April 30, 2015

Life Lately

     I feel like time is moving so fast that I can't even keep up. I heard once in grad school that the perception of time is in fact faster as you get older because nothing is new to you anymore. I can't even begin to think how fast time is going to fly bye with the coming years.

Cam and I got to watch Tatum almost every afternoon the past two weeks and it was awesome. On Tuesday afternoon she came home with us and got to make dinner and crawl around with the pups. It was fun to see into the future for a quick bit. I loved having her little foot and hand prints added to my hardwoods and stainless steel fridge. She was quite the help in the kitchen with Cam and she enjoyed talking to the dogs through the screen door. Deuce still doesn't really care for the babies, but Griffey is all about them and it is just about the cutest thing ever! He just loves them. He doesn't bite and gives tons (sometimes too many) kisses and Tatum seems to love him too.


This past weekend my little sister went to her senior prom and I was able to take pictures of her and her friends. She had her hair done by my friend who happened to do my hair and make up for my wedding! It is always fun to catch up with old friends and I was glad to have been able to go with my sister and mom. Kennedy was absolutely beautiful and I can't believe she is growing up so much. She has grown into a beautiful young lady. She makes us all so proud and we can't wait to see where God takes her.








Cam and I are getting more work done on the house. We are finally drying out here, we had about 12 out of 14 days of straight downpours. Yes, the downpours and storms have been awesome for the lakes, but not so much for our muddy backyard. But, we can now see the lake from the dock across the street and it's awesome! Now if we can get rid of the swamp and get our mosquito population down I can enjoy more than 2 minutes outside. We not only have tons of mosquitos they are like monster mosquitos... huge people! We should have all of our top cabinets painted by this weekend and we plan to hang them to see what they look like and then sand the base and get that going! I am so excited!

We also plan on working on our flowerbeds and weed situation. We are wanting to put in a vegetable garden and need to work on the existing base and add some fence around it because well dogs. Griffey is a big fan of standing in the middle of the flower beds so I can only imagine how much he would love a garden of vegetables. Our pear trees have pears on them and its been fun to watch them grow! I hope they turn out I am really looking forward to making jam with my gram! :)





And pictures of Maddyn because she's too beautiful not to share! I snapped these about three weeks ago at a family dinner. Those two babies are growing up too fast! 






April 15, 2015

Kitchen Inspiration

   Pinterest has probably driven husbands crazy and consumed hours upon hours and many ladies days. I can definitely say that is my case. I come home almost everyday with a new idea for our house! I love Pinterest and probably most definitely spend way too much time on there.

Ever since we first talked about our first home I knew the first thing I wanted to do was paint the kitchen cabinets white. The kitchen is the heart of the home and so much time is spent in there. It is also part of the home that almost everyone who visits will spend time in. So, that is why renovating our kitchen is first on the agenda! I started the process of sanding the cabinets a couple weeks ago and began priming them last week... It is a process that is for sure. But, I am hopeful that I do not completely screw this up. I have researched and researched the best paints and primers and read tutorial after tutorial. I hope to document my journey of painting the cabinets, but for now I wanted to document where my ideas and inspiration came from.

We have a fairly small kitchen and we don't really have a dining area, but we are going to make one! Farm house tables have been my favorite for forever. I just love the idea of having one big table for everyone to gather around. Since we do not have the space inside for a big farm table we are going to make a mini farm table and booth! I have been on the hunt for the perfect chairs and I love the aluminum or matte black chairs below.



We have a breakfast bar area and I can't decide if I want to paint it or incorporate some old wood like the picture above. I know that this area will need to be durable because there will be feet and dog prints and who knows what. We currently have wood floors throughout the house so we won't be changing any flooring in the kitchen. I am on the lookout for the perfect rug. I am loving all of the jute and sisal rugs. 

Our pantry currently has two wire shelves that don't hold much of anything so we will be completely redoing the inside. I am going to try to do something like this! I love the grey and white pattern and you can't beat some good organization. 


