lots of TURQUOISE in this master bath

Turquoise. Three shades of turquoise made up our master bathroom. Wow it was bright and dark!
To tone things down a little, we painted it all the same color- more of a calming grey.

Updated by the previous owner/builder in 2012, we definitely love the shower, we just wanted to calm it down.

I have to pretend I don't see the popcorn ceiling since that will not be replaced any time soon {Jim put his foot down} but I do love all of the light that comes through these windows.

Even just adding primer made it look better already. That was some DARK paint.

With more oak accented with brass for the light fixture, we painted it instead of replacing. Again, painting the trim white and replacing all light switches and covers made a huge difference.

On this forever {later} list is to refinish the vanity {more oak to hide} and maybe even figure out how to re-do the vanity. I'm thinking concrete counter tops would be super fun. Or, marble?

Jim doesn't quite agree with me that it will be fun, but he said he would do whatever I want... at a later date. I'm still looking for new rugs that I love. For now, everything else is what we already had.

Again, just a fresh coat {or two} of paint really changed it and made it feel so much brighter and cleaner.

From the bathroom, we started on the living room which led to the hallway, Caden's room, Caden's bathroom and spare bedroom...

no more P U R P L E in the kitchen

We are a family that now loves purple. UCA purple that is, not purple walls in the kitchen. This was one of the first things to go. With tons of honey oak everywhere, we knew we wanted to tone it down as well.

It did not look horrible when we moved in, just very outdated and fairly dark. Luckily, the cabinets are in great shape, so we could get away with not replacing them all together.

The black quartz counter top was installed just a couple years ago. We knew getting rid of the oak would help it to stand out.

We have grand plans for future updates especially to the kitchen, but for now we are doing what we can do for the least amount of money to make the greatest impact.

As painful as it is, paint always seems to be the best answer.

It was a mess- torn up for almost a month so the paint on the cupboards could properly dry. I feel pretty lucky to have a man who although he HATES painting will do it with me.

We took off all of the cupboard doors, added fresh Alabaster white paint and new hardware. The walls are a nice new neutral shade of grey. Covering up the purple walls made a huge difference right away.

The baseboard trim is horrific and needs to all be replaced. It was not properly installed with gaps and backward cuts throughout the entire house.

For now, we added two coats of fresh white paint{after a coat of primer} and while it still drives Jim crazy, I think it looks just fine.

My fabulous handyman of a husband has replace all of the light and outlet switches and covers. They were all beige/almond with plenty of mismatched outlets which did not match the newly-painted white trim.

Replacing these has been a never-ending project in itself going through the whole house, but they look so much better.
With a serious dislike of those skinny old aluminum blinds, I insisted they be GONE.
Funky window sizes made it tough to figure out what to put up.

With so much black and white, we wanted to add color but it ended up being easiest to install simple thicker white blinds and valances with some color over the top.

SO much better.
Right now, we have a built-in microwave and oven. As soon as they need replaced, I would love to add a double oven and put a microwave elsewhere.

New light fixtures, back-splash, flooring and additional cabinets will have to wait but for now- we are super happy. I also have plans for a fun breakfast nook to go in the empty space under the octagonal window.

It was a lot of work but worth it for the cost of paint and cabinet hardware to brighten things up.
Next, we started on our master bathroom.

Needing a L I T T L E paint

We knew we had to have a job in order to prove we had income. Banks kind of want to see this before loaning money to buy a house.

Thanks to a fabulous mortgage shark and getting things in order, we are once again homeowners.

After three months of looking online at hundreds of houses in the O'Fallon area, I finally convinced Jim to check out this one that caught my eye. I had asked several times but he wanted NO part of it.

He absolutely did NOT want a fixer upper.

Together we both wanted a nice neighborhood, big backyard, trees, close to the base and a basement. Jim really wanted move-in ready and has always wanted brick. Proximity to the schools and a ranch-style were a big deal for me.

I wasn't afraid of doing a little work, or even having Jim do a little work.
That's what we do. We work!

