The Garden.

The Garden.

Carrots are looking good 

Moving out here to our little farm has been challenging at times everyone has an idea of what we are supposed to do out here. They ask us what kind of animals we are going to have, are we going to have goats? Cows? Do we want horses? What about chickens?  They want to know what we are going to plant and some save seeds for us or they gift us plants with the general idea that we have the room so why not plant it. 

I’ve realized that out here things need to be planned or at least I need to be able to plan them. You would be surprised how much ideas change depending on how far our water hose reaches. One hundred feet doesn't get us very far out here!

The Dream.

If you are from Texas or you watch HGTV at any point in the last few years you have heard of or seen Joanna Gaines. You might have even visited or wanted to go visit Waco, TX and go to the Magnolia Market at the Silo’s to either be inspired or do some shopping or like me do both. Now I wasn’t inspired go shopping for land because of the show or our many trips to the Silos but seeing what she’s done with their acreage is inspiring. I mean just look at her garden- its gorgeous. 

Joanna's home garden featured in County Living

My latest obsession is Garden Answer ( you can find her YouTube channel here ). Laura gives me the idea that although in south Texas acreage properties have these sweeping lawns with grass that goes on forever, maybe I can create something a little more lush. Maybe the idea of having a garden goes beyond raised beds. 

The Reality.

For now I have an idea of what I would like to do with my garden but we will just chip away at all the big luscious dreams with a few raised garden beds and the beginning of some landscaping around the house. Eventually I see a lot more raised beds and landscaping. Can you see it? I can!!

Onions & Garlic 
These won't be ready until the summer!

Lettuce & Carrots
These will with stand colder temps

Tomatoes
Peppers
Basil
These will go away with the cold temps

Magnolia Market

The Silos

For the past few weeks I’ve planned on taking a small road trip to Waco, TX! Why? I’ll tell you why  -> Fixer Upper -> The Gaines Family  -> Magnolia Market ->  The Silos -> enough said! If you haven’t followed along with the show on HGTV then you’ve missed out, the couple is in season 3 of their show Fixer Upper and they have captured the heart of many (no really like thousands).

If you’re from around here some of the magic might be because they are so close you can practically touch them! For some it’s the goofy husband Chip, the wonderful ability Joanna has to stage and decorate a house, how family and faith focused they are or the combination of all of it together transforming old forgotten houses into amazing modern fresh homes.

Anyway I am a fan, I love it all. I am a geek and my husband encourages it so all is good. We made the drive to Waco to see what all the hype is about and trust me there is a lot of hype, you can tell by the traffic leading you to The Silos.  We got there around 12:30 and followed the crowd, we stood in line and anxiously waited for the chance to go into Magnolia Market! By the time we zigged and zagged our way closer to the entrance we realized maybe there was another way to go about doing this… by the time it was all said and done we had a much clearer idea about what we will do the next time we come visit.

So here is a list of tips and tricks that I picked up on.

Long line!! 

First here is the lay of the land, Magnolia Market at The Silos, consist of the market (of course), a huge artificial lawn for you to lay out and relax on. They have it stocked with footballs, Frisbees, hula-hoops, dodgeballs and even two sets of bean bag toss games for you to enjoy. The lawn sits across and is framed by The Silos, I am not sure what the long term plan is for The Silos hopefully something just as beautiful as everything else they have restored.  For now there is a stage being built in front of The Silos where the couple plans to have live music and entertainment for their visitors. Around the perimeter there are food trucks for you find something to snack on and about a dozen or so farm style tables for you to be able to sit down and enjoy your meal. Joanna loves to garden on her farm, here at The Silos she has a colorful garden of raised beds for you to stroll through, there will be a Garden Store opening soon. Last, but not least, soon to be opened will be a bakery at The Silos too! Needless to say you can easily make a whole day of visiting :)

The store gets crowded making it very tight to be able to move around. So get there early!! No, not really you can get there at noon and still have a very nice visit despite the long line.

Tip 1. Parking! Watch for signs, some parking is NOT for The Silos! We found it easiest to go behind The Silos where there is plenty of parking designed for The Silos. 

