an epiphany

Last Saturday I had a garage sale.  So soon after you moved, Kim?  Why yes, so soon.  It was great, actually.  I got rid of all kinds of things and made space in the process.  It was awesome.

Garage sales are a crazy beast.  The people who come?  Generally friendly and always happy to get a good deal.  But I had one guy who came in, talking loudly, and acting like he owned the place.  Then he told me he would get "this sign" off my hands for $1 IF I let him use the bathroom.  He "had to pee like a racehorse." UMMMM, no THANK you?  Seriously.  I'm not sure what planet he lived on, but in my world, we don't need the dollar that badly.  Nor do we want complete strangers wandering through our home uninvited.

However, speaking of strangers wandering our home, at one point this sweet lady came through and was talking about remodeling her home when my husband got excited and invited her in to see our new kitchen!  Hahahaha!!!  Only MY mister.  He's never met a stranger.

So now that THAT'S behind us, we have been unloading boxes and hanging things on the walls.  Which is my favorite part.  And I'm finally ready to show you around some more! 

Our breakfast room was an add-on by the previous owner, which we love, but it needs curtains.  So hold tight, they'll be here soon.  In the meantime, here's the way it's turned out so far, with cute stuff on the walls finally.

 Don't you love all the light?  I almost hate to put anything on that window, but you know what they say... Curtains are the lipstick of a room.

So this crazy thing happened when I had that garage sale.  It's called an epiphany.  I was standing there with all these people rummaging through my "stuff" when this cute lady asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks.

"Did you own a shop or something?  You're stuff is so cute."

Oh..... Snap.

No, I've never owned a shop.  Although I'd love to.

This got me thinking.  And looking around.  How in the world have I accumulated so many "things"?  Things that are temporary and fleeting.  Things that won't come with me into eternity.

And that's when I remembered my friend Carol.  She recently gave me a book that I had started reading in passing.  

This book has given me a new way to look at my home.  I had a lot of grand plans to redecorate.  To invent a new style when we moved here.  But reading this book and hearing that question, so flippantly asked, brought me to an important epiphany.

I love my home.  I love my family.  I love my Jesus.  And I need to be content with those three things.  I need to use what I've got and not go out searching for "more".  Because more is not better.  It's just MORE.

I hope as I continue on this blogging journey to show you what LESS looks like.  I like to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  So I'm hoping to bring new life to the things that seemed lifeless to me before last Saturday.  Things that I was blessed to be able to purchase before.  

The things that made me happy before will make me happy again.  Amen.

moving stinks.

Wow.  Do you remember how much moving stinks?  Have you moved recently?  If not, I highly discourage it.  Especially if you've been settled in for like 7 years at your house.  Because it turns out that when you "settle in", you fill EVERY nook and cranny with your crap.  And then when you go to move, you realize there is a never ending packing job ahead.

I've told you before that we have had 7 houses now.  I got REALLY good at purging the "stuff" along the way because when you move that often, you realize how much you didn't need that salad spinner or rice cooker (sorry if that's blasphemy to you!). Apparently I had collected NEW salad spinners and rice cookers while I sat in one house for that long, and now I'm reaping the consequences of those silly things.

We did the dumbest thing ever with this move.  AND WE KNOW BETTER.  We packed up our stuff by throwing it in the car and driving it away.  Yep, only about 15 boxes for these dummies.  How hard can it be?  We don't have that much stuff, right?  Wrong-o.  Turns out, throwing stuff in the car like you're a college kid again, is NOT the most effective way to move a house.  Lesson learned.

We had movers come last Saturday.  We got a U-Haul on Friday, and we've taken numerous trips back and forth.  Thank goodness we only moved 3/4 of a mile away!  AND YET.  There is STILL STUFF IN THAT HOUSE!  Good gravy.  I vow to get it all out by the end of the week.  And mostly because I need that STUFF to do a big fat garage sale here in the new neighborhood.  WHY SO SOON, KIM?  Well because apparently this weekend is THE garage sale for our neighborhood.  If we want free advertising and lots of traffic, we'll have to do it now.  So strap in!  It's going to be a busy ride!

Want to see the house?  Well, remember, it's not unpacked yet.  We've put all our effort into moving.  So bear with me.  I'll continue updating as we decorate.  It will become my new "purpose." ;)

Remember this old bathroom?

Well, she's not done yet, but here's the closest we've gotten in any room to being complete.

I like to just stand in the doorway and look at this bathroom.  The color makes me smile.

I can also give you a peek at the kitchen, but we're missing the chalkboard door that's coming any day.  And also some switch plates.  And lightbulbs.  And appropriately sized bar stools and.... imagine it with me, will you?

Yes, it's coming along.  I'm hoping soon I can stop filling my car and start focusing on this sweet home.

we've got granite!

Well folks, the time is drawing nearer and nearer.  I always tend to panic when I'm days out.  I look around, seeing ALL THE THINGS that still need to be done, and I freak out.  I'm literally fighting a tightening chest these days.  But everything will come together.  I wouldn't know it if I didn't already know it.  I guess there IS a good thing about getting older.  We become wiser to the things that used to make us roll up in a ball in the corner.  Seven houses and I'm an old wise soul.  Hopefully.

This weekend we hung one of the glass pendants I was so excited about for the kitchen sink area and OOPS.  It's a leetle crooked.  The mister couldn't stand it.  I, on the other hand, looked and thought: Hey!  It's a little off!  But so am I!  It's really just a beautiful picture of my life wrapped up in a light fixture!  But no, Mister mister won out.  At least we now know why they're "only" $45 at Home Depot.

