When we moved into this house, we knew there were things that we wanted to change immediately and other things we could live with for a while. One thing that I disliked, but knew we would have to live with for a while were the popcorn ceilings throughout the house. Two and a half years ago, after having lived with them for 5 years, we had them resurfaced. HUGE undertaking. Even though we paid to have it done, we had to move every thing from every room. PLUS, we had to have everything repainted, including not only the resurfaced ceilings, but every wall too. It was expensive and intense, but it really made a huge difference. The updated look made everything look so much cleaner. This house was built in 1979, so there are quite a few things that I would still like to change, but most of them probably won’t happen while we’re here. One thing I would love to change are the railings. But since it’s probably not happening on our watch, I’ll live with them. Another thing I knew we wanted to change eventually, were the light fixtures. I took my time and perused antique shops and flea markets, until I found the petite chandelier in our entryway. Our electrician rewired it for me and made many trips to Hobby Lobby in search of just the right spray paint for the chain. Jim from Brad’s Electric did all of our new to us light fixtures and everything he touched was done with excellence. I just moved the collage canvas from the dining room to the entry. At first I wasn’t sure about the “hello, we’re kissing” look right as people enter our house, but then I just laughed and thought, “that’s us and I can do whatever I want in my house”! The sweet little chair in the entry has a custom slipcover made by my friend Kelly, which I love! I need to trim the strings from the original seat off the bottom. I found the crewel stitched pillow in a second hand store. Excuse my messy desk in the background!

When we first bought this house, I thought I wanted to change this floor, but after living with it, I’ve grown to be okay with it for now. The rug in the entry is from Urban Outfitters.

The dresser is from Second Chance in downtown Omaha, where I picked it up for $20 quite a few years ago. The tiny little globe is a favorite of mine…Tom’s sister Kathy sent it to me years ago. I’ve been collecting globes for a long time, even before it was the thing to do. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $10 for a globe! The cake stand is Fostoria and was my Gram’s. Every birthday cake from my first birthday until my 35 was on this cake stand!

At the top of the three steps into my living room to the left. I recently moved the dropleaf table from the rail over behind the couch. Simple change, but I like it. I’ve had apothacary jars on this table for a long time and was ready for a change, so I used other things I had to restyle. The wall has been this way for quite a while and I still like it. I’m looking for a few more specific letters for my vintage laundry basket. I like to have fun little things to watch for as I go to flea markets. So it’s okay with me if my house isn’t “done”. I’ve collected vintage picnic baskets and tins for a long time too and recently started selling the overabundance…what I have, I want to be appreciated and not just part of a pile or collection.

The apothecary jar that I left on the table is filled with the kids baby shoes and mine too. Makes me happy! The living room and dining room are one L shaped room, which I wasn’t thinking I would really love when we bought the house. Turns out, I do love it. This floor plan just works for us and how we live. I can meet with friends or clients in this part of the house and Tom can be in our family room on the same level and you wouldn’t even know it.

This is the view of the living room when standing in the dining room. I love that we have a large window in each room and light floods in. I need to find a new rug for the living room and I think I know what I want. I did have a thick fluffy pink shag rug here for a few years, but on Christmas Eve Scooter got into scalloped corn and got really sick all over the carpet. It went to the dump, there was no cleaning it up. I didn’t pay much for it, so it wasn’t too heartbreaking. This room was empty for the first two years we lived here. I knew what I wanted but either couldn’t find it or couldn’t afford it. Finally saved and found the couch at Ethan Allen’s with washable slipcovers. The ottoman is also from Ethan Allen’s and is custom. I paid a little more than I probably should have, but it was exactly what I wanted and I haven’t regretted it. The gold chair was an inexpensive find in St Joseph Missouri at an antique mall. The cream linen chair is from the Santa Monica Flea Market. When I was there a few years ago as the official photographer for Kim Caldwell’s Artistic Bliss event, I was blessed to get to go to the Flea. I bought the chair and paid as much to have it shipped as I did for the chair. After I gave them all of my information and paid cash, I walked away without an invoice. I was so excited to have found it, that I didn’t cover my bases. One day after I got back to Nebraska, I was on a walk and realized that I may never see that chair. As I approached my house, I saw a huge crate on my front porch. I got lucky! Here in the Midwest, we have wonderful primitive and pine antiques, but very few European pieces, so what I paid including shipping was a steal for the midwest. We pay high dollar for anything European.

