A New Chapter...

Dry Erase Picture Frames

Not so long ago, I was browsing Pinterest (such a big surprise... I know) and came across this sweet "Love" Message Board and I knew that I just had to make one!  I am married to a loving, hard-working man who makes me laugh and I thought it would be a great opportunity to remind him of how much I love him.

Being a girl who absolutely adores dry-erase boards and writing out my to-do lists (my mommy brain just can't keep all the info tucked away in my noggin), I decided that I'd do a similar project for my list of chores while I was at it.  

So I made a trip over to the good ol' Dollar Tree and picked up a couple of cheap-y frames...

Removed the glass and cardboard backing...

Found a couple of bottles of spray paint that I had from previous projects...

And sprayed my little heart out!

I ended up deciding that I didn't like the brown, so I sprayed over it with the oil-rubbed bronze (one of my favorite shades!) Then I printed out my desired text on some scrapbook paper and... Voilá!

Mine aren't quite as cute as Lianne's, but it was an easy project using a lot of items I already had around the house and it serves it's purpose. Plus, the two of them only cost me $2.00!  Yay!!! :)

With love, 

Danielle Renae

Valentines From My Little Love

This morning we woke up to grey skies which seemed like the perfect excuse to enjoy some time searching Pinterest in my jammies. :)  With Valentine's Day in mind, I came across these adorable cards and decided it was time to do some crafting with my favorite little man!

We started out by coloring on coffee filters with markers.  It was fun to color on something with a different shape and texture than regular paper...

Next, I gave Elijah a cup of water and a paintbrush and let him "paint" over this drawings.  He was amazed as the ink bled across the coffee filters and he kept informing me that his drawings were "thirsty"...

Once he was finished, we laid them out to dry.  I am impatient, so after a few minutes, I sped up the process by pulling out my handy-dandy hair dryer...

When the filters were all dry, I cut heart shapes out of them and, using double-sided tape, adhered the hearts to little cards I made out of red card stock...

Elijah had fun deciding which cards would go to which friends and what flavor lollipop would go inside...

He also had fun cheesing it up for the camera ;)

I helped him write the names of his loved-ones on the cards which was a perfect opportunity to go over his lower-case letters...

And of course, we enjoyed some sweetness of our own afterwards!

With Love,
Danielle Renae

God, Guns & Country - A Tennessee Wedding

There's nothing in the world like good friends.  Many people have come in and out of my life but true friends... the ones that you can always count on... the ones that you would do anything for... those kind of friends are hard to come by.  Thankfully, the Lord has blessed me with a few of these friends.  Let me introduce you to a couple of them....

I met Jared's family when I was 10 years old (15 years ago).  During that time, Jared and I didn't speak much.  I was actually good friends with his sister and we were merely acquaintances at best.  Five years later, I started my first job at Chick-Fil-A where Jared was hired shortly after.  As we worked alongside each other, a friendship grew.  He became my best friend.  We went to homecoming together, cried on each others shoulders (don't tell him I told you!), sought relationship advice from each other, you know... all the stuff that best friends do.  He was like a brother to me.  To this day, my mom still refers to him as her son...

A couple of years later, we started to get to know the new girl at Chick-Fil-A... Whitney.  I can't say that we hit it off right away as our first impressions of each other weren't the best (lol... silly young girls) but over time, I got to know her and realized she was a friend worth having.  It was easy to by myself around her... she was honest and genuine.  With Whitney, what you saw was what you got and I loved that about her.  There was nothing fake about Whit and she cherished loyalty as I did. Once we became friends, I could almost always be found at her house.  There were late night drives with windows down and music blaring, mud fights during rain storms, Dance Dance Revolution until 6 am, all sorts of fun craziness... 

As high school came to a close, we had our tight circle of friends that did everything together.  A few months after graduation, Jared informed us that he had enlisted in the Marine Corps.  Talk about a mixture of emotions!  How could my heart be filled with so much pride and sadness at the same time? After that, there were a lot of changes... people moved away and our times of hanging out were few and far between.  I eventually found my forever, settled down and got married to the greatest man and friend I could ever dream of having... 

Around the same time that I got married, Jared and Whitney started dating.  We all kept in touch and spent time together when time allowed.  This past June (5 years later) Jared finally popped the question and she said YES!!!  It was only a matter of days before they were hanging out at our house and I was asked to be a bridesmaid in their Tennessee wedding. I was so excited... not only was I going to be a part of my best friends' most important day, but I was going to be at their home in Tennessee during the fall to see the leaves change (a first for me)!

So, last Tuesday, Cliff and I packed up the car and headed up for a 5-day trip in the beautiful Smokey Mountains.  It was such a joy to be there to help out and use my gifts of organization to ease the stressed-out bride's nerves.  Caffeine and I became great friends as there was VERY little sleep involved.  But we had a BLAST!!!  

Their beautiful country wedding was held on Friday, November 11, 2011 (11-11-11) with 5 former Marines (as well as others who served in the U.S. military) in attendance as they honored our country's veterans.  It was a magical day and I was so blessed to be a part of it...

Jared and Whitney... I love you both so much!  Thank you for being my "forever friends!" May the years ahead fill your lives with love and happiness. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day! :)

With Love, 

Danielle Renae

Time has been flying by so fast and my growing, blue-eyed boy has been keeping Mommy super busy (and always entertained).  So here's what's been happening in our happy little world (brace yourself for photo overload!)...

October was the start of my most favorite season... cool air, pumpkin foods and drinks, football games, plenty of fun festivities, and the anticipation that comes with knowing Christmas is right around the corner, never ceases to bring me joy.  We kicked things off with what is becoming a beloved tradition... visiting Sweetfields Farm with great friends for a fun day out with the kids.

There was so much to keep the kids entertained!!!  We had pumpkin races...

Climbed over and through hay bales...

Rode barrel "bulls"...

Ran through the hay maze...

 Fed (and kissed) all sorts of furry friends...

Explored the corn maze...

Enjoyed a picnic lunch...

Searched for the perfect pumpkin...

And spent lots of time just being silly!

The fun continued with play dates at the park...

Carving our perfect pumpkin (That Elijah picked out all by himself!)...

Attending Harvest Night at church (Isn't my fireman the cutest?!?)...

Trick-or-Treating with Mimi and Papa's good company...

And getting hyped up with sugar (Mommy is enjoying all the CHOCOLATE!!!)

Last night was by far the most exciting.  After spending 4 YEARS trying to convince my husband that having a furball around the house would be a great thing, he FINALLY caved!!!  We surprised Elijah by adopting the sweetest dog.  It took Sadie no time at all to become a part of the family...

This life is so sweet... Thanking the Lord for all the special blessings in my life!

Love,
Danielle Renae