Use whatcha got! Fall decorating...

Use whatcha got! Fall decorating...  

I've got to be honest.. I picked up something fall every time I've walked into Hobby Lobby in the last 2 months. And one of the only reasons why I decided to use some stuff I had around the house was only because they were closed today! So glad they were now.. 

My wheels started spinning out of control today so I put some things together.

First was for my kitchen table. $6 total to decorate!!

I'm changing the table runner to something different as soon as HL opens tomorrow. I already had the Coca-Cola crate, Mason Jar, and Black Lantern. The Pumpkin bandana around the mason jar came off my dog Buddy's neck from the groomer Friday. Joe and I went in the woods in our back yard and cut all kinds of branches and leaves. The only things I bought were a bag of Mini Pumpkins for $2.98 at Wal-Mart and a bag of Gourdes for $2.98.

I think I love this more than if I would have went and spent a lot of money on it. 

(Excuse those ugly window trim that will eventually be painted white. ;)

Next was our Porch. This Arrangement cost me $9!

I already had the Coca-Cola crate,the clear vase (you can't hardly see in this picture) the left over burlap to make a bow from a previous project and of course the leaves and branches were from our woods. I sent $7 for the mums and $2 for the pumpkin.

And here are a few other decorations just sitting around. 

I just added a few leaves that I got from the woods under some of my decor.

I made the wreath about a month ago!

 We are ready for Fall.. :)

Sending Lots of LOVE,

ERICA :)

Sometimes it's the little things..... In our renovation process and in LIFE!

Sometimes it's the little things..... In our renovation process and in LIFE!

It's been a LONG time since I posted anything.. We have been really busy with so much and Joe has been working so much that we haven't done any HUGE home renovations. We have done lots of little things... Too many to list or even recall because there is so much that needs to be done. 

Joe works all week long... Well all week for him ;) We are really blessed that he is self-employed because he is able to make his own schedule. He doesn't go to work real early and is usually off by 3 everyday at least sometimes its different but for the most part this is how it is. Anyways, I always feel bad about having a home to do list on the weekend because he works all week and I feel that he deserves to relax and do nothing. He is always willing to do in his words "anything to make my girlfriend happy". I've wanted to weed and lay fresh pine straw since before we closed on our house. This weekend I was determined ;) Since it's fall and the weather is gorgeous I love to get out and work in the yard. 

We slept in til noon Saturday.. Got up, got ready and went to lunch (Which btw Firehouse Subs are so amazing... I know I know!! they have been in town for years and it was the first time I ate there. Then we went  to Home Depot for pine straw, mums and pumpkins. you know?!? all the fall essentials :) 

We started at 4 pm getting all the weeds out of the beds which I do about every other week and I swear you wouldn't have been able to tell.. It looked like we were living in a jungle haha! Took out this tacky black plastic border that the previous owners put in that's been killing me looking at it.. Couldn't wait to remove it. Then we laid 40 bales of pine straw. I've done this too many times in my life and I know it doesn't take much money to get someone else to do it but the problem with that is Joe and I both have OCD so bad it would be a waste of time and money to have someone do it! We would just go back over everything they did. So around 11 pm we were finally done. 

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE

I'm so happy its done now... I can barely walk or move today but it was worth it! It was just a little day job but it made a HUGE difference.

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

Little Story: When we were in the middle of laying the pine straw, the dogs were laying on the front porch, we had country music playing and we were chatting and out of nowhere Joe said these are the moments I live for! I was so extremely happy that he said this. I feel this way all the time but now he expressed the same feeling. Gosh.. It's the little things in life that make us so happy! God has answered my prayers... He has sent me the man I've prayed for and the life I dreamt of! Feeling so blessed this Sunday and everyday.

Sending YOU Lots of Love,

Erica :)

Let the painting begin.... but wait!

Excuse my NO-MAKEUP face... And I promise he's happy. Just doesn't smile much taking pictures..

Let the painting begin... but wait! 

WE HAVE THE HARDEST TIME DECIDING ON COLORS!!

We just happened to be at Home Depot Sunday... Imagine that! We aren't ever there..

Ha what a joke! :)

So we just went over to the paint just to look.. And of course left with 3 sample containers of paint. We just knew those were going to be the colors.. NOT! We liked the colors just not for where we were going to paint which by the way is our hallway..

