Making Ugly Beautiful!

I have definitely found a knack for refinishing old furniture. It's amazing to me that with a little paint, you can turn an unattractive (ugly even) piece of furniture into a gorgeous piece you'll fall in love with.

Most of the furniture I find comes from Craigslist - you can find some really awesome deals there! Although I haven't ventured into the world of yard sales, I know there are treasures to be found! I'll have to try my hand at yard selling soon.

Here's a dresser I found on Craigslist for $40 bucks. (Our camera is not the best!)

It was a great find, but needed a little work . It was missing a knob - so I knew I would have to replace those (you can find those anywhere - Hobby Lobby has some really great ones to choose from and they often go on sale for 50% off).

I took off all the knobs and sanded the entire piece. Add a little paint and voila! Josh has a new dresser!

I'm trying to get better at taking pictures during the process. I just get so excited as I go along, I have a hard time remembering to stop for pictures! :)  I totally forgot to take any before pictures of the dresser below. But I did the same steps: took off the existing pulls, sanded, painted and added new pulls - only this time....I got my first power tool - a Dewalt Sander! It makes this whole thing so much easier! Never thought I would be so excited about a power tool!

I'm picking up a pair of chairs tonight that I just purchased off Craigslist! I can't wait to make them beautiful!

It's Our Anniversary?!

Yep - it sure is! Well, not until Monday at least, but it will be our second anniversary!

When Kim (my MIL) came to stay with us and help us in the new house a few weeks back, she asked us what our plans were for our upcoming anniversary. She got a look of surprise from the two of us - and it was probably pretty clear that we had forgotten about our own anniversary! Sad - I know! But we had been so wrapped up in the excitement of buying and moving into our little blue bungalow - that it just simply slipped our minds.

Since our reminder, we've had to make a conscious effort to keep our anniversary in the forefront of our minds. With all the little projects around the house, yard work, shopping trips for items to help us get organized, painting furniture, and selling furniture (yes - we're still getting rid of stuff!) it's been hard to keep things on the calendar straight!

Last year, we used our anniversary as an excuse to take a trip to New York. I absolutely fell in love with the city and beg Josh on a very regular basis to take me back! (Josh, if you're reading this - TAKE ME BACK!)

This anniversary, it looks like our gift to each other is a brand new house! (Best gift ever!) And on our very special anniversary weekend I'm sure that we'll watch some football, knock a few things off the honey do list, and maybe even go out for a bite to eat. The truth is that no matter how we celebrate our anniversary, we're just so happy to be together and actually remember to acknowledge it! :)

It's so important to make your anniversary a priority in your marriage and remember to celebrate it in whatever way you can. While we've only been married for two years, it seems that the years are already flying by - I wish that I could stop the hands of time.....take it all in and remind myself to enjoy the memories that we are making along the way, the love that we share, and the friendship that we have with each other. (A bit too cheesy?? Yes, but so true!) An anniversary serves as the reminder to slow things down and reflect on what you've been through and the growth of your marriage over time.

When I think of our wedding, I will always see the two of us on that gorgeous day - hand in hand in the park, in our beautiful hometown - infront of God, family, and friends as we outwardly admitted our love for one another. We stood there, so wildly optimistic (like all brides and grooms) and put all of our hopes, dreams, and faith into each other. And each day thereafter, we strive to always support each other and make the hopes and dreams of the other a reality. Love is truly selfless.

I can't imagine a better way to celebrate our second anniversary than to simply live in the moment with my best friend by my side. 

In honor of the upcoming anniversary, I've put in some pics of our wedding day! And since we never posted all of the pictures from our wedding, you can click on this link to view the entire album. Our Wedding - 9/19/09

Settling in the Nest

We decided long before the closing day that we would move into our new nest  the very same day we signed the paperwork. (It was kind of like pulling off a band-aid - just do it quick and all at once, then it's over!) A BIG thank you to our friends, Danny and JD, who came to our rescue and helped us get everything in. We wouldn't have been able to do it without their help!

It wasn't an easy process. Moving from a three bedroom home to a smaller two bedroom bungalow meant that we had a lot of downsizing to do! We had a huge yard sale last Saturday and thought we did a great job of letting things go. Once everything was in our new house, it was very clear that we still had a lot more to get rid of.

We couldn't walk from one room to another without having to move at least five boxes to get through. It was like working a rubix cube! How do two people acquire so much junk!!? It took us a few days to dig out from under the boxes, but our house is starting to look like a home!

On Friday, we had our first overnight visitor - Josh's mom, Kim, came up from Beaufort to help us with anything that needed to be done. Thank goodness! We needed the help, motivation, and push of a rested soul! Thank you so much for your help, Kim!

We wanted to install ceiling fans in the master and guest bedrooms, put in a new medicine cabinet in the bathroom, hang curtains, paint a few pieces of furniture, and of course - there were still a number of boxes to unpack. First, we headed to the old house to finish cleaning and then we shopped until we dropped for the items we needed to start the projects. We found our home away from home at a number of different Lowe's and Home Depot stores - and we made many trips to some of them multiple times. They definitely haven't seen the last of us!

Here are a few pictures from the move and some of our projects this weekend. Enjoy!

Our Moving Supervisor - Lola

His & Her Night Stands - I purchased these old sewing tables off Craigslist last year...and finally got around to painting. The handles are now silver, but it's hard to tell in the picture.

I recently purchased this chair of Craigslist for 10 bucks! After a little paint and new fabric on the seat cushion - it looks awesome! 

Lucky Number 13!

"I didn't know you guys were looking!!?" That's the phrase we heard from almost all of our friends and family as we announced to each of them that we were in the process of buying a house - and the truth is, neither did we!

It all started when we began the search for a new rental home. We quickly realized that the cost of renting had become astronomical and was no longer going to fit in our budget. What were we going to do? Where were we going to live!?

As fear of living on the streets began to set in - I happended to see a small ad in the corner of a webpage -it was a little blue bungalow and the address read "13 Woodville Avenue", but sadly it was for sale and not for rent.

Now, most of you probably don't know, but 13 seems to be a reoccuring number for us. Maybe you could say we think it's our lucky number - Josh was born on August 13th and I on May 13th - the number 13 randomly appears in different places and situations for us (wierd...I know). So, with that said, you can understand why I clicked on the ad - the house number pulled me in and I just couldn't help myself!

We weren't looking to buy a house. In fact, this was the first house for sale that I had even glanced at since the "search" began. Buuuut I liked it. I really liked it. All I had to do now was make my case to Josh as to why renting was no longer an option, but buying a house was! That turned out not to be as hard as I thought it would - it had been much harder in the past when we had that same argument discussion.

We were able to see the house that afternoon and we just feel in love. What wasn't there to love about this charming cottage? It was absolutely adorable and totally renovated....everything in the house was brand new - right down to the walls. After mulling over our pros and cons - we were certain this was the house for us. And less than a week later, we put an offer in! We couldn't let this house pass us by.

While the process of buying a house can be rather grueling, it seemed to go by fairly quickly. It's hard to believe that we're home owners!! And now we're so excited to share a new chapter in our life with you all. We plan to blog about our projects and other exciting life adventures - big and small. So keep checking in to see what's happing in our little blue bungalow! Here are a few pictures of our new home....(better ones will follow soon! And yes - it needs a little landscaping! :)