Plates a Plenty

A few years ago, the great people of Ikea chose our area to grace with their presence.  For about three years, my husband and I binge bought, filling our house with washable sofa's, expanding dining tables for our children to stab with forks and every paper covered floor lamp available.  Family friendly, affordable home goods in a fun shopping environment?  Best thing ever.
So far, I have not regretted a single purchase I've made from the business savvy Swedes.  Except one.  And even that one isn't their fault.
It's the Novogratz' fault.  (Is that how you make that name possessive?  I need to check my grammar book.  But not right now.  Maybe later.  Or not.  You might have to just deal with it.)
I'm not a dish set kind of girl.  Matching plates, cups and saucers in a lovely ivy design?  Not my thing, but we needed new plates and bowls desperately.  I think we were using my husband's stuff from when he moved out on his own in 1996 and took all the hand-me-down's he could get.  I'm also pretty sure we only had enough for like, four people.  Maybe five if one was okay with using a rogue salad plate.
I decided the only way to go was white.  Then I could buy anything that tickled my fancy, as long as it was white, and everything would coordinate without being matchy-matchy.  So, off we went to Ikea and bought dinner plates, salad plates and bowls for twelve people.  It was glorious and I loved the clean look of all white everything.  Life was good.
Then, I caught an episode featuring the Novogratz family on HGTV and it ruined everything.
In this particular episode, the family was at home getting ready for dinner.  One of the kids opened a drawer and pulled out their dinner plates.  I had instant buyers remorse.
Their dishes were different.  Each and every plate was a beautiful, unique design.  Nothing matched, yet somehow it worked perfectly.
Crap.
I've thought about that show ever since and recently, decided I was being stupid.  I can find a new family for my white dishes.  Life is too short.
So last week, I started my collection. 

I found them all at the thrift store down the street and only paid $4 for all three.  It's going to take a while, but I think it's going to be a fun process.  I'll keep you posted!

The One I Left Behind

I'm deep in the throes of moving.  I have half my stuff at one place and half my crap at another and it's a little tiring.  And chaotic.  And overwhelming.
It's made me realize I've stretched myself a little thin lately and I need to simmer down.  So this morning, I pushed back the release of my next book by almost a month.
I rushed my last book release and hated every minute of it.  I had to spend every free moment writing and re-writing and it not only took a lot of the fun out of it, it also took away from the fun I was able to have with my people.
Lesson learned.
But that's not the point of this post.  The point of this post is to show you the end product of the house we've inhabited for the past half decade.
The house we worked our butts off on.  The house that will make another family as happy as it's made us.
I'm not one to get emotionally attached to a building.  For me, a home is about the people and experiences you have in a house, not the house itself, so I am happy to move my home to a new location.  I will share some before pictures of the new house soon, until then, here is the beauty I am passing on to her new people.

She Was Number One

Can you guess which of my blog posts gets the most attention?  It's not a competition.  The winning post, gets the most looks by a long shot.
It is my post about re-sealing our first camper.  In case you don't remember, here it is.
I kinda think it's because of my husband's super sexy hands in one of the shots (Any of you other ladies have a thing for a man with nice hands?).
I feel a little bad about that being such a popular post because as some of you know, we bought a new RV and have tucked our first girl away in a storage lot.  Unfortunately, in addition to being a little small for our growing family, she was pretty neglected by her previous owner and fixing her was going to take more than just a simple resealing. 
The windows had leaked to the point the wallboard was crumbling which meant not only did they need to be removed and resealed, but the inner wall surfaces needed removed and replaced.  Once that started, chances were the insulation would also have to be replaced along with who knows what else.
It didn't seem right to sell her even knowing we would disclose what all was wrong.  Most people who buy campers don't really get what all can and does go wrong with them.  We certainly didn't.
So, she sat in a lot in a neighboring town just waiting for us to decide what in the heck to do with her.
Until know.
Our new house has the perfect spot for her to sit and hang out while I convince my husband to go along with my plan for her.
I want her to be a 'she-shed'.  It would be perfect.  She could have a bed and a kitchenette, making her a great guest house, and I a desk that overlooks the pond at the back of our property would make her a perfect get away for me when I need some peace and quiet to write my sexy time books...  I mean romance novels.
Cross your fingers I can talk him into it.  I think making a she-shed would be a great thing to share with you guys!

While I Was Away

So, I've told you why I'm back (mostly) and now I feel the need to explain what went on while I was gone.
First, I redid my current house.  Now I realize a good and friendly blogger would have taken pictures of all of the projects and shared it with you.
Sorry. 
My bad.
I promise to do better next time.  Like, on the next house.

In a couple days I will share the pictures of our current home and give you the basics of our projects.  It made a huge difference when it came to selling.  All our custom touches helped us sell to the second people who looked at it, in under a day, for full price.  See, Pinterest isn't a waste of time after all.

Back to what else I did while on hiatus.  I wrote a book.  Or two.  Or three.

I'm not set on the cover for Regret, but it's okay for now.  RUN was released on April 15, 2016.  Out Bad came out TODAY!  Regret is set for release on October 14, 2016.  I will put links at the end of this post in case you're interested.

I think writing basically falls into the category of making things.  We all know I like to make stuff, and this is just an extension of that.

So, now you know what all I've been up to and I promise to keep you more in the loop from now on.

RUN on Smashwords

RUN on Amazon

Out Bad on Smashwords

Out Bad on Amazon

On the Move

Before I get to why I've been gone for so long, I thought I would tell you why I'm back. 
First, the savages are older and I'm a little less overwhelmed (most of the time).  The big one is six and the smaller, but ornerier one is three.  Now, they can handle themselves a little more and I have a little more free time.
The second, and biggest, reason is our family is on the move.  We've been searching for our next home for almost two years and we finally, finally found it.  But...
It's not real pretty.
The potential is there, but...
If 1994 called and wanted all their stuff back, I'd be screwed.
So, prepare for lots of home renovation and decorating stuff.
Did I mention it's on six acres?
Get ready to watch me figure out how to keep chickens.  I'm pretty sure most of you will stay tuned simply to watch how that works out for me.  I get it.

So, I suck.

I flaked.

Not really, I swear.  I just was really focused on a different sort of project, but.....

I think I'm back, but on a less strenuous schedule.

I put a lot of pressure on myself to blog here on a regular basis.  A VERY regular basis and it just got a little overwhelming, so...

I flaked.

I'm sorry.

I will make it up to you.  I promise.

Over the next few days, if you still love me and forgive my lapse, I will fill you in on what's going on and what is in store for The Modern Housewife.

It's exciting. 

I promise.  I know, promises, promises.