end of an era

As we wrap up life in our home, the home we've lived in for eleven years this month, I've been thinking a lot about my plans for the future...my plans for the homes in our future and how they'll differ from our current home.

First and foremost: I will never have carpet on stairs again!!! I hate it! I hate vacuuming stairs. I hate seeing footprints rather than vacuum lines on stairs. I can't wait for the wooden staircase at my parents'. It's a dream to clean, it takes seconds. Of course it's absolute misery falling on wood stairs but you learn to be really, really careful, especially after you've fallen once or twice. (I speak from experience.)

It was shocking when we moved to Destin to realize that unless you're custom building your home, popcorn ceilings are to be expected. Yuck! Both of our Destin houses have had popcorn ceilings. I'm not a fan. Is anyone a fan??? My grandma had them when I was little (30 years ago--her house was probably 20 years older than me). Her popcorn ceilings even had glitter on them. That was cool. Of course I was a little girl so glitter on anything was awesome! ha!

I can't wait to be in a house without dog hair! Although Cooper has been a fabulous pet for our family for the past seven years, he sheds like crazy and I am constantly murmuring as I sweep, swiffer, and vacuum. It will be absolutely glorious to be dog hair free and equally thrilling to know Cooper will be in dog heaven living with the Pohl family, their three dogs, and cat. He'll love it!

I am so excited to be in a community where phenomenal work was done in city planning. The city of Destin is a mess; it's been haphazardly thrown together for decades without any thought for the future. Case in point: Hwy 98. It's the ONLY main road in the city. There is no rhyme or reason to Destin's layout or its design. There are trailers next to multi-million dollar homes, tattoo parlors next to swimming pools filled with kids, an increasingly-busy airport filling our otherwise quiet skies with ridiculous noise and the foul smell of jet fuel, the continued proposal of a gentleman's club next to multiple neighborhoods and our elementary school. Although our beaches are the best in the world (seriously!) I'm anxiously awaiting our move to a more quiet, family-friendly neighborhood.

I am realizing that my taste in furniture and design is shifting. I know without a doubt I want a simple, sleek kitchen table and chairs. Our current set is a nightmare. The chairs weigh a ton and it is a pain moving them to sweep and mop. In my mind I am picturing something like this, from IKEA, paired with either a white table or a navy blue table:

I love white kitchens! And hope I can someday have a kitchen that looks something like this

or this


I am leaning more to the modern/contemporary style. I am becoming more and more of a minimalist the older I get. I don't like a lot of "stuff" and I am thrilling over the "less is more" decorating mindset.

I have been a van hater my whole life. My mom always drove vans and to me it was the epitome of a mom car, right up there with mom jeans...totally undesirable! Months ago, right after we made the decision to move to UT, Dust informed me that we'd have to sell my car before leaving. It's a two-wheel drive. It will never make it up and down Provo's icy streets without serious sliding. I knew immediately I didn't want another monster vehicle like mine. I've loved both my Yukons, but especially my XL. It's fabulous, but it's a beast. As we started researching mid-size SUVs I realized they just don't have the space we need. This brought me to...minivans. Even though I hate them it is the most practical decision for our family. We can get a seven passenger (with captain's chairs in the 2nd row), have plenty of space for each child and still have tons of storage space. I won't have to lay seats down to load groceries or constantly have a luggage rack topper when taking road trips. I figure Tana's off to college in 4.5 years so I can grin and bear it till then. Dust, on the other hand, is dying! He can't stand the thought of me in a van. haha!


I woke up at 2:30am and couldn't go back to sleep. I went to the gym at 5am. I had run 8miles, showered and gotten ready by 7:30am. Now that it's nearly 10am I feel like I am going to die. I am soooooo tired.
I am praying Brantley falls asleep soon, and stays asleep for hours, so I too can sleep for hours. I want to zzzzzzzzzzzzz!!