Two years ago when we moved into our home (you know the one we bought sight unseen from Switzerland) I took my first drive through the neighborhood and spotted a home that looked similar to the layout of ours but had fresh grey siding and a happy, red door. I jokingly told Seth that whoever lived in that house would be a friend of mine. She had great taste!! So certainly she was friend material.

We dove head first into our home renovations and got busy settling the kids before school. School kicked off and we lived in that first month fog trying to navigate life with a little boy in school, along with all of the wonderful to be stateside activities like playdates, bible study and MOPS! A month or so into school Jackson pointed out one morning that he knew the little girl coming out of the mysterious red door on our way to drop off. I soon learned that this little girl was from Jackson’s class and that her mom was the class room mom. As I got to know her she indeed became a fast friend. Not one that I spent tons of time with but one that I could quickly relate to and jump in where we left off in our last “speed session”. I learned that her family too was a family that moved every couple of years for her husband’s job and she was juggling making life normal for her kids while also trying to keep her sanity in the midst of life being in a state of flux most of the time. We shared a similar lifestyle and similar work so we had plenty to chat about!

Over the last couple of weeks we have been doing the final touches on our outside work on the house. The shutters are done and the fixtures are up but the last thing to do was a cheery red door.  And as much as I wanted a red door I can now tell you from experience that the process was a bit more vulnerable than I had anticipated.

We picked California Poppy by Behr for our first go round. It came out, well, let’s just say, more poppy than we wanted. I went out to take pictures around dusk to send to my mom and it practically glowed!  We tried a couple more coats in hopes it would deepen. Next round we took the remaining paint to HomeDepot and had them add a little black which was supposed to deepen it. When Seth popped open the can to get going on the last coat he discovered that the guy had added WAY more black than needed and it had turned a purpley maroon color. So back to HomeDepot (wonder how much Homedepot makes from projects gone wrong?…probably  more profit there than original purchases) for a deeper color all together. Ruby Ring it is.

Here she is. I haven’t rehung our wreath but you get the idea!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She looks extra good with a cute tball player posing in front of her! Don’t you think?!

Back to vulnerability and what the heck this all has to do with friendship. The minute we started taping the door we were causing a scene. Our winter barren front yard left all the attention on the action. Cars were slowing down to see what Seth was doing! Ha! With each coat we got comments from neighbors and held our breath for the outcome. The texts and facebook comments were coming in! It’s a bit like putting yourself out there in friendship. It requires a bold move and risk. And it certainly requires time for the friendship to develop into what you hope it will be. You can feel a little silly and awkward in those early attempts but if you can endure those days of deepening you can see something so much more unique and fulfilling than the surfacy stuff you began with.

The risk is worth taking. On friends and doors. The friendships I have taken risks on are worth every effort, and if they are not I soon know to move on….to other paint colors, I mean friendships.

Paint something red this week….and take a risk on a new friendship. Don’t get scared in the maroon, poppy phase…it will deepen in to something so much better!

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Hi! Hope you are all doing well! Our project time the past few weeks (ummm, more like early Oct but I am way behind!) have been spent prepping the baby’s room. Pardon the coloring on the pictures. I can’t seem to get myself in to take pictures when the lighting is right. And the camera is being held hostage in the car lest we forget it when rushing to the hospital.

This girl, I tell ya, she is not one bit anxious to see her room despite our best efforts to make it ready for her.

