We Moved!

We said goodbye to Cedarhill on Saturday and as expected it was very bittersweet.  It was where we became a family and truly a house that we made a home.  Tears were certainly shed but there was also so much excitement and anticipation for what was ahead. 

We had to battle a little bit of rain when our crap belongings arrived, but I was in my glory with the movers.  Directing their every move and not once did someone give me $hit about it.  I can only imagine how many arguments and yelling there would have been if I was directing Billy and the rest of the men in our families.  Tony the Mover, you are being thanked by many.

 And speaking of thanks, Billy and I were fortunate that Jocelyn offered to spend the afternoon with the kids on Friday and that the grandparents took Lauren and William from Friday night to Sunday afternoon.  We still have so much work ahead, but we felt we really took advantage of our weekend without them to get the house ready.

 By the time they arrived their rooms were put together and they were so excited.  And in disbelief that we could bring our furniture with us.  I wish I had more pictures of them running through the house and exploring, but my camera was dead and it took me a day to find the charger.  

It didn't take me long though to dive into my closet.  Billy discovered me and said, "of course you would be doing this."  To those who know me well, would you think this would go any other way?  Organizing a closet may be low priority to most, but to me it was a sense of peace in the middle of chaos.  Everything is in one place, I'm in heaven.  In fact, all the kids closets, pantry and linen closet were all completed before we moved in.

 We took a walk on our first night together to the end of the street.  Our street is two blocks long and this is at the end.  This gorgeous little spot, complete with a little bench too!

XOXO

Aubrey

Look Who Popped The Question...

My brother in law Brandon proposed to his amazing girlfriend Christine a few Saturdays ago and we were all lucky to be a part of it.  

Brandon and Christine's first date was spent watching Billy perform at GO Comedy and Brandon worked a little magic with the staff and made a surprise engagement happen at the end of the show.

 Most of Christine's family was there, as was Brandon's but she just thought everyone was coming to watch Billy.  I thought for sure she had to have known, but she was clueless. I was nervous the entire show, so I can only imagine just how nervous Brandon was?!?  But you couldn't tell, it went off without a hitch!

 Grandpa Bill videotaped the whole thing...I'll warn you that it is a bit lengthly and audio is soft, but still worth the watch (even if you forward to the end)

Can't wait to have another wedding in the family!

XOXO

Aubrey

Master Bedroom: Before and Progress

We've set a move in date and in just a little over a week we will be packed up and ready for the big truck to come and take our stuff!  I'm so excited, but holy moly is there a lot of work to get done.

I thought I'd share the master bedroom's before photos and the little progress we made before the floors were refinished.  Take a look at that carpet?  Yes folks, that is green shag carpeting!  Removing that was no easy task, the padding was practically disintegrating as we rolled it up.  So gross! 

Those double doors open up to my new closet.  And yes, it will be all mine.  I can't tell you how excited I am to have all my clothes in MY room.  That bathroom that you can see below will be ours and connects to a fourth bedroom which will be used as Billy's office and his closet.  The perfect set up for us!

Another little feature we loved was the attached screened in porch off the master.  It needs some TLC and fresh decor...more green carpet, only this time it's indoor/outdoor:)

Here is the room post green shag...the floors needed a lot of work.  Our contractor thought that at some point someone tried to finish just the edges, maybe around an area rug.

And here are the floors pre-stain.  They looked brand new!  The finished product will be done tomorrow and we should get to see by Sunday.  I can't wait.

Meanwhile, I've been packing and picking paint colors.  As soon as the floors are done, our painter moves in.  Decisions, decisions.

 And then in between all of that, I managed to squeeze in a little fun for the kids at the pool.  It's been hot, hot, hot here all week and we finally got a chance to get out and cool off!

XOXO

Aubrey

Last Call

Boxes are slowly getting packed up, and I actually found one box that was never unpacked from our previous house.  My margarita set.  Funny too, because I love me some margs.  Packing up your whole life is so time consuming, not to mention stressful with my two loves joining me at every step.  My attempt at packing this morning was stopped every few minutes by fighting, crying or the every popular "I'm hungry."

We've tried to balance a Saturday of packing with a Sunday at the pool or a morning of tv while I pack followed by an afternoon at the park.  And a visit to the park last week got me thinking about what we'll be saying goodbye too.  So much thought has gone into where we are going that it's hard to savour what we're leaving. 

Our little park was our favorite summer spot last year.  We became besties with our neighbors around the block and did everything from picnics, water ballons, and even a very lame attempt an at Olympic obstacle course at this very special park.  

