30 Days About Me (Something That Makes My Life Easier)

Something that makes my life easier? Oh Jeez, I don't know!


My first instinct is my Macbook Pro, then my Blackberry. But I don't know if they really make life easier, seems like they actually make it harder at times. Cell phones mean someone can call me no matter where I am and bug me, or ask something of me. Before I could just off and go do whatever and I could choose to deal with a phone call at the end of the day. And my laptop, sure it's easier then going to the "big computer" down in the basement, but since it is so easy to access I am on it all the time! Laundry and dishes pile up and it ultimately makes life more difficult. 


So what really makes my life easier? Winter. 

Let me explain. See this image? This is my house last winter. What do you notice? No lawn to be mowed! No dirt, no sand, no dogs covered in mud! And inside that cozy little cabin you would find kids playing games, in warms sweaters sitting by the fire place (Smaller power bills!) Also, since it's cold and snowy we stay in way more, meaning no expensive dinners out, and if we're not going out we're not changing our clothes as much so less laundry! 

Winter makes my life easier :) 

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time... 

A Chill Winters Day

We don't get a lot of snow around here, but when we do everything looks so pretty! The snow stays only a few days, then melts away leaving us waiting for the next storm. Brrrrr... It's COLD outside! You all stay warm out there.

Our snowy house :)

Just a short post, the kids have been home from school and hubby has been home from work. Leaving me little time to blog, thank goodness the snow has kept everyone entertained so I can at least do laundry!

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Winter Wonderland

We actually got snow! I know for some of you this is no big deal, you may have been apart of that crazy north eastern snow storm recently. But down here in South Carolina snow is rare. About 4 inches blanketed the ground, it was beautiful. We enjoyed snow ball fights, snow angels, sledding, and just plain falling into the fluffy white stuff :)






Hope you all are staying comfy and cozy during this chilly winter season.

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

What's The Deal-io?!

Someone up above is truly looking out for us. Today our house here in Arizona went into escrow. That's right, you heard me! We sold our home in under 30 days!! The price was a little low, but it is still workable.

A few weeks ago I flew back east to look for a rental property for our family... It was a disaster. There wasn't a single home suitable to rent anywhere, I was pretty stressed out. While I was there I looked at a few homes for sale just cause they looked interesting online. Well, I fell in love with one (go figure.)

Since we didn't have the ability to buy the home while we were still trying to sell the home in Arizona my parents bought it for us!! The deal is once we sell this place and get on our feet we will buy it back from them. HOW COOL ARE THEY?!

It has been an emotional roller coaster, but I am proud to say we are blessed beyond words. OK people here it is, our home in South Carolina:


It's a Log Cabin! It is so cute, I wish I could have you all come over once we get moved in and have a party :) We are so excited. My son can't wait to go fishing (there's a creek that runs on our property) and my daughter is super thrilled to be living in a "Lincoln log home."

I can't wait to get there and take a huge sigh of relief. This move/home are here for the long haul. We are DONE.

Thank you all for hanging in there with me. Now comes moving day count down... We shove outta here December 17th, which means we will make it to our new place by Christmas Eve.

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Hello From The Trenches!

Hey Everyone! How have you all been? Geez, I have missed the "blog-sphere" but have also enjoyed the break. What has been going on you ask? Most of you were correct in your guess that we are moving. I couldn't come on here and talk about my husbands job hunting till he had something firmed up, heaven forbid someone from his current job found out and we were jobless because of MY blog. I would have never lived that down!

OK, on to more important things...

Where are we moving? You will never guess, nope not in a million years...


Spanish moss, warm southern rain, small town...



Good fried chicken, millions of mosquito's, front porch rockin'...



Green growth everywhere, humid nights, fireflies...



Friends, family, home...



Is any of this ringing a bell? Obviously we're moving back to the southeast, but the plot thickens, we're moving back to the SAME TOWN we moved from to get to Arizona!? How crazy is that?

I wanted more for my children then I thought a small southern town could offer, but what I have come to realize is we had it all to begin with. Great friends, a great community, life was good. Luckily my hubby's old job has wanted him back since the moment we left, so getting a position there was pretty easy (it's an even better position than he had before we moved!).

