So Very Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I hope every one's day will be filled with family and friends, and with love and happiness.
This morning I woke up after what could only be explained as a sad dream. I dreamt of all the past Thanksgivings and how my family used to be. A lot has changed over the past 5 or so years and my head is still trying grasp everything that has happened. First we lost my Grandpa. This was probably the most significant change. Grandpa was the head of our family. When he died, small cracks began to form in how our family dynamic worked. No longer were there big family dinners. Or should I say happy ones. All the big get-togethers were filled with happy, but painful memories. Then I got married, and moved away. This wasn't a sad occasion, but it changed things. Then my Dad started having serious problems with mobility and needed several surgeries. My parents no longer could go many places. My bother got a DUI, and it just added to the tension. The cracks were becoming wider, no matter how much I tried to keep it together. My family is close, and we still are, but things are different. Life has changed us all, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I hate being away from them. I hate that I am not there. Two weekends ago, we celebrated Thanksgiving, (which I already wrote about) and it was great, but things were different. Grandpa wasn't there to start the blessing. I keep telling myself that this is life. He is where he is supposed to be. This is not our home, but only a place we are to live until God is ready for us, and God was ready for Grandpa. I was just not ready to let him go.
Now that I have depressed myself, I guess all these ramblings have a point: Be Thankful. Be Thankful for what you have, you never know when things will change. I am so Very Thankful for my husband, my puppy, my family, and my friends. Things do change, but that just means you have to change also.
Now for the things I am thankful for:

My Family

 My Friends

 EW's Family

 My Brother

My Husband & Puppy

-Brina

Re-purpose

I have wanted to blog about this topic for awhile, but I didn't think I had enough material. Well, I'm just going to go with it and post more about my thrifty obsessions as I buy/salvage more. I know I have written about how I adore garage sales and rummage sales, but I also check out the several dumpsters around our apartment complex. When I thought about writing this post, I went around our place looking for things I bought at a garage sale, salvaged, or just used in a different way than it's real purpose.
Here is what I have come up with so far:

I love lamp. This little beauty I salvaged from the U-Haul storage unit. There was an area where people could dump stuff they didn't want, and I saw this and had to have it. There was a different shade on it. The shade on it now isn't what I would like, but I already had it, and it works for now. EW wasn't thrilled when I carried it into our storage unit. He said we were there to put our things in storage, not add to it. Well, it spoke to me, and I was so glad that it worked!

There are a couple things in this picture. The bookcase my mom got at a 2nd hand store for dirt cheap, it's a bit beat-up, but I can always paint it. The silver plate that the orange candle is on, I found at a rummage sale, for under a dollar. It is actually a fancy hot-plate, but I thought a big pillar candle would look awesome on it. I think it works!

Our kitchen doesn't have much cabinet space, so I really needed to find some shelves to give more space. I was looking at several stores, but all of the shelves that I liked were so expensive or didn't fit.

Then one day about a month after we moved into our apartment, I was walking Bandit, and had to take her doodoo bag to the dumpster. There were 3 of these white, wire shelves sitting outside, next to the dumpster. Seeing that they were in really good shape, I picked them up and made them mine! I'm so glad because they fit perfectly in my cabinets. I also have one on our dresser for a bit more space.

Not many people know what this is. It is actually a shoe holder. My grandma picked it up at the church rummage sale. My shoes are too big, but I knew I could use it for something. And that something is for all my junk in the bathroom. It's been in 3 apartments bathrooms now, and it really useful. It's a bit rusty, and I plan on painting it next summer. I'm thinking black...

Over the weekend, I had EW help me get the Christmas decorations down. We are saving the tree for this weekend. I just wanted to get a bit ahead, instead of doing it all this weekend. I got our stockings out and last year I thought I would get 3 when I bought them just in case we had an addition to our family. So glad I did, since we did get an addition: Bandit Blu. When I went to hang them up though, I found that I had only bought 2 holders...ugh. Not having any money to spend (seriously) I wasn't for sure what I was going to do. Holders can be $10+. So this morning I went to Goodwill to check out what they had. Thankfully, I found one that I really liked (the tree in the middle) and they had 2! Of course I had to buy the pair, since our family will most likely grow again in the next few years.

Here's a closer picture. I'm not in love with the color, so I'm thinking of painting them gold, to match the snow flakes. What do you think?

