Room by room - Potter's room

Wow, the whole month is getting away from me.  If I blink, I'll miss it!

Potter's room has been organized to his liking.  So it's next on the home tour today.

I got him large bulletin boards to display items from his many stage productions.

He sorted and gathered and sorted and purged his memorabilia, deciding what to include on the wall.

The result is a chronicle of his life as an actor so far.

I found this fun poster on Amazon for $5.  They actually sent us two by mistake, so he's going to give the extra to his best buddy.

A few more things may get hung on the wall in this area, but here is his desk.  To the right is his closet.

As an Eagle Scout he has lots of eagle stuff to display.  Hanging on the wall are his certificate as well as an award winning photo his Aunt took of a bald eagle here in Utah.  Amazing.

My favorite things about his room are the large windows and the 1920's original door.  The rest of the family bedrooms are downstairs where it has been remodeled, and hence, we don't have old doors down there.

He's using the same mattress/bedding/dresser as he had at the last house, but I found him the single bed for $15 in the classifieds and a little side table/nightstand at Walmart for $15.  He's also using the desk that used to house our desktop computer.

Cute little spot for this busy teen.  He probably would have been happy with just a closet, as long as he didn't have to share with anyone.  Life with a triple bunk already seems like a distant memory.  

Teenage boys are so much more fun than I ever expected.  And simple, too.  

Feed them.  

Listen to them.  

Be interested in them.  

And a little space to call their own ain't a bad thing either.

New beginning

I write from our new abode.

11 days ago we moved an hour north of the only area either Strider or I  have known for over 20 years.  We loved it there.  We built a life there.  Our parents are there.   I brought all my newborns home there.   All my marriage and parenthood memories are there.  

Then, stirrings in our heart guided us to pursue selling our house and finding a lovely old brick bungalow that is a dream come true.  We have a new little corner of the world.

Life feels like a fairy tale right now.  I fell in love with the house before I ever stepped foot on the property.  I knew it was *the* place. To my astonishment all the details and timing and pricing worked out like clockwork.  We learned that it not only was it the place we loved, it was the place prepared for our family.  And as of June 1st, here we are!

The kids on a picnic/trip to the park next door on the day I knew I loved it (and three weeks before we toured the house) - April 2013



Some of our my favorite features so far:

LDS Temple is less than 4 blocks away

Pretty woodwork/trim/window casings

A dining room (and new-to-us table from the classifieds) that can fit all of us - no more folding chairs!  I also love the hardwood floor.

Spacious main floor laundry

Main kitchen with a plethora of storage

Under-cabinet lighting

Extra downstairs kitchen

Lots of bedrooms to fit us

City park next door

Strawberries, raspberries, grapes, peaches, plums

Flowers and landscaping

...and plenty more.  We are just so, so happy.

The physical move itself was more difficult than I ever imagined.  I never, ever, EVER want to do that again. And with my whole heart I pray we never have to.  We are blessed beyond measure, and far more than we deserve.  But we'll do our best to be good stewards over it.  This is definitely HOME SWEET HOME.

Road trip 2012 - That's a wrap!

We traveled home via Pennsylvania-Ohio-Indiana-Illinois-Iowa-Nebraska-Wyoming-Utah.

 

In the middle we took part of a day to see some historic Mormon sights at Carthage and Nauvoo.

 

 

We visited the jail where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother were killed. 

 

Here is the room they were in when the mob attacked.

 

 

Joseph was shot through this window.

 

 

He fell to the ground outside near this well.  I appreciated hearing the service missionaries tell more detail than I previously knew and I'm glad the kids could see and feel the reality of the sacred ground on which we stood.  I am forever grateful to the prophet and all he endured for the Church.

 

 

Here are the kids in front of the (new) Nauvoo Temple.

And, back on the road. We made it to Nebraska and then Wyoming (with all its lovely scenery) before arriving home.

 

 

What will I miss?

