Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind The Blogger

Karen from Southern Gal Meets Midwest

 Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger is a feature done each Saturday that introduces you to a blogger you may already know or a new blogger for you to get to know. This feature gives you a peak into the personal life of the blogger.  Getting to know the special person behind the beautiful blog.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland so enjoy getting to know these talented bloggers each Saturday.

I want to thank Karen for being in the Spotlight this week.  Karen is a life saver!!!  I had another blogger scheduled and she had to back out at the last minute.  Karen was scheduled for later in the month but was so kind to get  her feature to me early for this Saturday.    So thank you Karen for coming to Spotlight's rescue!  So enjoy reading Karen's feature and getting to know her better.  Karen is so sweet and you will love her blog.

Hello Friends,

I am very excited and honored to be featured in todays Saturday Spotlight. Thank you so much Kris for inviting me to participate. I am a beginner in blogging over at Southern Gal Meets Midwest. My blog name is directly taken from the big life change for me in recent years. I love to sew (had a holly hobbie sewing machine at age 9) and decorate anything, guess you could say my style is all over the place! There are a lot of neutrals in my home so adding color to go with the seasons gives me the feeling of a completely new room. My obsession with thrift stores keeps growing and if I don't feed that obsession at least once a week? well, it's just not good. I love finding metal pieces to add to my décor and giving old furniture new life. A native of Florida I'm the oldest of 3. Me and my younger sister and brother.

My parents have said many times they could not keep me still or quiet, I was continuously talking to anyone who would listen and sometimes even those who weren't! When I started school all that talking got me called out by the teacher...what can I say.. I'm very social!

 Daddy was always tossing me around and even though it was scary for mama and my aunties I always enjoyed it. I think I was supposed to be a boy...LOL!

I was only one year old when my sister came along and we were raised pretty much like twins. We did everything together. Easter was a favorite time along with hunting eggs in the field of wildflowers behind our house. We lived very modestly and happily as Daddy was a welder at the local phosphate mine and Mama stayed home to raise us kids. Both of our grandmothers were excellent seamstresses and they made most of the pretty dresses we wore. Our family always said that proper southern young ladies should wear only dresses so that is what we did until we were old enough to plead our case for jeans. Eventually they saw our side of it (or just got tired of hearing us) and it was blue jeans for school, but only dresses for church...always.

I don't have many pictures of our younger brother with us when we were small as he spent much time sick or hospitalized as an infant and toddler. We try and make up for that these days and get together to visit and snap pics even though we are all spread out in different states.

I married very young (soon after high school) and started a family a couple of years later. Things did not work out like I thought they would in the marriage but my 3 kids are more than I could have ever asked for. Brittany, Chad and the youngest is Dylan.

They have brought so much joy to me and I have treasured each stage during their years of growing up. Seemed like they would be little forever and the time has just gone by so fast. Brittany still remains in Georgia, Chad's job took him to Florida and Dylan lives with me.

Brittany married her best friend Rollie (aka James) two years ago and I am so proud to have him as my son. Rollie is a teacher and Brittany is a hair stylist.

 We have had many things to celebrate over the past few years, another being mama and daddy's 50th Wedding Anniversary. They still live in Florida and I try to get there for visits as often as possible.

One of the most AMAZING things to happen to me in recent years was meeting this handsome gentleman!
My Darling Kevin

I was living in Georgia at this time so we were separated by many miles. We did get to visit and go on a few traditional dates....

but most of our dates were on the phone or emails. We saw it as a great opportunity to further our friendship and that we did. We communicated everyday and each time I was head over heels that much more for him. He is the sweetest most kind gentleman I have ever met and I love him with all my heart. Kevin and I were married in 2014. We had a beach ceremony in Florida with our family and close friends present.

He has won the hearts of my entire family, especially Mama.

Kevin, Dylan & I are now calling Iowa home, even though we miss our family and old friends God is opening new doors for us to form new relationships through church, school and work. For all this we are very thankful.

I can't forget our two very spoiled pups....

Hope is Kevin's Jack Russell baby and Oakley is my little ball of lovable fluff.

Hmmm...what a combination!

Hope was not so sure she was ready to allow Oakley in her life as her brother but she is learning to tolerate him a little more now.

Sharing squeaky toys and attention is not so easy when you have been numero uno all your life!

This year we have been blessed with a precious new addition. Brittany and Rollie welcomed their first child Ellie.

Now I am a proud Nana!!
Seeing Ellie for the first time brought tears to my eyes and I could hardly wait to get her in my arms.

Looks like our trips south will become much more frequent...

after all...I  am gonna have to spoil this little bundle of chunky sweetness...it's my job!

Well...I know this is a lot but maybe it gives a peek into the life of Karen who now lives in the Midwest but will always be a Southern Gal. Thanks for stopping by and may I say...all of you ladies are just the sweetest and I am so looking forward to knowing all of you better.

