A Day in The Life

I've been looking forward to today ever since Rachel and Brittany announced this link-up was happening. As Rachel has stated on her blog, my MOST favorite thing about blogging is when the gals share about their homes, lives and day-to-day things. It's a great way to take a peek into their lives and get to know them better and I'm excited to be able to do that today! I really wish I was disciplined enough to have taken these on my DSLR....but alas, days are busy and iPhone photos are going to have to do today!

Our alarm goes off around 6:45 and if we're juicing that morning I try to hop right up so I can get that done and get it all washed. Dishes before 7 a.m...unfortunately, yes! HAHA! However, this was an "off" morning for juicing so I lay in bed after the alarm goes off for a couple minutes and then I shuffle to the kitchen and get my Keurig brewing. What a glorious sound and smell when that little guy starts to brewing. Then I go lay back in bed with these two cuties for a few minutes and sip on my coffee. Murphy usually sneaks a sip or two in too!

I get ready for work, eat breakfast, pack lunch, feed the pup and then head out of the door around 8:10 to be at work at 8:30. This is my view at the office. I work at a law firm in downtown Columbia. Traffic drives me BONKERS every morning. 

At lunch I sit in my car and eat and then read. Is that the lamest thing you've ever heard? Probably so. It's been a little touch and go with the car sitting situation this week because it's been 98 everyday with a heat index of about 104...needless to say it's very hot. I try to land the spot in the shade if I get to the office early enough so that I avoid sweating to absolute death. Some days I run errands, get groceries or go home and play with Murphy. 

I do things like check email, scan, copy, etc. until 5 o'clock rolls around and then I hit door...and fight more traffic to get home. Can you tell downtown traffic kind of makes me crazy?!  On a normal weekday, Josh and I meet at the gym after work and work out for about 45 minutes and then head home. Once we're home we let Murphy in the front yard and chase him around to run off some energy and I'll water my flowers. Then we'll make dinner, clean up the kitchen and rest for the night. Yesterday was a bit different because I met up with a group of creative women/business owners/bloggers in Columbia and we had dinner at Libertys, it was absoutely wonderful! All of this came to be after we all went to Lara Casey's event in town a few weeks ago! So I scooted home for a few minutes to freshen up then back out I went. 

We had a great time and dinner and hope to make this a monthly deal. These women are the SWEETEST and so inspiring! Did I mention how creative they are?

Back home again after dinner. I head inside and tell Josh how much fun I had and last night just happened to be the night that we had to make a decision on an opportunity that has been presented to us so we sat and chatted for awhile, made our decision and then prayed over it. The saying below is a part of the little gifts that we got from the girls who set up last nights #columbiacreatives meeting, so appropriate for the decision Josh and I were making! 

I shower then plop on the couch to watch a little TV and spend some time with my husband. Evenings seem to go by SO FAST! Anyone else feel that way? Sometimes it feels like the minute we get home the clock jumps into overdrive and it's 10 before I know it.

Right before bed I peel and wash the fruits and vegetables to use for our juice the next morning. This is just a little of what goes into our concoction, carrots, beets and a little ginger. In the morning I add kale, an apple and an orange to the mix. 

Then I head to our bedroom, brush my teeth and moisturize then I crawl into bed, do some Bible reading and then I'm out like a light. Josh isn't far behind me. 

So there ya go, that is what a typical day looks like for me! Thanks so much for hosting this link up, ladies! 

The Day my Outlook Changed About Our Home

First and most importantly, run - do not walk - to either the bookstore or your computer chair and jump in line or online to purchase The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith. 

This sweet book has totally and completely changed my outlook on our home. Mid-August will mark one year of Josh and I being homeowners...ONE YEAR. How in the world that happened so quickly, I'll never know. "Harry" as I lovingly refer to our house as, has brought me so much joy...and grief, and stress and tears, over this past year and my heart is overflowing with thankfulness for that little house. 

