I walked into church today, and aside from the greeter outside on the sidewalk, the very first welcome we received was from this girl:
[this picture was after the service, though ;)]
Ya'll. My church has a DOG now, who attends regularly. I would've known this three weeks ago probably, but our annual stint of weekend travel for the holidays has kept us out of our home church for far too long. Somewhere in the middle of our absence, this sweet girl starting attending with her human, and I hear she's going to be a regular. Her name is Sadie, and she is a therapy dog [not to be confused with service dog], and she will sit with you until you are smiling, because that is her day job. And I need a dog like this to sit at my desk and stare at me all day long Monday through Friday until I am doing nothing but smiling, petting said dog and avoiding real life responsibilities.
Is that too much to ask?! ;)
Seriously. The sun has been MIA pretty much this entire year so far, with the exception maybe of like one or two days, and we've been feeling the effects of this no-sun spell. Everything outside feels like it's the same color, and finding motivation to be productive doesn't come as easily as it usually does when there's nice vitamin D streaming through the house.
So sunny little Sadie was my much-needed pick-me-up today, and gave me a little extra boost on top of Pastor Chad's message, to go home and do the painting we didn't do yesterday.
Yes, painting. Our living room. We thought we'd wait at least a year to paint the thing [ok, so it wasn't planned, but we were a little busy last year...].
before
Literally, white walls everywhere in this house. We've determined some of the previous colors, usually by accident; the last paint jobs are still hanging out in patches underneath the outlet and lightswitch covers, and in the tippy toppy corners of the room where the Kilz didn't reach.
and paiiiinting... and paaaainting..
I'll get the finished pictures up once this room is said and done, but hey, progress is progress, right? :D
It's enough for tonight though; tomorrow starts the work day and the work week, and back to it we'll go. G'Nite!
MORE MOVING TALES! I'm ready to be moved, but again, I need to breathe and realize that this is a process. We're fortunate that we've got the entire month of March to get this place cleared out, but in the same light, it's almost hindered us because Rob and I are both creatures of execution in the midnight hour. #procrastination!
I hopped in the car this morning, having planned for at least one thing today, and realized that my poor Subie loaded to the brim with things to drop off after work.. make me look like a bonafide hoarder. Ya know, like the type of lady who probably has closets full of macromet samples and several cats that have ruined her carpets over the years. Like Maxine, but with felines.
does it not look like i do arts & crafts and general hoarding?!
This makes me nuts. My car is not generally a collection bin for everything I own. I promise. It's usually not even that disorganized, save for whatever's strewn across the backseat by the time Sydni's done with it. But for now, and for the next week or two I'm sure, it will look like this in my car for a large portion of the day.
Luckily for me, I have a super helpful sidekick [except who are we kidding, really I'm her sidekick, honestly...] who was happy to do a test run on the durability of bamboo flooring:
She's something, I'll give her that.. haha. I'm happy that she's at least a blend of interest - she's one of those kids that's either completely consumed with [and over-dramatically deprived, oooobviously without] being attached to some form of technology, or she's completely happy with random things, sans electronics all together.
Dude. It was freakin' goooorgeous outside today! Am I the only one who nearly fell over walking outside at lunch?
yes, i did that.
Yeah. I'm going way overboard with the daily lunches this week, and with the selfies to match. Here's the thing though: I haven't taken 2 consecutive 1-hour lunch breaks in almost 10 months, so ex-ca-uuuuuuse me if I'm a little chippier than usual ;)!
^ But really, I indulged today. Whole Foods, for one, is not the 99-cent store, as we all can attest. I'm not shaming those of us who shop there, but let's be real: it's overpriced and we all know it. Today though, I went for it, got lunch, a $5 chapstick and a kombucha [shout out to Jen & Jordan @ Fab Ferments!!], then proceeded to park myself on a painted bench directly outside of Pier 1 to eat said lunch and consume said kombucha. Yeeeup, I went full-fledged White Girl today.
