We're here! (kind of....) Pics of our new house!

I've been dying to post some pics of our new house--but we've been incredibly busy, busy, busy! The drive down here deserves a whole separate post, which will have to wait, but for now I'll say we got here Thursday afternoon and were SO glad to be out of the car! We closed on the house on Friday morning, and came right over to show the kids! It was so wonderful to see the house again--weird in a sense, because some things were different than I remember, but still wonderful because now we can see it every day! No more trying to remember or walk through it in my mind as I go to sleep at night. :)

I actually forgot pics until we were about to leave, so I hurried and snapped some quickly! It already is looking so different, as we painted over the 2 already painted rooms and we are nixing the white walls in the rest of the house! HALLELUJAH for a little color! :) I have so many ideas brewing for things I want to switch up and how we'll decorate. And I am so excited to have this little adventure here.

Already not missing stairs--it's not that I didn't like them for exercise purposes. But with small children, I love the idea of one level for now. LOVE the space--love that I have more then 3 drawers in my kitchen, and a pantry...a real, life size pantry in the kitchen--no more storing all our food in the basement! REALLY, REALLY love my soaker tub and having 2 bathrooms. But I have a feeling I will love all these things even more when we actually have furniture in here. As for now, we're just been frantically painting every day, driving 40 minutes each way while we stay elsewhere, and trying to stay somewhat sane. Our stuff comes Tuesday--and I can't wait! It will be so nice to feel like we're making this our home.
So, for now--a few pics to show you what it's like inside.
View from the entry way...

view from the back of the living room looking towards the entry

Another angle, looking same way.

PANTRY!!! YAY!

View of kitchen/pantry (door is open)

other side...cupboards galore! yaaaaaaay!

From formal living room (we're using it as a toy room) looking into kitchen.

Also in formal living room (from the kitchen view)

Master bath--and my soaker tub with separate shower.

Master bedroom. I thought I took more pictures in here, but I can't find them. Weird! Master is a good size room, with a nice walk in closet. And it has a beautiful tray ceiling...that I can't wait to paint! :)

Oops--out of order. This is looking back at the entry way too--that mirror will be outta here (provided I can convince Brandon, who actually does like it...)

Another bedroom--I love all the closets in this house. They open wide so you have real, usable space! I am excited to put up organizational stuff in them-- :)

Kids bathroom! It's on the smaller size, in all honesty, and was a tradeoff for other perks that came with the house. But, it's a 2nd bathroom nonetheless....and we'll take it! :)

Jenna's room--BEFORE our paint job!

The boys room, BEFORE our paint job

So there ya have it--just a quick little tour. I forgot to post the outside--but I promise, we'll get some more pics up soon as I repaint and decorate. :)

On moving day eve...

It is the middle of the night.


I can’t sleep.

Though, looking back at the past few hours…days…even weeks, I should have pra ctically fallen into bed.

Today we packed our possessions into the moving truck. We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. And then we cleaned some more. I am running on such little sleep, and I feel as though I haven’t showered in a week. Being tired makes you feel that way, don’t you think?

I sit here in this empty living room. The light from the streetlamp shines in, illuminating the wall that once had pictures of four smiling children above our computer desk. I am sitting on cold hardwood floors, instead of the comfy couch that once sat in this same place. And the corner lamp that once lit up this dark room, is packed tight in a semi-trailer.

I remember walking through the house on the day we moved in. It looked much the same as it does now. But if you look a little closer, you’ll see something different…something more.

You’ll see the multiple nail holes…because I wanted things hung just right. You’ll see the marks in the wall where the kids knocked my beautiful glider rocker into. You’ll see floors where the kids ran, played, danced...where we had our frequent movie pizza parties, and where we knelt as a family and prayed. Yes, in just the right light, you will see the staircase that Spencer fell down 3 times the first week we lived here. And you will see the kitchen that we managed to crowd our family, and other guests into multiple times. You will see flooding and heartbreak and cleaning up the damage. And without much effort, you will probably hear the roaring of the dishwasher—that always had to be turned off if we wanted to have any kind of dinner conversation. 

If you look, you will see a house full of memories.

It’s funny that even though we saw so many imperfections while we lived here, sitting in this empty house makes me realize what our family made it…a home.

I know I sat here 3 weeks ago, absolutely positive that this day would never come. So it is completely surreal that it’s finally here. Our belongings are already on their way, and tomorrow we will follow. And our life chapter in Ohio will officially close.

In a sense, I am grateful that I am exhausted beyond belief and have been busy cleaning and going and doing…because it has allowed me to fight back the tears and have it all feel like we’re just saying, “see ya later! We’re going on vacation! Be back soon”. But I know that tomorrow as we drive away, the floodgates will open and I will be a blubbering mess.

I heard Brandon singing the line to the song, “You’re gonna miss this” (that we’ve adopted as our family theme song) earlier tonight…The words struck me…

You’re gonna miss this. You’re gonna want this back. You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast. These are some good times, so take a good look around. You may not know it now…but you’re gonna miss this.”