 

 

 

The dozens of bridges we saw and crossed.  Plus the hills and the farms and the trees and the rivers. 

 

Playing the role of navigator

 

 

 

 

Happening upon new and exciting cities on the journey

 

 

 

Spontaneous cool stuff, like a crop duster flying right alongside us, passing trucks full of rabbits, or getting out of the van to throw rocks into the Mississippi for fun.

 

 

 

The rare getting-along moments

 

 

Reaching daily mileage goals

 

What can I live without?

Packing the suitcases over and over and over

(although the hard part was Strider's job)

 

Neverending corn crops

 

 

The oft cramped accomodations (both in the vehicle and some hotels)

 

 

 

 

Truthfully, I had withdrawls before we even reached home.  I didn't mind being on the road nearly as much I anticipated.  I easily could have stayed another week!  

 

Only 5 weeks home now and the reminders of the fighting and squabbling and the whining are fading into the distance while the happy parts remain.  Mostly.  Funny how that happens.

 

But overall it was an amazing 19 days of memories and 5400 miles worth of good times!  Thanks for hanging in there through all these posts. 

 

 

 

 

P.S.  My beautiful photo book of the trip arrived today!!

 

P.P.S. This is my 999th blog post :)

Road trip 2012 - Homes & memories

The memories in this state are overwhelming to me. 

 

 

 

After our hot dogs in Altoona we went down the road and stopped at my grandparents' old house.  Oh, I miss them so.  The last time I was with both of them was 1997.  My last two visits to their home were when Pappy died and again after Grammy died.  In fact I had a vivid dream about my grammy just the other night. 

 

Anyhow, this is where my dad and his two brothers grew up.  It's a great house and holds many memories for me.  It looks even more beautiful to me now.  The new owner was very kind and even invited me inside.  I declined (since I was with my whole clan and I was just bawling anyway) but I asked for a photo. 

 

As the oldest kid in my fam, I got lots of chances to come here alone.  Sometimes Grammy and Pappy would come visit in State College and then take me home with them for a night or two.  I drew pictures for her and she hung them next to her bed like they were something special.  She made me whatever I wanted for breakfast the next morning.  We sat on the porch steps or glider and watched bats or lightning bugs.  We walked across the street to the creek just to watch the water or the minnows or the crayfish below.  I love it here.  My kids wanted to jump over the creek wall (I can't believe I didn't get a pic).

 

 

 

 

2012

 

Next special house is in Port Matilda, PA.  We lived here when I was 2-3 and this is where missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints knocked on our door and changed us for eternity.

I don't have old pictures of the front, but here is some blast-from-the-past enjoyment at this house:

1978

 

 

 

 

 

2012

 

My favorite thing here was the old fashioned cellar doors, and they're still in tact!

 

 

 

Back to State College...

We stopped at two more apartments where we lived for short times.  No photos of those but it was nice to show my family.

 

Here is the home I remember most

2012

 The same shot from my 8th b-day party, 1983 (I am crouching behind Sarah Sherry in the yellow shirt and that's my brother David in his pajamas :)

 

This is the home where our basement flooded (repeatedly), where we had a bird in our family room (and as I ran up the stairs, my mom grabbed onto my waist-long hair behind me to catch up!), where I got my brand new pink and green bedroom makeover on my 8th birthday (I left in the morning and came home to a whole new bed and room!), and where my dad accidentally mowed over a rabbit nest, injuring the mother but leaving behind a whole litter of bunnies that we tried to hand-raise!

 

 

Holy Toledo, it was a tiny house!  There's no way it was always that small, was it?...

 

 

 

Well, after reliving all these memories I was a basket case with handfuls of wadded up kleenex.  My sweet hubby just drove wherever I told him to, and my kids constantly wondered if mom was alright. In addition to the homes I lived in, we also went to church in my old ward and saw both my elementary schools.  It was amazing to me that I was able to go back and see these places!