So……….

I think when your life is so stressful and you feel so nauseated every day from worrying all the time that you actually think you’re pregnant and then you take a test and it’s negative and you realize that you’re actually nauseous from all the stress……

it’s time for a vacation. 

Oh, good gracious. 

Last Monday, we were told that all of our buyer’s inspections had passed with flying colors.  On Wednesday, we were told that there had been a paper-work mix-up, and there was actually a biiiiig problem with one of the facets of our home.  We traveled back to PA this weekend to pack up our entire house and to try to fix the problem.  It is getting re-inspected tomorrow.  If it doesn’t get fixed, we most likely won’t be able to close on the 29th.  Honestly, I’m not sure what we’ll do if it doesn’t get fixed. 

If you know me in real life, please don’t mention this to my parents – I don’t want them to worry.  The problem sounds very scary when you say it out loud!

We need a miracle tomorrow - and most importantly that this inspector does a better job than we were told he did last time!  I would so, so appreciate anyone who is willing to pray for us.  At this point, our buyer does not want to back out; she is confident the problem will be fixed (as is our realtor and Chris).  Mostly I think I’m the only one who’s getting an ulcer over here. 

Our buyer actually stopped by the house on Saturday since she saw our car in the driveway, so we got to talk to her for a few minutes, which was a good thing.  It reminded me that she is a real person, not just the negotiator on the other side of the contract who is getting our house for a steal plus all of our brand-new appliances which we (stupidly) wrote into the seller’s disclosure instead of using them as leverage. 

It took me a while after moving here before I realized that I needed to start praying that God would use our house to bless another person and meet their needs – not just ours.  Our buyer is a single woman with two college-aged kids who just got told she had to leave the apartment she was renting because it changed landlords.  I still feel that this house would bless her, too, so I am trying to stay confident that God will see this through. 

I won’t be back until Friday, mostly because I’m joining the Favorite Things Party at 320 Sycamore and even though I feel overwhelmed, I loved participating last year and I don’t want to miss it.  So I’ll see you then, and hopefully with good news!   

P.S. My blog is under construction, so bear with us while things get switched around temporarily!

Miscellany Monday {9}

1.  I said last Monday I wanted to lose a pound a week (so 4 pounds total) before Thanksgiving, and this week I lost……………

TWO POUNDS! 

Now before you think I’ve been counting calories like a crazy woman, you should probably know that I randomly got pretty sick on Tuesday night and therefore had no desire to eat on Wednesday and I think my stomach has subsequently shrunk a little (you know what I mean, right?).  Anyway, I’m excited that I’m halfway to my mini-goal! 

My mom ordered some Zumba dvds that should be arriving this week for us to do, so hopefully that will help me lose another pound to stay on track.  Two of you said you were on board with the weight-loss thing – how did you do, girls?!  Comment or e-mail me if you’d like!  Let me tell ya: knowing I had to come on here and post what I’d lost made me seriously analyze every calorie that entered my mouth this week – definitely a good thing. :)

2.  Although, to be honest, I totally made an allotment for my salted caramel hot cocoa on Saturday night date night.  I’ve only had 3 in the last 4 weeks.  That’s not that bad, right?!  I seriously can’t.get.enough.  Perfection.

3.  I am so thankful to have the chance to attend a wonderful Moms group in this area.  On Friday, I got home and started changing Luke’s diaper and realized the nursery worker had put it on backwards.  I’m not complaining; I actually think it’s hilarious.  But seriously, we’ve all done it at least once! 

And it got me thinking - why in the world do they not just put “front” and “back” on diapers?! Like the kid really can see Elmo on his butt!  haha

4.  This is the last week of big-time stress for the house.  Our buyer has until Thursday to get her inspections completed.  Septic passed (thank God!) and she’s just waiting on the water.  Assuming that the water passes, we’ll be heading to PA this weekend, just the two of us, to have a hard-core packing weekend.  I feel major mom-guilt for leaving Luke with my parents, but it is just a million times faster if we don’t have to worry about being quiet for his naps and bringing his special food, etc., etc.  Friends are coming to help us pack, but we’re not going to church or spending time visiting or anything.  It’s a “git her done” type deal.  (That’s my three years of living in NEPA for you!  hahahahaha) Hopefully we will be able to get the whole house done, and then when we return for Thanksgiving weekend all we’ll have to do is load the boxes into the U-Haul and then CLOSE on the 29th!

