Need a little rustic elegance?

Beautify your space...

I love sentimental gifts. Things that come from the heart and have real meaning. I love to give them and I love to get them.

My bestest friend Devan who was the President of our State FFA Officer team is now sharing her creative talents with the world. What was once some doodling and gifts for friends is now bringing in the bucks! She gave us a piece at our wedding shower and a gift for our wedding. We love them both!



Since she is so talented, I wanted to share it with the rest of the world. You can buy her items of www.etsy.com. This is a really cool site where people who make things have an opportunity to share with the world.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/rusticelegancecrafts

Take a moment and give it a browse. She is just getting started, but has some super cute things to offer for your home or for the perfect gift!!!

I don't wanna grow up!

I am currently attending the American Junior Simmental Association Junior National Classic. I have been going to these events since I was very little with my parents, and was very excited to begin competiting and showing. My first junior national was in 1998 in Columbus, Ohio. Sadly, last year, in 2009 I competed in my last junior event as an American Junior Simmental member.

This year I am attending as a spectator. Let me tell you, it is hard. For 11 years, my family and I attended events all over the United States, from Monroe, Louisiana to Fort Collins, Colorado. Not only do you get the chance to compete in the contests, exhibit your cattle, but you also get to meet a lot of great friends.

As a junior member, I always competed in everything. My dad didn't really ever give me a choice, but I loved it. So, you can imagine my dismay, as I am watching the juniors around me heading off to do Public Speaking and Showmanship and feeling a bit left out. I was asked to help with the Mentoring Mixer and a few juniors asked for my help with their Sales Talk. It made me feel very involved to be able to help.

Growing up is awkward and weird. I am very happy to be attending junior nationals with my husband, but it makes it very weird. Married, grown-up, no longer a junior. Though I don't mind not having to do the early show mornings and breaking down heifers.

No matter if I am a junior, adult, or hopefully one day a parent of a junior, I will always love attending these events no matter in what capacity!

We did it!

For the first time.... Mr. and Mrs. Hatmaker! :)


I know that I am way behind on the blogging, but with all that has been going on being faithful to my blog just hasn't been one of them.

But I can findly say that we are married!!! My blog name has super-duper meaning in the last few and right now because there is a lot of love coming from Paris! I mean we are newlyweds, right?

The big day was June 26th, but we of course have been on our honeymoon since then. What a glorious and beautiful day it was! Drew and I have talked a lot about how we did so much planning for so long and then to see it all come true was truly beautiful and amazing.

As a little girl you DREAM of finding your prince and having the most beautiful wedding, and boy do I think I hit the nail right on the head. I can not thank my wonderful parents, my new husband, and all of our friends and family for making it a truly special day and one that I will never forget.

We got married at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort and Spa in Lexington. They are wonderful to work with and will get you whatever you ask for. Drew and I even had a special girl at the rehearsal and reception that would get us anything we wanted. They even platted our food for us and got us drinks from the bar. The setting for the ceremony was a huge, white southern home called, " The Mansion." It was warm outside but I sure wasn't paying any attention. Only thing I was looking for was my handsome groom at the end of the aisle. Don't let him fool you, he shed some tears. :)



It was a magical day and I am looking forward to married life now!

One Person's Trash.....

is another person's treasure!

With the recent dispersal DP Sales Management had and the wedding in just a week, I have let my blogging skills lack. I apologize to my following and interested readers in letting you down.

Here is what is really cool about getting married... you get presents! Luckily, Drew and I have friends from across the U.S., therefore presents arrive at our house fairly regularly. With our floor covered it was time to find somewhere to put it all, but we didn't really have a place. We have been on the hunt for a corner cabinet since the first of the year but haven't had any luck.

My dear friend Lauren found some pieces at the Peddler's Mall in Nicholasville that she thought might work, so Drew and I headed over to see if there was anything we liked. Wow! The Peddler's Mall was packed full of interesting things. Here is our first awesome purchase.



This artwork is by Dwight Yoakam's wife. It was a set of three pieces but we just didn't have the room. I thought this piece was a steal at just $100. It now resides over our bed.

And low and behold we found something to put our new presents in. Not the corner cabinet we had originally set our for, but these pieces work a lot better in our space. It is of course already full of wonderful wedding presents.



To continue with our antiques/other people's goodies, Drew, my best friend Salena, and I set off to take in the 400 mile yard sale along US 27. This stretches from the state of Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky. It is on the list of 1000 things to do before you die, if you are interested.

We got up early on Friday morning to insure that we didn't miss any good deals. Salena was looking for children's books since she is going to be sharpening the minds of our children, Drew was looking for antiques and deals, I was the passenger.

A few of our purchases....

$5 steal...




Salena's purchase....



I came home with 7 peacock feathers that I got for free at a yard sale. There were in a vase and the lady told me that her mother (who had passed on) would want me to have them. Score! I did the best of anyone that day.

I know that some of my fellow bloggers and readers are into antiques! Right?

I can do anything...

There are days when things just don't seem to be going our way. We feel as if nothing is going our way. Sometimes, in the midst of wedding planning and sale seasons, I, too, feel that way. Then I saw this video....

To all my followers... we can do anything! we can like everything!




Have a great weekend!

My southern mansion...

I realize that I have been incredibly awful with my blog posting lately. Things have been extremely busy here the last little bit, and for some reason I haven't been in the mood to blog. Though - I have had things to talk about.

The first weekend in May, every year (no, not the Derby) is the Cattlemen's Choice sale in Colbert, Georgia. I have been going down there for years for the sale. And every year, we pass by this old, dilabated home that you can tell has a lot of potential. Mom and I always dreamed of what we could do with it.

A few years ago while I was interning in Kansas City with the Hereford Association, mom called to tell me that it had finally been remodeled. She sent me a picture on my phone, and man was it beautiful.

I took Drew and tried to convince him to buy it for me when we were down there this past month, but no go. :( I always love to drive by it and picture myself living in it. So for now... all we can do is dream, but I thought I'd share it with you all. Go ahead and drool.....

Be our Guest...

First off, I apologize for the recent abstenece from the world of blogging. Life has sure been busy with cow sales, sheep sales, and oh yeah,that little thing called a wedding around the corner.




Last night though, Drew and I took a little time for a date night and headed to the Lexington Opera House for the final performance of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. I love musicals. There is something about the costumes, the singing, and dancing that can transform you into a whole different world. This was my 5th musical that I have seen, but it was Drew's first.

It was FANTASTIC! The music was wonderful and the special effects for a smaller, touring Broadway production were extradionary. Of course, my favorite number was "Be our Guest" complete with dancing forks, salt and pepper shakers, and plates. It made you want to jump right out of your seat. One of Drew's favorite numbers was "Gaston" in the tavern which they did a really cool number with clanging beer mugs - almost like a step show.

We took this as a date night, but the crowd was quite diverse. I believe a lot of ladies got it for Mother's Day. There were families, little boys, husbands, and of course, the little ladies dressed up as Belle.

They will be announcing the new line up of Broadway productions coming to Lexington at the end of May, so we are excited to see what is coming to town. Drew now has the theatre bug. He said he was surprised at how much he actually liked it. :)