HGTV Casting Call!!

It's actually surprising to me that I am trying to communicate with HGTV right now because I am currently very mad at both Jen Hatmaker AND HGTV!!

We have been looking for a new home and property for a while now and never really had the itch for renovation until we started watching Jen's show "My Big Family Renovation".  Suddenly really crazy things were coming out of our mouths like "maybe we could do that" and "that seems like fun"!  The universe was also ganging up on us because at about the same time we accidentally, suddenly, maybe a little on purpose came across a 10 acre farm house that could end up being perfect for us.  The house and property definitely need some serious TLC; things like new floors, new fixtures, new appliances, and new walls and stuff!! ;)
The location is great, the property is big, and the contractors are telling us it has "good bones"!  So, despite the very clear warnings of how hard a complete farm house renovation will be and how much work will be involved, we have decided to go for it!  Lord help us!!

Currently, we are living in a rental home in the middle of Austin.  In our home there are two adults, three children, one Great Pyrenees autism service dog, four rescued pitbulls, two more dogs, two goats, five chickens, three ducks, and a dove!  BURSTING AT THE SEAMS IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT!!
 


If it's not clear already, we are animal people!  We have an "un-official" animal rescue that we call JPW Rescue Ranch.  We hope very soon to make it an "official" rescue organization!  This new property is just what we need to make that happen!
The story of our rescue ranch started a couple of years ago when we came across an abused pitbull and her litter of puppies that were all about to be euthanized just because of their breed.   After bringing home 11 dogs (1 momma and 10 puppies) we got a crash course in the sad world of pitbulls.  Despite their bad reputations, they all turned out to be sweet and wonderful dogs.  Unfortunately most of the people who wanted to adopt them were absolutely terrifying!  And to make matters worse, 8 of the puppies came down with parvo, which they picked up during their time at the Galveston animal shelter (a well-documented horrifying death camp for animals).  More than $10,000.00 later, we managed to save all but two of the puppies, and we found good, loving homes for most of the survivors.  Overall the experience changed our lives (while emptying our savings) and our dream of an animal rescue ranch was born!  https://www.facebook.com/SafeinAustin

We have since taken in and rehabilitated many abused, abandoned, or misunderstood dogs and litters of puppies.  Most have gone on to other forever homes, but some have been too damaged for outside adoption and they found a forever home with us.

And our rescues are not limited to only one species.  We have also wound up with a one-eared goat named Prancer, her best shy little buddy named Mr. Gray (who we saved from ending up as cabrito), a dove, several chickens, and even three ducks!

Technically, we have three children, but Angel actually makes four!  Angel is Jackson's autism service dog and she goes everywhere we go!  She joined our family two years ago.  The day Jackson met Angel our world changed for the better.  I can't put into words what their relationship has done for Jackson and for all of us.  She is amazing.  He is amazing.  The two of them together are unstoppable!
Obviously, autism and service dogs hold a HUGE place in my heart.  I hope that my future will involve helping to train service dogs for kids with autism and other people that can benefit from these amazing dogs.
You can check out Jackson and Angel's story here- https://www.facebook.com/SnugglebugsAngel

So now, let me introduce you to the entire family!-


David - He may look like a bouncer, but he is actually a hard-working patent attorney who loves taking care of his family, spoiling animals, and Georgia Bulldog football!   David is a partner in a local IP law firm, but he spends most of his time working for first-time inventors and small businesses--in other words, clients who don't have much money!

Jamie- Besides the animal rescue, Jamie owns and operates her own business,  JPW Endeavors LLC, which is the home of the Straw-lution Straw (the first ever "straw that goes in, but doesn't come out"!) The Straw-lution Straw was invented, patented, manufactured, and is now distributed world-wide by Jamie herself!

You can check out the Straw-lution Straw here:
www.strawlution.com
https://www.facebook.com/Strawlution

She also homeschools her three human children and does training with the four legged ones!  Jamie loves to dance, anything outdoors, and most of all being a mommy!

James- Nine years old, loves skateboarding, football, and all things video-game related.  He secretly has the biggest heart and all the animals know it!

Jackson- 8 years old, has Asperger Syndrome, LOVES dinosaurs, superheroes, drawing, and sharing his knowledge of autism, service dogs, and animal behavior with his peers!

Angel- 3 years old, a Great Pyrenees, and Autism Service Dog for Jackson!

