Spring forward!!

Well as always I said I'd try to stay on top of this but I haven't!! Been super busy and in the next couple days I'll catch y'all up on what's been happening here! The great news is i passed my observation for my state standard teaching certificate with flying colors and I will be granted it in may! In addition to that I will be graduating in 28 days with my masters!!! But lets move on to whatI want we did over spring break..

We went to north Texas and picked up some of my great grandmothers things and here it is in all her glory in the Embley casa.. This is my grandmas old dresser, lamp, couch and her wedding china mixed with mine.. All in one special room! I adore it! I just love it. The couch is a classic French providential and the dresser and hutch are also. We still need to hang y vintage wood Chandy but otherwise this room is a stunning room to entertain in and it's so peaceful! I love that it is formal yet still plays well with the rest of the house!

I love that I can also display objects on top such as my Portland Oregon Hydreangeas and milk glass collection. Doesn't the inside look stunning with Grandmother Ebert's Gold China mixed with my silver wedding china. I just love it.. to have memories in my own house that will now have new memories associated with them.
 Typically I don't have the easter bunny springy garland that's just for spring.. Ill post spring pics soon.

View from den to formal living room. In this corner is my grandmas chest drawers next to the couch with her old lamp. This is the path to the formal so you can see the leather chair from our den. I think it all works well togeather.

In addition we got grown up Thomasville furniture in our master bedroom. We were in deep need of some wardrobe storage. We had laundry baskets of clothes in our bedroom because not enough space. So when we upgraded, I cleaned the closet and got rid of items I haven't worn. It really motivated me to get in shape again and to stay organized.

When we first got together we couldn't afford new bedroom furniture (like so many young couples) so we used what we had- college ikea dressers! After 8 years together I think it was high time we invested in our room! We did buy a nice bed & mattress from Star Furniture back when we bought our house but we couldn't splurge for the matching set than.

So even though the set we just inquired is antique it's new to us and we love love it now in our bedroom.. We especially love that it seamlessly goes with our modern new bed even though the thomasville  bedside tables, chest and dresser are from the 70s.

Nate and I also loved the bamboo look and dark detailing because it reminded us of our thatched roof private cabana look we stayed at in Maui. Plus the finish matches our tastes.  The furniture is great condition and the side tables already have glass tops to protect from damage! We are really enjoying the more grown up feel. I especially love the detail in the legs of the furniture and the vintage handles!

I thought I might want to change the handles to silver since so many details are silver in the room _Glass and silver lamps, glass and silver chandy and silver frames. But I think it works and I don't want to ruin the originality of the pieces.. even though they are vintage they are worth big bucks still today! Plus these babies are all wood unlike our previous ikea dressers and they were a pain to lug up our stairs! Previously we had a old huge TV on top of our Ikea Dressers. But I loved that the mirror brought more light into the room and made it feel so much more put togeahter so I couldn't put that huge TV back on the new dresser. Plus the new thomasville long dresser is much shorter than our previous dressers so we wouldn't be able to view it from bed any longer. I haven't missed it at all. Nate no longer falls asleep to the Tv. We actually use our room for it's purpose now. Maybe down the road we will mount a small TV but I just feel as a society we are overloaded with stimulus all day long we don't need it any longer in our bedroom.

We do have blackout drapes in brown over our bamboo blinds and I feel like I'd like to change them to a set that are white and cream to match the bedding but I due to budget it might stay the same. I am just glad that the bedroom finally got some attention. All the other items in the room stayed the same.

The bench under the window is typically in my vanity area where the chandy is but we have the extra large old TV there currently till we find it a home (ie not back in our room..lol) The bench was my mom's mother's- so my grandma bernie and I love that I have it.

View from bed looking into the dressing vanity area. One side is a vanity the other side is our double wide deep closet and than it goes to the master bath (Thats the door you see).

Scout sleeps right next to my bedside and as you can see the cats sleep where ever they please. Smokey prefers the bedroom while Bella prefers the formal living room.

More pics on the yard progress and spring soon.

..Projects..

So I promised in 2012 I would write more posts.. hahah someone should be laughing! This has been my busiest year yet. I have started a home design business called Bless'd Nest Designs.  Here is the website.. hoping to put up more pics in the portfolio section soon. Bless'd Nest Designs
I am still teaching full time with a particularly challenging class, going to school fulltime for my Masters in Education Leadership & Administration- someone cheer I am in my last two classes!!!! And I am in my probationary year of teaching with my certificate which means that I have extra classes to hold the certificate. Yet after this summer I will hold a traditional certificate.. which hopefully with my masters, two years of teaching and a traditional certification someone will want me in their district so I can get insurance and benefits!!! As you can see I have been BUSY! Oh and don't forget once a week bible study held at mi casa..Yet I have still managed to keep my head on straight somehow.

