The Longest Yard Sale { part two}

I have been processing this weekend all day. I don’t think I can put into words properly how I feel. I am warning you now, this is a long post, but it is good! This weekend was totally unexpected and one of the most memorable weekends I have ever had. It all started last week when my air conditioner broke. We were supposed to drive out to Kansas City to visit my friend Crystal and her family but all of our money was spent on our air conditioner. If you know anything about Bama humidity, it was necessary! My kids were disappointed because they were not going to get to go on a last vacation. We were planning on taking two days to drive out there because it is a 14 hour trip, see part of the country we never have, spend a few days with Crystal and then do the same thing coming home. We decided last minute to try Priceline for a Chattanooga Hotel for two nights. We were shocked when our offer was accepted to stay at the Marriott for a little of nothing. Only God. Then, I found out that the Longest Yard Sale was the same weekend. This was a Bonus! We gave our kids a little spending money, and drove from Chattanooga up Signal Mountain and spent the entire day going to yard sales.

My kids had so much fun and so did we. To top this awesome day off, Rosemary, a sweet friend I met at Haven, left us four tickets to the Aquarium at the front desk of our hotel. I had two incredibly happy kids. I have so many stories from this trip it will take me days to share them all.
Right before we left, I found out that 5 incredibly talented bloggers were on a journey with General Motors and Habitat for Humanity, shopping the same sale I was to decorate a home for a deserving single mom. They started in Michigan and landed right here in my home state. Not only did they land in my state but the house they were decorating was 20 minutes away from me! Chris, one of the sweetest people I have ever met and one of the GM employees, invited me to join them and lend a hand. We got back Saturday night so the timing was perfect. I drove up around 8:30 am, got out of the car with doughnuts and flowers and walked up to the driveway where they were working away.

There standing in the driveway was my blog friend Donna, (aka funky) right there in the flesh, right in front of me. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it when blog worlds collide in real life!! I was so happy to hug her neck and tell her how much I adore her to her FACE! Donna, if you are reading this, you are one cool chick and I now have Canada on my “to do” list. That would be great, EH?

At the house I had the privilege of washing all of Donna’s treasures. She won the prize for the dirtiest junk.( Although if you read my Facebook post from today, I might have beaten her on that one.)

She found some really awesome stuff and did a super job with her room.

Donna found this really neat chest and painted the drawers in chalk board paint. I cleaned that tackle box. It was full of old hooks and lures. It is now fit for jewelry! Clever, Eh?

After I cleaned up Donna’s stuff, I went to help Brittany from Pretty Hand Girl,( aka Handy), Oh Handy, how I LOVE her! What a treasure she is and a talented one too! I first helped her hang this amazing wall art she created out of old air hose. Yes, I said hose. Can you believe it? She used wire to form the letters of hello then attempted to find the studs and hang it with nails. Genius.

This girl has a heart of gold and I was so sad I didn’t get to spend more time with her. She even let me get creative with some of the things she found. I was able to layer this one dollar window with two grapevine wreathes, make a bow out of twine and create some roses out of old readers digest books.

I also helped sweet Brooke, from All Things Thrifty finish up her kitchen by assembling her chairs, arranging her flowers, and doing some general cleaning. She did a great job! She painted all this furniture in under 5 hours. I was very impressed.

And then there is Traci from Beneath My Heart. Oh my, this girl has a HUGE heart. I so enjoyed getting to know her a little bit better. She and Cy created the cutest room, fit for a princess indeed! She was interviewed by one of our local news stations and it aired this morning. She did such a great job. Love you Traci girl!!

And last, but certainly not least, Lindsey from Better After did the boys room. She rocked this one. She broke down her cost over on her blog. It will knock your socks off how cheap it was.

I think all of us were worried about the homeowner liking it. I am pretty sure she did. She walked into the door completely overwhelmed and excited to say the least.

Good job my friends! I am so proud of all of you! You helped make a difference in someones life by sharing the talents God has blessed you with. I am so proud of you all! Thank you again Chris, for allowing me to be a part of something so special. I will never forget it.