As soon as Jim finally broke down and agreed to look at it, I called the listing agent without hesitation.
It sits on an acre with some grass and some wooded. Enough land to have space and privacy but not so much that we will have to spend every single weekend mowing and planting.

It is completely landscaped with large trees.

We looked at on a Sunday afternoon {August 30}, put an offer in on Monday {August 31} and had a signed contract on Tuesday {September 1st}.

Until we closed and were handed the keys- we could not even believe it would be ours.

Built in 1998, the listing described it as unique luxury. It is a house like no other. We definitely have some updating {painting} ahead of us but structurally we could not be happier with our purchase. They definitely did things right when they built.

There are so many extras- things we wanted to do in Kansas but did not get to.

Extremely energy efficient, the inspector could not believe how much insulation was in the attic. Hearing this among so many other things was music to Jim's ears.

We are discovering new hidden gems just about every day.

With two weeks until Jim starts his job, we are going to take advantage of all the time we have to paint.

Exhausted from being in survival mode, we are ready once again to really thrive.

After we finish painting...

Our New Chapter: Southern Illinois

It's a good thing I thought we were through the worst of times a year ago. If we had known how much we still had ahead of us, it may have been a little too overwhelming.

We aren't in Kansas any more.

When we first moved to Kansas, we loved it. We loved where we were and could see staying there forever. When we retired out of Germany, we were beyond excited to move back into our house and pick up where we left off. Things didn't go as smooth as we had planned.

In this last year, we have learned through experience how difficult unemployment is on a family. 

We are completely convinced as well that until you endure the hardships that come with looking for a job to support a family, you have no idea how tough it is each and every single day.

After a rough six months and being backed into a corner by Jim's job in Kansas, we knew we had to make a change. Forced to move {laterally} to a position requiring him to work 6-7 days a week, longer hours and remaining on second shift were just a few of the reasons we decided to take a leap of faith.

Just a month prior, we finalized the sale of our house and moved into a little rental house with big plans of building next to friends on twenty acres of land right in town. We were excited.

Unable to find a job or even get offered an interview, we knew we could not live on retirement alone.

Having sold our house, we realized we had nothing holding us to Kansas other than our good friends. For the first time in our marriage other than our move back from Germany, we did not have the Air Force telling us where to move next.

Our decision to move to southern Illinois was a quick one but it made perfect sense. With a large headquarters base and family in the area, we knew the opportunities for jobs were much greater. 

Having Jim's cousin offer us his house and side jobs softened the blow and eased yet another difficult transition.

The last four months have not been easy. 

Fortunately, things are finally looking up and falling into place.

After applying to nearly 200 jobs- corporate and government, Jim was finally offered interviews for three separate jobs. Up until this point, he was not even given a chance but instead turned down for job after job after job without even meeting him. 

Within a week's time, he was offered all three jobs and accepted a full-time, permanent GS position at Scott Air Force Base. We couldn't believe it. Some days, we still can't.

Five days after receiving the job offer, we closed on our new home.

We have been in our new house just ten days. 

Even spending weekends on the road to watch Justin play football, things have already calmed down. 

Without a doubt, we know this is where we are supposed to be. 

We are excited for simplicity. We are craving routine and organization. 

We are elated to close that last chapter and start this new one.

the tasks are M U L T I P L Y I N G

Two nights ago, my Grandpa Burgan died. He was 99. What a long life. What a tired body.
He used to read my blog and told me the last time I talked to him how much he liked it.
Can't help but think of him as I write...

It seems for every task we complete, two new tasks pop up. Or more. Jim is the structured, disciplined, focused one in our relationship. I know I probably don't even have to write that down- it's obvious. I can focus, but am easily distracted and usually {always} take on way too many projects.  I think bigger than I need to some times. I get excited.

I like to think we have accomplished one heck of a lot in the six weeks we have been home, but there is still so much to do. I know we have forever to do it, but it's starting to bother me more and more.
Sunday, Jim made a list of all the little things bugging him.

