Garage Sale & Good Friends

Hello Friends! How was your weekend? If you follow me on Facebook then you know I had a garage sale this weekend.  I love going to garage sales, and I love how clean and organized my garage is now, but I forgot how much work having one is!

I was lucky enough to have a beautiful day of weather (It has been over 100 degrees here every day for weeks, so to have a nice day was awesome!!)  This sale wouldn't have been possible without the help of my Mom, and my awesome friends Lori and Elizabeth.  Let me tell you about these amazing ladies.

My Mom helped me get ready for the sale all week last week, pricing, organizing & setting up.  She stayed and helped me all day of the sale. I love her. Lots. :)

My friend Lori is one of the most generous people I have ever met. She has a huge heart. I am so lucky to be her friend. Lori gave me tons of stuff for the sale, told me to keep the money, and then bought something from the sale. I love her too! 

My friend Elizabeth was there first thing in the morning. She stayed with me all day. She also bought something. She helped me chase down all of my garage sale signs that had blown down. We laughed together as I dodged cars to get one sign in the middle of the road,  and one that was blowing away as I was running after it. Elizabeth and I laugh together a lot.  She is a great friend. I love her too! (But I won't hug her, Elizabeth does not do hugs! hahahaha)

So, how did my garage sale go you ask? Well, not great. I didn't make as much as I wanted too (even with my friends purchasing my unwanted junk lol.) I still have a garage full of stuff that I need to pack up and giveaway.  But here are the reasons it was great...I met some of my neighbors that I didn't know, my garage is organized & clean (yes I know I already said that, it makes me reeeealllllyyyy happy), I made a little money, and it reminded me how blessed I am to have a wonderful Mom and great friends!

My sale wore me out, so I think I'm going to stick to going to garage sales instead of having them! :) 

Have any of you had a garage sale lately?

Thrift & Thanks

Let me start off by saying a big THANK YOU!!! to all of my new followers!!  I want to give each one of you a big hug!!      

This Little Light has tripled in followers in the last three days! I am so excited you are here, and I may have even shed a few tears of joy...ok, I did shed a few tears of joy! My heart is so full right now ♥ and I am so thankful! I cannot wait to get to know each and every one of you! :)

Now I would like to tell you about my most recent thrifting trip. I am blessed to have quite a few thrift stores in my area, but I have one that is my favorite. It is in a big old house with a wraparound porch, and all of their proceeds go to support a local Christian High School. When I talk about my "favorite thrift store" that is the one I am referring to.

The first thing I saw was this!

And I fell in love. I knew I wanted a desk for the future craft studio (aka the current garage.)  I knew I wanted it to be on the smaller side and have character.  My desk is a little rough around the edges, but I love the size, all the drawers, and the lines! I can't wait to show you what I am going to do with it!

Guess what I paid for my desk?

Give up?

$7.00!!

I also got three cute tops on this trip.

I came home, washed them and wore the one above the next day! I don't know if you can tell but it has ruffles coming down the left side. I love ruffles!

Really, I love ruffles.  Here is the second shirt I picked up.

The third shirt I picked up is my favorite I think,

This picture does not convey how cute this shirt is. It is a really pretty green and the material is dotted-swiss. 

So are you  wondering how much I paid for each of these cute shirts? 

 I'll tell you!

$ .75 cents apiece!  :)

That is right-I went thrifting with a $10 budget, and came home with a desk and three cute tops for $9.25!! :)  

I looooove thrifting!

What have you thrifted lately?

Sharing this with Elaine at Sunny Simple Life :)

A Birthday, Bible School & Busy Times

The past week and a half have flown by, as they often do, but this time every minute was filled. 

We started out by celebrating my beautiful niece, Miss A's 7th birthday!

Per her request Aunt Amanda made strawberry cupcakes with strawberry icing. :)

Miss A is beautiful inside and out. She lives her life with so much joy, people are just drawn to her. She has a megawatt smile. She is my oldest niece and is the one most like me. We are social girls, we love to talk...to pretty much everyone....we are emotional...we wear our hearts on our sleeves.  We share the same middle name and have the same initials. (Which is very cool to a seven year old, we will talk in ten years, I'm sure it won't be near as cool!) 

Speaking of cool...

My nieces think my 17 year old daughter is a rock star, so anytime she graces us with her presence is a big deal.  She gave up a Saturday night to celebrate Miss A's birthday, and a week of sleeping in to be a group leader at bible school. 

I think I'll keep her...and her giraffe...:)

She is a good cousin, and she is great with the girls!

