Longest Move-In Ever...

Alrighty... This is the longest move-in ever but dang it we are living in our new/old home ready or not! Well Brannon had his time off from work in between jobs and is now back at work at his new job with Pepsi. Last time I mentioned we were moving our belongings in from the garage and we did with the help of our amazing friends Brock, Jason and "Angry" Johnny but we hadn't even actually stayed the night in our home until this last Friday evening. Let me tell you that it feels grrrreat! The last week we ended up staying at the parents a little while longer since we were getting stressed about getting moved in and settled as soon as possible before finishing up some crucial projects so that the house could at least be somewhat toddler safe for Charli. We still have more pictures to post but they'll just have to wait until next time. In the last week other than moving in Brannon has worked on getting the walk-in closet finished out so I can have a place for our clothes, which is crucial. Now all that's left is setting the remainder of the trim in place, finishing the last of the touch ups and then all we still have then is to install the wood floor in the entry way. Due to some packs of the flooring being messed up and the steps to the stairs still not arriving, we called the place we got the flooring at and they said the steps would be on back order until early February and that the replacements for the messed up packs would have to be ordered and that might take an additional 2-4 weeks. Despite the fact they mentioned that they did have some in stock but it was someone else's order that had partially arrived and waiting for the remainder. Hopefully Brannon can maybe talk them into going ahead and switching ours out with part of that order so that all of the rest of that order can come in all at once and we can get our replaced since we have to get this flooring done for the carpet runners to be installed on the steps and the fact that we ordered and prepaid for ours way before these other people did. If that doesn't work then maybe I'll have to step in and interveen. No one likes to have to deal with a woman when she gets a little saucy and hot headed. ; p Since our last post not only did we get moved in but also Destiny has come to live with us now for the remainder of the school year thus far. That in itself is going to be an exciting adventure. Turns out she is beyond excited about the move and we can only hope that she feels just as comfortable living with us as she would visiting us every other weekend. This last week we got her enrolled in school and she will actually have her first day at her new school tomorrow. I think she may even already be more settled in then any of the rest of us are at this point which was just what we wanted. We took it easy ourselves this last Sunday though due to Nonnie having an unbelievable turkey dinner in the early afternoon with all the Grandparents. After dinner everyone came over and had a tour to see the progress of the house. Everyone seemed very impressed of what we have accomplished already. Now if we can just get all of our things in the right places and get some decor going we can have our house warming party and hopefully move on to some more much needed projects around the place. Even though I would love to get everything done right away and finished we must take time for ourselves and the kids to help keep us grounded and keep us from getting burned out too quickly. That actually is the best time for me to get to run around town and familiarize myself with all the local antique shops and furniture galleys. That's usually how I best stir up my inspiration for what we aim to do decor wise. When I find some good places I'll be sure to fill you all in on the what and where's of them. Speaking if what and where's, I'm a bit hot headed this evening due to Brannon's informing me that the fans I wanted for the house are completely out of stock everywhere even online. : | That news really ruffled my feathers. I knew I should have gotten them when I had the chance. Now I'll be regretting not going with my instinct to buy, buy, buy something when it comes along at a great deal like those fans did. Hopefully more will arrive in stock somewhere in the next few weeks. Until then I guess we'll once again just adjust to the dangling light fixtures in some rooms for now. Yes I said dangling, we like to live our remodeling life on the edge like that, lol. So for now I best be on my way to bed since we have earlier mornings from now until the end of the school year. We will keep all of you updated with more stuff soon. Peace, love, and paint thinner... sweet dreams all!

We Made It...

