Our New Year’s Resolutions

Every year we make resolutions that we try our best to stick to throughout the year. Do you make New Year's resolutions? Do you follow through with them? Maybe they’re big, ambitious goals or maybe they’re small, easily attainable goals. Maybe you don’t make any!

This year we have a few things we are going to work on. Honestly nothing big or dramatic, just a few ways to better ourselves in areas we feel need extra attention. Here are our official 2018 New Year's Resolutions:

Thomas'

• Stop saying "I want this" or "I wish we had that" and learn to just be happy with what we have. There are some things in this house that still aren't complete or that I wish we had but it's a happy and loving home, so what more can I ask for?
• Get back in shape. This one is on everyone's list and it's on mine, too. We kind of fell off our rhythm when we were filming the show and we are both ready to get back on it and start taking care of our bodies again. 
• Learn when to put the phone down. We document so much of our lives that it's become instinct to pick up our phones or camera and record when something cool or exciting is happening, but sometimes it's nice to just enjoy the moment for what it is, when it's happening and leave it at that. Not everything needs to be published, sometimes being present without technology, human to human, is so much more satisfactory.
• Be there more for family and friends. I felt as though this past year we made everything about us in our small, close circle. We were shooting the show for six months, then it premiered, then we were promoting it like crazy, then we moved into the new house, etc. Our family and friends were there every step of the way helping us and this next year I want to return the favor any way I can and make life more about them, than about us. 

PJ's

• Minimize! We've collected so much STUFF over the years because we think we'll need this or that later on. Our closets and spare bedrooms are filled with stuff we are looking to get rid of next year.
• Stop stressing over the little things. This next year I will do my best to just let things go and realize what I have control over and what I don't, and the things I don't I won't stress over as much. Life is too short to worry about every. little. thing.
• Say "yes" more often. Thomas always tells me that I'm a "no" person, meaning I immediately say no to most things. I think I will try saying yes to more things this year. Or at least think a little harder before saying no ;).
• Eat healthier and work out more. This one goes along with Thomas' up there. We basically quit working out this past year with the show and promoting it and moving and just with life happening in general. We are going to work harder in 2018 to get back on the right track health wise.
• Make more time for family. Also in the same realm of Thomas' above. Family is the most important thing in the world to me and I look forward to showing them that this year. 

If you want to see our new year's resolutions listed in 60 seconds, check out the video below!

Hello, 2018!

We woke up to a bitterly cold New Year’s Day, with the sun pouring in the hundred year-old windows and flooding the living room with possibilities. It’s 2018 y’all!!!

We brought in the new year with family as the ball dropped at 12am and a whole new year began right before our eyes. We stayed home and made grilled cheeses with pesto and a homemade tomato bisque soup. Thomas’ mom brought white bean chicken chili and all of it together made for a warm, cozy night in to battle the 13 degree weather that was happening outside.  

There’s always such a sense of possibility in the new year, isn’t there? It feels like you get to start over, be whoever you want to be, a second chance. If you don’t need to start over, though, there’s still a feeling of a excitement that this is the year you are going to be the best version of yourself. 

Happy New Year to you, friend! We’re glad to have you here with us in 2018.

Goodbye, 2017!

2017. What a year. It was a very interesting year for us, as we're sure it was for most people. We had a lot of highs and a lot of lows, but every step of the way we had each other, something we feel grateful for while looking back at the last 12 months.

Were there fights? Oh yes, plenty. Were there tears? For sure. Was there yelling? You betcha! But there was also so much love this year, probably more so than any that came before. And not just between us! From YOU guys! We felt so accepted and loved by you this year and have grown so much closer to y'all that we feel like you're a part of our family now. So, welcome to the fam!

This was the year that our HGTV pilot premiered, we met lots of new friends, took a couple of vacations, and bought a farm. We counted down our top 10 favorite moments from this past year in our newest YouTube video with never before seen pictures and videos. Be sure to stay tuned until the end to see what took the top spot!

We want to thank you for this year. Without you, none of what we did would be possible. We have loved hearing your stories, getting to know you, learning you, receiving your praise and criticism, and being able to cal you all friends. You have inspired us to work harder and push our creativity to the max. We have some fun things already planned for 2018 that we can't wait to share with you. Here's to a happy, successful 2018 for us all.

Our Newest Addiction

We have been completely obsessed with something for the past week and we aren't afraid to admit it. Honestly, it hasn't even been a full week yet and we are almost finished with season 2.

That's right. We're talking about a friggin TV show here. And the TV show in question is Showtime's Shameless and we are absolutely hooked. Have you seen it? Are you as obsessed as we are?

