Holy moly where have I been!

Hello all- this weekend flew by, I can't believe I haven't posted since last Thursday! I even messed up the week days thinking today was Tuesday so I missed my tips days that I was so anxious for, I guess next week will have to do.

I hope everyone's Memorial Day was a fun one. I spent the weekend with G as a slave painting a barn on the new property. Seriously my body still aches from scraping, rolling, and brushing this building but it did turn out lovely.

On Sunday we did our second day of church and it was fantastic. This time even more people were grabbing us left and right to find out who we were and to hear our "long winded" story of how we moved from south Dakota but originally are from back east and Yada yada yada. We went downstairs for fellowship and met some more couples, of course more grandmas and pop pops then people our age. It was nice to have conversations with the community and hear others stories as well.

I begged G to go kayaking Monday morning since we had worked our tushies off sat and sun. There is a park called Don Williams that is 5 miles east that has a no wake lake which is perfect for our recreational activities and since I couldn't feel my arms anyway why pass a lovely day on the lake. We spent a good hour out before most the boats go in the water an it was beautiful weather.

Later that day we drove an hour north east to see an old college friend of mine who was having a get together. Poor G was the only guy but he held his own so I am proud. Winston came with us and played with my friend dog, he was passed out 5 mins into the car ride home. He just turned two on Sunday so it was a nice little play date for him.

That was my weekend! Enjoy these photos from the past few days.

Thoughtful Thursday’s

Wow, I haven’t done a Thoughtful Thursday post in awhile! I thought today would be a great time to share some other great blogs I’ve come across that have made my day!

How many of you have jumped on this Map/State decor obsession ?!? Me, Me, Me! Can you tell from the header of my blog? I just love all of the different ideas and have wanted to spruce up my new home with some of them.

If you haven’t come across Jenna @ Q.A. Designs then you certainly need to stop by!

Not only is she a fantastic blog designer but she also post freebies that she creates. My favorite being the state shapes!

Don’t you just LOVE them! I took some time to hook up my personal printer at home so I could finally print some of these babies out! The only one I am missing is poor little Delaware since she hasn’t made that one yet. That’s okay though these have worked out great for me!

I just love these in our guest room and I love making the theme of that room the states and places we’ve been. Eventually I would like to take all the personal photos out and put in all map and state theme decor this way when our guest do come they aren’t staring at pictures of {G} and I or our families. The best part about this was it was FREE! I had all the frames and was able to print these to the size I wanted them on plain printer paper. No need to get super fancy they already look good!

The other blog I could just kiss to death is from Jennifer @ Finding my way in Texas. Seriously, when I read her post this week I about fell out of my chair with excitement.

You know how you see all of these lovely quotes and motivational writings on Pinterest so you save them thinking some day I’ll find a use for them. Well today is that day people! Jen had a wonderful idea about using magnetic paper to print those pictures out to place on your refrigerator!

I cannot think of a better idea and cannot wait to make these myself! Now I just need to figure out the next time I am going to “town” so that I can pick up some Magnet paper!

I hope you are as excited as I was to read these post and will be using these ideas yourselves!

Have a great Thursday :)

Simply Adapting: Keeping up with my blog theme

Hi everyone! Today I wanted to get back to posting about my blog theme which by the title is “Simply Adapting – making a home wherever life takes you” I was really hoping to have some readers reach out to tell their stories and haven’t heard from anyone in a while so I figured I’d ask…

If anyone is interested in sharing their story and tips about moving to a new area I invite you to do so. You never know who is going to stop by and read your story and sometimes sharing can really help others in the same situations. If you’re not really sure how it works visit my link above and read some others Simply Adapting stories then e-mail me :)

So for now, I’ll talk a little more about my new move and how I am adapting. Sorry if this is a long post but a lot of this involves my emotions so it’s hard to keep it to a minimum.

{ How did I feel about having to move again in such a short period of time }


Well, honestly … I was thrilled to move from South Dakota. Gosh, I feel awful saying this but really I just never connected with life there. It was as if I was going through the motions every week; go to work, come home, make dinner, watch my shows, work around the house. The most fun that I had in that town was when {G}’s best friend and wife (both who I have become close too as well) came out last summer for a week. Having another couple our age to hang out with made all the difference and being able to do simple task like grocery shopping with a friend made all the difference. I had missed having people around that really knew us and that we had substance with.

