The dynamic couple that has everyone enchanted in the past couple of years has been without a doubt Chip and Joanna Gaines. They have brought fame to their small town of Waco, Texas through their television show Fixer Upper. Chip works in the construction/restoration side of fixing up homes for their clients while Joanna tackles the design and staging of the homes. Their company is called Magnolia Homes, but started as a shop called Magnolia Market that Joanna opened when she and Chip were newlyweds.

This book follows their story from the very beginning of how they met, dated, and married. They share heartwarming and funny anecdotes from their life as newlyweds from their unplanned honeymoon to their first apartment that smelled like pet urine and rotten meat when they moved in. Their story continues, following their different perspectives about their first personal fixer upper house of 800 square feet, bringing their babies home, starting their business together, Joanna feeling she should close down her shop once she started having more kids, and the continuing of following their dreams as they both became experts in their respective fields and complemented each other with their talents, ambitions, and love of life.

I enjoyed this light read and gained insight into this couples' life. I could identify with their funny stories of being newlywed and having babies because that is the stage of life I am in now. Even though the language of the book is very informal, as if you are sitting on their Magnolia Farm sipping lemonade while they tell you about their lives, it has a genuine tone throughout. It is easy to get the sense that Chip and Joanna care for each other as spouses and support each other. Though they are not perfect and readily admit to their faults, it is refreshing to see a real couple tackle real life problems.

Because of their conservative views, I feel like I can identify with their morals and goals. However, one way in which this book really changed my world view is how Chip and Joanna take crazy risks when it comes to real estate. Before Fixer Upper, Chip and Joanna would buy run down homes with their own money and fix them up to resell or lease. This requires a lot of credit and lots of debt in order to pull off. They shared how they kept going in their business by putting every rent check or property sold money back into another property so they could flip it. Some months they did not know how they would feed themselves or pay their mortgage because of this lifestyle. I personally have never been in debt and it was interesting to see people live life so differently and do risk-taking in that way that opposes how I would handle finances. The financial problems they candidly share in their book provides the book with more depth and shows how everyone struggles--especially financially. I believe this is how with their rising fame Chip and Joanna have stayed down to earth. They remember all too well what it was like to barely make ends meet and be a struggling local business.


My favorite parts of the book were Joanna's "revelations". Her first was on her couch in a beautiful home she had designed as a showcase to promote her work while she was at home with her kids.

Joanna says, "In my nonstop efforts to make the house look good and to raise our baby of a business, I had failed to create a space where my children could thrive and be kids. I had neglected to create a home that my most important babies could love too." (pg. 120)
Revelation #1: Family is what is most important and is worth putting time and effort into it even if it is a little messy and unorganized.

Joanna's second revelation came when Chip decided to buy a small house they would renovate and move into to save on money and have other business opportunities. They affectionately called it the "shotgun" house. She was not excited to move out of their showcase home she meticulously designed, but realized that the kids loved the smaller house even upon first glance. She says, "That day in that house with our kids was another turning point for me as a designer and a mom. I came to a brand-new conclusion: 'If all I'm doing is creating beautiful spaces, I'm failing. But if I'm creating beautiful spaces where families are thriving, then I'm really doing something.' Doing that became my new calling." (pg. 130)
Revelation #2: Families thriving is what is most important and all of our jobs should try to enable this goal.

In the nitty gritty of life, it is hard to appreciate special moments and time with the ones we love. Joanna remarks, "I realized that my determination to make things perfect meant I was chasing an empty obsession all day long. Nothing was ever going to be perfect the way I had envisioned it in the past. Did I want to keep spending my energy on that effort, or did I want to step out of that obsession and enjoy my kids, maybe allowing myself to get messy right along with them in the process? I chose the latter--and that made all the difference." (pg. 144)
Revelation #3: Life is messy. We need to embrace it and appreciate it in the beautiful messiness of it especially if that means we are loving those that matter.

All of these revelations lead up to the biggest one of all: thriving. That word was used a lot in the previous revelations, but I like how Joanna phrased it: "'If I'm going to sit around and say I am "just surviving" every day, well guess what? When a big wave comes along suddenly, I won't be surviving--I'll be drowning!' I mean, that's life. Life is never predictable. Life is never really manageable...So I finally flipped the switch in my mind. I said, 'I have to choose to thrive, even in the pain. Even when it's tough.'" (pg. 147-148)
Revelation #4: Choose to thrive and not just survive. It requires a different mind set, but it is what life is about!

In short, here is the breakdown of Magnolia Story:

Genre: Autobiography
Number of pages: 182
Reading endurance: Low reading endurance required
This short novel could be finished in a day or two, easy!
Good Moral: Definitely. Morality is important in literature for me to recommend it.
Favorite Quote: "Don't quit, and don't give up. The reward is just around the corner. And in times of doubt or times of joy, listen for that still, small voice. Know that God has been there from the beginning--and he will be there until the end." (pg. 182)
Recommend? Yes

For more information about Chip and Joanna Gaines, visit their blog.