WE MOVED, Y’ALL!

As I write, I’m sitting at a dining table in a little cabin in the piney woods, and Howie (the bunny) is scurrying around my feet, exploring his new (temporary) home, while Bowie (the Doodle) is perched on his bed in the guest (bunk***) room looking out the window, protecting us from intruders (lol).

I’ll start from here and work backwards. We’re currently living at Camp Allen, where Kenton is a summer camp director, until we will likely buy a house and move to Bryan in the fall. This will be our third summer living at Camp Allen from May-August, and this year we decided to move out of our house in Navasota entirely for the summer (the past two summers we’ve kept our lease) and prepare for a new season of life, which we anticipate will occur in Bryan. Kenton will stay at Camp Allen and I will continue to be a wedding and portrait photographer. God has just moved our cloud a little, and the season of living in small town Texas felt like it needed to come to a close.

This move was hugely bittersweet. We’re excited about what is to come, but we loved our house in Navasota dearly, and never did I ever think I’d live in a small town. God did so much in our lives while we lived in that little pink brick house on Moore Street in a small town Texas city of only 7,000 people. More on that later, but for now, I think I’ll let this post be a monument to almost three years in a little home that God used to build our lives, our hearts, our vision, and our marriage. When I knew we’d be moving, I decided I wanted to take photos in our house to remember the season and the spaces of our pink house. They’ll serve as an ebenezer for us, and we’ll always be able to look back and remember this special time in our lives. So, I’ll share some of them with you today, and give you a little tour of our home of almost 3 years, because this post is a monument! These photos in our little pink house were taken by a sweet photographer friend, Shelby Tsika. We’re so grateful to have them! Please enjoy this tour of our Navasota home and all the details and dreamy scenes of this little pink house!

That cute vine creeping up the brick to my left was one of the first things I planted when we moved in almost 3 years ago! It’s survived 2 frosts and is doing exactly what I wanted it to, which is add a little whimsy to the front porch. And those succulents over Kenton’s shoulder? I’ve had those for 2 years and never done a thing for them, haha. They are happy little guys and just keep growing. Their blue table is a garage sale find from a cheery Saturday morning in Navasota. The “seek Him” sign hanging on our mailbox was given to me by one of my dearest friends from our church in Navasota, the one who’s family is the namesake of our street, Moore Street! Love you Melanie!

This is a the little garden that Kenton built for me! You can see the Rosemary and Oregano I planted over 2 years ago are really thriving. What you can’t see is the Cilantro popping up sporadically and the Peppermint that has totally taken over any free space. When I’d tend to the garden, Bowie would always come over and I’d trick him into eating Peppermint leaves by saying, “You want a treat?” And now he loves Peppermint. Isn’t that funny? It helps to soothe an upset tummy and it does improve his breath, but only for a little bit, haha.

To my right you can also see the Jasmine I planted last spring that has slowly started to take over the chain link fence. That’s exactly what I wanted and I’m excited for the tenants who will enjoy that gorgeous vine for years to come! That little Jasmine plant is special to me, and it’s the flower God gave me that I wrote about back in October. Also it smells like heaven.
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Back to those herbs… maybe this is a little wrong, but I would use all the herbs in that garden to cook and eat except the Oregano. I planted it before I really knew much about it, and we just don’t eat Italian food very often. However, I still used that Oregano like CRAZY… in my house! When I couldn’t afford grocery store flowers because I chose ice cream over roses (real life) I would fill every extra vase in my house with Oregano and Rosemary and it would make the house so happy. Also, I found that the Oregano, if I picked it right, could last in a vase with water for weeks. It would begin to grow little roots and thrive in a vase for quite a while!

Okay, we took photos on the couches because Kenton LOVES THESE COUCHES. Loves them. And we’re grateful for them, because they were a really sweet gift from his parents who basically knew he loved them and let us furnish our house with them. As I look at the details in these photos, I see that this happens a lot in our lives, because that lampshade is one my mom gave me. As are a few of the pillow covers! And those little rocks in the lamp? Those were a wedding gift from the girls in the youth group I lead when we lived in Austin. They each wrote a verse I’d shared with them or they’d learned while they knew me. UGHHH this sweet gift still gets to me. Love you ACFnw girlzies!!! The big trunk was a Warrenton find a few trips back. It was so dirty I basically sprayed it with a hose and discovered that lovely green color. The frames on the wall hold sketches of scenes from the Rocky Mountain National Park that I found at a thrift store in Estes Park. Also, that shirt I’m wearing is a Goodwill find, haha. It’s actually one of my favorite shirts ever. It’s a boxy crop top that sits perfectly on top of a high waisted jean. It’s Croft and Borrow, which I’m pretty sure was popular in the 90’s, lol.

