I have been on a blog hiatus! I guess because it's the summer or because I wasn't sure what to "write home about", BUT now that summer is coming to an end and school is around the corner (or starting for some) I figured I need to get back at it! I have not only been on a blog hiatus but also on an exercise, eating right, and just plain acting right hiatus!!! Last week I was visiting a friend and this is that friend that even though summer is here and she lets on that she is binging like me, we all know her butt (an amazing one at that) is still up at 7 am working out and she's eating right with the exceptions of weekends. Let's admit it, SHE IS DISCIPLINED! Anywho, I love being with her, not just because she makes me laugh and more, but because when I am with her in a bathing suite I feel like a heifer! It makes me want to GET DISCIPLINED! So for the last week I have been getting back on track! You know, because just staying on track takes all the fun out of life! Ha!
In the mornings I usually go power walking or do my elliptical (I am determined to prove my husband wrong about it being a $1000 coat hanger)! I have to build up to my P90X that I still have to prove him wrong about too, but that is a different blog! Today I was walking on my new route. I went down my road (about a 1/2 mile) and since I didn't have my 2 year old with me, I decide to go walking on the main road. It is not a major highway, but it is a two lane paved farm to market road that goes to my town and gets you to a main highway intersection. It also comes complete with some big trucks, 18 wheelers, horse trailers and more! Also our farm is about a mile down wind from the feed yard, so cattle trucks are on our main road a majority of the time too! Hence the reason I don't take the little one on it. BUT ME, I'm a big girl! I can handle it!
I start out at my gate, down the main road, when I first encounter the smell I fear the most...no, not my husband after Mexican food, a SKUNK! Now mind you, not only have I got back to my power walking because I feel like a heifer, but because it is the best time for God and I to have our come to Jesus meetings! I started praying as hard as I could! I don't think I have ever prayed as hard as I did in that half mile..."GOD PLEASE DON'T LET HIM FIND ME! PLEASE HELP ME GET PAST HIM!!" I have never been sprayed, but my husband has and it is AWFUL! Today it was NOT happening to me because God answered my prayers! I never saw him and he never saw me!
For the next part of my venture, I mean walk, I usually turn on the the county road where our farm meets at the corner, walk down about another 1/2 mile until I get to our cotton field then go into our side gate. Right now the pasture at the front corner of the farm is not being grazed so we have a lot of wild sunflowers growing. It's not too thick but I have to squint pretty good to see through them at some angles. As I start approaching the corner to turn on the county road, I see two vehicles parked. A little gray sports sedan and little gray toy truck. The drivers sides were pulled up next to each other. I see a tall man leaning over in the small car's window, talking to the other driver. Thanks to my innate ability to lose expensive sunglasses or scratch them all to hell, I don't have on my prescription sunglasses. I am squinting extra hard to make out what is going on over there. At the same time this is occurring, the voice in my head was saying "TURN AROUND! DON'T DROWN!" While the OTHER voice in my head was saying, "Keep walking! You will be fine! You can scale that high fence if you had to! You can out run them if you had to! It is not a drug deal going down! It is not two people you know about to get caught in their secret affair! Keep walking! This is screwing up your plan!"
Do you ever have those two voices in your head? You know, the wise one and the dumb ass one? My mom always told me the wise one is the Holy Spirit guiding me and the dumb ass one (my words) was the devil trying to get me to make bad decisions. She has always held to her theory, "NO PEACE, NO GO". That means if you get a gut feeling about something, and the Holy Spirit has not given you peace about what you are doing, then you don't go do it!! NO PEACE, NO GO!!
Because I also have the innate ability to not listen to my mother very well, I didn't listen to that wise voice and I headed on into the flames. As I get closer I can see that the man is a tall drink of water with longer curly grey hair hanging out the back of his white ball cap. He is in his early 60's. The driver he is talking to is a young woman with platinum blonde hair in a cute Sassoon cut. I know all this thanks to my ingrained ability to pay close attention to the hair magazines in my mom's salon and all the detective shows I like to watch. As I round the corner, I see her hand him a shot gun out of her window!!!!! At this point I have no where to go. Neither of them have seen me and all I can pray is "OH CRAP!!!! GOD PLEASE DON'T LET THEM SEE ME! PLEASE HELP ME GET PAST THEM!!" The man starts to point the gun in my direction and I yell, "Hey! Hey!! Now you're scaring me! I'm just walking! I know I'm not in a cute Nike outfit but it's not worth shooting me for!!!" He looks up and in his deep voice and long southern drawl he says, "Where did you come from?". I am still walking at a stellar pace and I can now see that the young blonde is crying. I recall hearing them discuss a situation but all I could make out was him asking her if she was sure that was what she heard. He stops pointing the gun in my direction by now but I can I feel I am really AT THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME!