Pendant lights! I have been trying to find my most favorite and I think I have narrowed down my options. I would like to add one over the sink and two or three over our breakfast bar. We currently have three random lights in the kitchen as well as a fan.. there isn't even that much room on the ceiling so it just looks weird. Also, subway tile will be our backsplash! I can't wait to purchase that and get that going in. 


I hope to have a farmsink installed, but am looking for one on the cheaper side. We have also talked about new countertops. Right now we have really cheap formica, it is already coming off because they didn't even glue it on. But, we will see... I can live with the formica for now. 


We have an old screen door on our back porch and its pretty beat up. It would need some work, but I am really thinking about making it our pantry door! And as much as I love grey and white I am LOVING that pop of teal! 



*all of these pictures have been pinned on my Pinterest and you can find them and see the sources over there!


April 10, 2015

Our first home

     We have been living in our house for a little over two months. I am starting to feel more comfortable in it and it is feeling more like ours. I know making a house a home takes time and is a process, but I often times forget that and think that it should all happen over one weekend. It's been many weekends and I only just started putting stuff on the wall and we can finally say that we no longer have any leaks from any plumbing. I am going to go ahead and not hold my breath on that one... Seriously every day for two months someone (mainly my dad) was over working on a leak somewhere in this house.

I am starting to love our little home. I am moving on from the feelings of being claustrophobic in the small living area. I am also getting over the fact that my floors will always have paw prints, mud, dirt, sand, you name it on them.

With two dogs, one being a wild puppy, it's almost impossible to keep anything clean. The OCD clean person inside me is freaking out and the other part of me is singing "let it go" and laughing while watching the wild puppy jump from couch to couch. This crazy, unsure, not too comfortable season of life is where we are right now and I am learning to love it. I can only imagine what God is preparing my heart and mind for in the future with this season. On the daily I am texting cam at least 4 times asking when he is going to get home... because I just can't handle the dogs anymore.

And before you get too judgy just know that our yard has no fence other than the fence our neighbors put up. That means that my dogs, who normally listen fairly well, can explore and run just about every where. And that they do. I have to go to the back door every 5 minutes to make sure they have not disappeared. Once again, I know this is some type of lesson that I will need to have learned in the future and I will look back on this and roll my eyes out of my head.

Anyways... back to our Fixer Upper. I have a constant list of ideas and wants that pop into my head and am constantly texting Cam and my dad new plans. They both remind me that we have to go "one step at a time" and sometimes I want to throw something at them when they tell me that. But really our to do list right now consists of the following

  • Mow and clean up the yard... the dogs do love playing in the grass that is taller than them, but we are starting to look like we abandoned the lot. Our yard is also full of just random stuff the previous owners left and we are contemplating what to do with it. I am itching to start our garden and flower beds! We have plum trees and a pecan tree in the front yard and I have big plans for the back yard.
  • Paint kitchen cabinets- y'all I am getting my white cabinets! I cannot wait to share more about this... that would require me to take pictures, so I will get working on that. 
  • Clean oven and fix the vent hood... we have been living like college students, running back and forth to our parents and eating pizza on the reg
  • Fix front and back door... we have a beautiful old rickety screen door on the back porch and we have to figure out how to fix it so the door closes or get a new one. If we do get a new one I am hoping we can convert the old screen door into our pantry door!
  • Speaking of pantry... we have to get that together too. It currently has two random shelves and that leaves no room for anything. I have big plans for that little pantry!
Next up... House inspiration and some before pictures!

April 8, 2015

Easter

     Easter is a special holiday. It is a holiday that should be celebrated daily, but as life happens it sometimes does not. Easter brings GREAT news! The tomb is empty and our Christ is Risen! He is alive!

This Easter we took Griffey on his first road trip to west Texas for a family reunion. We ate way too much candy... I may or may not be still eating that. I was able to love on almost all of my babies, only missing my Oklahoma babies! We ate good food. Told old stories. Laughed. Had fun. Dyed eggs. Hunted eggs. Had a water gun fight. 

Being an Aunt is the best! I really don't know what I would do without those babies. They bring so much joy and light into life. The sacrifice Jesus made for me almost unimaginable. He died on the cross for me! Thankful is the understatement of the year. I am so grateful for this life He has given me. 






Maddyn has the best expressions!