Well to quote from my devotional journal today, "Today is the day of reckoning - what have I gotten myself into?!" I begin today the day of evaluation for Atlanta's Biggest Loser/Northside's Weight Smart Challenge. I enjoyed greatly meeting the members of the contest and my team. I will be on the yellow/gold team. Next Wednesday will be the introduction of the contestants on Atlanta and Company. I am inspired by the stories of why each person chose to take this leap of faith. We are all motivated by our families, some are desiring to return to days of old (our skinny old), and others are motivated by personal goals. We have a fantastic support staff through Northside Hospital, Good Measure Meals and Get Fit with Sloan.
Upon arrival to 11 Alive, I hiked the giant hill from the bottom parking lot. Seriously by the time I got to the front door I was battling needing oxygen or the bathroom first! I had downed a large coffee on the way to the station. So the first thing they want to do is take my blood pressure - SERIOUSLY?? I am still hemming and hacking up a lung from the hike and now they want to know what my blood pressure was............I suppose no one is surprised that my blood pressure was HIGH. I never have high blood pressure until today!
Although weighing in on camera is not my idea of a good time, the more pressing obstacle on my agenda is having to run a mile on Saturday. And the running joke for me is 'momma don't run without a dog chasing me'. Tell me the Lord doesn't have a fantastic sense of humor when our trainer, Sloan, is also a dog trainer for national competitions with his dogs - which he said he could bring to motivate us to run! Can I just say that the Lord was having a knee slapping laugh on this one! My heart was palpitating to the point of visibility. Who is meeting me at the park in the morning to run ........... or laugh at me running? Whichever the case I need company!
Getting serious for just a second ............ I know without a doubt that I am on this journey by destiny. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am at a fork in my road of life. After 25 years of education/administration I have found myself with time on my hands. I do not know my future but am so very confident in the God of my future. Over these past several months God has assured me of His sovereignty in my life. I cannot explain the peace that I have had at each of these hairpin turns on my path. I struggle with being a control freak therefore I know this peace is the kind that 'surpasses understanding' (Philippians 4:7) As we face various challenges in our lives God's Word is our peace in the midst of the storm.
So who is coming running with me in the morning? Bring your dogs..............
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Fun Paint Projects
I have a bit of talent in that I can copy just about anything. Because of my teaching background I have learned great ways to take an idea and put into your own situation or need which makes a fun impact. I use a lot of tools like projectors, transparencies, graphite paper and computers abilities to blow up and size images, find images that you want that I hope I can share as a part of this blog. The two examples that I have pictured on today's feature I did for Christmas gifts for my daughter and her bff.
I used a paint pen by Sharpie on some Tom's shoes that I purchased online. I know this was risky but I had seen some of these on Etsy for sale and just could not bring myself to pay the money for them. I also wanted them to be more personal than a generic Bible verse. Ephesians 1:6-10 is the verse that the Lord gave to me early in my daughter's life.
I practiced the swirls on paper for several weeks trying
to get them to look like I wanted them. The greatest thing
is how surprised she was and that I believe I got one of
the favorite present awards ~ oh don't act like you don't
love it when that happens to you too.
If you are too scared to try to experiment on Toms try
a pair from Walmart or the Dollar Store first. There are some really great ideas on Pinterest with great designs to make your own.
Don't be afraid to take and idea put your own spin on it and make it yours.
I practiced the swirls on paper for several weeks trying
to get them to look like I wanted them. The greatest thing
is how surprised she was and that I believe I got one of
the favorite present awards ~ oh don't act like you don't
love it when that happens to you too.
If you are too scared to try to experiment on Toms try
a pair from Walmart or the Dollar Store first. There are some really great ideas on Pinterest with great designs to make your own.
Don't be afraid to take and idea put your own spin on it and make it yours.
