coming to america

we've been in the new house since for a week and a day now. we've made about 7 major moves, not counting intracity moves, and i can tell you one thing, you never sleep better than the night you collapse into bed after you've moved. there is no workout harder than moving. moving should be marketed it to the crossfitters. we could bring it up in every conversation. "i squatted 50 boxes in a row today. totally PRed it." we had 4 professional movers who were worked from 1030 am to 930pm and my quads and biceps were still on fire the next day. 

our house was pretty gross after we moved, as most houses are. one thing that didn't help was the fact that we had white tile throughout the main area of the house. white tile never looks clean when you walk on it all day. white tile can look dirty even if you only breathe heavy on it. we spent a good portion of memorial day vacuuming and cleaning the rental house. i was quietly crying the whole time because i was so EXCITED that i didn't have to live there anymore! 

my sister asked me how i liked the new house. i said, "it's like i just moved to AMERICA!" it's fantastic! the water works all the time! our rental house definitely met our needs, but it fell pretty short on a lot of things. like water pressure. only one person could use water at a time, otherwise it would just be a tiny little old man pee trickle. i would often get up from the dinner table and turn the bathtub on to ensure that it would be filled by time we had finished our meal. in the new house, i turned the bathtub on and went back downstairs and was SHOCKED that it was filled with piping hot water within minutes. GOD BLESS THE USA! when i turned on the washing machine, the water just shot out at full force! like it's supposed to! i've done several loads of laundry this week and each time i jumped back from the machine in surprise at the force of the water filling the basin. this is what i've been missing! time to retire the old washboard(not talking about my stomach).  

the other glaring issue with our rental house was the ridiculously small toilet height and circumference. you know when you are at the roller rink and you are wearing roller skates and you go to the bathroom and it's the deepest squat you've even done down to the toilet? imagine that, except the bowl was made for toddlers. and then your legs fall asleep. it was a precarious position for the adults in the house. i'm sure the kids are wondering why the toilets in our new house are so big. 

thomas and i had many a long discussions about purchasing our new house. it was a favorite of his for a long time but i immediately wrote it off after the first showing. i had to have a subsequent showing by myself because i just didn't like it. i had a lot of internal conflict about the house. it has a fantastic backyard and a super fun basement and is everything a mom could want for her family. yet, i felt like i had arrived at a freshly painted and updated applebee's. everything was super nice, but not my style. i do realize that i can eventually change the interior style to something i like more now that we own it, but it's a little daunting to do that when 90% of the inside was just replaced. if anyone wants a BUNCH of pottery barn style, oil rubbed bronze fixtures and chandeliers in the next few years, i've got some practically brand new ones waiting for you. you will have to fight thomas for them. add it to the list of things thomas and i do not agree on. i realize that nearly everyone else loves pottery barn and i am in the minority. i'm okay with that. my heart belongs to the sputnik chandelier. 

while i'm not a fan of tumbled stone tile or vomit colored granite, it does camouflage in plain sight the chocolate chip cookies i'm sneaking while i'm cooking dinner. the kids have NO IDEA i'm ruining my dinner!

our first sunday in our new ward went pretty well. we got there practically on time and we sat on a row where someone has deposited FIVE basketballs. because our kids need a few more reverence temptations. 

first sunday dinner on the new deck. thomas and scarlett are having a deep discussion about jimmy carter, inflation, and the reagan revolution. 

sunset on the front porch. 

since we're still listening to the annie 2014 soundtrack on repeat, athena blythe and i have been singing, "i think i'm gonna like it here" everyday. and i do think i'm gonna like it here. it's fun having our own space again. i even unpacked a bunch of my china and serving dishes and i put them in my china cabinet. like an adult! i haven't seen my "nice" stuff for nearly two years. i may even start hosting dinner guests again. 

-unrelated-i've committed to not buying anything until next october. i don't go anywhere in the summer but sweaty places so there's really no need for cute outfits, but if someone miraculously happens across this dress at goodwill, i'm a size medium. i just love black and white.