Our Old Home. (And why we moved.)

Before we totally move past the old home, I must mention how much that home meant to us.  It was where we made the majority of our friends here in Nashville, where we walked across the street a million and a half times to our 4 amazing friends’ homes, where I finished my Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, where I began my teaching career,  where I started my doctorate, where I timidly hit “Publish” on the first post of this blog, where Sean wrote and recorded 7 years worth of amazing music, and most importantly where we spent the bulk of our marriage, where we fought through the adoption process, and where we brought Abi home.  It was a special place, a haven, and the home of incredible memories we will always hold very dear.

And since I never showed you pics before… Here are a few of our old home. 

(My favorite room in the whole house- Abiella's room.) 

 

and let's not forget our tiny little kitchen where Sean's large family made Thanksgiving dinner and TWO Christmas dinners... We're talented folks. 

So why would we ever move from such a charming home across the street from best friends?

Well, while this home was quaint and magical, there was a time in our lives when it fit perfectly- and we weren't there anymore. We were feeling increasingly cramped with Sean's music studio taking the entire upstairs, and Abi's equipment not fitting well in the downstairs. There wasn't a place in the kitchen she could be while I cooked that wouldn't have her tiny hand within inches of a stove top and overall we were just ready to start the adventure that would allow us to grow. We talked about adding on, renovating the garage, etc. etc. etc. but at the end of the day we were also really hoping to find something that spoke to our heart for the country. So while it was a tough decision, it was a great decision and from the moment we signed the listing agreement we had a great peace about the entire move.  14 showings later we had sold the house and began the search for a new one.  

More on the new house (our dream home that we couldn't have created if we tried) soon... 

Now I'm off to unpack some more. 

I want to be settled and decorated ASAP!

mae mae

We're Here!

Ahhh! I’m here! I’m here! I’m finally on this space again… Wowzer.  I’m currently sitting at my desk (did you see that? I have a desk.  Oh my.) Looking into my daughter’s play room (did you see that? I said play room) and through the windows out onto the farm land behind our home. (Did you see that? I said farm land.) Yes, friends. I’ve moved to heaven… or my version of it at least.  The last three weeks came with immense hurry, some pretty understandable moving stress, and two real estate closings that went better than I could have ever hoped.  My dad helped pack, he took truck loads to the dump, and helped Sean move his studio. My mom came down and helped me take care of Abi during our last day at the old house (movers were there, we had to clean, we had final walk-throughs of both properties, etc. etc.) And that night, after clearing out our home of 7 years, we all forfeited the idea of sleeping on the hardwood floors and zoomed ourselves over to a hotel at 10pm.  It was a fun little family adventure.

The next morning, Sean and I got up at 5 am, left Abi in the hotel room with my mother, went to check on the old house once more, picked up the dogs, and got to both closings where my dad, sister, and step-mom met us with coffee and bagels.  They watched our dogs while we proceeded to walk inside, sell one home, and buy another.  It was kind of a big deal J

After both closings, (with much cheer and sense of SERIOUS relief), Sean and I hopped in our cars (with the sweet tea my awesome step-mom provided) and headed out to our new home in the country.  When we got there it was amazing.  The previous owners had left us a stocked fridge of moving drinks (cokes, diet cokes, etc.) along with gift cards to quaint places in our new little country town, a bottle of wine from a local winery, AND (are you ready for this?) an outfit for Abi.  I mean seriously!

Soon my step-dad, mother, Abi, and my good friend Megan showed up.  As the movers brought in furniture and boxes we ate bbq on the screened-in-porch and basked in our new found country lifestyle. The bbq was from a local award winning restaurant (seen on Food Network) and the country sounds had Abi pretty excited.

 By 3:00 I was fading. I hadn’t slept a WINK at the hotel and Megan (noticing my foggy demeanor) told me, “Go take a nap.  You’re exhausted. Do you trust me to put things where I think they should go?”  I promptly said, “YES!” and went to lie down on the floor next to Abi sleeping in her crib.  A few minutes later I got back up (who can nap when you’re so excited and people are there to help you?!) but that didn’t stop Megan.  She and my mother proceeded to work at lightning speed and unpack my entire kitchen.  By the time they left, our beds were put together, clean linens were on, and our kitchen was clean and organized. Unbelievable.  

That night Sean and I couldn’t believe it.  In 5 weeks we had managed to put our home on the market, get two offers, sell it, find our dream home, buy it, and move in.  All while he continued to work and I continued to maintain Abi’s therapy schedules.  It was a whirlwind to say the least; but a dang good one.

Cheers to moving, cheers to the new home, and cheers to many more stories and pictures I have to share of the last 3 weeks J     

mae mae

Fried Food and Tim Taylor.

I think I may be the only gal in history who goes to a bachelorette weekend with 10 beautiful girls, stays in an amazing cabin, enjoys two nights of relaxation, tears-streaming laughter, good food and drinks, amazing stories outside by the two story fire place every night, and manages to only take one picture. This.

Seriously.  That's all I got.  I mean what does that say about me? Looks like fried corn, mac and cheese, fried okra, and cucumber onion salad know how to make me think, "Oh- I should grab my camera."

