how our house became our home

Hello there!  I am so excited.  There are no more boxes on the first floor of my house.  Everything is unpacked! Yay. I will post pictures but right now I am being lazy.  Although, if I load pictures, I will have time to read the book I have been reading for the past month.  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson started out slow but is picking up speed now and I am really into it now.  Anyway...

Back to the house.  Because I have not blogged in a while, I want to tell the story of how our house became our house.  It really isn't a long story but it shows how things just work out in Seth's and my life.  Even if we fight it.  You'll see what I mean in a second.

So the first or second house hunting trip, we were looking at the neighborhood we currently reside in.  It was one of my favorites because it had trees (a plus) and it wasn't flat (I am all about interesting landscape). Our realtor took us to a house that is down the street from our house.  We got out of the car and I looked around.  I wasn't too thrilled with that house's location because it was right at the T in the road.  But I looked down the street and fell in love with another house.  Why? It was different than the others.  It had red bricks that had chunky cement in between (I know that doesn't sound appealing but it really looks neat).  It also had red window frames and black shutters.  Red window frames.  If you know me, you know I am all about the unique touches of a home (hello? Turquoise bathroom anyone?).  I told Seth, "Look at that house.  Too bad it is not on the market.  I love the outside!

A couple of weeks later, Seth called me and told me he looked at some houses with his realtor and nothing really was great except one.  He said, "Remember that red and black windows house?"

It was meant to be.

Except, I balked. 

Seth really liked the house.  He said it was a custom build so it had a lot of special touches throughout the home.  He said it had a good-sized backyard.  It was two-story, which the boys really wanted. Ect. Ect.

That weekend we went house hunting again.  And we looked at the house.  And I did like it.  Then we went to another house in another neighborhood.  This neighborhood had big, huge trees and lots of hills.  It had beautiful houses that were older and I loved them.  I started thinking of all we could do with these houses. 

Seth kept coming back to the red and black windows house.  This house had a neighborhood pool he said.  This way we could be near kids for Rhett and Noah. 

We looked at red and black windows house three times.  Each time I secretly loved it more.  Secretly because I was afraid we wouldn't get it so I didn't even want to try.  Isn't that silly? 

All those other houses were great.  But red and black windows house fit us.  And now that we are in it, I love it as much as you are supposed to love your home.  I can see ourselves here for many, many years.  Down the street are a whole mess of boys and a few girls that Rhett and Noah have already started playing with. I am so glad Seth didn't give up trying to talk me into it.

It really was meant to be.

Like I said, this has happened before.  When we moved to Edmond, I said, "I really want a magnolia tree in our yard."  Just a simple request.  They were everywhere in Edmond so I thought that would be an easy request.  Only one house we looked at had a magnolia tree in the yard.  And that house is the one we ended up buying.  (that probably isn't as good as the story above but I just wanted to drive home my point).

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend.  We are having guests, so I need to finish cleaning.  Talk to you later!

what is the meaning of this?

Rhett and Noah found an old baby name book in the many piles of things I have been dragging out of boxes.  Noah wants to look up his name and so we find it. 

Noah:  What does Heb brew mean?
me: It is Hebrew.  It is where the name was derived from.
Noah: ?
me: Well, your name came from the bible.  That is a very old language.
Noah: Oh.
me: It says here your name means peaceful and restful.
Noah: What?
me: Peaceful and restful.
Noah: Aww! I am not peaceful or restful!
me: No, you really aren't.
Noah: I guess I might need a new name....Wait, what does Lee mean?
me: Meadow. My middle name is Leigh too so I know.
Noah: Meadow?

Then I look it up.

me: It also means plum.  So you are a peaceful meadow or a restful plum!

Noah then gives me the look which means I took it too far, even if I didn't.  Fun is over, I go back to my dishes.

A few minutes later...

Noah: Hey! My new name can be Gib!  It means powerful. 