Yes! We made it to Arkansas in one piece. Sorry the notice is a few weeks late but we arrived back in "The Natural State" around two in the morning Monday, November 15th. Then Brannon got up for work that morning and later that night we crammed all of our belongings in our garage. I must say though; it's a strange feeling seeing your whole life packed up and stored in one small space and not knowing exactly when you will see it all again. Sitting here thinking about it I have completely forgotten about my plants! They have been sitting in there without sun or water since then. Hmmm, I wonder if I should do something about that? (lol) If anything I'll have to handle that tomorrow. Hopefully I'll remember. Anyhow, it shouldn't be long now until we are ready to paint and install the floors but it will still be a few weeks until we are ready to move in and unpack or even think about getting settled in our new/old home. Actually for the past two weeks things have been pretty slow going since everyone in the house has been getting the nasty virus that has been going around that Charli had right before we left town. Tuesday evening I tried to work on the house and was over there for maybe an hour until it felt like I hit a brick wall. Let me just say that it wasn't pretty and that I got to know the upstairs bathroom at my "in-laws" on a personal level that night. It was bad enough that it took all of Wednesday for me to recoupe and that I didn't even really feel one hundred percent until mid morning Thursday. Thank heaven for my amazing "mother-in-law" who helped nurse me back to health since Brannon was having to work overnight out of town. It would have been miserable if I had gotten sick with "B" working away and not have anyone there to help let alone with me but also with Charli. I wouldn't have made it for sure. Since I finally got my feet back underneath me, we were actually able to put a full weekends worth of work on the house this last weekend for the first time since October. The rest of the windows have been cleaned, prepped, and caulked. All of the carpets have been pulled up and staples have been pulled out of the floors. Brannon's dad Les has finished out the closet and installed the pocket door in the master closet. The kitchen cabinets have been stained, sealed, and sanded and are waiting for their final spray down of finish. Brannon even actually already has Destiny's room painted so she can see it for herself what the paint will look like over this Thanksgiving holiday. As you can tell we are getting really close for the most part. The weather the last few days has even been nice enough for me to get back to work on the rest of the bushes on the front of the house. Yesterday I trimmed them up to match the other side and today I was even able to set the stones back in place and spread mulch even though Brannon has been sick since Monday night. I also even managed to clean up around the backside of the house and haul about a half dozen full trash bags to the curb in between doing that. I just can't wait  for all the fun stuff to begin. As soon as we get the paint on the walls and the floors installed we can begin to worry about the little details and other future projects like changing the master bath into having a walk-in shower, re-painting the exterior of the house, re-doing the landscaping int he flower beds, then eventually hopefully expanding the deck on the back of the house. We even have plans in place for us to install a garden and hopefully a compost by early this spring. I must apologize though for not postin gany pictures again this time. But obviously things have been just slightly hectic. I do plan though to go over to the house tomorrow and will take lots of pictures to post of what things are looknig like especially of the landscaping that I am so proud of accomplishing already. So, until then, just in case I don't post anything before then... Happy Thanksgiving everybody and be super safe.

The Final Move...

Ok... So we got everything situated with the property management company. It turns out it was a weekend of panic due to an accounting mess up! So thanks One Prop for all the stress for nothing. This last week we managed to get a little done here and there on the house but we are getting there. For the most part the kitchen, dining, and upstairs living areas are ready for paint and the floors to be put down. The last two days alone I have already pulled enough staples out of the floors that by the time we are done I would prefer not to see another staple for at least a year or two. Those little suckers are stubborn and I have the blisters to prove it. All that's left is to finish out the master closet, pull what's left of those damned staples and prep the windows in the bedrooms. Hopefully we'll be set to move in before 2011. As of this moment we are driving back to Texas with a couple of Brannon's buddies Johnny and Jason to pick up the rental truck and load her up. I almost didn't come along for the ride since last night our sweet little girl actually got sick for the first time. Poor little thing had caught a stomach bug and literally upchucked all over Brannon... twice actually. It was the saddest thing ever, she would get so mad afterward and I don't blame her, it wasn't very pretty. But it seems that it was just a three or four hour bug. The whole time she was still active as usual, I'd almost say she was more active. Nothing seems to slow that little love bug down, God bless her. By bed time she was fine and slept throughout the night and held her fluids down. With her feeling better I didn't feel as guilty leaving her for the weekend for the first time with her Nonnie and Papa. So the plan today is to haul bootay to DFW load up the truck, clean, paint, and shampoo the carpets so we can go meet up with friends this evening before heading out and head back to Arkansas sometime Sunday. I must say it will be nice to finally be done with the trips back and forth and be able to solely focus on getting the house done and not have to worry about our stuff back in Texas. The best of that also is not having to put Charli through all the hectic stress of the road trips too. I still can't believe how good she was with all the trips we made in the month of October alone. So this is and will be our final trip to Texas for a bit, or at least until Christmas or so to pick up Destiny.

