The Never-ending

Someone asked where I currently live. I figured the best answer is a visual. This graphic is from the nifty website Visited States Map.  The colored states are the places I have visited.  As you can tell I haven't been outside of Texas much. I modified the graphic and added the arrows to show you exactly where we are now and where we will be in 12 weeks.  

The "Now" has a lot to do with why I/we haven't ventured much outside of Texas.  The reality is that we live in the "exterior" United States, south of Border Patrol checkpoints.  Attempting to drive out of state feels something like this:

Never-ending! Everyone knows Texas is big...but most don't really "get it" until they try to drive from El Paso to Brownsville (13 hrs) or Brownsville to Lubbock (12) or El Paso to Dallas (10).  

I've done the Brownsville to El Paso drive and the Lubbock to Brownsville drive - and it didn't always feel like heaven.   

Now that our horizon is moving to Northern Colorado places that felt too "far-flung" for a vacation now seem within the realm of possibility.  Mount Rushmore will be about six hours from our new home base.  Old Faithful in Yellowstone would be about nine hours out and the Grand Canyon about thirteen - all manageable by Texan driving standards.

It is pretty terrific!  I am so extremely excited that I have updated my bucket list page to reflect that we will be closer to many things including a major air-traffic hub.

I also can't resist sharing a few craigslist finds from NoCo. 

leather sleeper sofa $100 - killing me.

Two part tufted sofa $350 - again slayed. 

This is how I choose to spend the rest of my 12-weeks pining over deals that will most surely be gone by the time I arrive to Colorado. Sheds a small tear over the leather sleeper sofa. 

xoxo,

Sami

13 Weeks Away

In 13 weeks we will be packing all our earthly belongings and hauling them 1,300 miles away.

It is a mere four weeks before Steve leaves for Colorado.  He is going to find us a place to live.

I am nervous.

The good thing is that we aren't going to have much stuff at first.  So getting set up and organized should be a touch easier.

So far furnishings making the trek with us are as follows:

Dining table and chairs

Ceramic Garden Seat

Two twin mattresses

Two bookcases

File cabinet

Trunk

Coffee Table

Rocking Horse

2 disk chairs

On the bubble:

Fugly Leather Recliner (the hubby's chair) - because it's fugly and the kid's tip it over

Toy box/bench - just not sure if we need it/will use it.

My grandmother's crocks (2 of them) - would be devastated if they broke. 

Starting with a blank slate is exciting because the possibilities are endless.  I was trying to explain possible ideas for decor to Steve (why do I even try?) and was met with blank stares.  So I used polyvore for some idea boards to explain what I was trying to convey.

living & dining 1 by samitxnest on polyvore.com

Steve liked both of these options.  

living & dining 2 by samitxnest on polyvore.com

I also showed him these images to further explain what I am thinking...but the blank stares started again. So I will share with you instead since I can't see your faces. 

keep it simple keep it fresh

 keep it simple keep it fresh

I love the blog with the pretty, open pantry above.  Aside from the obvious style crush, she cooks completely gluten free -something that I am having to do now too.  That is for another post though.  

rachel whiting/photographer

Fun fact: our first apartment was decorated in blues ranging from cobalt to navy.  Life happened and all of our registry items have since bit the dust...save for our formal dishes and a little toaster.

This image has made it's way onto my blog before and is from the wonderful blog Me and Alice but I couldn't find the original link to its blog entry so I took the lazy route and just looked for the image via google and found it at an equally wonderful blog Urban Comfort.

Before we leave I am finally going to take some of my grandmothers' recipes and scan them.  Once in Colorado I will print them and frame them...yay for less stuff to unpack!

Hope you now don't have a blank stare.

xoxo,

Sami