Going through the past 4 years, I truly don’t know that I ever thought I would say I would miss the struggles we had or the trials, the financial hardships or busy schedules…and while I won’t miss those things in particular, I will miss the truly incredible things that came from the time we spent here, in this stage of life, regardless of the bad that came with it. I feel like this was a once in a lifetime thing—for our kids to be the ages they are, for us to have done so many things and seen so much of this part of the country, and for us to grow together in ways I never thought possible.

And it’s true. I AM gonna miss this…

And yet, I know that right around the corner, is a whole new start. A new job, new friends, new school, new house…

A house that we will fill up with memories and make it a home.

The Wild Mango--

I feel so grateful to have had this time here in Ohio, and know the people we've known. I am especially grateful for good friends...Jenny (my sister-in-law who we are so blessed to live next to) and Crystal have been such dear friends, and we were excited to have one last girl's get together!

There was a restaurant called The Wild Mango that had rave reviews--so we went to check it out, and feel all sorts of fancy! :) The decor was very posh, and the dishes and food presentation was incredible!

The menu was on a wood plank--which I loved. :) I ordered a sesame chicken dish, with rice and broccoli.

And we samples potstickers...


Jenny and Crystal

And all of us together! Gonna MISS these girls!!!

Jenny and Crystal...I hope you both know how much I appreciate all you've done for us as a family, and especially for me...I will never forget our fun times together, having barbecues and celebrating birthdays and girl's night out...thank you. Thank you so very much for so many things. I LOVE YOU BOTH!!!

One last time...the Memphis Kiddie Park

We had a few tickets left to one of our favorite places out here, The Memphis Kiddie park. So while Grandma and Grandpa were still around, we had to take one last visit. There's the regular carousel ride...

and of course, the boats...

Jenna wanted to ride the roller coaster--until she got buckled in. So she got off, but Kaden stayed on and rode with Grandma...

And then Spencer wanted in on the action...

We love this place...we love the memories we have there...and we LOVE that we got to go with Jenny, Travis and Grace one more time--with Grandma and Grandpa as a big bonus! :)

The DOCTOR is IN!

Brandon and I have been married for almost 8 years...and he has been in school that entire time. We have moved 5 times and had 4 children. I graduated with my bachelors somewhere in the mix of things, and up until Podiatry school, he worked almost full time and went to school just as much. He's gone to bed many nights at 1 a.m. and then been back up studying again at 3 or 4. We have lived on an almost non-existent budget, and we have learned so much about life {and stress}. It's been a lot of sacrifice to get to this point.

And watching him walk across that stage today, made it all worth it.

It is strange...surreal...to think that it is over. He is done. We are trading in our student status we have held for so LONG, for a career. A job. A title...Dr. Brandon Holloway...Doctor of Podatric Medicine.

I cannot express fully how much today meant. It was the product of 8 years of work, sweat and tears...and more tears...from me, not him. :) It was that "crossing the finish line" feeling--and I truly was SO PROUD of him. I often think that medical school of any kind would be so difficult as a single student. But throw in 4 kids and a wife and working through school, and I think that is a monumental accomplishment!

So Brandon...I hope you know...I am so proud. Now and always.
Congratulations....WE DID IT!

 

Receiving his diploma...

And being hooded!

The Doctor is IN! :)

Brandon and his brother Travis--who is also studying to be a podiatrist.

The ceremony was good--I won't drag this out, but I do want to record here for posterity's sake that ended up taking kids on potty breaks WAY too many times (like no less than 3-4 times in the hour and a half we were there). Truly, it felt like every 15 minutes someone needed to go AGAIN. :) We went armed with 2 Ipods and digital copies of the movie UP, so that helped keep their attention for a while, but towards the end--they were just getting restless!

I remember when it came time for pictures, I was worn out--the up and down and need this and that during the ceremony kind of got to me--The stressed out part of me snapped at the kids when they acted like their spines were made of jelly, and I exclaimed, "YOU OWE ME THESE PICTURES!" I laugh now...cause honestly, what kid cares if their mom thinks they owe them a few good pictures? :) And clearly, they didn't.

(above) Brandon with his mom and dad. We are so grateful they were able to be here for this day!

...and last but not least...as much as I hate flash pictures, it's probably the best one we've got.

What a day...a GREAT day.
So much to look forward to...and so much great stuff to look back on.

Bowling with my boy

On Wednesday, I got to spend a little one on one time with my boy--well, one of them. :) Kaden had a field trip to the bowling alley and had been looking so forward to going!

He was so fun to watch. Literally, he would throw the ball down, hard. When that didn't work, he tried slinging it from the side. And when that didn't work so well, he tried to kick it down the lane. It was funny to watch his mind work. :) And it true Kaden fashion, he had a great hip-movin' dance to go with his excitement over getting some pins down.




The yellow ball was coveted...and we decided that for preschool age children, they should have 5 frame bowling...because that's about when everyone started to melt down... :)

But we had a wonderful time, just me and my {little} man.