We have been asked by all sorts of people to come and talk about autism, service dogs, and dog behavior!  Jackson loves sharing what he has learned and even made up a game to play with the crowd.  He tells stories about how he taught himself how to read when he was two years old and could count to ten in six different languages, but didn't know how to talk to his family at all.  He explains how Aspergers gives him super powers like being super smart and having heightened senses. He gives examples of how we need to have open hearts for everyone even if they are different and that sometimes people need some extra care even if you can't see tell by looking at their outsides! 
Talking to people about Autism, Service dogs, and dogs in general is something we do as a family and it makes me one very proud Momma to see my children making a difference with those around them! <3

Jovie- 7 years old, loves dancing,swimming, and coloring.  Horses, dogs, and pigs are her favorite animals. Her favorite color is purple, and she's really good at using her sweet freckled little face to get herself out of trouble! ;)

Cameron- The oldest and wisest family member!  She is Jamie's shadow and has been with her through everything for the past 15 years.  She is amazing with ANY animal that is brought into her home and has shared a food bowl with everything from puppies to lizards and bunnies!

Sisco- Three years old and the only male dog of the house!  He's also smaller than the mouths of all of the female dogs! He's got a bit of an attitude, but you would too if you were constantly concerned about getting stepped on by a TON (ok, only about 400 pounds) of females!

Duchess- Our four-year-old Momma!  Duchess was severely abused before she was rescued.  She was locked up in a box and hidden under a tarp and wood pile, while being bred over and over again so her "owner" could sell her puppies.  She is the most thankful and loyal dog you have ever met, and she instantly takes on the mother role for every rescued puppy we bring into our home.

Kim and Jill- The TWINS!  They were two of the puppies from Duchess' litter that we rescued.  Kim and Jill were the last two puppies that got parvo and were the worst cases.  By the time these two girls got sick we were Completely. Out. Of. Money!  Austin Pets Alive helped us by providing all the medicine and tools we needed to keep the girls alive at home.  We injected fluids in them ourselves for days, along with all of their medicine.  Once they were healthy, we could not find anyone that wanted black, female pitbulls, other than the monsters looking for fighting dogs (or bait dogs).  Plus, they are so bonded to each other that we don't think they could ever be separated.  Now, Kim and Jill are our nanny dogs!  These big scary looking pitbulls are as sweet and gentle as can be to all the puppies we bring into the house!

Sunshine- The newest member of our family!  We just recently rescued Sunshine and another dog named Chloe from an abandonment situation.  Chloe was pregnant and the two of them had been on their own for some time.  Sunshine was horribly weak, beaten up, and wounded because she had been acting as the protector for pregnant Chloe, her only friend.  She's still a young dog, but now has extreme arthritis and a partially torn acl.  Because of everything Sunshine has been through and due to her injuries, she will be spending the rest of her life with us at the rescue ranch where she will be spoiled and loved and have nothing to worry about!

Prancer- Our sweet one eared goat!  We brought Prancer home the day she was born and her momma decided she only wanted to feed her twin sister and not her.  We bottle fed her and spoiled her rotten (like we do most our animals)!  She now has no idea that she is a goat, and if we let her she would happily live in the house with the rest of us!

Mr. Gray- Is our shy guy!  But he keeps Prancer company in the goat yard since she is not allowed to live in the house where she wants to be!  He is also really good friends with Princess (a chicken!) and loves it when she sneaks over into the goat yard!

Princess- our oldest and strongest hen!  We believe she is part ostrich because of the huge eggs she lays!  She loves pasta, but has now been spoiled to the point where she will only take the pasta when given to her by hand, one noodle at a time!! ;)

Rock and Spike- our two bearded silkie roosters!  These two boys don't mind sharing the responsibilities of a rooster and are able to take turns crowing throughout the entire day and night!  Our neighbors are not all fans of these two sweet boys, hence the need to get out to the farm house ASAP!!

Pocahontas and Snow White- our two bearded silkie hens!  These are the sweetest, softest, and most motherly of any chicken you will meet!  They will let you carry them around like little furry handbags for as long as you want and when they are brooding, they will take on the mother role to any eggs that needs it.  (Snow White is currently sitting on two silkie eggs and a duck egg.  The duck egg is almost as big as she is!!)

Donald, Daisy, and Ming Ming (aka- the ducks!)-  They are loud, messy and desperately need a pond because two baby pools are not doing it for them!  Or us!!

Leonardo- our dove!  This sweet guy recently lost his buddy.  Doves live in pairs, so we are currently looking for another white dove to hang out with Leonardo!  What would be even better is to not bring anymore animals into this rental house and get a nice big dove area built out at the farm house!!

