Moving! Only really...

Wow.,so much has happened since march last year. I'm so glad I started the packing purge because Korey retired from the air force nov. 1. It wasn't planned out previously...we found out it was approved sept. 1. Korey went on terminal leave a couple of weeks later, right after a veterans retreat in North Carolina. On his flight he met the CEO for SnapAV. They got talking and Craig told Korey to call him for an interview. Korey thought not much of it but when he told me I just. Knew. It was a long drawn out process but after several phone interviews an interview in Charlotte NC where the company is located, and more phone chats, and several months of prolonged faith testing agony Korey was offered the job. I'm writing this from a hotel in north platte Nebraska. We put the house on the market in November, it's still there waiting for it's next family. Hopefully it sells soon. We are on a cross country road trip in a Penske truck hauling our car behind us. I had purged several times between March and November and then we had a big yard sale, and packed 3/4 of the house up and put it in storage so,the house would sell easier. It was such an easy move really since I had done so many smaller size pushes. We got the truck loaded in about 5 hours, and got to spend Friday night and Saturday with friends and family saying goodbye. And a mini crisis home repair...ok so still have one repair that Judy is making sure is taken care of so we could go. There's always something. True amazingly awesome friends stepping up and taking care--Judy said get on the road and we will figure it out. I'm blessed. I got to see most of my friends before leaving 2 I needed to but did not. Things happened so fast at the end I couldn't get away. I know I have them forever though and I will see them when I come back into town. 

Right now everything we own is on a 26 foot truck...crazy! We have a cute little apartment we are headed to with a 6 month lease. I think it will be fun to have an apartment for a bit,get better at my organization out of necessity, and walk the dogs a few times a day because I can't just throw them out in the back yard! It will be good for my mental and physical health. I'm heart broken leaving family and friends. I'm excited for an adventure. Impressed at how low my anxiety has been today, how calm and relaxed despite my sore butt for sitting for 12 hours. Tomorrow I will drive for a few hours. That should be interesting. But as I told Korey I will never be comfortable with it unless I drive it. He can't do all 5 days. Even if we have split up the drive. The 12 hour push day today was 12 hours but 3 short of where I wanted to be because of winds and hills in Wyoming. We made up some time in Nebraska. But I'm hoping my shorter days of 7 hours don't mean 10. I guess we will see. Hoping we make it to St. Louis tomorrow. On our way to our new home in matthews North Carolina. Our new apartment home. Or as Jilly says "our new house, and by house I mean apartment"

So,I will keep making whatever house we are in a home. 

Moving!

I hate moving. Boxing things up. Living in chaos while deciding what stays and what goes. We have lived here for 9 years now. You can collect a lot of "stuff" in 9 years. Wouldn't it be great to move without a timetable? Just pack up and purge one room at a time. Be able to completely organize and decorate the new house with that one room before moving on to the next room?
Well that is exactly what I am doing. I'm moving back into my house. This house. We will take one room. Pack up. Gut it paint it prep it and then move back in.
One room at a time.
I love my house. I just want to be in love with it again. Plus...it's a good time to teach my 7 year old how to purge...not just her wardrobe annually when she gets a whole new wardrobe--(wouldn't that be nice as an adult? Although I would hope my size is going down and not up at this point...) back on point...when I was a kid I lived in 1 house for 3.5 years less in the rest. Always had to purge. Had to decide what was really important to me as I usually got one box for clothes and one for toys.
I won't be taking her down that far. But I do want her realizing what is junk and what is nice and what is important. Today she wanted to keep a pony the dog had chewed the leg on. Rule: if it's broken it goes. She begged, it's so special to her. Deal: 5 toys that are NOT broken for the one pony. She took her time but she did it.
I got rid of a maraca egg given to us by the band that played at our anniversary. She wanted it. Deal: 5 toys. Guess what? The egg...not worth 5 toys. Great life lessons.
We are purging now as we pack up the toy room. She is picking a select few that are very important to her to keep out during the "move" and the rest we are boxing up and labeling. Once the room is put back together, we will do a second purge. It has to have a home.
It's going to be fun for me to redecorate and get out from under the clutter. And fun for her to know where her stuff is. As well as me getting to decorate! Which I always love.
Pictures will come :)
For the first time ever I'm actually happy to be moving...and so glad it's just right back home.

