moving - cafe mocha reflections

Was It A Dream?

January 7, 2013 by Whitney 14 Comments

packing our the last of our belongings

The past four months of my life seem like a complete blur…really. I feel like I’ve been having a long dream since August. We moved back to our home in the Kansas City area, my husband transferred his job and we tried to make KC our home. It didn’t work out, we sincerely gave it our best. The house is currently on the market and we moved back to St Louis and are living in the same townhouse community we lived in before we left. I feel like Bill Murray in “Ground Hog Day”

I have earned a certificate for “Master Mover”, I know the ins and outs, the difference between using professional movers and family. I could be an consultant and probably make decent money because people hate moving. Let me tell ya, I love my family but between my brother and my nephew, they broke up some serious items, and scratched up anything that had the word “wood” in it. They even scratched my husbands love, his 65″ TV. I’m not complaining and didn’t make a fuss over the broken furniture and items, because we thought we were gonna save so much money by doing it ourselves. We saved about $800 by doing the move ourselves, but it took two trips to Kansas City, renting two different trucks, and with replacing the broken furniture and items, we probably didn’t save much.

I have to replace my desk that was broken, which we will probably do that in the next few weeks. I have one left, so that might have to do for now. My family wanted me to “fix” the desk, or rig it was we call it. Ummm, it broke in half dear. I have a few pieces I’ve purchased from The Pampered Chef and my baking dish/cookie sheet was dropped and ended up in about 10 pieces. Gotta love family.

Watching men do physical work can be quite amusing. I hate to laugh but I have to. My oldest brother came in literally throwing our stuff into boxes. Whoa buddy, slow your roll, you aren’t gonna pay for anything you break…my nephew had to analyze everything, I wanted to tell him to shut up so bad, but I didn’t plus it was good seeing them. My brand new refrigerator puzzled them and they took all the moving parts off it. I wasn’t happy about that, I would have preferred to sell it than destroy it. It’s sitting in our storage area with the doors still off. I feel that refrigerator will never be the same.

We ate plenty of Popeye’s chicken. That is some expensive chicken, but it was the closest place and they were starving, andI wasn’t cooking. Every time I left to go run an errand, something was broken.

The last four months were very challenging, but I’m soooo glad to be back in St Louis. I just woke up from my dream. I survived and graciously welcome 2013. Have a wonderful day!

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Filed Under: Currently, Family Tagged With: family, mental, moving

What’s Brewing at The Cafe

December 14, 2012 by Whitney 6 Comments

Happy Friday everyone! It’s been a busy week, preparing for Christmas and another move. It’s a wonder I’m truly not in a corner with my thumb in my mouth and rocking back and forth….really.

I’m starting with Scandal….that show had me actually screaming at the TV last night. Shonda Rhymes, your creativity amazes me. I would love to hang out with you and exchange stories that are in the back of our minds. I’ve got some, and after being hooked on Scandal, I’m gonna start jotting those stories down. Gotta take that creative writing class I’ve been wanting to take. Twitter was off the chain last night, and I love the commentary that everyone tweets. We have to wait until January 10th the watch again. That’s my only complaint, it’s not on every week, but can’t do reruns with this show.

My youngest was home 3 days this week with a bug that’s going around. I took her to the doctor yesterday and of course the doctor said ti was a virus going around and she would have to ride it out. She went to school today, and will probably spend the weekend resting and getting her strength back. Hopefully the rest of us will not get this bug but you know that probably isn’t gonna happen. She’s my baby and I’m glad we were able to spend some time alone, bond and talk. I wanted to make sure she understood that I love her dearly and this too shall pass.

We went to St Louis last weekend, to look for a place to live. Very stressful because you can only look at so many homes and town homes in one day. We want to move back to the same neighborhood where we lived before, so the girls can go back to their schools and hopefully pick up where they left off. It’s amazing how much it cost to rent a home big enough for a family of four these days. We are not ready to buy right now, but with the money it takes to rent, we may as well purchase. We went to the mall, I don’t know why. It was a crowded mess, too many people for me. My husband and I went to Sweetie Pies ~ The Upper Crust for dinner, for a late birthday celebration, it was nice. The staff was very nice, Ms Robbie, Charles and Monique was there. Sunday morning, we went to our church for services, it was good seeing everyone and listening to the choir sing. Pastor Clark didn’t preach, we had a guest minister that we’ve heard before, and of course the word was well received. We went back to the hotel to eat, pack and go visit my brother-in-law and his family. They are gonna be gracious and kind enough to come down to Kansas City and help us move, gotta love family! Then we hit the road, and got home about 6:00. I unpacked and hit the bed hard by 8:00, I was exhausted. It was a good weekend and I’m looking forward to getting back to the Lou.

