My 1st blog award!!

What an honor to receive an award!! My wonderful friend, Allison

gave me this award as an incentive to keep making my blog better

and more fun! Don't you just love people who motivate you in a positive way?

For this award I am supposed to list 5 things that I think are FABULOUS!!

(In no particular order)

1) Shabby Chic decor-especially for Christmas

2) Christmas Markets in Europe (pictured is the market in Strausbourg, France)

Don't you just love the encased chandeliers? Amazing

3) Cruising Around Europe- we took out first cruise back in Oct to the Eastern Med

and it was MORE than FABULOUS!! (this was from Santorini, Greece-our fav stop!)

4) Interlaken, Switzerland in July for a church retreat-it was a little bit of Heaven

5)- My family!!! Can you get anymore fabulous than that?

Home remodel

Chloe's room before

Chloe's Room with carpet out and ceilings painted in a soft pink

Chloe's Room with dark cherry hard wood floors in

Chloe's Sitting Area

Tea time at Chloe's

Chloe's bed that was purchased in France and painted a chippy white

Our garden house-BEFORE painting

The inside after decorations

The inside-it has electricity-so even in the winter we use a heater and can still play cards

Our garden cottage-AFTER painting-it is called the "CRAB SHACK"

Downstairs flooring BEFORE demolishion

The floor all torn out

The walls were painted in a sage green and yellow/khaki color

The newly laid floors and painted walls

Door treatments were added and frames with our black and white vacation photos added (the base boards have since been completed)

This was the downstairs bath prior to demolition; everything was bwn/orange

Scott had a good time tearing it up!

Our handyman Rudi, finishing the beadboard

New ceramic flooring

The new bath with pedestal sink (the ceiling and molding has since been finished)

The Gortner's dining area prior to the move (New Year's Day)

The walls were first painted a creamy yellow and the plaster scraped off the wall for a smooth surface

We cut our own boxes for wainscoat and used montage kleber (wall glue) to hang them

One view of the almost completed project-we still added a chair molding and high base boards

Another view of the room with molding boxes (still need to add pics with molding and base board)

It's November!

Well it has been a few months since I have posted anything. Life has been pretty busy on my end. Our family just returned for a "dream" cruise that left from Italy and went to Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey and Greece-10 nights and 11 days of bliss!!! It was amazing to see all of God's splendor in so many different forms! Now it is back to reality and I am ready to start posting more items. While I have not been working on other pieces to sell, I have been doing home makeovers in my house. My daughter, Chloe is about to have new hardwood floors put in and I have painted her walls in a soft pink. I finished sanding her antique bed and it is ready for a creamy, white coat of paint. I will post before and after pictures. I hope to update this blog with wonderful holiday photos. This will be the first year in our new home!!! We love being German homeowners. With the holidays, also comes the wonderful Christmas markets. We hope to hit 13 this year. What a super place to be, we are truly blessed!