Still painting..

I went and got a lot of the detail painting done today. I have never painted an entire house by myself before, and it isn't really high on my list of things to do again someday! It is looking very nice, though. If the power company gets the power turned on tomorrow I will clean the carpets and start moving furniture in. I took the cats over today, and they are very, very, very happy to be released from their cages. Poor kitties.

The kids made friends with some of the other kids living in the cul-de-sac today. I love being able to let the kids play in front of the house and not have to worry about cars flying around the corner. As stressful as it has been, I still can't believe how gorgeous it is up here. There is a man who goes walking everyday through the town, and waves to everyone who drives by. I just love the friendly atmosphere here. I don't think I ever realized how much I avoid looking at people I don't know until they all started saying hello to me!

There is still a lot to get done, and not a lot of time left to do it, but it is a huge sense of relief to see it coming together. We are leaving on Sunday to go to court on Monday, and we are all really looking forward to seeing Jessica again. Her caseworker said it looks like she can be home with us before school starts again. Then I am heading to Arlington on Tuesday to teach for the weekend. I am thinking this will be a week where going to work means getting a break!

I am beat, so I am going to bed. TTYS

My arm hurts...

but that is just fine.

We decided to go a different route with the house. There are just too many problems with this particular lender, so we are withdrawing our offer and talking to builders this week to start over. We found lots of land that we can buy outright and then have the house built on it. It will take a little longer, but I am happy to know we are doing something productive now!

I found a rental house and went to paint today. (I can't tell you how scarce rentals are here... we found two total throughout the four closest towns!) The landlord was super nice. We can have our pets, and since I was willing to do the painting he let me paint the walls any color I wanted. I went with a taupy brown for the living room, hallway, our room, and the boys' room. The girls room is a spring green to coordinate with their pink/green/springy bedding, and the kitchen, the utility room, and the bathrooms are country white. We have a big yard for the kids to play in, and the neighborhood is very nice. I love that the deputy is living right across the street from us, and Faith loves that she can see the horses and their ponies from our front porch. Tomorrow I am going back to finish with the cutting in and the baseboards, and then I will start moving furniture in. I am trying to have it all put together before Jack gets back on Friday so he doesn't feel like he has to drive across the country and then do a lot of manual labor. It isn't ours, but at least it can be a comfortable home until ours is built!

I found a really fun science program for the kids through the library that Chet is going to love. Matt is going to scout camp with his troop through the church here on Monday, and he can't stop talking about it. I have to get him to a doctor for the physical he needs before he goes sometime this week. It feels good to be settling in!

I had to add today's quote so I can use it later. I love it!

“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.” Oscar Wilde

I won't be on for a couple of days most likely, but I wanted to update and let you all know things are looking up! When the phone gets turned on in the next day or two I will email it out to everyone who needs it!

Have a great week!

so depressing

What started out as fulfilling a dream has become a nightmare. The original lender had problems with the appraiser, and wanted to change the terms of the loan, so we had to go with a new lender. They are putting a rush on it to try to get it all approved and closed by Tuesday, but I am having such a hard time staying positive. It is so depressing to know that we are stressing our friends out by being here so much longer than we were told to expect. I hate not knowing for sure what the outcome is going to be. Today I made some calls about rental homes and began looking into other homes for sale in case they come back with more problems on this house. I know it is all going to work out. It always does. I just hate the not knowing, and feeling ready to cry at the drop of a hat from the stress.

I took the kids to the Saunders Gun Museum today to get out of the house for a while. It is a pretty nice little museum on the historic square here in town, with lots of outlaw guns from Jesse James, Billy the Kid, etc, as well as other antique guns, Native American displays, and early history of the town. We also went to the library and got all the kids library cards and checked some books out. The older kids are at the community center swimming right now, and tomorrow we are going to look into getting them a membership there to go play basketball and swim during the summer. There are positive things happening, and I keep reminding myself of that. I just desperately want to be in my own house, getting it put together and making it a home.