 Don't know where we came up with painting it first.

 I guess it doesn't matter where we start because this whole house has to be painted. 

First attempt.. Too Light!

So yesterday we made a trip back to Home Depot. We picked out a few more colors and Joe said I want to get something done so let's just go ahead and get a few gallons of these. I have to be honest it made me nervous because i am super picky but i said what the heck we have 2200 square feet in this house to paint if i don't like the colors in the hallway we can use it somewhere else.

It's so funny how when you are house hunting you see all these houses with ridiculous paint on the walls... Sometimes i wonder what these people were thinking when they chose them. Like painting our hallway PURPLE!!! Who does that so i guess it was pretty important to get that changed quickly!

Before.. With Beige and Purple and OFFWHITE Chair Rail and Trim!
 (The purple was very bright purple in person.)

So... We started painting yesterday evening and didn't stop til it was almost done around 2 am. Yes we are tired but we are so motivated by seeing progress! I'm super blessed with the best man in the world. He is a workaholic. 

And he never starts a project that he doesn't finish. Sometimes I have to make him sit down and relax because he will just go, go, go! 

We were worried the whole time we were painting until it was done NOW then, we LOVED it! So patience is the KEY! ;)

AFTER: The picture doesn't do it justice... But it's a light grey and the bottom is a dark grey and FRESH WHITE Chair Rail and Trim... Nothing better!
We had the best time together painting... like we do with everything we do together! This adventure we have taken on together is so much fun and rewarding! 
OH YEAH, I forgot to tell y'all... Our first BIG project that will be starting soon.. well we've already started it just had little things to do first. Our Kitchen... Just to give you a brief on my current situation. The kitchen I'm using right now is in the new addition the previous owners had built two years ago. They had a kitchenette there.  So that's what I'm working with because we purchased this home without a kitchen. The previous owners were in the process of remodeling it and had already torn everything out including the cabinets. So we are so excited about designing and building our perfect kitchen. We have been shopping around for cabinets. And I think we have it pinned down to where we will buy from and what we will get.  
  
One of the best places to get cabinets in ATLANTA. This place you could very easily get LOST in.

My Love shopping for cabinets.
Can't wait to get this project in full swing!

Super Blessed,ERICA :)

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING... TODAY MARKS 2 WEEKS!

We haven't got any HUGE renovations done but hey I guess I need to give us a break. TODAY marks 2 weeks since we closed on our house and moved in. It seems like its been a lot longer than that with all the odd and end jobs we have done. I can't wait to start the big renovations so I can blog more and show more pictures.

 

Two days after we moved in... I was home while Joe was at work. And the house started feeling pretty warm. Went to look at the thermostat... Yeah the AC was definitely BROKE AGAIN!! Since Joe and his dad know so much about fixing almost anything.. The best thing to do was to wait til they got off work so they could check it out. I debated on whether or not to even call Joe and tell him it was broke again because I really didn't want him to have to worry about the dogs and I being in the house all day with no AC!

HOT HOT HOT!!!

After a few hours both of my LONG HAIRED FUR BABIES, Princess Gucci and Buddy were so hot they couldn't stop panting so I got in the shower with each one of them and got them soaking wet, towel dried them and it worked wonders.. They didn't pant the rest of the day! Since I haven't posted anything about them yet (But its coming) I'll Post a picture of them both when they aren't soaking wet so you can see they really aren't nasty wet dogs all the time ;)

 

 

So luckily the AC was just a wire that had burn up. They got it fixed in NO time.  Thank GOD!

 

So many have asked about the blue tarp that was on our roof when we bought it... Well we were quite concerned about it when we put the offer on it too.. But someone that lives close by told us that Freddie Mac had a company come out and put it on there because there was a spot in the house on the ceiling that had water marks from a leak..  well little did they know the leak was before they replaced the roof. We knew that the roof was only a year old so that was pretty crazy that it had a tarp. Anyways after FM paid a company $2000 just to come nail a tarp on the roof they caused the only problem that we had with the roof... The nail holes where they nailed the tarp... What geniuses!

All it took was too early morning before the sun came up for Joe to get it down and fill all the holes with tar.

 

WITH TARP...

 

AND WITHOUT...

