Be like a sunflower

One of the first gifts I received for my new home was made by my niece, Kristin. 

Thank you, Kristin! 🌻

She gifted me a beautiful piece of art, that she handmade, to hang in my new home. Her, and her two sweet children, Declan and Savannah are all very special people in my life. I appreciate them more than they know and absolutely love this special gift from them. What made it even more special is what she wrote on the back:

💛

These words could not be more true for me, esp in this process of selling and buying of a new home. Because as Katy Perry says, I'm hot and I'm cold, I'm yes and I'm no, I'm up and I'm down. That's me! It's been a rollercoaster ride where I'm actually on a broken rollercoaster that never stops at the station and just keeps going and going. 

Yet, I did it. And as odd as this is going to sound.....I'm so proud of me. I really did it. And with the help of many people! My people. I'm so very grateful to all those who love me so much, that they showed up and helped me realize a dream I've dreamed of for some time. A place of my own. My heart is beyond happy. It's pure joy.

I remember.....

Not that long ago, I remember thinking 'I wonder if I could sell my house and find one for myself to make my very own'. I called it an exploration at the time, because I was unsure if I could pull it off. It started with a call to my realtor, Allison, because if anybody could make it happen, it's her.

She and I talked about my goals and dreams, then she said we could do this, so I fixed my old house up and got it ready for pictures, videos, and then showings and BOOM, the contracts showed up. I was blessed to have a great (final) buyer who gave me a free 3 week lease back to get from my old house to my new house. And I ended up only needing the old house for 2 weeks and gave him (my old house) officially to him 1 week earlier than anticipated. So good news! I'm officially done - and moved out of my old home and moved into my new home. It feels warm, cozy and safe. Best feeling ever.

So how did I do this? I'm still shaking my head about it too. So this was my tentative plan:

I'm almost embarrassed to show you my plan but I wanted to share with you what it all looked like in my head. This 'plan' I wrote sat on my kitchen table staring me down for days and days. I would look back at it, sometimes side eye it, and mull it over some more all while knowing that it would not all pan out exactly like that, but it could be a template for what kinda sorta might happen. And even though the most popular question I received was 'How are you going to move all your chickens?' -  I never knew for sure until Move-Day-Sunday when Morghan actually made the final decision to place them ALL in the tack room of her horse trailer. Until then, I had 5 different ways/ideas bouncing around in my head of how I was going to 'try to try to move the chickens'. Even my written plan had no set way of me doing it. The chickens were my wildcard. 

Let's just say that everything ended up actually moving on Sunday (side note: Morghan needed to change her farm animal move day from Saturday to Sunday) and therefore Sunday started early with Morghan (and her fam) moving the farm animals, first thing (see blog post prior). Then shortly after that, spilled over to the actual house movers, and then onto the movers who would move the barn contents. It was a day! A Sunday to remember. 

On the Saturday before the Move-Day-Sunday, I was blessed to have my brother in law, Gene put in a storm door with a doggie door at my new house. Thank you, Gene! This was key, and a necessity in my life to have my Littles (Maybe, Sugar, Charlotte and Theo along with Mia) in the house, to be able to go out and potty on their own. That same day, Sheryl, I and Kristin made a make-shift back yard with my portable fencing (which I had actually moved on Friday because my work surprised me with that day off so I could prep for my move!). So many loving people around me during a stressful time. I couldn't have done it without them. 

I can tell you that Sheryl was my eyes and ears on Move-Day-Sunday. She picked up all the "pieces" I dropped or left behind. She did all the things when I couldn't do everything. She stayed with me from Saturday to Monday and wowza - that was amazing and I loved every minute of it. We were so tired every night, and when she left Monday I can imagine she was glad to get home and leave the chaos of moving behind. It's alot y'all. Moving is a lot. 

Thank you Sheryl, Kristin, Gene, Declan and Savannah. Thank you Morghan and her family. Thank you to all the amazing movers who did so much to bring all my belongings from Gunter to Wolfe City. And a BIG thank you to my realtor, Allison who made this house sell/purchase magic truly happen. She was there for me thru the thick and thin of it all. When I say I wouldn't and couldn't have done it with anyone else, there are no truer words spoken. Allsion is the bomb.com.

So I did this to myself

Yeppers, the painters showed up Tuesday morning bright and early, so there would be no unpacking until they left.....the following Saturday. They took over my house and covered everything. I did this to myself y'all. I asked for this madness. I figured I'd do this while I had the week off work. 

Here we go....

This was okay Day 1 and 2, but Day 3, 4 and 5 were
not really that okay 😐

I take full responsibility for making this decision. Good news? I could uncover my bed at night and sleep. That's it. I even had to shower at my old house in Gunter. I kept telling myself:  Its worth it. It's worth it. It'll be worth it.....and it was! 

Everything in the house is freshly painted and beautiful and it made my heart so happy. This is something I really wanted. The painters were awesome, and even the horse wallpaper in the master bathroom was removed and it looks like the master bathroom I had imagined it to be. 

Before

After

All the lower kitchen cabinets (and bathroom cabinets) were painted Evergreen Fog by Sherwin Williams, along with all walls, doors, ceilings and trim painted Alabaster - and wow, it sure made the house smell yummy and look brand new with fresh paint. It delayed the unpacking, yes, but I'll get there eventually. 

