Tiny Living

Growing up in a small house you would think that one would want to buy a bigger house when they got married and are older...not me. Not us. We've moved around so much in the past 30 plus years of marriage and because of that always rented. And although people would say, "you're throwing money away" I didn't care. Still don't. Renting for years has worked for us and doesn't make us feel obligated to stay stuck in a place for too long and for that I am grateful! 

So with that being said, after five years of living in a house that I thought we would be in at least until Noah graduated or Jon retired is up for sale.

While we were at my daughter’s graduation in Utah last month, we got a surprise phone call from our landlord saying that he’s selling the house due to health issues and that we have 60 days to vacate.

Well, my stress level cannot handle finding a place within 60 days so as soon as we landed, we immediately started looking and low and behold, our daughter Lexie helped us find the cutest space within a week. 

And it was a HUGE blessing in disguise…

We are in our mid 50s and we’re not getting any younger so having us leave a house that had stairs and a huge lawn was not feasible for us anymore. We just couldn’t keep up with it anymore. Sure the stairs  kept us in shape but there were many times where we accidentally almost fell down the stairs or even tripped a lot. But broken bones are not worth the risk-oh wait, my husband has already done on the job as a UPS city driver, and he definitely doesn't need that to happen at home. 

We also had garden beds that I never planted anything in. I am not a green thumb, never have been. My mother was a perfectionist at gardening, but not me.  The house on Franklin street worked out for us for five years but now that we just have Noah left in the nest downsizing makes a lot of sense. 

However, we are still paying the same amount of rent and that’s OK because this cute tiny living space is so worth it. The peace that it brings is worth the price. 

This tiny living space reminds me of a NYC apartment, but without living in the city. We absolutely love it and although I didn’t hoard too much it did help me get rid of more things that I realized I didn’t need and it was so refreshing to do that. 

Less is best and this space is exactly what we needed right now especially at our age. We adore it. We love it and Noah loves his room. 

Having our landlord make this decision, not only for his mental health, but for ours as well was something that we definitely needed, and we truly feel so much more at peace with this adorable tiny living space.

Here’s hoping we stay here until Jon retires and then move somewhere permanently where the state will not tax his pension! 

One Year Living In Our "New" Home!

Summer has always been the time to move and since moving to the east nearly 14 years ago have always had a love for hydrangeas. They are like my "welcome home" flower. My zen. My solace. So overtime we have moved into a new place I have always bought hydrangeas to brighten and liven up our home. 

This month marks one year living in our "new" house and I'd be remiss if I didn't blog a little bit about the move especially since I write this for my posterity. We have a nice backyard. The only thing I hate doing is mowing it. Luckily Jon does that. I don't have a green thumb so those garden beds that came with the house are just going to be empty until the next tenants move in. That's right. I don't plant anything! Maybe I should start! We are still renting and I'm fine with that. I will never own a home in Jersey. But we are doing good here and will probably reside here for the next couple of years. Time will tell what's in store for us once Noah gets into high school which is two years from now! But for now we are enjoying our time in this home making it our own and the kids try to make the best of the backyard. In other words... actually going outside to play instead of being stuck inside playing Roblox. Summers are meant to be outdoors unless it's super hot but for the most part take out that slip and slide and just have some fun getting wet! 

Life Lately In August.

There are times when you just need to escape, and get away from social media, and blogging. As much as I love to blog I find that as my kids grow older, and because it's summer time I'd rather give them my physical attention. The fact that my Mac has been in the shop didn't help my motivation to write either, but I'm back and hope to write more as the kids return back to school in a couple of weeks. 

Mercer Park & My Way of Adjusting To a New Place.

The other day I received a text from a friend that read, "sometimes you gotta move to a bigger pot so your roots can stretch out and nestle in deeper where it's going to become stronger." 

Thanks friend for that because I'll tell ya...it's already stretching. 

Although we've moved many times before I have to admit that this particular move has somewhat been a bit different, and it's probably because we were getting too comfortable in the place we were in. Even though I was excited for this move, I had a mixture of nervousness, and fearlessness. Nerves because we never know what to except, and fearlessness because I am an extrovert, and love meeting new people. There were a few bad habits that I chose to rub off on me while living there, and in the beginning of this year I decided to throw them to the curb. I won't go into detail as to what bad habits they were, but I'll tell you this...in those eight years of living in south jersey, and going to church I learned what to do, and what not to do! 

And I've learned sooooo dang much! 