On top of that, I proceeded to punctuate today with a trip to the second most basic place on Planet Earth: Ikea. Yeah, you read that right, friends: Cori, in one day did a Whole Foods and Ikea run. Ya give a girl two days of lunch breaks and she goes rogue, right? Hah.
300 pages of yes please!?
But seriously, Ikea. The love-hate relationship I have with the place continues, as it probably will until the end of time, or until I no longer need to buy $1 aluminum flower pots, $3 clippy hooks for EVERYTHING IN MY HOUSE THAT NEEDS HOOKING and 2-for-1 adorable throw pillows.
Wait, what? I mean... the ONE accent table, the ONE bedstand, the ONE bedframe and the ONE set of pedestal legs for the ottoman.
And silverware.
Placemats Nothing Else!
LED light strings Nothing Else!
Bamboo plant! Nothing Else!
Buckets Nothing Else!
Kids art accessories Nothing Else!
CINNAMON ROLLS! Just kidding, these are NOT crossed off. #sorrynotsorry.
Rob is beyond ready for this move to be done; I can see the terror in his eyes when I open my mouth now and the sentence begins with, "What do you think about..." He's a trooper, who is hanging in there and providing the brawn that I don't have, the truck that my Subie is not and the accountability not to go broke... that I do not on my own possess at this time. Kudos to him.
IKEA on a Tuesday:
US, at IKEA on a Tuesday:
let's do this!!
[at 8:45pm... haha]
hitching a ride
Spoils of the adventure:
we planned on buying [tonight].... about 80% of this.
I'm pretty pumped. The guest bedroom will be together in no time, and the rest of this place will be constructed one little bit at a time. I've already enlisted Becky and Jess to assist with the painting, when that time comes. We're almost there; I can feel it.
Oh, and an additional feature of our new neighborhood to which I wasn't savvy before tonight:
We've got.... DONKEYS! These two, named Jackson and some other president name, are little escape artist pals from the farm across the street. Tonight, as we were nearing our road, we noticed them wobbling down the side of the main road; at first glance, it was assumed they were deer, but at closer look, that agile gait of a deer was totally missing, and to be honest, these two looked like the brown versions of our dogs.... so no, they weren't deer.
donkeys. neighbor. donkeys.
I took this picture for corroboration to my claim in case nobody believed me later on. Fortunately though, we weren't hallucinating, which was confirmed by our neighbor when I tiptoed onto her front porch at 10:30 PM to ask about the donkeys. And also introduce myself for the first time. Nothing like a Hi-I'm-new-here intro that starts with, "Sorry it's so late, but I'm the new neighbor and umm.. Do you know anything about the two donkeys out here?"
The neighbor knew, of course, and even had the number for the farm on speed dial. I'm fortunate that the neighbor didn't answer the door with a shotgun, with it being this late, but I'm super happy that they seem to be decent people with a good sense of humor, especially dealing with roving donkeys [insert witty quips here, re: donkeys].
Happy Tuesday, ya'll. Stay beautiful, like this weather! ♥
We're still staying in the "old house," as it's now being called in light of the moving process. We've got stuff in boxes and are slowly moving piece by piece until the big truck comes and the bulk of what we have goes. We woke up earlier than expected this morning, which made for some calm quality time amidst the boxes piling up in each room.
sweet moments :)
After church, we made a trip to the "new house" to shuffle some things around and assemble some items from yesterday's auction. In addition to laying out a couple of area rugs, organizing portions of the kitchen cabinets and surveying a couple of the rooms for paint colors, I took to constructing the two Parson's chairs we snagged at the auction. To my disappointment, both chairs were missing front legs, which made these the first items we've received so far from the auction that were missing core pieces. No biggie though; they won't be hard to replace, and the chairs are otherwise new out of the box! #silverlining
in the box...
what they'll look like with four legs.. haha
I mean hey, there are worse things in the world than missing chair legs. Heck, there are worse things in the process of this move so far, so if missing chair legs are one of the bigger headaches I have, then that is a-okay with me.