One day to vacate...

This past week in Arkansas was very nice but I must admit work on the house was not as productive as planned. We took the weekend to recoup from the road trip and the previous few weeks of gong non-stop. Monday I did finally knock out work on some bookkeeping that absolutely had to be done and I was also able to do some things around Nonnie's house to help our week there go smoothly but no work done really on our old/new house so new pictures this go round.

Tuesday Charli and I began to get a little stir crazy so we got out of the house and went into town for a bit. We went to the grocery store, filled the car with gas, ate at our favorite place to eat (Chick-Fil-A) and then even had time left to browse Toys"R"Us for a little while before heading back. When we got back we pulled into the garage to find that one of these past few days when Brannon had even made mention that the beer in the fridge wasn't that cold the breaker had flipped and the refrigerator in the garage had stopped working. Like a super hero I single handed with child in tow unloaded all sorts of thawed out food and quickly dispersed of what could be saved into the other freezer and what needed to be tossed out and then unloaded all the new groceries we had just purchased into the house. Then later that night instead of the three of us having steak and veggie skewers we had lasagna for 8-10. I also tried cooking some other things that had thawed earlier that couldn't be re-frozen to save but almost lit the whole place up in flames when the grill caught fire. What a day!!!

Wednesday Charli's Aunt Katie came and picked her up to run errands with her and watch her while I managed to finally get next door to clean one set of windows before having to head back to Nonnie's because I had gotten a massive migraine. After about an hour into it had to quit and go lay down because I became nauseous enough to the point that I felt as if I would have lost my breakfast right there all over or maybe even passed out over there by myself. After a short nap I began to feel better right in time for Charli and Katie to get back for us to go get Charli's cousins Owen and Kamryn from school for me to watch them for a few hours in exchange. Those kids are the greatest! They love our Charli soo much and they play so well with her! We picked tomatoes from Nonnie's tomato plants, jumped on the trampoline out back and just all hung out until Katie came back from her meeting. Wednesday is also one of the two busiest days of Brannon's work week where he works anywhere from 16-20 hours in one day and then turns right back around four hours later to do the same thing again Thursday. So needless to say, I practically didn't even see him those days but I did still cook some dinner for him to have when he got home. Charli and I tried to stay up until he got there but we didn't quit make it.

Thursday was a pretty mundane day in Arkansas. Charli and I just hung around the house and played  until eventually we couldn't take the quietness and headed to the mall to go take Charli to play at the little play area there. She had a good time. It really amazes me how well she plays with kids older than her. Then about 4-ish to our surprise we got a call from Brannon saying he was on his way home early and we loaded up and headed back home. When we got back Charli and Brannon took a nap and I finally got a chance to sneak away next door and do some work! It wasn't very much, but I did get a few hours in on the place to finish up the windows in the kitchen/dining/living areas and got the majority of them taped off and ready for painting.  About one in the morning I finally called it quits and headed back next door for the night.