I said back to the silver fox, "I am just out for my morning walk! I am trying to get the fat off of this body!!" Then he says to me, "Well, if you get tired of walking you could always run..." I replied to his running suggestion with, "I'm good with walking, thank you." Then he replied again with that deep southern voice, "I was meaning I could help you run..." I believe I may have started praying in tongues because I WAS SCARED!!! In a split second I saw the whole thing go down, a whole Bonnie and Clyde event!!! I would start running and as I did the young blonde would get out of the car with two loaded pistols and begin firing at me while he was loading the shotgun. Because I am a fast runner I get far enough away to start scaling our high fence and head to the pecan trees for protection. But as I start climbing, I feel an indescribable burning pain in my leg. I have been shot! One of those bullets in her pistols has gone right through my leg! I use every ounce of my being to climb but I can't do it...I keep falling. They are headed towards me. As they reach me, he yanks me off of the fence and drags me back down the road by my hair. He shoves me into the back of his truck while the blonde throws the pistols in her car and speeds off. He climbs into the cab and punches the gas and I'm never to be heard from again.
THANK GOD THIS IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED! I said back to him in my cute, sweet, southern voice (hoping that a cute, sweet, southern voice was also in my repertoire of innate abilities), "You better not! Shooting the fat off is not helpful!" I kept walking and wouldn't look back. I could feel eyes on me. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck standing up. I was walking as fast as I could! I mean I might as well have been running 'cause the pain in my side was like I had been running for miles. Why didn't I break out into a run you ask? BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO LOOK SCARED! You know, I'm tough, I can take care of myself, no one will ever see me sweat!
For all I knew, I had been watching too many Longmire episodes and this was just a great daddy who's heart broke little girl was bringing him his shotgun so he could go have his own come to Jesus meeting with a mean 'ole boy who broke her heart!!! Yes, that whole scenario played through my head too!!!
I finally get to my side gate at the cotton field and I see Franco cutting vines and brush off one of the fence lines with a machete. Franco, who has worked for us for 14 years and who doesn't speak English and I know doesn't read sign language, doesn't see or hear me. Now my prayer turns to "GOD PLEASE LET HIM SEE ME!" as the next episode of border wars starts playing in my mind.
I am also still praying that Bonnie and Clyde are not creeping up in their cars behind me. I am praying that God and my big hairy angels are protecting me. I see Franco come out of the brush with the machete drawn! I start yelling "Franco! Franco! It's me! Krista!" When he realizes it is me he looks at me with a puzzled face and he has the "what the hell are you thinking?" look in his eyes. I try to explain in my non Spanish speaking language that everything is OK, I am just walking. Of course I am using the universal sign for walking. You know, arms pumping and marching in place. Isn't that the one you use when the other party doesn't know sign language? My way of putting an "o" at the end of my words and using a Spanish inflection was not working. For those of you who do not live in South Texas, that is what we white folk do when we don't know Spanish. He was now smiling at me, but I could still see the confusion in his eyes. Then I remembered a few Spanish words we use to describe fat back ends. I pointed to my ass and said, "!Gordo nalgas aqui!". He got that and laughed and laughed as I walked on by.
I made my way around the cotton field and finished my come to Jesus meeting with God. I had to ask for forgiveness for not listening to that still small voice. Then I thanked Him for protecting me through my stupidity. Needless to say, I not only didn't get my gordo nalgas blown off with a shotgun nor did I get them chopped off with a machete, but I got the crap scared out of me. I think from now on I will just walk around the cotton field a couple of times to get the same distance. Getting scared a little jerks you back into place and believe me I AM BACK INTO PLACE!
Word to the wise, remember to listen to your gut, that still small voice that is telling you to think before your speak. The one that says don't watch that, or read that or listen to that. The voice that reminds you not to eat that or drink too much so your mouth overloads your brain. The voice that says you probably shouldn't go down that road, or get in the car with that person. The one that tells you to go back in and check the curling iron or to walk out of that place you just walked into.
