It's Friday, Let's Relax

It's Show Us Where You Live Friday Living Room Edition, hosted by Kelly at Kelly's Korner. Last week was kitchens. There were over 300 bloggers who opened up their kitchens for friends to visit.

This week I want to invite all my visitors to come inside my living room and relax a little. Our living room is what would be for some a family room, as we don't have a formal living room. With my two grizzly boys, I don't need a formal anything. So come on up the steps to my front door and let's go inside.

This is the view of my living room from the foyer coming in the front door. I don't know why this picture is so small, but I can't figure out how to make it bigger. Oh, well.

Have a seat and I'll tell you all about all the sentimental things I've decorated my living room with. My house is mostly decorated with things that are sentimental to me. I do have some things that are just decorative and things that I think are just pretty, but for the most part, my decorating style probably doesn't even have a name. This is the view still coming in from the front door. We have a sofa, loveseat and a recliner. At this point in our lives, believe it or not, there are days on end that Jeff and I do not even sit down in our living room. We're not big TV watchers. And we're always busy in the evenings. We'll watch the news before we go to bed, but that's about it for TV for us. The grizzly boys, however, spend lots and lots of time in there. My recliner doesn't recline anymore. And I've sworn to myself that no matter how badly I would like to get new furniture, I'm not getting anything new until they're grown and out of the house. Which I hope is no time soon.
This is my fireplace. I have a love-hate relationship with my fireplace. It is an actual wood burning fireplace. I chose that over artificial when we built our house in 1994. I love the sound of a real fire and the way that a real fire looks. I HATE the smell. I've wanted a new screen for my fireplace for years now, but I can't find anything that fully covers the opening, which we have to have. So I continue to be stuck with the brass, which I do not like.

What I do like -- in fact love about my fireplace is my mantle. My dad made my mantle just for us when we built the house. It's not super tall, which is the way I wanted it to be. And all of the woodwork is his own. Ross helped him make it and he was only six years old. If it's ever taken down for any reason, their signatures are behind it. I love it. It was just what I wanted then and I still love it now.

This is my built-in bookcase. I have it filled with things that are sentimental to us. This picture shows, although not very well, a little football bobblehead that Jeff got in 1971 when he played football for the Skeeters. He was only nine years old. It's also got his little plaque that his team gave him last year for coaching.

This is a book from when I was a little girl. I remember reading it a million -- no exaggeration -- times. It's called The Grown-Up Day. I also have other books from my childhood displayed here. This one gets a pedestal, though. It's my favorite.

Here's an antique table that my dad, who could teach all you ladies a thing or two about yard/garage sales, got for practically nothing. It was scratched and cracked. He fixed it and varnished it and made it look good as new. My mother-in-law made the doily on top. I had had it for years and really didn't know what to do with it. When I got the table, it fit just perfect. I'll bet the pattern was made during the time period of these tables and that's why it fit so well.

Oh, okay. So you'd like to look at my bookcase some more. This shelf has pictures of my grandparents on both sides of my family that have passed away. And it also has one of my very favorite pictures of Jeff and the boys with Jeff''s oldest brother, Don, who passed away in 2006.

The Holiday Barbie Collection is something that Jeff started for me. He buys me one every Christmas and they're so beautiful I just can't stand to put them away. As y'all know, Barbie and I go way back.

I knew you'd ask about this charming picture. This is Cam's self portrait made in second grade. It was so adorable and I paid a small fortune to have it framed and matted. I've never been sorry. I love it.

I apologize the color of my pictures isn't any better. My camera is a little wacko. If I use the flash it gives the pictures a big burst of light. If I don't, everything is so dull. If I could keep myself away from the beach, I might could afford a new camera. But. . . we'll just keep dealing with dull pictures. I would like you to see my wall color a little better. It's something that I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like. My dad is a paint contractor, so I described to him what I wanted. Kinda sagey I said. Well, he got a piece of dried sage and that's what the color of my walls is actually matched to. An actual piece of sage. Just an interesting tidbit.

I didn't make pictures of everything I have hanging on my walls, but I have pictures of both my grandparents' homeplaces framed in antiquey frames. Of course, those are so etched in my memory, I don't think I'll ever forget what they looked like.

I know you have to get going. You have so many other homes to visit. I'm really glad you stopped by. Since you came in the front door, you can go out the backdoor. I always say backdoor friends are best. Here's a look from the kitchen going out the backdoor.

Don't wait until Friday to come back and visit. I'm here almost every day. Stop by for a visit anytime. I blog about my daily adventures. I had a commenter yesterday liken my life to an episode of I Love Lucy. Ironically, she's one of my favorites. I love that show. Especially the tricky ways she finds to get new dresses, hats and shoes!

Till tomorrow, TGIF!