OUR FARMHOUSE TOUR.

For the past year, literally every week, I have thought “I really need to blog a tour of our farmhouse.” Each week I have pushed it back on my To Do list because… well… life happens. Mothering consumes my every energy and between running my photography business and my Young Living essential oils business, I get way too tired to tackle taking photos of my own house. Plus taking photos of the house requires it to be clean long enough to take the photos. And that’s a whole other ordeal…

But alas… Bara Faith napped long enough for me to accomplish all of the above.

This farmhouse was definitely a “fixer upper” project to make it more our style. It all started one day last year by binge watching “Fixer Upper” and my inner Joanna Gaines jumped on Trulia to see if there were any old farmhouses for sale in the area. Turns out there was, and my heart skipped a beat, and the next day we had an appointment to check it out.

“I’m just not feeling it,” Stephen said when he first walked through the house. “Doesn’t seem our style.”

“Just trust me,” I told his inner Chip Gaines. “I have a vision (Insert here layover blueprint drawings popping up on your screen). Take away all these bold bright paint colors, and I’m going to go all white and clean. Rip out this old bathroom vanity and take down these cabinets to hang new lighting sconces and a new mirror to open up this space more. A chandelier here in this room, a chandelier there in that room, picture… farmhouse meets glam. I totally see it, don’t you?”

Slowly it grew on him, and he trusted me. And we put in an offer, thinking there was no way we would get it, and if we did, if we were crazy to be moving RIGHT BEFORE adopting our baby coming soon on the way. But as much as wanted it, we put it in God’s hands and surrendered it in prayer… and then He gave it back to us on Valentine’s Day when we found out they accepted our offer. Like, wait, whaaaaat?

All in the span of a month last April, I had a new but old home to renovate, a big move from one house to another, and a newborn to care for. Life was… a whirlwind. Were we crazy to move and become parents all at the same time? Yes, absolutely every bit of crazy.

Then just as we were feeling settled, Hurricane Matthew hit us hard in October, and I thought I was about to lose this new but old home of my dreams. Though this house had survived 65 years of hurricanes before, Matthew really worried us as it approached closer and stronger on the radar. The day before the hurricane hit, I took the essential oils I had in my home and went around and anointed every window and doorway and prayed Psalm 91 as a prayer of protection around this home. And while neighbors homes had trees fall through their roofs, the two huge 250 year old oak trees that fell in our backyard fell only inches away from touching our home, not leaving one scratch on our home itself. Our water well pump system was another story and had to be repaired and repiped… but that’s another story.

But this past year, this home has been everything we have prayed for it to be. A community home. We wanted this to be a home that served others in love, and with each event we’ve hosted, it has been so fulfilling seeing so much love swirl around this new but old farmhouse of ours.

Are you ready to see our fixer upper? (Ok, I couldn’t resist saying that like my girl Joanna.)

Welcome to our 1951 Farmhome!

Each week I’m going to post different rooms inside and show some before and afters, so stay tuned. First, join me for a walk around the property! Welcome guests!

The previous owners did not use their front door, and there was no driving path to do so. So one day Stephen and I got out there with a land tiller and created this dirt path so we could welcome our guests through the front door instead of the back kitchen door.

I mean, I couldn’t resist this front door mat I found at Hobby Lobby!

This screen door from Lowes was something I added on. And I painted all the shutters black. They were previously green as you’ll see in the before photo at the end of this post. I also love the old school door bell!

Enjoying some coffee on my front porch. The rockers are from Lowes and the side table is from World Market.

My little Rhett is never far from my side!

I never thought would ever get so into gardening. That was always my mom’s thing and I did not grow up with the green thumb she had. But something changed with this house, and now I have a new pride in getting my hands dirty out there to bring color and life to the outside of this home.

Butterflies were a symbolic thing between my dad and I before he passed away. So it’s always so special to see them fluttering around my garden.

It’s that time of year when the Azaleas are starting to bloom and I of course love that they are pink!

