Cabinet Makeover

I just realized it's been over two weeks since my last post-eek! Sorry to anyone who actually reads this thing! Between settling into the house and David's crazy work schedule this blog has definitely taken a backseat. Hopefully now that our bigger projects are done on the house I'll have more time, though I'm not making any promises with a busy toddler running around!

What do I mean when I say "big projects"? While the house was in pretty good shape when we moved in, it still needed some work for it to be considered "home". It's hard because when you move you leave a house that you spent years making the perfect home and then you end up starting from scratch all over again. Some people enjoy the thrill of starting over, and while I do to a certain extent, this type-A mama wants to be settled and done! I keep having to remind myself that "Rome wasn't built in a day" and the house won't be settled overnight.

I did decide very early on that the dated maple cabinets in the kitchen had.to.go. They didn't match the tile the previous owners had laid down and weren't what we had in mind when we were looking for the house. After some research and a few price quotes (helloooooooo, expensive) I decided I could tackle this beast on my own. I headed to Home Depot where I found a kit from Rust Oleum that provided all the tools I needed to DIY this thing!

My parents were in town for the weekend helping with a few other things (you don't realize how incredibly helpful garage door openers are until you don't have them!!) so my mom and I tested the kit on the bathroom vanity. It turned out great! After that success story I decided I could tackle the kitchen on my own. David took down the first set of cabinet doors and there was no looking back!

First step was to degloss all of the cabinets with the handy-dandy deglosser they included in the kit. You wait an hour before you move onto the next step of bond coat. This takes 2-3 coats and requires 2-3 hours of wait time in between each coat. The final step is the top coat which requires a 12-hour dry time before you can rehang the cabinets. That is it. I propped the iPad up and watched quite a few episodes of Gilmore Girls to keep me from getting bored and went at it. 

The Before.

Preparing for the base coat.

 First part of the kitchen.

Gotta keep going. . . 

. . . and going. . .  

The After!

Please excuse the messiness-we have a toddler, aka certified mess maker.

It was a process. Oh, was it a process. But I'm definitely glad I did it. There were quite a few steps required to get it done, but in retrospect the steps I did were a lot less than a lot of other methods I Googled. It opened up the kitchen and really makes it feel bigger. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!

See You Later, Summer

Today marks the unofficial end of Summer across the board. School is in session and pumpkin spice is back on the shelves. The air is cooler (I use the term "cooler" loosely here in North Carolina) and the light-filled evenings are getting shorter. This summer brought us many changes as we moved to an apartment and then found a house. Our sweet gift celebrated her first birthday and continued to show us a love without limits. 

It's been a good season for us, but we're ready for what's to come. . . 

Home Sweet Home

It's official-we have a house!! After three longgggg months in an apartment we could have fit multiple of in our Concord house, we found a fantastic house in Holly Springs. 

I mentioned a month or so ago I posted about my thoughts on house hunting in this hot market. Before we got to this house we had put in offers on four other houses; all either at or above asking price. We were beginning to feel very discouraged and I may have sworn we would be in an apartment for the rest of our lives (okay, okay, I was being a smidgen dramatic). When our realtor sent us the house we almost didn't go; David was hesitant because of the distance from work. We were heading to Fuquay Varina that evening to visit with some good friends so we decided to go on our way to Fuquay, and boy am I glad that we did!

From the moment we walked in, the house felt right. Everything from the updated kitchen to semi-open floorpan caught our attention so by the time we went upstairs we knew we would be putting in an offer. We talked with our realtor and asked if we could get moving quickly given how hot the market was. We got the offer together that evening and by the next afternoon we were under contract-whoooo!

Now, it's not perfect (hellooooooo, 15-year old AC unit) but it is perfect for us. The floor plan works perfectly for our family and allows us to grow in the coming years. The yard is huge and meets up to the neighborhood greenway trail. The lot next to us is owned by the neighborhood and can never be built on. And while we may never have the wonderful cow neighbors again, we do back up to trees which offer a lot of privacy.

