Heaven Sent

My mom forwarded me this story today and I just had to share it!  Just warms my heart to think that a stranger went out of his way for this little girl.  I'm not exactly sure where this took place; but it brought me to tears!

Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so, and she dictated these words:

Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.
Love, Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:


Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away.
Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.
Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.  I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find. I am wherever there is love.

Love,
God

Who Are You?!

1. What type of diamond cut do you like? 
     Any diamond is gorgeous!!  But my favorite is either round brilliant cut or princess cut.

2. If you are married when is your anniversary. if not what month would you like to be married in?
     My anniversary is June 29. 

3. What were or would you like your wedding colors to be?
     My wedding color was Victorian Lilac, which is a very pretty muted lilac color.  I accented this color with peach, white and purple flowers.

4. How many bridesmaids did or would you have at your wedding?
    I had 4 bridesmaids - including the maid of honor.

5. How long have you been married?
    This year is 9 years!! 

Join my in this fun linky party!!

Jungle Animal Mural

I wanted to share another project that I have been working on.  A new mom-to-be that I work with asked me to do a mural for her baby's room.  I am so excited to have this opportunity!  She and her husband do not know if they are expecting a boy or girl, so they are going with a gender neutral theme of animals.  This picture is just my sketch of what I would like to do on their wall - can't wait to get started on it!  Working on this project has me so motivated to do a collection of paintings specifically for baby rooms.  Hopefully I will be able to work on those paintings and get them listed on my Etsy shop - stay tuned!! 

Once I have the mural finished, I will update my Murals page with new pictures! 

Lil' Ballerina

For Mother's Day, I decided to get pictures taken with my girls as ballerinas.  Finding a little tutu for the baby at the last minute was a bit difficult, so I decided to try making one.   I was surprised at how easy this was and I love how it turned out!  All this required was some elastic and some tulle.  I measured the elastic around the baby's waist so it fit snugly but not too tight - then just tied a knot to connect it.  For the tulle, I used 2 spools of soft nylon tulle, 25 yards on each spool. Using 12" pieces of tulle, I knotted them around the elastic until the skirt was full.  Being a newby at this project, it took me about 2 hours from start to finish - but I will definitely be making more of these fun tutu's for my girls!!  Next time around will be more adventurous with different colors of tulle, ribbon and embellishments.

Check out our ballerina Mother's Day pics on the I Heart Decorating Facebook page - I'll be posting them a bit later today!

Yummy Pork Chops

I made this super easy recipe for my family a few weeks ago and just had to share it. Since I don't have a lot of time to prepare a meal during the weekdays, I am always on the look out for simple yet delicious dinners.  I came across this recipe in a 5 ingredient cookbook.  At first I wasn't sure if this was going to be good, the ingredients together did not sound very good!!  However, this was soooo yummy! 

What you will need:
6 boneless pork chop loins ( 1 inch thick )
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 package ( 6 oz ) crushed stuffing mix
1 can ( 21 oz ) apple pie filling with cinnamon

In a skillet, brown the pork chops in oil over medium-high heat.  Meanwhile, prepare the stuffing according to the package directions.  Spread pie filling into a greased 13 * 9 * 2 baking dish.  Place the browned pork chops on top; spoon the stuffing over the chops.

Cover and bake at 350' for 35 minutes.  Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160'. 

Note - I could not find any apple pie filling with cinnamon; so I just bought regular apple pie filling and sprinkled some cinnamon over top.

Hope you enjoy this as much as my family did! 

May - month of the Lily of the Valley

My Lily of the Valley just starting to grow!

The birth flower for May is the delicate Lily of the Valley.  This tiny fragrant flower is also known as a May lily, May bells, ladder-to-heaven, and Our Lady's Tears.  In Christian legend the Lily of the Valley were created from Eve's tears after she and Adam were banned from the Garden of Eden.  Other legends state that Our Lady refers to Mary and the flowers sprang from her tears as Jesus was being crucified.  In religious artwork, the Lily of the Valley denotes humility and is a sign of Christ's second coming.

On May 1rst, known as May Day, the French traditionally sell Lily of the Valley in the streets. Charles IX of France was given this flower as a good luck charm on May 1, 1561.  He then began a tradition of giving the ladies of the court a Lily of the Valley each year on this date. 

In terms of wedding flowers, Lily of the Valley are among the top ten most popular flowers to use.  One downfall - they are usually very expensive to get fresh.  For example, 25 blooms of this delicate flower can cost around $150 or $200 wholesale; whereas you can get 75 stems of roses or 100 tulips for around the same price.  Now since I am a big promoter for silk wedding flowers - let me say tha you can get 25 stems of silk Lily of the Valley for approximately $50 - depending on the supplier and quality.  This is a huge cost saver and a more efficient way to get the beautiful elegance of this flower without breaking your budget.  With the recent Royal Wedding, Lily of the Valley are sure to gain even more interest in bouquets since Kate Middleton carried a lovely bouquet made entirely of this flower.

Princess Wedding

In honor of today's Royal Wedding, I wanted to share some of my wedding pictures.  This June will mark my 9th wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband!  Every girl wants to feel like a princess on her wedding day and I certainly was no exception.  We became engaged 3 years into our relationship and were married approximately 1 1/2 years later.  I wanted a long engagement so all the details could be worked to perfection.  I made my bridal bouquet and the all bridesmaids bouquets from silk flowers.  Knowing how much a perfectionist I am, I began working on my bouquet 5 months before the wedding.  I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like from the get go!  My favorite roses are lavender so I definitely wanted them to be the main flower.  I decided on lavender roses, white lilies, peach tulips, lavender tulips, white alstromeria, light blue lilacs, ivy and eucalyptus.  I also used some lace from my mother's bridal bouquet as my "something old". 

As you can see from the picture, my bouquet is still going strong!  It just needs some readjustments from being stored - but it is still as lovely as the day I was married.  This is one of the beauties of using silk flowers in weddings.  I will be able to hopefully pass some of these on to my girls for use in their own weddings one day (not that I want to think that far in the future!) 

My traditional fashion sense of style carried into my dress as well.  I found a picture of this Oleg Cassini dress in a magazine and new instantly this was my wedding dress. This screamed 'princess' wedding to me!!  I apologize for the poor details and quality in the pictures - to save time I was taking a picture of a picture so some details got lost in translation.  The dress is ball gown style with layers and layers of tulle and lace.  Instead of a train I opted for a cathedral length veil and a tiara made entirely of Swarovski crystals. 

Wedding flowers are definitely one of my passions - I just love to be a part of the one of the happiest days in a person's life!  Each wedding is so unique and there is just an infinite number of possibilities when it comes to the flowers and decor. 
So, as you see pictures and video of today's Royal Wedding - take time to reflect on your own special day and know that we all deserve to feel like a Princess!

Romans 12:10bHonor one another above yourselves