Most of our afternoon was spent shuffling things into their tentatively permanent places at the new place and filling the garage closer and closer to full capacity with things that won't have a home for at least the next month, I'm sure. The joys of moving!
This will be a slow but certainly sure process. It's coming together bit by bit and I'm doing what I can to control those moments of over-zealous thought strands that convince me I can and will paint the entire downstairs level in the matter of 8 hours. It's not that I truly believe it's impossible, but I've also vowed to let myself actually enjoy the process, too ;).
Cabinet and storage space are my favorite things in a kitchen. There's a plethora of things that I'll undoubtedly need at some point, but won't use every day. Clutter is the enemy in my book, and if I can keep as much space between my world and that of a hoarder, I'm a happy camper.
Ya'll may just wanna wait a few weeks if you're already bored with my diatribes about moving.. just a pre-emptive notice.. haha.
Here we are moving, and all I can think about is all the stuff we need/want/will probably acquire for the new house, and not one speck of interest in packing anything in our current house. It's daunting, really. I've moved my fair share of times, but every single stinkin' time I get distracted by all those little items that eventually get thrown in a box at the last minute because by that point I'm just with packing and I don't care how it moves as long as it moves. *inhale; I know that was a horribly-extended sentence... *exhale.
Let me pause for a second here, to ask a very random, poll-esque question:
How many of you know or have watched the videos by Liza Koshy?
No? Well, that's the wrong answer. Yes, is what you should've said. If you haven't, here she is, outlining my life at the moment, as it relates to the Dollar Store.
^Oh, and because somewhere out there is someone who's going to say something or other about me claiming this as intellectual material, something sermthern sermtherrrrn.... let's just not. I didn't make these videos nor do I own them, or Liza, or anything in between. Mmmkay?
Just enjoy, for a moment:
"A DOLLA?!"
^ That was me, this afternoon as I traipsed through the dollar store today.
Note the sign: EVERYTHING'S $1. These little glass jars are barn wedding material... just sayin'....
Believe it or not, I came here looking for pool noodles. You thank Pinterest for this one, and for all of the pictures that look like THIS:
these aren't mine, but look how tall and organized!
Organizational hacks are phenomenal. Stay tuned for the day I pull this off; I'll be back with photographic evidence and hopefully without any slice marks from cutting up pool noodles :).
But I digress. The dollar store didn't have pool noodles [sad face], but they had just about everything else under the sun, and just like Liza says, enough squeaky-wheeled carts and Chinese plastic to go around.... BUT, it's all $1 so who cares?!
Rob will be the first to tell you that I need to slow my roll and get the stuff we already have... packed. I will admit this is a generally overwhelming process, this whole moving thing. If there's an appropriate time to reiterate one of the points Pastor Jeff made this morning, it's now:
slow down, cori.. there's a bigger picture.
Phew.
The new week starts tomorrow, and all that inevitably will come with it. Moving is underway, folks!
There are a couple things for which nobody really prepares you. The most obvious of those is becoming a parent for the first time [an entirely separate diatribe; you parents out there know what I'm sayin'.... ]. Driving on the major Cincinnati highways would be the second thing [71, 75, 74, Beechmont Ave., etc.].
Okay, there are a few other things that are hard to gauge until they're in your lap. My point is... we've just opened the chapter of Homeownership, which 1) I'm told is not one word [don't care], and 2) introduced itself as everything except subtle.
We signed the closing paperwork yesterday, but ran short on time in the evening to journey across town to get the keys. We put it off to tonight, and had Becky & Mike joining us as we set foot inside for the first time without our realtor.
We showed them the upstairs; Becky claimed her bedroom ;).. haha. We toured the dining room, the other dining room [I'm still uncertain I'm grown-up enough for that kind of spacial awareness], and peered out into the darkness at the backyard that ends at the golf course.
And then we ventured into the basement, aka future mancave. It was going just fine until our solid footsteps were offset by the sounds of splashes.
Splashes = water.
Water inside = no good.
something... isn't quite right.
