moving in, flood drama, phone drama

I am not the type of person who takes months and months to unpack and completely move into a place. I prefer to do it in a matter of days. We got our stuff on Tuesday and today, Friday, every box has been unpacked. We have just a few things we want to hang on the walls, but other than that, the house is done and livable, whew! We have less space here than the house we came from, but I am liking it a lot. It's all one level, which is awesome, the bathrooms are big and the counter/cupboard space is more than I've ever had.

There is a lack of storage here, no linen closet, medicine cabinets, pantry, etc... but we determined to find solutions for those issues with the furniture we already had and it's been fun to creatively fill those storage gaps!

Here are a few snippets of master bedroom/bathroom solutions I've come up with.

 My makeshift vanity. My actual vanity is in Layla's room because it wouldn't fit very well in ours. This little dresser holds purses and hats, scarves and gloves. And even our extra sheets.

 the pretty plates help contain my long necklaces that don't fit in my little jewelry box.

 The bathroom is huge, but has no drawers or medicine cabinets. We have never had double sinks before, though, so that is rather nice!

 We have five of these stools from our tall kitchen table in the old house. We only have one dining space now, so that table (without the leaf) is part of my laundry room and these stools are finding other purposes throughout the house.

 See? It's huge! Theres a shower to the left and the toilet to the right that you can't see, with plenty of room for a little 3-basket shelf to hold feminine things and extra TP.

 We don't have nightstands, but the stools are handy for that too :)

I'm proud of how we've made things work and can't wait to show you more good storage ideas with things we already had!

As for the flood drama, our house in Aurora, which we still own and which our renter was supposed to move into today, had a flooded basement yesterday due to the massive crazy flooding in our town. We are beyond thankful for our friends and property managers who have been dealing with that. We know that is not exactly in their job description, but we feel so blessed. We are praying for those whose damage was even more extensive than ours and those who have lost their homes and belongings completely.

Annnnnd, for the phone drama! I mentioned I lost my phone in KY. We got me a new one, and even though I had two months until I was eligible to upgrade, the AT&T store lady felt bad for us and gave us a super good deal. But then my old phone turned up in Layla's suitcase :-/ She must have scooped it up with her clothes (I remember having dropped it on the floor that morning). I could tell she felt bad. It sure is nice having Siri now, though, especially in a new town, with crazy windy highways and trees everywhere so you can never see where you're going!

So today I got home from JoAnn's and Casey had just dropped his phone and the screen shattered! I told you, drama! ;) He's off to Richmond right now to get it repaired while I'm about try to convince the kids that  the yummy beef stew I've had in the crock pot all day really will be tasty. Wish me luck!!

I'll leave you with this cool shot of Casey on moving day:

survive and thrive

Well, we survived a 27 hour road trip and 8 nights in hotels with three kids. And we did it ... with no portable DVD players, *gasp*! I am not against these players as a thing, I just have such great memories of road trips as a kid and I want my kids to have those sweet memories too. Plus, have ya noticed how when kids watch too much TV, they forget how to entertain themselves when you unplug them again?

 (art by Confettielove on Esty)

We do like listening to things in the car, though. Here are some things we liked:

• Veggie Tales. Obviously. We have On the Road with Bob and Larry, a few silly songs albums, Veggie Rocks, Boyz in the Sink and the full collection of the Veggie Tales song and story CD's from the Chick fil a kids meals awhile back (best kids meal toy EVER!!!)
• Adventures in Odyssey. Since we were driving two cars, we each spent half of each day in the car with the kids--this was nice because we each got a break from the need-meeting that is part of driving with kiddos. Adventures in Odyssey is SO great, but not super cheap and we had one set of CD's that we had listened to several times. But, a family that was done with their 8 CD set donated it to our cause, hooray! I didn't get to hear any, though, because Casey really likes them while he drives with the kids and so I let him have that one ;) They all loved it, in fact, the kids always asked when Daddy could drive the big car so they could pick back up with Adventures in Odyssey, ha! There is also an Official Podcast that does have some full episodes plus interviews with some of the voices and characters. You can find that in the iTunes store by searching "Adventures in Odyssey Official Podcast". 
• Britt Nicole. Because Natalie is her biggest fan ;) Which is nice for me because it's not kid music. 

