So the dust is beginning to settle a bit around here.

My mom is getting settled in her apartment in Wisonsin. And while I miss her incredibly, I am happy she is getting settled.

As of Wednesday, we are officially the homeowners of a little plot of land back in town.  It seems a little surreal that we sold our home and moved back to town in less than 5 weeks, but I'm coming to terms with what has happened, and allowing God to cover me in His Grace.  Without it, I think I'd need to jump off the deep end, and that doesn't thrill me at all!

With that being said, we are starting our first home improvement projects this weekend. These include:

• Cleaning the vents.  Just bought a groupon for a company to come in and remove the dirt and grime that has accumulated over the past 30 years.  And it couldn't have been better timing, as it smells like something has died in the duct work and Emaleigh's room smells like rancid trash. Poor kid. Thanks to a plug in air freshener and covering her vent with a box, being in her room has been bearable! She's so patient with us. We'll also be replacing most of the vent covers as the old ones are pretty banged up and nasty looking.  Some are even looking rusted out.  

• Install new locks.  Nothing says safety better than chaning out the old locks for new ones.  Not sure how many people have lived in this home over the past 30 years, but it's clear they've never been changed and the 1980's antique brass look has to go. I'm sure it was awesome at the time, but like most trendy home decor items, they don't last over time.

We have 3 exterior door locks that need keys.  My Mann prefers to have one house key, so being able to rekey them all to match was "key!"

• Head to Ikea with my dear friend, Susan.  Going to take a break from the dirt and grime to get some storage and decor ideas to bring into our new palace!

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• Pick out paint colors.  This has been a bit tricky for me.  I know I want to go light.  While we have over 2700 square feet in this new place, it's laid out over 3 levels, and the spaces are not huge.  I love warm earthy colors, but this home might feel a bit closed in if I go that route. I want to go with a white tone, but as I picked up color swatches this past week, the choices are never ending.  Yellow toned whites, gray toned whites, pink toned whites...

Seriously?  Who knew there were a bazillion and one white choices.  And I only picked up 4 of the samples available Ahhh...I love making choices!  NOT!

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the number of projects to be done. In fact, everytime I try to get started with one, I get distracted by another. I still haven't hung anything on the walls, and have a few furniture placement decisions to make. I'm not loving the living room layout, and trying to figure out how to make it feel comfortable without being too cluttered.

I know it will all work out in the end, but it's taking me so much longer than any home we've ever lived in before.

#growing my patience in news ways