I really wish I had a before picture with this one, but I can't find one. This lamp I got for $5 at a rummage sale. The previous owners painted it white (you can see it was black). I'm thinking about painting it again, since you can see the black showing through in some spots. I really wanted new shades for this lamp. Before I painted them silver, they were yellow and blue striped. I really love how it turned out! I think the silver would really pop if the base was a different color. Ah, another project for next summer....

I have a few more items that I would like to share, but they can wait for another time.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

-Brina

Thanksgiving and Birthdays

This past weekend we went to my parents to celebrate Thanksgiving and my Dad's, Grandma's, EW's and my birthday. I was very excited, and so was Bandit. She loves going on rides, and going to Granma and Granpa's house. Friday night Bandit and I picked up EW at the train station and we were on our way. We rolled into Watseka around 7:30, so we had all evening to visit. Bandit, of course couldn't get enough attention and was bouncing off the walls. Good thing we didn't go to bed until 11 or so.
My brother was out and about, so I thought I would play a joke on him. I've already done it to EW a few weeks ago, and couldn't wait to use it on my brother.

That is not what it looks like. LOL, it's looks good though, right? It is actually a toilet paper roll soaked in water and tore up in pieces, then mushed back together. So easy, and really funny! And yes, that is on his bed. When he got home that night, everyone was in bed. He didn't freak, but did come out of his room to ask me if it was real poop. He said he picked it up and smelled it, and it didn't smell bad, but he wasn't for sure, so thought he would ask. HA!

On Saturday, my Grandma and Aunts came so we could have Thanksgiving. Our house is really small, and Mom doesn't care much for cooking, so we went out to eat. All of us got to pick whatever we wanted to have, which I love. I had soup and a big salad, and everyone else had Turkey or Roast dinners. The dinner was good, and it was great to be with family. Back at home, we had Cheesecake (at my request, since I can eat it) to celebrate all the birthdays. It was a great ending to a wonderful day!

Bandit loved sitting in Granpa's chair. When he wasn't sitting it in, she took full advantage!

This is were EW and Bandit spent most of their weekend. Hanging out, watching movies with Granpa, while my mom and I did some shopping.

This is Binky, and her spot for the weekend. Bandit loves Binky, and wants to play, but Binky isn't thrilled. She stays in my parents room, behind the gate. When Bandit takes a 'nap', she come out. Binky definitely loves to see us leave more than arrive.

This is my favorite picture of the weekend! Bandit was very happy she got to sit on Granpa's lap. Of course, a few minutes after this picture, she had to get off because she wanted to lick his face off. :)
Dad looks really good here, especially since he just had a hip-replacement just a few weeks ago!

 Granma got her a bacon flavored bone. She worked on it all weekend! Not to mention, Granma was giving Bandit little treats behind Momma's back. She sure does get spoiled :)

On Sunday, it was time to travel back home. It's always sad leaving, but I know we will be back. Hopefully the weather will be ok to travel at Christmas. While driving, I just had to take a picture of the open fields and the beautiful sky. Oh, how I miss this:

Hope everyone takes advantage of the beautiful weather,

-Brina

Halloween

I think I will just skim over the day before Halloween, even though it was my Birthday. This year we kept it pretty low key. EW and I went to church, then we went out for breakfast (at Denny's because we had a coupon...Mistake) and the meal wasn't that great. However, for dinner, we went out to Houlihans, which was really good! In between, we just hung out at the apartment watching tv. My gift from EW was taking Bandit outside all day. It was a great gift! All in all, a pretty good day.

Now Halloween was nice also. I spent the day with my lil pumpkin. She must have known we were going to have a big night because she slept all day long, which is out of character for her. So after laying around all day, we went and picked up EW at the train station. We came home and everyone changed. Bandit was not into her costume as much as I was.

No. I refuse to put it on...

Ok fine, since I get a goody bag filled with treats!

I am ready to hit the road!

We took her to PetSmart, but it was pretty dead. We just walked around for a bit, then headed back home and just hung out. It was a good ending to the day. We may not have went out and collected loads of candy, but there are many years ahead for that.

As the Holiday season nears, we are very excited to spend time with our families. Next weekend we are going to my parents house. I have a baby shower to go to, so we thought we would use the weekend to celebrate several birthdays, including mine, and Thanksgiving also. Bandit just loves seeing her grandparents, and knows she will gets little bits from my Dad when no one is looking. We are so thankful for everyone in our lives, and can't wait for all the get-togethers, laughs, and love with all of you!

-Brina