In Honor of My Husbear on Father's Day

In 1999, two friends sat together in an East Lansing sandwich shop. I said to Jon, "Do you ever want to get married?" And he said, "I don't know, maybe, maybe not. Probably not." Then I asked him: "What about kids? Do you want kids?" Jon replied, "I've never thought about it."

I'm sure we continued on as we usually did, waxing poetic about this and that and life and being on the verge of graduation and going out into the real world. And it was then, in that little sandwich shop on Grand River Avenue, that we made a pact over our panini. Although just good friends at the time, living two completely separate lives, we promised each other, if at the OLD OLD age of thirty-five, we were both single and lonely, we'd marry.

Yes, we had a marriage pact, signed over melty cheese sandwiches, while sitting in vinyl covered booths. So romantic.

My sweet Husbear, for a guy who never really thought about marriage or kids, you sure are a natural at being the most amazing, most wonderful, most caring husbear and Father I could ever hope for in the world. In fact, you're better than a natural, you're a pro! I think Noah hit the Dad jackpot with you, and so did I.

Thank you for making Noah his breakfast almost everyday. Your Saturday morning pancakes are the best! Thank you for working so hard to give us a comfortable life, and then always making time for the kiddo when you get home. Thank you for all of the bedtime stories you've read and the animated, entertaining voices that go along with them. Thank you for the Noah pep talks in the car on your way to school.

Thanks for always being there for us. You are our patient, caring, loyal rock. You're our everything!

We love you husbear. Happy Father's Day!

xo

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. - Soule Mama

Hey, What's Cooking? Nothing!

Really, I just don't know where to begin with house posts. There're so much to talk about and a lot that has already happened. I think what I'll do to eventually get caught up, is oscillate between renovation posts and writing about the history of the house and other non-construction tid bits. There's so much to tell about the people who built this little home, and lived in it over the years. I'm just in love with their stories and imagining life here so many years ago.

So may I present to you without further adieu, the kitchen! (Well, so far.)

When we first bought the house, the kitchen looked like this:

Pretty much "Meh". Right? Not the worst, not the best, but kind of 1981-ish. Actually, it WAS installed in 1981 because I have the records! And you just thought I was good at guessing kitchen age didn't you?

This is Noah before his haircut. It makes me think, why oh why did I cut your hair!? Your beautiful elfin hair! I miss you shaggy hairdo. I hope he grows it back out. Just saying.

Ok. Sorry, back to the kitchen. This is what the kitchen looks like now. It's kind of nasty.

Wait, here's one from today that's even nastier.

So some crazy went in and ripped out all of the cabinets and the appliances and the lighting fixtures, all of the flooring and a wall. WHO would do that !?

It's ok though, because our builder (who also happens to be my wonderful aunt) got us a most stupendous, fabulous deal on Wood-Mode Cabinets because everyone was a bit skeptical about our Ikea cabinet plans. I love Ikea, but I guess the others will last a long, long time.

Here's the plan:

Well, kind of. So we ended up putting in a full wall behind the stove, and adding an upper cabinet to the right of the hood vent. Also, you won't see the vent, we're boxing it in with cabinetry. Then, I've changed the two cabinets to either side of the sink to glass fronts.

You guys, be honest. I mean it. If this kind of stuff is a complete bore. Please please let me know. I don't want to go on and on about details. I think some of my family might enjoy hearing the updates (Hi Mom S.!), and maybe some interior design inclined friends, but otherwise, let me know if this is just rambling. Ok!

There's a strange sky light, but it really brings in so much nice light. We're closing it up a bit because right now it's huge. Hopefully a bar will be hung up there and then we can hang a little chandelier from it. Yeah! And I hope to paint the room a pale pale lilac.

Look, it's ma sink! Oooooh you little country sink you! I love you, I luuurve you sinky. It was such a deal too, AND on sale! I'd been eyeing this little Ikea gem for some time, and for a reason completely not understood to even myself, I thought it was called the "Double Jumbo" for the longest time. You know, because of the two large sides/bowels of the sink. I read the Ikea name really quickly and didn't slow down to figure out the pro-nun-ci-ATION. Now I know it's REALLY called the Domsjo. Like DUH! The Domsjo.

Here is an awesome picture of Noah. He got his first pack of Spongebob sweatbands. There were four, and now he can also wipe the sweat off of his forehead with his ankles to. Thankfully.

Anyway, we're taking down the wall of sliding glass doors in the kitchen/dinning area, and replacing them with french doors. But, not these french doors. Although, we thought it was these, and Noah got all attached to them, and then we had to break it to him. Not this set of doors buddy.

So really, you know, that's the kitchen in a nutshell. Like, every single thing needed a little update. Oh wait! Except...except! We're keeping the fridge! They left us a very nice Sub-Zero fridge. That um....well, of course....ur......BROKE. And oh yeah, that's right, it cost as much as a new fridge to fix it. C'est the kitchen vive!