When I was driving the little car, I listened to my regular favorite podcasts, like Radiolab, Stuff you Missed in History Class, This American Life. And Casey really likes to listen to the Mars Hill Mark Driscoll podcast.

 

This church was peeking over the trees at our hotel in Kentucky.

It was a lot of driving, but we survived and survived with happy hearts :) I prayed for a week beforehand that I would just have a joyful attitude, because we all know how Mom's attitude rubs off on the rest of the clan, right??

Also, I'm soooo beyond glad I prodded Casey into getting walkie talkies for the trip because I lost my phone in Kentucky, which would have been a much worse situation if we hadn't had those walkies!

I can't wait to show you what Natalie did on the road to entertain herself. It is art related, of course and it is pretty adorable. 

We have one more night in our little hotel room here in Hopewell. We already have our house on post, but our stuff could not be delivered until tomorrow. We are so ready, to say the least!!

Mrs. Beaver

I have mentioned that we have been reading Narnia out loud to the kids. We finished The Magician's Nephew and have moved on to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I was taking a turn doing the reading one night last week and began chuckling out loud during Chapter 10, when the Beavers and three of the children are scurrying to leave the dam to beat the White Witch to the stone table. Mrs. Beaver is rushing trying to get food ready to go, of all things, while Mr. Beaver is asking her why she's wasting time getting food ready, to which she reasons, "You didn't think we'd set out on a journey with nothing to eat, did you?" (Lewis, 101).

(Artwork by Pauline Baynes)

It is a long standing joke in our family that the women are obssessed with food--not with gorging on it, but with making sure we always have it available to us. We carry food in our purses and plan outings around the next time we (and the kids) will be needing to eat. We eat often, ha! You can imagine this scenario with my mom, sister and I in Beijing last Summer--get lost, eat, repeat. So this page-long conversation between Mrs. Beaver and the others got me chuckling. 

But then!!

"Well, I'm nearly ready now," answered Mrs. Beaver at last, allowing her husband to help her into her snow-boots. "I suppose the sewing machine is too heavy to bring?" 

"Yes. It is," said Mr. Beaver. "A great deal too heavy. And you don't think you'll be able to use it while we're on the run, I suppose?"

"I can't abide the thought of that Witch fiddling with it," said Mrs. Beaver, "and breaking it or stealing it, as likely as not." (pg. 102). 

Haaaaahahahahaha! This is SO ME!!! And guess where my sewing machine rode to Virginia? In the front seat of Casey's car. Because I couldn't bear the thought of those movers fiddling with it. 

In case you're curious, we did make it to Virginia last night. The trip was wonderful and covered in God's mercy. I'll share more soon, of course! 

If you have a minute and like this sort of thing, you should check out more of Pauline Baynes' illustrations. She is no longer living, but illustrated for both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and I really like her sketchy style. 

Cheers from Virginia!

Some favorites...

...from a photo shoot I had a few days ago.

So far I have only taken pictures for my friends and have never charged (although many times they gift me anyway, the stinkers). It's so much fun for me and I have really grown in knowledge and skill because they've let me use them as guinea pigs ;) But, if I were going to bring in some extra fun money, I am thinking maybe, maybe, I could do this. I would aim to be an affordable option for families who cannot spend $695 for a portrait session--this is the exact price of a 45 minute session with a mom photographer whose blog I was looking at last night. I have no doubt that this photographer has the skills and equipment to charge that much, but no one I know has that kinda money to spend on pictures! And I don't have the fanciest of equipment and editing software either. At first I saw multiple moves as a disadvantage, but I changed my perspective on that--it really just means new scenery and location choices for each place I live, right? Like the beach! Cool.

Anyway, these are just things I'm thinking about.

