Thursday, January 1, 2015

A Blessed 2014! Highlights! Happy New Year!

Wow, here we are, January 1st 2015.  I'm so excited that this New Year has started!  We have so many exciting things planned for 2015!  Although I'm looking forward, I would also love to give a proper goodbye to 2014, as it was a GREAT year!

Over the past year, my business has really taken off.  I've had a great time restoring furniture, working on my house, meeting new people/clients, and building new pieces.  It's been a challenging year, and I LOVE that!  

Here are some of my favorite custom builds and restored projects for 2014!

































Here are the Links!!

3. My New Farmhouse Patio Table 
(never did do a post for this.. will do one this Spring)

Next I'm sharing my favorite projects that we did around our own house this past year.

































Here are the Links!

2. New Patio Furniture and a Fireplace
(No post, sorry!!  This Spring!!)
3. Adding a Flagstone walkway to the Garden
  (No post, sorry!!  This Spring!!)
5. Adding Lattice and Trellis to My Garden

This year we were more focused on the outside.  It's funny how the projects I think will be simple, easy and quick, turn into month long projects!  I always underestimate the work load.  We still have a lot to do in our back yard, but we made a lot of progress this past summer.  I'm excited to wrap up some of the ones that didn't get finished entirely this Spring.  Our biggest project inside the house this year was our Living Room Makeover.  This has been a dream of mine for years and it finally came together.  I'm so happy with it.  There are still some details I will be adding, and finishing on it, but it's a HUGE transformation.  You'll have to click the link to see the before!  

Next I have a couple exciting things that happened this year!

 Last Summer I was contacted by the managing editor of Old House Journal.  She said that she had come across my blog post on my DIY Crate Buffet and wanted to make it their September Feature in their new Salvage It Column.  I was SO excited!  So we worked together to write the article and it was published August 12th!  I feel so honored to have been featured in this amazing magazine.  Feel free to check out their website for all sorts of restoration projects and designs.

The second exciting event this year was having my Bighorn Sheep watercolor chosen as the main piece in an auction.


This Fundraiser was put on by Nevada Bighorns Unlimited, in Midas, Nevada.  All the earnings go towards wildlife conservation and habitat improvement.  I feel so honored that they chose my painting for this event.  She found my watercolor on Google Images and contacted me through email.  My painting was featured on the post card that was mailed out as an invitation.  They also purchased a print and framed it to be used as the main artwork for the raffle.  So COOL!  You can see more of my artwork here.  

The last thing that was huge this past year for our family, and the event that I hold the closet to my heart, was the renewing of our vows with our girls.

 We celebrated ten years together this past August.  We were so lucky to have the chance to renew our vows to each other, our girls, and to our Lord and Savior, on the gorgeous Southern California beach of Corona Del Mar.  It was just breathtaking and the perfect spot for our special little ceremony.  We kept things VERY simple.  I brought along a couple of my old crates, made a few hanging mason jars for flowers and sand and shells.  I bought fresh flowers from the grocery store and made our bouquets before the ceremony.  My husband and I both wrote new vows, and I will admit, there were a lot of tears as we exchanged them this time around.  This was such a special time for our little family.  And it was so fun to have our two girls be a part of it.  They each read some scripture from the Bible about marriage.  And then our oldest daughter, Isabella, had her own set of vows for us.  Although her nerves turned them into more of a roast of my husband and I.  That was interesting. HA!  We had wonderful friends join us, and my mom was able to be there as well.  Our family has been through a lot over the last decade, but with God's grace and guidance, we've managed to stay united and put up a strong front against the world and it's many challenges.  

2014 brought so many amazing memories, new friends, new direction in life, and a lot of love.  It was truly a great year of victory!  Thank you to all who have been a part of it!  I look forward to 2015 and everything coming our way!  

Happy New Year everyone!!

xo Jen 

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