I have just a few other things to buy for Christmas, I’m just about finished. I miss not having a tree up this year, my girls and I look forward to putting up the tree and how festive it makes the house feel. We are singing our Christmas songs and making the best of our situation though. Have a great weekend!

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Filed Under: Currently, The Mocha Cafe Tagged With: family, moving, random, scandal, the mocha cafe

Deja vu?

November 23, 2012 by Whitney 12 Comments

Well it’s official, we are moving back to St Louis, very soon. We announced it to family yesterday. After much thought and disappointment, we decided to sell the house, again. Yes, we just moved here in August. It was a bittersweet time for me, this is my hometown. I grew up in Kansas City, worked here, purchased my first home here. It just wasn’t the same when we returned this time. We came back to try and save this house, you remember all my stories. It was a challenge from the moment we stepped in the house two weeks before we moved and realized everything I left in the house to stage it for the sale in 2010 had been stolen, including my refrigerator and washer & dryer. I had someone living in my home rent free to take care of it while it was on the market. This was someone that I supposedly could trust, he was the brother of one of my closest friends. I was crushed, shocked and angry…I’ll admit that. I had planned on giving everything in the house away except for the appliances.

When we walked in the house and saw the condition the house was in, I had decided I didn’t want to live here, neither did the girls. My husband said, let’s give it a chance. We had planned on fixing it up and selling it within a year anyway. I was violated, but I got my emotions together temporarily and we started putting all the trash that was left in bags. I called and made an appointment to have the carpet cleaned. Two weeks later we moved and that’s whey Murphy’s Law kicked in. Everything was either broken, or missing. My husband told me to just hang in there, meanwhile he was hating his new assignment. They cut his hours, because he came in as a part time flexible. When you start messing with his money, then it’s time to make changes. We were still trying to hang in there, even with the drama that Bank of America was taking us through.

The end of September was the breaking point, and we decided that we were in some kind of Candid Camera show, seriously I thought they were gonna jump out and say “surprise, you’re on Candid Camera!”. That never happened and we were left feeling like everything we’ve worked towards, we were losing. It was more than I could take, and my husband was feeling the same way.

I knew my heart wasn’t here because when I went to visit my old job, and everyone asked how I felt about being back, and my response was, “I miss St Louis, I really enjoyed living there”, which was true, I loved living there. I went out with friends to a movie once and haven’t had to desire to visit or be social, and that’s not me. I would always be hosting something, jewelry party, cooking and just hanging out. I wanted none of that.

I absolutely hate doing this to my children, but we are moving back to the same area so they can go back to their schools and hopefully adjust….praying on that one. I just can’t believe we are moving again, but it’s necessary. My husband already has his transfer in and since he made his decision before a 90 day time period, he gets to go back without a problem.

I have a nice real estate agent who realizes what we are working with and hopefully will do what she can to sell this property for us. Got lots of work to do!!!! I’m keeping my head up!

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Filed Under: Currently, Lifestyle Tagged With: family, kansas city, moving, real estate, st louis

Murphy’s Law….

August 9, 2012 by Whitney 8 Comments

I sure miss sharing my journey with you all. The move is over and I’m an exhausted mess. You know the old saying about Murphy’s Law, what can go wrong….will. I should have video taped the last week of my life, you all would have laughed and cried with me. I’m sitting at my desk, surrounded with boxes, bags and dust. I’ll clean, and it seems like I still need to clean again. I did manage to work today for a while, it was nice to do something different. We had challenges from the very beginning, the condition the house was in, having all the appliances removed from the house, the movers from who left stuff in St Louis, water coming from everywhere just to name a few things. I’m giving everything a thorough cleaning before I unpack anything, so it will be a while before we have a normal home….but it’s ours and I’m glad we have a home to move back into. I’m blessed and I know it.

