I get by with a little help from my friends

Y'all, there really wasn't anything wrong with this house when we bought it. 

See?  The before was really pretty.

A couple of months before we moved in, we started working on our redecorating budget.  We had some money to spend on the house up front, so we focused on projects that would make the most impact and would be easiest done before the big move.

Number 1 on our list was paint all areas of the house but the bedrooms.  We ended up hiring this out and it was THE BEST redecorating decision we've made.  There are a lot of tall walls, aspen ceilings and square footage to deal with.  We left it to the professionals, and I'm so glad we did.

paint = BIGGEST impact

Number 2 on our list was to re-tile the kitchen back splash.  Since the biggest common area of the house is the big rectangle with the kitchen attached to one side, we decided that after the paint on the walls, the tile on the walls needed to go next.

I fell in love with the clean texture of glass subway tile.  It has just enough reflection that you feel like there's sparkle without actually having sparkly things.  I've been in love with some shade or another of aqua for forever.  So I chose an aqua glass subway tile.

Honey took a week off work. The first part of the week we planned on working and painting.  The second part of the week, my parents and brother came and we planned on moving.

The very first minute we were in the house, I took before pictures of the kitchen.  While I finished photographing the rest of the house, Honey started tearing out the old tile.  We also took out the corner appliance garage to give us a bit more counter space near the cook top.  You can barely see it in the before picture, but removing it did give us what we wanted.

Our goal was to demo day 1, lay tile day 2, grout and move on to something else day 3.  Because it happened to be Homecoming weekend in our little town, that didn't quite work out, but we did finish in about 5 days.  We recruited a friend that is a professional to lend us his tools, help us get started, and rescue us from the hairy spots.

I've decided that another big impact thing can be changing light fixtures.  Months before we moved, I purchased new pendants for over the bar and I finally got to see them installed.

So, here's where we are today, minus the fall decor.  This picture was actually taken the first part of November, but we haven't done anything since then.  No, I haven't painted the other black bar stools to match the aqua one.  I will eventually...

Also, while planning for the new house, I fell in love with the two tone kitchen.  Mainly, the white upper cabinets and stained lower cabinets kitchen.  The cabinets in this house are all custom, wood, hand built and stained and installed.  Am I crazy to want to paint the uppers white?

The big rectangle

It's amazing how much just changing the paint color will change a room.

When we first started talking about our plans for making this house feel like ours, we prioritized by which projects would make the most impact.  In my head I knew that paint changed everything, but I didn't really know it in my heart until I actually saw it.

Our entry, dinning, and living area is basically a giant rectangle, under a cathedral ceiling, with a kitchen stuck on to the side of it.

Here's a picture of our living room before:

I'm standing in the dinning area near the kitchen.  When it's tile v. hardwood, tile will win every time.  It's just so easy to clean. When you live in the trees and the hills and the snow, you clean floors a lot.

Yes, tile is hard...and cold.  But right about the first time we got snow, I made friends with it.  Because I wasn't worried about how tile would hold up under melted snow, mud, and wood chips.  We're good now.

Here's what the living room looks like today:

I know, right?!  It looks so different!  All we did was paint.  Well, and move our stuff in.

The closed stained door in the middle is the laundry room, to the left of that is the master.  Then to the right are the stairs leading up to the loft and the girls' rooms, then the Ks are sort of in the entry way.

The wood leaning against the wall is actual barn wood left over from when my in-laws built their barn in 1978.  We don't have a mantle, so at Christmas, we hung our stockings on it.  It's been leaning against the wall in random places ever since.   

The basket on the floor by the couch is our electronics basket.  It has a power strip inside, and All The Things are plugged in there at night.  All The Cords are inside the basket and when I don't want to look down into the basket and see them, I just gently lay a pillow inside and cover it all up.  Honey drilled a hole in the side of the basket big enough to put the power strip plug through.  I LOVE IT.  When I find random electronics, cords, ear buds, charger cords laying around the house, they go directly in the basket.  LOVE.

Do you have a charging station at your house?  How do you corral All The Things when they need to be charged?

Let's start with one of my personal favorites.

Hey!  It's been a while hasn't it?  Bear with me while I find my voice again.  I don't know if I remember how to write or not.

In October 2014 we bought a house.

