TRANSFORMED, from broken to beautiful
Hey there my peeps 😉
As you know, I’ve not been writing here as often lately but I promise you that I am writing and I am working on something that I’ll soon share at Old Things New. Today I’d like to give you a heads up on a few things that are in the works, but first, here’s a peek at my Fall decor.
…
“I really dislike my book. My character is an insipid female with no strength of her own,” I typed in a text to my-friend-with-the-big-publishing-house-contract.
Which friend you might ask, and you’d be right in asking, because I have several friends who have contracts with major publishing houses. I’ve seen these friends rise to the top of their game with #1 ratings on Amazon, calls to speak hither and yon, and multiple future book deals even now in the works. I’ve had the privilege (and it has been a true privilege) of being there with them through beta reads, pre book launch discussions, launch team insider groups, and finally, sharing in the excitement of BOOK LAUNCH day!
I know, I know, I may be doing a little comparing of myself to others, and comparison is the thief of joy, right? I’ve preached that with the best of them.
Here I sit with my little blog, occasionally checking in with y’all, while working on my own book on the side. The book that alternately consumes every waking moment or lies dormant and forgotten under the other demands of life. Namely, this “staging to sell” mode I’ve been in.
With all in order here on the home front I picked up the book writing again this week and began skimming through the pages to remind myself of where I was, and after reviewing only a few chapters, I came to the conclusion that I dislike my book. Yup, if I were to pick it up in a bookstore and read the first few pages I would realize right away how beginner-ish it is and lay it right down again without giving it a second thought.
Y’all! Fiction writing is H.A.R.D.!
Making likeable characters is hard. Showing instead of telling is hard. Drawing readers into the story with all of their senses is hard.
I’m sure my husband does some inner cringing every time I tell him that I don’t know how to write good fiction and that I don’t know if I’ll ever get the hang of it (this has been an off-and-on theme in our household by the way). He looks especially dismayed when I question whether or not I should give it all up. After all the money invested in classes, conferences, computers, and tech help? Not to mention the bazillions of hours of pouring my heart out on the keyboard, only to go back and realize that what I’ve written simply won’t make the cut.
How do I know? Because I’m a reader. I know good writing. And I know that really good writing is kind of a rare thing. But that’s what I want my writing to be!
So am I giving up? No, not today. Let me share with you some things I’ve learned in my QT this week (a week of extreme frustration and discouragement) that have caused me to determine to press on.
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
I had to ask myself what I wanted more, for this book to come to fruition or God Himself?
Down on my knees I confessed and repented and declared my choice out loud, “I choose You God.” Click To Tweet
And I am humbled.
This week has been five days of God pouring encouragement into my heart every time I’ve turned to Him with my complaints and inadequacies. Do you know what the meaning of the number five is in the Bible? The number 5 symbolizes God’s grace, goodness and favor toward humans. Isn’t God good that He spoke to me each day this week?
So back to the writing table I go. At least until I hear the Lord say it’s time to lay it down.
Maybe you too, are in a place of discouragement as you pursue your own God-given dreams. If so, I hope the words that encouraged me this week might also encourage you.
Blessings friends,
I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:
SundaysAtHome, TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, SilverPenniesSundays, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays
Monday:
IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor, TheDedicatedHouse, Dwellings, ProjectInspired, InspireMeMonday, BetweenNapsOnThePorch, CelebrateYourStory, What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings, Darling Downs Diaries, The Art of Homemaking, MomentsOfHope, Glimpses, SittingAmongFriends, InspireMeMonday, GodSizedDreams
Tuesday:
TalkOfTheTown, HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, CoastalCharm, CedarHillFarmhouse, TuesdaysAtOurHome, TheWinthropChronicles, Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky, Testimony Tuesday,Cheerleaders of Faith,Tell His Story
Wednesday:
SavvySouthernStyle, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays, Coffee for Your Heart, MessyMarriage, ThreeWordWednesday, WriterWednesday
Thursday:
ShareYourStyle, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, MyRepurposedLife, ADelightsomeLife, KatherinesCorner, Thought Provoking Thursday, SincerelyPaulas, ThoughtfulThursday, Tune-inThursday
Friday:
FrenchCountryCottage, TheCharmOfHome, TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday, ShabbyliciousFriday, Sweet Inspiration, Faith’nFriends, Missional Women Faith Filled Fridays, Dance With Jesus FreshMarketFriday
Saturday:
FunkyJunkInteriors, OneMoreTimeEvents, SaturdaySparks, TheInspirationGallery, Make My Saturday Sweet
If you’ve been around this blog for any time at all now you know that I like to have a little fun. So today I thought I’d share with y’all (I love saying that) some of the things I’ve learned about Southern Etiquette from one of my real life Southern blogging buddies Leslie, at Bungalow Nesting. Leslie is one of the first people I met here in the upstate of South Carolina and she is one of the most delightful gals I know! Her fun attitude is contagious and she has become a dear, dear friend.
When I first met Leslie she began right away to fill me in on proper Southern etiquette. Since I’ve never lived in the South before I take these tips quite seriously and I’m sure that the following list of social etiquette will be KEY to making my way in this strange new land.
