Maia

With the changes that have occurred over the past few months there was one change I wasn't ready to make. I had to say goodbye to my Amala bear and Kali Bug. I never thought I would get so attached to my dogs. While I miss them so much it helps to know that they are loved and well taken care of.

People kept telling me to look at getting another dog, however, I wasn't sure if I wanted to quite yet. That is until I found out about Maia. Someone I once knew told me a story about a beach full of starfish. The last line of that story kept replaying in my head as I learned more and more about this sweet girl. "It made a difference to that one." -Loren Eisley

I knew as soon as I met her that she needed to be mine. I knew I wanted to make a difference in her life as much as I can. Who knew that in such a short time she would make such a difference in mine.

Everyone meet Maia, the newest member of the Furr clan...

Already best buds with Buxton. 

As I sit here snuggling this sweet girl I can't help to think of how lucky I am. As far as the house goes...I should be able to get the keys this week and the windows should be here Friday! woohoo!

Ben's big move!

This week we celebrate the last week of Ben being in the U.S. and having all of my brothers in the same city. There is nothing I have loved more than the time spent with my family over the past few months. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful group of people to call my family and such a great group of guys to call my brothers.

Ben will be moving to Cuzco, Peru on Thursday. I am so very proud of him for not settling for anything less than he deserves. And Ben, you deserve all the happiness in the world. I hope that you are able to find that happiness on this next adventure. I know I can speak for the whole family when I say we will miss you so much but are so excited for you! You are such a great man and will do so many great things. I can't wait to hear all about it! Who knows we may just all move out there with you...(they need nurses right Laurie and James!?)

My crazy family!

Project numero dos:
I think my priorities are a little off. I don't currently have a bed...or even a house to put the bed in but I'm gonna make a headboard! haha I initially intended to make a headboard from scratch...but it turns out that I found this guy in my mom's garage. (I apologize in advance for the bad quality of pictures.)

                         

Soo, instead of making one out of nothing I just decided to re-cover this one. I knew I would need a lot of fabric and fabric is not cheap. For the quantity that I needed I knew I should find another option. I decided to go to Home depot instead of a fabric shop and picked up some regular old drop-cloth.  For the amount I needed it cost me around 10 dollars. Much better! Below is what the drop-cloth looked like after I put it through a cycle with some grey dye. Initially it was a tan color and I wanted it to be grey so I used some fabric dye to get it to the color I wanted. The drop-cloth actually worked really well and will be something I use for other projects! 

                        

I don't have any pictures of the in between stages but I just covered the entire headboard with cloth and manipulated it as best I could to get it as smooth as possible. I re-covered all the buttons with the same fabric so everything was matchy matchy. From there I just threaded the rope back through the headboard and pulled as tight as I could so that it would be a little tufted and then stapled like crazy. (Sorry Pat!) It ended up being a fairly simple, quick, and cheap project! 

 

Don't mind the giant dog crate propping it up. 

And that was it...It's not my favorite headboard in the world but for around 15 dollars I think it will last me a little while until I make one from scratch. 

Hopefully it wont be too much longer until I'm in the house and am able to do some BIG projects! 

It's so good to see you 2014!

As the holidays come to an end and the new year begins I naturally tend to look back at all the positives and negatives of the past year. I graduated college, landed my dream job, traveled to Peru and used the skills I had to help anyone I could, had unforgettable experiences, traveled on my last summer as a student, ran in as many races as I could, watched my family come together and support each other as we struggle with illness, built relationships that will forever stay with me, and said goodbye to people who mean the most to me. It is challenging not to let the recent negatives cloud the fact that I had a wonderful year full of change and amazing experiences! The new year has never been a very exciting time for me and I never really understood the appeal. I never felt the rush (or desire) of starting fresh. This year was different. The new year couldn't come fast enough. I am so excited to see what 2014 is going to bring and how life is going to change.

Update on the house:

We were finally able to get the paper work settled and had our inspection on Dec. 31. Everything went smoothly and there was nothing drastically wrong with the house. Yayy! We did, however, stumble on some interesting parts of the house that give it a little more charm. (More on that later) At this point I am never surprised as to what we might find in this house. I am loving this adventure and enjoying every step of it! Things are moving forward and our closing date is set for January 21st.

As I was walking around the side of the house I stumbled upon this cute little free library. Just take a book and replace a book. How neat is that? Love this little neighborhood!

                                     

First project:

As I am patiently (ok, not so patiently) waiting on everything to get finalized I have been searching for things to do before we can get into the house. The first little project I found myself doing was just a simple chair. I have no idea what I plan to do with with it but it can't hurt to have a random chair, right?

Here is the before...I believe this was a yard-sale find. I just wanted to re-do something and this was the closest thing to me at the time.

                                     

...and I am halfway there. Just need to reupholster the seat. 

                              

Here is the finished product of my first little DIY and it came down to a total of around 12 dollars. 

                                   

Next up: 

I will be making my own headboard! 

My first home.

Over the past few months my life has changed in an immeasurable amount of ways. Through this time I have learned many things about myself and lessons that I will treasure for the rest of my life.  With these lessons in mind I have decided to embark on an exciting and terrifying new adventure. I have decided to purchase my first home.  (eeeek!) This is brand new to me and there is a lot of learning and risk taking that goes into this big next step in my life. I would not be able to do it without the love and support from my wonderful parents. I cannot thank them enough for the outpouring of love they have shown me. I am saddened by the way 2013 has ended and the relationships I have lost.  I have never wanted a different ending more than I do now. With that said I am so excited to see what this house and 2014 will bring!

Anyways, as my mom and I were searching for the perfect starter home we stumbled upon a beautiful brick bungalow in my favorite area. We immediately fell in love with it and took action as quickly as possible. This home was a steal and on top of that we both loved it! Located in the Lindley Park neighborhood this place was the perfect home for me. However, it was a foreclosure and with that comes a few obstacles. As many of you know my mom and I share a passion for old, vintage (sometimes crappy) items that need a little tender, love, and care.  This home is just that.  It is begging for someone to show it some love. That’s where we come in. Immediately our repurposing minds went crazy with ideas of how to make this house the perfect home. So, the reason for this blog...I would love to take you through the craziness that will come of this little fixer-upper for as long as you are willing. We hope you enjoy this process just as much as we do!

Here are a couple of pictures we took as we were checking the place out. 

The view from the street. Our first project...replacing the windows! 

Love the cute backyard!

So, where are we in the process now? Funny thing actually. Last weekend I made an offer and it was accepted that following Monday. Woohoo! Everything happened really fast leading up to this point which we were really excited about. Once the offer was accepted things started to slow down. The paper work was taking longer and longer. This was kind of expected being that it is a foreclosure. Turns out that there was still one more disclosure document that we needed to see. We soon found out why the house was such a steal.

I remember driving to class one morning my senior year of college and not being able to get down walker st. The street was closed off by police at every angle. Guess which house they were closing the street for...yup, the little house on Westdale. (Yayy!) Turns out that the quiet man that lived there went a little crazy. A neighbor called the police saying that he was acting a little strange. The police got involved and had a 15 hour standoff! (Side note: the house is in a really safe area, I promise.) Anyways, the implications we are faced with right now (minus the possible bad juju) is that the police used tear gas to try to get him out of the house. I don't know anything about tear gas, however, through some research I've learned that it can be an extensive process to clean out of a house. So for the next week or so we will have the inspection and get the place checked out before our due diligence period is over to make sure this is a smart investment. If everything checks out I will close by the 15th of January! 

In the meantime I hope to do a few projects...stay tuned.