FARMHOUSE 654
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autumn days.

10/6/2018

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There's no question about it.  

Autumn is my favorite season.

It's often short-lived here in Missouri and we often spend a day or two each September with a taste of Autumn before jumping back into high temperatures for another week or so. 

However, I am hopeful that yesterday was our last day in the 80's for a while.

Bring on the colorful leaves, misty mornings, Pumpkin Spice-everything, scarves, and cozy hooded sweatshirts.

Since making my decision to put down the camera and focus solely on my new role at school this year, I've had a lot more weekend time at home.

It's not basketball season yet and our nephew's football games have been in the evenings, so I have been able to wake up on Saturday mornings and spend some time in the quiet of the farmhouse front porch, taking in the crisp, cool morning breeze.
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I love the way Ralph Waldo Emerson said it...
"Each moment of the year has its own beauty."

Every year, in the last weekend of September, I have the opportunity to speak at a women's retreat (hello to all my women's retreat readers!).  This year, I mentioned our "seasons" of life. 

As I sit here listening to the rumble of thunder from an early-morning autumn thunderstorm while I type, I think about the anticipation that comes at the beginning of each season of the year.

We have a chance each morning to "start over", but something about a change in the weather and environment is a real motivation for me.
When the long summer days start to get shorter and the hot, humid days start to get cooler, I feel a renewed sense of urgency for enjoying every moment in my home with Mr. Farmhouse and the girls.

I start to think more about crock pots with simmering soup, evenings spent around the fire pit, and the smell of fresh-baked cookies wafting through the house.
My mind wanders to movie nights as a family with warm apple cider and popcorn, trips to the pumpkin patch, and hay rides.

I begin thinking about the holiday traditions that come with October, November, and December and I smile.

We slow down on the gravel roads to look at deer in the fields and combines harvesting.

We spend our evenings in gyms watching our nieces play volleyball or on the football field, cheering on the boys of fall.


The change of any season is new and refreshing and beautiful.

But there is something about autumn that renews my spirit.


Happy Autumn from the Farmhouse, friends.

​❤️🍂🏡🍂❤️
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one year.

7/4/2018

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It’s been a year since we left our home of eleven years and moved to the farmhouse.

What seemed like such a long and stressful process to get the old house sold and the new house purchased is just a distant memory now.

We have done a lot to the farmhouse over the last year, including our biggest project of adding a second bathroom upstairs and our most recent addition...the screen door I’ve been dreaming about my whole life.

In some ways, we miss the house on the hill...living on blacktop, having a shop, and having the fence complete so we can have our cows on the property with us.

However, our new shop plans for the farmhouse property are in the works and the fencing supplies have been purchased, so the cows will be back home sooner than later.

I suppose the gravel road is just a trade-off for the four bedrooms and basement we acquired when we purchased the farmhouse.

We have been blessed beyond measure over this last year and look forward to many more years making memories with our girls at the farmhouse.

Just last weekend, we celebrated our first small town Independence Day with family friends at our home.

We grilled out, the kids did the slip & slide, and we watched our town’s fireworks from the farmhouse backyard.

We’re so thankful for the men and women who have sacrificed for us to have freedom in this country.

We’re so thankful to see God’s hand working in all and through all and for the freedom found through Jesus.

Happy 4th of July from the Farmhouse, friends.

​❤️🇺🇸🏡🇺🇸❤️
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amazon finds for the farmhouse.

2/16/2018

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I really love Amazon.

We have had a Prime account for several years and use it for everything from coffee to toilet paper, books to home decor, music to movies.

Some day, I will talk to you about the joys of Amazon's "Subscribe & Save" program and my new-found love for Audible.

Some day, I will talk to you about how amazing the Amazon app is and the fact that I have a dream to sell a children's book I wrote on Amazon someday.
But not today.

Today I'd like to share some of my favorite completely reasonably-priced "farmhouse finds" that I have purchased or are planning to purchase from Amazon...all under $20!

Some of my favorite items that I've purchased for the farmhouse have been simple signs, rustic baskets, or metal accents.
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Amazon has a host of items that fit my taste...and my budget.

