Get well soon Grady

A little over a week ago, Grady started refusing to eat. Normally, he can't get enough to eat so this immediately had me worried. We tried a different food thinking that he was just being picky, but when he came down with a bad case of diarrhea, we knew it was time to take him in. So just this Monday, he went to the vet. After running some blood tests, the vet said that he is extremely anemic. He had never seen such low iron levels in a dog and it could be a number of things-a bone marrow deficincey, kidney or liver failure, cancer or just some sort of virus. As he is telling me these things, I am crying my eyes out. He gave us special food, vitamins and an antibiotic. I took him back in today for a re-check, and his iron levels were lower than before. Now he is on steroids, more vitamins and is pretty much on bed rest. He has no energy, no appetite and it's breaking my heart. This is how Grady is spending his days right now. I think Bella knows that her brother is sick. As much as she wants to play wtih him, he has to be calm and relaxed at all times so that he doesn't collapse from exhaustion. We take him back in on Friday to see if all the vitamins, steroids, antibiotics and special food is helping. We can't afford anything drastic, as it is we are scraping money together to pay for these things. I don't want him to suffer because we can't afford to fix him. Please pray that everything turns out okay and that he doesn't have to have anything more. My heart is aching for him and I don't know what I will do without him!
On a happier note, we got the kitchen cabinets finished. Remember how I wasn't allowed to help paint? Well, he should have let me be in charge of colors. He thought all whites were the same color. Not so much. So he ended up painting the cabinet doors and drawers a different white than the actual cabinets. So the doors and drawers look a little gray. So, I guess they aren't really done, but they are done for now. This is just one picture of the after. I need to do a little cleaning to really show you how the kitchen looks!

On Saturday night, our niece and nephew stayed the night. One of their favorite things to do is make cookies. So I whipped up a batch of cake mix sugar cookies. Hunter and Madisyn frosted them and put sprinkles on them. It was a lot of fun having them!

Wishing everyone a very happy week!

Pink Nightstand

My bedroom is a real work in progress. I really don't have anything that matches. The nightstands that I currently have are just round wood tables covered with tablecloths-I am on a mission to find some mathching ones that I can paint and distress...hopefully the yard sale gods will be good to me this year. Here is my nightstand now-very pink-imagine that! I have a pink pashmina covering the table now, but it always changes depending on my bedspread. There is a LOVE plaque in soft colors, Romantic Wish lotion from Victoria's Secret, lip balm in a pink tin and a journal that I have been writing in off and on for the past 8 years. It holds stories of my first love and and first broken heart and everything in between. Sometimes it is fun to read it to see all the changes I have gone through in my life. It also makes me thankful to be where I am now! This beautiful angel keepsake heart was made for me by my sister. I loved it the first time I saw it and love it still. The pretty blonde angels have soft blonde hair with golden halos, sweet white wings and rosy cheeks. They are surrounded by beautiful pink roses. Still a very favorite piece of mine that I plan on keeping forever. It is special because my sister made it for me many years ago.
Inside, you will find all sorts of treasures. More angels, rosary beads, pictures, fun little trinkets, memories and who knows what else! I love keeping special things in here! I recently received a special gift from Linda at Charmed Victorian. She has some great giveaways on a pretty regular basis, so stop by her blog and say hello! Aren't these heart charm bracelets beautiful? They arrived just in time for Valentine's Day!

I made her a thank you card for her generosity. I always like to say thank you to someone if they are kind enough to give me a gift. Thank you Linda!

As I type this post, my husband is starting on our kitchen cabinet makeover. Lucky for me, he loves the white, shabby chic, vintage look too! So I am getting white kitchen cupboards this weekend! I would help, but he doesn't think I do a good job at painting such important things, so I guess I will just supervise! Can't wait to show you after pictures soon!

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Hope everyone has a very Happy Pink Saturday! Check out all the other lovely pinks over How Sweet the Sound!

Who doesn't love cream cheese?