I bought the little off-white reproduction chest about 25 years ago and I still really like it. The large frame on the wall with our whole family (yay!) is an Organic Bloom frame. If you are interested, I can hook you up. They only sell to professional photographers and I happen to have a wholesale account.

I love original art and that’s about all I have in my house. The whimsical pet portrait that is in the foreground on the table with the vintage pitcher was done by my friend Denise. I ADORE it. I’ve given these as gifts to our kids and my bestie (of their dogs) and think they make the best gifts. The canvas on the easel was painted by me and isn’t anything special, but I wanted something custom in simple white/gray, so I painted it. All four of our kids’ wedding photos are on the top of the white chest and have been for as long as they’ve been married. I only took one of the photos and that’s the one of Jared and Beth. The moose head was my friend Kelly’s and I bartered for it after she didn’t have a spot for it. I intended to have it at the Loft, but it hasn’t made it there yet. The camera blackboard print was a gift from Kelly. She has GREAT taste!

I picked up the basket chairs in Earlham at Rescued Junk. If you haven’t been there, you need to go!

My beloved dining room table is from Restoration Hardware and was one of my splurges. I love the mix of inexpensive with higher end pieces. I think it’s a little boring to do all of one of the other. I like a healthy mix! The gray dresser/buffet was only $20 at the Estate Dispersal store. It was peach with gold accents when I bought it. I liked the gold accents and asked Tom to preserve them if he could when he painted it. I love the gold handles too. The cream sap bucket was my Gram’s and she always used it to put her cut flowers from her garden in, just to get them in the house before she arranged them in vases. I like them empty or full. They work so well with branches too.

Recent wall grouping that I shared with an iphone photo on IG. Happy with it for now…totally different from what I originally planned for this wall. The silver plated tray has Tom’s Dad Joe’s name and top sales award engraved on it.

Another view of the dining room

Disregard the uneven wall hangings. I used nails that were already on the wall to temporarily hang the pink canvas. Need to move it soon! The buffet was my birthday gift from Tom about 12 years ago. It’s filled with primarily vintage dishes of my Gram and Great Grandmas from both sides of the family. I did purchase a set of Staffordshire  English Village dishes years ago for a song too.

The daisies in the vases are from our backyard…we have an abundance of daisies! I have this fascination with old used paint brushes. Can’t stop picking them up whenever I see them!

My very favorite vintage art in my home. I walked by this framed canvas every day for months when I went to the Loft a few years ago. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. One Sunday afternoon, I walked right in and bought it! So happy that I did. I rarely regret spending money on art that touches me. I love to look at this piece. Makes me feel good every time.

That’s it my friends. Nothing amazing, but totally me. I love my home and this part of it represents me well. The family room is all Tom, so don’t feel bad for him!

The house overall is coming along nicely, but it’s definitely still a work on progress. I hope to share a room once a month…to motivate me to keep going!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

I know that as much as I enjoy decorating my own home, as well as other projects (for my church, friends and family), I would stink on this show. I like to ponder and live with things for a while, rather than pulling things together crazy fast and under pressure. Although, this month’s Estate Dispersal items had me thinking I could have possibly pulled together a small space redesign using just what they had! This past weekend was a good one. Lots of vintage shopping and relaxing poolside. Ready to work today!

I recently went through my living and dining room, taking everything off every surface and rethinking and rearranging. I kept only the pieces that I love. Everything else went into boxes and will probably either be given away or sold. I needed to cull through everything. Feels fresh and new, without buying a thing. Every single thing feels more important now and not cluttered. I shared a couple of shots on IG and plan to photograph the whole space this week.

Now I’m motivated to do this with every room in the house. I needed to get that motivation!

Super excited to be into high school senior season again. I am a big fan of seniors and their unique styles! Marcy is my bestie Donna’s niece and she was in Nebraska for a family reunion, so her mom scheduled a session while they were here. Such a fun night!

ADORE her freckles.

This outfit was my favorite!

LOVE the texture of the slats.

Aunt Donna, Marcy and Donna’s sister Gina (Marcy’s Mom).

Happy Monday!

God bless!

I’m also baking and cooking up a bunch of food for Father’s Day. I want to do as many things ahead of time as possible. Not sure who will stop by, but I’m guessing we’ll have hungry people here. Looking forward to a great family day!

The handsome little man I’m sharing peeks of today will be celebrating his dad’s first Father’s Day tomorrow : )

This retro baby buggy actually came from Walnut earlier this spring. There’s a couple who has really great retro furniture and accessories in the old Opera House on Main Street in Walnut. We happened to run into them across the street from their shop and they opened up just for us!

