new house

We walked in… now what?

February 20, 2016February 19, 2016by Sheridan Johnson3 Comments

If you forgot where we first started our first “home buying experience” you can click here.

Once we (me and Brielle–Shane had to work this day) entered Clayton Homes, I knew our lives would change.. for better or for worse!

I had looked at information and everything online, but they always get you with the disclaimer that “these houses must be viewed in person” crap, so we knew we had to make our way to actually go see them.

I had to bring our 2 year old, which probably wasn’t the best place to take her, since it was a kind of a major appointment where we could potentially be making a really ~~small~~ BIG decision, and I knew I would want to focus the best I could.

I had a meeting set up, and they took us to a private room to go over what “type” of house Shane and I were looking for, what budget we wanted to stay within, and to go over how exactly the Clayton Homes are made,and the material they are made out of. I definitely liked this part, because I didn’t feel rushed to go look at houses, before actually knowing the basics of what buying a “mobile home” truly meant.

I came in with a list of a few of the layouts that I preferred, but didn’t really know what they would look like inside. That was until he showed me and Brielle two of the most unappealing floor plans you could have possibly imagined.

They were both a single-wide that did not have the space or open layout that we were looking for, so I knew then that single-wide homes were a no-go and that Shane and I would have to go back to the drawing board, to pick better layouts that gave everyone enough space. Our rent house was a tiny 2 bed, 1 bath home, so space was very much needed for our growing family!

clay2 clay3 clay4 clay6 clay7 clay8 clay9 clay10 clay12 clayton1

So this first visit was a not a success, but we did plan to schedule to come back in a few days with a new mindset, and new goals! Pssst.. we didn’t know that the next visit would be the time where we found our “forever” home!

Family, new house

To buy..what and where?

January 28, 2016February 18, 2016by Sheridan Johnson3 Comments

When Shane and I first started our home-buying process last August, we didn’t know where to start. We finally had enough money in our savings to get started and weren’t quite sure what all of our options were.

Once we started looking at houses in and around our area, we were just never really “satisfied” with all that some had to offer. Some had enough space (but did not use it well) and other houses had a great backyard with a tiny house (with not a lot of square footage). We weren’t finding what we wanted, in the price range that we wanted, so we started to look at other options that didn’t involve buying a house in town, with a lot of neighbors.

Shane’s Dad has a lot of family land, that he has always talked about how cool it would be if one of his kids put a house on some of the acres. Well, to tell you the truth, we ~~never~~ considered purchasing a mobile home only a few times, if any at all, so we really didn’t know what all was involved in literally starting from scratch on an empty piece of land.

The more we started looking around/research/talk about building a house, the more it started to look like it required more and more money. All in all, they wanted about 12,000 just to have in our bank account, to put down before getting started in the building process, with a lot of extra money needed to cover other expenses as well. Well, that thought definitely went out the window, just about as quickly as it came in, and we were left feeling like the only option we really had, was to buy a mobile home.

We quickly knew there had to be a LOT of work to even think about putting a house on the land. This land had never been lived on, and we would drive through it on the 4 wheeler, but never actually spent time or work on the land.

We decided to just start researching companies in and around our surrounding area, asking friends and family who they used, and just overall wanted to work with a great, trust-worthy company in the beginning, the first time around, to prevent more mistakes/problems from happening.

We both agreed to pray about it, and then just go check out Clayton Homes in Seguin, Texas, to see what all they had to offer and check out some of the sample houses(I would go first with Brielle, since Shane couldn’t take off work) and then agreed that the next time he would definitely go with me.

Let’s just say walking through those tall, black framed glass doors, was the day our lives forever changed..

To be continued..

Images by Manufactured Homes and Buyerlink

daily prompt, dreams, new house, parenting

Daydream

December 13, 2015December 12, 2015by Sheridan Johnson2 Comments

Not realizing I was daydreaming

I moved a step back,

envisioning my house to stay the exact same,

as it was in that very moment.

◊

Where all the dishes were clean,

the laundry was finally complete,

and all the clothes folded.

◊

Where the floors looked shiny and new,

as if no one had walked on them yet.

Not noticing that I was smiling,

at how well I did sweeping and mopping.

◊

Where the carpet was so clean,

and well-vacuumed,

that I almost forgot that I hand-scrubbed

the muddy dog prints off of them earlier that day.

◊

Where all the toys were put up,

in their own perspective place.

And just realizing that in that moment,

I didn’t have to pick up tiny little papers,

from Brielle’s new passion of using her scissors.

◊

It was as if I caught myself longing

for it to stay that way, just a little longer.

It wasn’t until I heard,

“mommy open the door”,

that my daydream ended,

and reality set in.

Brielle, crafty, decorating, Family, new house

Crafting time with Brielle~

November 22, 2015November 22, 2015by Sheridan JohnsonLeave a Comment

This crafting project started out with a great garage sale deal $20 for a big dresser with a mirror! I knew right away, that it would be the perfect dresser (with a LOT of work) for Brielle’s new room!

I didn’t know how to get started, or what I was planning on doing with anything. I was looking at ALL of these painting projects on pinterest, and was easily getting WAY too overwhelmed with how much paint/materials/time it took to complete a project, the size of a dresser.

I never get “free time” away from Brielle, when I am at home, so I know I had to do something that could involve her, and was fairly easy!

For the supplies I used:

-Crimson Acrylic Chalk Paint

-Crimson Chalk Paint brush (pretty expensive! $10)

-Krylon Fusion black gloss spray paint

-Zebra colored fabric for the re-upholstering of the chair (1 yard was on sale at Walmart!)

First, I took everything apart! (Took the mirror off of the back, all of the pull out drawers out, took all of the hardware off).

Then decided to start on the dresser first, and paint everything (with the help of an eager toddler) that I could after I thoroughly cleaned it (it was an old dresser and very dirty). Next off, was the mirror. I painted the outside of the mirror, without having to take the glass off–SCORE).

The next morning after cleaning all of the drawers (when Brielle was distracted doing something inside), I spray-painted the drawers, and all the hardware. It was not as hard I thought, but it took a while to dry outside.

After everything was dry (so we thought!), we took the furniture to the new house, and I focused on reupholstering the chair (which was not fun!), and finished painting it, and I must say, the final product doesn’t look half bad!

For this project, I just used a screwdriver to unscrew the chair, and re-used the nails that were in the bottom of the chair already. Not hard, just time-consuming!

20151116_140838 — At the time, it was missing a hardware piece for the top right drawer, but it now has one! 🙂 Oh and gotta love the paint stain on the new carpet! (I will try REALLY hard today to get it out)

While it definitely is FAR from perfect, I must say with a couple of layers of chalk paint, it definitely made a TREMENDOUS difference in the look of this dresser, and I am so GLAD she now she has in her new room. And she will be able to show off to people how she painted it “with mommy”.