"I've lost my fun"

Well, this post is going to be a little bit different. I've been thinking about this past year a lot, and what the future is going to hold and I decided it was time to put some of my thoughts into words even if no one reads it.

 

2012 is coming to an end and tomorrow night I will be ringing in the new year with friends. I have to admit I am really looking forward to a new year. I'm hoping that this new year is a new beginning for me in a lot of ways; mostly health and love. Of course, I do always get a little sappy to see another year of life pass but sometimes a new year is just what a person needs.

 

I've been reflecting a lot about last year and the year before that. Last NYE I spent it with one of my best friends. She is single and we always seem to go through things at the same time and have a lot of the same emotions. We go through up's and down's together so it felt really good to ring in the new year with someone that wants and desires the same things as me but doesn't have them. I will definitely be thinking of her tomorrow night. I will be with another good friend that I feel goes through a lot of the same things too. It's funny but I find being alone on NYE is worse than being single on Valentine's Day. I always imagine bringing in the new year with someone you love, sharing memories and making promises for a better tomorrow. I guess I am getting to do that, just in a friend version. I am happy that I get to be with friends though, it's just what I need. This reminds me to bring your attention to the title of this post, "I've lost my fun". I used to consider myself a bit of a social butterfly. When I was in college I ALWAYS wanted to be where everyone else was. I kept myself busy (probably a little more than I should have) and then after I graduated and moved to Lexington I seemed to stay even busier. I had several friends that lived there and it seemed like most nights of the week I had dinner plans or visitors. But what I missed more than anything was the comfort of my family. I wanted them in my every day life, my parents, grandma, aunts and cousins are what is most important. Not that my friends are any less, but it's a different kind of importance. Now that I live back in my home town and have my family around, I get so bored and miss all of my friends. I've noticed I now have social anxiety and what I find fun is sitting on my couch in slouchy clothes watching reality tv and drinking wine. I feel like I have lost my fun. Where did Sarah go? This isn't me.

 

I reflect on 2011. Worst year ever. After a three year long relationship with the person I loved more than anyone else in the world, I was dumped. Yep, dumped. On the phone. I trusted him with my life. There was never any doubt in my mind that he didn't love me or want his future to be with me. I was blind sided, or so I thought. I had realized that the butterlfies had died, maybe we were too comfortable with each other, maybe things had changed somewhat...but I didn't love him any less. I wanted him at my place even if he was in the other room in his pj's watching basketball and I was watching some crappy television show. Just knowing that he was there was enough for me. He was my comfort and honestly he was the best part of my day. I looked forward to seeing him and telling him about my day. I hated my job, I barely could afford rent, but at least I had him. I adored his family from the beginning...I felt like they accepted me as one of their own right from the start. His friends had become my friends too. In most ways, I thought we were on the same page. We both liked spicy food, we loved our families, we wanted the same things, we had a lot of the same political views, we drank diet coke and miller lite, the list goes on...I just didn't understand how he could say "he couldnt do this anymore". Do what?! I did everything he wanted me to do. What it really was....he felt major pressure ( FROM EVERYONE) approaching out 3 year anniversary to propose and he was scared.

 

The Break Up:

We had went to a wedding (one of many over the past 3 years) the previous weekend. He was just acting different. He had lost his romance, and I had lost my fun. Things just seemed different that weekend. I remember I went out for the bouqet toss and I felt wrong in even going out there. Most of the time I avoided even going and would slip off to the bathroom just so I could avoid the weirdness. Then they called for the single guys to come out...he went out (I was really surprised because he always found a way to get out of it) and he was the ONLY single guy out there and he joked and said nevermind and started walking back to the table. That wasn't embarrassing....NOT. Eventually other guys went out there, but I already felt hurt. The next morning we went back to Lexington, he just seemed in the worst mood and of course was feeling regret of the night before. We were meeting two other friends that we ran around to different places with. He was moody...and really made it miserable but I ignored it and tried having fun anyway. Later that evening the four of us went to an outside bar and had several drinks. I kept talking about marriage, and babies. I'm ready for that and that was never a secret in our relationship. He had told me several times that he wanted me to be his wife...I honestly thought he was getting ready to propose. I said something about "I have a certain time limit and if I'm not engaged by then, I'm done". I realize that this is NOTHING that a girl should say to a guy. But I felt disrespected and I felt like he needed to know I was ready and if he wasn't then things needed to happen. Well, I basically shot myself in the foot on that one bc he made things happen alright. He told me that I needed to go find someone else, but I ignored him. On the phone in the middle of the night, he told me he "just couldn't do this anymore". I was devastated.

