Hard at work...

Hello all!!! For those of you who have never seen our new/old house from the outside this is what it looks like.

 Being back in Texas this week is unbearable. Other than it being another week alone in Texas I can't help but feel an intense anxiety that I'm not in Arkansas this week to do more work myself, but I guess somebody has to get the house in TX packed up and ready to go. I think Charli and I will be heading back up to AR this Thursday or Friday though so I can help do more before Brannon comes back with us the next following weekend for us to load up a truck and haul all our junk up there. This weekend Brannon and some of the family have been working away on the new/old place, even grand parents too.  Brannon had told me on the phone the last night that Grandma Tanksley pulled every staple up in the floor the other day getting it ready for the new wood floor and carpets to be put down. I love that sweet lady! Then Grandpa Tanksley helped Les get the rotted window in the front of the house re-framed. You just can't get those Tanksley's to slow down, they are just too adorable. I hope one day Brannon and I can have a relationship like those two. It's amazing the daily rituals those two love birds have like where they share a cup of coffee in bed every day before they get going and even take turns every other day as to who's gonna get up make the coffee. Just thinking of them warms my heart. Anywho, back on track to the renovations on the house and the progress that's being made.  You can see in the picture below the work I have already put in on the landscaping out front.

 

These bushes were as full and over grown as the bushes on the right of the house in the very first picture of the house up above.I just had to chop and trim those suckers down before it started to get too cold to work outside. While working on them my arms got so scrapped up I looked like I had been in a cat fight. Then low and behold I found our little garden friend behind the bushes, at least a three foot garden snake. We decided we'll let him stay there as long as he doesn't end up inside the house. I have  only tackled half of the bushes out front from the last time I was there, so when I get back up there and get all the landscaping cleaned up all around to the otherside I'll post an updated photo of it.

Next up is a picture of the small wall to the right of the stairs of the entry way when you come up the stairs. Brannon busted out the sheetrock on it and they got it widened and anchored down so we can build an shelf system on top of it up to ceiling that will be open from both sides for me to put pictures on and little nik-naks and stuff. I've always wanted to have shelfing that I can put old antiqued jars and bottles in of different colors and shapes for the light to shine through them. I believe we are going to stain the shelves to match the color of the wood that is going on the floor, it's going to look great.

Lastly but not least is a picture of our old dog Bear in his new dog house at his new home with the Drake family.  A few months ago before we had even thought of moving we had been talking of giving our younger choclate lab (Bear) to Brannon's sister Katie for her, her husband and their kids. Ever since we had gotten Bear he's always been a great pup, but our older black lab (Zoei') had become very dominant towards him through the past few years. So dominant to the fact that she would eat her food and his too as soon a we weren't looking, not allowing him to eat enough to pack on any weight or even play fetch and get any attention from us without her butting her fat butt in between us. Since we had Charli both of the dogs went from inside/outside dogs to just outside dogs and neither of them were getting any of the attention they used to. When the family discussed it we all decided that giving Bear to Katie and the kids would be the best for both dogs. That way Bear can get the undivided love and attention that he has always deserved and was never able to get adn Zoei's old butt can become an inside dog again. So the first weekend after Brannon started work up in Arkansas he had come back to Texas and picked up the dogs and went ahead and took them back with him. Turns out Bear and Zoei' are loving this transition. Bear has a whole family that will love him to himself and Zoei' has four other dogs in our neighborhood that she can run around the countryside with and boss around instead. It feels so good to see our dogs happy again!

Well once again that's all that we have for updates today! We are more than glad that you took your time to stop by and check in on what all has been happening with the move/remodel to our new/old home. Everybody stay safe and remember that even though we are all caught up in our busy lives that we are always thinking of you all. Much love to all our family and friends, and a special thanks to the Drake, Maestri, and Tanksley families for all the help with our new home. There's no way we could have ever gotten this much done this last month without all of you!!! x.o.x.o. 

Where you can imagine the future and enjoy the past.

Where you can imagine the future and enjoy the past.

