Identity Theft... Stinks (What to Do to Fix It)

Bass and I recently discovered that we were the victims of identity theft. Grr.

I received a letter from a bank saying they were so glad I was now a customer. Hmm...I didn't remember opening any accounts with a bank from three states away, so red flags went up immediately. We called to check into the situation and pretty quickly realized that it was fraudulent. (If you want to count how many times I use the word fraudulent in this post, we're now up to 2.) ;)
We told this bank that it wasn't us opening the account, and they marked it as fraud and said they'd look into it.
As we waited to hear back, we didn't really think too much about it, until another bank called. This is where the whole can o' worms was opened and got dumped on our heads. Bank #2 was going to open an account but said not all of the info was lining up, so they tracked down our phone number to call to confirm.

To sum up: someone/someones had gotten our names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers and had been opening or trying to open accounts online at various banks all across the country. They were using false addresses (except bank #1 since that letter got mailed to our home) and other false info. At some of the banks, they only created online profiles and never actually opened any accounts. A few banks, they actually got checking accounts set up.

When I asked one of the customer service reps to help fill in the blanks, she explained that these folks don't want the checks or the debit cards... what they want are the bank account numbers. They then use those numbers to hack into the system and start shuffling money around to various accounts before finally getting it into "their" account and withdrawing it. I also asked how on earth they got our info since we're pretty picky about privacy, especially our SSNs. She said a company or institution probably got hacked at some point which is how they got our SSNs. These scammers then try to piece together as much info as they can to create a profile that they then start using.

Fortunately (the silver lining and God's hand of protection), they don't have any of our passwords or personal banking info, so we haven't experienced any financial loss at this point. I think we caught it soon enough that, hopefully, our info won't be used to cause anyone else financial harm either. It's just lots and lots of hours of time and lots and lots of paperwork to sort through and resolve it.

I hope and pray none of you ever have to go through this, but I did want to write a post with all the info I have come across to prevent and respond to identity theft in case someone out there needs it and feels as overwhelmed as we did.

(This is just me, friend to friend, sharing with you. This post is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should consult with your own lawyer if you need legal advice or services and follow up with the proper authorities if you suspect you are a victim of identity theft or fraud.)

How to avoid identity theft and fraud in the first place: 
I thought we were good about protecting our identity and never thought we'd be victims in this type of crime. We're internet savvy.... Bass is an IT guy, for Pete's sake. I have tape over my webcam and hate even taping mailing envelopes shut because I'm afraid my fingerprints will transfer. lol (Paranoid much, right??) :) Honestly though, we shred our stuff, we pay cash for most of our expenses, we don't open email links, etc. Here are other things we were doing or could have done (from this site): 

• Don't leave mail in your mailbox overnight or on weekends
• Deposit outgoing mail in U.S.P.S. collection boxes
• Don't leave your purse and/or wallets in unattended vehicles
• Shred unwanted documents that contain personal information
• Put your trash out on the day that it is collected
• Report lost or stolen credit cards to the issuer immediately
• Destroy expired/old credit cards and drivers licenses
• Memorize your Social Security number and passwords.
• Don't list your Social Security number on your checks
• Check your financial statements for accuracy
• Match credit card receipts against monthly bills
• Review your consumer credit report annually
• ALWAYS safeguard birth certificates, credit history reports, and any statements that contain personal information

Other things you can do to protect yourself -
* Consider subscribing to an online identity protection services (like LifeLock or Experian's option)
* Install firewalls (anti-spyware) and virus-protection software on your computer
* Don't respond to unsolicited requests for personal information
* Watch your wallet and purse when in public
* Don't give out passwords or pin numbers
* Cancel and then destroy unused credit cards
* Only shop on secure websites (https://___)
* Don't use personal info on public computers
* Use complex passwords with a combination of letters (lower & upper case, numbers, and symbols)
* Preemptively put a freeze on your ChexSystems profile and/or credit reports

And the biggest one... don't use your Social Security number unless you absolutely have to (ie employment, taxes, credit). Just write "refused" on the forms. If the company/institution tries to identify you in their system using your SSN, even the last four digits, take your business elsewhere. Legally, they're not allowed to use your full SSN as account/profile identification anyway.

