Keeping Room

I posted about the work we did in our Keeping Room, well here are finally some pictures. There's a new couch with slipcover, a new lamp, new pillows (my mom made the two that match my valance...so awesome!), and an adorable new piece of wall art.

More News

It's always weird when your local town makes national news. Wish it weren't for something so tragic...click here.

Map

Here's a map of the tornado's path. Pardon my very rudimentary editing skills...haha! The dot to the right, on Lascassas, is our neighborhood. The other dot is where I work. We were safe!

Tornado Sadness

My sisters and I grew up in the Blackman community, and the road we took to get almost anywhere was Manson Pike. Over the past couple of years it has morphed and different parts have gotten different names, but there was a house on one particular stretch of that road that we loved...it looked just like a dollhouse. Here it is after the storms today (photos courtesy of dnj.com). I don't know why this is bothering me so much.

"Peace, Peace, Wonderful Peace"

Good afternoon, all. Well, M'boro experienced some pretty severe weather today. David was off for the holiday, so I had been calling him all day to stay updated since at work we don't have a radio or tv or anything. Here's my personal experience.

All of a sudden we hear that M'boro is under a warning, the sirens are going off at MTSU, and there are multiple rotations over Rutherford Co. Have to get away from all the windows and in an interior part of the building. Grab cell phone and sweater. Try to call family and loved ones..."Network busy." Send texts.

Power goes out.

Hail, loud rain, can't look out the windows to see what's going on.

Phones go out.

Quiet, quiet, quiet. "God let everyone be safe, please."

Peek out.

Call families...everyone safe.

Go home due to no power for the rest of the day...traffic, emergency vehicles, sirens, more traffic. Finally get home in one piece.

Hug...one giant hug.

My prayers this Good Friday are with everyone who's experienced a loss. Also with the emergency responders...that they have wisdom and strength.

Funny Commercial during March Madness

In case you're confused...the guys in the boxers are famous college basketball coaches. The guys in black are Metallica!

I love that they even have that little "plink" sound. That's what Guitar Hero does when you don't hit a note right.

What kind of room?

When my family moved into the house where my parents currently reside, there was a room in the house that was called the "keeping room" by the builder, agent, etc. We had never heard this term, but it was explained as a casual gathering place off the kitchen. When David and I bought our house in 2004 it also had a room on the plan called a keeping room. My parents' keeping room has a fireplace and comfy chairs, and it's where my Dad hangs out reading the paper, books, etc. Our keeping room is our family room. Our TV is there, and so is the comfy furniture. It's where we spend the majority of our leisure time, and since it's right off the kitchen it works perfectly! It's also a nice unimposing place to hang out when you have small groups of people over. I found a very good explanation and history of keeping rooms here.

I felt the need to bone up on my keeping room knowledge because today in Bell Buckle I found the cutest distressed-looking sign that simply says "Keeping Room." I can't wait for David to get it hung. It's so cute, and I don't know why I've always liked that name for a room. It does sound so colonial! I'll try to post a picture of our keeping room soon. We've done some work in there, and it's really looking good.