Prepare to be shocked....

Yes, you read that correctly. I am showing your more "before" pictures! This is what happens when you have too much and are in midst of unpacking. I will admit that the base cabinets are basically empty as well as several upper cabinets. You are seeing the culling process.


We knew we had a lot to get rid of but just didn't grasp the amount when we had a larger house. After living a month with the barest of necessities we are finding out what we can and cannot live without. Okay I should rephrase that as what we would rather not live without... chairs for the dining room table, some place to sit aside from the dining room, and a few more pots/baking pans/mixing bowls. But folks that was pretty much it. Okay I admit I brought my sewing machine and fabric with us but never got any sewing done. No it isn't one of the things to go but there will be much to include toys. The boys were content with minimal toys (unfortunately they wanted to spend their time on electronics...) and less clothes.


As the weeks progress I will continue to show you the progress. Yes, I know it is not pretty right now but it does feel cleansing. We are also learning more about building relationships w/ the Lord, others and each other. There is too little time to be filling it up with greed, consumerism, and waste. We are not only filling our home with these things but our lives as well.

Please feel free to see how we are progressing with eliminating the clutter in our lives!

THE MOVERS ARE HERE...

with two trucks! You should have seen the looks on their faces, fear and trepidation were written all over them! Where will everything go? Now we will find out exactly how big a 2-car garage is!! Keep us in mind today as they unload! Chris leaves for work in 4 hours so we shall see how much they can accomplish in that time especially since they were supposedly going to have been here an hour ago!

Think of me over the weekend and the coming weeks! Oh, if you happen to be in the Kokomo area in May, look us up! We will be having a GINORMIC garage/yard sale! Clothes, accessories, furniture, tools, books, kitchen ware, craft supplies... you name it!

Oh the second truck was virtually empty as it only contained the crate with the ATV and plow. One tractor trailer to go and Ian's bed just go here. Like Chris said "Feast or famine!" Right now, I'm lovin the feast!

Toodles!!!

Home Tour Party... "before"

First I would like to welcome you to our humble abode. Tiny it may be but home it is!

I know that there have been many requests for pictures of the house so here goes... Daniella over at Transforming home is having a House Tour Party and it seemed like the perfect time to join in. As some of you know we moved recently and have been living out of "suitcases" and the few odd items we brought in the little trailer. So today you will see the "BEFORE" tour...

Kitchen and dining "room" prior to paint.



After paint but no accesories. I have a collection of white serving ware to include various cake stands which will look wonderful above the cabinets.



Here we have the living room... No, the chair did not come with us but was a temporary aquisition which may or may not stay. Trust me if it does stay, it will be reupholstered!!





Now on to the bedrooms. After several years in a miniscule room the master bedroom feels almost palacial in size.


The Boys' room...




A Teen's room... He picked out the linens, the new bed comes in tomorrow, and today I start painting. All we have left to do is decide on a dresser, chair, artwork, curtains, and possible desk.



And as of tomorrow the whole house will entirely different. Imagine furniture and lots of boxes, more boxes than you can think possible. It will take some time but it'll all get done! I don't know about my family but I'm really excited about the challenge of moving from a decidedly large house to one with much less square footage. No, this is not our dream house or even dream property but I am content with it! Feel free to come back periodically to see the transformation.

(Sorry but I am not feeling particularly witty or profound today... You see, I anxious to get back to work as there is only a hall and a bedroom to paint today!)

Good news.... plus kitchen update!

Ah today was a good day... We got THE call today! Our stuff will be delivered some time next week! Yippee, hurray, woo hoo!!! They will give me a call on Monday to give us a better idea of what day everything will be delivered. Now to start painting like mad, ha ha.

And the next bit of news is a few decisions have been made. First the outlet covers will be changed to chrome to match the hardware (it was in the previous post but not really visible.) After dropping Chris off at the airport in Indy today I stopped at Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, and Crate n Barrel where I found a great tablecloth on clearance BIG TIME!



and saw a sample wall of this paint treatment. I fell in love!!

(color is a bit squirrely in this picture... hmm)

So I am thinking of painting the walls in Double Latte Tuscan accents and then make a valance from the fabric from this pattern. The cabinets might be stained a deeper chestnut color but that remains to be seen. We do own white cake porcelain cake stands and antique white metal cake stands plus 1 gallon glass jars which will be placed above the cabinets.

I'll be sure to keep you posted and please keep the suggestions coming in!

Input requested....