MY SEXY ROOFER ;)

The other day Joe was out working in the yard trimming up some bushes and tree limbs. He came inside to let me know that a Caterpillar had stung him... Who knew they did that? I sure didn't! This was nasty looking. And the spikes it left behind made a nasty looking place on his neck. Scared me to death because I didn't know if he was allergic or not! So of course I went to googling it.. This is what he looked like.

It didn't sound like they were poisonous so I was able to relax some... It looked bad for hours.. But it finally went away!

 

 

I have a lot more to blog about but I don't want to go on and on with this one so... until next time!

 

Have a great 4th of JULY if I don't blog before then!

 

Love, ERICA

 

PS comment below if you have questions or have suggestions on what you want to hear about.

 

Feeling Like Home...

My mom gave us some really GREAT advice. She said you need to make a few spots in the new house feel like home so you can have some normalcy and can escape from all the renovations and be able to relax and rest without having to look at what's "under construction". That was one of the best things we have done so far! (Thanks Momma ;) I love you!)

I chose to get our "current" Master Bedroom (Which by the way was the original Master Bedroom before the previous owners added the Master Suite) complete for now... It's our SAFE HAVEN!

(I'll post pictures later.)
Also wanted our "current" living room to be some what complete for now too. Which both rooms still need different color paint and all but that's to do later.

I've also found that the whole moving and unpacking process doesn't have to be as bad as what we sometimes make it. I try my best to get one room done at a time instead of having 10 things going on at once which ill tell you that's easier said than done with everything going on in this house! hahaha
I put each box in the room where the contents of that box will go. And then slowly but surely get everything unpacked and organized.

We've had some very sweet family come by to see our home and so many bringing such thoughtful gifts. We are differently blessed with the best.

We both have a very hard time resting/relaxing because we are workaholics. But a few days ago we both hit a wall... And had no choice but to rest. I guess my point to that is cut yourself a little slack. Really if you work another job like Joe does.

I'll update more on what all we have done and add pictures in a day or so...

I hope you all have a fabulous week!

With Love, ERICA

Closing/Moving Day... Our First Night

SOLD, BABY!!!

AT THE CLOSING TABLE

We closed on our home this past Monday June 16, 2014. We started moving that very day... And of course that would happen to be on the HOTTEST day that we've had all year! But to be honest.. It didn't matter. We have been so excited about this day that nothing would have rained on our parade.
 

Happy to be moving..

But more happy that it will be the last time for awhile!

 

THANK GOD that Joe knows so much about any kind of home renovations/repairs (Or anything at that... He can seriously do anything!) because we needed it from day 1! We were so grateful that God listened to all our prayers especially for the Air Conditioner to work. We heard from one of the neighbors that it didn't! And since we bought it AS-IS we didn't know until after we closed and had the power turned on. After a really quick/cheap fix it was GOING!!!

Our First Home Together

Come hell or high water we were staying the very first night. So we started setting up our temporary bedroom (will tell more about that later on) We were so tired so we set our mattress and box-springs up on the floor. After all we had done that day we needed showers in a BAD way. I couldn't find my shower curtain hooks but found the curtain liner. We found an old ugly gold curtain rod that was way too big so Mr. Fix EVEYTHING (Joe, the love of my life) went to work bending it in every direction and then asked if I had ribbon. So with a little work bending the rod and stringing the curling ribbon we were taking showers!

With LOVE ~ ERICA

Hey, It worked for a few days

 til' I found the shower hooks..



 

ABOUT US

We met in Panama City Beach, FL 11 years ago in April 2003. I was 16 and Joe was 18. Over the last 10 years our paths continued to cross time and time again. In April 2013, We started dating again and have been completely inseparable since. More will be posted about us later on.

We started house hunting about a year ago. Which by the way we found the most amazing Realtor, Amanda Williams (Who actually suggested us do a blog). We were searching for a home that needed renovations since Joe and his dad have a Plumbing and Home Renovation Company. We knew that doing the work ourselves would be the best deal for us for when/if we decide to sell one day.

We are so excited about this journey. It’s a dream we have both had forever to live-in a home while we renovate.

I hope we can share some tips with those out there that are looking to do the same or maybe you can give us some tips. I’m sure we need some!

We hope you enjoy our journey as much as we have already!

ERICA AND JOE