Why Are We Moving?

The inspiration to write usually strikes at an inopportune time, at least for me it does.  IE- when I'm just about to fall asleep at night, driving down the road, or in church when I'm trying to pay attention to the preacher to name a few instances.  I either don't have a way to record my thoughts or I try to force them back down to where they came from because I have some other thoughts taking priority at the moment.  Sometimes this works and I can dig it back up later, but usually this method kills whatever was brewing inside my head.  I don't know whether I should be upset or just "que sera sera" it and move on.  All that to say that I've been working on this post for a while, chewing it over in my head.  Ruminating on thoughts and words.

Why are we moving?

I get this question pretty regularly now and there have been times in this super-long, drawn out process that I have stopped whatever it is I'm doing and stood there dumbfounded almost because I just had to think this thought and ask myself, "Why are we moving?"  And then half a second later, "Oh, yeah!"

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

When Boots and I were planning our wedding one of the big decisions for us was where are we going to live?  I could either quit my job at the funeral home and try to get another job at a funeral home near where he lived if I moved his direction, but I'd only be working there a few years until (hopefully) we had a baby.  I liked where he lived, but I didn't really want my resume to look like I was a job hopper.  I wanted some established roots before I quit.  (Me quitting work to run our house and raise our babies has been the plan from the beginning and somewhat of a guiding force for big money decisions.)  So we thought about Boots trying to get a transfer up to the county I lived in that was two counties away from where he lived so that I could keep my job, but who knew how long that would take and we didn't want to risk being married and living apart. 

Our only option left was to meet in the middle.  Literally.  We bought our house in a small town that was close to where I worked (20 miles) and in an area Boots could still be even if a transfer to that county took forever.  And that worked fine for us.  We rocked right along with our plan, both of us working and looking ahead to someday when, SURPRISE!, Mayhem.  Cue the sweating and stressing over our living situation once again. 

Don't get me wrong, we love our little house.  We've redone it and fixed it up so that it's pretty nice instead of pretty nasty like when we bought it, but we are right "in town" and not out in the woods like we were when we were growing up.  Having to keep a boy fenced in and constantly watched while he plays outside just doesn't rate very high for us.  Not to mention the huge, gigantic, enormous (I'm not kidding, when we bought our house 4 years ago one of them measured 15 feet around) oak trees in our backyard that prevent any vegetation besides kudzu and ivy (poison or English, you can pick!) from growing.  I really want a garden (and chickens, but we're in the city limits) and it is impossible without some major MAJOR tree work.  These trees also cause me great distress every time I hear there's a storm coming or the dreaded t-word (tornado) because if one of them falls on the house and we are home we are dead.  Dead!

I want a simple life- a garden, chickens, land to turn my wild young'uns free on so they can grow up like I did playing unsupervised in the woods and creeks without fear of being run over or snatched up.

We want Mayhem to go to a good school.  The high school I graduated from is failing, the elementary school where we are is excellent, but the high school here is something I hear lots of bad things about.  Either of the schools that my two aunts are at would be ideal; we'll have to decide which one is closest to wherever we buy to live if we're not still in limbo by then.  Private school is the last thing on either of our minds, with homeschooling barely edging ahead.

In irony, while we are looking for this utopia we'll be living in an apartment in town.

The town we are moving to is close to back to where Boots came from, it is the city he graduated high school from, the school where one of my two aunts that lives down there works.

More irony, if Boots takes a particular position with his job that he's wanted for years we would have to move back this direction in another year.  It's all very confusing and it definitely feels like we are starting over in the middle.

There was a brief moment where we seriously thought everything would fall through and we wouldn't be able to sell our house.  I had some fast thoughts about what life right here for the rest of our forever would be like and it wasn't too bad.  We would have the trees cut down, I'd break the ordinances and build me a chicken coop, I'd get my old job back when Mayhem started school and he could go to the Christian school (private, yes, I know!) right down the road from the funeral home, and we would keep going to our beloved church.  Nothing would change much.  Everything would work out fine. 

The wrinkles got ironed out though, so those ideas weren't entertained long

We haven't even left yet and I am already really missing our church and our friends.  Every time I'm there I think, "Is this the last time I'll be here?  The last time I'll get to see these people?" and I have to make myself not think about it and direct my thoughts to something less tearful.  I'm not looking forward to the day we have to say good-bye.

