Y’all!! I had the best time this weekend in Denver Colorado. I met some amazing people, got to attend a fantastic market, made some fun friends, found some one of a kind finds that I will be sharing later with you, & lastly I got to step out of my comfort zone and speak to a fun group of people. I’ve never been a public speaker, & I’m still not. I hated speaking in school, I’m naturally an introvert, & talking in front of people [even online] scares me almost to death. BUT I’ve said it before, 2018 is my year to really step out of my comfort zone, so when Bernadette from The Old House Vintage Market asked me to attend their market & speak… I reluctantly said yes. & it was awesome. I didn’t know what to expect & honestly I didn’t plan one thing out about it… I went in blind & that was best for me I think. My thought was to really do a Q&A style chat so we can chat like friends would on my front porch with some coffee. We did two Q&A sessions at the market this past weekend & some frequent questions came up so I thought I would share just a few of the frequent questions here with you guys today in case you were wondering the same things…

Q: Who watches Grace when you are gone?

This was the MOST ASKED question & of course they were talking about all of our animals. We have an amazing neighbor who takes care of our farm animals [we are so lucky!] & various other people taking care of the house which is so nice. I am a homebody so it’s hard for me to leave & it helps when people in our life are so willing to help when we are gone. Also, my amazing MIL watched our dogs this weekend & they were so spoiled I’m not sure they wanted to come home with us… I’m telling you we have a great village around us!

Q: Why did you start your blog?

That’s a good one. Well, about 8 years ago I was doing what I always did.. doing creative things in my garage like painting furniture, going out & about collecting vintage items, decorating our home, & even building a house at the time when a friend of mine said, “You should start a blog!” I had no idea what a blog was. It sounded like a weird word to me. But I started one. I was living in NC many states away from family, Jose was deployed, I was going to design school & working, & yet I needed something to fulfill that creative side in me.. that’s when I found blogging & I have never looked back since. I started realizing people actually read my blog & that encouraged me to keep sharing & here I am today blogging almost daily about anything and everything that we happen to be up to that day. & each visit to the blog encourages me to keep sharing all the aspects of our journey. Blogging is something I’m so passionate about & it’s a beautiful mess kind of like my life in the most imperfect way. Jose has always encouraged me and cheered me on through this crazy blogging adventure & if it weren’t for him I might not be here today talking to you on this blog of mine. So, thank you to Jose & to you guys for always encouraging me to keep sharing… I can’t say it enough.

Q: How do you grow your Instagram?

Remember when I said I didn’t love public speaking? Well, a few years back at Haven blogging conference I taught a little class on how to grow your Instagram & it was wonderful & terrifying all at once. I blogged the tips and other things a few years ago here, but most of it all still applies [HERE] I hope these little tips help those of you who are trying to grow your Instagram accounts!

Q: Do you ever complete a room?

Yes. & now. Haha I can’t help that I am forever a changer & re-arranger. I just can’t help it. Sometimes I wish I could turn my brain off, but it’s impossible. I want to just be “done” with a space, but then my Liz Marie brain turns on & I’m like “oh I should totally switch that lamp out.” & “oh I really should paint that.” It’s just a thing I’m always going to do, but I hope with every change I can inspire one or two of you with that change. I’m also one to decorate a room before we even gut it our do any demolition if that makes sense… for example our bedroom is somewhat decorated right now as we live in the “in between”, but someday I hope to rip the ceiling down & possibly even a wall, rip up the carpet, & completely re-do the room. But for not I want it to be livable and seem more ‘us’ if that makes sense. Also, we live in a fixer-upper right now that is 4x the square footage of any home we have ever owned so it goes without saying that it’s going to take a lot of time to complete any room that we have in this house. & as always when we run into issues in one room we move into the next. Ok, we have home renovation A.D.D. please don’t judge! But really I hope you guys don’t mind & I’m forever thankful that you put up with me and visit the blog daily!

Q: What room do you recommend starting in when living in a fixer upper?

We totally recommend starting with the room you will be using the most with your family… for us it’s the kitchen & the sunroom area because we spend the most time there. Many of you know we were without a functioning kitchen in this house for 9 months & it was awful because our house didn’t quite feel like a home. We learned the hard way we should have started there, but it was a good lesson that we can share with you.

Q: Is your house haunted?

I hope not. haha but really no. It’s old & it has a love of Character… just not any ghost Characters. Thankfully.

Q: What are some of your big plans coming up with your farm, home, & family?

Well, I’ve said it before, but after each miscarriage or major moment in our fertility struggle God has provided something big & unexpected. It’s like God is always saying, “Hey guys, this is where I want you.” So I could sit here and tell you what I think is coming, but I’m not in total control of that. We hope to grow our family in the house & out on the farm, we hope to finish a few rooms in our home & hopefully get a functioning bathroom & possibly laundry room… that would be amazing! We don’t know how God wants us to grow our family, but we are hoping he gives us a big push very soon so that we can listen to His plan. Oh, & I want some more fur babies in that barn of ours. We will see. So yah, I hope you guys stick around for every aspect of our journey because we love having you here. I can’t say that enough.

Ok, I think that is where I’ll end it for today. Everyone asked such amazing questions at the Q&A, but these were just a few that kept popping up. Ok, well… I’m thinking the next thing Jose and I should do is Q&A on our vlog channel! What do you think about that? Leave some questions below, on my Facebook, & my Instagram for us to answer in a video & we will put that up soon! Thank you guys so much for stopping by the blog today & thank you to everyone who came out to our Q&A in Colorado this weekend.. we are so honored to have spent some time with you guys. More posts on that trip, the market, my finds, & more coming very soon! xx