Where did August go?

So we moved. For those of you that have known me for a while either online or in real life know that we have moved, a lot. The biggest move we made was our move back to New Jersey from North Carolina. It was the hardest, most emotional move. Ever. Can't stress ever enough. I jokingly now say that I was dragged back over the Mason/Dixon line, but there is some truth to it.

We moved to North Carolina believing that we were never going to leave. Never say never is all that I have to say about that. Living in North Carolina was like living in paradise. We moved in March of 2006 and settled quickly into the Carolina lifestyle. We felt as if we had found our place, and then the other shoe dropped. Things became hard, and we had to move back to New Jersey in September of 2008. Some day I will go into all of the details, but I am still not ready to put it all out there.

We moved the 15th of this month. It was a great move in that we actually picked the place that we are living in. Many things happened in the past three years that I had little to no control over until this move and that is why it was good. It was our choice.

Here are the before pictures.

The entryway. Front door is behind you. Stairs to the right lead to three bedrooms. Kitchen right in front of you. Living room to the left.

The formal living room. Try not to be too jealous of me, I know that paint color is ah-mazing! Too bad the interwebz can't convey sarcasm.

The living room is connected to the formal dining room. And, P.S. that ginormous mantle intimidates me. That is a lot of brick. Talk about a decorating challenge.

I truly cannot decide which is worse. The paint color, or the fact that they painted ev.ry.thing that awful color. (If you look out the window to the right you will see a brick wall. That is part of the patio that you will see later in the series, just as a reference point.)

No, no, I changed my mind. The chandelier is the worst thing. Hello? Madonna? From 1986? Yes, we have your chandelier. Come and get it, please. Kitchen entrance there on the right. Can you see that this is a big circle? I hope that I have conveyed that. An engineer, or even a person who writes with a modicum of clarity, I am not.

Here is my favorite part. Try to overlook the paneling and the fact that this room now looks like Mr.Brady's office. In a few months it will look gorgeous. This room is adjacent to the kitchen which is connected to the dining room. This is our school room/office. That entire left wall is lined with built-in bookcases, shelves and cabinets. JOY!! Outside of the sliders is a beautiful patio. (Referenced in earlier picture.) The best part of that whole door situation over there is that the screen is on a spring loaded hinge. Now no one has to learn the life skill of closing the door. They do, however, have to know how to open it.

Yes, I have a bar in my school room. Doesn't every conservative Christian home schooler have one? The kids want to keep it and fill the fridge behind the bar with Monsters. Monster energy + school work= begging for the eye twitch to return.

View from the office into the kitchen. There is a door to the left that leads to the backyard. I took outside pictures but that will be a separate post.

I loved, I mean loooved my kitchen in North Carolina. This one rivals it. I can honestly say that this kitchen is not my style, at all. (I am not a pink girl.) But I am not going to complain because I have cabinets! Drawers! Pantry! More cabinets! See that brown door to the left in the background? It leads to the family room and basement.

I know. I had the same reaction. We are just some beaded curtains, lava lamps and bell bottoms away from looking like the set from That 70's show. But again, the room size is awesome and there are great bones to the space. (Full bathroom to the left. There are 3 full baths and one half bath altogether.)

That door leads to the side of the house with will take you to the backyard.

View from the foyer again. Two doors to the right are bedrooms. The master is the left of that bathroom there in the center.

This bathroom is so well preserved in it's vintage 60's look that it is almost not hideous. Also, this house was ahead of its time in many ways. Double sinks in the main bath, double closets in the larger of the two bedrooms that was most likely meant to be shared by two children. And! A laundry chute. If you have a laundry chute and you have your trial by fire with shoving too many towels into it, just know that a 28oz can of tomatoes, tossed with some enthusiasm, will clear that sucker right out.

The view from the landing at the top into the living room. This house is huge! It is so much more than I could have ever hoped for.

Final view looking into the kitchen.

We have already done some painting, and I am excited to show you the changes.