SO handsome!

I adore this one!

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! I appreciate how involved most dads are in their kiddos lives now!

God bless!

They did something that few people in recent years have done…they waited to find out the sex of their baby until he was born. They have a daughter Scarlett, so it would have been understandable to find out the sex in order to plan. But they didn’t, and I loved being there to document their son coming into the world as a complete surprise!

I’m sharing just a couple of photos of his birth (with Shawn and Sheree’s permission), before I share an abundance of images from his official newborn session when he was 10 days old (I think?)

He has a great set of lungs!

That smile on Shawn’s face isn’t posed. He didn’t stop grinning for an hour after Lincoln was born! I was so honored to be there with them.

Lincoln stayed awake for the first part of his session and normally that would make it difficult, but he was so calm and content that it worked.

He did eventually fall asleep and when he did, he was out!

Adore baby toes!

His sister has one of the most distinctive personalities I’ve ever seen! She is SO much like her father! I think she loves her baby!

LOVE her curls.

I can’t believe how fast this week has flown by! We’re excited to head to Walnut tomorrow for the annual flea market! I’m sure I’ll be posting many photos on Instagram about our day!

God bless you today!

Yesterday, on the Studio Calico blog, you may have seen this layout:

If you want to see the post featuring the awesome glitter stars that I can’t get enough of, just click here and scroll down a bit. But first, enjoy Dawn’s beautiful card design! I’m a little obsessed with these stars!

Last week, I posted part 1 of Neal and Kaitlin’s wedding photos and today I have part 2!

Here’s the whole wedding party minus one itty bitty shy flower girl in the most God given perfect spot on a rainy, windy day.

This was the craziest wedding party on the bridge EVER!

Kaitlin’s precious 97 year old Great Grandma.

I’m partial to the grandparents at weddings.

Such lovely flowers.

Neal’s parents.

Kaitlin’s family. Both families are such good people.

The bridesmaids during the video.

Such beautiful women…sweet too.

The dance floor was always crowded.

One of the sweetest moments of the reception.

This was pretty sweet too. Dirty little feet that danced the night away.

Have a great day and God bless!

Description on their website:

Stitch Fix is a personal styling service. We get your style and size preferences, then send you a package of stylish goodies to try on at home. No two Fixes are alike. Each one is hand–picked just for you.

So you are basically paying a stylist a $20 fee (which is applied to your purchase, if you purchase anything) to choose 5 items for your wardrobe. You fill out a profile with as much detail as you can. The more you share, the better they’ll understand your style…and if you don’t know what you like, they provide some visuals to help you see, rather than have to articulate your taste.

In my opinion, the worst case scenario would be to pay $20 and not keep anything. I haven’t really heard of anyone not liking a single thing, but it could happen. Here’s the thing that came as a little surprise to me: it’s really fun. I love anticipating the box and seeing what they send.

This time, the thing that made the experience even more fun, is that my friend Suzy Wess signed up and we received our boxes a day apart. Plus, even though we are built differently, we wear the same size! So we got together and looked over our pieces and after determining what we definitely wanted for ourselves, we tried each other’s items on. SO fun! We laughed like a couple of school girls!

Warning-Not so great photos. Keeping it real with the iPhone simplicity.

Here are all ten of our pieces together. The thing I loved with both of our boxes this time is the colors and the patterns. I don’t wear red, but this poppy/coral red, I like.

Suzy hates to shop. When she travels for business, she abhors shopping for appropriate business casual or dressier outfits. She is much more comfortable in her steel toe boots driving a pickup to oversee her concrete culvert creations. She’s a single mom to five kids and doesn’t enjoy taking away from her time with them to shop. She’s obviously not fussy, but she always looks sharp. I think Stitch Fix is perfect for her. We laughed about how nervous her stylist must have been about finding the right pieces for Suzy! Her stylist wrote a nice paragraph note to her which was very sweet…my stylist hasn’t ever written me a note! Anyway, we both LOVED this blazer. It’s so perfect for Suzy, fitted to show off her waist, with perfect colors to suit her not so flamboyant style. I love the fabric…everything about this blazer is perfect for Suzy! It’s a keeper for sure! Oh and it was only $58!

I think this is great on her…but she is skeptical. I think she’ll end up keeping it. If it was a vivid color, she wouldn’t have liked it, but with the classic black and white it’s most likely a keeper.

