Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger

Maria Elena from Our Home Away From Home. 

 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.

Good Saturday every one.  This week we have a special blogger Maria Elena from Our Home Away From Home blog.  You will love getting to know Maria she has traveled the world raising her kids and her blog is fabulous.  So sit back and read and get to know Maria and then head over to her blog and say Hi.

Hello, everyone!

 I was so happy and honored when Kris asked me to be a part of her "life behind the blogger" series.
Thank you, Kris! I really appreciate you thinking of me.

  My name is Maria Elena and I blog over at Our Home Away From Home. 

Although we live in TX, I was born and raised very far from here, in Madrid, Spain where my parents 
and two brothers still reside.

I married my best friend and soulmate in 1981, he had just joined the US Army the year before and leaving my beloved Spain and my family behind was one of the most difficult things I ever had to do.

This year we will celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary, so I guess it is safe to say, 
he was the best decision I ever made. :)

We spent 23 years traveling the world while raising our three children.

In 1995 I followed my life dream of working with young children and went back to school to get my degree in 

Early Childhood Education.

For many years after and while my husband was still serving, I worked for the military child development program.

Almost at the end of my husband's career, he received orders for San Antonio. It was one of the hardest moves we have ever made since the kids were older, but it turned out to be the best thing it could of happened to us.

In 2001, when we knew San Antonio would be the place where we would retire, I was able to achieve what I worked for so many years and I became the proud owner of a private preschool in our city. 

My husband finally retired from the military and we built our dream home.

Our home is everything we ever dreamed off and the fact that we don't have to move again is such a blessing to us.

We put a lot of pride in our home and you will always find us together working on a project or another to make improvements.

Many people have asked me what is my decorating style and I have to say, I do not have a clue. :)

I buy or make for our home what I like without really following any decorating trends. 
All I worry about is achieving a homey and comfortable home for my family.

At the end of 2008, the recession hit my business pretty hard and I had to make the hard decision of letting it go.
It was very difficult, but meant to be.
 Just a few months after, I received very bad health news and I had major surgery, which took me months to recuperate from.

Today, I am fully recovered and a very happy stay home mom. I love having the extra time to spoil my family and take care of this little girl.

I love to "play" in my home and I finally have all the time I want to pursue my other dream, decorating and crafting. :)
 I started my blog in September of 2011 as a way of sharing my decorating adventures. 
As is happen, it has proved to be an amazing learning experience.
I am so happy to be part of this wonderful blogging community!

2015 has been a special year for us. 
My husband and I have finally became first time grandparents to this beautiful baby boy.
He has brought so much joy to our family and he sure has changed our lives forever. :)

And that is it! 
I hope the life behind this blogger was not too boring for you. :)
I want to thank Kris for letting me be part of their wonderful blog series.
 I am very grateful to be in such great company!



Thank you so much Maria for sharing yourself and your story with us today.  Happy Saturday everyone.
Kris
:)

A Special Gift

Today was a good mail day.  I love when my mailman stops the truck and comes to the door with a great package.  

Today  mail man Jim brought up this lovely package from Jo at Annie's Attic Designs.

Jo gifted me this pretty white tulle wreath that she handmade.  It is gorgeous.  She used vintage ornaments to adorn the tulle.  Jo told me the top ornament was one that her dad use to put on his tree.  Love that she re loves precious vintage pieces into her beautiful creations.

I have been trying this pretty wreath out in a couple of places.  I like it on the old vintage cabinet door in my kitchen.

The vintage ornaments hanging on this pretty wreath just make it special.

We have been getting lots of rain which is always a challenge to get good pictures.    I did not have good natural light to really show off this wreath so I hung it on my french doors going outside.   This way you could see the pretty tulle and the gorgeous vintage bell ornament that Jo added that was her fathers.

Inside the box was another beautiful creation from Jo.  This framed hugs and kisses Christmas Tree made out of vintage bits and bobbles.  Just gorgeous pieces used to make this pretty framed tree.

It looks so pretty hung by my entry way tree.  Thank you sweet Jo.  I love both the wreath and framed X's and O's framed tree.  I will cherish them both.

I wanted to do this post not only to show you the sweet and beautiful gifts sent to me by Jo but to thank her by giving a shout out of her Etsy shop.  Please hop over to Jo's Etsy shop and take a look at all her beautiful creations she has for sale.

There are just so many wonderfully talented friends out there in blog land.  Jo is one of the sweetest and has a big heart.  Thank you Jo.  Love these beautiful treasures you gifted me.

Have a great rest of the week everyone.  Come back on Saturday to meet another wonderful blogger in Spotlight.
Kris

Dress Form Sneak Peak And A Very Special Angel

Happy Sunday.  

Remember this pretty dress form I got awhile back in one of my fave shops.  I am transforming her into an angel to be part of my Christmas theme this year.

She got a new crown collar.

Some new bling for her waist on the tutu.

And she got her wings.  Beautiful feather wings.

She is looking pretty sweet with her new bling.

She is underneath my framed chalk board with the wing saying.

 I wanted to give you a sneak peak at my new dress form angel to go along with my white serene angel theme for this year's holiday decor.  I am having fun getting my decor happy on!!!!
I am excited to have been asked to be in a Christmas house tour next month.  So more will be coming on that.

Just a little PS about a very special angel.
My granddaughter Abby is 5 years old and did the most amazing thing this past Friday and I have to brag about it.