Doesn't the saying "The grass isn't always greener" come to mind? ha ha

Now for the yucky, not fun stuff... Trying to sell our home. I LOVE this house, you all know the time we've spent painting & decorating it. It's perfect, just in the wrong place. I really wish the tornado from the "Wizard of Oz" would pick my home up and drop it down in South Carolina. But, that won't happen, bummer. Our house is on the market now, we've had a few lookers but nothing has come of it yet. Also when we get back to SC we have to rent for awhile, not a big deal for most, but you try renting a home with 3 dogs!!! Impossible.

There is a lot on our plate right now, so far I have dealt with the stress pretty well. I've only had one melt down in a restaurant parking lot sobbing into my hubby's arms. My hubby begins his new (old) job in December, if the home doesn't sell by then I will be staying in Arizona till it does with the munchkins and pups.

Please keep us in your prayers for an easy transition and guidance as life once again takes another crazy turn in our life. And if you know anyone looking for a home in AZ let me know *wink wink*


*pictures from Hartsville - The Art of Good Living web site

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Just Sit Down!

Do your kids sit on the couch when they watch Television? The reason I ask is because mine don't. They do everything but sit quietly on the couch.

...doing head stands, laying upside down, standing in the middle of the room, spinning in circles, on top of a dog, on top each other!

exhibit A:




*the reason for all the orange attire? Our favorite college football team The Clemson Tigers kick off in 13 days! We're a very prepared family :)

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

I'm a Hermit Crab

I have this habit during summer time. I wasn't sure it would follow me all the way across country when we moved. I have been super busy that I thought it wouldn't happen... well, it did and I am doing my old habit once again.

I turned into a hermit crab!

Let me explain a little. I do this thing (not on purpose, it just happens) were I disappear. The sun gets warm, school ends, I plan all these super cool summer activities to keep us all busy then out of nowhere... I crawl into my shell. I don't pick up the phone and call a girlfriend to chit chat, I come up with excuses to cancel appointments. I just want to stay home and enjoy my munchkins, no distractions, nothing that has to be done, just them and me.

Someone once said it might be seasonal depression. I don't know, I am not sad or down at all. I just don't want to go anywhere. I just want to be a Hermit Crab! Hard as I try to ignore this natural instinct of mine to crawl in my nice comfy safe place it still happens.

My girlfriends in South Carolina understand what I am talking about. For the last 4 summers I would get a phone call half way through "Where the heck have you been? Did you die? We miss you!" and I'd have to explain that I was fine, nothing exciting was going on, I was just at home playing with my kids. Well, I have a few new friends here in Arizona, but they have never seen me during the summer. I hope they don't drop me as a friend because I disappear for the summer.

I thoroughly enjoy it to be honest with you. It's like a vacation. No schedule, no appointments, nothing! Come this fall when school starts I'll crawl out, dust myself off and continue on with the crazy days I had left behind at the summer beginning. Am I nuts? does anyone else do this?

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

HOME TOUR! (living area edition)

Welcome everyone! I hope you enjoy your tour of our house. I know some of you have been waiting to see the "finished product" for some time now. Sorry! I couldn't let you come in till I had it all shiny, clean and in order. Let's start in the front room, just as you enter the front door:

A little over a year ago my hubby bought me my own piano, I still get giddy when I see it waiting for me each new day!

On the opposite wall is our life in pictures! I love the quote, sums it up perfectly I think.

Just next to my piano is a comfy place to read a good book, I love sitting here.

So you think I'm human... here is my MESSY office just off the piano room.

A cute sitting area in my office, or as my kids call it "the timeout chair!"

Past the office we come upon the kitchen! I have actually been cooking in here *shocking*

Above the garage door entrance in the kitchen I added this stencil.

Next to the kitchen is our dining room, those cushions are a PAIN to keep clean!

Out of the dining room we see the TV nook, I still have to hang those iron art pieces behind the topiarys.

Living room sitting area, there is a wonderful piece of art waiting for me to hang behind the couch.

Beside the couch is another hidden sitting area, great for blogging, homework, or setting your drinks :)

And finally the bookcase, don't the dogs look thrilled about your visit?!

