Happy Mother's Day & What Matters Most

(DIY Tile Coaster I made for gifts!)

Well Mother's Day has been over for about 2 minutes now.  

Hope you had a great one! Ha! I sure did! I try not to make a big deal out of this day that way when I do get blessed it means a little more, know what I mean? A couple of week's ago my hubby surprised me with a bird bath that I've wanted for a while now.  Totally not like him! So I just kept telling myself that the bird bath was enough.  Well I came home on Thursday from work and Hunkie had taken Lil' Hunkie shopping and I immediately had to open my gift or else someone would've have eventually just told me what was inside! A lovely new hummingbird feeder, my favorite perfume and some pretty packaged lip balm. I sure am feeling blessed and my hubby probably doesn't realize he's speaking one of my love languages...gifts.  So it's not really about the things, though they are awesome and I love them!, but more about doing for others and how you make them feel. I feel like my husband might finally be 'getting it'.

And guess what? I totally stunk at being a blogger this last week! I had intentions of posting more than just the party but life has been a bit more full lately.  We had a lovely lady in our church lose one of her sons unexpectedly and his service was last week. Another lady lost her dad.  My sister was on pins and needles waiting to hear if she passed one of her extremely tough classes so she could graduate nursing college. My niece had her last high school band concert.  And Lil' Hunkie had a routine heart doctor visit. 

So during all that I found it hard to be a blogger.  Sometimes what matters most is being there for a friend, giving encouraging words, sitting front row at a concert, and just being the best mom you know how. I love being a blogger! But it got rearranged in the list of what matters most. And you know what? 

That's ok. One of the bottom lines of blogging is being good at balancing it within your life. And my opinion is that it's more than ok if there's no time to blog if your attention needs to be elsewhere. 

I've wanted to say that for a long time.  

It felt good.

I really do hope you had a great Mother's Day!!

Like the tile coaster I made for my family? How about I share the graphic?

Just right click and save!

Have a great week lovelies!

Vintage Gwen now on Bloglovin'!

I've been meaning to use Bloglovin' and so now that Google Reader is going away then it's a done deal! I'm holding out on Google+....I know several of you use it but I can barely keep up with Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest! Oh and Instagram!
For those of you who already use Bloglovin' to follow me thanks so much!!


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Blogiversary Time!!

I can't hardly believe that is time to celebrate another year of blogging!  This coming Thursday will be 2 years for me!  The best part of the last two years? Making friends!  So I thought I would gather some of those wonderful blogging friends and have a My Favorite Things party blog style!  A couple weeks ago I discovered the party trend which was inspired by Oprah and her Favorite Things. And wanted to use that type of party to celebrate blogging and blogging friendships. 

So here's how it will go....I've invited 5 friends to share with us one of their favorite things that cost $6 or less.  Starting tomorrow till Friday, each friend will share her item.  On Saturday I'll share some of mine.  Then one of you will win all the Favorite Things!  Nope, this isn't an elaborate giveaway, it's a fun, maybe I'll find something new I like giveaway!  I will be using Rafflecopter for entering and will have it up everyday so you can enter anytime between Monday and Sunday. 

I'll draw a winner and announce next Monday the 18th.  Show & Share will still be up and running on Wednesday too! And here's the friends who are coming to the party!...

Monday-Clydia of Three Mango Seeds

Tuesday-Rebecca of My Girlish Whims

Wednesday-Lindsay of Southern Lovely

Thursday-Marilyn of The ArtsyGirl Connection

Friday-Emily of Putting Down Roots

So I hope you'll join us! And thanks so very much for being a reader and/or following me in any way, shape, or form! You lovelies make blogging so much fun!

{Sharing} 12 Days of a DIY Christmas

Gotta share a fun series with you today that my bloggin' buddy Emily of Putting Down Roots is starting! 

12 Days of a DIY Christmas starts of course on December 1 and will end December 12.  It's a great time to share you favorite Christmas stuff........

Recipes Family Traditions Your Christmas Family Pictures Crafts DIY galore Inspirational thoughts {on Christmas}

ETC   

Stop by her blog to see what she shares and then link up your favorite posts, even from last year!  And of course all your awesome ideas you have for this year! 

