Good afternoon friends!

I've taken a little time to freshen up the look of my blog so I thought while I'm on here I may as well give a little update on what I've been up to.

In the past year I have worked on design elements for 2 spec houses, 2 new rental houses, 2 new family residences for a couple of friends and remodeling a few of our rental properties.  It doesn't sound like much when I type it out but believe me 6 homes & a few rental properties definitely kept me BUSY.  I suppose the best way to show you my work will be to walk you through the process in six different posts. Since one of those spec houses is still in progress I may start with it and then work my way backwards.

Stay tuned, I'll be posting soon about all the fun I'm having with our French Country spec home.

As promised, updated pics

Now or never...

Have so much to add to this post but for now I'm just going to post the pictures. Eventually, I'll add "the rest of the story". So in the same order from my September 2011 blog post are April 2014 updates in pictures (tried to post the before pic under as best I could for easy comparison but used phone screen shots so not very clear - will try to correct later)

Disclaimer: part 1:  our house has seen cleaner days and these photos were taken with my phone, at night, so not the best quality.  

Part 2:  we are still in the decorating process, please do not judge my bare walls. Thank you.  Full list of "have done" and "to do" coming. 

Time to catch up

After making the "Before pics" from 9/21/11 my TBT today I've decided to take an updated photo from the exact same location/view point as the 14 pictures in that post. I'm happy that the thought crossed my mind and I've taken the time to make this post so that I'll hold myself accountable. And in case you missed it on Instagram or FB I'll attach a few pictures of our newly tree-less and grass filled front yard. We had 14 pines removed about a month ago and 12 (plus 2 more now) pallets of Zoysia grass laid.  Still working hard on our little home.

Still here!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged! Lots has happened at our house since my last post...

1. We painted the bricks surrounding our fire place, it was the quickest & cheapest solution to that "black hole" of a wall.
2. Lee built an awesome 4' cedar shadow privacy fence all by his self, he is so talented!
3. We've begun hanging art on the walls and that makes me happy.

and now it's time to LANDSCAPE!!!

I had a local landscape designer over to tell me what type of plants will thrive in our shady little yard and now its time to cut out some flower beds & fill them up. I can't wait. Spring has sprung in our neighborhood, it is BEAUTIFUL! I'm so happy to see all the Wisteria that surrounds my house and to hear so many birds singing in the morning is the best. I adore our little hidden neighborhood, it's like a secret garden!

Right now my main concern is whether or not to paint the exterior brick, thats a tough decision. And I've got to convince Lee to build a nice pergola off the back of the house over the patio, get a new roof and replace some doors, then maybe we will take a small break...maybe. : )

Shout outs

As I flip through my November 2011 Better Homes and Gardens magazine I realize that this magazine does not get enough credit. I think I based ALL my paint colors on photos that I'd seen in BHG. I always enjoy looking at Southern Living but honestly BHG has better decorating and craft ideas. It's funny, when I look at a magazine now I think 'Oh, I should pin this on Pinterest' and then realize magazines like BHG had it going on all this time but for some reason some one starts a website with the same stuff and it suddenly gets me all worked up to become "crafty". I guess it really is all about presentation!

Well Saturday Lee & I worked hard in the garage and actually cleared enough out to fit my car in. I sent a picture of it to a friend who replied "Shut the front door! Is that a hot wheel or a real car!" She had threatened to turn me in to the tv show Hoarders if I didn't get busy cleaning it out. So now the fun part... preparing for the garage sale. Ugh, I hate trying to price stuff, people are going to try to name their own price anyway, can't I just haggle with everyone & not waste my time pricing???

This weekend we hit the road to "Cow Town" for a dear friends wedding. Lee will be in hog heaven with all of his Huawni buddies and I get to eat cake, drink champagne & dance - what could be better!? (I will be happy to see the Huawni crew too, they are good people!!)

Before I end this post I have to give a couple more shout outs. Sadly we will be missing my Mom's birthday Saturday - Happy birthday Mom, you don't look a day over 35 - we will celebrate soon! Also, to Miss Molly Michael, who turned BIG 5 on the 14th but we will be missing her awesome Halloween party this weekend also. We love you MM, I cannot believe you are so grown up already!