First Week in the House

We've had a lot going on around here since my last post. And really, the words 'a lot' do not even come CLOSE to what has been going on, but for some reason I decided to start this post before 8:30 in the morning and my brain doesn't really start functioning well until 8:30 in the evening, so I apologize in advance for anything that doesn't make sense.

On Saturday the 14th, we decided that we would get enough moved into the new house to be able to sleep there that night. Our living room furniture was delivered that day along with our new mattress (King size. Can I just say YAY!) so basically all we needed to get in the house were the boys beds and clothes and food for the next day. My in-laws came to help assemble beds and help get things set up, and our friends Josh and Sara also came to help that day.

Austin's bed going up!

The only one of us that was completely moved in after that Saturday was Aaron. That boy was so excited to get in this house that he spent the entire day going back and forth to the trailer getting what was his. He moved all of his own clothes and got them hung up or put in drawers all on his own. Aaron is very much a neat freak and he has been sharing a room with Austin for the past several months (who is exactly the opposite of neat freak) and he was SO ready to get his own room and get it organized exactly the way he wants it.

Aaron and Austin in Aaron's bed

We are slowly getting everything moved into the house from the trailer, and when I say 'slowly', I mean SLOWLY. Basically what it has come down to is me carrying a laundry basket over to the trailer, loading it up, bringing it into the house, unloading it, and starting all over again. It is wearing me out. I never really noticed that you have to walk up a little bit of a hill to get from the trailer to the house, but the later it gets in the day, the more that hill turns into a mountain.

Like the kind of mountain that needs to have an oxygen supply waiting on you when you get to the top of it. 

It's getting better though. The first few mornings we kept having to run over to the trailer to get something we needed, but we aren't doing that anymore, so that's progress.

After I dropped the kids off at school yesterday morning I was sitting at the table eating breakfast and thinking of everything that I needed to get done. I need to be working in the house and I need to be moving things from the trailer, but which is more important? Then my phone rang and it was my mom saying that she was coming to help with whatever I needed, so I put her on things that needed done in the house while I moved things from the trailer. It was the most productive day I've had since the day we moved in. Thank you mama!

Aaron climbed on top of the cabinets to hang a clock for me.

In the next week or two, I'm planning on taking pictures of all of the rooms in the house and telling y'all about some of my favorite things about each room. I need a little more time to find a place for everything and get it all fixed up like I want it, but I promise I'll let y'all see it as soon as I feel it's ready. Right now my focus is to try to get everything out of the trailer so we can get it out of here.

I will say this about the house though. I love it.

Love it. 
Love it.
Love it.

Even though I drew out the plan myself, I never dreamed it would turn out so perfect for us. We spent about 6 months in the building process, and it's so hard to imagine how something I picked out in August would come together with something I picked out in November with everything coming from different places and getting put in at different times.  And a lot of decisions ended up being last minute decisions because I had workers standing there needing an answer RIGHT NOW. In fact, as I look around, I realize how many very noticeable things in the house were last minute decisions. But luckily, I know what style I like and I found most of the process to be fun rather than stressful and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

But I'm not.

EVER.

Or at least not for a very long time.

Our first fire in the fireplace.

You Know You Live in the Country When...

It's been 3 years this month since Robbie and I were riding in a car with a realtor heading out to look at some land we were thinking about buying. I had never been to the part of town where we were going, but I remember feeling car sick on the way out and telling the realtor that I would never consider living out that far and he could just turn his car around and head back somewhere closer to a Wal-Mart. But he convinced me that this land is worth driving out and looking at, so I agreed that I would give it a try.


When we got to the land I absolutely fell in love with it. It was advertised as "park like setting" and when we saw it that's exactly what I thought about. So we bought that land and 6 months later put a trailer house on it. I knew that if this was something I was going to agree to, I didn't want us to sink a lot of money into it before I knew if I could stand to live this far out. And here we are, over 2 years later, building our dream house on that land and only days away from moving in.

And until tonight, I haven't been bothered at all by the fact that we are a little "out in the middle of no where".

Did you catch that "until tonight" part?

I enjoy seeing deer in my driveway when I come home at night. I enjoy my boys having 50 acres to ride their 4-wheelers on. I enjoy having a pond we can fish in anytime we want.

What I do not enjoy is my child coming into the house at night and yelling, "dad, get your gun! There are two hogs standing right outside the door!"

Rob and I were in the new house cleaning up and Rob had asked Aaron to run over to the trailer house to get him a towel. But when Aaron opened the door, there were two, very large, hogs standing there looking at him. Poor kid was scared to death and will probably not step foot alone outside this house in the dark for as long as he lives.

The back of our new house is only about 30 feet from the front door of our trailer house, and there were two hogs just hanging there out like they owned the place. Robbie needed to get to the trailer to get a gun, and he had to walk right by those hogs to get there. They didn't attack or run off, they were just doing their thing. (Whatever it is that hogs do.) (I'm not really sure because I had a child that needed calming down and I was sure not about to play the part of hero on this gig.)

