Here & There & Everywhere

Hello all. We are in fact alive and well. LOTS of changes over here. First, since the last time I wrote we managed to FINALLY pack up all our crap and move.

After about a week after we moved to Florida we moved into our extended stay hotel. A week after that I realized I was not going to be able to handle living in a hotel very well and I immediately looked up plane tickets. Found some great prices for all of us and ALL with our points, which was great because we weren't exactly flush with cash at the moment. A week after I bought tickets we flew home to Idaho. The kids and I went about 3 days early and then David got to come and stay for a week, which was great. 

Davie sleeping at Red Robin after a busy day of "helping" us move. This NEVER EVER happens (like EVER).

Then 2 weeks later while the kids and I were still in Idaho we were given the end of the month as the closing date for our house! We all cheered and got excited until I realized that my math no longer added up to me going back to be in our hotel for 2 weeks. The closing date they set was a week later than I had planned on which meant we were going to have to live in our hotel for another 3 weeks! Maybe I'm just a BIG enormous boob,

bedtime.... almost every night in a hotel-- but I immediately freaked out. Macy is a crazy climber, afraid of nothing, and basically listens to no one. The most I felt I could handle her in a single room was 2 weeks. 

 Fashion.

 Hotel time. A little too close for comfort.

 Progress

 Her hair is getting long!

 Spending wayyyy too much time at McDonald's. Two words Cheap and Indoor A/C people

Darn she is so cute.

Driving around a LOT trying to find things, lots of U turns and back tracking.

Chilling on Nana's back porch and enjoying a cold beverage

 Idahome

 Idaho is the gun state :)

So the day before we were scheduled to return to Florida I looked up tickets on Southwest's website. Small and definitely NOT reimbursed moment to praise them, we love southwest. Ticket changes with them are a breeze, 2 bags included with every ticket AND the nicest staff ever.

Happy 4th!
Anyways I switched our flight to leave exactly one week later than we had initially planned for the same price and no fees. The extra time with our families was so nice for the kids and I. I was sad that David only got a week, but it was the first time he had been back to Idaho since Christmas 2013. It was also a bit of a good bye for my brother who is preparing to go on a mission.

 Mustache milk cousins

Now about our trip home, I have never had a snarky Southwest attendant or other employee. AND this is the perfect place to mention that They earned just that much more of my devotion after this last flight.

Davie was a gem the whole day and literally like an hour (or less) before we landed he peed his pants! Uh! I was so embarrassed and frustrated and it was like 1 in the morning. Not only did the flight attendants offer to help and then help, but another random flight helper person (pretty sure that is his exact title) offered to carry my groggy wet little boy.... then he actually did it! ALLLL the way to David who was waiting at our car, no where near the gate we landed at. It took a airport train/tram and a LONG walk to get to the baggage claim. I was so happy, embarrassed and unsure how to thank him that I still feel like I should have done something more, besides thank him profusely, to show my gratitude. 

Davie's haircut before and afters.

A new refrigerator

Isn't moving fun???

We came back lived the last two weeks in our hotel and have now lived in our house for almost a month now... which seems really crazy. We have been to our ward several times and it is GREAT! Thus far we really love the people and the fact that the ward has a full primary and Young Men AND Young Women.

It's a big change from both of the wards we have been in since we were married. It has been CRAZY, its been busy, its great. 

A Little Physical Introspection and Perspective

I've been debating on posting this blog for over a month now because it's personal. However I have had a couple of other friends share similar type posts recently so I decided that I've waited long enough.

My hair this February.
This is how I started last year 2014.

Around May of last year when I graduated and this last summer I started feeling like I really needed a change. Which was fine because we were moving and I had been so happy about moving I really did not expect to feel so restless once we did. I can't quite explain it but I'm sure everyone gets feeling this way every now and then. And funny enough that restlessness ultimately and primarily manifested itself through my changing hair. One of the reasons why I've been debating whether I should share this post forever is because I already touched on the subject a little in July. My blog has been sparse the last little while so the last thing I wanted to do is bore all of you with my sad repetition.