Still waiting

This is killing me. The closing was delayed again until today, if all goes the way they said it would today. Jack and Al flew back to Vegas yesterday because Jack has to work at that office until his transfer finishes going through, and Al had to be back to work today. My mom flew back two days ago for the same reasons. It has been a hard couple of days full of more good-byes. And now everybody who came out to help move us in is gone as well. There are some nice people from the ward (well, technically a branch) that are going to help me get the furniture in when I can actually move in, but I am still going to miss Jack during the next couple of weeks until he gets back.

I went poking around some antique stores the other day while I was waiting, and that was incredibly fun. I found a set of wooden lockers from an old county jail that I simply fell in love with. I love things with cubby holes and drawers. I am looking for a set of old hardware store drawers that I can repurpose in the new house.

Today I am going to assemble my little drawers from Ikea and get them painted, and go ahead and paint the shelves Jack built me before I move them into the house. I figure if I have to put up with all this waiting, I may as well put the time to good use. I also found some old window panes that I am going to sand down, paint, and add some photos to. I have wanted to alter some windowpanes forever.

If you are trying to email me, I can't access my personal account right now. I am not ignoring you, I promise... :0)

Interminable waiting

The escrow is supposed to close today, and we are supposed to be able to move in tomorrow, and the waiting is killing me. I have been working on making the bead curtain for the girls' room (it is very pretty... can't wait to show you!), and yesterday we went and got some non-perishable groceries at Sams Club to stock some of the pantry. Jack is going back to Vegas on Sunday to finish waiting for his transfer to go through. He went in yesterday to talk to the local office, and they have the perfect position for him here. It looks like he should be done transferring out here in a couple of weeks, and that is a HUGE relief.

I saw the sunset last night, and it was gorgeous. I always loved the Vegas sunsets with the sun sinking behind the mountains. It sinks behind the mountains here, too, but the difference is that I am living on top of the mountains, so it looks completely different at this vantage point... simply stunning.

It is still sinking in that this dream is a reality... my kids are in the country, we are moving to a farm, we live on top of a beautiful mountain, and I have fruit and berries growing in my garden. Jack is out riding a riding lawnmower right now trimming down Billy and Johanna's 11 acres as a thank you for letting us stay here while we dealt with the delays that weren't supposed to happen. We are so lucky to have so many good friends all over the country! I will post pictures as soon as I can!~

Live From Arkansas

We mde it safe and sound! The cats are a bit disgruntled, but they will have to get over it! We pulled in about 1 this morning, and today we are taking care of paperwork and other mundane stuff like that. We have to get the truck and trailer unloaded and returned, so it will be a busy day! We can't actually move in until the escrow finishes closing (there was an appraisal delay), but I will keep you updated as I can! I have pictures to share, but those will have to come later! Have a great day and I will be back!

hello from Novi!

I am just popping in from Novi, Michigan to say hi and update a little! It has been a good weekend here at the show! Jack called me today, and the house is packed and he is loading it all into the truck tomorrow. I am getting home Sunday afternoon, and we are leaving to head out to Arkansas first thing Monday morning. Suddenly a part of me feels like crying constantly... as excited as I am for a brand new start in a brand new area the uncertainties of being so far away from family is weighing heavily on me. I simply don't know how to say goodbye.

I have to get wireless internet installed out there before I can post there, but as soon as that is up and running I will be back online and sharing all the new and exciting things in our lives with all of you! Well, they are exciting for me at least, I don't know what pictures of our berry bushes will do for you! :0)

We get to see Jessica again in just a couple of weeks, and that makes us all so happy. We just want to bundle her up and bring her home right now.

I have always liked coming here to Michigan, and this show isn't any different... friendly people, lovely scenery, great weather this time of year... I love it here! I taught a class at Scraptales the other night (Katherine don't laugh at me!) and it went well! Gorgeous store!

I will try to update again before I leave here, but if I don't post again before Monday morning, please jsut say a little prayer for us that he trip is safe and we all arrive in one piece with our sanity intact!

Eleven years and holding

It was eleven years ago at just about this time of day that we promised for better or worse, and we have held to that promise. I don't have any pictures with me of us now, so I am just copying the wedding page from Jessica's album here so you can see how skinny we were back then. Happy anniversary, Jack... I would marry you all over again! Miss you!

