A Place to Land

It's been a long road. A 4.5 month long road, to be exact. But we finally reached the end...

IT'S OUR NEW HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When the husband and I returned from Scotland in August, 2010 we decided to leave the current house we own (and still own) in Katy rented out to the wonderful occupant who had it while we were abroad. She is a great tenant and we weren't sure what our house plans were, so we figured we would rent ourselves. Between us there are four pets - two giant dogs, and two grumpy old cats. By the time we narrowed down some rent houses and tacked on pet fees and monthly payments, it was cheaper to buy. (Katy's housing market is a buyer's market right now.)

So we started looking. Not even two weeks in, we fell in love with the home you see pictured. Everything about it was perfect for us. The location, the culdesac street, the beautiful neighborhood, the gigantic back porch, the fact that it was four-sides brick, all the interior upgrades and the spacious yard for our dogs to run and play. It was also in the prime location we were looking for in Katy and the community pool is within walking distance from the front door. What more can you ask for?

Apparently a lot.

It was a short sale, which if you're at all curious and don't know what that means, just Google it. I shan't explain it one more time because I'm tired of having to relive that horrible nightmare. Let's just say it took an angel's patience, nearly four months and a lot of prayers for this home to come into our ownership.

But today, at approximately 3:29pm, it did.

A lot of things went wrong but enough went right that the entire outcome weighed in our favor. Mike and I are both extremely grateful for God's gift to us - this house is one of those things that come along and it seems too perfect to happen, you know? We also owe a debt of gratitude to our family, who have kept our animals during this extra time aloof and have continually supported and encouraged us along the way. We are also so incredibly blessed to have a set of close friends in the Katy area - who are more like family - that allowed us to live with them since we returned to the States. It made all of this so much more bearable and we have truly treasured our time with their family.

This post may sound pretty emotional for a house to some people, and it is. Mike and I are certainly not homebodies, but we definitely put down roots wherever we go. Even during our year spent in Scotland, we grew accustomed to our neighborhood, our friends and the flat where we lived. We always find a way to make something a bit more "us" and to be comfortable wherever we may be.

But I am happy to report that this weekend will be full of cleaning and painting and moving as we officially begin yet another new chapter in our lives, and find a new place to land. Thanks to everyone for your excitement, your congratulations and your support. We're bringin' it home!

Ugly Sweaters & Christmas Cards

This weekend my husband and I officially kicked off the holiday season by attending our first-ever Tacky Christmas Sweater party! It was quite the riot, some of our friends went all out with some crazy holiday outfits and some wore some truly horrid festive sweaters. All of our stuff is still in storage, not to mention we don't have a lot of holiday sweaters on hand, so we hoofed it up to Walmart and hoped for the best.

We ended up finding some blue "holiday-ish" looking sweaters (pictured above), so we found the appropriate sizes and threw 'em on for the party. I like how our pictures start off all prim and proper...

 ...then we're clearly (or more like I am clearly) a few cocktails in later!

It was fun to see some people for the first time since we left for Scotland, too!

The next day I spent some time recovering from those "few cocktails in" so I didn't get around to starting on our Christmas ornaments or treats yet. But I can't wait to share those with you - they are going to be great! Hopefully later this week I'll get to post the results.

In the meantime, I did get our Christmas cards in and found a cute holiday stamp to plonk on the outside of the envelopes before sending. The photo on the card was taken during our trip to Prague in March of this year. I'll be working on those this evening - some of you will be seeing these in your mailbox soon!

Every year I always wonder what to do with the holiday cards we receive from friends and family. Then on Centsational Girl's blog today she answered my question with some super creative ways to display the festive greetings, so you can enjoy all of them until the New Year comes around.

She also posted additional ideas in last year's Christmas card display craft, which you can find here. I picked out some of my favorites:


Better Homes & Gardens

  

Country Living

 

Martha Stewart



How will you plan to display your holiday greetings?
Any fun parties on the agenda this month?

Drop a line in the comments section and share your latest or a link to your posts!

Sassy and Fluffy

How awesome are these pillows?

All of Alexandra Ferguson's fluffy concoctions are made from 100 percent post consumer recycled felt applique pillows. Each pillow is approximately the equivalent of 4 bottles that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill. Enter to win one of your own at Centsational Girl's blog, and see more of the catchy designs here.

