It has officially been one year since we moved here to Louisville. We closed on this house in March of 2018 and moved in that April. Moving is always a hard task, but little did we realize that the real work would begin after we were moved in! I lovingly call this house the rainbow house because when we moved in every room was painted a different color of the rainbow. The living room, dining room, and kitchen are all open concept but each one was painted green, yellow, and orange. The guest room was a Pepto-Bismol pink. Raylee's room was bright orange. The master bedroom was blue. Downstairs Continue Reading
Saying Goodbye to Raylee’s First House
Last week, the packers arrived at our house in Clarksville. They packed up all our belongings into boxes. The only things left were the items we had set aside in a bathroom marked "Do Not Pack." We slept in our house for the last time, and the next morning we loaded up the car. After a quick breakfast, Raylee and I walked through her first house for the last time. I prayed over each room. I thanked God for the memories there and prayed for the people who would soon move in and make it their home. Raylee and I loaded into the car, said goodbye to Travis, and pulled out for the last time. We Continue Reading
5 Things I Learned from Moving Back in with My Parents
I'm so thankful that so many amazing bloggers have been willing to guest post for me this month while I'm on "maternity leave." Today, we have Lindsay from Uplifting Anchor. She talks about how moving back in with her parents while her husband was deployed taught her many things. Be sure to go check out her website after you read this because I love the theme behind it! I’m 30 years old and this past year I moved back in with my parents. That statement used to feel strange, defeated, and wrong on many levels, but not anymore. I am a military spouse, and I moved back in with my folks Continue Reading
Tennessee Home Tour
I had lots of comments when I posted my Missouri home tour and showed you all our house. Lots of family especially liked being able to take a tour if they couldn't visit. I decided I should do the same again in our latest house here in Tennessee. This is a picture-heavy post, but who doesn't like to look at pictures? Just keep in mind that I'm not a professional photographer and don't claim to be! The lighting isn't wonderful and it's hard to get an entire room in one shot! Let's start with the living room. We have two large closets, a small entry way, and a half bathroom all located in Continue Reading
How to Find a Church After a PCS
Military life means a whole lot of moving. A PCS is a Permanent Change of Station, or in other words a move. Most military members and their families move every two to three years. As a military spouse, I have now moved three times in three years, and at the end of the month we're supposed to be moving again. All this moving can make it hard to find a community and a church home. I think finding a church that suits me is really difficult, and to be honest I never enjoy the search. It's hard to know on your first visit if it's the right church for you and your family. And since church only Continue Reading
Welcome Basket for Renters
When Travis and I moved to Missouri, we began renting out our home in Indiana. Although I didn't know our renters, I wanted them to feel welcome and at home in our house. Travis and I prayed for three things when we were searching for tenants: To find someone who would pay the rent (and on time), To find someone who wouldn't tear up the house, and To find someone that would be blessed by this home. What a perfect way to begin blessing this couple than by leaving them a welcome basket. It was easy to put together, and we left it for them to find on the day they moved in. Our Welcome Continue Reading
Gift Ideas for New Homeowners
Travis and I bought a house at the beginning of this year. I've been living there and slowly fixing the place up since March. In those nine months of being a homeowner, I have discovered so many things I wish we had. Travis and I have talked about all the things we'd like to have as homeowners -- practical items that will come in handy as we fix up this home and even build our own home someday. As new homeowners ourselves, we thought it would only make sense to share these items with you as gift ideas for your friends and family who are new homeowners. Almost all of these items are on Travis' Continue Reading
Dining Room Reveal
Let the home projects begin. Now that I'm back from Korea, I'm back to fixing up my old farm house. I finished the bathroom before I left, and today I'm sharing our dining room reveal. We really didn't have to do much. We ripped up the carpet to reveal the beautiful hardwood floors underneath. We changed the light fixture. And we added some blinds instead of curtains. I like my dining room, especially the windows that add so much light. Unfortunately, that same light made it a little hard to take photos. Let's start with some before photos. Be sure to notice the carpet, the curtains, and Continue Reading
The Best Thing I Did Before Moving into my Home
When Travis and I bought our house, we moved all our stuff in but we didn't live there. We spent a few days pulling up all the carpet and replacing some light fixtures while staying with my parents down the road. Then we spent a week visiting his family in northern Indiana. After Travis left for South Korea, I stayed with my parents again for a couple weeks while we worked on the house. We had to get the water working and install a shower before I wanted to move in. There was one other important thing I wanted to do before moving in. Pray. I have to admit I was very nervous about moving Continue Reading
Tips for Installing a Ceiling Fan
We are slowly changing things in my "new" house. One of the biggest changes we made that really made a difference in how the house looked was pulling up the carpet and cleaning the original hardwood floors. Now, we've moved from the floor to the ceiling. We have been slowly installing new light fixtures in each room -- and it is making a big difference in what the house looks like! We aren't finished with all of them, but I wanted to show you some of the changes. (This post contains a few affiliate links. Check out my full disclosure policy here.) The very first light we changed was in the Continue Reading
From Carpet to Hardwood
So we bought a new house. New to us at least. The house is actually more than 100 years old. It was built in 1903 according to the records. So needless to say, this old house needs quite a few updates. One of the main things I wanted to change was the carpet. It was green. I don't like the color green. And I especially didn't like this green. It was sort of a pea green. We pulled up a corner of the carpet to see what was underneath. To our delight, there were the original hardwood floors. We weren't sure what condition they were in, but we decided we wanted the carpet up Continue Reading
Hospitality: From the Heart, Not the Home
In a previous post, I told you guys how much I desire to be hospitable and how I am striving to love others through hospitality. And in another post, I told you about one of the ways I tried to be hospitable and it didn't go at all how I had planned or imagined. Well, after that ice cream social, I was discouraged and the strive for hospitality kind of stopped. Then, like I told you before I went to Allume. And guess what the theme for the weekend was -- Hospitality. And then, I started a study plan from She Reads Truth and guess what their topic was -- Hospitality. I felt like God was Continue Reading