Ta Daaa.... The living room!

Yes you read that correctly... the living room in all its glory.  It will never grace the pages of a decor magazine but it is home.  This is where we live and play (when not outside at the pool or playing games at the dining room table!) 

Right now the only change I would make is simply to figure out a way to hide the cord to the TV and remember to install the cleat for the left hand shades. 

Our living room is a cozy place filled with memories, trinkets lovingly purchased from faraway locales, and bits of whimsy.  You can see we have a love of  warm colors, books, and all things old. 

Yes that is a functioning typewriter... well kinda. haha It needs a little TLC as some of  its keys have begun to stick and it needs a new ribbon.  Not bad for a 60 year old typewriter, huh?!  Please don't mind the blue painter tape around our bedroom door.  It will be removed once I finally paint the wall around our door (maybe orange like our bathroom, ha ha!)

This is what you see from the front door.  That used to be a card catalogue from an old high school library! 

 

Now it holds craft supplies and card games.

And last but not least I wanted you to see what or rather who normally graces our living room.  Our sweet puppy... at 24 months she still has another year before she will reach maturity!!  Lily aka "Lily Lou" or "Miss Lou"

(Now I am sure my husband would love it if our room was done!  It is the next project at hand, well that and putting up veggies!!)

The Day Has Come....

we finally closed on the sale of our house in Alaska!  Yes, this is a bittersweet moment because it marks the end of of era...  I will always hold Alaska dear to my heart for the friends and memories we made there.  God truly blessed us.  It is also bittersweet because of the changes that have occurred in the past year.  Rites of passage you might say.  We had to give away our sweet kitty boo (Willow) due to allergies, Caleb was killed this spring, and Ian is getting closer adulthood having gotten his driver's license.  Dreams have changed for the boys and well it is a time of adjustment for me!  My little boys are growing up and starting to grow away!!!  A time I am not sure I am ready to approach but it is no longer creeping up on me but confronting me face on so... With chin raised I will face it full on, okay maybe not always face on but with the Lord's support it will be faced!!  Now don't get me wrong I am excited about the changes but I loved that house and would just as soon have moved it, the property and all our friends here but we know that can't happen.  It has been a long haul but God has been faithful throughout the whole process!!!  So good-bye Alaska

hello New York! 

No we are not moving again... but have been working hard and.... (drum roll, puhhhhhhhhhllllllllllllease!!!) in a few short months (barring any unexpected incidents) we will have the New York property paid off!!  Woo hoo!!!

And so you aren't scared out of your mind... This is an after shot once the house was re-sided and new windows were put in. (Please ignore the odd angel as it is the only shot I can find at the time... )

( The window seen in the 1st picture was covered over on the inside with this delicious paneling so we covered it over on the outside until we can get around to removing the paneling!!)

Just so you know the charger for my camera battery has gone missing so I am currently unable to recharge my now DEAD battery.  Oddly enough it didn't get used hardly at all until this past weekend which incidentally is when I discovered it was dying, ha ha!!  But once it is up and running again have I got pictures for you!!

Hope you have a great day!!

Be patient, grasshopper!

Okay so its not a grasshopper but rather a praying mantis!!  From our own front yard... I thought a green twig was in the small japanes maple but as I reached for it... well it MOVED!  Yes, I admit it, I started a bit, not much but a bit. :)  So we got the camera out and took pictures.  And I mean a lot of pictures!  Do you know how quickly a praying mantis can eat a fly? 

  Umm, yeah we did get pictures of that as well.  It was incredible to watch!  I mean I'm not really into bugs but seeing God's handiwork was so incredibly awesome!!  I think we spent close to an hour just watching...

Well, much has been done in the past month but absolutely NO pictures have been taken.  In fact I couldn't even find the camera for at least two weeks!!!  How it got put away in the garage is beyond me... actually I seem to recall taking it out there to take pictures of a project and then being called away.  I'm surprised it didn't end up in the freezer as preoccupied as I was for a while there.  I mean, has anyone else found the missing lettuce or cucumber in the freezer before?  I know its not just me... or is it?  I know my mother has never misplaced anything.  I mean, aside from the house... (when I was growing up she had a terrible sense of direction, thank goodness that isn't the case any longer!!!!)

Okay, here is a list of all that has been accomplished...

• garage cleared
• "garage" sale
• room painted
• vases glued
• washclothes crocheted
• mother's birthday present mailed on time!!! (something that hasn't occured in years!!)
• new tires on new "to us" pick-up truck
• closet cleaned/sorted/downsized
• books sorted
• supplies for new shed purchased
• herbs planted
• lawn mower fixed
• clothes sorted/sized

Working on or still need to be dones:

• list books on e-bay
• take garage sale "leftovers" to rescue mission store
• living room (almost done!!)
• paint kitchen-cabinets (once it cools off and we can leave the windows open without me sneezing my head off)
• preserve produce
• reorganized kitchen cabinets
• buy school clothes
• kill weeds in driveway
• start making homemade bread again
• make/start preparing beds for next years garden
• start on Christmas presents
• make jams/jellies/syrups from fruits in freezer
• CLOSE ON SALE OF HOUSE IN ALASKA!!! (hopefully by the end of this week!!!)

Well I am off to load the vehicle with the stuff leftover from the garage sale.  By this evening we will be able to park both cars in there. Woo hoo!!! And our house will have decidedly less stuff, yeah!!!  Especially after we sell all the curriculum, books, and clothing on eBay... Ah it sure feels good to downsize!  And eliminate even more debt... What an answer to prayer!!! :)