Office

The office is now done.

Here is a before:

I found a photo on Pinterest of paint colors that I HAD to have.  I went to 3 paint stores to find it.  It took 7 coats of paint to cover up the red.  I thought I would never finish.  Watched Listened to lots of movies and an entire season of Downton on the laptop while painting.

But...

I am very pleased with the result.  It is a calm place to work.  The couch is a pull out and the room can serve as a guest room as well.  It is so nice to have an office now.  Steve has actually worked from home some.  Since we can close the doors, the kids really don't bother him in here.

It is all coming together.

Library

We knew all along that we did not want to have a formal living room.  No one ever uses them.  We got the idea to have a library of sorts.  A full wall of bookshelves, separated by a window seat and some comfy chairs.

This was the before shot of the formal living room space.  Not bad, we just didn't think we would use it that way.  We looked at several options and decided to do an Ikea hack using Billy bookshelves.

It took a whole Saturday and lots of sweat, swears and tears, but we are happy with the final product.

First, we had to build the shelves themselves.  Easy stuff, even Will could help.

Then we had to remove the molding.  That was scary, but Steve was able to do it.  We added 2x4's at the bottom because it needed to be lifted a bit so the molding would fit.  We added spacers between the shelves and had some molding to put between the shelves, that we painted.  We then added molding to the top, that Steve had to cut himself.  It was a big project, but it looks great and is functional.  And....we use the room!

We bought some foam from Joanne's and cut a piece of plywood.  We then stapled fabric on top of the foam to the plywood to make the window seat.

Our chairs, from Wayfair that we love.  We sit and do bible readings in the morning in these chairs.

The couch that I scored for an unbelievable price with bird paintings

 Now, we just need more books.

Kids Getting Acclimated

One thing we LOVE about the new house is just how quite the neighborhood is.  The kids can play outside without having to worry about tons of traffic.  Will has met our neighbor, Austin and they have become fast friends.  Now, they ride their bikes and scooters all over.  Austin's 9 year old sister, Ava, is also very nice.  McKenzie, the oldest, doesn't come around much because she is in middle school, but she is very polite.

They are also loving having their very own play room.  We have a rule that no toys come downstairs and no food goes upstairs.  It is amazing how much this does for cleanliness.

Getting Situated

Whew!  Lots of firsts when moving into a new home.  Have to get ADT, AT&T, power, etc etc set up.  AT&T and ADT have been nightmares.  Both have been out no less than 5 times each.

Still, I think we will like it here.

We had them come out and install a pool fence, first thing.  Had a couple of companies come out and do quotes on actual fences.  One guy was twice as much as the other.  We have to get HOA approval for the fence and as soon as that is done, we will get that installed.  I am also pushing to get a playground installed.  I think it is an investment that the kids will use for years.

I am getting things set up.  Closets first.  Did not like how they were set up.  Had to rearrange somethings.

The cats have grown accustomed to the house.  We actually think they are happier here because they have so much more room to run around.  We don't even have to lock them up at night.  They don't bother us if we just shut our door.  This is huge.  Not just for us, but for them too.

My very first project was to whitewash the fireplace.  The red bricks were just a little too dated.  I took white paint and diluted it and then pained on a layer.  Right away, you take a rag and wipe away the excess paint.  Two coats of this and then you sand it down and voila!  A refinished look.  Not bad, right?

Before

First Coat

Finished product

Moving Day!!!

We moved.  We officially had our last sleep at 5203 Abelia Drive.  We took the kids to school in the morning and the movers came.  We genuinely thought it would only take 4 hours or so.  Nope.  It took (and cost) 8 hours.

It is done.

It is not lost on me that when it is all said and done, this was just a house.  It is where we brought our kids home from the hospital.  It is where Olivia took her first steps.  So many parties.  So many firsts.
But at the end of the day, what made this house a home was the family in it.  And we will move forward.

Here, where I stand is where Olivia first walked.  This was the view when guests would come

Our bedroom where we laughed, cried, fought and loved.

The kids' room that held so many stories, so many late nights, so many baby snuggles.

The bathroom where major discussions and pregnancy announcements happened.

I will miss Abelia.  I will miss Melly.  Her house that was basically falling apart and her sons who did nothing all day.  I will miss her kindness and how easy she was to talk to.

I will miss Roland.  How he never knew my name.  I was always Lorna.  To him, I will always be Lorna.

I will not miss Angie.  She was weird with her paranoia and her odd landscaping habits.

We can only hope that Lillibet does not run away at the new house.  This is the only home she has ever known and we are going to rock her world by moving.

Goodbye, Abelia.  Thank you for the memories.  We release you to go make new memories for new owners.

A Brief TN Break

As if we didn't have enough going on, we had a pre-planned trip to TN for Sowmya's wedding.  Thought about trying to get out of it, but that just didn't seem right.  So, let's review: we closed on the house on Tuesday, spent Tuesday- Thursday at the Contemporary and then flew to TN on Friday.  We got back on Tuesday night and we move on Thursday.  Whew!  At least the closing of our Abelia house got pushed back to Monday.  We were going to have to move on Thursday and close on Friday, making for a tight turnaround.

So, off to TN we went.

Very back of the plane next to obnoxious, drunk people

Lots of front porch sitting ensued

Funny how time slows way down in TN.  A nice change of pace.

There was also lots of this.

Don't wake Daddy

Lots of squirrel feeding

Will adores his cousin Allie

More of Steve, snoozing away

Frisbee throwing

On Saturday, by happy coincidence, I was able to go to Laura's baby shower to celebrate baby Averi. Laura and Jason have tried to have a baby for so long and I remember last Christmas, her looking at our little family and saying that is what she wanted.  I was so happy to receive the call from her, right around Mother's Day that they were expecting a baby around Thanksgiving.  Laura looks great and she will make an excellent mother.  I was so happy to share this with her.

We left on Sunday morning to drive to Nashville for Sowmya's wedding.  Her actual wedding already took place and was a small, intimate thing, but she had her big reception on Sunday evening (bc it was Labor Day weekend).  

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It was nice to get away with Steve.  This officially marked our first overnight away from the kids.  

We were right in the center of all of the Nashville action.  I really didn't care about any of it, to be honest.  Not my scene.

Their wedding "cake" was cupcakes in the shape of the periodic table because, you know, chemical engineers...

I always love getting together with Candice.  We are always able to pick right back up.

The old Bearden gang.  We look pretty good, right?

I hadn't seen Sarah in a very long time.  She is now Sarah Merrell, not Blizzard.

When we got back to Knoxville, I wanted to make sure to make a trip to Mamaw's house.  She has not been doing so good lately and as morbid as it sounds, I am not sure if I will ever see her again.
The last time we went to Mamaw's it was raining and we did not get a good walk on the train tracks.

Will loved this little carousel that is on Mamaw's mantel

This kids with their great grandmother

We went to Calhoun's afterward

This is a common scene in TN.  The kids looking on as Pops plays on his iPad.

No trip to TN is complete without spotting the "Muffin Top" billboard.  Will still gets a big kick out of this.

I sat with Livi on the way back home.  She was an angel.

It was a good trip back to TN.  We were able to escape the craziness that awaits us when we return.  Not sure when we will get back.