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We are just finishing up our 7 week homeleave back in the United States and have been so busy that I just haven't had time to blog. But have no fear!  I will be "back in action" and home in just five days so I will be back to my blogging self. So sit back. Hold on tight. The show is about to begin. I am sure the next year will be full of adventures and lots of interesting things to share.

More soon! 

Home Sweet Home

We have returned from our almost 2 week visit back in Ohio. It was a great visit, getting to spend time with family and friends before the move in 14 days. My mom drove back with us and will be spending some extra time here for the next week.

I am working to upload some pics from the past few weeks, including Christmas, our trip to Illinois, New Years Eve and from packing day. So be on a look out!

Making a "house" a "home"

Two rooms down... this weekend my wonderful husband got the kitchen, eat-in area and main hall painted. I would have painted myself, however I have been restricted to only removing and replacing all the faceplates and washing the walls and painting materials. I have no idea why. I swear the last time I painted it turned out nice. So what if I managed to ruin a couch, a rug and part of the fireplace. In my defense, Chris actually did it. And we managed to sell the house didn't we? Or maybe it was the vast amount of paint Jamie, Val and I managed to use when we painted my house back in Illinois. Who knows.

I can't believe how different the house already looks with just these rooms painted. Gone is the industrial, new-build, boring cream and now I have color! I can't wait until the rest of the house gets done. Here are some before and after shots. Ignore the crappy lighting. In case you can't tell, the kitchen is yellow and the hall is a sage green.

Before kitchen. (Excuse the mess. I took this while Matt was starting to paint)

The eat-in kitchen. It really looks yellow here. In person it is a pale, yet sunny yellow.
More kitchen.
And one more kitchen. Ignore the gaudy leap frog mania.
Hall before.
Another hall before.
Hall after. This is right on the edge of the eat-in kitchen. You can tell a huge difference in the before and after shots here.
Going down the hall.
One more of the hall. I really love this color. I love it so much that I am doing a variation of it for our master bedroom.

Home Decorating

Today we hung window treatments for all the rooms except for the kitchen and eat-in-kitchen. The house definetely looks different with some color in each of the rooms. It makes it feel even more like "home".

But the kitchen ... I love natural light and big open windows. Matt likes to be able to shut himself off from the outside world and make sure people cannot see in the house. I can understand in the bedrooms and bathrooms, but it isn't like we ever walk naked through the kitchen areas. He wants to cover the windows. I want to leave them open. And we can't come to an agreement. I was thinking maybe roman shades would be a good compromise, but the size of the windows would require custom ordered shades. Matt would like blinds, but would settle for curtains that will close all the way.

What are your thoughts? Here is a picture of the windows. (ignore how dark the picture is) I would love some ideas.

It's not just cold

It's DAMN cold here. It is amazing how in being gone only 6 months from Illinois how I have forgotten just how cold it gets here in the winter. Our little 30 and 40 degree cold spells in NC are nothing like the 4 degree, -15 degree wind chill (yes, that was NEGATIVE!!) I came into yesterday.

But I made it here safe and sound. And I am loving it. I have really missed Jamie and Val and everyone else here, but I didn't realize just how much until I came back.

Yesterday we just had a total "girls day". We went to Barnes & Nobles (surprise surprise) where I only bought **gasp** ONE book. (I must have been jet lagged). Then we went and saw Catch and Release and it was really good. Another great chick flick. And for those who may wonder, Barry Watson is NOT in this movie. Then we went to dinner where it was so good to drink margaritas and just laugh. Afterwards we went shopping and just people watched. The we came back to Decatur, where not only did I get a joyous welcome back from Ashley and Hannah, but even a big hug from Mark. After leaving for the airport at 4:30 am and such a long, but wonderful day, I actually fell asleep at 11:30 with no trouble.

Val asked me yesterday how it felt to be back. And I said it was great, but weird. It is so strange being back here knowing that I can't goto my house. That I won't be jumping back into my daily life and routine that I had for 4 years. I am no longer a guest, but a visitor.

But I am back, and for the next 4 days, I am going to soak it for all it's worth.

Leaving On A Jet Plane

I love technology. Who would have thought that you would be able to check in for a flight, 24 hours in advance, from your home? So here it is, 7 am and I am all checked in for my flight tomorrow. Where am I going?

At 6 am tomorrow I am on a flight headed to the very cold state of ILLINOIS! Well okay after a long 4 hour layover in Atlanta I am headed there, but I am going to Illinois!!! And an added bonus... I am going KID FREE!!! I have to go and meet with some people for work, but other than that I am free, free free!!

I am so excited. I have so many plans while there (shopping, seeing movies, eating, Starbucks runs and even BINGO!) and I can't wait to see everyone.

So wish me a safe flight, and wish me luck in the cold. It is supposed to be freezing and my southern body may go into shock.

Finding Another "Home"

Another hard part of moving is finding a church "home". When we first moved to Illinois we lucked out. We found an awesome church on the first try. In fact we never even tried another church in the 4 years we lived there. When we moved to Decatur we were not as lucky. We tried numerous churches before settling, and even then it still never feeling "right". I am not sure if it was because of the point we were in our lives with Allison being so sick when we first moved then her dying or if we just never found a fit. But I definitely felt "unfilled" while living there.

So off to North Carolina we went. Talk about a whole new world down here. Church is very popular. And if you are looking for a baptist church, you will be able to find one on almost every corner. We tried two different churches here and actually liked both of them. But for some reason we felt like God was telling us that we should really consider making Triangle Community Church our "home". The first time there we ran into 3 people we knew. And considering we had only been in NC for less than 3 weeks, we felt that was more than a coincidence. So after lots of discussion we decided to attend a seminar today to learn more about the beliefs, background and structure of the church. It was ran by the head pastor and for those who knew how much we loved our first pastor in Illinois, Tony, I think we could like Pastor Doug even better. Pastor Doug was so down to earth and so honest on his beliefs that I just felt like I was at home.

So for those who are still searching out there. Don't do what we did. Don't settle for something that is just "okay" or "easy". Nothing about God should just be "okay".