Where to Start...

Life. It has a funny way of slipping away from you and before you know it a year has passed since the last time you wrote. In many ways I needed a break. A lot has happened in the last two years and I've needed to process and reflect on what has happened around me. In many ways not knowing where to start and the thought of blogging terrified me. However, enough time has passed and I am in a much healthier place these days. I'm ready to blog again and document our life this way because I do so love being able to re-read where we have been and where we are headed. Please, bear with me as I shake off the dust and clear the cobwebs. I've got to find a rhythm for posting again but I promise to get back on the bandwagon. I'm sure I'll post some on what has transpired over the last year but I don't really want to set expectations on that for myself. We'll just see when and where my heart goes with all of this. Without much further ado here's where we are headed...

Home
We are still living in our same house. It's hard to believe that we've been here now for over 7.5 years! Time moves so quickly. This past summer one of our old trees in the backyard split in half and in order to take it out we had to remove four additional trees. Our once super shady backyard is now very bright! The upside to this is that the mosquito problem that we've had for years is now virtually non-existent. It also means that for the first time since we've been here I'll be able to have a vegetable garden this next spring.

Andy
We are elated to announce that Andy will be starting a new job in different industry next week. He has been working in the tax industry since we met. We've prayed for a long time that something would come along that would allow him to switch gears and move out of it. And in the last two months God brought about an unexpected opportunity. It feels odd to be walking in uncharted territory and yet we are at peace with where we are being led. I'll share more about this and how we got to this point in another post because it is most certainly something I want to document.

Me
So many things to say here. :) The biggest change for me in this last year is going back to work. I absolutely love my job, what we do, and the people I work with. Again, I plan to document how I got to where I am because it is worth documenting in another post.

AG
Five and a half and getting closer to six every. single. day. He started Kindergarten in August and is thriving at school! We decided to put him on campus at Berry Elementary and have felt deeply affirmed that he is in the right place over the course of these last two months. He amazes us daily with all the different things that he is learning. He continues to be all boy and a sports fanatic just like his Daddy. Once again, he's playing soccer this fall and Andy is coaching his team. I'm not sure who enjoys it more but I absolutely love watching the two of them on the field together.

Avi-Kate
Our sweet and sassy mess as I affectionately call her. She's got a lot of spunk and reminds me daily of my sister, Caroline, when we were growing up. In August, she started school at Berry at the Child Development Center and she is blossoming right in front of our eyes. She loves being a 'big girl' who has her own friends and gets to do fun things like paint, play, read, and sing. Her only disappointment with school is that she can't ride the bus every day like her older brother. Ha. We remind her daily that her time is coming.

Samson
Middle age in dog years and likes his routine. He's living the dream lounging around the house and in the backyard. And always enjoys a car trip when it takes him to the farm where he can roam to his heart's content.

Running
Many a post on this subject coming up in the next few weeks. I'm still doing it and learning a lot along the way. Andy and I have some pretty ambitious race goals set for this next year and we are currently training for a half and a marathon back to back. We've got our race schedule for 2015 for the most part set and I'm really excited about what we've got on the books. Two of which are really big runDisney accomplishments.

College Family
Lots of transition here! We had a huge wave of our students graduate this spring so we are in the process of regrouping. Our group had become quite large and it should look much smaller this year due to our senior class this spring. With everything in limbo the last two months with Andy's job we haven't done our usual dinners to kick off the year. However, now that we know what the next few weeks look like as Andy transitions to his new gig we are excited about starting things back up with our students.

There you have it. A surface level post but hopefully it sets things up for me to dive back into this in the coming weeks. Back again soon...

"Reggie had plans, big plans..."

Anyone know where that little title came from? Anyone? Probably not...it's from one of my favorite children's books of all time, Ira Sleeps Over. (We have the very well-worn copy from my childhood and a fresh, new copy on the bookshelves and AG prefers the well-worn copy every time.)

Anyways, I've got plans, big plans! For the house that is. Over the last few weeks we have been talking at length about some larger projects that we would like to tackle. Not on the same scale as say completely overhauling the kitchen but bigger than repainting something. So here is a few of the things we've been discussing:

Outside
~New Fence--we are in need of replacing the existing one. However, we are pretty sure that our property line is beyond the fence on all three sides. The first order of business will be to have our lot surveyed so that we can see the correct placement of our property flags. Since our lot is quite wooded, due to the age of the homes in our area, we'll probably need to take out some trees in order to move the fence out. I'm quite excited about the possibilities of some more sunshine in the backyard so that I can plant some different things.