Now in case you’re wondering at the title, How to Make Your Neighbors Jealous of Your Front Porch, it should be pretty obvious by now that you should never deliberately make your neighbors jealous of your front porch or any other part of your life. If they happen to become a little green with envy over your modest porch decor simply invite them in for a glass of sweet tea and all peace will be restored.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these rules of Southern etiquette in social situations. There are of course rules for every situation, church etiquette; shopping etiquette; porch etiquette; bathroom etiquette; etc. Too many to touch on them all in one post! Know this: If you follow these rules your popularity will be sure to increase . . . because people like people with good manners. 😉
Blessings,
TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, NiftyThriftyThings, SilverPenniesSundays, SundaysAtHome
When I saw this room I was a goner. It was the first room I walked into at our new house and after seeing it I no longer cared what the rest of the house looked like.
I was smitten with The Screened Porch.
For a long time I’d been rather jealous of those who lived in the South. You see, they got to have these beautiful screened porches and I didn’t. Not that I didn’t try to talk Mr. OTN into adding one onto our lake house.
It always came down to practicality though as really, how many months of the year would we be able to use a screened room in the Pacific NW? 
So when we decided to make the move south, a screened porch was HIGH on my “Must Have” list and this is the room that cemented the deal for me. Lucky for Mr. OTN the rest of the house was perfect for us as well!
The former owners, Mr. and Mrs F. told us they used to begin and end every day in this room. Now . . . here it is November . . . and we are still enjoying afternoons on the porch (yesterday it was 72). 
In negotiating for the house we were able to have included in the price all of the screened room furniture, as well as some of the interior furniture. This worked out perfectly for us because we had to sell a lot of our old furniture to keep the moving company costs down.
Isn’t the view of the yard beautiful? It may not be the same view we had at our lake house but it is still pretty wonderful.
At first we were talking about putting a pool in here . . . something to make up for losing our lake view.
We may add a water feature in the future, for the sound it makes, but we are loving looking out at the trees so much that we don’t really feel the urge to tear things up to make room for a pool.
You may recognize these bottles and some of the other things we’ve decorated the porch with from our lake house and also our old guest cottage at the lake.
I always used some coastal decor in my summer decorating (you can take a look back HERE) and our guest cottage was ALL coastal (if you missed that remodel you can view it HERE). I knew when I saw this screened porth that it would be the room I would fill with happy west coast memories!
Can you believe these vaulted bead board ceilings? LOVE!
This is the view that captures me when I lay my head back to rest.
Now for a few close ups of some of my west coast decor transformed to east coast decor!
As you can see, the dogs have made the transition with no difficulties at all. Cozy loves nap time on the porch.
Sasha keeps an eye out for chipmunks or squirrels who might invade her territory.
Say what???
Even old girl Snoopy, who is almost 17 and doesn’t do much but sleep, is happy here on the porch.
The porch is indeed my happy place. It is the place I go to find total peace . . . but . . .
. . . anyone who knows me well knows that I have a gazillion ideas for this space. I’ve run them by Mr OTN and he just shakes his head. “Not right away”, I tell him, knowing that he is still reeling from the cross country move and a new job! “Eventually . . . little changes over time . . . “, I assure him.
He just rolls his blue eyes and smiles.
So blog friends . . . here are my ideas! I’m just certain that this room would be even more wonderful if we added a few more things to enhance the coastal feel:
A Sky Blue Ceiling
A Corner Fireplace Made of Natural Stone
Brightly Patterned Pillows . . . LOTS of them!
A Gray Wash on the Floor
A Large Patterned Rug to Pull it all Together
What do you think? It definitely won’t happen right away. We still have plenty to do just getting settled into our new home and community.
Hmmm . . . maybe I’ll go grab an afghan and spend some time mulling over my ideas . . . right here in my favorite room.
Blessings,
The front porch of my new house feels . . . so . . . well . . . GRAND! At least to me. As I took a walk through my new neighborhood this past week I was itching to go back to my house and grab my camera to shoot some pictures. That might not be the thing to do if I want to endear myself to my new neighbors though. Every home is beautiful and I saw so many gorgeous wreaths and inviting porches. It is evident that my new neighbors care about appearances.
If you saw my last post, a Farewell to Our Lake House, you’ll see that my old neighbors cared too . . . in a different . . . sometimes “funny” way.
Case in point . . . multi-colored Flamingos!
This is a very different type of neighborhood. Very classy. Very sophisticated. I feel like The Jeffersons . . . “Movin’ on up, to the Eastside . . .”
Will I measure up? Does my style need to change to match my new neighborhood, my new house? For a peek back at my lake house’s Fall porch decor you can click HERE , where you’ll see the simple country style that fit that house so well.
My new house is a lot more formal with it’s brick stairway and columned portico (I’ve never had a portico before). It is a style that demands a little different approach to decorating for sure.
So I pulled a few things out of my Thanksgiving bin and headed down to Greenville’s Farmer’s Market this weekend to pick up a few extras.
The first thing that caught my eye was this great wreath made of bittersweet berries. It matches perfectly the swag I had from last year. Does anyone know a method of preserving bittersweet?
I also picked up some great gourds and pumpkins . . .
. . . to go with my velvet pumpkins.
I found a gigantic mum just beginning to bloom out and I’m hoping it will be in full color when our friends from the NW come for a visit in just a few weeks.
Our good Ol’ Beauregard has found his rightful place on our new front porch.
He arrived with a few new scrapes and scratches but we’ll have him in top shape again . . . as soon as I can find my paints!
So it isn’t exactly the same as my old front porch but I’ve still used very natural elements to add some much needed color to my front porch. I’m pretty sure having our butler dog Beauregard adds a bit of class to the whole picture too . . . or at least a bit of whimsy. I don’t think I’ll have to change my style much at all. Your thoughts?
By the way, I have the BEST method of making velvet pumpkins which I’ll be sharing with you later this week so I do hope you’ll come on back.
Blessings,