With moving comes adjustment, and I find that in order for me to adjust to my new surroundings is to venture outside. To not be afraid of what's out there. To not be afraid of letting people know who you are especially when it comes to the church I belong to. There's no use in wallowing in pity because I'm further away from all the good people I met at church and in my community, or because my kitchen is much smaller, or because I no longer have a bike trail or library that I can easily walk to (man were we spoiled), but I know this....because of the love I easily build towards people, and to know that I have a church no matter where we move I can make new friends, I can appreciate having a bigger dining room, two full baths, and be more grateful for a smaller kitchen (miss that counter space though, but it's okay) and knowing that I can walk to the post office is a blessing because I love to write letters. And the fact that I don't mind driving, because boy have I done quite a bit of that so far! And when you like driving, you love traveling to unknown territories. 

Where I live now is pretty rural, and although I miss having everything so close, I have  realized even more that simplicity is best. 

So as I was driving around my area we discovered this park. Not just any park, but a big one. Not as big as Central Park, but for my area it's pretty huge. It is amazing and probably one of the best ones I've ever seen so far in Jersey. There is so much to do here. There are various sections of the park where one can play tennis, volleyball, frisbee golf, soccer, and they even have a huge skating rink. There is also a huge pavilion with a good size lawn where you can watch shows, and concerts. 

There's also an awesome boathouse where you can launch your own boat from, and rent paddle boats, and kayaks. We've been to this playground twice, but never really explored all around the park, or ventured further into the woods near the lake. 

We also saw people fishing, sunbathing reading a book, couples snuggling (miss you during the day Jon!), families having picnics, and people just chilling all over the place. It was pretty cool. 

We then went on the other side of the boathouse where there's a gazebo with benches along the water where people can just sit and take in the sounds of the water crashing into the rocks while watching the sun go down, and boats passing by.

Absolutely breathtaking. I am calling this my mini central park!

With Lexie and Sierra being gone all the time my crew of kids is getting smaller. It's bittersweet because I get to hang around more with these two goofs, and they sure are a joy, and interesting to hang around with! 

After walking around, and having the kids play in the playground we decided to be adventurous and walk along the trail into the woods. The next thing you know we found ourselves near the lake, getting our feet wet (too bad no swimming is allowed), and skipping rocks. After watching superman Noah was in search for a meteorite, and he actually found one similar to it! Cracked me up! 

And when did this girl get so tall?? Stop!! 

and this boy...what a cutie. 

 I'm telling ya! Too much fun in one afternoon! 

And what a beautiful day it was! 

I always want to be able to have the energy and stamina to drive whether they're long or short distances, and to continue to explore my surroundings no matter where I live. This is how I've learned to adjust whenever we've moved, and I'm so grateful for a tolerant family that deals with having a crazy momma, and for the helping hand of a loving Father in Heaven who lends me His guiding hand, and gives me the strength to make the adjustment when it comes to moving so much easier.

Because it will never happen overnight! 

Happy Wednesday folks, and here's to adjusting and to bloom even more now that I've been planted here, and to grow in hopes that my new area will help me build an even deeper, and stronger appreciation for life, the gospel, different cultures, and all that comes my way! 

A Shout Out To The LDS Missionaries.

One thing I failed to mention upon moving were the details of our move. I mean, we're just moving and it's not like I'm going to take numerous photos of boxes, and us packing. That would probably be boring to most readers, but what I wanted to write about is "the help" we received. 

In the beginning of packing boxes and piling all the rubber maid bins against the foyer I thought to myself, "we can do this on our own, just the five of us, we don't need any help, we're pros. We've done this before." Now mind you I was thinking this way because Jon and I have moved so many times before (at least 11 times in 21 years) we figured we can do this, but when it came close to the end of our moving date I was beginning to get a little bit overwhelmed and like 21 Pilots "stressed out" that I knew I had to swallow my pride and ask for help. I knew that I needed at least three extra bodies besides my family to help us out to load up boxes and bins into the truck. I was thinking who could possibly help us out two days prior to our move. If you're wondering about my neighbors helping they would have, but most of the neighbors on our block are senior citizens, and my neighbor next door, whom I love to death, was getting married so my last resort was asking members from our church. 

I began scrolling down the directory to see which brethren would actually come serve on a Saturday morning with two days notice. I thought of a few, and got a couple of responses, but only one brother showed up. No biggie. My gratitude kicked in. Then, as Lexie was sweeping up the kitchen she said, "mom call the elder missionaries." It was as if a light bulb clicked in her head, and I was like, "why didn't I think of that?" Well, it's probably because we haven't had any male missionaries in our church for like five years so the term "out of sight, out of mind" was like that towards the missionaries. 

I immediately gave them a call and asked if they could come help us load. They obliged without any hesitation. They even asked us if we'd like more help. I was like, umm, yes!!!  So we had more missionaries come help us, and I was so relieved. It was like an anvil was lifted off my shoulders! 

