[outfit_details]Red Fleece c/o, Red Tights c/o, Texas Ring, Monogram Mug, Mug Topper, Dutch Oven, Hot Water Kettle[/outfit_details]

Happy New Year Y’all! I know it’s been quite a while since I have written on the blog, but if you follow me on Instagram, you know I’ve been in the process of moving back to Texas! In 2014, I moved from my home state of Texas to Central Nebraska to pursue a career in TV News. This is something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little girl. My whole family came to the United States of America as political refugees from communist Vietnam. There isn’t any freedom of speech or press in communist Vietnam. I grew up with my family watching the news, wanting to be informed, active citizens in their new community. Thus, grew my love of becoming a storyteller.

It was during my time in Nebraska, my Dad suffered a traumatic brain injury. It completely changed our lives. You don’t know how impermanent everything is until something as simple as health is taken away in a moment. My Dad went from being a strong, spry independent man who could build or fix almost anything, carry all of my luggage and more to needing help doing the simplest of tasks including eating and sitting up. I immediately questioned my career path. It felt so selfish to pursue my dream when my Dad, who sacrificed his whole life for our family, was on borrowed time. I tried so hard to stay in my career and move to Texas, preferably Austin. I remember asking Jonathan to drop off hand-written thank you cards after phone interviews. It wasn’t happening.

Less than two years after telling stories in Nebraska, I got the opportunity to move to Coastal Virginia. Still, I can’t tell you how heartbroken I felt inside. Whenever my phone would ring and I saw my Mom’s name on the caller ID, I would instantly think the worst. I would take a deep breath and brace myself before answering. After nearly three years, a lot of growth, lessons learned and some crazy ups and downs, my dream came true: moving back to Texas and getting a chance to be a reporter in my home market.

Before we talk about my future, I want to talk about you. Yes, you. I can’t tell y’all enough how much each of you mean to me. When times got rough with my Dad and I asked for prayers, the number of compassionate messages, comments and emails from each of you warmed my heart. It made me feel like I wasn’t alone when geographically I was. I was 1,357 miles away from exactly where I wanted to be. This blog, my Instagram and the way I’ve been able to help my family wouldn’t be possible without you. This move might not have been possible without you. THANK YOU.

Of course, moving back to Texas not only brings me closer to my family but Johnny! We are so excited to move into our first real apartment together and be side by side after so many years apart. I feel so blessed in that Jonathan has been the most incredible partner. He supports me, challenges me and encourages me to be my very best. Whether it’s taking blog pictures, checking my Instagram analytics, nagging me if I haven’t posted yet or just making sure I’m ahead of the curve, Jonathan is there.

As an entrepreneur, it’s important for Jonathan to have a space he can work in. For blogging purposes, I feel it’s better for me to have a proper desk to sit at, place to file my papers and brainstorm new content. I pride myself in the ability to work anywhere, a requisite for reporting. However, it is nice to have a space I can dedicate to working. Our two-bedroom apartment will feature a home office and we are so excited to share this with y’all!

This is the start of what we have up for our new home office. It’s not much yet, but as we continue to use the space, we’ll discover what we need. I love this approach for the whole apartment. Rather than buying items we think we might use, we start with the minimum. Then we buy items as the need presents itself. The bookshelf and desks are affordable and relatively easy to assemble. However, he does say the shelves of the bookshelf are a bit heavy. We love the look these three items give the room. Of course, for the price point, some things aren’t perfect. While the desks have a great feature with outlets, the drawers aren’t super spacious. These white desk chairs were an investment I made about four years ago because of chronic pain with my tailbone and back. They are quite the statement visually but are so comfortable to sit in.

We have a variety of items to display and utilize our bookshelf for. The first is my Dallas map I got about a year and a half ago. While we are in the Dallas – Fort Worth metroplex, we’re not in Dallas quite yet. So it’s nice to be reminded of home. We plan on having a place to sort papers, display some of our favorite items and books and of course desk essentials.

This part of the home is super exciting to us because it’s our first dining room! Obviously, it’s lacking a few important things: dining chairs! We have some on the way and can’t wait for them to arrive so we can have friends and family over. I have lusted after this marble and brass dining table for years, so to be able to finally purchase it was a dream come true. I know we’ll have it for years. Plus, it’ll retain its value when it comes time to sell if we need room for more at the table. If you love this look but need seating for six, there is an oval option. The area rug I had in my old bedroom in Virginia. It’s great quality for the price and perfectly fit in our dining area! I’ll be sure to post reveals as we complete each space in our home. We’re so excited to share it all with you!

Our bedroom is also a space we are working on but I want to show a trick I usually do with nightstands and dressers to make them look more expensive. Changing out the knobs or pulls can completely change the aesthetic of a piece. This white nightstand is about $100 but I feel the knobs really take away from the piece and clashes with our vibe. To fix that, I got these gold and acrylic knobs to replace them. I initially did this with my dresser and these clear crystal knobs, which are currently on sale!