Liking where you live...

As you know, I'm moving. It's a great little place kind of in the country per-say. There were lots of things I liked especially the 'home town' feel the place has about it. Well you could only imagine my surprise in finding out that one of my all time favorite TV show hosts Nate Berkus along with Oprah Winfrey had built a home for a woman who has lost her limbs to a horrible flesh eating bacteria. It doesn't surprise me that they would do such a kind and wonderful thing such as that as they are very compassionate and philanthropic people. The big surprise for me was that this happened in the town to which we are buying a home. To read about the community and how so many people pulled together for this family fills me with so much pride and joy I can hardly contain myself. To know that we are moving to a town that does reach out into the community and pull together is wonderful beyond words. I look forward to being able to volunteer in my new hometown, to be a part of something good and wonderful. So here's a link for you to read http://www.ayermovingandstoragereviews.com/221199/2011/09/07/area-businesses-pull-together-for-ayer-resident--ayer-moving--storage-inc-ayer-ma.html
enjoy!

quote of the day

Our life is frittered away by details...

Simplify, simplify.

--Henry David Thoreau

quote of the day

Love has no desire but to fulfill itself.

To melt and be like a running brook

that sings its melody to the night.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart

and give thanks for another day of loving.

--Khalil Gibran

Shopping with my husband

My husband and I decided to go do some window shopping- to check out things for our new home. To our surprise we found many lovely items, and we even came home with a few. Some wall art pieces for our Bella Cucina (that's Italian for "beautiful kitchen"), a lovely 5 foot round oriental rug for the entry way and a new Le Creuset 3½ quart braiser (little gift for my soon to be new kitchen). One of the things on my list is to get some new drinking glasses. Ours seem to be dwindling down due to breakage over the years. So that's something else to look for in the future.

We looked at loads of carpets- oriental style rugs for the formal dining room. I know what I'm looking for- now to quest to find it. I don't want to rush the process, I want to get a quality wool rug. I can't wait to be reunited with the rug we bought while in Germany from the Turkish rug store. I get all warm and fuzzy inside thinking about it. From bathroom items to kitchen goods and more- I am excited about getting things together for this soon to be new home of ours!

quote of the day

Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.

--Anthony Robbins

Eeeeeeee!

I'm all nerves right now. You see, today is inspection day for the house we are buying. A professional house inspector is checking everything out making sure it's all up to par. If there happens to be anything wrong with the house, the inspector will make note of it and the current home owner has to either get it repaired  or schedule it to be repaired before we sign the paper work to buy the house. I'll be there with my note book, camera and tape measure. I've got to measure the space for the refrigerator and the laundry room as we will need to buy new appliances as we left those appliances with our house in South Dakota. Woo hoo I get to order a new refrigerator, washer and dryer to be delivered on move in day!

To say that I am excited about this is an understatement!

quote of the day

One of the secrets of life is that all that is really

worth the doing is what we do for others.

--Levi Strauss

quote of the day

I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes,

I had one thousand and sixty.

Imelda Marcos

Kicking off a new week

I love Mondays. It's the "all things are fresh" appeal of a new week that pulls me in and leaves me in a warm embrace. This morning that warm embrace was ME wearing a most of a full cup of coffee on the front of myself. My only consolation is the fact that as much as I liked the color of the shirt that I was wearing (Fuchsia Pink) I did not like the way it hung on my body. So yes, I laughed at myself for being ignorant of the fact that as I grabbed my mug and swung at at my mouth with such force that I sloshed it all over myself. The fact that it was FULL and not half empty as I had thought it was particularly funny. As I see it, life is indeed too short to not be able to laugh at yourself.

quote of the day

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
 while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
~Lao Tzu

So now we wait...

I've said it before and I'll say it again- I'm terrible at waiting. I'm ready to start packing this place up now and get the moving process started.

