Organizing After a Move

Sitting at the (very loved) table with my oldest son and hubby
playing cards with the sweet scent of a "Sweet Potato" candle.

I know that many of you have moved quite a bit more often than I have as an adult.  You could be a military family or your husband or wife's job relocates you every couple of years.  So, this post is probably "preaching to the choir" as they say.  For me, though, it is sweet reflection over the past year's journey, making realizations about myself and my family.

I started decluttering years ago, thankfully.  I have been using the FLYlady method of doing things since September 8, 2001.  That's a very long time!  Now, I haven't been "gung ho" all the time at every single step of the way, but it has certainly helped me to keep most of the clutter at bay.  [Confession:  As I type this, there are papers cluttering up my coffee table that Lord only knows where they come from!  It's all good though because I know that my young adults can go through it and decide what needs to be kept and what needs to be pitched and take care of it for me!]

I began decluttering in earnest preparation for our move south probably in October 2014.  I had requested at that time a firm answer from my husband whether or not he'd be retiring the following May so that I could make plans to either stay or move.  [Thankfully, he chose to retire.]  I started with books.  I knew that once I went through all the books on the book shelves, getting them put in to boxes to sell, it would be easier to pack up the ones that I wanted to keep.  I went through them with the young folks so that I didn't throw away anything that they wanted.  Surprisingly, they released more than I ever thought they were willing to release!  I was so glad!  This was an ongoing process, too.  I didn't do it all at once because I needed to have surgery in February 2015.  Once I felt like doing things, I had the kids bring me more books that I went through while sitting on the floor.  They did the heavy lifting for me, taking the boxes once packed and labelled to the attic to get them out of the way.  Once the shelves were empty, I gave the shelves to a friend to use.  The books we no longer wanted were sold at our homeschool group's book sale and whatever didn't sell went to Goodwill, never to enter the house again!  Oddly enough, there were more books stashed throughout the house that I needed to get rid of too.  I put those in our yard sale.

The yard sale:  We had a yard sale for 2 weekends, getting rid of lots of stuff.  Once that was over, we packed the leftovers up and took them to a storage unit where a local lady stored leftover yard sale times to sell for a charity.  Those things never came back in to the house.  [Are you noticing a trend yet?]

Once all those things were gone, we started to pack up the house in earnest.  We were still finding things to pitch.  I went through every paper I could find to either file or burn.  We burned a lot of stuff from the garage, so it wasn't a big deal to burn more.

We still had a "give away" pile and we found ourselves giving more stuff away still.  The plan was to sell or give away most of our furniture except for a few pieces that were meaningful to us as gifts from grandparents, or they were antiques.  We ended up keeping one love seat instead of giving it away because that friend didn't have room for it in her new house.  It was a godsend, though.  We have seating here in our living room for it! :0)

Once all of our things arrived here in GA, the unpacking commenced.  I found things that I forgot I had, made a home for them and moved on to the next thing.  I also found things that made me scratch my head and wonder "Why on earth did I keep that?" and put it in the give away box.  Every so often we get the opportunity to bless someone with the contents of our give away box.  We had double just about everything since we had 2 kitchens in PA.  So when we heard of a family who needed things due to a fire, we purged even more!  It felt good too! :0)

I am finding that as I go through boxes, I relive old memories of when that item was purchased or given to us. A lot of times I still find myself saying, "Why on earth did I keep that?!"  I'd love to say that right now everything has a home and everything is in it's place, but it isn't.  I have more shelving and storage to buy to make that happen.  I am saving for some nice storage because it will be in my office where those items go.

I know that there will be times when something isn't fitting right where I put it and I'll think about how to do it differently and it will bug me until I figure it out, but eventually it will happen.  Sometimes I will find something that will fit "just right" at a yard sale to help me get something organized.  It is a wonderful way to adjust to fit the new space.

I am also finding that the organizing of my home after the move began "before" the move.  Ten years worth of accumulated stuff was dwindled down considerably in a matter of weeks, but it continues to be dwindled still, as I continue to get through those not so essential items to get things organized and feeling more like "home."

I'd love to show you what I'm doing differently here (for a variety of reasons) than when we were in PA.  I'll save that for the next post, though.  A little hint is given in the picture above.  :0)

God Bless,

Pictures Updated as Promised

With my last post in mind of all the things we've accomplished, I give you these pictures to show you what we've accomplished.