He had even assigned tasks to the days he was going to do them.
Sunday and Monday, he was going strong and knocking off things left and right.
SO much focus. Nothing new from my man. I do love it.

Yesterday, was back to frustrating. Our Internet has been super slow. Until they update the Haysville tower we were told it will remain slow. The next town over has a tower as well that the first installer said he could not reach.

Then, we noticed new neighbors across the street had their dish going to the faster tower. It would not be a big deal except we run our business from home- faster service would save us so much time.

We had another installer come out yesterday {only because cancelling service with this company would have cost $180 since we have been with them more than a month... 36 days to be exact} to see if he could move the dish to get a signal on Clearwater.

We let him know if a tree in our tree line was in the way- Jim would take it down. Sure enough the installer said he got a flicker and one tree was the problem blocking the signal.

Jim put a halt on going back to the DMV {for the third time... to register Whitey} and picked up the chainsaw to go to work.

As soon as it was down, the installed said that was actually not the reason for no signal.
He still couldn't get it.

It couldn't have been a dead tree, or even one of the smaller ones. We now have a healthy, big tree cut down for no reason waiting now to be cleaned up.

More work done and more work to do all for nothing. He did continue in close to 100 degrees and crazy winds to find a signal from the top of our shop. Now, Jim gets to dig a ditch to bury the cable that is running through our yard from the shop to the house. Frustrating, but we have Internet.
The wind could calm down any time now.

a little P O K E Y

Any given day, I'd say my man and I are pretty fast at getting things done.
We think we make a pretty good team.  Once we get started on a project or task, we can usually crank it out in no time.

These days, I'm not feeling too fast. More like slow motion.
It's not that we are not working, or not working hard. It just seems like we still have SO much to do!

A week ago today, they finally delivered our household goods. Seeing that truck show up was a beautiful thing. We thought we dejunked {and don't consider ourselves collectors of much} but it is still too much. 16,000 pounds to be unpacked. Ugh.

We scheduled the movers to come back today to pick up our boxes. We thought giving ourselves a deadline might be a good idea.

I think if the last two months would have been a little calmer, I might be a little faster now.
Or, maybe not.

quite the TO DO list

One month later and we are still unsettled.
But, we are home.
Home is good.

SO good.

Since moving out of our Mackenbach house it's been quite a trip.

Three nights with our wonderful Germany friends.
Twelve nights in a temporary apartment on base in Ramstein.
One night in a Holiday Inn Express in Baltimore.
Two nights in Evansville, Indiana with Jim's brother and family.
Five nights in Marissa, Illinois at Granny's.

Two nights in Mulvane, Kansas with wonderful friends- the second with Justin.

May 1st, our renters were out and after three and a half years, we have our house back.
It could have been in worse shape. More than anything, it feels as if it was abandoned.

We have had a lot of cleaning to get it whipped back into shape.
We knew we would be painting to freshen it up.

While waiting for our household shipment, we decided to go ahead and rip out carpets, replace fixtures, stain/refinish our hardwood kitchen floor and put in new hardwood floors (living room).

As if this was not enough, the yard is a wreck with more weeds than grass.

Birds have taken over with what sounds to be a million new babies in nests in the eves of our shop and in the guttering. We also heard birds in the chimney.

Yes, it's a mess.

Above is four years ago, what we showed up to three weeks ago and today.
It is going to be a long process just getting it back to where we had it when we left.

Our deck which was in bad shape to begin with it about to fall apart.
That will be another project in the very near future.

Lucky for us, my little brother planned a big surprise and walked through the door the day after we arrived home.

It's been pretty incredible being able to catch up- I've loved having him around. Jim has enjoyed finally getting to know him. Having the extra help on the endless list of projects and to do's has been a bonus.

The before-and-after pictures will eventually be posted.
The change already has been quite dramatic.

I can't wait to be settled.

chick-fil-a and N F L players

It was a quick week.
A really quick week.
Ty and I are still struggling to get back in the right time zone.

With Jim home {to be with the little guys} and mom ready to go back to Utah {after six weeks in Germany visiting}, we planned for Ty and I to fly back to the United States together with a weekend in Kansas.