It took a moment to register, but we quickly realized [oh, and it was raining all evening], that the sump pump had broken and the water was flowing freely into the basement through several ruptures in the pump and pipe.
I know. Awesome.
This is a first world problem, for sure. Yeah, it's a pretty big deal, and it wasn't what we'd hoped to find in our new house that didn't hold even a towel of our own possession [which would've been immeasurably useful at this particular moment]. BUT - the silver lining is deeper than the puddle.
We 1) have a warranty from the sellers, thankfully, that will cover all of these damages. That's the operative reassurance that made this nothing more than a minor inconvenience and I'm sure a good story five years from now.
2) We brought Mike & Becky, probably the best two individuals to have on deck at a time like this. There was no griping, but instead almost cheerful engagement in the cleanup.
3) I'm taking up curling.
Which of those 3 things is false?
Haha.
This was Rob's and my first time setting foot in our new home together without Tiffany [realtor].
This will be forever how I remember this moment:
hahah.. that's about it!
new basement, coming right up!
I guess now, we get to update on the basement renovations. Everything happens for a reason!
Good times [kinda], good friends [definitely], good night [phew]!
When I was 5, I wanted to live in a tree.
When I was 17, I think I still wanted to live in a tree.
When I was 25, I wanted to live in a house built out of trees.
When I was sitting at home yesterday, I realized that while it's not a tree, I'm about to co-own [ok, technically co-babysit for the bank] a house of my own for the first time.
And it's closer to trees than swarms of other people, which sounds brash, but we've all got our things, right?
doing grown-up things!!
I don't think I've still fully downloaded the gravity of what those 843028 signatures we did today mean. A lot of you out there have been at this home-owning thing for years now, so I'm sure the carpal tunnel has worn off and you've since become seasoned veterans at being homeowners for the first, second, third [or more] time.
I'm welcoming myself [us] to the club. I've always known that I'd own my own home one day, but to be honest, I wasn't fully convinced that it would become reality.. until today. Haha.
tiffany, our realtor - she. is. awesome!!
More pictures later. I'm still high off this closing. Ya'll, we just bought a house!
I realized on Friday that this blog I've been neglecting for the past several months is more than just an outlet for me to bore an occasionally-engaged reading audience.
Isn't that somethin'?
This isn't the first time I've relied on my blog to answer my own questions: 'what DID I do that day?,' or 'When WAS that thing?' It's been a while since I've need affirmation that's of any real significance other than satisfying a curious gap in my recall. Given that I haven't updated this thing recently, I'll just swallow the irritation weeks from now when I ask the same question but can't answer it from a blog reference. Meh.
Anyway, the end of 2015 was the beginning of the time Rob and I decided to be real adults and take our first steps down the road of home-buying. Neither of us have done this before, but apparently part of the process entails the mortgage company asking you for the last few years of your work history. No biggie, right? Well, no... unless you've worked for a franchise installments of the same corporate company for the past 6 years but they need to have specific dates. #AdultingIsTimestamped
I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast 5 hours ago. What I can do, is my due diligence to myself not just for the primary purpose of journaling, but for the the side benefit of revisiting any given day in as much vivid detail as I cared to use in scribing what was still fresh in my mind. And, as you may have guessed, I was able to hunt down the exact dates of my first and last days with each of my franchise installments, all from referencing my dear, recently-neglected blog.
I didn't make any real "New Years' Resolutions," because I figured making it through this year with our sanity and with at least a few bucks in our pockets after buying a house, going on a mission trip and getting married.... is a medium-term goal that speaks for itself. It's now January 24th; this month is almost over and I've decided I not only want, but need, for myself, to keep this blog from going on vacation. December will be here before we know it: Willing God's plan allows - We'll have a house, Sydni will be in 2nd grade, we will have gone to and returned from a second week of missions in the mountains of Panama and I'll have celebrated my final holidays under my maiden name. This of all years, makes sense to keep my blog afloat.