I keep having recurring dreams/nightmares about the house and buying our next one.  I will be sooooooooooooooo happy when the 29th has come and gone!

5.  I’m not trying to skip over Thanksgiving, because it truly is my favorite.  BUT, I saw this link on another blog and I had to share: I absolutely, positively LOVE this advent chain!  It is SO cute!  Totally doing this next year....or whenever it is that Luke will get it.  :)

Image via my.hgtv.com

Of course, there’s always Carrie’s advent calendar, which is also ridiculously fabulous. I can’t decide which one I like better!  P.S. If you’re not reading Buzzings of a Queen Bee, I strongly recommend that you do.  Carrie has exceptional taste and creativity – her blog is one of my absolute favorites!

Image via buzzingsofaqueenbee.blogspot.com

 

Okay, wow, I feel that this has been sufficiently random!  Happy Monday!  :)

Ballard Knockoff: Mini Potted Boxwood Tree

A few months ago, while looking at my Ballard catalog, I saw the cutie-pie little tree that you see below on the right. On that particular page, two of the mini-trees were flanking a mantle and I knew that at some point I would want to make a knock-off version for Christmas. Unfortunately, that catalog page is still in the office of our house in PA, but you get the idea.

The Ballard one costs $50, plus shipping (in their defense, they use real boxwood leaves, but still. That’s crazy.) Mine was only $11 (cost breakdown at the end!)

Supplies needed:

Mini urn (they usually have tons of these at thrift stores)
Styrofoam tree/cone form (mine is from Dollar Tree)
Boxwood leaves (I bought mine at Michael’s, and ended up needing two, not one)
Toothpicks
Dark paint
Hot glue gun

Short version: You’re sticking bits of the boxwood into the foam. But you knew that, right? :)

Here’s some tips if you want more info.

1. Paint your base – this will help later to hide your gaps. I just took black paint and mixed it with brown to make it a little more green.

2. Start clipping off your boxwood from the stems and inserting them into the styrofoam. I’ll be honest, this takes a while. I cut mine into two lengths. On the left (we’ll call that #1) is how it looks clipped off the brown “stem,” and the middle and the right show the pieces after I cut them so I could actually insert them. The thicker piece is obviously much easier to insert into the foam; the thinner pieces (middle below) were easier to insert with a pre-poked toothpick hole. (A pre-poked toothpick hole? Did I really just type that?! lol)

3. I personally made a ring around the whole bottom (using all #1s) to see how far they would stick out, and then I went all the way up one side. Keep poking and adding and poking and adding. Remember that you’re making a tree, not a bush, so you want there to be a gradation.

4. As you get near the top and your pieces get shorter and shorter, you’ll probably want to start hot-gluing them onto the tree. I would poke a hole with the toothpick, get 2 or 3 of the shorter branches together, hot-glue the end, and then stick it into the pre-made hole. At the very top of the tree, I just hotglued them all (no holes).

5. My brother gave me the idea to use toothpicks to secure the bottom of the tree into the base of the urn. I forgot to take pictures of this part but I’m sure you can use your imagination. :)

And here she is! How cute is this?!

I intentionally left a lot of the leaves a little scraggly because I wanted the tree to have a more natural feel to it than the Ballard one. I’m so happy I found this urn – it already had the perfect amount of chippy-ness that I was looking for. (Um, did I really just type “perfect amount of chippy-ness?” Who am I today?! haha)

And just to keep it real after my last post, here’s where my girl is residing until we actually move: on my sister’s dresser, in front of her collection of Coach boxes (for the record, I own not a single Coach item *cough* Santa *cough*) and near my jewelry, nail polish, and perfumes.

SO cute and Christmasy, right?

Here’s the final shot of her make-over from drab to fab :):

Urn: $2.99
Styrofoam base: $1
Boxwood total: $7.00 after sales and coupons
(I already had the paint, glue, and toothpicks.)
Total: $10.99!

