Today, I wanted to share with you a little project I have been working on in our laundry room.

We have just added a new laundry room to our home, and my husband has done all the work himself.  To see our board and batten tutorial, click HERE.

We inherited a little mudroom sink from my dad that I wanted to use in the laundry room.  (The perfect laundry room accessory for a mom of all boys!)

When we installed it, it looked a little boring there all by itself.

So I dressed it up a little bit to add some charm to our laundry/mud room…

I really do love the warmth it adds to our laundry room!

To make the sink skirt, I bought some tan fabric from Walmart.  It has sort of a linen look, and I didn’t iron it because I like the crinkly look.

I measured the distance around the sink that I needed to cover with the skirt, and then doubled that measurement to get the amount of fabric I needed  to make the skirt.

Then I gathered the material to give a ruffled look to my skirt.

DISCLOSURE:  I am not a professional seamstress, and my sewing skills are less than desirable.  I do just enough to get by and that’s all that matters, right?  :)

Here is a youtube video to watch (from someone who does know what they are talking about) if you do not know how to gather material to create a ruffle but would like to learn how:  HOW TO GATHER.

After hemming the sides and bottom of the skirt, I used this Home Decor Velcro that I got at Walmart to attach the skirt to the sink.

I simply attached the self-adhesive “hook” side of the velcro to the sink…

Then I sewed the soft side of the velcro to my skirt ruffle. (It says you can iron it on, but I felt better sewing mine on.)

Next, I sewed some jute ribbon from Walmart around the top of the skirt to give it a little more of a finished look.

All I had left to do was attach it to my sink!

It took very little money and very little time to dress up this little corner of my laundry room.

Here is one more look at the before and after shots:

Tomorrow, I will share with you how I accessorized my sink on the cheap. :)

Have a blessed day!

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Happy Friday!

Are you looking forward to the weekend?

We have a three birthday parties, two basketball practices, and two basketball games to go to, and that is just through Saturday! Whew!

But today, I am celebrating!!!

Celebrating what?  You ask.

My blog has reached over ONE MILLION page views!!!!

Isn’t that insane?  It is to me anyway. :)

Just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who has…

stopped by my blog,

participated in a giveaway,

read a post,

written a comment,

shared a link,

joined a party,

or just plain BLESSED MY SOCKS OFF!

I cannot put into words what my blog and my readers mean to me.  I count it as a great blessing in my life each day.

So again….THANK YOU!!!

Another reason I am celebrating is because I was featured at Tatertots & Jello!

Did you see my post?

If you missed it, click on the picture and it will take you there.

I am so grateful to Jen for letting me guest post on her fabulous blog!

Now to announce the winner of the Amy Peters’ Studio $75.00 Gift Certificate!!!!

Thank you to everyone who participated.

The winner is:

Author: Crystal W
I follow you with GFC (Robert and Crystal W on GFC)

Congratulations!!!

Please contact me at beneathmyheart4(at)gmail(dot)com

Now for the TWO GREAT DEALS!

Deal #1

If you didn’t win the Amy Peters’ Studio Giveaway, but fell in love with her jewelry and wish you had some.

Here is your chance!

Amy is offering a 15% discount off your order now through March 15, 2011!

Use PROMO code: MYHEART15 for 15% off

Click on the button below to visit her online store and start shopping!

Deal #2

Silhouette is having another amazing promotion!!

Now through February 28th, Silhouette is offering this great package deal:

A Silhouette SD Machine

1 Roll of Black Premium Vinyl

1 Roll of Premium Frosted Vinyl

1 Roll of Premium Transfer Paper

Home Decor CD

That is a $400.00 package now for only $225.00!!!

WOW!!

Or if you already have a machine, their PREMIUM VINYL is on sale again for 25% off!!!

Just click on their button below to take advantage of these great deals.

Be sure to enter the promo code: HEART when you order to receive your discount!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

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HEY! I AM GUEST POSTING AT TATERTOTS AND JELLO TODAY!!

COME SEE ME!

