Home Improvement

 After all that yard work... My lovely little home is looking very lovely! 

There has been a lot of improvements going on in and around my home. 

Negative energy is literally packing up and leaving 

and I can feel my home wanting to be cleansed and reborn. 

Before I can spiritually clean and cleanse my home I must first clean it up physically.

It's time to get rid of the junk, the trash and the old things 

that no longer suit my needs or where I'm at in life. 

Spiritual unrest usually follows clutter and disorganization. 

So, this weekend my house will be getting a very deep clean. 

Furniture will be reorganized. The new things will be brought out.

The old will be put away, donated, or thrown out. 

Once the house is sparkly clean, organized and feeling new again..

It's time to cleanse it spiritually. 

I plan on unplugging all electronics, making a mixture of sacred water,

 and burning lots of white candles, sage, incense and saying some blessings. 

Sterling and I might take a quick trip to one of our favorite holistic stores for some tapestries.

I can't wait to show you the "new" house. 

I plan on making things feel and look like new again.

I've got a few pictures of the progress snapped with my phone.

You'll get some good ones soon! 

 New kitchen table, and table decor. All found at the thrift store! 

 My lovely backyard.. 

You all know I have a thing for cemeteries.. 

And gnomes.. 

My new entertainment center.

We found this little shelf and painted it black to match the rest of my furniture. 

Lovely.

Unfortunately... 

I can't get started on any of the cleaning or organizing 

until everything that isn't mine is packed up and moved out. 

My old roommate is moving everything of hers out today and tonight..

So, until then... 

I paint! 

The Right Place

Yesterday we were surprised by our sweet downstairs neighbors with pizza, drinks and ice cream.

They even brought me my very own gluten free pizza!

But we are loving the house, the neighborhood and the neighbors. 

We are in the right place.

It's mostly all cleaned up, and mostly in working condition.

The yard is being taken care of, and hopefully someone will be in to fix the washing machine soon.

But we are loving the house, the neighborhood and the neighbors. 

Last night after our neighbors left we decided it was time to bless and cleanse the house. 

The house held a lot of negative energy and tension.

It caused a few grumpy mornings, anxious nights, and some stressed days.

So, I turned on some meditation music that is sacred to me.

I lit some candles and put some bells on my wrist. 

I brought a cleansing crystal with me and blessed and smudged the house with sage.

I banished all negative energies, entities and emotions from our house.

I reminded the house and the air inside that this is a home of healing, harmony and love.

I went through each room a few times, 

repeating my blessing.

This left the entire home and all those in it with a feeling of extreme peace.

Because when you cleanse a home, you help cleanse yourself too.

The feeling of peace was still there in the morning.

And I feel it a bit now in myself.

I have a clear head and a peaceful heart.

This is something I will do more often.

The house slept soundly, and we all woke up in peace.
 This is what defines home for me.
A place of peace.
I will get more photos of the new house soon.
I promise.
I'm not meaning to just show small glimpses.
I just haven't had time to take photos yet. 

Today I took a small walk on my lunch break.
I found an adorable pine cone, begging to be picked up.
I picked it up..
This pine cone is a symbol to me.
Pine cones are associated with the pineal gland, also known as the third eye.
I have been doing meditations on furthering opening my third eye.
So, seeing this pine cone made me feel blissful indeed.
Read more about the pine cone and the pineal gland here.

 I love that simple parts of nature that most people pass by are actually gifts from our Earth that represent something on a larger scale. Like puzzle pieces to those who look for them.

Speaking of gifts..

I have a very cute boy who sends me feathers and dried wild flowers folded into letters. 

 We met in person several months ago, and kept in contact.

I've never enjoyed writing letters this much, 

because when I receive a letter back it's full of beauty, petals, feathers and kind words. 

I will keep you all updated on this mystery man of mine...

One day, we will meet up and take photos together.

That's my plan any ways.

Almost a Haven

My house is coming along.

We are 89% unpacked.

I spent 6 hours in my room cleaning and organizing. 

It's very important to me to have a separated bedroom from my studio.

Luckily, I am a master at interior design.

I set up a few shelves and desks to block off part of the room for my stuido.

The entrance of my room is my sacred space.

Full of my mystical and odd little collections.

Crystals, incense, bottles, found feathers, bones, and all sorts of oddities. 

As you walk in you will find my beautiful ivy covered window, next to my dressers and closet.

But, since the neighbor waved at me from his house window into mine, I decided to get curtains.

I won't get to enjoy the beautiful ivy as much, but privacy is better.

Plus, you could scramble the word privacy and make ivy. 

And prac. but that's not a real word. 

As you continue in, you will find my loft style bed.

I love high beds, mostly for the lovely storage space under it. 

I hung curtains up above my bed so it would look like a fancy headboard.

Wicket and I feel like princesses.

Inside my room, separated by a shelf or two is my studio.

A small, but still perfect space for me to paint, meditate and do some yoga. 

I can feel the stress of my life winding down a notch.

(The toilet has been fixed thanks to a very handy friend.)

And now that most of the boxes are unpacked and stored safely in the shed,

the house is looking like a home.

It's starting to feel like a home too. 

There are a lot of negative energies left from the previous tenants.

A lot of tension remains in this house.

The previous tenants were in the process of divorce.

You can tell a lot of sadness and fighting has happened in this house.

We are filling the house up with our positive energy.

