NO INTERNET!!

So, all I have to say is, "AAAAaaaaRRRRGGGHHHHUUUGGGHHH!!!" (FYI: That's me throwing my hands up, screaming in frustration)

I have been without internet at our new house for two weeks.  TWO WEEKS! When you make money by selling jewelry and other items online, TWO WEEKS without the internet is like two years. Even as I write this, we still do not have the internet, but I am fortunate to be able to use the internet at Scott's mom's (Gran) house when I drive over.

The Comcast guy came today to install our cable and internet, and I was so impatient awaiting his arrival (from excitement). Unfortunately, about thirty seconds into his visit, he said that he was pretty sure we are unable to hook up hi-speed internet or cable, because of how far out we live. He measured the yard with this little wheel counter thing, made a quick call, and said his technician would have to come back tomorrow and do his own measuring or something along those lines. Ultimately, the only thing I heard was that he would not be connecting my internet today. I think I could have cried.

I don't know why, but lately I have been lacking in the motivation department. Motivation to finish unpacking, motivation to paint, motivation to make jewelry... pretty much no motivation to do anything at all. I think it has to do with the medication I'm taking to keep me awake, because it is not strong enough to really do that effectively. Fortunately, tomorrow my new prescription will be arriving in the mail, and it will be for a brand new drug to try to keep me awake. I'm praying wholeheartedly that it helps bring me back to normal! I'm ready to be awake again, and motivated to be CREATIVE and PRODUCTIVE!

New news!!  I'm going to be having a tiny little surgery in a few weeks.  Nothing major, just a laproscopy through my belly button to snoop around in my belly and I'm having my bladder stretched to try to limit the pain from my Interstitial Cystitis, a painful bladder syndrome. The good news is I've had this surgery before, in 2004. I've actually had my bladder stretched in 2004, 2006, 2009, and now in 2012, and it only takes a day or so to get over the effects of surgery. The bad news is I'm having the laproscopy again, and this keeps me down for a few more days after surgery, but at least I'll be at home! 

Most people have anxiety about surgery. Me, I actually look forward to it (or I have so far...).  There's this moment when they have you hooked up to the IV and they say something to the effect os, "Now you're going to go to sleep, and we'll see you when you wake up." and every time I try my hardest to stay awake, but you just can't beat that feeling with you literally feel like you are sinking off to sleep. Then, "BAM!" this strange nurse is standing over you, trying to wake you up, as she tells you that surgery is over and everything is fine. And that's the point where I always lose all control and start talking out of my head from the medication. We're not even going to get into what all I've said during this part!

So, nothing major, just a minor surgery. And I think that's about it. We're moved. Still unpacking. Not quite organized, but I'm on the road there. Living in a tiny home with a lazy chihuahua and a feisty cat. Trying to figure out what to do next. Talk to you next time!

We're Finally ALMOST Settled!

Over the past two weeks, Scott and I have packed up one house, moved almost two hours away from my hometown, and half-unpacked into our much smaller new house. To me, no matter where you live, it's always called your "house." Whether you live in a brick house, a mobile home, a travel trailer, or a tent, I always refer to it as your "home." So to be clear and honest, we moved to my new house, which is actually a teeny tiny 2 bedroom mobile home.

When the idea to downsize was first thrown around, the only thing I was throwing was a tantrum or a hissy fit. I did NOT want to downsize, and I did NOT want to live in a tiny mobile home. I, for one do not have an issue with living in a mobile home, as I've already lived in two myself. The real issue I have is the way mobile homes somehow manage to not allow you to really do much cute decorating. They are all pre-made with flower wallpaper in the kitchen and paisley in the bathroom and some speckle kind in the bedrooms and den. Lovely, yet totally not the cutest in the world. And in this world of mansions on pinterest, I wanted our new place to be one where I could make the cutest decorations and craft my way to an awesome house. Unfortunately, I've been unable to make my paintings match the flower wallpaper in the kitchen (I think I may paint over it in the near future) as of yet.

Once I gave in to the actual "idea" of moving and I agreed to move to this tiny place, I felt my anxiety rise daily. We lived in a three bedroom, two bath house and we were already bursting at the seams! How was I going to downsize my precious things? Well, even now I really can't tell you how I did it, but I know that I did give away a LOT of my things and clothes, but I can also lend you the keys to the TWO storage places we rented to hold all of OUR junk we refused to part with. The plan is to continue to unpack and rid ourselves of even more junk, and hopefully we can downsize further to only  have one storage unit. 