Starting with our bedroom~

When we first moved in and got our bed and dressers in place this is what the room looked like.  It looks a little different now with the rest of our bedroom brought down here.

This is the hallway from the sitting room to our bedroom.  The baby gate is so that Gus would leave Rustie alone.  Our bathroom is to the extreme right and Rustie likes laying on the floor in there.

Our Bathroom~

Where you see the baskets straight ahead, I have a wicker shelf where I'm going to put those baskets to store small things that I get with coupons that belong in the bathroom.  I have so much storage in this bathroom already, but I could just see my wicker shelf right in that spot.

My walk-in bath tub complete with a container of Epsom Salt and my essential oils in the baskets.

The other side of the bathroom.  I love baskets and I love my essential oils.

Sitting Room~

My hubby working on the floor in the office/sitting room.  It turned out beautiful!  My youngest son has been helping by cutting pieces, doing the up and down, running out to the garage to cut pieces.  :0) 

Office~

The sitting room above is the office now!  This is the change that has taken place!  I love the flooring!  I can't wait until the rest of the house gets done!  :)

Kids' Rooms~Coming soon!



Living Room~(I'll get a better one soon.  I have a few things to take care of in there.)

This is one picture taking looking from the dining room to the living room.  It's the only one I had right now, but it is coming right along.  I'll get more pictures of that room when it has more work done in it.

Kitchen~

  

My kitchen is coming along.  I've added a little color here and there so far.  I'm patiently waiting for the rest of our things to come down from PA so I can put all of my serving platters and odds and ends away.  Then I can get rid of the boxes and bins behind me and to the left in this picture.

Finally!  The boxes are off the counter and all of my things are here in Georgia!  This is my kitchen right now.  My goal for this room is to use as much color in the things I use as possible since everything is white.  Just to give you a wee bit of a "tour", to the mid-left is my sink.  Above my sink is a pass-through to the sun room.  In the far corner is my Bosche mixer, all my sprays and oils, as well as my home made Trim Healthy Mama blend and oat flour.  Where you see the aqua blue frying pan is a flat top stove, then to the right of that is my Trim Healthy Mama cookbook.  The floor to ceiling cupboards to the right is where we store bulk foods, our dishes, baking dishes, plastic items, and other condiments and so forth.  Beside the refrigerator out of sight except for the little bit of white sticking out is a little counter top.  As I've been unpacking, I've found extra plates and bowls that I don't know what to do with, so they're sitting there until I figure out what to do.  LOL

Dining Room~in mid-October

As promised, these are the updated pictures of the house.  The dining room has the rest of my things in it and less boxes.  I just wanted to get the pictures up for all to see.  :)    I figured I'd better get pictures up for everyone to see so that everyone can see how our house is coming along.

The living room needs an overhaul of sorts.  The flooring is still bare concrete.  My hubby found 2 beautiful braided rugs at the yard sale next door a couple weeks ago, so we bought them to put in the dining and living rooms.  I know what once the flooring gets done, with the rug in here, it will give the room a homier look.  I would like to pain the walls and yes, a couple different colors, but at this point in time, I'm not sure what to do.  I can do the more rustic look, but for crown moulding I'm at a loss.  I've been watching "Fixer Upper" with Chip and Joanna Gains to get some ideas.  I just really don't know about mixing the rustic with the formal--ie: crown moulding with a distressed rustic look on the walls and a few antique end tables and coffee table.  Right now it is a hodge podge of colors and textures.  I would like to paint before we do the floor and put things on the walls.  I'd love to do that in the next couple of weeks, but I have a feeling we'll need to wait till after the new year to get it done.  I do know that we want to replace the windows in the house, so I may wait to do anything in there until we get the windows replaced.

For now, I'll let it grow on me until I decide what to do.

Until next time,

Everything in it's Place

While that age old saying holds true for many households, it is going to be a while until it can happen here.

Why?

My husband took a 2nd trip up to PA to get more of our things.  Come to find out, the things I need to put away belong inside some furniture that is still in PA.  So, I just pile all those things on the dining room table until the hutch and buffet table arrive here so I can put them away.  On second thought, I'll just line the wall with them so I can start serving dinners at the dining room table!  Yes!  I think that will work!  :)  I'm missing our "family table" and after having over 2 or so months of "eating where we can" it's time to get that going again.

