The begining of a new flower bed

      This is the beginning stage of my new flower bed. My dad and husband knocked out the deck steps and  fulfilled my vision for this area perfectly. Now I'm having fun creating another flower bed and weaving vines through the lattice.

In the middle pot I have a Star Jasmine

On each side of the Star Jasmin I have two Lantanas

Star Jasmin from Lowes

My Hydrangeas

My Hydrangeas are having their best year yet so I wanted to share!

End of 2018 Update!

Flashback our first apartment!

      Hey, Friends! It’s been a minute! We’ve made many updates to our home in the past year. We replaced the old electric panel, installed a new water heater, repaired the AC again, bought a new microwave, replaced garage door springs and I’m sure something else I’m forgetting. Fixing up an older home never ends but looking back on the journey and seeing how far we’ve come, makes it worth it. God has been faithful every step of the way.  

      I still haven’t replaced the fireplace tiles. I’m not sure what I want to replace them with. The back and forth drains me and causes me  to procrastinate. It will happen eventually, I guess. It will be easier once I know what tiles we are going to use in the rest of the house. Until then, it will remain an eyesore. 

        We finally invested in new sofas. We were hesitant since we have three dogs. After researching different types of fabric we took the leap. When we were picking out our sofas we went more with function than style. We consider style, but figured it was our only living space, and comfort and practicality were more important. Plus the dogs! I didn't want to worry about them destroying it. Hubby really wanted power recliners with built in chargers and I loved the gray with cream stitching. We are happy and enjoying our space!

         I bought a couple rustic window picture frames last year (you can see pictured above, behind the loveseat). They remained empty until last week when I finally decided to go with matching black and white pictures. Once my Brother’s baby, Harper, is born I’ll add a picture of her. It’ll be my parent’s first grandchild. I’m beyond excited for them!

Hello, Spring!

 We did a little shopping at the Garden Center today. I was in heaven! Roses everywhere!

 

Our purchases! The plum and baby pink colored roses smell divine.

I couldn't resist! Aren't they cute? Now let's hope I can keep them alive. 

 

Our original orange cushions were past their expiration date. They were stained with dirt and ripped from the dogs sun bathing on them. We had been meaning to get new cushions for a long time. We got these from Garden Ridge...I mean, At Home.

New lamps & accent pillows

See previous master bedroom blog posts CLICK HERE!

Hubby and I spotted this beautiful lamp on sale at Kirklands and it was love at first sight! If you don't know, Kirklands has a spin to win app --- >> you can play once a day! Hubby and I always spin before we check-out. You can get huge discounts, up to 50% off, I think. Anyway, it's a must download! Kirklands always has a variety of lamps in stock. These are shimmery and creamy. Love them!

 Hubby had this bedroom set before we got married. It's very big and masculine. I don't hate it, but one day I may replace the headboard, that's at the bottom of our list, no where in the near future. I purchased the "Dream" sign a few years ago at Garden Ridge (now AtHome stores). You can see the new lamp on the right side.

 I love flowers, and I love blues/greens. I found this bed spread a few years ago. It's got a corduroy type of feel, so it's durable with a house full of dogs who like to jump up and claw everything. Our accent wall is painted in Zen by Behr from Home Depot. I also purchased the sparkly "Mr. & Mrs." pillow from T.J.Max or Ross (I can't remember). The shiny cream pillow is from Target.

Here you can see the two lamps on our night stands. They are sheer when the sun shines through them. I planted 8 roses bushes behind bedroom windows a few years ago. It's so nice to see the bright red fresh blooms peeking in (unfortunately they aren't blooming right now). 

 

 Another angle . We have a third huge window to the right of this picture where you can see our fountain. 

(the fountain front and center outside our third window. I have a past blog about restoring this old fountain into what it is today)

You can see the main paint color in our bedroom here, also a peek at our vaulted ceilings. We painted the other three walls in our bed room, Avenue Tan by Behr a few months ago. Finally changed it from Burnt Almond, which was much to dark! All we need now is crown molding which we will install ourselves eventually. :-)

 Making memories with each project.

Summer: Back yard

     My husband and I have truly enjoy our outdoor space this spring and summer. The only major thing we did was paint the deck. Thanks to my hubby and dad! They did great!  Other than that we did a lot of fun stuff like adding potted plants and decorating the yard. 

      I'm proud of all our hard work maintaining such a large yard - watering all the plants, the grass, trimming trees and bushes etc. Summers are crazy hot in the south, thankfully this year we didn't  hit triple digits. :-) 

Our deck before we painted it. Hi, Winston! :-) 

(Before we moved in)

 Our deck after we painted it with a taupe weather sealer from Home Depot.

 

We have a huge back yard. The picture is taken from the side of the house where the deck is. As you can see along the ride side of the picture our yard goes around the back of the house as well. We have a small patio and fountain (pictures of patio and fountain area).

As friends and family know, my husband and I are in love with roses. We have about 12-14 roses bushes throughout our yard.  These are a few of our Double Knockout Roses.

 Angel Face roses

Cupcake roses 

 I'm not sure with this rose is called but we love it.

Our blooming Crepe Myrtle in the front yard.

Our Front yard Garden

     What's made this journey so rewarding is all the family time it's invited. I've loved working in our yard and on our house with our families. We've gained so many memories that I'll be sharing with my kids one day. The love, support, and wisdom of our families has made this such a special season for us. :-)

(Yikes! This is what our front garden looked like when we first moved in. We pulled out almost everything but the bushes. We also trimmed the trees so they are no longer on our roof yay!)

 (My parents helping us with our Esperanza the right way lol. My parents are pro gardeners, seriously! They need to own their own nursery.) 

 (My mom showing me how to trim the bushes. We are about to plant the Pentas!)

 (My mother-in-law and my mom pulling out the old ugly bushes. Talk about a strong root system. Love this picture! *good memories*)

 (Our freshly planted flowers. My mom insisting on water our garden *her therapy*. She said we have to saturate the newbies since they don't have a root system yet.)

 (My dad fertilizing our grass and teaching us how to have a green yard like his :-) And He was right. Our grass has never looked better according to our neighbor.)

(Fresh mulch! We planted Pentas and Caladiums!)

 (In the beginning)

(As you can see this is before my office had any blinds.)

 (The grass has come a long way. Hubby and I have done a great job maintaining the flowers! Nothings died yet! haha)

 (Our baby Esperanza in the corner. I can't wait till it fills out and hangs over our fence)

 (This picture was taken today (7-21-13). Garden is super full. The garden to the far right is still empty. We were trying to grow hydrangeas but they are so dramatic lol. We are gonna pull them out and do the same thing we did with the other garden and plant Pentas and Caladiums. They are really low maintenance. )

 (We aren't sure if we're keeping the middle bushes, they came with the house lol. I saw one flower bloom on it, so I'm hoping with a little tlc it will fully bloom sometime this summer or next.)

 (Our baby Crape Myrtles in royal purple. They are stunning! You can see our Esperanza in the far corner. Look at our GREEN grass! Hubby and I have been working hard and watering like crazy. )

 (My mom has helped us so much. She has a green thumb!)

 (Baby CM)

(Progress is exciting!)

(It's all coming together nicely)

 (I love our front patio. I'm thinking about painting our front door teal.)

(Home sweet home. Thank you Jesus for your many blessings)