Let’s Slip Away to the Countryside & Do a Little Fishing

Today Corey got in from work and started packing up to go fishing! I jumped up and road out to the country side on the back side of the farm to a small creek to fish along his side. When we got there he said he brought one pole! Lol! I guess I was there for moral support. 😂 So, I enjoyed the peace & quiet, Birds chirping and that very missed sound of the country. You know how they say “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone?” Well, I feel it. We lived out on the farm for 7 years before moving up town to the home we bought from his family. I LOVE my home but I’ll be honest, After 5 years on Main Street, We hope that someday it will be on God’s plans to move us back to the quiet peaceful country side. I long for a small farmhouse with a pond and an open view of the sky so I can watch Storms roll in. ⛈☁️ 🙌🏼 It’s my dream!!! In the meantime it was so nice to slip away from reality and watch Corey catch a Fish! 😜 At least I got to hold it! 😌

Summertime Basketball | Calleigh goes to camp.

     Today wrapped up a 3 day summer basketball camp for our small town school. Calleigh attended seeing that she has chosen to put her focus on Basketball come her 7th grade year this upcoming fall semester. I’ve always felt she would head strait towards cheering seeing that she has participated in Pee Wee cheer from 1st-6th grade but she switched it up on us. After much debating and praying before try-outs came about this past Spring she opted to skip cheer tryouts and take on basketball. Her daddy was proud seeing that it’s one of his most favorite sports. 

     Corey worked today but Myself and the younger two went to the gym to see her finish up. There was a variety of things they did but as I sat there in the stuffy humid gym all I could think about was my couple of years of basketball when I was in 7th & 8th Grade Before I switched to Cheer my 9th Grade year. I also attended a different school but the atmosphere still brought back memories. I love seeing all the bonds made. The laughter shared and the beginning stages of team work that she will soon be experiencing. Our naturally red cheeked girl did great! She’s still learning but that’s perfectly okay. 

     Summer just began and I’m already excited about the upcoming year and seeing her play. Corey & I are ready to welcome the High School experience along with much Prayer to cover our girl and all that she will become over the next 6 years. I can already tell it’s a lot more than what  our sweet elementary days have provided and she’s just getting started. 

     She took home a couple of Awards today. The Hot Shot Award & 3 Point Award. She also earned Camper of the Day award yesterday. We are so proud of her. 

     And for added giggles, Enjoy little sis. I never know how or where I will find her. Ha! She manages to get herself in some silly spots at times but keeps life fun. 💕

Barefoot & The Water Hose

     Allow me to introduce to you this fun bundle of joy! When the lord gave us this precious one 4 years ago we had no idea what all he packaged her with. She’s our little bashful yet full of life sweet baby girl who longs to play dress up and all things princess but as soon as the door is open her shoes are off and she finds the nearest dirt pile to dig into. 

     Her little heart for animals & plants just gives me a whole new take on both. I’ve never really been an animal person or someone to really care for plants, but add this girly in the mix and you can’t help but to fall in love with nature and all the little critters that Our Big God gave us. She will find a lady bug hidden under leaves, run & chase the dog and then cuddle with him wherever they find a spot to plop down and she loves loves loves flowers. 

     Each day I know that if she’s grumpy I can win her over with that simple question; “Caroline, Do you want to go outside and water the flowers?” Her face lights up and is out the door in seconds. 

     My prayer during pregnancy with her was that she be a calm & easy going baby yet determined and Independent at the same time. That she be gentle & active and that she love Jesus with all o her heart. The Lord truly applied all to her little heart & soul. 

     I’m so thankful he chose to surprise us with her arrival. Sometimes the unexpected things in life end up being such a blessing & gift. 

     Over here we go barefoot & drink from the water hose. 💕🌿🌸🌞

We have a 6th Grade Graduate

     This week has been a whirlwind of events. Filled with field trips to wrap up the 2017-2018 school year, church time with our church family, getting to know more kiddos from our community and then last night we finished things up with our first born’s 6th grade graduation. 

     It is so hard to believe just how far we have come with her. She has taught us so many things in the last 12 years and honestly it’s a day to day journey with her. She is our first. So everything is a first with her. She keeps things so enjoyable though. She is so full of life. Her spunk is enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face. 

     Calleigh received the honor of singing the national anthem along side a friend at the opening of the ceremony. It was so great to hear them. Following graduation came the traditional family & friend photos and a reception at our town favorite, Dondies. We celebrated with our friends & family. Calleigh & her friend Ellie were excited to share this time together. 

     Next year will be another brand new experience. 7th Grade is nearing and this full throttle determined independent sweet girl is more than ready to experience what the High School has to offer. This momma is a little on edge and praying daily that she chooses to follow Jesus all of her High School days and is known for being a difference maker. 

     Calleigh, You have made your daddy & I so proud. Congratulations sweet girl! You did it! 

         Kindergarten Graduation 

Hello 4 Years!

     It is pretty laughable at how much I have let this blog go. I remember being so dedicated to it and then just dropped it. Life happened. Does anyone else seem to have that problem?