It's our little house in the big woods.  I told Honey when we started our home search that if we were going to leave Texas and live in Colorado, I wanted trees, and hills, and to know that I wasn't in Texas anymore.

He listened.  And took my words seriously.
When I look out the windows, I see trees, and hills, and sometimes deer, and for the last several weeks, snow.

We've been spending the last few months making the house feel like ours. (And gathering firewood to keep us warm in the winter.)
Little projects here and there.
Just cosmetic stuff.
There's nothing wrong with the house.  We just want to put our stamp on it.  Hairdryer-ify it.

We are definitely still unpacking, putting away, going through, and settling in.  It's a process, and I'm not in a hurry.

The master bedroom has a sun room attached to it.  It's my favorite room in the house.  There is so much natural light and the view may or may not be what sold us on the house.  It's the sort of view that pulls you into the room and makes you want to stand in front of the windows all day.

Here's the sun room before we moved in.

See what I mean about the windows?  Love.

Behind me on the wall is a TV.  There are patio doors leading to the deck for the summer, and a pellet stove to keep it cozy in the winter.

Here's what it looks like today.

Even though you have to walk through the master to get in here, we don't consider it a private room.  It's an extra TV space, a craft room, an office, a puzzle room, a quiet room.  Brooke and Mary Tutu love it in here.  When we were still unloading the moving truck, Brooke disappeared.  I found her in the sun room, no furniture, with a jigsaw puzzle spread out on the floor just enjoying being in the house.

The hutch behind the couch was Mema's china hutch.  She gifted it to me several years ago.  It holds all of my scrapbooking stuff.  The built in cabinets and shelves hold the rest of the crafting stuff.

I slid a skinny folding table in behind the couch.  The crate holds all of the girls' pens, pencils, markers, paint brushes, scissors, etc.  They usually move in here to do homework or color or loom.

Hello windows.
The left corner of the built ins serves as our desk.  It's where I pay bills and balance the checkbook.  Just to the right of the chair is a cabinet door.  The sewing machine is stored in there.  It can pop up to counter level when you need it, and then be lowered back down when it needs to be stored.  Love!

Do you have a favorite spot in your house?  What do you love about it?

In a word

HOPE

It's my word for 2014.

Weeks before I knew anything about how the months of 2013 would play out, God spoke the word "faith" to me.  Yes.  He spoke it.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  And, low and behold, God was right. In every possible way, 2013 was a huge leap of faith for our family. 

2013 will be one of those life marks for us.
"Oh, yeah!  That was right after we got married."
"Bubba was about two then."
"I was big pregnant with the girls when that happened."
"That was our first winter in Colorado."

Let's be honest, having a year of faith is exhausting.  Stepping out in giant ways in the name of faith takes its toll on a person.  And, frankly, there were many days when the word faith was really too beautiful to describe what I did.  When I think of a man or woman of faith, I think of someone who is strong, God-centered, peaceful.  Watching a faithful person live their life is simply beautiful.

There were many days in the midst of our year of faith when I felt the opposite of strong and peaceful and beautiful.  Those days I just had to power through with straight up obedience.  Because honestly?  I wasn't feeling the faith.

And now it's 2014 and as cliche as it sounds, hope is my word.  Because faith and hope go hand in hand.  The ONLY reason to step out in faith is because you have hope in the One who has called you.

We made the leap of faith with both feet, and now, as we adjust and become familiar, we wait.  We have hope that God will begin the work he has for this season of our lives.  We know our faithfulness was for a purpose.  There has to be a reason He's asked us to do this, right?  Of course there is.

"We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."  1 Thess. 1:3

You might be a Texan living in Colorado...

- If your heavy winter coat really only does you any good between forty and sixty five degrees.

- Related: if you actually wear a jacket when it's sixty five degrees.

- If you find yourself shopping for rain boots.

- If you are surprised that it's not common practice to recite the Pledge to the Colorado flag in conjunction with the Pledge of Allegiance. Is there a pledge to the Colorado flag?

- If you text your family and post on Facebook every time it snows.

- Related: if, after 3 hours of heavy snow, you have to resist the urge to pick the kids up from school early, because surely they're just trying to get everyone home safe and sound, because WEATHER EVENT.

- Related: if, you start a new tradition of frozen pizza for supper to celebrate the first snow of the season because you couldn't pull yourself away from the window long enough to cook.