THAT BEING SAID:
Our first week of January included the viewing of and offer-making on what we're praying will be the fifth and final search result houses. We uncapped our pens and started practicing our signatures, not just for the house, but also for our wedding photographer! We agreed that the new year would usher in more intentional efforts of planning this wedding, so when I reconnected with one of my dear hometown childhood friends who now has her own photography business, I knew it was a golden opportunity.
Yep, it's KARA!
circa soccer '99
kara & her hubby matt now! right photo cred: tracie maglosky / tracie jean photo
I am so daggone excited to see this gal, especially since she'll be in a few days earlier for the pre-festivity fun. Who knew?
Week 2 of January:
More house stuff, including the initiation of real paperwork, negotiation and questions. My work, which I haven't touched yet in this entry, took another dive into change, as one of my fellow staffing consultants left the business, and I reabsorbed a double workload that I'll carry [again] until we hire a replacement. Prayer warriors, I won't be mad if you could spare a little extra for this one.. :) It's not the end of the world. We'll be okay.. but just a little extra encouragement would be nice. Oh, and I spent the week sick, with two days as a complete mute, thanks to a small tango with laryngitis. But the show must go on...
Week 3 of January:
Ever have one of those weeks that just doesn't feel.... calibrated? Although I'm pretty sure that it's just that stage of readjustment that comes with a shift in activity at work, given that we spend at or over 40 hours each week together at work, it's not a surprise that any disrupt can ripple out across the team and even individually. At home, it felt like nothing was getting done, and the signing of our loan paperwork doubled as an exciting and equally-unnerving experience. It stamps the progression of this process, but amplifies the other stuff that's still temporary: our current residence, and more central - the looming task of cleaning and moving out. Haha. This will be the last time. Breathe, repeat.
That brings us to this weekend!
family dinner for mom's birthday!
Friday consisted of us cleaning the house. And by cleaning, I mean detailing Sydni's room, along with the rest of the house, in preparation for our special weekend guests. Laundry was done, small presents were wrapped, and dinner reservations for the following night were confirmed. Pajamas were donned and an early bedtime was surprisingly accepted without contest under just the mere thought of Nana and Pappy arriving in the morning.
Saturday came in with the sunrise: We are among the fortunate this weekend who were not buried up to our eyeballs and then some in multiple feet of snow and ice. My parents had a smooth drive to [& from] up north to visit with us, and we were able to rendezvous with our realtor Tiffany, so they could get a first look at what is almost certainly the new house.
Nope, there won't be any pictures yet... oh, the suspense! ;)
... I'm just kidding; I know nobody really cares that much. Le sigh..
Anyway, it was no surprise that they loved the new place, and frankly, I can't wait to have my mom's help with decorating. We finished our quick visit at the new digs, and headed back home for an afternoon relaxing: Dad & Rob watched golf, Sydni played and ready with Nana and I enjoyed being right in the middle of it all.
The evening came, and we headed out the door to Seasons 52, where a 7:00 reservation in a carved out corner booth greeted us with a team of smiling servers and a bottle of Wrongo Dongo to get the night started. Between the food, the company and the fun that's never absent from a gathering with my parents, I'm confident this was one of the best birthdays we've orchestrated for Mom in a while.
Whoa, did I just get on Mom's level?!?
- Okay, no... not quite I don't think... but hey, I was definitely in the zone today and felt more like my mom than I do most other days ;).
So Saturday was a wrap, with delicious food, spirit and memories under our belt, we headed home to unwind for the evening. What I always forget though, is that although we may annually celebrate mom turning another physical year older, there is nothing OLD about this woman.
These two... hahah. Gosh I love them.
Today, was church [which was incredible,btw] with the family, followed by Mom making us one of her signature brunch menu's. They were soon on the road back to Mt. Vernon, leaving us with a leisure day ahead of us.
Well, with soccer, of course. USWNT friendly game vs. Ireland? I think so :).
With so many new faces to watch, I have to say I'm looking forward to rabidly cheering on the USA through this year and their next road to the Olympics! #USWNT!
