HOW THE HOUSE HUNTING IS GOING...

Okay, so you all know that we have put our house up for sale.  That was a little over a month ago. So far we have had a couple little nibbles but no bites, which is a little discouraging, but we kind of figured that putting it up for sale so late in the year would mean that it might sit on the market until Spring before anyone takes any real initiative to buy it.  I mean really who wants to move in bad weather?  However, we figured it's better to just go ahead and get it listed just in case there is some crazy person out there who loves our house and likes moving in winter time.  Hehehe.

Anyway, since we put the house on the market we have set out to look for properties in our area that have the quiet country setting we are looking for.  So far we have found a couple that interest us.

The one that has everything on our wish list, the one that we have stopped and oogled a million times, the one that we got lender approval to purchase, the one that I believe God led us to (and no it's not the house in the picture above, drats!), is a reverse mortgage foreclosure which means that they will not accept any offer other than full asking price at this point and full asking price is just simply more than the place is worth....So, it's a no go...right now. I should've known.  Dealing with foreclosure properties is ALWAYS a BIG headache.  You would think the bank would just like to get their money out of a place and be done with it, but no, there's ALWAYS red tape, regulations and rules involved, especially when you're dealing with a government run agency like Fannie Mae as is the case with this one.  They make everything so much harder than it should be.  The continuous hoop jumping they make everyone do is so completely ridiculous and makes my head spin.

Anyway, I am a little disappointed, though I have not given up all hope, because I know that if God truly does want us to have it, it will be ours on our terms at our price).  He's just that kind of God and when the door opens we'll go through it!! BUT, Just in case that door doesn't open, we have another place in mind that we love too. It's priced a bit higher than we really want to pay and it doesn't have everything on our wish list but the house is a little nicer.  It doesn't have a fenced in backyard and it doesn't have a garage for all the hubs' tools and stuff but the property is gorgeous with fruit trees, a grape arbor, raised bed gardens and a sweet little creek.  I also like that the home is tucked back off the road a little and is somewhat hidden in the woods....a truly quiet country setting.

So that's how the house hunting is going.

In other news, I wanted to let you know that I have been working on getting the bubs' room finished. So far we have added new bedding, a window treatment and have started the redo on his dresser.  We have had a few set backs but it's coming along nicely.  I still have a few things left to do (which will probably take me until Christmas to finish) but as soon as I can I will share all the details with you.

Until then enjoy this beautiful fall season with the ones you love.

Ciao,

FALL DECOR...WHY BUY THE FAKE WHEN YOU CAN HAVE THE REAL STUFF....

So I am a little late at getting my fall decorating done this year.  With putting the house up for sale and completing all the projects that needed to be done beforehand, I have just not had the time until now to worry about any fall decor and if truth be told, this years decor is very simple and unfussy...just the way I like it.

I have to admit that up until the past few years I had pretty much always used those cheap faux pumpkins and brightly colored leaf bouquets from the dollar store for my fall decor.  It's bright, cheerful, festive, inexpensive and there's nothing wrong with that, if you are guilty of using those things too!  However, over the past few years I have decided that I was going to save money and start taking advantage of the plethora of the FREE natural, fresh resources that the good Lord provides.

A few years ago I conned the neighbor into letting me clip a few sunshiny orange leafed branches off the tree in his front yard and last year I picked a nice bouquet of wheat like weeds from the side of the road but I have never used any clippings from my own yard for my fall decor. Why? Well, because I don't have any wheat like weeds growing anywhere and none of the trees in my yard turn a bright sunshiny orange, crimson red or golden yellow in the fall. Our trees simply go from green to brown.  That's it!  So completely disappointing!!...or so I thought.

A few days ago I spied some fallen branches in the front yard blown down and leftover from some strong winds that came up over night, and even in all their bland, boring variegated brown and green blahness, I saw them for the first time as the perfect and most beautiful soft, muted all natural, fresh fall decor. Nothing fancy but truly elegant in their own right. So, I decided to embrace them as the resources that the Lord provided to me. I picked them up, paired them with my everyday candle lantern and a few small tiger striped pumpkins from the grocery for a gorgeous fall vignette on the mantel. So perfect and so simple.  No fuss decorating!!!

I tucked some of the leafy branches in a few other places around the house too which I hope to show you later when there's a little better sunshine for picture taking.  It's been very overcast and dreary here.

Now I don't want you to think that I am too good for or totally against using the fake stuff so I threw together a little vignette in the entry way using some of my favorite faux fall decor...the metal pumpkins and tree.

Festive!

You know it's funny, I have to admit that out of all the fall mantels and vignettes I have put together using real decor (or fake for that matter), I like this years the best...it's not bright or colorful, in fact, it's very toned down and muted.  It's not fancy, it didn't take lots of time to get just right and didn't cost loads of money, yet it's gorgeous and sings all the praises of the fall season. Doesn't it?

Do you use natural elements in your fall decorating?  Would you ever dare use old greenish brown, crunchy leaves?

My mindset on these things anymore is why spend all that money on the fake when you can have the real stuff for free or nearly free.  Besides, when the season is over, there is no storage necessary.  You simply roast the pumpkins with some yummy butter, brown sugar and nutmeg, throw the leaves in the burn pile and your done with it.  Now that's the kind of simple living and simple decorating that I love!

What do you prefer real or fake?