- If you know where every air vent in the house is located...not because the air conditioning blows out of them, but because the heat does.

- If you can't believe no one in this town knows what queso is.

- If you've had to defend the legitimacy of the phrases "all y'all" * and "y'all'll" **.

- If your camera has more pictures of deer/fall foliage/weather events than the children.

* every single last one of you 
** contraction meaning y'all will
***could be combined ie:  All y'all'll freeze if you try to jump on the trampoline in this weather.

All the new.

We made it through the summer...honestly, it was touch and go that last week.  Mama's nerves are just about shot.  Someday when the twins grow up and have quadruplets going in to 4th grade, their Facebook status will say something like "I get it now, Mom.  You are my hero for letting us survive the summer we were 9."

And when I read that status, I will feel a deep satisfaction with the circle of life.

Bubba started 8th grade at the new school yesterday.  He said his day was good.  I said that I was glad he had an awesome day.  He said it was good, not awesome.  I'm praying for awesome by the end of the week.

Since he's the new kid, he didn't get to request electives.  He's in Art and Recycled Art.  I asked him if he was OK with that and he said YES!! with all caps and exclamation marks.  He told us that the art teacher mentioned more than once that "we'd get to throw stuff at the wheel".  (She might have said "on" the wheel, but he heard "at", so we're going with that.) Throwing stuff at anything in class is pretty much a dream to middle school boys.

We went to Open House at the elementary last night.  We met the girls' teachers.  It was...new.  We are used to knowing and hugging All The People when we're at Open House.  I know...it just takes time.  It's a great school...it'll grow on us.

We decided that since we had two different first days of school, we would have our traditional ice cream date after the girls' first day.  We'll have to wait til Bubba gets out of football practice, which means we will probably have ice cream for dinner.  That's fine, right?

My Neurotic Side Comes Out

I'm a routine kind of girl.  I love to know what is going on and when it's going to happen.  And when I find something that works, I like to repeat it over and over and over.  Routines help me know what's normal and what's not.  Or, what's been taken care of, and what still needs my attention.

Mary Tutu might carry the "love of routine" gene.  In the midst of packing up our old house, she found a digital wrist watch and claimed it as hers.  She figured out how to set an alarm and at 3:00 every afternoon it goes off.

What happens at 3:00?  Snack time.

It's always been my go-to answer in the summer time.  "Mom, can I have a snack?"  "Not til 3:00."

Otherwise, they would eat me out of house and home all day, every day.

I think Mary Tutu is afraid that in the midst of all the moving shenanigans we might forget a snack.  Or, maybe it's the one routine she can hold on to, the hill she's chosen to die on.  She knows...we all know...at 3:00 every afternoon, someone better stop and figure out what's for snack.

Because 3:00 is when we eat a snack.
 
The actual logistics of moving...haven't been my favorite.  Because, do you know how many routines we have in CO? Zero.  Well, one, if you count snack time.

Moving upsets every established routine imaginable.

new job = new work schedule
new work schedule = new pay schedule
new pay schedule = new household budget
new household budget = new due dates for bills

new household budget = new grocery shopping schedule
new work schedule = new meal times
new meal times = new meal prep times

Those are just the big ones this summer.  Throw in some new doctors, new insurance, new banks, new places for all our stuff, and driving an hour to go to a new church...

The new has worn off of all the new.

Someone once told me that you can always tell when a major life change is happening in a woman's life because she gets a new hair style.  And, it's kind of true.

Growing it out? Must be planning a wedding.
Cutting it short?  Must be having a baby.
Growing the bangs out?  The kids must be starting school.
New color?  The kids must be moving out.

That totally explains why, the last two days, I've curled my hair.  Instead of wearing it in it's natural state "straight as a board", I've spent many minutes curling it so it can be "the size of Texas".

I can't decide if I like it and should try to fit the curling of the hair into my morning routine, or if I look like Loretta Lynn and should sing a reprise of Coal Miner's Daughter.

I'm telling myself that it's just because it's summer.  Soon enough, school will start and we will settle in to a routine.  I'm trying to remind myself how ready I was for school to be out so we wouldn't be a slave to the school routine.  I'm cutting myself some slack and taking a deep breath and trying to roll with all the new.

Until then, I'm hoping that the deep breathing and the curling iron will keep me from doing something drastic like cutting bangs.  Because that never turns out well for me.

