On my way to becoming a Home Owner

So the buying a home process is exhausting. I don't see how people buy 4 or 5 houses in their lifetime, but kudos to those who have! The process started about 4 months ago on an adorable condo in Huntsville, that my boyfriend and his investor flipped. Turns out, after 4 months of trying to get this deal to go through, the HOA property was majorly in debt and just had some major dependencies  so all in all, it was a BLESSING IN DISGUISE that it fell thru.

I was bummed at first, but then realized that God has had me on this path that he has been paving, and he has put everything in place the way HE wants it to go, so I moved on and starting on the search again. I had to be out of my apartment October 9th, and in the weeks before, Derek had shown me a cute little house that he had completely flipped from an AWFUL train wreck. Not sure who the homeowner was, but I don't think he cared much about his house. Anyways, I trusted and had faith in my beau that he would have this house looking extraordinary so I waited until it got down to the wire to go back and see it and ALAS, it was so cute!!

Here is a before and after picture of the exterior view of the house that HOPEFULLY, at the end of November, will be able to call "my home". Derek and I have big plans for this little house and hopefully soon (hint hint) we will call it "OUR" first little home together until we are able to build our "dream home".

More pictures to come, but this is just a starter house to be able to save up some money to one day build a home we can stay in and raise our chitlins' in. Hope you like!

UPDATES!

So with a little help from my adorable handyman, we got half of the cabinets (his drill died on us) installed with hardware.

 

They didn't turn out exactly how I pictured them to look. They look a little "too" dirty for me, but Derek ensured me that he liked the look.

Not too bad for my first run at this.. I can (hopefully) only get better!

Arts and Crafts, Oh My!

So, I have finally developed a knack for Do It Yourself crafts, due to the most awesome website, www.pinterest.com. I was recently blessed with the most adorable little house, so it got my brain tinkering on different ideas on how to fix it up and make it fit my personality, since I had so much space now to work with,coming from a one bedroom apartment.

My first DIY project was taking the plain, cream colored cabinets in my kitchen, and transforming them into a antique-y worn look. It was quite simple to do. I read and read about how to do this process, but the way I did it, seemed much easier. Here is the before picture of the  kitchen (it's a bit blurry) and a few before, during, and after pictures of the cabinets drying.

Here are the before pictures of the cabinets. Just an off white/Cream colored paint. I skipped several steps it said to do on all the researching sites I looked at, but my cabinets were not finished or coated, so it eliminated the steps I needed to do. 

Sanding wasn't necessary because my cabinets were not finished, but to get a few scratches and chipped paint, I thought it would look better with the look I was going for.

Wax on, Wax off.. Easy enough!

 I used Aged Oak, gel stain. Websites said to use a "glaze", but I liked the gel better because it was much thicker.

 I let the stain sit for about 2-3 minutes before wiping it off. You can go over as many times as you want until you get the desired look you want.

Here is one of the finished cabinets in the drying stage. I let them dry for 24 hours. I will post more when I finish! Hope you like! I think they turned out really well for my first attempt at this.

Girlfriend Getaways - 2011

 Well, the time has come and gone so quickly, as our annual girls getaway trip came to an end. We had some good talks, and some great catch up moments with a few of our girlfriends. I really enjoyed the trip this year, because several of us have and are continuing to start new chapters in our lives, and it is so exciting to see what the 2nd half of this year has to offer! Lots of new things are happening, and I cannot wait to be a part of some special moments this year!! Here is a recap of some pictures that described the majority of this years trip! But as we said our farewells with hugs and kisses, we realized that we have all grown together and will continue to do so through the upcoming years and will always put aside a time to spend and catch up with our gal pals...

So what... we love taking pictures of ourselves.. wouldn't you too if you had girlfriends as beautiful as mine? That would be a yes!

Date ideas: The ABC's Game..

OK, so in my research to try and find cute ideas to do for Derek on Valentine's day, I ran across this fun game called the ABC's. How it worked, and you can tweet this to fit realistically in your relationship, but the two of you come up with cute, everyday adventures to go and do on a date, starting with A and so forth. Example would be....

Arrange a picnic for two,  
Build a love fort,  
Climb a tree to see who can reach the top, and so forth.

The idea is to be spontaneous, fun and creative, and I am sort of border line retarded when it comes to being creative, so this is a challenge for me, but I really think it would be something fun and entertaining for you and your significant other to do. So, what would be some of your suggestions that you could think of to do? You can make this as extreme as possible, or as sweet as can be. You make it to fit your relationship's personality!


Share your ideas!