 |
| Put your favorite Bible verse, poem or song lyrics onto a pair of shoes! Fabulous way to walk in the Word.....hehehe! |
 |
| Alpha Delta Pi Lion |
So this next project came to me via a text message from my daughter's bff. I get this text with an attachment ~ well you know that can't be good. I figured it was a picture of the two of them up to something but no it was a project! She writes "do you think you could paint this for me? hehehe" Well with one look I said "uh NO! that's too hard!" But I couldn't tell her that. She recently became a member of a sorority with the lion as their mascot. What was I suppose to say? I'll try, was my answer. So I got the size canvas that she thought she wanted, 12x12, then printed out a blown up version of the image. Using graphite paper I transferred the lion to the canvas. Then using a color block style of painting began to paint in the coloration of the image. I have used this technique with transferring images to furniture and walls so why not a canvas. It still took me a while to get the details completely like I wanted them to look. It was fun to do. Now it hangs proudly in my little ADPi's room at school. She was happy and surprised so that was all I needed.Next time you have an image that you just need the proper size and outline using graphite paper is the best kept secret of the 'old school' of transferring images to anything. (and it's cheap and you can use it over and over again)
Meme's Telephone Table
My mother has had this ugly narrow table in our house as long as I can remember. Many of you remember the table that held the phone in your foyers growing up, this is that table. You know when there was only one phone in the house............... what a blast from the past that is.
It is dark and worn with watermarks. It really looked like a cast away piece. But it was a family piece so I couldn't do that.......so what is left is to redo it. This was a redo with a lot of love and patience. My arms got a work out on this one with all the sanding that I did.........no machines on this one just elbow power.
The table showed its age well and was a great piece but just needed new life breathed into it. I began sanding the top and realized it was a red oak so I decided to just put a poly over the top of it and paint the bottom with a light blue grey that I had on hand. Stressed it so that it did look its age and now it sets beautifully in our dining room with the phone on it.
** Be careful when you tape off the top of your table and then poly that it doesn't leave you dried pools of poly that need to be cut away afterward. My advice is either be light handed with your poly or pull the tape away while your poly is just damp. Anyone have other advice I am open to hearing your experience. **
It is dark and worn with watermarks. It really looked like a cast away piece. But it was a family piece so I couldn't do that.......so what is left is to redo it. This was a redo with a lot of love and patience. My arms got a work out on this one with all the sanding that I did.........no machines on this one just elbow power.
The table showed its age well and was a great piece but just needed new life breathed into it. I began sanding the top and realized it was a red oak so I decided to just put a poly over the top of it and paint the bottom with a light blue grey that I had on hand. Stressed it so that it did look its age and now it sets beautifully in our dining room with the phone on it.
** Be careful when you tape off the top of your table and then poly that it doesn't leave you dried pools of poly that need to be cut away afterward. My advice is either be light handed with your poly or pull the tape away while your poly is just damp. Anyone have other advice I am open to hearing your experience. **
HAPPY PAINTING EVERYONE!Thursday, February 21, 2013
Cookbook Bookcase Remake
This sweet little bookcase was an originally for albums that my dad made when he was in high school. Ever since I inherited this great family piece it has been in our kitchen holding my cookbooks. So I began with a high grit sandpaper due to the heavy varnish on this little beauty.
After a primer and several coats of a cream/bisque color then came the distressing. I am not repurposing these pieces to make them new just to have new life. Here is some close up of the door with some of the 'wear'.
 |
| Use a small grit of sandpaper to get your distressed looks |
 |
| Now my cookbooks have a great fresh home. |
Millie's Kitchen Design
I had so much fun making this you just couldn't believe. I designed on a piece of paper what I wanted the doors for the oven and refrigerator and Mr. Wonderful did the rest. We decorated with some items we had around the house in order to keep the cost down. But quite honestly the desk I purchased at Goodwill for $25. The faucet and the stove knobs were as much as the whole desk, haha. I purchased those at Home Dept. The rest we had at the house, I guess that tells you what our basement or garage looks like.
Here are some close up pics for you.
The hole we covered with a piece of plexiglass. The knobs are a little pricey but you can use wooden knobs but the kids love something that turns.
The shelf was found at the house from one of the kids' bathrooms from years gone by. I created the counter with a simple mix of acrylic paints in a sponge technique. Tape off the stove to make it a separate area. I glued some wooded discs from Michaels after painting them black - simple for a big punch. The fabric was left over from the kids' homework room. You never know when those scraps come in handy!
The sink is a stainless steel bowl and a faucet from Home Depot for $12, check out the clearance area in the bath area. The window is a picture frame that I painted a pasture scene with some mountains since it was going to be living in East Tennessee.
A simple wipeoff board in which we came to find out was one of her favorite things.
My aunt and uncle had an old phone in their basement WITH a chord. My children were fascinated with the chorded phone. And once again a towel bar from some bathroom over the years.