I have no side tables for what is now the living room at this time, but, I do have ONE living room lamp here.  Hopefully soon I'll be able to get everything put together.  I feel myself getting so very frustrated because my home is not coming together as quickly as I would have liked.  Currently our "Living Room" is my Sewing Room/Sitting room until we can get the AC on the other side of the house fixed.  The technician should be making contact soon, hopefully.  I've wanted to get moving on my sewing by now, but I need to get things put away before I can sew.  The main reason for that is because I need to find my foot pedal for my sewing machine.  All I know, that could still be in PA too!  LOL

As I wait, I'm trying to tackle getting things cleaned up, put away and/or set aside for when the rest of the furniture arrives.  I'm also trying to find an Armoire for my canning jars.  I'm looking for something made from solid wood that we can gut, add some shelves, and put in the yellow room on the wall opposite of my kitchen.  Who knows how that project will end up.  We may line the wall with cupboards, who knows?!  I've found some nice Armoires on Craig's list, so we'll see how things go.  I'll post progress pictures as things move along.

What have we done since moving in here in Georgia?  I'm glad you've asked!

• The carpeting was purged by a husband and wife crew before we got here on the 29th.  They did some basic cleaning because it took an act of God Himself to get the water and electricity turned back on.  It was turned back on on August 27th, so the cleaners didn't have time to do much cleaning.  
• The exterminators have become our best friends.  They have been here four times to help eradicate cockroaches, 2 times for termite protection.  Upon closing we paid for a termite bond where they protect our house and/or fix any future termite damage should there be any once we've signed on with them.  The roaches are fewer and fewer.  I've found it to a point where it is "ok" to start putting my things in the drawers.  I keep the roach bait handy though, so that when we see one, we put the little packets in the general area where we saw the roaches.  We go days now without seeing them, then we'll see one and put out the bait station.  
• With a great start by some wonderful friends of ours, we were able to get the house wiped down....everything!  We started and within 3 days--even in the part of the house where the AC is down--every wall was wiped down.  We took a little longer with the kitchen because it was a disgusting mess.  We couldn't put anything away.  So we spent the first 2 weeks here eating microwave dinners, sandwiches, and just very simple meals because of the roaches and bait in my kitchen.  They would leave their little corpses in drawers and everything.  I didn't want to put anything away until I knew they were eradicated.  My husband bought bait stations and spray stuff that we'd used for the Lady Beetles in PA worked for roaches in GA!  LOL
• My husband and sons have begun working on the flooring.  If you look at my last post, you'll see our bedroom.  If you look at the floor, that will be throughout the whole house with the exception of where the tile is currently.  I think he plans to get more of it done after the 3rd and final trip to PA to get our things.  That way there is nothing looming over his head to have to take care of in PA.
• Fencing was taken care of within the first day or so due to having the dogs.  We wanted to make sure they would be contained.  Once they got out there, they settled down and just relaxed.  They knew they were supposed to be there.  It was all good!
• Plumbing!  Oh wow!  We didn't have hot water coming from any of the taps.  We just really had our hands tied with it....so after closing on Monday, we called the plumber on the way back to see if they could get out to the house to look at the hot water issue.  They not only fixed the problem, but fixed the pool pump as well as a leak under the sink too!  What a blessing by God!  He said, "Welcome to Georgia!"  We thought it would cost so much more than it did!  Whew! 
• The pool, Oh My Goodness!  This was potentially a wonderful thing for exercise for all of us. However, it looked absolutely nasty scum covered pond like. Fortunately, I have the most awesome hubby!  He got to work very quickly on the pool once the plumber took care of the pump!  Awesome!  Now it's beautiful!  

Gus is making progress getting in to the pool on his own.  He barks his fool head off at the other two dogs when we bring him in to the pool, as if to say, "Get back here!  You're not supposed to be in there without me!"  LOL

• Odds and ends--there is always something to fix, something to redo, something to replace.  We purchased a "quasi" foreclosure so it stands to reason that it is going to be more work.  We're not afraid of it.  

