The move is over!

the hammock is hung, we are home....

Well, we are mostly settled into our new home in Northeast Columbia, South Carolina. It was a long move, one thousand miles on the dot, but not our first long move, just the first in a long while. Many of you know our moving history, but for the rest, let's recap...we moved from California to Oregon 1998, then Oregon to Michigan 2001, Michigan to Oregon 2002, Oregon to Michigan 2003, and now this move. The Michigan to Oregon move in the middle was us running back to be with family after Paul's first battle with cancer. He got cancer again in Oregon and we decided that cancer sucks anywhere, so we might as well live where we feel at home. We loved living on the shores of Lake Michigan, but the economy was tough on us. South Carolina brings us new prospects and hopefully more stability. If anyone wants to experience the beauty of Michigan we still have our three bedroom, two bath ranch with 2200 square feet, in ground pool set on a half acre lot backed by the wooded section of a golf course :) It is for sale... (hint, hint)we decided not to lease it out. We just have too much on our plates to keep up with two properties. Our realtor and some good friends are helping to take care of the property until it sells.


It is beautiful here in South Carolina. Sometimes the weather reminds me of the feeling when you stick your head into a warm, moist dryer full of damp clothes, but I have heard that the rest of the year is quite seasonable. We sold our snow shovel and plow, now we have the pleasure of visiting the snow, or once in a while have an inch or two visit us oh so briefly.

Paul and I had pretty much decided on a house when Caden and I came down for our three week visit in May. But at the very last minute...literally Paul decided to visit a house that had just come onto the market. It has a pool and an overgrown, but beautifully landscaped yard. It is a three bedroom, 2 1/2 bath with a large bonus room and cathedral ceilings. It has windows everywhere and great light. It just spoke to him, and I trusted his judgement, so we decided to switch to this house. It is in a great, safe and quiet neighborhood, and in the best school district in the county. The pool looked like Shrek's swamp, but we were told it would be taken care of...more on that later.


the pool before---well midway, we had to drain it, it was full to the brim with green muck and leaves...no vermin though!

So the actual move was great, the gas prices had just gone down a bit, Caden was so well behaved and didn't complain at all. Even our cat, Suki-whose previous car rides were full of meowing and complaints, settled in and quietly enjoyed the long ride. Our beloved boogie eyed goldfish Bob even made it down here, but once we introduced him to fresh Columbia water, he passed on to the big fishbowl in the sky. He had a small, prayer filled service led by Caden and now is buried under the bird bath in the back yard. The little replacement "bob" we got even passed away (err..got a cold and had to be traded in, so Caden thinks, it was too much death too soon). Little "speck" is the newest replacement fish and is thriving. Fingers crossed, we will have this little fish for a long time. We have been drinking bottled water ever since just in case the water had anything to do with these fishy deaths....;)

We took the move slow...about three days to get down here as to try to not flare up my back anymore because I had to drive our SUV behind Paul who was driving the 26 foot rental moving truck. We sold half of our stuff in our yard sale, which was a good thing, because even at that we didn't have enough room for everything. We left behind our futon frame, all of the houseplants, the fridge, my slab roller ( :( ), and some other stuff, about a small trailer full. We will pick it up later in a month or so, or when the house sells.

Please pray for the house to sell soon, it would free up so much room of our minds that are currently full of stress.

Once we got here, well things stopped going so smoothly...The electricity wasn't on, which meant the pool hadn't been serviced and the house was like 140 degrees. (well it seemed like it anyway) It was unlivable.....when they turn things off down here, they turn everything off, the water, sewer, gas, electricity....everything. The house was filthy, the carpets were nasty. They hadn't done what was promised whatsoever. We ended up having to stay in a hotel three additional nights due to everything, which then messed up our help that was scheduled to help us move things in. Eventually, the house cleaned up beautifully. And we called the realtor to help us find professional movers, they cost us extra, but it was so hot and humid, I think Paul would have killed himself getting everything in.

So we are all moved in. We put the studio upstairs in a spare bedroom. We will need to go to ikea to get a couple of storage lockers and a large work table. But that will be later when we have a little more time and spare funds, for now, I am thankful for the folding tables. We have quite a few things to hang up on the studio walls, but after that is done, the studio will be ready to roll. Caden's room needs to be repainted as well as the master. His room is painted an awful teal sponge paint and ours is an ok green but also sponge painted. The rest of the house is a neutral light sand color, the dining room is a nice grey shade. I was excited about that because I have always wanted a grey room. I am thinking about a blue-grey for Caden's room (he has a red,white and blue quilt, denim suspender curtains, and a sorta retro camping theme). I really wanted to paint it navy blue, but I am worried it will be too dark. Target has the cutest red lanterns for $19.99 each, with a couple of those, his room would be so cute. Also at target, in the came Woolrich camping collection they have a tent bed topper for $29.99 that would really spruce it up. He doesn't have a bunk bed anymore because the ladder broke. Who knows, maybe on that trip to ikea in Atlanta, we will find some more bedding for him. I was looking at a number fabric collection in their catalog that looked cute. He has requested his own hand-made quilt now that I finished our quilt. That is -why I am thinking a blue-grey would be a lot more neutral for me to mix and match, because I like to change things up so much. I want to do a grass cloth affect in our room. We have vaulted ceilings in the master, and our bedding is red, so the light beige grass cloth paint job would be a great effect. Having a new house is exciting, it gives us so much opportunity for new dreams and projects. Like in the kitchen, it is fine now, but eventually I would love to paint the cabinets white with a little burnt umber rub to antique them a bit, install slate flooring and a dark granite counter top with a rich red wall. We have a small half bath on the main floor and I would love to paint it a shocking rich color like orange, or maybe a bright limey green. We also want to replace most of the lighting in time. We have so many ideas, we definitely won't be bored!

So now that things have settled down for us, I will be blogging at least once a week....please come back and check in often! I have missed you all, thank you for your emails and checking in on us! It sure made us feel loved!


the pool after four hard days of work.


caden jumpin' in and a tiny glimpse of me scrubbin'


our new home from the front. The lawn needs revitalizing and we have since done a lot of trimming of all of the overgrown shrubbery. I love the driveway-it provides a perfect place for a basketball hoop, eventually.


the living room fireplace


the living room looking from upstairs.


living room/dining area


the front door