A Full and Happy Weekend

I've spent so much time playing catch-up on the blog, I decided that I wanted to do a post about the recent past, instead something that happened months ago.  

We've only been here for a few months, but we've already met some awesome homeschoolers here in Pennsylvania.  It's not as close-knit as our homeschooling group in Virginia because of the distance between us all, but we definitely do enjoy the time that we do get to spend.  On Friday we met at the Pecks' house and let the kids make gingerbread houses, while us moms got to enjoy some social time too. 

It is my strong personal opinion that decorating gingerbread houses is a timeless activity that one never outgrows.    The kids were definitely more conservative with their decorating now that they're older, but it was clear that they were enjoying themselves! 

Then on Saturday we had a special day when Glen's cousin was sealed to her husband in the Philadelphia temple.   It was great to be a part of and great to see so many of Glen's extended family that we've moved away from.  

Later that day we went to the church for our ward Christmas party.  I was very busy helping with food, so there are almost zero pictures from there, but here is a quick one I snatched with the sweet sister missionaries serving in our ward(it's literally the ONLY picture I took the whole night).   

 

 My friend sent me this picture that shows the amazing  sisters that made handmade tamales and delicious shredded chicken for burritos for the whole ward.   They fed about 300 people and still had enough for a linger longer after church today.   

I helped rally the ward into signing up for food to share.   It was a much different experience than in our last ward (meaning that not very many people actually used the sign-up), but everyone came through and there ended up being  plenty of food to feed the masses!   (It really did feel like a small miracle that there was so much food to spare). 

Today we went to church where I remembered to take a picture with a good friend of Matt and Karey that happen to be visiting her parents this weekend.   It's always amazing what a small world it is within the church. 

So there you have it....this is our boring life in real-time. 

Old Town Alexandria: Where Ellie Decides Contortionism is Her Thing (May 2019)

When you're about to move you start thinking of all the things in the area you haven't done yet.   After nearly 20 years in the DC area, there wasn't much that we'd never done, however there were many things that we hadn't done in many years.   Old Town Alexandria was one of those for us.  

According to Wikipedia, "Alexandria  is a city on the Potomac River, just south of Washington, DC. It’s known for its Old Town, with brick sidewalks and well-preserved 18th- and 19th-century buildings. King Street is lined with boutiques and specialty shops. Founding fathers dined at Gadsby’s Tavern, now a museum with period objects and photographs."

We'd driven through Alexandria a number of times over the years, but realized that we hadn't officially visited there in 15+ years.   So in May, with my DC area bucketlist at the forefront of my mind,  we decided to go explore. 

AnnaLisa and Tim came with us.   And we just spent a beautiful Spring day walking around.  We enjoyed the Torpedo Art Factory, the historical surroundings, and the good food.

 

The blue house in the picture below is called the "Spite House".  At a mere 7-feet wide, it is reportedly the narrowest house in America. The story goes that the owner of one of the neighboring houses in 1830 decided that he was sick of people using the alley way next to his house, so he bought it and built a house there to keep people out.

Here's a view of it from a little further out, so you can see how truly narrow it is.

In amongst the charming old buildings, quaint alleyways, and scenic river views, Ellie decided to try out some of her flexibility for the camera. 

As you can see....she is quite flexible.

And didn't get a lick of it from me!

 

All in all, it was a fun day exploring an interesting and beautiful place.  

I'm not sure why it took us so long to get back there, but I highly recommend it if you ever happen to find yourself in the DC area.   

 

We Sold Our House!

On a Thursday morning in May, we put the house on the market.   It went under full-price contract by Sunday night and about 5 weeks later we closed on it and moved out.  

We spent several months decluttering, packing items up, and fixing up issues with the house.  

In the end, it looked great and it was sad to leave.  I am grateful that selling it wasn't a long, drawn-out process.  We tried hard to take care of the things that might be issues and priced it at what we thought was fair.    We were very pleased that not only did  it sell quickly, but the buyers (a young couple) also waived the inspection clause, which meant that we didn't have to fix anything else.  

Here's a glimpse of how it looked when we put it on the market: 

We had to do some good sprucing up in the yard before selling...

Ahhhh, the kitchen I designed myself.   I miss it.  Especially the 48-inch wide fridge. I hope to have that again someday.

The kitchen got a fresh coat of paint, decluttering, and some simple decor.

Another view at one of my favorite places in the house...

We FINALLY got a cushion for the window seat in the dining room and decluttered.

We also got a new light fixture.

I LOVE how our dining room looked...

Adam's room was decluttered, the wood floors refinished, and brightened up with new bedding.

 

The master bedroom was decluttered, wood floors refinished, and spruced with new bedding and decor.  I love the Pottery Barn bedding! 

Ellie's room just got a fresh coat of paint, a refinish of the wood floors, and a major decluttering (since it had been the room for at least two kids for most of the time we lived here).

Emma's room got a fresh coat of paint, some new bedding, and new carpet.

Our master bath got a new vanity, coat of paint, new mirror, some vinyl flooring, and a refinishing of the shower. 

The basement bathroom looked great with a new vanity and mirror!

The rec room just got a fresh coat of paint and new carpet.

Another angle of the rec room...

The back of the rec room just got a major decluttering and the new carpet and paint.

We replaced the wrought iron railings with new wooden ones and got a new light fixture in the entry way.

The hall bath got a new mirror, vanity, paint, and light fixture.

The laundry room got new vinyl flooring and some beadboard walls.  It was previously unfinished, so this looks remarkably different.

One of my favorite spaces...the living room.  

Adam and I redid the fireplace ourselves, then hired an interior decorator to update the decor.  I LOVED how it turned out. 

The back deck...

The backyard never did grow grass well, so mostly we just removed the trampoline and did some good weeding.

Not pictured:  The new roof and the major painting of the garage.

We have no regrets about moving, because we felt strongly that it was the right thing for our family, however we do miss a lot.   Mostly the people, but also the house.  I hope to someday feel that settled again.  At this point, it's way too soon to know where that might be, but someday, somewhere...

LDSHE / Emma's Graduation Day

 I keep thinking that I'm done with blogging, then I have some interaction with my family that reminds me that I really really like having a family record of our events and happenings. 

 This is from 6 months ago--May 2019.  

We had spent the previous several months working our tails off to get our house ready to sell.  The morning our house officially went on the market we sat 150 miles away at LDSHE (an LDS homeschooling conference in Williamsburg, VA). 

It was hard not to be distracted by all the texts seeking permission to tour our house and watching the views and favorites go up on Redfin and Zillow, but it was certainly refreshing to be away from it all.  At that point, all we could do is sit back and see what happened.  

We enjoyed the opportunity to get to know new people and be inspired by enthusiastic and faithful people following a similar path less traveled with their families....

Cooking had really gone on the back burner while we were getting the house ready to sell and I'm a little embarrassed to admit how often we used UberEats to order take-out, so I enjoyed being away from home and eating good food and not worrying one bit about the mess we were making. 

Our favorite part of all was the opportunity it gave us to  officially celebrate Emma's graduation from our homeschool.

It was a refreshing few days and so fun to share in the joy of Emma's accomplishment. 

These two cute homeschool graduates are now roommates together at BYU.

I'm so grateful for the wonderful friendships we've made in this journey of homeschooling. 

And grateful for the opportunity to be inspired each year. 

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