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October 31, 2011

12 in 12: Book #10

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Book #10 was a happy accident.

Why a happy accident? Well, because my sister got me this for my birthday. I was looking for a book to read on it, and went to the "free" books section and read the description on this book. Here's the book description from Amazon.com

Joan Sanderson's life is stuck. Her older sister, Allie, is starting a family and her younger sister, Tori, has a budding career. Meanwhile, Joan is living at home with Mom and looking after her aging grandmother. Not exactly a recipe for excitement. That is, until a hunky young doctor moves in next door. Suddenly Joan has a goal--to get a date. But it won't be easy. Pretty Tori flirts relentlessly with him and Joan is sure that she can't compete. But with a little help from God, Allie, and an enormous mutt with bad manners, maybe Joan can find her way out of this rut.



Book 1 of the Sister-to-Sister series, Stuck in the Middle combines budding romance, spiritual searching, and a healthy dose of sibling rivalry.
 
It's been a long time since I've read fiction, so long I can't even remember the last time I read something fiction. It was probably a Nicholas Spark's novel, but I can't even remember which one cause it's been that long.
 
Moving on....
 
This book sounded interesting, it was free, I was in.......
 
This book turned out to be more than just the store of 3 sisters, and a girl trying to find herself. There was a surprise little love story in the middle of it.
 
I got lost in the words. Reading words on a page describing feeling and emotions are so much better than just watching them on t.v. or in a movie. You just get a better sense of what the characters are feeling, and you feel it to I think even more through written words.
 
I really loved this book, I won't spoil it for you because I think you should read it for yourself. Now, I want to go read the other two books in this series. This book definitely leaves you hanging, and wanting to know more about these characters and what will happen.
 
Go here to pick up the copy for free via your Kindle.
 
(****) my rating
 
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October 30, 2011

Celebrating the Holidays with {Shutterfly}

Picking out a holiday card to send to friends and family is a great way to give them a recent family photo. It's also a great way to say Merry Christmas to those that you haven't seen all year long! I love sending our holiday cards every year. We live so far from most of our family and friends and it's a great way to give them an updated picture and let them know what we've been up to all year long.

Picking out the perfect holiday card is always a really fun thing, I look forward to all year. Thankfully I never have to go to far in "searching" for that perfect card! I've used Shutterfly for the past few years for our holiday cards and I'm never disappointed.

Their customer service is always great! They always have a great promotion or sale going on so it makes getting my cards even more affordable! And, I love their wide range to choose from. Something for everyone!

I've already been browsing their Christmas cards in search for the perfect card for our family. I always like to incorporate multiple pictures into our card, and I'm drawn to more traditional ones. They have a variety of cards to choose from though. Everything from whimsical, traditional, red, green, contemporary and more!

Here's just a few of the new {2011} designs that I'm loving:

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They have cards in all shapes, sizes, flat or folded! You can't go wrong with snowflakes, I love snowflakes!

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I also love the idea of using your family name on your card, like the one above or like this one below.

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Here are the two designs I'm considering this year for my own family:

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I really love the colors in this one, and I love the idea of listing your top moments to share with friends and family. The one below is more traditional, and since the photos I'm using this year on the card are from our family shoot with Carrie Fay we're wearing yellows and blues I think this one will go nicely with it. All the cards are so customizable I think I might just have to do a hybrid of both of these!

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Holiday cards aren't the only things Shutterfly has to offer though, they have a wide range of photo gifts that are perfect for all those Grandmas & Grandpas, Aunties & Uncles on your list!! Calendars and photo books make great gifts! 

What about you, have you already decided on your holiday card this year? Jump on over to Shutterfly and see all the great and amazing products they have to offer to help celebrate your holidays!

Are you a blogger too? Wanna learn how you can get 25 Free Holiday cards from Shutterfly too? Go here, to find out more details!

images via Shutterfly

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This is a sponsored post written for Shutterfly. I was compensated for my honest review and opinions on this post. All opinions are 100% mine. 

October 28, 2011

{Closet Series} An {After} Tour of My Closet

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Happy Friday Friends! Can you believe there's only a few more days left in October! First, I wanted to say a BIG WELCOME to those that are new to my blog and have found us in the last couple weeks. I'm glad you're here.

Today we're ending the Closet Series with the after tour of my closet! I've been working all month at pairing down things I don't wear, or things we don't use/need any longer. I made a few trips to Goodwill this month to donate those things, and shipped a bunch of stuff off to my Sister.

After we cleared everything out, we lowered some shelving {which I told you about before} and then I got to work organizing everything. We made a couple trips to Ikea for some things to help organize our stuff. {I'll provide links to those at the bottom of the post.}

But, first let's take a look back at the before! Here's the before video for those who need a refresher:


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And now for the after:


It's worth repeating how much more organized this space is for us now! It may not be my dream closet, but it works for us for now and that makes me very happy. 

One of the reasons I love Ikea so much is for their organizing products, they are so affordable. Those shoe bins we're $9.99 for 4 of them! Such a deal. As promised here are the links to the products from Ikea that we used:


Today concludes our Closet Series here at The Worley House! I've had a lot of fun this month sharing with you some amazing closets, and tips to organize your own. I especially want to give a BIG thank you to Destiny, Megan, Cori and Jen for sharing their closets with us this month too! The series wouldn't have been complete with our their inspiration! 

