Home Tour Video

I was kinda bummed at how little they showed our house after we had moved in on the show. We spent so much time talking about the chevron wall during filming yet they barely showed it (I know some of you spotted it though!). We've actually done a lot since they filmed out house and I thought it would be fun to do a little house tour. I will apologize up front about my Blair Witch filming skills but I shot this with my FlipCam while walking and throwing the ball for Ernie. 

Hart Home Tour July 2012 from Ruthie Hart on Vimeo.

Here is the link to the video on YouTube

Our paint colors
Entry way and dining room- Behr Granite Boulder
Chevron and Jon's office- Behr Squirrel
Our bedroom- Behr Windwood Spring
Family room- Behr Southern Breeze
Front room/craft room- Behr April Mist
Kitchen- Behr Sea Kelp
Powder room- Color Place Diving Dolphin Gray
Guest room- Color Place...can't remember the name but it is a gray
 
Here are some links to different house projects we've done. Please email me or comment if you have any house/project questions (and be sure your comment has the email address attached, I'm bummed I can't respond to comments that don't have an email address)

Our house to do list
Chevron wall how to *guest post by Jon
Desk makeover
Silhouette canvas tutorial
No sew bunting tutorial


***One more thing, if anyone is interested in being on the show House Hunters, please let me know! I am happy to get you in contact with our producer, who is looking for people!

Thanks for watching!

Whirlwind of a weekend

Hi friends, family and new followers, it is good to see you :). Thank you to everyone who tuned in to our House Hunters episode on Friday night, all I can say is wow! At one point, I looked around my living room and thought to myself, 'how did I get so lucky to have all these people in my life'. The texts, emails, tweets, Facebook and blog comments...we really felt the love! 

It was incredibly surreal seeing myself and Jon on TV. Watching it live, it didn't seem real and it flew by. We had people over until after 1am (and stayed up til 3 with my sister, record for us!) and it was on in the background throughout the night. It wasn't until late Saturday night Jon and I sat down and watched it again. I must say...Ernie stole the show. Was he not the cutest thing?

 1. Waiting on his friends to comeover

2. Sweet bloggers came to cheer me on

3. My sweet hubby

1. Getting swabbed for Be The Match (my girlfriend works there and swabbed almost all of our guests!)

2. Lots of screen shots but this is my favorite...sleeping Chunky

3. Hey I am on TV!

They showcased my blog quite a bit on the show (and disclaimer...they made me say "this would look great on my blog" a LOT! Cheesy yes but we had nothing to do with editing haha) and I wasn't sure what that would do for my blog. Like I said, the whole thing was surreal and people kept saying, check your blog stats! I love this picture Brittany caught of me looking at my blog. I am excited for what's to come for this little blog of mine!

I didn't have my camera but it was passed around during the night and it was fun looking through pictures people took. 

My 2 favorite pictures of the night

It was fun getting comments from people who happened to watch the show and search my blog. I hope you guys stick around :). I had a lot of questions about the show (and about my obsession with fixtures haha) so I thought I'd write a little about our experience...

• Our producer and crew made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera!! It was never awkward or weird. I can see it being weird to film in front of an audience but we weren't having to do any dramatic acting. Our realtor also kicked butt, if you are in Austin and looking for a realtor, you'd be silly not to use Johnny Henion from Outlaw Real Estate.
• I am not crazy. Lol! I mean guys come on, who doesn't want all their fixtures to match. They played up that story a LOT. Heck we bought the house with 3 different fixtures in the bathrooms and I am doing just fine with it. Funny thing is they filmed a lot about Jon hating pedestal sinks and it never made it to the show!
• We did not see the episode before it aired, nor had any idea what the story line would be
• Jon played competitive ping pong at Baylor in college and now plays at the Austin Table Tennis Club 
• The timing didn't work out for us to film at our old house so we filmed a lot at my parents house. If you want to see a video from our old house, check out this post.
• I wish they would have shown more of our house AFTER we moved in. Since they've filmed, we have done a LOT to the house. I am thinking of doing a video tour? Would you guys like that?
• I work in marketing for a software company here in Austin. It was kind of weird how they cut that off?
• Mine and Jon's faces are on our cornhole boards :-)
• When they filmed us in the car in Belterra, our check engine light had just turned on and Jon was paranoid it would be shown on the show. And yep, it did. Don't worry we got an oil change!
• Speaking of Belterra, it is about 45 minutes from Steiner Ranch to give you an idea of how far it was. It is kind of in the middle of nowhere. It would be an hour plus commute to work for me.
• The 90's comment...hahahahahahah

I am happy to answer any more questions you have about our experience! Now we wanna get on yard crashers for our backyard and room crashers for our media room! 

The best part of the whole experience was sharing it with YOU. Thank you for the love, support and being so dang excited for us! We love you!
 

22 minutes of fame

Today, friends, is the day.