Well, its another snowy morning and I'm loving it!! Two days ago we were told there was an update for our delivery date but as of this morning it is still no earlier than 25 Feb. Yes, it may even be 1 March before our household goods are delivered. So in the meantime I am requesting your assistance...

See the kitchen is a bit bland for our tastes. I mean you all have seen my red kitchen in Alaska so having a beige kitchen is, well, kinda vanilla but without all the yumminess. And as we all know I am all about the yumminess.



The kitchen is seperated from the "dining" room by two walls the depth of the kitchen cabinets. I love the color of the laminent floor but am trying to tweak cabinets themselves. Once our stuff gets here I do have large glass jars, mixing bowls, and white serving platters which will be placed above the cabinets. We just changed out the hardware (outlet covers to be changed soon) but are stumped on the cabinets, walls and island.


Any ideas? Please give me any that you can come up with!! Maybe a Tuscan paint treatment? Glazing the cabinets? Pinstriping the cabinets? Thin insets w/ chalkboard paint on doors? We are looking to keep it pretty inexpensive but I do have a couple of gift cards which can be applied towards this project. OH what about a window treatment? I absolutely LOVE all the cabinets and countertop! Speaking of countertops... Does anyone have any experience using a stain or glaze on a countertop? Otherwise I guess we will be buying some bleach to help combat the stains. It's pretty amazing how quickly a beige countertop can get stained when you use it a lot! Ha ha, so maybe that's an understatement. Aren't patterned countertops great for hiding a multitude of sins?! Well, before I overwhelm anyone I guess I ought to be signing off as the boys are raiding the refrigerator and cabinets as I speak!

I look forward to hearing all and any input you can give! As time progresses I will be posting more pictures as the rooms are completed. In the meantime, thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Foto Friday: Growing

(The full view)

One day this majestic creature will grow up to be this! I just love it!




Plus our growing storm! It's not much but I love it just the same... Be sure to head on over to Rebecca's to see all the other Foto Friday posts.. Next week's challenge is: LOVING!

Indiana

Well, my dear friends I have returned! We arrived in Indiana Sunday, closed on the house on Monday and promptly moved in. Chris called TMO (travel management office) and quickly discovered that A.) our households goods are in route, B.) they will be here by the 25th of February (at the latest, we were assured) and C.) his car (which was shipped one week after the household goods) arrived in St. Louis on February 1st and is ready for pick-up. He'll probably fly down sometime next week. Now if I will only have patience! We are looking for new mattresses for the boys later today so that they don't have to sleep on the floor any longer. The next course of action will be to find a bedframe for Ian and then assemble the bunkbed for Sean and Evan.

List of things to be done in the next 3 weeks before the furniture arrives.
1. Determine paint color of kitchen.
2. Determine paint color of dining room.
3. Determine paint color of living room.
4. Determine paint color... Do you see a pattern here?
5. Make curtains for boys' bedrooms.
6. Start cooking dinner again... (I think that is the #1 priority)
7. Gradually replenish "pantry" with healthy, wholesome ingredients.
8. Start painting.
9. Install new light in kitchen and laundry hall.
10. Make mental list of what all will be included in HUGE/GIGANTIC yard/garage sale. (we are seriously cutting down the furniture/decorations/clutter)
11. Plan out and make quilt for Ian (or break-down and buy the one he really likes using reward points from paid off credit card)
12. Crochet more wash cloths.
13. Buy new phone with answering machine as ours died... Thank the Lord for cell phones right now!
14. Make ravioli to store in the freezer.
15. Start planning a 16th birthday celebration!

I am including some pictures of our drive plus the view out the dining room doors! It is truly glorious! I love watching the sheep, cows, and llamas! The boys think it is pretty funny but I can hardly wait to meet the neighbors. OH, I didn't tell you all... Talk about an answer to prayer! The farm behind us is ORGANIC! They actually have signs posted saying it is a chemical free zone! How awesome is that!! NO nitrates or nitrites in the water, no chemical smells or overspray in the backyard. Their field borders our small acreage on two sides so it was a very pleasant surprise! Like I said a true blessing from the Lord!

Views from the first three days of our trip...
One of the many singing bridges we crossed!

A sunspire... there was a matching one to the left but I never could get them both in the same frame)

A wild buffalo herd on the shoulder of the road.

Isn't the buffalo calf so cute and fuzzy? Look at those tiny horn buds! By the way it was about -25 below when we came upon them. All we had to do was roll down the window to snap pictures. It was so incredible as they just kept about their business!

More pictures to come at a later date...