Friday was a good day overall! Charli woke up around 6:30 and we watched the sun come up and then watched some cartoons on PBS while eating breakfast. After getting her fed and going for the day I then proceeded to clean Nonnie and Papa's house top to bottom. I thought Linda and Les would really appreciate coming home to a clean house after allowing my husband and I to invade it over the last month and with Charli and I coming back and forth. I of all people love coming home to a clean house myself so I'm sure they'll love it being in order and us not being there for a couple of days. Later on in the day around three Brannon got home right in time for me to finish up cleaning and for Charli to wake up from her nap and eat lunch before we had to get back on the road to head back to Texas. The road trip this time was really nice for me with having Brannon there to help keep Charli happy while I drove. On our way we stopped by to pick up Destiny (our older daughter) from her mom's in Hurst on our way to our house in Fort Worth. We finally made it to our destination right around midnight. Do take note thatt I did not call it home since it already does not feel like home anymore. We all piled out of the car to get everything unloaded and emptied from the past weeks craziness when I realized that a letter in the weeks worth of mail that had piled up is from the property management company we rent our house through in Texas. I opened it immediately fearing the worst because i just knew things have gone way too smooth up to this point for this transition to be happening like it is. Now let me fill you in a little bit... before this recent  move we had just moved into a lovely newer home in the Crowley area of south Fort Worth about six months ago for more room after having our little girl. Planning to be there for at least a few years while Charli grew up we agreed to sign a two year lease to live there. When the opportunity came up for us to move to Arkansas we did have to terminate the two year lease early but we followed all the directions the lease agreement states to a tee such as providing the management company with a 45 day notice, a forwarding address, as well as 180% of one months rent for early termination fees for the management company to re-rent the home. We have even paid rent on time every time and had just paid our current months pro-rated rent up to the time for us to be there to finish packing and load everything up and clean up the place just so that we might possibly get our deposit back. Well the letter we received states this:

I mean really... of all the things!!! I knew at the very moment we signed the lease with a management company that I would probably regret it in the long run. Guess my gut feeling was right all along. Thank goodness the opportunity for us to move came along when it did. Could you imagine if we had stayed through out the end of the lease what kind of wackiness they would have come up with then? Tell me what you think...

On the Road Again...

Just like Willie Nelson's song, Charli and I are on the road again! Ok... so Friday is really when we were on the road but today we are safe and rested after being on the road for a full ten hours. That is actually good timing for us having to go two hours the opposite direction to take "Pam-aw" to Weatherford before we could even head toward Arkansas which is completely two different directions. After a week in Texas packing and Charli not seeing her daddy and my not seeing my husband we drove back to Arkansas to spend the week with Brannon and to do some more work on the house. Charli was beyond excited to have arrived back in Arkansas. I just can't decide whether she was more excited to see her daddy or just super happy to be out of the car. She and I both are getting this whole traveling thing down though. I've figured out that as long as I have plenty of munchies for her to eat while we are driving she is as content as can be. It's a bit messy at the end when we finally get to our destination but that's what vacuums were invented for and as long as she has an enjoyable trip that's really all that matters to me. The plan for now is to get as much cleaning/prepping done on the old/new house as possible this week before Brannon heads back to Texas with us next weekend to finish packing everything up and doing the same thing there. We hope to get all of our junk moved to the garage so that all we have to do is go back the next following weekend and load up the truck and do some final cleaning touch ups on the place and be done with it. That will then be the end of that chapter of our lives and we'll be able to focus completely on finishing things up here and getting our home ready for us to live in. Until then we will be staying next door to the old/new house with Nonnie and Papa Maestri which is like staying in a luxury suite compared to both of our two past homes. I just hope we don't get too accustomed to living with them that they have a hard time kicking us out when the house is done. Ok, back on to the topic of the house and the move... we must stay on track here!!! So Charli and I arrived roughly about 9:45pm and Brannon was soo happy to see us girls. It was already dark out so we didn't get to go see any progress that has been done on the house but Brannon said that they installed the new garage door earlier that day. When I make it next door I'll get plenty of pics for all to see.

