The 2nd 1st Day of 4th Grade

When we moved, we made the decision to leave Coop in school in Richmond. We thought it would give him some continuity and lessen the stress of moving. It was the right choice, for all of us at the time.

As the months have passed though, Cooper developed an interest in changing schools and that interest turned into a question about when he'd go to the new school...and then a request, "can i go to the new school". And Jon and I decided that if he was asking it was probably a sign.

It was- and it's been the best decision for all of us.



The 2nd 1st day of 4th grade was fabulous and full of change.

It started off with a good luck snuggle from a really great pup.



Notice that he's wearing a t-shirt. No t-shirts in private school....but in public school they are allowed. Cooper is over the moon about that!

No bus stop at private school either....



And if there is no bus stop in private school, that means no bus.



I felt like he was in kindergarten as that bus pulled away. I managed to hold it together but did follow the bus to school to meet him and make sure he was settled!

Day 1 went well.....the kids were so welcoming, his teacher is a doll, the bus driver is kind, the cafeteria holds promise (another 1st for him), and he's feeling completely comfortable (which is HUGE!).

Best thing for him about the 1st day? Not getting assigned the "haunted locker". What a good thing THAT is.

Can't wait for Day 2!

Before and After Dog

Before-





I could eat her up she is so fuzzy and great!
Seriously. She's got a fan club in our town...it's a riot.

But, all good things must come to an end.





Poor thing. She's so mad at us...she hasn't wagged her tail since she got home and she refuses to look us in the eye.

Regardless of how long her hair is....she's a funny pup.

I love that dog!

search history

Tonight I used Google to research a feature on my stove.
Except that when I started typing, another recent search popped up before my eyes.

"how to talk to girls when you are 9"

I blinked, read it again and ran to find Jon.
All the while fighting back the tears.
As you might imagine, Jon was of no help.

This search happens to coincide with a request on the way home to stop and get some Sour Patch Kids for "Meghan".

Here is what I know about Meghan.

1) She's 9 too.
2) He's not sure whether she has any pets-
3) She has the glossiest brown hair and brown eyes.
4) Her favorite candy is Sour Patch Kids.

There are so many things running through my head....
The biggest one?

STOP GROWING UP SO FAST!!!!!



I need you to be little and snuggly like this pic from 3 years ago for a while longer (like maybe 20 more years!)

All things taken into account, it could be way worse......
Sigh.

Before & After (the kitchen)

On the day we looked at houses, we saw 8.
Our house was the 2nd one and we knew as soon as we walked in that 'THIS WAS THE ONE'.
I tried to keep an open mind, but at the end of the day, we tallied our votes (Cooper kept track of the votes after each house) and there was no question.

Maybe that explains why about a week after we put a contract on it we suddenly realized there was no dishwasher.

HOLD THE PHONE, that's an issue!

After we started talking it became clear that neither of us had paid one bit of attention to the kitchen. We didn't know what the floors looked like, what kind of counters the kitchen had or really anything about the kitchen other than it was "cute" and nothing screamed at us as alarming.



Aside from the fact that I can't function without a dishwasher, we wanted to do a few other things to the kitchen.

Here is our kitchen now-



We added the dishwasher, new countertops, tile backsplash, tile floor and new paint. We also removed a radiator that was blocking a cabinet to provide some more space.

This is the before looking from the other side of the room.



And the after.



The color is Apple 3 and it doesn't show up accurately in these pictures.

I'm happy with it- subtle changes have made a big difference but still stay true to the house! We also had pegboard installed in the pantry to help with the lack of cabinet space. It's SO easy to keep clean and organized- score!!



I never thought I'd be able to keep things so clean, but for whatever reason it's been really easy since we've move in. That's a huge bonus!

Ahhh, hone sweet home!

oh the places i'll go.....

small town living...there are pros and cons.
we're in the honeymoon stage right now so there is a whole lot of good and really, not much bad at all.

topping the good list?

10 Places I Can Walk within 10 Minutes

1. our church
2. the Post Office
3. the library (which is AWESOME for the coopster!!)
4. the waters edge
5. Radio Shack
6. town hall
7. the DMV
8. a local Furniture Store (where we purchased a split box spring for our queen size guest bed that wouldn't fit up the steps. thankfully, the king wasn't an issue!)
9. a cute little shop called "divin' off the dock"
10. the nail salon

seriously. i am so super excited!!!
oh! and because I can't wait for it to start, i'm adding a #11.

11. the Farmers Market (held every Saturday in Spring, Summer and Fall)

COME ON SPRING!!!!!

Our move by the numbers....

