Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!  I hope you all have a great day!  I am missing my momma today.  I woke up crying, just feeling a little empty and it will be nine years in July that we lost her.  I am also feeling a little blue because two of my boys will be leaving the nest within the next month.  So I am going to act like today is just another day so I won't think about such things :)  Y'all have a great day and someone have some chicken and dressing for me!


 

                   

                               Actually three boys!

Thinking of mother......

Thinking of mother this morning........  And when a person that knew my mother thinks of her, there is just no way around it, laughter has to be involved.  Lord, that woman loved to laugh!  She was also the source of much laughter, but usually she was a good sport because she knew how to laugh at herself.  Oh my goodness, the stories I could tell you that would just crack you up!

Recipe time, y'all enjoy :)

I am going to share a very tasy little recipe today!  This was just something that I came up with one night.  Everyone was hungry, I had 2 steaks thawed out and that wasn't enough for all 5 of us, so I had to make it stretch to feed the whole crew. That is usally how most of the recipes I come up with are created, out of necessity.  There have been times that I have stretched one chicken over 3 meals. lol  Seriously, you would be amazed!  lol Chicken and dumplins, chicken and broccoli casserole, chicken noodle soup, chicken pot pie........and this is my motto

A new chapter......October 3, 2012

It is as grandmothers that our mothers come into the fullness of their grace.
Christopher Morley

In January we found out we're going to be grandparents.  It was a surprise for ALL of us, but we have learned through the years to get through the shock, put a plan in place, and move ahead doing what needs to be done.  Now it is starting to become more real. We are having a granddaughter, which I know nothing about since I raised three boys. YIKES!!

Doing the best I can: Confessions of a Christian Mother

I am going to let the facade down a little today. I am going to open my heart (and my business) and pour it out to y'all for the whole world to see, literally.
Being raised a Christian, especially in the South, we are taught there are just some things that are just wrong, no matter what!  I think we hold more tightly to our beliefs here than in any other part of the country, or it seems to be that way.  There is just not much wiggle room.  Well this past year our family has had to look at some those beliefs in a different light.

20 Things That Make Me Smile

little babies

old couples holding hands

puppies

when my children come and lay on my bed and talk to me

pretty things

scoring an awsome piece of junk  treasure

a job well done

a finished project

when my children smile

when my husband smiles

a crisp, cool day after a long, hot, southern summer

pumpkins in the fall

Christmas lights at Christmas

flowers in the spring

snow, which we rarely ever get

making someone happy, if only for a moment

knowing my children are happy

fun memories of my mother

fun memories of my grandmother

making memories with family

Now don't get these things mixed up with things that make me laugh out loud and say "now that was a hoot!"
What are some things that made you smile today?  Feel free to share.
Oh Yeah, make that 21 things :  Hearing long awaited good news :) 

Thanks for stopping by,

Rhonda, The Dixie Gypsy
 with a big Southern mouth and a sweet Southern drawl ;)

Easy Salsa Recipe

Easy Salsa

I do love a good salsa, so I am going to share my recipe.  Nothing special about it other than it is easy and it is good!

When my boys were home I would get in the kitchen and whip this up, and we would just stand in the kitchen and eat it till it was all gone. 

                  

 Easy Salsa

 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes

 1 14.5 oz diced tomatoes    

 1can Rotel tomatoes                                                                                                                                            

 2 cloves garlic, crushed

 4 green onions, sliced

 Pickled jalapenos, to taste

 2 TBLS Red wine vinegar, or your choice

 2 tsp lime juice

 1 TBLS juice from pickled jalapeno's jar (optional), but I like it :)

 1 tsp salt or to taste, I like more. 



Pour the can of whole tomatoes in the bowl of food processor, pulse 2 to 3 times.  Add the can of diced tomatoes, pulse a couple of more times.  

don't do this, it just makes a mess!

