Hello, Hardwood!!!

Oh, the glorious day has arrived! After hours & hours of hard work, cleaning dust & settling back into the swing of things again at the Myers' home, it is all done.

 Let me give you a small backstory before you view the pictures! The day Jearen & I moved in, we had a flood. Due to a corroded pipe that was missed from our inspector, Jearen had to stand holding a busted pipe gushing with water for 15 minutes while I had to call the fire department to come turn off our water meter (another thing our inspector missed :/). After hours upon hours of clean up, fixing the pipe, meeting unhappy neighbors whose water was shut off thanks to us, and tired muscles & minds from having moved all day, you could easily say this home owner thing gave us a kick in the butt from Day One. We went to sleep that night with dwindled spirits and heavy hearts. Here is where it gets good. We were at church the next day, trying to share our joy of having just moved into our FIRST HOME, and our minds kept replaying the day before. A man after Worship got up on stage before our Pastor began to preach, and mentioned a new ministry he was starting for people who needed home repairs done. HELLO, DID YOU JUST HEAR ABOUT YESTERDAY?! OK GOD, WE SEE YOU!

 We laughed because it could have only been God's timing. He's timing is always perfect, you know! Now here we are, several months after that day, and I feel like what the enemy intended for bad, God turned it around for good! We had plans to take the carpets out downstairs, but planned on waiting a year or so to save up for it. {Thankfully we were given a check from our insurance from the damage, so that sped up our renovation plans.} 

We have been incredibly BLESSED by that man who spoke about a home repair ministry that one Sunday, Bill Kanewske. He gave several weeks of his time, hard work & labor to help make our downstairs BEAUTIFUL! I don't think we could thank him enough. Plus, we have some pretty great guys in our life who have also stopped by to help with the prep work, clean up, the whole nine yards. Again, we are BLESSED! This house just keeps getting better & better. Oh, and I should also thank my husband for all his hard work in all of this too!! He's by far the biggest blessing in MY LIFE, but I don't gotta tell ya that ;)!

My old window was repainted Teal to match the hutch in the dining room & was filled with some of my favorite instagram prints! 

Have a great weekend!!

-Becky

Thrifting Treasure

I never thought that sharing what I thrifted would have such a positive impact with others. I mean, thrifting has always been something I've been into, but lately I have been given some crazy cool kind words from friends & family about how they are beginning to thrift, how I am an inspiration, and how people can't wait to show me a project they did through thrifting. Totally awesome in my book! I don't know if I am an inspiration  :), but if I can open the eyes of one person to buy something second hand for a cheaper price, then I am all for that!! To pinpoint one reason I thrift would be tough, but several reasons are the prices are stinkin' unbeatable, the things I find are less likely to be in everyone else's house (hello, hobby lobby!), and I just can't see myself spending loads of money on items that may not fit into my home decor style a year from now. If I can buy it cheap, and if I can make it go with my decor, I buy it. I don't have to feel guilty buying something expensive that I would want to hide away in a closet down the road. If it's cheap now, I can donate it later and let the cycle run it's course. Oh the joys of thrifting!

 Here are some things I do when I thrift that may help you.

1. Be open minded- obviously, this isn't for everyone, and that's ok. But if you are open to the idea that you will be going into a store that doesn't always have "clean" as a top priority, then your set :)

2. Prepare to Dig- most of the stores I go into is packed with LOTS of donations. You will have to spend a little bit of time searching through the shelves to find what you are looking for. Trust me though, the more you  thrift, the faster this process goes. Plus, if you thrift often enough, you will know which stores to go to/which ones to avoid/ and where in the store you will find the treasures.

3. What Do You Want? My eyes are always attracted to anything red or teal (as shown by my house decor, haha) so if I am in a thrift store, my eyes usually wander to those colored items first. I also am really into DIY, so if I find something that I can paint one of those two colors, I usually buy it. I also collect Fiesta ware thanks to my step mom, so my eyes are always searching for that!

4. Be Creative- I have bought several things that didn't look good at first glance, but with some paint or elbow grease, I can make it like new. 