And now completely shifting gears, we move in 6 days! What?! That went crazy fast.  I'll give you more details as the time draws closer, but go ahead and get the Green Acres theme song in your head... Girl's going back to her country roots and I'm pretty darn pumped about it.

In fact, let me take you back to those roots for a moment. This is me on my ole horse Tim Taylor.

(Yes, that was his name.  #MajorHomeImprovementFan.) 

I'm not sure what you should be more jealous of- my sweet zebra shirt, my purple sweats, my bangs for miles, or my overall disregard for the combination of the three.

Oh childhood- you served me well. 

Can't wait to be back. 

xoxo

mae mae

Whirlwind.

Woah.  Where the heck has the time gone?  I've been in a time warp of feeding tubes, house hunting, house selling, house packing, taxes, feeding changes, doctor's appointments, new equipment for Abi, home inspections, transferring half of Abi's therapies to a different county... And now somehow I'm looking at the calendar and realizing weeks have passed and I've been neglecting this little ole blog of mine.

via

The truth is though, I love coming here.  I love writing, I love reading, I love the blogging community and I get a lot out of it.  So I'm looking forward to things settling a bit and carving out more time for writing/reading.  Hopefully, the move will be done in two and a half weeks. (I can't wait to tell you about our new place!) Home inspection repairs have begun, papers upon papers have been scanned and submitted, and after a whirlwind of documents floating around my world, I'm over half way done with the "hard stuff" and in 24 hours I will be leaving for a girls weekend away.  AHH!!!!!!

Yep, somehow in the midst of the craziness, I will be getting away with 10 of my girlfriends for a relaxing/crazy weekend celebrating one of our dear friends, post-wedding, bachelorette style.  I plan on taking really long showers, eating way too much pizza dip (Malia, please bring some. I'm begging you.) sleeping in, wearing headphones to bed and not worrying about not hearing a crying babe, partaking in beverages of choice by the outside fire-pit, and maybe even going on a hike, all while spending time with 10 of my favorite gals.  I mean, I'm kind of freaking out. Oh deep breath, I'll see you in 48 hours.

In the meantime, I'd like to share with you one of my blogging buddy's latest joys. Shelby has a 30 year old sister with special needs who recently received one of her greatest dreams, a trip to Disneyland.

Go HERE and watch the amazing video that so sweetly captures that moment. (PS when you see Donny Osmond, that is Shelby's father in-law.  It will make more sense when you read her post.) It's such a beautiful video and I LOVED watching it, especially the part with Shelby and her sister in the plane together.  So awesome.

Alright, friends, have a good one!

mae

4 AM Ramblings

*This post was written intermittently on my phone in a semi-productive attempt to keep myself awake.*

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This post is brought to you by the fact that one of Abiella's musical stuffed animals went off accidentally at 4am, loudly playing a tune right into her ear, and now I'm holding a completely awake, totally wired 2 year old... at 4:52 am. I'm trying to keep a low profile, super-nanny style... But it's hard when girl's got such a zest for life that the first sign of morning has got her laughing and kicking... Which is actually pretty darn awesome to witness...even at 4:52. I keep telling her, "If the sun's not awake yet, we shouldn't be either." 

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Now it's 5:30 and we're swaying and rocking to Jack Johnson's The Sharing Song and I'm about two verses away from giving in and making a pot of coffee... 

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It's 6 am. Coffee is made and I'm growing increasingly aware of my choice to stay up late last night and watch Netflix with Sean until 1am... Oh Biggest Loser, why must you be so addictive?? 3 hours of sleep should treat me just fine today. (Said with only minor panic in my voice...)In other unimportant news, I saw this on pinterest recently and became immediately smitten.





They're for sale on Etsy HERE.  I think I may have to indulge. 

"There's a colonial woman on the wing! I saw her! There's something they're not telling us! She was churning butter!" Oh Kristen Wiig, your genius gets me every time...

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7 am. Abi eats.  She gets upset.  Sean comes in and plays guitar.  She gets happy.  We all fall back to sleep.  

Boom. There you go.  The chronicles of an early morning.  And please forgive the massive spacing issues in this post.  Blogging from a phone is no easy task.  




Happy Friday y'all! 

mae 

We have a winner!!!

Remember that $1,000 giveaway floating around these parts?  Well, we have a winner!!! 

Drumroll please....

Get your feet stomping...

Prepare to whoop whoop...

THE WINNER IS...

Ms. Danielle Wu from daniellewu.com!!!  

Come on down, Danielle, and grab your prize!!!  

(If you imagined my voice as the announcer from Price as Right, then you were correct.)

We're so excited for you Danielle and hope you enjoy your winnings :)  You will be receiving your loot via email in the next 3-5 business days. 

Phew.  That was fun.  Let's do it again sometime.  

Happy Tuesday!

mae

Easter.

Our first Easter with Abiella was so very, very special. 

I would tell you the details of our morning service at home or her beautiful reaction to the Easter story but it's  too sacred to put into words, honestly.

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Thank you Jesus for your outrageous love. 

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"Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.  The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit..." (John 20:19-22)