Captain America - Female Style

     Brooklyn had to dress up as a super-hero for a Girl's Camp skit.  I think she rocked this costume!

The Royalty Room

I found out that when your daughter becomes the Princess of the City, you also inherit the "Royalty Room".  It is more of a closet.  I was given the keys to the "Old White Church."  This is a building that some say is condemned, however city councils meetings, plays and voting is held in this building.  The Royalty Room lies in the basement down a dark stairway and a long hallway.  The ceiling tiles are falling down revealing beautiful sage green tin pieces underneath in.  I never go in there alone!

The first time Brooklyn and I looked in the Royalty Room we were met with a big mess.  It was easy to see there was a lot of useful supplies and decorations in there, but they would be very hard to access.  Brooklyn and I are neat-freaks and knew we needed to get that room organized pronto!

This is an example of what we found:

And this is what we did:

When all was said and done, we were hot and dirty and our disgust had turned to pride.  Brooklyn swept up the last of the mess and we were on our way to Dairy Queen for a drive-thru dinner and a shower.  See many princesses to begin their lives as Cinderella did...cleaning floors!

Brooklyn's Birthday

Some of Brooklyn's friends decided she had to have a birthday party.  She had some of her favorite people show up.

Christian Harrison, McKayla Thiriot, Whitnee Poulsen, Terisa, Shaniah and Brianna Williamson, Danyon Clark and Amanda Gubler.

                                                    We had a make-your-own pizza bar...

                           A yummy snack bar and they could also make their own snowcones.

Brooklyn was a pro at blowing out her one candle...seventeen just wouldn't fit on that little cupcake!

                      Happy birthday beautiful girl and may all your wishes and dreams come true.

Texas Aunties

Aunt Judy Rehkop and Aunt Elaine Guantt

It is always fun when I can be with my Texas Aunties.  They make me smile and they make me laugh.  I love their Texas accents and I love that they love my dad as much as I do.  I am so lucky they took the time to stop at Ihop so we could catch up over breakfast!

And where Aunt Judy is, Shana is sure to be too!  I love having cousins that live only 30 minutes away...I only wish we could see more of each other.

The Yard Reveal

I just wanted to give a sneak-peek on this blog. The rest of the yard will be on my blog which covers the rest of the reveal. http://thetransformationofagirlandherhouse.blogspot.com



Many of you know I bought a house I hadn't seen in a town I had never heard of. This is what I drove up to! I will include before and afters in each photo collage. With a lot of love, sweat and creativity - Brooklyn and I have finally finished our front, back and side yards. We love it!




Feel free to travel over to my other blog to see the rest of the reveal!

This is one of the reasons I haven't been blogging...

My computer went on the fritz...the hard drive crashed so I had to buy a new one. The audio driver wasn't installed, so I had to send it back. Now it won't charge :( . And then to top matters off, the cover came unhinged, and seeing as I had already paid over $100 to get that fixed a few months ago...I knew I was not going to pay that again!



So this was my solution...these brackets make it more of a desktop than a laptop...but whatever works right?

Coming this weekend...the other reason I haven't been blogging lately. Get ready for the big reveal...the yard!!!

Do My Eyes Deceive Me?

I was standing at the kitchen sink doing the dishes, when I looked out the window and noticed something purple in the very back corner of my yard. Being in my mid-forties, my eyes are going bad, and I thought my eyes were deceiving me. I have a very large yard and I have struggled getting plants and flowers and vegetable gardens in. I have also struggled getting the irrigation and drip system to work properly. No sooner do I plant one thing and the next day it is drooping or dry. So what could this amazing color be?



I hurriedly put on my shoes and raced to the backyard. Could something actually bloom in the direst of places? No water, a concrete wall and a broken wooden fence, meet in the corner, and somehow provide the perfect place for this wisteria. There are no leaves, just beautiful purple blooms, dripping from a barren vine. I followed the vine down to the ground, hoping and praying that the root was on my side of the fence. Yes, it is! I must get water on it, so maybe in time it will have green leaves as well. Before it was hiding, but now that it has made itself known, I can begin to tend it and love it.



There is a lesson in most things, if we try to find it. We can bloom anywhere. The ground may be dry and the resources for survival lacking...but sometimes miracles can happen...and even in the direst of circumstances, we can become beautiful.