Then, moving weekend(s) came and went and I moseyed around the house packing this and that. The final moving weekend came and we were down to crunch time, and I didn't have nearly enough packed. Needless to say, things were thrown into boxes, a million trips were made to drop off boxes, empty most of them, only to bring them back and refill them again with more stuff. And when you're emptying boxes in a hurry, you kind of fling it here and there just to get it out. And Scott was my not so neat flinger.  

Once most of the stuff was moved out of our old house, my mom drove to our new house with a load of stuff to help us out. When she got back, she explained that our house was extremely messy and that they just had to dump things out of boxes to get them to re-use, so I shouldn't freak out when I finally go to it. I prepared myself for WWII and that's pretty much what I got. I couldn't get the mile high pile of clothes on the couch into the closet, because I couldn't even get to the closet for the boxes and piles of stuff on the way and blocking the door. It was like walking into a Hoarder's Hell. Boxes and junk piled higher than me. And this was where I was going to live. 

Needless to say, my crippling anxiety about the situation and Scott's mother graciously allowing us to stay with her for a few days to escape allowed me to determinely unpack one box at a time. It was like, "One down, a million more to go." Slowly, I started to see a little progress. Then a little more. Now, I'm happy to say that I'm fully stretched out in my living room floor typing this, and if I look ahead, I can only see one half empty box (now we're not going to look behind me...) I still have several good days worth of unpacking, sorting, throwing out, and organizing to do, but hopefully we will knock out a lot of that this weekend.

Last weekend, Scott helped me clean out one whole side of his mother's shed, and that is going to be my new workspace! (I am SO so excited about having an "office" away from home.) My fingers were getting antsy to create something, so I made a napkin holder and a jewelry box in about an hour just to get my feet wet a little! I will finally have a place to use my tools and to get away from the house for a little while! I am really anxious to have this house unpacked and just to focus on what the day brings.

All in all, my house doesn't look so tiny. I've seen it empty, I've seen it filled to the ceiling, and now I'm watching it unfold into a real home. I'm glad we downsized, because I was able to rid myself of a lot of useless clutter, and we both needed to do that!  Would I do packing differently and start earlier? Of course. But this move was needed, and we're closer to the kids and Scott's work. He gets home earlier, and I have him with me earlier, which we both enjoy. Downsizing is scary and it still makes me cringe... but I'm learning that sometimes it's for the best and a great way to have a fresh start. We won't live here forever, and we're not sure how long we will stay here, but for now, this is home.

Still Unpacking!!

Yes, ANOTHER Unpacking post.  I promise, only one or two more, because TA-DA... I'm actually making progress in our new place! We're not quite ready to move in, but I'm not at the point where I want to run crying in the other direction. And trust me, I was ALMOST there. Unpack Week #1= SUCCESS!

Today, Scott is going to help me move a few heavier items in between the kiddo's ball games and playing outside with them. I just need a few "Manly Muscles" to move two bookshelves, because my puny little arms aren't budging them.

I took a picture on my phone the first day I walked in, and I took another one last night. Luckily, there was significant improvement, and I'm thankful that God has given me determination and patience to tackle each box one at a time. That's kind of difficult for me, because I get distracted so easily!

Anyway, week #1 went well... now pray for week #2 to go just as wonderful! 

So I Keep On Unpacking...

As I saw on a fellow facebook friend's status, "I think I can, I think I can." Unpack our gazillion boxes, that is. I wrote yesterday morning about how many boxes there are and how it looked like a hoarders house right now with so many boxes, and it was really like that. (See, I said "was".) Well, now it looks like half a hoarders house... because I cleared quite a few boxes of junk out yesterday. That means my method of decluttering before we moved was only half successful. Let's just say that FEMA isn't considering moving in anymore, but we may could still qualify for OCD hoarders if they were desperate for participants.

I've really had to learn how to throw things out and now feel that nagging guilty feeling.  You know the one where you find things that you KNOW other people would like, and you PROMISE that if you keep it you will get it to them, but you also KNOW that it will just sit in your floor for the next two years until you finally throw it away when you should have done that in the first place. And I would rather donate "things" and "clothes" to an actual shelter than to goodwill, because at the shelter those people don't have to pay for them. And Goodwill has some steep prices for other people's stuff sometimes, which I find repulsive, because it was GIVEN to them in the first place. And aren't they supposed to be helping people? They have shirts for $4.99...  A LOT of people are shopping there, because they can't affort to pay $4.99 a shirt. G-O-O-D-W-I-L-L... hence the name.

