The Next Chapter

Two weeks and two days ago, my parents closed on a new home for the kids and me.

I’m renting it from them until I can qualify for a mortgage on my own.

The journey from first seeing the house to closing on it was a long and VERY emotional one – it was a constant series of tests, one thrown right after another.

As soon as we figured one thing out, we were slammed out of left field with something else.

It got to the point where I said to my realtor — Allyson Kane (BEST REALTOR EVER) — Do you think the Universe is trying to tell me this isn’t the right place?

She said, NO. This is the right place.

And it was.

Pretty much everything about it is perfect for my situation.

So the day we closed was a pretty big fucking deal.

It was a moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

About 2 weeks before the closing, I put a call out to my friends on Facebook.

I told them I was moving and I had to furnish a new house and I would gladly take anything off their hands for them.

The amount of stuff I received was kind of mind blowing.

My parents’ screened in porch became a short term storage facility.

Their basement didn’t look any different.

I had stuff waiting for me at 5 or 6 different houses in town. Some had multiple car loads worth of things for me.

In all, I received:

• 4 couches
• 2 loveseat/chairs
• 2 oversized chairs
• 1 ottoman
• 1 TV
• 4 dressers
• 2 desks
• 6 end tables
• 2 plant stands
• 6 lamps
• 2 bookcases
• 2 coffee tables
• 1 twin mattress
• 1 headboard and footboard
• 3 mirrors
• 3 bedframes
• 4 sets of curtains
• other random stuff

For the last two weeks, my parents and I (but mostly my dad and I) hauled furniture from my old house and other houses in town to my new house using Dad’s 20+ year-old pick up truck and my Suburban (yesterday I learned that the back of my car is actually wider and longer than the back of the pick up truck)!

We’ve had a couple sizeable snow storms in those two weeks which also slowed things down a little bit (and has also made the moving process extra fun).

In 2 weeks my new living room has gone from this:

to this:

to this:

(Every piece of furniture in this picture (except the bench which my dad made) including the curtains was given to me for free by friends!

To this:

(blue slipcovers make a big difference)

The dining room went from this:

To this:

To this:

We are turning a super dated office downstairs into a bedroom.

It has gone from this:

To this:

To this:

And from this:

To this:

To this:

The downstairs playroom has gone from this:

To this:

(I get by with a little help from my friends)

To this:

To this:

(another free couch given to me by a friend and a new TV bought with gift certificates given to my by my AMAZING E-School ladies)

The kitchen hasn’t really changed much — here’s what it looked like on closing day:

It looks better with the kids in it:

My bedroom has gone from this:

To this:

And this:

My bedroom is the dumping ground for everything that doesn’t have a home right now.

And then, there is my favorite room in the house.

My new office.

On closing day it looked like this:

And this:

And then it looked like this (I slept there two days after closing):

And this:

And this:

To this:

And from this:

To this:

I LOVE MY OFFICE.

This is the office of a CEO of a company.

I can’t wait to build my business in there.

So that’s what I’ve been up to for the last month.

Getting ready to move and then moving into my new house.

I am so excited to transform it into our new home. 

And I’m REALLY excited to show you my progress along the way.

This next chapter of my life is off to a really good start.

And it’s the happiest I’ve been in a long, LONG, LOOOOOOONG time.