We're Still Here!

Hey y'all!  It's been awhile since I blogged on here.  Jon and I have been so busy, I haven't really had a lot of time!  So...this post will catch y'all up on what's going on with us!  A lot of stuff has been going on! 

I got the house finished...I just need to add some dried flowers from our wedding around, and I think it will be finished!  Ohmiword! I'm in love with how cute the house turned out!  Y'all I wish I was an interior designer.  Dream job! My sweet, dear friend Meagan keeps telling me she wants to see pictures of our house.  Pictures of the house will be up soon! Pinky promise!

We have found a church that we like, and a Sunday School Class for young married couples.  Our Sunday School teachers are awesome!  They have been married for 14 years, and are really helpful.  They have made us feel welcome.  They had a Super Bowl party at their house for everyone in the Sunday School Class.  Jon and I were the only ones who showed up!  It turned out cool because we really got to know the teachers!  It turned out that Emily's mom was actually the first person we met in town at the Chamber of Commerce!  That is how small of a town we live in!  HA!

I was *obsessed* with the Olympics!  Charlie and Meryl were so beautiful skating together!  Now I'm totally into watching them on Dancing With the Stars! I also told Jon that I wanted to do the Snowboard Slope thing where they were doing flips in the air!  That was new to the Olympics, but really super cool!  Jon wasn't as in to the Olympics...but he did like watching Hockey!  I'm glad we had gotten cable by the time the Olympics had started!

We celebrated our first married Valentine's Day at the house.  I made red velvet cookies and a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza {Jon's favorite}! 

Well....I've made the Chicago Deep Dish Pizza before, but this time it didn't turn out right.  I actually *almost* caught the house on fire!  Needless to say, I'm a little afraid to try and cook that again any time soon!

The next day we went to Natchez and stayed at The Dunleith; it's a gorgeous plantation that was turned into a Bed and Breakfast.  We went on a carriage ride to learn about the history of Natchez.  Jon didn't have any cash...so we seriously went through the ATM in a horse and carriage!  HA!  That was the funniest part of our trip! 

I loved all of the Victorian houses in Natchez {no shock there, right?}  I also told Jon that we WOULD live in a Victorian house one day--white with blue shutters, wrap around porch, and a white picket fence!  With maybe a view like this...

Sunset on the Mississippi River.  I was proud of my photography skills!

For St. Patrick's Day I made Rice Krispy Treats with Lucky Charms.  They were really good! 

We also had a "Shamrock" Pizza.  I cut green bell peppers and made them look like shamrocks and put them on top of a homemade pizza.  Cuteness at it's finest! 

Jon knew that I was the girl that decorated for every holiday...but it's been fun cooking for the holidays too!

We also have an unspoken prayer request...God knows the situation.  Please pray that God will show us His wonderful plan, and that His will be done. 

For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, not harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future. 

Jeremiah 29:11

 

XOXO,

Ashlee

Out in the Country...

Hey y'all!  I'm back with a quick post about our adventure so far in a new town and house.

We still have boxes to unpack and some things to organize, but when it's done I'll take you on a virtual home tour.

Here's what I've learned so far...

1.  There's only *one* light in our town.

2.  Only *two* cable companies come out our way...and both of them have come to our house.  However, we still don't have cable because of all the trees in our front and back yard.  One company is coming again on Monday to possibly give us cable.  We can't drill a hole into the yard, which is the main problem.  We did get Netflix and have been watching "Saved by the Bell" and movies though.

3.  Everybody knows everybody.

4.  Everybody is really friendly.  So far we have met two people at this cutsey little antique market {which I will be at A LOT!}  We were invited to an auction that happens every other Saturday; and to church!

We bought that welcome to our home sign for our house!

5.  Everything closes early for the weekend.

6.  You can't take a shower while running the dishwasher or washing machine-- or else you'll end up freezing cold in the shower.

7.  Louella Mae has hiding spots that I still haven't found yet.

8.  People live a quiet, 'slower' way of life 'round here...which is different from fast-paced Birmingham!

9.  If you're "going to town" plan to stay for awhile because when you have to go "to town" you have to drive at least 30 minutes to do pretty much anything.

10.  People like to use the backdoor instead of the front door.  I'm not sure why, but the mail lady and a neighbor that came to introduce himself both used the back door. 

And that is what I've learned so far living out here...out in the country...and I think I might like it that way.

