Changing Times at Casa de Gentry

Hi! There's been a lot of radio silence around here since we started kindergarten back in the fall. I didn't anticipate how much of our family's time would be taken up with school, but there it is.

But really, there's about six months of blank space here that can be filled with one big statement: WE'RE MOVING.

Yep, on February 24th we closed on this house we've lived in for almost ten years. I can hardly think about it for fear that I'll have a big, ugly cry, but indeed, we are moving. And it's to a new build, which has also taken up a ton of our time, thoughts, and energy. As sad as we are about leaving our original home, we are pumped about our new digs! We took our time to find the exact place we wanted to live yet still stay in the general vicinity, and the Lord guided our steps. We were looking for a new home for ministry, and that is exactly what He has prepared for us.


sneak peek of my new kitchen
By next Friday, we'll be completely moved out and in a holding pattern for a few short days until we close on our new home. Once we move in and have internet set up, I hope to start writing here again!

home tour from several years ago:
living room
kitchen
breakfast nook
brother's room
sister's room

New Ruffles at my House

This is kind of one more Christmas post, but I'm busy nesting over here. I'm decorating the house for Valentine's Day and moving things around to create a "toy room" (Jack's words, not mine) in what was formerly known as the study. In the process of all this, I snapped some shots of one of my favorite Christmas gifts.

On my mom's side of the family, the adults draw names at Christmastime. My cousin's wife got my name this year. She's a talented seamstress, and when I started brainstorming some suggestions for her for me, it was a no brainer. I have been wanting a neutral, ruffled table runner for a while, but I don't think my sewing skills are quite up to par for it. So I threw that out there to Andie as a possibility.

She took it and ran with it, and I love the results!


And yes, that Christmas greenery on my chandelier is the next thing on my list to take down and store. I forgot to do it before we put all the other Christmas decorations in the attic, so I'm dreading having to pull a box down from up there to put it away. I'm always scared I'll fall off the ladder.


She did such a beautiful job. I love the lace trim and box pleats, along with the grosgrain trim. It's perfect! Now to keep my crumb crushers' fingers off of it! She just recently listed it in her Etsy shop, if you've been on the hunt for something similar.

She also subscribed me to Southern Living for the year. Such a perfect combination!

My 3rd Mother's Day

I've spent the better part of an hour looking at this picture. Wondering what was going through Annabelle's mind while her daddy clicked and clicked, trying to get the one thing I wanted for Mother's Day--a picture to document that it happened in 2013. I know what was going through Jack's mind: "Let me down!"

But I've spent most of that time thinking how I can't and know I won't ever get over the fact that God has blessed me with these two precious little ones.


It was Annabelle's baby dedication day where her daddy and I dedicated ourselves to raising her in the knowledge of the Lord. One of my favorite things about baby dedication at our particular church is that our Pastor writes each child a letter to be opened on the day that they accept Christ. I pray so much that my babies come to know the Lord at an early age.

During the dedication time, our Pastor goes down the line of families (there were 5 this day) and prays for each baby by name. As soon as he said "Annabelle," our girl gave a little chirp! I don't know if she realized her name was called or not, but I choose to believe that she did. Either way it was adorable. She is such a sweet, sweet girl. I don't know if you can tell in that picture above, but right now she has beautiful red hair and blue eyes.


Since it was such a special day for our little family, both sets of our parents were here. I made reservations at my favorite local tea room, the Rose Garden in the Fort Worth Mercantile. That's what I wanted for Mother's day lunch, so everyone went along for the ride. No complaints though, even from the gentlemen.

Sunday evening, Mr. G dug out the soon-to-be-wilting pansies (although they were still beautiful today) and planted begonias in their place to ready our flower bed for summer. He brought in a geranium yesterday he had found Lowe's, knowing that I always love to have one on the front porch. My mom has always kept several potted on her porch, so it reminds me of home. He was sweet to remember it. (It's also the one plant that I'm pretty decent at keeping alive.)

I had a great mother's day weekend and hope you all did too!

An Aviator's Bedroom

If you're new to my blog, thank you for stopping by! I'm linking up with Kelly's blog today for a tour of children's rooms. Due to the nature of my job, I'm kind of a de facto aviation geek. So when we found out we were having a son, it was only natural that we gravitated toward airplanes!

These pics were taken right before Jack was born (he's 16 months now) so I'll make note of any changes I've made.

My aunt and I made this bedding one weekend after the Christmas holiday,
and I'm pretty proud of that bed skirt there. Since our little man has
gotten bigger, we've dropped the mattress and removed the bumpers.

Over the crib is framed blueprint of a P-51 mustang fighter jet, a WWII era plane.

Those pretty blue birds on the sheets are vintage airplanes. The mother of one of my oldest friends made
the pillow on the right, and my mother in law made the quilt. They are very special to me!

A close up of one of the planes in the mobile. It's one of my favorite details about the room.

There is now a mirror over the dresser and some much larger diapers in that basket!
And like any good Texas boy worth his weight in guacamole, there are a pair of cowboy boots.

The other side of the room has this great bed. He slept in his crib from the first night we came home from the hospital, and it was nice the first week or so to have a place to collapse on some of the long nights. It'll be his big boy bed when the time comes to make that transition. The bedding is from Pottery Barn Kids.

The blueprint above the bed is a Boeing B-17 Bomber, and the book shelves are re-purposed IKEA spice racks that I painted red.

I love this framed vignette. On the left is an FAA reminder that I found in a set of old flight instruction manuals from when my dad got his private pilot's license back in the 70s. It says "Attention Pilots: Avoid Accidents" which will probably be punny-er when we potty train. The middle is an old flight plan that my dad filed flying from my hometown of Corsicana to Dallas. And to the right are some old sight word flashcards my mom (a teacher) had that I loved. A perfect addition!
I love this room. From the time we picked out our houseplans, I knew this would be my first baby's room. It's really cozy and closest to our bedroom. We have some sweet times curling up on the bed reading before bed, and we've taken some pretty epic naps!

More Dishing on Dishes

If you're just joining me today, you may want to back track to yesterday's post where I geek out about my dishes.

This next set is somewhat controversial in the 2000s so I want to hear what you think about this topic in general. I know a lot of people are choosing not to register for formal china, and I understand why, but I'm nothing if not a traditionalist. And honestly, I'm sad that we've lost a bit of formality in today's culture, but that is entirely another topic for another day. {See also: wearing hats in church. Or church dress, in general, now that I think about it.}

My formal china is plain but leaves me many options to mix and match. The pattern is Lenox Solitaire which is an ivory china with a platinum band. My Grannie might not approve of this, but I run these through the dish washer after I use them. After the dry cycle, I just run a dry cloth around the platinum to polish up the edges, and they are none the worse for it.

I received service for 12 when we married, with most of the place settings coming from Brad's and my grandmothers and aunts. We use them when we celebrate major holidays (we designate a time to celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving as just our small immediate family) and celebrations like our anniversary or another special occasion. I most recently pulled them out on New Year's Eve. There were children present, and they ate off of them too. The only piece I'm missing in this set is the coffee pot and some of the accent luncheon plates.


This last set is Spode Christmas Tree which is a ubiquitous pattern, but I love it. It's clearly seasonal, but we absolutely give them a workout during the stretch from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I have Christmas plates coming out of my ears (something like 25-30 dinner and that many more salad) because I like to use them for parties during that time. My secret to owning that many? I loaded up the day after Christmas on Dillards.com when they were something like 50-75% off. I probably did that the year we married because I was especially addicted to stockpiling dishes then.

I chose mugs over teacups because those get a bit more use at my house during that time of year. For the past few years, I've added one serving piece per year as a little sussy to myself during the Christmas season.


I also counted and have 6 casserole dishes, so either I have some hoarding tendencies that I need to deal with or I intend on having a very large family. Obviously, there is no point to having this many dishes unless you're going to use them, so you won't be surprised to hear that I don't pull out paper plates unless we're going to be eating outside or something.

My favorite thing, without a doubt, is cooking up a meal to serve my friends and family on pretty plates. My dishes are nothing without memories to go with them.

{Tell me what you think about formal china in the comments!}

Dishing on Dishes

I realized the other day that I have a little blurb in my bio regarding how I love to collect dishes, but I've yet to talk about them!

Even when I was a single, I thought it was important to have a well-dressed table. I thought my roommate and I should be able to serve our guests in style with matching dishes. That was when I started collecting my first set of china, complete with matching serving pieces.

Fast forward a few years to my engagement to Mr. G. The time had come to register *squeee* for fancy china and everyday dishes. I mean, that's part of the whole wedding deal that girls dream of, right? Somehow I ended up with a nicer everyday set than than formal, such that my husband's grandmother asked him what he was going to do when he accidentally broke one of our plates. He called me to relay this conversation the night before one of our showers in his hometown. I said, "Did you tell her that you're going to replace it if that happens?"

Anyway, my kitchen post got me thinking about my china. Because somehow I have 4 sets of dishes up in those cabinets. FOUR.

That's a lot of plates.

I love dishes--enough to mention them in my "About Me"--so you know it's serious. I could write an entire blog about dishes. My favorite style is transferware. I love to collect them, add to my current sets, ponder what other sets I might want to collect and how I'd set that table, research discontinued pieces... How I have escaped blogging about this obsession, I have no idea.

First up is my favorite--absolute favorite--Spode Tower pink everyday dishes. They were discontinued back in 2007. While the scene in the middle is so very serene and pretty, that is usually covered with food, and what is left are the gorgeous flowers and scallops on the edge. Plus, it is pink, and well, I love pink. I probably have service for 16 in this pattern, complete with serving pieces down to the tea set. The tea set is my very favorite.



Next up is a recent addition to my collection: my grandmother's Johnson Brothers Blue Willow. Last fall, my grandmother moved into a nursing facility, and these came into my possession. I grew up eating big family meals off of these, so they are very special to me. I remember my grandmother explaining to me how to tell the difference between Johnson Brothers pieces and the other Blue Willow set she had in her original collection. (We talked dishes, my Memaw and me.) This is such a beautiful, classic pattern, and a treasure trove of memories to me. I have some serving pieces on my wishlist to complete this set. Right now I have service for 10.


This post is getting so long so I think I'll save the other two sets for tomorrow. I know you're on the edge of your computer chair. While you wait for the second half, give me the scoop on your butler's pantry. Is Chinet your favorite set? Are you waiting until your kids get older for the dishes of your dreams? Are you still collecting pieces from when you got married?

I love to talk dishes!