UNLOADING AND SET UP

We woke up early the next morning and after a fire, coffee and daybreak, we began to unload the truck. We had labeled everything as we packed the boxes so it was easy enough to organize but we ran out of room inside the house and had to start stacking boxes on the porch. Our contractor Randy had agreed to help Dave with the heavy furniture but he didn't want Randy to feel obligated to unload boxes too. In Dave's loading diagram, the heavy furniture items were loaded in first and in the middle which meant we had lots of other stuff to move out of the way before they could get to them. Dave and I got a lot unloaded and once Randy arrived, they began moving the really heavy stuff out of the truck and upstairs. We were pleased that we had managed to get the truck completely unloaded and still had plenty of time to get our bed set up.

Our bedroom is not finished by any stretch of the imagination; there are boxes still all over the place since I was unable to get my closet put together. Randy is putting in rods and shelves for me and that will be my first post-retirement project. It was great being able to sleep on our own bed again!

I had put on a pot of Taco Soup when we had gotten up that morning so dinner was quick and done by day's end!

After a sound night's sleep, we awoke to our usual routine of coffee and a fire in the kitchen woodstove. I made us a nice breakfast of Southwest Omelettes with Bacon and then we went into Whitefish to pick up our new Subaru Forester. It took a while since they cover "everything you need to know and then you promptly forget afterwards" but we got squared away and then we went into Kalispell and returned the U Haul truck.

After we got back I worked on putting together the little bistro table I had found down here. I had been hoping to work on my project of making my posts with outdoor lighting attached that I had mentioned last month but unfortunately, the outside outlet is incorrect and I will have to have it redone. Probably for the best though since we only used the table and chairs a couple of times before I stored it for the Winter.

To be continued...

ANOTHER U HAUL MOVE

I can hardly believe it but we have survived the last U Haul move and we still like each other! Seriously, moving across the country is very stressful in and of itself but throw in purging and down-sizing thirty years of marriage and it gets a little crazy! Dave once again created a loading diagram for the truck and realized that unlike our April trip, we needed to upgrade from a 20 foot truck to a 26 foot one. Midst all of the packing and protecting furniture, I condensed down my every day household items into three categories: Take to Montana, Donate and Trash. Whatever is left and is going to Montana HAS to fit in the car when we make the final drive in November.

Dismantling the log bed and emptying out our bedroom!

Taking apart the roll top computer desk and setting up the computer on a card table, our decorating style is beginning to resemble "Poor college student"!

Dave quickly determined that, while there were some differences in the way the two different sized trucks handled, it wasn't that much more difficult driving the larger truck. The truck held everything we had planned to take and with room left over, we were able to fit in those items we had been uncertain about.

We left at 3:50 AM on Saturday September 3rd. Dave wanted to make it to Buffalo, Wyoming that first day. To say I was less than thrilled to be on the road for 22 hours would be the understatement of all time, especially when we lost our air conditioning coming through Texas and the floorboard on the passenger side got so hot that it melted my deodorant in my overnight bag! I was miserable! There was also the stress of mountain passes to navigate. As we descended Raton Pass crossing over from New Mexico to Colorado, we pulled over to check the load and discovered that the brakes were smoking! I wondered what that burning smell was!!?

We checked into our room and were in bed by 1 AM and slept for a few hours and were back on the road at 6 AM, bound for Montana! The outside temperatures were much more pleasant and even though we had rain off and on, the second day was better than the first. I convinced Dave to stop at the state line for a picture.

About an hour south of Billings we had an idiot light come on in the dashboard panel. With no manual in the glove box to determine what it meant, I began looking up U Haul businesses in Billings hoping we would make it there. Of course worst case scenarios start playing our in your head thinking of ALL the stuff we had loaded up in the truck and what a nightmare it would be to transload everything into another truck! I managed to view the digital manual on my smart phone and determined that the light was an indicator that it needed an oil change. Dodged a bullet!

The Mission Mountains north of Missoula welcoming us home...