Well I suppose that we can check off one move related item from our list- we transferred schools for our daughter. Starting Monday she will be at her new high school. On Friday when I registered her at her new school we both received a very friendly welcome from the office staff, several students and even the school principal came out to meet our Hannah. Ayer makes me think "home town", with it being small and friendly, a place to settle down and sink roots into. I can see myself becoming involved in town events and developing a social life out here.

Now back to my coffee and to start my check lists for the move :-)

quote of the day

Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.
-- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

My version of Pemberley

Here it is...our forever home. We take possession of it next month. Each one of our homes has a name, there was the little house  on the Air Force base in South Dakota I dubbed "the cottage" or as my friend Donna called it "The Rose Cottage" because of the roses out front and the rose colored dining room. There's the house we bought in Virginia I named "Green Gables", the temporary house in England I called "Beehive Cottage" because of the nest of bees living in the walls (I was very glad to move away from that house). The commanders house I names "The Big House"...yes at times it felt like I was in prison while living in that house all because I had to constantly wait for maintenance people to fix things in that house. So THIS house I want to name after a home in one of my all time FAVORTIE novels. I can't see calling it Longbourn but I do see calling it Pemberley. I know that it's not a big mansion but it's full of everything I've ever dreamed of having in house. So with it being my "dream house" per say...giving it the name "Pemberley" is quite perfect for me!

quote of the day

The artist is nothing without the gift, 

but the gift is nothing without work.

~Emile Zola

I'm back in the saddle again...

I know that you must have heard the Arrowsmith song "Back in the saddle". I can tell you all that the songs lyrics say it all for me today.

It's been a while since I've felt as if I've had something going on. I don't mean to say that I've turned into a total couch potato quite the opposite in fact. BUT, it's been a while since I've "had to be anywhere" besides a doctor appointment if you know what I mean. 

So now for my BIG news...we're buying a house! We've got one under contract. With that comes transferring schools for our daughter. Believe it or not, she's fine with it. Granted she wishes that her soon to be new school offered Italian as one of it's foreign languages, she's willing to take French instead. Now that's a child that can adapt! Now the real fun begins... first thing is enrolling youngest in new school (that's tomorrow) ,getting inspector to check out the house, and of course there's arranging for movers to pack us up here at the apartment. There's loads to things to do and FINALLY I have something of some sort of importance going on in my life.  There's also that little bonus of knowing that I'll soon see all of my  crafting supplies and kitchen appliances. I've truly missed my food processor and stand mixer and of course all of my paper crafting items.

quote of the day

As you recognize your wholeness and worth,
dysfunctional situations will evaporate

 like bad dreams exposed to the morning sun.

-- Alan Cohen

This chicken is organized!

As you all know, I can be some what anal when it comes to having my stuff organized.  You've seen it in my various Scrapbook Nooks,  my closet space and even in my kitchen. This apartment is a wee bit cramped for my tastes and well I've had all of the "temporary" that I can take. In all honesty, we weren't allowed to do much to this place and it's making me cranky.

Get ready for all sorts of organizational posts...for when we buy a house here in New England. I will be walking you through what we plan to do to it to tweak it our way. From the kitchen to the bathrooms  and all rooms in-between. Right through to finishing off the basement to make it into my new improved and oh so BIG Scrapbook Nook and Crafty Emporium! If you're gonna dream...Dream BIG!

quote of the day

Much good work is lost

for the lack of a little more.

--Edward H. Harriman

More rain? Really?

If it wasn't for the fact that my husband is at work and my child at school I could easily become depressed with this weather. It's because they are at work and school that I'm not depressed. Hallelujah! My husband has a job and school has started! Finally I can clean the house, do errands and work on creative pieces in relative peace. Keep in mind that we still live in an apartment.

We're working with a realtor...that right there is a story in it's self that I will save for another day. I don't want any to spew coffee at their computer monitor.

quote of the day

The winds and waves are always

on the side of the ablest navigators.

--Edward Gibbon,

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire