So much has happened since my last post, which is partly why there hasn’t been much blogging going on lately. We have been super busy packing, unpacking, clearing out clutter and putting the pieces back together in the Blue House. Which by the way, every morning when we leave Andi looks through the windshield at the house and says, “Bye Blue House. See you later!” Say it with me…awwwwww! Anyway, we are even decorated for Christmas and are very holly jolly which is why there has been little time for blogging. But I have been thinking about it and realize that updates are important to the loved ones in my lives who are so dedicated to reading about our mostly uninteresting lives - so for those of you interested…here’s what we’ve been up to!
We officially stayed the first night in our new house on Friday December 4th. We didn’t have much going on that night and the Blue House consisted of bathroom and kitchen necessities and beds. Thankfully my mom and Tommy were here as well and we began making trips of our belongings that night and on into the next day. By the end of Saturday we had most of our things scattered about, all major furniture and Direct TV, which was the most important to Justin as conference football games were on. By Sunday December 6th things were beginning to take shape and I was looking forward to having the entire next week off from work to finishing up moving. Prior to me taking that time off I carelessly used the word “vacation” to describe the time off I was taking as in, “see you later guys, remember I won’t be here next week because I’m taking vacation” being said ever so light-heartedly to my co-workers. Let me say this just in case you haven’t already heard me state the fact that my week off from work was NOT a vacation. There was little to no resting, no afternoon naps with the kiddo still at daycare, no leisurely strolls through stores aimlessly spending time doing nothing but re-centering the soul and spirit. All things vacation were not seen or heard on my week off.
I spent the first three days making trips up and down the elevator with our belongings, packing as much stuff into my car as possible. Then after the car was full except for the driver’s seat and Andi’s car seat, I would go up to the apartment to clean. Let me just say this, I like things tidy and clean but am not overly obsessed with cleanliness. My house is typically slightly messy but I try not to let things build up too much. I typically “clean” on Fridays so that we have the rest of the weekend to do whatever it is that we have to do. So back to my statement about not being overly obsessed with cleanliness…in the 8 years that we lived in our apartment, I never really thought to dust the baseboard behind furniture or pull out the fridge and sweep and mop. In the 8 years that we lived in our apartment, 8 years of dust built up in these places and 8 years of dust does not easily wipe off with a quick flick of a cloth. It must be scrubbed off rather with nasty cleaners that I don’t typically use and that made me have to leave the room several times to catch my breath. So cleaning our apartment in those places that as “renters” don’t really cross our minds was not so easy and by the end of Wednesday I was exhausted. I do admit that the process was also slightly emotional. I was there alone those 3 days and as I emptied and cleaned out our apartment I suddenly had a feeling that I was wiping away the “home” that we had made there after all those years. I was bleaching away our smell, Lysol-ing away our fingerprints and the crumbs of our last meals and dusting us away from the tiny apartment that so many beginning milestones of our family took place. After 8 years that apartment has seen the best and worst of us, was the place we lived as a couple and then husband and wife, the place we brought our baby girl home to and watched so many of her “firsts” take place. It was the place that we became a family in and leaving it behind has been difficult. I haven’t taken Andi over there since we emptied it out because even though she might still be too young to really remember too many details of what takes place in her life right now, I can’t bear to think that her last memory of her first “home” might possibly be of it empty and without any resemblance of us and our family.
But back to the Blue House…now that we are settling and are into the holiday spirit I am even more excited and I know that there will be many more memories and “firsts” that we experience in the Blue House. Here are just a few pics…but not too many because I don’t want to lessen anyone’s need to come see it for themselves!
Kitchen - after several meals and trips to the grocery store to fill up the fridge!
Living Room - all cozy and finally feeling like home!
Quite a few things have changed even in the short time since these pictures were taken. For instance, I now having curtains in the living room, which I like very much by the way. I have also filled the house, mainly the living room, with Christmas decor and we are feeling very Merry in a Santa, snowman, poinsettia and yummy candle sort of way. We went to Harmon’s tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree which has become a family tradition that we’ve been doing for several years now. Andi had a great time as usual and became very friendly with all the trees there.
She said, "Awww you so cute baby tree!" LOL!
And this is our Christmas tree all decorated!
Christmas Tree 2009
So not only are we festive inside but in just one of his “manly-this-is-my-OWN-home” type of projects, Justin hung Christmas lights. We went to Lowe’s and purchased the new LED lights which are so twinkly and bright and make me want to sing make up for the price (which I did save $3 a box with coupons!). We intended on going with the classic white lights or “cool white” as it is called in the LED circle but evidently everyone in Lexington, SC does their shopping for Christmas lights in September and not a single strand of ”cool white” icicle lights could be found. So we went with the multi-color strands and paired them with the white icicle lights we had from last year along with some fancy garland around the door and we are a holly jolly type of family! Mark my words that next year we will be among the crazy people buying Christmas stuff on 4th of July because I will have those “cool white” lights dangling ever so teasingly from my rooftop next year!
So right now we are just settling in, getting very comfy and in love with the Blue House. We are excited to have visitors to show off our new home so if you haven’t already came, then please come and stop by! We are looking forward to Christmas morning in our new home and a friendly visit from the Big Man in Red who evidently is bringing Andi a giraffe. I’m not sure where she got the idea from but about 4 or 5 times now she has told me that Santa will be bringing her a giraffe. When I told her that giraffes were kind of big she said, “Oh. A baby giraffe.”
Christmas Spirit in it's finest!
Ho!Ho!Ho! Much Christmas laughter to come!
This is Justin, Andi and Tara (she’s hiding behind the car door as I don’t like posting pics of random people without their knowing) taking about the first home we saw today. 
This is the outside. Obviously. It was an older home, had a weird floor plan and only 1 1/2 baths. Plus check out this kitchen…
How old is that oven? I couldn’t tell you but it made me laugh. I’m no gourmet chef but I do my fair share of kitchen duty and this just wouldn’t do for very long. 
This is the outside of the nice blue home. Obviously. It was large…4 bedrooms and 3 baths. But it has an upstairs, which I’m not fond of, and it would need a lot of cosmetic work. I know the cosmetic stuff is easy but I just am not up for it. Really I’m not up for the weeks worth of cleaning that it would take to let me feel comfortable living in there, but that’s just me being honest. 
Andi really liked the back yard though. She thought the slight incline of the sidewalk on the side of the house was a slide and attempted to scoot her butt down. I know…poor kid doesn’t have a yard of her own and doesn’t know how to act. I’m horrible.
This is the home that we thought would be ours. I know it’s missing a few things but that’s only because it’s not finished yet! Duh!!?? As we drove up I said, “hi house!” I really thought this would be it. 
This is A-Bear looking out one of the windows during us walking through the not yet secured home. I told her to imagine this being mommy and daddy’s room.