Hubby is fixing a sliding screen door.  The wicker set that you see, I found on a facebook flea market site. I'm going to clean them up, paint them teal and reupholster the cushions in a bright red/yellow/fuchsia/teal fabric.  It will go in this sun room once it is done.  I'm hoping to find a nice area rug as well. And true to form, the ceiling fans in this room need to be replaced and the popcorn ceilings need to be replaced too.  LOL  One thing at a time, though.

• The truck has been worked on for more money that we would have liked, but it needed to be done.  We are so glad that it is done though!  
• We've been to our homeschool group class days twice.  Hubby and I have decided that we need to buy a different Pre-Algebra curriculum for our youngest so that the class he is taking makes sense for him with the curriculum they're using.  I didn't know they would be so rigorous when I signed him up for it, so I need to bite the bullet and make the changes. 
• I've finished my 4th hat for our Operation Christmas Child boxes!  I just need to weave tails in.  Next is a hat just like it to make it the 5th hat.  I don't know if I'll get it done, but if I work each evening on it, I'm sure it'll get done.  :) 
• We've decided on a church and so far, youth activities locally.  We're staying local for youth group and traveling almost an hour for church on Sundays at Sherwood Baptist Church.  We'll see what happens on Wednesdays when the time comes.  Sherwood has a lot going on for families on Wednesdays, but we'll see what happens.  We're thinking we'll stay local for now, though.

Goals for the not so distant future:

1. Find my foot pedal to my sewing machine so I can start making curtains for my house.
2. Find and organize my sewing room and office so that I can get moving making not only curtains, but more aprons to sell.
3. Get my armoire set up so that I can get my canning jars put away in their place whether they're filled with yumminess, or waiting to be filled with yumminess.
4. Get my actual living room put together with side tables, lamps, TV, piano, computer so that everyone can congregate in there.  I have to get the young men helpers to remove furniture from my sitting room and office where we are currently using as a living room. LOL  I'll post pictures soon. 

I think that's probably good for the next month.  I promise to post pictures soon!

God Bless,

We're Moved....Mostly

We're officially Georgia residents now!  We bought a house in Southern Georgia and we're mostly moved in.  We've had some hiccups along the way, but nothing that isn't being handled.

Kitchen progress!  We've had an infestation which "put off" putting things away, organizing and such, so we had to wait.  Now it is driving me nuts not having things completely put away!  LOL

As you can see in the picture above, the doorway to the far right shows what most of our floors look like.  We had a crew come in and remove all the icky carpeting.  My husband is gradually getting the new flooring put in, but he needed to stop when he needed his table saw...and it was in Pennsylvania.  So, we clean concrete floors, tile floors, and laminate floors. 

I think it's worth waiting for, don't you?!  

Once I find my sewing machine I'll need to get to work on lots of curtains!

 We're getting settled, laying new flooring, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, organizing, scouring craigslist, thrift stores, & facebook for sale/flea market groups for things we need.

The Dining Room is HUGE!  Our table that seats 12 when completely pulled out now has room to fit in a space without feeling cramped!  More updates to come, I promise!

The red is going "bye-bye" in favor of a "Bermuda Blue."

Our daughter started priming her bedroom because it is so very red.  She needed to go over the primed wall twice to cover enough of the red to start painting the blue/green aqua that she wanted her walls.

This picture was taken a few years ago, but this is the color of her old room in Pennsylvania.  She wanted the same color here.

She and I went shopping on Friday to get some things for ourselves at one of the outlet stores for our birthdays, found a chair that would go well in her room once it is painted, and bought the paint.  I figured it would be good timing since her 18th birthday is tomorrow.  I'd already ordered her some boots and flats as a surprise, so her birthday celebration is in full swing!  The only thing I need now is to get her a cake and figure out where to take her for her birthday dinner.

My birthday is coming up this Friday as well.  I've already purchased a dress, scarf, and earrings for myself.  I didn't buy any shoes because I knew my hubby was getting all my dress clothes from PA brought down here this past weekend.  I just need to go unearth it all.  LOL

Of course there has been quite a bit of pool time.  We're trying to get the dogs acclimated to the pool.

She had Rustie in the pool and Gus went nuts.  He didn't want Rustie in there and wanted him out!  This is the first time Gus went down on the first step without anyone trying to coerce him.  LOL

We have visited 2 churches here.  While the doctrine and messages are both very powerful and on point, the worship styles are very different.  There is a lot to consider and pray about.  The question of "where can we serve and where will our service be needed more?" is one we're praying about.  A consideration brought out by our daughter is that if we're not being fed, how can we serve with our whole heart?  So there is a lot to think about and pray about.