On Friday I get to do a shoot with little boys and a tricycle!!! Yay, I've been wanting to incorporate some props. It will be FUN!

Pictures do paint words

He got mad right after they did that. Or maybe he was just acting mad ;)

My camera being my only unpacked hobby right now is proving to be really fun and educational. I just seem to want to take pictures of everything! I know some day I'll be glad I captured these last few weeks in Colorado in such detail.

My sister said that leaving is hard because it signifies the passing of time. It's that passing of time that's hard, but upon Christ's return, there will be no more sorrow over the fleetingness of time. It stuck with me. Thanks, Jana ;)

just keep swimming...

Whenever there's a lot to do, I just quote Dori. "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming." ;)

We have a week left until we leave and so we are now just working on house repairs, cleaning, touching up paint and such, while making sure we spend time with friends too. Leaving is hard. And exciting! And hard.

I've been taking notes on what might make future moves go more smoothly. I think not hanging so much on the walls is a good one. I think being even more vigilant about organization and not accumulating more and more possessions is a given. What do you think? If you had to move a few weeks from now, what would you wish was not a factor in your house?

I have been keeping up with my self portraits and it's only getting more fun. I've only missed one day, but some days I take several (the one on the left is my current fave, I love the composition!)

 I really love that pool one too, I think it tells a story. That was a great day.

If you need me, I'll be cleaning...

Actually, that's not true, the cleaning is done. It really wasn't that much, thankfully. It's a good thing I'm a generally clean person and that I've been trying to deep clean for the last month, or I can imagine the move-out cleaning could be crazy overwhelming. Tomorrow I'm moving on to painting. Just touch-up paint, but there were a lot of holes to be filled, which is what led me to my "hang less stuff on the walls" idea.

Leave your make-moving-easier-next-time suggestions in the comments ;)

play time

Well, while Casey has been at the house every day keeping an eye on the packers and loaders, the kids and I are at Granny's, having what feels a lot like a vacation! I did not expect this week to be quite so relaxing, but it sure is nice!

We have a favorite park close by that has a pretty great little playground, is never busy, and has a stream, with stepping stones and bridges and is super fun to play around. We've been to this park probably 7 or 8 times in the last few weeks. And of course, my camera comes along ;)

After we went there today, we got some lunch and went to the house to eat with Casey.

Our house looks so bare and weird!! And huge without all our stuff, haha! But still, lovely and cute and full of character :)
We said goodbye to our stuff as we left.

And then we went to the pool :) Like I said, it's been nice. But, tomorrow the cleaning and house repairs begin, so ... vacation is over for me!

what to do...

I have a lot of hobbies.

Ha! I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone. But, as our house is being packed up and I am living out of a suitcase, maybe for another month, it's not likely I'll get to practice very many of them! Today I went to Barnes & Noble for a few minutes and looked at the magazines. There were a couple good sewing ones, some good food ones and a decorating one that looked good, but these are all hobbies that have to wait until we get moved in later.

Sooooo, it's a good thing I also love photography :) It's definitely my most portable hobby. It keeps me busy when I take the kids to the park, when I attend parties (I put myself in charge of photos at kids' parties--it makes them more fun for me and the mamas are usually thankful someone else is thinking about the pictures). and when we go on nature walks. It pretty much gives me something significant to do anywhere and everywhere.

In light of this, the timing for my 30 day self-portrait challenge is pretty perfect. It is SO much fun trying to come up with new ideas each day and trying new things and playing with edits on Picmonkey.com. I am not limiting myself to one per day because sometimes I don't want to pick!

I love this; snippets of my life how it is right here now. It will all soon be different, so I am grateful to have the memories.

I'm already thinking of my next 30 day challenge--30 days of my kids (or just one of them at a time?), 30 days of me with my kids, 30 days of Casey pics (Ha! he snarled at that idea) or 30 days of still life, home life, the options are endless! Any other ideas? Is anyone else up for taking the self-portrait challenge??? Oooh, I could set up a linky party and we can share, it would be SO FUN!!