What has been your favorite part of this series? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

{Happy Friday Everyone}

October 26, 2011

{Closet Series} Jen from Iheart Organizing

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Can you believe that we're already in the last week of October?! This month has seriously flown by me. It's been a good month so far, busy with lots of things at home. I'm looking forward to cooler temps here in AZ, and the birth of some beautiful babies from some of my girl friends! What could be more of a blessing than new life!

Today, I am excited to have with us on the blog Jen from Iheart Organizing! She's been a fave of mine ever since I saw her awesome office makeover on Young House Love over a year ago! I've been following her blog ever since, and she's truly the guru and authority on everything organization! {in my opinion!}

Join me in welcoming her to the blog as she shares apart of her closet with us today!

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I am beyond excited for the opportunity to guest post and share my little closet obsession as part of The Worley House Closet Series!

Over the last year, I began a mission in our home.  That mission is to stop treating our closets as typical stash and go storage and to begin treating them as another room in our home.   Closets are looked in every day, they are used to organize and contain our belongings and many have endless amounts of untapped potential.

The number one way that I start any closet transformation, is with color.  I LOVE to paint or wallpaper the inside of any closet.   That change alone really keeps me excited to keep the contents of the closet in order.

The first closet I transformed was in our guest room {temporary Master Bedroom while our actual Master Bedroom was being renovated}.  It started out as a craft storage closet…
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We painted it out, added wallpaper, shelving, a built in desk and boatloads of wall storage with bins, bulletin boards, pencil cups and more! 

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It became a sanctuary of a work zone just for me.  The perfect place to craft, blog and journal.  The closet is still being utilized to house all of my crafts, however, now, it’s a place I can work in and enjoy and keep wide open as an extension of the bedroom!

Because my oldest son was so smitten with my new work zone, and had a hardly utilized closet himself, we did it again… Taking this:

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To this!

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Now, he has a homework nook that he loves to spend time using not only for homework, but also for building legos and puzzles and even finishing up a craft project or two!  It has oodles of storage with more installed shelving, a desk, peg and cork board and even a towel bar for his giant craft paper roll.  By painting it out, it feels like it is part of the overall room he loves it because it’s his very own personal place.

Next closet on my list was in our boys shared bedroom.  It really wasn’t functioning well at all!

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We made some changes to their bedroom space that took away their dresser storage, so it was time to really make the closet work harder. 
We painted it, popped in a narrow bookcase that holds labeled canvas “drawers” along with some inexpensive wooden dowels and a melamine shelf along the top.  Wowzers, that closet quadrupled in the function department!

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When it came to the kitchen coat closet, it just needed a little prettying up, which was again completed with paint and wallpaper!

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Such a difference, I never worry about leaving the door to the closet open any longer!

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With all of these closets under my belt, imagine how excited I was to begin taking on my biggest closet challenge yet.  Our newly remodeled Master Bedroom closet!  It once was a standard walk-in:

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It was crowded and I am claustrophobic so I really didn’t like going in there for any reason, especially to put away laundry.  The hubs and I couldn’t seem to agree on our closet “zoning” either.  Not anymore!
We tore out a wall and made a GIANT dressing room instead!   And you all get to take a never seen before peek at the most recent updates that have been made!

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I started out by painting the dressing room in Behr’s Frozen Pond, which matches the adjoining Master Bedroom.  From there, I added an entire stenciled wall and an armoire for each of us.  It’s amazing how much storage each armoire actually contains, especially after we popped some standard shoe racks in the bottom of each!

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The dresser in-between the armoires will be great for holding accessories and undergarments, while the armoires themselves will be responsible for all of our every day and formal wear. 
By creating an entire room vs. the walk in, we have a ton of space, our Master Bedroom feels twice as big, we each have our own designated storage space and I was even able to pop in a vanity and treadmill!  Wahoo!

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We are about to move back into our newly renovated space, so I started filling up vases and decorative bowls and dishes with my personal belongings!

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We have all sorts of plans to make this place great like adding some pops of yellow, a bench for seating and changing and a larger built in vanity.  But for now, it’s already eons better than the crowded closet we had prior.  I feel like a pretty princess every time I enter the space, and I hope that never wears off!

It’s amazing to me to see what a difference a little love can make to any closet space.  Thank you so much to Andrea for having me here today so share some examples of why I love a little “wow” in a closet space.  It makes me so closet proud and itching to conquer another one soon!

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Aren't all those ideas just amazing, functional and leave you inspired to start making over your own closets! See, I told you Jen really has a knack for organization and style! Jump on over to Jen's blog and leave her some love today! 

IHeart Organizing

Happy Wednesday Friends! 


October 24, 2011

{Closet Series} Outrageous Closets

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Happy Monday friends! Did you have a lovely weekend? We did. Mostly, it was spent organizing our closet, and finishing some other projects around the house. Isn't it funny how weekends quickly turn into that?! 