Aaron, Austin, and I gathered around a window in the back of the new house (which was only about 10 feet from the hogs) and we saw Robbie step out on the front porch of the trailer with his gun. This is when I start thinking, "if this had happened a year ago I wouldn't have set my dream house right here in the middle of hog land".

So at this point the hogs are still between the house and trailer, but walking closer to the shop. The boys and I all jump when Rob makes the first shot.

One pig down. One to go. (Oh please let there only be the one other pig out here!)

The hog that is still alive walks away for a second, but then goes back to check on his buddy. Rob had stepped back into the trailer to reload the gun. The boys and I are still glued to the window, praying that dead hog doesn't come back to life and kill us all.

Or that's what I was thinking.

Austin was probably thinking this is the coolest thing that has happened in his life so far, and Aaron was still shaking like a leaf because it's just not normal to step out of your house and see hogs.

I know we live in Arkansas and everything, but y'all, it really is NOT normal.

Anyway, back to the unfolding drama.

Rob steps back out on the porch and watches the pig as he circles his friend. I look at Rob, I look at the pig. Who will win this?

Rob shoots. Rob wins. Pig number 2 is down. He was not as ok with dying as his friend was, so he required a few more shots. I needed to know he was dead. DEAD. Not just knocked out.

Can I just brag on my man's shooting ability for a second? He was shooting from the front porch of our trailer, at a pig that is only inches from his shop, and just a few feet away from our new house (that I am now considering selling and moving back somewhere closer to a Wal-Mart). (Because I'm pretty sure you won't see wild pigs hanging around outside of Wal-Mart.) Anyway, we made it through with just 2 dead hogs (Hogs or pigs? Is there a difference?) and no broken windows, no holes in the side of the shop, nothing.

Ya did good Rob. And I hope someday I'll be brave like you and walk right past hogs (hogs, pigs... ok, now it's bothering me that I don't know this) to go get my gun and protect my family.

Well, no I don't. That's why I have you.

Why does it completely crack me up that there are so many people willing to leave their house at 9:00 at night to pick up and process these pigs? I understand that I have been completely stressed this week and overly tired, but as I'm sitting here typing my family is all asleep and I. Cannot. Quit. Laughing.

But at the same time thinking, "ok, I'm done with country life. What's for sale by Wal-Mart?" :-/

*UPDATE*

A dear friend of mine called me this morning after reading this post and said that she was pretty sure these were her parents (who live near us) pet hogs. They have been getting out of their fence and she even almost called me yesterday to let me know that they were having trouble keeping them in and to not shoot if we saw them. I am just sick about this because they belonged to sweet, sweet people that would do anything in the world for you and they love my dog as if she were their own. On one hand I have peace of mind that we don't have to start worrying about wild hogs coming up this close to the house, but on the other hand, we killed their pets and it makes me so very sad for them and their grandchildren that played with the hogs as if they were dogs. We've had no experience with hogs of any kind and didn't for a second consider that they belonged to someone.

Steve and Cheryl, we are truly very sorry that we took your pets from you.

RIP Charlie and Rudy

House update and my boys

Do you ever feel like your mind is going in 100 different directions and no matter what you do you just can't seem to fully focus on one thing until you move on to the next? A good example of that is just within the last 5 minutes that I've been sitting here with the computer in my lap, I've told my dog told to quit licking her foot, I've told Austin that the garage door openers are not toys and to find something different to entertain himself with, I've thought about the chalkboard that I painted yesterday that is still sitting in the middle of my kitchen floor even though it's already dry, and I've thought about how someone around here should really do some laundry today. And seeing as how I am the only person in this house that knows how to use the washer and dryer, I guess that would be me.

But I'm just not feeling laundry today.

I think maybe we can all make it one more day.

Anyway, I think the main thing that has my head spinning (which could explain this headache) is that Robbie came in from work this past Wednesday and announced that we could possibly move into our new house next weekend.

Next weekend.

That is only 6 days away.

And I haven't even gotten all of the Christmas stuff out of our house yet. And I don't think I've packed even one box. And I have projects I want to complete before we move in. And we have furniture that needs to be delivered. And our cook top has been back-ordered. And, and, and.....

I need some advil.

And a nap.

Since we haven't sold our trailer house yet (and yes, it is for sale and will go to the first person that says they want it), we decided we wouldn't get in a huge hurry to get everything moved. I would like to take it slow and get everything organized as we are moving in. I feel like we are living in complete chaos and disorganization right now, so I am not about to start just throwing things in the new house and saying I'll organize it later. I will do it slowly and get it right as I go so I won't have to reorganize later.

Sounds good right?

Maybe we'll stick to that plan.

I haven't taken a lot of pictures of the house lately, but here are a few that I took this week.

I think I'm in love with our tile!

This week is the big finishing week. The cabinet people will come and put all the doors on and the hardware up. The sound system guys will hang our TV's and get all of that set up. The plumber will put in our sinks, toilets, and other necessity's that require water to go through a pipe. The blinds will all be hung. The painters will do their touch-ups. The house will get cleaned from top to bottom.