We are so excited to continue to tailor this home and make it our own!

Turning the Finger

One of the big pulls for coming to Raleigh was our old church, Vintage. A super hard part about moving is trying to find a new church so when we realized that was already taken care of, we knew we had no excuse not to move forward with God's plan for us. 

The teaching pastor at Vintage has a true gift for words and it shows each Sunday morning as he steps up to the front. This past Sunday was no exception. The series we just wrapped up was entitled "The Awakening" and challenged the church to come alive for God. It has been a great series and the final sermon came from Isaiah 57:14-16. While Pastor Tyler hit a lot of fantastic points what stuck with me was his emphasis on our tendency to find fault in everyone and everything around us without ever looking inward. 

I am so guilty.

I am quick to blame others for their faults, but am slow to call out my own. I mean, who wants to focus on their own issues? That would be no one. Our pastor pointed out that no one is perfect but Jesus. Ouch. You mean I'm not the perfect mom because I manage to have supper on the table each night and keep my kid alive during the day? You mean my kid isn't the perfect toddler because they didn't scream all the way through Target like that other kid did? (Side note-my kid was totally the screamer last week. I feel you, momma in the grocery section). The answer is no. None of us are perfect so before we start to point out the flaws in others we should remember that we are just as flawed.

Shifting my focus to this mindset has already been helpful. Instead of immediately calling people out (always in my head-this chica hates confrontation!) I immediately ask myself, "why are you so upset right now? What if you were in their shoes? Are you the one who should be called out right now?". And the list goes on. Instead of pointing the finger at every one around, I should instead turn the finger to myself. 

If you made it this far, thanks for letting me ramble about my sinful heart;-)

Thoughts on House Hunting

Do you know what's stressful? House hunting is stressful. Yea, sure, it's fun. Or, at least parts of it are fun, but as it continues it becomes stressful. A month and a half into our hunt and we have driven countless miles, lost track of how many houses we have seen, and put in four offers to be back at square one. 

When we put our house on the market we loved the fact that the market was so hot. It meant fourteen showings in three days and multiple offers. We were riding high! Now, on the other side of coin, we are drained. We have seen houses in immaculate condition and houses that are falling apart. We have been to the top of our price range and to the bottom. We have waited outside houses to go in (because so many others are there) and have been some of the first. It's exhausting, but has taught us a lot. A few things we have learned:

pictures can do wonders

There are some really good photographers out there who can make a rough house looks amazing. Unfortunately for them pictures can only take you so far. . .

asking price just won't cut it

In this market you better be prepared to go above and beyond asking if you really want a house. 

not all realtors are equal

Our realtor is AMAZING. She has been so helpful and has truly gone above and beyond. If it weren't for her I'm pretty sure I would have lost it already.

the TV shows are not realistic
"Reality" is definitely not what those "reality" house hunting TV shows are. There are WAY more than three houses to see and usually takes more than one day to see them all and make a decision.

we are very fortunate
We are so fortunate to be able to go on this crazy/fun adventure!

Settling In

Happy Monday from Raleigh! We are officially here and as unpacked as we're going to be for now. It's been a bit of a whirlwind week so I'll do my best to fill y'all in quickly. . .

Monday

The fabulous packers arrived and refused to let me help do anything. I begged and pleaded but they told me just to hang out. So, I did.

 Hey, they told me to relax. . .

Tuesday

Much the same except this time they were loading up the truck. Imagine the biggest 18-wheeler you've ever seen-that's what they packed our junk in. I picked Amelia Grace from my parent's house in Winston and we hit the road to Raleigh!

Adios, Ravenscroft Lane. . .  thanks for the memories!

Wednesday

The movers arrive (by this point we were BFF's) and start cramming 2600 square feet worth of stuff into 1100 square feet. We chose to go with an apartment for the time being while we get a feel for the area and housing market. Things go like CRAZY around here (I looked at a house in Cary the day it went on the market and less than 24 hours later it was under contract!) and we wanted some time to find the perfect house for our family. I also snuck away from the unloading for a bit to go see a few houses. 

