Maybe this explains the silence... :)

Lydia already loves her new baby brother or sister... Coming in early January!!

Technical difficulties...

Hello everyone!! So for the past week or so I have been trying to figure out a way to renew my current URL (www.balancingthebeautiful.com) with no success.

At some point it will expire and so for now I will be going back to the old URL (www.davidandashleyharrison.blogspot.com) until I can get things figured out. 

 I wanted to keep you updated because I promise posts are coming soon that you won't  want to miss! I haven't fallen off the face of the earth... Life has just happened and the blog has needed to take a backseat. But I will be back soon. 

The Move

We have officially been sleeping at our new house for a week now and at this point we have 99% of our stuff here as well. Unpacking is a different story - it just takes time and I do what I can during the day with Lydia. Each evening David and I stay up later than usual sorting clothes, unpacking books and trying to organize everything. We have a split level, and currently that is working our really well because we are settled into the upper level and all our stuff is strewn about in the lower level.

After being here for a week I feel like I can pick out my favorite parts about our new home, and can also reflect on what I miss about living with David's dad and stepmom.

My Top 5 Favorite Things

1. Our fenced in backyard - I love, Love, LOVE our yard. I can just open the screen door and feel the morning breeze, hear the birds and let Rooney out to play. Lydia loves to just walk around and sit under the big tree in the afternoon and it offers us so much privacy and space. We knew a big, fenced backyard was important to us and now I know why. I love it.
2. Our own full kitchen - I can cook again!!!! I always had the option to cook where we were too, but even at our old apartment I didn't have the space and convenience that I do here. We have a full fridge, plenty of cabinets and a dishwasher (for the first time!). Everything is just so easy - and because of it I have been cooking oatmeal for breakfast, making sandwiches for lunch and cooking dinner most nights since we have been here.
3. Privacy and rhythms - David and I are able to establish habits again just our own little family, and it is wonderful. I am a routine person and the last year taught me so much about flexibility in really good ways. But I also think that having space to be our family of three is really good too. It has been awesome to find that again. We are finding our own identity with Lydia and without graduate school and it is a beautiful thing.
4. Natural light - I am not going to lie; sometimes last summer I got depressed by living in a basement. There were just days when I needed the light! But with a baby you are stuck indoors for hours due to naps... so light just wasn't available below ground. In our new house there are lots of windows so I get the good vitamin D all day long.
5. A place for everything - Since we got married (almost 4 years ago) David and I have had our STUFF everywhere -  my parents' basement, in boxes, stuffed in closets. But now we have a place for all of it; where we can access it and actually use it!

The Top 5 Things I Miss

1. Being in the place where Lydia grew - Lydia learned to pull up to standing on the piano bench in the living room, and learned to crawl in the downstairs nursery, and took her first steps in the den at David's dad's house. It was hard to leave those places where are baby girl grew so much. She gained confidence and personality surrounded by grandparents and cousins an we truly saw her blossom in that home. But, this is just a part of life. I definitely understand now why people live in the same house their whole lives.
2. Seeing other people - It hasn't happened yet, but I know the day will roll around when I will be lonely, and I never had this problem at our old house. I loved that there were always people to talk to - always people to hand Lydia to when I just needed a minute - always something happening in our old home. That was really a beautiful part of living there.
3. Living within walking distance of a really nice park - I miss President's Park! It was an awesome park that was 1 mile away from our old place. It had swings, baseball fields, slides and memories. We aren't much further from the park now and it would be an easy drive, but walking would involve crossing some busy streets and would just feel a lot longer.
4. Having awesome food that someone else prepared - I guess this contradicts number 2 above, but there are some busy nights when I miss just going upstairs and (most likely) having dinner already there. And there is something awesome about gathering around a big table with lots of people for a good meal.
5. Cable - So shallow but so true. I miss House Hunters! And What Not to Wear. But it is summer, so I shouldn't watch TV anyway...

All in all I have just felt so blessed lately, both for the home that we had and the new home that we have. God had provided in so many ways and we will be forever grateful for the generosity of Jamie and Chip. 

My Little Sister

Yesterday we traveled to Lexington to celebrate my sister's completion of graduate school. She now has her Masters in Speech Pathology and I couldn't be more proud.

She is planning on moving back to nky as well and will be looking for a job in a school. I seriously cannot wait to have my sister in the same city as me again and neither can Lydia. It is easy to say that Aunt Jen is one of her most favorite people.

We love you Aunt Jen!!!

We bought a house... Hooray!

It is so amazing and we feel so thankful and blessed for the opportunity to start building a long term home. There are so many things to say but also so many things to do.

On Saturday we scrubbed the place top to bottom and applied the first coat of paint. Sunday was dedicated to finishing the paint - trim and all. Today my mom and I organized lots of kitchen stuff and put up our new bathroom stuff while the guys replaced the oven hood, hung curtains, tore down some drywall (it is ok- everything looks fine) and replaced outlet covers.

Combine that with jobs and chores and a precious toddler and we are so busy! And exhausted. And happy :)

More pictures and updates to come as we get settled.

To Do Lists

Lately I have a million to-do lists going on. They look something like this:

• Change our address
• Go through stuff in storage
• Transfer utilities 
• PACK!!!

Or,

• Buy Bedding
• Buy Washer/Dryer
• Buy Dresser

Or,

• Write study guide
• Write exam
• Finalize grades 

It is a busy time, but we are so, so excited to move and I am excited to be finished with the semester.

It is crazy how much time and energy it takes to move - and how much coordination is required when you want to do it efficiently. I think this week is going to be the hardest for me because there are a million things that I want to do, but (as David kindly reminds me approximately 6 times a day) a lot of them don't make sense to do until we have actual keys to our house.

Still, I am very much a planner and a list-maker. I like to look ahead, try to be prepared and I love to bring together a bunch of moving parts in the most efficient way possible.

So for now I will brainstorm and dream and plan, and be constantly thankful for how blessed we are.


What kinds of things are taking over your to-do lists lately?

Do you enjoy moving? Or does it stress you out?

These two made my day awesome. Love them!