I'm so grateful that Lexie received that inspiration of telling me to call the missionaries, and for my part in contacting a few brethren. Even though we only had one brother come I was so grateful!! What a blessing it was to have had five men come and help our family move. 

We got everything loaded in the truck within two hours and it was really quick and easy. Even the missionaries and Brother Szary mentioned how our move was the easiest move ever! They said, "you guys have it down." I attest that to years of moving, and only keeping the things that are the necessities of life which makes our move easier! 

My heart swelled with so much appreciation for their service, and I will forever be grateful to them for helping us out at the last minute. 

I want to give another shout out to the  missionaries from our church because if there is one person(s) you can rely on when it comes to a helping hand, call the missionaries. They are really big on service. We were so fortunate to have had them come, and even though I called them a couple days prior to our move, there was no murmuring or, whining. There was laughter, and a lot of action. 

If you follow me on my Snapchat I snapchatted them while they were moving our washer and dryer from the basement and they had the biggest smiles on their face, and were laughing because they were trying to figure out how to get it through the door. Jon helped them out a bit, but the genuine laughter on their faces showed that they didn't mind the sweat, and found joy in helping us move! They all had a great attitude, and they certainly will be blessed for their service.

It is my hope that as our son grows up, and when his time comes to serve a mission that he will always be willing to serve with his heart, and a good attitude! The way he helps me in the house today makes me believe that he's off to a great start! 

If you're interested in contacting the missionaries from our church to meet with them, and to find out more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints just log onto LDS.org. 

Have a wonderful weekend!! 

Goodbye South Jersey.

Well, after eight years of living in our little cape code home the time has come to say goodbye to Blackwood. I know some of you may be wondering why I'm making such a big deal about our move when it'll only be an hour away. Well...it's a pretty big deal to me because south jersey is the longest area my family and I have ever lived in since being married so kudos to us for having some stability in an area longer than three years! 

Stability when it came to two of my children attending the same middle schools. One child finishing her entire elementary school years at the same school since pre-school, and one daughter accomplishing all four years of high school and becoming an official alumni! 

Stability when it came to living in the same house, having the same job, (until a lay off occurred and a new job came along), the same church congregation, so to us that's a very big deal! 

Change is good, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. Relocating truly is what we needed at this time in our life. Heavenly Father knows what's best for our families and he allows opportunities to happen. Opportunities that will help us grow if we give it our all, and put our mind to it. More opportunity to make things happen if we look towards it with a positive attitude. Not only for us, but to whomever comes our way. We have moved so much throughout our married life, but the fact that this was the longest place we've lived in, and that we are doing this in our 40's as opposed to our 20's or 30's can be a bit overwhelming. 

Because...age!!!! 

Although I love change, it can be a bit nerve-wracking. Luckily I didn't accumulate too much stuff while living in our small cape cod home of eight years. I know some of us can accumulate things, and become hoarders of our favorite things, but that's so not me. I believe in simplicity, and just having the things that are the necessities of life. 

I love meeting new people, and the fact that we have an LDS church no matter where we've moved makes the transition so much easier, and because of that I'm forever grateful. I love making new friends, and looking forward to what's in store for me, and our family.  Luckily for me I like surprises, and that the love I have for individuals who are in need of a friend runs pretty deep. Because we can always use new friends. It truly is a small world when it comes to the church as I have met so many whom we have mutual friends with. It's crazy, but yeah...it's happened. All the way from Jersey! It's pretty cool how that happens. Anyway, we are so looking forward to making our new house a home, and being in central jersey where we are surrounded by the arts in Princeton, and of course, even closer to New York City will give us a many opportunity to expand our knowledge towards the things we appreciate the most such as music, and the arts. 

And the fact that we'll be living in between two temples is a bonus. I love attending the Manhattan temple, but going to the Philadelphia temple once it's built will be a dream come true for all the mormons in south Jersey! 

So I say good-bye to Blackwood in south jersey. Although you gave us many challenges, we will never forget them. They only made us stronger, and for that we will forever be grateful! 

Oh, but the sweet memories too! Those are the ones that held us together through the hard times, and helped us find joy in this journey we call life! 

the blessings of friendship & an expression of gratitude.

Taking Sierra to the airport the other day was surreal. I haven't shed too many tears...yet. It feels as if she is on "vacation" visiting family. I'm sure it'll hit me later on, but I know she's in good hands. Sometimes I wonder which school Sierra would have chosen had we stayed in Utah instead of moving across the country. I wonder if she would have gone east. Most kids tend to stay closer to home for college (especially if you're a mormon), and some who have never been anywhere else except being stuck in the same place for 18 years may want to venture outside their hometown (again...especially if you're a mormon.) Who knows! I am just so happy that Sierra got to experience life as a mormon living in Philly surrounded by "the world", and that she made the wise choice of opening her eyes deciding on her own that she found her resolve with school. Her ambivalence toward UARTS helped her open her heart in prayer knowing what she really needed to do, and where she really needed to continue her education. Her spirituality is important, and she would never want to divorce that. 

