Moving in, and moving on.

So i'm a bit behind with these posts. It's been a very busy month,

Home.  We are home.

The first week of Dec, the contractor got an occupancy permit that allowed us to move in before the house was  completely finished. We didn't actually move anything into the house. We just bought mattresses to sleep on and only spent the nights in the house. During the day we stayed in the camper until the construction crew was done working, usually around 6 pm.  We spent about a week living like this back and forth between the house and camper. It was a bit of a difficult transition, as it rained the entire week and the yard was a complete mud pit. It was always dark when the construction crew left and we had to try and remember to gather up school clothes, food and everything we needed so we didn't have to go back and forth in the dark.  We didn't have furniture or blinds on any of the windows, so we all hung out in the back bedroom. So for that first week we had kind of been living in our new home.

It's a strange feeling being here. Ever since the fire, my only goal has just been to get back home. Moving into the RV on our property helped a ton. Especially during the summer when i could be outside all day.  Once the cold weather hit, and i found myself stuck inside all the time, i began to feel lost again. The space was too small to pull out the crafts that typically keep me sane during the winter months. i was watching the house being built, literally right outside the door and i was ready to come home.  i didn't really know what that meant, i just knew the feeling.

So here we are, in this new house. It is becoming more familiar, but is still very new and very empty. At times it feels like we are back in the rental house, because of the room sizes and all the drywall. It's a strange deja vu feeling.  We only moved across the yard, but emotionally it still takes a huge amount of adjustment. That camper has been our home for the last 6-7 months.  But here we are, again trying to find home.  Our old house had very little drywall, it was almost entirely wood.  i wanted the wood paneling in the front room for this reason. It is the only wall in the house that isn't drywall, but it brings a little familiarity of my old house to this strange place.

This weekend, Kenan and his shopmate moved all the furniture and boxes from the glass shop. Right now we have a mismatch of furniture that was given to us, and boxes and boxes of clothing that were donated those first days and put into storage. It will be a long process of going through them all and sorting them out. i did this those first days after the fire, pulling out only what was immediately needed and putting the rest back into boxes, and sent back to Kenan's shop.  i am not looking forward to doing it again, almost one year later.  The kids have grown so much that most clothing items can just be donated back to the goodwill.

The kids are happy to be here. They are very much enjoying their new rooms and creating their space. This is the first time Sage has had her very own room.  She still sneaks into our bed each morning. :) 

i'm adding the little details that help make this place feel like home to me.  We started by decorating the windows with rainbow stars and snowflakes. We made lots of snowflakes, and hung them in the windows and from the wood trim across the kitchen ceiling. i brought in baskets of pine cones, and the stain glass dragonfly and butterfly (that were in the camper) to hang in my kitchen window.  

We are still moving things over, and slowly unpacking. Creating our spaces, and creating new memories.  We are getting there, each day a little closer. A little closer to home...closer to that feeling of home. 

                                    

When you finally go back to your old home, you find it wasn't the old home you missed but your childhood. 

Sam Ewing

Rebuild 4 Reid fundraiser- Another local house fire.

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So unbelievably sad!!!! Can't believe that this has happened to friends / neighbors in our little community again. We've known these folks for a good number of years and have been given produce and other help from Joe over the years.  The Reids' tragically lost their daughter, Lisa, in February in a car crash and dropped their home owners insurance to pay for her funeral, and then their home just burned to the ground on Thanksgiving Eve. They lost everything including their vehicles, which were parked near the home.

You can view the story below on our local news channel.
http://www.wsls.com/story/24116277/local-family-dealt-another-blow-community-rallying-to-support-them?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=9591054

 Kenan will be unleashing his marble skills again over the next few weeks to raise as much $ as possible for them. i will share links to the auctions once they are posted. 

Here's the donation fund link, please donate if you can. These folks have lost so much.  http://www.youcaring.com/help-a-neighbor/rebuild-4-reid-fundraiser/111992

This was taken from the Rebuild 4 Reid Fundraiser page. i do not know who took the photo. 