We are pretty late to the party on this one. It's been out since 2011 but Thomas' sister advised us to watch it (read: forced us to watch the first episode one night) and we're so glad she did because now we spend every night on the couch watching it before bed. We haven't been this obsessed with a TV show in a while but this show grabs you and keeps you attention from the first episode.

It's a comedy/drama (a dramedy, if you will) about the Gallagher family who live in Chicago. The dad, Frank, is a complete piece of shit who is constantly drunk and looking for fast, easy ways to make money, usually at the expense of his family. His oldest child is Fiona, who is barely 21 and is taking care of the other 5 kids. It's a family show at heart, with a full house of kids helping each other out and doing what it takes to survive. It gets pretty graphic at times, but we can't recommend it enough if you haven't seen it. We are completely obsessed. 

All of the seasons are currently streaming on Netflix. The best part is, season 8 is currently airing right now on Showtime and the show was renewed for a ninth season, so we will be watching this show for a while! #blessed

 UPDATE: DirectTV reached out to us and showed us a fun little graph that shows you how much items in the show cost in real life (like the house and their cell phones). Check it out here!!

(Above pictures from here and here)

Christmas 2017

How was your Christmas? As you know we hosted for the first time this year and it was a success! Family, friends, food, dogs, Christmas Fettuccine, movies, and laughs. The works!  We hope you had a merry Christmas, too, friends.

 We documented our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the video below, if you'd like to check it out:

A Christmas Tradition

It's Christmas Eve and we are checking off last minute items from our to-do list in preparation for hosting Christmas for the first time at our house. Luckily, there's not much to do. Clean a few bathrooms, change the sheets, sweep and vacuum. Easy right?

No matter if we are doing Christmas at our house or another family member's, we always make sure and keep one tradition going each and every year. We are big on movies in this family, have we mentioned that? 

There are some movies we go back to each year like The Holiday or Love Actually, but there's one we look forward to more than the others and have seen at least three million times. We watch The Family Stone every year on Christmas or Christmas Eve. Thomas and his family have done it for years even before us, but we have kept it going and it never gets old. Have you seen it?

 A lot of people are divided on it (for reasons unknown to us) but it's the perfect representation of what a big family is like when everyone gets together around the holidays. There are some fights, lots of hugs, tears, laughs, great food, deep discussions, and plenty of love. Not to mention THE HOUSE. Oh man, don't even get us started. It has to be our favorite movie house of all time. It's old, warm, inviting, cozy, cluttered, comfortable. It's done in browns and oranges, with tons of wallpaper (swoon) and old oriental rugs. It has been the biggest inspiration for us yet as far as movie houses go. 

We highly recommend it if you haven't seen it! What are some of your family's Christmas traditions? Maybe you watch the same movie every year or go see a play or ride around to look at Christmas lights? We would love to get some ideas! Merry Christmas Eve, y'all. xx

(Above pictures from here, here, and here)

PJ, From Last Night

Because he was just too dang cute not to post. Happy Friday everyone.

-T

Why We Switched From a Keurig to a Coffee Pot

For the past 2+ years we've made our coffee every morning with a Keurig. We received it as a gift from a good friend for Christmas and we loved how fast and convenient it was. You pop in the K-Cup and in 10 seconds you have a steaming cup of coffee and you're on your way out the door.

For the past couple of months, though, our coffee has been tasting funny. We tried switching coffee brands to see if that would help get the burnt, stale taste out but nothing was working. Then one day PJ discovered an old coffee pot we had that had been packed away years ago and decided to plug it in just to try it out. We haven't looked back since.

We decided to do a little research into why our coffee was tasting so bad and we came across this article from Business Insider that put what we were tasting into words. Did you know by the time the K-Cups get to you they've already begun to go stale? Also, the machines themselves don't get the water hot enough for optimal extraction and taste, which is another reason coffee from a Keurig doesn't taste as good. Not to mention, the K-Cups are terrible for the environment, unless you use the reusable kind.

Plus, there's just something kind of charming to us about making a big pot of coffee in the morning and the smell of it waking you up. We get really excited and actually look forward to waking up and drinking our coffee and relaxing first thing in the morning. We haven't really noticed a difference in the time aspect of it. It doesn't take much longer to make in the coffee pot, and what we lose in convenience we make up for in taste, which is so huge for us. We can't believe we've waited this long to make the switch!

What about you? Do you make your coffee from a coffee pot or a Keurig? Have you noticed any differences? We would love to know!