I think when you begin to meet people in your new home they don’t realize how hard it is to cope with living in an area where you know no one. It really starts to eat away at your insides and after having Adam and Kristin around for that week it brought life back to who we were as a couple so once they left I felt even more empty and alone.

With having this move to Iowa I felt a sort of sense that I get to start over again, and this time I knew the move would be for awhile longer so I needed to make a point to try to connect with the area and people here as well. Already we have been here for almost 2 weeks and I feel more connected. We know people from back east that have made the move to Iowa so we have that connection.

I am just so excited because on Memorial Day we were invited to a picnic at a college/sorority sisters house just 40mins away. Reconnecting and being able to talk about not only the past but what each other has been up to is just too exciting and I just can’t wait! It also gives {G} and I the chance to socialize and meet others from the area.

{ What is is like working from home }


I must say that working from home has it’s ups and downs. You must be super disciplined to get the work done or else other things get easily prioritized. I have done really well about waking up in the morning. For some reason which is be known to me (and had SHOCKED my husband) is my body’s alarm clock has reset itself for 6:30am everyday Sunday – Saturday. Seriously, I wake up everyday at 6:28 before the alarm even goes off and I am refreshed and ready to go! I was so worried that I’d want to sleep in until 8am everyday, but I don’t! I get up have my coffee with {G}, walk him out to the truck to say have a good day, then get dressed and go to the office to start working.

Again, discipline is a must but I also have this voice that has always been in the back of my mind as well saying “Don’t F this up”… “don’t make others think you aren’t working”. Seriously, this is what runs through my mind all day! I don’t want to let others down and I certainly don’t want people at the office saying “gosh, she probably just sits around the house all day watching the Price is Right.

I will, however, say while I have this voice urging me to do my work I also have a voice telling me, it’s ok not to sit in my office for 8 hours straight. I get up early and catch up on e-mails and other work for a few hours then if I need to get outside to pull some weeds I do it. Then I go back in the office and make some phone calls & break for lunch. The difference here is before while I was a work ,when 5pm hit I was done for the day and didn’t take work home with me. Now that I am already home at work sometimes I make phone calls at 6:00pm at night, or if I get an email at 9pm I respond to it right then. So while I may not be at my computer 8 hours straight I am however locked into “if work comes… I do it”.

{ New schedules }


Along with my body’s automatic alarm set for 6:30am I have had to adopt new a new schedule with {G} working. The benefit is today is the first time in two weeks that he will be away for the night!!! YAY! When he worked in South Dakota it was almost every week Monday-Thursday that he was gone. Most nights {G} is home by 7pm which at first really ticked me off because dinner has been pushed back from our sit down and eat at 6:30pm. Now sometimes we don’t eat until 8pm! I was bitching to {G} at first about having him try to be home earlier, 6pm , but he made a clear point of saying… at least I am home during the week. So True husband… SOOOooooo trueeeee. Now I have learned to eat a snack at 4pm to hold this belly over for a few hours more.

{ Plans in the up coming weeks }


Oh gosh! We are in over plan mode!
Kitchen – contractor came by to take measurements on cabinets & countertop
Tractor - {G} insist we need a tractor with a loader, which I agree, so he is in the market
Livestock – Yes that’s right, we are getting some Hogs to raise so we plotted out where the pens are going. We’re still in the planning phase… thank goodness
Painting – Will become underway this weekend. We plan to paint the privacy fence & the South and east side of the Quonset building. I would also like to pick up paint for the office. It’s in DIRE need!

{ Other Thoughts }


At the end of next week I get to fly back East to my old stomping ground to visit with family and friends. I can’t wait to catch up with everyone and especially be there with my BFF to help get some wedding planning done. I am yearning to see the ocean and feel the soft (BURNING) sand beneath these feet… there is nothing in comparison to walking the path over the sand dunes and having the fresh sea breeze brush your face with the smell of suntan lotions and ocean mist. It is so indescribable but I know my DE people know exactly what I am talking about. I miss it so.


Again, if you would like to share your story with other readers please contact me or if you would like to promote my site for those friends who have going through the same moving situations please do with my button :) I haven’t had it up in quite some time.