It's been a beautiful weekend and I'm ready to see what this next week will bring. Even with just one more blog under my belt, I feel a bit more like I'm back in my element and yeahhhh, that's good :).
Phew,
Happy weekend, ya'll. It's the last week of January at our fingertips, and I think it's gonna be a good week.
It was a muggy morning as we headed off to church, but the blessings for the effort came tenfold as we sat and let Pastor Chad feed us the message of the day. We continued through the life stories laid out in the book of Genesis, this time focusing on Jacob and his brother Esau. As I sat in the sanctuary with Rob, I let the moments of humility take over me, through the life lessons absorbed by Jacob.
After church, Rob and I headed home, where we did what Sundays declare: Relax. It wasn't much, but at the same time it was everything. We curled up together in the corner of the couch like we usually do, and just sat.. together. I said a prayer of unfiltered gratitude for the 'here and now' that was a stark contrast to the 'then and there' this same time last week. My best friend should be in much rougher condition right now, but he isn't and there's no one to thank for that other than the one who made us all in the first place.
In a couple hours, my parents and Sydni pulled up to the house; Sydni came bursting in with a tupperware container filled with two rocks: one big and one small. The big one was painted with a flower, which was for Rob and me, and other, with a red and yellow "rainbow," for her. We said our formalities and visited for a few brief moments before we were out the door lunch at Fire House.
My family cracks me up. First, my dad and Sydni, dueling it out over lunch with their thumb wars. Sydni's starting to learn and apply new strategies to try and beat everyone; she's a crafty little thing!!
it's all out war!
Hahaha. THEN, there's my mom, who brought along pictures from their mini getaway, but for some reason also brought with her some gems she resurrected from the archives of her in her 30's. I hate to say it, but blonde just wasn't your color, Mama. She agrees with me, but regardless, my mama was a babe! Haha..
then & now! :)
As encouragement for her to get back in and stay in the water, Nana & Pappy got Sydni some new eyewear:
this chick... hahaha
It's been storming on and off all day, and although it was a downpour when we got to the restaurant, it stopped by the time we were finished. Mom and Dad headed their separate way, and we journied on home for an evening of catch up after Syd's vacation up in the Vern.
I spent a small part of the evening doing some meal prep for the week, which relaxes my mind in the present and gives me the assurance that we're both eating well throughout the week, too.
nommmssss
all packed up & ready to go!
It wasn't long until the boxes from the smoker turned themselves into a "house," and then that house somehow merged with another box and became a bigger house, complete with curtains and a window.
These are the things I miss when she's not here, and these are the things that that I needed more than I realized, especially after the events of last week and the recovery from them throughout this week.
First things first, our new microwave unit went in today! Per the request of our landlord, the old vent unit in the kitchen has finally been replaced by a smaller vent system that happens to include an overhead microwave [yay!]
before & after! :)
I took off mid-project and left the guys to their devices in working through this project. I'm so excited to be a part of Brittany and Wayne's wedding early next year, and the first step in that was the fitting for and purchasing of my bridesmaid dress! I'd share some pics now, but I wouldn't dare spoil that surprise. It's nice to have it out of the way first thing this weekend, and not have to worry about missing any deadlines :). I can't wait!
Back at home, my little family was hard at work on their own projects, right alongside the two installers working on the vent unit.
syd & rob :)
The early afternoon wound down; the installers finished up and left, Rob took to the boat to finish up some additional work, Sydni took to hunting for baby bunnies to pester in the yard, and eventually we all reconvened in the house for the USWNT's last friendly game before they head off for the openers of the World Cup!
nil-nil at half
Good News? TWC came through this time with the station broadcast. Bad News? This was the final score, after 93 minutes of play:
womp womp.
It's the first time in several years that the US team has gone through a shut out on home turf, but fortunately it was a friendly game that doesn't stand for a whole lot right now. It was still worth watching, and I cannot wait to follow through coverage of the tournament!
Laundry. Yardwork. Housework. Family work. That's been our day today.
perfection :)
Gosh, this little family of mine. I'm one happy mama!