So yeah, big week ahead for house.

The past few weeks, Robbie and I have been crazy busy with all things house, and I feel a little like we've been neglecting the kids. But somehow that seems to have helped their relationship with each other because they have spent a lot of time playing outside together jumping on the trampoline, going fishing, and riding scooters. I know they are just as ready for us to get finished and moved into the house as Robbie and I are, but I think that we are all relieved that there is an end in sight.

Last night I had a dream about Austin. I dreamed that he was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer and the facility that was treating him didn't allow us to be there with him. So we were in a completely different state as our 6 year old baby that was enduring cancer treatments alone. I was so sad when I woke up and I couldn't wait to see Austin and give him a great big hug this morning. 

This morning in church Austin wanted to sit in my lap with his head lying on my shoulder. He had his little arms wrapped around my neck and was playing with my hair as I was singing about how great our God is. I closed my eyes right then and prayed for all of the kids that are battling cancers and diseases and for the parents that want so badly to take their pain away from them. I can not even fathom what that must be like. And I thanked God for the health of my boys and for all of the blessings we have in our lives. After Austin left to go to Discovery Hour this morning, Aaron scooted really close to me and he grabbed my hand so he could show me that his hand is as big as mine, and again I had to thank God for allowing Robbie and I the opportunity to have these boys and to watch them as they grow. At one point we didn't even know if we would be able to have children, so even though I've got SO much on my mind these days, I'm so very thankful that I have things happen (even if it is a bad dream) that stop me in my tracks and make me remember the ones around me that really matter.

Highlights of '11 and Goals for '12

2011 has been a pretty good year for our family. Not the best, but certainly not the worst, so I'm going with 'pretty good'. And of course there is always bad that comes along with the good, but since I care nothing about remembering the bad from 2011, I'm focusing on the good. Here are a few highlights of 2011...

1. The top of the list has to be getting to know my birth father and his family. I am so happy to have him, his wife, and my 2 "new" brother's in my life now. It is something that I never knew I wanted, but can't imagine living the rest of my life without now that I have them. So Jimmy, Denise, JJ, Blake, Heather, and Kaitlyn...you're my number one for 2011!! Love y'all much!

2. One of the biggest and hardest decisions we've made this year is to switch church congregations. We will ALWAYS have a special place in our hearts for all of the people that we've spent the last 12 years going to church with. But our family was ready for a change, so in July we made that change. We are so thankful for the way our new church family has taken us in and made us feel so welcome from the very start. We couldn't make it without all of our Christian friends!

3. Another big decision was to begin building our house. I had spent 2 years drawing out house plans on graph paper trying to get it perfect, so early in the summer we decided house perfection was not a possibility, and it was time to just go for it. We are now just a few weeks away from being in the house, and it already seems like we're spending more time in there than we do in the house we currently live in. We've been SO busy with this for the past 6 months, but it will all be worth it when we finally get in.


As far as goals or resolutions go, I usually try to not make any because I seem to set myself up for disappointment. But maybe if I actually put them out there for everyone to read I'll stick to them a little better.

1. Top of this list: get back in shape. A few years ago I was in the best shape I had been in since college because I was running everyday and eating right. It's time to get back to that. I'm currently in a 'biggest loser' competition with 9 other friends that goes until the end of March. And y'all. I don't like to lose. Especially when there is money involved. So here I go. It's time I do this for myself.

2. The next goal is for me to use my kitchen for more than just a room to hold the fridge and the microwave. In a few weeks I will have a beautiful new kitchen and I need to do lots of cooking in there. I do not enjoy cooking and it is not natural for me, but I need to do it more. We eat out WAY too much and that needs to stop. I want to get organized enough to actually have a week or two of meals planned and bought for so I can at least eliminate the excuse of not having anything to fix.

Not that I won't come up with 10 other excuses, but that will no longer be one I can use. This one will be harder for me to accomplish than getting in shape. I truly do not enjoy cooking and would be just as happy with a bowl of cereal every night for dinner. But I have a family that would like a little more diversity than just picking a different cereal.

3. The last big goal I have on my mind is getting my scrapbooks caught up. I have been scrapbooking since Rob and I got married over 14 years ago and this is the first time I've ever gotten this far behind. I'm guessing I'm about 2 years behind at this point and I have over 2,000 pictures on my phone alone that need to be printed out and put into books. My boys will pull out a book and sit on the floor together talking about who everyone is and how little they were and I love that. Scrapbooking is a creative outlet for me and I'm SO excited about having my own scrapbook area in the new house where I can spread everything out and see what all I have and get it all put in order. This goal will more than likely take more than a year to do, but I know there will be major progress made on my scrapbooking in 2012!

And as always, I want to work to be a better person and get closer to God. The closer I am to God, the better EVERYTHING seems to get. This is more of a life goal than a 2012 goal, but this time next year I pray that I can say I'm closer to God and a better woman than I am as I sit here today.

I wish a better than ever year for all of my friends and family. Much love to you all...