The struggle with 'unsurity'

For the past few days now, an issue has really being weighing heavy on my heart and on my mind. 'CHANGE'. As a lot of you know, I have really been struggling with having, making, and fulfilling goals in my life, and its something that I struggle with at a pretty high level, and am unable to figure out what the 'purpose' of my life is, if that makes sense. What am I good at? What have I done with my life? Who have I helped in theirs? What can I say I am proud of?........ Answers to these questions are empty. I know that I have always had the heart to want to help other people. Helping others brings happiness to me, even if it is just sharing an ear to listen. My biggest struggle in my life is full commitment, but not towards other people, but towards myself. Finishing school is my number 1 goal in my life, and it has been such a struggle for me to figure out what I WANT to do in my life. I have been pulled in many directions, and I feel like its never going to end and I am never going to fully figure out what I will be good at. I look back at my life and I have truly accomplished nothing. I cannot sit here and think of anything worth 'bragging' about in my life and it has really hit hard for me here lately. I don't have any hobbies that I can say I really love to do or anything that I am really good at. This comes from listening to my boyfriend share his goals with me, and when he shares stories of his life and his accomplishments and his goals. It makes me so happy to be with someone who loves what he does, has had a wonderful and successful life, but at the same time, it really makes me think about me and mine and I am just at a big rut in my life with being 26 years old and nothing to show for my life. FEAR has been my biggest enemy in setting goals and working towards them. I am all about positivity, but at the same time, it is just something I struggle with in a huge way. There are so many things I would have done differently, but I cannot dwell on the past, because that is exactly what it is, my past. It cannot be undone, it can only be changed in the future. In thinking about this, this morning, a verse that I just happened to read today was tied into this. "The unknown can overwhelm you, but God is omniscient, which means he knows all things, including the future. He can prepare you for the future in ways you can't prepare yourself, and he works all things for the good of his followers (Romans 8:28)

I will be praying very hard for God to help me find 'my way' in my life, and I BELIEVE that if I put my prayers into him, he will open the path that I am so unsure of, for me. Thanks for listening,

Brandi

The Best 'Valentine's Day'

Derek sent me flowers today, and they were so beautiful and smelled so wonderful. We had a romantic night in with a nice homemade dinner prepared by Derek himself, a tear jerking card, and a nice movie while in our PJs. I couldn't have asked for a better Valentine's Day.

'Adventuring' Ahead

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

So, I am ecstatic to share some of the travels that have been and will be in store for me the first half of this wonderful 2011 year!



December 31, 2010 - HAPPY NEW YEARS! We kicked off in Nashville for some New Year's Eve 'dancing the night away' fun. We went into the lit up streets at midnight to watch the Guitar drop and where Derek and I had our 'first kiss'



February 12th, 2011 - ATL is where we will be making our way to celebrate the wonderful birth of our dear friend Julie! She will be turning the BIG 2-5 and we all have been there on that one.. your half way to 50 Jules!! We will be making our 2nd appearance to the infamous OPERA club to dance the night (and calorie intake) away!



April 28, 2011 - Sandestin Wine Festival - We will be accompanying "Silver Fox" to the 2nd annual Sandestin Wine Festival for a full weekend of 'Class' and wine drinking.. Ok, so maybe not the full weekend, but there will be several hours of wine intake going on... We will be staying at the awesome Le Jardin Village that sits in the middle of the entire wine festival!


May 7th, 2011 - Company retreat to the Western Caribbean! We will enjoy a nice, relaxing(partial) 7 days aboard the 'Triumph' ship making its way to Belize, Cozumel, and Island Roatan in Honduras. We will be enjoying excursions, cocktails, all you can eat buffets, dancing, shows and spectacular views!



June 9th, 2011 - GIRLS BEACH TRIP!!! We will celebrate our annual GIRLS trip in Flo-rida with all of our closest and best GIRLFRIENDS!! Sun, fun, and dancing our booties off!



Stay tuned as the ole calender fills up with more and exciting trips to come!!

B

What a GREAT start to a GREAT year....

Hello fellow bloggers,

I have taken quite some time off, but I am back to share the new and exciting news and events that have happened over the last 7 months.. I followed my heart, after much thought and hesitation, and moved back down to the good ole South! It is good to be home, let me tell you!! My good friends Lindsey and Jamie opened their home to me for a few months while I settled back into reality of being home again.. Things didn't work out in Green Bay, but they were definitely for the best! I am a much stronger and independent person now, and it was truly great and needed to see different perspectives in new culture. The North was great, and COLD, and the people were so friendly in welcoming me, but it just wasn't quite 'home' for me. I got a new puppy and he is the cutest thing ever! (Yes I am a little biased). His name is Kipton, aka Kip, aka Kippers. I settled into my first cozy apartment by myself about 4 months ago. It is very nice living by myself for once, but it did make me realize how much I missed having my roomies to share things with and to talk to. Dreading it, I recently got back into the dating world after being single for several months, but only to find a guy that is so amazing and just wonderfully charming. His name is Derek and he is a Real estate agent/co-owner of Capstone Realty. He makes me laugh so much, he comes from a great family, a great group of friends, and he is quite the adorable looker. Things are going very well between us and it's hard not to go on and on but I'll make it short and sweet. He has ALL of the qualities that I have been looking for but unable to find, so keep praying that God will continue to push us forward with one another and continue to provide happiness for us both! Ok, I have to get some work done, but I'll be back shortly.

Love you all,
B