If you're like me you've seen some pretty awesome and outrageous closets on the internet and in magazines. I think it's pretty amazing what you can do with a closet space. They can be small or grand. Over the top or minimal. 

Either way, I think they can be a lot of fun. 

I thought I'd round of some of my most favorite closets I've seen on the internet. 

Source: None via Andrea on Pinterest


Source: None via Andrea on Pinterest


Source: None via Andrea on Pinterest


Source: None via Andrea on Pinterest


Source: None via Andrea on Pinterest


Do you have an outrageously awesome closet too?

ps- I finally broke down and made a Worley House Facebook page! Come "like" our page and get behind the scenes updates, see fun pictures and more! Go here and click like to join!

October 21, 2011

{Closet Series} Cori from La Vie Petite

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Happy Friday Everyone! Welcome back to our Closet Series! Today I'm excited to share with you one very fashionable lady! I first found Cori's blog through another blog and qucikly found myself coming back for more each week. She's got some great style sense. She's currently doing a series called Dressing on A Dime that I'm loving.

And she was right about straight legged jeans. Nuff said.

I'm excited to have her sharing with us today.

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Hey guys!  I'm Cori from La Vie Petite.  








I blog about my family often, life sometimes, and what I wear mostly.  I like to sew my own clothes.





I know there are a lot of people who think that caring about how you dress is shallow, but the way I see it, if you're getting dressed anyway you might as well love what you're wearing, right?

I didn't always know how to dress myself.  Especially since I'm under 4'11" and they don't generally make adult clothing in my size.  It took me years to overcome my resigned state of kid's section shopping and learn how to dress for my body.




Dressing well is work, I'm not going to lie.  Especially when finding clothes doesn't come easy.  One of the most important things about getting dressed well, is organization.  If you don't know where your stuff is, you don't know what you have, and it's hard to use what you're not aware of.
Plus, I find I'm more creative in a clean and organized space.

And yes getting dressed requires creativity sometimes. (always)

So I'd like to invite you to go boldly where few have gone before.

Into the innards of my closet.

brace yourself.



I hang my clothes my the color.  That way I always know where stuff is, and it helps in pairing colors.



You can't really tell, but my skirts are organized by type (pencil, pleated, etc) and my dresses by color.



The staging area.  The key to getting ready efficiently in the mornings (especially since I have 5 people to get out the door) is being prepared.  I like to pick out several outfits in advance and hang them in my "staging area."  That way, when it's Tuesday morning and we're in a hurry I don't have to ask myself that all important question, "What am I going to wear today?"

I just go right in the closet and there are 4-5 options waiting for me.







I dream of built in shoe shelves.  But until then, these racks do the trick magically and they cost about $3 a pop at Walmart.



Like most married women, I share my closet with a boy.  My boy happens to not be much of a clothes horse though, (the man hates shopping) so most of the space is mine, all mine! 

(Mwah haha.)








I keep my accessories in my dresser.  I find that's where they stay the most organized.  I also find that I have an obsession with colorful skinny belts.
But I'm okay with this.





There you have it.  It's not fancy, but it works.  And that's what's most important.


Come stop by La Vie Petite and say hi!
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Isn't that awesome! I love the idea of a "staging area" considering how I hate getting dressed in the morning and agonzize over how "I have nothing to wear" on most days! I really like that tip, maybe it'll start helping me get dressed better in the mornings by using some of her tips!

Make sure you visit La Vie Petite today, and give her some love! I promise you'll be hooked!


What was your favorite part?!! Tell me in the comments below.  

October 19, 2011

Turning 29 & Some Birthday Reflections

Yesterday was my 29th birthday! My husband surprised me with an hour long massage and some shopping. We also went out to dinner together as a family. I feel truly blessed to have both my daughter and a great Husband to share this birthday with.

I love birthdays, I have ever since I was a kid. There's just something about a whole day to celebrate YOU; that makes me happy and excited. I love celebrating others birthdays as well. Making them special for people, and honoring and celebrating them on a special day.

And, the truth is I don't mind getting older. I like to think of it as a chance to remember all the amazing things in the last year. An opportunity to have learned something from the lessons and things I've been through in the last year. A time to look at the next year and go over all that I want to accomplish.



Wouldn't it be amazing if we could challenge ourselves to live each day like this? Like a new beginning? Or a chance to learn something from this life we're living?

Truth is, the week before my birthday was a really hard one for me. I was feeling all contemplative about my life. The season I'm in. Disappointed a little about the things I haven't yet accomplished yet by 29 years of age. Feeling very discouraged about life and my relationships. I cried a lot. I spent a lot of time talking and reflecting about what I want this next year to be about.

The reality is today is the best day to start doing the things I want to do. Instead of being so distracted and disappointed at the fact that I haven't done these things I want to take today, tomorrow and the next year to start accomplishing the goals and dreams that the Lord laid on my heart years ago.

Today is the best day to dream.

Today is the best day to learn.

Today is the best day to give of yourself to others.

Today is the best day to make more of an effort with the people around you.

Today is the best day to accomplish goals and go after your dreams.

What can you do today to start living the life you want, and accomplishing your dreams?



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