Project Post

We moved in the spring. Since that time I’ve had fun making this house our home. Most of these projects happened a while ago, but since the last few months have been busy with more than just painting, I haven’t gotten around to bragging about documenting the work I’ve done.

It’s mostly been a lot of little things.

Like recovering this dingy lamp shade with an old shirt I had.  

And getting the rest of this room ready. My little Haven finally gets her own haven (for a little while at least).

I got help from my 4 year-old painting this old shelf and picture frame. She loves to modpodge with me..

I’ve had these four frames since my mom passed away 5 years ago. The frames were an old looking silver and inside were four cross-stitched flowers. I decided to give them all a makeover with a little spraypaint and cut-out bird silhouettes from scrapbook paper.

We found an old dresser from Goodwill and I used an orange basecoat to show through the distressed topcoat.

Then came the dilemma of repurposing a bunch of display knobs and pulls that my husband came home with from work. Who wouldn’t love an assortment of high-end hardware for free. Yay for perks!

We had to sell our beautiful kitchen table because it didn’t fit in our new kitchen. So we got this b-yoot (also for free).

Refinished it a bright apple green and Voila!

Now it just needs a leaf so our family can fit around it. Dear Santa…

But the biggest project was figuring out what to do with the big blank wall in my family room. I don’t have a picture, but it is a large wall, and an empty canvas on which my mind could wander. 

My sister gave me the idea of a family tree.

I googled tree silhouette images and picked one I liked best. Then I used my sister’s projector to project the image onto the wall. This made it super easy to trace the image and we got to painting.

Then I bought some cheap wooden plaques from WalMart and Hobby Lobby. I spray painted each one, printed up some old photos of mine and my husband’s ancestors, and modpodged them onto the painted plaques. I stuck the little ones onto the tree by simply using some sticky putty. I also printed pictures of our immediate families so the children can have constant reminders of their aunts and uncles. I used bigger plaques for those photos and put them on the wall with 3M command strips. Last, I got a “family” sign for a few bucks at Walmart and stuck it up with another command strip, and….

there you have it. A beautiful, fun family tree to keep the spirit of our predecessors in our home and on our minds.

One side of branches is my husband’s and the other side is mine. I love to point out different physical features to my children and have an easy reference whenever I tell them stories about one of these noble and valiant persons.  

***********

It’s been an exciting adventure putting my own stamp on this home. You should have seen it before...

()

I think I’m done decorating for a while ----

That is, unless I am decorating for Christmas…

Repercussions

June. Seriously? It’s been since June? How depressing!

I really did get sucked in.

As it turns out, we discovered that we could qualify for a house sooner than we had expected. So the house hunting took on real meaning and I’ve wasted my summer away, looking, comparing, envisioning, researching, offering… offering… Offering… OFFERING.

Literally offering on 50 or more homes -- sometimes 6 a day.

And each week thinking surely – surely – this is the week we’ll get something. Then I can announce it on the blog and start writing again and life will be so dandy and wonderful.

But it just hasn’t happened. All those offers – those many many many, good, WAY-above-asking-price offers, for naught. Each one beat out by a cash investor. How are we to compete with that?

It’s been disheartening to say the least. Especially to see the types of homes we started our search looking at,  raise 20 -- 40 –- 60 THOUSAND dollars in value just in the last few months.

{sigh} 

{double sigh}

Zion has been coming home from school each day with drawings to show me. I take a glance at them, give a smile, and then toss them in the trash. I probably threw away a good dozen or more before I finally looked. Finally saw what it was that she was drawing.

 

Houses.

Sweet, little, colorful, houses with lots of doors because we need lots of rooms.

I hadn’t looked.

I hadn’t realized.

I had not considered the impact of my actions.

My desire to give my kids a better life has instead left them without one at all.

And these last few months have sadly gone undocumented. All the cute things they’ve said or done, have faded in the distance behind me as I’ve focused all my attention on a computer’s screen.

 

I hope to update at least some of the photographed memories and back date them for historical accuracy.

But for now, I’m shutting down the housing MLS portal.

               Stepping away from the keyboard.

                                           And going to make cookies with my beautiful, talented, little artist.

I think I’ll even plan a date with my husband for Friday night.

One that doesn’t involve walking through any empty houses.

Internet Dangers

I was up late.

On the internet.

Looking at things I should not have.

It started out innocent enough.

But I just got sucked in.

And suddenly I was in dangerous territory.

Very dangerous territory.

I just couldn’t get those images out of my head.

And by the time I did go to bed, they were still circling and swirling around in my imagination…

over and over… circling… swirling…

over… and over… and over again…

 

What was I looking at?

Well, I was hunting actually,

House hunting.

We thought we’d take a gander at all the good deals that are passing us by as we try to get into a position to buy something.

That’s why it was dangerous.

And I let my imagination get away from me.

And was left hoping and wishing.

I suppose since the grass at this rental is dead and bare, the grass on the other side is always greener.

Flower Power

I’ve got the Crafting Bug.

I have a long queue of crafts in my head that I want to do. this. week.

But it will more likely be strewn out over the entire summer.

But I did just finish one.

 

The story goes like this…

When we moved from Utah, we had to fit a 2700 square foot house into a little U-Haul. So a lot of our things didn’t make it down with us. Including most of our furniture.

We got lucky in Arizona and scored a free couch.

But it was white…

 

 

Made cuter by our kids.

 

 

But how long could that last.

Really?

 

 

So we got something else for free.

A used sofa cover.

 

 

Made cuter by our kids. (And Santa).

 

 

 

But a little bit difficult to decorate around…

The way I would like to, at least.

 

So with a little bit of this years tax return I decided to take advantage of a big sale and get a new sofa cover.

 

 

 Chocolate.