The rest of the family got her fun things to go with her kitchen. It is a little tall so she uses her 'step' to let her reach the sink. I really was concerned about the height seeing so many on the internet/Pinterest using a converted tv cabinet but I think she would outgrow it too soon so .......... I think this will last her a few years.
She was such the boss of her world even the 19 year old obeyed her instructions. Let me know if you need some guidance on your project.
Thanks for the visit,
Lisa
The Journey Begins
Good Morning All!
Over the past several months I have found myself at a new beginning of life...............I know several of you may be jealous but let me explain where I have been and the journey that God has chosen before me.
I am an educator by trade and stepped into administration as the need arose in my small Christian school. In mid October I was told that due to financial difficulties of the school that my position was no longer necessary. I was devastated in every form of the word. I considered the families, students and staff of the school my extended family. My children's education, life long friendships had been filled with the people of this school. God brought me to this school in a miraculous chain of events so I will not allow the enemy to rob the precious memories and relationships that have been built in the confines of those walls. However, the question loomed large - "What now?".
I have known that the administrative end of my job was waning on me personally and I yearned to teach more. God was calling me, I believe, back to His first calling on my life - the classroom. In November of 2011, I decided to do something out of my comfort zone after completing my master's degree in Christian Leadership from Liberty Theological Seminary ~ I applied to be a professor for a local Christian college. After several grueling interviews and theological reviews, I was now to be a part time professor in the CAPP program, College of Adult and Professional Program, teaching Introduction to the Bible (my favorite) and World Religions courses. Teaching adults, have I lost my mind? Well it can't be worse than what I love more than anything else in the world, middle schoolers! So that is what I have done the past year is teach adults the Bible ~ possibly the best job in the world! Down side is that I can't do it enough, it is only several classes a year. (I am working on that one)
So...............after my shock in October, I also began to experiment with another idea I have been wanting to do, repurposing furniture. So I have taken pieces around my house, our lake house and things people have not wanted and repurposed them. I will have pictures and the processes on the blog shortly. God graciously has given me a small amount of talent in painting and creativity, just enough to get me in trouble. The holidays kept me busy but then came January.............
January felt like a long labor before a birth. You remember those nagging back pains, the times that those 'fake' contractions caught your breath? I was in the midst of my spiritual labor. My Bible study time was intense. I had begun to work through Kay Arthur's book Lord Heal My Hurts because heavens knew I needed some kind of healing. God began to show me things that were opening my heart and the healing was almost palpable. God also led me to something really out of my comfort zone, a Daniel Fast. Now I must admit I was not perfect on this puppy but I knew that if I kept through it that God was working, even though at this point I could not see past my front porch.
I was blessed with the opportunity to begin one of my college courses at the end of January once a week. I was so excited to teach!! I cannot begin to tell you how hungry you become to do what God has called you to do when the opportunity to do it daily is taken away. My gratefulness in the opportunity to teach God's Word is overflowing. The timing of this class and its students have blessed me beyond measure.
It was also at this time, end of January during the Daniel Fast, that I stepped out on a limb to do something I would have never in a lifetime done before ~ I applied to be on a televised weight loss program, Atlanta's Biggest Loser. Now I need to tell you that Loser in an educator's vocabulary is a no-no, so to tell you I am going to join a 'Loser' group is actually hysterical. Never in my life did I believe that I would be chosen but I received an email announcing that I was a semi finalist and needed to come down to the station for an on camera interview. HOLY TOLEDO, what have I done?? Large people do not volunteer to be in a media that adds pounds to the viewing audience!! So I go, nervous as a demon in church. I was horrible, not myself, shaking and just awful. I drove out of that parking lot knowing they deleted that interview as soon as I walked out the door - oh no honey, they picked me for their finalist!! Yes, beginning next week I will begin a new adventure of pain and torture that hopefully will create in me a hunger for a healthier me!! I know I still can't believe it, but I feel assured that next week I will begin to believe it when I can't get my fanny out of the bed because my body can't move!
To sum up what I have take wayyyyy toooo many words to say already is this...............God will not waste our time in the desert. As we remain faithful to His Word and trust Him, know His sovereignty above all, He is working behind the scenes. I have shed more tears in the past months that I ever thought I could in a lifetime, those tears He has wiped each one and given me His promises in which I cling. It is NOT easy or for the faint of heart but it is worth it. I may not know what IT is but I know He is a part of IT and that is all I need to know.
