Monday Mess GET REAL Challange

I know what experts we are at getting just the right photo to share on Social Media.  What lighting works best? What angle makes you look just so?  How to smile so you look "picture perfect?"  I know all the tricks....but this weekend, when I thought I had the perfect back drop, perfect outfit and perfect dog... the picture taking didn't turn out  quite like I wanted!   I was shooting for a glam and adorable shot of me with my sweet Miss Macy, sort of like this:

 

Really cute, huh? The reality is it probably took a gazillion shots to get this semi-decent one, that vaguely looks like the photo I had in my mind.  The rest pretty much looked like this:



So, leave a comment with a link to your Monday Mess GET REAL Challenge and share your less than "picture perfect" not Pinterest worthy photo shots so we can remember life is REAL....a real mess!

Sometimes you are just thankful!

 

If you have read my blog for the short time it has been "this" blog, you know how much I love my little brick cottage.  If you are a house/home person, you understand this huge attachment; if not, you probably think I am a bit loony...but that is OK, too! My little house isn't perfect, but as I like to say, it is perfectly imperfect! It makes me feel safe and secure. I am thankful for the cocoon it continues to be.

 

As of late we have had some really hot days (it is South Caroline, right?) but also plenty of rain to keep everything green, as well.  One day this week I came home and just smiled because things felt so welcoming.  I guess with all the craziness going on in real life, my little home just felt right.  Maybe it is silly to wax poetic about a house but I believe home is where the heart is and for now...this is home.  I hope for a long time to come I can call it home.  I hope to make memories and watch things grow in this little brick cottage I call home.

#LiveThankful





Bright Spots for Summer

I have always loved holidays and the changes of seasons.  It is fun to change a few things up in my home for each season or holiday just to make me (and hopefully my friends and family) smile just a little bit. This week I finally took my Patriotic Décor down, which I usually leave up from Memorial Day through the 4th.  Yes, I was very late I getting it down, but I still wanted to put up a pop or two of Summer and was surprised when I went shopping that all the stores have already been taken over by Fall and CHRISTMAS!!!  The one positive thing about this whole season surprise was that what I did find  was on sale big time ( as in 90%off!)

My unexpected joy was that I found was the piece I want to use in moving forward to create the look of "MY" house and I couldn't be happier  It will be my anchor piece! My decorating style has been evolving in the last few years, and as finances allowed, I have been able to make changes...small changes, but still moving towards my vision of what I want my home to look like and be a place where I can be replenished, revived and also be a place that is open and makes others feel the same.  So today, I am feeling the Summer heat and enjoying a few little pops of summer around the house!  What do you do to change your home up from time to time?

Robby Ott

I feel at a loss as to whether to write this post or not.   I can never make the words do justice to a Godly man and his amazing wife; but I feel the need to share how honored I am to have known Robby Ott and count he and his family as friends.  The kind of love Robby and his family shared was amazing, it wasn't perfect, but it was unfailing.  Robby was like that with most people, really.  He wasn't one to give up on someone. I know, because I saw it in his ministry to my own family.  He stood in the gap for me and my family on more than one occasion, even when he literally didn't have the strength to do so....and his precious wife, she shared him when they were pulled for time in their own family. 

 

Robby's passing a few days ago has me joyous that he is no longer in pain and struggling physically but hurting for those left behind. Our eternal perspective and our earthly hearts don't always walk hand in hand.  I was awed on Sunday,  as his stronger than me wife, spoke of who Robby was...and to watch the poise in which she shared what Robby truly would have wanted us to focus on....Jesus. 

"How can I glorify you today, God?"

~Robby Ott....everyday.

An excerpt from his obituary....

 

Robert Eugene Ott FLORENCE, SC - Rev. Robert Eugene Ott, 40, of Florence, SC, went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Friday, July 14, 2017, at 6:28 a.m. at the McLeod Hospice House. He fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith after a five-year journey with colon cancer. He entered into his eternal reward surrounded by family. Robby was born April 3, 1977, in North Charleston, SC. He was a graduate of Goose Creek High School, where he was a drum major, and developed a passion for the tuba. He graduated from Charleston Southern University with a degree in Youth Ministry. During college, he surrendered his life to full-time ministry and was ordained on July 7, 1998. Robby loved Jesus, his family, the Gamecocks, music, and golf. He was the pastor at The Garden Church of Florence. Robby was a gifted preacher of God's word, and he ministered and brought glory to Christ throughout his life. Robby and his wife, April, were married for 18 years, but he claimed to have loved her his entire life....