Adjusting

When Honey and I started looking for places to live in our new town, my one requirement was that there be trees.  Lots of trees.

For such a small town, there are several different scenery options when looking for a house.  I decided that if we were going to pack up and leave West Texas, we were going to move to a place that looked exactly the opposite of West Texas.  Which meant mountains and lots of pine trees.

The house we're renting has huge picture windows in the living room and the couch sits right across the front of them.  Most of the time I just sit on the couch, stare out the windows, and look at the scenery.

You know how dogs just sit on the back of the couch and stare out the window for hours?  That's me.  I've turned in to that dog.

It's just so pretty and peaceful.  And you never know when a deer or squirrel or chipmunk might show up on your back porch.  Seriously.  Deer.  On the back porch.

And today?  It's raining...a nice, steady, soaking rain.  My West Texas friends know how long it's been since we've seen that.  And it smells sooo good!  I've been pretty worthless today.  I can't even concentrate on the novel I'm trying to read.

I am in full on Rosa's withdrawals.  I think the girls are, too.  Friday night I planned tacos for the girls and their babysitter while Honey and I went out for our anniversary.  They have had tacos and nachos and taco stack for 4 days in a row now.  It's all they want.  But it's just a cheap substitute.  The only motherly advice I can offer is: I feel you, Sweetie.

The only good thing about Rosa's being 9 hours away is that my 20th high school reunion is in 12 days and the break from the bean and cheese nachos can only be good for my hips.

All the sitting around and staring out the windows?  Not so much.

Remember when...?

Remember that time we moved to Colorado?

We've been here 14 days.  When I say "here" I mean in the state of Colorado.  We've been gallivanting around getting to know our new area.  One night here, a couple of nights there.  It's been so much fun!  This state is beautiful.  It looks just like it does on TV.

Mom came and stayed the first few days with us to help get us settled.  My kitchen is always set up just like Mom's.  Not because I particularly want it that way, but because Mom has always come in and unpacked and settled the kitchen.  Then I just leave it because yes, that works for me.

Honey was off a week while we were moving out of our TX house.  Then he worked the last week of his old job.  Then he was off the first week we lived in CO.  Then the first week of his new job ended with two days off for the 4th of July holiday.  So, honestly, I don't feel like we live here. 

The views, the trees, the fishing excursions, the shops, the unfamiliar grocery stores...I feel like we're on vacation...or at camp.  Except the showers are warm, and most nights we are sleeping in our own beds.

Actually, Bubba is at camp.  We dropped him off at CBH yesterday.  Honey went to work again today, and he's planning on working for several regular weeks...in a row.  The girls have some library books due this week, and some bills came in the mail this weekend.  I've got to find the boxes labeled "office" and figure out how to pay some money to some people.  It's fixin' to get real up in here, y'all.

We live here now.

Follow the Ark

It's become a routine for me.  December 1st-ish sets off an alarm in my head, and I'm inspired to spend some time reflecting on the year that has been.  I spend some time anticipating the year that is coming.  I spend some time praying about what the new year means for me and my family.

Usually, by the end of the month, through this prayer and meditation, God gives me a word for the new year. Sometimes I get nothing.  That's cool.  The guidance I receive from God is usually small and more moment to moment than huge lightening bolt.

But sometimes I get a word, something that will guide our actions, or maybe a part that is missing and needs to be found.  In the past it has taken some time, some patience, some quiet to hear the voice.  This year, the response was immediate.

I remember very clearly the very first time I approached God in prayer about 2013, the unmistakeable response I got was FAITH.

Which is awesome, right?  Except, really?  The more I thought about it, the more scary it became.

Faith?  Are you sure?

FAITH.

And then a couple of weeks later Honey took me to coffee and told me that he'd had an offer for a great new job.  In Colorado.

And all of a sudden, FAITH made so much more sense.

And since then, every single time I've doubted our decision or felt overwhelmed with uprooting our family, I hear the Word again, and it's still FAITH.

"Our doubts are traitors,
And make us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt."  -- William Shakespeare

"Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will."

"What blessings are you missing out on because of your lack of courage?"

"In Joshua 3:3, God talks to Israel about following the ark of the covenant.  The ark represents the anointing of God...the presence of God... the will of God.  It's very important for us to learn to follow the will of God and not our own will or the will of others.

