Trying to do it all at Once

So I obviously haven't been blogging much lately because of moving.  And it's funny, I really didn't think that moving was going to be such an ordeal!  I thought that since we were downsizing it would be so much easier, but in all honesty I really think it's a lot harder.  When we unloaded our boxes it was shameful how much 'stuff' we had accumulated.  I felt like I was in an episode of 'Hoarders: Buried Alive.'  I just felt like the boxes were creeping closer and closer to me.

But I was strong, I could get through this...if I had a baby who just didn't like to sleep then I could get through this.

I was quick to make a mental chart on tackling boxes by room.  I started with the kitchen, because we needed to be able to eat and drink.  And I knew it would be the most challenging.  I have to say I hated unpacking the kitchen. And if I could I would get rid of all the tupperware (plasticwear) because there was not good way to store it.

Here's a look at the kitchen before and after:

Before

After

We did a lot of work on the kitchen, we managed to paint all the cabinets, add the subway backsplash, and new counter tops.  Here's a photo of what it came out like.

Next, was the master bedroom, because I knew I would need a place of peace and quiet when the boxes would overwhelm me.  I managed to cut through most of the master bedroom when I realized that John and I had way too many clothes.  Clothes that we looked at both and shook our heads.  It really was quite sad. So we started to place clothes we would not wear into boxes and said we would have a garage sale.  Which we did.

After the master bedroom was Caleb's nursery.  I have felt so bad for so long that this poor child hasn't had a place of his own.  Poor Caleb has just been schlepped from room to room.  Now you're probably thinking, why wouldn't I feel bad for my older boy, Soren?  Well Soren from day one has had 3 separate rooms, one at Grammy's house, one at Grandma's house and our home.  So when we stayed with my mother-in-law Soren felt at home, when we stayed with my parents he felt at home.  In fact, Soren was wondering why we needed to move into a new house.  But Caleb, he was just taken from pack and play to another.  So getting Caleb situated was very therapeutic for both of us.  He now only wakes once a night and actually takes a 2.5 hour morning nap!!  (We've made major progress).

After Caleb's room was Soren's, he decided he wanted a robot science room.  Who am I to deny his theme :)  So I managed to clear out boxes of toys and place them in bins until we found the right toy storage for his room.  But I was able to find some really cool Science wallpaper from York, and some vintage robot posters to hang.  Ikea happened to have the best storage for toys at a reasonable price.  Hopefully he can manage to keep the toys put away.

Then downstairs...

Before

After

I will post some more photos soon....so check back in a week or so and I should have them up. :)

The House Before

So I had said that I would begin to show some photos of our home as we transform it.  But before I do that I thought I would put some of the original real estate photos of what the house looked like before.  It was nice, but I am the type of person who needs to make a home mine.  It needs the Tanya touch :)  So its a great house and I'm really excited to move in.

So remember these are all the 'Before' photos

The Master Bedroom

The boys room

The Family/Dining Room

The Kitchen

Family Room

So hopefully, in a week or so I will post photos of the progress :)  We decided to paint, put new floors in, and update the kitchen.  

It's a really cute house and I am so excited for the boys because our neighborhood is filled with kids their age.

Getting Ready

I am starting to get extremely excited about moving into our new home.  We get our keys tomorrow and we go right into taking carpets out, painting and installing our new flooring.  It's all kind of excitement for me.  I just love getting my creative juices flowing to design, diy, and decor my heart out.

I am so thankful to my husband for going with some of my crazy ideas and being the handy man he is creating shelving, moulding, plumbing, etc.

But this is also a time to remember that God is the one who provided this home for us.  We believe he led us to this home to downsize and remember what's really important in our lives.

I also look forward to finding a new home Church.  One where we can use our gifts to help the Lord.

In case anyone is interested here are some of ideas for the new home...a lot of it just diy work...
Here's the wallpaper I'm using for an accent wall in our living room.

I would like to find a rug like this on the cheap...still looking

This will be our new couch from IKEA






So as you can see I'm going for a gray toned living room.  I will be adding chartreuse accents throughout.  I already have a large coffee table that is also a storage chest that I will be sanding and refinishing.  Check back soon to see what it looks like.  I also have an existing dining room set that I will be re-purposing as well as side tables.  Really excited to reuse what I already have in a new way, whether it's re-staining, or relocating.