You will love Emily's creativity, it's beautiful!

Look what she did with curtain panels!....

Photo courtesy of Putting Down Roots

Amazing I say!

So write this down on your Christmas To Do List!

*Putting Down Roots Blog*

Happy Thursday!

Blogger Tip-Tabbed Content Box

Slightly bummed today.

I really wanted to have my craft room finished so I could reveal it today. I actually have it and making myself a closet in our den as on-going projects right now.  But neither are done. I feel as if I have several things unfinished right now, mainly due to the lack of funds.  I'm trying my best to use my pay from my part time job as church secretary to do all the final touches if you will to the house.  And well the funds aren't much and don't last long!  It really wouldn't be no biggie but I finally booked a Stella & Dot jewelry party for the 23rd and that's my deadline to complete certain things! It will be the first entertaining occasion since our move!  And yes I realize that I'm probably the only one who cares about the things I want done! 

So stop worrying right? 

I promise to try!

So today I wanted to share a cool widget I discovered!  You may already know about it since I saw it on It's Overflowing but I'm loving how it helped tidied things up in the side bar so I wanted to share!

Tabbed Content Box via Blogger Sentral

This was easy to do! And you can have as many tabs as you want!  I was wanting to change up the sidebar a little to freshen things up, which I like doing periodically and am excited to have found this!  All you do is copy and paste some html code into a new gadget, change the number of tabs you want, make sure each gadget you want tabbed is directly after the new html gadget and bam! 

Go HERE for the code and directions. They also provide a demo.(Which I did not watch, fyi.)

Blogger Sentral explains it better than me!

But if I can do it so can you!!

And since I'm on the subject of blogging tips...just a friendly reminder about being a no reply-commenter....don't be one!! I have found in most cases, that people are unaware that they are a no reply-commenter.  What it means is that you haven't attached an email to your profile.  So when you comment on a blog, the comment goes to their email, the blogger tries to respond directly to you but yikes no email address!  It is my preference to respond to comments via email.  In my opinion I can respond quicker that way.  Now then if you are choosing to be a no reply-commenter then I respect that.  But just know your comment may take awhile to get a response.  Don't mean for that to be harsh at all, just trying to shed some light on the matter!  I also prefer to be responded to by email.  I get wanting to have interaction with each other but how am I supposed to know that you responded to my comment?  The only way I know is for me to subscribe to the comment feed which I have done by mistake before and I got all these emails that took me a minute to figure out what they were!! ( I got every comment sent to me that was made after my comment.)  And honestly sometimes I don't remember to go back and look to see if the person responded to me.  If I do remember it's because I wrote it down!

So how do you prefer your comments get responded to?  I'm curious to know!!

Let me know if you use the tabbed content box!!

Happy Thursday!

Happy Valentine's Day and....

{2011 Valentine Sugar Cookies}

Happy Valentine’s Day lovelies!

And guess what else is today?

It’s my 1 year blog anniversary!!

What a great day to have your blog anniversary on huh?

{I didn’t plan it that way! But at least I won’t forget the day!}

Boy I can’t believe it’s been a year! A fun one too!

I’ve been so blessed to meet some very lovely people and can’t wait to meet more!

Looking back I really had no clue about blogging but just knew it looked fun and appealed to my creative side and I wanted in on the fun.

At times it’s challenging but I’m learning and that makes it worth it.

Thank you to each and every one of you!

This wouldn’t be as fun without you!

I of course want to celebrate this moment with a giveaway!!

But alas! We are still trying to get moved!

So when things are settled we will celebrate! So stay tuned!

Have a sweet day today!!

Tag You're It!!

Ah! I've been tagged! This is a fun little get to know ya game.  I will be honest, I like little things like this and getting blogger awards but if I don't respond quick it gets away from me! And there's been a few awards that I received back before Christmas that I didn't get to respond to and pass on so I'm trying to redeem myself with this if that's ok! ☺

The beautiful and wonderful Stevie of Moore Babies tagged me! And so here goes!

