I am a wife & mommy...and loving it!!! I love the Lord with all my heart! When I am not keeping busy with my 3 boys, I craft, sew & practice my photography!
The year was 1994. I was 16 years old (I will save you the math...I am 34 years awesome!). I had just cashed my first paycheck from my hostess job at Bob Evan's Restaurant. The money was burning a whole in my pocket.
I happened to go to a yard sale with my parents that was near an antique district. My mom was really into buying antique furniture. While she was looking around the yard sale, I came across an antique (that is what we called them waaaaaay back then...haha...now the cool thing is to call antiques, vintage!) cabinet & sewing machine.
It was for sale. I had money that I was itching to spend.
SOLD!!
The old gentleman that was running the sale was selling it for much higher. I don't remember what he had it priced at. His daughter was bargaining for me & got it down to $25! I think that they sold it to me for so cheap was because they thought it was cute that this 'lil curly haired red head that looked 12 years old wanted to buy an antique sewing machine'!
I guess I thought it looked cool. Then part of me was thinking that I could really cash in later in life if I sold it!
Now I would NEVER dream of selling it....unless the price was right...lol.....just kidding....sort of...if it could pay my house off, I'd load it up myself into your car...haha!
So 18 years later, it has stayed tucked inside the cabinet. Never taken out. It has been used as our "tv stand" since I have been married. I have been wanting to redo my bedroom "Pinterest Style"....so this morning I took my TV off of the cabinet. I have been looking into the possibility of painting the cabinet that retro minty-teal color.
As I opened the cabinet, I found that it was 'stuck'! My mom happened to stop by & we pried it open. Well, the wood that held the machine inside, was broken. As we opened the lid, the machine fell off. I am going to have my Dad fix it. But it was actually kinda cool to be able to take it our & clean her up!
From the looks of it, it was made in 1913....almost 100 years old! It was made by White Rotary, in Cleveland, OH. {HERE} is where you can read the history of the company!
I posted a pic of my machine on our shop's FB, asking if I should paint it. I got an overwelming reply of "KEEP IT AS IS"!!! If I don't, I think an angry mob might come after me! But this is what I was thinking about doing...
What do you think? Should I keep it as is? Or should I paint it? I am kinda torn! I can "see" how beautiful it would look painted...bringing color & life to the corner of my bedroom...but then I can see how if I painted it, it would ruin the integrity of the history of the cabinet!
WWYD? {what would YOU do}
EDITED TO ADD: After studying the machine more, I came to realize that on the back of the machine, the original owners added an electric motor conversion onto it! So, it was originally a non-electric machine, but to keep up with the times, they bought a little motor made by the Whites Co. that would turn the wheel. The motor was bolted onto the back of the machine, then it was plugged into the cabinet, where an electric peddle must have been attached to. So it is super cool that I got a lil piece of history...a pre-electric sewing machine, that was brought into the "modern" sewing age!
Almost 15 years ago Joe & I got married. We were so young. We looked like kids in wedding clothes. Heck, we were kids! LOL! But if I had to do it all over again, I would STILL have gotten married to my 20 year old husband as I walked my 19 year old self down the church aisle! We could not afford to go on a honeymoon. We took a rain check, saying that one day that we would go to Barbados...never really thinking that we would...
Another thing that we wanted to do was to renew our vows to each other. For some reason when I think about people renew their vows it is because they were having marriage problems & want to start a-new. That is not the reason why we decided to renew our vows...we just wanted to express to eachother how much we are still totally in love with one another. {gushy...I know}
We got up super early to renew our vows. I get embarrassed easy. I didn't want anyone to see us doing it. I almost chickened out & didn't do it....but as you can tell by the pictures below, we went ahead with it...
Then here are a few pics of Ernie & Missy goofin' around!! LOL!!
Later on that day we all decided to walk down the shore to a coral reef area where you are suppose to be able to see a bunch of fish. We borrowed the snorkel equipment from the resort & walked down the reef. As soon as we got our feet into the water & could barely stand up as the waves were throwing around, we should have gotten right out! It was the worst experience! The waves were pushing us around, we were tripping in our flippers, water was coming into our masks & we were close to being rammed into the the shallow reef. Now when I say WE...I mean Joe & I. As soon as E & M hit the water they turn into Fish Boy & Fish Girl! LOL! Joe & I couldn't see anything & were misrable. The water was just too choppy to do any
After our renewal & breakfast, we went back to our rooms &
chilled for a little bit. We wanted to skype/facetime our kids before
we took off snorkeling. Being able to video chat with the kids twice a
day was a life saver! We had internet access throughout the
resort...even on the beach!! It made it so much more bearable to be
away from them!