Well like I said in the last post I spent christmas eve in the hospital due to a serious concussion. It took me all thru January and some of Feb.  to finally start feeling better. Head injuries are no fun- after being in the classroom all day I would come home with a migraine and clunck out.. I got behind in my masters and my teaching certification classes and on grading for work because I just had the worst headaches, eye strain and vertigo. Plus for 6-8 weeks it was light duty- no working out. Finally I am back to ME! Walking every day with Nate and Scout, catching up on school work and just feeling good! Which is prolly another reason why I am so behind in updating yall on our lives..sorry!

So with feeling good comes with some changes to the house :). Next week I go to Atlanta to help my first big client, than I pick up my furniture from my grandmother's house. Can't wait for all of that and spring break! Nate and I have some big gardening plans for spring break. This past Monday marked our delivery date of our baby.. it was a rough day for me. But we decided we were gonna plant a flowering tree in honor of the baby in the back yard.  After Spring break it won't be long till we are sitting pretty on a beach in flordia and than visiting with my biological father's parents ( Grandma & Grandpa Cates) in oregon. Which Nate has never been to the west coast so it will be a blast.

In Home Decor News..lol..  I am working on my gf's house in Atlanta as well as an office of one of my bible girls! So while shopping for their rooms I came across this awesome garden stool at home goods. I love garden stools and wanted one all summer long. I looked at good will, consignment shops but because they are so trendy they were all over priced. This one was marked down due to season and it has a paint drip on one side.. my philosphy is a flaw makes it that more unique! So I brought it home and it looks great with the added white I need in the house plus the detail match my other new purchase over the fireplace.

 Here's the stool with my lovely tulips from Nate..

In addition to that spectacular find, I moved the three mirrors over the fireplace the the formal living room side where my french couch and hutch will be and now have this beauty..See how the detail of the mirror and stool play off each other?

Oh and those candle sticks are Miranda Lamberts and Blake Sheltons wedding candles..I bought the candles at Home goods for 4 bucks and they are PB knock offs of the map ones which go for almost 30 bucks a candle.. these aren't tropical maps like PB, But of europe..suprisingly nate liked them too. So the back story on this beauty of a mirror is it is handcarved in Bali and if you look closely it has leaves as the corners which remind me of a mirror we had in our honeymoon suite which was a thatched roof cottage. Nate said it is girly but he likes it. Allison always says I need more feminine items in the house and I think this one is great. But in the reflection of the mirror is the fan.. lets be real you have to have a fan in Houston. It is hot like 80% of the year and removing it would be ridiculous especially with the tall ceilings.. we just need the extra air movement. But I hated the frosted glass boob light cover. I wanted to order a drum shade kit I saw online and researched it but they started out at 300 bucks. So while at lowes I looked at fans with drum shades.. I like light to be deflected so I thought it was the perfect solution. Fans with drumshades are ridiculously expensive.

 Look at this beauty for 700 bucks-Drum Shade Fan!!Well I don't know about you but I thought it was an easy fix.. I took of the boob light and I have a rod that goes down the center of the fan with a nut that holds the old boob light cover. I just hooked a lamp shade right over.. total cost nothing!

So what do you think??? I love it.. I know it isn't everyone style but hey it makes me happy. I also love things that aren't like everyone else house. Everyone has a fan with those ugly light covers on it. Why not make it a little different?

In addition to that lighting project, we also installed a chandy in my dressing room area in the master bedroom. I have a narrow hall which on one side has a vanity which I store my jewels at and the other side is our master closet with massive mirrored doors. I just wanted an added touch of sparkle. I still need to get a chandy linen cord cover but other wise she is pretty and I love seeing her when I get ready (she being the chandy people)!

The door you see closed is my master bath.. I'll give ya better pics later- as you see we've been busy! Last on the project list is changing of the hooks in the master bath.. remember I changed the knobs on the vanity to vintage glass..which makes the chandy in the hall the perfect transition to the bathroom with all it's vintage shabby chic knobs! Below are the pics I posted way back..

Well the shower hooks were just plain silver and nothing spectacular.. we have had since oh probably my college days and they were starting to rust.. If I  really wanted to I could have spray painted them silver again.. but instead I found these beauties..