Add the can of Rotel Tomatoes and next 7 ingredients.  Now pulse it all together until desired consistency.  Taste to see if you need to make any adjustments.  And of course you know you eat it with tortilla chips :) 

 Enjoy!



For the love of furniture, decoupaged furniture, that is!

Confession time: I am having a love affair with decoupaged furniture.  There it's out I said it. Don't judge me.  It is just an easy way to change the look of a piece of furniture.  I have done several pieces, but don't really have any good pics or should I say "blog worthy" pics to share.  I will share some from Pinterest.

 gardenofsimple.tumblr.com



 If you have a piece of furniture that is in less than perfect condition and you just really don't want to put a lot of time and effort into the cosmetic repairs, just get you some Mod-Podge and some beautiful paper and go to town.  You aren't just limited to scrap book paper or decoupage kits, which by the way I have never used.  You can use pages from old books, beautiful napkins, song books, sheet music.

 vintagerosegarden.tumblr.com

The possibilities are limitless, well maybe they are, but I haven't found them yet. Ohhhh yeah, FABRIC you can use fabric and wrapping paper and.........If you have used anything different than what I have listed let me know.  I love new ideas :)



 notonthehighstreet.com



The Big Bang!

This Year has started with a bang!  We received some news in January that was a little hard and scary at first, but will be sooooo sweet in the end.  I had a wedding to decorate for in Feb. and it was a shoe string budget wedding for decorating.  After almost every set back that could have possibly happened, it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful wedding. 

The bride wanted a vintage elegance theme. I guess I pulled it off because the bride and groom both loved it. 

And on a whim I entered a chance to be in a cooking magazine and low and behold I found out this week I was chosen!!  It is a bi-annual publication and I will be featured in the Fall issue of Good Taste Magazine.  The photo shoot is March 16th!  If I must say so myself, Yay me!    Sharing a few pics from the wedding. Enjoy!

As you can see I am not a professional photographer.  I don't even know how to change the date on my camera. lol

Thanks for stopping by,

Rhonda, The Dixie Gypsy with the big Southern mouth and a sweet Southern drawl ;)

Weighing in on the F-bomb

There are a very few things in this life that I loathe more than the F-bomb.  Call me old fashioned or what ever you want, but that word literally makes my hair stand on end.  When I was growing up we weren't even allowed to say the other f-bomb (notice the lower case "f"). You know the "f" toot word.

What it's all about

Here in my beloved "South" we have a New Year's Day tradition.  We eat black-eyed peas for good luck.  Now I am not one that really believes in luck, I tend to believe that everything happens for a reason.  But when things don't go the way I want or think they should have I blame it on bad luck.  We kinda had a bumpy year last year.  We had things thrown at us that we really weren't prepared for. So this year my hubby and I decided if that was the kind of luck those little legumes, that really taste like dirt anyway, brings us, we were going to pass this year.  Hence, the name of this blog:  I should have ate those black-eyed peas.  I have already had to make that statement this year and we weren't even out of January!! I will be sharing some of those moments with you here on the blog.  I will share my family the good, the bad and the ugly.  We are not one of those families that get all dressed alike and pose for the camera.  Although, I kind of envy those folk, but that just isn't us.  We are more like the Heck Family you see on tv.  I like to refer to my life, my decorating style and my family as "perfectly imperfect."  This will not be one of those blogs that make you feel like a total failure because your house is not clean and perfectly styled or because your children are running around the house in their t-shirt and underwear they wore to bed the night before, and it is now one o'clock in the afternoon. Ahhhh, those truly were some of the best days.  And let's just face it that is just life and it is okay.  I will keep it real or not at all, 'cause that is just how I roll.  I am not afraid to laugh at myself and I invite you to join in. So buckle-up and enjoy the ride.

P.S.
I will not refer to my husband as Mr. Pea on this blog either ;)

Thanks for reading,
Rhonda
with the big southern mouth and a sweet southern drawl