No we aren't renters and our house isn't in forclosure...

I know. I have "that" yard. Its embarrassing. I realized this summer that even though I LOVE gardening, and I love working in my yard, I DO NOT love the heat, so even though the year started out right--well...I now have weed patches where my flowers are. The flowers are still there for the most part--just truly overshadowed by all the weeds. Its sad. This month I am spending an hour out in my yard every day. My goal is that by my anniversary on the 24th of this month (so 20 days from now) I won't have "that" yard anymore. It won't be perfect but it will be pretty and on its way. I will after that spend time prepping the yard for the winter. Next spring it will be easy again to get going, and then next summer I am hiring someone to come and maintain it throughout the summer. I've learned this year that the heat is too much for me. And that is ok. Its good to know and understand that. So for June, July, and August I will have someone coming to help maintain my yard so that my minimal time I can spend out there is enough.
Having made this decision I am not so overwhelmed thinking, its just going to get like this again next year--why bother? pave the whole thing over. haha...--Instead I am thinking ok. I can get this back--and then it won't get like this again. And that feels good.
I'm sure my neighbors will be thrilled next summer when they don't see my yard turn into a weed patch. And maybe we will stop getting realtor letters in the mail saying we can help you sell your home right now as is...because when they drive through the neighborhoods--it won't be my house that sticks out like a sore thumb.
Instead it will stick out for all the right reasons.

Jilly's Room Check.

Another room Yay! Each time we accomplish one of these big todo's off the list it is just relieving, and mind boggling at how there always seems to be a million more projects to do in the house. Especially now--we've been here 8.5 years. Paint colors are ready to be changed. Chips in walls need to be fixed...the blasted NEW range is having problems...it just never stops. So what makes it home? that we don't wait for it to be perfect to LIVE in it. and lived in my home definitely is!
I'll share a few photos of the latest project now before I'm off to see what needs to be done next.

Korey worked hard with the help of my brother Jay (not picture)

Since by time I got home he had left.
I don't have the whole gruesome tear apart pictures but here are some from as it was being finished up. Terrance is Jilly's Puppy and man he was confused

Looks like he adapted pretty quick though!

The room looks awesome! And Jilly has a nice new room to sleep comfortably in. She's even been hanging out in there during the day the past few days, which never happened before. (and if you had seen the carpet you would completely understand why)

 One more room down at the Christensen House. Just need to get her chair rail put up between the peach and the stripes. Quick and easy project though. :) The best part for me is that this means we have started working on the bedrooms! I know mine isn't next (too much square footage) but I think this winter we will get to tile the bathrooms upstairs and maybe even get the art studio done! By the end of next year though the upstairs will be like we moved into a new house. YAY! without boxing it all up and going through that whole process. Which is great because the truth of it is, I love my home. I love this house, and I love making it home. I never had that before. Its really rewarding to see it coming together into not just a house but truly into our home. Our dream home.

Organizing those dang grocery bags...

If I could completely have it my way I'd never have these grocery bags--but hubby's good sense and economics prevail...so now and then instead of using my reusable grocery bags (or when I forget to take them with me to the store--or even sometimes take them to the store and then leave them in the car...ever done that?) I get groceries in plastic bags that we reuse for garbage bags in the bathrooms, bedrooms and for quick trash cleanups around the house.

 Well I had purchased a couple of these wire baskets to help give me more storage in my pantry.
Unfortunately plastic bags are like rabbits, I think they make more and more as they sit places...







so now now my basket looked like this...and it was never even intended to be the home for the bags.

 

 So tonight I decided enough is enough I need that space. I want the snack area to be easily accessible so you don't really have to think. Just grab a snack and go. I've worked hard to make sure that there are snacks on hand that are healthy, and give good energy. So dried fruits, nuts and healthy bars. But if we can't find them in chaos then what's the point of having gone to that trouble?

