Enjoy Life Now.

There are the kind of friends who see you through anything. You know the kind, they still love you no matter what you've done or haven't done. The kind of friends who know you are a pack rat and come over to help clean out my room with heavy duty trash bags in hand. (Yes, this really happened) They stand by you on your wedding day, hold your hand during bad break ups, buy the champagne when life calls for celebration. Lauren and I once had a fight over whether we were first cousins or best friends. Well, in our case, we are both. 

This is her beautiful son, Trey, who just turned six. Lauren, Wayne and their two kids came over last night to brake our newly painted house. Buie grilled burgers. Trey played hard like a six year old does. 

Baby Elle was the perfect guest. Isn't she beautiful? 

The burgers were perfect, babe. 

Trey left us a chalk drawing that I will be enjoying for days to come. 

Hopefully it all washed off okay. ;)

 Fresh flowers on the today.

Even the dogs had a splendid evening. 

 We ate, listened to Buie tell his many stories like he so often does and wished this night would never end. Great friends are so few and far between so when you find them, cling tight and never let them go!

 I hope you are enjoying this Memorial Day weekend with the ones you love enjoying life's simple freedoms.

Enjoy life now.

Guest Room/ Guest Bathroom:: Before Pictures

I'm almost embarrassed to show you these pictures. Almost. I would be embarrassed if I would have chosen this paint color or put this wallpaper on the walls. Sorry was that harsh? I have to keep reminding myself that this house and this decor and paint colors were all chosen over two decades ago. Maybe they were like the cool kids back in the day. Is that possible?

The guest room is painted a purplish gray. At first glance you think "Oh that's not so bad" but then you realize it's not so much gray as it is purple. And yes I still have boxes from our move in our guest room. Don't judge. 

Now, moving on to the guest bathroom...Well, it just needs a total transformation: rip down the wallpaper, new flooring, new cabinets, new faucets, new lighting, the works!
But for now we're just starting with fresh paint and oh what a difference it makes. I can't wait to show y'all the after painting pics.

Buie's Office: Before Pics

Check out this wallpaper, y'all! I was NOT at all sad to see this room go. This room was a sad mix of nautical print, sad lighting and beige trim. My husband said he could "deal with it" but I, however, could not. 

This room needed an intervention and we gave it one. Stay tuned for the AFTER pics. :)

My Mom

My mom:

She's superwoman dressed as a Southern lady. She has been my caretaker, my organizer, my educator, my cook, my alarm clock, my travel agent, my nurse. She has been my moral compass when mine wasn't quite working. She has been my prayer warrior. She has been my counselor time and time again. She has been my interior decorator, my fashion coordinator, my event planner. She has been and will always be my shopping partner, my friend, my mom. 

Love you, mom. 

Dining Room: Before Pics

I went back and forth on whether to use the dining room as an actual dining room. In our old home in Arkansas we probably used our dining room a total of 5 times in the 4 years we lived there. We have a breakfast table that seats 8 so most of the time when we had company over, we would just sit at the breakfast table. If you'll remember I had plans to convert our dining room into a studio in our old home. I hate having a room that we don't utilize so we put some serious thought into making this into something else: a studio, a sitting room (which sounds silly and less useful than a dining room), my office... But when it came down to it, we thought with family living so close we will probably get more use out of our dining room. So our dining room is going to be a dining room but a much prettier one than the pictures you see below. 

Once again, I just wanted to document our home with BEFORE pictures so we could see the transformation that took place over the next few weeks, months and even years! We wanted to remember how our house looked when we moved in. So here it is. The dining room is painted a dark red, almost a burgundy color, but what makes it so unappealing is the WAY it was painted. Like our living room area, it was painted with some sort of sponge paint technique. It almost makes the walls look dirty. So we knew the red paint must go and soon. Like the yellow paint in the living room, breakfast room and kitchen, this red color was driving me mad. 

This room did come with some great built-ins which holds extra dishes, serving pieces and pitchers. These will be painted white and the rest of the room gray. The painters are finishing up things in this room today so stay tuned for the AFTER pictures! It's amazing what a couple coats of paint can do for a room!

Project Veggies!

The last few weeks we've been planning and talking about several projects, including but not limited to, painting our house, building a raised bed for veggies, building a pergola, staining our fence...and the list goes on. As with any "new" house that is actually not so new, the project list is soon to follow and is growing longer and longer by the minute! Since we hired out our painting to save our sanity, and quite possibly our marriage, we decided this would be a good week to tackle the veggie garden project. While the painters have been inside getting high off the paint fumes, B & I have been outside in the fresh air dreaming of the day when we can literally walk outside of our back door to go grocery shopping. :)

It might be a weird dream but I have always wanted my own garden. There is something so satisfying about getting your hands dirty, about growing something from a tiny seed and then enjoying free healthy food right from your own backyard just as God intended. It's exciting to see your dream become a plan and your plan become a reality. The first step to having our own veggie garden is done! It may sound silly but I'm so proud of us. :)

I also want my own chicken coop but that is for another day and another project.