"The Time Has Come!"

...the walrus said.


I think I've put it off as long as I can and now that Boots' has let the cat out of the bag on Facebook it's probably time to say something.


We're selling our house.


We hope.


We're working with a really nice family (that we've known of and actually had in mind since we first talked about selling over a year ago) and doing the "pass the paperwork" dance in hopes that our home becomes their home.  Things are going well, but it's one of those things that you're hesitant to talk about until it's set in stone just in case something doesn't work out like you think it might.  Or that's just me.  The thought of being all, "Hey! We're moving!" and then we don't is kinda pllllbbbbtttttt!  I don't like eating crow, but hey! that's what this blog is all about, right?


So here we are...  Nothing is set in stone, we have no idea where we are going to live although we do have a general direction in mind, whether we're going to rent or buy...  Everything is up in the air.  Sometimes uncertainty makes me a little crazy, but I keep telling myself that we are not going to be homeless (ok, we may be homeless, but I know of at least two places we can sleep!) and that this is the next adventure for us.  Because I am excited.  The thought of having a new (to us) house to work on really makes my dreamer kick it into overtime. 


I'm sad too.  We love our neighbors and have made lots of friends at our church so it is going to be hard to leave them and have to get adjusted to a new place with new people all over again.


But I'm excited!  I already said that?


So maybe this is (it probably is) the reason for my silence lately.  I'm sure that as things start happening a little faster I'll probably have more thoughts (and photos) to share.  I want to take "last pictures" of our house so we'll have a nice way of remembering it.

3 Years

We've had our house for three years today.  It's been a shock to my eyes to see these pictures in comparison from then and now.  As you can see, my photography skills haven't improved much in three years.  I tried to get some of the same angles as then, but trying to remember where I needed to stand is hard.  Plus there's so much stuff in the way now.  I'm a borderline hoarder I think.  And it was raining when I took these.  Picture me running around outside with an umbrella in the rain taking these.  I am that crazy person that the neighbors laugh at behind their curtains.

We've painted every room and all of the floors are different.  This house is still a work in progress though.  Some things (mostly the bathroom) are in progress and not very cute and decorated.

Oh, and I didn't "style" the house before I took these today.  I picked up a few pairs of underwear, but that's about it.  You can feel good about your superior housekeeping skills now.  You're welcome.

Living Room Then

Living Room Now

Living Room Then

Living Room Now

Living Room Then

Living Room Now

Living Room Then

Living Room Now

Living Room Then

Living Room Now

Down the Hall Then

Down the Hall Now

Mayhem's Room Then

Mayhem's Room Now

Mayhem's Room Then

Mayhem's Room Now

Bathroom Then

Bathroom Now

Blue Tub

White Tub

Lights Then

Lights Now

Sink Then

Sink Now

Check out the blueness!

Extra Bedroom Then

Extra Bedroom Now

Extra Bedroom Then

Extra Bedroom Now

Up the Hall Then

Up the Hall Now

Funky carpets!!

Our Bedroom Then

Our Bedroom Now

Our Bedroom Then

Our Bedroom Now

Our Bathroom Then

Our Bathroom Now

Our Bathroom Then

Our Bathroom Now

Check out the flowered lights that match the flowered wallpaper!

Our Bedroom Then

Our Bedroom Now

Dining Room Then

Dining Room Now

Dining Room Then

Dining Room Now

Dining Room Then

Dining Room Now

Kitchen Then

Kitchen Now

Kitchen Then

Kitchen Now

Kitchen Then

Kitchen Now

Kitchen Then

Kitchen Now

I really loved this countertop.  It had a "marine-edge" which was so helpful for keeping eggs and water from running off into the floor.  That is the countertop edge as far as I'm concerned.

This was the floor in the kitchen when we bought the house.

Laundry Room Then

Laundry Room Now

Carport Then

Carport Now

"Carport" is a relative term.  We've barely parked any cars in it.  It's a workshop really.

Front Yard Then

Front Yard Now

Outside of Carport Then

Inside of Carport Then

Back Patio Then

Back Patio Now

Backyard Then

Backyard Now

Backyard Then

Backyard Now

Backyard Then

Backyard Now

Backyard Then

Backyard Now

Backyard Then

Backyard Now