Nace and I have had a major heart shift over the last year or so, and part of this change revolves heavily around our finances. We were living super comfortably in our more-than-enough home, constantly comparing our Instagram feed to our neighbors’ and thinking up new ways we could update and customize our space. I’d like to say that this change happened overnight for us, but the truth is, we are still struggling with all that comes with our new adventure.
While God impressed on our hearts the freedom that could come with living debt free, our house seemed harder than ever to keep up with. I was constantly feeling overwhelmed with all that needed to be done and the abundance of space we had somehow seemed to suffocate. We wanted out. We wanted simplicity. We wanted space to breathe.
So, we began searching. We looked for months, and everything felt close but not quite right to what God had for us. To say it was a hard season doesn’t even touch on what we went through emotionally. We knew we were on the edge of something great, but the constant draw toward comfort, debt, and conformity seemed to take the life out of us at times. We walked through weeks and months feeling like our comfort, security, and marriage were under attack. But we blindly walked forward, taking one step at a time, and our faithful God led us to the light.
Last October we purchased a sweet little farm house and property. It’s not what we pursued, not what we envisioned, but it’s exactly what we needed. The road ahead is long. As you’ll see from the images below, we have a lot of work ahead of us. But our dream of living a debt-free life is now firmly in our grasp. This new home will cut our monthly mortgage by 3/4 and square footage in half and give us the freedom, simplicity, and space we were desperately searching for.
The struggle is still very real and changes from day to day. But we are learning to delight in the difficult seasons, because we know God is breaking us of our self-sufficiency and teaching us to fully rely on Him. We know that God’s timing is not a coincidence, and this change is exactly what makes our dream of adoption possible.
The original layout has a lot of potential but just won’t work for us functionally. We have begun demo to open up the living space and rearrange the bedrooms a bit. Although I change the “proposed layout” just about every day, below is the current plan we are working toward.
During Christmas break we began demo of the existing interior walls and kitchen. Let me tell ya, demo day really is pretty fun. They aren’t lying on Fixer Upper. And our son Maddax had a blast helping us. He probably said, “This is awesome!” about 12 times that day. After a weekend of hard work, we have opened up all interior walls, and the space feels so much larger.
The next year is guaranteed to hold a lot of change and discomfort for us, but we will move forward through it all, holding tightly to the promise God has planted in our hearts and on our life.
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” —Jeremiah 17:7-8
Is this real life? Is my kiddo three years old? Is he running like a mad man, talking in full sentences, and acting like a grown up on occasion? Yeah, I think so. Let me go cry my eyes out for a minute. I’ll be right back…
If you don’t know Maddax personally, I’ll let you in on a little secret: he LOVES donuts. I mean, who doesn’t? But this kid will ask me every morning, without fail, if he can have one. Mind you, we have only stopped for donuts ONE time before. This is not a recurring occasion for our family, and he has really only had them a hand full of times in his life. But I guess the sugary crack of that sweet glazed dough ring has hooked him, as it has hooked the world for generations.
Thus, Dax’s Donut Shoppe was born.
Stop scrolling if you want to hear how I made the cake…
Deriving inspiration from this super pretty sprinkle cake I set out to find some blue and green sprinkles, which was actually harder than I thought. Enter etsy. Simply Baking Supplies can pretty much make any combination of colors you could ever want, and they are affordable and super great!
This cake cost us less than $10. Local bakeries (the grocery store kind) are seriously so great. I ordered a white whipped frosted cake ($5) and had them sprinkle the goods around the borders prior to pickup. Easy peasy.
To say we love plants may be an understatement. This year we bought seeds and are growing them in our office using a 24-hour light. Eventually they’ll live in our front garden. But for now? It’s safe to say we have a gardening problem. And when I say we, I mean Nace…because if I touch pretty much any plant, flower, or tree, they’ll instantly turn to mush and die. Having a green thumb is definitely not a talent I possess.
This weekend we went to Lowe’s to purchase a hedge trimmer and came out with all the pretty things instead. So we decided to at least make it productive for our followers and share how we repot succulents from store to a pretty new pot. Nace has mastered this over the last few years of trial and error with other soils, drainage systems and pots. This is the solution that has worked out really well for us keeping these hardy, but sometimes sensitive plants alive and thriving.
Check out the video below to see how we repot our succulents to allow for proper drainage eliminating stale water and root rot.
Supply List:
– Gravel
– Cactus Potting Mix
– Clay Pellets (We used ODLA pellets from Ikea, but you can find something similar at Lowe’s or Home Depot.)
– Large Succulent
– Sedum Garden Tile
If you have questions about your succulents feel free to comment below. Don’t worry, I’ll ask Nace and relay an answer back to you. ;)
UPDATE: We have finally posted our “tutorial” so you can hopefully build a bed like the one below. Find the details HERE.
You can tell by Dax’s “long hair don’t care” appearance that this post is long overdue. I had hoped to post a bed tutorial first, but this on-again, off-again spring weather has our bed painting session on hold until it’s consistently warmer.
I think this post deserves a moment of praise for my handy husband took on the task of creating a lighted headboard (with a switch, y’all) from a dream in my head and a chicken scratch sketch on an old bill. Guys, he totally knocked it out of the park! We plan on painting the bed white soon, but in the meantime we are enjoying it as is. Dax absolutely loves being able to have a light above him at the flip of a switch, and although I was worried he may use it when he shouldn’t, we haven’t had any issues in the past couple months, thank goodness!
Stay tuned for more detailed DIYs from the bed, quilt and more from this project coming up. Enjoy.
Although the DIY is to come, we’ve had interest in where we got the light on the headboard. We got it off amazon guys. It was so easy to install, the perfect size and such a great deal. :)
Trying something a bit different with this update, a video! Click below to see our continued progress on our half-bath.
Shortly after finishing my post about our half-bath progress I finally found this light fixture! Let’s just take a second to be grateful for Overstock, cause this deal seriously calls for at least one emoji. 🙌😍💡 But I’ll use three instead. This light was under budget, modern yet sparkly, and Nace approved. That’s pretty much the purchase trifecta in our house.
I really wanted something that would coordinate but not compete or clash with our geometric mirror. In order to do that, I went away from a geometric detailed vanity light and chose a shiny chrome to match the many angles of the mirror instead. I love how the two work together. Overall, I love the way it turned out. We wanted to keep it super affordable, while giving it a bit of a wow factor compared to where it was before. The bright pop of color we chose is called “Blaze Orange” and is actually more on the coral side than the pictures seem to depict.
We hope you enjoyed our little video, more possibly to come soon!
