By Popular Demand

What's that? You didn't demand anything? Oh well. Keep reading and you'll wish you had. Or not. Who knows. But it's time for the big reveal. I have custom made curtains hanging in my "awkward nook that really doesn't have a name between the entry and the living room across from the kitchen." Whew!



Above is the awkward shot of the before. Sorry it's not clean but I don't roll that way. If you want clean you'll need to go visit a museum. Not the home of someone who works for a living. Thanks for being such undestanding blog readers and friends.

First I hung a curtain rod. Brilliant, I know, but that's just how I roll.

Note: It was daylight when I started, but it's now dark. This was obviously done a few days weeks ago before the beloved springing forward of my clock.

Tada! Curtains are occupying their appropriate place on my wall.

Below is the pattern. The khakis match my couch and the reds to with my accent pillows.

And speaking of accent pillows, I have two lovely ones in the matching fabric. Don't you just love how the pillow displayed itself so well in my Hollywood chair? (There's a story there for another post.)

Thanks for taking a tour of the transformation of "awkward nook that really doesn't have a name between the entry and the living room across from the kitchen." Eventually I hope to have a bench under the window to sit upon and tie my shoes/store awkward things/give the space a purpose.

Hello? Hello? Anyone There?

I would take roll at this point but my 4 readers have probably left me for the greener pastures of those people who actually post to their blogs on a regular basis.  If you're bored enough that you decided to stick around today is the day that I finally figured out how to get my blog to access from my gmail account so now I don't have to logout of my email and into my blog.  (Yes, my name should be Random(Lazy)Carrie but that is just ridiculous.)

"Hi, my name is RandomCarrie.  I have a degree in information systems and it took me over a year to figure out how to do this."  

I'm pretty sure there is no 12-step (or 1 step program) for people like me who just don't have a clue how technology works yet get paid to work in it daily.  Thankfully God has blessed me with the brain power to do what I do.  I think it's because no one else wants to do it and I just got sucked in at the right time/wrong time/economic downtime.  Go figure.

So, in the essence of what truly makes me random here are some things I should have blogged about but didn't and may eventually have full posts about.

-- I hung curtains in my house.  This is a huge deal because I actually tried to post a blog entry about this but my stupid local company internet connection would not allow the photos to load and seriously what's a whole blog post about curtains without pictures?  Maybe later this week.

-- My niece asked me this weekend how I got so skinny.  Oh, to be able to see myself through a  6 year olds eyes.  I hope when she is 30 (she thinks I'm 20!) she has the self esteem to see herself for the inside and not the outside.

-- This bridge.  Yeah, I ran about 3/4 of it last week.  Go me.  Next April I want to do the whole run.

-- I am getting veggies from a local CSA.  You'll be hearing more about this as I love vegetables!  Nothing beats a supper of fresh veggies.

Ok.  That should be enough to get you all through the drought that has been my blog.  

P.S. Tony, if you're still reading GET WELL SOON!  

Pray For Jonah

I will be back soon with some posts of random nonsense, but until then please pray for Jonah and his mommy and daddy.  Having been in the NICU with Emma and knowing the ups and downs of not really knowing my heart breaks for this family.  So I encourage you to lift them up.  

Gingham Mountain by Mary Connealy

I am blessed to never know what it was like to be orphaned.  Especially at a time in our country when you were put on a train and hoped that someone would adopt you off the train.  I remember my roommate in college telling how her grandparent had been adopted off an orphan train.  It’s impossible to trace your family history at that point.  However, I believe those lucky enough to be adopted into families that loved them didn’t mind.  They were thankful.  I believe orphans today are thankful when adopted into families that love them and take them as one of their own.  

That being said, had I been an orphan in the 1800s and ended up at the last stop I’m not sure how I would have felt.  And how would I have reacted when a man in his late 20s showed up and took me and any other stragglers back to his ranch where I would be met with several other adopted brothers and sisters.  I’m not sure if the feeling would be that of gratitude or leeriness.  Especially when the new school teacher is not exactly thrilled with the arrangement.  

Come to Gingham Mountain and meet Grant Cooper and Hannah Cartwright who have more in common than either want to admit.  Will Hannah succeed in having the children removed from an unsafe environment?  Or will she discover secrets that cause her to evaluate her heart and what true love really is all about? 

