My Favorite Collection Ever

As I've slowly been settling into our new house by unpacking, painting, and moving furniture around, but there is one box that has remained unpacked though it's contents are my favorite collection ever.  I actually didn't trust putting the box in the big U-haul truck, so it rode with me all across the 3,000 miles it took to get here... Until this past week, these guys have just been waiting for me to unpack!  

Vintage Show Love

When my husband and I were deciding to take the plunge and move across the country for his new job, a big factor for me was that I would be missing so many incredible vintage and antique shows that are a part of the Pacific Northwest.  Since The Farm Chicks Show began several years ago, the Pacific Northwest has become a mecca for these incredible shows.  I knew that I would miss them.... a lot!   Sure enough, now that I'm mostly settled in the new house, I'm pining to be a part of the shows again and I certainly miss all my wonderful and talented friends that pour their hearts into these shows, like Jennifer and Kathy Walker of Unexpected Necessities.  This mother and daughter team have their annual show this weekend in Nine Mile Falls, WA.  Even though I won't be able to be there, I'm living a little vicariously through my oh-so-talented mom and step-dad of Angel's Attic right now.  As they've been getting ready for the first show in which we haven't shared a booth, they've shared some of their projects and I'm in love...

Raleigh Historic Home Walking Tour

Despite the fact that our new house in the Raleigh area is brand-new construction, I would have loved to have settled into an older home that is full of charm and character.  When my husband and I first visited Raleigh this past May, we drove around the city to explore a bit.  We'd heard that there was a pocket of beautiful, older homes from our realtor and it didn't take us long to find it...

This is my all-time favorite house...My mom and I call it "The Storybook House".  You can read more about it here

Happy Autumn!

 

The leaves are just beautiful in North Carolina right now and it's been one of the most beautiful October's that I've ever seen. I usually associate the colorful leaves with cold, chilly weather from the Inland Northwest, but it's been so warm and pleasant here this past month that I'm still wearing shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops. I think I can get used to this!

The New House

If you've been following my blog you'll know two things:  1.  I haven't posted in a long time!  It's difficult to blog without having the Internet and I haven't had consistent Internet since last June and it took six weeks to get the cable company to come out to the new house to hook it up.  Yes, it's been torture :)  2.  We have finally, finally, FINALLY settled into a house!  I was going to go crazy there for a bit... I'm definitely a "put down roots" kind of a gal - a real nester.  I have a whole new appreciation for military families.  To cut to the chase, this is my last year of moving in review:  Last October - Spokane, WA to Sandpoint, ID, June - Sandpoint, ID to Fayetteville, NC, August - Fayetteville, NC to Raleigh, NC.  We had to live temporarily at a family member's house with the bare minimum while everything else was crammed in a storage unit in Raleigh until we could find and close on a house.  This was our summer....

Life's An Adventure, Right?...

Wow, what a whirlwind it's been the last few months!  My family had just moved to Sandpoint, ID for my husband's new job and I had even went back to work full-time when our lives were once again turned upside down when husband received an incredible opportunity to be part of a brand new tax division in Raleigh, NC for the CPA firm that we had both worked for in Spokane.  Before I knew it, I was scurrying like crazy trying to find housing in Raleigh, wrapping up the last projects at work, packing our house, and get all my projects done for my favorite show ever, The Farm Chicks Show.  
As soon as the show was over, everything went into boxes and was loaded into the biggest U-haul truck we could get and an additional trailer and off we went...almost 3,000 miles away from everything we've ever known. 
It's been quite an adventure to say the least...  There are stories of our "travels" that I'm sure our kids will tell their kids like attempting to drive across South Dakota during tornado weather, a 5 year-old with the stomach flu, and me driving a large trailer for the first time and trying to keep it on the road in the wind.  Needless to say, we got stuck in a rundown hotel in the middle of nowhere for two days.  It rained so hard that the walls in the room were leaking!  Slowly, but surely, we finally made it to North Carolina and we all cheered when we finally made it across that stateline.  My undramatic husband even wanted to kiss the ground when we got here and declared that we were never doing that again!   

Now that we're here, I'm so excited to explore the South! There is such history and a unique beauty here!  True to form, I've already buying been buying up some fabulous antiques that I can't wait to share with you. I hope you'll join me on my new "Southern Junkin' Journey"!

 

Baby Boy Shower

I recently returned to the workforce as a financial analyst and one of the things that I've missed so much the last few years staying home with the kids is the kind of adult interaction that you get working together in teams with really great people.  I'm fortunate enough to be in great department with a couple of gals that are fun to be around.  One of them is due to have a little baby boy in June and I had the pleasure to help plan and throw a "work" baby shower.  We had so much fun coming up with ideas and setting up that I wanted to share some of the fun with you...