New Feature! Folk Art Friday

A house has a lot to say, if you will listen.

I've been listening to my fifty- year old Pennsylvania colonial house a lot this year, and it has had more than a few things to tell me.

For starters, it told me this:

"You don't live in an open floor plan house anymore. You live in a traditional house now, and we have a lot of walls. That means you will have a lot of walls to decorate."

"And speaking of decorations, you will have to be pretty particular about what you hang on these walls. If it doesn't fit the era and feeling of this house, it's going to stick out like a sore thumb."

"About those sore thumbs, these are plaster walls. Thick walls. You won't be able to pound a nail in willy nilly. So when you find something you like for this old house, make sure you are putting it in the right spot, too."

I have been collecting some pieces of folk art and a few antiques this year, and wow! Do they ever belong in this house! That is not to say that I am living in a museum. Far from it. I've learned to mix a lot of contemporary pieces with folk for a combination that speaks to our family and the era of this colonial.

I decided to make Folk Art Friday a regular feature here at This End Up so that I can share the decorating decisions that have worked, and the choices that didn't work and had to be remedied.

This Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign was actually purchased from an antique shop in Indiana just before we moved. I knew it had to come home with me!

Did you know that the Pennsylvania Dutch were not dutch at all, but Germans? As in "Sprechen zie deutsch?" Duetsch/Dutch. My family is German on my mother's side, so this period really speaks to me.

These hex signs can often be found on Pennsylvania homes and barns. The symbols featured on them all have meanings. This sign features a double distlefink (that is Pennsylvania Dutch speak for "thistle finch").

A little Pennsylvania Dutch sign to say "welcome"!

Finding New Doctors and Dentists Post- Move

When you move to a new city, it is imperative that you find new doctors and dentists right away.

 Imperative!

 Right away!

Or you could be like me, and finally get around to making those appointments a year later.

Ugh! Finding new doctors and dentists is just not fun.

We had a fantastic doctor in Indiana. We called him our concierge doctor because he would take so much time with each of his patients. He would even make telephone calls himself to explain test results to you. I was one of his only patients with Lyme disease (lucky me!), and he would research new treatment methods in between my visits. I was truly blessed to have him as my physician.

Well, here I am in Pennsylvania, a year later, and I still do not have a primary care physician.

It is on my TO DO list, people!

I did, however, make appointments for my family at the dentist office today! Yea! Feeling very proud of myself, thank you very much! {patting self on back as I type}

Yes, the school nurse at Sam's school has been hounding me about it for all of fourth grade.

And yes, maybe it is time to make an appointment when your son asks you this:

"Mom, is it normal to have a tooth growing in your gums ABOVE the other tooth?"

No, son. That's not normal.

Sam has a mouth full of crazy happening right now. I'm expecting orthodontics in his future!

So how do you go about finding medical professionals after moving to a new town?

1.) Check your insurance provider to find a list of the professionals that are covered under your plan.

2.) Ask new friends and neighbors for a referral.

3.) Cross reference those referrals with your list from the insurance provider.

4.) Mapquest the offices in your area to find the practices that are nearby. (Trust me, you do not want to drive ten miles away when you are sick with strep throat!)

5.) Try to find doctors BEFORE the situation becomes urgent.

6.) Understand that you can find a different doctor if you do not feel comfortable with the practice.

I look for a few important factors in a new practice:

*friendly staff, both in person and on the telephone.

*a good office manager that does not schedule patients on top of each other, thus keeping you waiting interminably in a room full of sick people.

*a clean, cheery office space that is nearby.

*caring and engaged medical professionals.

Dental appointments?

Check!

Optometrist? General Practitioner?

Working on it! Got any good recommendations in the Pittsburgh North Hills area? Let me know!

You Can't Go Home Again

Last week we returned to the small town in Indiana where we had lived for five years.

We visited the historic square and shopped at the local establishments.

We ate at our old favorite restaurant.

We drove past our old house. Yikes! What did they do to my poor roses?

We even worshiped with our former church family.

It was all the same.

And it was all different.

Heraclitus of Ephesus once said "No man ever steps into the same river twice."

So true. Many things had changed in just one year's passing. Shops had closed. Restaurants had changed ownership. It was familiar, and yet unfamiliar at the same time.

I think the biggest changes were the things that you could not see. Internal changes. I've learned a lot about myself with this corporate relocation, and I've grown in areas that were a little stunted. And with this new maturity comes a comfort in my own skin.

I spent five years in Indiana trying to fit in and never quite succeeding. I was the perpetual "newcomer" of the neighborhood. On my last week there, one of the neighborhood women said to me "I can't believe you're moving already."

"Already!? I've been here for five years!" I said, exasperated.

It just wasn't home.

But here, in Pittsburgh, in an old town steeped in tradition and history, I feel a sense of connection and community. I belong here.

It was nice to visit. But it was even nicer to turn that car around and drive home.

The First Impression

Good morning!

Today, we begin our home tour at the front door!

I believe that the front door is one of the first impressions you will get from a house. It tends to say a lot about what you will find once you open that door and step inside.

Here's what our front doors (yes, we have two!) had to say about the house when we first moved in.

