love this house (soon for sale)

i am positive that when we moved into this house in march 2009 i said, "i will never move again." so much stuff! well here we are, just over one year later, and we are close to putting this house on the market. with my new job in branson (have i expounded on how excited i am yet?) and brad working at logrog, it just doesn't make sense for us to live in battlefield, on the other side of the universe from both places. i love this house and would love to have someone build the exact same thing for us again (with hardwood floors next time...that's the only change...well, that and i would move the french doors in our "reading room" to a different wall). anyway, i took some pics to post with our "for sale" ad, and i'm putting them here so i will remember this place well if/when we do move.

there for a while, each time brad came home from somewhere, he found a new paint color on a wall or a new piece of spray-painted decor or furniture. i love to paint.
i guess i was spoiled with this house, because i've been looking at other houses that are for sale, and i always compare them to this one. plus, brad says someone might want to buy our house with the furniture included; i'm not quite ready for that. i probably shouldn't be so attached his "stuff," but we worked hard to find good deals and to put it all together.

and i had so many projects in my head for this place, too! tiling the kitchen backsplash, wallpapering the bathroom, more random art, etc. if only we could just move the whole house. i'm too attached.

cleaning out the closet

nope, the title is not a metaphor for life. it's really is going to be about cleaning out the closet. it's not really for you; it's for me. i love to be organized. if i had to choose another profession, "professional organizer" just might be up near the top. i love it THAT much.

we cleaned out the closet this weekend, and i feel so much better about life. i am embarrassed to show the "before," but it also makes me feel better to visibly see how much better it looks.

BEFORE:
there is a whole other wall of my clothes that i'm not even going to post because it's so ridiculous to have that many clothes. ridiculous. i should only need about 8 outfits or something. all of my necklaces (i might have 10, at the most...) are hanging from this organizational shelving system. not cool.
brad's stuff - not nearly as many clothes as i have. makes me feel like a terrible wife, but he says he doesn't want anything. AFTER:
i made a little jewelry-hanging doo-dad. now my necklaces are hanging over the side of our shelving system.


notice: folded clothes on top!


and on bottom! and the four bags we gave away. it usually takes me about 3-7 tries to let go of my clothes, which might explain why i still have clothes from high school in my closet. (this might also indicate that i'm a little bit stuck in the early 2000's, which is a whole other problem entirely.) i intend to go through my clothes again in a month or so to see if there's anything else with which i can part. here is my biggest fear: i will give something away and a month later figure out a perfect way to wear it. well, to call that a fear is dramatizing it a bit, but you catch my drift.

red felt wreath

this pic is a little late, but i had to prove that i really did make the red felt wreath i said i was going to make around valentine's day (and i really did make it the night i said i was going to make it...i have since discovered that the lighting in my living room isn't all that great for taking pictures, thus the delay). and it only took a night and a half to make! i actually made two.

i felt oh-so crafty.

seriously

i need a little bit of guidance when it comes to getting my blog to look nice/normal. obviously this template isn't exactly right. i'd like a simple design of some sort....do i search for a template to download or try to create my own.

i used to think i was pretty technologically literate, but it appears as thought i was wrong.

tips appreciated.

carry on.

46

number of referrals written by me in the 1st semester. the good news is that the freshman class is getting bad reviews school- and even district-wide. something bad happened in the water about 14 or 15 years ago.

a few years ago...

...my friends and i came up with something called the "Adventure Squad" ("A-SQUAD"). the whole idea is to soak up as much life as possible. here it is again, with some amendments:

in no particular order:

"EXTREME STUFF":

skydiving (done--amazing!!)
ride a mechanical bull (DONE, as of 2/23/07) funny!!)
karaoke (this frightens the pee out of me) - haven't done it yet
line dancing (done...i'm tall and awkward, wasn't pretty)
mud volleyball - still waiting on an opportunity
rock climbing (outside, on actual rocks) - making progress toward this
hiking (semi-done...but i'm talking LONG/HARD hike. and i want to do this pretty much every day)
visit all 50 states - I think I'm at #30.
Africa - soooo close. maybe next year.
Australia/New Zealand
climb a mountain (done, as of June 26, 2007. in alaska...amazing. will do much more)
White Water rafting (done, as of June 26, in alaska...yes, big day...yes, it was unbelievable...and yes, i will do it again!)
long bicycle ride (100+ miles)
unplanned road trip (done)
race car driving
run a marathon (DID IT, June 23...in alaska!!)
Las Vegas (done it...overrated)/LA
tomato fight
pie fight
Grand Canyon camping (would this constitute canyoneering??)
compete in a beach volleyball tournament on a REAL beach
adventure racing -- would have to get in shape to run
"boot camp" – a vacation to do action-oriented fun stuff while toning our muscles
visit a dude ranch (ya know, like that old-school show on Nickelodeon, "hey dude")

"Lesser EXTREME stuff":
skiing (done it, just want more of it)
biking (same...)
photography scavenger hunt
adventure night
host theme parties
Habitat for Humanity
see another play (Wicked was amazing!)
scooter/moped rides with knee and elbow pads, along with hideous helmets, neon leggings, and slouch socks
extreme sledding
salsa/dessert rankings – visit as many restaurants in springfun as possible and rate their salsas, desserts, etc.
test drive night (similar to above, only with cars…fun!)
wine-making (you squash the grapes in your toes. well, i'd say that's kinda gross, but then, I'm not drinking it so I don't mind…)
kickboxing
go see a huge sporting event (aka...olympics, world series, etc.)
milk a cow in Oklahoma, or maybe just Rogersville...don't ask.
start my own business.

Not even vaguely EXTREME:
visit more art museums
visit a few more historic towns
learn to garden
movie marathon nights (watch old movies, etc…)
painting party (we actually do this a lot)
take fun classes (photography, cake decorating, sign language, web site design, pottery, etc.)
visit historic churches
carve soap -- what? yeah, that's random.
bake day
tree climbing (should do this at least once a week)
visit more farmers' markets
train ride through US
sew well enough to make my own stuff

STUFF I MUST DO SOON:
get a new job
sell a house in rogersville


listen, i know i'm a dork, but i'm ok with that...

that settles it

there are far too many crafty things out there that i should be trying in the off-season between volleyball and track, so i'd better get busy. for starters, maybe this floral pillow from martha stewart via http://cheapchicdaily.blogspot.com/. doesn't look too hard...

then there are these wall silhouettes i'd love to see in our house:

from janicewagner.com




from thedirtonpregnancy.com

from myhomeideas.com

decal from pottery barn.

mural painted by Jeff Robinson, featured on ApartmentTherapy.

or maybe something like this, from cheapchic:

ps...do not let the bassinets give you any ideas. you would be wrong.