Progress

We are nearing the month mark of living in this new house of ours and it finally feels like we are nearing the end of a chapter titled, "Unpacking".  The only thing that's been motivating me is the fact that this will not happen again for a very, very long time!  Every box I move out of here, every item I find a perfect home for is one step closer to being settled and we haven't felt settled in quite some time!  Moving in for us was like a domino effect of sorts.  The first domino that had to fall was getting through the hundreds of boxes we had the moving company just stack in towers in our basement.  This had to happen first for a few reasons.  First, we extended the large dumpster in our front yard for a couple of weeks, giving us lots of space to weed and dump.  Second, we discovered the basement floor was still quite dirty and we were making tracks on our wood floors every time we went downstairs.  And third, well, we needed to get through the boxes in order to find some important things that were missing!  We didn't have silverware for two weeks, we still haven't discovered the blender, and Cruz always seemed to request a long lost toy we had yet to uncover!  Typical kid, all the toys in the world unpacked and he was looking for THE ONE thing we hadn't found yet.  And they don't forget, let me tell you.  So, domino 1: the boxes; domino 2, a good basement cleaning.  Beau built an extensive shelving unit in our storage room, and I reorganized rubber maids, started a garage sale "room", and we stayed up super late one night mopping and re-mopping the basement.  It was a huge project completed and now Cruz and Mila have ample space to run, ride bikes, and throw a frisbee when it's too cold to play outside. :)

My Spring Break week involved domino 3, re-organizing, cleaning, and weeding the main floor now that everything was identified with a home.  I made several Target runs for organizational things (I should buy stock in baskets), and very slowly made some progress, room by room by room.  Window coverings were installed, our dining table was delivered, and I started adding a few touches here and there to make it all feel a bit homier.  Now that my canvas is clean (except those windows, which are going to be a beast), I can start with domino 4, decorating and personalizing each space.  This, of course, is what I've looked forward to, however, I want to be mindful of decisions and I know that all takes time and patience.  Our living room furniture gets delivered today and I can't wait to accent with lamp light and pretty colors very soon.

Moving into our house was not as I pictured it to be.  I guess things felt in flux so much prior to moving day that I assumed it would magically all go away when we stepped foot into our new home.  But I'm realizing more and more that a home is different from a house and must be cultivated and established over time.  Every simple routine - unpacking groceries, throwing in a load of laundry, warming up a bottle of milk, is feeling more and more like home every day we're here.  It's like your favorite pair of jeans - stiff at first, but worn in over time.  

Some pictures of our progress.  I told Wade I wanted lots of great camera light - turns out it's quite photogenic.