Hmmm. It's hard to see the front doors behind the tree. They used to be painted the same soft mustard yellow of the shutters, and they faded in to the background.

Well, that won't do!

Within the first month of our move, we painted the doors a vibrant shade that said "Hello, neighborhood!"

We chose the color "La Fonda Teal" from Valspar's Historic Home collection. I love how it complements the brick and the color of the shutters. It's a wonderful shade that works in all seasons. With autumn wreaths, it is stunning!

Spring wreaths? Stunning again!

And speaking of wreaths, I found that I had to purchase two new wreaths for every season because we have double front doors. Two autumn wreaths. Two winter wreaths. Two spring wreaths. Two summer wreaths. It's been an investment this first year, but it will pay off in the fall when we begin pulling out the previous year's wreaths again.

So what do the front doors tell you about what you will find inside of our house? Colorful? Yes! Seasonal? Of course! A spin on traditional? Definitely!

Most importantly, I hope these doors say "Welcome!"

And welcome is always a good first impression.

One Year Later...Our Pittsburgh-a-versary!

We recently celebrated our Pittsburgh-a-versary!

One year in our new town, which is weird because in some ways it feels like we just moved in, and in other ways it feels like we've always been here.

If I could sum it up in one word, I would say "comfortable". We've grown really comfortable in our new town, comfortable in our routines, comfortable with the topography of western Pennsylvania. (Seriously, would you look at those beautiful mountains? Who could get tired of views like that?)

And most importantly, we've made our home a really comfortable place to be.

As you can imagine, we've made quite a few changes to this fifty year old colonial over the past year. I have a lot to share with you, my blog readers! Painting projects. Room re-dos. Renovations. Updates. I will also have a new Friday feature that will spotlight my new passion in home design. (Curious? I hope so!) And of course, lots of Before and After photos! (Don't you just love those? I can never get enough of them!)

I will also share my thoughts on the home relocation process, with some insights on the things that worked and did not work for our family.

We will be gathering at the front door tomorrow. Hope you can make it!

Keep this end up, friends!

How To Prepare For A Home Relocation

Many, many, MANY years ago when I was a younger mom trying to stay above the household chaos and clutter, I read this book by Marla Cilley, a.k.a. the Flylady. She had some great tips on how to keep a house clean enough. Not showroom ready. Just ready enough for a neighbor to pop over for a cup of coffee without causing your premature death due to embarrassment.

I remember Marla mentioning this important point:

Would your house be ready if your spouse came home one day and announced that the family was moving to Peoria? Would you need six months to get it ready for the realtor? Six weeks? Six days?

At the time, I remember thinking "Yeah, like THAT ever happens in real life."

Did I mention that I was a much, much younger mom? Did I mention that I had not yet begun a nine year odyssey in corporate relocation?

Why do I mention this now?

Because it nearly happened to us last month.

And when we were presented with the possibility of another corporate relocation, my stomach did a little lurch.

We were not ready.

We have only lived in our Pittsburgh house for nine months. It is a quirky old colonial nearing its fiftieth birthday, and while it has a lot of charm, it also has a long list of necessary updates.

Bathrooms that needed painting.

Windows that needed new rods and draperies.

A kitchen that is a little rough around the edges.

Yard and garden projects that are waiting for spring weather.

Thankfully, we received the good news that a corporate move was not necessary....today. But that doesn't mean that it couldn't happen tomorrow.

It got us thinking about tackling that list of home repairs, sooner rather than later. And it has also got me thinking about how quickly one can get comfortable in a house and lose track of the accumulated clutter.

No time like the present!

We're pushing up our sleeves and getting serious about home updating and repairs again. You never know when opportunity can come knocking on your door. When it does knock, I don't want to be too embarrassed to open the door.

The Hidden Costs of Moving

The first weeks after a move to a new home are often filled with unexpected costs. Be forewarned! Some of these expenses can be planned for, and others will totally blow your budget. Here are just a few that we've encountered:

* Driver's licenses and titles for all of the automobiles.

* A new electric dryer for the laundry room (because our new house does not have gas hookup!).

*  A new lawn mower (because the old one died right before the move).

* Numerous trips to the local home improvement store to find everything from light bulbs to picture   hangers.

* New chair cushions for the outdoor patio set ( sold the old ones in a garage sale).

* Numerous trips to Target to find everything from shower curtain liners to cleaning supplies.

* Two new automobiles because the old ones did not pass state emissions and safety inspections.

Okay, that last item on the list may have been a bit more expensive than we'd planned. Sure, we knew that a van with 175,000 miles would probably have some issues. And we knew that a twelve year old Saturn was just buying time. But we really weren't prepared for the double whammy of two new cars in the same month. Ouch!

Needless to say, this is the summer of the "staycation", where we explore what our new city has to offer on the cheap.We're getting creative with our budget whenever possible.

We sold the old dryer on Craigslist, and used the money to finance the purchase of an ipad for my husband's work. I am scouring ebay to find the items I'll need for a bathroom remodel project. We're putting a moratorium on restaurants and opting to "eat in".

There are so many things we'd rather be spending money on now...like the countless home improvement projects we have in store. It looks like those projects will have to wait a little longer.