meds. water. coffee. repeat.

i've heard that if you are going to be a successful blogger you need to post at least once a week -- and so i've made it my very own personal goal to do so.  it has, however, been over a week since my last post.  (oops!)

life is a bit crazy here, as you can imagine, i've been busy packing, sorting and organizing (t-minus 11 days til the big move - yikes!). jonathan is finishing up his current semester with grad school, and wrapping things up at the high school where he teaches.  then, to throw a wrench in the craziness, i've been a bit under the weather.  i'm still not exactly sure what this little bout with sickness is - a "bug" i've been told (a little vague, eh?) - but i do know that i'm over it.  so, today, i'm home, still in my pj's, curled up on the couch, with my ice coffee and my looooong list of blogs to catch up on.  if only i didn't feel like pooh, this might just be a perfect morning.

so,  soon i'm sure perhaps i'll have more interesting things to report on, but for now, if you need me, i'll be on my couch - downing meds, bottled water, and coffee.  (coffee makes everything better.)

home sweet {soon-to-be} home

over the last two weeks we've made four trips to cincinnati in search for our new home, and with cincy being almost an hour and a half away, and gas being 4 buckaroos a pop i am elated to announce that we found our new home!!

isn't she lovely?!?::

because we're not sure what the future holds, how long we'll be in cincinnati, or where we'll end up for the long term, we are still just renting for the time being. the market being what it is, there are no promises we'd be able to turn around and sell a house in a couple years, and right now that is not a risk we're willing to take.  we did, however, sign a two year lease, so that cute little house will be our home sweet home for the next couple of years.

the deets:: it's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a partially finished basement.  there is a HUGE deck on the back that will be perfect for entertaining.  the kitchen is also pretty cute - which i'm pretty happy about. :)

after living in our tee-tiny one bedroom apartment for the past year, jonathan and i were both hoping and praying for a house, and we are so thankful that we found one!  everything really just worked out perfectly for us to call this home, and now i just can't wait to get all moved in and start decorating! 

big news!!

drum roll please.....

we're moving to cincinnati!!!  

jonathan just accepted a job at holmes high school, which actually sits just across the ohio river on the kentucky side.  it's considered a suburb of cincinnati and literally just a 5 minute drive across the bridge. 

for those of you that know me, know that i am a city girl at heart!  i love concrete.  seriously.  big buildings, highways - all of it!  i just love feeling the energy of a big city and being in the midst of so much life.  so, needless to say i'm pretty excited about being so close to cincy.  we've spent a little bit of time there over the last year and i have loved it from our first weekend spent there. little did i know, or even think, we'd end up moving there!

the move itself i am pretty stinkin' excited about. there are, however precisely 2 reasons my heart sinks a little more every time i think about leaving lexington:: 

i am definitely excited about what's to come, about starting a new chapter and seeing what God has in store for us in cincinnati, i'm just not so excited about leaving these two precious boys that i have come to love over the last year.  it's a mix of feelings, and bittersweet at best.  excited to go, sad to leave - but isn't that how it always is?

i am, however, so so proud of my husband.  he is such a great coach, teacher, and an amazing man.  he is going to be such a great asset to holmes and i know they are going to just love him there. 

i'm sure i'll have lots to post over the next few weeks.  adventures in apartment/house hunting, packing, and all the fun craziness that comes along with moving.  keep your fingers crossed we find  a place soon...

did i mention we move in THREE WEEKS?!?!

 

happy day, mama!

i found this tory burch blog series about mom's in celebration of mother's day and it inspired me.  so, mama, this one is for you!

best advice my mother gave me...
1. pray.
2. trust God, He know's what He's doing.
3. don't worry, it doesn't change anything.
4. God will provide.
5.  use caps. everyone who reads your blog is going to think you don't know how to use propper grammer. ;)


favorite childhood memory...
laying in bed with her listening to her read the little house on the prarie series.  and pilgrim's progress. and any and every book she read to me/us. 

favorite thing to do with mom...
spend the day at an art museum.  play rummy.  play backgammon. play any game. yard saling.  enjoy a bagel and a cup of coffee on a saturday morning. (bagels + coffee + mama = three of my favorite things)  laugh.  when my mom gets tickled she is a hoot! i'm talking tears rolling down her face, cheeks turning red hysterics.  (i'm thinking of a particular instance, mom:: cracker barrel....bananas....).

i love you mama,  i hope you have a GREAT mother's day - you deserve it.  i'll be missing you all day.

joining the band wagon...

so everywhere i turn in the home-decor-blogging world i find two trends: 1) sunburst mirrors and 2) chevron pattern.  and i'm equally drawn to both.  just look.  you'll fall in love with them too.

Isabella & Max

Nesting Place (you'll never believe what this one is made out of!)

Our Humble A{bowe}d (another creative way to make a sunburst mirror!)

Just Pleased as Punch

love them all!  now i just need to decide which one(s) i'm going to make.  feel free to weigh in. :)

next comes chevron and i LOVE chevron right now!  rugs, wall art, pillows, bedding. everything. anything. chevron. yum. 

House of Smith's (diy chevron rug)

name 5 things (chevron inspiration board - diy, of course.)

 

 

appetitehome

 

 

Urban Outfitters

oh, chevron.  you make me drool swoon.  apparently i also love everything and anything diy.  who knew! ;)

free love birds

i am sooooo excited to share a tee-tiny project I did this weekend.  remember in this post i shared with you my new found obsession with with trying to find an animal or two worthy of a makeover?  well.  alas!  my yard saling (sailing?) yesterday morning paid off! 

i spotted these cute little love birds at a yard sale and just had to get them! 

the best part? they were free.  well, they didn't start off free. i asked how much and the lady in charge said they were two buckaroos and went on to tell me that they were real brass, and worth so much more. they were beloved by her for years and years - which only left me begging the question why she was selling them.  i, having been trained well by my mother, and almost never paying "full price" for anything offered her $1.  she agreed.  which only confirmed my suspicion that she was just trying to make a buck (no pun intended) and those birds probably did not hold that much value to her.  i handed her a $20 and she told me she didn't have any change. "so, i guess they are free!" she said.  score.  (suspicions doubly confirmed.)

so home they came.  i was just so excited i painted them almost as soon as i got home.  just look at how cute they turned out::

adorable, right?  it's amazing what a fresh coat of white paint can do!  now to find a home for these love birds...

tornado fun

first of all let me just say that one, there was no actual tornado, and two, had there been one it certainly would not have been fun.  we were, however, under a tornado warning for about an hour and a half this morning and since i am such a good scared  overcautious nanny, trevor, lotso the bear and i took cover in the bathroom.

trevor just thought it was the funniest thing in the world that we were playing in the bathroom.  he just kept asking "miss bethany, why are we playing in the bathroom?" and then giggling, which made it fun for all parties involved.     

after about half an hour the fun started to fade away, so there were no complaints when the warning turned into a watch and we finaly emerged from the bathroom. 

you can only play so many games of connect 4 and sing so many songs before boredom sets in.