Den
~Semi-Makeover--We are planning to replace our sofa, chair, and ottoman this summer. We are also getting a new tv for the den since the old one needs replacing. I'm planning to order a new sofa and ottoman...I'm leaning toward something slipcovered so that I can wash it if need be and when it wears out/I need something new I can easily change it out. Our den is very casual and comfy so I think it will fit perfectly. As for a chair, I already have one and am planning to get it recovered. I just need to find a fabric I like for it. By the time we finish I'm sure it'll look completely different but we are not starting from scratch hence the 'semi-makeover'.

Laundry Room
~Completely overhauled--Oh, the joys of a long, skinny, old house. I had an absolutely AMAZING design for the laundry room remodel. And then we realized that if we did what I had planned we wouldn't be able to move our furniture out one day when we move. (Sigh!) To say I was bummed would be an understatement BUT I'm extremely grateful that we thought about that before we did anything. My dad jokingly told me we could just offer the house as fully furnished. Ha. Anyways, since my first plan is out the new plan will actually be much cheaper/won't take as long. The plan is to paint, put in cabinets, a countertop for me to fold laundry on, new appliances...I'll need to have front loaders for my design, flooring, and crown molding since the ONLY room in the house that doesn't have it currently is the laundry room. This project will be BIG but not HUGE because the room is a blank canvas. We have some wire shelving to take down and an old linoleum floor to pull up but that is it. And the hardest thing we'll do will be moving the location of the washer and dryer. Nothing like the bathroom remodel or the kitchen. Now to just get everything out of it! It's been our catch all place while we've worked on every other room. I'm looking forward to having it cleaned out and fixed up. I'm not sure when exactly we'll do  this but we'll just say that it is finally on the To Do Docket. Hooray!

Furniture
~Dining Room Table--Needs to be finished. Andy started it forever ago and just hasn't had time to finish it and when he does the weather hasn't cooperated. Since the pollen is falling so early we are hoping he might be able to get some stuff done in the next few weeks before the summer heat really sets in.
~End Tables--We were able to snag two bedside tables from my grandmother's estate and they need to be refinished. They are really simple and it shouldn't take Andy long to paint and distress them the way he likes to.
~Bookcase--Lives in our bedroom and needs a coat of paint so that it will match the rest of the room.

Currently
~A week ago we went to Atlanta to claim what we wanted out of my grandmother's estate. We came home with lots of furniture! Well, in order to bring furniture home you have to get rid of furniture. Two of our students are getting married later this year and so they are taking lots of things off of our hands. Needless to say, my house is total chaos right now. I'm cleaning stuff out, spring cleaning, and reorganizing! Over the weekend I redid the kitchen cabinets. I'm slowly making my way around the house. It just takes longer since I'm having to juggle normal mom duties and then the extra work. I'm making progress...slowly but surely. I'm planning to do some before/after posts to show what we changed. I just need to finish redecorating things. Stay tuned.

Like I said...plans, big plans! We'll see what we end up working on and when. I also have several ideas for art for the walls/things I want Andy and I to make. We just need to find the time. :) Photos to come as we tackle things off the list.

Face-lift on the house...sneak peek.

When you live in an old house it is inevitable that things are going to need to be repaired, fixed, and or restored at some point. In the case of our front steps that has been a need since we moved in but we are finally at point where we can focus on it. I plan to do a complete before/after post when Andy has everything just the way he likes it. Till then here is a sneak peek at some of the work that has taken place...

I've come to the conclusion that there are very few things that my husband and father can not do. The front of the house is a prime example of that and it amazes me! Looking forward to showing you all the details, soon.

This is what happens...

...when you live in a house that was built the year that World War 2 ended:

You buy a few cans of paint.

This old house has received fresh paint in every room but the laundry room to date. We've painted ceilings, walls, baseboards, trim and crown molding. This is just some, not all, of what had been hanging out in the laundry room related to repainting the entire house. Crazy. Time consuming. But, oh, so worth the effort. The end results are so much better than the before pictures. I started laughing when I saw how many cans Andy and I started hauling out of the storage area behind the door in the laundry room.