It was the perfect match to the pulls on the cabinets- I had to have them and they add the perfect amount of sparkle to our morning routine..

Well that's all that I have now.. we are having beautiful weather lately. Mild temps with lots of sunshine. All the plants think it is spring so I can't wait to get my hands dirty in the back yard over break.

Long time.. no talk.

Well 2011 has come and gone..with the end of the fall semester coming to an end the Embleys have been busy! I have 2 more classes in my masters till I graduate! I am attending a Beth Moore bible study once a week and another bible study once a week also which have both kept me so busy and so in touch with what I want with my life. Teaching for Nate and I is of course busy!Keeping up with family/ social committments around the holidays is enough to make anyone crazy!! I will post pics from the holidays soon. I have alot to catch up on.

We have had great things happen in 2011 and some not so fortunate things..
2011 we celebrated 7 years togeather and 1 year married by traveling to Roatan, Belize and Honduras (mexico on the way home).  We got pregnant again and lost a baby again, we started the adoption process which is still just in the works.. We traveled to Illinois to see family during the summer and Christmas which we are so blessed to have time off to spend with family . We did tons of projects on our home.. which makes us feel so blessed everyday because neither of us ever imagined we would live here! This is our 3rd year in this home and we still love it! Of course if you just asked me (Tricia) I would say let's paint those maple cabinets turqouise, put in marble counters, add a farmhouse sink and subway tile glass backsplash.. but hey who's dreaming here!! Tricia updated the downstairs with a touch of beach and vintage charm. I am still loving all the beachy touches and personal moments we have added to this house. We are still amazingly blessed to be living in this home and have jobs that provide for us day in and day out!!   I lost my grandmother Ebert..who inspired me to be a woman of faith, adore my family and pursue educational dreams. We meet many new people who we have become blessed to know and we have deepened many relationships we already had. We found a church (which has amazing worship).. Nate says the best part is it is literally 5 minutes away and they serve coffee during service..I like that Nate is comfortable and that the people are nice..plus we all know I love music so it helps it is has a great worship band!  I also found a group of woman who invited me to their private bible study where I was privy to rediscover my roots with Christ, make deep relationships where I can be me and not judged.. that is so real and AMAZING!! But like I said we have had our string of sorry luck.. we're still a little anxious about what our family planning will be- at this point we are leaving it in larger hands!  December was hard a month for us.. right before Christmas I fell down the stairs (wood stairs) and had a stint at the hospital. I am still recovering from neck/back injury and a concussion. In addition, I ran into another car after a party (no I wasn't drunk) our car is fine but the other car needs repairs! Plus, our oven broke all within one week of each other.We felt we couldn't catch a break!


Yet 2011 has been beautiful and we are blessed.. we are confident God will bring us Great things in 2012. Today while I was driving I heard the most powerful song.. it stated all I needed to hear to sum up 2011 Listen to it and I hope it speaks to your heart too..   Strong Enough- Matthew West


I promise in 2012 I'll try to blog more.. blogging is peace to my soul. It's like a journal for me and it helped me so much through the hard times but lately I have been leaning on something that is so much bigger than me and it feels good. Feels good to let go of all the weight we all carry with us everyday. I think I needed a break..


Happy New Year Here's to 2012.
what if..

Our News- Adoption

So I made a small announcement in our last post.. Nate and I are planning on adopting. I say planning because it is a LONG LONG Road ahead and we have been taught by our past experiences not to say something is happening because God might have another plan for you along the way.. we hope God sees adoption as his plan (but we are speaking from past experiences here..).

This announcement is not a small one or shall I say one we take lightly.. It is one we have discussed, slept on, discussed some more, argued about, and listened to everyone else's opinion on..etc.. We have been discussing adoption since we meet actually. We both felt eventually in our life we would adopt a child. But it wasn't till last year that I really started to think about it. At first I thought it was just the loss of the miscarriage that put adoption in my heart..I think it is apparent I want to be a mother.. but I prayed about it. Put it in the back of my mind and left it there. Nate said last year he wanted to try again and see if we could have our own. So we tried.. and you know how that story ends. After that it was like a seed was planted inside me.. I meet total strangers talking to me about it. I prayed about.. there was a sermon at church about it.. just weird things happened which is no coincidence.. it was god planting that seed in me.  Yet, Nate was fearful.. I think initially due to people's responses about our choice. But I kept praying and God planted the seed in Nate. He started talking about it..he started looking into and than we found Depelchin Children's Center.