The dawn before Thanksgiving the house where Joe, Ella and their son Joel were that night suddenly caught fire. The house filled with smoke & moments later the whole back of the house was up in flames. This year has brought many hardships for the Reid family. Lisa , the eldest daughter died in a car wreck back in February. They have 3 grandchildren 11 year old grandson who lives in Floyd & 8 year old twin grandchildren from Roanoke. All made many memories in this home making it hard for them all. The Reid's walked out in nothing but their bed clothes and bare feet. The fire took both their vehicles & all personal items including all the late daughter's personal belongings that were to be passed down to her son at a later time. Their son Joel, was a 2003 graduate of Floyd Co. High. Please reach out to this family anything we can do for them will make a world of difference and give them a boost to rebuild a home for them. 
- See more at:  http://www.youcaring.com/help-a-neighbor/rebuild-4-reid-fundraiser/111992

When we lost our home in Jan, the love and support we received was so incredibly important in keeping our spirits up. We were so incredibly lucky that we were all okay, that we had an amazing community rallying behind us and that we were insured! My heart truly breaks for this family.  i can't even imagine what they are going though. Please share the link and help spread their story!

Novica- Premium Gift Wrap Review and Giveaway!

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Novica features products made by artists from all around the world. They have everything from household items to art to jewelry and many many items in between. If you've been following my blog for a while, then you already know how much i love the Novica website. i've ordered from them several times and have never been disappointed!  They are one of the leading fair trade artisan websites. They work with National Geographic to give talented artisans around the world a place to express their artistic talents and provide access to the world market.

 Novica provides fair trade products made by artisans around the globe.
They want you to know who you are buying from, to feel an attachment to the product, and to the hands that created it. One of my favorite features on the Novica site is that there is an artist story at the bottom of every product. So, you can see the artists who are actually making the items. When you purchase an item from Novica, an artisan card is included with each item.

In addition to each gift being handmade with care and attention, it's the human factor behind a NOVICA gift that really counts. Every purchase provides meaningful income for an individual artisan. 

 Turn your gift-giving into an art form with the new premium gift wrapping service! Delivering a beautiful handmade treasure, wrapped by hand in exquisite packaging will make your gifts truly unforgettable. Above all, it's EASY! 
Just select the premium gift wrapping option during checkout and Novica will do the rest. No more last minute worries about presentation - your gifts will be the best dressed every time!

Most premium gift wrap is only $3.95 - $5.95 per item. 
Right now premium gift wrap is only available for items from India, Thailand, Bali and Java.

Thanks to the generous folks at NOVICA, One of my reader will win a $25 online Gift Code to use at Novica.com! 

Please enter using the rafflecopter form below. 

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Disclosure: Novica provided me with a gift code to use and one to giveaway. In exchange for a blog post about their new Premium Gift wrap service. All opinions are my own.   

A Bit of Respite and a Simple Thanksgiving.

 i really don't ever remember a November that was quite this cold.  Last week the temps dipped down into the teens and it didn't get above freezing for several days. Our water pipes froze, and then burst again.  The toilet appeared to be frozen and possibly backed up, and even with the gas heat and space heater we just couldn't seem to stay warm.

So we (the husband) decided we need a break from camping.

He booked us two nights at a local Holiday Inn.  We had heat, hot showers and flushing toilets!! Truly something to be thankful for!

We even had an indoor salt water pool!  We were thrilled to find the pool all to ourselves, but after checking the water we realized it was cold.  It was too cold for me, but the kids had fun.

We stayed for the two coldest nights, and then headed back to the camper Thanksgiving Day.

  As soon as we got home i set to work preparing a simple meal. Including as much home grown food as possible is important to me, so i picked out some root veggies i had in storage and picked some fresh kale and carrots that were still in the garden. i was hoping for fresh lettuce, but the tops of the plants were all pretty burned from the frost.

