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May 18, 2013

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

May 16, 2013

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

May 15, 2013

Poppin' collars and doodling names (or something like that.)

I had intended on writing some lengthy post about our old home and our new home and why we moved and blah blah blah- but it's 5:52pm and my child has for unknown reasons STILL not napped... THUS, I give you a short post entitled: Life According to Instagram. (Except I didn't title it that, did I?)  If you want more of these riveting photos with crazy clever captions (alliteration AND sarcasm... I'm on fire) you can find me on IG at maemaemcconnell. 

Alright here we go... Some pics as of late with some brief explanations. 

And we're off...

 

Here I am.  See? I do exist. Please note that my hair is not that dark.  Like at all.  At least I don't think so. Some people have told me I confuse green with grey so perhaps I'm color blind.  Regardless, the lighting in this photo gave me Katy Perry black hair.  Not the case.  In fact, as soon as I find a new hair dresser I'm going back to my roots... blonde.  Actually, my roots are pretty dark, so maybe I'll go J'Aniston blonde? Her hair always looks good... moving on.


 Girlfriend's lookin' fly in this jacket.  I mean I can barely handle it. Pop that collar baby!


And there she is... my morning view. 


And perhaps my favorite photo of all time. It is exactly what it looks like. Heaven on earth.

Alright friends!
Much love and happy instagramming!
mae mae