Oh hey there stranger danger…or is that me? Am I the stranger? Happy New Years..all that jazz. Thank you for your patience while I temporarily fell off the map.
I admit it, I missed you guys, I missed blogging, I miss NORMALCY. My arch enemy. I hate normalcy normally. That looks weird to type.
As the proverbial dust settles on our new home I actually found 5 minutes to squeeze a few photos out my butt and throw up a 2008 post. There is so much to say and yet I am still waiting for my sense of humor to catch up with the rest of me.
Moving week was survival week for me. Cue Destiny’s Child….”Survivor” or “Independent Woman”…either one is appropriate.
As usual, I did TOO much. I can’t help it. Can I get an amen from anyone? I feel like I could actually go postal from looking at chaos and boxes. I MUST UNPACK, DECORATE and SETTLE. There is a force that flows through my veins that compels me to work way past sore back/neck, aching feet, fatigue, hunger…..I AM A MACHINE. Unfortunately, my husband is just fine with “pacing” himself. There is no such word as PACING. I do not have the personality to sit in a sea of boxes for months and months.
So I had to get out my loudest whip and my most annoying voice possible, “Ryan can you…… Ryan I need you to……Ryan run to Target and grab….Ryan, Ryan, Ryan, Ryan, Ryan.” He is such a trooper though, rarely complained. My other work horse was my mother. Man can that woman clean. It is actually handy to have a mom with OCD. I thought about hiding her medicine so I could maximize her anal-ness. You think I am bad…you haven’t seen anything like the storm of Dawn Louise!!!! Isn’t that the best name? She hates it, therefore we call her it in it’s entirety as much as possible. Like a good slave lord, I did dismiss my slaves for naps, food and pee breaks but then the whip came back out. It is pretty sad when your mom and husband start to forbid you to work anymore or make you go to bed. All you Type B’s out there think I am out of my freakin’ mind and you know what…screw you, my house looks amazing in 7 days….the best compliment is when people stop over and say, “You JUST moved in…WOW…AMAZING.” I then take my deepest, most humble bow. Sometimes I acknowledge my team of slaves, other times I take all the glory.
Okay, I have decided to debut two rooms, the living room and dining room. The kitchen will be painted by this weekend and then I will work my way around the house….you know…dangle the carrot.
If you remember in our last matchbox house. There was no such thing as a living room AND dining room…it was just one big “great” room. There is nothing great about a tiny room with all your huge furniture shoved in it.
YIKES!!!! Can we say SQUISHED! Some call it cozy, I call it ridiculously tiny!
We now introduce our new dining room. Yes a room dedicated to dining and entertaining. Not shared with the living room. I love the caramel colored walls…LOVE IT. The fabric on the window is from IKEA and will soon be fabulous curtains when I get my sewing room set up.
Now let’s move into the living room. This is what cozy means to me. A fireplace, bookshelves, fuzzy rug, big windows, comfy furniture. OH thank you Jesus for our little living room. Each night I light candles around the room, sit my pregnant butt in the chaise and smile.
That little pink papasan chair in the corner is Chloe’s new favorite spot where she can sit in her Baby Einstein trance.
OMG YOU JUST MOVED IN!?!?!??!
go ahead, take all the credit.
we had the troops of a lifetime. but i still like to gloat.
i too like to do that when we talk about moving into our current house - we had that sucker painted in 3 days. 3 DAYS. But we had 13 people helping us.
everything is gorge, and i’m loving your dining room table. someday dark wood will be in my house - i just love it. i went light with a glass top, and it’s fine, but dark wood is so classic. nice choice.
OMG… your dining room is too cute. I love the colors and your wood floors! Here in California people like carpet. I don’t know why. We actually found a house to downsize in and I am trading my separate dining/living/and yes a separate family room in for an all in 1!!! Pray for me. But seeing how cute your old room was gives me hope
Good job on the quick unpacking. I move on the 11th and expect the whole house to be free of boxes by the 19th. Am I insane too???
I am like the biggest cheater in the world. I see your photo posted in Flickr then I know there is a blog post.. I get so excited. I cant get over here fast enough…
yes, I am a cheater.. and love it
Your house is beautiful.. I so love the color of the walls in your dining room. way cool!
I had to LOL at eht little Einstein trance.. Hannah loves them also..
You did an awesome job driving the slaves to get it in tip top shape… *high fives*… To bad I wasnt closer i woulds lend them a hand.. NOT! LOL
Just kidding your house looks marvelous!!!