By nature, I'm a do-er and I do things quickly. I don't let a space sit for to long before I jump in and start decorating...nor do I let a decorated space stay that way for too long. Mix up it, switch stuff around, buy new trinkets? Count me in. After completing what I call "phase one" of decorating our house, I would literally sit on the couch every night and stew over what I could change, what I didn't like, did I need new curtains, how about that rug, I don't like that picture over there...the list goes on and on...and on and on and on. It's embarrassing...I'm ashamed of myself for how many times I'd stand in the living room and make Josh convince me that he liked the way the house was decorated and that it looked fine. Ugh, awful. 

So then phase two of decorating, or I guess redecorating I should say, started and the end result I loved. Everything was just right and I no longer sat on my couch every night wondering what I could change and when the next free Saturday I had was so that I could hit up the home stores with my mom. That's a good feeling my friends, a good feeling. 

Not long after finishing phase two did I take the plunge and purchase Myquillyn's book. I saw a lot of buzz about it on instagram and I thought I'd give it a look. I ordered The Nesting Place and Bread & Wine on Amazon one evening and two days later they were sitting on my doorstep waiting for me to arrive home from work. That very night I drew myself a bubble bath, poured a glass of wine, lit my favorite candle and started my journey through The Nesting Place. It didn't take me long to finish and I'd spend my lunch hour pouring through the pages of the book and crying along the way because I felt like she was speaking directly to my heart and my home. 

I told Josh how much the book drew me in and how much I loved reading it. I told him that I wanted our home to always be a safe haven and a place we loved coming back to, day in and day out. I don't know about you, but there is just a certain feeling I get when I pull into my house after a day of work or seeing the familiar sight of our house as the sun is setting and we're pulling in for the first time in a week after being on vacation. There really is nothing like being home. It's my safe place, that place that I find rest after long, stressful days, the place where I can be myself, no matter what. And in the coming years when our family grows, I want our children to be overjoyed to come home. I want  their friends to come to our house because it's a place of laughter and love and judgment is left at the door. I want mine and Josh's friends to jump at the chance to come over because they feel loved on and respected in our house. I want our families to bust down our door every chance they get. And I especially want my husband to love driving up to our home everyday, knowing that I have created a peaceful place of rest, encouragement, love, romance, and prayer for him. 

A house isn't about the latest trends gracing every room, but about the things that make you happy. Decor that brings back memories and most of all, a space that is yours. 

My people.

If you've spent any amount of time on my blog, you may have wondered why I don't talk about any siblings. Well, that's an easy one to answer...I don't have any! While I have been on the only child train, I do have two cousins that could practically be my brother and sister. Before I got married and moved into the city, they lived right up the road from my house. I babysat them for many summers, see them every Sunday, they're my people. My little-but-not-so-little-anymore people. Coley graduates tomorrow and will be 18 this fall and on Monday we celebrated Deanna's 15 birthday. 

I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that Coley is going to college and Deanna is about to be driving on the highway. Both are extremely frightening...but exciting ;) My hear swells with happiness for these two as they are growing up and turning into wonderful young people. I just love them so. 

In true "if we were brother and sister" fashion, they aggravate the heck out of me and I give them the 3rd degree far too often about friends and parties...like any good big sister would do.


Grateful just scrapes the surface when I think about these two. I'm so proud of the people that they are becoming. We all love each other so much and I'm so thankful for that. God knew by not giving me siblings that he'd give me two cousins that would look practically just like me and fill my heart with so much joy.


Coley is going 4 hours away to school and I know he's nervous, but I'm so happy for him. He's going on a golf scholarship and I can't wait to see how his golf game transforms and to watch him get better and excel. Deanna is an excellent artist and extremely creative. Full of sass...too much sass (did I say that? whoops!) but she has a huge heart.


I'm even more grateful for how well they get along with Josh. Josh and Coley are embarking on a golf weekend later this month...without me! He is always giving Deanna a hard time but they love him and that makes my heart. On the day of our wedding both Coley and Deanna cried so hard. You'd thought someone was kidnapped, ha! We may not be siblings but they sure do get their emotional side from me ;) Exhibit A below of Deanna crying...HER EYES OUT! ha!