I even caught myself saying "this could be our last visit"...though our official move date is still TBD.  I'd love to make a little bucket list for the things I'd like to revisit or visit before we move, but our move is only taking us thirty minutes from here.  The restaurants and farmers market will always be the same and will give us a good excuse to come back.  

It's the people we will miss.  I've made some great friends through my kids and as much as I'm thrilled to be moving close to all my BFF's, it's still hard to say goodbye.  We've got a few more weeks and while there isn't a bucket list, we're trying to make for friends in between packing.

XOXO

Aubrey

Living Room: Before and Progress

We completed our first project at the new house over the weekend.  Ripping out over 2000 sq/ft of carpet.  It was a lot of work, but will be well worth the effort once we see our soon to be refinished hardwood floors.  I thought I'd share some of the before and the progress we've made in our living room.  

This was the living room before we took possession.

These built-ins are a feature in many homes in the area and one that was on "the would love to have list." This view looks into the sitting room/den.  We have decided to use the living room as our family room.  It is a big  room and felt it would be wasted space if we used it as a traditional formal living room.  

And here is the progress of the space.  It already seems like a big improvement, but the refinished floors and fresh paint will really make the space feel crisp and new.

 This is the other side of the room, looking toward the front of the house.  And yes, that is my reflection in that FLOOR TO CEILING mirror.  Lucky us, its sister is in the dining room.  As much as they need to go, they are thin mirrors...tempting to keep.  But no.

(My mom actually purchased the chairs from the estate sale the homeowners had.  I love them too, so we're fighting deciding about who gets to keep them)

Lastly, we ripped out the marble that surrounded the fireplace.  It wasn't our style and was covering some of the hardwood flooring.  The fireplace wasn't a project we were going to tackle right away, but we could see that the original tile was underneath.  We thought if it could be salvaged, we needed to do it now before the floors were refinished.  The problem is that the exposed brick is in bad shape, so the plan is to meet with a tile guy and see what our options are.  

I hope you enjoyed this little update and plan to show a few more of these as we make progress!

XOXO

Aubrey

We Bought A House!

Yes, it happened!  We bought a house!  

I've been keeping it secret in the blog world for a little bit because this entire process has been more than we ever thought it would be.  Just like finding that perfect wedding dress, we knew immediately that this was our house.  There had been others we liked, even one we loved, but this has so much of what we wanted.

We thought we wanted a more move in ready house, but after seeing so many homes that were updated but had things that "we'd do differently" we came to the conclusion that we'd rather make it our own, as long as it had good bones.  This house has good bones, but needs some TLC and a little vision!

I can't wait to share so many before and afters!!

PS - Happy Fourth of July!!! Have fun celebrating...we'll be ripping out carpet most of the day:)

XOXO

Aubrey

The Highlights

I've taken quite the blog break which I've felt so guilty about because I love taking this time just for me, but the last couple of weeks have just been busy.  Some fun, some just day to day business, some big stuff to share soon...and then at the end of the day, I just want to sit on the couch and veg.  My hat goes off to all those serious blogger mom's who seem to have the time for it all.  Here are a few highlights from the last couple of weeks!

Cousins

We were visited by our new cousins for a few weeks and had so much fun getting reacquainted.  Luke and Olivia are just the sweetest kids.  Lauren and Olivia were instant best friends when they met in December and were inseparable during this visit as well.

Fish Fly Festival

If you live in Southeastern Michigan (even parts of Ohio, I'm told) than you know what a fish fly is.  A gross looking flying bug that appears toward the end of June, appearing from the lake and in droves during the night hours.  Apparently, there is a festival named in its honor.  We went.

A typical carnival, but such a fun night with the family!  There were rides, people watching, and glitter tattoos:)

Eight Year Anniversary
We weren't able to be together on our actual anniversary and with our special guests visiting we celebrated early.  Billy planned a special night out for us.  We enjoyed an al fresco dinner and our first table side caesar salad.  We then ventured to another venue for dessert and ended our night at a local tiki bar!  Happy Eight Year Anniversary!!

Fireworks

Lauren hadn't seen a real fireworks show since she was a baby, and Wills had never seen one.  We joined my mom and her friends last weekend for a spectacular fireworks display on the lake.  Emma joined us and the kids had a blast.  My actual fireworks pics came out horribly, but Jocelyn grabbed this cute one before it got dark.  If we are in town next year, this is a summer must!

XOXO

Aubrey