Happy, happy New Year! Hope you had a lovely evening! We certainly did. We spent it with some friends on the beach.
So... my word for 2013? FORWARD. Do you pick a word that inspires you for the year? This is my 5th year of participating. My "one little word" always picks me somehow. As the end of the year gets closer a word will begin entering my thoughts... and as much as I try to make sense of the word or try to pick a different one, it doesn't work. So Forward it is. Which I am excited about! I have so many fun things planned for this year!

 Now that the Christmas decor is put away and organized I added a few winter decor touches.

 I thought maybe you'd like to see?

 I added a few aqua touches here and there and decorated with my snowman collection and snowflakes.

 Do you decorate for winter? It helps the house from feeling so empty once the Christmas decor is down.

 Notice my paperwhites in the upper right hand corner in the picture above? They get so tall they start falling over! They smell soo good!

 I love the softness of the faux fur pillows and throw this time of year, so does Koko.

I found this fun crock at an antique store this summer, the twig sphere at Marshall's on Monday and the driftwood star at TJ Maxx.

For my mantel I left the window and the pine bough. I added the candle sticks, the urn filled with branches from the yard and snowflakes.

 I bought these cute little "Merry Christmas vinyl kits from Groupdealz  (I think)

 The kits came with the wood pieces and the vinyl, I added the paint, card stock and rhinestones from my crafting stash. One is going to my neighbor for a "neighbor gift". She bakes, so I didn't want to burden her with MORE baked goods =)

 I will probably keep one...

Now to decide which one to keep! Ha!

 It's been a while since I've posted anything on the blog. I will hopefully, be posting a little more regularly in the future =) Here is a brief update of things that have been happening around here. The garden guest bedroom is now a pretty shade of Lilac.

 I did try to paint it green first, since the hubby wasn't a fan of the lilac color.

 But the room just kept telling me it wanted to be lilac =) Does that happen to you?

 We've already had several guests stay in this room, picking it over the blue room, so I must have done something right.

 I shopped the house for the pictures on the walls, picked up the owl print at goodwill, painted the little owl on the dresser at a paint it yourself pottery shop. The chair came from a consignment store near my sister in Utah. I still need to recover the seat, but haven't found fabric I love yet.

 I collected the bedding, lamps and purple pillow at TJ Maxx, and made the coffee sack pillow. The comforter at the bottom of the bed came from Costco. The best part about this room is that it looks out onto the back courtyard.

 I love to bring a cup of something warm out here in the mornings and watch the squirrels and birds.

 Listen to the birds chirping and the water fountain. We extended this patio this summer, we added about 10 feet in length and took out a huge bed of plants and weeds. The hubby has been rebuilding the fireplace, he has a bit more to do to it before we can have smores.

 We brought in all new gravel to create this dining area under the tree, just so I could hang my candelabra from the branches.

 Added new gravel, extended the walkway and rebuilt flower beds.

 We had the house stained and all the trim painted. We had College Painters do the work, they were wonderful!

 We added all new gravel down this path also, we gave away our chickens and turned the chicken coop into a garden shed, for now.

 We fenced in the garden, built new raised beds and added hazelnut shells to keep the deer out.

 I bought the cute gated arbor at a store near my sister in Utah.

 We added blocks and pavers around the backside of the driveway and took out 2 trailers full of brush and bamboo.

 I can't even tell you how many trips to the yard waste dump we have taken, probably close to 10? maybe 12.

 All the trim was painted, along with the shutters.

 We cut quite a bit of the wisteria down, including all of it near the kitchen door. Moved a few bushes, and took a few completely out.

We also cut down a total of 5 trees! Whew! Oh, and I have 150 tulip and daffodil bulbs planted in the front and back of the house. It should be beautiful come spring! It feels good to be back! Have a wonderful evening!

I have gotten as close to done as I can for a few days in the guest bath and didn't want to prolong the "reveal" any longer. The hubby is crazy busy the next few days and I have a few things I need him to help me with... otherwise, it's done!

So here we go! Lots and lots of pictures, which of course don't do it justice!

 The hubby spray painted the toilet lever oil rubbed bronze since I wasn't able to find one locally.

 While he was at it he spay painted the hinges on the door too =). (When we moved into the house 18 months ago we changed out all the door hardware throughout the entire house to oil rubbed bronze.)

 I'm not sure if the chair will stay, I am liking it for now though. A couple shelves and some hooks still need to be installed on this wall.

Oops! See the box in the lower left corner? New toilet seat waiting to be installed.

 The marble floor is so smooth to walk on, I love it! Wishing I could put it in the master too ;)

 I reused the mirror I had, just spray painted it for now until I can find a larger one.

 This was the inspiration for the bathroom... I think I did pretty well. I wanted the colors of sea glass and a marble counter and floor.

 The hubby needs to install the drawer knobs, I have 2 different sets! I couldn't decide which ones I liked better!

 So pretty! Love, love love it!

 Not so pretty, ha! A few things to put away and hang, but it will get there.

 A couple more shots of the floor.

So happy its done! I will put together a post with the information on everything soon!