What a weekend

What. A. Weekend.

We packed up our entire house (and life as we know it) and sent it to Chicago in a truck. That included our most precious possessions- our children!!

Sitting where our couch used to be

Enjoying some lunch, then hitting the road!

Saying goodbye was so hard and I was left with so many mixed emotions.

But there wasn't much time to attend to that. Jason and I have lots to do to get our house ready to sell. This week we have painters, house cleaners, and carpet cleaners scheduled. And we ourselves will be doing little things here and there as well.

One piece I thought I had checked off my to-do list was the gardens. I knew they needed one last clean-up, the bushes need a trimming again, and I knew I'd have to pull some grass and weeds as well, but I'd already done the majority of the work, cleaning up the beds, setting a new border, and planting beautiful flowers. Little did I know I would be revisiting this task yet again.

Last night, after the moving truck took all our furniture, we decided we'd stay at a friend's house (who happens to be on vacation) instead of trying to sleep on a blow-up mattress on our floor. We returned home this morning, ready to work, only to discover a neighbor boy dragging our lawnmower from our (fenced-in!) backyard. Upon seeing us pull into the driveway, he set the handle down, and walked off. We were completely stunned and puzzled, but began unloading items from our truck, before it occurred to us to check what else might have been taken from the backyard. Upon entering the backyard I found two teenage children (one boy, one girl) trying to climb the fence, presumably to escape. I was so shocked I barely managed to choke out, "what are you doing?". The girl told me that a "neighbor" told her it was okay to come get some compost. I am not good with confrontation, and I do not handle stress and adrenaline well, so all I could manage to think to say was simply, "we live here. We did not give anyone permission to take anything. You need to leave." The teens quickly (and probably happily) complied, and ran from the yard.

It wasn't until after they left that our senses came to us to really check what had happened. After inspection we discovered they had taken my gardening tools (two small shovels, a small rake and a larger one, two pairs of hedge trimmers, and four pairs of gardening gloves), they had emptied mulch from our wheelbarrow (dumped it in the middle of our yard) and had filled the wheelbarrow with soil from my raised garden bed, and compost from our composter. When I came around the front I discovered they had dug up a good portion of my lovely petunias and impatiens. The strange thing was they took the flowers from such random places- entire sections in some places, groupings from other places, then single flowers here and there (instead of taking an entire grouping of a pink, purple, and yellow flower, they instead took single ones from separate groupings).

Half of the flowers are missing!

I was so angry. So much hard work (and money!) and been poured into those flowers. And I was SO pleased with how it had turned out. I was quite happy with the way the flowers around the tree had really filled in, just in time for listing the house, and everything else was colorful and thriving.

And the whole things was just perplexing. There were numerous items they could have taken (a full propane tank for grilling, a DVD player, empty storage bins that were in great condition), but all they took were gardening supplies and flowers (and they tried to take a mower and some dirt). I mean... who does that??

After calming down a bit, Jason and I took a drive around the neighborhood. We went in the opposite direction that we'd seen the children go, because that made sense, right? Wrong. We ended up heading down the cul-de-sac where we'd seen one of the children run, and immediately I spotted my flowers. Planted in the garden!

Pink, purple, and yellow flowers around
their mailbox

Jason asked if I was SURE they were my flowers. I was positive. But still, how could I prove they were MY flowers? But then... then I saw MY shovel. My shovel my sister gave me as a housewarming gift when we first moved in. Just lying in the yard.

I yelled at Jason to call the police, or ring the doorbell, or something! So we parked the car in our driveway and walked over to the house. I laughed to discover that the "culprits" had not covered their tracks very well...

Hard to see in the pic- a dirt trail

An adult answered the door (well... not really... no one answered and we were about to leave when the garage door opened). Jason tried to ask about the flowers and the guy just said, "my kids...". He explained that he woke up and saw all the flowers and asked the kids where they'd gotten them. The kids told them we'd moved out and "left all this stuff behind" so they took it. He also explained that they'd told him that we'd come home while they were there. He said, "you're welcome to take your flowers back" to which I replied, "your kids can dig them up again and return them." (actually, me being me, I actually said, "can you please have your kids dig them up and return them?).

