going greenville

Our (current) hometown was featured on Design Sponge this week.

Who woulda thought? It feels so small and quaint, which we love.

See it here.

my favorite thing about this dwelling place...

I just finished reading The Giver. If you haven't read it or if it's been awhile, they call their houses "dwelling places."

In terms of my latest "dwelling place,"I am so sad that I am merely renting this floor-to-ceiling built-in pristine white bookcase next to this just-as-pristine white mantel with a wonderfully large empty space above. I wish I could box up this whole wall and take it with me on our next move. It looks like it would break down into parts or maybe fold over tortilla style... what do you think? Maybe?

I love the asymmetry of the whole set-up. Plus, we've been able to pull out many things that have remained in boxes the last two "dwelling places" and put them on display.

For example, this martini glass that I found at a beach yard sale.

There was only one.

And I don't drink martinis.

And I thought, What will I ever do with it? as I handed over the two-quarter price.

And now I can display it, filled with shells from that same beach we loved so much.

And the wine corks. I can display my wine corks. Husband and I write memories on them as we finish (or as often happens, as we pour out the remaining red-wine vinegar from) each bottle.

I got the wine cork memories idea from a friend. Husband and I plan to architecturally incorporate our collection somehow if we ever build a permanent home. I got that idea from her, too.

And my "Swiss Alp Bird" collage. I call it that because I made it from snippets of an advertisement for skiing in the Swiss Alps. It was the result of a rainy day when I needed to release some creative energy and wanted to try something different.

Moving on, any guesses what this is:

POLLEN.

Do you have pollen falling so heavily your camera flash catches it in nighttime photos?

This thrilled and pained me simultaneously. How amazing that it falls in drifts like this and no wonder I'm taking Zyrtec everyday for the first time in my life! (I was able to spell check that the old-fashioned way. A brand new bottle of 45 is sitting right beside my computer.)

our weekend and the dining room

I like to write little stories for children in my spare time. Most of them are for my student lessons, but some are stories that I "plan" to illustrate and send to publishers (one day, like most things). One story in particular I have been working on intermittently for almost two years. I've begun the pencil sketches, and Husband has been playing with watercolors on my copies of my sketches.

He's quite good.

It's a strange but fun spousal activity. Just call us Jan and Stan Berenstain! We plan to spend quite a few weekends this summer collaborating on this little project, so you'll be seeing more on the progress in future posts.

In other news, for the first time ever we've hung curtains. I've talked about hanging curtains in every house we've rented and this time we actually did it.

Don't they make a big difference in the room? And I love the white and wood tones together. It seems so rustically formal, and thus so casually elegant. (Though a professional interior designer might cringe at the simplicity!)

So, this is the dining room of our latest house. I do wish the curtains completely touched the floor, but ah well (a professional interior designer would certainly cringe at that little blip!). I'll get them perfect when they're not so irritatingly temporary.

before i take you with me to greenville...

I want to reflect on what we'll miss most about our house in Charlotte, NC.

THE YARD.

Not only was it huge,

but every season something beautiful was growing.

Oregano from our summer garden sprouted again just before we left.

(I found me camera cord AND got the Internet running! It's good to be back in blogland...)

More to come....

web-less, pictureless days in SC...

Speaking of "fussing" (see previous post :)

we're still trying to get our blasted Internet hooked up! It's taking forever. We have all the sports and movie cable channels and landline dial tones I could ever ask for, but the Internet connection is still floundering around, being noncommital.

So, it looks like I will be posting randomly until that's settled, and I won't be sharing pictures of this place until I can find my camera's USB connector. Sheesh! I've unpacked almost everything.... where could that thing be???

In the meantime, picture in your mind's eye the TEN HUGE BOXES FULL of trash sitting on the curb, waiting on the trash truck

AND, my car trunk FULL of "stuff" to take to a local charity.

I love getting rid.

(P.S. We love it here!)

rhythm and moves

Thank you all for your sweet comments on Monday!

We're getting settled and adjusting to the fact that we are yet again residents of a NEW state.

We realized while packing that I have lived in 6 states in the last 4 years (Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, and now South Carolina)

And Husband has lived in 5 states (all of the above except Georgia).

And we have loved them all!

This guy has been helping me move in.

Doesn't he just look like he has some serious rhythm in those bones? (Just to clarify: he hasn't been physically helping me-- he's on my iPod that my wonderful in-laws gave me for Christmas!)

Some of my favorites are:

Life is Beautiful

She Just Wants to Dance

Let Your Light Shine

Keep It Simple

More Than One Way Home (video)

It Hurts Me Too (video)

Listen to more here.

And I like this video he did of America the Beautiful.

MOVING DAY!!!!

See you fine folks tomorrow or Wednesday or whenever I find the box where I packed my brain!

In the meantime,

I thought I would share this laundry sorter/ hamper that I saw at Lowe's when we were buying extra boxes:

IT ROLLS! How convenient!

I think I will be asking Husband for one of these tomorrow, and I think he will say YES :)

thank you, thank you, thank you

Our wonderful EfM Bible Study Group

(with some of the most brilliant, talented folks of all ages, shapes and walks of life)

Gave us the sweetest, most thoughtful


Going Away


Surprise Party.


And they presented us with a huge bag full of indigenous North Carolina foods.

And a notebook of recipes to go with the food along with an NC history of each company that produced it and instructions to add to the book for each state we live in.

It never ceases to amaze us how thoughtful people can be. We've known this group less than a year, yet they have made us feel so welcome and so loved.

Thoughtfulness is one thing that I think it's safe to say never goes completely unfelt, unnoticed, or unappreciated.

It certainly makes me want to strive to be more thoughtful

and immensely brighten other people's days.

look what husband did!

Husband is finished (minus a few minor details) with the project he came to Charlotte to complete:

Rocky River High School.

(P.S. We move in one week and haven't packed a single thing!)

Front View of the School

(they're still working on the landscaping at this point)

Outside View of the Auditorium


Outside View of the Library

The Football Field

Husband preparing to make a touchdown on the Football Field.
(I got it on video but haven't gotten permission to show you all just yet! I am still working on him :)

The Gymnasium (see how shiny the floors are?)

The Auditorium
(Husband put a lot of his time into this building and he loves the way it turned out.)

Back Stage Dressing Room Vanity Area

Curtain and Lighting System Husband helped Design

Sport Locker Rooms

Library

(these kids are going to have such amazing resources!)

Science Labs,

complete with Chemical Exhaust Hoods and Fire Blankets to wrap burning persons in to smother the flames.

(what kinds of experiments do they do in science labs these days?!?!? We just dissected huge worms at my high school!)

The architects "art" wall. Nice touch, huh?

The band room.

So much pride went into the design and construction of this school. Husband and everyone on the project seemed to really enjoy doing it. It's hard to believe, looking at this beautiful building, that so many budget cuts have been going on in the school systems. Ah, me. If only education could become our top priority, I believe so many other issues would magically solve themselves.