bridesmaid boxes

there are so many things to be excited about once you get engaged. 

 

for me, i couldn't wait to start the wedding planning process. one of the first things i wanted to do was "propose" to my bridesmaids.

i knew who i wanted to ask, but i couldn't find just the right way to pop the question - especially one that fit in my budget.

so i created my own boxes. 

inside i included:

➤ a proposal card

 ➤ decorative paper gift shred 

➤ a customized wine glass for each girl 

➤ a miniature bottle of moscato 

➤ a picture of me & the bridesmaid 

➤ and a silk flower.

i loved the way that they turned out. 

 

 thankfully, all of my girls said yes. i cannot wait for the big day 😊

the perfect proposal

 

this was the most amazing day of my life.

here's a little background on how 

everything came about:

2013:

i went on a spring break trip with my girlfriends. we planned a road trip -- leaving colorado springs, driving to las vegas for 3 days, & then going on to san diego for a week.  

march 24, 2013, 

the last day we spent in las vegas, 

i met kevin.

he was there for a bachelor party & we were both staying at the flamingo hotel. we met that afternoon at the pool & stayed in touch from there on out. 

 that whole year consisted of him flying out to colorado to visit, me flying out to ohio to visit, & both of us meeting up in florida a few times.

2014:

kevin moved from cincinnati to colorado springs & we "officially" started dating. 

2015:

i was completely in love with him & had decided he was the one i wanted to marry. for christmas that year, kevin gave me 2 tickets to florida to spend a week there in march with his family. 

2016:

THE florida trip. 

we left march 21 to head down to fort myers for a week. the first day we got there, we relaxed, hung out at the pool, and watched a beautiful florida sunset. 

  

the second day we were there was THE day. me, kevin, his siblings, & his mom all went to the beach to hang out during the day & i was TOTALLY relaxed & loving life.

 

beth (kevin's mom) had mentioned before we left for the beach that we wouldn't be able to stay all day -- doug (kevin's dad) had made some reservations for the whole family to go out to dinner that night. so we stayed at the beach for a while, & then went home to get cleaned up & ready for dinner. 

 

we left the townhome a little bit before our reservation so that we could stop at the beach on the way to dinner & watch the sunset. it was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL evening. 

we brought some wine to sip on as we watched. little did i know, as i'm sitting here watching the sunset over the ocean, my family is sneaking up behind me on the beach.

 

i had no idea they were in florida.

kevin stands up and says, 

"tay, you wanna take a picture?"

 i say "yeah!" & stand up to walk down towards the beach a bit. i hear kevin's dad say 

(as my family is still walking up behind us) 

"you want the sun in your eyes -- look towards the sun". so at this point i still don't see my family. 

 well played, doug ... well played :) 

kevin turns me around, 

i see my family, 

he grabs my hand, 

drops down to one knee, 

 

& spends the next 30 seconds saying the sweetest & most perfect words 

i have ever heard.

i thought my heart might explode.

 

after squealing, 

jumping up and down, 

saying "YES YES YES!",

& giving him a kiss

 

 ... he put the most 

brilliant & dazzling

ring on my finger.

 

 

at that moment, the whole beach starts clapping & cheering for us.

 

everything about his proposal was perfect.

 

we break out a few bottles of champagne,

 

and the celebration begins!

 

i thank God every single day for bringing kevin into my life.

 

 the man i have been praying about for as long as i can remember asked me to marry him, 

& i could not have dreamed up a more 

lovely night to say "yes" 

to watching sunsets 

together for the rest of our lives.

 

  

 i am SO THANKFUL for all of the work that kevin did to make this night so unforgettable, AND to both of our families for taking the time & making the trip down to florida to be there for this special, special event.

the most PERFECT night of my life -- so far :)

 

an unexpected find

one thing that i absolutely LOVE about real estate,

is that it is always different.

each client, each home, each buyer/seller -

it's never the same!

we started working with ERIN & JEREMY at the 

beginning of august.

they wanted to sell their bi-level home & 

upgrade to a ranch style.

the very first time we went out house-hunting, 

they found THE perfect home.

it was the right location, the right style, 

& DEFINITELY the right price ... too good to pass up.

so we jumped on it.

after a month + a few days,

a lot of prayers,

& some awesome people working 

hard to make this happen,

the SIMMONS are holding the keys 

to their new home.

such an exhilarating feeling!

buying or selling will most likely never go

exactly how you picture it going.

it can (and probably will) be fairly stressful.

especially if it all comes together so quickly,

like it did for ERIN & JEREMY.

we, my mom & i, hope to ease some of the

stress for our clients by being there for

each step of the process.

we admire Erin & Jeremy for the way that they

handled this buying experience from start to finish.

they were willing to go with the flow, 

((ALL WHILE getting their own home ready to sell))

which is not the easiest thing to do when

emotions are involved.

we couldn't be happier for you guys -

CONGRATULATIONS & thank you

for choosing to work with us!

teenage homebuyer

 i bought a home when i was 19 years old.

my 18 year old sister & i qualified for a 

first-time-homebuyer program, 

pulled our savings together for a down payment,

& have been living in our  

OWN home for the last 4 years.

SUCH.A.BLESSING. 

how was this possible??

i'll give you the story BEFORE we made it to 

the closing table.

kortney & i were still living at home. 

my parents & kortney were starting to think that 

the two of us should look into getting our own place. 

i was pretty happy living under my parents roof, 

so it took a little convincing for

me to get on board.

when we started this process, 

i was 19 and she was 17.

