Change is in the air

The night we before we moved to our new house this is what I found in the sky. I stood in the middle of the street, holding Kennedy, and marveled how sometimes nature reflects my moods perfectly.

The next day we moved in and this is the first thing I put in place.

We love it. Every. Inch. Well maybe not every, but most of it. It has three bedrooms, two baths and is pretty petite (of course in comparison to a 900 square foot apartment in NY, it is palatial). But, it is perfectly situated and has a great yard that gets grass today. It is a Sante Fe style. I was always a fence sitter when it came to Sante Fe style homes, but they are perfectly matched with the desert. The yard is currently desert landscaped but with one too many run-ins with "the pokies" as Claire calls them we have pulled out a lot of the cacti (why do I feel so pretentious writing cacti?).

We had our own version of a barn raising this past month with a virtual army of friends and families who have pitched in more time and labor than I dare to count to make our new home feel like OUR HOME. I can't tell you how blessed I felt to have so many people come to our aid. My brothers, Ethan and Jared, and my mom came to help paint. My mom ended up staying a full week and sanded and painted my kitchen cabinets with me, in addition to painting all the trim. Dave's brother Brent, his sister Lindsey and her husband Riley, installed our wood floor, arguably the most pain staking job (Unless you talk to my mom and I would would give you a list of reasons why those cabinets took the cake. My hand cramped for weeks into the paintbrush grip.). All the while my mother-in-law babysat my munchkins. When she left, Shari and Mark took up the babysitting responsibilities for almost a month for my kids. Kennedy saw Shari so much that she took to calling her "Ma". My cousin, Nate, was on hand to assist in all design decision-making and gave us some great ideas. My neighbors spent a day packing with me, as did wonderful, Alysa. Even pregnant Noelle spent a very late night with me putting my headboard together. Not to mention, the little acts of service others chipped in that makes burdens lighter. The labor was above and beyond. Thank you, each of you.