The Rules: 

1. You must post the rules. 

2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged. 

4.Tag eleven people and link them on your post 

5. Let them know you've tagged them!  

Eleven Fun Facts

1. I have only lived in Oklahoma.

2. I like driving trucks!

3. When I was little I used to stand on our back porch and pretend I was a rock star.

4. I like living in the country but also like being close to shopping!

5. I was a Brownie.

6.  I love supporting my alma mater, Oklahoma State.

7. Oddly, I don't mind cleaning the toilet...it's sweeping the kitchen floor that I dislike!

8.  All of my 'nice clothes' I hang to dry.

9. I'm pretty good at skits!

10. I can't roller skate, never got the balance while rolling down!

11. I'm 36 and just now experiencing the sell of a house and the purchase of a house.

Stevie's Questions For Me

1. Look back 10 years, is your life where you thought it would be?

For the most part yes.  I need one more child for it to be a complete yes!

2. When do you fit blogging in?

After I put Lil' Hunkie to bed and during nap time.  

3. How often to you cook dinner?

Most every night.  My husband works 2 nights a week so not on those nights.  Usually our eating out is on grocery shopping days, we'll get lunch and then lunch after church on Sundays.  

4. What kind of music do you listen to?

Modern praise and worship, contemporary Christian.  Occasionally, Johnny Cash, John Fogerty or ZZ Top, that's when my husband is watching a dvd or rocking their tunes out on the guitar. 

5. Do you have any pets?

Not right now.  I see a puppy in my future though!

6. What is your favorite thing to do at the beach?

Since I can't swim it would be to splash around and then soak in some rays!

7. If you were stuck on a dessert island, what book would you bring?

For sure my Bible!

8. Do you prefer going to bars or clubs?

Neither although I like to dance!

9. What is your ideal date night?

Dinner and a movie.  

10. Where would you go on your next vacation if money were not an issue?

Italy! We've talked about it and looked at some villas...so beautiful!

11. What is your FAVORITE all time meal? 

Steak, mashed potatoes and a really good salad.  

Tag Eleven People

Lori @ A Little Slice of Special

Eva @ Delightful Creations

Lauren @ Summit Street Joy

Betsy @ Romance on a Dime

Marilyn @ The ArtsyGirl Connection

Jacqueline @ Chez Mukweto

Shannah @ Just Us Four

Lindsay @ Southern Lovely

Emily @ Putting Down Roots

Jennifer @ Dimples & Tangles

Clydia @ Three Mango Seeds

And 11 Questions for you lovelies!

1. What frustrates you the most about blogging?

2. What's one feature about yourself you'd like to change?

3. Which do you prefer, cooking or baking?

4.  What's your dream vehicle?

5. What's your favorite color to wear?

6. What would you say is your decorating style?

7. Were you voted a personality in High School like Most Talented? If yes, which one?

If not, what should you have been voted?

8. In one sentence, what's your best advice on life in general?

9.  What's your favorite sweet to indulge on?

10.  Who's your celebrity crush?

11. How would you describe your husband in 2 words? 

Have fun!

Vintage Gwen Chapel-Blogging Fellowship

This past blog week has put a smile on my face!  On Wednesday I featured the popular 2 ingredient pumpkin muffins from The Crafty Nest from Show & Share. Apparently they were popular last year too but they were new to me! I was so excited to learn of them that I made some. They were so good and so easy that I posted a picture of them on my personal Facebook page and guess what?

They grew in popularity some more!! 4 ladies, that I know of, have made some!  And I actually got 2 phone calls with questions!
I love it!  If it wasn't for blogging that would have never have happened.  Inspirational interaction!
And so I got to thinking, much like the fellowship we experience at church, the same can and does occur with blogging. 
Hebrews 10: 24-25 AMP
"And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities, Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching."

'Stir up helpful deeds'...I feel like I did that simply through muffins.  Through muffins! 
That's why I like blogging. 
What about you? Do you have a situation where you passed on some inspiration and it kept going?
I'm thankful today that I've experienced blogging fellowship!
Have a great weekend!!