 

A year and half later:

I haven't seen him. We haven't even spoken since I pulled in his drive way, gave him a box of his things, he gave me a box of mine...and that's it. We have mutual friends so sometime's that makes it tough bc I hear a lot about him. But I have had a LOT of thinking in 2012. A lot of finding myself and what I want and need. I haven't been in a relationship since. There have been about 3 other guys I have dated and "talked to", one of which I really really thought was going to turn into more...but they all have commitment issues. Or maybe it's just me, who know's. But I do know this about myself, I give EVERYTHING I have to my relationships. I do everything I can to make my significant other happy bc I'm just the type of person that if I know that I am making them happy, then I can be happy. But anyway...I have finally realized that God has been looking out for me. Maybe my prayers haven't been answered on my time, but he's got a plan and he's been looking out for me. I know that I have gotten really personal on a public site...but I needed to get this out. There are a lot of personal things I wont put on here about our relationship...but I am so thankful now that I have taken the time and weighed the good and bad. Even though he is a great person and I loved him, I know now that what he did was a favor to me. We weren't working from the very beginning. We had all odd's against us and a lot of people wanting us to fail. But there was one major thing in between us that caused the majority of our problems...and although most of the time I do think I was happy, there were those times that the bad came out...and when the bad came out that was probably some of my lowest most hurtful moments in my life. It's strange that the person that makes you the happiest and you love the most is also the one person that can hurt you the most and cut you the deepest. I felt disrespected, dependent, and deprived of what I deserve. I'm going to call that "My 4D's". :)

 

To sum it all up...what I am trying to say is:

 

I'm in a happy place. Yes, I am lonely and I do want to find a person who loves me and thinks that I am worth a commitment. But I am still happy, independent, smarter, and stronger. I have my bad days, but I have more good. I have my faith that God is there and he's looking out for me. It will happen on his time and terms...and the biggest prayer that I need is patience.

 

Here is to 2013. New beginnings, independence, stronger souls, more smiles, and letting go.

 

Cheers,

 

Sarah

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Hi all! I told you in my last post that I would update with some of my Christmas decor!

I am all moved in and the first thing I wanted to do (before even getting unpacked) was to decorate for Christmas! I still have so much more organizing and finding a place for everything but I really wanted to be able to enjoy living in my house during Christmas. Here are a few pictures!



My tree, and fireplace! SO cozy :) FYI-there are several people who have asked me where I got my tree topper (the hat) I actually found it in the Cracker Barrell store several years ago.





My precious mom bought me this! I think its a Hallmark ornament. It was exciting to finally have a stepping stone ornament (considering Im not married or a mother).



Yay, I finally have presents wrapped under the tree!



I bought this painted old window at a charity event for cystic fybrosis. I loved it! I hope to come across some old windows and do some painting myself! I hung it in one of my kitchen windows.



My beautiful wreath! No, I didn't make this but I would love to take credit for it! Ha...I have it hanging on a wall in my kitchen!



I made these little jars with epsom salt and cheap figurines. I stole the idea off a very craft friend. She has a blog and you should follow her for some amazing ideas and recipes. Its MommaHensCoop. If you check out the people I follow you will see her blog!

I also made some ornaments for work! I work in the PVA office where all of our county maps are so I wanted to find a way to have a themed tree! Here are some of those pictures.

Anyway, everyone have a very Merry Christmas and please keep praying for others...

