House Preview

We're finally all settled into our house, Chris has started training (again!), and we're up & rolling here in our new town. I am a little bit crazy (okay, A LOT crazy) when it comes to getting the house set up. Once our furniture has been delivered, I want it done, like yesterday! I learned that it's significantly harder to have those kinds of expectations when you're 1) running after a 19 month old, and 2) pregnant. I'm going to blame the pregnancy for most of it though b/c we had tons of help with Miss E, and she was fabulous during the entire move...so I can't really pin my slowness/lack of energy and motivation on her! Ha! We finally got everything done though (well, all but the office but that's another story!), and we're so excited to be here with such great friends!

Here are some pics of the house...thought y'all might want to see :)

I hate having that gaping hole over the mantle and it took forever to figure out what to do with it! As you can see in few pics down, we have a ginormous entertainment center that we really didn't want to get rid of, and a TV that won't fit in that hideous hole. So...conundrum. Luckily my very patient mother-in-law went to Michael's with me and helped me wander around until I found some things that I liked. I think it turned out pretty well...not exactly what I wanted, but it will do :)
LOVING our new kitchen! However, cooking with a gas oven has proven to be a little bit more difficult than I thought!

The living room...as you can see, we like Clifford at our casa :)

Our guest room...a montage of things that don't fit other places! At least it looks cozy :)

And...the best part of the house, by far!! The play room! I love it, and so does Elli. This is just one side. The other side has my desk, sewing machine, sewing closet and a big comfy chair that just begs to be read in :) We've never had a play room before. At our last house all of E's toys were in the middle of the living room...NOT ideal. I couldn't be happier with this set-up, and I'm pretty sure that Elli feels the same way!

March ~ A Good Month!

March has proven to be a really good month! We started it out with a visit from Grandad & Grandma Duncan, which was super fun!! Elli loves attention from her grandparents...good thing she has a lot of them :) The 2nd & 3rd week was dedicated to packing up our home for our latest move; this time to North Carolina!! My mom (aka Nana), came to help us with the packing/movers/Elli entertaining, and got to come with us on a quick little vacay to Charleston, SC (our reward to ourselves for 6 moves in as many years!). I LOVE that place...definitely a "must visit" if you haven't already! After that wonderful trip, we dropped my mom off at the airport and started our 4 hr. drive to our new home in NC. We hit the ground running as soon as we got here, and were blessed to have GG & Grandaddy (Chris's mom & step-dad) come out to help us with the move-in. Oh, and we celebrated my 30th birthday in the middle of all of that too!! It's been a crazy, but wonderful month. A new house, meeting up with old friends, lots of family visits, & a birthday!! What could be better?!

Grandad, Grandma & Elli...in front of the dog fence. She's going to miss those little puppies!

"Whoa!! Did you guys see that?!" This is what she did after she bowled for the very first time!! She was so tickled with herself :)

Nana, Me & Elli at Ft. Sumter
Chris & E at the Magnolia Plantation...in the petting zoo!
In the park on the Battery in Charleston

At the Charleston Children's Museum...we couldn't get her out of the water!!

In the middle of moving, and while staying in a hotel, I thought that there was pretty much no way that I would be getting a birthday cake. I was so sure of it that I went out and bought myself a cupcake :) And what did I find when I got back to the hotel that night?? My sweet husband had surprised me with my favorite cake (red velvet!!) & candles...I felt terrible for doubting him!! He's the best :)

Elli playing in the fountain in front of the Charleston Aquarium.

Movin' on up!

Hi Blog Friends! 

I have some very exciting news to share...are you ready for it??  We're moving!  I can't tell you how excited I am about this new development.  Perhaps it is because our new house will not feel like it is constantly caving in on us due to it's incredibly small size.  Or, perhaps it is because we'll be a little bit closer to a new "American" restaurant that Chris & I are dying to try.  But, if I'm honest, I think it is because we will now have a dishwasher, a garbage disposal, closets (actual closets, people!), and lastly, and MOST importantly...a washer &  dryer!!  I will no longer have to spend exactly $9.25 every other week to do laundry at the really rather nasty laundromat!  I will no longer have to waste  hours of my day sitting alone, waiting for my clothes to wash and dry.  Oh, think of all the wonderful things that I can do with my extra time now!  The possibilities are endless!

I'd post pictures if I had any, because I know that you are all dying to see what I am raving about.  Now, I can't say that it's the house of our dreams, but holy moly it is a VAST improvement from where we have been living the past 2 years.  These plastic bins, that hold everything from clothes to computer gear, are just not cutting it anymore.  There is only so much you can do to those babies to make them look decorative, and I'm afraid I've failed miserably in that arena!  But now...now we will have room to use Chris's poor speakers who have made their home under our guest bed for the entire time we've been in England.   AND, we have a full size mirror...I'm incredibly excited to see the bottom half of my body when I get dressed in the morning (or am I??  heehee!).  We move in about 2 weeks, and I'm literally jumping for joy at this very instant.  

I'll post more about it when it gets a little closer, but for now I'm just daydreaming about doing my whites :)

~A