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Around Home-- What's Been Going On Lately?

  Well all the holidays are over.  Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve.  

We are in a New Year in 2023.    This is going to be a year of change for me for the better.    I am focused on self improvement.    I am purging my house of clutter.

I'm down to one room left.. the dreaded furnace room.  I have exercised every single day except Christmas for 43 days.  I have lost nineteen pounds, a pants size and a blouse size.   I have a ways to go on my fitness goals, but that is a good start.

     Rearranging the Furniture 

    

   Back in September we went home to Virginia for a visit.  It was to attend the funeral for nephew Matthew Koogler also.  While we were there we visited my daddy and step mother.   They were in the process of rearranging the living room and changing the tv around.   I saw the look in Kenny's eyes. I knew right then we'd be changing our living room around.  Sure enough.... we have.  We like it and it has been nice.   

 

    We  have a pass through fire place that is in the dining area on one side and the living room on the other.   The way we had our furniture situated we never used the fire place anymore.  It was behind the sofa!     Kenny and I put our heads together and finally figured a way to open the room up and use the fire place again.  

 

  He put the flat screen tv up on the wall above the fire place.  We rearranged some art work to make room for it.   I hung a candle lantern in the living room.   We turned the furniture around to face the tv AND fireplace.   We eliminated the excess toys from the living room. We  never let our kids just keep all their toys in the tv room when we were raising them. They brought the toys out, played with them and put them away when they were done.  It was time for the grandkids to do the same.    

   We are raising a two year old and though our rug and couches and end tables could all stand replacing.... Kenny doesn't want to do so until she is not quite as messy and destructive.   Instead of replacing them we did this.

• Vacuumed the living room rug thoroughly and shampooed it.
• I put furniture scratch cover and restore a finish on the tables.
• I vacuumed out the cracks of the sofas of all the hair and crumbs. 
• I mixed up a recipe that was to cleanse and condition our leather sofas.

   We now have a better looking living room that can hang on a bit longer on a budget.   

Above: the leather sofa all shined up.  We plan to buy some recoloring balm for the worn spots, but I will get to that in a few weeks.

Above:  Loveseat all cleaned up and shined.  The new layout not only has the room flowing better.... it is far more spacious. 

Above:  A shot of the new tv above the fire place. I donated two shelves worth of books in order to empty those for the DVD player and Spectrum tv box to sit on.  I threw out a bunch of stuff.  I donated a bunch.  I put those photo albums away for the most part.  This shot was taken when the rug was getting ready to go outside for shampooing. 

          We are also talking about getting rid of the dated looking green tile and replacing that with stone.  We'll take it up out of the floor and fill that in with the remaining flooring materials we've saved.  Anything we do is a step in the right direction whether we sell this house and move or stay here.  

Below is the Christmas tree this year.  I decorated less than I ever have. I spent less money.  I cooked less. Having a toddler and a six year old will do that to ya!   Yet we had a more peaceful, enjoyable holiday all around. 

No more drugs or alcohol in the family or the accompanying strife.  In its place thankfully is active recovery! Best Christmas present yet!

Above is our Christmas morning fruit salad. Every speck of this got eaten!  It is all fresh fruit and no canned, syrupy stuff. The dressing for it is made with white tea, orange blossom and pomegranate juice.   It only had 1/4 cup of sugar in the whole bowl.   Fresh, light, delicious and healthy! 

Above is Chex Mix. This was so easy and so good I had to make a second batch.

I sent some to friends and family.  Kenny says I have started something and now will have to make this year round.  It is easy to get hooked on!   I need to find a recipe that has no peanuts that my granddaughter Tessa can eat. She has a severe nut allergy.  

   

     That's what's been up at the Koogler home.   Looking forward to 2023 and all kinds of good things.  Many possibilities.