Today I went to register the girls in school and because of residency requirements, I had to dig out the deed to the house to get them registered. I still have to take up two utility bills when I get them by September 7th. I’ve gotta admit to you all that I lost it a couple of times in the last week and wanted Calgon to take me away so many times. I’ve had to drink coffee from QuikTrip all week, they have been a lifesaver! We have spent way beyond the budget to the point that there is no more budget. The refrigerator will be delivered tomorrow, gotta great deal on it. We both need to get back to work like yesterday! My husband is on vacation, but me being an independent contractor, no work, no money. I did manage to clean a spot for my favorite appliance, my Keurig. I missed my coffee maker.

I will be sharing the work we do on the house in the year or so ahead of us, should be my next great challenge! I need a vacation so bad! I’m glad to be back!

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Filed Under: Currently, Health & Wellness, Lifestyle Tagged With: moving, murphy's law, stress

Last Day of Blog Challenge!

July 31, 2012 by Whitney 8 Comments

I know I sound crazy, but this is the last day of my blog challenge. I completed the challenge of blogging Monday~Friday, during the month of July to celebrate my 50th birthday and moving. Two things I learned from this ~

1. Never set up a challenge when you are planning a move! I almost checked myself into the hospital.

2. I will probably go back to blogging 3 days a week, unless I have something that can’t wait.

The challenge did give me some ideas for my blog, topics and things I want to implement. One thing is to use all my pictures and when I blog about current events, celebrities, or anything that requires a picture of the subject I may just use a video or nothing at all. That scare about being sued for using someones photographs was enough for me. I can’t afford to be sued for that. Understood and will respect the industry and other people’s work. That means I will be on my quest to get a digital camera for blogging, there are some nice ones, Sony, Cannon, Nikon, Pentax. Now, I probably will not get it for quite some time, so I will continue to use my iPhone and Kodak digital camera. I love taking pictures, so I’m so looking forward to this. I also want to take a creative writing class. I’ve been asked to guest blog a couple of times and I just want to make sure I’m writing to the best of my ability. I will probably find one at the community college near our home.

I have met some very nice women in the last month or so, one I want to mention because she has an online magazine coming out. Her name is Kita and her magazine is KoKoa Magazine and her blog is Say What U Wanna . The magazine launches tomorrow, August 1st, go check it out. Brenda, from Pibbles N Me she nominated me one of ”Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award”! Thanks Brenda, I really don’t know 7 bloggers that I follow or know enough to pass the award on to, but I appreciate the blog love. Go check out both of the blogs, they give me blog love all the time.

The girls and I are leaving Thursday morning, so we can be there when the water is turned on and I’m having the carpet cleaned. I want to clean the place from top to bottom, the girls don’t know how much work they are in for (tee hee). They are taking their swimming gear for fun when we finish cleaning. The hubs and furniture will travel on Friday.

I took this picture on Sunday, love the suntan I have if I must say so myself. I have a cousin that’s a photographer, I am gonna ask her to take portraits of my family this fall. It’s time, we need new ones. It was an interesting month, can’t wait to blog about the house and hopefully the transformation that will happen. Be encourage everyone…

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blog challenge, blog love, creative writing, moving, photography, pictures

Be True To Yourself

July 23, 2012 by Whitney 4 Comments

The weekend was crazy, amazing and I’m tired. So much happened this weekend, it will take me all week to blog about it. But I won’t, it’s time to let it go. Today, I want to focus on being true to yourself. I have to make some changes, and that is being true to myself and really listening to that inner voice and allowing God to order my steps. I need to speak up when something isn’t right instead of just letting it go. I will speak up, when it comes to my family, if I’m out shopping, but I want to practice this ALL the time. You know the feeling, you are being walked over like a doormat? Nope, after this weekend no more of that.

If I don’t make these changes, I’ll end up closing myself off from the world, and that’s not gonna happen. So I need to make adjustments to how I handle people and situations. I have a voice and I want to use it positively, that will not stop. This is why blogging was necessary, for me.

I love people, I observe everything about people, I can sit for hours and watch people. I like to imagine what their personality is, what makes them who they are. I don’t want to lose that connection I have, but I just need to be true to myself, my husband and children. What happened yesterday is done, and it’s time to move on. We have two weeks before our big move, so it’s getting down to the wire now. Have a wonderful day everyone, enjoy the song from my girls, Mary Mary…love them.