With our lack of running water (we had water in jugs) and lack of space in the camper, i decided to just make a traditional simple meal.  i cut up the root veggies and coated them in a little olive oil. Then roasted them in the pan i used for our Quorn Roast. 

i heated up beans that i'd froze over the summer.  Green, purple and yellow. i love lots of color in my food. i also sauteed my fresh picked kale with some olive oil and garlic. We also had the Quorn roast with a vegetarian mushroom gravy, stuffing and rolls. It was a perfect vegetarian Thanksgiving.

Despite having no running water, not going on our traditional turkey drive, forgetting to play Alice's Restaurant (another tradition) and the freezing temperatures outside, we had a wonderful meal together in the camper. Even with the challenges and set backs of this year, we were reminded of how truly blessed we are to all be able to sit down together and enjoy this abundance of food. So much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

Almost There.

 We are getting very close to being able to move into the new house. When we started the project the contractor said he could have us in by Thanksgiving. The house units actually arrived ahead of schedule, and had us optimistic that we might be in even sooner than that.

The camper has been working fine for us, up until the temps dropped below freezing. We've had an crazy cold Nov. with temps dropping down into the teens at night.  The camper is heated with a propane furnace, and we have an electric space heater. We do not run the propane furnace at night, but have plenty of blankets to keep us warm.  However, any time the temperature dips below freezing, our water pipes freeze, then burst. So that's been a challenge. Without water the camper toilet doesn't function, and well...yeah.

So as you can imagine, we are getting increasingly eager to move into the house. The exterior of the house is finished, but the inside still has a lot of work that needs to be finished.  Thanksgiving is coming up quick, and we were told last week that there is no way we'll be in by Thanksgiving.  So we are trying to prepare for another 2-3 weeks in the camper. The weather is supposed to be cold, and it's going to get crappy this week. i admit my patience is beginning to run thin.  Everything about this year has been challenging, and although we have gotten through and we make it work that doesn't mean it's easy. The colder it gets outside, the more brittle i feel inside. It's as if i am very close to cracking.

It's a strange feeling to see this house sitting where our old house was. It looks too big, too nice, too new and out of place. It is beautiful- that's what everyone keeps telling me. At yet, it seems so...plain, so square, so ordinary.  i've even had folks tell me how lucky i am to get to build such a beautiful house. When i think of all that i lost in order to get this beautiful house, i fail to see luck playing any part in it. Whether well meaning, or said with a hint of envy i'm not sure, but i do know that those comments sting a little. 

Our old house, was like a patchwork of pieces all put together. It had started as an old hunting cabin, and then rooms had been added on over and over until it was a mess of opposing roof lines, and a complete lack of symmetry. It had character, and carried with it hints about the folks who had lived here before us.  The living room wall was still sided in the wood siding from the original hunting cabin. The loft had rough handmade steps that didn't follow any of the safety codes required today. The kitchen had a decorative wooden post with the face of an old man carved in it, and thick grape vines wrapped around it from the floor to the ceiling. There was also a weathered barn wood beam across the ceiling where i would hang herbs to dry.  We had a wooden frame where we wrote the date and height of the kids through the years. The new house is new and shiny...and empty.  

It's getting close though. A few more weeks and we should be able to move in. Even though it is just across the yard, the thought of moving again terrifies me.  The camper has been our home for 6 months.  We've been in 4 'temporary' homes since the house fire. Each time we left one we were overwhelmed by a mixture of emotion. Excitement, sadness, uncertainty and a sense of loss.  Although we were excited to move back to our property, saying goodbye to the rental house and our kind neighbors there was still very hard.  Transitioning from the camper to the new house will bring similar feelings. More change, more adjusting and even a bit of sadness. For 6 months this camper has been our home, so walking away from it isn't going to be easy...no matter how 'beautiful' the new house may be. 

We've been hoping to be in the new house by Thanksgiving, but there is no way that we will. There were no workers here on Thursday or Friday, and next week i believe they have off for the holiday.  So we are in the camper a few more weeks at least.  Our thanksgiving meal will be simple, but we will be here all together. a constant reminder of how lucky we truly are. 

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.  ~Anatole France