Revelation

A few days ago I found out that I had become dependent on the internet. Not for work or anything but just addicted to browsing. How did I find this out?

We moved.

That's right. We moved into our house and left a lot of things behind at the apartment. For now. Things like my computer. And of course, for once, I had my camera and was taking pictures of everything. These wonderful pictures will come into the next post.

So, posts might be few and far between for a week or two until we get internet connections set up. Since we are so far out in the country we are going to have to go satellite, which is new for both of us.

For now, I will post when we visit the apartment to pack up boxes. They might be a bit on the short side and I apologize for that but I will try to make as frequent and as jam packed of news as I can.

In the meantime I will leave you will the most exciting news of the month: we got chickens!!

Nine of them to be exact. Three Plymouth Rocks and six Rhode Island Reds.

So cute! We bought them as pullets so we can get eggs faster. We should be able to put them outside in a few weeks.


Well, back to the house!

Thanks for reading,
Melissa

Pictures!

Most of the blogs I read on a daily basis have one thing in common. They all use lots of pictures. I'm so jealous sometimes and then I feel guilty and then determined. So, here are a backlog of pictures I have been meaning to show you.

We finally painted the master closet! Yay!! Now we have to finish dry-walling the master bedroom and guest room, then we can paint those and put carpet down.

We also began tiling the bathroom. It is fairly simple except for the fancy tile. But it's purty.

Just a closeup of the fancy tile. I thought it looked like a four-leaf clover. Maybe it'll bring us luck.

We are also putting in sub floor heating! That's going to be fantastic come this winter. Now to the outside.

 My white crocus!

And my purple crocus. We also had some yellow ones come up but I forgot to take pictures of them.

 This is my tulip and daffodil garden. We planted them late and so I wasn't sure any would come up this year. But they did!

Just a close up. My tulips have all disappeared now but the daffodils are still going strong.

 My first strawberry!

Same strawberry but a little more ripe. I was going to post another picture of the fully ripe strawberry and me eating it but the bugs got to it before I could :(

I will end today with a very cute woolly caterpillar. Isn't it adorable? I thought so.

Old and New

I've always admired people who can stick with things. Not just going to work day in and day out (I'm a stay at home wife) but with their hobbies as well.

For instance: bloggers.  I thought it would be easy to start a blog. I read several of them daily and they update almost everyday. Surely I could do it to. What I didn't see is the time it takes to take the pictures, work with them, write the blog, try to make it readable and fun, edit it, edit again and then I add an extra step and check my stats like a madman and fret because nobody is reading this yet. I am writing for future readers. It takes a lot of work. Lesson learned.

The Farmer told me that nobody would ever read it if I didn't write it. And he's right. Same goes for my novel. Procrastination is, I think, one of the hardest habits to break. But I'm going to try.

Blogs are supposed to be about our lives and our interests. An online diary. Keeping a diary never worked for me, I usually lost interest. I'm going to work hard to see that the same doesn't happen here.

So, this blog will be a little bit of history, maybe a little boring but hopefully not too bad.

When the Farmer and I met I was working at Books-A-Million as a barista. I worked with his sister Jessica and told her one day after he came in that her brother was hot. I'm not going to tell you about our initial meeting yet, maybe one day. It's one of his favorite stories though so if he hijacks my blog again you may get to hear it.

Anyways, Jessica loved the idea of her brother and I together. Long story short, he came to my apartment to put a new lock on my door ( didn't trust one of my roommates) and he brought the movie Titus to watch. Have you seen Titus? Not everyone's idea of a first movie for a couple to watch. I loved it though. He asked me out, I said yes and a few years later we decide to get married.

Neither of us wanted to waste money on a big wedding. So, we went to the courthouse, paid $95 for the license and said our vows with my friend Vanessa taking pictures.

It was so nice not to have to deal with all the chaos and stress in dealing with a "real" wedding.

So, we got married, then he got a promotion and we moved to an apartment in the Nashville,TN area. And now we've bought a house and I started a blog about my life out in the country and the work on our house, which will continue next blog.

Now, a month or two ago my little brother sent me a text message informing me that I was to become an aunt. Not really a big deal. Everyone loves his girlfriend. Sam is fantastic and very good for him. They might be a little young but at least they aren't still in high school.