Love,

Sarah



Five-Four-Six

I just realized that I have never posted a picture of the house. I was told it was built in the mid to late 1930's and it looks smaller from the outside than it actually is. It has a nice porch (that I cannot wait to get furniture for) and it faces the Ohio river. I don't have a great view of it, but there IS a tiny little section where I can see boats floating and water flowing. :) It is across from two of my favorite homes in Vanceburg. Both homes are old and have so much character, I will enjoy having them across the street (plus some pretty good neighbors too). Speaking of that, my friend Matt is a neighbor close by and my friend Chelcee is moving into her new place this week which is 3 doors down from mine! I'm looking forward to their company! The name of my blog..."in between the river and tracks" is literally where I live. I'd say my kitchen and dining area is about 20-25 feet away from the train tracks. I thought this was really going to bother me but it doesn't at all. Of course, I haven't actually stayed there yet (I'm hoping to get all clothes and personal items moved in this weekend) but I don't think the trains come through often enough to bother me. We'll see how the cats do. I already can't wait for next spring to plant flowers, and work on the outside landscaping. That's the only kind of getting my hands dirty that I like. I'm hoping to buy some shutters and do some painting as well!

I bought a new storm door for the house. I wanted something that was going to help with keeping the heat in because my front door is old and wooden and let's a lot of cold air inside, but it's one of the most charming things about the house. It's beautiful! So of course I wanted something that was head to toe glass to still be able to see the door! I bought a white door with brushed nickel fixtures on it, or so I thought. I was very specific when I was choosing the door. I did not want ANY sort of fake bright brass. So I bought the door, and had an extremely hard time fitting it in my car...then  Luke put the door up one day while I was at work. I pulled in and I immediately noticed that it was in fact the fake bright brass. Ugh. Nothing is simple. SO, Luke took the fixtures off, I returned to Lowe's and they switched them out with no questions asked. I will give them a thumbs up for taking things back; they have been amazing on that! I also had Luke install a new light for outside. It has that old look that I like and is in a pewter finish.

We also added a dead bolt to the front door. The front door had a skeleton key (which is so cute by the way) but you couldn't lock the door from the outside. So in order to use the front door you had to come in the back door and unlock it from inside. I had originally bought a whole new handle and was going to install it. But after Luke got to working on the door, he realized that the new handle and lock wasn't going to be able to work. So I took THAT back, and got just a dead bolt. He drilled the hole and I now have more security, access to the front door, AND I got to keep the beautiful original door knob and KEY. :) It's the small things that make me happy!

Here are a few pictures...



My little house!





See?! Pretty cute huh!?





Fall Decor





The old light fixture. I still think it's a neat light...





New light!!!


I will post again before Christmas is here. I want to show you my Christmas decorations!

Creepy Crawley Critters, and Checkerboard Tile~

Well, I've been meaning to update this thing for those of you who have been wondering about the progress of my house. Plus, I just sort of want to be able to record the changes for myself!

I haven't moved in yet. I have pieces of my life living there, but not actually me. It should be about another week for all of the projects to be finished enough for me to move in. Of course, there will be other projects for me to do once I get moved in, but the things I can't do, I have to wait on!

For starters, I told you to check in about creepy spiders. However, I didn't anticipate what was going to be living in my house. CAVE CRICKETS! Ahhh! I have found about five or six or a million (who's counting). Some dead, some alive, and some about half way dead or alive (that depends on if you are a glass half empty or full kind of gal). Anyway, at first glance they look to be about 2 inches long and the way they crawl and their legs make them look like spiders. But then they start HOPPING, and once you get close you realize they are actually in fact crickets. So I went to the old faithful friend, Google; and searched for what these critters are and the picture proved to me that they are "Cave Crickets". Ew. I hate bugs.


So onto the house...I have my kitchen tile completed! I am in LOVE with it. Before I even started thinking about buying a house I had always dreamed of having checkerboard tile throughout! I first had wanted black and white but once I got to thinking about how the style of the rest of my house and taste was really more in the brown family, I changed my mind. Plus, I feel like it's more neutral. So I went to Lowe's and picked out a Sahara Beige Tile, and Balantina Brown (both in 12x12 size) and I tried to find a neutral grout to compliment the two colors.