NINETEEN & SEVENTEEN.

i wanted an apartment. a cute little 2 bedroom 

apartment that i could make my "own" ... 

well mine & kortney's of course ;)

(she's not really into home decorating - & i LOVE it)

we started looking around, and the places that i 

would've felt safe living in were around 

$1000 - $1300 a month just for rent.

YIKES.

at that point, my parents sat us down & 

suggested that we look into BUYING a house.

HA. i was 19 ... kortney was 17.

nineteen & seventeen year olds don't 

buy houses.

BUT, my parents are pretty smart people, 

so i was convinced to talk with a real estate agent 

& a lender to see if we could qualify.

** SIDE NOTE: i am SO VERY thankful to my 

parents for helping me get my credit started 

at a young age. we couldn't have done this 

without their strong financial guidance. **

our real estate agent did some home searches 

for us. a lot of them were older, less cute houses.

i wasn't getting very excited.

BUT THEN ...

one popped up.

and i fell in love.

i said "if we HAVE to buy a house, 

i want it to be that one."

what an ignorant little brat i was.

if we "have" to buy a house.

my parents were pushing us to make one of the  

greatest investments possible, & i 

felt like everyone was crazy but me.

with the help from a great realtor, a FANTASTIC 

lender, & some answered prayers from 

the Big Guy ... our offer to purchase our

first home was ACCEPTED.

AHHHH!

we were overwhelmed with emotions.

 terror. EXCITEMENT. anxiety. hope. confidence.

our realtor guided us through the next month of 

deadlines & on June 4th, 2010, 

kortney (18 years old) & i (19 years old) 

became homeowners. 

home ownership is definitely something that

i'm proud of. however, it NEVER would have 

been possible to do such a thing without the support 

& guidance of MANY people along the way.

i would never have voluntarily looked into buying 

a house at the ripe old age of 19, but i am  

SO THANKFUL that

i was given that loving nudge.

i would like to challenge ALL of my readers 

to look into home ownership.

it is SO rewarding to know that you are 

investing your money each month rather than 

paying rent to someone else

& never seeing that money again.

it IS scary, and it IS a major purchase.

BUT, if i can do it ... YOU can do it :)

and if you aren't in a place financially right now 

to buy a home, make it a goal!

i feel so blessed to be doing something that i'm 

so passionate about.

i LOVE houses & i LOVE helping people.

if you have ANY interest in buying a home, or 

have any more questions about the process, 

i would LOVE to talk with

you about real estate.

CONTACT INFO BELOW!

Tami & Taylor - The T-N-T Team with 

Equity Colorado Real Estate.

Tami: 719.660.7971

Taylor: 719.660.1916

Email: tami@the-tnt-team.com or taylor@the-tnt-team.com

an instrument

alright, my friends.

we have a guest blogger today :)

 the birthday girl: my beautiful momma.

 she came into work this morning so excited about

this thought that came to her on her drive in. 

a thought she had while praying & listening to classical music.

her prayer was to be God's 

instrument today - for Him to use her to 

touch someones life.

read & enjoy.

(if this wise lady isn't a part of your life, you're missing out!)

the thoughts of Tami Good: 

____________________________

//a musical instrument can be a beautiful thing to look at.

many sit in a velvet lined case protected 

from any elements or abuse.

too many instruments stay in that velvet lined 

case & never realize their full potential.

only in the hands of a concert master does the 

instrument display it's true value.

once the concert master picks up the instrument & uses 

{his talent, his abilities, his knowledge, his wisdom}

to make the instrument perform, it then becomes more than a 

beautiful thing to look at - 

it comes to life!

are you an instrument in a protected, velvet lined case? 

or are you in the hands of THE "concert master"? 

only in the hands of THE "concert master" 

will you realize your full potential! 

only then will you truly come to life. \\

_______________________________________________

buying for the first time!

ahh the excitement!

 

you can't quite understand just how exciting buying 

 your first home is ... until you've done it!

CONGRATULATIONS to the brand new home owners, 

Adam & Kenna!

sharing this process with anyone is exciting for us, 

the T-N-T team.

however, this time it was EXTRA exciting because we were 

able to experience it with some of our dear friends.

while making such a large purchase can & will be a bit 

terrifying, the excitement & pride that one feels 

after making the decision to invest 

in real estate TOTALLY outweighs the fear :)

one of our favorite parts of this whole process is 

watching the new home buyers get so  

excited to turn their new place into their  

home. 

Kenna was picking out paint colors & mentally arranging 

her furniture before we even got to the closing table ;) 

and that's the way it should be!

the joy that we feel in helping people through this 

process is hard to describe. 

we LOVE our job & we LOVE helping 

people find just the right place.

thank you for choosing to work with us, Adam & Kenna!

if any of our lovely readers out there would like to know 

more about how they can get into  

THEIR first home, please call/text/email us 

RIGHT NOW! :)

Tami: 719.660.7971

 Taylor: 719.660.1916

tamigood@kw.com OR taylorgood@kw.com

www.tami-n-taylor.com

festive front porch!

i like to make things look pretty :) 

i like fixin' hair, 

i like putting outfits together, 

i like to artfully arrange my food, 

and i looovvee to decorate!

my sweet momma told me to do a seasonal project for my front porch. 

since it's fall ( the BEST season ) ... 

i dressed up my front porch with some festive decor.

for starters, i made my own wreath with 

supplies from hobby lobby.

i bought a $10 lantern from marshall's & filled it with some 

small pumpkins from ross & a few pine cones.

THEN i bought a $3 basket from hobby lobby, 

turned it upside down, 

and it was the perfect little stand for my 

lantern & some gourds :)

i just love to look at my front porch when i'm 

pulling in & out of my driveway.

so thankful to my God for 

this beautiful season.