The first step towards adoption (domestic) is to attend a CPS approved intial orientation meeting which is two hours long and they shove a ton of information down your throat. I left there in tears.. tears of joy..tears of overwhelmed..tears that this is happening!! OMG this is happening..

Than you go onto step two.. filling out 30 pages about your parenting style, how you feel abot discpline, where the child will sleep, where they will attend school..etc. Than there is getting all the documents ready for the agency/social worker which includes: birth records, social, drivers license, proof of all insurance, marriage certificate, plans of your home, pictures of every room, pictures of all pets and people who live in the home, paycheck stubs, diplomas, health status, background check and driving record.

Step Three is to turn in more documents start the homestudy process which includes visits from a social worker and fire marshall.

Step Four is to complete all classes which happens between step 2-5. There are over 60 hours of very informative classes that are required.. and than after all is completed and they deem us acceptable parents we will have a child.


I'll keep you updated as we go.. this week we are childproofing and organizing the house to get ready for the fire marshals visit. They recommend you have the marshal visit before the social worker so that if there is anything to fix you have a timely manner to fix it. We are still at step two and it is a process so as we are updated we'll let you know...


I'm sure if you are reading this you are wondering alot of questions. So let me answer them all..or try to at least... we are not certain that we can't have kids. I've been asked now multiple times if we are infertile. I assume not since we have been pregnant twice now. It is just we are not willing to undergo thousands of dollars worth of testing to maybe find a solution.. much less did we feel it was necessary. We aren't going to play God.. this isn't to say that those who do chose this option are wrong.. we just didn't feel at this time it was the road for us to go.

We just feel that after two miscarriages that we still wanted kids and that trying naturally wasn't where we were anymore. It wasn't a choice that happened overnight and both of us came to this.. we feel that we are called to adoption and that if God later blesses us with a child thru natural birth than we will be twice blessed.  Right now just Houston has 1500 kids waiting for a home.. 1500. We are good people who want kids and feel we can give one of these children a great home.  Here's the catch we aren't doing straight adoption. We are doing foster to adopt which means that the child's parental rights haven't be relinquished but most likely will. So we will have the child in our home for 12-18 mths before the adoption can be finalized. I know it sounds like a long time and there is risk.. but this is the route we chose to go.. and it is more likely we will receive a child from 0-6. We did talk about straight adoption to adopt an older child but right now we are leaning towards 0-6 foster to adopt. This might change as it is a long process but this is where we are right now.The process to get a child in our home varies from 3 months to 2 years. Typically it is 9 months. So we have time to evaluate all our options and see where we are.. Any other questions feel free to leave me a comment or email me.

I know adoption isn't for everyone. I have heard people's ideas of adoption and I know that some feel it isn't the ideal way to start a family. But there are really great stories out there.. so please keep your negative comments to yourself. We have researched this, we have went to the classes and we have started the process.. this is the choice we have made.. Perhaps research it yourself. See if you can open your heart to a child who needs a home. Someone to make them feel safe, secure and loved. Isn't that what God wanted us all to do??

Catchup

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in so long.. things have been a bit crazy around here. I am two classes away from graduation with my Masters. So I have been super busy with that, still teaching full time and trying to keep my house up as well as a social life outside of work. I don't know how some people do it. It never seems to fail that this time of year Nate and I both have something planned every weekend. It never ends and some weekends we are so over booked..not complaining. But we are on Thanksgiving break currently which I am also on break for my masters program! Horrray!!!
But we also have had some big changes in our household.. changes involving rearranging the house of course- we all know I get bored and change things all the time. But Nate and I have also decided to adopt. More on that in another post..
Let's get to the good stuff fall decor because it is coming down as soon as thanksgiving is over and Christmas is up!! Warning there will be lots of pics since I am playing catch up.. First off is the Living room..

Notice the entertainment cabinet.. That is from Simple Matters and is a Welsch Hutch she transformed for me. I adore it.. You also might remember that the couch and arm chair were in a V shape towards the windows. It was just throwing off the room so back in July I moved the arm chair to the corner of the room by the fireplace. It makes the entry so much larger and we put a little mini dresser behind it with closed storage when we finally have a child in the house we can throw all their junk in there.

 By the fireplace I have my vintage wine vessels stuffed with fall leaves. Don't you just love the new ottoman too.. it's a HomeGoods Purchase along with the New Jute pillow (PB knockoff for 1/2 the price). I also added some pine cones to my candle holder.

