A New Look!

You are in the right place..."Just Us Gibsons" or "The Goings On of the Gibsons" has just had a makeover! Thanks to winning the Lots of Scotts giveaway last week, my blog got a new look with a custom header designed by Keri at KCDesign. Keri was a real joy to work with...and as indecisive as I am...boy did she have a job on her hands!

So, without further delay, let me explain my new header!

I've always loved the quote you see above..."Families are like quilts...lives pieced together...stitched with smiles and tears...colored with memories...and bound by love", and as I was trying to think of ideas for the design, my sweet hubby reminded me of it. Keri took that quote and our love of all things old...antiques, stained glass, quilts, family memorabilia...and initially pulled some photos from the net to fill it in. I loved it, but couldn't help feeling like it would be more meaningful and personal if some of our own treasures were pictured. So, we got the camera out and the items you see above were photographed by none other than yours truly. No telling how much time Keri had to spend cropping and adjusting them...I don't even want to know!!!

During the process we decided to change our name as well...since this is a place I like to journal about the events in our lives that are sure to become memories and because life with our two girls is definitely colorful, we chose to pull "Colored With Memories" from the quote.

I don't expect all of this history to interest you, but I want to record it for myself at least so here goes nothing.

Families are like quilts...this quilt piece came from an heirloom quilt made by my great-great grandmother Maude Abigail Perkins Degroff...she was born in 1882...I am not sure when it was made, but my grandmother, Shirley Amelia Paske Manthe, had this piece of it framed and matted and gave it to me as Christmas gift in 1988...(and one to each of the other grandchildren)...so I've had it 20 years already...and love it dearly!

Lives pieced together...this is a picture of the old general store in Golden, a small E. Texas town...population 156. My sweet father-in-law, Jerry H. Gibson, moved there when he was in first grade. They moved their house from the farm to town (actually tore part of it down and later rebuilt it...get it? "pieced together") when his father stopped farming and went to work on the railroad. Apparently his mother didn't want to be way out in the country by herself while her husband was away on the railroad! I call that LOVE! Completely moving a house for your wife! That house still stands, although the family sold it a few years back. This little town is special to our family because of the roots Jerry has there...and on another note...it is also the place where our family burial plot is and where we hope to be laid to rest one day. On a lighter note we really enjoy the annual sweet potato festivals that Golden hosts every October. Oprah even featured the Golden Sweet Potato on one of her "favorite thing" shows...you can read more about all of that back on one of my very first posts.

Stitched with smiles and tears...This is our "Gibson" name doily. My mom crocheted it for us as a present for our first wedding shower in April of 1999. My mom has always been crafty with her handiwork. I know I took it for granted as a child...I sure wish I could replicate some of the fun Halloween costumes she made for us girls...but seeing I can barely sew on a button, I don't see that happening! My mom has given us many of her little projects over the years including doily drink coasters, an afghan for us and a couple of knitted blankets and a name doily for Lily...wait, I think she needs to get busy on something for Jade!! Just kidding, Mom! Anyway, we really love our "Gibson" and I'm pretty sure there were more tears than smiles getting it finished for our shower!

Colored with memories...we love antique stained glass...this picture is of one of a pair of stained glass pieces that Jerry's Uncle Howard gave to us. Uncle Howard is Jerry's Mom's twin brother, and he is a big part of our life. Not having any uncles of my own...closer than a thousand miles that is...I consider Uncle Howard MY UNCLE! Anyway, he has exceptional taste and is always giving us little treasures that he as collected over the years. The colorful piece you see here, and its matching twin, was pulled from an old house in Arizona (the state where I was born!) that was being torn down...he had them reframed and gave them to us 30 years later. We've moved 3 times since inheriting them and it is always a joy finding the perfect place in our home to display them.

Bound by love...a glance at these three glass medicine bottles instantly brings back memories...flashback to 2002 when we were renovating a 1922 bungalow in inner city Dallas. We had focused on the interior first...painting every inch of it...even the closets...refinishing the 80 year old hardwoods, refinishing hardware that had been painted, etc, etc, etc. Finally we got around to doing some landscaping. My dad was there helping us and in the process of tilling the soil (we were too cheap to rent a tiller, so he was doing this by hand w/a shovel...thankfully) he dug up these 3 old medicine bottles! They are precious to me...I love thinking back to that old house and the labor of love it was...renovating it with Jerry...only something we could have accomplished early in our marriage...pre-kid for sure! Why did I put this picture with "bound by love"?...If tilling and sodding a yard with his daughter and son-in-law doesn't demonstrate a father's love...I don't know what else does!

Wow, this post got long fast. I'm not sure if any of my 5 faithful readers are still with me, but if you are, leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the new look! Thanks again to Lots of Scotts for the giveaway! Also, be sure to check out KCDesign to see what other headers Keri has been creating!