I felt like a peeping Tom taking that last pic of Ernie &
Missy skyping with the kids, but I just couldn't help myself...this was
too sweet of a moment not to take it!!!
Later
on that day we all decided to walk down the shore to a coral reef area
where you are suppose to be able to see a bunch of fish. We borrowed
the snorkel equipment from the resort & walked down the reef. As
soon as we got our feet into the water & could barely stand up as
the waves were throwing us around, we should have gotten right out
then! It was the worst experience! The waves were pushing us around,
we were tripping in our flippers, water was coming into our masks &
we were close to being rammed into the the shallow reef. Now when I say
WE...I mean Joe & I. As soon as E & M hit the water they turn
into Fish Boy & Fish Girl! LOL! Joe & I couldn't see anything
& was miserable. In our opinion, the water was just too choppy to
do any sort if snorkeling, so we headed back to shore. As we were
falling over in the water, trying to get our flippers off our feet, we
heard Ernie yelling to us from the ocean. I just assumed that he was
asking what was wrong. I couldn't hear what he was saying & knew
that yelling out our explanation of why we were calling it a day would
not be heard by him either, I decided to give him a thumbs down with my
hand. Next thing we know, Ernie swam to shore, asking where Missy was.
You see, when Ernie was yelling at us, he was asking where Missy was
at. When I gave him the "thumbs down", he was like, "OMG, something
happened to Missy, she has gone down"!!! LOL!! So where was Missy? She
had become one with the fishies, snorkeling far off into the sea, not
even aware of how far she was! After it was all said & done, this
"thumbs down" thing became a joke the whole rest of the trip!
We
decided to keep to snorkeling close to our hotel shore, where the water
was calm, for the rest of our trip! We left the underwater camera with
Missy, who got some cool footage of some undersea creatures:
After our near death experience of our almost death by
coral reef, Joe & I headed back to our hotel to shower up & get
ready for our next adventure. But before I get to that, let me just
note that as we walked back to our hotel, we passed a bunch of Bajan
kids & teens playing at the beach. It was their first day of summer
break, so they were hitting the beach hard! Each group of teens we
passed, almost every single one of them stopped what they were doing
& said hello to us! USA teens could care less about saying hello to
passerbys! There was even this part where we had to climb up this rock
to get to our path & this really nice teenage boy saw us & ran
over to help me climb up the rock! He jumped up there first & took
my hand to help me up! OK...seriously, how great are these Bajan
kids!!!
One of the things that Joe & I have always
wanted to do was to go horseback riding on the beach in Barbados. When
we got here, we talked with the front desk person about booking a ride
on the beach. The first thing that she asked me, "What style do your
ride? English or Spanish?" I replied, "Um...cowgirl? Western?"! LOL!! I
had never even knew of a spanish riding style before. So she called a
guy that they like to recommend, Steve's Stables. We were booked! Yea!!
Steve came & picked us up in his car and drove us
to his stable. Steve got our horses ready for us to mount. I don't
remember the name of Joe's horse, but my horse's name was named
Sideliner. He is a race horse! When we got on the horse, Steve gave us
a quick lesson on riding English. Very different from our Western
style that we are use to. First off, the saddle is different. There is
no knob at the top of the saddle to hold onto. The saddle is less
bulky, too. The second difference is how you hold the reigns. We had
to hold it with three fingers, from our ring finger to pointer finger.
Then the reigns would rest on top of our pinkies & thumbs. With our
right hand, we hand to hold a whip/stick in between our pinky finger
& the reign. To get our horses to go, we would have to hit the
horse on the neck. Personally, I had a problem with this. I know that
the horse is use to this & it really doesn't hurt them...especially
the way I hit them (I tried it out on my own leg & I barely felt
it...that might be the reason why my horse went so slow!), but I just
felt bad for hitting it. As we started off, I immediately noticed how
well trained & responsive our horses were. I would barely pull the
reign to the left & the horse would go left! I have ridden horses
here in the USA & they were never this well trained! It was
amazing!
