Running Red Momma

A year ago, we realized we had enough frequent flier miles to go to Germany to see my brother and visit Switzerland. Well, it is late, the kids are asleep and I am almost done packing. We take off in a few hours for Germany. Why did we do it? We could. We had the miles. My mom is coming. I am so excited to show her my favorite places of Switzerland. I want my children to get a sense of the mission I served. We had the time and opportunity. While we are gone, they are going to work on the foundation of our old/new house. It's like we almost planned the whole thing :) An 18-month-old on a flight? Hmmm...wish me luck or drugs. All my kids in their great, messy, loud glory? Watch out Paris! Basically, I am count-down-for-the-last-six-months excited. I have read endless books and thought about this way too much. It got me through long nights and mundane days. Here's too my dreams sort of matching to reality. If I get the time, I will post up-dates!

Our move update: Our new kitchen looks like the above. I ran out of space, so cloths/towels are on the counter and some cooking tools sit on top. I'm still trying to make it look more organized and pleasant. This is the bathroom we all share. My four-year-old stated it simply: it is old and rusty-- I don't like moving. However, there is only one toilet to clean and one place to put toothbrushes. I must say I would prefer to clean the bathtub without it flaking off on my cloth. We do get the most perfect porch anyone could want. It makes me want to put on a long, gauzy dress and sip mint juleps. The stained glass is just lovely. I'm trying to think of what color to paint the walls to set them off. I am a little daunted by the many coats of paint in a 100-year-old house...... Clearly we are "in the house!". As in, the belongings we have are in our new house. It took three twelve-hour days of unpacking stacks of boxes to find the most basic of items like hairbrus...

I have been stuck in a speed trap of life changes. The last few months have brought big and small alterations to our family. At the end, we decided to make a major life switch. I'm still not sure how it will all be for us. We have decided to leave suburbia, sell our house and move in a smaller more downtownish location. These pictures mark some of the most significant changes in our house. If you are interested in the major changes we made to the kitchen, I can post those later. After we painted, remodeled and sewed, we finally made the house feel just like it was ours. I loved the act of creation. It has now sold and we won't live here next month. At times, I wonder how I would want to move right after we did so much work. On the other hand, I think we have lots of exciting challenges ahead of us. The downside:we lose 1200 SF, three-car garage, gorgeous backyard and good neighbors, the new house is 100 years old and my husband cannot walk standing up in the house. The u...