June 5, 2004. 06-05-04. 654. Many people have asked me or made guesses about where the "654" on Farmhouse654 came from. It's not our house number. It's not our street number. It's not the number of dollars we have spent on the farmhouse, so far...I wish it was only $654! It's our wedding anniversary. Mr. Farmhouse and I went on our first date in September of 2000, to the Homecoming bonfire. As a junior cheerleader, I needed a football jersey to wear and as a freshman football player, he had one. From that point on, we were pretty much inseparable.
I married my high school sweetheart two short weeks after his high school graduation. People thought we were crazy. Too young. Immature. Settling for each other before really "seeing the world". But while people thought we were crazy...we KNEW we were crazy. Crazy for each other. Committed to each other. Excited to grow up together and grow old together. We got married on June 5th, 2004. And we just celebrated our 13th anniversary. 654 is the day our married life begun. We've had ups and downs. Good days and bad days. New jobs, new homes, and three beautiful daughters added to the family. 654 was the start of everything we know and love. And that's what I think of every time I write for Farmhouse654. ❤️🏡❤️
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"I have no idea how you have stayed positive through this whole situation. You are almost six weeks past your closing date with a smile on your face."
Our loan officer texted me to let me know how surprised he is that I have kept a good attitude through the ups and downs of our home sale and purchase. Of course, he doesn't know about the late-night stressed-out texts to my dear friends, the tears that I've held back more than a few times, and the numerous conversations Mr. Farmhouse and I have had about whether or not we were making the right decision with this whole situation. However, in the end, I've never really worried that it wasn't going to work out. I just knew that eventually, the right thing would happen. I wasn't worried about being homeless. After all, we could always take our three kids and our three dogs and move in with my parents. 😳 No matter what, we would figure something out. We always do. My friends often refer to me as "Polly-Hannah" because I just don't get worked up about too much. In fact, the time that I feel the most "worked up" is when one of my friends is going through something difficult that I can't fix for them. I can usually talk them down, even when I'm really struggling to keep it together myself. My mom always used to tell us, "Happiness is a choice. Every morning when you wake up, you have a choice to have a good day or a bad day. It's up to you." And I really think she's right. It doesn't matter what happens in the day-to-day events of life...we can choose how we react. We can't control one thing that happens around us, but we can control how we choose to deal with whatever is thrown our way. This whole house sale and purchase has seemed like one tough situation after another. Documents not where they needed to be when they needed to be there. Inspections, inspections, and more inspections. Appraisals and repairs and...did I mention inspections? There were hiccups and hurdles and bumps in the road. We were supposed to close on June 16th and then June 30th and then July 5th...yet here we are. With a final closing date of July 26th. Finally. However, I have tried to keep a good attitude. To trust that God is in control. To know that no matter what...I have a choice in my reaction to our circumstances. Life isn't always rainbows and butterflies, I know. There are really, really rough situations. There are really, really hard days. But no matter what someone is going through, a positive attitude sure can do a lot for a one's outlook on life. So today... I choose happiness. I choose patience. I choose joy. I choose Polly-Hannah. ❤️ In the old house, we didn't have a dining room. We had an eat-in breakfast nook that could seat all five of us if we moved the table out from the wall enough to fit one of the girls there. It has worked perfectly fine for us, but one of the things that was really exciting to me about the farmhouse is that there will be a separate dining room for us to spend time in, eating as a family or entertaining. Of course, the farmhouse table I bought on Craigslist was the perfect focal point for the gathering room. I also found these chairs on www.target.com, but they were unavailable online.
We decided that Mr. Farmhouse's grandma's China cabinet would fit nicely in the gathering room, but instead of filling it with his great-grandma's dishes that we had been storing at the old house, we decided to use those dishes! The beautiful dishes his great-grandma had left us had been sitting in the China cabinet for ten years, collecting dust. They are beautiful and special and we decided that there is no reason to keep them there taking up space and not being lovingly used by our family! And now, it has all come together. The farmhouse table and chairs make a stunning centerpiece.
The China cabinet is now a display case and will be admired and enjoyed, instead of overlooked. The piano now has a home in a room away from the hustle & bustle of the main living room. The dining room leads directly into my office nook, which I'll be working on this week. I also have plans to build a sliding barn door to close off the laundry room when needed. I'm still missing a few prints of the kids to put on the wall and need to hang this cool old window I found from a friend's garage sale. But for now...it's beautiful. I could not love it more. Yesterday, Matthew and a buddy of his started to bring the "outside" belongings to the farmhouse. The outside list would include anything in the detached garage, the 30'x40' shop, the pole barn, and other various areas "around the house". They started in the detached garage and brought a load that included lots of things Matthew and I had already gone through over the last month or so. Out-of-season clothes, tools, cleaning supplies, Christmas decorations, and more. We had already emptied one side of the garage so the buyers could store a few things there and we had organized the other side in preparation to move. When they went back for the second load, they decided to go ahead and empty the attic in the garage. Of course, here in Missouri this week, it's been like 900º Fahrenheit. So they climbed into the hottest part of the property and emptied everything we have been storing up there for the last eleven years. They brought the trailer over here to the farmhouse and had me go through the pile of attic treasures.
Ten years ago, in 2007, we had a tornado go through and pick up our pole barn, tear tin off of our shop, and throw Santa across the highway. Even though we haven't plugged Santa in for the last few years, I just cannot let him go. He still sparks joy for me. He reminds me of that time when God spared our home and kept us safe during that storm. He reminds me of my dear ol' dad "rescuing Santa" from his landing spot after the tornado. That old Santa is a joy-sparker for me.