Karen
Southern Gal Meets Midwest

Thank you Karen for sharing yourself with us this week in the Spotlight.   You look way too young to be a grandma!!!!  Please jump over to Karen's blog and say Hi.
I know with all the busy going on with holiday shopping, baking, decorating, etc.  I appreciate you taking some down time to read Spotlight this week.  Thank you again Karen for helping me out this week with doing Spotlight early.  Loved getting to know more about you and your beautiful family.
Have a great week end.
Kris
:)

Caring Gifts That Give Back

I love to give gifts that when you purchase them some of the proceeds give back to a charity.

 I wanted to show you a great gift idea for the animal lover in your life.

A charity that is near and dear to my heart is the ASPCA.  You can read about this wonderful organization and all they do to help protect and care for animals here.

I found these pillow covers on Pottery Barn Teen.

Super cute and with every purchase of one of these,  Pottery Barn gives back to the ASPCA.

This is the one I purchased.  Yep! looks like someone that lives in this household!

I did not receive anything from Pottery Barn to give a shout out on these pillows.  I just love when I can find gifts that have meaning and give back.  This one of the basset hound touched my heart and I love to support the ASPCA.

Hope if you are still trying to find a special gift for the animal lover on your Santa list  one of these pillow covers might just be that perfect gift.

Hope you are having fun decorating, shopping, wrapping and baking. Ahh this time of year goes too fast.
Kris
:)

Bittersweet

Just wanted to share some positive news today.

Junk Chic Cottage is under contract.

Saying good bye to my beautiful sanctuary space in the summer months.

It is bittersweet to be saying good bye to a home I have loved.  At the same time a wonderful young couple is buying this home.

He and his bride have served our country in the Marines.  He is out of the marines and his career is now being a police officer. 

When he put the offer into us he also wrote a very touching letter to both Terry and I about how he felt at home the minute he walked into our home.  He has served his country and now is ready to settle down and start a family and this home is where he can envision starting his life.  Touched our hearts.  Love that we are giving back to the men and women that keep us safe.

With Terry being a firefighter all his life he knows about giving service to others.  So it was sweet that our buyer is a police officer giving service to others.  I know they will love this home as we have and starting their life together here is so sweet.

Bittersweet for me to say goodbye to this home I have loved but it will be wonderful shelter for a new family to begin.

I will love another home as I have loved this one and am excited to think about unleashing my decor crazy on another home soon!

Thank you for all your support and prayers for Terry and I as we have embarked on this journey of change in our lives these past months.

We are hoping as our journey is beginning a new direction with the sale of this house,  Terry will secure a position of employment soon.  We do not close on this home until the end of January so hoping maybe a job offer will come and we will only have to move once.

Have a wonderful week.  I know a lot of you are getting your happy holiday decor going.

Enjoy.  This time of year moves quickly so enjoy everyday up to Santa's big day.

Baking, cleaning, shopping, wrapping oh my!!!

Enjoy.

Kris

:)

Happy Sunday and The Winner's Are....

Happy Sunday.  Hope your Turkey was delish on Thursday and you enjoyed the long holiday week end.

Now we are on the downhill slide into Christmas!!!!  With Thanksgiving being so late in the month it always feels like Christmas is on top of us quickly.

So enjoy shopping, baking, decorating and getting ready for Santa's big day.

Here are the winners of the recent give away of the Home Goods Shopping Totes that benefited

Children with Cancer.  If your name is listed below,  please email me your address and your sweet tote will be on its way.

Thanks to everyone that entered.  

Congrats to the following winners!


Jane Bluebird 1959
Rose L. Musings, Meanderings and Merriment for Roses
Janice Curtains In My Tree
Doreen House Honeys
Mary Baldwin
Trisha American Honey Home

Have a great new week.

Kris

:)

Saturday Spotlight: Life behind the blogger

Debbie from Mountain Mamma

 Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger is a feature done each Saturday that introduces you to a blogger you may already know or a new blogger for you to get to know. This feature gives you a peak into the personal life of the blogger.  Getting to know the special person behind the beautiful blog.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland so enjoy getting to know these talented bloggers each Saturday.

Happy Week End following Turkey Day!!!! Hope you are enjoying all the friends and family that have gathered this week to share in Thanksgiving.

Now that we are all recovering still from all that rich and yummy food.  I invite you to meet a fairly new blogger to me.  I found Debbie not too long ago and adore her blog.  You will love getting to know this special blogger.

First of all, a huge thank you to Kris for inviting me to her fabulous feature - I was so excited and honored that she thought of me!!  

Thanks so much, Kris - big hugs to you!! xo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

H, All!

I'm Debbie! Nice to meet you!!

I recently bought my very own house in the mountains of Upstate NY and I write about my life at MountainMama  - if you haven't been over for a visit perhaps you'll make time soon to come over and introduce yourself! I'm always so happy to meet new blogland friends!

I was inspired to start writing about my life as a 40+ single woman buying her own house for the very first time - and I'm loving it! Both the house and the blogging!!

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Where do I begin?

Why, at the beginning, of course, where else?

I still can't play the piano. Sigh.

I was born in Queens, NY back in....oh, wait, you don't need to know that. Never mind....

I have two sisters - one older and one younger. We are each two years apart. You know what they say about the middle child, right? Yup, much of it's true.