Shopping in Chicago...

well, okay, I am working too, but yesterday was a tremendously fun shopping afternoon. I introduced Ronda, Teresa, Amanda, and Sharla to my favorite store of all time... yep, Ikea. We browsed, we oohed, we aahed, and I do believe I have them quite addicted now. Lucky them, they are getting an Ikea practically in their backyard... I am so jealous!

I was only going to pick up a few little things, and then I found this lamp for the boys' room. Chet wants a solar system theme in his room, and the kid asks for so few things, how can I possibly say no? This lamp spins and casts stars, moons, and planets on the walls... how perfect is that? And right next to that wonderful little contraption was a display of these utterly lovely beaded lamps... lamps that perfectly match the beads we are hanging in the two upstairs rooms to divide Jessica's room from the younger girls' room. Who could resist them? Not me, that is for sure! I bought two, one each for both of the rooms! I also bought a gauzy curtain to hang between the beads in the doorway, and some really nice black iron keyhooks. The really great news is that there is an Ikea in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Sacramento, Long Island, Houston, and the St.Paul area... and guess who is hitting all those cities this year??? By the end of the year my house should be completely done over with all the wonderful things Ikea has to offer! After Ikea we headed to TJ Maxx, where I found the perfect coppery brass hanging baskets and fruit basket for my kitchen table. So what if we don't have a kitchen table for the new house yet... at least it will be well dressed when we get it, right? We also went window shopping at Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, and the Container Store... what a wealth of inspiration those stores are as well!

The house is almost all packed. I was literally packing up until the minute I had to leave to catch my plane out here. When I get home this Sunday, I will finish up with the final packing and cleaning details before I had out to Novi on Tuesday. Then when I get home next Sunday we are getting a good night's sleep and heading out to Arkansas Monday morning. I am a bundle of very tired nerves, and the kids are going back and forth on whether they are happy about this or not. I am making Faith a little album to keep pictures of her Vegas friends for my next assignment, and I should have it done to give to her before I get home this week. She is having the hardest time with the thought of leaving.

It has been a day today... we are all working hard and well together, but the electronics are conspiring against us. Tomorrow we will be ringing everybody up on calculators, and taking a manual inventory of the remaining stock... fun, fun, fun. I bet you all wish you were here doing it instead of us! :0)

I am going to head back up to my room and go to sleep so I am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to teach and help run the booth tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Monday, Monday

It is the first of the month, which means the new feature is up at Scrap Village. This month we all made spring related pages.



It was also my turn this month to create the City Planner Blueprint, so this is what I made using a sketch I made with my Pages by Design. Click the Blueprint link if you would like to see the sketch and the layout together. you can print the sketch out and add it to your PBD idea books.



I got home from Nashville yesterday, after I completely slept through the whole flight. That is the best way to fly... sound asleep! I had a good time there. On Saturday I went to see the Grand Ole Opry during my break between classes.














I loved taking the backstage tour. We got to go behind the scenes to see the post office (103 is Clint Black's box and 104 is Garth Brooks), the dressing rooms, the greenroom, we visited Studio A where HeeHaw was filmed, and then we went onstage.








For somebody who sings as poorly as I do, this is the closest I will ever come to performing on the Grand Ole Opry! For me the tour was more rewarding than watching a performance would have been... I loved learning the Opry's history and seeing all the photos on the walls.














I also went through the Opry's museum, where I had my photo taken with Patsy Cline... :0)


























After a very quick teardown on Saturday, we went to dinner, and then to a movie. Sheri, Johanna, and I went and say "Take the Lead", a very, very good movie. I loved how funny it was, and I really loved the true story the movie is based on.

We found














Chet's Barber Shop during this trip, and these are a couple of other funny photos I caught along the way as well.


























How does one walk and keep their jeans around their knees? What kind of girl looks at this and says "ooohh... I love the way it looks like you glued your butt to the back of your knees!"


























And I thought the Cracker Barrel was a family style restaraunt???