This is my granddaughter Abby.  She is 5 going on 16!!!! I swear!!!  Well you can see how much hair this girl is blessed with.  Well Abby told my daughter that she wants to cut her hair and donate it to a little girl that has lost her hair due to cancer treatments.
So at the salon where my daughter works they were able to cut Abby's hair and then donate it to Locks of Love from Abby.
All the employees of the salon were doing a throw back to the 80's.  It was the salon's 30th birthday and all of them dressed like the 80's.  So it was big hair day all around lol!

Kennedy is one of the stylist at the salon that finished up Abby's new do.  I love how cute she looks with her new bobbed hair cut. They cute off 10 inches of her hair.

Abby was so excited to donate her hair to help another little girl in need.  One thing about my girls and now Jen's little girl is they all have tons of hair.
I have to tell you it really made my heart feel so big as this little girl gave up her long thick hair to help another child in need.  I am so proud of this little girl.  She has a heart of gold and at 5 years old already so generous and caring.
Just so proud of her so thank you for indulging this MiMi (grandmother)  in bragging about this precious grand daughter of mine.

I told Abby because she was so generous with the donation of her locks of hair that I would treat her to a mani and pedi day with me.

She loved getting her mani done and picked out red sparkle nail polish.

Of course she had to have matching toes in red sparkle polish too.

We even talked grandpa into a mani/pedi with us.  It was a fun day and we all walked out of there with pretty nails and toes.  As you can see Terry was not real thrilled about me taking his picture getting a mani and pedi done.  He was a good sport to have this done.  It made Abby so excited that he would be part of this too.

Have a great week ahead.
Kris
:)

Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger

Mimi from 247 Mulberry Lane

 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.

Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday.  As we drift on down towards Thanksgiving and also the holiday hustle,  I hope you will take a few minutes to read and get to know Mimi from 247 Mulberry Lane.  She is one of the sweetest bloggers out there.  Enjoy.

Hi, I'm Mimi from 247 Mulberry Lane! I am so honored to be featured in the Saturday Spotlight today, and I am excited beyond belief that Kris asked me to be a part of this wonderful series!

My family would tell you that I was born with something to say, and this picture would probably be used as evidence...

I LOVE to tell a good story when I can, but for whatever reason, I really struggled trying to tell my story to all of you. Thanks, Kris, for your tremendous patience!

Although I've written and re-written this post a dozen times, in the end, I decided to write it in true Mulberry Lane form--random facts in no particular order.

1. I started my blog because I love this quote:

I have lots of blogs I love to read, but none of them really reflected my life.  I'm a divorced, thrifty soul who teaches in western Nebraska. Trust me, folks, when I say that genre of blog is wide-open...

2. Mimi is the name I hope my future grandchildren call me, so it's the name I use on my blog. My actual name is Melanie.

3. I am the proud mama of two young adults and mother-in-law to one great guy.

4. Both of my kiddos are gingers (redheads). Sadly, my son-in-law is not...I love him anyway. J

5. No one in my "real life" knows I blog except for my kids and my friend Kate.

6. The kids and I have our own personal paparazzi (read : people who are overly interested in our lives), hence the reason for the nicknames and lack of current photos of Maggie and Will.

7. I have a crooked smile. There, I've said it. It drives me crazy whenever I see a picture of myself, but I realize it's a petty issue in the grand scheme of things.

8. I have had an interest in decorating since owning our first home years ago...

This entire house was lovingly decked out in country blue and mauve from the inside out. Like Barbara Mandrell, I was country when country wasn't cool.

9. I am a junior high reading teacher...

...and I strive to instill the love of books and reading to all my students. We also try to share a few laughs together each day.

10. Speaking of laughter, I think it's important to bring a sense of humor to everything I do. Whether it's being a mom...

Baby Will

1994

...or being an observer of life in general.

Maggie feeding Bambi in 1999.

11. My faith is a special gift passed on to me by my mama....

And I hope I've passed it on to my dumplings as well.

12. Speaking of my mama, here she is with her three buttercups...

Yep, I'm the only girl and a middle child as well. I like to think I've made my mother's life nothing short of interesting....

13. My dad is an interesting character as well. Unfortunately, he hasn't been a big part of my life since I was sixteen, but back in the day, I used to be quite the daddy's girl...

I was very shy and I'd take refuge on my dad's lap during 

family gatherings.

Sadly, he has Alzheimer's now and doesn't remember us most of the time. He and my uncle are the third generation in their family to suffer from this dreadful disease. I pray that no one else ever has to experience the heartache of this terrible condition.

14. This is the real brains behind the blog...

Yes, Miss Licky Lou Mulberry.  My computer sits on a farmhouse table in my bedroom, and she very happily occupies the bench beside me as I compose. She has also been known to jump on the keyboard to add her own thoughts to the mix.

15. Finally, I like to think that my blog embraces the perfectly imperfect. 

I don't have a big fancy house, but I have a home I love and I'm extremely grateful...

I don't have lots of money, but I have fun stretching each paycheck...

My marriage didn't turn out the way I planned, but I was blessed with two amazing kids...

Plus I got to wear this awesome dress...complete with a cathedral length train, poofy sleeves, AND a tiara! Ha!

Besides...

It's never too late to live happily ever after.

And that's what I want Mulberry Lane to be all about.

Love that bridal dress and cathedral train and of course every girl needs the tiara on their wedding day!!! Thanks for sharing your life with us this week Melanie.  Now everyone take some time to jump over to Mimi's blog and say Hi.
Happy Rest of the Week End.
Kris
:)