Victory and a Wedding

Hallelujah!  I've finally figured out how to sign in to my blog!  You KNOW it's been too long, when you can't remember the exact combination of email and password to log in.  It's been 9 months, and I'm not going to pretend to play catch up.  Let's just say that there is a lot going on in my world right now - and leave it at that.

However, I do want to share my brother's beautiful wedding.  I asked my lovely new sister-in-law as I was taking a  bajillion pictures and she gave her permission.  They got married in Virginia on October 19.

I love how Benjamin and Ardilla kept the whole thing simple and real.  There were no pretensions, no pretending.  The "dress code" was basically your own interpretation of sharp.  It was a 2 day party, and it was a PARTY!

 

 

This is what  we started with...Well, this and a gorgeous setting.




Friends from our childhood, and friends from Benjamin and Ardilla's present came together to help decorate the outdoor arena.  This is the afternoon of "The Party ~ Day 1".

Ardilla had a vision, and we did our best to give it life.  Now, our best may not have been good enough, but thanks to the organization of Kadi Franson we came pretty close!

 

The vision required a lot of stretching and climbing ladders - I decided it was a good time to take pictures! :)



"Now how do we make these look random?"

My wonderful husband...

...and my hero from childhood.  My friend, Jack Kouwe.

So, while Benjamin and Ardilla were away, getting all the legal stuff done, we stretched, climbed, hung, strung and generally defined the party space for Night #1. Lanterns were hung over bigger bulbs and strings of fairy lights defined pathways. We also unstitched burlap sacks for table coverings.   It was so much fun!  Andy and I had the chance to work with Jack, and another couple from my childhood Bob & Sue. 

 

 I've known Bob and Sue my whole life - in fact, Bob sang the majority of the music at my wedding.  My WHOLE life!  When Andy and I pulled up to the cabin, I walked up to a woman directing the parking of another car and introduced myself...it was Sue.  sigh.  Obviously, it had been entirely too long (12 years) since I've seen her.  So, having jobs to do while we got used to each others' company again was PERFECT (thank you, Kadi)!

 

 

Here is the space when I left.

 

So, Andy and I went back to our "digs" to rest, shower and change and when I came back, this is what it looked like:

I LOVE that she went around and found beautiful fall leaves to decorate the vases.  It was perfect!

Every table had flowers and candle light.

THIS was awesome!  A "Grilled Cheese Bar", everyone made their own, they kept the grill on and you made a sandwich for yourself as you wanted to.  This was on top of the burgers, brats and dogs.

And let's not forget this was a party.  There was a bluegrass band:

 

The Beer Ticks

 

They were great, and there was a whole lot of square dancing - with a caller who taught us as we went.  I'd love to show you pictures of how much fun we had...but I was too busy getting swung around and dosey-doing! :)

 

I'll share more about the beautiful DAY 2 next time.  I hope you enjoyed visiting it (and allowing me to REvisit it), it was one of the happiest times of 2013 for me.

 

Karlie

 

 

You are more beautiful than you think.

My husband loves You Tube.  I am amazed at how much time he can spend watching videos on that site.  Yesterday, I was in a hurry and when he asked me to come in and watch a video I was irritated.  I'm glad I took my toothbrush into the living room and multi-tasked.  Below is the long version of the video he showed me.  Please watch it, it's beautiful, challenging and uplifting.

This is what art is supposed to do.  This is what we are supposed to do for each other.  Community means helping each other to heal, to be whole.  Community means bringing each other before the kinder, more honest mirror of God.  I love Dove's ad campaigns, but I want to be this kind of friend for my community.

I have the privilege of knowing some truly beautiful women - in every way that you may define the word beautiful.  All of us do.  Sing their praises, tell them, tell other people.

Know that YOU are that truly beautiful person in someone else's life.  

When I was in Botswana, I met a beautiful woman.  She had spent the majority of her life eking out a life, with her husband, in the Kalahari Desert.  The Kalahari is a breathtaking place.  I loved visiting there, and always left renewed.  But it is the Desert.  Not the desert with a lot of irrigation, crops and livestock.  The Desert.  In this picture, you can see some green on the trees.  Africa's trees are miracles, and can find water. But there are few trees in this area.  She had made this her home, and for her that meant becoming a part of the lives of many people.  Taking in local single mothers, giving them jobs, loving on their kids.

I was at her "camp" when I got the news that my Papa died.  There was no way for me to get home, or even to the states.  I could barely get a phone call out to my Mama.  I'll never forget this woman coming and hugging me, talking to me quietly.  I was one of many in her campsite, and we had never spoken before.  She had lost her husband that year, and she knew that I was hurting.