A few other sites I found with helpful info:
consumer.gov
identitytheftkiller.com
cbsnews.com

So if you find yourself in our boat and you think you are a victim or definitely know you are a victim of identity theft or fraud, #1 I am so sorry. :( #2 Here's what they recommend doing:
It's a toss-up as to what to do first, honestly. It kind of depends on how you first discover the issue. The first 3 things on this list could be done in any order.
 
How to recover from and resolve identity theft or fraud:
#1 and so, so important...start keeping track of everything you do. Dates of when you discover the fraud, from where, who you call, who you talk to, what steps you're taking. Get as much info from each place as you possibly can. (But be warned that banks probably will tell you zippo even though it's your info on the account. lol) A detailed, itemized, every single thing, with the date type of list. 

* Order your credit report (from Experian (currently under the reports & scores tab), TransUnion (currently under the credit report assistance tab) or Equifax (under the credit report assistance tab). You get one copy free per year from each of them. So you could stagger the orders and get a different one every four months, thereby getting three per year. But we found out that not every institution reports to all three companies so our reports were not consistent between the three reporting agencies. So you might just want to get a copy from each if you discover fraudulent activity.

* Order your consumer score report from ChexSystems (under "reports" choose "request your consumer score"). While the big three above deal with credit items (credit cards, loans, mortgages, etc), ChexSystems is a similar type reporting agency for your consumer items (checking accounts, savings accounts, deposit products). A lot of banks now use this to help prevent fraudulent accounts being opened. A lot, not 'all' as we discovered. :(

* Once you have your reports in-hand, hopefully they're in perfect shape with zero fraud! Hopefully. :) If not, your next step is to file a police report with your local police department. Carefully make note of any information that is incorrect or wasn't initiated by you. (Addresses, employment info, open accounts, closed accounts, inquiries (hard or soft).) If the fraud didn't occur in the state in which you live, the police report is more of a formality for the other reports you will need to file. Their hands are kind of tied if it's an out-of-state crime. Your local police might have a specific form for you to fill out, or you can just type up a timeline of what happened and give it them. Get the police report number, the officer's name, and a copy of the actual report (or a verification of it if they won't give you the actual report.) You'll need multiple copies.

The next big thing to do will be to place fraud alerts and security freezes on your credit and consumer profiles. Make sure you have a copy (either via postal mail or printed from online) of your credit and consumer reports before you place the alerts. (Fraud or security alerts require fraudulent activity to have occurred. A freeze does not necessarily require fraud to have happened for you to use it. Review each site's info to understand the difference. Keep in mind, too, that freezes lock your own self out too. So no applying for that Kohl's card to "save 15% today". You will have the option to unfreeze your credit or consumer profiles at any time, but there is a delay between unfreezing and using.)

* File an identity theft report with the FTC
* Place a security freeze at Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
* Place an initial 90-day fraud alert at Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
* Place a security freeze at ChexSystems.
* Place an initial 90-day fraud alert at ChexSystems.


Once you have your initial alerts and freezes placed, be sure to continue to answer phone calls from unknown numbers (it might be a bank confirming the freeze or alert with you) and open and check all of your mail. Even if it looks like junk. :)




The initial alerts and freezes should help stem the tide of fraudulent activity. But you're not done quite yet. After you get the police report and finalize your FTC report, you need to go back to the credit agencies and ChexSystems to dispute any fraudulent items. You want to dispute anything that shouldn't be there, because it can affect your credit score negatively.

* Dispute credit report items at Experian
* Dispute credit report items at TransUnion
* Dispute credit report items at Equifax
* Dispute consumer score items at ChexSystems

Resolved disputes should be acknowledged by mail. (We heard back from Experian within days.)

