New House

Hello there! I'm writing to you from our new house where we've been busily putting away our belongings and trying to figure out where to place everything. It has been a fun adventure so far. Erik has been painting a lot, and things are starting to appear brighter around here! This morning, he started painting our dining room a lovely golden yellow, and it made me smile so big when I saw that beautiful, sunny color! I don't know about you, but I'm really affected by my surroundings. Bright or soothing colors do something huge for my immediate mood. Our bedroom has been painted a similar shade of sky blue as what we had in our old house, and I love it! It helps me to feel calm when I'm ready to sleep. And we're thinking about painting our kitchen red, which I would love. I keep saying "we," but the reality is, my dear Erik is the one doing the painting jobs. AND, we were VERY VERY blessed to have the help of our parents and other family and friends in this process of moving, ripping down old wallpaper & cornice boards, and unpacking things. There is still a lot to do, but this morning I really woke up feeling like there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we're going to get all of these boxes and projects taken care of in due time.

I hope that you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! I made my cranberry cherry relish to share with my family for yesterday's meal and with Erik's family for today's meal. It is always so good along with the turkey!

May God give you His perfect peace today.

Sad...

I just rocked Kristi and sang to her one last time in our home...and I'm so sad! I will miss this house so much. Erik bought our home just after we started dating. I was living away in the south for graduate school and came home over Thanksgiving to see his new house, and that was five years ago! I liked it then, but I really fell in love with it after we got married and I moved everything into our house. Then it started to become "our" place instead of just a bachelor pad with only Campbell's Chunky soups, pizzas, Healthy Choice "microwaveables" (that's what Erik called them), and ice cream to be found. It took him awhile, but eventually Erik started to like my home-cooking instead of just the microwave dinners he was used to. :) On our two year anniversary, we came home from the hospital with our precious Kristiana Joy. And now she is almost 18 months old! She has grown to know and like her house and to feel comfortable here, just as we do. And now, tomorrow night, we will uproot ourselves from this place that we call home...we will go and stay temporarily with family and then move into our new home...which won't feel like our home for awhile. And I am so sad. I will miss this place that holds so many wonderful "first" memories for us...Erik's first home, our first home as a married couple, the first place we celebrated holidays together, the first home for our daughter...such wonderful memories indeed! This home will always hold a special place in our hearts and we will miss it dearly. I'm sure that our next home will also hold special memories...memories that are yet to be made. So, we anticipate that now with joy and yet mixed emotions of leaving this current home behind. I've been praying that this house will be a blessing for the next family that will live here, and that God will use our next home as a place of blessing everyone who enters. For it is He who has provided for us. I have a hard time with change, but I'm learning that "this world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through."

Lots to do!

This is a busy week for us as we move this coming weekend. We loaded a pod this past weekend, and we'll still need to load another pod or a truck this next weekend! I can't believe how much stuff we have, even after we cleaned out a ton of things before putting the house on the market. I'm hoping that we can go through it again as we get settled in our new house, and maybe we can get rid of even more. Erik keeps telling me that just because we're moving to another home doesn't mean I can fill it up with more stuff! Of course the reality is, even if I try to not collect a lot, there will be stuff...kids just seem to attract stuff...big toys, small toys, clothes in every imaginable size, diapers, wipes, blankets, cribs...it is neverending. I try to keep on top of things and go through the clothes every month or so to store the clothes that no longer fit and bring in the new sizes that fit.

Well, back to being a pod person. I need to do some more packing for the pod!