Before I go, I would like to point out that this little tree resulted in my first honest-to-goodness hot glue gun burn. I have a blister and everything. I am a total baby but man that sucker hurts. Does this mean I’m a real crafter now? :)

Have a great weekend girls! :)

Linked to:
Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous
Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest
Remodelaholics Anonymous @ Remodelaholics
Show and Share Day @ Just a Girl
Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative
Make it Yours Day @ My Backyard Eden
Show Us What You’re Workin’ With @ Me and My Bucket
Knock-Off Party @ Homebody

Finding Joy in a Transition Stage of Life

You know the drill.  We’re all human, and 99% of the time, we’re looking forward to the next big event.  When you’re a kid you just want it to be your birthday, when you’re a teenager you want your license, when you’re dating you want to be married, when you’re married you want to have your first house, and on and on and on.  I think almost everyone struggles with this or else we wouldn’t hear so much about living in the moment and embracing today and finding contentment, etc. etc. 

These last few months of transition in our lives have been really, really challenging for me.  In the middle of May we were pretty contentedly living our lives in our own house in Pennsylvania, and by August 15th, we were in a new state, Chris had a new job, our house was on the market, and we were living with my parents.  Live had totally, utterly flipped. 

And so here we are.  We’ve lived with my parents for two months and 19 days.  Our house is under contract, and barring something horrible with the inspections (please pray if you think of us), will be sold on November 29th, God willing.  We will start looking for a house after that, but the search could take months.  Even if and when we find a place, we’ll need to paint and clean and do who knows how many other repairs. 

I didn’t get to decorate for the Fall or Thanksgiving (my favorite season and holiday).  I don’t get to hang up stockings this year or pick out my own tree or put up the Christmas decorations.  We don’t get to have a private Christmas morning with just the three of us.  I’ll have to wait another whole year for those moments to happen again.

To some people this might sound insignificant, but it is a huge deal to me.  Traditions and memories and all of that make me so happy, and when they don’t happen, I can get really depressed.  (Chris says this is because I’m firstborn and a teacher and I have high expectations.  He’s totally right.) 

But you know what?  Even though I’m missing out on decorating for the holidays and I’m smooshed in my sister’s old bedroom with everything the three of us own, and even though we have little privacy and even though we’re waiting with uncertainty and have no idea how long we’ll be here or where we’ll end up living, God has opened my eyes to see this time as the gift that it is. 

The gift of time with Luke. 

I definitely do my part to help around the house, and I cook dinner most nights for my family.  But at the end of the day, I’m living in a house with 4 other adults, and there just simply isn’t as much to do to maintain it. 

I’ve been given the gift of less to do, which in turn has made me appreciate the gift of my son so much more. 

I have not been shy on here about how hard Luke’s first months were on me.  A number of you e-mailed me after that post and shared your own struggles with motherhood and expectations.   It was wonderful to share my heart and know that there were others of you out there like me. 

I am here to tell you – and encourage you - that I enjoy my son in a whole new way now.  Since I haven’t had as much to do, I have had the chance to just be with him. 

I sit on the floor and play with him now without thinking about all of the million other household tasks that have to be done.  I still get my work done, but with so much more open time I’m free just to play blocks or tickle or kiss his sweet toddler-face. 

Part of this enjoyment is due to the fact that he’s growing up.  He’s a lot more interactive, which is incredibly fun.  But part of it is due to the fact that God has graciously opened my eyes to the moments that I might be missing out on otherwise. 

So yes, I’m typing this post on my sister’s bed, surrounded by all of her things that she didn’t bring to college, empty suitcases of ours, and three laundry hampers that have to stay in our small room since there’s no room downstairs.  I may not have a ton of privacy, and I may not be cutting down a Christmas tree in the next month.

But I am building priceless memories with my boy.  I have fallen in love with him all over again.

I dream about moving to my new house all.the.time, but I can honestly and truly say that I am thankful for the way that God has opened my eyes to what could have been a missed opportunity.  I want this lesson to go on with me to our next house.  Time with Luke is precious and fleeting, and I want to make the most of every opportunity. 

I literally thank God for this transition. 

Miscellany Monday {8}

1. It’s November. IT’S NOVEMBER! There is frost on the ground today. I feel like it was just August a second ago and now I blinked my eyes and we’re here. November means the arrival of my most favorite holiday (that’s Thanksgiving in case you weren’t sure. lol). Cannot.wait.

2. I may or may not have jumped the gun and bought myself brown riding boots this week. In my defense, I just couldn’t help myself. I saw these beauties laying on the floor in a heap at my Target:

I saw that the tag said size 5 and I knew they’d never fit, but they looked adorable and just what I’d been looking for, so I went up and down the aisles looking for them with no luck. Finally I decided to just squeeze them on to see if I semi-liked them before I asked an associate to find me one in my size.