As you've probably seen in some of my other posts, I love signs and wall-hangings to fill the walls of the farmhouse.

Amazon has a nice selection of high-quality signs.
I love this cutesy little "Home Rules" chalkboard to lean up somewhere on a counter or hang in a little open place beside the bathroom mirror. 

​It's a great reminder of some of our "family rules" we talk about daily!

It starts with "Always be honest" and ends with "Love one another".  

​Yes, yes, yes!

This $10.95 Amazing Grace sign is perfectly rustic-y and primitive.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but you can barely see an outline of the sheet music behind the main text.

At 5" x 10", it's the perfect size to round out a farmhouse wall gallery.

What a great reminder of His amazing grace.
I just think this vintage Soap & Water sign is adorable.

In fact, I just bought one for the girls' new bathroom wall.

I also picked up this deer antler jewelry-holder for the girls' new bathroom, too.

I can't believe they are old enough to need a jewelry-holder!
I have tried to be very intentional with the items I bring into the farmhouse, since we moved in last July.

One of the things I try to think about when I purchase items is the functional purpose that they could serve in our home.

These containers are perfect for organizing AND looking adorable.
A nice warm throw is always a good item to have lying over a chair, reading available for snuggling up with a good book.  I also love the natural pop of color that this wreath brings.
There are hundreds of thousands of items to choose from and purchase on Amazon.

These are just a few of my favorites.

I would encourage you to think about the purpose of the items you bring into your home before you purchase.
Seek out items that bring joy to your heart and make your home feel peace and calming to you.

Be responsible in your spending and intentional in what you allow into your home.

And enjoy the process!

Happy Friday from the Farmhouse, friends!

​❤️?❤️
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six months.

1/22/2018

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January 9th marked our six-month anniversary of our "first night sleeping at the farmhouse".

Six months.

In some ways, it feels like that was ages ago...and in some ways, it feels like yesterday.

Over the snow days (and ice day and really cold wind-chill day) that we had off of school last week, I really reminisced about our time here at the farmhouse so far.

I started looking through some of my old blog posts and Instagram photos.

One of my most favorite memories for the rest of my life will be from 9:00 at night on the first Saturday night that we slept here.

Our minister and his wife came out and prayed over the farmhouse.  You can read about it in my blog post from that day...Bless this Mess.

Since that warm July night,
we have enjoyed family movie nights cuddled in the living room,
mornings on the front porch reading our books,
pick-up games of basketball out to the north of the house,
friends over to BBQ,
softball practice out in the yard,
and for Thanksgiving we hosted our first TWO family dinners out here.

We experienced our first farmhouse Christmas with the girls.

We have painted and decorated,
Added an upstairs bathroom,
Tore down a barn,
Added a chicken coop,
Purged belongings,
Purchased furniture.

It has been quite the journey and I know we are nowhere near "finished".
Somedays (most days), we are a mess. But we are thankful to God that he's able to bless this mess.

Thanks for following along with us over the last six months.

I hope you'll stick around for the next six months.  

​❤️🏡❤️
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christmas countdown: week 2 challenge

10/29/2017

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Hello there and welcome to Week 2 of the Farmhouse654 Christmas Countdown!

Last week, we focused on getting organized before we begin our journey to a peaceful holiday season with our families! 

We divided our home into eight zones and worked all week through the deep-cleaning process for Zone 1. 

At the farmhouse, this was my Living Room & Entryway.

I started the week by decluttering any shelves and drawers in the living room...I went through our DVDs and purged anything we don't watch, cleaned out a few drawers that had acquired some junk, and minimized a few decorations on the flat surfaces.

After a crazy week of parent-teacher conferences and the first slumber party in the farmhouse, I used my Friday off school to finish up Zone 1 by deep-cleaning from floor to ceiling...dusting, cleaning the windows, and making the floors shine.

If you didn't get to join us for the Week 1 challenge, just try to squeeze both of the first two weeks in this week!

Our week 2 challenge is to think about our giving.