First of all, I want to remind you of my Amy Peters’ Studio giveaway that ends Thursday, the 24th, at midnight.
Amy is giving away a $75.00 Gift Certificate to her amazing online store.
Click on the picture to enter:

Secondly, I want to tell you about another great giveaway at Love of Family and Home.

I fell in love with this blog because it is written by a mother and daughter duo.

These ladies are precious!

I have been so impressed with their decorating skills, and now I am thrilled to announce they have their own Etsy Shop!

And to celebrate the opening of their Etsy shop, they are giving away one pillow of your choice from their shop!!!!!

So hop on over to their blog and enter by clicking HERE, and tell them I sent ya!

They are fairly new to blogging, so show them some bloggy love!

Now today, I thought it would be fun to show you where my blogging addiction interest began.  Since I have a lot more followers than I did back then, and I’m sure you haven’t had the free time to read back to my very first posts, I wanted to share with you the very first project I ever posted on my blog.  It is still one of my favorites!!!

Here it is…

My husband and I are creating a guest house above our garage. (To see our progess so far, click here and here.) We are almost finished, but it needs furniture. We are on a very tight budget, so I have been frequently visiting Goodwill hoping to find something I could re-do or restore.

I came upon two chairs a while back that I instantly fell in love with. I didn’t like the color, but they had great “bones”. I loved the design on the back, I loved the wood they were made of, and they were extremely sturdy and comfortable. Best of all, I got them both for $30.00!

Here’s the before.

At first, I was going to paint the material. Yes, I said paint! I learned about it from a post at One Woman’s Cottage Life. But then I realized you wouldn’t see the cool design on the back of the chair if I left it covered with the material. So I decided to remove the material on the back.

I also removed the seat by simply unscrewing it on the bottom. I wanted to cover the seat with new material.

Then I had the fun task of removing one thousand staples! I’m serious, it seemed like a thousand! So I enlisted some help…

That’s my oldest son, Jonathan. He’s almost 10, and he is a work horse. He loves helping me and his dad with all of our projects. Luke and Adam also helped, but I forgot to snap a pic.

The next day, I had blisters on the palms of my hands from all the staples we removed. No pain, no gain, right?

This is only half of the staples…

Then I spray painted the chairs black, and they started looking much better.

Then I bought some off white material to cover the seats.

I love using a staple gun. Covering a seat is so easy. Just be sure to pull the material real taunt before you staple. And if you mess up, you can easily pull the staple out and start over. (I know that from lots of experience!)

I just folded the corners over like so, nothing fancy.

Then I just re-attached the seats with a screwdriver, and I was finished!

What-a-ya think? I pulled the pillow off my bed to show you what it would look like with a pillow on it. I haven’t found the pillows I want just yet. I may buy them, or find some material I like and make them. I also thought a monogrammed pillow would look good.

Here’s a picture of the backs of the chairs.

I paid $30.00 for the chairs, $2.00 for a can of spray paint, and $6.00 for the material. Not bad for $38.00!

And they fit perfectly into my cottage style guest house.

Well, I hope you like my transformation! (By the way, I got the rug they are sitting on at Goodwill too…only $25.00!)

****************************************

Wasn’t that fun?!  I love having all my little projects documented on  my blog.

Now these chairs sit around my guest house table…

Thanks for joining me in my little blast from the past!

Have a blessed day!

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If you haven’t entered to win a $75.00 Gift Certificate to Amy Peters’ Studio, click on the image below.

Then come back here! :)

I know that you have heard a lot about Blissdom in blogland lately.  Well, I had the privilege of attending Blissdom for the second year in a row.

Last year, I roomed with my sister, Cyndi.  But this year, my sister and I had a new roomie!  Richella, from Imparting Grace.

She has been my online friend for the past two years, and I was so excited to finally meet her in person.  My sister and I decided to make her a little “roomie goody bag”.

Since you take a lot of notes in the conferences at Blissdom, I decided to make Richella a personalized notebook.

I found this great little notebook and pen set at Marshall’s.  They were perfect because they were exactly the colors of Richella’s blog!