As you read these posts I pray that they encourage you. I am not known for being politically correct or even correct but I pray that you laugh and cry with me in this journey that God is so graciously opened for us to partake. Thank you for coming with me and fo' sho' we will have some fun!!
Holding to His Promises,
Lisa
Over the past several months I have found myself at a new beginning of life...............I know several of you may be jealous but let me explain where I have been and the journey that God has chosen before me.
I am an educator by trade and stepped into administration as the need arose in my small Christian school. In mid October I was told that due to financial difficulties of the school that my position was no longer necessary. I was devastated in every form of the word. I considered the families, students and staff of the school my extended family. My children's education, life long friendships had been filled with the people of this school. God brought me to this school in a miraculous chain of events so I will not allow the enemy to rob the precious memories and relationships that have been built in the confines of those walls. However, the question loomed large - "What now?".
I have known that the administrative end of my job was waning on me personally and I yearned to teach more. God was calling me, I believe, back to His first calling on my life - the classroom. In November of 2011, I decided to do something out of my comfort zone after completing my master's degree in Christian Leadership from Liberty Theological Seminary ~ I applied to be a professor for a local Christian college. After several grueling interviews and theological reviews, I was now to be a part time professor in the CAPP program, College of Adult and Professional Program, teaching Introduction to the Bible (my favorite) and World Religions courses. Teaching adults, have I lost my mind? Well it can't be worse than what I love more than anything else in the world, middle schoolers! So that is what I have done the past year is teach adults the Bible ~ possibly the best job in the world! Down side is that I can't do it enough, it is only several classes a year. (I am working on that one)
So...............after my shock in October, I also began to experiment with another idea I have been wanting to do, repurposing furniture. So I have taken pieces around my house, our lake house and things people have not wanted and repurposed them. I will have pictures and the processes on the blog shortly. God graciously has given me a small amount of talent in painting and creativity, just enough to get me in trouble. The holidays kept me busy but then came January.............
January felt like a long labor before a birth. You remember those nagging back pains, the times that those 'fake' contractions caught your breath? I was in the midst of my spiritual labor. My Bible study time was intense. I had begun to work through Kay Arthur's book Lord Heal My Hurts because heavens knew I needed some kind of healing. God began to show me things that were opening my heart and the healing was almost palpable. God also led me to something really out of my comfort zone, a Daniel Fast. Now I must admit I was not perfect on this puppy but I knew that if I kept through it that God was working, even though at this point I could not see past my front porch.
I was blessed with the opportunity to begin one of my college courses at the end of January once a week. I was so excited to teach!! I cannot begin to tell you how hungry you become to do what God has called you to do when the opportunity to do it daily is taken away. My gratefulness in the opportunity to teach God's Word is overflowing. The timing of this class and its students have blessed me beyond measure.
It was also at this time, end of January during the Daniel Fast, that I stepped out on a limb to do something I would have never in a lifetime done before ~ I applied to be on a televised weight loss program, Atlanta's Biggest Loser. Now I need to tell you that Loser in an educator's vocabulary is a no-no, so to tell you I am going to join a 'Loser' group is actually hysterical. Never in my life did I believe that I would be chosen but I received an email announcing that I was a semi finalist and needed to come down to the station for an on camera interview. HOLY TOLEDO, what have I done?? Large people do not volunteer to be in a media that adds pounds to the viewing audience!! So I go, nervous as a demon in church. I was horrible, not myself, shaking and just awful. I drove out of that parking lot knowing they deleted that interview as soon as I walked out the door - oh no honey, they picked me for their finalist!! Yes, beginning next week I will begin a new adventure of pain and torture that hopefully will create in me a hunger for a healthier me!! I know I still can't believe it, but I feel assured that next week I will begin to believe it when I can't get my fanny out of the bed because my body can't move!
To sum up what I have take wayyyyy toooo many words to say already is this...............God will not waste our time in the desert. As we remain faithful to His Word and trust Him, know His sovereignty above all, He is working behind the scenes. I have shed more tears in the past months that I ever thought I could in a lifetime, those tears He has wiped each one and given me His promises in which I cling. It is NOT easy or for the faint of heart but it is worth it. I may not know what IT is but I know He is a part of IT and that is all I need to know.
As you read these posts I pray that they encourage you. I am not known for being politically correct or even correct but I pray that you laugh and cry with me in this journey that God is so graciously opened for us to partake. Thank you for coming with me and fo' sho' we will have some fun!!
Holding to His Promises,
Lisa
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