Laundry room your time is coming. I've got big plans for you in the future...for now you'll just have to make do with being reorganized.

Art and a headboard...

...that's what we are making/working on this weekend. 

First up, we have the headboard that I've been talking about for weeks. Due to the chaos that is life we have not gotten around to them till now. This project should be fairly inexpensive considering what the end result will be. The doors were free from Andy's mom. When she did renovations/preservation work on the old barn they were discovered up in the loft I believe. We finally hauled 'em back from the farm Memorial Day weekend. So all we have to purchase is the painting supplies.

We have a lot of black furniture. And we have a lot of distressed furniture. I decided that we needed to at least change it up a bit even though a black headboard would really look best in the guest bedroom. So while the doors will have a top coat that is black the bottom coat is going to be a mustardy-goldish color. In between we are going to try our hand at a crackle finish! I hope it turns out well. At first I was quite put out with the woman at the Lowe's paint counter.  (Our Home Depot, my store of preference, no longer carries crackle supplies because there isn't a huge need for it apparently in our area.) So I found myself at the Lowe's waiting for a good 15 minutes to talk to the paint specialist. My question was if I want the natural wood to show do I have to paint a base coat? And she informed me that yes I have to. I asked there isn't any other way to do it...nope. Fine. I waited all that time for two words. I probably would have been okay if she had at least been polite. Instead she reeked of smoke and glared at me...I think I interrupted  her smoke break. Whatever. Grouchy and put out I purchased only the crackling supplies and headed back to MECCA aka Home Depot to purchase my paint. So there's the first project...

And here's the second...

This is my kitchen the night before it was demo-ed. That hot pink post-it is a reminder to the contractor not to trash my cabinet doors. On a completely separate note I do not miss my old kitchen one bit. This picture is proof that the kitchen needed a face lift.

After a year in the cellar (yes, we actually have a cellar) they are a little dirty but no worse for the wear.  

Since we re-did the kitchen I have wanted to have something on the walls to highlight our college "family" but was unsure what I wanted and where. After much thought and the itch to have something new on the wall before they return in a few weeks I have decided. If you look closely my old cabinet doors have raised molding around the inside. I've decided that we are going to paint a magnetic primer on the inside portion followed by a chalkboard layer. The outside portion will be painted to look like a frame. The nasty brass pulls will be replaced with pewter ones to match the rest of the kitchen hardware. If it works out the way it looks in my mind I should end up with some fabulous art to hang on my wall...that can be filled with photos, quotes, doodles, and who knows what else when our students return.

In addition, I'm going to make an extra door for AG. We have stainless appliances and thus, he has no place to put magnetic ABCs, 123s, shapes, etc. Plus we don't have room in this house for an easel. So by giving him his own door we can place it on his play table, put it on the floor, tote it around the house, etc.

We'll see how it all works out. Should be fun and interesting since we've never crackled, painted with magnetic primer or chalkboard paint. More pictures to come...

PS- I couldn't leave you without showing an after photo of my kitchen because the before is pretty rough! Once I get the art on the walls I will have to take pictures of everything. For now this shot from Christmas works.

Three Years for This Old House...

My how time flies!

Three years ago today Andy and I bought our first home. We had been married for a week shy of a year and were elated to roll up our sleeves to make our new house a home. As I sit tonight I am amazed simply amazed at all that we have done to our little old house. We've painted almost every square inch from top to bottom. The only room left is the laundry room. We gutted our master bath and started over. We did a complete kitchen remodel and had a house in utter chaos for weeks. We've removed wallpaper, patched plaster, and smoothed out walls. Started landscaping around the house. And in all of this we've redone lots of furniture to furnish this old house. Again, I'm simply amazed. The house has been a labor of love and I have loved every minute of it because Andy and I did it together. People will tell you that remodeling a house is a great way to test your relationship. Yes, that statement is true. In our case it has only deepened our relationship. Andy and I love to do projects together around the house and we both take satisfaction in completing a task together. I couldn't imagine under taking something like this without him. And when we finish and move on to another house I look forward to rolling up my sleeves once again with my best friend. So to celebrate here are some of my favorite moments from the last three years...