As you can see we have no business being in a half acre lot in the middle of Austin!   And these are just the "children" that LIVE in our home full-time!  Remember we have other dogs, litters of puppies, and odd assortments of animals coming in and going out all the time!

Here are some pictures of our current house!

 The Chicken coop and run are in the back corner of our yard.  You can see by the picture that there is a HOUSE about 20 feet to it's diagonal and another one immediately to the right of it!  (Remember when I mentioned some of the neighbors are not fans of the roosters?!)

Some pictures of the front of the house!  Yes, we are right next to our neighbors and yes you DO see a pod and a camper in the driveway.  I wish I could say they haven't been there long..... but that would be a lie! :/







This is the Art room/ Homeschool room/ My office..... it's embarrassing!  Kind of looks like we should be on a hoarding show as opposed to a renovation show!





And the embarrassing continues in our spare room!  It's an extra space that was added onto the master bedroom of the house.  We used it as a dance studio/party room a long time ago, but it is now part closet, David's office, and dog room!

We live in Texas and with all the dogs we have at our place at any given time, they need a place they can come inside and get away from the heat.  So..... they go in through the window!  Yes, we built them a step ladder up to the window, and we are the CRAZY people air-conditioning the outdoors so that our dogs can come in and cool off when we are not home or busy.  In our defense, we tried putting a dog door in the window, but the big dogs knocked it out almost immediately!  (When you are in a rental house, you have to make do with what you got!)

I wasn't joking when I said David shares his office with the closet and the dogs!!  He is a partner at Abel IP, (http://www.abel-ip.com/) one of the largest Intellectual Property firms in Austin, and works from home A LOT!  When he does, he has all three of his computer monitors set up on a folding table.....right next to the dog food tubs in the room with the window wide open!!  INSANE... I know, but there is no room for an office for him, and we just keep rescuing animals!!! ;)

And here is our lovely living room!  It's also the playroom, more of my office and homeschool space, and the dog hangout!  The dog area in the spare room is small, so when we are home we ALL hang out in here together!  You can see the large amount of dog beds everywhere!  The renovation will DEFINITELY have to include an actual family room (for humans only) that does not have to be covered in hair, slobber, and sometimes "stuff we shall not mention" at all times!

The Farm House!!

And here are some of the little farm house we are trying to buy!  Our renovation plan includes knocking down a wall to open up the kitchen/living room areas!  Complete kitchen and bathroom renovations. The entire house will get new floors and paint! A total makeover to the outside of the house, including decking, paint, and landscaping.  Plus, we plan to convert the three car garage into a guest and rec room, along with a pool house bathroom!  The house does have a pool that is currently a frog pond, and a giant two story workshop/barn that will become the garage, dance hall, and all the storage we (and our animals) could need!!

It's really super hard to see the outside of the house because it has been completely 

swallowed by the vegetation around it!

You have to look really hard to see it, but when we get the trees trimmed and some
landscaping done we are going to have an AMAZING hill country view!!

Thanks so much for checking out our story!  We would love to join the HGTV family, if you think you can handle all of us! ;)

So many of my friends thought we needed to respond to this casting call!  A couple of them felt they needed to say a few things--you know, just so we are not the only people telling you, we are awesome and stuff!! ;)  Here are a few things they wanted to share!


"Hi HGTV,

First of all, Jamie is totally unique and absolutely one of a kind.  I have never met anyone like her.  She is seriously one of the best mamas I have ever met.  She is totally self-sacrificing and one hundred percent committed to the well being of her absolutely adorable children. She is always the mom who goes waaay above and beyond on every school project, art or sewing project, party, and everything in between.  All of our friends are continually in awe of her talents - no kidding, she is the one I always call on to help do my kids' school projects or to put together party favors or to plan the whole party!  And what's also funny is she is the kind of person who thrives on last-second deadlines, always waiting until the last possible moment to pull an all-nighter to finish the (insert name of cute costume, poster, school yearbook) and blow all of us away with her creativity and talent.

Jamie loves her children dearly and has the literal patience of Job.  She also loves my kids like they are her own and would do anything for our family.  She has been completely supportive of our three adoptions and has bailed me out countless times on watching my kids, running an errand, or basically anything that I need help with.  She is a totally giving friend.  She and her super fun unschooling kiddos do things spur of the moment and out of the blue like go on a camping trip to the beach, a cross country trip in an RV, or put together bags of essentials to pass out to homeless folks.  Nothing she could ever do would surprise me. 