I hopped on here today just for fun to look over everything and realized just how much I miss it. Getting to track our family journey and how much goes on. It is neat to look back at everything.

Here's to picking up and creating more life long memories that we can look back on.

This does seem so out of sorts for me considering the Old OCD self would want to pick right up from 2014 and share everything that has happened, but I know that just cannot happen. Ha. Too much to share.

So a fresh start it is.

Let's meet again and engage in our journey. 

Our First Home (Our Extreme Home Makeover)

Well, as most of you know, We finally closed on our very first house on March 5th, 2013. This isn't just 'Any House'. It's 'The House'. My husband's Grandma, known as 'Memaw' lived here right around 60 years. This house was built by his Grandpa Joe's bare hands and farm workers in 1949. I believe my Father-in-law said that they had moved in around 1950. He grew up in this house. My husband has many memories from here & I am absolutely in Love with the idea of our kids growing up here as well. I have many 'Can't Wait's' on my list already. Just a few to start with...

-Playing in my very first flower bed during spring and summer
-Watching the kids play outside in the front yard from all the Huge and Many windows in the house
-Talks with our new neighbors who we love so much.
-Decorating for Fall, Big wreaths and so much more
-Last but not least, Putting my Christmas Tree up in the Big window in my living room. (always wanted a large window in front for this.)

There is so much that I love about this house. Some of my favorites are the original real wood doors all throughout the whole house. Beautiful crystal door knobs on them all. Fire place in the living room and all of the windows. I can pretty much see outside to check on the kids from anywhere in the front and back of the house. :)

This beautiful home was pretty much Move in Ready when we closed, it's had it's updates through the years, but we decided to add our own personal touch. We have Renovated the Entire house. YES... ENTIRE HOUSE!!! We have been at it hard for the past 8 months and are just about finished. We have done Every bit of it by ourselves. We did hire out for some new lighting put in and new granite counter tops in the kitchen. There are some things we didn't know how to do. :)

I'm sure you are ready to see some Before & After Pics. Get ready to be mind blown. LOL.... Just kidding. I just added how I personally feel when I watch something like this on HGTV. Haha. I have always wondered what it would be like to buy and old home and fix it completely up. Boy did I find out. We have had so much fun during this process. Yet it.s been LOTS of time and money spent. But spent well. We are very blessed. 

Enjoy the story of our New Home in the making.
3 Bedroom
2 full bath
Office
Living room
Kitchen & Dinning room 
Mudroom
Laundry Room
2300 sqft
2000 Heated & Cooled 

Exterior Before:

AFTER

Living Room Before 

 AFTER

Before

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

All of this Carpet has been ripped up. Brand new 12 mm Cottage Plank Hand Scraped Laminate now lays on these floors. Way cheaper & much more durable and looks Just like Hardwood. I plan to get new couch and chair in the future and want to add a Rug. I have several ideas. But these will all come with Time. :) 

I fell in love with this color Zeus. Its been put in every room in the house except the kids room, hall bath, office & mudroom. 

Mid process of having new 4 new can lights added and a fan/light combo. There were No lights at all. so this makes a big difference in the room. 

Everything  is taped off so that we could spray texture.

Letting the kids make memories as I begin painting in the living room. pretty cute.

Tons of crown molding went up in this house. Every room has had it added except the office. 

New front door knob. Love it. 

Every room has had new faux wood blinds added. Makes another big difference. 

New tile added below the fire place. The whole Fireplace got a makeover. New stone and a new mantel. Love how it turned out. 

After:

Living room had the following done to it:

-old carpet ripped up

-new flooring added

-all new texture

-new paint

-all new crown molding added

-both doors freshly painted

-4 new can lights added

-new fan/light combo added

-fireplace re-done with stone & new mantel

-old tile from fireplace ripped up

-new tile added in front of fire place

-new blinds

-new door handle and knob added to front door

Dinning Room Before:

This Wall came out. We removed it and the door to open it up to the kitchen. As you will notice in the rest of the post it Makes the house I think. More open and appears so much bigger. Keep scrolling. 

Mid-Process of Removing the Wall. Notice the Old Carpet has been removed and you now see the original hardwood floors.  

Wall is Out completely and opened up to kitchen. We sold all the old appliances to make room for new Stainless Steel. 

2 new can lights have been installed, and the original light has been taken down and patched up. We installed a New pendant light to hang over the dinning table. Walls have been Textured & All trim sanded and primed.

Mid-Process before the After Pic. :

After:

Dinning Room had the following done to it:

-old floor ripped up

-new floor laid

-wall dividing it from kitchen torn out

-new can lighting

-new pendant light added

-all new crown molding

-all new texture

-paint

-all new crown molding

-new blinds 

Kitchen Before:

Mid-Process WRECK!!!! Hated this part. lots of cleaning up each week. 

We had a little helper (Camp)

Painted all of the Oak Kitchen Cabinets Antique White and then Distressed them all. Was about a 3 day process but really made these babies pop and look great. 

Removing the Old Flooring.

