House Projects...Part 2

Some of our first projects were building a wall around our landscaping after our front yard flooded a few times and washed the mulch away...The wall took 2 years to build...We bought bricks as we had the extra money to buy them...The first year, the wall on the left was built and a willow tree was added in between the front windows...I bought the willow tree from Cottage Farms on QVC...The next spring, we continued to buy bricks a few at a time, and the right side was finally finished...It was a test of patience because we wanted it done to see the end results...But we do our projects as we have the extra money...

In the meantime, I also persuaded Tim to pull out the bushes that were crowding my butterfly bushes..I did a lot of complaining about those 2 bushes..lol Now they had room to spread out and I was able to see the ground...We have had some snakes up under our bushes, so I always keep that in mind when choosing plants...

Another project in the front was our plain garage door...This was all Tim's creation! The hardware and faux windows were designed by him and made at work...They were applied with strong velcro...Even the handle! It has held up all these years...The garage door goes up and down as normal...

In the picture of the house at the bottom, I see that the privacy fence is still up at this point...I did love the honeysuckle vine growing up over the fence on the left...Over a 2 year period, the fence was taken down on the right, and then the next year the left was taken down...That leads to another project...

And it continues~~Jen

House Projects...Part 1

 Hello friends! I am sorry I have been gone so long! I was doing so well with my posting and then we had a heartache...My sister-in-law left this earth for heaven back in December...We knew it was coming after a 6 year battle...It was hard, so my blogging was pushed aside...

Recently, I have been going through a million pictures...lol...It feels like it anyway...Pictures of our life...Our daily life...Being a cancer survivor, I take pictures! I document our lives for my children...For some day, when I am not here...I wish my parents had had the technology that we have to document my childhood...

So, I have been trying to find pictures from when we moved from our beautiful former home to our little one story home 10 years ago...We lived in our former home for 9 years and the wear and tear of going up and down stairs was wearing at my knees...So, sadly I had to look at finding a one story...So, Tim told me to find one that I liked...Luke was only 1 years old... I would put him in the car with our realtor, and we looked at many many houses....Well, long story short, I found one...But I told everyone really quick that it WAS NOT my forever home...lol...We had a contract on our former home in a week and I had to find something fast...With my list narrowed down I finally had Tim tagging along to look at some....This little one was one of them...It was practically half the size of our big blue one, but I wasn't finding anything else that even appealed to me...

So in the spring of 2008, we signed the papers and we moved in...My daughter, Taylor, was fixing to graduate from high school...And my son, Luke, was 1 year and 5 months old...I continued for months to decorate this little home with  all my favorites of a much larger home...It wasn't going to work...lol...But that is another story for another day...I am going to take you on our yard journey...Turning this plain house into a home I might want to make my "forever home"...

This is the earliest picture that I could find...It is several years old I know because I spent the first couple years working on the inside...Our home was featured in the Spring 2010 issue of the Country Sampler Magazine...I spent a lot of time painting the entire house and decorating getting ready for that...I can also see that on the right of the front door that my butterfly bushes are already planted...I started buying flowers from Cottage Farms on QVC then...The butterfly bushes were my first purchases...But as you can see, it was plain! Just plain!

More pictures to come! ~~Jen

 I love live tulips in the house! I save the bulbs, dry them til autumn, and then they go in the ground...My red and yellow tulips from last year are coming up, through the dirt, around my bench in the back yard right now...A gift that keeps giving! 💙

Happy Valentine's Day! 💜

A finished project! I bought this file cabinet/school supply cabinet back in the spring and I asked for it to be unfinished so I could have time to decide what color I wanted it...Well, it sat in my work area for a few months, and then one day I moved it up on my work table and stained the inside...After that, it sat for months and months and months and MONTHS! Today I walked by and said "This is the day!".... I need sunlight coming in my bay window, and I need my work table to antique some frames...Not long after I made that declaration, my hand sander died! So I have been hand sanding all day... This is my finished project to live with for now and decide if I need to do anything else to it after the new year....It feels good to get it this far! Finally! :)

I have to use this day to tell how GOD has blessed us....In 2002, I was told I had cancer and I had 6 months to a year to live...That wasn't in God's plan...As soon as I went into remission I asked the doctor if we could have another baby...I always knew he was meant to be...In 2005, I miscarried...I prayed that if I wasn't to have another that God would take that desire away from my heart...But he didn't! I learned through it all that it is in God's time..Not mine...In 2006,  2 1/2 weeks after my 40th birthday, I gave birth to Timothy "Luke"...My first words I whispered to him when they handed him to me were "I have waited so long for you!"....I was at 4 years remission and our family was now complete....His smile and laugh lights up my heart everyday! He is a constant reminder of God's grace and that God gave me my heart's desire! HAPPY BIRTHDAY my sweet 11 year old!!!