Now, let's talk about the animals.  YIKES.  The lady loves her animals.  She may be a little nutty, for realz. Recently she and David and the kids found a huge snake in the backyard, and he picked it up gently, put it in the car and they all took it to a nature preserve to let it go free.  WHAT?!  That's crazy talk!  Plus the goats, chickens, ducks, turtles, pit bulls, and tons of other rescue animals you find there.  You see, Jamie really does have a heart of gold.  She is a rare gem, and her kids and family are all pretty amazing.  You just have to meet them. They all have that inner spark, star quality.  They are all performers, naturally.  And they are all really in need of a farm house renovation for their animal rescue and all the fun and crazy kids that spend so much time at their home! 

Please let me know if you need further dish on Jamie Wallace.

Best,
Bethany Smith"



HGTV,
    I am very proud of my daughter, she is simply amazing.  She is a mom who puts everything ahead of herself.  Very determined to do what ever it takes to help her family.
   She has home schooled her children now for four years and I will be honest, it was a bit disturbing to me at first because Jamie was never, let's say a "studious" type person growing up.  However, I listen now to my grandchildren and I am truly in awe.  They are much further along then many children their same ages.  I remember during a visit she asked if I would help the boys with their history lesson.  I thought "I can do this, it's second grade for heaven sake".... Oh boy! Nope!  I had to say "how about I help Jovie'!  She was in Kindergarten at the time!
   Jamie is very creative in how she teaches it is not simply memorization but a unique way of looking past just academics and incorporating life lessons as well.
   Jamie and David are teaching the children to love all things especially animals.  They currently have a small heard of animals and I am so excited for them to finally have an opportunity to move to a place where they can nurture their love for animals even more!  I like the fact that it is teaching the kids responsibility and the love of the out doors.  So many children are addicted to computers (which are great) but are sometimes lost to the real world around them.  My grandchildren are privileged to be exposed to both.
  Both Jamie and David have HUGE hearts.  Not only are they willing to take on rescue dogs they are willing to help whoever is in need.  Jamie had virtually brought strangers in to live with them because they had no where else to go.  She didn't really have the room but she made it work.  Again it made me uneasy knowing she had strangers living with her, however it also taught me a lesson in trust and faith and what I was even more proud of was it taught my grandchildren to accept every person not matter who they are.  This also teaches them how to take care of each other as well.
   I have so many stories I could go on and on with.  Helping homeless people.  Having the kids pass out food and hot chocolate in the winter.  Jamie creating contraptions to help a newborn goat who was crippled at birth to get around.  She carried that thing everywhere, like a baby!  Even did a cross country road trip (to go help her father) with her kids, and the goat in the passenger seat next to her!
   I hope you consider helping my daughter with her renovation.  I can not imagine someone more deserving.
Sincerely,
Karen Shives
MOM

Hi HGTV!

Love all your shows!  I am a Realtor ® in the Greater Austin, TX area.   I have known David Griner and Jamie Wallace for several years now.  They are wonderful caring people.   I have witnessed first hand the tireless work they do to help save animals (especially pit bulls) from kill shelters and other situations which would put an end to their lives.  Their “pets” which include chickens, goats, ducks and whatever else needs a place to live are just as much apart of the family as the kids are.  The kids are also growing up to be loving compassionate humans beings and you can already see a love for the outdoors, animals and adventure in each one of them.  The kids are easy to talk to, smart and fun to be around.  Jamie is passionate about starting her rescue ranch and this farm house project is just what they need!  David is very much a country boy who got stuck in the city and he is so caring about every creature, he did not even kill the snake that got into their current chicken coop, even after it bit him several times….now that is compassion for all creatures on this earth. 

Not only am I their Realtor®, but I am also their friend.   David and Jamie are the kind of people that help others in need without any hesitation.  They have come to home at night to help with sick foster kittens and have always cared about me and my family, even when times have been hard for them.  They are fun, they are a bit crazy, they have a great sense of humor, they are passionate, they are emotional and they would make for great TV.  I watch plenty of realty TV shows to know that they would be an incredible choice for your show and the home is perfect for what you are looking for. 

All my best,

Lu Ann Reyes, REALTOR®                      

Dear HGTV,
    Jamie and David need your help!  After personally watching their children and their animals consisting of ducks, chickens, doves, a tortoise, goats, and countless dogs and puppies, they all just need a little more room!!  This lovely mother works full time not only to homeschool her children, run an company, and also provide for all the animals. 
This family being animals lovers is an understatement!  With your help, this amazingly incredible family, who I have the honor and privilege of knowing, would be able to go above and beyond what they are already doing!  Please help make their dreams become a reality and help them renovate their new home!!
Brittany Brosnac