Living in a box...

Remember that 1980s one-hit-wonder, Living in a box? I woke up this morning with that song stuck in my head.  I swear, we have more cardboard boxes in our guest bathroom, dining room and the office slash soon-to-be living room room that I am not sure where to even walk.  I cringed looking at it all this morning.

The good news is that I have a way to get rid of said cardboard boxes once the refacing is complete and we have unpacked everything once again. One step ahead!

Until then, my special little song will be playing in my head:



Am I living in a box 
Am I living in a cardboard box 
Am I living in a box 
Am I living in a cardboard box 
Am I living in a box 

Ah, you've got to love the 80s!

Vote for the Cover Girls!

In my "real" world, I work daily with elected officials.  I have run campaigns and worked for legislators to get bills passed or killed.  It is an exciting world.  But I have never envied them when they put their name on a ballot.  It takes a lot of hard work to ask for someone to vote for you.  I have always enjoyed being the staffer who pushes them along and at the end of the day, I can retire to my home and family. There, I am only accountable to them and not a massive constituency.

Then came the magazine cover contest.

My mother nominated my girl and me for the cover of a local magazine, Little Black Dress/Little Red Wagon.  It is one of my favorites because it is two magazines in one geared towards moms and their dual lives of being a hip lady and a cool mom.

In order to win the cover and all the fabulous prizes that come with it, once you are selected for the contest, you have to solicit for votes.  So here I am, hat in hand, asking you to vote for me and my child.

There are two EASY ways to do it.  If you are on Facebook, click and like here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150628222111686&set=a.10150628221956686.381029.104090731685&type=1&theater

The other way is to go to this Web site, find the picture for Amanda S. and then click and scroll down to vote.  It is that simple!

I'll let you know the results on Monday when LBD/LRW picks its winner.

Thank you in advance for humoring me!!!

Go vote! :)

Once upon a time...

There was a girl who found the home of her dreams.  It was in the neighborhood in which she had been raised and it was where she wanted her daughter to grow up.  She and her husband took a risk, put in an offer and sat back while the banks did their business.  Five months later, she closed on the short sale and called the 1910 lady all hers.  Then, she decided she would blog about her adventures and all the things that she and her family would do to put their fingerprints on the home that they never thought they would have.  


Then reality hit!

Thankfully, I can say the above story is mostly true.  Indeed, my husband and I thankfully own the home of our dreams.  Our now four-year-old LOVES her home complete with her pink and purple room that we have decorated for her.  Alas, the blog...it has not been well kept as I would have liked.  It all started with the pesky home computer problems and uploading of pictures.  Part of me feels like you cannot blog if you do not have pictures to show along with the words that you find interesting.  So I am slack.  Some would say I am over extended.  I have one girlfriend who questions if I ever sleep! Yes, I am a busy body.  I love to volunteer and do things...getting out and about is awesome!  Part of my itch to do something was this blog. I am going to do my best yet again to get back to it.  I will post pictures...I owe the World Wide Web something for starting up this domain, don't I?

So if you stumble upon this blog or you have bookmarked it because you are my friend, continue to peep in from time to time.  I promise, I will start to write again and see where this dream continues to go!

Paint progress report...

After much debate, days of scanning countless color wheels, and having multiple color samples painted on the house, we finally bit the bullet and allowed the painters to move forward with changing the colors of our home.  My, oh my, how color can change the way your house looks! I think a girlfriend of mine summed it up best when she said, "Love it! Make it your own, girl." It finally feels like we are making this house "ours" for real, especially now that our touches can be seen not only on the inside but now on the outside as well.  I'll post "after" pictures once the painting is finally complete!

PS: I am tying to figure out why people can't post to my blog entries.  For those of you who tried and emailed me your thoughts on the paint, thank you!

Happy New Year!

It is hard to imagine that it is 2011.  Wasn't it just yesterday that we were preparing for the millennium and Y2K?  Our children will laugh at us when they are older and read about our paranoia and fears!

We've started to take down the Christmas decorations much to my three year-old's dismay.  It has been a great Christmas with her.  She is so inquisitive and we have had to explain why we do everything for the holiday to her.  She soaks it up like a sponge.  Today we discussed why some people still had their Christmas decorations up and others did not.  We discussed the 12 days of Christmas, the Epiphany and the Wise Men.  Let's see what sticks after that conversation!

On one of my message boards, a friend asked, "Do you have any resolutions for the New Year?"  I can't help but think about this new house and all the things we want to do to it in the days, weeks, months and years ahead.  I want to be more organized.  My husband and I both want to horde less.  We both want to find unique furniture pieces to go in the home as well as antiques to decorate it with.  As for my daughter, just trying to get her to donate some of her many toys that she no longer plays with will be a resolution challenge in itself! 

When spring arrives, I want to start to work on the back yard and side gardens.  There is so much debris and I know there is a magical place just waiting to be discovered.  My husband wants to get our daughter a sturdy swing set to last her for many years to come. 

I can't wait for spring and summer so we can have relaxing times on the front porch.  I cannot think of a better place to spend time catching up with friends or just simply reading a book as the sun begins to set.

We need to find a good patio set so we can make another living area on our back deck.  The grill is there and it will be a great place to sit and enjoy meals with family and friends.

It is going to be a great yet challenging year I can tell.  I have a list of resolutions and "to dos" ready to be tackled.  We are certainly up for the task!  I wish you and yours a happy and prosperous new year!

Let it snow!

Merry Christmas, everyone! My husband and I have decided that you have really moved into a home when you celebrate the holidays in it.  The dream house now has two celebrations under her belt with Thanksgiving and an incredible Christmas!  We even had a white Christmas - the first one in Georgia since 1882.  It was absolutely beautiful.

The house got a few Christmas presents of her own.  We were given a medallion to go in our dining room over the chandelier.  I can't wait to have that installed.  We also got a circular saw which will come in handy very soon.  We even got new lamps to put in the office.  It was a fantastic Christmas and we are so thankful that we got to celebrate in our new home around a beautiful 8" noble fir tree.  I hope you and your family had a terrific holiday!  Enjoy the relaxing days ahead before the hectic New Year arrives!

Pinch me, I must be dreaming...

It is Sunday night and we are three days out until we close on "the" house.  It is an exciting yet scary time.  Our current home hasn't sold yet and we are just a few short days away from owning the home we have always hoped to have.  Who cares if we are in a recession/depression and the market is flooded with over a years worth of homes for people to buy?  Minor details, right?  So rather than fret about that (trust me, there is plenty else to worry about) I have decided to blog about the journey my husband and I have decided to venture upon with our unsuspecting three year-old.  This oughta be good.

What makes a dream home?  For some I guess it would be a spacious home that lauds a mega basement that allows for a man cave and massive flat screen TV on the wall.  Many of our friends have upgraded to this type of abode and don't get me wrong, we think those are pretty cool.  But what is in the cards for us?  Well, not that.  We have stumbled up on a restored 1910 home in the historic district of Marietta that is within walking distance to the square, our church, the homes of our friends and the home of my grandmother (where I grew up) plus the school where our daughter will be a fourth generation student to attend.  And the icing on the this cake dream?  It's a short sale.  (Remind me to tell you later there is no such thing as "short" in a short sale.)

We've hardly told anyone not because of lack of patience or faith but rather because I think we are afraid we'll wake up and the dream will have been just that....a dream.  After five months of waiting, the day is almost here. The seller's bank has finally agreed and our loan has been approved. Closing on 1910 dream street is just around the corner.