Please pray that our house in PA sells soon.  There are tons of reasons we need for it to sell and the Lord knows all of them, even the ones we don't know about.  Please just cover it in prayer.

I hope to get in to a groove of blogging more often, at least once a week.

Until then...

God Bless,

Melancholy Reflections

Yesterday was my oldest son's 20th birthday.  No, I'm not musing about how fast the time has gone.  I am looking forward to watching this young man take life by the horns and conquer it, whatever "it" may be.  He has had quite the long and arduous "mountain" to climb the past few years, so he's looking forward to when we get to Georgia so that he can begin his next chapter, and see where God leads him.

The oldest and the youngest.

This morning I can feel fall in the air here in Western Pennsylvania.  The trees are beginning to take on a yellowish orange hue while the days get shorter and the wee bit of chill is in the air.  In one short week we'll be packing up our earthly possessions and saying "Good-bye" to our home in Pennsylvania.  We've lived in Pennsylvania all of our married life.  We are accustomed to the winters, hurrying to grow and gather the food while we can, then canning and preserving it to assure that we have some of God's wonderful goodness to nourish our bodies through the winter.  I'm sure there will be leaves to rake, but in a different way, with different things to go with those leaves.  Instead of pine mulch, many people in Georgia use pine needles.  Our realtor told us that pine needle mulch attracts cockroaches.  Guess what we're NOT using for mulch?!  Wow!  

Today I will finish packing the living room and pack whatever I can in my kitchen(s).  I am sure my new kitchen will serve us well.  We'll serve others with hospitality and the love of Christ, opening the doors to our home for those who may be in need.  We'll see where God leads us. 

Our new kitchen...the previous tenants were still living in the house.

Looking through the Sun room to the kitchen.

I'm not sure all the changes we will be making in this room, but the first thing is going to be a full size stove/oven.  We do a lot of cooking and baking, so it stands to reason that we add a full size stove.  I'm stil trying to figure out how to use the cubby between the refrigerator and the wall oven.

As we wrap things up here in PA, we are faced with bittersweet thoughts.  Ones of missing our dear sweet friends, but also ones of excitement in the chapters to come.

Please continue to keep us in prayer.

God Bless,

The Purging of My Home

I am thankful that we've decided to move.  Yes, I said that.  I now understand when people sell all of the extra earthly goods they have, and move somewhere for the mission field or just relocating, I see how freeing it is.

Letting go of memories is not what is involved.  Things that hold us down is what is involved.  I have purged my books, the kids' books, Mr. G's books (with his permission---I would have kept more than he did, but gladly he purged), as well as curriculum, office supplies, clothes, extra things that we just don't have room for any longer.

Why?

We have a large home.  When you look at the main floor and the upstairs, it is 1752 square feet of living space.  With the basement, it would be 3300 square feet of living space.  We are purging the basement, and the rest of the house to ensure that what we have will fit in to the next house once we move.  We are purging furniture, desks, recliners, coffee tables, end tables, the piano, the couch, everything!

We are keeping the things we love.  I am hoping to be able to finish my teaching degree since I only have an art class, Jr. Practicum and Student teaching to do to finish.  My heart is being pulled to teach Kindergarten in a private Christian school.  My love is teaching little ones.  My kids are almost done with their education.  My daughter will be a Senior and my youngest son will be a Sophomore.  By the time he is finished with school, I may be able to take a couple classes myself.  After he graduates, I'll be able to do my practicum and student teaching.  There are numerous private schools where we're moving, so if I can get my foot in the door as an assistant teacher, that might be one of the ways I can get in to a teaching position.   All that to say that I'm keeping my good children's literature books and eventually adding to them once we move, so that I have them once I have my own classroom, Lord willing.

I know my daughter has been keeping her drawing books, adding to her collection only the ones where her interest lays.  My oldest son enjoys things science related and only asks to keep his Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines.  My youngest son enjoys blacksmithing and knife making, so he is engulfed in those types of things.

Keeping what we love is a good thing.  Organizing things we need to keep for tax purposes is a good thing.  Pitching or burning the old envelopes, boxes, and papers/things that we no longer need to keep is freeing and beginning to feel a bit lighter.

