I Paint Furniture

In case you haven't heard me say this before, "I paint furniture."

The following is a piece which went from "great aunt drab" to beautiful! I wanted to share it today because I am participating in Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday.

This Chest is Painted with Robin's Egg Blue by Maison Blanche

Finished with a Dark Wax Also by Maison Blanche

Slight Distressing Around Keyhole & Brown Paint Spatters

 It's a beautifully sunny day here at Hillcrest Cottage. I am thinking I might have to check out some neighborhood estate sales in a few minutes.

Happy Friday!

The Word of the Year

The Hillcrest Cottage "Word of the Year"

While I have been choosing a year Bible verse for a long time, this is only my second year to choose a "word for the year". I have found that the word is very helpful for making the verse stick better in my memory. Duh... why didn't I discover this years ago?

And... a new picture of Lucy... just because she hasn't been seen in a while.

Do You Fear the Unknown?

Do you fear the unknown? I do.

Tick. Tick. Tick. The unstoppable, continual cadence of life's clock.

Good-bye to another calendar, squares filled with scribbles, check marks, and x's. Hello to a calendar, white, shiny, and blank enough to fill my thoughts with fear, hope, anticipation, and mystery.

Fear: Empty squares could be filled with hard and unexpected circumstances. 

"My times are in Your hands." (Ps. 31:15)

Hope: Empty squares could be filled with blessings and goals achieved.

"God be gracious to us and bless us." (Ps. 67:1)

Anticipation: Empty squares could be filled with opportunity and enjoyment.

"Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Ps. 37: 4)

Mystery: Empty squares equal the unknown. Even in the midst of some fear, I don't want a boring life filled with predictability. What I do know is that God has already prepared a path for me this new year, and I get to discover this exciting path with every new step.
"We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. " (Eph. 2;10)


Loudly, my father's last words to me echo. Strong and wise words powerful enough to alter my life's course.

"There are only two things in life which really matter: God and family."

I embrace you, New Calendar. 

With boldness, enthusiasm, and confidence I step into 2013's unknown territory.

Finishing Strong in 2012: The Report

This year of "finish" and "finish strong" has been completed. I finished a lot in 2012; some things remain unfinished. Hillcrest Cottage still has many remodeling projects left half-done.

 However, I have to say I deserve a huge pat on the back for the things which were finished well.

This is the official "Finish Strong in 2012" Report.

Finished...The Selling of My Childhood on Ebay

I am very proud to report that the de-cluttering of Hillcrest Cottage has been accomplished. The work of removing clutter is never quite finished, and I still have some fine tuning to do. But, for the most part, I have sold everything there has been to sell, donated the worthless, and given a good chunk to my now-married son and his beautiful wife. 

"Good-bye, Buffy from Family Affair! See ya in my mind's eye."

"Un" Finished... Floor...2013?

Okay... so I have a closet which still needs sheetrock, a floor half-tiled, and a kitchen half-painted... I can't beat myself up for these incomplete finishes.

Finished... 21 Years of Middle Son

Finished... 17 Years of School Lunches

Graduations are one-time ceremonies, making the school lunch is a daily ritual. 

Finished... 17 Years of Private School Tuition Payments

Finished... 7 Years of Hillcrest Cottage Basement's Weekly "Imagine Student Ministry"

Finished... The High School Graduation

Finished...The Graduation at West Point

 West Point graduation was everything I had imagined it would be... exciting, filled with pride, emotional, and fun. My only regret was that my youngest son graduated on the exact same day. How can a mom who has never missed a minute of her son's life miss his high school graduation... tore my heart out. So, imagine our delight when we were able to fly our high school graduate to South Carolina for a rendezvous and huge family celebration... one of the highlights of the Hillcrest Cottage year!!! 

Thanks to Uncle Danny and Aunt Rosanne for making this celebration possible!

Congrats to BOTH Graduates

Finished... Cadet-Turned-2LT Leaves West Point

When Hillcrest Cottage had finished two graduations... along came the wedding! 

 

Finished...The Wedding... Me & My Stuart

Finished...The Wedding...Cousins with Grandmother "Dee"

Finished...The Wedding...Me & My Davis

Finished...Last Son Leaves Hillcrest Cottage & Begins College

Finished... A Wild Summer '12... Two Boys Leave Hillcrest Cottage

The whirlwind of activity which swirled through Hillcrest Cottage from April to August left as quickly and violently as it had arrived.

Finished 2012...The BEST Christmas EVER at Hillcrest Cottage

Another Hillcrest Cottage Life post reviewed this unbelievable 2012 year. 

Epic. Wild. Emotional. Awesome. I can't comprehend ever having another year as full as this year of "Finish". This year was truly the wildest ride imaginable. This year  has left me tired, but extremely happy and thankful.

On this first day of 2013 I am anticipating the new year. We have another graduation soon appearing on the horizon. 

"Didn't I just send that second son to college last year?" 

Coming soon Hillcrest Cottage's 2013 word and verse will be revealed.

