Happy New Year!

Praying for a blessed and prosperous New Year to all of my dear blogging friends! May God richly bless each and every one of you.
Hugs,
Victoria Lynn

Occupied!!

"The Girls" have been making merry around the house this season. There have been the usual ornaments bouncing on the ground during the wee hours, bows that have mysteriously fallen off packages and end up behind the sofa and the usual cat hijinx! But there seems to be one place that has become a favorite and VERY popular, thus making it be "OCCUPIED" most of the time!

Frederica Jane: "Oh, I just love my people. They bought this special new piece of "furniture" for me to hide my shy self under! That way I can always be ready for a sneak attack on Abby!"

Abby: "I just love this new Christmas tree! It's the perfect size for me to climb up the center and bat that ornament! Or...

The perfect spot for a nap in the sun!"Jasmine: "I know I can fit under here, I fit last year when I was a kitten! Hey, I think I'll hide my favorite mousy under here! On second thought, that bow tastes yummy! I love Christmas!"

A Very Merry Christmas from "The Girls"!

What A Difference A Year Makes!

Yesterday was a milestone in my life. It marked the one year anniversary of my divorce. When I got up that day and headed to court, I was so nervous. God had guided my every step and provided for me and protected me. But I didn't know what to expect. My husband told me "I'm not going to give you a penny!" This was after 28 years of marriage. As I headed in to court, the Holy Spirit brought to my mind the scripture, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper". Thanks to many hours of prayer, the faith of my friends (including my daughter) and the goodness of God, I came out of there with my every need provided for. Not to say that the difficult times were over, but God has been faithful and seen me through those times too. Here I am, fresh from divorce court, on 12.19.2007 (the calculator I'm holding is a little joke!)... And here I am, one year later...

After much prayer and guidance from the Lord, I moved across the country from Washington to Tennessee. My precious daughter chose to move here with me. God has provided a new home, a new church and a new town. I love my new life! I want to thank my daughter, Rachel, and my BFF, Donna Lynn, for helping me get through this journey. I know many times they were on either side of me, holding me up because I couldn't stand on my own. And I want to thank my heavenly Father for loving me so much to provide for my every need. Thank you also, dear blogging sisters for all your support. It means so much to me, you will never know how many times I was feeling sad, or lonely and your blogs picked me up, made me laugh and inspired me! I am excited to continue on my journey and see what God has planned for my future. He NEVER, EVER fails us!!

Hugs,

Victoria Lynn

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Well, the stockings are finally finished and hung by the chimney. My hearts desire for my home and our country...

I love these reindeer from Target, all glittery. The mercury glass candlesticks are from Michael's. The glittered ferns are from Target too. My glittered stars are from Big Lots! for only $5 each!

A closer look...

These are the stockings I finally finished sewing yesterday. I found this fabulous reproduction barkcloth fabric at JoAnn's.

I'm so thankful my shopping is done, the gifts are wrapped, mailed and under the tree. Now I'm on to the baking, which is my favorite part! I wish you all a blessed weekend!

Hugs,

Victoria Lynn

This 'N That

How is your week going? Mine is a bit more hectic than planned...oh, well! Tis the season! I wanted to share some more photos of my Christmas. This is my Santa collection in the corner of the dining room...

This reindeer is my favorite! His head bobs. Isn't he just the cutest?!

A closer view of Santa...

A blue themed tree for the guest room...

A bit of pink for Rachel's room...

Topiaries on the sofa table...

My favorite apothecary jar...

I still need to take pictures of my mantel, but I'm not finished sewing the stockings yet! I'm off to the Post Office and then maybe I can finish the stockings! Hope you have a blessed day in whatever you do!

Hugs,

Victoria Lynn

A Dickens Of A Christmas

Every year on the second weekend of December, my hometown of Franklin hosts "A Dickens Of A Christmas" festival in the historic downtown area. They close off the streets. You can find vendors selling sugar plums, hot spiced cider, pretzels, roasted chestnuts and arts and crafts. There is dancing... Over 200 people in Dickens era costumes...

Lots of live music...a bell choir...a brass band...lots of street musicians and this is the Franklin High School Chamber Choir...

Wandering the streets are characters from A Christmas Carol...this is Ebenezer Scrooge...

The ghosts of Christmas Past and Christmas Present...

Jacob Marley and the ghost of Christmas Yet To Come (a long with some cute lady that I didn't know, but hey, she was having fun!)...

And even Father Christmas was there! Notice Rachel has her Starbucks in hand!

The Franklin Police even get in the spirit of things and dress as English Bobby's! But don't be fooled, he was on duty and was packing a gun (and a big stick)!

We went for a horse-drawn carriage ride and even sang "Jingle Bells"! But my favorite was the footman named John. We got our picture taken with him. He was funny and very charming...hmmm. wonder if he's single?! He reminded me of a pirate!

So if you're ever in Franklin at Christmas, be sure to take in the Dickens Christmas festival. It was a lot of fun.

Hope ya'll are keeping warm and cozy. It's supposed to be a stormy, cold, night here with an ice storm. I can't say I have ever been through one of those and hopefully it will just pass right on by! Have a good week, whatever you do, be blessed!

