New favorite

I thrifted this dress the other day, and I love it. I can see a lot of potential for it in all seasons, and who knew olive was so versatile? The label is Camaieu (a quick Google search showed it's a French brand), so it feels even fancier than my other Goodwill finds.

Thrifting for less

You know what? I'm just going to skip the part about why I haven't been blogging lately, and get straight to the good stuff: Thrifted fashion!

Lately, I've discovered that you don't have to pay full price - even at Goodwill. Store policies may vary depending on where you live, but in Lincoln, there are three clothing sales per month at each location: The 10 for $10 sale, the traveling sale and the 99-cent clothing sale.

Basically, what this means is that you can clearance-shop at thrift stores. And that makes me super happy. (Although you can't tell this from the photo ... I don't know why my face is doing that.)

The cardigan (Merona) and slacks (Express) were $1 each at Goodwill. The black top (Carol Rose) was purchased eons ago at J&J's Attic in West Point, and I'm sure it was under $5. The leopard flats (Aerosoles) are from Plato's Closet, but I paid $0 for them since I traded in some clothes. The necklace (no brand) is the spendiest item in this outfit, ringing in at $5 from Goodwill.

So, for $12, I'm smiling (on the inside) that everything in this ensemble is thrifted.

You can check out upcoming Lincoln Goodwill sale dates at www.lincolngoodwill.org.

Paint all the things

When moving, it's important to keep your priorities straight for optimum organization and stress-free-ness. 

Clearly, I am winning at this. Why, is spray-painting Goodwill treasures not on the top of your to-do list while transitioning households?

Set of 2 from Goodwill - $1.99 each

Being primed ...

Not exactly sure what this is, but I LOVED it - $3.99

Primed and ready for ... something

The finished product - painted Heirloom White and
gussied up with pretty scrapbook paper.

Moving {again}.

Jim and I have been married six years this July, and in those six years, we have moved five times.

Granted, one of those moves was when our first apartment in Oklahoma flooded and we had to switch to another place for a month before we relocated to Wisner.

Still, it seems like a lot for a non-military family.

Hopefully, this current relocation will be the last one for a while. We bought a cute three-bedroom ranch about a month ago, and we closed on it earlier this week. So now, it's back to the whole tedious process of evaluating our belongings, donating or recycling what we don't need, packing what we do and finally, settling it into the new place.

The best part of moving so often is that I feel like we've pared down our household goods to, if not the bare essentials, then certainly not an excessive amount of, well, anything. It's a good feeling to be in control of my stuff, rather than the other way around.

And I've got a lot of projects planned for making the new house our home. Most of them involve paint. Some of them involve heavy lifting (hi, honey!). 

So far, the girls have transitioned well. We made sure to have some of their toys already in their new room, so they felt like it was "home" right away.

For all the frustration of house hunting, it truly didn't take as long as I initially had feared. With a fantastic Realtor at our sides, a supportive family at our backs and a lot of prayer in our hearts, I'm happy to report we are finally home.

Leather & pastels

Leather pants - Kohl's clearance
Top - thrifted
Boots - Kohl's clearance
Bracelet - Premiere (hosted a party)

Photobomb by Winston ...

Orange pleats

T-shirt | thrifted
Undershirt | thrifted
Skirt | thrifted
Sandals | thrifted
Necklace | Target, on sale

Searching for Kirkhaven

Jim and I have been looking for a new home. Well, really we've been house hunting for the past three years, but it's for real this time.

Last Saturday we toured half a dozen homes with our buyer's agent. My takeaway:
   • There are some very, very nice homes for sale in Lincoln; and
   •  They go very, very quickly.

No joke. If a house is on the market here for two days, that's unusual. So there's quite a bit of pressure to make quick decisions.

Thus far, neither Jim nor I have been captivated enough by anything within our price range to make an offer. (Outside of it, though, there are some pretty drool-worthy places ...)

I told Jim it's too bad it's not a seller's market in Wisner, too, since our house hasn't budged since listing it in August. Ten months, people. I grew and birthed an entire PERSON in less than that time.

Oh well. Everything happens in its own time, and it seems God isn't done teaching me patience just yet.

In the meantime, we drive the girls around after work to look at neighborhoods and houses. After they're in bed, we scour the Internet for new listings. We've conducted our business with the bank and have everything lined up, so when we find "The One," we can make an offer quickly.



All things being equal, I have no room for complaint. Still ... I'll be very glad when our house hunt is over and we can settle into our new home.