Saturday we all slept in for the first time since I don't know when. When we finally got up and Brannon and Charli took McKinley and Nonnie and Papa Maestri to the airport since they were flying to see The Olsen family for the week who had just relocated to NC a few months ago. I had to stay behind not only because there wasn't any room left in the car for me to go but also because I needed to stay back and work on some of my bookkeeping work that has begun to pile up with everything going on with the move. After Brannon and Charli saw them all off, Brannon took Charli over to The Pack household to spend some time hanging out there with her Papa Joe and Nonnie GiGi. When they finished up, Brannon actually took Charli to the mall for some daddy daughter time shopping for shoes at the mall. There he found Charli some of the cutest little brown Osh Kosh boots and he had gotten Charli her very first pair of pink Converse Chuck Taylor's. And all for a very decent price. I do have to say he made some great choices. When they came home it was too cute watching Charli waddle in her little boots. She would slip and slide all over the place since they hadn't been broken in yet. She would sit down eventually and take them off and then try with all her might to put them back on. That little girl and her shoes!!! I can predict already that that's going to become a problem for mommy and daddy!!! The rest of the day Brannon and Charli just took it easy while I finished up some of that pesky bookkeeping work.

Sunday Brannon got up with Charli and let me sleep in until around 10am. While I was sleeping they made my favorite egg sandwiches for breakfast with eggs of course and mayo, tomatoes, avocado and ham or bacon. For the majority of the rest of the day they took it easy while I proceeded to clean up around Nonnie and Papa's house hoping that we can manage to live here for the week and keep it clean so that when Nonnie Linda and Papa Les come home they don't come home to their house all torn to hell.  I also managed to spend some time re-organizing the kitchen pantry, hopefully Nonnie doesn't mind and she likes what I did. I just had to do something to rummage through what was in there so that I could make a mental inventory of  everything that there was to eat so that I could figure out what of it we were going to eat that week. Later that day we finally all got cleaned up and ready to go take Charli "Trick or Treating" for the very first time ever. We had went over to our friends Jason and Kelly's house to meet up with them and their little boy Landon. By the time we got there Kelly had come down with something and wasn't feeling well so Jason, Landon, Brannon, Charli and I headed out to Bentonville to meet up with a friend of theirs Johnny at his parents house to start our "trick or treating" event. Charli and Landon were too adorable all dressed up in their costumes. Charli was the cutest little ladybug, and Landon was the yellow "Transformer". Those too had a great time. Charli was so good at holding on to her little bag. It was too funny the first few times because the first house we had gone to was Johnny's parents so we knocked on the door, said "trick or treat" and then went inside. But when we went to the next few houses Charli kept trying to go inside the homes all because we had gone into Johnny's parents house first off. She was just a little confused at first but after a while she got a grasp of what was going on. When we finished up we all went back to Johnny's parents and had brownies and ice cream, yum, yum. It really turned out to be a great night. It was the perfect temperature, it wasn't even the slightest bit windy and the streets really weren't very busy at all. I'm still not sure though as to whether or not we will continue the Halloween tradition like everybody else does. I'm just not sure if the idea of what the holiday has become is what I want to teach my child. I believe in the existence of souls and spirits and the concept of the observation of All Saints Day and All Souls Day but do I really want my child going door to door to strangers homes asking for cavities? It was a good time but I bet it does begin to get more overwhelming as the years go by having to keep up to societies ideas and expectations of certain holidays throughout the year. Hopefully I can come up with a good creative way to celebrate the living and the dead in a healthier manner like going camping and telling stories or browsing through photos of loved ones, something like that. Any who... I've gone off course again so that might as well be it for the day.  Until next time everyone have a wonderful "All Saints/Souls Day" and remember to give remembrance for those you love who are here and those who are lost.

Hard at work...

Hello all!!! For those of you who have never seen our new/old house from the outside this is what it looks like.