I love all the hanging spanish moss in the trees! And I love this old wooden swing set that came with the house that our baby girl can grow up using with her friends!

Representing this amazing country we live in and the American style farmhouse. The rusty ladder was something that was used as a movie prop in the TV movie with Julia Roberts’ brother Eric that was filmed at this house in the 90s.

This vintage bird cage was another movie prop left with the house that I love to display.

One of my favorite things about this house, it came with two huge lemon trees in our backyard! We love using fresh lemons in our cooking!

I gotta admit, the squirrels eat more from here than the birds do. Good thing I like squirrels!

Behind this flag and bucket there used to be a cute children’s play fort. But unfortunately, when the two 250 year old oak trees uprooted and came crashing down during Hurricane Matthew, the play fort got crushed by the trees. As sad as I was to see it go, because I envisioned our daughter playing on it growing up, better the play fort than our house. And now I have plenty of room for my future chicken coop!

These pentas have survived everything, including the hurricane, and my forgetfulness in keeping up watering the flowers. Best low maintenance flowers ever!

My current chickens until we can add on a chicken coop and have some real life cluckers around the yard!

Our home’s mission verse.

My ever faithful watch dog! We added the cafe lights and painted the previous green porch to black.

Now to show you below how far it has all come, here’s what the front of the house used to look like when we bought it! It doesn’t even feel like the same house to me! Lots of primary colors everywhere inside and out. Some of the main updates I did were painting all the shutters black, adding a screen door, adding some rocking chairs, and lots of landscaping! Can y’all believe the difference from the photos above? Good thing Stephen trusted my vision for it all! ha!

So that’s a little tour around the property! Y’all come back next week as I start to show you the inside room by room!

January 20, 2017January 20, 2017

THE POGACHNIK FAMILY

Over 10 years ago, I had the honor of documenting Katie & Adam’s wedding day in the beginning of my career then in the wedding industry. And now fast forward all these years, and they have become a beautiful family of 4. “I don’t think we’ve had professional photos done since we got married,” Katie said. “Usually our Christmas card photo is a quick photo my mom takes of us.” I would say they were a little overdue for a family photo shoot! Ha!

Here are a few favorites from their family session with their adorable little boys!

December 22, 2016December 22, 2016

HOW I BALANCE IT ALL AS A MOTHER.

I’m completely laughing even writing that title of this blog post above because… well… I do NOT balance it all. At least gracefully… And if you were hoping to find that answer when you clicked over here, join me in giving permission to ourselves to… not need to balance it all.

This picture of motherhood below may look glamorous, and I DO love this photo of this cute moment between she and I during our Christmas card photos (by Meredith Black), but in reality, I struggle just like any mom to balance it all (in fact, as I type, I’m feeding Bara Faith applesauce as I prep this blog entry from the kitchen table!)

Back when I redesigned my blog soon after Bara Faith came into the world, I had these grand visions of sharing about my journey here on the blog now about motherhood, after I waited so long to get here with that title “Mom.” I had these grand visions of being Supermom and had my list of things I would do and not do… only to realize, to keep the balance… and peace… sometimes I need to break those rules… while giving myself permission to let go of trying to juggle so much at once. And as a result of it, this blog took a backseat. But here I am, and I have given myself permission, when I can write, I will write.

Because… whew… I juggle a lot these days… I’m a wife, mom, daughter, granddaughter, photographer, Young Living leader to a team of 13 fabulous women, and, oh yeah, a friend, when everything else allows me to be and I can take a moment away for myself to catch up with a girlfriend. And take a deep breath.

That letting go part… it’s so hard for me because I just want to hold on tight, but I have found there is so much freedom in saying, it’s ok to not do it all. And thats where the balance comes. Sometimes that means letting Stephen cook dinner so I can sit at my desk longer than 10 minutes at a time to squeeze in the work that didn’t get done earlier in the day because Bara Faith needed extra nurturing. Sometimes that means the bathroom doesn’t get scrubbed down, or the laundry done. Sometimes that means, in just keeping it real, I don’t get a shower that day because I choose extra sleep over bathing because I’m so dang exhausted trying to juggle it all. And despite the short comings, I am confident enough in my identity in the Lord to know, He has a special grace for mothers.

