A New Hobby

As if I need any more things to take up my time so I forget to update my blog, I have found a new hobby, one that is going to prove very addicting! What is it, you ask?

SEWING!

Technically, I have had a sewing machine for over a year now, but the bobbin winder is broken (still is) and my step-dad was going to fix it for me. That hasn't happened yet (hopefully soon, cuz it's a PAIN doing it by hand!), and I didn't have room in our old house for it. So it sat at my parent's house collecting dust until a few weeks ago when I finally picked it up from their place and brought it to our new home, where I have a lot more space for actually creating things!

Now, small tid-bit of information. I'm a little bit scared of sewing machines. I'm sure with practice, this will get better - but I am terrified of going too fast and catching my fingers in the needle. Thankfully, the machine I have - it's a Singer from sometime in the early 50's - can go as slowly as I would like it to. Which is awesome! This weekend I started my first two projects. Fairly simple ones and although they are far from perfect, turned out a lot better than I anticipated. I made two valances - one for Shaela's room and one for ours. I also made a headboard for our room on Sunday, which didn't require the sewing machine, but was still a fun, crafty project. And it looks awesome in our new room!

 Ours:

 Shaela's:

 (it looks almost black in the pic, but it's actually a very dark purple)

Up next on the project list: a dust cover for the sewing machine - the plastic one it came with is falling apart, and a dress for Shaela, made out of the first material I bought for the valance in our room. Got it home and it just didn't quite go with the room. But it will make a very cute summer dress for our darling daughter.

Now to resist the urge to frequent the fabric store every week. They have so many cute prints in there! I walk through there with visions of dresses and pillowcases and blankets and all sorts of other projects dancing in my eyes......

Renovations 'R' Us!

My little blog has once again been sorely neglected, and I would like to say I'm sorry for my absence...BUUUUT things have been just a little bit crazy in our household, so I don't really feel the need to apologize. I'm sure you'll all understand. :)

Let's see....I'll do the Reader's Digest version of our moving story, since I could spend an hour recounting it all and it will just frustrate me all over again. We ended up with a dead battery in our Uhaul when we went to pick it up. They charged it, we brought it to our house, loaded it all up and were ready to leave and it wouldn't start. Assumed it was the battery again. Turns out it was the starter. That was Saturday, March 14th around 4:30 pm. By 7:30 pm we were finally in a hotel room for the night (compliments of Uhaul, so we booked the biggest suite available. Can we say, Jacuzzi???). Many, many frustrating conversations and enough anxiety to almost cause a mental breakdown later and our truck full of our stuff finally arrived at our new house Monday evening just after 9 pm. Got it all unloaded Tuesday evening and we've been working like crazy people to get the new place unpacked/organized/painted/renovated. Didn't help that Jared and I took a vacation to Florida and the Bahamas for just over a week at the end of March. Although that was a much deserved - and much needed! - break from life. If I could afford to lay on the beach in the Bahamas every day from now until I died, I'd be a happy woman.

And that pretty much catches us up to today! We have yet to take any 'after' pictures of the house - I'm hoping maybe tomorrow? We have a few small things to do yet on the main floor and then we need to start saving to do the backyard once all this crazy snow finally decides to melt. Yep, that's right. We still have snow! A good six inches or more in places, although we can see grass finally on a good portion of the yard.

Anyway...it is once again bedtime for the kiddos. I should go help Jared tuck them in - I love that man, can I just say that? He is so awesome at sharing parenting duties, especially when I'm feeling too wiped to do them myself. Once the kids are sleeping we have a date with the tv. OKC vs. the Nuggets tonight. A rare moment of rest for the two of us this past month. We've pretty much been working on the house non-stop every night (in between cooking and cleaning and laundry. If there were none of that, we'd be done by now!). I promise there will be an update with way too many pictures in the very near future. And hopefully some more regular updates, but I can't guarantee anything. Life with three kidlets really is anything but ordinary! :)

A Dream Come True

Looking out my living room window and seeing that SOLD sign in front of our house has brought me so much joy in the past week! It is a constant reminder of God's amazing love for me and how, if we wait patiently on Him, He will give us our heart's desires. It brings to mind two verses: Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." The second is Romans 8:28 - "For the Lord works out all things for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." I'm sure there are a ton of other verses that would apply as well - but those two have always been two of my favorites.

So, why did we sell our house you may ask? Well....a long time ago - just over 8 years to be exact - Jared and I began dating and began talking about our future. Our house, where we would live, how many kids we would have, etc, etc. My dream was to live around the area where I grew up on a few acres of land so the kids would have tons of space to play and we could have a massive garden and a few animals. Jared, being a born-and-raised city boy wasn't exactly sold on the idea. At least not at first. However, after visiting my family a few times over Christmas and during the summers, we both knew by the time we got married that that's what we wanted for a future home. Then came the waiting.

Our first year of marriage we lived in Edmonton as I was still going to school. Then we decided to move back to Manitoba so that we could be closer to grandparents when we started having babies. We had to move to Winnipeg so that Jared could finish his social work degree and the initial plan was to be there for two years while he finished. Of course, once here, we found out that he would need at least three years to finish since not all of his classes transferred. And then life happened - we had a baby, and then anther one. Jared hates doing homework, so he failed a few classes. Then he finally got his act together and graduated - such a happy day! When he was done and looking for work, he tried to find a job in Brandon, but to no avail. He ended up being offered a position here in the city and so I put my dream of living in the country on hold yet again. I was disappointed. But I decided that rather than wallowing in self pity, I would be happy about my circumstance and make the best of it. It wasn't always easy - but God gave me peace. Jared kept assuring me that it would still happen. We would move out of Winnipeg before Xavier started kindergarten. I wanted to believe him, but I didn't want to get my heart broken either. A tiny little part of me felt like it was never going to happen and I would be stuck here forever.

