Feeling like an adult...

I felt like an adult this week.

We were to be getting an ice/snow storm over the weekend and we had nothing to shovel it all with, so I stopped at the store to pick one up and some salt after my son got done with basketball practice Thursday night.

I hate snow. I hate shoveling it. I hate everything about winter. But, at least I have a shovel!

This is why...

This is why I love the kitchen...

Dinner was done and I was getting the kitchen cleaned up. My daughter came in and did her homework while I did the dishes and cleaned the stove off.

This reminded me of my childhood. My mom or grandma would clean the kitchen and I would be sitting there doing my homework at the kitchen table, watching TV or telling them about the latest gossip at school.

The kitchen is the heart of my HOME and I wouldn't have it any other way!

It's the little things that make me happy...

After looking in I don't know how many stores, I never found the wreath door hanger that I wanted, so I just went with a Command hook.

Too bad they lost today :(

Time to hang the Valentine's Day wreath up 

Organizing the Kitchen

With 2018 being my year of HOME, and just moving into a new place, I want to get organized.

So, I'm starting with the kitchen.

I love the kitchen!

To me not only do you gather there to cook and eat at the kitchen table, but it's also a place to gossip, tell stories, and learn life lessons. 

Plus, it was always the one room in the house that my mom had me clean. To this day when I start cleaning, the kitchen is the first place I start.

My son wanted to go ice skating last night with friends. It was 2 degrees out (real feel of -8) when I dropped him off. Ice skating would not have been my first choice of winter fun, but he didn't care.

So, I dropped him off and decided to stop at Family Dollar on my way home. I was looking for a hook to hang a Valentine's Day wreath on my front door, and surely they had to have one in Christmas clearance. WRONG! I found nothing!

But, I did find something awesome for the kitchen!

I was browsing Pinterest one day and happened to come across this for inspiration...

Photo Credit: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/decorating-ideas/tips/g2467/small-kitchen-design-ideas/?slide=2

Here's what I found...

Are those not perfect?! I want to personalize them a little bit, but they are absolutely what I wanted and I didn't have to pay a fortune for them. I'm one happy mama!

I also started a list on Walmart.com for things I want to get for the kitchen. I fell in love with kitchen items by Pioneer Woman and have added things I want to pick up when I'm in the store and can remember or have some extra money in the budget.

My dad got me a few things that I wanted on my list for Christmas and my uncle gave me a gift card to Walmart where I picked up some more, but I'm still not finished. I have a pretty good start on things, though.

Here's to hoping that by the end of January I'll have the kitchen finished, and can move onto another room.

Teenagers

My mom wished that some day I would have a daughter just like me.

Well, that wish came true...

Lindsey is 15, and on most days is the most confident, stubborn, strong-willed, caring child I know. But, then there are nights like the one I just had that makes me want to send her back to where she came from, but that would only bring her right back to me.

Most nights are quiet and peaceful in our home. Tonight was not one of them, and I hope to goodness that our neighbors don't hear us and think we are crazy.

My wish to my daughter now is that some day I hope she has a daughter who is just like her. Good bye to your quiet and peaceful nights at home, Lindsey Michelle.

HOME

Last year at Christmas my step-sister talked about how she had read an article about having a "word of the year" to live by. I want to say her word was either TRUST or BELIEVE. She gave a few examples of how on dark days, she was able to go to her word for comfort and guidance.

The thought of a "word of the year" intrigued me, and I wanted to try it for 2017. I chose HABIT as my word. I was unsuccessful, and forgot my word by January 15th. 

But, I'm trying again this year...

HOME

When I first think of home, the picture of a house pops into my head. A building with 4 walls and a roof over your head. It gives you shelter from the heat and cold. It's a place to rest your body at the end of the day. 

In reality a home is so much more than a building with a roof and 4 walls. A home is someplace that is filled with love, joy, sadness, comfort, and security. It's a place for you to recharge your batteries at the end of a long work day, only to get up and do it all over again the next day. It's a place to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner and share it with the people you love. 

My kids and I moved into a new home around Thanksgiving. Making our new home a HOME this year is my goal. 

The kitchen is the heart of the home, at least for me, 

and the sunsets we have from our kitchen window in our new place 

make me love it even more!

But, a home isn't just a place, it is a feeling as well. 

Not only did we move into a new place, we moved to a whole new city, in a whole new state in 2017. We moved back to my hometown, and while I couldn't be happier, my kids are still getting used to it. Well, I should say Lindsey loves it, DR is on the fence. Most days he's happy, while other days he wishes we could move back to Ohio and his old school. Sorry buddy.

When we had the opportunity to move back to WV early last year, I jumped on it. Bigger and better schools for both my kids, better opportunities at sports for my son, bigger city with more to do and closer to those activities. I'm not saying where we lived before wasn't a great place to live, but it never felt like HOME to me.

Now, as I drive around my hometown, taking the kids where they need to go, or going to work or the grocery store, I look around and have this peaceful, calm feeling wash over me, and I know that I made the right decision.

Home is where the heart is, and for me that is Wheeling, WV.

Maybe once the last picture is hung on 12/31/2018, I can try HABIT as my word for 2019?