two geraniums and some lavender

It all started with two geraniums and some lavender.

We built our dream home almost two years ago.  Some days I still can't believe this is my life... not just the house, but the husband, THREE boys, and our home.  I never could've imagined it, and I definitely wouldn't have believed it if you told me.

But God!

Kenny (probably desperate to get out of the house... thank you coronavirus) set out for Calloway's to buy some shrubs for behind our pool deck.  He came home with a truck bed full of shrubs and some extra flowers for my pots on the front porch.  Two geraniums and some lavender.  I planted them immediately and something stirred deep within my soul.

I saw pure beauty.

Living in a house doesn't make it a home.  It has to be intentionally planned, created... cultivated.  And I want our home to be a place of beauty, comfort, safety, and peace.

So I started dreaming again... about something for me! Not because my family wanted to, not because my boys wanted to. ** But because I had a passion for it.  This is huge for me.

I thought of knockout rose bushes in front of our master bedroom windows and some basil/rosemary... small and manageable.

But God!

We went to Calloway's and I found my roses/herbs plus so much more. 

Calloway's Nursery

My favorite find was this adorable owl pot!  My classroom was decorated with owls and I have collected many over the years.  Owls are also the mascot for our homeschool.  He was perfect for my basil!

Then I found elephant ears!!!  Be still my heart!  No they didn't fit with any of the landscape Kenny had already planned (and begun planting).  But I'm sure he agreed seeing the joy they brought me.  My sweet Maverick loves elephants and seeing these will remind me of him!

side note: A week after buying these, one of the leaves started to curl up and turn brown and I had seen the stems bend all the way down to the ground.  We went back to Calloway's and the guy helping me said the brown leaf was dying to allow new growth and that these plants can be kind of dramatic (aka droopy). I thought that was hilarious... and SO Maverick!

Finally, I found some pink knockout roses.  My heart was happy and I was ready to begin planting!

But God!

We stopped by Home Depot and Kenny went down the vegetable aisle of the plant area.  Tomatoes, peppers, jalapeños, hatch chiles, cucumbers, a fig tree!!! Mmmmm.... we could almost taste the freshness! We both looked at each other and said "let's start a garden!"

And that was it.

We came home and Kenny designed some gorgeous three raised beds (3'x10') right outside of the master bedroom.  And I began designing the garden.  I've finally embraced YouTube and learned about companion planting and incorporating flowers/herb into my garden.

Our soil is mostly clay, so digging up holes twice the size of my rose buckets was a task I could not do alone.  It took Kenny most of the day.  At bedtime, I set the roses down in the holes (so I could visualize better) and went to bed eager to finish the next day.  That night a huge Texas thunderstorm blew through and when we woke up, the roses were drowning in holes full of water.

I set them out to dry and meanwhile mixed some potting soil (equal parts peat moss, top soil, and perlite).  During my several sweaty trips around the house and yard with the wheelbarrow gathering tools and mixing soils, Joshua tagged along eager to help.  He noticed my sweat and "work" face and apologized that this was such hard work.  I realized it was quite the contrary!  It felt so good!!!  God created us not just to do work, but to find joy in it! (Ecclesiastes 2:24)  There was something so gratifying about putting in all the effort and then sitting back to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Anchor's red petunias (his favorite color) and
he wanted them planted next to their daddy (geraniums)!

There are so many lessons in the Bible that refer to planting, toiling and harvesting, sowing and reaping, deep roots, and bearing fruit.  As I remember my verse for this year (Psalm 37:3), I can't help but smile at what God knew He was doing.  His dreams far exceeded my own!  While I know I have my work cut out for me, I know the joy and reward will be worth it.  And I know I'll learn many lessons along the way as I cultivate my faithfulness... and my garden!


**I want to be clear: I LOVE being a mama bear and feel blessed to be able to stay home and homeschool.  It's another dream come true for me. But I've seen so many homeschooling mothers put their EVERYTHING into their kids and schooling.  And then their kids grow up and leave.  Kenny and I have talked a lot recently about being careful not to lose sight of who I am and who God created me to be aside from "homeschooling mommy."  Plus, gardening can be a great educational experience! Sounds like a win win.

we have plans

It's been exactly a year since we "bought a little piece of paradise."

So I figured it was time for an update.

At the beginning of this year, Kenny decided to buy an addtional half acre of land.  We just closed on the new section and are ready to build!!!