You guys, they fit! I am normally a 6 1/2 or 7! And these fives are a little roomy! On further inspection I noticed that the tag said “girls,” and sure enough, there were TONS of them in the girls section! Best of all, they were originally $24.99, on sale for $22! I just couldn’t wait for Christmas. I thought about it for like 5 seconds, but I had money from teaching music lessons so I bought them myself. Oh mylanta, do they make me happy.

Twenty-two dollars! Size FIVE! KID’S SHOES!!! Craaaaaazy right?! :)

3. I have been thinking a lot about design ideas for my next house. It’s kinda what gets me through the day when I’m so bummed out about not being in my own house for the holidays. The other day I came across this fabulous transformation and I cannot stop thinking about this high-drama teal wall:

Image via perfectlyimperfectblog.com

I have always thought of myself more as a Pottery Barn, cream and brown kinda girl, but I can’t get this living room out of my head! I love SO many things about it. So now I am thinking of scrapping the soft blue and brown and white palate we used to have in our bedroom and doing something crazy fun like this in our next house. We shall see. You should really click the link to see the before and after! :)

4. I learned from typing #3 that the computer does not recognize “fro” as a misspelled word. What a hip spell-check. hahaha! {Um, thank you Kelli for pointing out below that fro IS a real word. Blonde moment! haha!}

5. I gained 4 pounds since I’ve been here at my parents’ house. Four pounds in less than 3 months. Yowza. There are a multitude of reasons why this is, but bottom line is that I DO have control over what I eat and I need to just own up to that. I’ve made it my goal to lose 4 pounds before Thanksgiving. Just one measly pound a week. I really think I can do this! Anyone else want to drop a few pounds before the holiday? Let me know and we can encourage each other. I will check back in next week and let you know how I did. (Whew, how’s that for accountability?!).

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Thrifty Finds and My FREE Bag of Loot!

{Edit: This giveaway is now CLOSED.} Before I begin, I want to let you know that my October sponsor, NEPA mom, is having a FANTASTIC giveaway on her blog today. The giveaway package includes five different prizes and I have to say, this is one time I do wish I was back in NEPA because it’s such a great gift package! Enter for yourself or someone you know who lives in the NEPA or Binghamton, NY area. You have until tomorrow night to enter!

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I’ve been thrifting and yard-saling here and there and I wanted to show you guys what I’ve found over the last month, including a whole bunch of free stuff (but I’ll save that for the end). :)

From Goodwill:

$4.00 Kimchi Blue dress from Urban Outfitters (thanks to my sister for filling me in – I had never heard of this brand before). I love the way it fits and as soon as Santa brings me my big brown riding boots, I’m totally wearing this with leggings and a long-sleeve tee underneath. Super wrinkled for the picture, sorry! :)

$6.99 shirt from Banana Republic. A little pricy for Goodwill but I really like the way it fits and I know it will last. These two shirts are perfect examples of why if you see something you like while thrifting, don’t be afraid to try it on if it’s not in your normal size. This shirt is a full TWO sizes bigger than what I normally wear, and the dress is one size above, but either they’ve been shrunk in the wash or they just run small because they both fit really well.

$1.99 artichoke. I have a biiiig thing for fake fruit. I can’t stop myself.

$2.99 urn (I want the bottom for another project I plan on doing)

$1.99 huge glass frame (I see another chalkboard project in my future!)

And now from the lovely yard-sale:

I originally bought this antique triple-matted frame for $.75. I loved the detail. Lindsay and I left the yard-sale to go to other ones, but we came back at the end of the day because she had seen something she wanted and was going to offer a lower price. Well, low and behold, the woman had everything left on the side of the road with a big FREE sign!

I think both of our hearts simultaneously stopped beating for a moment. ;)

I scavenged picked up everything below for FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE:

Plastic container for sweet tea for DH, glass Pyrex dishes, Pampered Chef dish towels and cloths

Two cute “coffee” mugs

Christmas cd, Night before Christmas book, assorted Christmas ribbon and candle decorations, wooden toy train puzzle (not pictured)

Different sized frames (I love it when I find small ones)

Big tote bag, which came in handy when I was shoveling the free stuff into it! hahaha

Cute planter – this is pretty pathetic but I’m already looking forward to filing them with mini mums next fall when we have our own house again!