This picture is a perfect example of what I want to talk about. It was taken of me and I really didn't like how I looked. I hadn't had time to put on makeup and I truly felt... not good looking. All I did was blow dry my hair and put on clothes, that little gal next to me had me tired and I felt like that exhaustion was written all over my face. And looking back I'm thinking, "oh well that's no so bad I guess". Hind sight really is 20/20. Over the last 6- 12 months I have really been struggling with my looks. I am in no way trying to be silly or beg for compliments. I am being honest. I would look in the mirror daily and not like what I saw.  I was not happy. I have been struggling with my face, my skin, my hair, my weight, my thoughts, my abilities and all my short comings. Since I've had Macy I have not yet managed to drop the last 10 pounds. It may not sound like much but to me on my body it makes a world of difference in my overall size and how I feel, especially in my jeans. I've never thought of myself as some drop dead gorgeous girl, but I haven't felt as plain or homely as I have this last year since I was in junior high.  

The ponytail on the top of my head is my version of "giving up" on my hair. My long hair spent a LOT of time on the top of my head this last year (disclaimer there is nothing innately wrong with ponytails). This post is going to wander a little but it's kind of complicated to express how I have been feeling. In general I would say I would tend to feel anxious or frustrated beyond what was normal for me, not really depressed. I really despise it when I get this way.  

A rare good hair day from this summer. Man! I did not realize how long it was.

 This picture is a joke. My mom asked me why I was never in any of the pictures I was sending her. So I sent her something she could cherish- forever. Notice the bun, I gave up that day too. There really are a lot of pictures of my like this from this last year.

 Another picture with my hair COMPLETELY out of my face. What is funny about this bun or ponytail that I deemed "ugly" is that looking back, even though I still don't love it, I really don't feel like I looked that bad. At the time I felt horrible.

 Can anybody blame a gal for giving up on her hair??

Right before I permed my hair.

We visited family in November and December and while we were there I got a perm. I like perms I don't care what people say. 

See perms aren't so bad, and if you look at these pics and you still disagree it's because these pictures were literally taken right after I got my perm so I hadn't had a chance to style it the way I liked it yet.

Sadly though because of my blonde highlights I had to have a more gentle perm. That meant that the darker parts of my hair flattened out pretty quickly because the perm wasn't strong enough. And I slowly started cutting my hair. 

Styled by yours truly. Pretty right? I love curls.

See perms aren't so bad.

Which leads me to my next topic. The pixie. Really all the perm was, was a way to keep me from buzzing my head. You heard me. BUZZING my HEAD. I was so tired of my hair, it just didn't do what I wanted it to do. Also I was still shedding post Macy pregnancy. Above I used the word restless to describe how I felt but another good word was itchy. Mostly figuratively but also a little literally (it was my hair that was bugging me after all). 

What people with curly hair, or those who hate perms, don't realize is perms give your hair volume when you straighten it and helps hold curls in your hair if you want it curly.

Some of my problem right now is I don't have the money to get my hair done as often as I'd like and I have gotten to the point where I really don't want to do it myself anymore. In fact until I colored it in March my hair had gone uncolored for 10 months.... thats the longest it's gone uncolored in at least a decade. I have noticed that I really don't like how I look without my blonde hair and this last particular couple of months is a great example of that. So After getting a perm and it fading so quickly (sad face) I cut it. Then I cut it again, and again, and AGAIN.

First cut, notice how it's barely longer than my shoulders. It used to be like 4+ inches past.
 It was so funny because everyone was like "oh you don't really want to cut your hair do you?!" And technically I didn't BUT I wasn't loving it long at the moment either so I figured things could only get better if it was shorter since I would have less hair to deal with each time I cut it. 

Davie's birthday, this is my hair almost all natural. Hadn't been dyed in 9+ months!

Horrible (terrible, awful etc) picture but this was the second cut. Just look at the curls though, they had gotten really lose. To be honest though I'm still not in love with my hair. The cut still isn't quite what I want but I have felt more like myself and it's the shortest my hair has been since about.... the summer of 1994?? So basically 21 years. WOW-zah! Anyways thank you all so much for being so sweet and kind on Facebook after I posted my new picture with my short hair, it really bolstered my spirits. AND last, but not least, my solution for my frustrations has been to TRY to eat a little better (I have my favorite naughty treats that I will admit to keeping around the house too often recently), actually using our treadmill, and I finally scheduled an appointment with an LDS counselor. First appointment in 5 years. I've gone twice now and it really is weird how much being able to vent a little to a completely unrelated party helps. I've been feeling better.

