Hey Y’ all !
Good morning from the farmhouse! I am so excited to share my very first blog entry with you. This has been a dream of mine and has been in the planning/development stages for about six years now. (a long time, right?) I first penned the name “Southern Bella Home” six years ago when I was working outside the home.
Those three words came quickly to me because I love being from and living in the “South” and I thought how pretty much everyone lives south of somewhere, right?
I just love the fact that “Bella” means beautiful, and aside from their huge dresses back in the day, that is one of the reasons why women from the South are called “Southern Belles”. I can attest to their beauty! The ones that I am blessed to know are beautiful both inside and out! I will be writing about these wonderful women in my life. They have mentored me, blessed me, challenged me and encouraged me. Who knows, one day you may be reading along and find yourself in one of my blog posts!
“Home” is a word that evokes strong feelings in all of us. The thoughts of comfort, sweet times of togetherness, feelings of safety, warmth, (or in our case, “coolness” of the air conditioning during Summertime in Georgia, lol ), along with good memories of laughter and delicious meals shared with family and friends around the table are sure to surface when someone utters that precious word.
So, there you go! That is why I chose the name “Southern Bella Home”! When I entered the workforce outside the home, it became increasingly clear to me that all women want to love their home. They may not all love their house, but they all want home to be that cozy place where their loved ones are eager to gather. God began to show me and then to impress deeply upon my heart that this is an area where women enjoy, want, and need encouragement and ideas.
Just so happens that I love encouraging women to feather their nest!
Making sure that all you precious mommas know that it does not take a lot of money to “make home a haven” is now my goal and my mission. So, about six years ago, I began praying, dreaming and planning, with the hopes that one day I would be doing exactly what I am doing today. I feel led to use whatever talents and abilities that God has given me and to share my heart with of you!
So, right now…I am just “fit to be tied” with enthusiasm and anticipation of the all the fun that we are going to have together in the days ahead!
I have always enjoyed (almost) every aspect of being the care taker of my home, (maybe not cleaning the toilets after boys) but I love coming up with ways to make wonderful family memories, and I love cooking, creating, decorating, organizing, and raising my boys. I also really enjoy helping other people decorate and organize their homes. Organizing is fun to me, weird, right!? Although I cannot physically be in your home, maybe some tips I share with you may help in some small way to create the home atmosphere that is restful and calm, fun and inviting. It would tickle me pink if I could say something that would encourage you in your day to day life to make it a little sweeter for you and your “loves”.
Another thing that I love to talk about is some good ole’ southern cooking! In my opinion, one of life’s simple pleasures is finding a “lip-smacking good” recipe, or creating a new recipe, then cooking and sharing it with those we love. There are few things as satisfying to me as working in my kitchen over that cast-iron skillet or mixing away in my Kitchen-aid to make something delicious. Hopefully, the results will be smiling faces and big “thank you” hugs from family and friends!
It just doesn’t get much better than that, y’ all.
Along with some of my original recipes, I hope to share some “oldies but goodies” out of my collection of vintage church and club cookbooks with you that you may want to try and that I know your family will love.
I sincerely hope that you will follow my blog and share it with your friends, as I open up, very honestly, about my life, my heart, my past struggles, my victories, my memories and maybe some ideas that you will love and want to try for yourself and your family.
I know that I will enjoy sharing my heart for the home with you and I pray that you will glean some “good stuff” that will have value for you, along the way.
I will also be sharing a few “product reviews” for items out there in retail land that I have found to be good purchases for my home and worth the money. Maybe you might want to give them a try.
“The Bella Market” will feature my copy-written personalized artwork that you may want to purchase to share with your families. I will be offering items perfect for your most precious and sweet occasions such as weddings, births, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and many other treasured life moments. I will be offering a new product line to you as well. Commissioned heirloom sketches and paintings of your past or present home or a home that you love, captured for you to cherish and remember forever. There are also a few e-books and other fun products coming your way!
My most heartfelt affection and blessings go out to all you “Southern Bella Mommas”!
I pray for you, that today is as beautiful, bright and sweet as Spring in the South!
Y’ all come back to see me!
With love from the farmhouse,
Sharon at Southern Bella Home
Psalm 133:1
How good and pleasant it is when brothers (and sisters) dwell together in unity!