We are having a party at work tomorrow and I am always the go to person when it comes to yummy treats. Since I had some extra cream cheese and shrimp in the fridge, I made this divine dip. Once you start eating it, you just can't stop! It's starts with a brick of cream cheese smoothed out in to the bottom of a dish. Then cut up some shrimp or use baby shrimp, and spread that on top of the cream cheese. At this point, you can add green onions, olives, avocado-whatever floats your boat. Now this is the most important ingredient-the Chili Sauce. This is the best chili sauce ever and this dip won't taste quite as good if you use another kind. It doesn't have a name, besides Homemade Chili Sauce. Spread this evenly on top of the cream cheese and shrimp. Then sprinkle with shredded cheese.
The best part comes when it is time to bust out the tortilla chips and give it a try. Make sure you get a good scoop with all layers on your chip. You probably won't be able to stop eating it once you start! Delicious!!

Another one of my favorite recipes for cream cheese is a fruit pizza. I use refrigerated sugar cookie dough and spread it evenly on a pizza pan. Put it in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes. Let it cool, then make the yummy cream cheese "sauce". Take 1 brick of cream cheese and mix in 1 cup of sugar. Then fold in a container of Cool Whip. Spread that over the cooled crust and top with your favorite fruit. Looks like a super healthy pizza to me!

If you have never tried these delicious cream cheese recipes-do it! I guarantee you will have some new favorites to take to your next get together and you won't look at cream cheese the same again!

My favorite Valentine

Valentine's is a special day for me, although there were times that I despised it! Three years ago today, my then boyfriend, told me that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. A week later we went shopping for a ring. A month later he proposed. A year and 3 months later we were married. He is and always will be my Favorite Valentine!My husband is always letting me "entertain" some of my crazy ideas. I decided that this year for Valentine's Day, we were going to sit at the dining room table and have a very romantic, candle lit dinner. I decorated the table in reds and roses to really set the mood. It was simple, yet lovely and we really enjoyed each others company.
On the menu was steak, garlic shrimp, twice baked potatoes, bread and wine. It was delicious! I did my best to set the prettiest table I could with what I had.

For dessert, strawberries with chocolate dip. The dip is so easy to make and so yummy to eat. Here is the recipe in case you want to try it:

Chocolate Dip

4 oz cream cheese

3/4 cup melted chocolate chips

1/4 cup milk

*Heat cream cheese in microwave in 30 second intervals until melted. Whisk in milk and chocolate until combined. Serve with strawberries. Super yummy and romantic!

The only thing more I could have asked for was the dogs to do the dishes. Wishful thinking! But they are definitely a couple of my favorite Valentine's too!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Love

I have been the biggest slacker lately! Sometimes I doubt myself and wonder if my blog is really that interesting, really worth taking the time to read. But you always prove my doubt wrong and leave me wonderful comments. Thank you so much for your kind words-you all know how to make a girl feel great!! While I have been slacking blog-wise, I haven't in other areas! We got our taxes done which was a big, sad let down. I went to some training for work, and even got a little crafting and decorating in! Here is my one and only Valentine's Day project! This cute wooden heart is covered in Pink sheet music scrapbook paper. Pink and sheet music-a wonderful combonation! I sanded the edges to give it a vintage look and used some crinkled seam binding to hang it on the wall. I used a pretty pink hair flower to dress it up a bit. Pure Pink Prettiness!
I have recently decided that my big frame in the dining room will showcase something special, depending on the month and holiday. I added one of my new LOVE banners to the bottom, adding a red heart in place of the O. Love is in the air!
Here is a wall that is above the door to our garage. It's a lot of empty space. We decided to put up some shelves to dress up the wall a bit and to give me more places to display my treasures. Here it is before:

And here it is after. I added just a few things to see how I liked it, and will be adding more things very soon. I love shelves and I love having a handy husband that can do these things for me!! I am a lucky girl and very much in love!

Thanks for sticking with me even when I take an unexpected 2 week break. I truly appreciate all of you. Have a very Happy Pink Saturday and a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with lot's of love and romance!