After a brief stop in Polson for some groceries, we pulled into the Mountainview Hideaway before dark, thankful to be out of that truck. Unloading would commence at day break!

WEEKEND WORK

This was our last weekend to wrap up some of the prep work before we pick up the truck Thursday morning. I helped Dave take apart the computer desk on Saturday which took a lot longer than we thought it would. This is the very reason for doing the prep work so that we aren't slowed down loading the truck! We've had the computer desk for maybe ten years now and with all of it's pigeon holes, I've been able to cram a lot of junk in there!

I have used the top to display family photos and at Christmas, it's a great place to set up my Nativity pieces.

A few weeks ago, I sorted and purged through everything, getting rid of pens that didn't work, outdated paperwork, etc. To my surprise, Dave started going through the desk pitching stuff (some of it mine!) His plan was for the drawers to be virtually empty but I didn't know that; yes, I was fishing through the trash and squirreling stuff away!! I guess we had a "failure to communicate" but knowing that he's feeling stressed, it was just easier to rescue my supplies and save my warrior attitude for more important things! For the record, as much as we are anticipating retirement and living in Montana, this whole down-sizing your cr*p and moving across the country is very stressful!

As you can see, we have spared no expense in our computer set up, we like the card table and crate look. This will have to make do until November and then once we get my creative studio over the garage finished, I will use this computer for my Genealogy project and we will upgrade our family computer

I am looking forward to actually having a home office rather than using our "former dining room" like we've been doing all these years. We plan to use the small room off the master bedroom (where the stained glass moose hangs in the window) and keep everything all contained and set up the tall filing cabinets.

This time next week Lord willing, we should be unloading the truck!

OVERWHELMED MUCH?

Anyone who knows me well, knows that Beth Moore is hands down, my favorite Bible Teacher ever. One of the things I heard her say that has stuck with me goes like this...

"Lord, can we just be whelmed, do we have to be OVERwhelmed?"

I love that! I have to keep reminding myself that He has got this upcoming move firmly in His hands and I just need to do my part and let Him take care of the rest. Sometimes that is easier said than done though!

One week from today, we pick up the U Haul truck and begin loading the remainder of our household, minus those bare bones items we will need in the last few weeks after we get back from Montana. This past weekend Dave took apart our log bed and prepped it for the move. We are still able to sleep on the mattress, we just have it sitting on top of the underbed drawer units.

It's hard to believe that we have had this four years now. We've never regretted getting this bed and I am excited to see how it looks up in the Master bedroom!

Our room seems much larger without the headboard, footboard and side rails!

I have been doing a final sweep through the house and boxing up those essential things that I thought I'd leave out for our last few weeks but have now changed my mind about. Today I am picking up some new king sized down pillows to take up there and we will be packing up the comforter. This weekend we will take apart the computer desk and set up the computer on a card table. Wow, this time next week we will be loading the truck! Just be whelmed...just be whelmed...just be whelmed.

CHINA HUTCH AND BUFFET

Our latest trip to the Mountainview Hideaway was another success. We had guests stay with us, received our log china hutch, hosted another "dinner party", got work done, made flooring decisions and we even played a little! In August, I wrote how Dave and I took a road trip adventure up to Glenpool, OK and met Jason Hunt of JHE Log Furniture. At that time, we ordered the new china hutch for the dining room. We have been so pleased with the furniture that we have gotten from them that I'm a bit saddened to know that we only have maybe one or two more small purchases from them down the road.

Dave's brother Trace and his wife Pam visited us during our first week and we were grateful for all of the work they helped us with! The new hutch was delivered on October 13th and surprisingly, despite its size and weight, everything went smoothly! We used our heavy duty furniture dolly to get it onto the porch and then after the packing was removed, we put it on furniture coasters and slid it into position!