Tip 2. You don’t have to go into Magnolia Market right away, you can bypass the line for the Market and go to the lawn, food trucks and garden.  Wait for the line to die down and then make your way to the store.

Beautiful Garden 

Lots to Explore

Tip 3. Magnolia Market isn’t a place where you will find things you can’t find anywhere else.

People seemed surprised by this one so let me explain. The store is gorgeous, here you will find items handpicked by Joanna that fit her style (with lots more to come). She has some local vendors with their unique handcrafted items for sale and displayed but you will not find the unique treasures you see Joanna hunting for when she goes to the flea market. You will find those items, at the flea market (sorry!)

Tip 4. The second half of the store or the back of the store isn’t quite as tight and has that magical word everyone likes to hear… sales items.

Tip 5. Take the family, Hailey, Jose and I had a blast playing on the lawn. Hailey loved the toys and she tired herself out playing ball with us. She learned to throw a Frisbee and she showed off her hoopla-hooping skills.

                      

Tip 6. Waco, TX is getting what seems to be a face-lift and downtown is coming back to life. If you can stay the weekend I am sure you will find plenty to do there. Lots of local shopping and flea markets. Google what’s going on during the weekend you are planning on visiting, I am sure you will find plenty to do.

Garden Store Coming Soon

Lots of things in the works for The Gaines family and The Silos.

·        The MagnoliaStory – book to be released October 2016

·        Joanna’s very own line of Paint Colors – Spring 2016

·        Joanna’s very own rugs and pillows – Summer 2016

·        Magnolia Home – furniture line Spring/Summer 2016

·        Magnolia Flour – Bakery May 2016

·        Entertainment Stage @ The Silos - Spring 2016

·        Fixer Upper Season 4

Can you say WOW? Lots coming from this family, I could write a whole other post about how I feel when it comes to their success and their future. The one thing I’ll leave you with for now is this video and remember it’s not your timing its God’s timing. 

Weekend Snapshots 3 | Turning 37

Another great Weekend Snapshot! Ah! You would think that being 37 years old would keep a woman from being such a brat for her birthday, right? Wrong. I am the biggest brat when I comes to my birthday, and I am not really sure why that is! Yes I can give you the – duh! Because it’s me and I am amazing response but really I am just like you and yes I do think we are amazing.

When my husband and I started dating he told me he had never really celebrated his birthday in a big way, ahem. If you know us personally you may already be smiling a little. My husband’s birthday is a big deal around our house, as is my sons and my daughters. On birthdays we go big. Not to be dramatic but we just do, we always have, even as a single mom I would make sure Chris knew his birthday was a big deal. For his 19^th birthday when I was sure he would do his own thing, with his own friends, Chris was like, “So what are WE doing for my birthday?” That’s my boy!

Here are a few things we did for my birthday and I might have a few things up my sleeve that I’ll have to fill you in later with.

First of all we went on day trip to Waco, TX because --> Fixer Upper --> The Gaines Family -->The Silos--> Magnolia Market --> enough said.

I will post more and some tips about our trip this week. Chip and Joanna have lots happening over in Waco and they are not finished yet!

After church on Sunday, my husband and I said we would not do anything time consuming because we spent the whole day out and about the day before. We still had laundry to do and the “getting ready for the work week” stuff we scramble around doing last minute. So nothing crazy just grab a bite to eat and head back home.

A trip to Galveston and a visit to the Pleasure Pier, some yummy grub and tons of rides later we went back home. HA! C’est la vie! I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world :)

37 and loving life! What can I say? I am blessed beyond measure! I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for me! 

Link in with the other ladies joining in the Weekend Snapshot fun! 3twentysix - Onixj - IndependantMami and The Reinvention of Jessica!! 

The Silos

Long line @ Magnolia Market

Group Selfie! 

Perfect day and hanging out on the lawn!

Bubba Gumps, Galveston, TX 

Little bear and Momma Bear ready to ride! 

Sun shine and sea breeze! 

New Heights! Little bear is finally tall enough to ride the rides and she made me get on this ride with her!! I was scared... Hailey stated she was born to ride this ride. Oh boy! I hope she does not hit another growth spurt soon, I don't think I'm ready for it!!