The Living Room

My children always get confused as to which is the living room, the family room, the den, etc. Well, I have no explanation because the living room is certainly not the most lived in room in the house. This living room was cold and dirty when I bought this house. The floor was tiled and the room was sooooo long. There were archways, which I loved but my guy (ie: handyman) hated. So after a little reconfiguring, I now have a warm and welcome living room.



The floor was tile. Not my style for a living room. It was warmed up with some dark laminate. And a beautiful rug (lucky me I work for a floor covering store). The extra long room was made cozier by shortening it. A wall was built five feet in, giving me a closet with a door from the "family room". This made the room a little more cozy.

Furniture was brought in from different areas of the house and wah-lah a beautiful living room. Excuse the ivory Pottery Barn couch at the one end. A black slipcover is still being made for that couch. By the way, if anyone needs a slipcover made...I have the most amazing girl who does the most amazing job. She lives in Utah County. Just let me know :)



So please come in and sit awhile. This is a very relaxing and peaceful room. I will be glad when the weather cools down and we can open the blinds and see the view. But for now, this will do.

Welcome !

A front door says so many things. My original front door said, "UGLY"..."CONDEMNED"..."FORECLOSURE"...and "UNLOVED". I talked with a couple of different men about restaining the door because it is a really beautiful door. They said it would take days, hours and lots of money. Of course I had none of the above :) So I decided that with a twelve dollar can of minwax, a few pieces of sandpaper, and a few hours, maybe I could show it some love. Now when you walk to the front door you see "WELCOME".



Upon entering my home you are greeted by a cute hall tree. I don't remember where I bought this from, but it had set in storage for a long enough that I had forgotten what it looked like. I was at a consignment shop in the spring and came upon one exactly like it. It was priced at $400. I thought, "Maybe it is time I fall in love with my hall tree again."



A chandelier for the entry way was most sought after. I finally found this mustard colored one in a liquidation shop for only $40.00. The electrician who installed it said, "What garage sale did you get this from?" It took a little manipulating to shorten it (thanks Dad)...and I think I am the only one short enough to walk under it without bonking my head, but I love it. Something about crystals makes me happy (and reminds me of the temple).

So enter my home. As the week goes on, I will take you through each of the rooms...and you can see why I am happy here.

Let's Start From the Very Beginning....

Let's start from the very beginning...it's a very good place to start. So now my house is a home. There is still a few things left to do...but there will always be things left to do, because creative people are never finished! But I wanted to give you a tour around my new home.

So I decided to start in the front yard. When I bought this house in early spring, the lawn was non-existent. Dirt everywhere. The house looked blah and bland...yellow brick, yellow roof, and yellow :) dirt. All one color. I tried to spruce up the front porch, but I still need shutters to complete the look.




I also got a lawn put in. I told the landscaper I was happy he chose green grass because it went so well with the patio furniture! The beds have drip systems in them. It will probably be next season before I plant flowers since it is September. I am excited to see color around here.

The mailbox is a community mailbox down the street. I am so happy when I turn around to walk back to my little cul-de-sac to see a home with green grass and life. It makes me feel alive, too.

WILL IT EVER STOP?

Sunday afternoon, about 45 minutes before church, it was discovered that the east wing of the house was flooding. We quickly turned off the water to the sink, toilet, water heater, etc. I am just a lone single girl and am not too savvy on what to do when a flood occurs. I quickly noticed that it seemed to be coming from under the water heater. I determined the water heater had leaked, so Ginger and I began the steps necessary to empty the water heater as well as prevent it from filling back up.

As if that wasn't bad enough...all 3 toilets stopped working at the same time. This is not a good thing with seven people living in this house. We went to church, came back and had a delicious lunch at my Uncle Clarke and Aunt Jill's home, and then we returned home hoping the problems had resolved themselves. No luck!

So I called my cute plumber Scott. He rushed over, even though it was a Sunday night, and went to work trying to fix the problem. No go. He was mystified. The next mornig he returned with help. By this point, I had a "revelation" that the water heater had not actually leaked, but that the main line had backed up under the water heater making it appear as if it was the problem. Come to find out...this was exactly what had happened. Drains were backing up all over the house.