Ask me how "light" I feel after our move.  LOL

I have not touched much in my kitchen as of right now.  The platters for serving things have been packed, but that's it.  I'll need to go through everything to see what I can sell at the yard sale.  I have a difficult time letting things from my kitchen go because I've found some neat kitchen gadgets that are stainless steel or something that works well, so I'm going to "love" them and pack them for the new house.  I'll look at some of my bread pans and some other things that I just don't use any more to sell.

It is difficult to say, but I honestly don't think that this much purging would have taken place had we not decided to make such a large move.  It certainly is sad to think that in order for my home to be completely purged I needed to move.  Yes, I purge on a regular basis, but not a complete purge like this.  I'm glad we're moving for that reason, so that we can truly see everything that we have and get rid of things that are broken, unfixable, and unloved.  I cannot tell you how many huge black trash bags we've hauled to the Goodwill!

So, when we move in to our new house, where ever that may be, we will have a couple book shelves, computer paraphernalia, a TV, only a couple side tables, our beds, dressers, washer and drier, freezers, boxes, personal hygiene items, pet stuff, and our clothes.  We plan to buy gently used furniture to fit the spaces we have there.  Mr. G and I will have new chairs to sit side-by-side in our living room, then we'll get 2 couches to accommodate kids and guests.  We'll also buy a gently used dining room table to accommodate kids and guests.  All this within the first 2 weeks of moving.

What an adventure!  I'll continue to post as I can, but the next few weeks will prove to be very busy, I'm sure.

God Bless,

A Day At the Beach & Life Lessons

Weeks ago, we decided that it was time to bless our kids with a trip to the Lake Erie beach that we love the most.  With all of the cleaning and packing we've been doing, it was time to stop, grab a friend, and go to the beach.

Lake Erie when we arrived and set up to relax.

It was such a beautiful day! 

I could barely see to take the picture, but here is one where Mr. G and I were sitting in the shade under the tree.  I take medication that makes me photosensitive, so we spent most of our time under the tree.

After spending over 3 hours in the sun, the kids were sufficiently crispy--even with 70+spf sunscreen--we went to Panera Bread before heading home.  It was something new for a couple of us, something familiar for others and just fun to pick out some neat treats that we don't normally have.

On the way home, my hubby didn't take pictures because he wasn't feeling well, but he did get a couple on our way up to Erie.

Small town with American flags waving.

Lonely old silo

Small grassy area on the hill

The valleys and scenery is breathtakingly beautiful.  I love looking as far as the eye can see and see hills and trees with an occasional splotch of green grassy patch.  It gives me a chuckle.

Upon arriving at home, we found a phone call from our Georgia realtor waiting for us.  We called and left her a message and within 5 minutes she returned our call.  The house that Mr. G put an offer on last week, we had been counter offering with 3 days in between each offer--it's a bank owned/HUD property thing where they get 3 days to reply to an offer.  The last offer, the bank/seller did not accept.  We are taking a step back and praying about how to word another counter offer, if at all.  The bank/seller would not budge on the price, but to come down $1,000.

We need to take a step back, regroup, get some things done here on our house in Pennsylvania, then see if there have been any other offers on this house.  We're waiting 2 weeks, then starting with the offer process again.  If the Lord wants us to have it, then He will make it available.  

For now, we get ready for a "Moving Sale" next weekend.  I'm getting so many things ready to sell so that the things we have to move will be limited and as small as we can possibly get it.  We are selling curriculum, too.

This journey through life is by far the most important time because it builds character, helps us to enjoy our time in the here-and-now, and it makes us linger to ensure the needful lessons are learned--sometimes whether we like it or not.  Our attitudes on the journey can be ones of thankfulness, or selfishness in which case it causes great heartache and stress for those who love us due to our own selfish responses to the unfamiliar.  

For now, though, we rest in God's will.  It's a good place to be.  Learning to rest there is difficult for many, but a very important and integral part of the journey.  I often visualize sitting in the passenger seat and letting God be the one in charge of my car.  How much I actually trust Him is directly related to how much I rest while He is driving.

It feels good not to have to drive this car through life, but to rest and let Him take the wheel.

God Bless,

On to the next thing...