Before
I go on about our ride, I want to tell you a lil bit about my horse
Sideliner. First off, the most noticeable thing about him was that he
shakes his head up & down....constantly! At first I thought he was
playing around, but he just kept doing it. I finally asked Steve about
it. He told me the backstory on Sideliner. He is a thoroughbred
horse. To be a race horse in Barbados, you have to be. He comes from
some famous racehorses. When he was born, he was sold for $100k
(omg!!!) to someone who kept him inside a stable most of his horsey
life. Steve didn't tell me this part, but I am guessing that maybe the
owner bought him as a status symbol...they weren't really into horses
& their care. So because Sideliner was stuck in his stable, not
able to roam in a field or ridden, he developed a neurological tick. He
began bobbing his head up & down. He will do this for the rest of
his life. It made me instantly fall in love with him, as I know how it
is to love special need kids. He kinda reminded me of an autistic
child.
So back to our ride, we started off at his stable, which was in
the woods. I was guessing that he had a path that lead to the beach
where we would romantically ride our horses. Steve was first, Joe was
second & me and Sideliner took up the rear. As we started off, I
noticed that Steve was leading us away from the woods....then next thing
I knew he was having us cross the street with our horses!! From the
looks of it, there was no more woods...he was planning on having us ride
in the street...with all those crazy drivers!!! OMG!!! I instantly
broke out into sweat! This is NOT what I signed up for! I started
praying under my breath, "Oh God...please don't let me die in the
streets of Barbados here on this horse"!!! I squealed every time a car
or bus would pass us! I asked him, "Is this safe"? He was like, "Oh
yeah, here in Barbados, drivers are very respectful of horses on the
street. Horses have the rightaway on the street. They MUST stop and
let us pass & cross. If a driver hits & kills a horse, they get
an automatic 7 years in prison"! Steve had way more faith than I did
in Bajan drivers!
As I got use to riding on the street with those cars passing us
by, I began to enjoy the ride. When we had ever gone outside of the
resort in a taxi-van, the drivers would drive fast. By riding on the
horses, we could really take in Barbados. Steve must be a popular guy
because as we rode people kept saying hello to him. As we toured
St.James/Holetown area, Steve would point out the homes of some famous
people. The owner of Ferrari, Oprah's former home, Simon Cowell's condo
building that he owns (He sells them for 15million per unit!! OMG,
right?!?! You can drive your car right into the building & an
elevator takes your car up to your unit! Oh...and if you prefer
helicopter as your form of transportation, there is a helicopter pad on
top of the building. For $15mil, there better be!).
I
know the photos are not that great. I was sneaking to take them
without Steve knowing. I was scared he would yell at me for not paying
attention while riding! LOL! Here are a few more of my sneaky-snake
photos...and a video!
We also rode through the entrance of the Sandy Lane Golf (click on that link...look how GORG it is!!) course that Tiger Woods got married at. It is CRAZY expensive to golf there!
We finally made it to the beach part of our ride, which was
around sunset! A perfect time to ride on the beach! Just before
sunset, Steve got off his horse to take a picture of Joe & I...
Here is a super short video accidentally taken. Steve thought he
was taking a picture, but I accidentaly had the camera on video mode.
The reason why I am showing you this tiny clip is because I want you to
hear Steve's accent...and I wanted you to see Sideliner's head bob:
Meanwhile, as we were taking these pictures, Missy was waiting
for us to arrive at our resort's beach (where we thought the ride would
be over, but it ended up going on for another hour!!!). She took a
video of the sunset & then took a video of us riding up to our
beach!
Like I had said before, we thought that our ride was only going
to be an hour long & that we would end by being dropped off at our
resort's beach....but as we got to the beach, Steve turned around and
kept on riding! As we rode back to his stable, one noteable thing
happened, a bus driver was coming up from behind us and reved his
engine, making Joe's horse going to two feet & nearly bucking him
off! Steve started yelling, which we both had thought that he was
yelling at Joe (Steve is really nice, but he doesn't seem to have much
patients), but he was actually yelling at the driver. He got the
driver's bus number and vowed to report him for scaring the horses!