Oooohhhh! Awwwww! Your house looks fantastic! You are truly amazing! I wish I had more A in me but unfortunately when it comes to packing, unpacking, organizing and such, I just can’t get it together. We “B’s” thank you, “A’s” for keeping this world together! I really can’t wait to see more of your house but appreciate your two room show! I LOVE the colors in the dining room. So rich and warm! I also love the windows on either side of the fireplace. They add nice character. Congrats to you!
Fabulous! So Pretty! I can’t wait for more updates and photos!
this made me laugh. i’m hearing the whip crack as we speak. the part about taking your mom’s meds away almost made me spit my water out. that MAY be the best/worst idea of all times. your poor mom. what a saint.
i love it. i knew i would. i can’t wait to see it! (post no visitor month!)
hugs. love you and your anal retentive self. xoxo
beautiful! Love the new place!
I think Ryan and my Andrew could relate on their lovely wives cracking the whip! haha I was a total slave driver when we first moved into our house! We finished unpacking and decorating in a mere weekend! I was also prego at the time. Go me! He complained while we were doing it, but he was damn happy when we could relax and look at our beautiful work on Sunday evening!
Way to go type A! 
Can’t wait to see the rest! Make sure you’re at least getting a little rest.
Wow Kelly, it looks AMAZING! I love the dining room, the colors are great. I guess I shouldn’t tell you that it took me not days, not weeks, but MONTHS to hang curtains and pictures when we moved in. Guess I am a true “B”!
I have missed your posts, glad you are back to normalcy.
Congrats on the new house, can’t wait to see the rest of it!
Holy Schnikeys! We moved in August and our house doesn’t even remotely look that put together. How much do you charge for Ryan and Dawn Louise’s services?
Glad you’re back. You were missed!
hurray and congrats! may the new house bring many years of happiness and good health!
i’m so glad i got to see it IN PERSON! i am just thrilled for you guys and all the space!
it was so refreshing to see you. it felt good to have dinner, play some games, worship god together. though it was a tease, it did my heart good. love you!
It looks great Kelly!
Is there a type C? I think that’s me.
WOW!!
Your house is AMAZING!!! I’m jealous… very jealous. I’d like to thank your family for helping you out and for making you go to bed, too. Amazing. I can’t get over how gorgeous your place is. Now… I want to paint.
It looks great!!! Way to go analholio
oooohhhh ahhhhhhh! fabuloso women! I am moving in approximately 11 months and well I am hiring you to come to Delaware and decorate it for me, seriously I *love* your style and well I want my house to look like yours!!!
Soooo you’ll need to keep your calendar open next year ummm make that this year!! I think I also fall into the type C catagory if it exists.
So cute and cozy! Love the wall color and the soon to be curtains. Congratulations on a new house! And, can Chloe be cuter in that little chair?!
Zander has exactly the same chair as Chloe!!! Except of course his is blue
I love love love the dining room.
Adorable! So so so cute. I can see why anyone would be very happy there. Congratulations on the new home.
When I move I find a place to put boxes that are waiting to be unpacked, and then I close the door and pretend it doesn’t exist. And when I am ready, I grab a couple boxes and then shutthedooragainveryquickly! Hey, it works for me. I enjoy being a Type Q.
Oh My God! Your home looks like something out of home beautiful, I ADORE it.
Not only do I want to win money and fly you and Ryan over to photograph my wedding but now I want you here to decorate my house.
ONE Year i’ve been here and this house doesn’t look like yours *sob*
Happy New Year gorgeous and welcome back - hope you settle in nicely xx
Looks amazing! You (and maybe your slaves too) did an AWESOME job!!! I am impressed in 7 days! you’re a crazy lady!
All the best under your new roof!
Wow, it really does look great! Good job on surviving moving and now having the reward of a totally put together house to enjoy life in.
WOW! It’s so gorgeous! What an amazing find. Love the windows in the living room. I am SO excited for you guys. You have decorated it so great as always! Love, love, love, love, love it!
Looks amazing! WOW!!
So excited for you guys
I see your beautiful house, and then I think “but you’re having a boy” and then I smile quietly to myself. I hope you can keep it in the same shape once the whorlwind that is all little boys named Ben comes along - I should know, my son’s name is Ben too!
Ummmm…. YEAH for neurotic-ness!!!! You go girl in your obviously genetic OCD. I love it when that works to our advantage.