 

Now onto the kitchen.. On the island I have this pumpkin candleholder..

 I added fall foliage to my Miranda Lambert Wedding Cloche..

 And on the other side of the sink is the chalkboard and fall mums..Mums Live forever if you change their water frequently and they are so inexpensive to have. I love having fresh flowers around the house.

 I also recently purchased this large canvas of  Life Sayings.. I have been meaning to DIY one that I have been seeing allover blog land but lets be real.. I don't have the time or patience to get around to it. I wanted to put it inbetween the two large windows in the kitchen but it barely fit so we moved it over here.. which works perfect because walking down the hall to the bath/garage you see the family calendar..etc that is all black too.

Here is the hallway shoot.. sorry very bright in the kitchen in the mornings.

Now the dining room-- I sold our old mission table on Craiglist..exactly where I got it. And found this beauty thru Jannet from Simple Matters. Ill take pics of it closely later. But it is black which is perfect because you see it when you walk in the house and so is the entry table. It is distressed and has a leaf which is ideal for Thanksgiving..

 In the corner I left my wine wreath, have my new scentsy warmer and my wood carved cross.. it has a nativity scene at the bottom but I think the colors are fall/winter so I leave it out regardless of the season. Oh don't forget the ugly mail dumping basket..lol

 Lastly, the entry way..I added some little wood figures that say Give Thanks and a pumpkin and the chalkboard says "Give Thanks to the Lord"..

 Hope you enjoyed the fall decor.. I promise Ill post pics of the table close up.. I love the claw feet on it. Plus class pics soon. I will also fill you all in on the adoption.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

PS.. I am a much better blogger in summer..lol!

Halloween Decorations

This week was my mom's wedding. So it was a super busy week! Wednesday we went and got our nails done. I introduced mom to shellac nails and she was thrilled. Thursday we got some rain which was wonderful since we are in drought but it made us late for the rehearsal. Friday morning we (Nate, Brigitte & I) made our way to the small town Mom was getting married in and busted our butts getting the church and hall ready for her. Brigitte helped me arrange the church which I can't wait to show you pics...but I only have a few since I was so busy so I will have to upload the professionals later. I also made the bouquets and boutonnieres. Than Brigitte & I went and helped at the hall. It was a great day for mom and I know she was super happy in the end.  Below are pics of the cake table with the bouquets from the wedding. I surprised my mom with a locket with her mom and dad in it and tied them to her bouquet and gave her a catholic bible to carry with it.

This is the sign in table at the church.

My sisters and I were all bridesmaids. Plus my Aunt Barb was maid of honor. Lastly, there is a pic of mom and Shay.. all happy!!

Now on to the halloween decor!! I typically only decorate for Fall, but this year I got the itch to decorate for Halloween too. Allison inspired me with a trip to Ross and her scary bird cage with skulls..lol.  So here is the house in all it's gouhly scariness..shake a little!!

First up is the door way.. still fallish! I decided to keep this traditional. My mums are just now blooming I know they will look awesome in a month!

Our Entryway.. I left the bookwreath because I feel fall is all about textures and I just added Trick Or Treat Smell my Feet to the chalk board. Below on the table everything stayed the same except the EEK sign!!

 

Our Halloween Mantel Rocks!! I got these awesome pillar candles last weekend in Round Top at Gypsy Junk which I will be on HGTV in November.. They were at Miranda Lambert & Blake Shelton's Wedding!! I also bought a cloche that was at their wedding!!  So on the mantel I left the awesome pillars with glitter candles, added some glittery black bat garland, BOO sign, Candy Corn in a jar and glitter pumpkins!! Below are some close ups..

 

Than in the dining room I just added candy corn sign that reads Trick or Treat with little bat, cat and witch dangling!!

 Next up the Kitchen.. My Fav Decorations!! First is the glass cloche that was Miranda's at her wedding. I added paper mache skulls in it.. spooky!!

 Second is next to the sink where we have our chalk board that has a ghost saying BOO! & Trick or Treat. Plus don't forget my skull sponge holder!!

 On the windowsill is a sign that reads Eat, Drink and Be Scary!! In glitter which makes it less scary.

On the Island I added this cute cat which reminds me of Bella..lol with her belly reads "Best Witches" "Happy Halloween" "Spooky"..etc. And my glass pumpkin with candy corn which Nate swears he hates but loves.. 

Last up in the living room on the coffee table is another little cat latern with Trick or Treat, Spooky and EEK on her belly! I love them and I can't wait for Fall weather and Halloween!!