As it should happen, whilst cleaning yesterday, I found an ancient artifact dating back to the reason I met Catie, nearly a decade ago...
wow... just... wow. #flashback #itsoverthankfully
^ Remember that? There was a day, believe it or not, when I worked for Kiss 107, and that's where I met Catie. Only those who worked in that place will ever be able to fully understand the.... chaos that was life with CC, but I'm thankful to have shared that experience with Catie... hahah :)
Here at home, it was a day of rest, relaxation and prayer that this sinus issues I've been having for the past four-ish days now will go AWAY, so I don't have to take it with me to Panama. [Any and all prayers are gratefully welcome!;) ]
Sydni, to make me feel better, arranged a "concert" in my honor, performed by the cast of her MLP girls:
my thoughtful girl... and her dolls
She's so thoughtful.. ♥♥
Here's to a solid start to the work week for all of us, and to everyone out there staying healthy!! Happy Sunday!
Just for the record, I knew today was going to be a productive day when it started off like THIS:
it is... saturday morning...
Uh-huh.
So there's this recurring set of stories that my parents could easily share with anyone who's interested.. they're about me, and how I became obsessed at a young age with regularly rearranging my room. From what I can remember, to as far back as I can remember, I was doing this on average at least once every 3-4 months. I think because it was a change I could control, and also because it gave me a fresh perspective on something I saw daily, I loved to do it, and would spend hours tearing my room apart and putting it back together in a different order.
I am so thankful in hindsight that I had parents who supported my creative expressions. There were limits, yes, but they gave me that space to call mine, and let me have free reign over how it looked. ♥. It's like they knew me! ;)
Anyway, fast forward 20 some odd years, and here I am, in my own house doing the same thing. I'm so fortunate to have Rob, who is quite like-minded in that respect; we decided on a whim today to take some drastic measures against our living room.
before.
^ Ok, so this was partially into it; please don't think my house looked like this all the time.. haha.
And thennnn.. a few hours later, and after some lifting and creative measures of reorganizing the basement to accomodate some of this stuff, this was the finished work of the day!
after!
^^ And please excuse that pile of stuff in the corner; that's our neat-ish pile of stuff for my trip out to Panama, and Syd's vacation with Nana & Pappy. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy :)
To celebrate a day filled with cleaning, dusting, cleaning out, donating, more cleaning, rearranging and redefining our upstairs living space, we pulled ourselves together and headed out for a close dinner date at APG.
my handsome date! [not the chapstick... or the glass of ice... ;) ]
^^ Ladies, this one's off the market. I scored such a knock-out, and I'm grateful every day for him.. even if he does look like he's holding a tablet instead of a cell phone... haha... #ANDROIDLIFE.
Ah, February.... Je serai poète et toi poésie ... or something like that. I'm not quite sure I buy fully into February being the dictated month of love and all things ooey gooey romantic-like, but it is no less February FIRST... today. Where is 2014 going?! Wasn't it just Christmas?! *Sigh. Slow down, '14... haha.
Anyway, to celebrate the new month, we can proudly announce that we are OFFICIALLY moved and settled [well, settled for the most part] into the new house! That means all of us.. together.. under one roof. I'm a happy girl.
Today's big ticket item on the agenda was decorating the wall above the mantle. With what, you ask? Sixty inches of plasma, to be precise. We'll surely enjoy it, but Sydni quickly pointed out that this entire scenario was devised solely for her cartoon-viewing pleasure. First world problems, kid.
I took to the ongoing process of homing miscellaneous things throughout the house while Rob busied himself readying the wall mount. He is so handy. I love that.
my project man!
And after we both carried and lifted the itty bitty "decoration" [don't ask me how I keep lifting and carrying all these things. It's a miracle I haven't broken myself or my things.. haha].
bam. 60" of over-mantle decoration. done.
It's starting to feel, one inch at a time, like a home. I will be elated when the last random item is shelved and we can kick back without a thing on the list. Maybe we'll have more time to do things like this:
