won't you stay christmas?

i wish christmas would last until valentines day. would it be so awful if i left up my tree for most of january? is it any different than my friends who put theirs up before thanksgiving? we are having a lovely christmas. we went to georgia and enjoyed time with my mother's family where we had southern deep fried turkey, senator russell sweet potatoes, cornbread dressing and all the other fixings. it was so lovely. i stood outside and breathed in the georgia air and it felt like home. we also went to my grandmothers where we had honey baked home and the most delicious melt in your mouth rolls made by my aunt made from butter, butter and more butter. we even got to stop by to see one of my very oldest and dearest friends at her new restaurant in lagrange, ga called "low country" featuring "coastal southern cuisine". they redecorated and renovated an old victorian house and made it beautiful with a blend of pottery barn modern and a touch of nautical. then there's the food.......coca cola in the bottle, sweet tea, hand battered fried chicken, bourbon pecan pie. mouth wateringly good food at a reasonable price. so as you can see we ate our way through christmas and it's not over yet. we are home now. the tree is lit and the vintage ornaments shine and make this room so cozy. there's dinner in the oven to be taken to friends with a brandy new baby. there's a pancake breakfast to be made in the morning with another very special friend who just got engaged. then a new years party with music and friends. new years day will bring our christmas celebration with my husband's side of the family. then we get to bask in the glow of it all and enjoy the snow and so many reasons to be thankful.

today.

today is a day when i kinda sorta wish that i could just write a blog of all the ins and outs of life. but i'm not. i keep alot of things to myself, and that is ok. today however i feel like sharing and here's what i've got:

joyous news:: a tiny little baby is growing and we are expecting him or her to arrive in july! it's exciting, scary and wonderful all at once. we have to trust God and His timing and just put it all in His hands. we sure do love this baby already though and hopefully that's a good start.

newsy news:: my husband is going to OSU in january to become a school teacher! i'm so excited for him. he loves computers and showing people how to use them so he is going to be a high school vocational computer teacher.

living news:: i love our new apartment! i love it! it feels like home and that is a very good feeling indeed.

christmas news:: i have a couple gifts crossed off my list, none wrapped, a tree up, stockings hung and lots left to do. christmas cards may not get sent this year. my energy gets zapped pretty quick but i'll just save them for next year.

holiday kitchen news:: i made some christmasy chocolate covered pretzels and i plan to make these and nathan made this and i would like to try these .

photography news:: i got my first paying gig assisting the amazingly talented nick fancher with a wedding. i was one of 2 other shooters and i had a blast. sadly i don't think i did very well but it was a great learning experience. i am trying to learn as fast as i can because i do so love taking photos. (by the way - the photo above was taken with my iphone, so not the greatest quality)

that's all i've got for now. happy holidays to you and yours!

dear internet, what would you do?

dear internet,
what would you do if you had just rented a condo (and the landlord gave you full permission to paint and do anything you want) with cabinets like these in a small kitchen? since getting a new set of cabinets from ikea is out of the question, what are some painting ideas?

please vote for me!

shameless plug alert :)

i've entered a contest to win a professional blogging contract, please vote for me! you can vote everyday, once a day! the top 20 with the most votes will be entered into the 2nd round!

trying to look up again

looking up again, originally uploaded by goldiestereo.

hello yellow....this is for poppytalk's autumn color week, you can find fall colors here all week long....

hip hop heads

Neurosonics Audiomedical Labs Inc.

creativity

it's been brewing for awhile now. i think i first got the inkling of it back in 2001. it was really there all along. as a little girl making up stories for my barbies and drawing, drawing, drawing and telling myself stories about the drawings. the run away imagination that got me in some trouble at school. a daydreamer i was and am and ever shall be. coloring. colors. photographs. old photographs. reading. traveling to distant lands with the turn of a page. days spent pouring over books at the library. nights huddled in the darkness straining to read by the street light outside my window. making tapes of myself doing radio shows. cooking. reading cookbooks. craft books. listening to music and getting lost in it. cake decorating books. martha stewart books before she was a corporation. watching cooking shows. dreaming about the cooking show i would have some day. acting. in one act plays, in skits at church, in dress up clothes in my bedroom and on my front porch. painting. water colors. making ginger bread houses and christmas ornaments and spending hours wrapping gifts. writing stories of our adventures at cornerstone. playing with makeup. doodling everywhere. journaling. more dreaming. taking pictures. making collages. taking trips to the museum. loving colors.

so where did i get the idea that i was more of a business person and should take that path with jobs? maybe it was the apathetic art teacher who made me wonder why i kept taking art year after year in high school. maybe it was the marketing class and winning a deca award and unrealistic ideas of the advertising world. maybe it was neccessity and having to take jobs to pay the bills. maybe i thought if i couldn't create any art or sing or play an instrument then maybe i would work behind the scenes. in radio. in the music business. at an advertising agency. at a cement company. at the grocery store. waiting tables. moderating message boards. at the bank. in telemarketing.

so for a long time i felt like a square peg in a round hole. wondering why i don't fit in the business world. wondering why i get so burned out and can't just go with the flow. i started to realize it slowly and i've spent alot of frustrating days in between. other people have even told me. i need to do something creative. that is where i thrive.

but how? how when you have to make money to pay the bills. i don't regret a single step that lead me to where i am today. how though? how when the 9-5 sucks all your energy and time?

all i know is this. i love taking pictures and i love telling stories. this little old blog has been sorely neglected but a new day is coming. sure i've said it before and maybe i will say it again......but it's coming. it has to. i want to see the beauty in the everyday and share it with you. i want to show ways you can live beautifully without a beautiful budget. i've started taking more pictures and soon i'll start to let a few people here and there know that if they want me to take pictures i'll be available and i'll try to help folks out that can't afford an expensive photographer. and i'll keep writing and looking for beauty in the everyday. and i'll try to do those things i love again like drawing and painting and cooking and decorating cakes and experimenting with color.

so we'll see what happens. even if no one else ever reads this blog or sees any of it, i'm so excited to begin again.

say, say, say

i almost forgot about this one. it takes me right back to being a kid.

things i'm loving

Horses on Cumberland Island, originally uploaded by Nathan Smart.

these wedding pics i stumbled upon, taken in my home state, of one of the cutest weddings i've ever seen anywhere

this television program, that we are very late to get in on, that has us completely mesmerized

these two love birds and their gorgeous wedding, which gave love and joy whole new meaning

jancee dunn, whose first book i really loved and whose new book i can't wait to read

re-reading old books from my youth.....like this and this

these t-shirts my husband is designing

oh yeah...and summer....

house finders

here's a little video we made for nathan's comedy show (if you are in columbus come check it out on the 4th thursday of every month at wild goose creative!..it's free).

quote of the day 4.20.09

"I think it's really cool to put out a record where on one hand, digitally anyone can get it in the world, and hopefully be able to as long as that lasts. But physically there are less copies of it and they are totally individual and special. It's like traverse terrains simultaneously." - Jason Schwartzman in this interview.

quote of the day

If I can do it with my tough schedule and Paula Deen cooking for me and standing in our restaurant day after day, y’all can too. - Jamie Deen

i read this on jamie deen's blog where he reveals how he has lost weight (just common sense and eating healthy). bless his heart, i believe he's right. i'm inspired. this photo is a cover of his latest cookbook which i'll check out for sure. i'm also getting more excited for our vacation to charleston, savannah and cumberland island every day. now i don't think i'll be able to pass up paula's cooking on our visit but i have started counting calories again and i'm going to give it my best shot.

yard sale treasure map

yes, i say
yes to this
are you kidding me?
who thought of this, it's the best thing i've heard of in a long time.
to quote lifehacker.com ...

"Yard Sale Treasure Map is a Google Maps mashup designed to help you find and easily get to Craigslist-posted yard sales in your area.

You enter a starting address, a driving radius, and select from Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Yard Sale Treasure Map then queries Craiglist for your area, and returns a route that will take you to all the yard sales it finds. You can click on the markers for each sale to see additional information about the sale and delete them if you're not interested. You can also add in sales that you find from other sources, like your local paper, by either putting the address in the left sidebar or double clicking on the map to place a new marker. This surprisingly elegant hack is free to use."

treasure hunt, here i come! check it out at yardsaletreasuremap.com

ewe are too cute!

how cute are these sheep! i want to smash them up they are so cute. little cake pops. who knew you could do such a thing? more importantly who has time to do such a thing?? oh to have that luxury. :) if you are so fortunate, here are the directions.

so here's what i'm thinking.......

I wish I was a better blogger.
Big plans…..that’s what I have for blogging but they keep getting pushed back and back and back …until … a year or more has gone by. Last night I got inspired all over again. So here’s a list of things of some things I want to do this year:

1. Blog more – starting now at least once a week, then twice, then three times and working up to daily.
2. Launch goldiestereo.com and an Etsy store with vintage objects and hopefully someday artwork.
3. Keep learning about photography, take pictures, lots and lots and lots of pictures.
4. Write and write and write.

I’m excited in life. For the future, for our road trip with friends in May, for
other trips to come, for the chance in life to get caught up in at least one area, for my husband’s monthly
comedy show, for my new
camera, for our
community, for Spring, for new beginnings.

Beat Patterns

my husband launched his new t-shirt line this week "beat patterns". check it out at the link above. it's "a clothing line dedicated to the fabric of hip hop: the producer" and the first shirt is dedicated to Paul C

i miss my mom today

A Picture Share!, originally uploaded by goldiestereo.

she's about 10 hours away.........wish i could snap my fingers and bring her here.

If I knew you were coming I'd have baked a cake!

things are looking better....

think pink, originally uploaded by goldiestereo.

nathan's mom is doing so much better, she might even get to come home in a few days (edit 1/11/09: she came home!). thank you to everyone who prayed, we believe it's only because of your prayers that she is getting stronger every day. thank you God. so here's to mamma pam today and here's to more days like
this

happy new year

DSCF0758.JPG, originally uploaded by goldiestereo.

welcome 2009
we are so glad to see you and praying for ...mercy, grace, love, hope in this new year. we could use some around here.

nathan's mom is in the hospital in critical condition, her lungs aren't functioning properly and they don't know why...some things have been ruled out, some suspected, but there's a lot of waiting going on. we would certainly appreciate all the prayers we can get. her name is pam and she's pretty much the best mother in law anyone could ever have.

there is still so much to be thankful for. so, so much. i am reminded at times like this that not only everything we have but our every breath is a gift from God.

soon i hope there will be some celebrating of answered prayers and here's to brighter days ahead.......