My house is truly where my heart is!

As I look around at what my house has become since the recent remodeling I can’t help but feel blessed! It has taken 4yrs, and more money than I care to remember, to get it to this point but it was worth it! My house is like a flower—a small plant when I bought it, slowly grew a bud and now it has become a beautiful flourishing flower! It has really taken shape and become more than even I could have imagined!

When we decided to buy a house we refused to become house poor and instead stayed within the budget of what we were paying for rent. No matter how much the bank begged we decided to buy below our allowed limit. I have never regretted that decision and because of that we have been able to go on vacations and make the house our own with personal changes that fit us!

Our house, as well as us, have grown so much over these past 4 years.

 This is going to be the house all family holidays happen, the house people gather—warm memories are being made here and for Keaton and all the future children this will be the only house these memories are surrounding. I like that, it makes my heart smile! I am happy to take over and be able to supply the children with a stable home that will always be; for my kids, for Keaton and for any others that may be in our family’s future. 

It’s important to me that my home is warm and inviting, lived in but nice and nicely put together. I love antiques but Duste will only allow usable antiques brought into the house, which is a good thing I must admit with babies, pets and family members. Now with the new layout of the house, I feel it is what is was suppose to be all along.

I hope we have made the past owners proud, as we tried to keep as much original pieces and keeping with the character of the house, after all that is why we fell in love with it! When buying antiques we not only keep in mind their condition and usability but also the date they were made.  I often buy pieces for rooms that aren’t done or even started—a piece here and a piece there—and when it comes time to bring them in and put it all together everything fits together like a puzzle. It’s like these pieces were meant for this house! Each piece has called to me and when this happens there is nothing Duste can do to talk me out of it and she is always happy with the results!

To say I have a connection with my house and my antiques would truly be an understatement! When I truly love something or someone I feel it on a spiritual level, in my soul…..

 

 

The End is Near....the end of remodeling for 2012 that is!

Our dreams house is coming along~

The upstairs is done for this year. Our contractor got the common room and hallway done and doors up for the other two rooms that will be finished next year! We painted and after the carpet went down we set up the room as a play area for Keaton. It looks so darn cute! I decorated the hallway in a family theme with a mother and daughter statue and family rules quotes on the wall.

We moved the living room and I am still in the process of rearranging the furniture. Today when I get home the new dining room will be painted and I am excited to get some of my dining room furniture moved in tomorrow!

 Over the weekend we moved out the table in the kitchen and replaced it with an antique I bought years ago. It is like a bar/butcher block type thing and it gives us so much more floor space! Love it!

The End of the house remodeling for 2012 is near~yay!!

This is next year’s list—

House Goals for 2013 and estimates

 Paint the house                                                    $2,000

Finished the two rooms upstairs                          $4,500
Build level fire pit area                                        $1,000
Replace fuse box                                                  $   ?
Rewire pool                                                          $   ?

 

I am hopeful I can get all of 2013 done with $8,000! We will see because if it is one thing I have learned living in a 100 year old house is things unplanned will always come up!

 

Future Goals

Build deck around pool
New roof and paint for garage (2) and shed (2)
Fix driveway
Replace 3 windows upstairs and 2 basement windows
Re-do downstairs bathroom

Our contractor always has a project at our house he can count on! Ha!

My big goal is to have the house completely finished by my mid 30’s. Then I will have more years to enjoy it then I did fixing it up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love....

I love….

McDonald’s sweet tea, especially on an early Monday morning.

Peanut m&m’s, star crunches, cherry pop tarts, homemade hot chocolate and a half peanut butter sandwich—but not all at the same time!

I love cuddling in my flannel sheets with my favorite person and puppy! I love mid day naps!

 I love…

Sweats—comfy, fuzzy, soft lounge clothes! Fuzzy socks, soft blankets and fluffy pillows.

I love the month of October because of all the scary movies and cooler evening temperatures.

 I love my house and the love in it!

I love the early evenings that force me to slow down, take my time and enjoy the simple things in life.

But most of all, I love my Duste and Ivy Rose

WARNING--this might offend some or most

It really burns my biscuits…

When people get more in a tax refund then they put in. That is ridiculous. The government is rewarding the low income people who have children they cannot afford which encourages them to have more.  Very few of these people will save the money or use it for the child, most  just blow it on stuff they don’t “need” but “want”. This group of people most likely doesn’t know the difference between the two.

When people live on government assistance. It is a temporary service designed to help those who have fell on hard times while they get back on their feet—not those who are just too lazy to help themselves.