Kenny has been working on these plans since we bought the lot. I remember wondering why on earth he started working on them so early... now I know. There have been hundreds of revisions, going back and forth about what to keep and what to delete, the layout, the square footage, the roof line, the elevation, etc.  I never knew how much was involved in making a set of plans.

We are SO grateful to Terry Holmes for spending countless hours (in his spare time) working with us, listening to us, and drawing up the most beautiful house I've ever seen... our dream home!

I told Kenny as he showed me plans, they didn't look right but I didn't know what was wrong/missing. To me, it was just a house.  Kenny was frustrated with how heavy it seemed on one side, or how the flow wasn't just right.  But no matter what issue we had, Terry patiently and brilliantly worked until he found a solution. Once Kenny showed me the *final* set of plans, my jaw dropped and I knew this was our home!

front

back

side

We'll have 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, a large kitchen/den area for entertaining, a school room, an office, and maybe one day a media room.

first floor 

second floor

Our prayers are that this home would be a place where God is glorified, people are always welcome, and family is protected and strengthened. We have had dreams of hosting youth group events since we dated. I have many other ideas of what we could do, but we'll see where the Lord takes us.

I'm looking forward to claiming this land and stepping into what the Lord has for us in Hickory Creek.

If I haven't said it before, this is truly a dream come true!  We are beyond grateful for how He has blessed us, and pray that this would all be used for His glory and His alone.

I plan to have a dedication day and invite family/friends to write scriptures on the walls.  Stay tuned!

we bought paradise

In August of 2014 we moved into our home in Highland Village.  Kenny remodeled it, and it's wonderful!! However, it's not our forever home.  The kitchen is small and we enjoy entertaining, and have large families.  We don't have a playroom/schoolroom so when friends come over, the kids are in the same den as the adults and it's difficult to have conversations or play games.  There's no guest room.  The boys' rooms are across from the master bedroom.  The bathrooms are tiny.  And I have no bathtub in the master bathroom.  But, we had plans to build a house on our lot in Forest Hills so these were all things I could live with temporarily.

Since then, I have absolutely fallen in love with this area!  I love how close I am to multiple grocery stores, shopping, parks, trails, the gym, etc.  It's great to be right off the highway so we can get to church/Dallas easily.  We've become really good friends with the Merrimans and the thought of moving away from them is heartbreaking.

So we put building a new home on hold and began praying about where the Lord wanted us.  Kenny is always looking at lots, either with clients or for possible business plans.  We talked about buying land across the bridge, up off 380, or in the Argyle area.  Kenny's thoughts were that there are already so many established builders in this area that he would need to move further north to have a chance to make a name for himself.  I'm not going to stand in the way of that!

Thanks to my emotions, I've been all over the place.  One day, I want to move back up to 380... mainly because I wanted land and that seemed to be the only place we could find an acre or more for a decent price.  The next day, I'd be willing to take a smaller lot so we could stay close to our friends. Then we'd walk through a house Kenny built, and I'd tell him I don't care how far it is, we just need land!  A few days later, I'd see Melissa and decide we can stay in our current home forever... I'd make it work even though we've clearly outgrown it.

Several days ago, Kenny had mentioned finding a two acre lot in Eagles Landing and I asked him to pray about it.  But I just kept getting the feeling that if we bought that lot, I'd basically be cutting the time I see my family in half.  It's just too far off the highway, which makes trips to/from Dallas a beating.  As much as I want land, I'm not ready to sacrifice the location to get it.  So I had resolved to just wait.

On Wednesday, we were out running errands when Kenny called and said "I might have just done something."  I had been tracking him and knew he had spent several hours in an area that looked like a park, so I figured he probably bought some land.  He continued, "I just bought us a little piece of paradise."

My heart skipped a beat and I wanted to pull over and hyperventilate.  "You couldn't talk about this with me first?!?"

"Oh, I won't need to ask you about this.  It's two acres, tons of trees, a small hill, place for a pond, backs up to the Corps of Engineers, and is surrounded by several other five acre tracks, and has a creek running through it."  I couldn't believe what I was hearing! "At the front of the subdivision, the developer is making several smaller lots that I could buy and build houses on as well.  There is a private drive that leads back to our lot, so we are completely isolated in the middle of the city. It's not even on the market yet, but I talked him into letting me buy it!"