Because being powerful beats being peaceful anyday, at least according to Gib.

its the best of both worlds

I am still surrounded by boxes, but half of them are filled with just paper and some are broken down so that is good.  I tackled the laundry room today and boy, I didn't like doing that.  Actually, none of this has been fun except when I discover that I have more room in this house so I don't have to stuff things into a tiny space.  So yay for that.  And boo for unpacking.  And boo for the humidity because my sons do not want to do anything but watch tv.  They are learning all the songs from Hannah Montana and I actually have always enjoyed the Disney Channel (way back when there was The New Mickey Mouse Club and someone on it looked a little like me-to myself anyway) so I don't mind the shows. 

But I think within a few days all the boxes will be unpacked and we can start living in our house like we should. Then maybe the boys and I can go explore all that Tulsa has to offer.  The aquarium, the zoo (maybe really early in the morning?), the space center, ect.  I hope so.  Summer is flying by...

Well, back to it! 

almost too tired to type this

Hi.  I just wanted to pop in and say, well, hi.  We are here in our new home surrounded by many, many boxes.  It is a little overwhelming and I just don't know where to begin.  I start cleaning the kitchen and then don't know where to put things yet so I move on to the boys' bedrooms only to be reminded that I have to paint before putting their things away.  I love our new house so much but I have to admit that it is the messiest home I have ever moved into.  Dirty everywhere.  All the walls need a new coat of paint but if you know me, then you know I am excited about that. Since Rhett said he would have the "pink" room, I told him he will have the first redo.  I really thought I would get it painted right away (I mean right away) but didn't think about how exhausted I would be. So worn out.  Then Rhett got a sinus infection and we had to spend time finding a doctor and going to the doctor, ect.  The good news is that I think I could live here the rest of my life and not ever have to go furthur than 10 minutes away from home for anything we need.  It takes 2 minutes to get to Target.  It took 3 to get to the doctor.  The mall is just up the road a bit and if I ever want a new car, their are dealers right by Target. We live in the neighborhood right behind the movie theater.  It really is awesome. 

Well, I am done eating lunch so I guess I better go do something.  I guess we can't live much longer surrounded by boxes except I have to say that it certaintly makes you wonder why we need so much stuff. 

Have a great weekend.  We are unpacking.  What about you?

random post while waiting to move

The movers were supposed to come today, but changed it to tomorrow.  So here I am, fighting a cold (of course), eating pretzel M&Ms (so yummy!) and taking a break from everything else to bring you my last blog before the big move.  I don't have anything profound to say because I am too tired to get emotional about leaving a place that we have lived longer than any other place since we got married.  And really, it was only 4 years, so it wasn't even that long!  Ha! Ha! 

Instead I will say that my dad was appalled (appalled I tell you) that I could write such a lengthy and intellectual post about a tv show and still not have read the many books he lent me about The Civil War.  (And Brother, he was just as appalled at you for watching this show too, so you aren't off the hook!)  I told him, jokingly, that  if The Civil War was as interesting as an island with mysteries, then I would be reading those books.  Seriously, though, I was overwhelmed.  So what did my dad do?  He gave me another book about the Civil War.  And I have started reading it.  And I love it!  Yay.

You see, I asked Dad a question about why people in the South call the Civil War, The War Between States. The book he let me borrow is all about the South's attitude toward the war they lost.  Confederates in the Attic follows the author, Tony Horwitz's adventure for places and people who still speak as "though [their] kinsmen died yesterday, not 130 years ago."  It is hilarious and interesting and disturbing all at the same time.  What is most disturbing is that children in the Children of the Confederacy, are being taught to hate Yankees.  Or maybe it is that some parents register their babies at birth to become the youngest child registered in their division of the C. of C. 

I still am not even half-way through the book but I am glad I have it during this stressful week. 

Well, I better get back to it.  I will update when we are moved into our new home and have internet access.  Till then, adios and have a great June!