But as soon as the boxes are unpacked and the house is clean and orderly, 

I plan to cleanse the house and bless it with some sage. 

This house will soon be a haven for us.

 

 

Always Hope

It's Friday. The week is almost over, and I survived.
I didn't just survive, I conquered. 

I was hit with a nasty cold, a migraine and an eviction notice in one day.
And, I made it through.

My cold is almost better.
The migraine has subsided.
And, I now have a new home.

My little angel has been stopping by to visit. 

He always leaves me little feathers to show me I'm on the right path

or to remind me, he is always near. 

The Blue ones represent "I am here, watching over you. This is me. "

The rare White ones represent hope to me.

Traditionally a white feather means courage, and persistence.

It's no coincidence that I would find these feathers the same day. 

The day I was scrambling to find a new apartment.

Stressed over a multitude of things.

Wanting to just give up, crawl in bed and sulk.

But, yesterday we put down a deposit on a new home. 

It's definitely a step down from our current castle. 

But, that's the hand I'm dealt with, and I can still win. 

Let me describe it to you, since I haven't been able to get pictures.

The outside of the house is bright blue.

You walk all the way to the back of the house for my front door.

You open the door, that was put on backwards,

walk down some creaky stairs into a small living room,

with a stone wall. 

You can see a bit of exposed pipes.

And a small door with the original skeleton key doorknob.

From the living room, you enter my huge bedroom.

There is no extra room for my studio, 

but with my expert skills of arranging furniture, 

I can block off an area in the room for a studio.

Also from the living room, you can go into the bathroom

From there you can go into my roommate's huge room.

Or the kitchen.

I'm so glad our bathroom is the hallway. 

(Sarcasm)

Okay, it's an odd little house.

It's got it's quirks.

It's got it's problems.

It's got it's blessings.

And the blessings are what I will choose to focus on.

Like it's pet friendly, with NO pet fees, or pet deposit.

It's got BIG bedrooms, which means, I WILL make a studio.

It's old, and interesting. (Built in 1923)

It's only a block away. 

And best of all, I will be paying almost $150-200 less a month.

The house was the first house we looked at, but we just weren't sure.

It was originally the same as what we are paying now.

We looked at other options, but for some reason, our minds kept going back to that one.

The landlord said, "It's going to go fast, so if you want it, take it now."

I decided to wait. 

I thought, if it's meant to be ours, it will be there tomorrow.

So, the next day I asked.

I got the answer that it was still available.

I choose to wait a little longer. 

I thought about it, I even think I dreamed about it.

The next day the landlord told me it was still available.

I told him, it was just too much of a step down 

for us to be paying the same price that we are living right now.

He offered to take the rent down quite a bit.

The deal was sweetened enough, and we move in on September 1st.

I'll get pictures as soon as possible.

My cold has been lightening up.

Things are improving.

I'm not going to say it was a bad week.

But, it was a week of trials. 

This was also my prep week at school. 

Where I had a whole week with no students.

Just time to get lessons prepared.

Rules posted.

Posters hung.

And supplies purchased.

I couldn't have asked for a better time to have a hard week! 

And next week will be spent packing, and unpacking.

Un-decorating and redecorating.

Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.

Heavy boxes and probably broken dishes...

But, you know? 

I made it through THIS week.

Bring on the next one.

Oh Hello New House!

Pictures of the empty house are here!

I'm currently sitting in the old apartment.

On the floor, where the couches used to be.

I love when things fall into place.

This week has literally been a blur.

Here is how it went:

Brad and I drove home a different way, so I could see the park where I used to take Mowgli on walks.

I saw a duplex for rent, and called the company. That place was rented out, but another one was available. It allowed pets, and had a small room for a study or studio.  We decided to apply, and the company said that a lot of people showed interest in that house, but no one was accepted. Scary. We kept our thoughts positive, because I've been dying to get out of this one. The next day we were told we were approved. I posted our current apartment, and got to work cleaning, and painting, and filling holes. I talked to the current landlord and he said we should sign that other lease, in case this one didn't sell. I told him to not worry about that, and when I put my mind to stuff, I make it happen. So, I spent 12 hours packing and cleaning, and painting and scrubbing. My phone was ringing off the hook. I was constantly showing the house. I think we had 8 or 9 different people come look at the house. I told them all, that if they were heavy sleepers, they would love this place, but if they were light sleepers they might want to sleep in the other bedroom. I was honest about the place, but people were still interested. I emailed our land lord tons of applications, and he got back to me this morning, while I was showing another person the house... He told me he just approved a couple, and they would be moving in on Tuesday. Now all that's left in this house are a few things, some vacuuming, and that's it.

The new place is a mess.. but it's a beautiful one.

Here are some photos of it empty.

I can't wait to show you what it looks like when it's all done.

I can't wait to see that myself!

A quick look into the kitchen..

I'm in love with this kitchen.

Looking into the living room

The bedroom, looking into my studio!

The front of the house.

A blurry, unfocused photo of the living room.

Where I shall sit and sip tea.

Big beautiful windows.

The big living room.

My studio!

More of the studio.

And more!

Our beautiful lit kitchen

Kitchen!

This is a very tired Rachael. I didn't get a chance to do my hair. At all.

It's going to be a busy weekend..
Thank you all so much for your support and good thoughts.
This has been such a wonderful huge thing.
Thank you all again!