The 2012 Xmas Tree Strike is Over

 T'was the week before Christmas and Mac the Labradoodle began her Christmas tree strike.

"No tree until the Hillcrest Cottage guys plus the awesome new girl have arrived."

No one dared to cross her picket line. Hillcrest Cottage was in solidarity with the shaggy canine's plan.

Hillcrest Cottage has a very unique philosophy regarding Holiday frivolity. Traditionally, there is no tree until two weeks prior to the big day. After all, who wants to dust their Christmas tree; trees must always be real. I truly do not get the fake tree pulled out of a dusty, attic box the day after Thanksgiving. Who can sustain a "fa la la la la" for that extended period of time?

Mac Staging the Great Christmas Tree Strike of 2012

And behold, when there were yet three days until Christmas, the fullness of time had come for Hillcrest Cottage to get its Holiday tree. For, in all honesty, Hillcrest Cottage has come to realize the tree means nothing without a family to enjoy it.

The Strike is Over!!!!

The Expedition, loaded with the most important people in the world, headed to the tree farm. And the quest for the perfect tree began.

"This one?"

Our Good Friend Assists Us.

First Christmas as Married People

Clayton Saws the Trunk

Jeff Drags the Tree Toward the Car

Total Silliness...Of Course

Wow. The Griswolds.

 One for My 2012 Christmas Frame

Hillcrest Cottage's tree is not of the designer variety. It is real. It sheds needles all over the floor. It needs to be watered. It has no theme. It could have used more strands of lights.

However, it was chosen by a family who loves one another. It was decorated with ornaments from Christmas' past. It gave us a very fun and memorable Hillcrest Cottage memory. With a married son in the military, we know he will share future Christmas' with his new family and may even be many other places... but... for now... this Christmas... we are thankful to have everyone next to this very beautiful tree decorated with the love that only a family can provide.

Ta Da!

P.S. Thank you, God, for the 8" of snow which You brought to Hillcrest Cottage on Christmas day. My 2LT had been ordered to return to post by Christmas night at 11:00 p.m; the snow allowed an extra day. We had a very fun late night romp in the snow with Mac the Labradoodle, Lucy, and the entire Hillcrest Cottage family. Icing on the cake to the best Christmas ever. The days which followed were full of record-breaking power outages (80% of our city), but Hillcrest Cottage survived unscathed!

Christmas Revelry

So...our caroling was cancelled due to rain. 

This following is a public service message for those who might be inclined to consume too much fudge this holiday season.

 Warning: These images may be disturbing to those with coulrophobia (may be referred to as 'chuckie syndrome' or the fear of clowns and dolls).

Best Finishes from 2012

When my children were small, we had a daily dinner-table tradition. We would ask our boys: What's the best thing that happened to you today? As you can imagine, some days were filled with incredible tales from the grade school playground; other times it is was struggle to find even a grain of goodness. With our house of boys, imagine some more about the crazy responses Jeff and I would receive.

As my year named  "Finish Strong" is ending, I am reviewing the 2012 goals. I am wondering if I have finished well... or even finished at all. 

I stumbled upon this December 31, 2011 journal entry where I was anticipating 2012.

December 31, 2011

I don't do well with transitions, so a day like today finds me sad. I look ahead and see nothing but changes in 2012. There will be goals achieved. There will be celebrations of huge importance. One son will toss his cap into the air in a way which only a West Point cadet can truly understand

Class of 2012 Hat Toss

A month later that son will have birdseed tossed at him with a zeal which only wedding guests can joyously perform.

Wedding Images by Stephanie Parsley Photography

My youngest son will finish high school and begin college.

Welcome to Dorm Life

I will finish 23 years of parenting and begin to hear Hillcrest Cottage's walls quietly whisper the story of grade school sword fights, marathon video game parties, late night study sessions, and the laughter of family gatherings.

Hillcrest Cottage's walls will talk. They will talk a lot. They will speak of the love we do here, of forgiveness, of grace, of the thousands of "I love you's", of acceptance and belonging somewhere special in this big, impersonal world. The yucky stuff, sifted through grace, will be trampled underfoot and swept aside. The good stuff will rise as a sweet aroma full of goodness... like the smell of bacon frying on a snowy morning.

I will think about "finishing" in 2012... a lot. I will try to understand what it means to accomplish a worthy goal. This new 2012 will be a roller coaster ride where I imagine the highs and lows to be quite exaggerated. 

Okay...So... This Would be an Exaggerate High from 2012...the Mother-Son Dance

Most of all, I pray that I will sprint to the end and "finish strong".

Hillcrest Cottage is a home where our greatest accomplishments are people. Since my children have left we have not been lonely or bored. A typical week may have 15 to 25 people come through our Hillcrest Cottage doors to share a meal, spend some time around the chiminea, or to encourage one another in our relationships with our Creator. Our days are very full... just in a different way.

Thanksgiving was incredible as everyone was home plus the two new German Shepherd grand pups.

Gotta Take a LOT of Pics to Get a Good One... Got It!