And then, very out of the blue, Jared got a job offer from his current employer for a different position that would be based out of their Brandon office. When he got off the phone and told me the news, I couldn't stop smiling for three days! It was actually going to happen! We would be out of here before Xavier starts kindergarten this fall. Then came the whirlwind of selling our house, buying a new house, and getting all the paperwork in order. We are still in the midst of that whirlwind, but it is SUCH a good feeling to see things falling into place. And so quickly! We weren't sure how soon this would all pan out - but it's literally been just a few short weeks!

This is our our new place that we'll be calling home by the middle of March:

It's an older bungalow, so it needs a bit of work. And it's not quite in the middle of nowhere - it's in Justice, a very small town about 10 minutes NW of Brandon. But it's got a huge yard with space for a garden and way more room for the kids than we have now. It won't be our forever home, but it will be something that we can grow into over the next few years until we find EXACTLY what we're looking for in a property/house - I keep dreaming of building a place some day. We'll see! I seriously cannot WAIT to be all moved in here and out of the city!

Now, don't get my wrong. Winnipeg is an okay place and I know a lot of people love living here. But for me, well, let's just say you can't take the country out of me! It's who I am and where I feel at home. I love the wide open space, the lack of conveniences right around your corner. I love the QUIET! I love looking up at the sky at night and seeing nothing but a million and one stars. I am sooo incredibly excited that I will FINALLY be able to see this dream come to fruition! As I said, we're not quite in the middle of nowhere yet. But it's a start. It will be a great transition home as we adjust to not being in the city anymore. And someday, I know that if we continue to be patient, God will one day grant us the dream of having that acreage that we've been longing for.

So Far Behind

Okay.

I know.

I haven't updated since before Christmas.

And now it's almost the end of January! Eek!

This time, though, I actually have a great excuse!!! We're moving! My wonderful husband (completely out of the blue) got offered a position in Brandon a few weeks ago and we've been on a whirlwind adventure ever since! The great thing is that it's with the same agency he is currently working for, so he's basically doing a lateral transfer - which means keeping his holidays (YAY!) and no probation (double YAY!). HOWEVER......this has made for mad chaos around our house. Well, not quite. I embellish a little. But getting the house ready to sell, getting it listed, and now trying to keep it clean for showings with three small kids to pick up after each day - No small feat, I assure you!

My sister in law also got engaged two weeks ago - very exciting! We are thrilled for her and future hubby, Mike. But that has also added slightly to the chaos. It's all good chaos. Don't get me wrong! It's just exhausting, so by the time the end of the day rolls around my brain can't really wrap itself around the concept of coming up with a witty blog post. So I apologize. I may be absent-ish for a while as we continue packing and house hunting. Oh, and did I mention that Jared starts his job next Monday? And since we won't be in a new house yet by then it means I'll be here by myself during the week with the kiddos while he stays with family? I'm not looking forward to that aspect of all of this. I love my kids. But I also love my hubby and will miss him dearly. He's a HUGE help with the kids in the evenings and I will be longing for the days when we can be all together again. So pray for us! That our house sells quickly and that I don't completely lose my sanity while he's gone and I'm here alone.

And I promise that once the chaos of this chapter of our life calms down, I will do a major update with pictures of the new place, perhaps some Christmas photos. An update on how the kids are doing.....But for now, my bed is calling me.

Is it Christmas Yet?!?!?!

I know I've been absent again as of late. I have a good excuse! I've been very, very busy getting ready for Christmas. Shopping for gifts, wrapping presents, participating in two different bake sales. Filling other baking orders. It's been just a little bit nuts. I have six more orders yet that have to be done in the next three days and then I can finally relax! I'm really looking forward to the break! And getting to spend some quality time with family and friends.

We have four Christmas celebrations this year. With Jared's family, ours at home, with my dad and then with my mom. It will be a crazy four days, but a very different crazy than what I've had up until this point. Jared is taking all of next week off and we are visiting with some friends, going for more massages, and hopefully going snowboarding for a day! I just hope it doesn't go by TOO quickly!

First Snowfall

November 19th marked our first official snowfall of the season. We'd had a few light skiffs of snow prior to this, but nothing that stuck. However, this Friday morning we finally woke up to the white stuff all over the ground - with big, fat, fluffy flakes still falling. The kids were more than excited to bundle up and go play in it. And I delighted in capturing their joy as they got their first taste of this year's snow.

6 Years

On November 13th, Jared and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. It's hard to fathom that it was 6 years ago that we said "I do". Some days it feels like it's been so much longer, but other days I feel like we're still newlyweds and we're just pretending to be a grown-up married couple. I hope we can say the same thing when we're celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary! Don't get my wrong, we've had our bumps along the way - but for the most part it's been a very smooth ride and I wouldn't change a single minute of it.

To celebrate this year we decided to eat in and then see a double feature at the cheap theatre. I made a delicious meal of butternut squash soup with chicken caesar salad. We didn't have time for dessert or we would have been really late for the first movie - but it was worth the wait! Homemade white chocolate brownie with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. YUM! All in all, it was a wonderful night. We really like movies, so it was the perfect date! And coming home to no children and being able to sleep the ENTIRE night without being woken up once as also divine!!!