"TURN AROUND DON'T DROWN!" Happy walking everyone!
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Friends In Low Places
Over the weekend I had a few of my friends come out to the farm and bring the whole Kit and Caboodle with them (you know ~ husbands, the kids, the dogs, food, beer, crafts...). What a great weekend it was! I wish I had the White House sitting here on the land so I could house each one of my treasured friends and their great families. If you can dream you might as well dream BIG, right?!
As I sit here in my empty house with my kids and husband passed out from all the fun, I am a little lonely. I am missing the laughter, the kids screaming, all the dogs running in and out of the house, our sweet hubbies grilling out back and all the rest of the warmth that comes from having good friends. I walked through my house and hardly had anything to do because they left me with only a few sheets and some towels to wash. What precious people. I almost wish there was more to do so I wouldn't be so sad that they had to go! I am such a social butterfly and living out here in the sticks makes it hard to fill my cup with what I get from being with my friends.
Friends are my treasures. I am an only child and I guess, because of that, I treasure my friends like I would a sibling. That may not make sense to some, but it does to me. I am so blessed with an abundance of amazing friends in my life. Each of them are unique and special. One may be so talented it oozes out of her skin. One may have a unique gift at seeing past the negative and only finding the good. One may be that mom you just wish you could be. One may be a rare treasure that makes you laugh and cry at the same time. One may just be that one that you can drive in the car with for hours and you don't have to talk because you are OK with the silence. Each couple has such great qualities too. The husbands that we have are truly a gift from God and a rare find. Every spouse gives 100 percent of themselves to the other. Not just 50/50. We are not judgemental of one another. We mind our own business when it comes to each other's differences in how we are in our family units. Not everyone disciplines the same, not everyone is at the same place in their marriage. Some have been together since high school and some have not. We respect each other and that is that. We don't care who has what or who might be able to do more than the other this year. We don't care if some of us went one place and we didn't get to go. We just want each other to be happy, and at peace. We want each other's children to be healthy and safe and successful. We want the best for each other. If we are in low places then we are there to bring each other up. It may be with a beer and a laugh, but we get the job done. We support each other in our business endeavors and anything we set out to do that improves our lives. That is what amazing friends I have.
I hope when my friends leave my space they think happy thoughts of me, my husband and our children as we do of them. I hope they feel as at home in my house as they do in their own. I hope their bellies are full and their spirits are lifted after leaving here. That is how Mama Mary raised me to be. Lift others up when they are with you, make them feel at home, have a servants heart.
Friends are a gift and we have to treasure them. We have to accept the good, the bad and the ugly in each other. We have to make each other better. That is what "friend" means to me. So even though I am lonely and a bit sad this afternoon, I'll take it, because it makes me treasure the times when I get to be in their space.
I hope you have good friends. I hope you treasure them and they treasure you. They are hard to find. When you do, hold on tight and DON'T LET GO!!!
As I sit here in my empty house with my kids and husband passed out from all the fun, I am a little lonely. I am missing the laughter, the kids screaming, all the dogs running in and out of the house, our sweet hubbies grilling out back and all the rest of the warmth that comes from having good friends. I walked through my house and hardly had anything to do because they left me with only a few sheets and some towels to wash. What precious people. I almost wish there was more to do so I wouldn't be so sad that they had to go! I am such a social butterfly and living out here in the sticks makes it hard to fill my cup with what I get from being with my friends.
Friends are my treasures. I am an only child and I guess, because of that, I treasure my friends like I would a sibling. That may not make sense to some, but it does to me. I am so blessed with an abundance of amazing friends in my life. Each of them are unique and special. One may be so talented it oozes out of her skin. One may have a unique gift at seeing past the negative and only finding the good. One may be that mom you just wish you could be. One may be a rare treasure that makes you laugh and cry at the same time. One may just be that one that you can drive in the car with for hours and you don't have to talk because you are OK with the silence. Each couple has such great qualities too. The husbands that we have are truly a gift from God and a rare find. Every spouse gives 100 percent of themselves to the other. Not just 50/50. We are not judgemental of one another. We mind our own business when it comes to each other's differences in how we are in our family units. Not everyone disciplines the same, not everyone is at the same place in their marriage. Some have been together since high school and some have not. We respect each other and that is that. We don't care who has what or who might be able to do more than the other this year. We don't care if some of us went one place and we didn't get to go. We just want each other to be happy, and at peace. We want each other's children to be healthy and safe and successful. We want the best for each other. If we are in low places then we are there to bring each other up. It may be with a beer and a laugh, but we get the job done. We support each other in our business endeavors and anything we set out to do that improves our lives. That is what amazing friends I have.