This book was truly a pleasure to read as it did charge my mind to think about things and how my heart would have been hurt and the walls would have been put up in the situations that are described within the pages.  I hope you’ll pick up Gingham Mountain and think through these situations for yourself.  

To purchase this book for yourself, go to Amazon and grab a copy for yourself.

Sidewalks

I have found a new love. Sidewalks. The areas around my house are all mapped out with sidwalks. Beginning a few weeks ago I decided that Murphy (the dog) and I should start taking longer walks. So we began circling the subdivision at least 2-3 times a week. Then last weekend I decided that we should begin taking longer walks. And we ventured out into the big world outside what we consider our own. My subdivision is a new development in the middle of older homes. It has been such a treat to set out each time we have the opportunity to stroll through the neighborhoods near here. To see the houses and people working the yards gives me a sense of community. I do not know the people but they always wave and say "hello." And today we came upon the cutest little old couple holding hands and walking down the sidewalk ahead of us. We quickly caught up with them, and as we passed they spoke. And it felt right. If I ever marry, I hope my husband will walk with me in our old age. And that as the younger folks pass, I hope we'll speak and they too will feel a sense of community.

*** Above image is from my subdivision.

Cinematic

If you know me you know that I am not a frequent visitor of the local cinema. I mean seriously, $9.50 is quite a bit to drop on a movie. Especially since it'll sell for $9.99 when it comes out on DVD at the local Tar-jay. However, the last two weekends I have felt the need to go see an actual movie at the theater. (Oh, and I won't even tell you how it angers me that matinees stop at the 2:00 showing...you have to pay full price for anything later than that!) But anywho...

Last weekend my friend Liz and I ventured out to see New In Town. Super cute movie. I'm a big fan of Harry Connick Jr. In my opinion this movie is up there with Sweet Home Alabama, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and any other chick flick I will watch repeatedly either on DVD or every.single.time it is on TV. I'll tolerate the commercials to watch these movies.

This weekend I went with a couple of ladies from work to see He's Just Not That Into You. A few years ago, Arynda, Kelli O, and I had gone to Memphis and Betsy lent us the book to read on the way home. I don't think I have ever laughed so much with a group of girls as we laughed reading that book. There are so many truths in it of how girls behave and tell themselves what a guy thinks when we know deep down it isn't true. This movie had several things in it which were not of my beliefs (affairs, cohabitation) but the truths of how men and women believe were evident. The book is a must read if you are single or have single girlfriends as it is the truth.

I will probably eventually add each of these to my collection. Definitely New in Town and probably He's Just Not That Into You (even if it is only to point out to my girlfriends a specific situations which they are overthinking.)

Oh, and if you're one of those people who watch a movie and pay attention to the music in hopes of a great soundtrack, New In Town had very little music, but HJNTIY had some great music. I found myself singing along (in my head to save the ears of those around me) to several songs.

Word Gets Around

The second book I'd like to tell you about this week is Word Gets Around. This book by Lisa Wingate is a very easy read. It's the cute story of Lauren Eldridge who was raised in Daily, Texas, and on the rodeo circuit with her cowboy dad. When her father calls in a favor to Lauren to return to Daily to assist with training a horse that will be in a new Hollywood film, Lauren reluctantly leaves her home and heads toward Texas. Justin Shay is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and screenwriter Nate Heath helps him get there with his scripts. When Justin tricks Nate into joining him on the project, Nate fears the worse will happen because the script as he's been given it is not sellable to a director. Not only does Justin's career hang on this film being a success, but Lauren's family farm is also at stack. Will Lauren stick around to train the horse or head back to the life she has built for herself as a university professor? Will Nate make the screenplay a brilliant success or leave Justin hanging?

The above is my synopsis of the book to its storyline. I thought the story was cute, but one thing drove me crazy the whole time. The author, trying to emphasis the Southerness of the talk would often write out how the words would sound with a Southern accent or twang. Being from the South I found it offensive to read in that she did not believe the reader could read the accent in their head without her writing it out. For instance, rather than writing guarantee, she would write guar-own-tee. This quickly got annoying and did not lend itself to me wanting to read other books like this. I have not read any other books by this author so I do not know if this is something she does in every book, but if so I'm not sure I'd be keen on reading other books by her.

If things like that do not bother you, or you just want a cute book to read on your vacation or day off, then hop over to Amazon and pick up a copy for yourself!