I knew it would be a quick trip with just four full days to cram everything in.

The main objectives included:
- getting Ty's driver's license
- catching one of Justin's football games
- time with family
- time with friends

Fortunately, we were able to accomplish everything and more on our list while creating some pretty amazing memories on the side.

Jim has said it is way easier to get adjusted to US time, than it is to adjust back to Germany time.

He's so right.

As the first time back to the United States for Ty and I since moving to Germany {almost three years ago}, we did alright adjusting to Kansas time.

It was a ten-hour flight to Atlanta, then an hour and a half from Atlanta to Kansas City. We left Germany early in the morning and arrived in Kansas in the early evening.

It worked out well to go to bed at a normal time. I did not feel jet-lagged at all which was nice since we didn't have time to catch on sleep even if we wanted to!

Our flights went smoothly.
No lost luggage.
No delays.
All on time.

It felt strange to plug the laptop into the wall without a converter.

We were super excited for some Chick-fil-a in Atlanta.

We were more excited while waiting to board our flight to discover two NFL football players standing in front of us on the flight from Atlanta to Kansas City.

I knew they were big boys. I had to ask if they played football, then what their names were. Of course they play football.

I asked the bigger guy if I could come bother him for a picture or autograph once we got up in the air.

He graciously did both and talked to us for a while in flight.

He gave me some football advice for Justin (work on his hands, work on being physically aggressive, follow the dream), talked to us about his cousin in the Army stationed in Germany and told us his mom doesn't know football so not only does she not stress out, she doesn't watch him much.


It was a pleasant conversation with a really nice guy who happens to play football.

At the end of our conversation I said, "I'm really sorry I didn't know your name."
His response, "That's ok, it's Tyson."

Both play for the Kansas City Chiefs- Tyson Jackson {3rd overall pick in first round of the NFL draft in 2009} and Justin Houston {AFC Defensive Player of the Month- September, 2013}.

Chick-fil-a and NFL players in the same afternoon?

Welcome to America.

no C O N F E R E N C E

We received really good news this week.

Due to budget cuts, Jim's conference in Oklahoma has been cancelled. He is finishing up his course in Texas this week and gets to come home this weekend. I could not be more happy.

We have survived.

We only had cereal for dinner twice.
We managed to get trash out both Tuesdays.
We even checked the post office for mail twice.
We had melt-downs and we were sad, but we made it.

In my spare time, I worked to organize a little in an attempt to pass the time {mostly the weekends}while Jim was gone.

We bought these four frames {from Costco} at least five years ago. I loved them and couldn't wait to get the boys pictures in them. Last year, I finally got them up on the wall. The only problem being they didn't have pictures in them. 

This week, I went through all of my pictures and found every single school picture.
It was so much fun to look through the years and see how much they have grown up.

One of these days, I will get them all scanned and really organized.

For now, I will enjoy our newly-filled frames up on the wall.

As quickly as these years have gone by, I am reminding myself that Coleman and Caden will have theirs filled up in the blink of an eye.

I'm sure before we know it, I will be adding their senior pictures, to finish off each frame.

This last couple of weeks could have moved a little quicker.
Most of the time, I'm wishing things would slow down.

to G R A N N Y ' S house they go

It's a road-trip-kind-of weekend.

Not for us in Europe this weekend, but for Jim and Justin in the states.

With a long three-day weekend, Jim decided he would go crazy being stuck in Texas with nothing to do. We must have the traveling bug, because he decided to hit the road.

No boring hotel room this weekend.

Friday night, he left as soon as class was out and drove the leg to Haysville. He quickly checked on our house and renters before crashing across the street at our gracious friends.

Saturday morning early {5:30ish}, he headed north to Highland, Kansas- that tiny spot in the middle of no where. He checked out the less-than-clean conditions in their all-football apartment and swooped Justin up to go along for the ride to visit family.

Destination: Granny's House. Marissa, Illinois.
They drove six hours yesterday arriving at Granny's house close to 4:00.

