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Move-In Day 1.28.2022

It’s been a year since we broke ground and we finally moved in over the weekend. I’ll always remember 2021 as the year we spent building our home and anticipating the completion and move in day. We experienced several delays due to supply chain issues, (hello pandemic), and limited staffing that made the year seem like the longest ever.

I’m happy to have 2021 and the build process behind us and even happier to have my family and I getting settled into our new home. It’s a remarkable feeling looking around at every detail knowing how everything was built and from what started as an idea on paper.  To see your dream and design come to life is truly a rewarding experience.  Now that we are here, the unpacking and organizing begins! We have SO.MUCH.STUFF. It’s a little daunting seeing how much stuff a household can accumulate over the years. Currently, our garage and shop are full of boxes. It will take us a while to get everything unpacked and organized. For now, I am focused on unpacking and organizing the essentials.

I took a week off work to unpack and organize and I’m dedicating each day to one of these areas, and will unpack the rest later. I felt these five areas were the most important for my family and household to have access to right away and feel a bit of normalcy once again.

Here’s how I’m spending my week-long staycation:

  • Move In Day: Bedding
  • Move In Day: Bathrooms
  • Next Day: Kitchen and Kids Play Room
  • Day 1 of Vacation: Pantry (check!)
  • Day 2 of Vacation: Master Closet
  • Day 3 of Vacation: Home Office
  • Day 4 of Vacation: Kids Closets
  • Day 5 of Vacation: Goodwill run to drop off donations

We also cooked our first meal on the Ilve- bolognese. Oh how we’ve missed cooking on a gas range. The kids and I also baked cookies for an after dinner treat, and cookies are Baron’s favorite thing.

We have a long way to go to get everything unpacked and fully settled, but I am just so thankful to be in our forever home!

 

Here are a couple of kitchen photos from the day before move-in. The appliance panels were the last items to be installed, literally at the eleventh hour. Despite the major delay and previous mistake on the refrigerator panels, I’m really pleased with how they turned out!

 

 

Full home photo tour coming soon!

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January is one of my favorite times to slow down, especially after the holiday festivities and travel has halted.

When the tree and holiday decor has been taken down, I start to get excited for simplicity and fresh inspiration in my home. There’s a moment at the beginning of each year after the decorations have been packed away where the house feels a little bare, but I like to look at it as an opportunity to approach our home with fresh eyes.

For me, the tools for this reset begin with the senses—sounds, smells, colors and textures. I love to burn a new candle, add greenery and start looking for the places in my home where I can clear clutter, incorporate new colors and add life.  I’ve opted to embrace change in simple ways this month. For example, restyling my entryway with new greenery, burning a fresh scented candle or doing a sage cleanse, and tackling a space I’ve been avoiding in our home, like the garage, workshop, and closets!

Here’s the entryway restyled. I added the potted eucalyptus, faux succulent and this tiny vase. Two seagrass baskets below finishes off the look adds additional storage for throws and pillows.

I’m obsessed with wall pockets lately. They will be everywhere in the home this year – just watch.

I love having a fireplace mantel to decorate. Here’s the family room mantel restyled. I love it so much more without all the Christmas decor. A new mirror and some touches of greenery brings out a bit of softness to an otherwise masculine feeling space. This space, by the way has been repurposed into Jonah’s game room.

The month of January wouldn’t be complete without looking back at the goals I set for myself in 2018 -I’ve listed my 2018 goals down here to if you don’t feel like clicking on the link above:

  • Home & Garden: Plant and grow new flowers, trees, and install a vegetable garden, change the front door – CHECK! (minus changing the front door)
  • Travel: Save for our 10 year anniversary trip (Aulani, June 2018) – CHECK!
  • Invest in a new business – Our beach cabin – CHECK!
  • Get my real estate license. – Did not pursue. Reevaluate…

For 2019, I have taken my time to think more about intensions for the moment and still set goals for the year. I like to combine both and think they complement each other. As TED states, ‘Goals are focused on the future. Intentions are in the present moment. Goals are a destination or specific achievement. Intentions are lived each day, independent of reaching the goal or destination.’  

My intentions for 2019

  • Create beautiful and functioning spaces for each member of the family for a whole happy home. This includes my ongoing process of organizing, rearranging, decorating, and repurposing spaces and items.  {Side note: I’ve continued to implement the Konmari Method in my home and personal life since I read Marie Kondo’s book about 6 years ago. Her new Netflix series is a good refresher and reminder that tidying up is really all about a state of mind and how you go about making those changes and making it an ongoing process.}
  • Dedicate Sundays to Self-Care. This includes all things wellness; skincare, aromatherapy, cleanses, baths and my ongoing love affair with hygge.
  • For my family: potty training daily with Baron, preschool research and planning for Baron. Nurturing both kids’ interests and balancing time for Jonah’s activities.
  • Live my best life and final year of my 30s!