Once this determination was made, the men started coming. From the city, from the sewer company, from the home warranty plumbing company, etc. The handyman and landscaper were also there. Everyone wanted in on this action...except me...I just wanted out! After many long hours, the clog in the street was dislodged. Rumor is, in this town, you are responsible for your own pipes until they reach the main city line. Cameras were threaded down clean-out pipes (new vocabulary word for me) and problems were discovered. In the end, there is a "belly" in my sewer pipe where debris will settle over time. I was given instructions on how to manually flush it with the water house and a "jet ball" so the belly of the drain can stay clear and this will not happen again.

During the chaos of it all, I snapped this picture. The thought occurred to me, "What happens when a damsel is in distress? All the caring men come out in their white trucks to rescue her. Too bad when they leave they take all her money."




This was an expensive inconvenience. Not only were checks written out to these rescuers, the hall laminate will now need to be replaced because of the flood damage. The perils of being a homeowner. I think that is another reason it is not good for woMAN to be alone, this kind of stuff should be a man's concern. I should be in making all the men lemonade! However, as time goes on, I am recognizing that I can do hard things...I can do MANY hard things....and with a smile.

A Full Plate

Something about too many things happening at once, puts me in survival mode.

On July 25, my son Justin, had his missionary farewell and going away party. After feeding and entertaining about 100 guests, the mad rush began to have him all packed for Nicaragua, and the rest of us all packed for our new home La Verkin, Utah. My goal was to drop Elder Moore off at the Missionary Training Center, and keep driving South. I did not want to return to the house I had called home for the past 17 years. I was ready for my new start.




Brooklyn and I arrived in La Verkin on the evening of Wednesday, July 28. We had a couple of days to just rest while waiting for our trailers to arrive on Saturday. How one person can have so much junk remains a mystery to me. I will forever be grateful to my boss and his wife, Mike and Heather Fronk, for driving 3 huge truckloads of important and not-so-important crap to my house down here. They blessed my life incredibly by their willingness to help me with this monumental task. To add to their generousity, when I told Mike I was moving, he asked me to work remotely from home. I couldn't be more blessed in that area of my life.




The trailers (a big one and a small one) arrived on Saturday and the unload began. Many people contributed to getting my stuff down here as well as getting it out of the trailers. I am thankful for the service they provided. I believed that when I finally got here things would settle down for me and I might be able to find the peace I have been seeking the last six years.

On Sunday, I received the phone call that my Granny, Mabel Florence Lindsay Pennington, had finally entered the next life after several months of illness. She was 95 years old. The funeral was planned for the following Saturday. We made preparations for the 25 hour drive to Tyler, Texas. My parent's expedition was loaded with luggage as well as 8 people...Papa, Grandma, me, Brooklyn, Ginger, Bailey, Laynie and Lori. We had four people who could drive. We made the drive straight through taking turns at the wheel. When people weren't driving they were sleeping.





What a beautiful weekend it was as the descendants of my Granny gathered to pay tribute to her life. All 28 of her grandchildren were there...travelling from California, Utah, Arizona, North Carolina and other places. It was the first time I had felt whole in a long time. Many of her great-grandchildren were there as well as her great-great-grandchildren. After the funeral in Tyler and the burial next to my Papa, Hugh Smith Pennington, in Longview, we travelled back to Tyler for the luncheon. It was a beautiful time. Family pictures were taken. One was taken of the cousins with all 28 of us lined up from oldest to youngest. I am the fifth oldest.



Afterwards, we went back to the hotel where we all were staying. We had fun getting reaquainted, swimming and sharing stories. The men cousins decided we should all meet out at my cousin Byron's barn for a party that night. So off we went to another amazing event. My aunts and uncles barbequed sausages, made homemade peach ice cream, and just loved us. There was so much happiness and love that was felt this weekend. I cannot imagine Granny could have been any happier.

My granny left a wonderful legacy. She was honored in the newspaper the following day as a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who was instrumental to helping the church grow in East Texas. I am proud to be called her grandaughter.

So many wonderful things. But even wonderful things can be stressful. I have a trick to survive mortality. Tunnel vision. I only take one step at a time, looking to the next thing to be accomplished. If I look anywhere else, I become so overwhelmed and feel as if I will crush under all the responsibilities. Life is hard, but life is also meant to be lived. I for one am living life...hook, line and sinker...even though it is not my choice !