We have an entire room devoted to stuff that won't fit elsewhere. . . I think we need to re-read Seven and do some more purging!

Thursday

Amelia Grace and I were officially residents of Raleigh so obviously we had to find the closest Target. I also took the time to unpack the NINE boxes it took to pack up our kitchen. This was also the day AG decided to spike a 102 fever and introduce us to the local urgent care. The good news is I think we found a great doctor for us to visit!

Friday

Breathe. 

With David's new job he is working four, ten-hour days so he is home on Fridays with us! We took the time to explore the area a little bit.

Here, Dad, let me help you with that beer

*No, we did not let her sip of the beer!*

Nachos and beer-I'm in heaven.

Saturday

We hit up our first two Raleigh breweries with some of our sweet friends! David actually went to high school with Christine and Ashley and I lived with each of them at different times. Can't wait to continue our Raleigh brew tour with them!

Sunday

David woke up feeling super icky so he laid low most of the day, but I got a chance to visit a satellite campus of Vintage and loved it! It reminded me a lot of our church in Charlotte, Hope Church. Amelia Grace and I also hit up the gym (more on that later) where I participated in my first hot yoga class. Needless to say I'm hooked!

As you can tell, things have been kind of crazy in our world. We're trying to figure out our new normal and find a groove that works best for us. We're praying big prayers for what God has in store for us here and where he wants it to happen. I'm really hoping his plan doesn't include us staying in this apartment long-term, though i think AG is digging all the new things to explore ;-)

Preparing for Departure

One week from today a team of packers will be descending upon our home and packing up four years of memories. A week from tomorrow we will be pulling out of our driveway for the very last time. 

Cue the tears

Don't get me wrong, we know that God is guiding us to Raleigh and has wonderful plans for our family there, but the ache of leaving our first house is pretty raw right now. This is the house we pinched pennies and saved for. This is the house we sought for months. This is the house we watched come together from the bare bones. This is the house we hosted countless community groups and family gatherings. This is the house I healed in after Emerson and the same house we brought Amelia Grace home to a year and a half later. 

Our first house.

I know it's only a house and there will be others, but this house will forever be our first. 

Movin' On Out

No, we're not sending Amelia Grace to Raleigh on her own though I'm sure she would love the adventure. It is with excitement that we announce our family is moving to Raleigh to start a new chapter in our lives!

As most of you know, David and I met and fell in love in our great capital city, so it has always held a special place in our hearts. When David was offered a job here in Charlotte before he even graduated college we leapt at the chance to start our adult lives and didn't even think twice about leaving Raleigh behind. It didn't take us long to realize how much we missed the city and our church there. 

Fast forward a few years and our hearts were feeling restless. We knew something wasn't right so David began applying to jobs. Through God's infinite grace he was awarded an interview with Duke Energy for a coveted position. Over 800 people applied, 72 were interviewed, and 36 were offered jobs. David happened to be one of the lucky few! To sweeten the deal even more they offered him a promotion along with the job and a relocation package to help us with the process. Say what???? 

We began to notice God's favor through the whole process and felt ridiculously blessed. We decided to go to Raleigh that coming weekend to really get a feel for the city as potential residents and pray for our future there. If you know my husband you know that his brilliant engineer brain is always working in overdrive which often leads him to stress as he is usually thinking ten steps ahead of the rest of us. While we were there we both felt immense peace about the whole situation despite the fact that the housing market there is crazy stressful! And when we attended our old church (Vintage) on Sunday morning it was like we had never left despite being gone five years. 

 We've been praying for months about our future and what that could look like and we are over the moon to see God working in big ways! We are sad to leave behind our friends, family, and home here but couldn't be more excited about the new adventure God has laid out before us. Please continue to join us in prayer as we know this won't come without its challenges.