A Wee Bit Crazy

Okay, so no I'm not going to show pictures of my house. For heaven sakes I don't have pics on the walls, books in the bookshelf yet. Plus, now you have more incentive to come check it out. Start saving your pennies if you live out of state.

Crazy stuff that happened this move. Besides everything costing way more than we were planning on it, taking longer to get done than we thought, the actually went astronomically more smooth than our Studio City to Encino move....still sorry about that one those who helped out. That one we had to load our 26 foot truck twice. But this move we had Super Janet to help us get ready and whip us into shape.

Pearls of Wisdom Gleaned from Others

1. Anything can be perfect, you just have to make it so. My friend Claire told me this awesome catch phrase when I was doubting the 5 gallon bucket of paint I just bought. She said, "No, Its perfect." And really anything is perfect when we decide it is. So when I catch myself critiquing something, I try to stop and say, No, it is perfect....with a grin :)

- For example, that lime green that I was hoping would be more a kelly green in my 'laundry room'....PERFECT.

- The cozy kitchen that reduced my previous cupboard space...PERFECT.

So much easier when everything is perfectly how you want it.


2. I have good friends and here is way too much information about paint. If I'm in need and crazy, my friends will help me. Seriously I had great kid watchers and dinner bringers and basically now I owe so many people favors for the next year that you can pretty much ask me for anything and I'll say yes because I'm in so deep. So bring your kiddies over cause this sucker will watch them...preferably before September 12. If you don't have kiddies yet, I will cook you dinner and treats...forever.

The most memorable examples is the consoling I received at Lowes from my friend Claire. I had conned her (and Amber) into helping me paint the kids rooms the night before we moved the next morning. Cause no painting was done and it needed to be done. And I was freaking out that nothing was done and I would have to paint it all once we moved in. But I had yet to decide on colors or what the heck I wanted. And did I mention I had already been to Lowes that day and harassing the nice man who worked there already? Oh yeah, and that my decision making abilities were poop? I had bought 6 samples at $4 each that morning which turned out to be crap. Oh yeah, I'm forgetting about the forty dumb paint cards that had been in my purse for weeks. But I needed to have at least one room done before we moved the next day. So I convinced Jason and his dad to prime the kids rooms and I would go back and paint them. No matter what. Cause I'm crazy.

Well after being on the verge of tears for like an hour there and starting to worry the employees, Claire finally helped me realize not to paint until I knew what I wanted. So that was okay. But then somehow she helped me figure out that instead of choosing a 'safe' color that would work on both rooms which is what I'd been trying to do, I'd rather have all walls neutral cream with one accent wall that was bold. Oh yeah, and this realization all came about 9:55 p.m. at night and the place closes at 10 p.m. Long story short, we mad dash picked out colors that I really did like (Malted Milk for the cream, because really you have to like the name of the paint color as much as the paint right?) and we bugged this poor guy while the lights were going out. Okay, so this might not be the short version. Then we called Amber to meet us at my house which was getting to be crazy hours, started painting at 11 p.m. and finished the two rooms, two coats each at 2:30 a.m. Now do I have great friends or what? Serious ladies, bring over the kids cause I majorly owe you. And holy cow it looked really good the next day which might be just luck since we only had one lamp were having to move back and forth between the two rooms. Not to mention that I proved my husband and in-laws wrong who thought I was crazy too. Wait, they might be right.

2. I'm getting very sad that my sister is moving. To Hawaii. The only sister who lives by me. Like I might eat my weight in ice cream or go into depression. She officially has a plane ticket which I've been in denial about. I have tried to be very supportive because its freaking Hawaii people, but really I'm very very sad. It is even more painful that we have been together this time because I love her kids. And my kids love her kids...Luke doesn't even realize they are girls he loves them so much. There is just nothing like cousins and we need some close. Not to mention who am I going to watch Step Up 3 with? Or go to the Grove with? Or meet halfway at the temple with? The only consolation I have is that it hopefully won't be forever and this guarantees that we will visit Hawaii in the next few years... its no fun having family far away. Lets all live on the same street shall we?

We are babysitting her couch and kitchen table while she is away and so when I miss her a bunch, I'm just going to go sit on her couch. Like a blankie.

The strange part is that one of my favorite McCoys, Cori, her sister just moved a few months ago to the same place my sister is moving to. And my other good friends uncle is stake president in the same place too. The world is smaller than we think. Heavenly Father and Jesus watch over us and care about us. They will not leave us all alone.




Click on pictures to see up close. Can you find my pimp grey van? It is also handy to take a blow up pool to the beach so you can sit on your buns for two seconds instead of chasing your two year old along the shore. Just don't forget it there like I did.



3. Nothing like proving people wrong, especially yourself...even if you prove that you a little dumb. Cause one of the best things we did last year was go beach camping (no husbands) with these friends of mine last summer. And my kids have been talking about it ALL YEAR. So of course this year I paid my money as soon as I could and recruited my sister in law to come. But holy cow we bought a house and ended up moving the weekend before. And mother in law would still be here. No beach camping in the cards. I was bummed.

But then my mother in law bought a ticket for Sunday instead of Monday. And then my wheels started turning. I didn't tell anyone, but started making a mental check list. I told Jason my plan of course. Maybe I didn't have to go the whole week. Because my kids have had to put up with a cranky, yelling, pregnant, moving mama and have had no fun. They have been to lots of babysitters, no parks and they deserved a vacation.

And it helped incredibly that everyone said I surely couldn't go now that I was moving. And told me I was crazy to consider it. Everyone accept that awesome mother of six girls who had gone plenty of times pregnant with little children and just assumed I would go.

So of course I went.

Just not Monday, but Tuesday nite. So I missed a few days.

My kids had fun. Some parts were very hard. Like how Darby got a fever that first night when we were in the middle of nowhere (note to self...include more kids medicine in first aid kit and camping material) and never shook it the whole time. My little Baylie kept running away from me and that girl is fast. And the weather was kinda poopy. One day we woke up raining and didn't see the sun til 2 p.m. So it was a shortened version, but still we can say we did it.

Pearls of Wisdom from shortened beach camping trip

- Smores give me heartburn....a cruel cruel trick. But still worth eating them.

- I am a ghetto camper...and probably will be until my kids get older. Cause as much as I'd like to serve better food and even brought spinach and salad dressing them, really hot dogs and pb sandwiches suits me way more at this time in life.

- Nothing like snuggling with all my kiddos under the stars in the middle of nowhere...even though I sure don't get any sleep.

- Why don't I go camping with my husband?
Cause it would be way dang easier.




One of the funny things Luke learned camping. There were like 52 kids there or something. Bunch of crazy women! More videos to come.