Sweet dreams!

Fire & Lights

The adorable Layla at The Lettered Cottage (whose blog I follow religiously) recently hosted a Christmas mantel linky party on her site, so I've been busy admiring all the pretty fireplaces and holiday decorations from the fantastic bloggers who shared their work.

The husband and I might just have some exciting home news to share soon - so keep your fingers crossed! It could be just in time for me to put up a tree and my own Christmas mantel. The clock is ticking...

For now, however, I have to be satisfied with simply looking. Here's a roundup of some festive mantels that caught my eye, I love the rustic ones so much!



{Centsational Girl}



{Centsational Girl}

{The Lettered Cottage}



{Perfectly Imperfect}



{Pretty Handy Girl}



{Funky Junk Interiors}



{Southern Accents}

How do you plan to decorate your mantel this year? Leave a link to your photos in the comments section! And stay tuned to my weekend blog posts - I'm making Oreo Truffles and some easy peesy keepsake ornaments, including one for a holiday giveaway!

Seven Things

A fellow blogger over at K.D. Today tagged me in her latest post, "Seven Things." The goal is to post seven things about yourself that most people might not know and then pass on the torch to other willing participants! The blogosphere is all about following people through digital window views into their life. It's so interesting to me to see inside people's homes, seen on interior design blogs; or to get a taste of someone's kitchen, akin to the foodie and recipe blogs I love.

My blog seems to circulate around a lifestyle theme - the lifestyle of my husband and I in our beloved state of Texas, living every day to its fullest and partaking in mini-adventures wherever we can find them. (The current adventure being our impending closing on a house that we've been trying to purchase for three months!)

So I'm happy to share my seven things, hoping you'll learn a little bit more about me and that crazy life I lead. :)

1.) I have a huge phobia of sharks, some of my friends and family know this. They petrify me to the core. What many of you may not know, however, is my equivalent fear of growing old and not being able to do things for myself. It's weird and inevitable, I know, but freaks me out nonetheless.

2.) The ages and background of my kitties is not as well-known a fact as the obvious love I have for the whiskered critters. My oldest cat, July, was obtained on the 4th of July at a picnic where kittens were being given away for free. I saw an orange one that reminded me of Garfield and begged my parents to let me get it. When they finally agreed, we went back and the kitten was gone. In it's place was another fluffy baby, who we named July. She is 18 this year, takes thyroid medication twice daily and lives a very satisfied and pampered life. My "younger" cat, Snowball, is about 12 years old and was rescued from a life of hard labor. My parents and I drove to an address that advertised free kittens for a good home. It was an abandoned shack and we finally found the cats living in the mud and dirt underneath the structure. We didn't realize Snowball was pure white until we gave her a bath at home. She had a near-death experience earlier this year while my husband and I were living in Scotland, but has nearly fully recovered and is doing well. The blue-eyed kitty is commonly referred to (often by mistake) as Snowflake, Snowbell or Snowcat. My husband and I sometimes call her "rabbit" due to her inherent likeness to the soft haired creature.

3.) The only time you'll ever catch me wearing the color pink is if it's fingernail polish. Then, and only then, it must be hot pink worn during the summer months. If I ever have a baby girl, I don't know what I'll do about it...

4.)  I am obsessed with Rachael Ray. I consult her recipes often and wish I had all her cooking products, pots, pans, spoons, cookbooks and her show. Love.

5.) When I was really young, I had a respectable collection of books before I'd even learned to read. I simply enjoyed flipping through the pages and admiring the way the words, sentences and paragraphs looked in print. Journalism was obviously a good career call on my part.

6.) I used to have my belly button pierced until I played soccer for ONE semester at the community college I attended for the first half of my degree. I was hit in the stomach with a soccer ball and it busted my piercing, leaving behind a small scar and the inability to have it re-pierced. Reflecting on the weight gain I've incurred since my athletic years, it's probably for the best.

7.) Sometimes I think I should have been a sociology major and become a life coach. It's still of great interest to me and perhaps one day I'll accommodate a second career.

That's all about me, folks! What about you? Make a post revealing seven things about yourself, then leave the link in the comments section below.