I hope when my friends leave my space they think happy thoughts of me, my husband and our children as we do of them. I hope they feel as at home in my house as they do in their own. I hope their bellies are full and their spirits are lifted after leaving here. That is how Mama Mary raised me to be. Lift others up when they are with you, make them feel at home, have a servants heart.
Friends are a gift and we have to treasure them. We have to accept the good, the bad and the ugly in each other. We have to make each other better. That is what "friend" means to me. So even though I am lonely and a bit sad this afternoon, I'll take it, because it makes me treasure the times when I get to be in their space.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Purging, Swearing and other thoughts...
I have been a mad woman cleaning out and purging over the last couple of weeks! I think it's so interesting how much stuff piles up. Over the last two years I have been doing good at getting rid of my family's and my excess crap, but I have also been taking care of my now two year old. Needless to say I wasn't as on top of it as I should be.
As you can probably figure out, I do like to collects things. I love antiques and vintage things and finding them for my house, but my problem is I LOVE EVERYTHING!! I just don't have the room for it though. They say if you haven't used it or wore it in the last year, to get rid of it. I can't seem to do that with everything! Who is "they" anyway?! I haven't used my china in almost 15 years of marriage but I'm certainly not getting rid of it! (note to self: use china more this year).
I have started going through each room of my house and if we didn't really use it or love it I passed it on to someone else who might really use it or love it. Yes, that even means my kids' toys. Sometimes too much is not a good thing! Now I do have a few more "things" in my house than some of my girlfriends, but a little "clutter" make me feel at home!
My office was a chore because I share it with my husband and we run his businesses and my two businesses out of the same area in our old farm house. And let me tell you, HE IS A PACK RAT!! He doesn't throw anything away! Usually, those that keep things don't file they pile! I was absolutely at my wits end! So I forced him to sit with me and organize and file. It was painful but it is done and we both feel better! If I didn't care he'd probably be a hoarder! His arguments are "it's good", "we can use that", "are you crazy? that's important"! All of which holds no water when I find shorts stuffed in hidden areas of my closet, because they had a huge rip and can't be worn any more. To this I say, "You need therapy. Something is wrong with you. I love ya, but there are meds for that!". I about had a come apart!
On the closet subject. My side was great. I have it just how I want it (well, it's not Christina Aguilera's or Mariah Carey's but I will get there one day). But my husband's side was an absolute mess. So while he was out I PURGED! I know you probably think I'm as mean as all get out, but a stuffer and piler like him won't even know what's gone. Now when it comes to all his hunting and fishing stuff, I know where to draw the line! I wouldn't dare. But shirts, socks, old jeans. and such, you bet I do! I also came to the conclusion it is just not in him to purge, organize, and keep it that way so if I want it to stay that way I had better be the one to do it. And not be mad at him for it! (I am working on that.)
One of the major purges I did was letting go of the different clothes for different weights in my life! I got rid of all of them. I decided that keeping them was giving myself permission to gain the weight I've lost back, so out the door they went. Now when it comes to hats, bags, jewelry, and other things I tend to be like my husband. I may not wear my Black Derby hat this year, but it may be perfect with my dress next year! Is this a double standard I ask myself? My answer is no, it is my standard!
While I was cleaning, washing the outside and inside of my house, removing cob webs, and letting go of "stuff", I started thinking about the "rooms in my life". Was I cleaning those as well as I was the rooms in my house? Well, it depends. I got determined to "clean my weight room" and I lost the extra 30 pounds I was being too lazy to let go of. But there are other things the verdict is still out on. I don't want to be nice to the girl at Cache. She is rude, hateful and just works there!!!! Didn't she learn anything from watching Pretty Woman?! I don't want to listen to my preacher tell me not to swear! I LIKE TO SWEAR!!! I don't want to say I'm sorry for not keeping your side of the closet nice and only mine and our children's. I am mad at you for not having that characteristic!!!! LOL! I don't want to get up early and exercise. I like to sleep in.