I printed the logo of Richella’s blog onto computer paper and used Modge Podge to adhere it to the front of the notebook.

After it dried a little, I added a coat of Modge Podge over the top of the paper.

I bought three different kinds of ribbon from Hobby Lobby (50% off) in the same colors as the notebook.  They were a dollar a piece.

Then I just cut the ribbon in small pieces and attached them to every third ring on the notebook.  Easy-peasy!

After I added all of the ribbons, I could tell that the notebook needed something else….some bling!!

Right, ladies?

So I blinged out Richella’s logo with these great self-sticking Gemstones from Hobby Lobby.  They can be found in the scrapbooking section.  They were not half off, but with my 40% off coupon, I got them for $1.80.  (Sorry for the blurry picture…oops!)

The best part is that they were self-sticking. And believe me, those babies are stuck on there GOOD!

Ooooh-la-la…Don’t the gemstones just make it?  I really loved the way it turned out.

And Richella said she got a ton of compliments on it at Blissdom.  (I hope she wasn’t just being nice!)  :)

I love it so much, I am thinking about making one for myself with my blog logo!

I got my notebook at Marshall’s for about $4.00, but this would be a great project to do with a dollar store notebook.  It would only cost about $6.00 total to make a personalized gift for someone!

I think this would be a great teacher gift.  Maybe with a monogram on it?  Hmmm…

Thanks for stopping by!

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I am so excited to announce this fabulous giveaway!

One of my newest sponsors, Amy Peters’ Studio is giving away a $75.00 gift certificate to her online store to one of my wonderful readers!

It has been so fun getting to know Amy!  She is a wonderful sponsor to work with…so personable.

Thank you, Amy!

If you haven’t been to Amy’s store, you are missing out on a treat.  She has many unique pieces of jewelry to chose from.

Here are some of them…

I love these stackable rings!

How wonderful is this  family tag necklace?  So personal and sweet.

And this bracelet is adorable.  I love that it has something printed on both sides.

Life IS so very precious!!!

These add-on charm necklaces are so cute too!

She has many different little charms to chose from to add to your necklace.

Like, “Take the Road Less Traveled”

And she has a lot of “chunky chokers” that make beautiful necklaces too!

Now for the giveaway!

TO ENTER:

1.  Click on over to Amy Peters’ Studio and have a look around.

Come back and leave a comment ON THIS POST (on the blog, not on Facebook)

saying what you’d buy with your $75.00 gift certificate!

BONUS ENTRIES:

(Leave a separate comment for each entry):

2.  Follow the Amy Peters’ Studio Blog.

3.  Subscribe to Amy Peters’ Studio newsletter.

4.  Like Amy Peters’ Studio on Facebook {leave a wall comment that I sent you!}.

5.  Tweet about this awesome giveaway:

“I entered to win a FREE $75 gift certificate from @AmyPetersStudio at BeneathMyHeart.net and

you should too!

6.  Facebook about this giveaway and be sure to tag @AmyPetersStudio in your status.

7.  Follow or Subscribe to Beneath My Heart!

That’s a lot of ways to enter, so get going, ya’ll!!!

The giveaway will end Thursday, Feb. 24th at midnight EST.

The winner will be announced on Friday, Feb. 25th!

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Thank you for listening to the story of how my husband and I met.  I have loved reading your sweet comments.

It’s actually been fun reminiscing.

If you missed parts one and two of our love story, please click on the links below to catch up.  I’ll wait for ya!  :)

Part One

Part Two

And now for the final chapter…

I realized today that I left a little information out of the story yesterday.

The reason Cy and I met at the weight room was because he was working there.  He was a senior in college at the time and that was his part time job.

He told me that he had actually seen me there a week or two earlier working out.  He wanted to meet me then, but didn’t.  He claims it was “love at first sight” for him.  :)

After he saw me, he did a little “research” on me.  He called his sister and friends to see if they  knew more about me.  He was also trying to find out if I was single.

Ha!  Yeah, I was single!