So then, the tile project begins for the kitchen. The kitchen had blue carpet all the way to the dining area side. The room where the dining area is had been added on to the house later, so the floors were not completely even. Luke (my Mr fix it, tile, everything guy) did a fabulous job and sanding down the floors and making it work. We added a border where the two rooms separate to help with settling. But the border matches perfect and I love it! After what seemed like forever to get the tile in the kitchen done, it's finally finished! I also had Luke build a closet around the washer & dryer, and around my water heater which was fully exposed in the dining/kitchen area. It helped SO much just by hiding it. Here are a few pictures before, during and after.



Blue carpet. Kitchen before, Don't mind my dad!



What was under the carpet...

 

Different view, BTW Look at that fabulous cabinet!



See, the washer and dryer needed to be hidden!



Closet going up to hide washer/dryer!




The Transformation has begun!



Water Heater needed to be hidden too! It took away from that cabinet!




Border! See how perfect they match?! You would think they were made for each other!



The color seems to be a little off in the picture. My paint is Valspar La Fonda Tile Red, but its defintely not red. The closet has new white doors! The tile turned out better than I had hoped!

I still have projects that I want to do of course... I plan on painting my cabinets a very white and putting up a white black splash. I plan on eventually getting new counter tops, appliances and light fixtures but that will have to wait a white. I did buy some oil rubbed bronze wall plates and light switches with new cabinet pulls and knobs. I will update you on that soon!

It's mine all because of me.

This is all new to me, so bear with me...

I moved "home" to the quiet town of Vanceburg, located in a big spacious northeastern Kentucky county. Vanceburg sits along the Ohio river, and if you are driving through on the "AA" highway you wont be able to see the town. Most people miss it when they blink. If you don't get the point, it's a small town in a big county (area wise). Anyway, I grew up in Vanceburg, graduated from LCHS and went to college in Morehead, KY at MSU. After I gradutated from MSU, I moved to Crestview Hills, KY, then I moved to Lexington, KY. I was in Lexington for a full 4 years when a job opened up at home, and sort of "fell in my lap". I was needing change after a heartbreak, and numerous jobs that I just hadn't been satisfied with. I was tired of living alone, and paying high rent. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Lexington, that's where the majority of my friends live and heck let's face it...a lot of the cute guys are there too. However, I wasn't meeting new people and I felt like I was a number. I describe urban life as fun, and exciting but it eventually get's old and you start getting the bird at every wrong turn you make on the road. It's not like that here in Vanceburg. People wave at you, even if they aren't sure who you are. It's really nice to be able to walk out of the courthouse and people say "hey Sarah, welcome back". I NEVER thought of myself moving back home. When I graduated highschool (and college) I thought for sure I'd be married by now, with 1 or 2 kids, and living in a house that would be in a historical neighborhood of Lexington. Well, keep dreamin' Sarah. I'm 28, single, and have 2 cats. BUT, the REAL reason I started this blog is I can finally say I have a HOUSE! Yes, I'm now a homeowner. For some, this probably isn't that big of a deal. But I am patting myself on the back. I didn't have the help of my parents OR a man to buy it. It's mine all because of me. Of course, I was blessed with the most special two people for parents. They help me A LOT. But most of all, they are so supportive and are also my little kick in the ass when I need it. This little home that I bought is only 942 square feet. It is barely bigger than my last apartment. But I got such a great deal that my mortgage is actually lower than my car payment. SERIOUSLY. It has a really sweet porch, I can see the river slightly and I get the view of two beautiful historical houses(so that part of my dream came a little true, right?). I am in the process of trying to make the house mine. It was built in the 1930's, and went through the 1937 flood where ALL of Vanceburg was severely under water. Hopefully, THAT doesn't happen again. I am so excited about this process. The previous owner was Margie. A mother of 4 girls, all raised in this 942 square foot house. One daughter, Barb was born in the front bedroom which happens to be the bedroom I am choosing to call mine. Barb and her husband Howard (who happens to be one of my dad's best friends) are the one's who sold this house to me. The walls are so full of life and love. Now, my adventure begins. Keep checking in for before and after pictures, ideas, troubles, my experiences, neighbor stories, creepy spiders, and whatever else comes my way.