I am doing the best I can each day, and I want you to know this… YOU ARE TOO. So let’s all stop being so dang hard on ourselves that we aren’t all Supermom like the Pinterest world around us pressures us into thinking we should be.

But in the midst in the chaos, I do find a weird balance. These are some things that help get me through the day.

My quiet time with the Lord. While this doesn’t happen first thing in the morning like it used to pre-motherhood, I try to sneak away during nap times to sit in my War Room, open my bible and my prayer journal, and take a deep breath breathing in His truth to get me through the day.
Facetime with my Momma. She keeps me reminded that while motherhood is hard, it is the most rewarding thing I’ll ever do.
Text messages with my hubby. Sometimes the perfect emoticon or Bitmoji sent while he’s at work is the perfect laugh to brighten my day.
Morning coffee with Thieves and Peppermint oil (for immune support and mental focus). I never understood growing up why my mom drank so much coffee. Now I get it.
Worship music. Hubby just bought us the new Alexa thingy from Amazon which I didn’t see the point in getting. But I admit, Alexa has grown on me and it’s nice to just ask her to play worship music while I’m feeding baby girl in the kitchen, or “Happy” by Pharrell Williams for a dance party if I’m trying to calm a meltdown.
Stress Away oil, for obvious reasons… and Joy oil… for obvious reasons. Both keep me centered in the midst of the swirl around me throughout the day.

I wouldn’t trade any of the crazy for anything in the world, but there are a few things I’ve had to learn to say no to, or at find another way to do it. Such as:

Fresh laundry that stares at me and doesn’t get folded for… a week. It can just sit there until I’m ready to deal with it thankyouverymuch.
Outsourcing a housekeeper when we can afford to splurge on one.
Meal planning and prep for dinner goes to HelloFresh delivered at my door. (Here’s a coupon code if you want to try it out for $40 off your first box. Follow the link to have it automatically applied.)
Making my bed, or getting dressed… every single day. Some days, yes, you’ll find me working in my PJs (like now), because getting dressed with an active almost 8 month old? #aintnobodygottimeforthat
Working out… bawahahahaha… good one. I’m lucky if I get to walk an acre over to our mailbox on a normal day. But I do try to throw in a few bicep curls with my 15 pounder baby girl throughout the day.
TV…. ohhhhh I miss my days of watching hours of TV at a time… now it gets squeezed in in bed before we both fall asleep missing half the episode.
Every single photography inquiry I get, I’ve learned that’s it’s so freeing to refer some of them to someone else. I just simply will never choose to be a high volume photographer because I’m too obsessed with my family take that many hours away from them, so I’ve learned it’s ok to not say yes to every inquiry that comes my way.

So starting today, let us moms agree to be easier on ourselves. Let’s agree that while motherhood requires us to juggle a lot of plates in the air, it’s ok to take away a few plates so we aren’t so overwhelmed. Let’s agree that in the midst of what feels like crazy town some days, we can trust that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Let’s agree that the Proverbs 31 woman WAS Supermom, but the rest of us are just human doing the best we can.

Because what it all comes down to are the smiles like below that make it all worth it. Because even what feels like the imperfect juggle is actually disguised as quite perfect moments we’ll look back on and wish we could have back again.

From our crazy town to yours, we hope you have a joyous Merry Christmas!

December 16, 2016

THE ADAMS FAMILY

This little man is just 2 weeks younger than my sweet girl, and his momma has one of the most giving hearts I know. We’ve enjoyed bonding over our little ones as they have grown this year, sharing stories of all the different changes and milestones, and I loved photographing this sweet family and their pup Copper too for their Christmas photos! Here are some of the favorites from their family session!