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Filed Under: Currently, Health & Wellness Tagged With: blog challenge, inner voice, moving, rant, self reflection

Let The Packing Begin

July 9, 2012 by Whitney 2 Comments

Well I’ve finally started packing…it wasn’t fun and now that I’m in the middle of it, I don’t want to stop. We have so much stuff to get rid of, clothing, pots & pans and some good ole JUNK. Why do we keep stuff around that we know we aren’t going to use any longer? I had a box filled with stuff from my last job, pictures of other people’s kids, my girls when they were babies, my coffee warmer (I’m keeping that) and all kinds of books. The picture of my girls made me sit down and reflect at how fast time flies. Look at them, aren’t they precious? I always took them to Sears or Olan Mills.

Youngest at 3 months Oldest at 9 months

At this rate, it will take me all month to pack. When I found the picture, I had to go scan it and email it to myself so I could save it. I can’t do that for every picture I find, maybe after we move and get settled, because I have hundreds or maybe even thousands of pictures to download.

There are boxes everywhere, in every room except my bedroom. I’ll do that one last since we don’t have furniture and I can take my time with it. We have several giveaway and trash piles, I can’t wait to get rid of that stuff. I’m not sure who I’ll donate to, but I’ll be on the Internet tomorrow looking, you can believe that one. The girls are just as bad as me, stopping to look and reminisce on everything object, picture or souvenir they find. Check out our progress so far….

The biggest challenge is gonna be clothing, we all have something to donate. The girls and I have clothes everywhere! I’m sticking to my rule, if I haven’t worn it in two years, I’m donating it. Everything except my church clothing, unless it’s over 5 years old. I spent good money on my church clothing, so I won’t be so quick to donate any of that. I went back on my word that quick, didn’t I? I have to stay organized, or this will overwhelm me and I’ll still be packing when the movers show up. I want to be ready when they show up because they have to load the truck and drive 242 miles to Kansas City. I always think of the movie “Moving” starring Richard Pryor when I think of long distance moving and dealing with movers. He gets fed up and goes off on the movers. Do you all remember that this movie? Enjoy and have a great Monday!

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Filed Under: Family Tagged With: blog challenge, clothing, family, moving, overwhelm, packing

My Challenge for July

June 30, 2012 by Whitney 4 Comments

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I usually don’t blog on weekends but since this is June 30th, and I didn’t blog yesterday, I wanted to share with you my plans for July. I will be 50 on July 3rd, I’m moving back to my hometown, Kansas City. I have to pack and organize this move while being wife, mom and maintaining my sanity. I decided to blog about my activities this month so I can look back on this as hopefully a wonderful memory. I plan to blog Monday through Friday during the month of July. I normally blog three days a week, so this will be very interesting.

My only sister died in 1997 at age 49, three months before her 50th birthday. I have always felt that deep down inside I wasn’t going to make it to my 50th birthday. I know that sounds bizarre, but I used to let those thoughts bother me. My sister was 15 years older than me and even though we were like night and day, I looked up to her. I can’t share pictures of her because my pictures are at the bottom of the pile in our storage area, I’ll post them later in the month when I get down to them. She didn’t like taking pictures even though she was a beautiful woman. I feel so blessed that I decided I wanted to blog about my journey on turning 50. We are starting with a concert to see Will Downing tonight, one of our favorites. Thank goodness it’s at a nice venue with air conditioning!

I love shoes, if you follow me on Pinterest, it’s one of my biggest boards. I did a little shopping yesterday, bought these shoes….but I may take them back. I also have to be practical this month, and they don’t match one thing in my closet! They are suppose to be beige/tan, but they look pink. What do you think? I got them at Nordstrom Rack and paid a bit more than I normally would have. They are AGL (who???) and the retail price is $325 and I paid $79. They are extremely comfortable which is very important to me these days, very. They just don’t match the dress I wanted to wear. Plan B? Wear some white pants and a “new” top, that will work! I’m going out to get me a new blouse/top to wear with these shoes, that will be cheaper. I’ll post pictures of our evening on Monday.

Then there’s the move…wow, so much to do. I called the school district and they told me that school starts August 16th, so I’ll have almost two weeks to get them registered in school. Hopefully that will be painless, they make you bring so much to prove you live in the district. Ummm, I still own my house in this district, so they’re good, but a policy is a policy. I’ll have my ducks in a row. I found a moving company and scheduled them last week, and having utilities turned on this week. Here’s a picture of the mess “we” have to start packing. I’m donating a lot of our things, mostly clothing and shoes. The girls and I have plenty to give away.

I’m off to a good start, but have plenty to do. Blogging will definitely help me this month, I will apologize to everyone in advance. Have a great weekend!

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