You can print my Week 2 Planning Printable here.  

This week, we are focusing on the friends and family members we would like to give gifts to this year.

We want to be intentional with our giving!

This year for the girls, we are going to do four main gifts...

1. Something they want,
2. Something they need,
3. Something to wear, and 
4. Something to read.

We're also going to buy a few "family experiences"...zoo passes, a Royals game, and gift cards to some of our favorite restaurants.

Thanks to this list, coupled with the fact that we had a Christmas sinking fund (using CapitalOne 360 that I talked about in my blog post a few weeks ago), I am almost finished Christmas shopping.

This week, make a list of who you need to buy for, any gifts you might have already, and ideas of what you would like to purchase or make over the next several weeks.

The second part of our challenge this week is about how we can give to others during this season.  

Mr. Farmhouse and I do this in a few different ways that I've outlined on the Week 2 Challenge printable.   

Start thinking about how you can give back!

Finally, we are starting work in Zone 2 this week!

My Zone 2 is my Kitchen & Mud Room!  These two rooms will be a bit more challenging than the Living Room was!  I still haven't felt "settled" in the Mud Room since we moved into the farmhouse three months ago.  I'm hoping to change that feeling over the next week by breaking the process up into manageable tasks and tackle those two rooms!

I hope and pray that you are already feeling a little more peaceful about the upcoming holiday season! 

Let's not get bogged down with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season!

Let's take a moment and enjoy the process of getting us to this special time of year!

Happy New Week, friends! 

Much love to you and yours from the farmhouse!

​❤️🏡❤️

If you're just catching up with the Farmhouse654 Christmas Countdown, feel free to join the Facebook group HERE and print out the Planning Calendar and Week 1 Checklist HERE. ​

Christmas Countdown Blog Posts
Week 1
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target clearance.

8/26/2017

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Let's be real.

I have made MANY impulse purchases of items from Target that happen to be clearanced.

Usually, those little clearance tags with the red outline call to me from the aisles.

​"Look at this amazing throw pillow that needs to be on my couch!"

"Ooooo...an aqua- and coral-colored organizational basket!"

"Matching clothes for the girls!"
This time, though...the clearance called me from my email.

When I saw this cute little cabinet come up on my computer screen.

The one on my computer was actually red...and it was adorable.  I thought it would fit perfectly in my teal & red farmhouse kitchen.

But it was $120...even on sale.  Mr. Banana Split Yellow cabinet was a nice $89.
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So I made my first ONLINE clearance impulse purchase at Target.com.

It came in a nice big box and sat in the living room for a few days.

Then one night, Mr. Farmhouse got home early from checking cows and I said, "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Can you put something together for me?"

(sigh) "What's that?"

And in that moment, I revealed my amazing clearance purchase of this adorable yellow cabinet for the kitchen.

Mr. Farmhouse was not impressed.

In fact, I think "the ugliest color of yellow I've ever seen" was inserted somewhere in the conversation.

​But he loves me.
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And so...he put it together.

And moved it into the kitchen for me.

And then he seemed to have an opinion about where the "ugliest color of yellow" cutesy shelf should be placed in the kitchen.

He thought it should be flat along the wall, about two inches over the trim.

I thought it should be placed at an angle to make it look more centered.
So I took it to the Facebook world and posted it on the Farmhouse654 Facebook page.

By an overwhelming majority, the "angled" folks won.  

Although the "what if stuff falls behind the cabinet?" folks did have a good point.

​However, just like we have been very intentional about the space on top of the coffee bar, we will be intentional about this space too.
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The top of the yellow cabinet will be used for our bread basket and a box of Kleenex.

That's it.
​
I used a few more $6.00 Dollar General baskets in the bottom of the cabinet for some small appliances, like my blender & mixer.


I'll add another one of those baskets to the top shelf in-between my favorite cookbooks and my favorite coffee mugs for potatoes and that will be all!

It's visible, yet organized.

​Functional, yet stylish. 
​
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Banana Split Yellow, yet adorable.

Happy Almost Weekend, friends.  ❤️🏡❤️
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