Here's to you little ones, who will always be little ones in my eyes. I love you so very much and am so proud of the young people you are becoming. Rock on, sweet ones.

Our Deck

Hey y'all! Happy Tuesday! Now that we're into June (craziness!), folks in the Colvin casa have been spending a lot of time outdoors, especially on our back deck. I adore fabulously decorated and well put together outdoor spaces. There's just something about an outdoor patio, deck or porch that makes my heart sing. And when it's set up like just another room of the house, I love it. I've been slowly putting our patio together for a while now and I love the way it has turned  out.

As much as I love the big, chunky outdoor couches and seating, they are just a touch outside of our budget but this set from Lowe's is perfect for us (and our budget)! The little buckets underneath the table are what we used for our sparklers at our wedding, the cushion is from Kirklands (as well as the cushions in the chairs around the table) and the pillows are from Carolina Pottery. I saw this rug when I was browsing Tuesday Morning one day and for a GREAT price ($40!) it came home and fit perfectly on the deck. Can we stop to all agree that rugs are so expensive? Yeesh. 

I don't know that I at first had in mind to mix blues, greens, yellows and reds but I truly love the way it all blends together. My MOH's parents gave us the patio table for free and the chairs were a wedding gift. Josh's mom gave us the umbrella and how perfect that she gave us red?! 

These darling burlap bows are silverware holders! You can kind of see right there on the left the little pocket that you put the silverware in. I had a spoon, fork and knife in them and one day Josh said "maybe we should bring in that silverware because we don't want someone to break into the house armed with our own silverware to hurt us" WHO thinks of that?! I have to admit, he had a point. So in the house they went.

Can I let you guys in on a little secret? Our burlap palmetto tree sign? It's Glory Haus brand and retails for $45...I got this one at Hamricks for $3.40....YES, I purchased it for a little over THREE DOLLARS. I know, I still can't believe it either. I practically SKIPPED out of Hamricks the day I bought it. Now, I would never even know Hamricks sold Glory Haus things if it weren't for my savvy shopping and saving Mama, so thanks Mom!

 
According to my husband, every deck needs a cool bottle opener, and here is ours.

I truly love this little space and as soon as the temperature around here warmed up, we've spent many nights out here eating dinner, reading, drinking wine and relaxing. 

Hey June!

Mercy alive! Is it really June? I won't go into the whole deal of it almost being half way through the year and I can't believe it...but really, I can't believe it. 

June is looking like it might be a crazy, action-packed, traveling, fun times month for the Colvins and HEAVENS TO BETSY DO WE NEED IT! Literally, just thinking about how tough April and May were almost sends me into instant tears, but here we are, at a new month and I am so hopeful that this month brings happiness, zero stress, GOOD HEALTH and overall enjoyment. We need it, we desperately need it. 

So here is what I'm hoping we get to accomplish in June: 

- First supper club (!!!)

- Relaxation 

- Strawberry picking at a local farm 

- Continued progress in the front and back yard 

- Installation of our new bathroom faucets
- Do a better job of sticking to our budget (Side note: Someone tell me why it's so hard?!)
- Continue to keep juicing regularly and cooking FRESH things for dinner (we did great with this May, hoping it continues in June)

Here is what I KNOW is on the agenda for June:

- Bridal shower for a sweet friend 

- Bruno Mars concert (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

- Beach vacation 

- Mom spending a weekend with me while Josh is on a golf trip 

- 2 family members graduation 

- a family members birthday 

- a trip to the tea house (!!!!) 

As you can see, lots of things planned and I fully plan on enjoying all of them. We also have a big decision to make in June about an opportunity that has been presented to us, so if you have a chance, I'd love for you to pray for direction and clarity on our decision.

We had a great weekend around these parts! We kicked off the weekend with a little froyo eatin' on Friday, a little golfin', back porch sittin', sippin' and grillin' on Saturday and a little nappin', Murphy bathin' and peach cobbler eatin' on Sunday. I wouldn't mind repeating that sequence many times this Summer.

Happy Monday! I hope your coffee rocked this morning! I guzzled mine this morning on my drive to work ;)