I've never forgotten her, and I don't even know her name.

You are more beautiful than you think.

KTV

The official report

Okay!  So, the appraiser's report is in.  By taking a $20,000 loan we improved the value of our property by $36,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We are very happy - if you're wondering that puts us $4,000 over our target price.  Yes, we are happy.

We look forward to seeing many of you at our house on Saturday - anywhere from 3:00 - 6:00 pm.

KTV

What the Appraiser Saw...

So, I have made a radical decision.

I am NOT doing Spring Cleaning this year.  No argument is going to sway me on this.

Why, you may ask...because today I did APPRAISER cleaning.  That's right!  The Appraiser came today, I no longer have that looming over me.  Please wait while we dance around our living room singing at the top of our lungs..........................................................................

Okay, you got me.  Not our living room...but you get the idea!

Thank you!  Now on to the point of this post.  Before and After pictures!!!!  Yay!  One of my favorite things!  I am very excited.

Come on in and see the place...

The entrance to Andy's room, from the completed patio.  All of our exterior doors got a coat of Behr's Red Awning.

 Actually, let's back up and go in the front door.

Isn't it cute?!  I just love the way it looks when you drive up.

I can't overstate how wonderful John Brooks from Brush Masters painting was to work with.  He was on time or early every day, he went the extra mile...he was a joy to work with.

The paint is all Behr's exterior paint.  I'm not sure of the exact shade of white, Awning Red on the doors and Tawny Port on the trim.  I love it!

"New" mailbox

And I don't want to forget my "new" mailbox.  Our old mailbox looked so sad and abused sitting in front of the spiffy new house.  But Andy said we couldn't just go out and buy a new one.  So, first thing this morning I went out and painted it with some exterior metal paint I had left over from an earlier project.  And I painted the little "please take our mail" flag Awning Red.  MUCH better.  Although the appraiser didn't mention it, I'm sure it made all the difference in the world to his appraisal :).

Okay, old front door

Cute.

new front door:

Cuter.

 Inside the front door, is the tiny little closet that we still haven't done anything to (slackers!)

but it makes a great wood closet.

 And then you walk right into what is currently my favorite room of the house.  Be prepared, I've taken a LOT of pictures.

Straight ahead view

Looking to the right.

The mantle.

The rag doll is one of Andy's mom's

My favorite seat in the whole house.  Andy found this chair at Salvation Army!  I know!

A portrait of Andy and I, painted by Karen Grathoff.  I love how abstract and complex Andy is...pretty accurate, in my opinion.

The bookshelf is one of the cupboards that we removed from over the counter, the chair came from Good Company.  I salivated over that chair for about 3 months before Andy saw it and bought it in a matter of minutes.

The calligraphy was done as a wedding present to Andy and I from our friend, Devin Bader

Same friend, 3 different ways to look at your ordinary padlock.

My favorite hat.

Once again, our amazing couch (that we had a yard sale in order to buy), and my "pallet art"

This used to be in the staff room at our Pre-School.  There, it held coffee.

My mama.

A Birthday present from Mrs. Carol and the "GCC Kids".  The kids painted all of the paper used (including the background), and Mrs. Carol Constructed the whimsical vase and flowers.  It is so cheery!

 Before and After...

Notice the lights...that's the other project that I used the oiled bronze paint for.

 You've seen the Dining room

 But you haven't seen my present from my friend Robert Brown:

and this time I didn't have to face my fear of heights :)!

And let us not forget...

Also off of the Living room is the Guest room

 And my art room!

Remember this is what the APPRAISER saw.  If you come to my room, you will see a dog crate in the corner instead of the crate :).

by Jeydan Umberger.  She's never met my friend CarrieAnn, but to me this is a portrait of Carrie.

Gone With the Wind is my favorite movie, and this old LP  has the theme song from it.  It was a Christmas present from my brother, Benjamin and his fiance Ardilla.

One of my favorite quotes, I bought several of these cards about 15 years ago and saved this one ever since.

Back painting by Karlie Vaughn, front painting a birthday present from Nora Atkins.

Before...

Whew!  Are you tired yet?  Let's just do quick pictures of the other rooms, you've seen them before...

Kitchen

Our bedroom

Bathroom.

And some final before and after exterior shots.

I love this little detail

 And our patio

Before

With our only outdoor furniture

At night.

 I can't even begin to thank Tyler Logan and Josh Rueff enough for their generous gifts of time, brawn and talent.  Thank you to everyone that helped us, and we look forward to seeing everyone at our house one week from Saturday - details to follow.

KTV