Favorite Things

Hello! One of my favorite blogs, Centsational Girl, is having a link party called "Favorite Things in My Town."  So, I thought I'd create a little post for you on my favorite things in my little town.


Texarkana is a Twin City located in the northeast corner of Texas and the southwest corner of Arkansas. There are two of almost everything: two city mayors, two city governments, two police departments, and two fire departments, etc. It's "Twice as Nice".

The Mister and I both grew up in Texarkana. I don't think either of us thought we would end up back here after college. But after getting married and finding jobs here, it just seemed right. All of our family is here and we are slowly but surely finding out our small town isn't all that bad.

Some of our favorite things about Texarkana are the locally owned businesses that are located in our downtown. Our downtown is truly split between the two states with State Line Avenue running straight through the middle. Our Post Office and Federal Courthouse sits right in the middle of the street. It is known to be the "second most photographed post office in the United States".

You can stand in front of this sign and have one foot in each state!

Ok- Cheesy I know but people do it all the time!

The best place to grab a great cup of coffee or a delicious sandwich is at Merfeld's Bread Company right across the street from the Post Office.

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My favorite sandwich is the Post Office Pineapple!

A great place to have dinner and drinks is at Hopkins Icehouse. It used to be an old feed and seed store (it still has "insecticides" on the building!) downtown but has now been renovated to a unique bar/restaurant.

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They have great food ranging from pizzas, like the "Buffalo Chicken" or the "Newton", to burgers and other dishes, like Blackened Catfish, Pecan Tilapia, and Fettuccine Alfredo. They have live music on the weekends and specials all through the week.

Our favorite place to get fresh fruits and vegetables is at the Texarkana, Texas Farmers' Market.

This is where you can find us any Saturday morning selling the Mister's Best Salsa in the Ark-La-Tex!

My favorite building is the old Grim Hotel. Back in the day, it used to be THE place to stay in Texarkana.

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Now, it is abandoned and falling apart. BUT there are big plans to renovate it into luxury lofts and apartments in the years to come and I can't wait to see this beauty come back to life!

 

And my favorite door (I told you I had a thing for doors!) is 213 1/2 Main Street.

I love the color and the rustic-ness of the chippy paint! I have no idea where the door leads but I absolutely love it!

The best place to watch the sunset is out over the dam on Lake Wright Patman. We live right down the road from the lake and love to head out that way for a pretty sunset!

I guess my favorite thing to do is eat (by looking at all my "favorites")! Have you visited any of our favorite places? If you come to town, be sure to swing by!

Life Full of Love and Cookies!

My dear friend Casey is getting married in a few short weeks! I wanted to make a special gift for her new home.

My inspiration came from Cally-Cruze.

Calico

She used an utensil holder for her cookie recipe. I loved this idea but I found this jar and thought it could work double duty! It could be a utensil holder if she wanted or she could use it simply as a cookie jar!

All I did was use the same recipe from Cally Cruze and painted it on the jar with a paint pen. I stuffed it with kitchen towels, an oven mit, and various kitchen utensils! I love the way it turned out and can't wait to get it the kitchen and bake some cookies!

Do you have any good ideas for hand made gifts? Any simple and delicious recipes to share?

Look What I Got!!

Look what I got in today!

I can't wait to show you where this is going! Hopefully I will have an update soon!

Workin' It with Business Cards!

I just picked up my new business cards and I am so excited! They look so good!! YAY! 

Give me call if you need any help with remodeling your home or just adding a few accessories to your space!

n.e.l.s.o.n=c.h.r.i.s.t.i.a.n

My baby brother Nelson became a Christian a couple of weeks ago! It is great to see God working in that little man! David and I went to see his baptism last night. My family's Methodist church does not have a baptistery but they use the next best thing... a swimming pool!

Nelson and little Lindsay were both baptized and a good crowd came out to watch.

And then he celebrated with a canon ball!

Look at that smile! Such a cutie!

Nelson got a new bible for his big decision so I decided to make a bookmark to accompany it!

On one side it has a great bible verse and also the date he was saved. The other side is for important dates. I listed the day he was saved and also the day he was baptized. I left room for other important dates he wants to remember!

 

I think he liked it (I had to drag him out of the pool to get a picture)

 

So happy for that little boy!

Our 1st Anniversary

David and I celebrated our 1st Anniversary August 7th. Although we had a lovely dinner and dessert to celebrate while in Odessa, Ukraine, we wanted to have a secondary celebration at home just the two of us!

David cooked a delicious steak dinner and The Bakerman made a copy of our wedding cake topper! Although it wasn't exactly a match, I think it tasted better than a year old frozen cake. The flowers were so pretty and David bought me the Wraparound Ring from Sundance. It is absolutely beautiful! For my solar-loving husband, I bought a solar charger for cell phones, iPods, cameras, etc. I also made a Love Map for us to enjoy.

Each heart represents some special place in our relationship: where he proposed, where we were married, where we honeymooned, where we spent our 1st anniversary, etc. I have a little extra space that I think may fit another row of hearts, so our adventures never end!

My inspiration came from Jessie at Cape 27 Blog.

We haven't found the perfect place for it yet, but I will be sure to let you know where she/he ends up!

Toast- to another great year and many more DIY Projects!

The Doors of Ukraine

We had a wonderful time in Ukraine visiting my brother-in-law and celebrating our first anniversary. Matt has been there for the past two years teaching English with the Peace Corps. We started in the capital, Kiev, and then went to Dnipropetrovsk, which is a larger town near where Matt has been living. We then spent three days in Odessa which is a lovely town on the coast of the Black Sea and then spent a day in Verhnyodniprovsk, the small town that Matt lives and teaches in, before traveling back to Kiev to fly home.

I have always had a thing for doors and windows when I travel! I was glad to see I was not the only person to snap tons of pictures of doors in foreign cities. Meredith at Welcome to Heardmont posted about The Doors of Paris from her recent trip abroad and it inspired me to do a post of the Doors of Ukraine.

I had my camera around my neck the entire trip and got a few crazy looks from my husband and brother-in-law as I snapped photo after photo of doors and windows. But these photos turned out to be some of my favorite pictures from the trip!

The Doors of Ukraine

The Windows of Ukraine

Which door is your favorite? Window?
 My favorite is the royal blue door and the green window!

This is not a door or window but I thought it was pretty!