Because I had been tracking Kenny, I knew where it was located.  Right off the highway, about two exits north of where we currently live, in Hickory Creek.  He was working on getting a contract and said we could see it after the boys napped.  It seemed like an eternity, but we finally loaded up and went to see it.

Kenny was right, it was our own paradise!

private road that leads back to our lot

I'm just completely in awe of the Lord's faithfulness and provision!  Kenny has shown me time and time again how important it is to be patient, and if we don't get what we want, it only means God has something better in mind.  I'm thankful for his patience and wisdom in leading our family.  This truly is the perfect location... we get our land, right in the middle of the city!  And we can have chickens, goats, and a donkey!

Kenny has been drawing plans for the house and this is one we both love!

I can't wait to post updates and walk through this process with Kenny.  I've seen so many houses that he's built for other people knowing someday I would get my chance.  And it's finally here!!!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, LORD.  You are too good to us!

when Murphy's Law tries to win

Murphy's Law states that: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

The stomach bug hit our home this last week.  Mav had it first, but it was quite spread out. He threw up Sunday night and had a little diarrhea on Tuesday afternoon.  Then Kenny was up all night Tuesday doing both... and unfortunately it continued into Wednesday.  It finally struck Joshua and me on Thursday night, but not near as bad as what Kenny had. By Saturday morning we were all feeling back to normal and looking forward to a peaceful day at home.

On his way out for donuts (a Saturday ritual for us) Kenny noticed water bubbling from the ground in a puddle.

Murphy's Law: 1  Wrights: 0

Not good. Especially in HV where water is... not cheap.  So he turned the water off (unbeknownst to me) and went to get donuts.  Meanwhile, I was making eggs and preparing the stacks of laundry that needed to be done and making a mental list of chores to complete. I turned the kitchen sink on to start the dishes and of course, there was no water. Awesome.

Murphy's Law: 2  Wrights: 0

Kenny returned and immediately started digging holes around the front yard to try and find the problem.  Realizing I couldn't do laundry or dishes, I headed out to the grocery store (an errand I had been trying to run since Tuesday).  I returned home to this:

Murphy's Law 3:  Wrights: 0

Kenny could see where the water was coming out but couldn't find the pipe. The Merriman's, friends of ours that live down the street, came over to help and of course the boys saw it as a little piece of heaven. MUD!

Joshua found a snake! He loves them... I do not!

Murphy's Law: 3  Wrights: 1

Melissa kept me company on the porch as I watched my front yard being torn up hole by hole.  After hours of digging, Kenny decided to rent an excavator. A WHAT!?!?  Again, our water is turned off, the boys are caked in mud, and it's nap time. 

Murphy's Law: 4  Wrights: 1

Thankfully, Melissa let us bathe at her house... which turned into more playtime.  The only reason I left was to teach a make-up piano lesson (that was cancelled thanks to stomach bug). 

Murphy's Law: 4  Wrights: 2

I returned home a few hours later to this:

Murphy's Law: 5  Wrights: 2

Yes... the excavator dug across the ENTIRE front yard.  I sat on the swing in a daze. I didn't even know where to start. Water still off, it's now well past nap time, I couldn't let the boys play in the mud because we had no water, I had no idea where Kenny is and couldn't bother him with questions about dinner... so we sat.  I noticed Joshua, who had been enjoying the mud all day, was sitting next to me. Ears beet red and cheeks rosy.  Fever.

Murphy's Law: 6  Wrights: 2

Melissa texted a few minutes later saying she was bring pizza and the boys were at Lowe's getting parts to fix the leak.

Success at last!! THANK YOU JESUS!!

A day that could've been a disaster, created an attitude of discontentment and anger in me turned into a day of heaven for my boys and good fellowship for me, all while watching daddy fix the leak.  All I could think about was the numerous blessings Jesus bestowed on us:

1. This happened on a Saturday, we were all well, and had no plans.

2. The older boys had fun swimming, digging, and watching the excavator dig up our yard... how many kids get to see that?

3. Kenny knew how to fix the problem instead of paying for a plumber to dig around for hours not knowing where the problem was.

4. The Merriman's just happened to ride by and were able to play all day.

5. My soul was refreshed and encouraged from chatting with Melissa. She is so hang loose and easy going. I know I would've been a terrible wife with a terrible attitude had she not been there.

6. Despite not getting a nap, Mav had a blast crawling around, pushing his car, playing in the rain, and eating bugs (yes, I found a bug leg on his mouth!)