Then you can get an extended 7-year security alert placed on your profile.
You will need copies of all sorts of stuff (photo ID, utility bill with current address, Social Security card, FTC report, police report, notarized affidavit, etc.) Check each agencies requirements for what to include and mail in.

* Extended alert form for Experian
* Extended alert form for TransUnion
* Extended alert form for Equifax
* Extended alert form for ChexSystems

You'll also want to utilize identitytheft.gov's plan to help you draft letters and print items to send to any affected banks/institutions/agencies. Other than maybe contacting the SSA if your situation warrants it, I think that's about it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, right?
I hope that helps someone out there....well, actually I hope this was a big waste of time because no one else ever has to deal with something like this. :D
Be safe, y'all!

A Non-Coach 21 Day Fix Review

For the past few years I've experienced some health issues... nothing terrible, just inconvenient and making me feel less than 100%. However over the past year I feel like I've been getting worse. After denial, denial, and a little more denial, I finally decided I should probably go to the doctor and get a complete physical and have everything tested.
Of course by the time I got around to actually opting to do it, I needed to wait two and a half months before our health insurance funds would be available for the new year.

In the meantime, I "stumbled" across a couple of articles online. (Stumbled is in quotes because I know nothing ever happens by coincidence. I know God was leading me to read those articles. Why else would I have clicked on something about a Paleo diet? My diet is more 'unsupervised child at a birthday party'.) I got info on how a Paleo diet can help autoimmune disease (*ding, ding* that's me), how much sugar affects our bodies (*ding, ding* that's me too), and what adrenal fatigue looks like (*ding, ding* that's kinda like me; yikes!), and how our diets can influence all of that. So, um, looks like I need to change what I eat.

I knew that my personality needed a plan to work off, especially being so addicted to sugar. God brought to mind a friend who had had great results with 21 Day Fix. Lightbulb. (God led me to that too. I'm not that smart on my own. lol) I got in touch with her and found out she was planning to start the second week of January. Perfect.

I got the program with the containers and was all excited

 

until I saw the size of the yellow container (starch aka bread, rice, crackers, oatmeal, yummy things that I love, even my fav veggies -- peas and sweet potatoes)

(It's not that bad though, honest!) After I read through everything, I immediately began pinning a million things on Pinterest, and then putting together a binder with all the info and recipes I'd need. Planning is essential with this program.
Here's what my binder looks like:

Front cover with Phil. 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ Who gives me strength."

The first page is my menu plan for the week. I made a template in Word that I can print each week to plan my food.

Next up is a great cheat sheet from Pinterest on container sizes. It's helpful when bulk meal prepping or if your container is in use or needs to be washed.

Next up a food list (I needed to add a few things to it since my version of 21 Day Fix is newer than the one used to make this) and a measurements tracker. Both found here.

And a 4-up daily tracker for the 1200-1499 calorie range. (Found here. I might go with a smaller version that fits more days on a page down the road.)

Using cardstock and the bread tab Stampin Up punch, I made dividers for the daily tracking forms and my recipe categories (breakfast & bread, dinner, lunch, veggies & sides, desserts & shakeology)

 and dividers within categories if needed.

 

Then I printed off a ton of recipes from Pinterest and websites that I got via Pinterest. (I copied them and put them into Word to format them consistently. That's just my OCD at work and totally not necessary to do.) :)

Obviously the planning and printing are much easier than the actual eating and exercising. :)
Meal Prep for week 1:

 Mexican Taco Salad for lunch (so much food!) (1 red, 2 green, 1 blue, 1 orange):

My first homemade marinara (so sad considering I'm almost 40 and Italian. Sorry, Nonna).