Yes, these are some of my "rooms". I will be nice to the girl at Cache because hurting people hurts and I don't know what's going on behind her closed doors. I will stop swearing because I don't want my boys to be swearers. I will tell my Esposo I am sorry for not taking care of his side of the closet. It is the least I can do for all the **it he does for me :)! I will get back into my exercise routine. I feel better, act better and certainly look better when I do!
How about you? Have you done your spring purging/cleaning? Does your house look the way you'd want it to if the Pope stopped by? Or does it look like a lazy, unclean person or family live there? Are you holding onto things you don't really need? Like weight or bad eating habits? It is one thing to be on meds or have a genetic disorder that keeps you from being where you want to be, but if that is not the case, and you are just being lazy then STOP IT! Do it for yourself and for your family. Heart attacks are the #1 killer in women and it doesn't discriminate age. Do you have friends and family (lol! not family you are stuck with them!) that you need to purge? Do they drag you down? Do your friends need to purge you? Are you the one that drags them down? I believe part of the reason I finally got rid of my weight is because I allowed myself to get out there and be with my friends. I was staying at home and not taking care of me. But being with them helped me get back to me!!! They make me better! I sure hope I do the same for them!
Are you beating yourself up over something that doesn't even matter? Are you the girl we all wish we could look like but yet you think your ugly, fat, etc? Do you expect perfection and those around you can't meet your too high expectations? Do you gossip in front of your kids so they will become gossipers? Do you text and drive so they will text and drive? Do you drink and drive so they will drink and drive? Do you come home and pay attention to your spouse and children or do you go do your thing? What are your "rooms"?
I want every BARBEE out there to be the best that you can be! Be Loud and Proud and Stand Out in the Crowd! You can do anything you set your heart and mind to. For some it maybe easier than others, but when you are done IT FEELS SOOOOOO GOOD!!! Now get out there and do it, DAMN IT!! (note to self- NO SWEARING)
xoxo,
Backwuds Barbee
As you can probably figure out, I do like to collects things. I love antiques and vintage things and finding them for my house, but my problem is I LOVE EVERYTHING!! I just don't have the room for it though. They say if you haven't used it or wore it in the last year, to get rid of it. I can't seem to do that with everything! Who is "they" anyway?! I haven't used my china in almost 15 years of marriage but I'm certainly not getting rid of it! (note to self: use china more this year).
I have started going through each room of my house and if we didn't really use it or love it I passed it on to someone else who might really use it or love it. Yes, that even means my kids' toys. Sometimes too much is not a good thing! Now I do have a few more "things" in my house than some of my girlfriends, but a little "clutter" make me feel at home!
My office was a chore because I share it with my husband and we run his businesses and my two businesses out of the same area in our old farm house. And let me tell you, HE IS A PACK RAT!! He doesn't throw anything away! Usually, those that keep things don't file they pile! I was absolutely at my wits end! So I forced him to sit with me and organize and file. It was painful but it is done and we both feel better! If I didn't care he'd probably be a hoarder! His arguments are "it's good", "we can use that", "are you crazy? that's important"! All of which holds no water when I find shorts stuffed in hidden areas of my closet, because they had a huge rip and can't be worn any more. To this I say, "You need therapy. Something is wrong with you. I love ya, but there are meds for that!". I about had a come apart!
On the closet subject. My side was great. I have it just how I want it (well, it's not Christina Aguilera's or Mariah Carey's but I will get there one day). But my husband's side was an absolute mess. So while he was out I PURGED! I know you probably think I'm as mean as all get out, but a stuffer and piler like him won't even know what's gone. Now when it comes to all his hunting and fishing stuff, I know where to draw the line! I wouldn't dare. But shirts, socks, old jeans. and such, you bet I do! I also came to the conclusion it is just not in him to purge, organize, and keep it that way so if I want it to stay that way I had better be the one to do it. And not be mad at him for it! (I am working on that.)
One of the major purges I did was letting go of the different clothes for different weights in my life! I got rid of all of them. I decided that keeping them was giving myself permission to gain the weight I've lost back, so out the door they went. Now when it comes to hats, bags, jewelry, and other things I tend to be like my husband. I may not wear my Black Derby hat this year, but it may be perfect with my dress next year! Is this a double standard I ask myself? My answer is no, it is my standard!
