Catch Me @ Kelsey's Place!

Good Sunday Morning Everyone! I'm taking a break from Southern Sundays this week and spending the day over at Kelsey's Place! You can go get the behind the scene's scoop on my beginnings and find out why I blog by visiting her at Keeping Up With Kelsey.

Today is also a very special day for me. If you follow me on Facebook, you have probably already noticed that today is mine and my hubby's 7th Wedding Anniversary! I'm so excited about that! We will be celebrating in style by partaking in a Superbowl Party at our friend Jacob's house. It's kinda fun having your Anniversary fall on Superbowl weekend ... it gives you an excuse to throw an awesome party!!

I'll catch ya tomorrow and look forward to reading some fabulous posts about your Superbowl Weekends!


From my front porch to yours,

Special Guest Post with My Girl Kelsey!

Happy Saturday everyone! I have a very dear friend of mine, Kelsey, stopping over from her blog to do a little front porch sitting with y'all today! Please give her a great big ole Country Life Welcome and be sure to stop by her blog! She's fun and full of creativeness and just a doll to talk too!

Take it away Kelsey ... 

Hello there readers! My name's Kelsey and I blog over at Keeping Up With Kelsey. I've gotten to know Demi over the past couple of months and she's such a sweetie! The best part, I LOVE spending time with her on her front porch. There's always room for more buddies, we love to just sit around relax, tell stories and laugh at each others stories. She's really become a friendship I've loved to watch grow and I cannot wait to see what her porch has in store for the future!

A little bit about me, well, I grew up on a farm in small town Nebraska. Went to college for Agriculture (yup, they have colleges for that stuff), finished that degree and then started working at an Investment Firm. I felt that I needed a business degree so I started on one. Just now finishing it up, four years and two degrees later... Through it all I found a boy I kinda started getting attached to. His name is Travis, you'll hear a lot about him if you follow me. He lived straight north down the road from my parents about six or seven miles. We decided we kinda like each other a lot so after three years of hanging out exclusively we still going strong. Moved north seven miles and I've lived there ever since!

I'm an organizing freak, a self-proclaimed OCDer, an attempted DIY'er, and an avid couponer. I like to play outside in my garden, read a book or cook when I have a little bit of free time. I've been a believer in the Lord since I was a baby and I believe that volunteering is SUPER rewarding so I find myself in charge of the area youth group, teaching polka dance lessons to teenagers, finding any way to help out the local community and playing in a band with fellow community members in the summer (ya, I'm a band nerd). 

Since we live on a farm I often find myself falling in love with the new babies that are born each year, we have a ton of cows, some ponies, a couple kitties and of course, no farm is complete without an old hound barkin all night! Right now we're calving so it's kind of exhausting but the babies are so precious. But, I'd have to admit, my all time favorite part about the farm is the actual farming. Working the ground, planting seeds, spraying the tiny seedlings to keep pesky weeds away, watering in hopes that the drought doesn't kill off our money-makers and then getting to harvest those crops to find a profit is fun for me. I always post a "farming on the four's" post on my blog to keep my followers informed about what's going on around the homestead. 

Couponing, well that's a big one for me! I really never had a "I need to stop spending" moment, I'd say it's a way of life I've just learned since I was a little squirt. Anymore, I look at it as a fun challenge. Since I'm with my farm boy he's constantly busy so I find myself alone a lot. Finding yourself alone means finding a hobby, mine's saving money. Best part, I'm not spending money on my hobby. Bonus!

I love to find a good Pinterest project and attempt to re-create it. You'll find a couple on my blog, also I'm working on my list of 101 in 1001. The basic run down of it is this: you find 101 things you want to accomplish in the next 2 1/2 years and you cross them off one by one. I'm slowly getting some finished up but with the summer coming up I'm hoping to accomplish a ton more! Wish me luck!

Thanks for taking the time to get to know me a little bit, if you like me (or find me hilariously weird) swing on over to my blog and keep up with me! 


Have a great weekend everyone! 
 

From my front porch to yours,

{About Me} from A to Z

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a Fabulous Friday! Today, I wanted to share a little "get to know me" post. I have read several posts like this on other blogs. I think it is a really neat and creative way to get the inside scoop behind your favorite bloggers!

So, this week, I will be taking a break from my normal H54F post and shaking things up a little bit! Be sure to stay tuned after this week's post to find out who was the winner of my very first giveaway with Kenli Bows! I am so excited to make the announcement!! 

I'd like to give a shout-out to Andrea over at {Mostly} Happenstance for sharing this on her blog! Be sure to stop by and pay her a visit!