 Being back in Texas this week is unbearable. Other than it being another week alone in Texas I can't help but feel an intense anxiety that I'm not in Arkansas this week to do more work myself, but I guess somebody has to get the house in TX packed up and ready to go. I think Charli and I will be heading back up to AR this Thursday or Friday though so I can help do more before Brannon comes back with us the next following weekend for us to load up a truck and haul all our junk up there. This weekend Brannon and some of the family have been working away on the new/old place, even grand parents too.  Brannon had told me on the phone the last night that Grandma Tanksley pulled every staple up in the floor the other day getting it ready for the new wood floor and carpets to be put down. I love that sweet lady! Then Grandpa Tanksley helped Les get the rotted window in the front of the house re-framed. You just can't get those Tanksley's to slow down, they are just too adorable. I hope one day Brannon and I can have a relationship like those two. It's amazing the daily rituals those two love birds have like where they share a cup of coffee in bed every day before they get going and even take turns every other day as to who's gonna get up make the coffee. Just thinking of them warms my heart. Anywho, back on track to the renovations on the house and the progress that's being made.  You can see in the picture below the work I have already put in on the landscaping out front.

 

These bushes were as full and over grown as the bushes on the right of the house in the very first picture of the house up above.I just had to chop and trim those suckers down before it started to get too cold to work outside. While working on them my arms got so scrapped up I looked like I had been in a cat fight. Then low and behold I found our little garden friend behind the bushes, at least a three foot garden snake. We decided we'll let him stay there as long as he doesn't end up inside the house. I have  only tackled half of the bushes out front from the last time I was there, so when I get back up there and get all the landscaping cleaned up all around to the otherside I'll post an updated photo of it.

Next up is a picture of the small wall to the right of the stairs of the entry way when you come up the stairs. Brannon busted out the sheetrock on it and they got it widened and anchored down so we can build an shelf system on top of it up to ceiling that will be open from both sides for me to put pictures on and little nik-naks and stuff. I've always wanted to have shelfing that I can put old antiqued jars and bottles in of different colors and shapes for the light to shine through them. I believe we are going to stain the shelves to match the color of the wood that is going on the floor, it's going to look great.

Lastly but not least is a picture of our old dog Bear in his new dog house at his new home with the Drake family.  A few months ago before we had even thought of moving we had been talking of giving our younger choclate lab (Bear) to Brannon's sister Katie for her, her husband and their kids. Ever since we had gotten Bear he's always been a great pup, but our older black lab (Zoei') had become very dominant towards him through the past few years. So dominant to the fact that she would eat her food and his too as soon a we weren't looking, not allowing him to eat enough to pack on any weight or even play fetch and get any attention from us without her butting her fat butt in between us. Since we had Charli both of the dogs went from inside/outside dogs to just outside dogs and neither of them were getting any of the attention they used to. When the family discussed it we all decided that giving Bear to Katie and the kids would be the best for both dogs. That way Bear can get the undivided love and attention that he has always deserved and was never able to get adn Zoei's old butt can become an inside dog again. So the first weekend after Brannon started work up in Arkansas he had come back to Texas and picked up the dogs and went ahead and took them back with him. Turns out Bear and Zoei' are loving this transition. Bear has a whole family that will love him to himself and Zoei' has four other dogs in our neighborhood that she can run around the countryside with and boss around instead. It feels so good to see our dogs happy again!

Well once again that's all that we have for updates today! We are more than glad that you took your time to stop by and check in on what all has been happening with the move/remodel to our new/old home. Everybody stay safe and remember that even though we are all caught up in our busy lives that we are always thinking of you all. Much love to all our family and friends, and a special thanks to the Drake, Maestri, and Tanksley families for all the help with our new home. There's no way we could have ever gotten this much done this last month without all of you!!! x.o.x.o. 

Where you can imagine the future and enjoy the past.

Where you can imagine the future and enjoy the past.

