a very valuable lesson

i learned a very valuable lesson this past weekend.

since we found our new house I have had severe anxiety about the closet space (or lack thereof).

its a 3 bedroom house, built in the 1950s

when people apparently didnt have the amount of clothes as we do now.

so i made a deal with Megan. we can move into this house,

but i need the closet in my room,

the spare bedroom,

and i also need to install a closet system on an empty wall

(i have a lot of clothes, purses and shoes. so sue me).

i was on the lookout for the most perfect system to satisfy all of my wardrobe needs.

the kind of system that pinterest closets were made from.

i searched and searched, read all kinds of reviews and looked at millions of pictures.

when one fine day, amazon e-mailed me with my dream closet system on sale!

this was "simple to install!" and every customer review said it took less than 1 hour!

sounded perfect to me, so of course i immediately purchased in, and had it rush shipped,

just waiting for charles to get to Atlanta to install it.



before the move. he loves me.



Friday night, Charles got in and we immediately went to work moving my bed.

*Side note, EVERYTHING FIT!! ( just barely) praise Jesus!*

we get the 2 mattresses in the back of the truck and my first comment was "is this going to stay?"

charles ASSURED me that the mattreses were heavy enough to keep from flying out.

so off we go, driving down the highway in rush hour (and a holiday weekend) traffic.

what happens next? the mattress flies out of the back of the truck.

imagine my embarrassment anger

so i get out of my jeep, run to help charles and throw it back in the truck.

at this point we are at a gas station, and i said "charles, we should really tie this down."

his response? "itll stay, just drive slower" (as if thats possible in Atlanta!!)

so about 2 miles up the road we get and it happens YET AGAIN.

only this time i am too far to get out to help.

so from my rearview mirror i watch him grab the mattress and throw it in the back of the truck,

all while 4 pedestrians stood less than 10 feet from him and stared. jerk offs.

this time i INSISTED that we tie it down.

and by insisted, i mean turned bright red and yelled at the top of my lungs.

thankfully he obliged and we had no more mishaps of this sort.

we get my bed put together and situated and spend the remainder of the evening resting.

much needed, after all of that mattress loading.

saturday morning, we woke up bright and early to finish the move.

all of the furniture fit, and nothing was thrown out of the back of the truck again.

*Praise Jesus, again!*

Once all of the furniture was situated and the boxes were in the house it was time to get started on the....

YEP YOU GUESSED IT!

closet system! (Charles was less than thrilled, obviously.)

I asked Charles to bring his power drill and stud finder, and whaddaya know? he forgot one of them.

thankfully, it was the stud finder and the cable man was there so he graciously let us use his.

A lot of things happened during this closet installation:

Charles yelled at me for having too many clothes.

Charles yelled at the wall for not having sufficient studs.

Charles yelled at the screws for not going in the wall all the way.

Charles yelled at the brackets for not fitting properly.

Charles never once looked at a set of directions.

Charles swore up and down that he would never do this for me again. ever. till we die. ever.

This installation should have taken about an hour (remember those trusty customer reviews?).

Well apparently the customers reviewing have expert carpenters for husbands,

because it took us 5 hours.

It is up, I love it and it was totally worth it to me,

but at the time this dumb closet system was almost the demise of the Charles & Whitney love story.

after the move. he loves me not.



So what is the valuable lesson, you ask? Well, there are 2 of them.

1. Couples are not meant to do home improvement projects together. Ever.

(Unless you are looking for an easy way out of your coupledom)

2. Always listen to me. It will save you a lot of trouble in the long run if you go ahead and assume that I am right and know what's best.

Somehow, only by the grace of God did we make it through the weekend without murdering each other.

He even took me to a movie that night. Guess he really does love me.

see the little pants organizer in the bottom center? so dreamy.