5. Know Your Budget- It would be silly for me to spend a hundred dollars on thrift finds if I don't have any food in the fridge or have a bill to pay. I usually try to see what I have, what still needs to be paid, and kind of go from there. If I know I have no money to spend, I don't torture myself by going shopping. And neither should you. If you DO go shopping, limit what you purchase. No need to feel up a cart just because. Select the things that you love and go from there. I often pick up things as I go, and before I check out I will put back what I can do without. 

6. Thrifting is not a contest. Sure, I love to instagram what I find to be awesome purchases, but that doesn't happen everyday. And there are plenty of times that I will leave a store with nothing. I use to get frustrated with not finding anything, but I got over that. People will always have things to get rid of, and if you  are looking in the right place, you will find some awesome things.

-Let me know if you go thrifting! I always enjoy a good thrift story!

Bought at Goodwill for $2.55, then found out they sell this candle at Anthropology for almost $30!

Found 5 of these Fiesta Mugs at Graceful Buys in Grapevine for $1.99 each!

Also from Graceful Buys in Grapevine, I bought this basket for $1 and painted over the wooden picture with white acrylic paint that I already had, painted a M (also already had) and hot glued it on. 

Tyler Company Candle from for $2 (worth almost $20), Starbucks Waterbottle for $1, frame for $1 & mercury glass vase for $1, all from Goodwill.

This fall wreath was $1 at UGM Super Thrift in Irving, and I hot glued the M on it. Easy as Pumpkin Pie!

Thrifted outfit: New York & Company Sweater from Goodwill for $4, Blue Dress from Goodwill for $3, and Eddie Bauer brown purse for $7 (was $15 but purchased during Goodwill's 50% off day!)

Green J.Crew shirt for $3 from Goodwill.

-Becky

Home Happenings.

Hey there guys and gals. I can't believe September is wrapping up already. Seems like just yesterday we were closing on our home & heading to Home Depot for some paint. Man, that day was such a treasure. Here we are now, two months into our new place, and the makeovers begin. We were very fortunate to have found a place with a lot of features that we already loved, causing us not to have to do a ton of home improvements. However, thanks to the 15 minute nightmare (water pipe bursting in the downstairs bathroom several hours after we moved in) we are having to redo our downstairs flooring sooner than we had planned. It was a thick shag carpet that felt great on your toes, but because of water damage, we decided to remove all of the carpet & tile, and bought hardwood flooring from Home Depot. We are so blessed with great people in our lives to help us through this first time home owner renovations. Our friend Bill helped Jearen on Saturday with all of the dirty prep work. Several hours later, and a TON of dust later, they finished the first steps to getting our new flooring down. We are still waiting for the flooring that we ordered to come in, and then we will move forward with the next steps. I will be thrilled when this is all done, but in the mean time, I'm enjoying the process (especially seeing my hot husband working hard to make this the best place ever!) Oh, and I threw in a before & after pic of the old window & shutters above our bed. :) 

BEFORE

AFTER

GOODBYE CARPET IN DINING ROOM

MY STUDHUB WORKING HARD

CONCRETE FLOORS IS ALL THAT'S LEFT. BESIDES DUST, LOTS OF DUST.

SHOPPING IN HOME DEPOT FOR THE FLOORING. OF COURSE I HAD TO TAKE A PICTURE. HAVE YOU MET ME?! I TAKE A PICTURE OF EVERTHING :)

VIEW FROM LIVING ROOM

THE GUYS FINISHING UP IN THE KITCHEN

 Come back for more Myers' Home goodness!

-Becky

My Kitchen Has The Blues.

Did I say my kitchen has the blues?! Not the sad & frown kind of blues, but the happy & cheery kind of blues! Having a blue kitchen has been something I have wanted for a VERY long time, and I'm so glad to finally have it. The nice thing about this kitchen is all the hard work the previous owner put into it: painted cabinets, tiled floors, new appliances, track lighting, granite countertops. We pretty much had it made when we moved in! 

I am excited to cook in this kitchen! It is spacious and so much easier to clean than our apartment! 