I'm the bratty looking one on the left

I am first-generation American - both of my parents are from Ireland. They both left home when they were very young to pursue a better life in the USA.

We were raised on Irish music and dance. My sisters and I all attended Irish music lessons as well as Irish Step-dancing from a very young age. It was very much a part of our lives and we made many good friends through not only the classes but the various competitions and concerts.

My parents were strict - we weren't those kids that were permitted to "hang out" after school. We had to come straight home....an hour of practicing music, then time to practice our dance steps, and then do all our homework. Dinner, clean up after dinner, and then a little TV. Brush teeth and into bed. Repeat. 

Sundays were different - up early, out to mass, and then stop at our favorite bakery on the way home for a Sunday treat. Fresh rye bread with butter. Maybe a jelly or custard donut. And we didn't have to practice music or dance - Sunday was our day to do what we wanted.

As long as Mom said it was ok.

We weren't those kids that hung out in the park getting into trouble. Mom kept a close rein on us.

And I thank her for it now. A lot of those kids ended up in very bad places in their lives. Queens wasn't the easiest place to grow up.

We went to catholic school - in Queens the public schools back then were not the best place to send your kids if you wanted to keep them out of trouble.

My parents struggled. Things were tough. Dad had a bunch of jobs and they were still struggling to make ends meet. We refer to that portion of our life as the "Campbell's Soup Days." 

Eventually Dad made the tough decision to head off to Alaska to work on the Alaskan Pipeline. He was gone for what seemed like an eternity to Daddy's Little Girl (aka ME!)

Via

He would come home around Christmas time for a short while and then head off again. I missed him terribly.

But that made a big difference in our lives. Dad was able to send home enough money to get ahead of the bills and to make a good life for his family.

Life was good. We had a good childhood. The highlight of my childhood was the summer Dad returned from Alaska....we bought a travel trailer and took the whole summer traveling around the United States. 

Via

We saw 26 states that summer in our little Shasta trailer.

I have dreams of doing that again someday.....

When I was 17 I met my first husband. I married him at 21. Had my first daughter at 22. Second at 23. Divorced by 26. Single mom with two beautiful baby girls.

When I was 27 I met my second husband. Married again at 30, I thought it would be forever. It wasn't. 

I wrote about the struggles I went through in that marriage over  At The Women's Room. 

Me - AKA Morticia Addams - with the Violin

I had a nice little music career going when I was in NYC - lead singer with a Celtic Rock band. I also played violin, guitar, and whistle with that group. It was a fun time and I enjoyed my time on stage very much. Unfortunately I had to give it up when I dropped everything to care for my then-husband for a solid year after one of his terrible accidents. 

Life wasn't always easy. I guess it never is. But I am so blessed to have my two beautiful daughters. There are so many people who have kids who struggle with addictions these days and my heart truly goes out to them - I'm incredibly fortunate that my daughters never went down that road. They easily could have, I'm sure they had lots of friends who dabbled....but thankfully they listened to some of my lectures while they were growing up and chose to stay on the straight and narrow. 

Although you'd wonder what they were smoking in this photo, wouldn't you?

My older daughter currently lives in Burlington, Vermont. She attended Champlain College in Burlington and loved it so much she never came back to NY. She's been a blogger since 2013 - she writes at Kind of Mind and has always been a wonderful writer and incredibly creative person. She's got energy to burn and has never stopped talking since the day she said her first word. She's got the travel bug and has been all over the world already - Africa, South Africa, South America, The Middle East, Europe - not to mention all over the US as well. She's seen more in her short life than I have in mine. But that's ok - that's what makes her happy.

I'm happy right here.

My younger daughter lives at home with me. She went to school locally and is much more a homebody than her big sister. She's also a blogger - she writes at The Good Things Comin and she's a bit of a new blogger, just like her mom. She's always had a knack for photography and her own unique style when it comes to fashion and she incorporates that and so much more in her blog.

I'm so lucky to have two such wonderful daughters and I thank my lucky stars every day.

Even when they drive me nuts.

I have two little furbabies who also drive me nuts at times. But they also light up my life. They are mother and daughter and my old girl is getting up there - she was 13 in September. Her baby is 6 now and sometimes she's as bratty as can be....but when she's good, she's really, really good!!

Baby Daisy & Her Mommy, Lily

My old girl, Lily. She's got a tough life, as you can tell.

The bratty baby, Daisy (AKA The Monkey) - also a rough life, as you can tell by the worried look on her face.

I'm very fortunate to have a good man in my life now also. We have been in a relationship for 5 years now and yet we have our own homes and choose to live separately. Once bitten, twice shy, and all that....what about twice bitten? How does that go?

This is the first "grown up" relationship I've been in, where both partners are responsible adults. We look out for each other - neither of us needs to "babysit" the other. It's refreshing after all I've been through!

And it's peaceful. We have a good life.

I am so blessed.

Thank you Debbie for sharing your life behind your blog with all of us.  Don't miss out on hoping over to introduce yourself to Debbie.  Her blog is fabulous.  Have a great week end.

Kris

:)