Hello everyone!  I did not intend to take a week and a half off from blogging!  However, I didn't count on how exhausted I would be and how my toddler is still adjusting to the new house, her new room, and the bathtub has been a source of temper tantrums lately.  Let's just say that I haven't been able to think about blogging, let alone sit down and do it.  For that, I apologize.  I hope to get back to posting nearly every day starting this week.

I have a lot to tell you guys about our move, our house, and some of the things we have been already doing to our new home.  Expect this blog to start detailing DIY projects, painting, etc. on top of everything else I talk about.  I am excited to get started on some of the things we have planned for our home!

This week, I also get to finish working on L's birthday party stuff so, I hope to have a few posts on that subject as well in the coming weeks.

How would you all like a couple of pictures from the last week or so?

That's what I thought. :)



And there you have it!  Stay tuned for my recap of the weekend we moved and how it all went down-complete with surprises!

Well, it's Thursday, and that means we close tomorrow on the house and we begin moving tomorrow afternoon and all weekend. 

So, you aren't going to hear from me for a little bit.  I have a couple of small things planned for the blog next week, so look forward to those!  After next week, I should be back to posting regularly.

However!  I don't want you guys to miss out on all the packing and moving fun, so be sure you follow me on Instagram (username: selindine) and the hash tag #thebigmove to see sneak peaks of the new house, how we manage to cram all of our junk into a UHAUL, and I usually end up having a freak out moment when we move, so I'm sure that will be documented too! HA!

Thank you to those of you who have offered words of encouragement and support during this time.  I am excited that it is here, but I am ready for it to all be over.

Have a great weekend and I will see you all on Instagram!

I have a daunting task ahead of me this week.  This week, I will be packing up our home that we have lived in for the past year and preparing to move to our first home.  I am happy, I am sad, I am overwhelmed, and I am nostalgic.

L learned to walk here.  She started talking here.   She grew out of her highchair and into a booster seat here.  This was our first house.  Our landlord was lovely.  Unfortunately, she passed away in December of last year and the new landlord has recently taken over.  It just isn't the same.  We are quickly outgrowing this house.  So, it is time to go on to bigger and better things.

I was thinking about all of this this morning while I was browsing Instagram, and a woman I follow posted the above quote as a caption on one of her photo's.  (Sidenote:  Her family is doing something so amazing!  Her, her husband, and their four kiddos are traveling the country for the next six months with a trailer in tow.  They sold most of their belongings and set out on Monday on their grand adventure.  If that isn't living life, I don't know what is!  Check out Joy and keep track of their amazing adventure here.  So inspiring!)

We are finding ourselves at the beginning of a new adventure and, while it certainly has been a roller coaster and scary, we need to give hope a chance to float up.  So, here I go off to pack up a few boxes, all the while giving hope a chance to float up!

Source

One of the greatest things about being a blogger is that you get to come up with your own content.  While I do try to draw readers (new and old) in with my posts, there comes a time when a blogger needs to "break it down".  Sometimes a blogger needs to just sit down at the computer, open a vein* (please see footnote at the end of post for my definition of this phrase), and let the words flow.

Lord, I need to open a vein.

Dear readers, welcome to my therapy.

And here we go...

There is a big thing going on here behind the veil.  I haven't said anything about it because I just wanted to keep it hush-hush.  I thought I could sit on it and then come out with it like a week or so before this big thing would take place.

I was wrong.  This has become a source of stress and anxiety for me and I just need to come out with it.  If I don't get my head right about it, my husband is going to shoot me.


Our first home.  We are finally doing it.  After ten years of renting and moving at least once a year, I am so ready to be in a permanent home.  I am ready to let my creativity flow and create a home.  I am ready to just get this over with.

However, that has proved easier said than done.

If you have ever bought a home, you know there are hoops.  These hoops are making me crazy!  Do this, do that, you need copies of this...oh wait, there's a snag, do this and then that snag will be fixed...oh wait, here's another problem.....
 AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

June 14.  I just want to get to June 14 and get the keys and be DONE with this whole process.  This. is. nerve-wracking!

But this is really exciting, too!  I am so happy for this to be happening, but all this other stuff is making it hard to enjoy this part of our journey.

I think I am terrified that this is all going to fall through and we are going to have to start all over and we are running out of time at the house we are living in now.....and that's the stream of thoughts my brain goes through every.day.

It is overwhelming to say the least.

Then, take that big thing and lump it on top of all the other little things that bug me on a daily basis and you have a big 'ole steaming pile of stress and anxiety that make me just want to sit and vegetate until it is all over!

But, I can't do that because, well, I am a mom and a wife, so there is that.  E and L are what keep my head in the game.

So, here I am, writing all of this out so that I am able to correctly and thoroughly verbalize my feelings because I don't know what I think or feel until I do that.  Things that are bigger than me are the hardest things for me to deal with.  If it is out of my control, I am a terrified, stressed, anxiety-riddled mess.

This is why writing is my therapy.

This is why I was given this gift; to not only help other's through my words, but to help myself.  The universe knew I wouldn't be able to verbalize correctly so they gave me this gift.

Thank you, universe.

Now, could you please just shift a little, align the stars, and get this house buying business over with?  My sanity would appreciate it.  Thanks!

And thank you, dear readers, for letting me vent today.

In the famous words of Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, "And that's all I have to say about that."

Until next time,
Sara

*open a vein-this is a phrase often used by writer's. There are several versions of the following quote, but they all mean the same thing: "Writing is easy.  You just sit down at a typewriter, open a vein, and bleed." (Red Smith) Simply put, it means opening yourself up and letting it all go on to a page.