Oh Canada

Oh Canada...our heaven on earth. Fabulous week....horrendous drive. August has flown by...vacation and came home to first week of school and packing hell. We will survive! But below are just a few of the pictures ( ha just a few! ) couldn't have enjoyed the kids more.

Sold!

Under contract so crossing fingers all goes well.

Move out in 30 days! Ek! We have a general idea of what we will be doing, but that could change...huge decision people.  Downsizing...committed, ready and on board, but where to go...Im a creature of habit and like my routine and where I live...to go west is a huge deal for me to consider.

Sigh.  We will figure it out.

I will mention this...Im not terribly creative but after 7 homes in 7 years one thing I know is that I just have to make a house MINE. Put my personal stamp on it...im absolutely drawn to project houses I realize, or just a bit of a project that when I walk in I can envision fun changes.  New is great, easy - but bland.  That's the dilemma.  We are leaning towards new for a variety of reasons, but im drawn to older SLC...Tree lined streets, larger yards, old homes that need work and a loving hand.  BUT this move is about simplifying our life/time/money and a fixer requires all that and more...

Going to move in with my mother until we figure it out and find/build a place so wish us luck on the next chapter!

House pics

The house is clean.  No easy feat these days, its up on the MLS and here are just a few pictures of our home we are now selling, missing a few bedrooms, bathroom and yard pics but you get the idea....

A month has passed.

This whole post that I wrote prior was about the last 6 months but ultimately I realized I cant post everything in this public forum.    However it is safe to say that it is to document where the last year has led to today, and what our family decision is at this point....  I have always worked, always been happy to( for the most part) Ive been able to provide for our family, take care of others, and have freedoms over the many years I wouldn’t have had if I didn’t have a career.  I also think its important to have women in the workforce.  Making decisions that affect the next generation, and have a voice in corporate America and mentor others.  However….6 months ago I have had a personal crisis of mass proportions.  Jonathan was laid off, just finishing grad school, Tristan was struggling, Jett was growing up as babies do, Elijiah is all over the place, we sold a home…we decided to buy another one in the same area but it would still require me to work.  Well fast forward 6 months…I cant and don’t want to do it all anymore.  My life needs to be defined by the relationships in it.  What good is the money we have, and home we LOVE if our time is non existent?  A house is just a house.  My children and husband were suffering because of the ridiculous amounts of stress I put on us all.  Time to make some radical choices.  To live on the margin, to downsize, to create an exit strategy from work, and to change how we live, what motivates us, and make our plans without homes, money etc being a factor.

 

I actually tried to convince Jonathan to sell everything, get an RV and live out of that and travel.  He wasn’t down.  So…our plan.  House is on the market.  We bought another home.  We are downsizing from 5000 Sq Ft home to 1800 Sq Ft.  We will be selling off stuff, and living very simply.  We will focus on our family.  Time to heal old wounds and look towards the future and be deliberate in our life.  Not allowing life to set our course.  Its going to be a very scary but exciting time over the next year. 

* a few things to note...Noel is here for a month.  Shes gotten engaged.  Dan is a VERY nice guy.  I hope they will be super happy!
-one republic concert with Elijiah, date night with Tristan, Lake with family, Jetts cute crush, July 4th fireworks behind our house, home remodeling, basketball and soccer camps and practices, tournaments fill our weeks.  Ill be posting some home pictures shortly.  Its been a busy but good month.

 

 

 

June 2014

Goodness the last few months have been a doozy.  There really isn’t anything in my life that hasn’t been touched by uncertainty, doubt….and as such likely ill be careful what I post here.  Despite the background noise of all these things, life does go on and Ill post what I can.  I just wanted to document that while the writing will be light hopefully the pictures wont be J

 

 

Jonathan turned 38! It was a nice day.

WHAT T is done with Kindergarten? Man this year has flown by.  Hes such a cutie...cant tell by these pictures but his face lit up when he saw me in the audience and the smile didn't come off ( well until picture time ofcorse!)

Maiden voyage...lasted 5 minutes.  Boat broke and getting fixed...WHA?! Lame to have a boat but not able to use it.

 

Epic camping trip Jonathan took the boys on.  I have a feeling this one will be the one they talk about their entire lives.  It was a good one.