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{ Tips for Tuesday } Trim that Shrub

Whoa whoa whoa… this is a PG…13 blog here. Get your mind out of the gutter! Yeah, you know who you are…

I have been working my tail off at the new house trying to get everything looking good. My husband cares more about large trees, grass, and anything with the up keep of buildings whereas my passion is definitely in the garden. I love to weed over grown beds and I especially love how a garden bed looks with a fresh blanket of mulch. Since I have had so much practice with gardening I figured I would share some tips on how to make your shrubs around the house look the best they can be! Don’t settle for overgrown just because “their still alive” get out there and give them some love.

Here is my project for the day. No… there should not be all the growth at the base and up through the core of the shrub. Plus if you have any plants that close to a fence, house or building, you should prune them back so they don’t start damaging the property.

{ What you will need }

Loppers, Hand Pruners, and Hand Saw

 

{ Where to start }

I always start with removing the larger growth at the base of the shrub with the loppers. You want to make sure that you are cutting the stems at the correct angle so that you do not damage the shrub. By not cutting properly your plant could be prone to plant diseases.

You can tell the new growth by the green color in the stem and the flexibility. You will want to cut these stems at the lowest point that you can get to the base.

All cuts should be at a 45 degree angle.

{ Now what }

After I have removed all of the larger growth from the base (as shown above) I then go in with my hand saw to remove larger branches (more then 2 inches in diameter). To do this I use my friend the hand saw. { Seriously, if you do not own one of these bad boys go get one! I started using them during my time working in college at the Horticulture Farm and I will forever own one of my own. You can buy them at any Lowes or Home Depot}

If you look at the picture above you will see that the shrub is heavy (fuller) on the right side. We had a really bad storm hit before the move and this shrub got ripped in half. To help it grow back on the left side we need to remove the dead branches to allow new growth to take that space.

Again, go to the base of the branch and saw at an angle. If you want a work out this is great too! Continue to removed all dead branches.

{ Are we done yet? }

Almost, I promise! Now what I like to do is go into the shrub with my hand sheers and cut off most of the little suckers left over at the base and up the main branches of the plant. This makes the tree open up and the more light that gets let in the better!

 

It’s always nice to have a little helper around as well! He was a good little guard dog to my tools.

I know it seems like a ton of work but really this only took me 15 minutes and one wheel barrow to beautify this shrub.

      {Before}      

 

{ After }

 

Doesn’t that just make you smile. :) My plans for this bed is to add a few Hostas that are over grown in the back of the house. This will help fill in the dead space in the bed that will help cure some of the weeds coming up as well. I’ll definitely be posting another tips for Tuesday on how to split and replant Hostas in the near future.

If you have any questions please comment :)

{ Weekend Wrap up } You want me to climb what…

Since moving to Iowa I feel like it’s been Go.. Go.. Go! Unpack, decorated, organize, clean, unpack, mow, weed, mulch, limb up, throw out, scoop up, dump, mow.. mow.. mow!

I am exhausted just typing all that crap. The previous owners where very neat and tidy it’s just they had the house on the market since August and to our my husbands standards didn’t keep up the yard portion to our standards. There are lots of trees on the property besides the wind break that needed limbed up so from 8:30am Saturday until 3:30pm we were sawing, piling, and moving tree limbs to the burn pile. We probably limbed up 8 trees, the Hemlocks were the most work since the limbs underneath were mostly dead. The worst part about limbing up trees on a hot day is wearing a short sleeve shirt, by the end of the day not only did I have an SEXY farmers tan, but my arms and wrist were so scratched up (and still are) that is looks like I am a cutter. Overall it was a rough day but the trees look great and we are done… for now with this tedious task.

Winston, “Are we going in the truck again… lets go already!”

Sunday we woke up early and had a yummy steak and egg breakfast. Saturday night I grilled Bacon wrapped Fillets and they came out perfectly medium rare! I am getting really good at grilling, the other night my marinated chicken & asparagus turned out just right too! Left over’s are always a great meal. 

The next big item on my list for adapting to our new area/town is getting involved in the community and meeting people. At 10am we went to our first service at the Ogden Community Methodist Church. I had already e-mailed with the Pastor ahead of time to let him know who we are. It’s such a small town I would’ve felt awkward just showing up and people thinking… who are they… even though I’m pretty sure they still did. The service was a breath of fresh air, mixed with contemporary and tradition services which is a great match for {G} and I.