Working on sharpening up on my Arkansas knowledge this evening and I'm starting to love the idea of moving there more and more. I found some really interesting sites that I have added links to below. The whole state just has so much artsy appeal that you could drown yourself in creativity. I really feel this is exaclty what my family needs. Can't wait until we are there for good. I was packing up boxes today and I think it's all just starting to set in that Texas won't be our home anymore. It's crazy how it's all happening soo fast. Talked to the hubby earlier and he and his dad are putting the walls up for our walk-in closet (pics below) and his mom called me for measurements of our bedroom furniture so she can help us figure how all our stuff is going to all fit in the master bedroom. No one could ever ask for better "In-Laws" in the world! These too are the cherry and the nuts on top of your Dairy Queen Sunday, or maybe that's the ice cream talking. Either way they are wonderfull, great, and loving people. As for tomorrow my mom will coming in town for a visit to help with Charli while I pack things up and tie up a few loose ends with my work. It'll be a long day for sure so I should say farewell and goodnight for the evening.

Until next time guys and gals...be safe and don't forget to tell those you love that you love them!

Our work in progress...

I'm back in Texas today after another long extended drive to/from Arkansas and Texas. Today really wasnt bad at all. Our little girl Charli is only one so what should be a six and a half hour trip instantly turns into a nine hour trip or more because of the breaks that must be taken so neither of us lose our minds in the car. Charli really was quite the little trooper today. Last time on our way to AR she was really cranky but today she hardly made a peep and slept most of the way. We stopped at a park in McAlester to play for an hour or so and stretch our legs and take pictures.

So as stated before we are moving to Arkansas, but what I had failed to mention is that we are moving into the house my husband grew up in. His parents built themselves a beautiful new home next door and had moved out a few years back. It was only a month ago or so that we made the decision for us to make the move to Arkansas and since then Brannon has already started a new job there and Charli and I have been going back and forth from Texas to Arkansas on weekends to help out with what all we need to get done before we can actually move in. In the last two weeks alone we have done alot of gutting to the house and getting it ready for some repairs here and there before we continue on with the laying the new floors and painting fresh paint on the walls. Below are some pictures of the place thus far. Below you can see the entry way, living room, dining area, kitchen, and master bedroom. In the pic of the kitchen you can see our lovely wood flooring that will be installed in the dining area, living room , entry way, and hallway to the bedrooms. I have also included a pic of the vinyl flooring we want to put in the kitchen. You can see in the pic of the master bedroom that we have knocked out the closet to turn it knot more of a walk-in knowing between the two of us that we'll need the space. I haven't gotten any pics of the outside yet but will soon because I absolutely have got to toot my own horn about the awesome job I did so far on the hedges out in front of the house.

Well that's all we've got for now everybody! Pray for us as much as you can, repeatedly!!! We'll be needing them to get this all done before next year! Love you all very much!

A New Begining...

After 29 years of never living anywhere but Texas my husband who is from Arkansas and myself have decided to make the move away from the only home I've known to the ever so beautifully natural state of Arkansas. I do have to be honest that I am beyond excited about this decision we have made. Don't get me wrong, I love Texas and always will. But it is very strange that since I was a teenager and made my first visit to Arkansas a part of me has always wanted to live there. It only became more evident to me a few months ago when we were visiting the family after having our little girl and I cried when we were leaving because i didn't want to go back home. It's crazy the feeing you get when someplace feels more like home than your actual own home. So when the opportunity came up for us to have the option to move to Arkansas I didn't even have to think about it. We had just moved to a new home in the city we lived in just six months ago and we had just gotten settled in. Even though we just gotten used to the place there were something's that made it hard for us like not being around a network of friends and family that seemed to be putting a strain on our marriage and my ability to cope with being a new mom and trying to work from home. Now we will have family there that can help us out at times when we even might just need one night by ourselves as a couple, or just some plain adult interaction. We will however be renovating the home we are moving into and we only have a few weeks left until we have to be out of our rental in Texas but I know we can manage this tasks so we can begin to build a better foundation for our own little family. So I will post next time some before pics and as soon as we get things done I will post more pics as the changes take place. If you don't see another post soon you'll know we are bard at work getting the place ready for us to move in. Until then we love and miss you all and hope all is well with everyone.