Brooks and Olive's room is a work in progress

Like the 2 small fridges I have?
I'll need to get a real fridge and stove/oven soon....

This is going to take some time to settle in.
But the dogs seem to be liking it so far.

I love having a guest room, too

It's going to take a bit to settle in and hang pictures and such. I've been focusing on the outside (barn, animals and land) so the inside has been neglected in regards to unpacking and settlement. I just want to be outside all the time, so I have to force myself inside to unpack. 

21 acres, really?

Really. And you know what the odd thing is? It feels like less work. There's several reasons for this: 1) the livestock guard dogs, Levi, Dutch and Penny all stay close by the house and barn, so there's no marching all over kingdom come to try and feed them. They are right around and close by usually and I love that. And: 2) the barn does not need to be "open and shut" nor do any windows need to be open or closed. The barn has such a lengthy outreach of an awning, there's no opening or shutting of anything. I mean, right now I have it all tarped up real good for this cold freeze that's about to happen, but other than that, it'll remain open and 'as is' on a day to day basis. I actually go down and feed everyone then boom, I'm done. Easy peasy.

It's not looking it's best with all the tarps for the bad 
freezing weather to come, but ordinarily, it'll be open.
The overhangs are long and far reaching to keep out
rain and wind - for the most part.

The back side of the barn houses the horses, donkeys and goats and has the same far reaching awning over there, too. It's a great barn! Who knew!? I can't wait to get out there when the weather is a little nicer and really make it 'my own'. There's much to get done out there, and my insides tingle when I think about getting to fix it all up. Cause you know I'm gonna move a bunch of this fencing around. It's my happy place. 

The horses and donkeys are loving the back pasture
and their room in the barn

The goats have their own area, and are doing great 💟

Luckily, all the animals have the ability to take shelter in the barn, stay dry, and have fresh water available. Matter of fact, the barn did not have water access in it, and I did hire a plumber to come trench a line to place out in the barn. I was surprised when I realized the barn did not have a water spikette. But then again, they had sooooo much junk in the barn that I couldn't even tell how big it really was either. 

Best day ever when I got water access in the barn!

Odd, but true

So there's some new-to-me things going on around here.

A gas heater was in the house, even though the house
has central air and heat. And man, this baby
will put some heat out!

So apparently, in the country country, things like this
are here. I'm going to close this in and make it my garage.

I'm charging my Tesla from a regular outlet. 
Now that's odd. I'll likely have my real-deal Tesla
charger installed eventually. 

I do love having the dog beds on my front porch. 

Welcome Home

Another beautiful gift I received for my 
new home, from Allison.

To be real about it all, this has been hard no doubt. There's so many moving parts, logistics, changing of utilities, address changes, moving of physical things and animals  - and the emotional side of it all. I have felt every feeling known to mankind this past few months during this whole process. Good, bad and ugly feelings. All the feelings - and I felt them all. Sometimes I smiled and laughed and other times I cried. Therapy has taught me to feel my feelings and I'm blessed to say that doing so has changed my life.  Moving gave me a prime opportunity to practice doing just that - and I practiced maybe more than I would have wanted. Yet, I'm fortunate to be able to physically and mentally go through a move such as this. I give it all to God who placed me in this current and sent me down this river and kept me afloat the entire time. 

With the gift Allison so kindly gave me, it's a reminder that I am the author of my story, and as I write my next chapter, I'm scited (scared and excited all at the same time) and I'm loving it. It's exciting, it's fun, it's challenging, and it's the unknown of it all that lights a fire in me to keep moving forward and take it all in. The big things, the small things and all the things. This new adventure ignites a part of me that is so ready to jump in. The land and house are in need of fluffing and nurturing, and this fills my cup up like nothing else. Let'f fluff! 

Just for the record, this is me now
driving an hour to get to work.
Netflix helps.

And I'm doing new things all around. (Wait, yes, I'm still line dancing with my girlfriends.) New things include driving longer to work (I signed up for Netflix and it's changed my driving life greatly), meeting lots of new people, learning new things about the area I live in now, and also, that I'm living a life of my very own for the first time in my life. I'm free to be me. New to me is also that I've learned to embrace every version of myself from over the years that lead me to me. I'm the only one that got me this far and as selfish as that sounds, I've also had to forgive myself for accepting things I should not have in my prior experiences. I've needed to forgive myself and work on self-trust, so that I can trust myself to make different and better decisions next time, when and if needed. And this I have. It feels so special to be able to practice new skills in new relationships - and in my 'old' relationships, too. It's like I once was looking out a window that was murky and blurred, and it has now been windex'd and I'm looking out that same window and I see more clearly all the beauty around me - more than ever. And here in Wolfe City, I'm really enjoying being this version of myself that I've moved into - both physically and mentally. I'm in a new place on both fronts. And I love that I've moved physically and mentally as I can actually feel the change and I just want to sit in it and relish it. 

And with that, I'm keeping room in my heart for the unimaginable. I'm walking through the doors that are opening for me. I have a different presence about myself now that I'm truly taking care of me. Jennie Garth said it well: Choosing yourself is choosing the people that you love, too. 

Thanks for coming along this wild and crazy ride with me. Love you all,

Cyndi

New also? I've always dreamed of living in a home that's tv-free. And I currently am. Yet, when Brooks came over to see me/my new house, he couldn't comprehend how there wasn't a tv here. So I may have to get a small one for his room. Monster truck videos are important.