Working on sharpening up on my Arkansas knowledge this evening and I'm starting to love the idea of moving there more and more. I found some really interesting sites that I have added links to below. The whole state just has so much artsy appeal that you could drown yourself in creativity. I really feel this is exaclty what my family needs. Can't wait until we are there for good. I was packing up boxes today and I think it's all just starting to set in that Texas won't be our home anymore. It's crazy how it's all happening soo fast. Talked to the hubby earlier and he and his dad are putting the walls up for our walk-in closet (pics below) and his mom called me for measurements of our bedroom furniture so she can help us figure how all our stuff is going to all fit in the master bedroom. No one could ever ask for better "In-Laws" in the world! These too are the cherry and the nuts on top of your Dairy Queen Sunday, or maybe that's the ice cream talking. Either way they are wonderfull, great, and loving people. As for tomorrow my mom will coming in town for a visit to help with Charli while I pack things up and tie up a few loose ends with my work. It'll be a long day for sure so I should say farewell and goodnight for the evening.

Until next time guys and gals...be safe and don't forget to tell those you love that you love them!

Our work in progress...

I'm back in Texas today after another long extended drive to/from Arkansas and Texas. Today really wasnt bad at all. Our little girl Charli is only one so what should be a six and a half hour trip instantly turns into a nine hour trip or more because of the breaks that must be taken so neither of us lose our minds in the car. Charli really was quite the little trooper today. Last time on our way to AR she was really cranky but today she hardly made a peep and slept most of the way. We stopped at a park in McAlester to play for an hour or so and stretch our legs and take pictures.

So as stated before we are moving to Arkansas, but what I had failed to mention is that we are moving into the house my husband grew up in. His parents built themselves a beautiful new home next door and had moved out a few years back. It was only a month ago or so that we made the decision for us to make the move to Arkansas and since then Brannon has already started a new job there and Charli and I have been going back and forth from Texas to Arkansas on weekends to help out with what all we need to get done before we can actually move in. In the last two weeks alone we have done alot of gutting to the house and getting it ready for some repairs here and there before we continue on with the laying the new floors and painting fresh paint on the walls. Below are some pictures of the place thus far. Below you can see the entry way, living room, dining area, kitchen, and master bedroom. In the pic of the kitchen you can see our lovely wood flooring that will be installed in the dining area, living room , entry way, and hallway to the bedrooms. I have also included a pic of the vinyl flooring we want to put in the kitchen. You can see in the pic of the master bedroom that we have knocked out the closet to turn it knot more of a walk-in knowing between the two of us that we'll need the space. I haven't gotten any pics of the outside yet but will soon because I absolutely have got to toot my own horn about the awesome job I did so far on the hedges out in front of the house.

Well that's all we've got for now everybody! Pray for us as much as you can, repeatedly!!! We'll be needing them to get this all done before next year! Love you all very much!

A New Begining...

After 29 years of never living anywhere but Texas my husband who is from Arkansas and myself have decided to make the move away from the only home I've known to the ever so beautifully natural state of Arkansas. I do have to be honest that I am beyond excited about this decision we have made. Don't get me wrong, I love Texas and always will. But it is very strange that since I was a teenager and made my first visit to Arkansas a part of me has always wanted to live there. It only became more evident to me a few months ago when we were visiting the family after having our little girl and I cried when we were leaving because i didn't want to go back home. It's crazy the feeing you get when someplace feels more like home than your actual own home. So when the opportunity came up for us to have the option to move to Arkansas I didn't even have to think about it. We had just moved to a new home in the city we lived in just six months ago and we had just gotten settled in. Even though we just gotten used to the place there were something's that made it hard for us like not being around a network of friends and family that seemed to be putting a strain on our marriage and my ability to cope with being a new mom and trying to work from home. Now we will have family there that can help us out at times when we even might just need one night by ourselves as a couple, or just some plain adult interaction. We will however be renovating the home we are moving into and we only have a few weeks left until we have to be out of our rental in Texas but I know we can manage this tasks so we can begin to build a better foundation for our own little family. So I will post next time some before pics and as soon as we get things done I will post more pics as the changes take place. If you don't see another post soon you'll know we are bard at work getting the place ready for us to move in. Until then we love and miss you all and hope all is well with everyone.