There's a homeless shelter around Prattville, and they meet once a month to distribute clothing and items to those in need. My mom and brother, Micah, decided to go work there one Saturday, and they have been collecting clothing to carry back since! They said there wasn't nearly enough clothing to go around to keep people warm, and these were real families like we all have! Imagine if your child was freezing cold and someone handed you a jacket their own child had just grown out of... what a blessing that would be! So, please remember the homeless families who have been struck hard by the devastation of our economy and misfortune, and when you do your spring cleaning on your closet and the closets of your family members, remember to bring those clothes that you don't wear to those who will. For more information, please contact me through my facebook page by clicking on the link below.

www.facebook.com/makeupandmudboutique



Just Breaks My Heart!

On to my next subject:

Today I have a BIG goal, and I'm almost hesitant to write it, because what if it's like a birthday wish? Like if I actually say it out loud or in this case, write it to the world (or my 5 blog followers in this situation), then what if it doesn't come true, because I "told someone?" Oh well, here goes:

Today I want to unpack enough boxes, organize enough junk, throw out enough old stuff, and rearrange neatly enough so we can spend tomorrow night in our new place.

Notice how I wrote the black words on top of BRIGHT yellow? Well, Yellow is supposed to be a "stimulating" color, instilling optimism and energy and it has been said to "carry the promise of a positive future."  Now that may just be a lot of junk, but I'll take what I can get... anything to "stimulate" me to get ahold of my BIG load of junk in our house.

Have you ever downsized? Magazines and specialists say that if people effectively downsize and rid themselved of things that do not bring joy to their life, they can live much more happily than the person in a 3000 square foot house with plenty of room to hold those meaningless items. I do believe that I do better if I have less choices. Like when half of my craft supplies were packed, I made a LOT more progress actually, because my choices were limited and I had only a few things to work with, therefore the time I would have spend pondering over what to make was practically eliminated. I have either A or B, not ABCDEFGHIJKL to choose from.

In this new place, I want to be organized and I want it to look CHEERFUL, COMFORTABLE, and WELCOMING. I want people to walk in and feel like they're right at home and not have to step over boxes or see my latest paint creation drying on the coffee table.

On a good note, Scott's mother, Dianne, has so gratiously allowed me to use half of her outside shed as my "workstation" to sand and paint, create and embellish, and I can't wait! I'm excited about getting my shelves in there and organizing my craft glass to paint and sanding on my jewelry boxes to make them beautiful.

I'm going to adjust, but it will take a while. 

We're Moved Out... But Not In!

NONE of these pictures were taken by me or of my house. They were downloaded from the internet search.

Well, after a while of hearing me gripe and moan about packing and moving and packing and packing... we're finally OUT of our house. Now, notice that I did not say that we are moved INTO our new house, yet. Currently, I'm writing as I sit in the middle of Scott's mom's king size bed, because we had to stay the night with her last night... and probably tonight too. Thankfully she allowed my parade of pets to stay here too as long as they stayed in the bedroom.

Did I mention that when we moved, we also downsized. A LOT! I mean, we went from a from a 3 bedroon, 2 bath, walk in closet, decent sized laundry room, about a 1400 square foot house to a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, teeny tiny closet, walk-by laundry room (as you walk down the hall, about 800 square feet at the most. It's like a minature model home.  I keep telling myself that we're just here until we save more money and get my medical bills and stuff more affordable. That's what I Say over and over.

We moved here to live closer to Scott's kids, so we could attend school and sport activities much easier. We were living about 2 hours from them, now we're 20 minutes. So that should tell you that we moved 2 hours away from home. My home anyway. Needless to say, I spent most of the day yesterday bawling my eyes out because I had to leave my family and friends. But, I will see my family and frends the same amount of time as I did when I lived in Tallassee, because no one really drove that far very often either.

Our family and our marriage needed this move and the extra time it will give us to spend together by cutting down on driving time. It's for the best, but I'm having a rough time adjusting during this time of transition while we're moved out, but not moved in.

The last few days were really hectic, so we moved things without having the time to go through them. And as you can imagine, I've accumulated a LOT of craft supplies in our old house, and guess where they are... in our tiny new living room. It looks like a moving company came and threw up boxes all over our house and turned it into a hoarders space. I can't put anything on the couch, because all of our hanging clothes are on there and I can't get to the closet to put them in, because so many boxes and bins are in the way. It is totally suffocating, and I would give anything for a professional organizer to come in and help me.

But with that not being an option, I'm about to set out in my Alabama Pajama Pants, Old gym t-shirt, and my just woke up Bruno Mars hairstyle (because we didn't pack any more clothes and mine are buried on our couch), and I'm praying for a miracle as I go sift through and unpack. I'm not kidding, I actually said a prayer this morning that God would help me today and give me guidance, patience, and the perseverence to keep unpacking and not quit when I'm exhausted... It's that serious.

I would love to make enough progress that  could actually stay there tonight with Scott... please say that same prayer for me. PLEASE!