Hugs,

Victoria Lynn

Dreaming of a White Christmas!

It's been raining a whole lot here for the past three days. So much, that there have been flood watch warnings. So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I came downstairs from my studio yesterday afternoon and looked outside and saw this... It wasn't even predicted! I LOVE SNOW!!! Not driving it in, of course! So Sophie and I put on our coats and went for a walk. Poor little thing, her paws were quickly frozen, but we had fun!
Isn't it beautiful?

It got below freezing and everything was covered with ice this morning, but the sun is out!

These photos are in my dining room. Some pretty crystals and greenery for the chandelier. Don't the crystals look like icicles? The wreath on the table came from Big Lots! and the candle holder from Wal-Mart for $7.99!

A closer look...

The wreath is all glittery but you can't really tell by the photo.

Stay tuned for more decorating photos, I'm putting the finishing touches on the new stockings I made and then just a bit more tweaking of the mantel...

I wish everyone a joyous holiday weekend! We're going to the Dickens Christmas Festival in downtown Franklin this weekend. I'll try to get some photos and post them. It's actually quite famous down here and I feel very blessed that it's practically in my own backyard! What are you doing this weekend?

Happy Christmas!

Hugs,

Victoria Lynn

Welcome! Come On In!

Welcome to my home! This is the dresser in my front entry. I've had this since I was 6 yrs. old. It has been in my family since the mid 1800's. I love having this in my front entry because it's the first thing I see when I come in my front door, and it makes me happy. I've decorated it with a winter scene for Christmas. I made an evergreen swag to hang over the mirror. Let's take a closer look... I love this "Merry Holidays" snowman. He is a vintage look reproduction, done a few years ago for Seasons of Cannon Falls. This is one of my favorite companies. They always have some wonderful vintage look decorations. I always look for them at the gift shops I go to.

This is "Littlebit Folly", by Bunnies By The Bay and made for Hallmark a few years ago. I loved her the minute I saw her because I fell in love with her red velvet skater's outfit. She has glittery ice skates and a cute fur muff. She's extra special because my daughter Rachel gave her to me one Christmas.

This sweet little vintage look house is a Teena Flanner design made for Midwest of Cannon Falls (now known as Seasons of Cannon Falls!). I love all the details...the bottlebrush trees...the vintage snowman...the little candy cane...and of course, all the glitter! It's also special to me because it was a gift from my mom!

Another Midwest Of Cannon Falls reproduction...a cute red church! The tiny bell in the belltower even rings. And a gift from my mom another Christmas. My mom knows me well!

Santa in his sleigh (Midwest of Cannon Falls also!). I love the bottlebrush tree and the red velvet reindeer. In the background is a tiny Teena Flanner snowman and three glittery wax candle trees. I sprinkled "snow" all over them. These came from Target about 4 years ago.

This glittery "Merry Christmas" sign is by Wendy Addison from Seasons of Cannon Falls. I love how vintage it looks!

My fabulous table chandelier candelabra, decorated for the season.

Next year when I have more time, I think I'll set these all up on a snowy cloth underneath. I just didn't have time to create one this year.

Did anyone see the Hallmark Hall Of Fame movie on CBS last night? Rachel and I watched it and of course we loved it and yes, there were tears. I'm such a sucker for Hallmark movies!

I did some Christmas shopping today and need to get baking some Christmas cookies! Is anyone else baking yet?!

Have a cozy Tuesday!

Hugs,

Victoria Lynn

...How Lovely Are Your Branches!!!

After having a pastel themed tree for the past ten years, it was time for a change! I decided to go with red, gold and a little bit of silver, which are basically my living room colors. I still need to add a few more ornaments and make a few more bows, but I think I'll wait to see what ornaments are going on sale! I made a tree skirt out of leftover curtain fabric by just bunching it up under the tree. The kitties think this is their new bed.

Most of my ornaments are all glittery and the tree really sparkles, but it doesn't show up in the pictures (sad).

I hope ya'll had a wonderful weekend! I'm not really a big football fan, but we sure are proud of the TENNESSEE TITANS (12-1), go TITANS!!! We're hoping for the Superbowl!

I will post more decorating tomorrow...Happy Monday!

Hugs,

Victoria Lynn

Not A Creature Was Stirring...

Well, not in this house!! The creatures are quite curious! Abby is sunning herself under the Christmas tree, which she highly approves of...her new favorite spot!

Frederica The Bengal, quite regally watches over all the commotion!

Sophie decided that it was more fun to lay in the sunshine...

Jasmine wants to know if this new tree is for her to climb...or maybe use as a scratching post!

What?! Neither?! Fine! I'll go lay next to my BFF in the sunshine!

Here's what I'm doing tonight with Rachel, we can't wait!! Tomorrow it's shopping in downtown Franklin and then off to a Christmas party! Sunday is the children's program at church. What are you doing this weekend? Whatever you do, I wish you the joy of the season! Let's celebrate the birth of our King!!
Hugs,

Victoria Lynn

PS: I promise I'll post Christmas decorations next!