//DELIGHT IN DISH SOAP//

Am I the only one who uses a little more shampoo than necessary when the bottle is almost empty and I am giddy over trying my new/different shampoo? I am like that with anything new, really, and my impatience gets the better of me often. The new shampoo loses its charm a few washes in anyway, and I end up wasting the last few squirts in my old bottle. It does not contribute to my efforts of living simply, but the appeal is always there.

I bought new dish soap a few weeks ago, when my bottle of Palmolive still had enough to last a week or two. I should have known that when Amazon says they'll have my dish soap here in two days, they really meant it, and I do not have to buy it as soon as the bottle is getting low. Well this new soap smells so delicious and fresh, and makes the dish washing experience even better.

The first week or two after we moved, the days were blending together and dragging a bit, due to lack of schedule and loss of sleep. The smell of my new soap gave me a lift, but I told myself I may only use it once a day, and still use the old bottle the rest of the 6734 times a day I wash dishes. Ha. I found myself using it every morning, and there went my one exciting wash per day.

I know it sounds silly, and of course it is, but after a week or so of using it, I found myself reaching for the old bottle most of the time, and my heart did a happy dance every time, realizing that I am okay; this is a good day; my head is not in a fog, and I CAN WASH DISHES WITH UNSCENTED PALMOLIVE. Delighting in dish soap really did give my spirit a lift, and realizing that I don't need that lift as much in the last few days is just as sweet.

//What silly little things make your day a little brighter? Anything worse/better than dish soap?//

//A HOUSE BECOMING A HOME: THE DINING ROOM//

Sitting at the dining room table, I can see out four windows and one door. I see an old wooden blue feeder that often entertains a few cardinals; through another window I see a rusty burn barrel and some pine trees; I can see up the hill to the neighboring fields, and to my right I see the neighbors silos through the trees between us. This room is open and bright, and quite often dirty and snow tracked. The majority of the time there are food and/or play-doh crumbs on the floor and table, craft supplies cluttering the little table in the corner, and it is temporarily housing two desks until the basement is ready.

Here's how it looked before...







((These three pictures go from left to right in the room. The far right wall(with no windows) is the wall that we took out))



((The main door and coat closet))



((What used to be a door that led to the laundry. We closed off this door and knocked down the entire wall that you faced when you first walked into the house))

Besides opening up the space a bit, Brian laid new flooring, family helped to paint, and we had the floor insulated. We added a chandelier that I refinished, a few things on the walls, and my favorite bookcase Brian got free from a job when we were engaged.

Here is it now...







((This is where the wall was, blocking the door and window))









((Addi and Chase making a playdoh mess creation))


Our dining room, like most of yours I imagine, gets a lot of use and abuse. We eat, we talk, we welcome daddy home, we do crafts, we pay bills, we fight, we love. I hope our dinner times together lasts a long, long time.

I love how the room feels now and hope that anyone who walks through the door feels welcome and at home here.



//“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.”


― A.A. Milne//

//A HOUSE BECOMING A HOME: THE BATHROOM//

I've mentioned a few times that there was a urinal in the bathroom when we bought it. Not only was there a filthy urinal, the bathroom also had no bathtub, only a stall shower, and was set up in a ridiculous way. Someday I will give a tour from the beginning of the house but for now I will tell you this: previously, when you walked into the main door, you immediately were facing a wall, only four feet in front of your nose. You then had to turn left down a tiny hallway, walk through the dark and smelly laundry room, turning right into the kitchen before you finally felt like you were in a house. When you first walked into the laundry room, you also had the choice of turning left into the unsightly bathroom. What a welcome! Yes, this laundry had THREE doors leading to it. Obviously we don't want to be reminded of our dirty clothes so many times in one walk, so we knew something had to change. We decided to knock down the wall between the dysfunctional bathroom and the oddly placed laundry room and join them to make this house work better for us. Today I will show you the changes we made to the now bathroom/laundry combo, which we LOVE and is so perfectly functional for us. Doing laundry has never been so easy to remember!

First, a few before photos to help you appreciate the space we now have. Tiny rooms are so hard to get into a decent picture, so it may be hard to imagine how it was set up. Also, an amateur photographer disclaimer: I didn't notice until I got these new pictures into my computer how grainy they were, and at this point am too lazy to go retake them.

((The view from the living room))

((The view from the laundry room; the stall shower is there on the right))

((See? This bathroom was in need of a LOT of love and clean surfaces))

((The laundry))

We had a local contractor demolish the space, and put in the new bathroom, knocking a few walls out, and also adding a few as needed. Brian put in the new flooring, and after a few homey additions from me, we now have a space we love.

((The new view from the living room))

((Ikea spice racks we stained and hung on the wall for pretty organization))

((I also stained the front of the vanity and added knobs from Hobby Lobby))

((The laundry nook, if you couldn't tell)

((Wooden crates we again stained and hung on the wall for easy towel grabbing and something pretty to look at if you're spending time in the bathroom. At this point you may think I am currently obsessed with stain and you would be correct))

((Shower curtain from Target that we had in our bathroom in the old house))

((Laundry shelf pretties. The wooden toolbox, vintage lid, and washboard were all thrifted or found. The shelf and clock are new from Lowes and Weavers, a local store in Lancaster))

((In case you were wondering if we have one of these))

So now you know what our bathroom looks like, and hopefully soon I will have more completed rooms to show you. I was going to make a diy post out of the crates/shelves but they truly are so simple that it would take all of one sentence and two pictures to explain how to do it. If you have any questions, please ask! It was much quicker and simpler than painting, although messier, but I just love the rich dark tones against the light walls.

//Enjoy your Sunday!//

//SETTLING IN//

((this picture was taken in PA; there is no green grass to be seen here right now))

Hello again!

We are finally here, in New York, and settling in between the boxes and disorganization that is our new home. Brian is chipping away at the projects he can do himself, while he is off of work for the week. I am slowly unpacking, box by box, trying to get a feel for how this house works best. We are enjoying our home; especially our spacious bathroom which is about triple the size of our main bathroom in our old house! (The urinal is gone!) The kiddos are loving the play time in the snow with their daddy; I am afraid they will be disappointed next week when it is just me here with them. Somehow I don't see my 34-week pregnant self getting out there with them like he does. I am trying to take it somewhat easy but there is a lot to be done and I am hoping to have a week or two to relax before baby comes!

Besides playing in the snow, they usually have the living room looking like a wall-to-wall, helter-skelter-mess by 8:00 am. every day. They are enjoying having all their toys again, while I am dreaming of having a finished basement sometime soon where they can make their messes.

We had my parents and brother here over the weekend, helping us move and doing a lot of little projects around the house. My mom and I did a few DIY projects that were super easy and I plan on sharing those with you this week. They were both for the bathroom, which is the first room that is worthy of showing "after photos", as the other rooms will be getting shuffled around when we have the basement completed. I still want to stain the vanity before it is complete, and hopefully that will get done this week yet.

Favorite things this week:

//Finding a place to buy inexpensive farm fresh eggs, and it looks like they stay well stocked too!//
//Watching the horizon change its look all day long. First a beautiful sunrise, then clear skies, then fog/snow so intense that the view just disappears, then back to whatever it feels like doing next//
//Making hot cocoa in my quiet kitchen while watching my husband and kiddos play in drifts up to their chests//
//Peaceful nights in which both children have actually been sleeping soundly, without interruption//



//What are your favorite things this week?//