Home Sweet Home

My new place

In case you missed my little announcement the other day, I may as well make it official. I bought my first home...but not in Memphis where I currently live. I'm headed back to my rural Arkansas roots--just outside of the city limits of my hometown.

I'm feeling pretty good about the decision...mixed with a little apprehension. I've been a city girl since I left home at 18--so living practically in the middle of a cornfield is going to take some getting used to. I talked about my decision to relocate the other day when I was a guest on Southern Belle View. You can read about it here.

After renting for 13 years, I'm way past ready to have a place to call my own. Which, of course, means a little renovating.

I'm going to try and blog about my home owning/relocating/renovating experience pretty regularly. I have an idea that the next few months are going to be like something straight out of a book...

Last Saturday was the first day to have electricity and water at the new house, and I spent several hours working. Thankfully, I have some amazing people in my life who are willing to help me.

I tore out carpet from 3 rooms. Okay, I did 2 rooms and then had to ask for help with the third. :) Tearing out carpet isn't as simple as I thought it would be. And I'm probably going to say this a lot over the next few months, but it looks SO EASY on HGTV and DIY Network--and in reality it was totally not. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and didn't have much to show for it except for three heaping piles of carpet and a lot of mosquito bites.

But my dad and I have a plan and hopefully at least 1 room will be ready by the time moving day actually rolls around in a few weeks.

Here are some pics of my fun day of flooring. Now if I could only decide what I want to do instead of carpet...

Before: carpet in one of the bedrooms

After: concrete floor that is waiting on me to figure out what to put down!

Later this week, I'm going on a mission to find new faucets and a new toilet. I admit, I've never purchased or even shopped for any of those things before. And then I have to decide what to do about those concrete floors. Stay tuned!

Running to Stand Still

Me and two of my best friends...about to see U2 in Chicago

As usual, I'm a day late...okay, several days late. But don't hold it against me! I've been super-busy. Can you believe I've written 3 books and 1 novella this year? I can't. The past few months have flown past in a blur of deadlines.

I've managed to squeeze in a little fun. I went with some of my best friends to see U2 in Chicago over the 4th of July. What. A. Night. Our seats were amazing. My friend, Kelly, and I went to see them in Germany when we were 21. Although a few (ha!) years have passed since then, I think we felt 21 again.

Bono...

But after the quick trip to Chicago, it was back to Memphis and back to work and writing and a seemingly endless heatwave. (remind me of that in January when I'm complaining about the cold...)

I'm thrilled to announce that Love Finds You in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has officially released! In honor of the new release, I'd like to give away a copy!

Tell me what's been your favorite thing about Summer 2011 so far--and leave your name and email address. I'll choose a winner on Monday, August 8.

Oh...and I'm making a little announcement today over at Southern Belle View. It means a fun new feature will be coming to my blog. My newest adventure is sure to be entertaining for you and life-changing for me! I'll be talking more about it next week!

Happy Weekend!