The family began making noises about how they weren't married. The Farmer and I talked about it and concluded that Nick and Sam didn't have enough money to have a big wedding. So, we told them that if they would do what we did, elope to the courthouse, we would pay for it.

They thought about it for a few days and then accepted our offer.

It wasn't really eloping since they invited the family and it was a little more stressful but it was beautiful. And now my brother is married. What a weird thought. I will definitely be posting pictures when the baby comes in early August.

So, that's a little bit of my history and now I can talk more about my family without you getting confused. New pictures of the house are coming Wednesday along with a much overdue update.

Thanks for reading,
Melissa

Kinda Lame

So, I didn't update Wednesday... or Thursday. Why? Because there isn't much going on. I wanted to post pretty pictures of completely finished rooms and flowers all around the yard but there is a problem or two.

1. We don't have any finished rooms. We have three rooms that are drywalled and partially mudded, but those pictures are actually really boring. But we are hard at work on the bathroom now. The floor has been taken up and now all we have to do is put it back down and connect all the plumbing. We are looking to move in around mid April.

2.Only a few of my flowers have bloomed. And I keep forgetting to take pictures of them. I am working on having my camera with me at all times but it is a harder habit to develop that I'd anticipated. But when they do bloom, I promise you that you will get tired of all the pictures of flowers.

Back at the apartment I haven't been doing a whole lot. I like being lazy occasionally. Playing Final Fantasy and eating bad food. My lifestyle is about to change drastically in a few months and so I'm enjoying my last chance to be the irresponsible and lazy young adult.

I did put in an order at Brambleberry though. It is my favorite place to buy soap-making materials. I am going to try my hand at making liquid soap very soon and I want to do lots of research first. I am also going to make some soaps for a baby shower I'm going to in June. My brother's fiancee is having a little girl and Brambleberry has onesie molds that are going to be so cute decked out in pick with lots of glitter.

Truthfully, not much else has been going on. Short post I know, but hopefully I'll have more later. We are going back out to the house tonight when the Farmer gets off work so hopefully I'll remember to cart around my camera and have some pictures when I get back.

Thanks,
Melissa

Updates

My morning tea, well at least this morning: chamomile and mint in my favorite tea mug. I usually save the chamomile for my night tea but I since I have been sick, I drink it when I feel the need to.

When I say sick, I don't mean anything serious. Just a little cold that the Farmer brought home from work. He got sick and thought up some ridiculous ideas like not kissing me so that I wouldn't pick it up.

It didn't work. Not because it wasn't a good idea but because I can't not (great english i know) kiss him. I considered it worth the risk. And then I got sick too.

Like I said, it wasn't bad. The sniffles, coughing, and a headache. I'm just a big baby when I come down with something so I didn't feel like posting a blog. But I'm on the mend now and I will try to catch you up.

The store delivered my tub!

Wonderful, big, fantastic tub that it is! Right now it is sitting in the living room because the bathroom is not yet ready. Not yet but soon. They also delivered some drywall and with it we finished the spare room.

So, now the master closet, master bedroom and spare bedroom are all drywalled!

We also splurged again.

You see, the Farmer wants a garden. I want a garden. I want to make homemade spaghetti sauce, and marinara sauce, salsa, pickles, and soups with the best ingredients. So, we needed a garden.

But our land had never been tilled. And we live in Tennessee. There's a reason the favorite song is Rocky Top. The Farmer attempted to dig the garden with a shovel but there were so many rocks...and big big roots. So, he decided we needed a tiller.

We looked around and realized that this was going to be a big expense. So, if we were going to spend the money anyways we might as well get a good one. So, we did. And it hurt.

But seeing the ground almost ready for the seeds to be planted just two hours later didn't hurt. It felt wonderful. So, it was a good splurge.

We also planted lots of flowers. I can't wait til they all bloom!

Back at the apartment the Farmer informed me that we were running low on laundry detergent. So, we made some more. Yes, we made some.

When I realized a few years ago that I was going to be living in the country one day I started reading blogs, just to get a feel for what I was getting into. One of my favorites made her own laundry soap which was cool and all, but I didn't need to learn to do that. The stuff in the store worked just fine.

Then, quite recently, I just got on this kick of seeing what all I could do. I think it happened when we moved and I wasn't in school and wasn't working. I was bored, so I learned how to make laundry soap.

