Our New Furniture!

One of the highlights of a tornado makeover is new furniture!!  

I'm completely in love with our new hardwood floors, and we opted for a leather sofa and loveseat so we can easily clean it with our little mess maker.  

Our new table is a solid wood hickory.  We kind of settled on this one since we made the mistake of visiting Ethan Allen.  Kyle and I both fell in love with a set of table and chairs, but the price tag was beyond our reach, so this table is a good second best! 

A bonus for this table is the leaf folds down inside itself so we don't have to find a place for it.  :)  

My favorite room is Maddie's!

She loves it too!  

She keeps her shoes in one of the drawers underneath.  

She's already brought me a pair of shoes and said, "Outside? Come on, let's go!"

Love that she's becoming more and more independent.

Her dresser has her pj's and play clothes in it.

The bin beside it holds our library books we read before bed time.  

I'm trying really hard to have a place for everything and everything in its place!

Which leads me to her closet!

As far as decorating, I still need to work on her shelves...

any ideas on what to do with this space are welcome!! 

please help!

The amazing thing is her framed book jackets survived the tornado so they are still up!

So that's what we have so far!  

We still need to finish the master bedroom, master bath, and my new photography office that used to be Maddie's playroom.

Slowly but surely we are getting there!

Not-So-Scary Thunderstorm

Early yesterday morning as the rain came down and the thunder rolled, I kept thinking how wonderful it was to be in our nice, cozy bed at home.  

Maddie has been sleeping in her own room, but every night around 1:00 or 2:00 she comes to our room and gets in bed with us.  

I loved that we were all together and I could listen to the rain and thunder and not fear for our safety at the same time. 

Now that I think about it, it didn't even occur to me to be scared.  

Must be a God-thing!

"thanks Jesus!"

Speaking of the bed...

I have been trying to establish a new morning routine which involves making the bed.  

As Maddie was "helping" make the bed yesterday, I had to grab the camera.  

The first time I've "grabbed the camera" for a little impromptu photoshoot since the tornado!

The light was gorgeous, highlighting the brushfield spots in her eyes, one of the many beautiful features her extra chromosome has to offer!

I really want to frame these three as a set and hang them above our bed.  

Another change I'm making...only decorating with photographs, artwork of a different kind :)  

I promised pictures of the new furniture, but I was an a bit scatterbrained, preoccupied and left my camera on all day and all night and completely drained the battery...nice.  

So, I promise pictures will come (hopefully tomorrow!!)

Home...Defined.

I've had several catch phrases running through my mind lately...

"this world is not my home."

"home is where the heart is."

"there's no place like home."

However you define home...we are back in it!!!

So. Excited.

Yippeeeeee!

We moved in Tuesday!  

There's still a few minor details, like the Master bath vanity, the guttering, and the fences that needs to be done, but the house is fully functional and we are moved in!  

$60,000 worth of damage and yet less than 2 months we're back home...it's just amazing.  

I feel proud of our little home. 

This was our "starter" home that we originally thought would only be a stepping stone to things bigger and better on down the road.

10 years later, we are still here and I love it so much.

Now it is new and improved with brand-new hard wood floors, fresh paint, new digs to grace the place and I am 

de.ter.mined.  

to keep it nice and tidy! 

From this point on, nothing is allowed in my home without purpose.  

It's purpose could be to make us smile, or make our lives easier, but it has to be defined. 

One thing I've learned from this tornado experience is "stuff" can overwhelm you.

Typing in every single item lost in a spreadsheet, researching it's replacement value, and sending all the information off to an insurance agent has made me realize what power this stuff unintentionally holds.

Less really is more.

Really.

I am bursting with gratitude!

So grateful for such amazing friends and family to see us through this rotten time of life.

Grateful for our home with a few minor scars that expose the trauma, but survived the worst Mother Nature threw at her. 

Grateful for my marriage that was tested with stressful decisions but survived the emotional outbursts and misdirected anger.

Grateful for my precious Maddie who has endured nightmares, fears, and a sense of disorder but has proven herself resilient and strong.  

So grateful it's all over!

Furniture delivered today...pics to come soon!!