Change is Good!

Change is Good!

There’s been a lot going on here at our nest and its not just decorating, crafting and DIY!

“The Decorated Nest” blog has had a little facelift–do you like the new logo???  My friend Janel at Nellie Bellie designed it and I just love it!  Its fresh and fun!

We also decided to close the online store and return to our roots on Etsy.  It just feels like the right decision and the right venue for us.  You can visit our shop at

http://www.thedecoratednestshop.etsy.com

On the personal front, big changes are coming too!  We moved to our 5 bedroom colonial with 3 bathrooms and a family room and basement  in 1998.  Our daughters were still at home and my mother was having health issues.  We felt it would be better for her to be with us.  My Dad had passed away when I was 15 (Mom was 36) and mom was on her own.  So, we sold the 3 bedroom colonial that Joe built for us and moved.

We bought our house in the neighborhood my husband grew up in and spent the next year adding a bath and gutting and remodeling  two others, building custom cabinetry for a total kitchen remodel and literally re-did every room in this house .  Had I been blogging at the time, I would have lots of before photos, unfortunately I don’t!

During that time our younger daughter became engaged.  Tami and her fiance, Ed, were saving for a house and one day when Ed and I were sitting in the back yard he expressed interest in the ranch  behind us.   I was a little shocked that he would want to live so close to his in-laws, and said so,  but inside I was doing the dance of joy!  Unfortunately, the house wasn’t for sale–that day–but it was the very next!  Ed and Tami decided to buy it.  I was so happy I thought I would burst.

They moved in a few months later, married and started their family!  That was in 2001.  Since then our oldest daughter has moved out as well and we now have a 5 bedroom home for only three people.  Way to much house for three people!

OUR PRESENT HOME

Not so at Ed and Tami’s house.  They have now grown to a family of 7!  Tami and Ed have four amazing children together and Ed came with a “bonus boy” –when they married he had already had a son, our grandson Hayden, who is now 17 years old and lives close by with his mom.  Three daughters and one son in three bedrooms is tight!   They need more room, we need less so, the logical solution would be to “SWAP HOMES”!!!!!

OUR SOON TO BE HOME

That’s just what we are doing.  Its going to be a bit crazy for a while, two families switching houses–we need to add a bathroom at the new place and a ramp system for mom to get in an out of the house, but we are swapping the colonial for the ranch and we still get to be “across the yard” from each other, which absolutely makes my heart sing!

  I have to admit that my heart would have broken if I had to move away.  I’m a very spoiled grandma and have seen my grandchildren every day of their lives.  We are very close to our daughters and adore our son-in-law.  We have been so blessed!  Now, if I could just find a way to get Kate to move back into the neighborhood someday, life would be beyond perfect!

This should be quite an adventure.  There is a lot of work ahead of us and you will get to follow along here, on the blog. My daughter and I have polar opposite color preferences so there will be a lot of painting going on!  Thanks to all my blogging friends, I have more inspiration and ideas that you could ever imagine.   Follow along as we share “Our House Swap”!