Unpacking

Oreo is enjoying being in the center of things

I think it makes him feel secure to be around us. He's done exceptionally well during this transition. What a good boy! Have I mentioned how much I LOVE having the cat litter in the garage and not in the master bath!??!

John took Daniel to a dental appointment while Sarah and I worked at unpacking. The kitchen and pantry are going to be AWESOME!

Tried out the laundry baskets on the landing in the garage...meh, we'll see. John and Dan got the boxes broken down near the back door and we're doing laundry at a good pace. Just more settling in.

I've been obsessing on Pinterest when I can for window covering ideas...I love the look of cellular shades/honeycomb blinds, but I'm going to go a different route. Functionality over beauty...each window has its own set of requirements.

I ran across this today, which is going to be PERFECT for the front window by the door! I'm so doing this!

Watched more of "The Flash" tonight. We need to stop eating out before we're broke! There's a specialty burger joint just down the road, it's like living nine minutes away from Dick's! A bit delicious!

Tired

This is how I feel today

We are exhausted. Plain and simple. Struggling to get on some kind of routine with John on vacation and the house only about 5% put together. Okay, maybe 3%.

It's a conspiracy. The more I unpack, the more cluttered our lives become! Isn't it supposed to be the other way around!?

I know why. The kitchen wasn't put together last week, so now as I unpack the boxes onto the counter, it feels like more of a mess. Doing a new kitchen takes some mental effort. I just keep at it.

We went roller skating for a friend's birthday tonight. It was nice to do something different with our friends! But I found myself super emotional and teary...good grief! I just "snapped" and couldn't contain my emotions when friends asked, "how are things going"? I think I'm just really tired emotionally as well as physically. We've done so much the past month!!! Really eager to press on and get the house fixed up!

Moving Took Five Days

When we left, the moon was so beautiful illuminating the road
as we said goodbye to this chapter of our lives

Good grief.

Glory day! We finished a bit after midnight with the final floor mopped! What a journey! This isn't the END, it's really just the BEGINNING! What a process to buy the house, close the deal, paint the entire interior and actually execute the move. It took a lot of help from friends and family and many, many hours, but we DID IT!

At dusk, the kids and I took a last walk around the property, which was bittersweet for me. We've had a good 2+ years here. A lot has happened relationally in our family and we'll miss this beautiful spot. We have loved living here and are so grateful for the experience. We know there's a lot of good to come, so I keep my eyes looking forward.

I get so much from blogging. I really enjoy processing the happenings of life this way. And we all love looking back and, if only for a moment, reliving some memories. Even the hard parts are somewhat enjoyable to revisit for a glimpse at the past. We were all SO DONE at midnight on Monday, we were tired and hungry and just tired some more. Moving is hard and taxing on so many levels, I'm so glad we're done!

More Packing

Last full day at old house, always a beautiful view, no matter the weather

Thank you Rhonda! I think you saved the move by letting me drag you room to room and evaluate what needed to be packed instead of doing the kitchen. I would not have been able to do today without you!

My Mom thoughtfully made us four homemade meals, thanks Mom!

Final cleaning at the new house, finished the painting, washing the floors so we can get them all dirty again!

Countdown to Moving Day

My happy color!

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, MOVING DAY! Yeeps!

We could seriously use another week, but I'm glad Moving Day is happening soon! I'm emotionally ready! The weird thing is...I feel like I'm in a time warp of sorts. Each day feels like a week, so when I look back on my posts from a few days ago, I feel like it was weeks ago. Hard to explain.

Today John finished carpet cleaning and returned the machine. Daniel was the gopher-boy and Sarah washed the dining room floor on hands & knees with vinegar and water (it was super dirty after painting)! I did all the meticulous edging and finishing work in the kitchen, at least the first coat and part of the second. The frustrating thing is I CANNOT see the wet paint going on the old existing color!!! Argh!!! So grateful for the big light that Don brought, it really helped me again tonight!

And a peek...

Got the first coat of the periwinkle on tonight! OOOOOHHHHH, I LOVE IT!!!! Can't wait to see it dry and apply the second coat!!

Monday: assign 30 minutes per room and see how much we can get packed. Goal is to get things cleared off enough for the movers on Thursday

Tuesday: meet Comcast guy and finish up painting (probably 2 hours worth of painting remaining) and kids do the kitchen and laundry floors

Wednesday: last time we moved, Gramma helped us with kitchen moving day the day before the movers came. It worked out brilliantly!!! This time, Rhonda will come and help me pack up the kitchen and drive it to the new house and get it all set up. THANKFULLY, the pantry is done!!! I'm SO glad we did that last week! Mom is fixing pot roast for us, yum!

Thursday: Moving Day! We'll have the movers do the master bedroom first and then lock the cats in there with their litter box, food and water for the day where they will be safe and have everything they need. Then after the movers go home, we'll head back here to get the cats and the toiletries and sheets. We'll head to the new home and make the beds and get the cats set up in the garage and laundry. I like them to be confined for a few hours to a small area so they know where the litter box is and then we'll let them out into the rest of the house on Friday!

Friday: pack and move remaining stuff from old house and start cleaning old house

Saturday: some friends are coming to move whatever is remaining and we'll do more cleaning (windows, refrigerator, walls, floors, etc)

Sunday: we want to be out by 8pm, here's hoping!

Nearly Done in Dan's Room

Progress

Dan's room keeps getting darker and darker! It's the "cozy cave"! Can't wait to see his furniture and posters in here. He has an idea for a feature wall and some other embellishments...love his style!

Green Ceiling

The 2nd coat will bring it to a grass green

Dan decided he wants a green ceiling and gray walls. Here we go!

Dan's Ceiling

My main priority is that Dan is happy with his choice

We are starting to feel the time crunch. A week from this Thursday, the movers will show up with the moving truck(!) I'm in denial. There's so much still left to do to get the inside ready to move in and at the very same time, the days are dwindling to finish packing and clean up the inside and outside of the old house.

Fun times ahead.

AFTERNOON UPDATE: Daniel and I just had a discussion. John is in a hurry to paint his room, I can understand why that's important. But when I press Dan about colors, he's not sure. He might want a green ceiling. I don't want to rush him. And I don't want to paint his room several times, so I want to give him space to get a sense for what he might like.

More samples.

All Wall Rolling Done

Love this view from the living room!

The kitchen high places are DONE!

I will paint the walls between the upper cupboards and the counters with a brush and mini roller sometime this week. The hard part in the kitchen is done though-YAY!!! In fact, all the rolling is done!

Except, for Dan's room. We'll do his ceiling tomorrow night after he chooses his ceiling color.

Whoooooopppppeeeee, we're really almost completely finished with all the painting! OK, maybe 90% done.

Box by Box

Slowly we're getting our stuff to the new house

Everyday we load up the van, the pile in the new garage is growing! With John's back, it's been mostly the kids with a little bit of me doing all the boxes. Good job crew!

Ceilings Finished

Only three ceiling coats in the dining room and four in Sarah's-whew

We painted the flat ceilings white and the vaulted ceilings will be White Mocha. Flat ceilings include: dining, Sarah's, guest room, laundry and master plus two small hallways (bathrooms will be painted later).

Hallelujah, we did it! The ceilings are done!!!

Painting Spreadsheet

Every checked box is one step closer to finishing!

Painting ceilings, edging and walls started to get confusing really fast since we're doing everything at once. Enter my favorite tool, the spreadsheet! Now I know what needs to be done next and it's simple to see we're just over half was done according to the boxes we created. This is a brain-saver for me!