Preparation

I wish I could come up with a catchy title for what it's like to get ready to be a wife, pack up a rental house, move into a new house, unpack, spruce up and paint the new home, all while trying to find a new job. Preparing is about as pithy a word as I could come up with. :)

I cannot say enough how grateful I am for the wonderful family I have and am acquiring. My stepdad and little sister came down to get a dog pen and helped me pack; the Atkins crew (my future in-laws, grandfather-in-law and brother-in-law) along with Josh came with their vans and trailers and trucks and helped me bid farewell to the shack of a rental house I have survived in the past 2 years. It was definitely bittersweet. A lot of awesome memories were made in that house, even if it was probably a miracle it didn't burn to the ground with its outdated electrical panels and lack of insulation. My dad and brother bravely tackled one last time the jungle of a yard that had developed since I broke the lawnmower... again.

So here I am now, permanently established and surrounded by boxes!! Thank goodness teachers get the summer off, because it's probably going to take that long to get all this stuff unpacked; especially since in 19 days another person will have become permanently established in this same residence- and he's bringing all of his stuff too!

Okay, so we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, I'm going to leave you with some 'before' and kind of 'in the process' pictures of the house. We are so excited to be living here and making our home together in this place!!

D-day, as it's affectionately been dubbed, is scary close- but at the same time feels forever away. :)

This is Alvin. He hangs out on the front stoop every day.

Kitchen- you can see the 'before' color and the 1st experimental coat of "Gleeful Green" :)

Dining area. It will be two toned with chair railing. Don't mind the boxes!

You're darn tootin' cookin' makes you good lookin'! Just ask my hubby-to-be!

 The "cadaver green" (according to me) hallway. Soon to be 'Stone Harbor' (the living room color).

Living room- before

Living room- in progress. 'Stone Harbor' is thankfully covering up the Crayola's white-person-peach-crayon wall color the people before us had throughout the house. Eh. To each his own!

Our newest home addition- blueberry bushes!! Thanks JoAnn!!! Now to keep them alive...

Life is very exciting right now; in good ways and tough ways. I was joking with some soon-to-be relatives and told them I am SO ready for my life to be boring and normal!! In some aspects, I definitely am. In others, I'm enjoying the ride and looking forward to the last few legs of this amazing race.

Have a great evening everyone and more to come soon!! Maybe even a few wedding sneak peeks! ;)

-A