7. Doug was supposed to volunteer at church at 6, but was able to find a replacement so he could stay and help Kenny longer.

8. The forecasted rain held off (until 6:30 when Kenny and Doug were almost done). It was truly a gorgeous day!

9.  The water was turned back on by bedtime so I could bathe the boys and myself, finish the dishes, start the dishwasher and wash our sheets.

10. Though Joshua's fever reached 103, I had Tylenol on hand and he never threw up. We had a peaceful night's sleep.

The Lord completely destroyed any plans the enemy (aka Murphy's Law) had to ruin our day.  I'm reminded of Romans 8:28 which says, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good..."

Thank You Lord for watching over us and being present even in the little frustrations and happenings of our everyday lives.

So the final score - 

Murphy's Law: 0  Wrights: immeasurable joy

His ways are higher

Since I last posted, the Wright family plans have been completely altered by our omniscient Father whose plans are so much better than our own.  Mr. Wright and I have dreamed of owning land and building a house since we started dating. And while that is still a dream of ours, it is not a financial reality at this time.  

In our finite minds that can only see the present, we decided it was time to sell our home since the housing economy was a seller's market. We planned to move into a rent house while we built a home on our lot in Forest Hills. So in early June we put our house on the market.  It sold within two weeks! 

Around that same time, husband came home asking if I wanted to move to Highland Village. My immediate answer was absolutely not! Hands down, NO! However, I knew in my spirit that I was too quick to answer and that I should've gone before the Lord first.

Mr. Wright is a steady man with deep, deep roots. He is not easily emotionally swayed and often fully thinks through decisions before asking my opinion. This time was no different.  He and his business partner bought a home in Highland Village, the day after our house sold. Mr. Wright's thought process was this: if we lived in that home for at least two years, we would 1) avoid paying capital gains; 2) be putting our money toward a principal instead of down the drain; and 3) live closer to his work which makes perfect sense as I am now a stay-at-home-mom. 

My selfish reason for saying no so quickly was because I knew this also meant we could not build on our lot. As I went before the Lord, He graciously began to show me my husband's wisdom in moving to Highland Village and filled my heart with peace. I told husband I was wrong and that I was willing to move if he thought it was best for us.  Within hours, my mind was spinning with all of the positives about this move:

- it would be completely remodeled

- it has a HUGE backyard

- it was closer to friends that homeschool, have two boys (one adopted)

- it was closer to shops and restaurants

- it was closer to my family

- it was closer to my Bible study, our home group, and Awanas for Joshua

- it was closer to our birthing center

I quickly became excited over a house I had never seen and felt immensely blessed by my decision to submit. The last two months have been a whirlwind: packing up the old house, remodeling the new house, staying with friends while remodel is completed. And we are still in the midst of it. 

But one thing I know for sure is His ways are truly higher! Proverbs 16:9 reminds us:

"The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." 

new chapter of our life

I'm tempted to say my dreams have come true and our lives can finally begin! But that's not a fair statement.  I wouldn't trade the last eight years of marriage to Mr. Wright for anything in the world! I've loved the good times and I'm beyond grateful for the tough times. It's through those tough times (and man alive were they tough!) that we grew in our relationship with the Lord and with each other.

Last year (2013) was ah-maze-ing! We adopted Joshua, Maverick was born, and I quit work (thanks to a hubby who makes sacrifices daily so I can stay home)! I've challenged 2014 to try and top it.

And it's off to a good start!

Yesterday, at 9:00 AM, I got a phone call from Mr. Wright saying the bank accepted our offer on this.

It's a one acre lot in Forest Hills.  We moved out to Aubrey for what we planned to only be a few short years until we could buy some land.  It even took me a while to call my new home a house, it just seemed so temporary.  It was an hour from my work and family, a cookie-cutter home, and there was nothing (grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc.) out this far! 

Six years later, although we're still in the same house, I've fallen in love with this area! I've found the country girl buried down inside and don't ever want to move back to the city. 

But we've outgrown our home. Something has to change! 

It will be a looooooong while before we can build. But it feels so good to have a new plan. Every time I get frustrated that our neighbors dogs won't stop barking and their music is too loud, I'll think about our land. When I'm angry because I have to move ten things to get to one thing I need, I'll think about our future home. When I have to clean the dog poop off Joshua's shoes, I'll think about our future yard. 

We've turned a new chapter in our lives for sure... 2 kids and a lot to build a new home on! Thank you Lord for these blessings!