Later that afternoon we decided to going to the lake and kayak … SIKE. I wish we could’ve done that, instead what did we do? First we put up our light fixture from Mitchell in our dining room. This light is heavy and of course I had to hold it up since I know nothing about electrical. It turned out great and now we have just the right amount of light!

After that lovely task we put of the shelves in the guest room and then proceeded to our outdoor project…. What would you know…More mowing. There are lots of horse paddocks on the property that have been abandoned for a while now so we have two choices… Buy some goats and throw them in there or mow and weed eat. I opted for the goats and lost. We spent yesterday afternoon cleaning up the last paddock which was AWFUL since the wind was blowing all the clippings right back into my face. I took some time to take a pretty picture from our back yard.

Once we were done mowing we went and relaxed in the hammock for all of 5 minutes before {G} says, “Hey, do you want to go climb the grain bin?” Do I want to what…. Do you know who you married? I hate heights and the only time I EVER climb anything is if I’m getting paid to. Like when I needed a job in college, I interviewed to work at the Horticulture department and they asked, “are you scared of heights because your going to have to climb the apple trees during pruning season.” My answer, “Not at all, I can do that!” So I did. Now I had my husband saying… oh you can do it come on. So… I did.

Biggest mistake… getting half way up the 2 foot narrow ladder and looking down. You have to be kidding me… so what do I do? Keep climbing of course. Once I got to the top with {G} it was a beautiful view and so NOT worth the climb! I will honestly never climb that thing again willingly. Since I will never climb it again, I took some documentation to remind myself how high up it was.

Hello my love…

Hello neighbors…. Where ever you are.

Hello Barn…

Hello House…

Hello view from the ground :) Poor {G} can barely fit down that stupid latter

Note to self: Don’t let your husband convince you to do things that you know are against your better judgment.

I’ll stick with these views from the ground. Town dog gone Farm :)

Life’s Plan or My Plan

In taking a break from yet another moving post I wanted to talk about “The plan”. Don’t we all have one? When I graduated my plan was to Teach Ag for the next 30 years, start a family by 30, and of course marry {G}. Yesterday I had an interesting conversation with my best friend back home. She called to ask how living in the new house was going and of course about 40 mins later we were onto talking about her new nephew, her first week at her new job, and her up coming wedding, then she asked, So are you still thinking of going for your masters degree?

Back when I first heard we were moving to Iowa I got super pumped up to be living near Iowa State University. I thought to myself what a great opportunity to go back and get my masters degree. I researched entrance needs and was pretty enthusiastic about going for it.

Now after the conversation, it up it caught me off guard. Honestly… I’m not sure if I ever want to go back for my masters degree. I have been so caught in the rapid change of life over the past few years that I don’t even know if I want to teach. I know deep down inside I do, but I think the rejection from the SD education system has taken the wind out of my sails. Now, I even have the opportunity to work from home which is a wonderful thing. It makes me want to start thinking about expanding our family. {G} and I will be married for 2 years in August and by then would have lived here in Iowa for almost 3 months… enough time to settle in and complete the large projects we have in mind. So when thinking about a masters all I think is…. Lots of time back in a classroom & lots of money spent on a degree that I don’t know I’ll go back to using.

Is it me that changes my mind constantly about what I want to do with my life or is it just life taking the reigns and I’m supposed to adjust as it steers in another direction? My only really deep thought on this is I don’t want to look back someday and say, “I would’ve really have loved to continue teaching”. Maybe right now it doesn’t matter as much to me, but what if some day it does?

Oh life, sometimes you really throw my for a loop-de-loop.

Country Hospitality

On Monday evening I was starting dinner and jump at hearing our doorbell ring for the first time. {G} never grew up with a doorbell so he rings it (annoying) to get the dog going. I knew it wasn’t him because this person rang it like a Normal human being that has used a doorbell before.

To my surprise it was an older lady holding a little corning ware dish. She introduced herself and said that she lives just across the section of fields before you turn onto our avenue. She keeps her place very immaculate from the outside so I knew which house she was speaking of. {G} and I love when people keep their places orderly with fresh cut lawns so usually we point them out to each other. We talked for about 3 minutes until {G} should up home from working in Ames which was nice because she got the chance to meet her as well. Basically, she had been playing cards that afternoon and had some leftover strawberry rhubarb crumble so she wanted to stop over, introduce herself, and give us a nice treat.

