It's really happening....

This is actually real.

After living in this house longer than we've lived anywhere else in 17 years of marriage, we are on our way out.

We close on this house May 24th. Crazy.

I have been packing already simply because I know that it will take me that long to get it all done in the way I like it.

Meaning, in a way that will not make unpacking turn into a search and rescue operation.

Which means that so far, no one else is allowed to help me pack:) I can't handle seeing someone just throw stuff into a box and not have the entire contents of the box belong together. OCD? No. Just a lot of experience with packing and unpacking.

My house looks so sad right now. A little lost without it's decor and with boxes everywhere.







And no, we don't have anywhere to live in Ellensburg yet. We have a line on something, but nothing confirmed yet.

Am I worried? I'd be a liar if I didn't say a little. But honestly, just a little.

We have had so many miracles in the past 2 months, and we both feel so directed and good about this move that for the most part I feel peaceful and happy and that everything will work out.

The other feeling of occasional panic I just have to squash down from time to time and then the peaceful feelings return.

And while I have you here, if you were staying in  an empty house for 2 weeks while you were in between  your house selling and your kids being out of school, what would you take? Taking into consideration that we will not be eating out hardly at all.

I am a little curflumoxed on what I should bring. Air mattresses and blankets and pillows seem a no brainer, but what kitchen items will I need for two weeks?

Thoughts are greatly appreciated:)

Old Glory on a dresser.

It has been eerily silent on this blog lately. Not intentionally. But we are moving. Yes, the offer on our house is going through and I have 45 days to pack my house.

Seems like a long time, but when most of your days only have a few moments here and there to devote to de-junking and packing, 45 days seems to fly by.

And admittedly, I have a weird way of doing things.

Now that I know when we are moving, I think of all the things I had planned to do, projects, organizing, what have you.

And I know that once we move into our new house, I won't have time to do some of those things because I will be unpacking.

So what better time to do it then when I should be packing?

Yes, it's crazy in my head.

One of the things that's been on my to do list is to redo Charlie and Henry's dressers.

They have an Avenger themed room right now. Don't get me started on themed rooms. I hate them. But I always wanted a Strawberry Shortcake room when I was little, and I never got it. So I have allowed them for my children when they want them. Kate and Julia had a pink and purple Disney Princess room. Yikes.

But one of the things I have wanted to do was to turn Charlie's dresser into an American flag. Its a long 50's dresser, with just the right lines for such a thing.

And since I had such good luck with my Union Jack dresser,



I was ready to tackle the Stars and Stripes.

The dresser was already painted white, so I just had to paint red stripes on, and the blue for where the stars would go.

This was harder than it sounds. You have to tape it all perfectly. Making sure you have enough space for all 13 stripes. You know, for the 13 original colonies. And then make sure you have an adequate amount of space for the blue background of the stars, otherwise it will look dis-proportioned when your done.

So I found some wide blue painters tape and went to work.




I started to regret the project as soon as I started it, but by then it was too late.

Everything took more coats of paint than I expected. And once I pulled the painters tape away, I saw where the paint had bled through because I was too lazy to seal everything ahead of time. So then I had to take an art brush and painstakingly fix all the spots where it bled. Arrggghhhh!

I hate it when things take longer than I planned. I'm super impatient that way.

After painting the blue background for the stars, I realized I was also  too impatient and not a perfectionist enough to paint 50 individual little stars. No freakin way, man.

So Jeff made me a stencil for one big star and I decided that was A-ok.

When all was said and done, I'm very pleased with how it turned out. And since I already had all the paint, this project required just my time and some painters tape.



Charlie likes it I think. He'd better. He's using it til he moves out! Ok, who actually believes that based on my track record for changing things around here? Yeah, me neither.

Now I will be working on Henry's dresser. He wants Captain America's shield painted on his dresser. Three perfect circles surrounding a star? No problem!!! Hahahahaha! Yeah right. How about three wobbly circles and a off center star?

And by the way, we love the United States of America around. There is no place I would rather live. This country was founded on some of the most beautiful ideas and principles known to man. And I am grateful.

Bomb us all you want,whoever you are, but we won't give up our freedoms or ideals. Never, ever.