15- Trips to Good Will (before the move)
60- Books donated to Cooper's school book sale
4- Trips to the thrift store (after the move)
44- Total number of boxes packed by the packers
8- Remaining boxes to be unpacked
4- Number of boxes I packed myself only to have the packers unpack and repack them to their standards
11- Total number of people in my house at 11:30 AM on Friday (3 contractors- who may as well be family by now, 2 countertop installers, 1 cable guy and 7 movers). It was crazy!
3- Trips to the landfill to rid ourselves of trash and packing materials
1- Piece of furniture that didn't fit up the stairs (thankfully NOT our kingsize bed!)
30+ - Number of times Jon and I said, "can you believe we're here?" to each other
6- Number of hours I spent on Saturday unpacking aided by 3 of the most amazing women on the planet. I wouldn't have been nearly as "together" as I am without them. Love you girls!!
7- Number of boys who arrived in a pack to welcome Cooper to the neighborhood
4- Neighbors who have stopped by to deliver food, flowers or say welcome home


3- Happy new homeowners!!

Home Sweet Home

We're home!



New address, new friends, new adventures.
It's so exciting!

unsubscribe

2012 brings a quest for living more simply.
jon and i are convinced that we can do it and that the rewards will be many.

we're making many changes- some big (our move) and some small.

the small one i'm loving right this second?
unsubscribing from the crazy number of advertising e-mails in my inbox.

it's so easy....open the offeding e-mail, scroll to the bottom, click unsubscribe and wait.

i can feel myself getting more organized as i'm clicking.
bring on the simple life!

the kitchen before & after

A few years ago (2009 to be exact) I sent an e-mail to Layla from The Lettered Cottage. and purchased a photo consultation that came with a free written consultation.

My living room was the lucky recipient of the photo consult and I adored the whole process, especially the end result! I did a post about it here. Layla did a post about it here!

I've made a few changes since then, but overall the room is pretty much the same.



I also did a post about my kitchen here but wasn't able to do much more than switch some wall art.

Fast forward to this spring when we decided to bite the bullet and tackle the kitchen. Clearly I'm on top of my blog posts because it's almost a year later and I have yet to post about it. Everything in good time.

Here are shots of my kitchen before-





And just a little more than 2 years later and with lots of helpful inspiration from Layla, here is my kitchen after-





We didn't spend a ton of money- instead of using granite or something else equally as expensive, we opted for C*rian. Rather than getting all new cabinets, we opted for adding new doors, hardware and a fresh coat of paint. We also decided that although the dishwasher wasn't stainless, we just couldn't justify getting a new one when our old one worked just fine. It's all about weighing your options and prioritizing your wants.

These choices felt like the right ones for us both functionally and financially. Each time I walk into the room, I smile! It was worth the wait.

And, as luck would have it, we're in need of making some changes to the kitchen in our new house and we've already ordered some of the same products to transform that space too. When something works- why not stick with it!

A huge thanks to Layla for her design genius, her willingness to share it and for making kitchen dreams come true!

SOLD

Today I left our house as its owner.
When I came home, I was a renter.


I don't have a recent picture....I need to take one.
This one makes me smile though...it was taken at Christmas in 2009.




There is no sold sign....there never was.
I got an e-mail from a friend asking whether I know of any houses in our neighborhood that might be on the market.

Well, maybe mine.
Jon and I talked, they drove by, liked what they saw, came for a visit and said "we love it- how much?"

Yup, that's the story. It was unexpected, completely random, almost never happens and is absolutely thrilling!

And so we went into high gear putting a plan into place- a plan to start a new chapter in our lives.

And although it's a huge change....and although Cooper is not thrilled...and although it means doing things VERY differently....

I can hardly wait.

"delete this from your memory" (an early morning exchange)

I woke up today and couldn't bring myself to walk on the treadmill. It was dark and cold and I was super cozy. When I finally pulled myself out of bed, Cooper padded in to our room and promptly sneezed five times.

Then he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said the words I never want to hear.
"Momma, I'm sick"

Poor kid- sneezing, sniffling, headache, body aches.
So. NOT. Good.
I had a marathon meeting from 9 until 5 that I simply couldn't miss.

So, like any good mother, I dosed him up with meds, stuck him in the shower and waited to see whether there might be any hope.

NONE.

So, I got him snuggled back in bed and sent an email letting my team know that I would need to attend the meeting via phone.

I'm thankful that I have that option because otherwise, I'm up a creek.
There is no back up plan.

To calm my nerves and get me ready for the battle of an 8 hour conference call, I did what I'm sure many people would.

I cleaned out a closet.
I've needed to do it for a while and I had 30 minutes to kill since I didn't have to drive to work.