The first thing I asked {G} was, “In the 3 years you lived in Mitchell on a busier street had anyone ever stopped in to introduce themselves?” His reply, “once the golf course guy came over, but that’s because his dog ran over to the property.”

I’m not putting Mitchell or SD in general down, we met a few nice people but this was beyond a friendly Hi. I think country folks are just more “hospitable” at these kind of things which ever state you are in. Either that or she wanted to be the first to get the scoop on who moved to the area so she can tell all at the next card gathering. :) I’m leaning towards … both :)

Strawberry Rhubarb  Crumble

I’m really loving the fact that we are a little further out from town. I thought at first I was going to be really lonely but I’ve been keeping myself busy with work and weeding out a few gardens that have been neglected. Back when I taught high school, my specialty and passion was more into Horticulture then it was the animal sciences so this place is a dream come true for me. I have always wanted a flower garden so that I could grow perennials to cut and bring inside the house to display. Our neighbor told me the guy who lived here two residents ago lived here for 40 years and his passion was flowers, thus all the gardens. Lots of flowers have begun to pop including the Peonies! I can’t wait to add onto them.

Along with flower gardens we have Berry bushes, Squash, and Asparagus! {G} and I went and picked some fresh asparagus last night to have with supper tonight! I may take some to the neighbor as well when I go to return her corning dish.

It’s been beautiful weather here in Central Iowa so I’ve been enjoying the patio and all the other beauty on the property.

Back Patio & fire pit off the Breezeway

I love this NE view!

Our big summer project is to re-paint the barn. It looks neat distressed but will look really good with a fresh coat! The bracing on the South side is still buckled in the hay loft so once that gets fixed we’ll get started. :)

Goal for today: Finish weeding out the right side of the entrance way to the house & unpack the rest of the basement.

Tips for Tuesday – Make it yours!

Yesterday I put of some photos of the home from before we moved in and today I’m going to show you how we made it our own! It’s hard to believe we have only lived here 4 days so far and have gotten so much done. There is still a lot to do like hanging shelves and pictures in various rooms but for the most part the “Big” stuff it done.

When I originally moved to the Midwest I moved into a house that {G} had been living in for over a year so it was really hard to make it feel like it was my house. He still had all his bachelor crap items up around the house and was very reluctant to change so I left it be. Now with us coming into a new home together we discussed where to put things and it feels more like “Ours” then “His”. I love this house.

Entrance Way (foyer)

Finally Wedding photos displayed! Can you believe we didn’t have one in the Mitchell house?

We love having this book shelf to actually store Books… We used to just keep them in boxes hidden in the basement because we had no where else to put them.

Living room – I love the large bay Window to the right and of course the HUGE window facing east looking out to all the beautiful fields. Lots of natural light.

Living/Dinning room

That 70’s Kitchen :) We have the cabinet company coming out Monday to take measurements, good news, we only have to replace the cabinet/drawer fronts and not the entire kitchen! I actually love the flow. and YES we are going to get a new counter top as well. :)

Guest room – We need to hang the shelves and decorate more. I also hate that I told them to put the bed in front of the window… that is going to have to change.

The office – After talking a lot about our office dilemma we decided to share the office. I use it during the day when {G} is gone and when he is home at night he can use it. We are going to paint it a neutral color and leave all the New Holland stuff up.

Master SWEET Suite – No really it is SWEET, HUGMONGO, Large and In charge! I love love love this room. We have a large closet for my stuff, my dresser, a closet for him, his two dressers, a chair, a loveseat, and a bed and still have room!!!

We need to upgrade our full bed to a queen, it looks so tiny!

Entrance 2 – Breezeway from the Garage, driveway, and to the back patio

Basement – Okay I did say there is still work to do! The basement is in shambles right now so bare with me. :)

Left side (Finished side)

Basement – Right side (Storage and my craft area)

 

We have lots of ideas for the house, such as repainting the family room and the finished side of the basement, the kitchen (Obviously) and the office, but so far for living just four days in our home we have done a good job of adjusting.

Tips:

I would say for anyone moving to a new home that you should get to work unpacking right away. Don’t put it off for too long or else you will never make time for it. Then you are left with boxes sitting around rooms that just remind you that you need to unpack them. {G} and I worked really hard over the past few days to get these items done but at the end of the day we sat around our new fire pit, burned some crap we found around the farm, and drank a beer.