Talking to Granny a couple times on the phone this week, I have to admit I was more than a little sad to be over here and not there. In the small town of Marissa, most of the Dickeys are right there.

Jim's dad and step-mom, a step-brother and his family, uncles, aunts, cousins and their families, great aunts and uncles and friends.

Granny's house is sort of that magical, wonderful place to visit.
She and Pa built their house and have lived there for what seems forever. It is forever for the grandkids and great-grand kids.

The memories are endless.

Just in time for Sunday dinner, the cousins will gather, kids will play and the most delicious food will be enjoyed. Granny always remembers everyone's favorites. This weekend is no exception.

I've decided I want to be just like Granny when I grow up.

Always an open bed and space for anyone to visit.
Wonderful Sunday dinners with the most amazing hot, homemade bread.
Grandchildren and great-grandchildren all over the place.
All the time in the world {or at least that is how she makes you feel} to visit.
So much love.

Tomorrow, Jim and Justin will get in the car early {4:00am ish} in order to get Justin back to college at noon for conditioning. Even being a holiday, he was almost not allowed to leave. Luckily, Monday morning running was cancelled allowing him the time off. Quality time off with the dad.

Mapquest estimated the entire trip {one way} to be 14 hours and 890 miles.
Round trip, that makes it close to 28 hours of driving a whopping 1780 miles.

All in a weekend.

Rüdesheim M A R K E T

Rüdesheim had its first documentary mention in 1074 according to Wikipedia.
I love these old villages.
Rüdesheim is absolutely beautiful. Nestled right along the river, it is another postcard-perfect setting.

Cobblestone streets.
Old buildings with drawings on the side.
Character.

After getting off the ferry, we quickly parked and headed out to walk around the market. Going with friends makes it so much more fun- the kids all get along. The parents all get along.

Over here, our friends are our family- we love them.
Fun times to get us through the holidays living so far away.

The food is always wonderful- the best reason to go in the first place.

Everyone is happy. It is a festive time in Germany.

For this one, we tried the brats {you can never go wrong with a German brat}, potato cakes {you can never go wrong with German potatoes}, fresh {hot} crepes, currywurst along with full mugs of hot cider and hot chocolate.

Here, you pay a deposit on the first mug you buy, then you can get it filled as you walk around. It's a nice way to keep warm. Everyone is spun up on sugar by the time we leave.

We made it out just as it started to sprinkle.
More great memories.

B R A T W U R S T from our oma

I was taught a great lesson this week. I would like to think I knew how blessed we are.
As a family, we were reminded again of how rich we truly are.

It was Christmas eve, we had eaten dinner and were watching a movie as a family. Everyone was getting along {not always the case}.

The fire was hot. The tree was lit along with candles throughout our living room. Our bellies were full.

Everyone was content just spending time together.

Everyone was excited for Christmas morning.
The doorbell rang. It rang a few times. I assumed it had to be friends with a small child pushing the button over and over and over.

To our surprise, it was our Oma from across the street.

Her hands were full. Her heart was full as well.

She had candy for the boys, bratwurst for Jim and a flowering plant for me. She explained how to spread the bratwurst on bread or crackers. She thanked Jim and Caden over and over for shoveling her walkway after the last snow.

As she handed it to me she this Azelea {wrapped with foil on the bottom to hold the water from running out of the plastic planting pot}, said something I will never forget.

"Chai-LA {how she says Sheila} I don't know what to get you. You have everything."

Her eyes filled with tears and she started to cry.

She is a very lonley lady.
Her health is poor. She has very little.

To her, we do have everything. We are a family.
I couldn't agree more.

chicks in the N E S T

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was different for us this year. At least, for me it has been different. Having experienced a lot of "new" this last four months with a kid in college {across the ocean}, I have a new perspective on things.

Far from having an empty nest, we still have reached a new stage in life.

It's nice to have all of our chicks back in the nest if only for just a couple of weeks. We have enjoyed every minute of our time together. Movies. Sleeping in. Naps. Food.