And after I was finished, I shot a message to Jon-

*************************

From: Carolyn
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 7:39 AM
To: Jon
Subject: Sick kid

Ughhhh.
No school for him.
Poor thing.

His response-


From: Jon
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 07:48 AM
To: Carolyn
Subject: RE: Sick kid

What wrong with him? Too much candy? His ear hurts? Do you need me to come home?

My response-

From: Carolyn
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 7:55 AM
To: Jon
Subject: Re: Sick kid

Not ear silly. (he had this weird ear wound...but it's not a reason to stay home)
He is sneezing, stuffy, head aches, throat hurts, can't move his body hurts.

I can work from home today- you stay

*******************

He shot me back a message letting me know that he had downloaded some sports stuff on his computer that Coop might like and this was my response-

From: Neblett, Carolyn [mailto:carolyn.neblett@capitalone.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 8:55 AM
To: Jon Neblett
Subject: RE: Sick kid

Awesome, thanks.

I cleaned out the hall closet- tons of stuff to take to the Good Will and
lots to throw away too. I'm getting brutal!

Hope you have a good day-
xoxo


And with that, I thought the exchange was finished and we'd both go on with our days.

Until this came....

From: Jon
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 9:26 AM
To: Carolyn
Subject: RE: Sick kid

Wow that's awesome.

Another thing I think we could do is revamp our whole disk/glass situation.
I think we could buy some place setting of just one thing. We have such a hodge podge of plates, bowls glasses ect. Some of which we use very little if at all. I don't know how much that stuff costs but Im willing to pay for it as I really think it would help us stay more organized. Im thinking something very plain but practical (like a solid color).

Perhaps we could take all the old down the river. Let me know your thoughts.

My response-

From: Carolyn
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 10:38 AM
To: Jon
Subject: RE: Sick kid


I'm not sure what a disk/glass is but I think you may be treading on thin
ice here.
We have dishes- they are blue/yellow/white and we have a service for 8
(dinner plate, bowl, salad plate and cup/saucer). What about them isn't
organized and what about dishes that we already have isn't practical?

So that my head doesn't explode- this is probably a conversation to have in
person.

: )


His response-

From: Jon
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 10:42 AM
To:Carolyn
Subject: RE: Sick kid

I will never speak of it again, please delete from you memory.

The word disk should have said dish.


************************

Ok, couple things here.

1) I'm not sure what he could have written that might have shocked me more.
2) I ADORE our dishes. They make me happy every time I take them out of the cabinet.



3) I have been working really hard over the past year on being more organized and being less attached to "stuff". I'm purging and getting rid of things that I never would have dreamed of throwing away before. And for the life of me, I couldn't imagine what in the world was wrong with the way our dishes were organized and how changing the color of the dishes would help.

UNLESS.
Unless he doesn't like the dishes.

But seriously- is that even possible? How could he have an opinion on the dishes that we've used for our entire married life?

4) To be clear, these dishes pre-date him. We didn't register for everyday dishes when we got married because I had these and they were basically brand new.

So, when he got home I brought it up. And do you know what he said?

"It really doesn't have anything to do with being organized. I don't like those dishes. Well actually, it's not that I don't like them really- it's just that I'm TIRED of them"

Really? Tired of them? Do they really impact you that much? Would it kill you to eat from the same plate that we've used since 1999?

And then I wondered.
Are these dishes out? Am I screaming 1995, which is when I got the dishes? Am I living in the past? Are they offensive? In bad taste? Tacky?

Should I cave and get new dishes (after all, he did say he'd pay for them!)
Because really, I do love plain white dishes and have coveted them from Wade and Sarah ever since they registered for them.

But a replacement plate is selling for $54 at Replacements and $30 on e*bay. That's gotta count for something. And so does using what you have- and not creating more excess.


HELP!!!
What do I do?

New Fave-

This is kale.



I haven't been a fan of kale for the majority of my life.
Actually, I haven't been a fan of kale ever.
Until tonight.

But let me back up so you'll have the whole story. I'm really trying to make some changes in the foods that I eat. My friends at Relay Foods are helping and some real friends are too!

Enter Sarah. We work together (although in different states) and she's one of those all natural, healthy, crunchy sort of people. Anywhooo, we had dinner together while I was in Atlanta and the conversation turned to vegetables that we love (see, I am changing....who in the world talks about vegetables they love??? oh, and yes, this was hours after I ate a chili cheese dog at the Varsity!).

Sarah loves kale.
What??? Gross. No can do.