 

Round 2 (Week 4) meal prep (breakfast, lunch, some snacks):

 

Some tips that might be helpful to you:

Find recipes ahead of time

Meal plan ahead of time (Keep it simple. I eat the same thing for breakfast every day and alternate 4 lunches. Dinners are where I change things up.)
Only buy the groceries you need for that week if you need to really redo your pantry (I found a lot of things at Aldi's but my pantry is rather unhealthy. I can only get what I need each week to start building up a better pantry because of the budget. No huge $500 trip to Whole Foods for us. :) )

Plan to do this for the long haul; don't quit after your 21 days are over

Don't include your family's food the first round (It's easier to just cook for them like you normally would until you figure yourself out. Plus they can 'eat down' the pantry. Sorry, fam!) :)

Get mason jars for salad (keeps it crisp!) and containers for portioning (I liked these Glad containers: rectangle and round)

My review:

After round 1, I've lost 4 lbs. and 9 inches. I did't really need to lose weight so this is great progress for me. I do need to seriously tone up though. 21 Days later, I'm starting to see a vee in my abs. Never had that before. :) I haven't exercised in over a year (#embarrassing) so for my first round I modified everything. There is a person in the DVDs to follow if you need to modify. Until I feel strong enough, I'll continue to modify with her.

The workouts are quick but get results. (See above.) I can definitely feel it every day. The DVDs aren't annoying. Yeah, you know what I mean. 21 Day Fix isn't like those.

I already had a mat and some weights so there was no additional expense for me there. You can always start with soup cans as weights if you need.

There is plenty of food to eat, even at the lowest calorie level. If you need to lose a lot of weight, you might feel hungry. Talk to your coach about possibly bumping up your calorie level for awhile. I find that I need to eat eggs for breakfast to give me enough energy for my morning workout. And if I do two workouts in one day (like they suggest for week 3), I'm absolutely starving. 

I didn't use Shakeology but picked a different protein shake meal replacement powder. That's completely up to you. If you can't afford it, don't do it. We weren't really meant to drink our food on a long-term basis. Take a multi-vitamin and eat your containers of food instead. 

It does help to spread your reds out over the day to keep your energy level on an even keel.

I treated my first round as a no pressure try-out. Lots of grace for realizing I forgot things at the grocery store, lots of grace for learning what I need to eat when, lots of grace for realizing I put the food into the wrong container and that teaspoons are not for Stevia, lots of grace for the workouts, some grace for failed recipes. It takes time to get into a groove with it. At the beginning of week 4, it's starting to feel more natural... now I'm incorporating the family's food.
I have more energy, my skin is clearing up, I feel stronger and have less back pain, I haven't had a thryoid-induced hot flash, and my digestive issues have mostly disappeared. Yay! This is definitely the right road to be headed down.

Beachbody does have a 'rah rah, go team' kinda vibe sometimes but, in this instance, it's well earned. 21 Day Fix works. It's not just a diet; it really is a sustainable change in lifestyle.

My 11-year old daughter (who squeals the words 'sugar' and 'chocolate' with glee --- seriously; no joke --- and eats like me --- kinda picky, lots of carbs) was very skeptical about this. She followed me around for about 3 weeks asking a ton of questions about it. She implied that she didn't want any part of it. Three weeks later, she's working out with me every day, willing to change her breakfast choices (to not just cereal), and liking most of the dinners I've made for the family. If I can keep the youngling and padawan from suffering health-wise like I have, then this program will be more than worth it for the results I've already gotten.

I hope that helps you! If you're interested, let me know. I'm happy to answer questions or point you to a great coach. Be healthy (and eat black bean brownies)!

Linking up to some or all of these great blog parties:

Sunday: It's Overflowing; 
Monday: Inspire Me Monday at Sand and Sisal; Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z; Monthly Before and After at Thrifty Decor Chick
Wednesday: Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman; Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts; 
Friday: Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest; Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring; Friday Finds at Craftaholics Anonymous

Meet the Hydrangeas and Harmony Ensemble

I respectfully ask that you not pin pictures of my children to Pinterest. Thank you!
 I've been thinking that it might be good to give us all blog names so that I can talk about the fam without giving out too much personal info. A lot of strictly homeschool blogs do this, and it's always fun to see why the folks are nicknamed the way they are. So in that vein, here's the Hydrangeas and Harmony Ensemble:
Keeping with our music theme (since we're kind of a musical family and I'm totally a music person):
Alto (that's me)