So he told me later, that he began praying.  He prayed that God would allow him to see me one more time.  He said if I came and worked out at the weight room again, he would not let me leave without introducing himself.

Then on that fateful Friday night, I showed up at the weight room.  Well, you know the rest of the story…. (part two)

So I left you yesterday at the point in the story that Cy and I had began talking about marriage after only dating 3 months.  It’s crazy when I think about it.  Especially because the few boyfriends I did have in college were very long relationships that began after very long friendships.

3 months and we were talking marriage…crazy!

Well, Cy said he was very sure he wanted to marry me.

I was sure he was the one, but not ready to admit it.  I knew that if I did, he would be popping a ring on my finger, and man…I was just scared.  I had waited so long for him, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t rushing things.

Our first snow fall in Ky  together.

Well, during our 4th month of dating, Cy started trying to figure out where I stood.  He was ready to ask me to marry him, but he wasn’t 100% sure I would say yes.

So one night he proposed this question to me:

He asked me that if he were to ask me to marry him right then, what are the chances I would say yes.

50-50?

60-40?

80-20?

We were laughing and teasing each other during this conversation.  Trying to keep it light, ya know.

I thought about it and said I was probably 70-30.

70%-yes

30%-no

He sat there silent for a while.  You could tell the wheels in his head were turning.  It was probably not the percentage he was hoping for.

Then he came up with this illustration of what that percentage felt like to him.  (I absolutely loved this part.)

He said, “So if I had a jar of 100 pennies….and 70 of them were copper and 30 of them were purple….if I reached my hand in that jar to pull out a penny….there would be a real good chance I would pick out a purple penny.”

How cute is that?

The purple pennies represented me saying “no”.  Thirty purple pennies in that jar of 100 did not make him feel real secure, if you know what I mean.

As we continued to date, Cy would bring up the question again.

What were his percentages?

Since I was continuing to fall in love with him, the next time I said the percentage was 80-20.

Even though that was better, he said, “20 purple pennies is still a lot.  I still have a good chance of pulling one out of the jar.” (Meaning I would say “no” if he asked me to marry him.)

Are you following me?

The next week, Cy asked again.

This time I said 90-10.

He was starting to smile and feeling a little more confident in my answer.

He said, “Only 10 purple pennies.  I’m liking that.  There’s a real good chance I would pull out a copper penny now.” Which of course to him meant I would say “yes”.

By the end of our 4th month of dating, God had confirmed in my heart in many ways that Cy was the man I was to marry.

I was ready to put the guy out of his misery and let him know I was 100% sure I wanted to marry him.  :)

The next weekend, I was headed to Cincinnati with my mom and sister for a women’s conference.  I was going to be gone the whole weekend.

Cy was scheduled to work at the weight room that Friday night.

I stopped by the weight room earlier that Friday and dropped off a little “surprise” for Cy.

It was a jar full of 100 copper pennies with a poem that I wrote attached.

Look in this jar and you will see,

One hundred pennies to you from me.

You may search for a color of a different kind,

But a penny of purple you will never find.

Though they’re made of copper and not of gold,

These pennies are worth a wealth untold.

They symbolize the priceless love that we share.

They’re proof to the world that God answered our prayers.

And so with these pennies, I bring you good news.

I want to spend the rest of my life with you!

Traci

That is exactly what he was waiting to hear, and within a week, we were engaged!

We married 6 months later in July of 1997.

Now ladies, don’t hate me, but I am going to share a very handsome picture of my husband on our wedding day.

Back Off!  :)

Now you know why I couldn’t say no!

That smile melted my heart.

He was definitely worth the wait, ladies!

DISCLAIMER:  Please do not think that when you meet your Prince Charming that you will live like Cinderella the rest of your life.

Marriage is hard.  I do not want to give any false representations of it.   Things do not become picture perfect once you are married.

Our first couple of years of marriage were really difficult.  The two do not become one overnight.

I believe that my husband and I will be continually “becoming one” until our last day together on earth.