But she tells me about this amazing salad that one of her friends has turned her on to and it sounds interesting. So I googled it, ordered the ingredients from Relay and made it for dinner tonight.

And you know what??
I LOVED IT!!! And even better....Jon did too.

The trick to eating raw kale and loving it is to massage the kale with olive oil and salt.
Yup, it's a fact. I watched 2 videos that told me all about it.


Then I added chopped onion, grape tomatoes, avocado and lemon juice.

I massaged some more and we ate it as a side dish with salmon.
Stop the madness, we're super food maniacs tonight!



Seriously delish.
I can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow!

I think I'm going to try making kale chips (take leaves, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and bake for 8-10 minutes).

What you do think? Will you try it??

A letter to my one fan-

Dear Tim,
Don't turn your back on me....



I promise to try and be better about posting regularly....
I even promise to stay away from 2 Word posts whenever possible.
Give a working mom with too few hours in the day a break.

I'll do better....really I will.

And to prove it.....check out my posts from last week. I hope they pass the muster (or is it mustard?).

Love & hugs-
Caro

Nine

Cooper's last day as an 8 year old was spent at camp.
His last day at camp was his 1st day being a 9 year old.
Thankfully, camp ended at noon and I got to pick him up and spoil him for the remainder of the day!

While you're at camp, the only communication is via cards, letters and e-mails that are printed off and delivered to the campers after lunch each day.

This was our email message to our favorite 9 year old on the planet.

********

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COOPER!!!
happy birthday cooper!!!
hAPPy BIrtHdAy CoOPer!!!


Because you're turning 9, here are 9 things about you that are AWESOME-

1) You can shoot a foul shot (and make it!)
2) You can hit a home run
3) You are the funniest kid we know
4) You love animals, especially a really fluffy "dawg"
5) You are a splendid writer
6) You can tie your shoes
7) You are a good friend
8) You love GOD
9) You are the perfect little kid for our family!!

We love, love, love you!!
xoxo,
Momma & Dad


***********

We headed to the river to meet Jon & finish the birthday celebration.

Fortunately, I had planned every detail to make the most of his day.
Unfortunately, Jon didn't get the memo....



Fortunately, my sweet kid didn't mind one bit that his cake was a complete disaster.
Unfortunately, he needed quite a few blows to get ALL THOSE CANDLES taken care of.



Fortunately, his presents made up for any shortcomings with the cake.



Unfortunately, our blanket wrapping paper didn't conceal our gift for long!


Fortunately, there was a double rainbow on his big day.


Unfortunately, that meant we couldn't head out in the boat for some birthday fishing.


Fortunately, we were perfectly content to hang out with our river family and enjoy being together again!!


(yes, that's whole milk tied with a bow- Cooper's favorite and a treat that he only gets at the river!!!)

There's no place like home and nothing like feeling & being completely loved!!



Happy Birthday little kid!
We sure do love you-

Camp

This is a glimpse of what Cooper will spend his days doing this week.



And his nights will be spent sleeping on a bottom bunk in a cabin without AC. I'm hoping the 8" $25 clip on fan will keep my baby cool, that he'll dream sweet dreams and won't be homesick at all.

I'm beside myself wondering how things are going for that little kid.
Lights out in 30 minutes.


If you're inclined to say a little prayer for him, please do.

The Bees

Jon can't be still, or rest, or slow down or be stagnant. EVER.
It's super admirable especially since I'm close to his polar opposite.
Sometimes it drives me insane, and sometimes I have to step in and call a stop to the madness. Most times I just sit back, accept it, laugh at it and be amazed by it. Sometimes, I even get caught up in the busy.

Spring, Summer and Fall are easy for him to be busy- but Winter is TOUGH. So each year he latches on to something to pass the time.

Last year it was his obsession with RV's, the year before that it was finding THE perfect boat, the year before that it was buying a tractor.

This year? Becoming a beekeeper.
He spent all winter reading books, researching on line and talking about how awesome it would be to have bees. He even offered the honey from his bees to Wade & Sarah to use as wedding favors.

"Honey by Jon"
I told you, obsessed.

On Thursday night his obsession became a reality.
Wade came over and we were outside waiting for them to arrive.



I got a text that said, "Bee ETA 5 minutes"



So exciting.

In these pictures, the opening to the hive is covered so there isn't any danger.

See?


That one bee must have been late getting home because he was stuck outside the hive. He drove for 2 hours in the back of the truck clinging to the screen so that he wouldn't lose his family.

Jon got them all set up on their special "skunk proof" blocks. I wasn't aware that we had a skunk problem, but by all means....let's be on the safe side.



