From My Home to Yours

Home?

When I purchased my current home mid 2010 I was still living in Iraq but I knew I’d be coming home the coming year and I also knew that I didn’t want to stay in this house for more than 5 years or so.  A couple reasons for this…1) because I wanted to hopefully and eventually settle down on some land where my dream home would be built and there I’d be forever 2) I didn’t want to have kids in this house because I would like my home to be with my husband and that be OUR home where the family begins.  So in short this house was a way for me to plant shallow roots while transitioning back to the US while I found myself the love of the my life and just enjoyed living, working,  and schooling over the next few years.

 

I’m 3 years in and I have been feeling the urge for a home change.  I’ve worked hard at decorating and curating each room in and out exactly the way I want it…and since my house has been completely done for a year or so now I’m bored. LOL I came up with another “Grand Plan” and presented it to Hendrik….

I’m just going to sell my house for a profit, buy a little piece of land, and build a smaller home-y-er house closer to MV if possible but Winnsboro is still ok. 

 

 

 

 

Well, my close friends and family have a way of bringing me back down to Earth…thank God they do or I’d be selling all my belongings to move into a shack that I call an Italian chateau! 

 

 

 

AND

That’s exactly what Hendrik did when I told him of my building plans…he asked me what I wanted to spend and then said ok well this and this and this and this…

all these things cost money so your X amount is really going to end up looking more like XXX so I don’t think this is a smart move! 

Ok fine so maybe once reality set in and all the dots and Ts are added it would be a bit more than I thought. 

Good thing I didn’t jump on that train, eh!

 

 

But look at the house I had picked out isn’t it so cute and homey?

 

On to the next plan…

I am still set on finding a new living arrangement at this point so I call my realtor and tell him that I’m not in any hurry but if anything comes up in a certain range then shoot it my way and if I really like it then we will go from there. 

All the while I’m scouring all the real estate sites for anything that looks good.  I have yet to find anything that is in the range I want and not white trash or needing a full gut and makeover which isn’t something I want to do!

 

Enter NEW, realistic, and fantastic plan

 

I’m de-cluttering first… mainly Peggy Sue who has been sitting for 6 months untouched is going up for sale.  That was a “grand plan” that I really should have waited on because not only do I not have the time to do such projects at this point but I really don’t have the extra funds to put into this.  She would be great to keep and do later on because it’s not like her little butt is costing me or harming anything right where it’s at but if I’m moving forward I need to dispose of her plus the extra cash never hurts.  I would still love to do a project like this later on when I’m say…done with school , am a stay at home wife/mom, and have lots of time for crafts and fun projects!  That my friends is not right now.  I will soon be bringing her to the front of my yard, parking her by the road, and slapping on the freshly bought For Sale sign.  (if you’re interested hit me up)

 

I met with a realtor this morning and he's going to work up some numbers on my house and I will be on my way to the next big thing....

 

You’re probably asking, Ok Megan that all sounds great but WHERE are you going to live?!!

Excellent point!

Now enter The Leaves! 

These are high end gated apartments in Winnsboro and would be perfect for me while I figure out my next few steps in this road I’m traveling. They come in several different size varieties all well within my budget and not too much either so I don’t feel like I’m getting robbed.  I have never lived in town or in apartments before but I think it would be a fun ride and as much as I am home these days it doesn’t make that much difference.  I spend the majority of my time at Hendrik’s in MV and if I’m not there then I’m doing school at home or at school! I met with the apartment people earlier this week to take  a tour and they are just as nice as I thought.  ROOMY and nice!!!

 

Now this is only a tentative plan of what’s in my head this is in no way for sure happening and may not even materialize but having this big house right now is more of a stress and worry than a joy so I would rather just take a bit off my plate so I can focus more on things that are important right now! 

 

Wish me luck!

 

27

Today I turn 27!

 

I don’t feel older,

I’m not sad about my age,

I’m not in the place I dreamt I’d be at this age,

I’m happy,

I’m in love,

I have a great family,

I have great friends,

I have a fantastic job,

I have a passport that needs to be used,

I have a new cookbook to read,

I have school to finish,

I have so so so much to be thankful for,

I would never trade where I’m AT for where I thought I’d be!!! 

I’m so happy at this point in my life that I couldn’t imagine the 27 years that I’ve lived to go any other way other than the way it has because otherwise I’d never be where I’m at today.

 

My 27^th year IS GOING TO BE THE BEST YEAR YET!!  I know this for a fact because I have a ton going on and a lot of changes in the making!  I can’t wait to see what it looks like at the end but looking at it from the beginning it looks pretty darn good.