God has a plan for you and me, and the only way to see that plan unfold is to follow the ark, or the will of God, and not our flesh or other people or our emotions."  -- Joyce Meyers (I think)

"Every great thing starts out a little scary."

"Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe."  -- Proverbs 29:25

And there was also this post that "I just happened to" read the exact day I was struggling with KNOWING it was God moving us to Colorado.  "Do it afraid."

This Weekend

To say that I am SO ready to be settled is a huge understatement about how I am feeling right now.  HUGE.

But...I am SO ready to be settled.

We finally got out of the house Friday afternoon.  We were about 16 hours later than we wanted to be, but DETAILS, right?

We worked until 11:30 Thursday night when we just couldn't make one more decision or pack one more box.  We had to meet the cleaning lady Friday morning, and when the alarm went off at 7:00, I declared that THIS MOVE HAS DEFEATED US.  We are not going to make it.  We should just cut our losses and run for the hills.

Honey quickly gathered the Advil, Starbucks, and yogurt, and we headed to the house.  I got my second wind about the time the cleaning lady saw our mounting pile of Goodwill donations and offered to take them off our hands.  For her sister who lost everything in our recent wind storms.

Whatever.  You had me at "I'll take care of it."

Uncle Bubba was a ROCK STAR.  He got the kids to clean out every last thing from their side of the house.  He loaded, unloaded, and rearranged the trailer.  He made trips to the dumpster.  In other words, he saved our tookuses.

He was there til the bitter end.  It was his job to toss the remains of our fridge and freezer.  That's dedication, y'all.

And then we said "It is finished", and we set the security alarm one last time and drove away.

We have a few more days here in our West Texas town before we actually leave.  We are house sitting for some friends that are in and out this summer.  I'm so thankful for a place to land for a few days.  Some space, some wi-fi, some bowls and coffee cups that aren't Styrofoam.

We celebrated some birthdays and Father's Days, and played some baseball.  And Sunday afternoon we all chilled at our borrowed house and napped.  Until about 3:30 when we got a phone call from the alarm company.  The house buyers realtor went in the front door.

Well.  That wasn't the plan.

The plan was that the buyers would call us when they were ready to get in to the house and we would meet them there and let them in, give them garage and alarm codes, etc.

Honey went over and met the realtor and took care of the alarm company.  Because it takes me a minute to be ready to receive people when I've been woken from my nap.

We had some sweet fellowship with some sweet friends last night.  I guess it's only natural to "make the rounds" to see those special people that make this place home.  Our last few weeks have been overflowing with time like that.  It's been such a fun blessing.

And now it's Monday.  We're moving SLOW today.  I'm telling myself it's OK, we've had a lot going on the last couple of weeks.

What about you? How was your weekend?  Did you have a happy Father's Day?  Did you get a Sunday afternoon nap?

Some News

We're moving.

It's not a little move.  We're really moving.

Go big or go home, right?

We are packing up and moving a few states over.

This new state is a bit of a drive from our West Texas town.  It has mountains, and trees, and pine cones, and rivers, and lakes, and snow, and rain, and temperatures measured with words like "below zero".   And after the election this past November, it also has marijuana.

In other words, this new state is the complete opposite of West Texas.

It may seem kind of sudden, but, honestly, God has been planning this move since Honey was a kid.  I truly believe this move has been in Honey's heart that long.  He is over the moon excited about his new job and coworkers.  It's not often you get to have the job of your dreams.

The rest of our little family is mostly excited, with a little bit of scared mixed in.  This is the biggest adventure that's happened to our family since the twins were born.  I think "mostly excited with a little bit of scared" is a pretty good way to look at a big new adventure.

I'm not sure I'll know what to do when phrases like "...temperatures well above the century mark..." and "...send in your pictures of the haboob that passed over the area..." are not part of the local weather forecast.  Apparently there are real places, lo, even in the great United States of America, where the flip flop is not a practical shoe choice.  And the realtor in our new state may or may not have laughed at me when I asked that he show us some houses with central air conditioning.

There will probably be some fishing, hunting, hiking, snow skiing, 4 wheeler riding, tubing, and reading on the deck in our future.  I'm positive there will be some culture shock, some fashion faux pas, and some closed toe shoe purchasing.  But it's nothing the Hairdryer family can't handle, right?