EastCoastLove

Interior design is something I have been into since I took an class back college. HGTV back in the day was my jam. Watching all the Design on a Dime, Love it or List it, and Sarah's house and of course recently Fixer Upper. Helping you create your own space that fits you and your budget. Now that we are in our forever house I always have a design plan running in the back of my mind.  Can't believe its been six years since we have built and moved out here in the country. We are so thankful we did it and having a blast. Our first house was 2400 square feet and this one is a 1200 square foot home. Talk about down sizing :) We didn't do much of decorating or building except for the boys beds and some small DIY stuff but really we just hunkered down and used whatever furniture we had at the last house. Which of course was too much and too big lol  before: We had this beautiful rectangle table from World Market that Kimmel and I picked out when we first got married. It had 4 chai...

Hello family and friends! It has been a minute since I have been able to sit, formulate a thought and write on this blog. Now having two in school and one almost there I feel like maybe I could pick this back up again. Shepherd is 8 now and finished 2nd grade! Asher finished kinder and is excited to start 1st in the fall! Jack will go to Pre-K at FBC Sanger, like the other two did, this fall. We finished strong with the distance learning thing and wonder what the fall is going to look like. Ironically I had ordered desks from IKEA for the boys that first week their school closed and FINALLY arrived 2 weeks back! when we finished. lol When I saw this months ago before the COVID I had to snag it and bring it home! I love being at home. Its my happy place. I love people and social things but I definitely recharge at home with my family. I am thankful to say that all five of us feel the same way. Shepherd has said a few times now that he will live with us when he is older while his ...

We have been in our house for about two months now and its feeling like home. I wondered how i would do moving from the suburbs to small town Texas.  Kimmel always said that once i gave birth in Texas i would be a texan, but i don't agree. I will say that our land and house now makes me feel a bit more texan and the fact that i own a pair of boots after a decade of living here. I'm still and east coast girl at heart. The week of july me and the boys moved in we got 11 inches of rain and we were worried that kimmel wouldn't be able to get us home from the airport. Thankfully we made it.  Our front stoop was muddy for days. I just got it all nice and clean and we had rain again this past weekend, back to muddy ugliness. We live off a country dirt road and we don't have any gravel or paved driveway. Therefore when it rains of any kind of substance its a muddy mess. I don't think i am a girlie girl. I kill bugs, while screaming, i don't wear makeup cause it t...

Here at our new house the sunrise and sunsets are Beautiful! So this morning i took advantage of the sunrise to nab a couple 8 month pictures of Asher.  We have this old wash house behind our house so i thought it would be fun to put asher in a tin bucket!  He is a lil stinker and can stand on his own... He is pretty proud of himself :)  Excited to capture many more sunrises and sunsets at Our Place! 

When we started this roller coaster ride two years ago our family motto was "live like no one else, so you can live like no one else later." Taken from Dave Ramsey and his debt free teachings. We were chasing a dream and it was fun and exciting at first but during this year of actual building and planning our house i have learned that i am a true selfish, entitled american! blah i hate even writing that! When we started the build we built to the amount of what we could afford monthly, kimmel figured out the numbers, i was lucky to find a small plan that didn't feel apartment like or just awkward flow.  When talking to people about it i found my self being embarrassed or explaining why we didn't have an extra room for an office or why the boys will be sharing a room. I didn't like that feeling. I didn't like thinking my "dream home" really wasn't the right size. I asked the Lord to help me be content with what we can afford...to not compare and ...

Marilla Cuthbert : You set your heart too much on frivolous things and then crash down into despair when you don't get them. Anne Shirley : I know. I can't help flying up on the wings of anticipation. It's as glorious as soaring through a sunset... almost pays for the thud. Marilla Cuthbert : Well, maybe it does. But I'd rather walk calmly along and do without flying AND thud. I think now that we are at the end of this process i would have to agree with Marilla, to walk calmly thru is way better than the thud. Only problem is i just can't do it. I like Anne can't help but soaring when things are going so well. Now i have had about my 10th thud and i won't be soaring any more! At first it was just annoying, but now i think all i see is the 'thud' where i am. Can't really see over it to soar anymore. So until i walk thru the front door with electricity and all my stuff in the house i no longer will be 'flying up'.  I know when ...

