What A View!

The view from our bed last November

A different angle of view from mid-December 2009

The view from our bedroom window - January 31, 2010 at 7:15 am

How would you like to wake up every morning with a different view out your bedroom window? That is exactly what we have and often the view will show drastic changes before we even make it out of bed. As the sun rises over the mountains the changing colors and shifting fog create a show of the glory of God.

Our bed and two Steve Hanks paintings

We positioned our bed so that we could see the best view. We even placed the cushioned lovechest that Rich gave me one year for Christmas right in front of the window. The size of the bedroom is wonderful for our bed—an oversized king size poster bed. The bed is so high that I must use steps to get into it. The size of the bed dwarfed our old bedroom, but it fits nicely into this room. The only issue is that the top knobs of the bed can’t be used without hitting the ceiling. One of the pieces of furniture that would not fit into our previous home was a restored working 1904 Victrola housed in a mahogony cabinet. We found this little treasure early in our marriage and it has been a treasured memory of a romantic weekend excursion.

1904 Victrola with Steve Hanks painting above it

We couldn’t fit the armoire up the stairs, so all the clothes that we had stored in it would need a new home. We have used my lovechest and also two night stands we had before purchasing this bed.

This is the area to the right of the bathroom door

The art work we chose for this room are limited edition prints from our favorite artist—Steve Hanks. His watercolor paintings are so soft, while still so sharply accurate, that many mistake these beautiful pictures as photographs. The paintings just seem so perfect for this house. They are so timeless and unusual that you have to stop and take notice of them. I also have two Steve Hanks prints in my sitting room. I have always felt that the pictures I hang up in our home are a reflection of who we are and what we feel is important.

Cast iron cross on glass-top table under Steve Hanks painting

We have a wonderful and large bathroom attached to our bedroom. It holds a Jacuzzi tub that the whole family has spent long hours enjoying—of course, surrounded by lighted candles. It also has a separate shower for those normal have-to-get-ready-in-a-hurry days. I have placed a bench outside of the shower which is very handy.

The view from this window is the same as from our bed

The beautiful curtains in these rooms were the same that hung in the livingroom in our previous home. They are perfect because they fit the tone of the room, but allow the view to be seen clearly.

Jacuzzi tub and shower (and candles)

Next I hope to show you David’s rooms—his bedroom and “his” bathroom.

Welcome To Our Home

We had just gotten settled into our home when it was time to decorate it for Christmas. Now that the decorations are down and put away it is time to begin showing it off to all my visitors.

It has been fun, but a bit challenging to find just the right place for everything. Somethings didn’t fit where we had planned to place it, like a large cherry armoire that couldn’t fit up the stairs. But, other items that we had not used in our previous home have now been able to put to good use.

This home allows us to have his and her “playrooms.” My room is upstairs and is right next to our bedroom. I have made it a combination of a sitting room and craft room. It has been very handy over the holidays being able to have all my ribbons and craft materials handy. This room is also right across the hall from David’s bedroom and I can sit on the sofa and keep an eye on him if he is a little too hyper at bedtime.



I wanted to make this a very “girly-girl” room but without the pinks and ruffles. I couldn’t find the perfect curtains, at least in my budget. So I checked out a local fabric shop that carries upholstery fabrics. They just happened to have in the “sale room” bridal lace, which is where I found a length of lace designed for a bridal veil that was beautiful, but very inexensive. It was just the perfect size for the long, narrow windows in the house. I only had to cut the length in two and then sewed a satin ribbon to the top of each length. To the ribbon I sewed thin gossamer ribbons. I then tied the thin ribbons to the cafe rod.

It was so easy and since I already had the ribbon, both windows only cost me the price of the fabric ($15.00). I also purchased small silver frames and printed black and white pictures of us to hang from the rod.

This is a warm and cozy room where I can store my genealogy research, scrapbook supplies, fabric, decorating books and completed photo albums. I can also spread out my materials on the floor while I’m working on a project—and not worry about someone walking on it. This is also my sentimental room since I have some of David’s baby toys in the room—a little wooden rattle, stuffed animals and a wooden hobby horse.



This room was the one I had originally planned as David’s bedroom. However, since it is an old house, the closet was not built at the time the house was. The closet in this room also serves the master bedroom. The double doors of the closet don’t allow for privacy and David decided as a 14-year-old he would much rather have the smaller of the two bedrooms, with the privacy.

Over Christmas this is the room that David slept in. We pulled out his old twin mattress, which is usually stored under his grown up bed. He liked having the doors of the closet open so he could see and hear us at night. He doesn’t like change and this was reassuring to him.

I love my room!

Making a Difference?

Last week many women posted on their Facebook status message just a color. This was a response to an e-mail that was sent to only women. Many godly women posted their colors, while others chose not to. The color to be posted was the color bra you were wearing at the time. The intention was to raise awareness of breast cancer.

Did it do its job and what were the differing feelings of the women on Facebook?

As to the thoughts of the women on Facebook—it was very interesting. I had many friends who posted their colors, as I did mine. But I did receive two status updates from friends who did not feel this was appropriate. One status read “How does posting your bra color support breast cancer awareness?? Sounds like it’s supporting breast awareness, rather! Let’s think about this ladies—probably something that some man came up with. (And yes, I had to be *that* one that has to say something.)”

It was very interesting to see that at least one male commented under that status message: “thank you for posting this.... i had no idea why my facebook was full of colors. lol” Now, because of her status message update, this young man knows what the status messages were about—so she is the one who made him think of breasts (if, in fact, that is what this exercise caused). If she didn’t feel it appropriate she didn’t need to post her color.

Yes, it did do its job as this report on ABC news will show. For example, during the 24-hour period of these status messages the Susan G. Kolmen breast cancer awareness Facebook page received an almost 2,000-percent increase in internet traffic.

This exercise also was a reminder to me that it has been almost a year since my very first mammogram and I will now need to find a good doctor in our new community to schedule this with. I am very fortunate that neither side of my family has had breast cancer, but that still doesn’t mean it can’t happen to me.