We have had some big fights.  Our tempers have flared.  I might have kicked a hole in a wall and he may have thrown a dress shoe down our hallway like a frisbie decapitating one of the figurines on my shelf.  Just sayin…

He has made me feel more anger than I have ever known.

And he has made me feel more loved than I have ever known.

He is my security and my safe place.  He’s always got my back, and I’ve got his.

I am always proud to be with him.

I always wanted to marry someone who I would want my children to grow up to be like. I pray that my sons grow up to be just like their dad.

He leaves his socks on the floor and cereal bowls on the coffee table.

But he loves spending time with me and always makes me laugh.

He doesn’t do the dishes or the laundry.

But he will build me new kitchen cabinets and install board and batten in our new laundry room in a heartbeat.  :)

He was worth waiting for.  Every tear.  Every lonely night.  Every heartache.

He was worth it!

I love you, Cy!

P.S. Our story doesn’t end there.  I guess I prayed so hard and so long for a Godly man in my life, that God just decided to keep on giving…

Now my home is full of men!

My cup runneth over!

How could I ask for more?

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Yesterday, I shared with you a little about me before I met my  husband-to-be.

I was 25 and single, and wondering if I would ever find the “one”.  If you missed the first post, click HERE to catch up and then come right back.

Before I continue our love story, I wanted to take time to encourage every young lady who may be reading this post and wondering if she will ever find her true love too.  I know how deep the pain is.  I know had hard it is to see all your friends getting married and starting families.

But hang in there!

God is preparing you for something that is better than you could ever imagine.  And it will be worth the wait…believe me!

A couple years before I met my husband, I started writing a journal to him.  I didn’t know who HE was, but I knew he was out there.

So every so often, I would write in a special journal to my future husband.  I would write to him about things that were going on in my life, things I liked or disliked, and how much I was praying for him.  Also that I was waiting and saving myself for him.

Writing in that journal gave me hope.  I prayed that God would allow me to someday give that journal to the man He had chosen for me to marry.  And I did!  I presented the journal to Cy on our honeymoon night, and he loved it.  It made him feel even more loved to see in writing that I had been praying for him even before we ever met.

Maybe if you are still single, you could start a journal to your future husband too.  Just a thought.  :)

Now back to the story…

Where where we?

Oh yeah, I had just had a pity party for myself on the treadmill and was leaving workout to go hang out with my parents on a Friday night.

As I was leaving the gym, I heard someone call my name, “Traci.”

Huh?

I turned around and saw a young man walking toward me.  I felt uneasy because I didn’t know who he was.  But maybe I should…he knew my name.

The next thing I knew, I was shaking hands with him as he said, “You don’t know me, but I want to introduce myself to you.  My name is Cy.”

I wasn’t sure why he was introducing himself to me, but we talked for a few minutes and realized we had some mutual friends.  Then he asked if he could maybe call me sometime, and I said, “yes.”  He said he would get my phone number the next day at my brother’s baseball game. (He played for the college.)

Walking from the gym, I thought, “What kind of girl does he think I am?  I don’t even know him.  I hope he doesn’t think I am THAT kind of girl.”

The next day at my brother’s baseball game, there was a friend of mine there who still attended college with Cy.  I asked her about him and she assured me that he was a great guy, and I should definitely go out with him.  (Thanks, Joanne!)

So I gave Cy my phone number after the game, he called me that night, and we went out two nights later.

I was living with my parents at the time, and he picked me up at their house.  My mom met Cy and gave me a big “thumbs up” behind his back as we left the house.

We ate dinner at O’Charleys and realized over dinner that we were very much alike.  We liked the same things, had similar upbringings, and both had a deep love for our families.

After dinner, he took me straight home.  It was barely 8:00 p.m.  I kind of wondered if he didn’t really feel a connection with me.

But he did say he had a good time and that he would call me later in the week.

My precious mother was sitting at the kitchen table working on the bills.  She asked me why I was back so early.  I told her I was thinking the same thing.  :)

She also asked me, “Do you think he is the one?”

What!

Mom, you crack me up!!!