So I emptied the basket.

 Now what to do with the bags?












I was getting ready to throw out an empty disinfectant wipes container when I had an epiphany. I could up-cycle, utilize wasted space and still keep the bags that I'd worked so hard to collect (haha)

So I stripped the lid till it looked like this--I took the flap part of the lid and attached it to the bottom of the container because I like the color and wanted to see a little peek of it on the soon to be top.


I printed out a free stencil pattern that I liked,
and wrapped it around the jar.

I placed the bags in the container pulled the top
bag through the hole and secured the lid

Looking Good!!!

Next I cut a hole in the back. I just used a pair of scissors and made a stab. Nothing pretty...you'll also notice my wrap doesn't go all the way around. I figured it would be against the wall, why print out two sheets and try to line them up etc. etc. I may use fabric to cover my next one (I'll be making these for each of the bathrooms and bedrooms!)


I used a basic 3M hook and put it on the wall in the pantry making sure I wasn't blocking my access to anything.

 Finished Product--What do you think?

 Even better? I've now reclaimed my baskets for their intended purpose.
Healthy snacks. Check.
Easy to find. Check.

Not bad for a few minutes work.
(took longer to make this post than it did to complete the project!)

Cleaning Indoor Air with Plants

I've come across this amazing article of some of the best plants to help keep the air in our homes clean! Enjoy!!
Cleaning Indoor Air with Plants

The Paintings Were Hung By Korey With Care...

If I could tell you how many times I heard today..."You know I love you right? Or I would never..."

And as I watched my husband scale a ladder over and over--I knew he loved me. (I've always known...but what a manifestation of that love!!)

I painted these panels specifically for this spot in my kitchen that has sat blank for the entire 7 years we've owned our home. Waiting for something--I wasn't going to hang anything up there unless I LOVED it.

For me the key to decorating is if you don't LOVE it--don't waste your time with it. When you truly LOVE something then it has meaning and purpose in your decorating. It isn't saying that down the road you won't decide you love something more, but I no longer buy things if I like them. I have to truly love the item and also KNOW where I am going to put it. It does me no good to love something if it is going to be clutter. If it doesn't have a home, I leave it alone.

 As I started out with these paintings I knew I wanted Yellow. Yellow to me is a happy cheerful color. When I was 13 my family lived in Vernal. We had been renting and had started looking for a home to buy. I went with my mom and dad one day to look at a home out in Maeser. There were 3 things I fell in love with as we were looking at that home. The kitchen was a cheerful yellow color and I could picture myself cooking in it, being happy and excited to be in that kitchen! (With at the time 11 kids in the family, I had years and babies earlier learned that if I cooked someone else got to do the dishes)  At first it was practical. I hated doing dishes so I'd rather cook. I found rather quickly that I really enjoyed the creativity of cooking and baking. I had fun finding ways to cook what food we had on hand in  new ways. There were successful dishes...and some rather awful failures...The other two things I loved about the house were it had a greenhouse just off the kitchen, and there was a reading nook in the middle landing of the stairs complete with built in bookcases and a shelf that was carpeted and big enough for sitting right there under the window.

When I picked Yellow as my main kitchen color 6 years ago, I didn't consciously think about that Maeser house. (which we did not end up buying, in fact didn't buy a house at all but left Vernal that next year)

But I LOVE the color Yellow. Blue and Yellow have always been my 2 favorite colors. My wedding dress was Yellow with light blue accents. I knew putting a color I loved would help me feel at home every day in our kitchen, and I think its no coincidence that our kitchen is the heart of our home.

Korey worked hard getting everything just so--the paintings level, just the right distance apart, with me down below dictating. :)
He is such a good sport.

My creativity and vision with his detail orientation makes a really good combo. Our projects always turn out great...except if you ask him they are MY projects that he gets called in to help finish.

Well...there is some truth to that. I love you Babe!!!

And the finished product. 

I think it is absolutely stunning.