It has saved us so much money. All we need is a soap(we use Fels Naptha), borax, washing soda, and water. It's that easy. I doubt we will ever buy laundry detergent from the store again.

We also need to make another batch of soap to wash our bodies with soon. When we do, I will post pictures.

We are off to the house tonight so hopefully I will have some cool stuff to talk about Wednesday!

Thanks for reading
Melissa

Texas, Tubs, and Soap!

Well, I'm back at the apartment after almost three days at the house...by myself. I must admit, it has been a long time since I was out in the country alone. Long enough that it was a little nerve racking at first.

But I survived. Not just being alone and surrounded by woods but also the Farmer's trip to Texas. Why was he in Texas? He has to go once a year for his job. At least this year I wasn't at the apartment. I was free to go outside and play if I wanted to.

Did I? No. For two reasons. One) because I was too gloomy. Honestly. I just didn't feel like doing anything. And yes, it was like this last year too.

Two) it was raining most of the time.

He did come back with some good stories though.

Like: the store called him as he was on the plane and told him that our tub had arrived. Remember that tub? The one that wasn't going to be in for a month because it was on back order? Yeah, that tub. So, as soon as he got home and I fed him a decent meal, we went to the store and arranged for a delivery! YAY!!

And: the hotel store soap was awful. Why is this funny. It's not really but it did put a smile on my face. The reason being is because almost a year ago, I started making our own soap. We haven't bought soap, shampoo or conditioner for almost a whole year. And I have to admit, I have sometimes wondered if it was the right choice.

Apparently "normal" soap is slick and snotty. And it coats your skin. My soap washes off quickly and clean, but the soap at the hotel took awhile to wash off. It made me feel good. We made the right choice.

The Farmer also came back with freebies. I got a new jacket and sweatshirt. It amused him that they were giving away winter things when it was seventy degrees outside but he took them anyways.

He also went to the Alamo while he was there. As soon as I can, I will post pictures.

House updates have been slow in coming because we have had other things to do. Later this week we are off to Chattanooga to celebrate my Grandaddy's birthday!! However, we did manage to put some tile down in what will be the laundry closet.

That is the kitchen floor in the back, by the way. Yes, it matches the bathroom floor. It too is being redone. Soon.

We are almost finished with the master closet. One more coat of drywall mud should do it.

Looks like Heaven's light is shining down doesn't it. It's not, we just bought a pretty light that looks like water on the walls.

It feels like it has been raining forever. If it doesn't stop soon, we may not get our garden done. When it rains, the Farmer spends time down in the creek. Before we came it was a dumping ground and now when it rains hard, the creek actually overflows and floods the entry bridge. So, the Farmer is trying to get rid of some of the pile and get the creek flowing more freely. He says it will help.

Not a great picture but since it was raining, I couldn't get closer. But you can see how high the water is. And you can see the pile on the left side of the screen. He wants it gone.

He did find a treasure out there though.

Fantastic. Apparently they are down in the creek quite a bit. Just never when I go to look for them. Oh well.

I suppose that's it for now. I'll have more pictures soon, hopefully of my new bathtub. And, as I keep reminding the Farmer, we can actually move in after the bathroom is done. Our lease is up in June but I don't think it will be that long til we are in the house!

Thanks for reading!
Melissa

Dissapointing

Well, the first unfortunate event with the house has happened. And before I get all melodramatic, let me tell you that it's really not that big of a deal. The tub we ordered is on back order.

They tell me it'll be here in a month. I've had things on back order though and usually they took about three months to arrive. But I'm going to hold on to hope and pray it gets here when they say it will.

Otherwise, it might be even longer before we can move into the house and that is just depressing.

On a happier note, on Tuesday, our neighbor took me into town and showed me around. It is the most perfect place! It is the quintessential small town, and I couldn't be happier!

We also got some more of my roses planted this week. At the rate we are buying them, my rose garden should be beautiful in a few years, that is, if the rains don't wash them away.

We had some very heavy rains this past week. The water flooded over our bridge and washed half of our driveway away! Hopefully, one day, we will be able to pave the driveway. But for now the Farmer just filled in the holes with more gravel.

So, for the next few days we are back in the apartment and I can update more often but soon we are house bound once again!

Thanks!
Melissa