Hansel and Gretel: A Preview

This little house we are moving into. You know, Hansel and Gretel's house? There is a bit of history on it. It was once a Bed and Breakfast when Caldwell Mill Road was a dirt road. The story is that it was built in the early 60's by a German man. The original part of the house was one big open room with a HUGE fireplace (that is still there!) and a kitchen. There is a bathroom on that floor.

 A view of what used to be the kitchen

There was a spiral staircase that took you upstairs to the bedrooms. It is metal and is now outside and how you would get down from the deck, if you wanted to put your life in jeopardy! It seems a bit dangerous to me. We have a cute iron gate that deters you from going in that direction. It's not secure and when you step out onto the top landing of the staircase.....there are no rails.....on any side! Kids under 6 are not allowed on the deck! It's a little scary and if you come over, you will see it and I can guarantee you will not go down those stairs. Your children will beg to and if you feel comfortable with their stability....you can let them. I might get you to sign a waiver!

Back to the upstairs! There is a cute, cozy nook with a window seat and bookshelves on both sides. I can just see Emma sitting there reading or texting. Her room is to the left with a built-in bed and there is another room to the right. If there ever was a bed in there...it was tiny. Like a twin and no room to walk around it! Maybe there were bunk beds? I don't know. There are 2 big closets! yay!

Emma's built in bed

Also, out that window that Emma will be texting in, there is an awesome courtyard! That is supposedly a German thing? I don't really know where that knowledge came from! Someone told me they liked courtyards better than backyards? I'm thankful.

They added on in the late 60's. There is another bedroom upstairs. A huge foyer with a staircase from an old courthouse, keeping room and kitchen. There is also a finished room in the basement.

Window in the foyer. It's inside the built on portion of the house!

When the inspector came over he said he thought the house was build way before the 60's. I would love to find out more about it. I just don't know where to start? Maybe I will ask my guys at Southern Accents. They seem to know a lot about old homes!

Disclaimer: These photos are not the best quality. The house needs lots of lighting and TLC. We are working on that this week! These photos also have the other owner's furniture, etc.  Of course, when I show you what I've done to the place.....I will get out my good lens and a flash if I need to! It will be all styled up ready for a magazine shoot!

BTW: moving takes place next week! yikes!!

Write it down, Journal, a Diary, a calendar, life day to day

There are so many ways to look at it. You can make an effort to write down your life in a journal or on a blog. Some might just keep a calendar...mine was called a Diary the other day. I laughed out loud when he asked if it was my Diary. My first thought was, NO! Then it occurred to me....why, yes, this is  my diary. I do not write down all of my hopes and fears in it...only some of them! I do write down what we are doing on what day and make future plans inside this little zebra-striped book.

It's almost full and I can't wait to get another one! (The Spotted Zebra) So, I find that it's hard for me to record what actually happens. There are several things in this calendar that I wanted to do, but failed to make happen. Either because something else came up or my over achieving brain planned too many things in one day.

I do want to start writing things down that DO happen. I want to write down how I feel about something or someone...my kids and husband. This has been coming up a lot lately. My step-mom's Mother passed away a month ago and she kept a journal. Not an ongoing, everyday, but....toward the end. She wrote letters to people. No one knew she was doing this and after she passed away, they were found. Can you imagine? Losing someone that means so much to you and then finding a letter they had written you. It is one of the most treasured pieces of writing you will ever have the opportunity to read. Debbie, aka Nanny (my step-mom) and I were talking about all of this one night, in the rain, at John Connor's football game. Her pain and sadness is still so fresh for her and I know she wants to talk about it and at the same time, not ever talk about it. I was really glad she shared it with me. I'm a sentimental gal and love to remember things or find out things that happened to people that I love. History.

OH....that just slaps me in the face. I am doing a Bible Study at church and it's called His-story/your story. It's about how God's story fits into your story and that it's all history...your story, too. How your story and His story shaped your life. got it?

So, I'm doing so many things that involve story-telling right now. A potential client is all about the story, I compile stories with scrapbooking and now, Connor's grandmother, Momba, is not doing her best. We had a family get-together for her and Papa's anniversary on Saturday. We set up a TV in the garage, watched football, the kids played, we visited and stayed until late that night. It was a wonderful day and one that we will treasure. I overheard Momba say she wants to do it every 3 months......it used to be once a month. Never happened...too busy, too  many activities!! All day, Momba carried around a book and pen. She was writing whatever came to her mind about each person in the family. As she would see them, she would write. She wanted to hug us all extra long that day and tell us something she wanted us to remember....her story.

I want to encourage everyone to write it down. Blog, Facebook, calendar or just writing a note to each special person on their birthday is sufficient. I know those letters Debbie has from her Mom are dear to her, but wouldn't it have been great for her to have her own letters from each family member that told just what she meant to them? My Mom's birthday was Saturday..I better get on that! My brother's is this month and my Dad's. Three days after his is my Emma's. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm sure there will be tears involved....it's hard for me not to shed one or two anyway!

I would love to know if you already do this....or if you have another way of telling your story. You may remember a little scrapbooking event I was involved in about telling your story.....THAT is a story all in itself with lots of lessons learned! ha

ETA: just found this on Pinterest and then to this blog......YES! What a fantastic idea!