The past few weeks are still whirling around me and i hardly have time to think keeping things straight. Thankfully the house is coming along! The inside is all sheet rocked and ready for paint that we will do after they are finished. Cabinets will be put in next week, as well as toilets and hopefully our septic tank. The outside is nearly done, just need our shutters and some bricks to fill in holes. (pictures from our neighbors, cause we can't make it out there everyday) Front Back Side  Its exciting cause more and more things keep getting done while more and more projects keep popping in my head :) fun projects!  Went to lowes this morning with Asher to get our mailbox. With every little thing that gets done it feels more and more like home.  thanks for taking time to look and be excited for us! its been a fun journey to share!! :) 

If you have been keeping up with us a little bit you know that the last year has been a standstill. Things started to begging back in october 2013 but now we are in full on turbo drive. Last blog i said our contractor said it would take six weeks till we could get in and i half way believed him. But this past week has blown by and we are left with and amazingly almost finished outside! The end of last week we had the frame. Then we got the roof framed and some walls.  This week ended with getting the fireplace, roof, and siding done, brick is where you see the white paper. Windows and doors are in. Still have loads to go but man oh man that was just in a week!  FRONT BACK The boys and i got to go down and walk thru the walls and take pictures! it was so fun! When shepherd see pictures now he shouts ..'HOUSE' :) trying to prepare him for the move! So thats 2 weeks...maybe 4 left...we shall see!

Happy to say we have some movement out at 10701 Dyer Rd. After loads of stop and go moments, we are building! Our sweet neighbors are so excited too that they send us photos when anything new happens. So here is a side view of the dirt work before they lay slab... Here is my bay window in the kitchen! :)  Here is the front porch where we will watch all the beautiful sunsets for years to come!  Can't believe its actually started!!

So i am super excited to say we have been approved through the county and we have an address!! 10701  This also means we have permits to build! The lead contractor called to tell me this yesterday! Super cool huh!? Then he says we have to wait a week cause the guy who i guess does the dirt work is booked all next week. SOOOO we took a huge step forward to wait in a different spot! I am ok with that! It was forward. We are so thankful!! He said it took 84 days to get our permits. It must be a record cause he commented on it and said "i am gonna but a fire under all my workers so we can get you in by June. That is my goal" I am ok with that too! As long as he understands how quickly we need this we will all get along just fine!

Maybe my parents should have named me Patience, maybe that would have made more since in my life. Especially now with our dream home. We were not in a HUGE hurry but we had our time line in our minds. We are coming to the end of said time line and it seems like everything kept going wrong and now we wait. I don't really want to share all that has happened as of yet....cause i think i  might cry again :) Do you ever watch those HGTV shows about renovations like Love it or List it, and the Property Brothers? Do you ever laugh at the ladies as they get all emotional and bent out of shape because of one SMALL thing that they can't have or went wrong? Yea me to...before our building process.  It is super stressful and you take it personal when they look at you and say we can't do this or that. With each cut back i am thinking "oh no they are not taking my hardwood floor!" Oh yes they did when they took more out of our budget. Well now we wait for some paper work...

Today kimmel and i made the trek to IKEA to get my kitchen sink! It's a pretty big deal! We drove out there before christmas only to be told that they 'over sold' that particular sink and didn't have any more in stock.  They told us to check on line and come back. Since we couldn't order it on line, i kept checking and yesterday they had 3 in stock. Today 14! Found the kitchen area and asked a nice lady to help me acquire this sink! 5 mins later we were paid in full and heading back out the maze to pick up my sink!! Its a smaller apron sink or farm house sink. Perfect for our new lil kitchen! I am super excited and a great way to start the year! After the crazy month we just had this was a sigh of relief to get into the garage! This last month should have been called the roller coaster month. With every step we took forward there was something that would knock us down. Then it would get resolved and we would take a step forward in the process. All this was ha...