Out with the old and in with the new!  But the "new" won't be coming in the mail until after we've moved, I'm sure.  Because that's how a remodel rolls, people.  But not to worry.  There are worse things that can happen.  Like having a drain problem announced to you mid-remodel and having to pay $1500 to reroute the standing water in your backyard that made your air conditioning register fill up with water.  Yah.  That's bad.  Ugly lights?  NOT A PROBLEM.  :)

So here's how she stands today.  We have GRANITE PEOPLE!!!

See those gray areas?  Those are CLEAR.  YOU CAN SEE THROUGH MY GRANITE!  How flippin cool is THAT?  It's like a piece of nature's artwork in my kitchen.  (swoon)

Now all we wait for is the backsplash.  We've decided and waffled.  Decided and waffled.  And then we decided!  Marble subway tile set on a herringbone pattern!  YES, THAT'S IT!  And thennnnn...... we set it against the granite.

And that, my friends, is how we came to decide on our backsplash tile.  I considered letting you vote.  I considered telling you what we chose.  But ultimately, I decided it would be a surprise for you, my loyal readers.  I promise it will be lovely.  :)

Next up is this fun light!  It will be hanging above our island in no time flat.  I can't wait to see it!!

And last.  I have good news and bad news.  

The good news is: I have a sink!!  

The bad news is: I didn't get my much hoped for farmhouse sink.  

You see, when doing a remodel, there are easy fixes and there are hard fixes.  And then?  There are impossible fixes. Or "possible for a whole lot of money" fixes.

We chose the easy fix for this sink.  The hard fix wasn't an option here.  Only the "possible for a whole lot of money" fix was an option.  Because in an older house, you'd have to build up a platform underneath to hold that 125 lb. sink.  Then you'd be cutting the old cabinets to make room.  There were a few too many variables for me to feel comfortable with that option.  And so the sink you see here?  She's the one.  And I like her.  She'll do just fine.  :)

More coming soon!

T minus 7 days and counting

Well, I had some radio silence there for a few days.  I'm sure you can understand, I've been working and homeschooling.  Plus, every spare second we have is spent doing something for or at "the house".

But TODAY?  Today is huge, people!  Today our granite arrives!  Oh how my heart is a pitter patterin'.  I can't wait to show you how it turns out!

In the meantime, however, you'll have to settle for these pictures that show the progress.  OR the lack thereof.  Because remember, I don't live in a dream world where contractors make appointments and show up on time, eagerly awaiting the work ahead.  No.  I don't.

In fact, here I will show you the "ugly" side of remodeling.  Heed my words of advice.  Don't try this at home.  THERE IS SOMETHING TO BE SAID FOR PAYING SOMEONE ELSE TO DO THIS JOB.
(I'm speaking out of exhaustion and emotion here.  Do whatever you want, I just wanted to fairly warn you.)

So these are fun.  The fabric is for the laundry room (remember the navy walls you picked, internet?  This will  be perfect with them!)  And the knobs?  Oh my.  I can't even.  These little beauties will be on my cabinets in the fabulous guest bath we've been working SO HARD on.  Mmmmm, mmmmm.  Yum.

So here's the ugly part.  Just when you think it's time to clean, someone else comes in and tears crap up.  Here's the mister using our new shopvac to clean out our newly painted and newly dirtied drawers.

Thank God for that man.

We have three lights still to be hung in the kitchen.  Any day now (LITERALLY.  ANY. DAY. NOW.) the guy will come to hang those.  For the love of PETE.

Thank you again, World Market!

Toilet in your dining room?  Shooooooot, why not?

(As a side note, our plumber has been the BEST guy we've worked with so far.  And HE IS A HOOT.  Plus, he shows up on time and hasn't costed me an arm and a leg.  I LOVE HIM.)

And now for the ugly.  The touchups and trims and repairs that are still yet to be accomplished.  But we will get there, come hell or high water!  Next Friday.  One WEEK, people!  Ahhhhhhh.

oops.  that gap wasn't there before the tile was laid.  no wonder my wine fridge doesn't fit.

Friends, I covet your prayers over the next week.  I'm going to need a moderate amount of coffee and whole lot of Jesus to get me through.  But I have been promised by the mister that we will survive.  So there's that.

seeing the light at the end of the tunnel

When I was in college, it seemed like I was sick all the time.  I was what my dad liked to call "burning the candle at both ends."  I ate crappy food and stayed up late.  I consumed large amounts of sugar and in retrospect, my body WAS being worn out and not getting fed correctly.

Today, I am burning the candle at both ends again.  I have one house I'm living in, trying to keep clean and yet, pack it up.  Trying to homeschool in and feed my family in.  And yet, there's this other house.  A house that I'm working on in every free minute.  We're cleaning and doing yard work and painting.  And I. am. exhausted.  I'm losing the gusto that I began this project with.  But FINISH STRONG, I will.

Here are the things that went on at the house this weekend.

Anthro knobs installed

Painting finished (still awaiting baseboards, and of course washer and dryer)

 And this cute thing?  It's going on the floor of above laundry room.

This, most wonderful light fixture from World Market, was hung.  

(happy heart inserted here)

Gray walls were painted and the bathroom cleaned

All while Mama sat on her nest.  There are 4 eggs there now, by the way. :)

Aaaaaand, the counters were measured.

Whew!  Lots of goings on.  Including Easter!  And Granny's visit!  And a leg of lamb! 

Thank you Jesus for all that you are and all that you've given me.  I am blessed beyond measure.