And for Mattie. So Santa stays. And the other 95% of attic "treasures" go into the trash. Moving really makes you think about what you hold on to through the years. Yesterday, we spent day #2 at the farmhouse. On the "to do list" was to finish painting the master bedroom and to get the kitchen somewhat put together. One of my former colleagues is an amazing painter and volunteered to come down and help me knock out the bedroom walls. She. Was. Amazing. She filled holes, painted the edges with her favorite fancy Purdy paint brush, filled in the middle with the paint roller, and even painted the whole closet by the time she left late into the evening. And now it looks wonderful! After the bedroom was painted, Mr. Farmhouse left and took the two younger girls home and Harlee & I decided to tackle the kitchen. My dad had gone to Lee's Summit to pick up our new refrigerator yesterday afternoon and it was now safely installed in the new kitchen, thanks to Dad, Matthew, & my brother-in-law, Colby. We had only three tubs of kitchen stuff to go through and put away, so Harlee and I decided to go for it. We went through the tubs and only ended up keeping one tub of kitchen items. We put those items away and made a plan for where we would put the rest of the goodies we have left in our current kitchen. I have lots of pictures for the walls, decorative items for above the cabinets, and other countertop accents. I'm looking forward to putting all of those things out once we get the final appraisal report back (today sometime!!!) and set a final "for-sure 100% happening" closing date. I can't wait to share the details of the kitchen project with you! Until then...here's a preview! The Pioneer Woman Utensil Crock was the very first thing I bought for the farmhouse & I got the clock today at WalMart for $14.97!
"Have patience, have patience,
Don't be in such a hurry. When you get impatient, you only start to worry. Remember, remember that God is patient, too. And think of all the times when others have to wait for you." These aren't the exact lyrics that I remember from the childhood video we used to watch about Herbert the Snail. However, they do evoke the same feeling inside of me as the somewhat inaccurate words that I sing to my three girls. We were originally supposed to close on the farmhouse on June 16th. Then June 30th. Then July 5th. Now, it's looking like it won't even happen by then. Something is going on with the appraisal of our current house and I am waiting for a phone call, as we speak, to see what needs to happen to make that appraisal come through sooner than later. It has something to do with the hailstorm and our insurance claim. As I sit here just waiting for that phone to ring, I have a hard time with patience. I know that in the whole scheme of things, a three to four week delay on closing on a house isn't a huge deal. In all of life, three to four weeks is gone in the blink of an eye. However, it makes me start to wonder how things will all work out. I start to worry, although I know I shouldn't. I know that God is in control of this situation and that He's got this. We have a roof over our heads, three beautiful, healthy daughters, a wonderful marriage, and more than we could ever need. We are loved. We are blessed. We are (trying to be) patient. Sometimes I struggle. I struggle to keep it all together. Running a household. Shaping the minds of third graders. Keeping up with a photography business. Serving at church and in the community. I forget things. I lose things. I fly off the deep end in conversation with my husband and children. There are days that I struggle. I struggle to feel like what I'm doing is good enough. I have said "yes" to so many activities and projects and clients that sometimes I haven't been able to say "yes" to my kids. I have had so many commitments in one week that sometimes I have not been able to give the 110% to each activity. I have made such a long (and often unrealistic) "to do list" for myself on a given day that sometimes I get overwhelmed and am hardly able to complete even one task on there. And then, in the midst of what feels like chaos. In the midst of just trying to get one more thing done before bed. In the midst of the daily struggle. I get a glimpse of what life could be. I find joy in the simplicity of a ride down the lane to the barn with my three girls. We stop and admire the new babies born this spring. We photograph the mamas. We admire the sunset. We play with the barn kitties. And for a few moments, I find contentment in doing nothing. I realize that my most important work is for these three little girls...for their daddy, who works so hard for us. It's time for a reset. Time to shift my priorities. It's time to realize that moments like these...they are good enough. Even if I sometimes say "I'm sorry...I'm not able to work on that today" or "You'll have to find someone else this time"...I am still good enough. This simple life is good enough. And sometimes, good enough can be wonderful.
She has a specific order that you are to go in to make the system work and she promises that for those people who have gone through her entire program, she has seen no rebounds. Once I started this method, I was hooked. It became an obsession for me last summer and I flew through the decluttering and organizing tasks associated with several categories. Clothes. Papers. Books. Kitchen Items. Bathroom Items. Toys. I was really making good progress. Near the end of the summer, I was nearing the end of my KonMari journey. I still had a few categories left to go through. Holiday decor. Electronics. Teaching supplies. Sentimental items. And I stalled. Right there in the first week of August, with the items sorted and ready to be tackled, I stalled. I just left the sentimental items piled in a box, put the holiday decor back into the garage, put the tub of electronics into a cabinet in the laundry room, and took the teaching supplies back to my classroom storage closet. I had made amazing progress and when I started working at school again, I just lost the momentum to continue! The house stayed clean and organized for the first few months of school, but once we hit second and third quarter, I started losing control. Again. I rebounded. Sure, we didn't own as many items as we did prior to my first KonMari round, and we were more careful about our purchases now, but still...it was just a little unfinished. Fast-forward to this last spring. Our buyers contacted us and we began to make plans to move. I was still exhausted by the end of the school year and unfortunately didn't have it in me to start another KonMari round before school got out. In dealing with the house sale and purchase hiccups and trying to get the closing all worked out, I haven't even had a chance to start yet. But guess what? It's coming. I'll be starting my second round of KonMari this next week while we still have two weeks in the current house.
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