SIMC ~ Florida Sunshine

This weekend has been pretty great.  In a very, "I am a simple girl and it just does not take much to make me incredibly happy" kinda way.

I seriously cannot express how grateful I was for a BEAUTIFUL, sunny Saturday.  I can't remember when we've had one last.  Here in Florida.  THE SUNSHINE STATE.

It is true that in order to see the rainbow, you have to withstand the rain.  I thoroughly enjoyed this sunny day and soaked up the sun as much as I could.  (I'm addicted to Vitamin D, I admit it.)

These beautiful wildflowers grow alongside our dirt road.

Finding Native American artifacts on your own property
is kinda awesome.  We have found partial arrowheads
and tools like this one, and tons of flint.

Today I found this piece of bone.

 On Saturday, hubby and I went to the Flea Market and bought fresh produce.

Then we went to the lake that I grew up on.

This is a trail by the lake.
The greenery looked like a beautiful living carpet.

When we reached the water's edge,
I took a deep breath,
and it smelled like home.

Huge snail on the shoreline.
I wanted to bring it home.  Hubby said no.

Tim came over Thursday to take care of his chinchilla, Wiz.
I had to take a pic because he matched my sofa perfectly!
PS - I have no idea what he's doing in this pic.

So cute.

On Saturday, I got my hair cut.

I got 3 inches of split ends cut off.

I like.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend, too!

Visit Claudya for more Sundays in my City posts.

SIMC - Poses, Pictures, Pets and Popcorn

This weekend has been rainy, but we've made the best of it.

Friday night we celebrated my hubby's birthday.  

I forced people to pose for photos.  It was great!

My Elayna, getting so grown-up.

Me, clowning around.

Just us girls 

Me & Elayna

Me & Shelbie

Tim, my little boy who is all grown up.

Shelbie, Elayna, me, Tim, and Tyler behind us.

On Saturday, my son Tim got a new pet.  

It's going to live here at my house temporarily.  

It's a chinchilla.  Super cute!!

Wiz

Saturday night, the girls and I had movie night.  We all piled up in my bed and watched "Oz the Great and Powerful".  We had our favorite movie snack - popcorn with peanut M&M's (festive 4th of July edition!).  The girls did my hair, and even painted my toes!  And the movie was really good.

~~YUM~~

I'm hoping for a little sun today.....

I need my vitamin D!

Visit Unknown Mami for more Sundays in my City posts.

Sundays in my SWAMP

I was looking out my kitchen window this morning 

and saw that one of the trees out back 

had beautiful white flowers blooming on it.  

The branches are very high, so I couldn't pick any blooms.

I couldn't figure out what kind of tree it was.

I could tell by the leaves that it wasn't a magnolia, 

and the blooms were too big to be dogwoods.

So I asked hubby, who immediately said, 

"It's a bay tree.  They grow in Florida swamps."

And that definitely describes our home - 

a Florida swamp.

I knew he would know what kind of tree it was. 

His knowledge of the outdoors is practically encyclopedic.

Amazing.

Can you find the flowers?  There are three.

 I hope you aren't tired of seeing pictures of my caladium plants yet.  

Because I really love them, and they're doing so well.  

I have already been able to transplant some to other areas.

It's a good thing they thrive in the swamp.

It's so tropical and bright and pretty! 

Yes, I know, I need to weed.

Neat plant life.

I even love weeds,
especially when they're purple.

Wanna ride?

In case you couldn't find them,
here's your cheat sheet.

On Another Note: 
I have created a Zazzle store to raise money for Dusty, 

Shelbie's boyfriend who has t-cell lymphoma.

If you would like to order something, the link is below!  

ALL proceeds will go to Dusty's family.

www.zazzle.com/backinthebush

A Glimpse Into Our Weekend - SIMC

A glimpse into our weekend,

in pictures.

And some words.

Because I like words.

We went to my parents' house to visit Hayleigh.
Oh, and my parents, of course.
But mostly, Hayleigh.

 

Elayna couldn't resist joining her in the pool.

Shelbie fed Hayleigh her lunch.

I made my first banana pudding,
with help from my Mama.

Hubby picked a flower for me. <3

My Mother-in-Law LOVES and collects birdhouses.  I recently
found this one for her and she absolutely loves it, says it's the prettiest one she's ever seen.  =D

On Saturday we went to my MIL's Family Reunion

near Crystal River, Florida.  

They had door prizes, and Elayna played the Price is Right girl,

handing out the prizes.

She had fun.

The reunion was fun and the food was DELICIOUS.

They also had a pinata.  

MIL's aunt and uncle live in a beautiful house on stilts right by the river.
I wish I could have gotten a better photo.

Elayna is silly.

Shelbie is, too.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

My Bargain Garden - SIMC

I had a really nice weekend.

Hubby and I did some thrifting on Friday (he is a great thrifter and spotted things that I had walked right by!).  But I wanted to do more on Saturday.  I asked him if he wanted to go, or if I should ask my mom to go.  He was more than happy to take a pass and stay home.  So, my mom and I spent the day thrifting, had lunch at Cracker Barrel, then made a stop at Lowe's for plants.

My main goal thrifting this time was to get containers to put plants into.  Not planters or pots, just various unique containers that COULD hold plants.  And I scored! Pails, dishes, even a big cooking pot.

This will be an ongoing project but I'm very happy with the beginning.  I also found two long strands of white Christmas lights, which I've put in the trees around "My Spot", the area where I put my firepit and am fixing up as my little corner of the world.


Then I went to Lowe's and hit up the clearance plant rack.  Basically, Lowe's takes the puny, pathetic, 1/3 dead plants, marks them way down and puts them on a rack.  They mostly  just need a little TLC and they'll thrive.  Not only did I get a bunch of clearance plants, I also scored THIS amazing bargain:

Sweet deal!

Doesn't look like much yet,
but now that they're planted and fertilized,
they will flourish.
Watch this spot!


A couple more thrifting finds....
this is stained glass chili peppers.

My kitchen theme is chili peppers,
so it's perfect.

This is a small metal table.
I got it to put outside,
but hubby wants it inside.
I don't know...
I think I'm going to move it outside anyway.

Hope y'all had a good weekend! 

P.S. This post was in no way sponsored or compensated by Lowe's.  However, Lowe's, if you would LIKE to compensate or sponsor me, hit me up!  =D

Soaking up the Sun - Sunday in my City

We have been attending church lately with my Mother-in-Law.

Today was her church's homecoming, 

and after church we had Dinner on the Grounds.

I made chocolate delight.....

....and a blackberry cobbler with fresh blackberries that grow wild 

here at our home.

Shelbie, my almost-senior-in-high-school

 Our puppy, Bo, has gotten big enough to get into the trash can.  So I decided to get one with a lid.  I wanted a pretty garbage can, which is harder to find than you may think.  I finally found this one on Amazon.
It came in pieces, and my daughters LOVE to assemble things like this.
So, here is my PRETTY trash can, assembled by Elayna!

The Great Assembler, ready for a dip in the pool.

We swam and soaked up the sun.  

Right after we packed up and left, the rain came

 to water

all of my plants and flowers.

Pretty good day!

Hope y'all had a good Sunday.