Closing a Chapter, Opening a New One

I will hit a big milestone this week which is that I will no longer be a twenty something anymore.  When I created this blog it never dawned on me that naming my blog for a decade in my life meant it would retired once that decade ended.  It is both with joy and a little sadness I close out this blog.  

I loved being a twenty something and cherish all the memories but already I'm starting to realize that my thirties will have a lot of wonderful and exciting things as well.  Plus I feel so much more confident in who I am and what I want in life.  I also have a much clearer picture of the types of friendships and relationships that add joy and value to my life.  Accordingly I'm less scared to let the other less healthy relationships fade in the background.  Sometimes you get people for a season in your life and sometimes you get to keep them forever and there is nothing wrong with either.

For anyone who has enjoyed reading along I started a new blog for the next phase.  Little did I know that over the course of one week I'd enter my thirties, we'd sell our first house, buy a new house, and start our life out in the burbs.  My new blog will be the same as this one in a lot of ways.  An informal way for me to capture my thoughts, milestones in our lives, and be a creative outlet for me.  Here is the new URL if you want to continue to follow along:

http://dkj-adventuresofa30something.blogspot.com/

Easter in Texas

We had an nontraditional Easter this year.  We went to Texas to visit my best friend.  Due to all the house activities and expenses our vacations this year are all low key trips to visit friends.  We felt that would be a way to keep travel costs low and get to spend time with people we love that we don’t get to see as much as we would like.  It was such a nice break from all of the house activities to just relax and spend time with friends.  We ate too much food and drank too much beer and thoroughly enjoyed the company we were with.  It was also such a fun treat to get to see their adorable little girl all dressed up for Easter brunch.  Emma is such a cutie pie and I love getting to spend time with her.  It will probably be several months before we get to see them again when they come home in the fall but I always cherish the time we get with them.  Thanks for being such great hosts, we love you guys!

It's happening, it's all really happening!

So my last post was 5 days before pictures and listing our house.  It feels like that was an eternity ago!  We listed our place on March 12^th and got a lot of traffic the first weekend.  The best part was we were under contract by March 17^th, it only took 5 days.  We thought it might go fast but that exceeded our expectations.  There have been a few small bumps but everything is on track and we’ll close near the end of April.  I’ll be turning 30 and leaving the loft in the same week, it is the end of an era but I’m so excited for the future so I’m closing this chapter with fond memories and taking my favorite parts (my amazing hubby, family, and friends) with me into the next chapter. 

In addition to all of that we found our new home.  It hits all the things we wanted in a home and has such a welcoming feel.  For being built in the late 80’s it has been updated and maintained beautifully.  It has a nice flat fenced back yard with tons of potential.  It has an unfinished basement which gives us tons of options for the future whether we want to finish it to include another living room space, another bedroom, an in law suite, a theater, etc.  The master bathroom is about the same size as our current second bedroom and has beautiful natural light!  We close on the new home in May and plan to move in that weekend after we close. 

We did hit one unexpected snag in the inspection with the deck having issues but it’s something we’ll address in our first year or so in the new house.  While it’s never fun to have your timing for an update determined for you we are really excited about designing and building our dream deck space.  The current one is very small and we plan to work with Kyle’s granddad to help design it and then hire a contractor to help us build it. 

We are currently in the process of packing boxes at the loft, thinking about where we want things to go in the new house, and figuring out all the fun details of address changes/utilities/etc.  It is of course complicated by the 3 week gap between the moves but my parents are being extremely gracious and letting us crash with them for that time period.  I have been through so many emotions during this process but above all I’m excited for the future and heading into a new phase of life.  

A flurry of activities: 5 days to go!

We have been non-stop on nights and weekends lately.  We are 5 days from pictures and handing the paperwork to our real estate agent for listing our condo.  It has been a lot of work but it’s coming together nicely.  It’s kind of a bummer that our house will look the best it ever has right before we move out.  I think it taught us some valuable lessons about controlling clutter more proactively in our next house.  We have donated a ton of stuff, moved some into a small storage unit, and organized each space in the house one area at a time.  This past week was the most fun since the results were really visible since we repainted the chalkboard wall, patched a few nail holes, did some touch up paint, and moved the last batch of items into storage.  The next 5 days will be dedicated to deep cleaning everything and devising our game plan for keeping it show ready while we live there. 

I have been fastidiously making lists to help myself feel like we have a game plan and that we are on track.  So far it’s working since I’ve only had one or two meltdowns in the process.  We’ll see if I can keep that number low once we have the added stress of meticulous cleaning and maintenance each day while the loft is on the market.  Kyle and my mom reminded me that I always rise to the challenges presented to me so this will be no different.  My parents have been a godsend during all of this.  We have a ton of music equipment stored in their basement that would have exceeded the insurance coverage for our storage unit.  They have let me vent, given me advice, and helped out in whatever way they can.  My dad came and showed me how to properly chalk, sand, and repaint nail holes.  While my dad and I did that my mom started hand washing our glassware.  They have been so supportive and helpful and it has helped tremendously with managing my stress level.  I’m so thankful for Kyle because he has been such an amazing partner in all of this.  We have laughed, reminisced, argued, made up, and gotten a TON of work done in just a couple short weeks.  He knows me so well and has helped me stay calm and focused.  He also reminds me to take breaks and to focus on what has been accomplished instead of only looking forward to what is left to do.   

January 2015 Resolution Check In

One Month Check-In

• Fitness: 15 Pure Barre Classes, 1 Dance Class, & walks during my lunch break 3 times per week
• Body Image: I am noticing that things that killed me in first Pure Barre class are not as brutally difficult now so I’m feeling subtle changes to my strength.  If I’m honest with myself I still follow too many fitness and model people on Instagram and that is both inspiring and deflating.  The fact that it’s part deflating means I still have a lot of work to do in this area.  
• Cooking: home cooked dinners on average 3 nights a week, I’d like to bump this up to 4-5 in February 
• Books: Hollow City by Ransom Riggs & Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• Declutter: 2 bags of clothes to good will
• Move Progress: real estate walk through with our agent to discuss out timing and staging plan
• Let it Go: I’m still not sure how to measure this one (which using my work brain means it’s not a SMART goal – specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time- bound) but I think it’s important.  I’m hoping to better wrap my mind around what letting go of hurts/grudges/anxiety looks like for me and how to measure my progress.  I will say that regular exercise has helped me keep my daily stress levels better in check.  

Bingo Night!

We are bringing bingo night back into style for young people or at least for our friends.  This was our third bingo night at our house and it continues to be a really fun tradition.  We plan to host bingo nights every other month.  We have people bring a small prize with them to contribute as prizes for each round.  We bought our bingo set on Amazon over the summer and plan to get a lot of use out of it.  Here are a few candid photos from the evening:

Loft Walkthrough

Oh my goodness it’s getting real.  We have talked for years and years about the transition from the in town loft to the suburbs but it’s starting to really happen.  We had our real estate agent come do a walkthrough of our place to make a list of things we need to fix, change, and stage as we prepare to list our house on the market in the spring.  After recovering from a little shock that this is really happening we felt good about having a solid game plan and will start getting to work.  We plan to work on some of the small fixes a few at a time on the weekends.  The next big step is getting a storage unit to store our extra stuff (clutter, personal items, etc.).  Then going through each room and clearing it out to just the basics so people can better imagine living there without our personal items and taste affecting how they feel about the space.