 

Book Review: The Husband's Secret

I saw this book on Good Reads a couple weeks ago when I was updating my reading list and since I had just finished a book and was needing a new one I thought I’d give it a go.  After reading a bit about it on Amazon I decided I would go ahead and make the purchase.  I dove right into The Husband’s Secret and although it gave a lot of details and flip flopped between several character’s lives all unknowing to them I really liked it.  I was holding out this great hope for a huge story changing secret, German related, but midway through when I did find out the secret it was sort of a letdown…only because I had built up in my head this grand story.  After I found out the real secret the book really got interesting and started to take shape for me.  I then, of course, had to finish reading it and in a hurry so I could find out the consequence and outcome of the chain of events that THE HUSBAND’S SECRET put into play.  Plus the ending was THE PERFECT ending to a book.  There were no loose ends and nothing left you hanging wondering what happened.  It even gave you a look into the future of what COULD of happened. 

Amazon Synopsis

My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died. . . Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.  Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.

 

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I even thought about it after I finished reading it which is unusual.  Books I read mostly don’t spur after thoughts because they are VERY fictional and are just fluff but this book was actually about real life and a lot of things that adults have to go through and deal with.  Now of course I’m sure that most adults don’t have to deal with secrets exactly of these because that would be really dramatic but I can definitely see this scenario playing out in the real world.

 

Currently reading my first book by the popular murder/mystery author Patricia Cornwell, Postmortem.

 

Happy Reading!

Easy Sunday Supper

I love to cook so I do it a lot and Sunday night while Hendrik was out finishing up some work stuff I decided that I would take some pictures and do a post on my Sunday supper that is homemade but not complicated or hard. 

 

Of course I took all my prep pictures but by the time I was mashing the potatoes, filling the deviled eggs, and fixing our plates Hendrik was back distracting me…I totally forgot to finish up my picture taking so you will have to use your imagination on what it looked and tasted like but I SWEAR it was yummy!

 

On the Menu:

• Pre-seasoned peppercorn pork tenderloin
• Mashed potatoes
• Steamed green beans with crispy back added
• Deviled Eggs
• Sweet Tea

  

What makes cooking even more yummy is that I usually cook enough food for 4 people and that ensures that I always have leftovers for lunch.  Not only is this healthier than going out but HELLO! talk about cheap and it’s not anymore trouble.  When I’m cleaning up and packing the food away I just make a little Rubbermaid dish for my lunch.  Hendrik usually tries to be around the house when lunch time calls so he just fixes his own from the frig.  As I ate my leftovers at lunch on Monday I planned my upcoming Christmas Feast menu and I can’t wait to share it after Christmas Eve.

Sweet Simple Treats

I don’t know if it’s everyone but I, for one, am the definition of broke

 when it comes to the holidays or really just ANY DAY! 

I still want to give a little gift and to me that easiest, cheapest, and most fun thing I can think of is making some little treats and packaging them for my family. 

After scouring the web here’s some that I’ve come up with!

  

 

Buckeys / hot chocolate in a jar/ sugar cookies/ kiss cookies

 

Do you do homemade gifts and treats?

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

I was dead set on getting a real tree to put up at Hendrik’s house this year.  I had this grand plan of us going to the tree farm (where I haven’t been in probably 20 years) and picking out the perfect tree, cutting it by hand, and even making a cute little ornament out of the stump. 

Well folks…as we know grand plans are made to be shattered and that’s pretty much what Hendrik did to my real tree dreams. LOL 

THIS YEAR ONLY! 

Right from the beginning he was not happy about getting a real tree mainly because of the hassle of doing it all and also he didn’t really want a tree at all but that’s for sure not going to happen.  After 3 days of us going back and forth and me being able to tell that he really was serious I gave in and just snagged a hand-me-down FREE tree from his mom. 

She doesn’t put up a big tree anymore and still had it on hand so she dug it out for me and I went to town decorating. 

I got all the stuff out of the boxes only to find that the bottom of the stand, which was plastic, was broken.  I had to wait a full day to put the tree because Hendrik had to make a stand. (a discarded disc blade and a piece of pipe)  After a late night stand building and a run to Wal-Mart for décor the next night I finally got the tree decorated. 

I’m pleased with it because I just love putting up trees and Hendrik is pleased because he’s SUPER proud of his stand and didn’t have to go to a tree farm.

 

burlap sack as tree skirt

on dining table

on coffee table

 

 

I wanted to go to Target and Hobby Lobby and get ornaments that were plaid and I was going to do a rustic, homey, yet classy tree in gold, green, and red.  It was late by the time we got around to going to eat so Target was out of the question and Wal-Mart didn’t have anything plaid but I was able to work with what they had. 

 

 

I love the way it turned out!  2014…TREE FARM HERE WE COME!