Personal Insight

Biltmore House viewed from one of the walking paths through the gardens.
B.E. Interiors Photography

You know, life is a constant learning process. No matter how old you get, you never know it all (sorry kids!). I love to look at soothing neutral rooms. They really appeal to me and I love to design them. Guess what I've learned, though. I don't like living with them! I totally neutralized my dining room this past fall and had it done just in time for Thanksgiving and the family dinner after my grandfather-in-law's funeral. At the time, I liked it. It was so drastically different than what I'm used to doing in my own home. I experimented... and I learned something new about myself. I'm just not a neutral kinda gal and it's not appealing to me anymore! [Oh, the hubby will just loose it if he reads this!]

It's not that I don't think it looks pulled together, but I can tell I've been going through kind-of a dark season in life. It feels like a funeral home to me now! Maybe it's just because immediately after finishing the room, I was hosting the family meal after burying a loved one. Now, I'm waiting on a second funeral to happen in the near future.

My grandmother is rapidly slipping away. She fell about two weeks ago, hitting her head incredibly hard. I'm surprised it didn't kill her. Also surprising was the fact that no bones were broken. Ever since, though, she's slipped really fast. I wonder as I leave her each morning after our "coffee" (when I check on her, gather up her dirty clothes to wash, etc.) if I'll see her again the next day. I wouldn't trade this time with her for anything. But, it's extremely draining emotionally... spending each day wondering if it's your last with someone you love. The last thing I need right now is to feel like I'm in a funeral home in my place of refuge - my home! Whether it really looks that way or not, it's how it feels because of all we've been through since it was finished. I can't think of anything that lifts your spirits better than a good dose of color and remembering this verse:

"Be joyful always; pray continually;give thanks in all circumstances, 

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

So, I'm looking to change it up a little. I'm craving some color! There's just too much black and beige. It's almost spring time and things are starting to bloom. Spring is my favorite time of year...when everything seems to be full of life and new beginnings.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet in the dining room, but I'm tossing around some ideas. Nothing major. I do still like the paint. Some color just needs to be injected and a little of the black removed. The wheels are spinning....!

The boys in front of the "castle"!
B.E. Photography

Biltmore House viewed from the Italian Gardens.
B.E.  Photography

The brilliant orange of these bushes in the dead of winter really inspired me
to come home and liven things up a bit with some color!
B.E. Photography

In the meantime, I thought I'd share some pictures I took at The Biltmore House last weekend. As a little family celebration of me being done with the rental house and finally home on the weekends, we jumped in the car last weekend and headed up for the day. Nothing was blooming, and there was a bitter cold wind blowing, but it was fun. Not so sure it was good for this upper respiratory mess I've had for what seems like forever, but never the less, we had a good time. I'm not sure if the kids were more  excited to see "the castle" or the animals at the petting zoo:) Enjoy!

One of the gargoyles on the Biltmore.
B.E. Photography

Cherub in the Italian Gardens at the Biltmore House.
B.E. Photography

Big Boy petting the horse at the petting zoo on the grounds.
B.E. Photography

This poor girl made me laugh:) She was about to drop a kid or two at any moment and had decided to rest in the wheelbarrow! I so feel her pain. What I wouldn't have given to be hauled around in a wheel barrow at that point!
B.E.  Photography

I think everyone wanted his woolly coat that day!
B.E. Photography

The two youngest taking a ride before heading home. Don't you just love my middle guy's fashion sense? And to think...I used to swear there would NEVER be camouflage in my home!

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