 

I sing alto in church or with groups although I'm really a mezzo-soprano. Technically my range is considered dramatic soprano but I'm not sure I like the sound of being dramatic. I'm not a drama queen. I mean who said I was? I don't get all like 'Wha-ut?' and stuff. *sniff* Really! (Did you catch all the sarcasm there??) I think I'll stick with being an alto. :) I'm the one who keeps things going. The organizer, the home manager, the teacher, the helper.

Bass (that's the hubs)

He actually sings bass so this is fitting for him. He's also the base of our family. The rock. The strength. The one who holds it all together. He's the fun parent and a seriously hard worker. He's a good provider and the support for the whole fam. Appropriate name, right?

Tenor (that's the son)

He's so much like Bass and yet so much like me. It's funny to see how God takes two totally different people and mushes them up into their offspring. And yet, Tenor is his own person. He adds a counter melody in our home with his personality. He's funny, analytical, and a really deep thinker. He definitely keeps me on my toes. Without his harmony, we'd have a hole.

Soprano (that's the daughter)

Considering all her stories and imaginings, she could be a lyric soprano. :) She's all sunshine and light and happiness. She loves animals and people and has a depth of compassion in her soul. She'll tell you that she just loves love! Her personality comes out in the funny things she says which make us laugh 'til we cry. She is our joyful melody!

That's the ensemble.

 

We're going to do what?!!?!?

It's that time of year when little children start begging to stay up later and later each night and frazzled moms start looking over the school supply lists and anxiously waiting for the morning when the big yellow bus stops in front of the house again. But we've been thinking about back to school since the end of June! 

Our younglings have attended a private Christian school for their entire school careers thus far (Tenor–Kindergarten through 3rd grade; Soprano–Kindergarten and 1st grade) We've said each year that for them to continue the Lord would need to provide the finances so we've enrolled them each year praying that our financial aid and income would allow for them to continue but knowing that a time might come when we'd have to do something different.
Well, this is the year!

With leaving our church (and part-time employment) last year, our income is just not enough to be able to afford the tuition this year even with the full financial aid amount available from the school. (They even scrounged up some additional funds for us to try to help.) We just can't do it unless lots and lots of Ramen noodles, zero emergencies, no vacations or trips, and no eating out or non-essential shopping are involved.

We are grateful that we kind of saw this coming, so we've been able to mentally prepare and pray about what we need to do instead. At the end of the previous school year, we had a couple of options: leave 1 kid enrolled and pull the other out, leave them both in for the 1st half of the year and then pull them both out, public school for 1 or both, or homeschool 1 or both.

We live in a good school district and know several teachers in it but after talking to them (even though they highly recommended their schools) we just didn't feel comfortable putting the kids there. We knew, with a great sense of peace, that public school is not the right option for us this year.
After we came to that conclusion, we got our final financial aid info and knew for certain that keeping them in their current school wasn't going to happen either.

So we could either split them and do 2 different things, or we could homeschool them both. HAHAHAHAHAHA
Did I just say homeschool? You're kidding me, right???
I think while I was still pregnant with #1 I said that I'd N-EV-ER homeschool. I'm pretty sure I said it everyday when they were 2, 3, and 4 years old.
I waved happily when they left each morning for school! Soprano had full-day, every day Kindergarten so I've had 2 years of my own life (at least during the school year.) It was nice. It was really, really nice! And now we're considering doing what????

Long story short (or at least a little shorter).... we've been praying and the Lord has gently pulled me down the path to homeschooling, one step at a time.
Pulled? Prodded? Pushed? Dragged kicking and pouting? No matter how I got there, it's been a couple months of massive research, talking to homeschooling friends, and major praying to get us to this point.
We officially withdrew the kids from their school and are setting out on a new path for this year.
It's a little exciting and quite a bit overwhelming but the pieces are falling into place.
So, here we go! Buckle up! It might be a bumpy ride!