After they were all set up, it was time to remove the safety screening. That meant putting on the bee suit. This picture makes me laugh- clearly bee keeping is very serious business!



Day 1- nobody got stung. Not bad!

Although I have forbidden Cooper to go near the bees until we're more comfortable with them he couldn't' wait to try on the suit.



I'll admit it's pretty interesting, totally green and makes a great story. What's not to love?

Stay tuned for more bee adventures.

where does he get this stuff?

we're going through some changes in our kitchen right now- and on the list to purchase is new kitchen hardware.

seems simple- right?
i've had in my head what i want for weeks...and jon and i went shopping together.

that could have been my first mistake.

have you ever picked out hardware for your cabinets? it's overwhelming- a great big wall with knobs and pulls in all different sizes, shapes, colors and price points.

but i think i'm ahead of the game- since i know exactly what i want for the drawers.

these (or something similar).



but jon isn't on board.
in fact, he flat out refuses to even consider the cup pull.
this from a man who really has relatively few hard core ideas about decorating decisions.

so i ask him why he's so opposed to cup pulls......because i really love them.

his answer??
and i quote-

"it feels like spiders could hide inside the cups and i can't live in fear"

i'm not even joking a little bit.
for the record, i'd like to add that we've never had an episode where spiders have been found lurking near our cabinets...or our drawers.

evidently, one can't be too sure.
and really, how can you argue with that? if the guy is going to put himself out there with a real life fear of spiders........well, who am i to argue.

and so the search for kitchen hardware continues....and one thing is for sure- there will be no cup pulls.

sign- i LOVE a cup pull.

The Cleanse, part II

After the old clothes left the building, those that were left needed a little pick me up. Sara and Diana came back for Round II of the cleanse...this time to build me back up after I'd been stripped of the bad and the ugly!

Sara is a genius with accessories and took a look at my jewelry to help me add some pop to the remaining few pieces hanging in my closet.


I never would have put all these greens together...but I'm loving it!

And who knew that I could change the look of this top so easily?




I've never worn layered necklaces in my life....now, I've got all sorts of combinations and I'm feeling super trendy.


Let's be clear- I took pictures so I'd remember exactly what went with what. There is no way I can handle the pressure each morning.

It takes me an extra 15 minutes to put together an outfit and get my accessories on.


But I feel so great when I finally walk out the door!

The book in the background? Sara lent me a few titles to help in my cleanse and this one was my favorite. I thought their show was hilarious and the book was no different. It didn't solve my problem areas, but it gave me suggestions and made me laugh.

After the accessory tutorial we headed to the mall- it was 3 hours of pure bliss (and a TON of laughs!). My sweet friends tore things out of my hands and replaced them with better choices, brighter colors and LONG pants. I've never shopped that way in my life- I highly recommend it (especially if you have fashionable friends who can lend a hand...and an opinion!)

I can't wait until SPRING!!!

The Cleanse

I've been thinking for a while about making a change...I couldn't do it on my own, so I enlisted the help of some friends and this book!



The plan was to get together after work for some good wine, yummy food and fashion advice. I was ready for the brutal truth...regardless of what it left me with at the end.

Before they came, I did a little cleaning on my own.



I thought I was thorough....I purged the things that I knew were wrong and some that I was pretty sure about even though I didn't want to admit it.

Evidently, I was a little off. This is where we ended up!



And instead of feeling deflated, or stressed and overwhelmed because I have little left in my closet....I felt great!

This was the message I sent to update some friends who were waiting anxiously for an update-

*******
The purge has been completed. It was brutal, hilarious, alarming and freeing.
I LOVED IT.

And to give you an idea of how the night went....these were some of the comments:

"Um, NO."
"Absolutely not"
"See, look- you just instantly lost 15 lbs!"
"I love those…..they are the most flattering pants you've had on tonight" (this after I had already tried on 16 pairs of pants)

Me- Diana- I like this, do you think it really has to go?
Her- It does. Blocked prints have been out for years.

"Have you ever worn this? Please tell me you haven't." (I had...many times!)

"You can wear that……..but you have to wear flats with those pants" (this was said this repeatedly……evidently ALL of my pants are too short)

And my favorite quote of the night-

"You need to stop wearing blue. It makes you look like a sailor"

I felt energized, free and excited about the possibilities!
Next stop- shopping to fill in the gaps that exist AND to get some longer pants.

********************************

I love my friends, I love their honesty, I love that they're willing to help me out in my time of need and I love that we can laugh hysterically about bad fashion and poor color choices.

It's spring, a time for starting again- to tackle a change that you've been meaning to make and to get a fresh start.

The cleanse....hope it helps you too!!