Every time we have together becomes more precious... especially with having a cadet-turned-2LT- married- Army man in the family.

Lots of Hello's and Good-By's These Days

Following in the dinner table tradition, I asked myself...What's the best thing that happened to you this year? 

The answer: We got a brand new Kinley... and she's a girl!!!!!

Craft Sale Season

It is Craft Sale Season at Hillcrest Cottage.

Add to my craft- making: Single-handedly moving my mom to her new place living with my brother & painting her new bedroom for her.

I think this "HOPE" banner is for me... hope to get back to my blog-reading & writing; hope for afternoons riding my bike before the winter weather comes; hope that Mac the Labradoodle, Beautiful Lucy the Doodle-less & I will take some long walks down by the river; hope that I can FINISH STRONG in my year of "Finish" ( looking more like I will have to extend this motto to 2013 & I don't want to do that!); hope that life might slow down... just a tad... not enough to be boring, but enough to allow me to live my life value of : Slow Down & Simplify.

Breaks over... sigh... back to the Hillcrest Cottage sweatshop.

I Believe in Time Travel

A mysterious letter arrived in my mailbox. A friend from high school was thoughtful enough to return a letter, newspaper clipping, and pictures to me. This friend and I used to write letters back and forth, from high school all the way into our college days.

In the middle of  de-cluttering an attic trunk last spring, I had actually found his high school picture in an old wallet. The photo had been stuck to the plastic of the wallet's photo section for three decades. I had looked at the picture, smiled, then tossed it into the waste can thinking, "I will never hear from him again."

Ironically, the very next day I received a Facebook friend request from this same friend. This is how he was able to deliver some very amusing documents to Hillcrest Cottage.

Look! A Real Letter with a Real Stamp!

I opened the letter quickly, not even realizing it was more than junk mail. After all, who receives a real-live, personal letter these days? Imagine my amazement as these photographs began to emerge from the white envelope. High school junior and senior pictures!

Some of my young friends, who have just completed their catalog-layout type senior picture sessions with location shots and three clothing changes, had been asking me, "Ms. Bev, what did you do for your senior pictures?"

Well, the answer is right here: the blue senior drape... with the Dorothy Hamill hairstyle.

A Much Younger Me Began Spilling Out.

By this time, it was obvious that something really special and unique had just arrived! Time to pour a cup of Community Coffee dark roast with whole milk and sugar from the Keurig, which I love dearly. Time to do some heavier- than- expected reading. ( Hot Tip: See my new iPhone5 which I was able to get for free because I use the money from selling old phones to get it. It's one of the smartest things we do.)

That's Me in the Left Picture... My Awesome Rival on the Right.

The true date is revealed when I see the letter I had written to my friend, being returned back to me! What an insight into my old self. As I have been going through the de-cluttering process, I have returned pictures, letters, books, and knick-knacks to friends and family. So much more fun than tossing stuff into the trash. It takes more effort, but the joy it brings to the recipient can not be measured!

A True Time Capsule from My High School Senior Year

Soooo... apparently I wrote goofy letters about trivial things. I talk about the Carter-Ford election, homecoming court, a new ice skating rink in my town, visiting the University, needing to get back to my homework, and plant fertilizer which was making my room smell like "dirty tennis shoes".

O-kay.

This Might be an example of a Girl with Too Much Time to Kill

My favorite part of the envelope's contents was a photo I had not seen since 1976. The picture was taken during track practice the spring of my junior high school year. I am coming around the last curve on the track; I can tell by the way my foot is planted that I am so not enjoying this work-out. 

More fun than seeing my awesome calf muscles in action, however, was the expression on my face... looks like my 19 year old son. 

Weird. I guess we are related.

The Grueling Daily Work-Outs for Track Team

I do believe in Time Travel because it just happened to me. What a fun excursion back to 1976.

This time capsule came unexpectedly back to me in the midst of furniture painting and Etsy/Ebay posting and all the crazy stuff I do in my artistic life  here at Hillcrest Cottage.

Hillcrest Cottage Weekly Highlights

This has been a crazy week. I have been very busy painting furniture for clients. Below is a beautiful chest of drawers! I am very pleased with the results.

I especially love the keyhole and how it now stands out becoming the chest's best feature. 

I experimented with an old chair of my own. I had fun with a splattering technique I used to use years ago. The spatters really help to age the pieces.

And... I continue to make personalized Subway signs. This is a sign I made for a college guy who loves Arkansas and loves to duck hunt. He wanted his sign to reflect his favorite cities and hunting spots.

I am very delighted to see my college guy develop new relationships. His intramural football team is beginning their season well. He has been voted the MVP in two games...very cool. He sent me this pic as a screen shot from an instagram account.

I had several trips this past week to my favorite hometown hardware store. I love their phone.

I love the hardware store's floor. Years of feet have been helped by these knowledgeable hardware men.

Craft Show season is approaching... lots of work ahead. I am excited about all the new things Hillcrest Cottage will be creating.