I love this table! This is another hand-me-down from my parents, and I’m really grateful to have it. It’s Amish made, so there are no screws or nails, and it was an anniversary gift my parents bought for themselves years back. When I was in grade school, I sat at this table with my dad, crying over my math homework. That was pretty common for me in fifth and sixth grade. If only I knew I’d one day study English at Baylor so THAT MATH DOESN’T MATTER GIRL!!!! But I do have to admit I treasure those tiny pencil markings that accidentally got carved into the surface of the table when I didn’t use a notebook under my homework one night. I felt bad about it then, but now it’s just part of the story of this little dining room table. That neat crock under the roses was a Warrenton find, the salt and pepper shakers were wedding gifts, and the coasters were a garage sale find that I’d been looking for for a while! The piece you see to the left in the photo below is a vintage wood (oak?) cooler Kenton’s parents gave to us. It’s incredibly cool, and we use it as a little mini bar.

Now onto the kitchen! In the left photo, the light hanging behind our heads is, you guessed it, a Warrenton find, but it needed wiring I bought it. On the way home, I stopped at a hardware store in town and asked the men behind the counter what I needed to make it work. Before I knew it, an electrician who was there shopping for supplies walked me out to his truck and wired if for me. I drove away feeling so loved by that small town hospitality, and I still have his business card on the refrigerator here at camp. Navasota friends, his business is ML Repair and his name is Michael Laster. His number is 979-421-0659 and he does all kinds of plumbing, carpentry, and yard services. And he’s THE BEST. Hit him up! I really don’t have much else to say about the kitchen, other than we spent a lot of time in there and it’s also the scene of many a good conversation Kenton and I had over the past 3 years. What is it that we choose to sit on the kitchen floor to talk when the dining room table and chairs are literally inches away? I think the best impromptu connections happen when we’re relaxed enough to not realize where we’re sitting or how we’re postured.. if that makes sense? Something about the kitchen connects people. The little hutch in the right photo is another antique shop find, but it’s not from Warrenton, unlike the majority of my house. I found this little guy in Tomball years back, right after we got married and I LOVE HIM. The enamel top is super useful and really pretty. I needed more storage space in our first house, which is why I got him, and he served me well in our Navasota home too. Also, we NEVER used those lights you see at the top of the photo (there’s another one near the sink). They’re just really harsh, ugly light. Lamps were all over this house. Whatever, I like lamps, okay? #thanksmom

Oh, my little office. I loved this bright little room. We actually did end up all cuddled in that floral chair pretty often, including the dog. Those horse photos in the frame came out of a little paper book my mom found at a garage sale and gifted to me. I LOVE THEM. They’re vintage and precious and have little blurbs at the bottom of each image explaining the horse and the type of riding for which they were used, like Hunter, Western Pleasure, etc. Rug is from Target (praises) and the little bench is from my  f a v o r i t e  antique store in Navasota, Granny’s, that sadly closed about a year after we moved there, but not before I pillaged it for all the good stuff.

Here’s a few more pretty details Shelby captured featuring my Anthropologie perfumes (Stella by Tocca, L’Aromarine Oceane, L’Aromarine Rose, Royal Apothic Wood Lily that sadly is no longer made, Royal Apothic Noble Carnation that is Kenton’s FAV, and vintage Kate Spade), garage sale vintage books, a stack of current reads including Streams in the Desert daily devo from a sweet friend and The Road Back to You to learn about the Enneagram and also snort laugh at the same time, foraged things in jars and bottles, my dad’s old bible open to one of my favorite passages, and a beautiful watercolor painting of my parent’s hold house by my incredibly gifted cousin, Kate.

Finally, a photo in the precious backyard with Boo next to the hilarious old light post that still works but serves no purpose whatsoever, except to add charm and a gentle reminder that time is fleeting. Moral of the story: God is good and I’m so grateful for that sweet little house and all the memories treasured there. Thank you Jesus! Next week I’ll share what our now looks like now, living in our little cabin in the woods of Camp Allen!