A - Available or married?  Married {He's my high school sweetie! We are celebrating 7 years of marriage on Sunday!}
B - Book?  I don't have anything on my reading list currently. I love "Flirting with Forty" by Jane Porter and "The Pact" by Jodi Picoult.
C - Cake or Pie?  I love both, honestly! Strawberry Cake and Chocolate Pie
D - Drink of Choice?  Definitely Coke! It's like coffee to me!! 
E - Essential Item?  My HTC Droid Incredible 4G and my laptop
F - Favorite Color?  It's a toss-up: Purple and Pink
G - Game to play or watch?  Monopoly
H - Hometown?  Rutherford, TN
I - Indulgence?  I love to sleep in and can't resist Reese's Mini-Cups and a Coke {even though I'll get heartburn}
J - Job?  I just blog. I hope to make a career out of it! 
K - Kids and names?  I have one son who is currently 10. His name is Logan. 
L - Life is incomplete without?  I couldn't live without my family, friends, my dog and my cat!
M - Music group or singer?  My favorite bands are Matchbox 20 and 3 Doors Down. I also love Reba and Garth. Got to get back to those good ole country roots... Then again, there's Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Eric Church and a ton more :)
N - Number of siblings?  I have two older brothers; one of which watches over me from Heaven
O - Oranges or apples?  Hrmm.. I guess apples.
P - Phobias/Fears?  I absolutely hate snakes. Period! I'm also afraid of death. I don't want to grow old and die. It makes me cry just to think about it. 
Q - Favorite Quote?  "You'll either get over it or get under it. One of the two."
R - Reason to Smile?  The fact that I wake up each day to my hubby and my baby boy. I also can't forget those other 5 rugrats that call me Dee-Dee. I'd be one unhappy camper without them. 
S - Season?  I like Summertime but any season suits me. There's something great about them all! 
T - Tattoos?  I'd love to have one but I'm way too chicken to get one. I don't like pain at all!! 
U - Unknown fact about me?  I'm really shy and I have a lot of talent. I don't have a great confidence in myself and I'm always judging myself and being too hard on myself. Just ask my husband!! {I'm working on this though... never fear!}
V - Vegetable you love?  I love any vegetables really. 
W - Worst habit?  I drink way to many sodas and I don't take care of myself like I should sometimes. 
X - X-Rays you've had?  I've had a few X-Rays on my leg from when I was younger. That's it! 
Y - Your favorite food?  Um, dang, you would ask me something hard at the end, lol! My favorite food is chicken. I make a lot of awesome crockpot meals with chicken. 
Z - Zodiac?  Capricorn  :)

Be sure to leave a link to your blog in the comments if you share this on your blog, and I'll stop by and check it out! 

Drum Roll Please ...... 

 

The winner of the Kenli Bows Giveaway is 

Belinda Burton

@mommato5boys

Congratulations to Belinda and Thank You to everyone who entered helping make my first giveaway fun and successful!!

From my front porch to yours,

Inspire Me! Thursdays ~ Week #6

Welcome to Inspire Me! Thursdays

Each week I dedicate a day of blogging to showcase some of the best bloggers around and their crafty ideas! This is really a great way to network with others and see what is "hot" in the world of blogging! I hope you will stop in and check out their terrific blogs! You may even feel froggy enough to subscribe to their blogs and follow them to learn more tips and tricks from these great bloggers!

And now for this week's awesome blogs ... 

If you are looking for some super-duper organization tips, Kathy at Sparkles and a Stove  has compiled a great list to help get you started in the right direction. I love this post so much! Click Here to swing on over to her blog and check it out!  

 
Mmmm! Mmmm! Don't these look yummy? I'm sure they do if you love mashed potatoes! I can't wait to try these out! Kim over at Sunflower Supper Club has shared a killer recipe for Loaded Mashed Potatoes! If you have a big family, I think this will be a hit! Click Here to cruise on over to her blog and get the scoop on this dish! 

Oh yes, you read the picture correctly, Birthday Cake Fudge! Tash over at The Velvet Moon Baker got my attention right from the start! This fudge looks so good. I just want to devour it right now! I can't wait at all!!! Ok, calm down my friends and breathe, hehe. Click Here to jump on over to her blog and get the deets on the fudge!  
 
Check out {My} Kinda Party to learn more about my blog hops and link parties and to see where I'm doing a little front porch sitting at these days!

Be sure to Grab A Button and link up with my blogs and parties!

Let's link up! Show me your creative side!
{Feel free to share this blog hop on your page! Just grab the code at the bottom!}


From my front porch to yours,

Wordless Wednesdays @ Country Life

Sometimes the sky contains such beautiful colors that you just have to share them ...

Even in the dead of night!

How is your Wednesday looking? I hope you are having a wonderful day ... not an ole gloomy rainy day like it has started off here.

Boo for being up at 2 am with the threat of severe weather and tornadoes! Yep you heard me right, tornadoes and it's almost the first week in February!! Got to love Tennessee and 75 degree temps today!


Have you entered my first giveaway yet? If not, there's still time! You have until midnight on Thursday, December 31, 2013 to get those entries in! 

Click Here to hop on over to the Kenli Bows Giveaway post!

I'd like to say a BIG "thank-you" to Kellie over at Kenli Bows for allowing me to host this great giveaway!  



From my front porch to yours,

Valentine Crafts & Home Decor

Hello everyone and Happy Tuesday! Well, it's official, Valentine's Day is just around the corner! I must admit, I love Valentine's Day!! Blogging has really brought out my creative side, and I'm so excited to share my Valentine's decor with everyone.