When I was in Texas I found fabrics I loved for a great price and my sister-in-law’s mother agreed to make a bumper for us! While I was in the fabric shop I grabbed a few extra 1/4 yds of fabrics that were coordinating and I just couldn’t resist.  If you happen to be in the Dallas/Ft Worth area check out Cabbage Rose Quilting Shop in Ft. Worth.  At most fabric shops my problem is not loving any of the offerings but in this place you will find way too many choices!! I leaned towards vintage-looking  prints with florals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My friend lent me her old Pottery Barn crib. We called PBkids and they sent us a special kit to make it a fixed side crib! I highly recommend doing this if you have a crib you want to use but it’s drop-side. Easy, peasy fix and it’s free! Owen gnawed on the sides of his crib…so while it is slightly dangerous to reuse as a crib it converts into a full bed headboard and baseboard. So someday that will be sanded down and used in his room when he’s older.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The letters for her name I got from my friend Jennifer at 163 Design Company. I covered them with fabrics samples that I got to compliment the bedding. She made them exactly how I wanted them, got them to me super quickly and her prices are awesome! Shameless plug! I paid for them so don’t think I am bragging on her because I am doing her a favor. I just really love her stuff!  I have a few of her things around the house. Her monograms make great gifts!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found this chair on Craigslist. It was the big splurge of the room but a good deal nonetheless. The robin egg blue linen cover was filthy. I did a couple of rounds of Oxy soak and it is much improved but after a couple of weeks of seeing it au natural I think I have decided to keep it this way. The little duck pillow was sent to Jackson when he was at MD Anderson by my friend Annie. She had it made out of the little robe her kids wore when they were little and I took care of them. I can’t wait to send it back to her when she has a grandbaby someday…(someday, those teenage girls better not see this as encouragement to have a baby now!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the paint color we pulled the pale blue green from the bedding. We used a darker shade on the paint chip for the backs of the book shelves. I am having a hard time finding the paint chip or the link on Home Depot but we used Behr Premium Plus and I believe the name of the wall color was Country Mist and the background on the shelves is the next shade darker on the chip.

Curtains. I was hunting through my box of curtains and found these sweet, lace curtains. I had to wrack my brain to figure out where they had come from but I remembered that my friend Annie had given them to me years ago when she no longer needed them for her little girls room and they were neutral enough to try in one of my apartments. I never used them then for some reason but they are perfect in the babies room.

Shelves. I shopped the house for things that I could use in baby girls room. These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago and I can already see that I have fussed with the shelves a bit more and things have moved and more has been simplified.

The walls. I used embroidery hoops from Michael’s to make inexpensive art with the pieces of coordinating fabrics from the bedding.  I picked up this picture at HomeGoods almost a year ago. It’s been residing in the laundry room until now. When I saw it it reminded me of  what I would hope to instill in a little girl should we ever be blessed with one (and myself). I love the wind blowing through her hair, making it wild and messy. I love her determination and confidence and of course her shoes like the ones I wore when I was a girl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The changing table ($5 at garage sale) is being used as closet storage and we plan to use a changing pad on the bed since the room is so snug.  The headboard for the bed was from our neighbors in Bern…when they packed out for another FS tour they underestimated their weight and started tossing stuff. I spruced it up with Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint. I found a free headboard in Switzerland and also used chalk paint on that as well although I didn’t take pictures of either of these.

For lighting I wanted something sweet and feminine. Everywhere I looked light was over $100 and while it was cute I didn’t think we would use them long term. I had bought this $6 bird cage originally as decor for the room but with the room being so small we didn’t need any more stuff.  So, Seth sawed off the top and we used a cheap Home Depot lighting kit to make the bird cage into a light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So there you have it…or most of it at least. Now come, baby, come!  We are so excited to meet you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Is it really Friday already?! The days sure feel long at times but the weeks are flying by!!  We have a packed weekend but today I have the entire day to conquer the house and get us all set for the busy!  And just a slight distraction, I am going to have Owen’s first day of underoos!! Let the potty training fun begin!  I seriously got tempted this time around to just let him potty train himself someday when he cares. But that didn’t seem so socially acceptable. My second thought was to wait until winter and pray that we get snowed in like we did when Jackson potty-trained. We were in the house for 6 days straight during Snowmageden and voila, he was good to go!  But being snowed in is so inconvenient so I will move forward and take care of this beast without complaining. Speaking of complaining…I was reading Little House on the Prairie last night with Jackson (no it’s not a girls only book) and there is a part where Laura is upset that they can’t camp yet.  Oh, heck, let me just share this passage with you.

Then Ma said, “Laura”. That was all, but it meant that Laura must not complain. So she did not complain any more outloud, but she was still naughty, inside. She sat and thought complaints to herself. ” Little House on the Prairie pg 15

Oh My! My kids have not learned the art of the internal complaint, I am pretty sure I hear them all audibly. So I might be good about not complaining to you all throughout the potty-training process but I might complain to myself!  And I will for sure complain to Seth out loud!

Back to savoring home…

Well, the boys get the prize. Their rooms are certainly the most fun!  Like the other rooms in the house they are primarily thrifted or gifted things throughout. When we moved in I spent the first few days putting the boys rooms together. I felt like it was really important for them to have the security of their own space with their own things after a ton of travel and uncertainty. It’s always been my goal for my kids rooms to have pictures of the people that love them, pictures of them as babies (so I can pretend they are still that little) and then I want them to be able to grow into their spaces (which just means there isn’t really a theme or age specific thing necessarily, just boy stuff.)

