I'm Back... Sort Of....

Ok, I totally lied.  I said I'd be back at the end of last week... not so much.  Even as I write this post all I can think of are the gazillion of things I still need and want to get done. 

It has been a crazy few weeks (I know I've been AWOL for almost 2 months) but we have moved and settled into our new place quite well.  We're still tweaking here and there but the bulk of things are done. 

Even though we're close to the same square footage we had in our previous place it's in a totally different layout and somehow we needed more furniture.  We've added a sectional sofa, a 52" TV (it's in Danny's "man cave"), another kitchen table, and 4 stools (which, to be fair, we could have used in the last place). 

We're currently figuring out the little details of getting a deep freeze and dining hutch (little detail being how do we pick them up?). 

It's been fun trying to find new homes for everything; although I'm a little annoyed with the kitchen as a whole.  All the shelves (in cupboards, the fridge, and pantry) are all just too short to fit in standard things (milk cartons, cereal boxes, bottle of oil).  It also has 2 awkward cupboards, you know the ones where there's a standard cupboard door on it but it's about twice as long with no way to get to the items in the back?  I've managed to set it up fairly well (I've only rearranged everything twice so far) but once we get a hutch then it'll all change again. 

I've also had a chance to go through things and purge a lot.  Now I get to organize the rest, which will be SO much easier with my huge walk in closet.  I've already invested in boxes for the kids rooms to get their closets under control and I've decided to do a lower hanging bar in their closets so they can access it and have the normal bar and shelf for storage.  With both their bedrooms being smaller we have to use the space wisely. 

Thank goodness for Pinterest (and Ikea) for ideas.  It's helped already and once we start focusing our attention to the yard it'll help even more. 

Speaking of the yard, it's one of the highlights of our new place.  At the last house we had a Massive yard but because we were on the top floor the kids had to go down a steep stairs and I couldn't see it from inside the house.  Now we not only have a yard that is level but it can be seen from the house, and between the kitchen and yard is an enclosed sun deck. 

It's been hectic but it has been completely worth it.  We've been here less than 2 weeks and I've noticed a change in everyone.  I'm a lot less stressed (the light helps a lot), Danny's loving his "man cave", and the kids are adjusting well.  They love being able to go into the yard or when it's raining head out to the sun deck (we've put a lot of their bigger toys out there).  So helpful during our rainy season (9 months of the year... I joke... it's only 8) because it'll be like they're outside but staying dry, which should help with them getting antsy from being inside so much. 

So, while I have a few posts prewritten, I may still be sporadic while I'm in the final stages of setting up house.  I'm hoping the bigger things are done by next weekend when we have our "come check out our new digs" party.