Sensing a Theme

This morning we stopped in at the new house to check on the progress. Today's "Oh Great" tally: 1 broken clothing dryer (although, ok it doesn't count because it's at our current house. But STILL.) 9 ancient, fire hazard, so not ok, recessed can lights that need to be totally removed, hence leaving 9 gaping holes in the ceiling. Hence 9 new places to fix the ceiling. Any one do drywall work? Also....... Wait, what? do you think it would end there? ALSO a series of holes drilled in the dining room floor for electrical work that proceeded to spew out pine cones and a plethora of rodent treasures. Oh, and more rodent munch in the near by cold air returns. I'm sensing quite a theme, as the squirrel buffet above came out of the walls of our garage last month. Bon Appetite!

Reason # 3,214

Because they teach you about music, and let you try out their HEADPHONES!!!

Friends are magic. :)

31 Tips to Greatness

My wonderful, wonderful ENERGIZING friend Sarah W. sent this to me, and it just resonated. Thought I would share...

1. Energize others
2. Tell it like it is
3. Commit to lifelong learning
4. Be interested instead of interesting
5. Race toward your fears instead of running from them
6. Be more curious
7. Extend trust freely, and earn it in return
8. Pursue passion, not money
9. Talk less, listen more
10. Stand for something big
11. Courageously challenge conventional wisdom
12. Fail fast, learn, move on
13. Be obsessed with finding a better way
14. Skip buzzwords and communicate with extreme clarity
15. Keep your promises
16. Never stand still. Remember, deer in headlights die.
17. Never apologize for your dreams
18. Triple your rate of laughter
19. When you get knocked down, keep getting back up
20. Be more grateful – even for the little stuff
21. Stop pointing fingers or casting blame
22. Don’t sweat the small stuff
23. Look within instead of lashing out
24. Leave it better than you found it
25. Build your reputation with actions, not words
26. When opportunity appears, seize it
27. Take more responsible risks
28. Reinvent yourself regularly
29. Spend time imagining what’s possible
30. Never lose sight of the purpose behind your efforts
31. Make the biggest possible impact and the rest will take care of itself

Our lives come down to a series of choices. We can choose mediocrity or greatness. We can follow our imagination or just follow the rules. We can reach or regret.

Your full potential is waiting for you just around the corner. Seize it.
-Josh Linkner

A Jonana Split

Last week Jon had a meeting in Boca. This week is Las Vegas and soon trips to NYC and Anaheim. It must be exhausting for him, because it's surely exhausting for me! All I have to say is at least he got to meet the Bananas in Pajamas. A life long dream. I'm happy for him.

Sluuuuuuurg.

Sluuuuuurg, splooosh, splorsh..... that's how I feel. Kind of like a slug. An overwhelmed, over-committed slug, who has finally and most definitely hit a wall. That's it. I'm done. Time to make life changes! Time to set boundaries, time to say "No", turn off the phone and TAKE BACK MY LIFE! When slugs hit walls, I think they just continue onward and proceed to crawl UP the wall. So, I'm going to keep going, but on my own terms this time.

This has been by far the busiest year of my life. Busier than any point in school, busier than the time I got married, busier than the year I had Noah. It was just simply put....WAY TOO busy. I hated it. It MADE. ME. CRAZY that I didn't have time to get what I needed to done. It wasn't one thing, it was a bunch of small and medium sized things all added up together, that equalled no real amounts of solid time to get anything done. I can't keep up with that pace anymore.

It was also nobody's fault except mine. I couldn't say "No" and over-estimated what I was able to take on. I didn't want to let people down, I wanted to please, I thought turning down party invites and lunch dates and coffees would be anti-social. I thought failing to volunteer would be school-spiritless.

I'm an introvert and that means needing a lot of quiet downtime. Learning to sometimes politely turn down giant, loud social events (my idea of the opposite of fun) is an art that I must learn. I also have ADHD and need to better manage the interruptions from phone calls, texts,and emails. With ADHD, when you're interrupted, it's not stop-start-stop-start. It's stop- START OVER- stop-START OVER. I'm never going to get anything done!

I really need to pull away for a bit, buckle down and focus. There's so much to do on the home front, like getting this house renovation done! There is so much that goes into completely renovating a 145 year old house, both inside and out. I also need to pack our current house up and move it, and then after that, I need to decorate our new home. It's exhausting just thinking about it.

I also really really like, and find satisfaction in doing my current main "job": being a Mom and a housewife. I know it sounds completely archaic and backwards, but there's something so lovely and fulfilling about creating a dinner and serving it to your family, or to shine up your kitchen sink all sparkly and clean. It's fulfilling to me. I like to feather my nest! (My God, am I really saying all of this?)

Over the past two months, I've meant to blog so many things. Mostly about the renovation. But, I've just been really overwhelmed. Hopefully things will get better, open up now that school's out for the summer and I'll see you around here more often.

I feel incredibly grateful every single day that we're having the adventure that we are. Life is amazing, and I'm learning it's all about attitude, intention and balance!

xo

On a less overwhelming note.....WOW! Check out our wonderful, giant, puffy, Wisteria covered, crazy jungle-like pergola.

It's really quite amazing. Even on the hottest of hot days, like the 96 degrees two weeks ago, the air under the shady pergola is cool and breezy. Like natural A/C!

My plans include a large, rustic wooden table to eat upon, and lots of of chairs for friends. Perhaps some hanging glass lanterns in purples and pinks or a string of lights that will twinkle in the night. Next to the pergola, on the lower patio, a nice little conversation area, and if city code permits, a chiminea!