I will try and post photos as I go along to show you before and after looks.

From Dream Home to Practical Home

Back in 2008, John and I found the perfect family home.  In a suburb of Los Angeles, Glendale, we found a perfect 3 bedroom home built in 1929.  Character everywhere.  For the Interior Designer it was a dream come true.  For a contractor it was a dream come true.  For John and I it marked all of the qualities we wanted in a home.

Albeit the home was not move in ready.  Far from it.  This home needed a new kitchen and master bathroom.  With that said we would have to move the stairs in order to achieve the new kitchen.  Day and night John worked long hours at work to come home and work long hours on the house.  I was 5 months pregnant and staring at an entryway with plywood floors, no stairs, and a giant structural beam in the kitchen.  Trust me, there were days where I thought we bit off more than we could chew.  The funny thing is that it wasn’t the construction that caused us to bite off too much of, it was the cost of the home itself.

When we purchased the home I was working full time for a Southern California General Contractor, making a very good income.  My husband was on the up and up at his General Contracting company.  Together we were making a very comfortable income.  

Then our first son, Soren was born, our gift from God.  Soren was born only 3 weeks early but suffered from Pulmonary Hypertension and Respiratory Distress.  In other words, he couldn't breath.  His lungs were underdeveloped and was rushed off to NICU.  On day 2 the staff told us that if we believe in God to pray because our child was the sickest baby in the NICU.  Well pray we did, our Pastor drove from Oceanside to Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles.  There we all prayed for Soren to recover.  That night John and I sat in our hotel room by the hospital and prayed, and prayed we asked that if it was God’s will to take our child then to take him peacefully and to give us the strength to cope with the loss.  But it would be our deepest prayer for you God to save him and bring him to recovery.  Well that next morning the neonatologist came to us and said. ‘I’m not sure what happened last night but Soren has made a turn for the better.’  We knew right then there that God was there and answered our prayer.  It was approximately 2.5 weeks later that the neonatologist asked us if we were ready to take Soren home.  Really?  On Christmas Eve?  And that we did.  Soren came home on Christmas Eve 2008.

The reason I brought this story up related to our family home was that, we had no idea how much Soren’s medical bills would cost us.  Just one bill alone (his visit in NICU) came to $697,000.  Now granted we had insurance, but it didn’t cover the entire sum.  That next year, Soren was in and out of the hospital at least two dozen times.  Twice staying for over a week.  In 2009 we owed somewhere between $60,000-80,000.  As a couple we had not planned on these expenses.  And with the home expenses we just ate our savings.

So in 2010 we completed our remodel and realized that with me not working, we would have to scrounge to live in our home.  We became…house poor…

We loved our home very much, but you know, both John and I believe that we treated our home as an idol.  We cared more about our home than the Lord.

So in August of 2012, when our last dollar was gone from or savings, we decided to sell the house.  And you know what’s funny?  We prayed that night.  We prayed that if it was God’s will for our home to be sold that it be sold quickly.  And what happened on the Friday the listing went on the MLS?  A celebrity bought our home cash on that Monday and asked if we could be out in 8 days.  Don’t ask God a question if you are not prepared for the answer.  And the other comical aspect…our house sold for $1 less than what we paid for it.  Both John and I felt that that was God confirming that we treated the home like an idol.

Many thirty somethings don’t get their dream home.  We did, and we lost it.  But that’s okay, we had a taste of it, and the taste was nice but in the end it was not worth all the effort.  So today, we are downsizing.  We are making life simpler.  We are focusing on our children, not about the stuff.  We want our kids to know that mom and dad love them more than the stuff.

As a high school friend of mine said on her blog:"the memories we want our kids to have, we create.  We don't let it slip by. We make the memories we want them to grow old with. http://leslieautumn.blogspot.com/

So we are getting ready to embark on our new home in Aliso Viejo.  A much more modest home, but a home that we can add memories to and a place for our children to grow with other kids.  It is a beautiful home and we are so excited for this new chapter!

Joshua 24:15 “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”