At The Picket Fence

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

Dear Hallmark Channel

Dear Hallmark channel,

It’s that time of the year again! You’ve announced your holiday movie lineup and the angels sang and snow began to fall and visions of sugar plums danced in my head. Okay, so that all happened in my mind’s eye but I definitely felt my heart go pitter-patter as I scanned the list of new releases. All over Facebook there are giddy posts from friends who eagerly anticipate this annual tradition and can’t wait for the chance to escape to worlds where people get stranded in little towns where Santa just happens to have his actual workshop and there won’t be any gifts for the children if the main character doesn’t come to the rescue.

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Fall Mantel with Traditional Colors

A couple of weeks ago I began to notice how the light was changing in my house throughout the day, shifting and moving from room to room in a way that was different than it had been even just the week before. It was subtle, but it signaled the very end of one season and the very beginning of another.

I realized in that moment that while I absolutely love all of the bold, dramatic elements of Autumn, perhaps my most favorite aspects are those that are a bit less obvious.

The ones that creep up on you.

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Fun Fall Giveaway!

*THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED*

When we first toured our home with our realtor, one of my most favorite discoveries was that it had an attic. A real, attic. It’s accessed through a little door in the closet of the game room and while you can’t stand completely upright throughout the entire space, there are areas where you are able to move around without getting a crick in your neck.

In the summer it is like a sauna so I avoid it at all costs, but as the days have begun to cool and the leaves have begun to change I find myself in the attic again, opening bins and pulling out decor that hasn’t seen the light of day since this time last year.

And this leads to an annual tradition I call my “Why do I have so much stuff?!” moment. Every year I try to sort through my seasonal decor and yet I have found myself wanting to pair down even more as each new holiday or season rolls around.

So, to help us in our efforts to minimize, my Thrifty Style teammates and I decided it would be so fun if we could pass along some of those seasonal goodies to YOU!

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It’s OK if You Don’t Want a Farmhouse

Did you know that if something is very expensive the kids these days refer to as being so “Gucci”? Now, it doesn’t mean that it has to be the actual Gucci brand. According to my teenage son, it’s just a way to say that something costs a ridiculous amount of money and therefore must be very special. (I’m rolling my eyes as I type this.) Another word that is used regularly around here is ‘dope’. Don’t worry, this isn’t referring to drugs. It’s just another way of saying that something is ‘cool’, a slang word which has actually managed to stand the test of time.

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French Country Home Tour

10 years. This summer we celebrated 10 years of living in this house. Somewhere (on an old camera buried in a drawer) there is a photo I took when we walked through these rooms for the first time with our realtor. I snapped a shot of an upstairs bathroom and caught in the reflection in the mirror is the image of me holding my 10 month old daughter on my hip while my son runs from room to room behind me.

Now, here we are, with a 15 year old and an 11 year old and a house that slowly became a home. And I realized recently that I’ve never shown it all to you at once. You’ve seen bits and pieces, rooms here and there, but I thought it might be fun to take you on a tour and begin at the beginning.

The other night as my husband and I were shutting down the house in preparation for going to bed, I was going from room to room turning off lamps and I couldn’t help but think about how much this house has changed.

When we purchased this home, there were no TV shows where entire homes were overhauled in a matter of days or weeks with the results being dramatically revealed to the owners. There wasn’t even Instagram with the temptation to scroll past one beautiful room after another feeling more and more discouraged that while those spaces were so impeccably decorated and up-to-date, my own rooms were solidly stuck in 1992, the year the house was built and the money it took for us to buy the house and keep our mortgage low didn’t allow a lot of extra cash for updates.

And I’m SO very thankful for that! Because, I never once thought that our house would be entirely transformed to my liking in a short period of time.

(living room)

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My First Ride in an Ambulance!

There is a day, a moment, when summer really feels like ‘summer’. You’ve experienced that too, right? It’s the perfect temperature and you’re in the perfect place and all seems right with the world.

Well, this was that day. We were at the pool with friends, the kids were happily playing in the water and we moms were happily chatting and soaking up the sun. I was religiously applying sunscreen, staying hydrated, wearing my sun hat and going for the occasional dip in the water to cool off. But, it was hot. And getting hotter by the minute.

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I Am Made Like Martha

*This post contains affiliate links*

Oh you guys, you are in for such a treat today! My dear friend Katie Reid wrote a book for all of us who are the doers. The women who like to get things done. We’re the checklist making, school party cupcakes at midnight baking, early morning before the rest of the family gets up waking, meals delivered to everyone in need taking, no rules breaking women…and we’re tired. Tired of all of the striving. But we’re also conflicted about how to marry our natural inclinations for doing with the call of receiving.

Based on the story of the time Jesus spent with Martha and Mary (Luke 10), in her newly released book, Made Like Martha, Katie beautifully captures this tension and offers an empathetic perspective, biblical truths and practical steps we can take to lead us to discovering the freedom to be who God created us to be.

And this week I’m SO thrilled to be helping her kick-off her mobile book club! If you haven’t had a chance to get the book, Katie has graciously provided all of chapter one for you for FREE! Just click here to begin reading.

In the summer of 1981, my parents moved us from Springfield, MO to Los Angeles, CA. At the time, my aunt and uncle were pastoring a church called the ‘Beach Fellowship’ and we began attending. Now, it wasn’t called that because it was simply close in proximity to the beach. No, this church literally gathered ON the beach. We went from wearing patent leather mary jane shoes in the ‘Bible belt’ to wearing swimsuits and flip-flops in the sand. To say this was quite a transition is the grossest of gross understatements.

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More Bargain Finds for the Office

Clearance. Just the word makes my heart start beating faster and my mind race with the possibility of that glorious moment when you happen upon exactly what you were looking for (and, let’s face it, sometimes things you weren’t looking for) at a price that can’t be beat.

And friends, let me tell you, when I committed to doing our office makeover with as much fiscal responsibility as I could muster, I had no idea how many amazing deals I would end up finding!

First there was the metal cart , then I used the bulk of my budget to go towards the new desk and chair BUT by leaving reviews for items I had previous purchased through Wayfair.com I was able to get credit towards these new purchases which brought down the price considerably.

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Office Makeover Update

Every time I do a room makeover I’m reminded of how very different the process is in real life vs. what you see on television. This is especially true if you are working on a budget and I’m always working on a budget.

So, while I would LOVE to say that one month after first starting our office makeover this room is completely done….it’s just not. Between being unable to make decisions, waiting for deliveries, being unable to make more decisions, spreading out purchases to stay on budget and still being unable to make decisions, it’s just going a little bit more slowly.

But, there still has been a lot of progress made folks and today I’m excited to show you some of the recent additions to the room.

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A Family Emergency (of the bird variety)

One of my most favorite things to do this time of the year is to open up our windows and hear the birds chirping. Now, mind you, I don’t always enjoy hearing them REALLY early in the morning, but there is just something about their chirping that is so distinctively and cheerfully symbolic of these warmer days.

Recently, though, we began to notice more activity than usual. Our snowball tree was the object of great interest by two particular birds. They were flying in and out all day and we had no doubt about what was happening.

Sure enough, within a few days, a beautiful nest had taken shape. And soon after that, the mama robin could be seen perched upon the nest. When we would get close to the tree, she would be so very still. Hyper aware of our movements and so protective of her babies.

It became part of our daily ritual to check on the nest. We were always careful to keep our distance but we were just so anxious for the impending arrival of new life.

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