Accomplishments

I got a text message this morning from my Realtor.  She talked to the title company and will know something by this afternoon.  Today will be long.

I've been driving by the new house every time I run into town just to see those sweet words on the sign.  "Contract Pending".  It's almost as exciting as seeing the word "Sold".  Well, that is until the new wears off and you are in a commitment for what seems like a lifetime.  I'll savor the moment for now though because the sign was finally changed yesterday.  Why am I more excited about this sale than any of the other homes we've bought in the past?  Maybe because I know this is MY thing.  The house will be in my name only.  Just like my car.  Why do we women need that little sense of accomplishment?  I know who I am.  I know I'm worthy.  Still it's a sweet, sweet feeling that hopefully won't kick me in the tail later down the road.

So before all these posts I've made recently, my last one was while I was working on Emily's new bedroom.  I am finished with it for the most part.  I still need to get the headboard I want her to have along with the bedding.  Other than that, I have to finish painting her furniture.  It was in storage and our storage building stinks like crazy.  It has a very strange creosote smell.  It seeped into the furniture and I refuse to paint it until it's aired out.  I just have to get it outside in some fresh air and sunshine and hopefully that will get rid of the awful smell.  Once that's done, it will only be a day or two for it to be finished.  I'll probably wait until after Christmas to do all that.

Our bedroom and bath hasn't been touched in a few months.  I still have unfinished drywall in the kitchen.  Every time I look at it I cringe.  Floating drywall is somewhat therapeutic for me but I just can't make myself do it.  

I need a robot.

Another Adventure

I have a lot of catching up to do, which means a lot of posts in one day for me to write and for you to read.  I'll pretend you don't have last minute Christmas shopping to do or parties to go to.  


Last night I stumbled upon an idea.  I was researching some extras for some Christmas gifts I had bought for the adults in our families when this idea hit me like a ton of bricks.  I did some research and found the start up cost for this adventure is somewhat minimal.  It's affordable, no doubt.  Will it thrive in my little town?  Oh yes, I do believe it will.  There is no competition whatsoever here and they are wonderful products, not to mention our little town needs something like this.  I dare not say what it is yet, for I don't want competition before I even start.  Let's just say kids and adults alike will love it.

I'm allowing myself one year to have this little business up and running.  It's not a big thing at all, but it's something that really looks like a lot of fun that will bring in a little extra cash.

More on this later...

Also, I'm in the process of writing a book.  It's something I've always wanted to do and whether or not it will get published years down the road doesn't matter to me.  My kids enjoy my stories, so I wanted to write them all down for something they could enjoy.  If it's something worthy enough to get published, so be it.  If not, nothing lost.

Ok, maybe another 10 minutes will go by before I write another post. ;)

More on Mae's

As I wrote the previous post on Mae's, I got excited all over again about it, so I'm writing some more.  I know everyone around here is sick of hearing about it, so I figured I'd find a new audience.  You're welcome.

As you can tell, this house has been updated for the most part.  The siding on the outside really makes it adorable and the addition to the back was the feature that really sold me.  It's a 2 bedroom (TINY bedrooms) 2 bath home.  It has a very small kitchen and dining area.  Everything is just what I wanted, honestly.

Again, these are screen shots from the website, so they are blurry.  Also, since I haven't signed the papers yet, the messes are their's not mine.  (Just making sure you know)

Laundry Room (both sides):

The kitchen:

Back corner of house:

Back of house:

Side:

Dining area:

I'm almost hesitant about putting all this information out there.  I'm so afraid this investment is going to fall through.  Faith.  Faith.  Faith.

It will take a while to get everything started, so there are some things I'm going to use the house for before it actually becomes our little shop.  I've packed up my craft room and am now working on all our homeschooling supplies to take over there first.  Those two categories alone could probably fill this entire house.  Kidding, of course.  Maybe.

I'll be spending the majority of my time during the day at this house.  I'm trying to keep myself from doing any kind of renovations at all until our home is done.  Keeping myself calm will be hard.  It doesn't need anything but paint, really, but the carpet is hiding original hardwood floors.  That is a big NO NO!!  I will abstain.  I promise.

With that being said, here are some ideas that I do want to put into action as soon as I can...

For the kitchen...

I'd like to do something like this:

and for the dining area...

something like this (smaller scale of course):

Since I've looked at this house (Mae's), I have really noticed so much wasted space in my own home.  I mean, really.  The rooms here are so large that it's truly ridiculous.  It'd be ok if it was mostly storage, but as you all know, I have none here.  Still.  I feel like cutting my kitchen and dining room in half just to have an extra room of some sorts.  Mae's is making me very jealous.  I'm just that sucker for old frame homes, I tell ya!  

Can I close already???!!!

Mae's

There have been a lot of changes going on in my life and I didn't want to blog about them until I knew for sure some of those things were actually going to come to pass.  Still, nothing is set in stone just yet and I won't be completely sure until next week sometime.  Seven to ten days from the 9th of December to be as exact as I can be.  Although I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, I guess I'll go ahead and fill you in.

About 4 1/2 years ago, Morgan and I decided we wanted to open a children's boutique.  We have had ideas flowing out of our minds so fast we couldn't focus on how to even get started.  That's how it was/has been for me anyway.  We even had a name right off the bat for it.  Mae's.  (Named after the 3 loves of my life, my daughters, Morgan, Allison and Emily, of course)  Over the years of researching and fighting the urge to go full force before being prepared, we have almost completely discarded the entire boutique idea and replaced it with a little bit of everything else.

I've tried putting it out of my head as much as possible due to lack of a place to have the shop.  I figured eventually the perfect location would present itself when the time was right.  I wanted an older home as the store, as a lot of the merchandise will be home decor...mostly handmade.  I want to be able to stage the merchandise as would be seen in a home to give some decor handicap people an idea of what a certain item would look like in a home.

Well, I'm assuming my time has come because I found the perfect house in a perfect location here in town.

My mind has been totally consumed with this house since I saw it.  It's so adorable and since I'm a sucker for older homes, I wouldn't even mind living in it.  If it were big enough.

It's not. :(

I close next week.  This has been the Longest.  Week.  Ever.

Want to see some pictures?

I thought so.

(the blurry ones are online screen shots, so be forgiving, please)

Can't wait to show the rest once it's mine, all mine. :)

When Christmas is over and the new year rolls around, I'll have more time to get over there and take more pictures and tell you what our services will be and walk you through it all.

It's going to be so much fun!

Yes, I still have this house I'm living in to finish too.