XoXo,

Ashlee

Big House Plans {Part One}

Yesterday I told y'all the story of our house hunt.  Today I want to tell y'all my plans for fixing the outside up.   I really want to paint the shutters and door red or a pretty blue; and add new, modern locks, and a modern light...but since it's a rental... that we can't do....sigh...but I've got some other plans that will spruce our first home right up!  The numbers are some of my plans for the outside!  I'm a visual kinda girl.

1:  We need to obviously rake all the pine straw in the yard, and get it off of the roof.  The realtor lady said that should be taken care of before move-in day.  Cross your fingers!

2:  I bought a cute old chair without the seat at The World's Longest Yard Sale that I conquered with one of my best friends, Heather, for our wedding.  At the wedding it had a plant in the part where the seat was missing.  I plan on finding a pretty, colorful potted plant to put into that chair.  It'll look so cute!

3:  I'm not a fan of the green door.   I like green...just not that green! A cute, rustic wreath with left over burlap ribbon and lace from the wedding will add rustic charm to our front yard.

4:  I think some stepping stones leading from the driveway to the front door will add a whimsical element.

5:  When the winter is over I'm going to plant some bright flowers to have a little pop of color to the front yard.  We have tons of seeds left over from our wedding that I will probably use.  However, I do not have a green thumb...so maybe I'll be able to keep them alive! 

6:  I think some cute stepping stones or even bricks around the flower bed will look very cute. 

Then we have this adorable wagon that we had at our wedding that I think will be cute somewhere in the front yard with some colorful potted plants inside of it.  At the front door I'm going to put out the pallet sign we had at our wedding I made.  It said "We're So Glad You're Here!"  that will make our guests feel welcome.  That's all of my ideas for now...but I'm sure there will be more!  We are moving on Saturday!  I'll post before and after pictures when I have them!

xoxo,

Ashlee

Operation: Find a House Quick

Hey y'all!  Jon got a job last week in Mississippi!  We went looking for apartments/ rental houses around the area Jon's job will be.  We called our trip Operation:  Find a House Quick.  We had two different realtors, looked at apartments, and rental houses.  Let's just say that there is not a lot of choices where we are moving to.  The first rental house we looked at was a cute, older house that had vintage charm.  Y'all know I'm a vintage girl, so that one was cute to me!  It had a swing on the porch, and built-in china cabinets.  The downside was that it was in an area that we didn't think was safe, and it didn't have central heat or air---y'all know how Southern Summers are...so that was out!  The next house we looked at was the one we ended up getting {only we didn't think that would be the one we picked!}  Then we looked at a trailer that had an add-on in the back {weird} and had a cow skull in the front yard!  For real, a cow skull just for decoration...you know you're in the country when that's considered 'decor'. 
From there we drove into another town to look for apartments we had seen online.  The first apartments looked really nice...we found out we couldn't live there because it was section 8 government housing.  The next apartments were nice, but they were price-y.  They even wanted another $20 a month for Louella Mae on top of a pet deposit.  Paying a pet deposit is fine, but an extra $20 for a cat that doesn't even weigh more than 10 pounds is just ridiculous!  We went to look at the last apartments and didn't even go in to look because they looked very run down.  {We found out later that the area we were in is very dangerous, and that we shouldn't have been there!}  From there we called *many* realtors and none of them had any rental houses to show.  The  last realtor we called had three rental houses to show us later.  We got some Chinese food, and then  large Cherry Cokes from Sonic to waste time until it was time to meet our next realtor.

From there she showed us another cute, vintage charm house without central heating and air and in a run down area.  Then she showed us a vintage charm house that needed some work in the front yard but had been restored inside.  It had a sun room that I knew Louella Mae would love!  It was close to his work, and it was the house we were seriously considering.  After talking to our friend that is from the area she said that street wasn't the best street to live on.  Boo.  We looked at another house in the country on a windy, one-way street.  We decided that wasn't for us because of the road, and it was way out of the way.  The last place we looked were some apartments in the country.  It had been a house built in 1862 {and it was so cute from the outside!}, that had been turned into apartments.  The problem was that it had been an assisted living home before becoming apartments.  The set up was very awkward, and it smelled like it had been an assisted living home.  The bathrooms were kind of scary, smelled, and made me sad when I thought about the people who had lived there.
We decided on the second house we had looked at, and had called the realtor back to rent it.  She knew we'd be back because she knew what was out there...slim pickens! 


Our first house!

 It was a good thing we had called her when we did because she was going to show the house to other people later in the day!  Check back tomorrow because I've got big plans for the outside of the house already {notice the numbers...those are my plans}!  I'll let you know how I want to fix it up tomorrow!  I'm off to make supper!

XOXO,

Ashlee