We left for Home Depot and returned to find a pile of sad-looking flowers on our front porch along with our large rake and hedge trimmers. When I went to re-plant the flowers I noticed I was still missing a shovel and my gardening gloves. I had specifically left these items here so I could work in the yard and wasn't going to be able to without them. I told Jason he was going to have to go back and ask for them, which he wasn't happy about, but I wasn't about to buy new gardening supplies to replace our stolen ones. He returned with the small rake and the gloves, but still not the shovel I wanted. I sent him back once again. This time he met with the grandmother of the house who also explained that they'd woken to flowers and the kids said they'd gotten them from our house. She said she'd been saying she wanted flowers, so the kids must have wanted to surprise her. All three kids were there this time and even claimed there was nothing else left until Jason said I was adamant there was still a shovel. Only the youngest apologized.

Of course I'm angry about the whole thing. Angry that someone would steal flowers, angry that I had to replant them, angry that they look awful now after all that hard work and money, angry that I have to deal with this at all. But do you want to know what makes me the MOST angry? It's not the kids and the fact that they stole our stuff. It's the parents and the fact that they did absolutely nothing.

If my children told me they had taken flowers from someone else's yard, house empty or not, I would have demanded they return them. If they told me the people who owned the house had returned, I would have immediately sent them to apologize and return the stolen items. If the people whose items had been stolen showed up at our house?? I wouldn't have even thought for a second of telling the owners to dig up their own flowers. Without question, my children would not only have dug them up and returned the flowers, they would have replanted new ones, and they would have mowed the yard, swept the driveway, pulled weeds, until they wished they'd never set foot in that yard in the first place.

But these adults stood there with their kids and didn't say a thing. Never asked for an apology. Never really apologized themselves. And I'm starting to wonder if they were actually the ones behind it. I just can't fathom teenage kids being that desperate to garden. And really, how can you demand your children apologize (or force them to work in repayment) if you were the ones who put them up to it in the first place? The idea that these children were possibly encouraged by adults to do this infuriates me even more.

So, tonight I will say a prayer for the family. I will pray that the children will find guidance from someone who will teach them right and wrong. I will pray that the family will overcome whatever monetary shortcomings they have that cause them to need to steal dirt. And I will pray for God to help me to forgive them, because I am finding that very hard at the moment.

At least my day ended well with a Facetime call with my boys as they got to see our new house for the first time!

Drew immediately recognized his room and James' room (my mom painted them the same colors they are here) and he loved running around and playing "echo".

My emotions are riding roller coasters right now, but in the end, I know this is what our family needs, and in spite of all the hard work, and the harder goodbyes, I am excited about our journey.

In the kitchen

What calls for honey, green tea, lemon, and coconut oil?

It's not a smoothie. 

Or a salad dressing. 

Believe it or not, it's my face!

For our 30th birthdays Stacey and I spent the day at a spa getting pampered with massages, manicures, pedicures, and facials. It was fab-u-lous!

The last part of our day was spent with the aesthetician for our facials. Of course the aesthetician wants to know about skin history and products we use. And, of course, mine was horrified to hear that I use Proactiv. For as much as I try to use organic and natural products on (and in) my body, my Proactiv was one thing I just wasn't willing to give up. I explained to her that I tried to quit it once and ended up with the worst acne breakout I have had in my entire life. It hurt so bad that I couldn't even smile. For months. And this wasn't when I was in high school. I was 25, teaching, and thinking about trying to start a family, not thinking I'd be dealing with what felt like a teenage problem. Though I decided I needed to see a dermatologist, I ended up at my regular doctor first because I noticed I had lumps under the skin on my neck- turns out my lymph nodes were swollen from the acne infection. I ended up having to use a strong antibiotic acne ointment to clear it all up. Can you believe I don't have a single picture from that time period...? ;)

Anyone who says that acne and breakouts lead to depression and lack of self-confidence is 100% correct. It didn't help that I taught very young children who often questioned, "what is wrong with your face?" or "why is your face so bumpy?". But after finally getting rid of it, I just couldn't bear the thought of going back to that, so I continued with my "chemical-ridden" facial routine.