Your home looks gorgeous, as I’m sure as you do sitting in your chaise & smiling. Soooooooo fab to know you’re not only alive but obviously kickin’… butt.
WOW! You go girl! After reading your blog this morning you actually inspired me to use my Saturday as taking the final boxes of Christmas decorations down to the smell, old basement, and then I actually cleaned our hardwood floors! WOOO HOOO!!! Anyway, congrats on the new house and getting it ready in case a photographer from a major magazine just happens to stop by! haha
So glad that you are getting settled…looks completely beautiful of course! Please take it easy my little baby maker! Good luck!
You are making me sin the sin o’ coveting! I love your new PAD. You really have a gifted eye for decorating and I am sure the craziness of getting settled is totally worth it now that you can just park your butt on the chaise (again, I’m coveting!) and relax and grow that baby in your belly while Ryan peels grapes for you to eat. Great work, Kelly!
woah! that looks freaking awesome. you’re a powerhouse (like duh, i totally already knew that). i would be the same way- needing to be unpacked and make it feel like home.
i bet those curtains are going to be spectacular.
So, do you want to come over to my house and decorate it? (with all that spare time you have?!?!)
Looks GREAT!!!
Wow, your house looks wonderful. I am still working on mine 2 yrs later. I can’t wait to see more!!!
You rock! I moved into my new house over a year ago, and I’m yet to hang pictures on the walls in my bedroom. Can’t wait to see the rest of your house. By the way, welcome back!!
Congrats on your house. Beautiful!
gorgeous….more pics, MORE PICS!!!! oh, and is your dining room paint, by any chance, sherwin williams ‘hopsack’? i ask b/c your DR walls look identical to ours, and that is our color
(ps- where in the ‘burg did you move? are you over in the ashcroft/mcpherson/etc. neighborhood now?)
Love it Kelly. It looks so awesome! You have such a talent for decorating.
Now, if my living room looked like that, Peyton would have it torn apart in under 10 mintues. So, I guess this is more of a parenting question, how do you keep Chloe out of all your stuff - like the book cases and candles and such? Did you just not baby proof that kind of stuff and teach her NO from the beginning. I think we might have made the mistake of making our living area more of a play room and taking out everything that he could get into - and we have a hard time keeping him out of other peoples stuff when we go to visit others. Oh well - lessons learned for baby #2…
It looks amazing Kel! I love it. Where did you buy most of your furniture. I love your style. So creative and I am guessing Chloe is just one of those babies that leaves stuff alone. We never had to baby proof with our first but this little guy everything is under lock and key. Get ready!!!
WOW can you come decorate my house next week please?!!
very nice!
Those rooms look absolutely wonderful Kelly! Congratulations on your new home. I can’t wait to see what you do with the rest of it.
The colour of your dining room walls are close to my living room/dining room walls. (We live in a matchbox sized house ourselves.) We call it our “BS” room. For butterscotch of course.
Also, your living room walls are the same colour as our hallway/partial kitchen walls.
Kudos on getting all of that done in 7 days. I was the same when we moved into our first house back in July. Pulled out the whip and tried to get as much done as humanly possible before we all keeled over from exhaustion. It was a wicked couple of days but so satisfying when my grandmother came to visit from out of town.
By the way, Chloe looks adorable on her pink chair. Love the ponytails. She reminds me of Boo from Monsters Inc.
I am exactly the same. We moved the Xmas before last on the 19th of December and I had our whole house unpacked in three days (I have 3 children too). I cannot rest until it looks like a real home! No one else I know shares this manic behaviour - I hate living with boxes - yeurch. Good onya Kellie! Love the trance too.
i am impressed.
house looks great. my friend morgan (18 months) still loves saying hi to chloe. sometimes i have to beg her to say “hi” to someone - but when she sees chloe it’s like “hi! hi! hi!” way too cute.
very nice. oh, if only we had waiting until february to come for our visit. we will be back, husband and all… i love the carmel paint, so classy and sophisticated. i know you are so happy to have a place to entertain! i can’t wait to see what you’ve done with the kid’s rooms!
I absolutely LOVE it! We have that same color in my “presentation” room. Love the color. We have black and white with ours (IKEA curtains as well!). Great pictures!!!!
Where are your toys? LOL???? My goodness. My house never looks this neat! You have such a gift. It’s beautiful.
Beautiful! Good job!