Nothing spectacular, just being in the nest together.
This mama hen is happy.

I've loved it.
We have all loved it.
Caden can't keep his hands off of Justin.

For today, it is more movies and more relaxing. More food, too. The down time is pretty much what we have all needed. I won't be taking it for granted.

Merry Christmas!

our T H A N K S G I V I N G weekend

I had a little bit of a technical glitch hence my delay in posting.

While adding the below post this last weekend, I was told I had exceeded my photo limit. Imagine that. It's taken me a couple days to figure out what to do. Actually, I've been a little lost.

I almost bought more storage, then realized that they allow an unlimited number of photos as long as they are below a certain size. Whew. I can do that. Guess I better start paying attention to how big my photos are. For now, I will continue blogging.

Hopefully, they don't have a word limit. It wouldn't surprise me if I hit that maximum allowance next if they do. Yikes- that could cost big bucks.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend {late}!

As much as we were missing Justin, it was a very nice Thanksgiving here in Germany.

As hard as it was for this first holiday without him, it was comforting to know he was with friends being well taken care for and fed a wonderful meal.

Ywo years ago, we were sneaking on base with our small car to eat Thanksgiving in the chow hall. As hard as we tried to keep our heads up, it was tough. Definitely not the Thanksgiving to remember.

This year, we shared the day and meal with our good friends Randy, Michelle and their son {a junior in high school} Ryan.

It was a calm, quiet day- exactly what we planned and needed.

Check out Michelle's beautiful Polish Pottery. I'm thinking we need to make a quick shopping trip to Poland. I'm loving it.

H I T S C H E R H O F farm festival

Germans love their fests.
We love German fests.

It seems if there is  an excuse to have a fest or celebration- they're on it! They know how to work hard, but they also know how to celebrate.

There are onion fests, chocolate fests, chestnut fests, chicken fests and any other variety you can imagine.

Finishing up our time with Uncle Neal and Aunt Cheryl here in September, we found a great farmer's pumpkin festival and decided to give it a try. 

What a fun day- definitely worth the forty-five minute trip and definitely worth going back next year!

Up in the hills in farm country of course, the drive was scenic- beautiful Germany.
Booths lined the farmer's area with craft and food vendors. It was a mini fair without all of the craziness that a fair attracts.

We tried the pumpkin bratwurst on white brotchen- a new variety of brat that was super good.

We also had to try the fried goat cheese on toast. It was delicious- how can you not love goat's cheese. Heavenly.

Close to the entrance was a man with antiques. We looked at a few items and decided to check back on our way out.

Jim found this kraut pot and immediately liked it.

It's common to find the light grey stoneware, but this was the first dark brown variety we have seen. By the time we were leaving, I was convinced we needed to get it.

Better yet, the old man was originally selling the big pot for 18 Euro {about $24} but offered us two pots {40 liter and a matching 30 liter} for just 20 Euro, just over $25 for both.

What a deal.

My favorite part of the transaction was talking to the man and listening as he explained how his mother used to make sauerkraut, putting the cabbage and salt in the big pot, then pushing it down with stones on top to hold it down.

So cool.

For us, they are the perfect containers to hold wood next to our fireplace.

I love how they are worn.
I love how they are stamped with the size on the side.

I love how now they are a forever reminder of our time in Germany.

Super heavy.
Very German.
I love them.

Even better, the man wrote down his name and address to visit him at home to see what other treasures he has in his garage.

Oh, it's a day trip in the making.
How do you pass an offer like that up?

two C O R D S

We are ready for winter!

Using my limited German skills, I finally got up enough courage to talk to our village wood man. I was nervous last year as well.

He speaks no English.

This is good- it forces me to dig vocabulary out of my head.
I understand most of what he says. I know I miss a lot as well.
I dream in German for the next few days after being forced to speak it.

I need to speak it more.

Jim and I stacked it all in neat rows down in the basement. It's nice, dry wood that burns super hot.

Along with Christmas markets, it's the best part of our German winter.

We all love it.