Overall the ride was absolutely awesome! The only thing that was
a lil disappointing was at how slow Sideliner was. Because he is a
racehorse, he only responds to the whip. And because I hit him so
gently, he didn't really move. Steve kept yelling back at me to hit
him! I in turn kept having stern conversations with Sideliner to start
moving because I didn't want Steve to yell at me! LOL!
After we got back to the stable & then back to our resort,
Joe & I barely had enough time to get dressed for dinner...which was
BBQ night....casual night! That night Missy & I wore our
"sexy-mama-shorts"! LOL!
To read more about our daily adventures in Barbados, click {HERE}!
Want to win a necklace from my {SHOP}??? All you have to do is head over to our shop's {BLOG} to enter! It is pretty easy-peasy! Pick your favorite necklace from our {SHOP}...post your fav's link on our {FB Page}...then enter to win on our {BLOG}! You can also earn some bonus entries!!
Hope one of my readers win!!! If you do, come back here & let me know!!! :)
Today was the day I have been looking forward to since I watched a show on The Travel Channel about Barbados!
Zip Lining!!
A few years ago, Joe & I happened to stumble upon a show on The Travel Channel about all the cool things that you can do in Barbados. One of those things was Zip Lining. I had never even thought about doing something like that, but once I saw how cool & fun it was, it went to the top of our "To Do in Barbados" List!
We got picked up in the morning by a really cool driver. I honestly can not remember his name, but do remember how awesome he was! I was in a rush to get to the lobby of the resort. I don't remember what made me late. I do know that I was in a huff that my hair was a mess. Since I was in the water so much, my hair seemed to be in a constant bun. Oh, I remember now why I was running late! I was trying to flat iron/curl my hair. The humidity was working against me. I wasn't sure if I could wear my head in a bun since I knew we would have to wear a helmet. I didn't want my hair to be a frizzy pony mess!! So we get a call in our room saying that our driver was there. My hair was a mess!! So I went ahead & put my hair in a bun and walked out of the room. Then I looked at my shoes....I was wearing flip flops! So I tole Joe to go to the lobby and I would be right there! I went back to my room to grab my tennis shoes...but couldn't find my socks!! Ahhh!!! I finally found the socks (leaving a tornado of a room)...and ran down to the lobby in my bare feet, with my socks & shoes in hand! The driver could sense that I was stressed cause he mentioned it! He was like, "Hey, this is Barbados...there are no worries here!"
Let me say that the driver was THE craziest driver we have had while in Barbados! We drove way to fast & way to crazy for my taste! I was praying, grabbing the sides of the van & wincing as we barely escaped side swiping passing cars! But as crazy of a driver as he was, he was super funny. He destracted you from the thought of possibly dying in a tragic van accident with his humorous stories! We were laughing so hard over his antics!
Once we got to Ariel Trek Zip Lining & we were suited up in our gear:
We then walked to our first platform. This is where our guides, Coco & Bob (neither of these names were their real names, I think that they tell people this is their names because it is a lil easier to say?), gave us instruction on how to zipline. Missy was the first to go...
I am glad she was first! I know I didn't want to be the first one in our group to go! But I was next!!
The worst part of zip lining is waiting to do it for the first time! It was actually very fun & easy. You are zip ling thru the rain forest (I like to say the jungle, but we were actually zip lining thru a gully...but if I say jungle, it is because it is much cooler than a gully! lol), more focused on not doing anything wrong that you really do not get to enjoy the beauty of the jungle!
Here are some pics of the guys:
Zip ling was a blast!! Here are some more pics from our adventure:
Here are some videos of us all zip lining in Barbados! Make sure you watch the last one, so funny!!!
When we were all done flying thru the rainforest, we decided to get some beach action on!!! One thing that all of us has always wanted to try was jet skiing! So each couple rented a jet ski & we took to the sea! Here is a video of Joe & I (and E&M in the distance): {video taken with a Flip in a waterproof case}
And to close today's blog about our Thursday in Barbados, I will leave you with some pictures!
We saw a rainbow almost every single day!!!
O-H-I-O!!!
To read more about our Barbados adventures, click {HERE}