 And the great thing about this dream is that it is totally doable. B & I are NOT super handy people. B has no skill in carpentry (sorry, babe) but he rocked this project! Basically if you know how to use a drill, you can manage this.

We chose an area in our yard that gets the most sun. This was a task in itself because we live in the middle of the woods. Literally.  I'm still a little nervous about whether our veggies will get enough sunlight but we picked a spot that gets about 6-8 hours of sun. (Please ignore the weeds in the bottom left. That is another project.)

 I'm so grateful B was totally on board with this project because it's good to have some muscles especially when you are pounding the stakes in the ground. Not only was he on board but he practically built the whole thing himself. I did my part by handing him the appropriate tools he needed, taking pictures and keeping the dogs out of the way. I think I had the harder job. :)

 We followed the plans on the Pioneer Woman's website. She lays everything out so clearly and has a picture for each and every step which is super helpful for visual people like myself. Honestly, it's pretty easy so don't be intimidated! If you've been wanting to build a garden, go for it! If you don't have a few hours to dedicate to the project- just do what we did. Divide it into a two or three day project. Day 1: Go buy your supplies. Day 2: Build the framework to 1 bed. (This parts takes about an hour or two depending on your skill level.) Day 3: Go buy soil and seeds. You will need LOTS of soil. This will be your most expensive part of the entire project but good soil is the key (so I've been told) so don't skimp on good soil. Day 4: Plan where your veggies will go and get to planting!

Here is our first finished raised bed. As you can see in the background, we have the wood laid out for another raised bed. B is planning on building that one today. If you break it down into smaller projects, it's not so overwhelming. :) 

I can't wait to get some veggies growing in here! I'd love to hear your tips and secrets. This being our first garden, I'm sure we could use all the help we can get! Happy Gardening!

Big D Bucket List!

Well, I'm finally get up a post about our fun weekend in Dallas! My mom, Zuzka and myself loaded up Thursday morning and headed to the big D with BIG plans! Zuzka, an exchange student from Slovakia, has been living with my mom and dad since January and has become my adopted little sister. She's so full of life and energy. Secretly she makes me want to be 17 again but then I remember all the broken hearts and trial and error I had to go through to make it to 29 and I'm perfectly happy where I am. It is fun to watch her though, so exuberant and uninhibited. 

Zuzka had a bucket list when coming to the states, many of which she has accomplished. She attended her first prom ever, ate crawfish, ate beignets in New Orleans. Zuzka had a couple of things on her bucket list that required a trip to Dallas, Texas. Well, who are we to keep a gal from marking off things on her "to do" list, especially if that list is a FUN list! :) 

Stop #1: She met several of our Texas cousins. I'm not exactly sure this was on her bucket list but we made it happen anyway. :)

Stop #2: The JFK Memorial and the Sixth Floor Museum. This one I was most excited about because of my obsession with conspiracy theories. If you don't know much about the JFK conspiracy (which I'm not sure how you wouldn't know), google it. Interesting stuff. I have been to Dallas a thousand times and have never taken the time to walk around on the grassy knoll, read the plaques and markers on the buildings or to go to the museum. The sixth floor museum which used the be the book depository where Oswald supposedly took his shot has a very informative tour. Of course it never touches on the second shooter or any of the conspiracy theories but it was still an informative tour. 

Stop #3: SIX FLAGS! I've never ever in my life seen someone so excited about going to an amusement park. I quickly realized that Six Flags is probably close to the last place on earth I would want to spend a day. I don't do rides; they give me migraines and vertigo. I don't do crowds...for many reasons. I can't eat any of the food there- I'm gluten free. Oh and probably the most important, I HATE people dressed up in animal costumes. So you're probably thinking, why in the world did you go? Good question. The answer is simple. To see the look on her face. It was all worth it. Zuzka even got me on a couple of rides. :) 

I'm going to miss this girl. So glad we had this time to spend together. Will cherish the last few times we have together before she heads home to Slovakia. 

Living Room Pictures: Before

Right now the painters are here and the house is CA-RAZY! I debated for weeks whether or not we should do our own painting. I really do love painting but after a few days my back starts hating me and I really start regretting my decision to be the DIY Queen. So yes, we are hiring out any and all painting and I'm trying not to regret this decision. I really do love painting. I like picking out colors, even though I am the most indecisive person I know.

I know I will be SO thankful when it is all said and done but for now I am a little jealous of the painters. I secretly want to paint...just a little bit. I don't think they would mind if I stole their paint rollers on their lunch break do you? ;) They might just look at me like I'm a total weirdo. 

So this is what our living room looks like these days: mismatched pillows, yellow walls, no rug and one really small looking DVD case on a huge ugly yellow wall. Did I mention the walls are ugly yellow? Blotchy. Yellow and blotchy are a deadly combination. It sounds like the symptoms of a bad rash and this is one rash I can't WAIT to get rid of!

After buying about a dozen color samples, I think we finally settled on a grey paint color we like. But you never know. I could change my mind again before tomorrow. 

I'll be back soon with more BEFORE pics of the house! Happy Wednesday!