Well....

This blog has been so neglected. I realized that it's because it's not right. I'm trying so hard to make it seem as if I'm some perfect domestic goddess, and guess what? I'm *so* not. So, here's the deal, I'll post the things that I try, whether they work or not. I'm not going to hide behind my web-self anymore (well, okay, I will in some ways), but I'm not going to pretend to be something I'm not, nor ever will be.

Quasi-husband and I hit a rough patch. We aren't exactly a couple anymore, but we still live together. We still have the kiddo and the herd of pets. 

My mom passed away in May. This was both somewhat expected, and completely surprising. I'm bruised but healing. Some days suck. I'm working on it. I miss her.

Things have taken a bit of a 180 in terms of what I'm doing within our home space, but this isn't the post for it. This is a reboot. We'll see if I can make it feel right to me. 

Craigslist is my friend...

Lately we have been on a furniture replacing spree. We are finding fantastic deals on our local craigslist. We definitely live on a budget. Some of these pieces were more money than I would have been comfortable spending on anything, but I was ganged up on, and told we needed them. My mom graciously bought them so that we would be more comfortable.

The following are all things we have recently acquired. I love all of them.

The house before we moved in...

This is going to be quite photo heavy, so I'll attempt a jump break and see what happens.

We moved into this house in July of 2009. It is a manufactured, but we are happy with it for the most part. We will probably move into something bigger in the future, but I want this house to be as comfortable as possible.

Here is the layout of the house:

Another blog...

I am sort of starting over from the beginning. I started this blog on Live Journal, but I like this format better. This blog is going to mostly be about making this house, on a barren 1/4 acre lot, into something more. I'll be doing some updates with new furniture finds, recipes I love, rants, photos, and ideas.  It will be something like an online scrapbook.

The Duck's Asylum comes from my childhood nickname of Puddle Duck. From that has grown a huge collection of all kinds of ducks. There are ceramic, plushies, rubber duckies, and art prints all over the house. I'm sure the Quasi-Husband, Jon, would be a little happier if there weren't quite so many, but he doesn't really do anything to dissuade me from getting more.Besides, the Little Human, Dubs, likes them well enough.

Jon, Dubs, and I co-habitate with my Mother. That isn't likely to change, since she isn't well and I worry about her. There are two dogs, Caramel and Cleo. Caramel is an Australian Cattle Dog, and a pain in the butt. Cleo is part Australian Shepherd and part German Shepherd. She's huge and sweet. We are also owned by two cats. Ranger is my Mom's very loud cat. Paddywagon is my grey Manx.

We moved up here last year from Albuquerque when Jon got a new job. I love the area and our property. We are on a little hill overlooking Albuquerque and we can see all of the twinkling city lights at night. It's a quiet neighborhood and almost rural. We have a ton of wildlife that come to visit, even when we don't want them to!

Well, that's about it in the background department. I'll probably be transferring the entries from LJ to here in the next week. There aren't many, but some of them are a little photo heavy. I hope that I have some people who are willing to come along for the ride!