpers would refuse to move it in the snow, even though both the loading and unloading areas are covered porches, so there was no danger of falling or anything like that. It was just not good for the piano to be in the cold, humid air. No one said a peep, though. One of the helpers did not show up. I ended up asking a new couple to come in the stead of the guy who was a no show. Everyone complimented the meal, and we had a wonderful time. We moved the piano right after church, and I served lunch as soon as the it was in the house and situated. It was after four o'clock by the time everyone left. I think everyone had a good time. That was our first "company" in our new home.