While I was cleaning, washing the outside and inside of my house, removing cob webs, and letting go of "stuff", I started thinking about the "rooms in my life". Was I cleaning those as well as I was the rooms in my house? Well, it depends. I got determined to "clean my weight room" and I lost the extra 30 pounds I was being too lazy to let go of. But there are other things the verdict is still out on. I don't want to be nice to the girl at Cache. She is rude, hateful and just works there!!!! Didn't she learn anything from watching Pretty Woman?! I don't want to listen to my preacher tell me not to swear! I LIKE TO SWEAR!!! I don't want to say I'm sorry for not keeping your side of the closet nice and only mine and our children's. I am mad at you for not having that characteristic!!!! LOL! I don't want to get up early and exercise. I like to sleep in.
Yes, these are some of my "rooms". I will be nice to the girl at Cache because hurting people hurts and I don't know what's going on behind her closed doors. I will stop swearing because I don't want my boys to be swearers. I will tell my Esposo I am sorry for not taking care of his side of the closet. It is the least I can do for all the **it he does for me :)! I will get back into my exercise routine. I feel better, act better and certainly look better when I do!
How about you? Have you done your spring purging/cleaning? Does your house look the way you'd want it to if the Pope stopped by? Or does it look like a lazy, unclean person or family live there? Are you holding onto things you don't really need? Like weight or bad eating habits? It is one thing to be on meds or have a genetic disorder that keeps you from being where you want to be, but if that is not the case, and you are just being lazy then STOP IT! Do it for yourself and for your family. Heart attacks are the #1 killer in women and it doesn't discriminate age. Do you have friends and family (lol! not family you are stuck with them!) that you need to purge? Do they drag you down? Do your friends need to purge you? Are you the one that drags them down? I believe part of the reason I finally got rid of my weight is because I allowed myself to get out there and be with my friends. I was staying at home and not taking care of me. But being with them helped me get back to me!!! They make me better! I sure hope I do the same for them!
Are you beating yourself up over something that doesn't even matter? Are you the girl we all wish we could look like but yet you think your ugly, fat, etc? Do you expect perfection and those around you can't meet your too high expectations? Do you gossip in front of your kids so they will become gossipers? Do you text and drive so they will text and drive? Do you drink and drive so they will drink and drive? Do you come home and pay attention to your spouse and children or do you go do your thing? What are your "rooms"?
I want every BARBEE out there to be the best that you can be! Be Loud and Proud and Stand Out in the Crowd! You can do anything you set your heart and mind to. For some it maybe easier than others, but when you are done IT FEELS SOOOOOO GOOD!!! Now get out there and do it, DAMN IT!! (note to self- NO SWEARING)
xoxo,
Backwuds Barbee
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
A little background on a backwuds barbee
www.backwudsbarbee.com
I am an open book...for the most part. I was taught to not tell everything you know. It's best to keep people guessing a little.
I have been a jewelry whore all my life. It started because I am the offspring of a grandmother and mother who taught me everything I know about the subject. I love it! I am a collector of many things and vintage jewelry is one of them. One day a friend said to me that I should start a business doing what I love and BACKWUDS BARBEE was born.
I live on a beautiful farm in the backwoods of a small Texas town (drug here kicking and screaming from the city), but I was never too far from being a country girl so I adapted quickly. I learned to team rope, herd goats, doctor cattle, plant a garden and shoot my BB gun at the peacocks to STOP THEM FROM EATIN' ALL MY PLANTS (don't worry...it only scares them)! I do it all in my jewels too!
God gave me 2 pieces of perfection. I should say 3 so that my husband doesn't get his feelings hurt. One is 8 and the other is 2. Both are boys and they are GOOD AT IT! My husband says that I didn't get a girl because there could only be one Queen Bee in our house. Plus, we'd be living in a box because I'd spend all our money on her clothes and mine! All 3 of my men make me whole. Life with them is a RIDE!
The beautiful one of a kind pieces of jewelry I have created are made with time, love, and crowned with a little prayer. The pieces date from pre-1900's to the 1970's. I may add in a few chains from the 80's because that's my era and as you know, the gold chains were the best then! Thank you, Mr. T!