Hope you can come share a meal with us!! 

-Becky

Living Room!

Hey Y'all!

Hope everyone has been wonderful and inspired to decorate on the cheap, since that's how I do! The living room is all decorated and would have been posted with pictures sooner, but I was hesitant of posting since we are about to remove the carpet for hardwood floors within the next few weeks. This room was the first room we painted the day we closed on our house, and I was such a happy camper to get a paint roller to these white walls. The walls are Chateau by Behr, but the mantle (which I am THRILLED about) was kept white for some pop in the room. This room is cozy, and was almost a selling point for us (in a negative way). We knew how much smaller it was compared to our apartment living room, but the rest of the place won us over, and we downsized from having two couches & a chair to just one couch. Like I said, it's cozy :) But it's the perfect size for the two of us, and guest can hang out in the dining room, since that's where the good stuff is (the food!)  

View from the stairs

Hello, fireplace! I hope I can light you up this Winter! :)

The background picture was one of my favorite antique shopping finds when I went with my friend Lindsay around the time I was turning 25! We found this at a little hole in the wall, and she talked me in to buying it! Best $24 dollars spent for this mantle! The tiles were purchased months ago at a flea market in Hurst ($2.75 total) and it's our anniversary date!

Sherry bought me a bag full of M's for my 25th birthday, and this one I painted red & added white swirls!

Thanks to my friend Sarah (who did all the flower arrangements at my wedding), I was able to keep my flowers to remember that special day :)!

I added some other colors up there so it wasn't overboard w/ the red & teal. The yellow flowers are from TJMaxx, blue candle from a thrift store for $1 & brown crate from a flea market for $3.

That's all folks! 

P.S- If anyone has a question about where to go thrifting, the story behind something, or any other suggestions, let me know! I never really know what to say about my home, haha, so input would be good!

-Becky

Jearen's Family Weekend

This past weekend, Jearen and I met up at his grandparent's cabin in Glen Rose for their 24th annual Hawkins Family Reunion (his grandparents on his mom's side). We were greeted by familiar faces & warm hugs. The two days we were there was filled with football games by the river, basketball games, ping pong, yummy food, long chats & catching up, DUBLIN Dr. Pepper (which made me a happy camper :) haha), and of course, lots of lots of family. Every year they hold an auction to raise money towards the funds of the reunion. Everyone brings items they either don't want anymore from their house, or things specifically for this auction. Jearen & I brought our old printer, a ripstick, and old tennis shoes...Hey, we figured it could sell for a few bucks and go towards the cause (oh, and clear out some space in a closet!) The auction is always fun, and this year was no exception... mind you, this was only my 2nd year to attend, since last year at this time we were on CRUISE! We won this Texas sign & you better believe we are going to hang it on our fence with pride!

The next day, Jearen had the honor of speaking to his family at their church service on the camp grounds. I always love hearing Jearen speak, but there is something special when you get to hear your spouse speak about his testimony to all of his extended family. It is a big deal and very humbling in my opinion. He spoke with ease and had many of us teary eyed. I'm not gonna spill his life story on here for ya, but I'm sure if you ever had the chance to ask him about it, he would tell you in a heartbeat :)! God has done some INCREDIBLE things in this man's life, and God deserves all the praise!

Immediately following the service, and taking some group photos (which I do not have, opps) we headed straight back to the Metroplex for the other event of the weekend: Myers' August Birthday Celebrations.

We drove to Jearen's Uncle's House in Carrollton where the party was being held. Again, we were greeted with warm hugs and lots of love. After we ate, we had birthday cake & the birthday folks received some presents! Jearen's grandma (Nana), his Uncle T & Jearen himself were the guests of honor. It was a great couple of hours. 

**Right before we left, Jearen's granddad (Grandaddy as we Myers' call him) came over to me where I was talking with Nana, grabbed my hand, and told me how proud we was of me and how much he loves having me in the family. It was such a sweet moment for me, since I grew up not having granddads. I felt so stinkin' loved!**

All the boys w/ Nana & Grandaddy :)

Cherish the moments you have with your family! 

-Becky