I completely agree these people should get drug tested to receive assistance, as well as every adult living in the house, and the testing should continue as long as they are getting assistance. I also think this program should be treated like unemployment—you can only be on it so long. What they buy at the grocery should also be controlled—I’m sorry but while I am paying for things you will not have unhealthy things. Because when you’re sick guess what bites me in the ass.

 

If we made these changes this would not only help financially but it would help the generations of children being shown this is how you live. The kids now have no drive to work for things, instead they want it handed to them and they want it now. These kids do not respect their things because they do not have to earn them which is why we have such a throw away culture.

Come on, wake up people—stand up and fight every day for a better life!

 

I was raised on welfare by parents who could not afford me or my sisters and we never seen a dime of that tax return. Get your head out of your ass America.

I am so lucky, I am so thankful

I have so much to be thankful for; so much I decided to write about it!

I have my health—I am in great shape, losing weight and strengthening/toning with Pilates/personal training and walking 4 miles during the week and 4 on the weekend with our baby Ivy Rose! My thyroid is stable and I am more emotionally stable then I have been in a long time.

I have my best friend and partner by my side—Duste is so great! She makes me whole, she makes me me and she makes me happy! She truly is my soul mate. I never get sick of spending time with her, I never want time away, the time we have together is never enough.  I never understood couples that need time apart. I never understood having away time. There is no one I rather be with than her! That has been the case since we were little and I don’t see it changing any time soon! She is the love of my life! I am so lucky to have found her and to be open enough to see it! She is perfect in every way. I have never spoken anything different. If I was with a man, I would never be happy and I would be one of those girls who needed time away and didn’t mind his guy time. Ha!

I have a wonderful Dog—Ivy Rose is our heart. She is 6 months old, attends dog school and puppy classes. She eats only the best dog food and treats. All this was very important to us when we decided to get another dog when our Sadie passed away. We would not be doing justice for Sadie’s Memory if we did not do all we could for the new one. We want to shape her to be the best dog she can be and we want to take an active role in dog ownership. There is nothing sadder than a dog that is mistreated or over looked and there is nothing more annoying than a misbehaved dog!

I have the home of our dreams—we were in our 20’s when we bought our house, not many people can say that anymore! We have never missed a payment and are very proud of that, not many can say that either. We took something that had lots of character and charm but was over 100yrs old and turned it into our dream home. We have done a lot of work to it and are continuing to work on it now but it is worth it. It is perfect!

For these things I am grateful—these things are the hardest to find! Because of my unrelenting pursuit of  happiness I have all this, because I would not settle, because I opened my eyes and looked past who society said I had to love, because I was willing to live like no one else early on I can now live like no one else!

We decided long ago we wanted to be in a good place before we brought children into this world. It was important to us to own a home, to have it the way we wanted, to have a savings account, to be able to make our bills every month without fail and to be debt free. We also wanted our time together, to make sure our bond was strong before our world changes with kids. When we have children we want to be able to actually afford them, something most people over look.

I have a blessed life. I am so lucky. I am so thankful!

 

Ivy Rose

A now it's time for some Ivy Rose Pictures! She is so adorable, I cant resist taking pictures!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Still moving forward

I am happy to say I am still attending class! I even have a second class coming up next Saturday. It is a onetime class on Healing Energy. I’m excited and little nervous!

 We got the house organized and the clutter cleared out. We even made a little extra money selling some things. My next goal is to go through my closet. Did I mention I dropped a pants size? That is right, after two years of battling my thyroid weight I finally dropped a pants size! Woohoo!! I give credit to Ivy Rose, who walks on a leash very well now. We are walking 3 miles during the week and 4 on the weekend. I think that was the boost I needed!

We are gearing up for fall at my house! We are starting to close the pool and have the hot tub ready to go. Next weekend I am excited to put out the Fall Decoration on the Front Porch. This is the first year I am able to decorate the porch for the changing seasons and holidays. I will be sure to take pictures and post later!

 

 

Ivy Rose is 5 months old now! She is 30lbs and getting tall. She already comes up to my knees. She hasn’t had an accident in the house in a month and still sleeps through the night. She is still chewing like crazy and has taken a liking to my outdoor candles. She had her first vacation to Indiana Dunes last week and loved it! She did remarkably well! She loved the morning walks on the beach when she could run free. She loves doggie school and is going twice a week but will soon only be going once a week. She is crazy smart!

 Meanwhile on a relationship level I have never felt closer or more in love with my Duste. I find her irresistible! I love to watch her while she is driving with the sun coming through the windows—it makes me smile every time! I’m not sure why I feel so much closer to her, it could just be all the changes I am doing with myself. She is so perfect, made just for me she is!

 

Hope everyone can find happiness and love like we have!