I guess since I was 25 (almost 26), she wasn’t going to pull any punches!  :)

I didn’t really know if he was the one, but he was cute, and we did have a good time…

(I asked Cy later why he dropped me off so early after dinner?  His adorable reason was because he thought the date went so great, that if it lasted any longer, he would mess it up.  He wanted it to end on a good note.  Precious.)

That was in October of 1996.

We continued to go out through November and by December, we knew that things were pretty serious.

(picture from my photo album – Christmas 1996)

Cy was already talking marriage.   I was thinking it, but a little scared to admit it.  Marriage was a big deal!  And we had only known each other 3 months!

As a funny side note, both Cy’s parents and my parents both met and were married in 4 months!

Whoa.

Cy kept hinting around to me about the possibility of marriage.

One night he brought the topic up in a very creative way.

One I will never forget.

To be continued….

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Okay.

I am not usually one of those persons who posts mushy sentiments about their spouse.

Especially not on a holiday like Valentine’s Day.

It’s just too typical.

Too corny.

(Sorry, but that’s the way I am.)

But I have wanted to share the story of how I met my husband with you for a while. 

I also love documenting it for my children to read someday.

I have had this blog for almost 2 years, and I have never written a post solely about him.

So I decided to give in, and this week is the perfect time for me to be all mushy and gushy about my man.

Our Love Story

Part One

Before we met…

I was a little backward when it came to dating guys. 

Backward in that, I was terrified of them.

My idea of a perfect Friday or Saturday night was just hanging out with my parents at home.

Mom, Dad, Nannie, and Me

I wasn’t an introvert, mind you.

I was very involved in school, a cheerleader, FCA member, and even voted “Most Popular” of my senior class.

But I never had a boyfriend.  I went to a couple of dances with guys who were more like friends, but I never dated just one guy.

Dates scared me.  What if he tried to kiss me or hold my hand?  I just wasn’t ready for that.

And because of that, I never dated or even kissed a guy all the way through high school.

I would have been mortified to admit that at the time.  I thought something was wrong with me.

But now, I am so thankful for who I was in high school.  I think it saved me from a lot of heartache.

In college, I finally got my first boyfriend, and a few more after that.  All of which I was friends with first, and then it turned into more.

But I never found the “one”.

I had very high standards.  I was praying for a Godly man who I could trust with my heart.

And because of those standards, I spent many weekend nights alone at home.  Hanging with the parental units.  :)

It would have been easy to give in, lower my standards, and date just any old guy. 

But I couldn’t.

I promised myself to not settle than less than God’s best for me. 

So I graduated college still single.

Most of my friends were married and having babies.

I spent many nights hugging my pillow with tears in my eyes, wondering if I was destined to be alone my whole life. 

In 1994, I began teaching, and my students were my life.  I found so much joy in teaching, but I was still longing to find someone with which to share my life.

And then we met…

One Friday evening, after a long day of teaching, I was working out at the weight room (at the college from which I graduated).  As I ran on the treadmill, I remember having a pity party for myself.  I was thinking, “Wow, Traci.  You are 25 years old.  You are alone, working out on a Friday night, and then headed home to eat pizza with your parents.  Exciting life, girl.”

After my workout, I grabbed my stuff and headed down the hallway.

That’s when I heard my name, “Traci!”

To be continued….

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Thank you to everyone who entered the Thirty-One Gifts Giveaway!

If you do not win, I just want to remind you of the specials that Thirty-One is offering right now.

For every $31 you spend, you’ll get 31% off any item!

If you would like to place an order, please click the button below and it will take you to Crystal’s website, and she would be happy to help you.

And if you are interested in earning a little extra money by becoming a Thirty-One Consultant, you can also sign up on Crystal’s webpage, HERE.

Now for the winner of the Paparrazi Dot Utility Organizer Tote!

Author: Tammie ([email protected])

I would use the bag for a new quilting class I have joined.

Congratulations, Tammie!!!

Please email me with your mailing address, and I will pass it on to Crystal!

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