 

Owen’s room

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each room is currently sporting paper blinds! Owen utilizes his the most..can’t you tell?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I pinned book shelves like these a year ago on Pintrest and had all but given up on doing them. Somehow my trips to Lowe’s with the boys to look for gutters to cut just got the best of me. I went to a little flea market with my friend Bonnie a month ago and happened upon these curio shelves for $1 each, with the drill holes already in them. Saved our marriage! I love the shelves that Leigh’s dad built but I knew we couldn’t pull them off and Owen’s space is pretty limited on that wall. so when I found these 3 shelves that fit perfectly in his space I knew it was a flea market miracle!

 

 

 

 

 

Owen’s quilt makes me smile. My friend Nina sewed it for him and it matches Jackson’s cowboy fabrics (just in case they share a room in the future). Reminds me of Nina every time I hop on Owen’s bed to read with him! If we are lucky Nina will share her sewing room in Poland with us!! Crackers the puppy and Owen’s bunny from Annie O guard the bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this is a significant decoration in Owen’s room. This clock is mom’s best friend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

if Owen’s room looks too clean it’s because we have actually limited his room to just books and a few toys that are tucked away. His little early bird self was pulling out the toys at 5 AM or earlier so we just keep it clear.

Owen’s room is painted in Sanctuary (I think it’s a Behr color from home depot…maybe a Martha Stewart from home depot) but it is a little darker than I had planned but still nice.

Jackson’s room

Jackson’s room is probably the most fun….he has the most unnecessary decoration in the house which is a real saddle (a garage sale find that made my husband wonder if I had lost my mind).  I said I don’t go with themes but Jackson’s room is kind of a cowboy room. Every kid that steps into our home hops on to that saddle and loves it.  Jackson’s room was originally a study so it has lots of built in shelving! I have tried to make a shelf for each place he has lived and then mix in things he likes, his artwork, etc. He has a few shelves that I “let” him do. Most of them are still a work in progress. The red armoire is the one we found on the side of the road in Switzerland and finished with maps on the inside.  And that Saturday Post print could not be more like Jackson!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aunt Sue, can you see the calf on the shelf by his bed?! That is a mainstay, in every suitcase and on every trip!

Jackson’s room is painted Teatime by Behr at Home Depot, it too is a bit darker than I should have done for the room size but it is cozy. We call it peanut butter color!

I am definitely savoring the little boyness that is going on these days and I love that their rooms reflect that. I feel like the days are flying by right now and I just want to enjoy them while they are little. Just not savoring the potty-training. Ok, I complained to you. To my credit, his first pair of undies this morning lasted less than 5 mins. Less than 5 mins.

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As you all know by now and are probably SO tired of hearing about, we have bought a home and it needs a lot of love! So buckle up for lots of “before and after” pics and lots of troubleshooting on decorating as we move towards making it home. As Seth says I have probably had too many years to think of ideas for our one day home. Now I have to pare them down for our space and really think about how I want to use what we have to have it be a beautiful welcoming place!

I am in the process now of picking some paint colors for the house. A week from today we will meet with our contractor to finalize the kitchen details (a lot of prep work is underway!), pick all of the paint for Seth and his dad to get started on and we will meet with the guy who is currently refinishing our wood floors to pick the stain. It is going to be interesting to do this with jetlag BUT my sister in law has graciously offered to help us with the boys so while we might be groggy and make terrible choices on colors our children will be not be disowned in the process!

My goal will for sure be to spend as little as possible and to use as much as I can of what we already have. We have been diligently saving for this time but we want to make every penny go as far as it can!  There are sure to be lots of stories to share as we power wash, paint, scrub, demo, recontruct and decorate our way to a cozy place.  There will be good days and bad! You might just have to hear about both sides of the story.

This blog might just get a wee bit boring for you globe trotters out there that just don’t see a need for roots but I hope that as I share our journey of making some roots we will encourage you along the way! Because someday in the midst of the travel and transition you might find yourselves like us, looking for a nest to call home. Our time overseas is not likely done but this time in DC will certainly be a sort of hiatus and time to really process what we have learned thus far.

Back to the online paint chips (and packing for the final shipment tomorrow, baking a cake for Jackson’s class farewell, moving to temp housing and packing 8 suitcases)!! Wish me luck!

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