I hope you have enjoyed your little tour of our home. The bedrooms aren't quite done yet, I promise to show them to you once they are in ship shape:) See ya, next time!

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Painting Is Completed, Time For Some Wine!

It's complete! I finally finished painting the new house. The painter helped with a few rooms, but all in all it went quicker then I would have guessed. Next step is to get some nice wide slat white blinds installed and we're good to go! (Don't get me started on how long I have to wait for instillation... *grrrrr* 3 weeks!!) So without further ado, here are the newly painted rooms :)

To see "before" pictures, click here.

Family room media nook

Kitchen & garage entry

Office (with my fancy new desk I can't wait to blog from!)

Guest room/kids game room

mini-munchkins room, yes, it is THAT pink. She picked it

munchkins room, he's so excited that he picked the color

Alright, I will NOT be painting again for awhile. I am so tired! All that's left (for maybe next spring) is the master bedroom and the 3 bathrooms. This coming week I will start bring things over and making it look like a house :)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, I'm going to enjoy a glass of wine and read some blogs!

Today I am going to have a
virtual Girls Night Out!
wanna come? click below!



Ta Ta for now

It's Coming Along

For all my home decorating updates click here.

I am on the home stretch, soon the interior of our new home will be painted and pretty :) I have never done well with plain white walls. So far I have painted the following:

The Munchkins room Gray
Office an Aquamarine-ish
Guestroom, 2 tone green and Ivory

Now all I have to tackle is the Mini-Munchkins room (pink of course) and 2 bathrooms. We have hired a professional painter to do the living/family/kitchen room. I am quite independent and like to do things on my own, but that area is just TOO big for me to do. I can't wait to get it all done so we can move in!

Our goal was to be in the house April 1st... Well, that isn't going to happen so now our goal is to be moved in there by May 1st. We just moved our entire lives all the way across the country 4 months ago so the thought of moving again doesn't make me all giddy inside. But a 2 mile move should be a lot easier then a 3,000 mile move, right?

OK, I need to quite dilly dallying and get back to painting.

Ta Ta for now

Poor Sammy-Dog

My poor puppy looks like a unicorn in a plastic cone :( Sammy the Boxer got a Hematoma in his ear.

(Hematoma or haematoma, is a collection of blood outside the blood vessels, generally the result of hemorrhage, or more specifically, internal bleeding.) Courtesy of Wikipedia

How did he get that you might ask? Well, it came from him shaking his head too much. Apparently flopping your ears around isn't good for a dog. He is recovering very well, it's the cone that is causing all the problems. My shins are so cut up and bruised from Sammy walking into me. His poor balance is all messed up. Then in the middle of the night I hear this "sssscccrrraaattttcchhhhhh" all the way down the hallway. It's Sammy walking to the water bowl in the dark scraping his cone all along the way on the wall.

He has enjoyed all the car rides since I am taking him EVERYWHERE with me. The Vet said the cone and bandage have to stay on for a week if there is any hope of his Hematoma to heal quickly and spare him any more pain and discomfort.

My other dog, Louie the Jack Russell, can't quite figure out what is going on around here. I can almost hear him saying:

"why is Sammy going in the car all the time?"
"what's with that stupid hat?"
"does he smell different?"
"can I lick the cone?"

Louie is going nuts trying to get all the answers. Well, there you go, here's what has been going on in my house for a few days. Doggy issues *ugh* But, I'd do anything for these crazy dogs and they know it!

Ta Ta for now

Lazy Weekend

The family and I had a nice relaxing weekend. We checked out one of the local Malls. (yeah... we actually have more then 1 in a 60 mile radius!) The Munchkin and my hubby went on a bike ride, and we actually got paper work organized in our house... You'd be surprised how much paper you acquire when moving.

Here are some pictures of my kids trying to take pictures with our Boxer Sammy. This dog just can't keep his tongue in his mouth. :)

Also, we bought a new lawn mower! It is a push mower. No power cords, no gasoline... Just good ol' man power. My friend Kate over at "A Mothers Shade of Green" would be very proud of our environmentally friendly choice for lawn care. Here is my hubby trying it out. It worked GREAT.

Nothing to exciting happened this weekend. We just enjoyed one another company. How was your weekend?

Ta Ta for now