We had to tear out a rotted spot in the floor and they had to brace it from under the house. once done it was all patched up and ready for the new floor.

Remember this Blank Wall in the kitchen? Well when the wall came out, We had no spot for a Fridge. So we cut this area out and finished it out to make room for the new fridge. It keeps the 

Kitchen open and spacious.

Gutted to the core minus the Cabinets. No more pink back splash or counter tops, No boxes above the top cabinets, no original floor, no old appliances ect. Mid Way

Granite Counter tops have been installed. My uncle owns Kitchen Works of Cabot. He does an awesome job with these counter tops. we are in LOVE.

We chose to go with a simple bead board for out back splash. it was all primed and painted Antique white to blend well with the cabinets. I wanted something that looked great for way cheap and still have the effect of a sweet little country home. for $20.00, Our back splash was complete.

Texture has  been sprayed and ready for paint.

After:

Kitchen had the following done to it. 

-old floors torn up

-new floors put down

-texture sprayed

-painted

-all new crown molding

-old boxes above the whole top of cabinets removed and new boxes added just above the cabinets

-all new can lighting added

-new pendant light over sink added

-all new appliances

-all cabinets re-painted & distressed

-all new door fixtures

-new blinds

-new granite counter tops

-new sink & faucet

-original fridge wall knocked out and opened up to dinning room

AFTER: Kitchen & Dinning Room Combo

Please over look that I have no chairs with my Table just yet! I just sold my other one and my Crafty Hubby built this one for us. I'm in the process of looking for the right chairs to add to it for a pop of Color! :) 

 Hallway Before:

looking towards the old Master Bedroom, What is now Calleighs room. (our daughter)

Closet that has now been removed and walled up so that we could cut out the wall on the other side to make room for the fridge.

Door to furnace was touching ceiling. Corey took it out and moved it down to be level with all the other doors.

  

Mid Way process.

Huge Hall Closet. Pic does not do it justice.

Paint had been added.

After:

Hallway had the following done:

-door on left lowered

-all new texture

-all new crown molding

-new light added down by Calleighs room

-all doors and trim sanded, primed and re-painted

-old carpet ripped up

-new flooring added

-attic fan taken out and patched up in the ceiling

-old phone in hall removed and patched up

-hall closet re-done, painted and new floor

BEFORE: Calleigh's Room!

AFTER: This room had all the following done

-All Old paneling ripped out

- Original Sheetrock cleaned from moldy spots

-New Texture added

-New Paint

-New Fan / Light

-New Crown and Trim

-Doors freshly painted

-New Carpet

-New Blinds

Camp's Room BEFORE

AFTER: This room had the following done.

-Old paneling ripped out

-Original Sheetrock cleaned of mold and textured and painted

-New Crown & Trim

-New fan/light

-Old Carpet ripped out and New Carpet put in

-New Blinds

BEFORE: Hall Bathroom

AFTER: The Following was done to the Bathroom

-Old Wallpaper torn off

-Walls Textured & Painted

-New Crown & Trim

-Old Floor ripped out

-New tile laid

-New Lighting Fixtures put in

-Cabinets, Refinished and Painted

BEFORE: Master Bedroom

AFTER: This Room had the following done

-Small Bedroom , Wall knocked out and joined with a Den

-Ceiling in the Den taken out and raised up a foot to match the bedroom ceiling 

-Floor in Den ripped up and leveled with the bedroom floor

-New wiring done

-New Lighting and Fan

-New Sheetrock

-Sprayed Texture

-New Paint

-Wall added to divide the Mudroom and Bedroom

-Old Carpet ripped out

-New Carpet put in 

-New Crown & Trim

-New Blinds

-New Flooring

-Moved original Bathroom door to new spot

(Will renovate the New Master Bathroom, Closets & Laundry room in the future)

This room was a TON of hard work! But We managed and got it done! Love Love Love the Finished look. :))

 

BEFORE: Mud Room

 

AFTER: This room had the following done.

-Wall added to divide from Master Bedroom

-Ceiling taken out and raised up

-Old lighting out and New lighting installed

-Closet put in for storage

-New Crown & Trim

-New Sheetrock

-New Texture & Paint

-Old Floor ripped out and New Tile put down

-Lockers and Bench built and added for storage

-New blinds

BEFORE: Office made into a Playroom

 

AFTER:This  Room had the following done.

-Old Floor ripped out and New floor put down

-All Trim & Paneling Re-Painted

-Ceiling Painted

-Fire Place Painted

-New Light

( I have more plans for this room to make it a better use with a Storage Bench for Toys / Seat, Crafts and Pictures on the Wall and some curtains. Can't wait to see all of that come together! :) 

 

So here it is! It was a LONG renovation but we got it done. We lived in the mess for a few months while we finished our bedroom but once we moved in our own room it was nice! We have so much room and So excited that soon after we moved in we found out we will be adding one more to this space. :) 

For each person that helped with anything, We are truly appreciative and so thankful! We are blessed to have this house and look forward to making so many memories in our new home!