Life is a test. We are not present on earth to just exist; we are here to learn. Life is a lesson. Love one another unconditionally. Love thyself unconditionally. We spend our whole lives learning to do this. Some succeed and some never have a clue. I'm trying. Love my fellow man. Don't react and don't always have to be right. This is one I'll have to work on for the rest of my life. Appreciate each day and recognize positive and negative as a part of life's experiences. Look around me and see life at it's best. The joys of living come as you strive to achieve your dreams. Its the quality of each day that is important, not the distant dream once achieved. Teach and nurture my children. You can never give them too much love. -Randa Jex 1/1/94

Sunday, May 23

HONEYMOONING!



Looks like sunny skies are in store for us in Mexico and that means time to stock up on sunscreen for these to "8-5 office dwellers"! We are so excited that we are finally taking our honeymoon to Cozumel, Mexico. Zach was busy studying for the bar exam the summer after our wedding so we decided to forgo an immeadiate honeymoon and take an anniversary trip...so here we are 2 wonderful years later, packing our bags for the long awaited trip! We will be staying at the Presidente Resort & Spa. Here are some pictures of the place...not too shabby! Then on our way home (as a birthday present to me from Zach) we are staying in New Orleans at the Plaza in the French Quarter for our official anniversary....I can taste the beignets on the patio of Cafe Du Monde just thinking about it!

So goodbye my blogger buddies for a few weeks, I will be back with pictures from the big trip!!!

ALOHA!


Wednesday, May 5

AND WE ARE DONE!!! Now just paint and furniture!

BEFORE
AND AFTER!!!
Floors are done and GORGEOUS!! Now just paint and furniture!

MORE PROGRESS:

Tuesday, May 4

IN PROGRESS...


lookin good!!

Oh 1889 cherry floors...how I love thee!!


Here are the floors on day one of refinishing. Zach and I could not believe our eyes when we walked into the study last night. The sanding took off years of wear and tear...literally since this room used to be used as the Jex family storage garage back in the day...bikes, lawn mowers, you name it. Yesterday it was sanded and then mopped to bring the grain to the top, and today is was being sanded with a different grit and will be mopped again and then glossed. I cannot wait to see these gorgeous floors that were hiding for all those years. There is only one drawback to having this room refinished...not it makes us want to redo all the wood floors in the house so they are equally as beautiful! Stay tuned for more pics of the finished floor and before shots of the wall painting.

Happy Tuesday y'all!!

Monday, May 3

MAY 2, 2010: Sunday Funday!!


The study renovation and grown wings....and now in addition to the refinished floors we will be adding a new paint color and a few new pieces of furniture!! Upon arriving back in Natchez yesterday from our weekend in Oxford we noticed an antique sale in a loft downtown. We hurried home, unpacked the car, kissed our sweet pups, and jumped back in the car to go check it out. Going into the loft we had one item of necessity...a mirror. We love mirrors the way old mirrors can be so charming in the right room, bathroom, hallway, etc. So there we were....face to face with our first selection...a large antique mahogany mirror and oh was she a beauty! Price tag...OUCH... $500. As Zach was placing it back on the floor where we found it, the gentleman running the sale came over and said- "you like it?"...we said "um yes! But it's more than we are looking to spend"...he said "give me a $50 bill and it's yours"....WHAT!!! Needless to say it was ours! The next hour was about as exciting as our first 10 minutes as we scored deals left and right. Note to self...always hit liquidation sales on the last hour of the last day, they basically give the stuff away.

I know I said we went looking for a mirror but we ended up making off with our mahogany mirror, an 1800's Mahogany Butler's Desk, an 1800's Mahogany couch with deep blue Damask upholstery, and an 1850 mahogany Sheraton Sideboard. I did see an antique cradle that I fell in love with. It was used in the 1800's in an antebellum home here named Arlington and she was a beauty with 4 large post on all sides and hand crafted rocking feet. They guy was making us an great deal and Zach said if we had a baby he would have bought it but when we were faced with the decision of the sofa of the cradle we figured the sofa was much more practical. Maybe one day I will see it in an antique shop and have to get it! Maybe not since the retail price was $2600. I think my favorite part of the day was when Z walked up to me and said, "babe, I think I just bought us a buffet" (you can image my face since we already have a buffet).

So we had a very productive day and we are so proud of our new finds and the insane deals we made! The desk, mirror, and sofa will go into the new formal study and the sideboard will go in the place of our current buffet in the dining room.

I am sharing the pictures we snapped at the store yesterday and I will update you with more pictures of the pieces in our home once we get everything situated...don't hold your breath it takes us a while.

We always picked on Randa because every time we visited, rooms would be changed, furniture moved, walls repainted...now we have no room to talk (we think this house makes you do it!) We agreed, Randa would be so proud of our bargains!