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

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Yes.

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

“What about us… do you think we’ll get married?” Yes. That’s how she wanted to answer, but couldn’t. Yes. Yes, she thought, but didn’t say. Yes, I do think we’ll get married. Yes, you’ve been my goal since the day I met you. Yes, of course, YES, you’re the one. You’ve always been the one. Yes. Yes, please. Ask me to marry you. Yes. I want to say yes. The…
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Silent

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

Reading Psalm 4 this morning, because it’s the 4th, and this is what caught my eye: In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Did you catch that? Search your hearts… …YOUR… hearts… I’ve been kind of over social media lately. Especially in the last 48 hours since the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Geez. Can ANYONE please talk about anything…
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Gently

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

It’s a new year. It’s a new year, and I wish I felt pumped about it, but this new year comes hot on the heels of a really brutal December and I’m just not feeling the HOPE nor the JOY, nor even the INTENTIONAL, which seems to be THE WORD errbody all over Facebook is choosing as their Word of the Year. I don’t even have a word for 2020….
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Annoying People in a Doctor's Waiting Room

Seven Ways to Annoy People in a Waiting Room.

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

  As you may know (because I found a way to work it into every conversation, blog post, and Facebook status), I had a raging case of Whooping Cough that ruined my life for three straight months. My house turned into something out of an episode of Hoarders, my kids had to raise themselves (and who even knows what they wore to school during those weeks, or if they did…
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A Laundry Room Refresh

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

It’s amazing the difference a little coat of paint can make. There was nothing really WRONG with it before, but it was just a little drab and boring, and the white paint was getting a little grungy. And this is the view from the kitchen. Lots of white on white. And while I do love white, it can sometimes look a little boring. I have been leaning toward bold colors…
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The Words of the Wicked

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

The other morning – well, August 12th, to be exact – I was up early, reading Proverbs 12. There are 31 Proverbs and 31 days in most months, so I read one chapter of Proverbs most mornings. It’s funny how I can read the same words month after month, year after year, for most of my life, and something new pops out at me every single time. So this particular…
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Freedom is Everything.

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

You know, one of the biggest takeaways for me from seventeen years of enslavement in my own personal hell is that FREEDOM IS EVERYTHING. Love is freedom, and Jesus is love, and therefore… Jesus is freedom. Many stories in the Bible point toward how the OPPOSITE of Jesus is enslavement, literal and figurative, and every time there was enslavement, God’s goal was to release people from it. There was never…
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It’s a 7 Thing. You Wouldn’t Understand.

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

Soooo … this Enneagram thing. Heard of it? It’s all new to me, so I’m no expert, but I’ve taken several different tests, and they all strongly suggest I’m a Type 7. There’s about a 48% chance I’m one of the other numbers, but I can’t remember what that other number is (maybe 4?) and that’s not important right now. Don’t ask me what the other numbers mean… …or ask…
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Curses, Attitudes, and School Supplies

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

Originally posted August 2016 School supply shopping day is one of my favorite days all year long. Except when it isn’t. See, up until now, my girls have been at this sweet age where EVERYTHING IS SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, they love their mama, they’re grateful for whatever school supplies I choose for them with, you know, puppies and kittens, we buy all the cute, fun things then go eat Mexican…
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Twenty Really, Really Dumb Reasons to Get Married

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

I should go ahead and tell you that I MIGHT come up with more than twenty (or maybe less than twenty) reasons. I wrote ‘twenty’ because I feel like it’s a good starting point AND a good round number for a blog title, so per my new-found mission to just WRITE now and edit never, I chose ‘twenty’ for the title of this blog post, and I’m stickin’ to it….
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The Fork

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

I was talking with a friend recently about our kids, and commiserating over false friends and broken hearts that hurt us mamas far more than they hurt the kids, and she had these words of wisdom: This is the point in their lives, she said, that they come to a fork in the road. This is the point where they decide who they are, and who their friends are. Kids…
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The Tortoise Always Wins

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

One reason I stopped writing this blog was because I was telling myself the lie that I didn’t have time to do it. While it’s true that I have more on my plate than some, being a single mom who works two jobs and is single-handedly raising a multitude of children (two teenagers + Susie counts as a ‘multitude’), it’s also true that people have managed to accomplish some things…
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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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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 ✨
2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrollin 2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrolling through my pics from the last twelve months made me realize how blessed and content I am. Prosperity, love, and peace have been ours in abundance, in spite of the pain of losing my dad. The second picture is the last picture of him… the last time I saw him. 💔 But God has been good to my family this year and 2022 is ending far better than it began. 😄 #2022inreview #thanksforthememories
Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍ Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍♀️
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That’s it. That’s the tour. (Slide two). 
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It’s a new trend I’m starting: bare Christmas tree. Lowe’s tag still attached (so quirky and unexpected)! Christmas ornaments still in boxes. Coming soon to an Anthropologie window display near you. 
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Every year I think, “next year I’ll do better. Next year I’ll have it together.” And then, here we are on the SIXTH Christmas that we’ve been in this house, the sixth Christmas I’ve dragged our chaotic bunch of Christmas mess out of a chaotic garage I still haven’t unpacked from our move six years ago. 
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Maybe this year is the year I’ll organize it all and put it back neatly so that by Christmas number 7, it will be smooth sailing. People will flock to my social media to see how I’ve pulled everything off SO PERFECTLY. Next year will be my year. 
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Seems every year there’s less and less bandwidth for all these things. There’s more grief and stress, less money. More demands, less grace. 
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I put this sign on the wall in my office so I could keep it in front of my eyes: Love. Joy. Peace. And all that. I am SO unlike Jesus most days. So lacking in all of these character qualities. And that’s WITH waking up most mornings and spending my first 30 minutes with God Himself. 
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How lost would I be without that? Geez. I can’t fathom. I REQUIRE being transformed by renewing my mind every single morning, and even then, responding to people and life with love, joy, peace and patience doesn’t come naturally. 
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It’s the goal, though. 
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This weary world needs that from us Believers during this season, more than ever… even more than an Anthropologie-window-display worthy Christmas home tour. 
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I’m working on both.
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