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The Blue House Blog

believer | creating a home of peace, health, abundance and beauty | laughing a lot

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Detergent

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

I had the most random memory this morning as I was loading the dishwasher. Contrary to what FlyLady says to do (and I do love and appreciate FlyLady, don’t get me wrong…) I like to do my dishes in the wee hours of the morning. I get up, start my toast and fried egg, start the coffee, and while I’m waiting on those things, load the dishwasher. (My kids unload…
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Ask

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

This morning, for some inexplicable reason, I remembered that in middle school I got a pair of Kaepa shoes. And if you don’t know why that was a huge deal, like Guess jeans and Polo shirts… you were not in middle school in the mid-80s. In my head, I ruled out ever having any because I thought they were expensive, and my parents were frugal, and so I didn’t even…
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Two Natural Ways to Cope with Grief

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. See my full disclosure here. I thought I had dealt with grief and the pain of loss before. The years between 2009 and 2017 pretty much maxed out my Holmes Stress Score, but NOTHING prepared me for the loss of my dad in February. My best friend and hero during my toddler years; my number one supporter after I became a…
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Covers Over

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

He who covers over an offense promotes love, the Bible says. Trying to love other people is the hardest freaking thing sometimes, because I don’t WANT TO cover over an offense. I WANT Hallmark movie, Nicholas Sparks love where there’s just laughter and loveliness and lip-syncing to Motown songs with a hairbrush as a microphone ALL THE TIME, but somehow God saw fit to surround me with people who test…
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God vs Earthly Parents

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

God is faithful. It may be a struggle to see God as faithful if you grew up with parents who were not faithful to you or to each other. God is trustworthy. It may be a struggle to see God as Someone who always keeps His word if you caught your parents in lies or could never count on them to do what they said they’d do. God is gracious…
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For they are ever with me

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

Reading back through my last several posts, which are few and far between over the last few years, I’ve noticed a common theme about myself that I’m not proud of. There’s a lot of me whining about how hard life is. I haven’t updated this blog in a while because (insert excuse here). – Me It’s not just this blog; I have a thousand big ideas of things I want…
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To My Dad at His Funeral

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

Writing has always been my therapy. The bigger the emotions, the more I NEED to pour out the words in journals or on this blog. So when my dad passed away, you can imagine I filled dozens of pages. My dad was the single most influential person in my life. My very best friend and idol when I was a toddler, and the person I went to first for advice…
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Friday {Strictly} Fiction: the Birthday

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

He screamed at her in the hospital that day. The day her new baby was born. She was in the hospital bed running on fumes of sleep and hormones and excruciatingly sore in every conceivable place and someone made an innocent comment about, “… the next time you have a baby…” Oh I’m never doing THAT again, she retorted, halfway joking (or maybe not at all joking; those hours after…
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Narcissists and the Circular Argument

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

Circular argument. Another one of those terms I never knew until I lived it. I mean, there is no conversation with a narcissist in the traditional sense of the word, in which we … discuss. Like, for example, I would just love to say, I don’t think our daughter’s school is working out. I think we need to consider a different school. And then he would respond like a mature…
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A Chicken and Egg Story

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

Y’all…. I HAVE CHICKENS. Which no doubt comes as a complete and utter shock to those of you who have been following my blog for any length of time, on account of how you’ve always known me as a hip and sophisticated person. Yep, I DO still live in the city, mere blocks from downtown. But I have also gone country, back to my roots, at least a little, with…
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Pretty

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

A man died this week. A man who, by all accounts, was a blessing to all who knew him… at least all who knew him during the twenty years that I knew him. He had been my Sunday school teacher and neighbor during the early years of my marriage. His wife is a Facebook friend of mine, and she made a post asking for stories about him to be emailed…
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Hiding

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

“Did something bad happen to you and it made you hide? I had a stalker, and it made me shut down my social media.” I’m sitting at a convention and our speaker just said those words and I felt the floor drop out from under me. Yes. Yes, I’ve been hiding. My ex-husband reads every word I write here and sends me hateful, vile comments on every post I write….
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About Me


Hey there... I'm Melissa! Texas girl. Mom to three + one goldendoodle. Believer. Old house fanatic. Creating a happy + healthy home with purpose is my passion. I'm so glad you're here!

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Another day… another high-speed chicken chase th Another day… another high-speed chicken chase through the Azalea District. 🤷🏼‍♀️ My yard guy left the gate open but it’s all good. We caught ‘em. 💪🏻 I’m just glad the Azalea Trail hasn’t started yet because this time next week, that will be super embarrassing. 🫣
One year without my dad. God is gracious and mer One year without my dad. 

God is gracious and merciful to have given him to me for 49 years and He is gracious and merciful for seeing us through this year without him. 

God is gracious and merciful for giving us friends who’ve prayed for us all year, especially today. ❤️ I stole this caption from my sister @betsy_barry, but it was perfect. 👌🏻

I wanted to honor my dad today, and spending the day enjoying his very favorite place on earth seemed like the perfect way to do that. 

My dad’s passing made it all too clear that this world is NOT our home. Heaven feels like a real place now that he is there, and some days I ache to be there myself. But while I’m still here, this farm feels like the closest thing to home that there is. 

Missing you today, dad… thanks for all the farm memories. ❤️
Makes me smile walking into this room in the morni Makes me smile walking into this room in the mornings when the light is shining through the windows just right ☀️ #favoriteroom #diningroommakeover 

🎨: @sherwinwilliams Seaworthy
Rug: @rugs_usa Moroccan Diamond 
Light fixture: @westelm 
Art: custom made by the kids + me+  Toulouse the cat 🐈 🥲  Everything else: lucky antique auction, estate sale and Facebook Marketplace finds 🥰
I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 years of paint off of this door down to the wood and start over… but that person has no business starting new projects. 😅 My neighbors must have thought this project would never end. *I* thought this project would never end. 😰 If you’re thinking of doing this yourself? Just don’t, ok? Throw the whole door away and buy a new one. 😂🤣 Just kidding.  Old house weirdos like me… we can’t just do things the easy way. Anyhoo… after some trial and error, @sherwinwilliams Celestial is what I landed on, and I have to say… I like it. Periwinkle-ish blue looks great with the yellow house and will look even better when the azaleas are in bloom. Was it all worth it? That’s not important right now. 🤭 Will I do this all again in two years? The magic eight ball says… without a doubt. 👏🏻 I’ve already picked the next color. #gluttonforpunishment #somefoolsneverlearn #oldhouselove #oldhomelove #makinghome #southernliving #gardenandgun #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in an 80-year-old house completely worth it … what broken pipes, icy hardwood floors and drafty windows? 🤔 I forgot already. #comeonspring #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Happy Saturday ☀️ Happy Saturday ☀️
Salt Lake City is always magical ✨ Salt Lake City is always magical ✨
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