I really, really love this hanging heart! I picked it up at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago. It has such a country feel and looks fabulous on my front door! It even has a little iron key hanging from the ribbon on the front! It's way too cute! Hobby Lobby really had some great decor items that are perfect for indoor or outdoor use. I love the store so much! We go there when we have time to look around and really enjoy a day out!

These cute little hearts I purchased at Dollar Tree. They are pink in color and full of glitter! I love all the sparkles! I got a pack of 5 of the hearts in various sizes for $1.00! Can't beat that deal!! I knew instantly what I wanted to do with them. I purchased the little owls, ladybugs and frogs in a craft pack at Hobby Lobby for $3.00, and then I got some red and baby blue glitter glue at Wal-Mart to decorate the hearts with. It didn't take me very long to decorate these hearts and make them totally adorable! I must caution everyone ... it does take a couple of days for the glitter glue to dry. So make sure the glue is completely dry before you hang your hearts up for decorations. Otherwise, the glue will run!

This is what my finished wall looks like now that the hearts are up! I really love it. When you walk into our house, this is the first thing you see! Before I added the hearts, all I had up on this wall was my cute mirror and our clock. It looked so plan. I love the blast of color that is up there now! I don't really anticipate on taking these down once Valentine's Day is over. I think they might stay up a little longer! If you notice, at first I had one empty heart with no writing. After a few days of having this up, I discovered what I wanted to write on the heart so now it looks different.

This is what my hearts look like now! I love them so much. One has our name, our wedding year and the other has the names of our 2 four-legged friends; adding their names on the last heart really completed the look! My dear hubby and son even loves the hearts!

Ah, another project in the books  :)

The is my last decor project. I also purchased a red fringe heart at the Dollar Tree. At first, I didn't know how I was going to attach it to my hook. Then, I found some cute pink ribbon with black polka-dots at Wal-Mart. It totally worked! I love how it looks hanging on my utility door. I love how it's so simple to turn inexpensive items into great decor pieces for your home!

I hope you all love the projects! Feel free to share yours with me on Thursday during my Inspire Me! Thursdays link-up!


From my front porch to yours,

Blogathon Bash Time

Happy Saturday Lovelies!
This weekend I'm participating in
The Biannual Blogathon Bash!

This event is held twice a year to help bloggers grow their blog and clean up their to do list! Click the link above if you are interested in signing up ... there's still time! Blogger focus their weekend {as much of the 72 hour time frame as they can donate} to taking a "time-out" for their blog. You can use this time to clean out your inbox, catch up on replies, finish up giveaways that have ended, etc... You basically use this time to do what needs to be done or what you have been putting off!

My Blogathon "To-Do" List 

1. Write and schedule a few blog posts to have on hand.
2. Email monthly sponsors about participating in a giveaway.
3. Finish working on my advertising page.
4. Check blog for post comments and make replies.
5. Update {My} Friends page.
6. Post Facebook/Twitter shout-outs.
7. Make a sidebar area for Giveaways.
8. Work on updating layout
9. Check out Google sites and update AdSense. 
10. Fix a calender for upcoming guest posts. 
11. Clean out email account.
12. Do a little work on Bloggy Moms/SITS

Well, this is all I can think of for now! I'm sure I will update and add in some other things as I remember them! 

Good Luck to everyone participating! I look forward to reading your updates!!!

My Blogathon "To-Do" List Update!!

1. Well, I did end up getting some posts scheduled! I need to get a few more end, but I'm waiting to hear from some guest posters first! I also figured out how to schedule my Linky Lists! Oh Yeah!!!! Score!!!!!
2. I still need to email my monthly sponsors. I have been so busy replying to other emails that I haven't gotten to this yet!
3. I fine-tuned my advertising page a little bit. I'm happy with it for now until I get some other things under my belt. 
4. I do believe I have all my comments answered! Yay!!!!!!
5. I have the word document for {my} friends page ready, I just have to copy/paste!!! 
6. My Facebook/Twitter shout-outs are out for the month ... I may sneak another one in *wink, wink*
7. Sighs, I still have to do my giveaways in my sidebar! I did end up making and posting a new spot for Spotlight Advertisers. That's always a plus!!!
8. Ick, layout is still the same (except for what I added). I will constantly work on this, I'm sure!
9. I did a little looking at Google, but I didn't make any changes yet!
10. Calender DONE! I am so happy!!! You have no idea!!!
11. Email Account all nice and clear and organized! Go Me!!!
12. I still haven't found time to get over to Bloggy Moms/SITS ... I ended up finding more sites to go to instead! Oh well, nothing like more networking! 

I must say, I had a great time during the Blogathon! I met a ton of people in the last day ... that was the only real time I had to work. It was relaxing and fun and I really enjoyed it! 

 

I also won a blog design. I am really stoked about that! It's going to be great to have a custom design!! So, at the end of the day, it was all worth it! I can't wait to do it all again!!! 

 

From my front porch to yours,