My goals for 2019

  • Plan, plot and cultivate a flower garden – Spring 2019
  • Remodel the kitchen – Spring 2019
  • Travel throughout Texas: San Antonio, Gulf Coast, Marfa – Summer 2019. There is so much to see and experience in this great massive state.
  • Rent out the beach cabin.
  • Plan my 40th birthday trip (Fall 2019)
  • Build our forever home/dream home (2019-2020)

I love this time in January as opportunity to slow down, reset and embrace the clean slate of a new season. I am approaching this year with pause, purpose and intention. Happy end of January!

What are some goals or intensions you have set for yourself in the new year?

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There is just something about a clean slate. I love the idea of a whole new year waiting out there full of hope and possibility.  As we close the books on 2017, I want to take a little time to note and honor all that this past year has held, so I can begin to look towards 2018 and all it could be. I also spent New Year’s Day taking down all the Christmas decorations and the house feels so refreshing already. Here’s how the entryway looks now that the Christmas tree is down and the houseplants are back in their spot.

Sources: Planter: Planter: Target | Art: Homegoods | Rug: Similar here | Chandelier: Similar here  | Dining Table and Bench: Custom made

 

This year has held a lot of milestones for us. From selling our home in Washington and making the move to Texas, this year has felt like one adventure after another. In June we sold our beloved Issaquah home and two months later bought a new home in Texas and moved site unseen. I know sounds crazy, and it’s been crazy good.  We shifted gears and liked the idea of a new adventure with the kids, while the career and real estate opportunity was too good to pass up.  You can read about our moving story here.  We also hosted our first Christmas celebration in our new home with relatives visiting from the East coast and the NW. The kids loved having our family around.

The days after Christmas and before the New Year, I love sharing my goals with John and hearing his so we can encourage and motivate each other throughout the year and make any adjustments if we need to along the way. Needless to say, I accomplished most of, but not all of my goals in 2017 and that’s ok. It still is a good feeling. It’s funny how life events can sometimes change your plans, but can also unfold into new opportunities.

So here are my goals for 2018:

  • Home & Garden: Plant and grow new flowers, trees, and install a vegetable garden, change the front door
  • Travel: Save for our 10 year anniversary trip (Aulani, June 2018)
  • Invest in a new business
  • Get my real estate license!

My ongoing goals are to:

  • Continue to as eat healthy as possible
  • Commit to better self-care
  • Explore more of Texas as a family and discover new places (Waco, Austin, and Marfa are on our travel bucket list.)
  • Be better at blogging, consistently

As I sit here and reflect back on the last 12 months—the memories we’ve made while we were still in Washington, new memories in Texas, and the milestones we’ve tackled—all I feel is grateful for another year. I am also optimistic for the one ahead. We have big dreams and plans that we look forward to accomplishing together and sharing with our family and friends.  We are also praying that 2018 will be a year of peace and contentment.

Happy New Year everyone!

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Happy 2017!  Hope everyone had an amazing new year’s.  We stayed home because #homebodies and we have kids.  It’s also husband’s birthday on NYE so we usually have a relaxing day with lunch out or dinner at his choice, an early celebration at home with the kids blowing horns and throwing confetti then tucking them into bed before 9. We drink wine, watch some TV and go to sleep early, and I wouldn’t have any other way. On New Year’s Day, we woke up to a winter wonderland – the first snow of the season in Issaquah!

Today I am sharing my 2017 goals as January is often filled with dreams, plans and hopes for the new year to come.

My personal and career goals for 2017 are:

  • Refinance our home – April/May 2017
  • Renovate our kitchen (I already have my Pinterest boards ready!) – May/June 2017
  • Plant and grow Dahlias in our garden
  • Save for our family vacation to Hawaii and stay at the Disney Aulani – May 2017
  • 10 year anniversary trip (Location Tbd, June 2018)
  • Rank in the top 3 of team at work and win Pinnacle Award – September/October 2017

My ongoing goals are to:

  • Continue to eat healthy as possible
  • Go on weekly hikes
  • Connect with friends on a monthly basis as our schedules allow
  • Enjoy as much quality time with hubby and kids
  • Keep home organized and uncluttered
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Every January, I get excited to set new goals for the upcoming year. For me, the New Year brings energy, inspiration, and the need to reorganize and declutter my home and personal spaces.

Here’s a look at my rearranged family room. Kids toys are no longer in sight and moved to the playroom, while the TV and media stand have been moved to the east wall. Accents such as a new rug and wall art freshen up the space.  The art is from Home Goods (my other happy place) which was screaming my name. After two trips to said happy place, this piece was still there, so I knew I had to have it. The turquoise color makes me so happy every time I enter this room.

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