Miss A and her sisters, Miss K and Miss T, don't live in Missouri. They live in another state, about 4 hours away. Miss A's birthday wasn't the only reason they made the trip though.  My older two nieces, Miss A and Miss K, stayed here for the week and we all went to bible school! I was the bible study teacher, my mom was the director, and my daughter was a group leader. It was so fun!

I love bible school, I always have! It is one of my favorite things about summer!

Miss T was not very happy that she didn't get to stay.

Miss T is my youngest niece. She goes 90 to nothing the entire time she is awake. I have no idea how my sister ever gets anything done! She hardly ever smiles for pictures, but she smiles all the time in real life! Miss T loves all things Elmo, and I love the way she says my name, "At Mana." :)

(The only "smiling" picture I got of her-and I had to trick her with food!) :)

Miss K is my middle niece, and she is a hoot. You never know what is going to come out of that child's mouth! She is witty and has great timing and she is only three!

All week I heard "My mom said" followed by some of the funniest things! I should have written them down! By the end of the week just hearing "My mom said" made me giggle!

Miss K also loved Aunt Amanda's high heels. Every time I turned around she had on a pair.

Who doesn't wear heels to bed? :)

The week with Miss A and Miss K flew by... bible school, visits to the park, swimming, playing Barbies, just playing. Miss A did some fishing with my dad while Miss K and I did some ice cream eating. (I think we got the better deal!)  On Saturday morning we packed up and headed to their home, where I stayed the weekend. (Miss K kept telling my sister, "Aunt Amanda is going to spend the night!")

I came home late Sunday night, and I think I could have slept all day yesterday if I had the chance. I was exhausted! But it was that life is good kind of exhaustion, so it was worth it.

I love being an aunt, and I love those girls so much! I treasure the time I get to spend with them. My sister is such a great mom. My nieces are three of the sweetest, most loving girls.

This week is going to seem super boring compared to the last one I bet! :)

I'm proud to be an American

I was very fortunate to start my 4th of July off very very early this morning (or late last night, however you look at it...) as a part of a very large group that welcomed home the veterans from the Central Missouri Honor Flight's 19th mission. 

The Central Missouri Honor Flight is an amazing program, whose mission is to transport America’s veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit the memorials dedicated to honor their service and sacrifices.  

American flags lined the street, as did hundreds of people.  The mood was festive as we waited for the veterans to return. Volunteers kept us updated "They are 40 miles, out; they are 15 miles out..."  And then we heard them, the more than 900 motorcycles that escorted them into the city.  What a sight!

Then the bus turned the corner!

The two buses honked, and turned on their lights. The crowd was cheering. You could see the veteran's smiling and waving and taking it all in.  It is hard to put into words what I felt at that exact moment, but it was something like pride and gratitude mixed together.

The crowd continued to cheer loudly as each veteran's name was announced as they were escorted off the bus.  

I saw this on the back of a volunteer's shirt.  I believe it says it all.  That is the reason I was there last night, and it is the reason I live in this free country today. 

What an awesome to way to celebrate this country's birth, by honoring the men and women who have served our country, kept us safe and fought for the freedom we have today!

I am so proud to be an American, and I am so grateful to everyone past and present who have served.  I am also so proud to be the granddaughter of two veterans (my Papa Case served in WWII, my Papa Bosch served in the Korean War) who served this country with honor. They have gone on to be with the Lord, but their service lives on.

I hope you stay safe, enjoy your day and I wish you

A VERY HAPPY 4th of JULY!!! 

Star Spangled Door Decor

I love holidays, and if you remember from THIS post, I always decorate my door for the coordinating holiday.  July's door decoration has been in the works for a while.  I gathered the supplies during three different trips to the thrift store.

I picked the wreath up first, with every intention of using it for something else. On the next trip I picked up that little bag of stars, and on the third trip I picked up the star pick and the flag. Once I had everything I had an idea!

And the best part of this project

 A whopping $. 95! Yes, $ .95! Whoo-hoo! :)  I love thrifting!

When I bought the bag of stars I thought I would just hot glue them on the wreath, but when I took them out of the bag I found they all were on little wires. Perfect!

I was also excited to learn that the white stars have a touch of glitter on them, and if you know me, you know I love glitter! :) If you don't know me, now you know I love glitter! :)

So, it wasn't until I was done that I realized I didn't take any pictures of the next part...., and you probably don't need me to explain ( but I will anyway) that I arranged the stars on the wreath the way I wanted them, lopped the stick off the star pick and used the wire hanger at the top to attach it, added the American flag, and hung it on my door!

Now my door is properly patriotic and ready for the 4th!

I hope you have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!
God Bless America!





Linking this post up to: Tatertots & Jello, Iheartnaptime, Sunny Simple Life, Vintage Wanna Bee & Thrifty Decor Chick