This adorable sheer polkie top was in my box and I loved the way it looked, but not on me. It works for Suzy!

This cute tank was in Suzy’s box and although I like it, I already got a similar tank in my first Stitch Fix box, so I couldn’t justify it.

Much like the polkie top, I loved this tank when I saw it in the box, but the cinching hit me at a weird spot, so it’s not for me. When my assistant Bailey saw it, she liked it, so she took it home to try it on and think about.

When I saw this in the box, I told Suzy I didn’t think it was for me…then I tried it on and loved it! It’s super flattering in person with the drawstring and tailored fit. It was pricey, but I think it’s a good investment.

The minute I saw the necklace in my box, I knew I would keep it. It was really affordable, so that was a total bonus! I was iffy on the dress at first. When Tom first saw me in it, he said it reminded him of a robe. In fairness to him, I tried it on over a t-shirt and the wrong undergarments. So the next morning, I gave it a try with the right underthings and I really liked it. So, even though I am only keeping 3 pieces, I kept the whole box, with Suzy keeping the polkie top and Bailey taking the coral tank.

My stylist is Catherine if you’re curious. I like to hear who people have as a stylist, so I thought you might like to know mine : )

If you would like to give Stitch Fix a try, I would highly recommend it. The beauty of it is, you control how often you want to receive your boxes AND you can cancel any time. I haven’t heard of any other service like this. If you do decide to sign up, I’d love to have you sign up under my referral link:

Stitch Fix

Let me know if you sign up! It’s fun to share experiences and if you’re local and wear a size close to Suzy and I, you can join our SF try-on parties!

Have a great day and God bless!

I’ll be getting a tetanus shot this afternoon, so feel free to pray that I’m not too much of a wimp!

This past Saturday, I photographed the truly beautiful wedding of Neal and Kaitlin. It was absolutely dreamy…from the gorgeous bride and handsome groom (who also happen to be genuine and smart and laid-back) to one of the best personal attendants ever, the nicest group of attendants and families. It was a great day all the way around.

The flowers were created by Jenefer and her team at In Bloom in downtown Fremont. A comment I heard from the mother of the bride is that she was great to work with and does beautiful work.

LOVE the pop of orange!

This is one of the sweetest groom reactions I’ve ever seen…all the girls were swooning.

I have arm envy.

One of my favorite shots. I was so excited when I thought of using the vintage Grey’s Anatomy book and stethoscope! Neal is a PA and Kaitlin is almost a doctor!

The day was threatening rain often and the wind was blowing like crazy, so it was challenging to find a protected location, but we found a truly idyllic spot that was Garden of Eden like. There was a moment where we all freaked a little when raindrops made it through the canopy of trees! Such awesome support from her bridesmaids to cover her!

The wedding party did this on their own and I thought it was awesome.

Such a fun group!

Part 2 of the wedding will be coming soon!

God bless!

God bless each of you and keep you in His loving care.

Still eating clean (other than splurging a little on the weekends) and feeling great. I think it makes such a difference. One thing that I have realized over the past week is this: a healthy appetite is a good thing. I have not always appreciated my healthy appetite, but when I wasn’t feeling well for a few days last week and had no appetite, it really hit me that having no appetite can be scary and is definitely a sign that all is not well. So, I’m embracing my healthy appetite now and trying to feed it lots of healthy choices. I’m hosting a fun little girls’ night later this week that I’m planning to make some yummy sweets for, so I want to eat really well to allow for that little splurge.

So today, I have a precious baby boy’s newborn photos to share. As I mentioned many times to his parents, I am loving his hair! He has a super sweet temperament too, which is always endearing. Oh and his name? He had me at Elijah…and Thomas.

His lips. Oh my.

Again, his lips…

Elijah’s big brother is in my mini-mites class at church and we’ve become good buddies.

Yesterday, we got to church at about the same time that they did and Josh said to Tom, “we brought Elijah with us”. haha!

This melts me.

and this too.

Lots of meaningful symbols in this session.

Pretty mama.

Such an awesome family!

God bless your day!

She loved sitting in the basket. Who knew?

If she is this photogenic at one year, what does the future hold? She actually sat happily and looked at the camera and didn’t even try to run away from me!

The bottom two photos are the images I took when she saw her mom walking back toward us after going to the car for wet wipes. She does LOVE her mama!

She has some expressions! Love her expression in the last shot on the right!

I hope you have a great weekend and God bless!