Progress...

I keep wondering two things: (1) am I EVER going to feel better (the sick-ish-ness has turned into full-blown sick... my allergies are just insane right now) and (2) am I EVER going to get our house in order?

We've made a LOT of progress since Saturday. Almost all of the rooms are unpacked, as far as the big stuff goes. Our closet is totally organized, the master bedroom and bathrooms are basically done, and so is the kitchen. It's just all the little, decorative things that I'm trying to get finished. I have SO many frames/vases/candles that I'm trying to find a place for. At this point, since we don't have a nice dining room table yet, all of my "pretty" stuff is laying on my dining room floor, just waiting for me to find the perfect spot.

Plus, there are several things we still need to pick up. We decided against buying new living room furniture for this house because we're only going to be here a year and I really don't want to buy something that may or may not go perfectly in the next place we end up. More importantly, I'm still not exactly sure what my style or vision will be. I'm planning on looking at a LOT of decorating magazines over the next few months. :) I do think it'll be okay to decorate our bedroom at some point... as soon as I figure out what I like.

So that's what we've been up to. Micah starts back to work on Thursday, and I start on Friday, so hopefully we can get everything done before then ! For now, here's a peek at the inside of the house.

It's the view of the kitchen from the living room. It's kind of hard to see, but the island is enormous. My Pottery Barn vase and candle sitting in the middle of it are actually pretty big, but they're clearly not big enough to serve as a centerpiece. I found a pretty vase and some flowering dogwood branches at Pier One, and I'm planning on picking those up this week. And I still need things to go on the walls in the breakfast nook, but that will just have to wait... along with the many, many other things that need to be done. :)

We're home!

This is going to be short because I still have SO much to do around here! But I just wanted to let you all know that we survived the move and we made it home!

We're officially moved into our new house in Sunnyvale, and I can't tell you how good it feels to be so close to our family and friends again. How good it feels that my sweet sister-in-law just popped in this morning to help me unpack. Or that my dad and stepmom just dropped by last night to bring over cupcakes! I can't believe I can actually meet my mom for lunch if I want! No more rushing and running around to see everyone so that I never really got any time with anyone.

Other news: this house is humongous and we need new stuff, I'm still feeling sickish, and I'm SO over boxes/tape/bubble wrap. And, best of all, Micah and I are so proud to be uncle and aunt to his brother's new baby boy! Welcome to the world, Landyn Lee Hargrave!

I promise I'll write more later... I just realized that I actually have an empty house and I desperately need a nap! :)

Life is like a box of choc-olates...

The Lord is testing me right now. I'm sure of it.

We're in the FINAL stages of packing, which, as anyone who has ever moved a three-bedroom house across the state would know, is the worst part. It's finding a spot for all the little things you left out just in case you might need them as you packed. Or all the big things you couldn't find a spot for before and set aside, hoping some brilliant, super-creative and space-saving idea would suddenly come to you at some point. There are definitely no brilliant ideas here.
If that weren't bad enough, I couldn't sleep last night and have been so exhausted that I've felt tipsy all day long. Plus, my allergies are horrible, and I'm sick-ish. (Are you feeling sorry for me yet? :))

To top it all off, I've spent the evening with Forrest Gump. Micah has been in one of those moods that makes me wish I had a hidden camera so I could show everyone how ridiculous he really can be. For about two hours straight he demanded to be called Forrest, kept calling me Jenny, drawled out that horrible, slow accent and recited every cheesy line from the movie for what felt like forever while we were packing up our pantry. I almost hurled a can (or seven) of chili at him, but I figured it would leave a dent in the wall, and Micah had already packed the spackle.

I'm pretty sure it's time for a bubble bath and a good book, but my bubbles and books are already boxed up. Can't a girl catch a break?!

Ryan loves Micah... duh.

I love Micah... blah, blah, blah... you've heard it all before. I'm sorry to keep repeating myself, but I can't help it. He's kind of wonderful.

If you know him at all, you know that he's just a tiny bit obsessive-compulsive. It's almost always amusing, but it's also often fairly useful because it means that he does things well. He's neat, orderly, meticulous, and always works out the details.

(Just a kid, and he was already sporting the preppy sweater-vest. He's so cute I can't stand it.)

The past few days, as we have been packing up the house, I've been thanking my lucky stars that he's so thorough. Because, when it comes to getting things done, I'm an Abbott through and through. We're a duct tape, estimate, give it our best try and then leave it be kind of family. We're not known for overdoing things, but by golly we can get things done in a hurry! :)

As opposed to just throwing everything in boxes and sending up an earnest prayer that nothing gets damaged in the move the way I would do, Micah's taking furniture apart and double wrapping it so that he can be totally sure that it won't. We've gone through three rolls of bubble wrap, and we've only packed up two rooms!

And, of course, it's taking us much longer to get our house packed up, but at least I won't be worrying the entire drive up to Houston whether my leather ottoman will make it to Dallas unscathed. In fact, I'd bet every penny I've got that it'll have just the one scratch that has been there since I threw it in the moving truck to move it down here three years ago. :)

Fast-forward...

Right now, my life feels like it's moving in fast-forward mode. We have a week and a half before we move home, and there is just so much to do!

We're in the process of packing up the house, which is definitely not fun. Thankfully, my mom and Steve had a billion boxes, so we haven't had to buy any yet. We've got a lot of things packed, but we're also still using a lot of things, so we can't pack everything yet.

We've also been trying to get our house in Houston figured out. We're going to lease it, and we're trying to make sure we get all the loose ends tied up before we leave. Of course, our microwave went out, and it would have cost more to fix it than to buy a brand new one (crazy, right!?), so we've got to pick one up. Plus, we're not sure how to make sure our yard will be maintained while the house is vacant. And Micah's got to get everything off the walls and all the holes spackled and painted over. Very un-fun stuff.

Not to mention the fact that I need to buy a new wardrobe for work before I start on October 1. I've been picking up things as I'm out shopping, but I definitely need a few more pieces.

I'm also trying to make sure I get in some time with my friends before I leave.

So, that's what I'll be doing for the next week and a half. And then we're coming HOME! :)