Moving On

We've been in our new place for one week. I survived. I survived the packing, loading, unloading, and unpacking. Do you have any idea how much that whole process of moving goes against my personality? Watching my husband muscle up all our stuff randomly in a large moving truck until it's busting at the seams almost gave me a panic attack. I like order and try to avoid chaos as much as humanly possible (as a mother of 2 boys). Moving is chaos. Anyway, everything went relatively smooth with the closings on Friday. The only real hiccup that weekend came when our first closing wanted to get moved back a few hours. After a mini heart-attack and some threatening negotiating, it all worked out and we closed on both homes 2 hours apart. Before we left for the last time, the four of us walked around our empty house and said good-bye to each room and talked about good memories we have had in each. Such a special place. Good thing home is where the heart is or this could have been a little harder. It takes me a while to make any place feel like mine. My heart is with these three people surrounding me, so no matter what house I'm in, I home.

Everything was going fine after the weekend and we were settling in when the mini nightmare began. Yes, our drama-free closing didn't last. I don't really want to get into all that went down because it's over now and everything is okay, but I'll tell you that until this past Friday (one week after our closing), the house was not officially ours. A few people made huge errors and the house had the potential to go into foreclosure due to a lack of funds on the part of the seller. How this got to our closing table is unreal. But it's over. The house, which I thought was mine (and Fifth-Thirds-ha!) last Friday wasn't actually mine until 3 days ago. Really really frustrating week. This situation, if nothing else, showed me I need to work on trusting God. I didn't handle the situation like I wished I would have. I learned and hopefully grew some. Moving on. I like to pretend it never happened.

Everyone has asked how the boys have done adjusting. I have got to say that I've been completely surprised by how unaffected they seem to be acting. Graham has even made it clear that he does not want to go back to the "old house." Parker as told me many times that he thinks our new house is super cool. So far, all of our neighbors are super sweet and their kids are so friendly to ours. Despite my not-so-social personality, this whole sub-division thing might work out great for the next few years :)

How am I doing? Thanks for asking. Two feelings come to mind: blessed and overwhelmed.  I am thankful for such a nice home and community. I am thankful for a wonderful yard and flat streets to walk/bike on. I am super excited to be 5 minutes from David's work. I love my cabinet space and storage.

However, there are other feelings present too. I don't want anyone to think I'm being ungrateful, but I'm human. This is the overwhelmed part. The inside of this home is rather drab. To say it needs a facelift is an understatement. Yes, I knew that I wasn't buying pretty when we purchased the home, but there are times when each of us feel motivated and confident and then times where we feel a little more overwhelmed. Right now, as I sit starring at boxes, wall paper, icky carpet, and light fixtures from 1994, the task of beautifying my home seems daunting. I want it to feel like home. Like my home. And that is going to take a while. And some money. And lots of patience.

I'll get there. Just not today. I will unload one more box and then take the boys outside to enjoy our beautiful backyard. I will save my money, and as time (and children) permit, I will slowly work on my house to turn it into our home. I actually love doing this kind of stuff, but it's a lot to address a whole house, not just one room. We are in the process of planning out exactly what we want to do and in what order of importance. I'll share our plans soon.

Here's somewhat of a house tour. As we work, I'll continue to update. Remember to look at these photos with potential in mind.

We've already made so many changes. Can't wait to share and get ideas from you all!