discouragement.

That's where I am.

I had started out so strong blogging about our new little life and nest, which I so love. I have so many romantic visions of this picturesque life- decorating, and gardening, and cooking- all the while blogging about our adventures. And it was going great.

And then we moved, which was was a lot of work. {Into an amazing little house that is so perfect for us!} And then work got really busy and exhausting for the hubs, which meant life got busier for me. And then work picked up for me, too. And then our life, as grateful as I am for it, wore us out.

We lament all the time about not having more time to do what we want and love. Like work on our house and yard, or take little weekend trips. Or for me, blogging and investing more time and energy into our home. Both of those things have had to take a back burner lately, with blogging coming to a halt, and my homemaking sort of coasting along. One thing that I am proud of, that I have continued to purposefully do, is cook dinner every night. Most of the time, ordering pizza on the way home from the office sounds like a fantastic plan, but we refrain. And it doesn't help that I love pizza. :)

So, that's where I am....tired, but slowly wanting to come back to the bloggy world that I love, and share our busy life with you.

It occurred to me this week that all of the blogs that I love, read, pull ideas from, and desire to mimic, are written by wonderful women....who are all stay at home mothers. I realized that their level of investment in their homes and families are the standard to which I hold myself sometimes, even though I am not in the same stage of life. It's hard for me to be okay with not having a clean bathroom everyday, or with being exhausted at the end of my work week. I always want to do more, be more, and have more. I would love to make all of my food from scratch. I really would. I want to have a clean house, a lot more often than I do! I want more energy, like everyone else does, no matter their stage of life. :)

But mostly, I want the peace that comes from accepting where God has you, at this moment. From being okay with your limitations. From realizing that the next phase of life will come with it's own set of frustrations and limitations.

Sometimes, when I was single, I would think, "I love keeping my home; I wish I had a husband to share this with." {Don't get me wrong, I didn't constantly think this. I really enjoyed single living, and I feel strongly about young women doing more than sitting around wishing for a husband!} Now, newly married, I think to myself, "If only I had more time to put into my home, and in doing things that I love." And, if I had more time, I would probably wish I had a child to love on and care for, or more things to fill up my time. Do you see what I mean?

Comparison is indeed the thief of joy, but not just the comparison of ourselves to others. It is also the comparison of ourselves to other "selves" that we used to be, want to be, will be, will never be, or wish we were.

So, today, I am kind of tired from working all week, and having allergies. My floor really needs to be vacuumed. It's 7pm, and we haven't eaten dinner, because hubby isn't home yet. I am glad that I am doing a few things well; I am sad that there are so many other things I would like to do. But today, I will try to accept where I am in life. Today, I will blog about doing a few things well, and juggling the rest with a day job that I happen to love.

Today, I will give myself permission to be imperfect.

back in the saddle.

Well, after almost two months off, I am finally back to the blogging world! I've missed it so much! {But I've also been enjoying going back to bed after the hubby goes to work!}

We've been working hard to make our new little nest into a cozy home. This is so much better than apartment living!

We haven't done nearly as much decorating and organizing as we would have liked, but we are getting there. I am at least 99% unpacked. :) The computer/craft/sewing/stockpile/storage room will likely stay a little packed up as long as we are here. When it is less disastrous, I'll share a picture!

Hubs has been working hard on the backyard {I've been helping!}, and we can't wait to have it done! Our goal is to have it looking pretty awesome by the beginning of summer.

The bathroom was our first and toughest project, and I am happy to say that with a few more final touches, I can reveal the makeover! I hate it so much less now. :)

I'm so glad to be back with you guys, and can't wait to share life with my readers once again!

new house :: {A Tour of the "Before"}

I've been MIA from the blog world this week, which I hate. I've been trying to do well at sticking to a blog schedule, and building up my following! (Thanks, by the way, if you are reading this!) But it couldn't be helped: I've been super busy at work, because we are moving our offices to a new section of the building (which means new office makeover, coming soon!), and most of all because I've been packing and working out details of the new house! Yep, we're moving! Only renting, but still. It's a house. With a yard. Not a second story apartment where you can hear everything, and the neighbors can hear everything in your house, too. (Probably including our talk about how loud and annoying we think they are!) So far, the landlord here sounds pretty cool and laid back about what we do to the house. We'll see- you never really know what you're getting with a landlord until you've been there a while. But we really hope he's good!

Without further ado, here is a "before" tour of the new place. Cannot wait to start posting all of our projects! Yay!

As you walk in, there is a staircase directly in front of you, and an alcove to the left with a built-in bookcase. :) There is also a storage door under the back of those stairs. We are trying to think of a way to creatively use this space!                                                                            

        

Here is the side view of the stairs from the living room...you can see the very interesting light fixture here. :)

This is the living room, which is just to your left as you walk in the door.

This chandelier is in desperate need of a makeover, and the whole room is very.....beige....luckily, we can paint! This doorway on the back wall leads to the kitchen.

 These are the living room windows at the front of the house...sorry the picture is so dark! They have built in fixtures on the top of the window to balance a curtain rod, and built in curtain draw back knobs on the sides of each window. Very cute!

Next is the kitchen, my favorite room!

The entryway....

This is the island that takes up most of the "eat in" kitchen. I suppose we are to eat at it. Hmmmm...narrow bar stools are in order here. I seriously love the cabinet space under it. It's incredible; I basically will never have to have anything on the counter tops that I'm not using. Amazing. But I need a very large and awesome fruit bowl to cover up the tile picture of a fruit bowl on this island. Eww. :)

It has an old-ish fridge, but it's nice and big, and has the side freezer, which I really like. Plus, more cabinets and shelves above it.

Window above the big sink....one of my favorite things in houses. The lace curtain and ugly blind will need to go, of course. :) What I like about this house is that it is 100 years old, which means a very functional kitchen! And are you as in love with the brick walls as I am?????

Like I said, unreal cabinet space! I have never ever had cabinets like this anywhere I have lived, including houses I grew up in. This is so cool.

The floors aren't so awesome, but not the end of the world. I would kill for some rugged wood, but oh well. :) We'll buy a fixer-upper someday!

Oh, yes. A built in wine glass rack thingy. A sign that we are supposed to have this house. :)

Now, onto the laundry room/space, which is in the kitchen.....

The entryway, which will need a curtain.

There is also crazy shelf space in the laundry nook, plus a little window. :) The washer/dryer is on the back wall of this closet, but that part isn't that exciting, so I didn't show it.

Through the kitchen is the back yard, which was really the deciding factor for us. It made the terrible, horrible, no good, tiny bathroom (coming up soon!)  totally worth it. :) And yes, that is a complete privacy fence and a grape arbor. We. Are. Thrilled.

The bedrooms are upstairs, and are interesting, because they have very low ceilings. Good thing we are short people. :)

This one is ours....it has 3 or 4 windows, a little alcove/nook section with a built in bookshelf, and a walk in closet. Not bad at all for a small bedroom.

These are the guest rooms. they are are nested one inside the other- you have to walk through one to get to the other. I wouldn't like that as much if we needed the bedrooms, but since they will be for guests/storage/recreation, it's fine with us. We are leaning toward having a man cave and a woman cave. :)

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for: the bathroom. This is absolutely our only hesitation about this house. It is small, has a very narrow door, and  has very little space. It is also quite ugly. But, because of all of those factors, I think it will make the most dramatic DIY before and after project. We look forward to bringing that to you! As soon as possible.

So there you have it- our biggest challenge! We are excited about moving, but unfortunately, it means I won't be around as much for the next couple of weeks. I'll keep you updated on our progress!