I Was Featured!

I was featured on a very cool blog. How awe-some is that!?!?! This is the very first time I've been featured anywhere. Not only am I loving my homemade laundry detergent (and feeling very Proverbs 31/Martha Stewart-ish while using it), I got to share it with lots of cool blogging ladies. That definitely makes this whole cloudy, rainy, stomach flu week much, much better!
Thanks for featuring me, DaNita!

Designed to Sell, House Hunters, and My First Sale all at once...

 Okay, yes, I do watch way too many shows on HGTV (and DIY when we get the freebie previews). And to be honest I've discovered first hand that those little 1/2 hour glimpses into home renovation and real estate transactions are a little misleading. One does not finish all house projects and stage their home and sell it in the space of one half hour. Nor does one find a new home by looking at 3 absolutely perfect properties (all in their price range and desired location) and move in within the next 1/2 hour. But the overall process, though a bit longer, is pretty much the same.

I know some of you know all about our recent delve into the real estate buy/sell process but I need to update a lot of people and thought this would be the easiest way to do it. (Sorry it's not a personal email to you'all!) I haven't put too much about it on Facebook because there are so many variables and contingencies and I didn't want to keep updating my status over and over until things were pretty much settled. So since we're at that point.... here's a brief run-down. :)

We had been thinking for awhile that it might be time for us to 'upgrade' our housing. Bass and I bought this house 2 months before we got married (10 years ago.) We spent 1 month making it more livable and then Bass moved in. After the honeymoon, I moved in (and brought the furniture.) :) We spent the next 9 years redoing the whole thing from top to bottom: new electrical, removing popcorn ceilings, new doors & windows, new moldings, refinishing the hardwood floors, a new kitchen, landscaping, a new roof, new furnace and a/c, etc, etc, etc. It's been fun and often crazy but we're finally at the point where the house is almost completely the way we want it. That must mean it's time to move, right?
We have loved our little home but it's feeling a little small lately. Only having 1 bathroom thus far has been okay, the kids are getting older and taking a little longer, and they could use a little more space outside to play. So since current interest rates are super low, we thought we'd jump in to see what might happen. We figured that if it didn't work out to sell or find a new place, we'd just stay put for a few more years.

Designed to Sell
We had some minor things to finish up before listing the house: a piece of missing trim here, a room that needed to be painted, a broken window pane to replace, and I needed to pack up some of our extra 'clutter.' (That extra clutter was 9 huge boxes that we had to lug to the attic!) We got all that done and put the house on the market on 9/17. We had 2 showings in that next week and received an offer on 9/27. We accepted which then gave us 2 weeks to find a new home. Eek!

House Hunters
We had previously seen about 7 properties and actually bid on (and lost) 2 of them. Inventory in our price range was a little low so we were really praying that we could find something. The night we finalized the deal with our buyers, we got an email that a new house had come on the market. We went the next day, loved it, and made an offer that night (9/30). We found out Saturday that we got the house! It's super convenient to everything but it's tucked back on a little cul-de-sac and is actually very quiet. We're now a little closer to where the kids go to school too but it's only a few extra minutes for Bass to get to work. It's a cute little brick ranch with 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, full basement (unfinished for now), walk-up attic, 1 car garage and it's very own DRIVEWAY! We're quite excited about having off-street parking!! It also has a nice sized yard in the front and back---perfect for the kids. It's very un-updated and needs a ton of work but it has loads of potential and we're ready to make it Bathtastic with lots of Sweat Equity. Bass just might need a few more Cool Tools, especially when we tackle creating a Garage Mahal or Man Cave. The Kitchen isn't Impossible but at some point we'll need to redo that too. (I think I just made this a contest to see how many TV show names I can work into this post.) :) When we officially close I'll start putting up 'before' pics.

