Hi guys! Oh my, where has the time gone?! I guess time flies when you’re having fun…or packing everything you own and hauling it from Texas to Oregon with two kiddos and an eight month old baby. Anyways, I am finally back and have lots of updates for you. Hooray!

Last time I posted, we listed our house for sale and hoped for the best. We weren’t sure what to expect but, we had multiple offers and it went under contract on the first morning it was on the market. We were even able to negotiate a moving date that coincided with the last of school for the kids. It was a win win.

Leaving Texas was bitter sweet. We made some great friends, the kids loved their school and we had the most amazing neighbors (Hi Chuck and Laura!) that anyone could ask for. We will miss it. On the other hand, we have had so much time with family and friends since we’ve been back! My heart is full and I know we made the right choice. The trip home was loads of fun and we took some time to explore the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park and Moab. If you haven’t been to these three places, then go right now. Seriously. Go.

So let me get on with it already and move on to the pics of the new house! We moved in three weeks ago and the house is still chaos. Hehe. Just don’t examine the pics too closely.

The house came with its own Texas star. We thought it was kismet that we managed to find a house in Oregon with a Texas star since we were moving from there.

Nate and I have only ever lived in old ranchers before this house. Our last place in Texas was built in 1980 and we always joked that it was practically a new house! This house was built in 2006 and had only been used as a vacation home since it was built so it really does feel brand new. But, we are so excited to make this baby ours and you might notice a shift in our projects from old/ugly to less builder basic/beige.

Do you recognize my “hello” sign? I almost forgot it in Austin and threw it in the trunk of our car at the very last moment.

Please excuse the mess. I took pictures while the boxes were being unpacked so yeah, it’s messy. When you walk into the house, you can either head up the stairs or continue through (past the little half-bath) to the kitchen and family room.

There are bamboo, wood floors on the first level and carpet everywhere else. I am already making plans to get rid of the carpet. I’m not a carpet person…some people like the coziness of it, especially in the bedrooms. I can appreciate that but, its still a no for me.

My first order of business; painting the ceilings white. For whatever reason, this house has beige walls and beige ceilings. Excuse me for a moment while I gag. In my humble opinion, in this particular house, the ceilings need to be a good ol’fashioned flat, white paint. And this beige paint is so bad. It has pink undertones and my mom says it reminds her of a bad foundation color.

If you’re wondering why there is suddenly snow on the ground and all this furniture that doesn’t belong to me in these two pictures of the master bedroom, they were taken when the house went on the market during the winter. I’m too embarrassed to share the current state of the bedroom with it’s stacks of unpacked boxes and piles of laundry. Can I still use the “I have a newborn” excuse? Even if he is almost nine months? Hope so.

Let’s go upstairs, shall we?

Nate’s office is at the top of the stairs in an open area on your left. Don’t worry, I ordered him a chair that’s on the way. I’m excited to decorate his office. When he wasn’t working at home in Austin, he was always asking to come in to his work to decorate his office and I never got around to it. Now that his office is in our house, I guess I won’t have an excuse not to get in there and make it pretty.

If you keep going past Nate’s office, there is a bathroom straight ahead, a bonus room on your right and the other two bedrooms on your left.

We started calling this big space the bonus room. It feels so spacious! We bought a big IKEA sectional for this space and plan on using it for TV watching, playing, doing homework and reading. I am thinking about creating different zones and adding shelves somewhere for toy storage and books.

On to the upstairs bedrooms. For now, Nolan and Grey are sharing the bigger of the two bedrooms and Urban is in the smallest bedroom. These beds were left by the seller and we have been using them until we decide where everyone is going to be living permanently. Nolan has asked for her own room so maybe she will go solo into the smaller bedroom and our two younger sons will share the bigger bedroom? Before any of this moving around happens though, Momma needs to get her nine month old sleeping through the night. Does that make sense?

And lastly, here is the back of the house and the backyard. Our lot is just over a half acre and it backs up to a little piece of canal frontage off of the Deschutes River. We have been having so much fun on the water. The kids are obsessed. We have been out kayaking, canoeing, and paddle boarding just about every day since we moved in.

And that’s about it! It feels so good to be back and to be finally moved into the new house. What do you guys think? You think I can de-cookie my cookie cutter? Anyone else just move a long ways and live to tell about it?