I also got a snow shovel, which is outside and I’m too lazy to take a picture. Plus I figured you know what a snow shovel looks like. :)

Have a FABULOUS weekend, everyone! :)

Linked to:
Thrifty Thursday @ Tales from Bloggeritaville
Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous

Miscellany Monday {7} – Fall Weekend Edition

Our weekend was pretty awesome.  I think that by definition a miscellaneous list is supposed to be totally random but these are all kinda under the header of my weekend so we’re just gonna let the technical definition slide a little today.

1.  My Saturday started out with getting these lovelies (but in gray – I promise they look waaaaaay better than this picture below ) for only $18 after sale and gift cards.  Nope, I just couldn’t wait for Santa.  Chris He can bring me tall brown riding boots for my birthday and/or Christmas, if he happens to be reading this.  ;) Oh my heavens, I am in love.  It’s still kind of a shock to my child-of-the-80’s system to wear anything that is considered “slouchy,” but I’m getting over it REAL FAST. 

2.  Saturday afternoon included fresh apple cider, a wagon ride, and lots of cute pumpkin pictures at a local orchard.  It was a perfect Saturday afternoon, and it was great.  Except for the fact that it was literally impossible to keep this child still or actually looking at the camera for a cute pumpkin-patch picture.  Hey, last October he could barely hold his head up, so I’ll take what I can get!  Toddlerhood is way more fun!

  

 

 

3.  Speaking of my child, on Friday we went to the doctor for his 15-month check-up.  His head circumference, once again, measures off the charts.  This is the second time a medical professional has told me I should be really thankful I had to have a c-section!  hahahaha!

4.  My poor baby is also on antibiotics for a cough that just wouldn’t go away and ended up being the beginning of bronchitis or pneumonia – the doctor thought it was the start of either one.  I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped to the floor when he said that.  Pneumonia is no joke for babies! Let me encourage you – if your child has a cough that won’t go away, make sure it gets checked out.  We had already taken him to the doctor once and they said he sounded fine, but at the follow-up they finally heard it in his lungs.  So thankful that my baby is on the mend!  Those meds work fast!  

5.  Today in church our pastor was preaching about Satan from Ephesians.  In his defense, I personally thought the message was interesting, but I will admit it was pretty warm and cozy in the sanctuary.  All of a sudden from the back of the room comes this loud, LONG snore.  Like imagine a piggy has just found a whole bunch of table scraps in his pen!  hahaha!  You guys, it was SO bad!  People kinda giggled quietly but we were all just kinda waiting to see what Pastor Bob would do.  He got really quiet and then just burst out laughing, and then everyone laughed out loud with him!  He said, “Sorry I’m putting you to sleep back there!”  Oh my gosh, it was so funny.  I think the best part was the elderly woman behind me who whispered loudly to her husband, “If I was that person I would get out of here as soon as possible!”  Oh my gosh, good times with the body of Christ! 

6.  For the past 5 days, we have been in negotiations with another offer on our house.  We have been back and forth about price, and we finally received word this afternoon about the buyer’s final offer – she will not budge above a certain amount.  It is NOT what we wanted (who wouldn’t want more money?!) but we decided to agree to it because winter is coming and we don’t want to put more oil in our tank and we just want to be able to move on from all of this house drama.  Well, we haven’t heard from the realtor again all. day.  I am just so nervous that this is going to happen to us again and we are going to come to an agreement only to find the person has backed out.  I would SO appreciate prayers that we get a call tomorrow that this person is all set and ready to go!  We do know she wants to close by December 1st at the latest, which is great news because we wouldn’t have to add any more oil to keep the house from freezing.  I’d reeeeeally appreciate just even a one sentence prayer as you’re reading this!  Thanks ladies! 

7.  And lastly, to leave you on a happy note, I strongly encourage you all to go out and try Starbucks’ Salted Carmel hot chocolate if you’ve never done so before: 

I have heard about this for YEARS and finally bought one last night on my date to Starbucks with Chris (with an espresso shot added) and HOLY CRAP is it amazing.  I may or may not have embarrassed my DH with the involuntary moaning.  I promise I really did try to stay quiet.  LOL!  I have been thinking about it alllllll daaaaaaaay.  Don’t think about the calories (mine was nonfat milk and still super rich) – just enjoy. 

Have a great week!  :)

Image via chiggidycheck.blogspot.com