Real Estate Confidential
Those TV shows don't always show all of the back-and-forth with the realtors. All the waiting to hear about inspections and appraisals and mortgage approvals. All the stress wondering if your house has major issues that you weren't aware of or if your buyer will back out unexpectedly. But we know that the Lord is working out His plan for our life and while it's been a month of appointments and paperwork and waiting, everything has gone very smoothly.
Our inspection had 8 really, really minor issues. The buyer asked us to fix 4 of them. We fixed 6 since the total cost was about $10 for all of it. We appraised higher than our asking price and didn't require any additional FHA repairs. With the new house, the inspection was pretty much what we expected but we were able to get a little bit of money back in closing cost concessions because of all of the repairs needed. It's quite a mess but has some Hidden Potential. Our bank also didn't require an appraisal there because it's priced so low, which saves us some money. :)
We got our mortgage approval and our buyer's just got theirs this week. So now we ready to set a closing date.

Design on a Dime
We just heard last night that it looks like (although it's not totally set in stone) closing will be in a couple of weeks. Our buyers have agreed to let us 'rent-back' for the following week so we'll be able to stay in our current house and not have to find something For Rent but have a week to work on the new one before moving. Hence all of the boxes piled up everywhere! :)
Packing is going well---I have about 2/3 of the house done. All that's left is the everyday stuff: dishes, kitchen stuff, food, about 1 box for each bedroom, the linen closet, and clothes closets. Most of which can't really be packed until we get within a few days of actually moving. As we work on the new house, we'll probably take loads of stuff over each time we go to minimize the big move. It's been fun to think of how our current furniture and decor will fit in the new house and think about what we want to do with the bathrooms, kitchen, paint colors, etc. I've been to Home Depot and Lowe's so many times that people are starting to mistake me for an employee. Hmm... could I get a discount for that?? ;) When the new house is done, I'm sure I'll be a Design Star.

So that's where we're at. Or where we will be at, I guess. It's bittersweet to think of leaving My (our) First Place but we're excited for all that comes next! Once we're set up you'all can come Rate My Space. :) Pictures of the whole adventure coming soon!

I Was Featured!

How cool can one possibly feel when their project/craft/idea/decor is featured on another blog? I don't know for sure, but I feel pretty awe-some!
I've been featured here:

24 Cottonwood Lane

Why Hydrangeas and Harmony?

Naming a blog has got to be one of the most difficult things ever! I told my husband that creating this thing would be so much easier if I had just one main interest or hobby. But... I have so many things that I love to do, so many crafts that I like to dabble in, and so many things that inspire me, it was hard to narrow it down.

I decided on Hydrangeas and Harmony because I want this blog to be about my whole life, not just the craft aspect, not just family news, not just being involved in our church. At church, I have the great privilege of being part of the Worship and Arts Ministry Team -- I get to sing on the praise team, with the mixed ensemble, with the adult choir, sometimes with the ladies ensemble; I get to play the piano and keyboard (and sometimes handchimes and even the djembe!); I get to co-direct the children's choir and the youth ensemble; I get to just be super involved with all things music! I love to sing and am so blessed that I get to use the gifts the Lord has given me on a regular basis. So that's the 'Harmony' part.

The 'Hydrangea' theme sort of represents our home. I'm not quite sure why we chose it, but we used hydrangeas for our wedding flower. The funny thing is I didn't even like hydrangeas all that much back then. In honor of our special day, we've ended up with 5 hydrangea bushes in our gardens. (4 are blue; 1 is pink.) We have wedding decor leftovers dressing up our master bedroom and in season, I love to have a fresh arrangement on our dining room table. So to illustrate home and family, I came up with 'Hydrangeas'. And now my blog name is alliterated. I love alliteration. It just flows. Ya' know?

(My blue hydrangeas are really droopy because of the oppressive heat.)

So there you have it.... why I went with 'Hydrangeas and Harmony'. (And about 10 other names I tried were already taken. *giggle*) Thanks for stopping by!