The day that I've been dreaming  nervous sick about for the past 3 months.

Our episode of House Hunters airs tonight, July 20th, 2012, at 9pm cst on HGTV.

If you don't hear from me by Monday, it's because Jon and I have been swept off to Hollywood by Steven Spielberg to start our lives as rich and famous TV stars. Okay no, that sounds terrible, but I am thinking there is a chance Ernie will get a spinoff show or at least a role in an upcoming Disney movie (hey he can't dribble a basketball but he can play a mean game of fetch). 

I want to thank everyone, family, friends, blog readers, total strangers, for being so supportive and excited for us during this time. The plan wasn't to get rich and famous (or even make money off of the show for that matter) but for the experience, and that is exactly what we got. Getting to capture our first home hunt on TV is priceless. And we learned a little about reality TV along the way ;-). Now I want to make a disclaimer, in case I end up saying dumb things on the show or staring straight into the camera (I had a problem with that haha), we have NOT seen the show as of yet nor had any part in editing or coming up with a story line. I really hope they accurately portray the kick ass couple we are, because you know how all the drama gets blamed on editing...okay that may just be all MTV, VH1, Bravo, ABC reality shows but still! I have to say the weirdest part of the whole experience was us not being able to hold hands or really touch on camera. Odd huh? So if it looks like we hate each other, that's why :-)

Tonight we are having a houseful of family and friends over to watch the show, many of which were in on the filming with us, and we couldn't be more excited! A few people (who don't have cable) have asked me if it will be broadcast online and the short answer is maybe. Our producer said that HGTV does show full episodes on their website but it is a toss up as to which ones they play. You can find those episodes here. Also, our episode will rerun on HGTV in the and you can find the schedule, along with our press release here. 

 We'd love it if you helped spread the word! 

For more posts on our House Hunters experience, click here.

For more posts on our house, click here.

in other news...



We are praying hard for the victims of the colorado shooting. "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

We have a date

Friends, mark your calendars, set your DVRS...we have a House Hunters air date! If you follow me on Twitter, FB or Instagram, you might have seen the announcement on Tuesday but our episode will air Friday July 20th at 9pm cst. We are psyched! Honestly we haven't thought much about the show since filming wrapped up about 2 months ago and it's hard to believe it's actually happening.

This guy is excited

 (cross your fingers that Ernie gets a spin off show and we become filthy rich and can retire)

Lots of people are asking if we are nervous. I don't call what I am feeling as nervous but more anxious. We already shot the show so it's not like we can change anything but I am anxious to see how they edit it. We'd like to think we are a pretty darn fun and awesome couple, let's just hope the producers edited it that way. I used to think it was so dumb that the Real Housewives would blame stuff on editing but I can totally see where they are coming from (on a much smaller, less dramatic scale). 

Here is the link to the little press release sent out by HGTV about our episode. FYI we are not 20 year olds, I think they meant to say 20 somethings haha.

(my husband and chunk are the greatest)

 

I haven't talked much about what they shot but my blog was mentioned and filmed quite a bit, in fact I had to mention it on every house tour, especially in the kitchen :-). I wasn't sure if they would want to feature my blog but our field producer was all about it! They filmed me cooking in the kitchen, taking pictures, editing and writing posts and even shot my blog header and scrolling through my blog. I can't wait how they put together our story but I am SO excited to see where our episode takes my blog. 

Speaking of that, I will be accepting sponsors for the month of July starting today (to start July 1). House Hunters is HGTV's highest rated and most profitable show and with my blog being featured quite a bit, I am hoping to see some changes in pageviews :-). This month will be really excited for my blog and I'd love to help promote your blog/shop/business. Visit my sponsor page for information on my rates, etc. ***update, I only have 3 SMALL spots left for July!

oh...and if you aren't already a follower of my blog, be sure to click the blue 'join my site' button  on the left handside of the page!

Thank you for all your love, excitement and support! Spread the word!

House weekend

How is it already Monday? I feel like we didn't even get a weekend! House Hunters came back to film us in our new home and it was a busy but really fun weekend. We can finally entertain family and friends and are feeling like our house is our HOME! I just want to thank my family for being so helpful and supportive this weekend...it's amazing how quickly things can get done when you have helpers :-). I wish that I could take this week off of work but it is just as busy as last week unfortunately. Let's just say Jon and I are looking forward to doing NOTHING next weekend...and I mean nothing. We are going to be MIA :-)

We shot at Cupprimo Cupcakery (they were on Cupcake Wars)

I am in love with our new hanging basket, a housewarming gift

Cuddling with Mr. Ernie

Love you!

My craft room :-) you can't tell but the walls are a light teal, love em

We shot at the Austin Table Tennis Club...I'd never been...what an experience haha

Ernie looks sooo big here!

Shooting the final interview!