I'm so grateful for all the friends I met through all the moving we've done in the past 10 years. Having a nomadic life was indeed a blessing after all. I got to meet new friends, experience the church in other states, hold different church callings, learn, grow, and seriously get out of my comfort zone to see the differences from living here, there, and oh yeah...over there too! I loved, loved every second of living that part of my life, and it was all for a good reason. And the day has come for all of those friends from long ago to come and lend a helping hand in fellowshipping. How wonderful it is to know that we have friends (& family) from all places.

One of the main things I learned while moving from state to state, and apartment to apartment all over the Salt Lake valley is the fact that the church is true no matter where you go...and so are your 'real' friends. That's the beauty of the Lord, and how He works when it comes to the gospel. 

As soon as i posted this picture mentioning how Sierra was going out west for college my cell phone began blowing up with notifications from friends we knew while living in Utah & North Carolina in regards to Sierra. Letting me know that if she needs anything that they'll be there for her. They even want her over for dinner, and friends of hers since she hasn't seen she was 11 want to get together with her. My heart filled up with so much gratitude, and a little bit of jealousy (the good kind) because Sierra is going to see some of our amazing friends before me! It was so humbling, and sometimes it makes me want to move back to the places where I met these wonderful & gracious people. 

Oh what a fun, bittersweet day it was to have seen her off, and to have read all the wonderful messages I received via text, email, Facebook, and Instagram from awesome, awesome friends. Sierra has your phone numbers so be expecting a text or phone call from her soon.

I also wanted to note the morning of Sierra's departure. Chelsea really wanted to see her off so we called her out from school (what is she going to miss...trigonometry?) I had asked Lexie if she wanted to come too, but knowing the 'focused' girl that she is opted 'no'. Besides...she had a test, and graduation pictures to take that day (who takes 8th grade graduation pics anyway??) What a waste of dough!! They said their goodbyes early that morning before Lex headed off to school, and had so much fun together during the winter break, and that was good enough for them. 

But these two really wanted to come see her off, and since Noah has a love for airplanes wanted to see them take off too.

He still thinks Sierra is on the plane.

in finding peace where you live.

It's Friday again, and these weeks just keep flying by, and before we know it school will be starting. The thing is that I'm not sure where the kids will be starting school. I know Sierra will be in Philly for college, but where will we be? 

To tell you the truth I would like to be stable...for once. I love the east coast, and where we live is so centered to the states we love, but it looks like we may need to reevaluate our current situation. Who knows...right now I'm just going to enjoy this time with my family, and not worry about it! 

I stumbled upon two quotes recently, and it's amazing how reading something can speak right at you! I thanked the lovely woman who posted them on her blog a while back. 

"If you are depressed you are living in the past

If you are anxious you are living in the future

If you are at peace, you are living in the present."

Long ago when my oldest was about two, we kept moving back and forth from Utah to Texas, and knew it was because I had to deal with things from my past. Times were hard even after I converted my life to Christ at the age of 20. It wasn't easy, but all those moves back and forth (believe it or not) did help me out of my "depression phase", and to stop living in the past. 

Throughout those moves feelings of anxiety kicked in. I always couldn't wait to leave Utah to move to Texas, and leave Texas to go back to Utah, and so forth. It wasn't until we moved back to Utah the third time is when genuine feelings of peace kicked in. I know that being sealed in the temple had a lot to do with it! Even so...we ended up moving again after three years to North Carolina.

Feeling anxious when it comes to moving is not a peaceful feeling at all! It's unhealthy in a way, and I am realizing now that  I don't want to feel that way with this move (whenever that will be!)

I know our time will come to move, but I want to live in the now, and in the present peacefully with my family. I want to grow more with the ward that has been part of my family now for five years. I want to continue to fellowship my neighbors, and not take them for granted. And even though it's summertime I want to be able to think of those who may feel alone, lost, or on the same boat as we're in.  

Living in New Jersey can be a hustle and bustle of life, (depends on where you live) and when I go to New York, D.C. or Philly it doubles! I've long since realized that even though I long for that peace and quiet, I also long for the city noise too. 

I do have two young children who constantly need that stimulus, and I think we are in the perfect place to please them with it. The background of our life whether it's noisy or calm shouldn't matter. It's how we come to terms with it in making peace with the way we live...no matter how hard life can get. 

Peace

It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. 

It means to be in the midst of those things, and still be calm in your heart.