But my aesthetician was adamant that I find something else. She listed off the things that, in her opinion, made Proactiv really bad for your face. And she said, "you know Proactiv is a medicine, right? You can't just stop it cold turkey." Well, you know... I didn't actually know that, and that's exactly what I had done. I had found a new product that I was convinced would be better for my skin, and I dropped the Proactiv without a second thought.

So, a bit warily, I decided to give ditching Proactiv another shot, especially since I was running low on it anyway. First I searched for an organic face wash at Publix. I came up empty-handed and found that even the "natural" products contained so many ingredients I didn't recognize. Then it hit me- I bet I could make my own face wash. It's not like I don't do it with other things around my house already. I researched some "recipes", and in the end came up with something super simple- honey. That's it! Just honey. Honey (especially raw honey) supposedly has antimicrobial and antioxidant benefits. I figured it may be enough to do the trick on my tricky face. I use it just like a face wash- I put a small amount on my fingertips, add a little water, massage it into my face, then rinse it off with a washcloth (for a little scrub). I thought it might feel really sticky, but it just feels really smooth.

So once a day I used my Proactiv, and once a day I used the honey, and I slowly phased out the Proactiv, using it once a day every other day, then once every couple days, then not at all. I have now completely switched to just honey and I'm happy to report that my face did not freak, and I'm even happier to report that I started my period yesterday (yes, I know you wanted to know that) but it came by surprise because I didn't get a single "tell-tale" pimple like I usually do, even when I used the Proactiv (and in spite of all the moving stress we've been under). 

In addition to the honey I made myself a "toner" of green tea with a few drops of lemon juice. I steeped one green tea bag in 1/4 cup of boiled water and let it sit until completely cool (so it was nice and strong). Then I added a squeeze of lemon juice from a wedge of lemon. I apply it with a cotton ball after washing my face. I only use it in the evening because lemon can make your skin super-sensitive to the sun. (I added the lemon for its skin lightening properties. Yes, I know my skin is already ghostly white. But I have these dark spots above my lip. I thought I was growing a mustache until I got my upper-lip waxed and it didn't go away and I realized it was actually my skin. My aesthetician asked if I'd had kids and said it was probably leftover from pregnancy. Joy.)

In the evening I also follow all of this up with coconut oil. I've actually been using coconut oil as a moisturizer on my face for months now since the Proactiv is quite drying and I love it. It felt a bit strange at first, but it actually absorbs into the skin so quickly it really doesn't leave the oily residue you would think it would. I will admit that in the morning I use a Mary Kay moisturizer with SPF partly because I want the SPF and partly because I already bought it and it was expensive, so that's not really "natural".

I do literally get ready for bed in the kitchen, since I keep the honey there (for my tea) and the green tea toner in the fridge. But it makes me feel good to know that all these ingredients are safe and ingestible. In fact, while washing my face with the honey one night I had my lips pressed together tightly as I normally do while washing my face to prevent getting the face wash on my lips, then I realized, "hey! I can rub this all over my lips!" and I did. I have no proof that anything in Proactiv is harmful, or that honey actually does what it purportedly does, but I don't think you can argue with using real ingredients on your skin.

And I swear my face has never looked better. The wrinkles appear smaller to me already, and as I just hit 30 I'm rather sensitive to my wrinkles. My skin also feels so soft and is so happy and I think it kind of glows. Either way, I'm loving that I'm using no chemicals on my skin and yet my face isn't breaking out! I hesitated to share a picture because I feel like sharing selfies is kind of vain, but then... what kind of point would I be making without a picture? So, as much as I hate to, here's a quick selfie I just snapped...

No make up and no editing

If you'd like a great deal on local organic, raw honey (if you live in Georgia) go to www.bigorganicgarden.com. I'm going to pick up an extra bottle or two before I leave. Did you know honey NEVER spoils? (And, think about it, $11 may seem expensive but it's raw, organic and local, and compare that to $20 for a smaller bottle of Proactiv? I'll happily take that!).

I was trying to find an article about the benefits of honey on skin, but I find it hard to find something I'm willing to share as "reliable". So I'll let you do your own research. But I did find I'm not the only one using honey to treat acne.