This weekend wore him out

We shot at my parents house Saturday...Jon was workin'

Sound check

We celebrated Jon's birthday last night and look at what a friend gave him! Such a thoughtful gift!

 

Thanks for all the love!

P.S. Reminder...I am teaching a FREE Zumba class tonight in Round Rock! Check out this post for more information. See you there!

Movin on up

So it's finally official!

(for those of you who asked, we got this as a gift but it is from Personalization Mall. I've also seen them at Home Depot, such a great gift!)

We are no longer bouncing between two houses and living out of boxes. In fact, the only boxes we have that have yet to be unpacked are in our gameroom and Jon's office. Let's just say that I can barely move this morning. Moving is HARD WORK!!!

The fact that our house will be filmed for national TV on Sunday sped up the moving/decorating process quite a bit. We have done so much in the past couple of days, it's exhausting to think about. We had painters last Wednesday for the two story areas and then Friday night we had such a fun night with my parents and family friends painting and doing projects around the house. Seriously...you find out who really loves you when you move! I got home from work on Friday and my mom and some of the "Bunco Babes" we already painting. My dad ended up staying past midnight painting our master bedroom and we were up past 2 mounting our new TV. Jon and I just kept talking about what a blessing it is to be surrounded by friends with such giving hearts. We had friends fixing toilets, installing lights, hooking up our washer dryer...all out of the kindness of their hearts!

(my mom in the middle with some of our amazing helpers!)

One of Jon's buddies came in for the whole weekend just to help us move. Talk about a good guy. Unfortunately Jon and Kevin were our only movers but they had fun making the heavy lifting a workout. Turns out the electricity in our old house had been turned off so I couldn't vacuum or use water to clean...whoopsies! 

So our walls practically drank paint so I had to make a Home Depot run. Despite showering multiple times this weekend, I am still covered in paint (my leg is showing off my craft room paint)

Jon's bff stopped by to help unload the Uhaul which was a blessing to have another set of man hands haha. My parents also came back over to help finish some painting and put together our new dining room chairs. Here is a sneak peek but I have to say I am obsessed.

Before we even bought the house I knew I wanted a chevron wall somewhere and last night we made that happen. If you've read my blog awhile you'd know that my husband is an engineer by schooling and that came in handy for this project. The wall took 7 hours start to finish and I assure you these are the most perfect looking/measured chevrons I've ever seen! Can't wait to show y'all 

Call me crazy but I had a blast organizing and color coding our closet. Our closet is massive compared to the shoebox we had before but it filled up fast! Ernie is so funny, he won't let me out of his sight. He even comes into the water closet with me!

Ernie showcasing our new sofa

Literally the only time we sat down this weekend was yesterday at church. We have been go-go-go since we closed on the house 2 weeks ago but it has been so worth it. Tonight we have a few things to do but for the most part, we are going to take the night off. 

Thank you all for your well wishes and support!

linking up with Jenni today!

Friday Randoms

Hi y'all...

It felt weird not posting yesterday but things are hectic! Tuesday we were with the crew til 8pm and went to bed at 9p and Wednesday wasn't as long but still crazy. Thank you for all the sweet birthday comments, tweets, and texts for Jon on Wednesday! He felt loved and said it was the most times he'd ever been wished a happy birthday :-)

So here are some of our randoms this week...I will probably continue to be MIA until we get fully moved in and finish filming. I can't wait to show you guys the house!!!!

My day 1 outfit...solids

Jon on Tuesday...last day of being 28 hanging out in a camping chair in our living room

I was laughing as I unpacked my box of popsicle sticks...so glad they made the move!

This is from 2 weeks ago but I had to share...I love this photo of me holding our sweet neighbor at his 1st birthday party!

Wednesday they wanted to shoot a car scene and my car was covered in bird poo so we made a quick trip to the carwash (and it sucked!)

I asked Jon what he wanted for his birthday dinner and he chose Mongolian Grille. I am pretty sure we are always 1 of 2-3 couples every time we go. But we love it! Oh and for $25, we got like 3 meals out of it

 

Birthday cheesecake

So we are now cleared to move into our house and had some rooms painted on Wednesday...eeek!!!!!! The color of our family room was totally outside my norm so I screamed a little when I saw it but I am so excited. The room is so light and airy and we put our new couch in it last night...I am obsessed. I had been collecting frames for a gallery wall and finally got to put it up last night. I want all the pictures to be black and white so that's on my list today (except for the frame with the heart...it is a cool custom print with our names). 

Tonight we have a crew of friends and family coming to help paint, hang stuff, and help with projects...we are so lucky to have such awesome people in our lives! Seriously I am dying to show you guys the house...hoping we can get it put together this weekend!

Oh and I came back to work Thursday and found this at my desk haha. We have people in from our HQ and a guy asked, "so were you in a movie". No...just on an HGTV show lol

Have a great weekend y'all!