It will be a while before we get to spend time together again,

and until then I will be enjoying my new closet space/house.

that room.

last night was the very last night that

i will ever spend in my bedroom.

and this morning was the very last morning that

i will ever wake up there

the same room that I have slept in for two years,

which is the longest I have lived in a single house

since I was in Middle School.

growing up in a military family,

living with a single mom

and then venturing to college;

moving came second nature to me.

that room, and that bed, have seen their fair share of life

that room is the place that i go to shut the rest of the world out.

i turn off the lights, close the door, turn the tv and my phone off and just be.

it is one of my favorite places to just be; in that bed, in that room.

that room started out purple, silver and white

but after a breakup and a strong desire to recreate my life

it was upgraded to mint, coral and grey. with fancy pillows to match.

the grey walls keep it dark,

but the huge window is perfect for catnapping in the sunlight

(both violet and i's fave past time)

it gets extremely hot in that room every summer

but its the perfect place to bundle up in the winter

that room is where Violet and I snuggle together,

and, when i'm very lucky, where Charles and I snuggle too.

which is not very often; as explained in my last post.

that room has a closet that has fallen multiple times

in part due to the unruly amount of clothing that i own.

it also holds my very first piece of furniture that I bought myself

check that off of the 30 before 30 list!

my mom has spent weekends with me in that room,

comforting me through some of my life's hardest times.

my boyfriend has spent weekends with me there,

and filled it with constant laughter and excitement

my friends have stayed, after some incoherent nights

and sometimes they've stayed because they needed comforting too.

that room was a good room

i will really miss that room

but today starts a new adventure,

in a new house with a new room.

(hopefully the same bed, the good Lord willing it will fit!)

Charles will be here in a few short hours to help me move,

(worlds best boyfriend aware goes to...)

i wish i could say that this weekend would be filled with

Memorial Day celebrations, hooch shooting and cookouts,

but unfortunately it will just be spent transporting furniture.

which doesnt sound like any fun at all,

but at least its an excuse to make him come to visit me.

which is always my favorite thing to do

sleeping around

as much as I would like to think that Charles and I have the perfect relationship,

I know that there is one very faulty piece.

it is a constant battle between us,

and one that i am refusing to give up on.

call it needy, call it annoying, call it smothering,

i dont care what you call it.

I am a cuddler, and a snuggler and

a want-to-be-right-next-to-you-all-nighter.

Charles is a not so cuddly giant, who wants his space in the bed;

untouched by his girlfriend.

my ideal sleeping arrangements: 

me halfway on my side and halfway on my stomach

with my left leg bent at the knee and resting on top of him.

here's the kicker: being 6'8", when my head is on his chest, my bent knee is in his crotch.

i get it, its probably not comfortable, but it is to me.

and what is more important than my beauty sleep?

i keep trying to tell him,

 he does NOT want to see me after a sleepless night

#uglygirlfriend #bitchygirlfriend #soontobesinglegirlfriend

so in order to combat my sleeping styles,

Charles- the ever so stubborn snoozer,

lays on his side. completely on his side.

he has to sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door,

and prefers to be a right side sleeper.

so that means his back is to me.

his giant 6'8" hairy back has cut me off from all forms of snuggling.

and i. dont. like. it.

to start out, he always succumbs to my request,

but within 20 minutes is bored with me

and on his side he goes. BOO.

so multiple times throughout the night i wake up

and conversations go like this:

"baby. baby."whispering

*no answer*

"BABY!"yelling

"what??" in a grumbling sleepy voice

"come over here"back to whispering

and then he turns over and allows me to

drape myself over him again.

for 20 minutes maximum.

so this past weekend, at my mom's house,

we crawled in to our bed and

after 2 weeks of not seeing each other

i thought FOR SURE! he'll want to snuggle with me.

he didnt.

i pouted.

he told me i was dramatic.

i said DUH. have you met me?

and back to sleeping on the side of the bed

all by my lonesome i was.

i thought one of the perks of having a partner

was so that you didnt have to feel alone/rejected in bed anymore.

not.

Charles' cousin told me to just give up on it now,

because Stackhouse men are not cuddlers.

i refuse to waive the white flag on this one.