I had went home to St Louis for a visit right before our Montana trip and I brought back a couple of things that had belonged to my Mom. The carved stag candelabra was a fixture in our home from my earliest memories. My Mom brought it from Germany with her when she came to the United States after marrying my father. Who would've known that when she brought it over, it would fit so fabulously in our rustic home!? I used furniture oil on it and now it has a really nice shine to it. I added the green tapers and it's a perfect fit on the new hutch! I placed some of my Mom's green glass treasures in the hutch portion along with some other sentimental things that came from Germany. For many reasons now, whenever I see this hutch, I automatically think of my Mom and my Pop!

It's exciting to see how in two years time, this dining room underwent a MAJOR transformation!! We couldn't be more thrilled with the end result!

From this:

To this!

Another view of our remodeled dining room!

LOOKING AHEAD

It's hard to believe that we've been back from our trip 2 weeks now. While it gets harder and harder to leave our beautiful Mountainview Hideaway and return back to Texas life, it's nice to know that we will be returning in just 7 weeks for another 2 week visit. I am eager for chilly Autumn mornings and evenings where we have a fire going in the wood stoves, seeing the green Larch trees transform into their brilliant shades of golden hue, the smell of wood smoke hanging in the air and wearing sweat shirts and jeans. Fall has always been my favorite time of the year and who knows...maybe we'll even see a light snowfall up there as well!

This picture (October 2012) was my very first trip after we bought the house. I took a day off from cleaning and painting and explored Hungry Horse Dam and Reservoir. We had already gotten a light snow fall and the mountains behind me are in Glacier National Park.

This past weekend, Dave and I took a road trip up to Glenpool, Oklahoma to visit JHE Log Furniture Place and order our new china hutch for the Montana house. We hit the road before the sun came up, traveling up Hwy 75 through small town America.

We got to finally meet Jason and his wife face to face and we also got to see the workshop where the magic begins.

We ordered our new hutch and it should be delivered during our October visit.

Before we left the house 2 weeks ago, I went ahead and moved the bookcase out of the dining room in anticipation for the new hutch. I have gotten used to having it in here so it seemed a little odd to go ahead and move it into the office/library.

I can't wait to post pictures of the new hutch in the dining room! One of my smaller projects that I worked on during our recent trip was to create a coffee bar. When we had been planning the kitchen remodel and update last year, I entertained the thought of having our contractor build shelves on the back side of the redesigned stove island to house antiques, cook books and such. Dave wasn't on board with that so he told me to find something that would accomplish what I wanted, he basically told me to go furniture shopping! Needing no further encouragement, I quickly (before he could change his mind) went on a quest and found exactly what I was looking for in April 2013. It was on my trip over to Idaho to pick up the five drawer chest and two nightstands that my friend Cathy had given me info on, that Brenda and I, after enjoying lunch at her home, followed her to a rustic furniture store nearby.

Although the back of the van was already filled with the bedroom furniture I had picked up, when Brenda spotted this TV stand at the showroom she ran out to the van with my tape measure. She assured me that we could fit it into the van and we did! We also brought back a KIVA ladder and two large lampshades, proving once again that sometimes a big van is as good as having a pick up truck!

I have been holding off on finishing the last window treatment in the kitchen because we have had some leaking issues over the winter with ice dams. In April 2013 I brought up the new cellular shades and curtains for the kitchen and dining room windows but decided to wait, until we were certain this one window in particular was cleared up. Our contractor thought he had taken care of it but this past winter it reared its ugly head once more. He's addressed it but I want to wait another winter to be certain, I don't want to risk ruining the new window treatments. In the meantime, we have these lovely paper, pleated shades!

Back to the coffee bar...I came up with the idea of creating this in order to clear up counter space. I like the idea of having less clutter so I moved the coffee pot and canisters onto the TV stand. This is before:

This is after:

I moved the Grizzly platter from the bookcase in the dining room and placed it where the canisters used to be, I really like it here!

I like having everything in one place. I have all my coffee supplies underneath in one of the baskets and I have our coffee cups and other essentials in the canisters or on top. I have plenty of room underneath to house my many cookbooks and recipe binders. All in all, I am really pleased with how it turned out. I did however move it away from the window right before we left just in case, we have any kind of a leak still. I am eager to finally have this window completed and get to check one more thing off of my list of projects!