You guys are geniuses.

Thanks for helping me out. I'll send pictures when I try the different living arrangements. Yipee!

I need help.

In less than a month, our little family will be moving back into our favorite DIY project in Carlsbad, NM. I am so excited. I will have a house again. And this time, it is [almost] done! I can decorate! As if I'm going to really live there for a long time! [Because, this time, that is the plan.]

There's just one problem.

And it's the living room.

It is impossible to place furniture in. At least, it is for me. [We are talking about the least creative woman in the world here.]

Here's the problem. This room has to double as a living room and dining room space. It is a job that would be made a lot easier if it weren't for the incredibly awkward placement of the fireplace which makes it seem odd to divide the room into two separate halves. See for yourself:

I need help. I am desperately asking for help.

Let's say that we have only two pieces of furniture that we intend on keeping: a pleather couch and armchair. Other than that, we're looking to acquire furniture. [Slowly, but we'll be acquiring nonetheless.] Let's also say that a TV in this room is not a necessity. A dining table, however, is.

With that information, do any of you have furniture placement suggestions? Ones that will make me feel like I'm living in a happy home and not a smooshed up apartment? I'm open to unconventional. I'm not really open to ripping out the fireplace. Yet.

Here's a refresher on what the rooms actually look like.

From the dining area looking into living room/entry:

From the hall looking onto fireplace:
From living area looking onto dining area/kitchen:
I know many of you are ingenious homeowners and decorators and DIYers. Please share!

Moving Day

First of all, people love us. We are so lucky to be living in a place full of members of the Church who take care of each other and serve. We have never felt so loved in a ward before. We will miss it.

On packing day, we didn't ask anybody to come. In fact, we had just mentioned in passing that we would be packing up that day, and people just came. Just drove by to see whether we were working, and joined in.

{Tory, Andrea and Matt Smith; Chad, Paul, Kenny, and Curtis Twitchell, and Brad}

This ward has taught me that people learn to love each other when they serve each other and accept service. I have never felt so much love and family-ness in a ward before. I can't emphasize that enough. I want to go on and on. I hope I can be the ward member that my friends have been here to me. Brad and I leave Church every Sunday and remark to each other, "We can't leave. We have too many friends here." So we want to come back. Desperately. But not before we share the love with other wards.

{Cory, Angela Brown, Andrea Smith}

{Chad Twitchell and Brad}

{Curtis Twitchell, Marissa and Riley Smith}

Anyway.

Second of all, I am so big. Grace says that when she's proud of herself, and so I am saying it now since I drove a 17-foot U-Haul from Carlsbad to Prosper without Brad and with two little kids. I must also say that I am very proud of Grace since the recently-potty-trained-girl only had to take one single potty break. Which was good. Since it's hard to squish into a stall while holding a nine-month old and helping a three-year-old onto the toilet (while constantly reminding her not[!] to touch the toilet. or the walls. or the "sanitary napkin" basket.).

And I found myself relatively competent with a truck. Sort of. No accidents. Not any major ones, anyway. Although I did sort of brush one of those big steel bars they have at the gas station to prevent people from running into the pumps. Kind of embarrassing. And potentially (although thankfully not in the end) dangerous.

For anyone who's interested, we are not officially gone from Carlsbad yet. Brad still has some work to finish up there, and we still have a lot of work to do on our house before it's actually marketable (did I mention that we decided not to keep it?). This week, he is at scout camp on his last hurrah as ward Scoutmaster. And since I am not good at one week of kids by myself, we decided to move our stuff out of the house and spend the week with Papa and Grandma Betsy. We will go back to Carlsbad at the end of this week and... sleep on the floor. Yay!

{The front door of our house which sports a new front step. It happened to be poured the same day as moving day. Kind of awkward. But funny.}

Packing Up

I can't help but think how terribly sad it is to watch our home--the one Grace learned to talk in, the one Claire first came home to, the one we ripped up and put back together, the home we became a family in--diminish into merely four walls and a roof in a few short hours.

Empty Cupboards Make Excellent Hiding Places

We came home from swimming, I unloaded the car, came back in the house and couldn't find Claire. It was Brad who found her--making the most of moving.

Press Conference

I suppose it is time to make it public... although this news won't mean much to most you readers.

We are leaving Carlsbad. We are sad.

But we are keeping our house. It's my way of staying attached to Carlsbad and making it easier for us to move back.

We will move back. I hope. Because I love it. Love love love it. I know, you think I'm crazy. What can I say? We became a family there. And plus we have a lot of awesome friends there and the best group of wards ever.

"So why are you leaving your favorite place in the world, Elise?" I hear you ask. Good question, I answer. But... hmm. I will let Brad answer. Because our reason for moving has to do with Brad. And Brad and I have this deal where he speaks for himself.

Anyway, the good news is, we will be close to my parents.

The semi-good semi-bad news is that I will be working as a teacher. Well... that's the plan. Now I just have to convince a principal.

Wish we were moving to a town near you, but we're probably not. Unless you live in Texas.