Now maybe I can get over myself a little ;) because if nothing else I'm pretty sure these two don't care <3 

The House!

Thats the lot when we came to tour the area and talk numbers, on the second day of our house hunting adventure trip. 

We are building a house!!!?!

This is the outside. This is NOT our house, it is someone else's. Ours will be a flip of this and all the other pictures on this post. This is mainly a picture post, because there isn't too much to say.

We both loved the extra tall front door, David especially.

Downstairs

This is our floor plan, like I said the one I am posting pictures of is a flip.

Upstairs 

What you see when you walk in

Thats the front door and the den/formal living room to the right.

Next on the right is the laundry room! Its huge and I love it.

Then the kitchen. 

Kitchen/living room area

Living room.

This is what the builder calls their drop zone and its literally right in front of the garage door, to the left of the front door. This area right here has me ALMOST as happy as our kitchen that actually has counter space. When I think of all the clutter in our house here or in Toledo an area like this basically takes all the clutter away.

And if you continue down the hall there is a bathroom and our guest bedroom. 

Did you hear that my friends?!? We have a legitimate guest bedroom, come visit us! I am 100% serious.

Then this is going upstairs

Another family area, kids toys? We aren't sure, especially since we are planning on limiting the amount of TV's in our house. 

Those are the stairs.

An actual linen closet! I'm in love :)

And just in case you were wondering that little box is a laundry shoot! After climbing two flights of stairs this last year to do our laundry this makes me SOO happy.

Macy's room, and any future sisters.

Davie's room and any brothers.

Kid's bathroom

Our bedroom

Lack luster I know.

Two sinks! There is a heaven :)

Lots of closet space! I am almost more excited about this than I am about the bigger non-shared bathroom situation. I prefer to hang or fold my clothes on shelves it looks nicer (think about creating a good looking pinterest board, something I have never done, but I believe I would do). I like to be able to see what I have and dressers hide that.

Our 5 hour paper work day, also day #2 of our trip. I'd love to say that there is a long story, but there really isn't. We had been searching Zillow and Trulia for MONTHS (almost this whole last year). I had thought about building since Florida is known for water issues and hot weather. So a nice new home seemed extra appealing. Luckily we found a great builder and they had incentives that made buying this home cheaper than one that was at least 400 square feet smaller and older. Pricing in Florida is really similar to Idaho honestly. The biggest difference is that in Florida there are no basements, which is why we opted for more space. We really wanted a house that we could grow into, just in case we decide to settle in Florida for a while... or longer :)

If you stand in our driveway you see this. That is the community pool! It is right across the street. Come on now you are totally buying plane tickets to visit us now ;) Just give me a weeks notice!

Outside colors, David picked the red door.

Two days later we went to the design center and picked out all the colors and options for our place. David and I had a budget in mind, which was quite conservative, and in the end we were basically right on so we added about 2k more since it was the only other things we had wanted. 

Cabinets, countertops, carpet and tile

This was the day David stressed out on. He struggles spending money and since our net worth is SUPER red I don't blame him. It was funny to watch him sweat while I thoroughly enjoyed myself. We had been watching a bunch of HGTV shows so we had thought through what was most important to us quite a bit before this appointment and we are VERY happy with the upgrades we chose. Did I mention our builder put $5,000 towards upgrades? It's not uncommon, but like I said earlier the incentives on a new house were perfect for us!

Paint color inside

I think the only thing I would have liked (a LOT) but didn't get was white cabinets. I LOVE white cabinets, and I have for a LONG time. In retrospect David was saying we probably should have upgraded to them, but that is the only thing we felt like we would have liked (me more than David) that we didn't get. We are very happy with the cost and our ability to stay in budget, but also to splurge a little. We haven't closed yet but when we do it will be the most money we have EVER spent. I think the biggest item up to this point was our washer and dryer.

The next day we decided to visit "our house" just for fun and they had put up a sign!

SOLD! :) That little sign made us so happy. It was great.