I scour all across this beautiful country through small antique stores, garage sales, church rummage sales, estate sales and more to find amazing pieces of history to put together. It brings me so much joy to find each piece and learn where it came from and who it belonged to if possible. Each piece meant something to someone. Was it a special gift from a special someone? Did she wear it on a first date? Was it her something borrowed? Did he carry it in his pocket as he fought in a war for you and me? How many prayers were said as they held that rosary in their hand? I get so excited just holding the pieces and imagining! I just can't have them tossed in a drawer or sitting in a case somewhere, forgotten about. They need to be repurposed and shown off. I have worked hard at not compromising the integrity of the original piece and I recycle as much of the material as I can in all of the items. When you own a piece I have made, you are carrying on a little piece of history.
This jewelry is for all of us BACKWUDS BARBEES who do our jobs day in and day out. We are amazing wives and mothers. From the Urban Cowgirl to the Suburban Diva and everyone in between. We may get a little wild now and then, have a few cocktails with the girls, but when it comes down to it, we are the ones you can count on! You and I may never get our 15 minutes of fame, but that's ok. We are famous in our own minds!
Here are a few thoughts to leave you with that my Grandma Tomlin and Mama taught me:
Go to church, work hard, take care of your family first and then yourself, have "Mad Money" in case you ever gotta get out of a bad situation, be nice but don't take crap off of anyone (that would be my grandma talking, not my sweet mama), be the first to say you're sorry (my mama's words), always look good for your man 'cause if you don't somebody else will and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.
It covers a multitude of sins - Jesus.
xoxo,
Krista
backwuds barbee
I am an open book...for the most part. I was taught to not tell everything you know. It's best to keep people guessing a little.
I have been a jewelry whore all my life. It started because I am the offspring of a grandmother and mother who taught me everything I know about the subject. I love it! I am a collector of many things and vintage jewelry is one of them. One day a friend said to me that I should start a business doing what I love and BACKWUDS BARBEE was born.
I live on a beautiful farm in the backwoods of a small Texas town (drug here kicking and screaming from the city), but I was never too far from being a country girl so I adapted quickly. I learned to team rope, herd goats, doctor cattle, plant a garden and shoot my BB gun at the peacocks to STOP THEM FROM EATIN' ALL MY PLANTS (don't worry...it only scares them)! I do it all in my jewels too!
God gave me 2 pieces of perfection. I should say 3 so that my husband doesn't get his feelings hurt. One is 8 and the other is 2. Both are boys and they are GOOD AT IT! My husband says that I didn't get a girl because there could only be one Queen Bee in our house. Plus, we'd be living in a box because I'd spend all our money on her clothes and mine! All 3 of my men make me whole. Life with them is a RIDE!
The beautiful one of a kind pieces of jewelry I have created are made with time, love, and crowned with a little prayer. The pieces date from pre-1900's to the 1970's. I may add in a few chains from the 80's because that's my era and as you know, the gold chains were the best then! Thank you, Mr. T!
I scour all across this beautiful country through small antique stores, garage sales, church rummage sales, estate sales and more to find amazing pieces of history to put together. It brings me so much joy to find each piece and learn where it came from and who it belonged to if possible. Each piece meant something to someone. Was it a special gift from a special someone? Did she wear it on a first date? Was it her something borrowed? Did he carry it in his pocket as he fought in a war for you and me? How many prayers were said as they held that rosary in their hand? I get so excited just holding the pieces and imagining! I just can't have them tossed in a drawer or sitting in a case somewhere, forgotten about. They need to be repurposed and shown off. I have worked hard at not compromising the integrity of the original piece and I recycle as much of the material as I can in all of the items. When you own a piece I have made, you are carrying on a little piece of history.
This jewelry is for all of us BACKWUDS BARBEES who do our jobs day in and day out. We are amazing wives and mothers. From the Urban Cowgirl to the Suburban Diva and everyone in between. We may get a little wild now and then, have a few cocktails with the girls, but when it comes down to it, we are the ones you can count on! You and I may never get our 15 minutes of fame, but that's ok. We are famous in our own minds!
Here are a few thoughts to leave you with that my Grandma Tomlin and Mama taught me:
Go to church, work hard, take care of your family first and then yourself, have "Mad Money" in case you ever gotta get out of a bad situation, be nice but don't take crap off of anyone (that would be my grandma talking, not my sweet mama), be the first to say you're sorry (my mama's words), always look good for your man 'cause if you don't somebody else will and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.
It covers a multitude of sins - Jesus.
xoxo,
Krista
backwuds barbee
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