 With pillows.

 

 

 

Made even cuter by our kids of course.

The pillows were all different materials and textures.

But it needed some dimension.

So I made this.

Pretty cute, huh?

I used the pattern from here but the gluing instructions from here.

(Let’s face it - I’m the first to admit that if I can avoid using the sewing machine, I will).

    

Now on to the next project…

Naptime in the Desert

Despite the scorching heat, she insists on wrapping herself up in a blanket.

So glad that is Greg’s pillow and not mine. :)

Status Update

 

- Home in disarray

- Long “honey do” list

- but at least he’s here to “do” :)

- Shopping for moving trucks

- Recovering from yard sale

- Attempting to pack

- Doing better at avoiding visits to the toilet

- Patching holes in walls from furniture blunders

- Boxes boxes everywhere!

Looks like this is really happening.

Still pretty hard to believe…

Intruder

Didn’t get much sleep.

2:50 am

Awoke abruptly after shooting an intruder.

In my dream.

Heart was pounding as I lay there in the darkness.

Then I heard it.

A foreign creaking.

Then again.

Short, deliberate, uneven creaks.

What is that?

Then I saw it.

A light in the hallway on.

All were off at bedtime.

Who turned that on?

My heart beat speeds up.

I lay propped on my elbows, listening, pounding, and worrying.

I call Greg.

His phone is off.

I’m too much of a scaredy cat to check things out by myself.

I am frozen in fear.

Then I hear it.

Sounds like foot steps.

Who is that?

And the creaks quicken.

It is pouring rain.

Difficult to discern foreign, invading sounds.

The foot steps below come again.

I dial 9-1-1

I clutch the phone in my hand.

My thumb trembles over the send button.

I lay poised like that.

10 – 20 – 30 minutes.

Waiting for the intruder’s next move.

Waiting for a confirmation of my fears.

4:30 am

I finally drift off to sleep.

3 more days until he’s home.

3 more days.

I hope we survive it.

On My Own

Well.

He Left.

Packed his bags and was gone before sunup.

And another of the many agonizing decisions we’ve been having to make is actually upon us.

 

Greg got a job in Arizona. Starts tomorrow.

And we are mostly thrilled. Deep down inside.

But on the surface? On the surface there is only sorrow and fear. Lots of fear.

From me at least.

Because here I am - left, all alone. On my own.

For who knows how long it will take.

And I just don’t know how I’m going to do it.

Sick as I am. Tired as I am. Impatient as I am.

I just don’t know.

But I have no choice. It has to be done. I have to do it.

And maybe that’s a good thing.

I’m good at not doing things if I don’t have to.

This is what it is, for however long it is.

And then we will see what’s next.

So many unknowns.

So many possibilities.

How Traditions are Made

In my family growing up, it was Tickle Monster on Sundays and kisses after family prayer.

With my new crew, it’s Family Towers and Ride on Your Back.

Palmerpedia Definitions:

Family Tower: an occurrence that inevitably happens if one member of the family is sitting on another member of the family, then all family members are required to join in. For example: if mom is sitting on dad’s lap, all children, by some unknown magnetic force, are pulled in, one on top of the other, and a family tower is created.

This phenomenon also inevitably occurs whenever one parental figure lies down on the ground for a moment of relaxation. Children see to it that that moment is inconsequentially brief as forces of nature again pull them to the spot of relaxing doom and the layering of children commences.

Family Towers are an easy way to promote prompt unity and powerful lungs.

Ride on Your Back: These are the first words usually uttered after the exclamation of “Daddy!” when the family’s father-figure enters the home from a long day at work. Nothing more relaxing than saddling up three children onto your back for a ride around the living room. Sometimes, when Dad isn’t around, Mom will “horse around” instead, but Dad makes the greatest Stud!

Rides on Your Back are sure to bring sore knees, a topple or two, and multitudinous smiles!

 

Bloom Where You are Planted

 

Once Upon a Time we moved from Arizona to Utah where all Four Seasons come and go with confident beauty. And as a result, the fruits of your Fall labors will magically appear in Spring splendor after a long, cold winter. I love to look at tulips, daffodils, lilies, or bulbs of any kind popping out of people’s yards. And so, on a whim our first fall here, I decided to buy myself one of those big bags of onion-looking things and started digging.

But what do I know about planting tulips? In the desert, we know very little about bulbs – unless its the bulb of a black light used in searching for scorpions around your yard late at night. So while placing the balls into the dirt, I thought of a carrot whose pointed end was the root. And I put those pointed ends deepest into the mud, covered the bulbs up, and waited anxiously for spring.

I remember telling my Mom how excited I was to have tulips. She then related a comical story about her friend who spent hours one fall planting bulbs, only to realize afterward that she had put them all in upside-down. What a silly thing to do, I thought.

Months into spring, a few thick green leaves finally poked themselves up through the dirt and stretched their rubbery skins. But that spring’s harvest was very disappointing and only a hand-full of bulbs actually bloomed. What a waste.

It wasn’t until the following Spring that I noticed one of the bulbs had become uncovered. Upon further exploration I was astonished to find the stem of the flower had done a complete 1-80 and wrapped itself around the bulb in order to push up toward the sunlight. {Oops! I guess I’m sillier than I thought. Wish I could call Mom and tell her about this.}

Now, every spring I look at my multi-colored, tulip-lined back planter with awe. I never did replant those bulbs. Instead, I ponder with amazement how much strength and determination those little plants have to muster, in order to bloom where they are planted.

It’s a reminder to me. That no matter the rocky soil; no matter the long, harsh winters; no matter if someone picked you up and dropped you on your head; no matter if circumstances are less than ideal and ideals are left to circumstance – I can bloom.

In radiant, colorful splendor – I can thrive.