Hello Goodbye

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Really, believe it or not.

Yes, I know it's been awhile. Over a month, almost two since I've last posted.

I have been very busy in my absence. I've not been catching up on summer reading.

Earlier this month, we said goodbye to the house we'd lived in for nine years. The house I brought all my babies home to. The house that my hubby and I have spent the majority of our married life in.

Lots of boxes, purging, yard sales, sweat and a little bit of crying was involved. We pared our belongings down to a 10x10 storage unit and said adios to the rest. Good thing we lived in a small home to begin with.

Once we found out we had to leave, we moved out in two weeks. During that time we had lots of heat, a round of the stomach flu, several dump runs and lots of take out.

The above picture was taken the morning we left. I went out in the early morning and shot several "house" pictures for our memory book. I took just a few minutes and recalled all the memories we'd made there. With three small kids who had lived there since birth, there was a lot to remember.

I only cried once, after we'd handed over the keys and stopped at McD's (not my choice) for lunch. Hubby was following behind me in his truck. When he got out, I lost it and gave him a big hug. "Everyone that made those memories so special to me are here with me right now," to which he replied, "Your right, it's only a shell." And with that, I cried my last real tear and resolved to start the new journey God has for us.

So, the kids and I are now living with my parents two hours south of where we were. Hubby stayed behind because of work, and lives with his parents during the week and then comes down on the weekends. It's not ideal, but it will work. Skype and phone calls will make it all much easier. It won't last forever, but until we make our next big move it'll be the space in between.

Yesterday my Mom and I went on a ride with the kids. We've gotten another round of sickness, this time a nasty cold. The kids were majorly cagey so we packed 'em up and headed out to the coast. We drove around and took pictures of several sites that I've enjoyed for many years.

One cool thing about moving home is that it gives my kids a chance to really experience things that I did as a child. We visited my parents quite a bit before, but it's nothing like living in the same town and seeing the same things. The bank, the store, the post office, the park I played in as a kid. Instead of it just being a noveltly they would experience while visiting Noni and Popi they get to actually "live" it. Even if they won't remember, I will.

It's also been nice to have the break from running a house. I've been helping out, but with living with my parents comes the respite from being solely responsible for running a household. My day to day chores have changed quite a bit and it's been so nice. And I've been able to do more things with my Mom, like batch cooking. It's always more enjoyable to do work with those you love. All the things that we've talked about doing together now we can actually do together.

So, my apologies for the absence. While I'm figuring out our "new normal", postings still will be sporatic but will definitely not be so far apart. I'm really excited to start this new chapter, and sharing my new experiences with you all.

Quickie Swamp Cooler Cover Up

Before....

After! So much better!

Wallpaper hot glued directly to the side of the swamp cooler and a Dollar Tree vinyl decal is all I did. It's not perfect, but BY FAR better than looking at a yicky old swamp cooler, right?

Linking up to the following:


http://itssoverycheri.com/

Coat Turned Toy Closet

Three kids six and under. Yep, you guessed it, toys toys toys. However our house is just under 750 sq feet, no that isn't a typo. Space is a premium is the understatement of the century. We had a coat closet that just wasn't getting used enough to warrant keeping it. Since we rent, I couldn't do any permanent changes but wanted to repurpose it for our needs. So, for around $20 I outfitted it as a toy closet. Let me show you how.

First, I bought two wire shelves from Wal-Mart. I want to say they were $8 or 9 each. They are made for closet storage and they stack on each other. I put them on top of the top shelf in our closet. As you can see in the picture, there was a fair amount of room between that top shelf and the ceiling of the closet. Maximize the space as much as possible. It also helps to keep a huge stack of boxes falling on you when you are trying to pull something out.

I'm still figuring out how to get the most use out of the actual closet bar. I have a bag hung from it now, but I want to get more from it. For now this is how it looks.

On the door I hung two bathroom organizers that I purchased from the Dollar Tree. Perfect for little things. Seriously love them. As you can see a few pockets have broken, but since they are from the Dollar Tree it's no biggie to replace them (so why haven't I!).

I scored these two plastic storage drawers from Freecycle. However most of us have a few of these around the house that aren't being used to full potential, so repurpose them here. They stack really well, just put heavier stuff on the bottom to keep them from getting top heavy. The cassette storage on top I picked from a free pile in front of someone's house.
The blue bag has several puzzles in it. I put puzzles in ziploc bags and just cut out the top of the box. Much less space taken up that way and those puzzle boxes never hold up long.

So that's it...toy closet on the WAY cheap. As you can see, I even still have room to add to it if I want too. However I'm a big believer of rotating toys, so we'll see if that happens. If you don't have an entire closet available think of other options. Even just hanging the bathroom organizers over the back of your closet doors will net you lots of little storage pockets.

Linking up to the following,

Living Room Refresh

Ok, so I started pulling out Christmas stuff today to decorate. I posted awhile ago that I was going to redo the living room. So, I did that and now wanted to show you my "after" pictures with the house almost decorated (still need the tree). So, before we start:

• Ignore the hopelessly dirty/fuzzy carpet
• Ignore the hubby reading his Sports Illustrated
• Ignore the fireplace play "house" in the far corner of the first picture. The plus side is it makes a great table for my purse!
• Ignore the stray toys that the kids missed at pick up time tonight
• Ignore the big 'ol pile of toys behind the end table shot, still trying to figure out where to stash those. Ok, so this is the "fireplace" area. I bought this recently, one of three purchases I made when "refreshing" the living room. Don't you love the stockings hanging over it? Good idea Momma!This is my second purchase, my new wing back chair. I *love* it, so very pretty. Love the pattern, love the upholstery tack trim, love the cherry legs, love her curvaceousness. Yes, you'll notice anything that's mine is a she.

The new kids "playroom" that I carved out. This is the front of the living room, by the front door. I didn't necessarily want a play area as soon as you opened the door, but that was the best way to configure it. The dresser in the back corner was my last purchase, going to repaint it black this summer. It has beautiful antiqued copper knobs.

The end table. Have my basket of library books on the bottom, right across from my wing back chair for reading. Love the little area for displays, remotes, coffee.

Entertainment center. I don't like the computer on top, but I don't want to move it by myself so for now it stays. Folding screen hides our unused wall heater.

The little end table by the chair is just hangin out right now until I figure out a new place for it.

All in all, happy with the outcome. I still am determined to make a removable cover of some kind for that horrible eyesore of a swamp cooler smack dab in the middle of the wall. I'm thinking wall art of some kind. A project someday...