Our house has sign put out.  We are still getting things done, in spite of the rain.  Some things that my husband needs to do has be done outside in the driveway, but with the rain and thunder storms, it isn't a good thing.

The front of our house has undergone quite a few changes in the past few years.  A couple years ago this view would have a gang plank approximately where the irises are due to us digging up the foundation to redo the coating.The dirt piles were up so far that no one could see in to our bay window.  Now, we're waiting for lots of wonderful perennials to pop up above the mulch.  We're leaving the large whiskey barrels without flowers because we're taking them with us.  The smaller whiskey barrels will have herbs in them because they're easier to transport.  

This trellis is covered, as is the one on the other side of the bush just out of site, with clematis flowers.  They were in full bloom this year and absolutely gorgeous!  We let the vinca vines take over and fill in the area around the bottom of the bed because there are periwinkel flowers on them and they look pretty.  

In the lower left of the above picture, I see the leaves of my lillies.  As of right now, the clematis has finished blooming, the vincas are spreading, and the lillies are in full bloom.  I should post a picture of all of them.  They're gloriously beautiful!

Tomorrow, Lord willing, I plan to finish my own chores, pack 4 boxes, then get out to my herb garden and get things thinned out.  I'll take before and after pictures.  My oregano and bee balm has decided to take over!  It's incredible what happens when your attention is elsewhere!

I plan to take clippings of all of my herbs with me, along with my perennials.  I love my perennials because I don't have to go to the store and buy them every year to make the yard beautiful.  :)   As I have gathered and grown them, the yard is being filled and I don't have to buy as many annuals.  I still like my petunias and my impatiens.  Those  flowers always fill areas and do so very well when they're cared for properly.

Have a lovely day!

God Bless,

The Reality of Moving After Ten Years

As I sit here in my reclining love seat, the living room around me is a shambles.  There are boxes, books, papers, and clutter everywhere.  The reality of moving after living here ten years is really setting in.

I've decided to begin with the books.  I know that the books are a HUGE hurdle to overcome.  Our homeschool group is having a book sale on May 4th, so I'm taking all of our books that have been weeded out and deemed sale-worthy or given away for free.  A "freeing" thing for me is that after the sale is over, I am going to take the leftover books to Good W*ll and dropping them off.  I've promised my husband that I wouldn't bring them back in to the house and I am following through with my promise.  If you read my blog and go to the homeschool group, meet me at my vehicle before I leave and whatever I have left, you can pick through.  It's yours!

Fortunately for me, it is only my living room that is disheveled.  The rest of the house is in good order, or can be put in to good order in 15 minutes or less.

I have realized, only because it has been in my face so blatantly lately, that it is worth it to declutter the mail and file it right away.  It is worth it to get the needful things filed, to declutter on a weekly basis, and to pitch the junk mail.  It is worth it to burn the things that are over 7 years old.  It is so worth it to get rid of junk!!!   So many times I have overlooked getting rid of those little things just because they might be of use to me some day.  I have overlooked things because I have been so very tired for so very long (Matthew 9:20) and the details have not been done.  After my surgery, feeling so much better, I started slowly working on my house.  It still isn't "up to par", but it is better.

After working on all of the books in the house, getting those packed in boxes and stacked neatly in the attic, it will be time to go through the craft items.  I don't plan to get rid of much, but I plan to get it "move ready" so that nothing will be lost, broken, or jostled.

The next will be the filing cabinet.  I have files and files of homeschooling papers, business papers and so forth that I need to go through to get rid of the "older than 7 years" items and burn it.

I am so pleased with the progress we've made to this point, though.  We have 13 days until we show the house and I want to get all the above things completed by then as well as a good deep spring cleaning and finishing the last little bit of painting that needs to be done.

In light of my recent surgery, just a little over 2 months ago, I am getting my kids to do all the heavy lifting.  They have been such a blessing to me!   The Lord knows that I needed these kids' help years before I knew.

Mr. G has been busy getting all the little projects completed around the house.  He just installed new flooring from the front entry way through the hallway, to the kitchen.  It looks gorgeous!  He just has a little nip and tuck to do with some wood in the kitchen, then some linoleum in the upstairs bathroom, then he'll be done.  I'm so very fortunate to have such a wonderfully handy hubby!

Upon viewing hundreds of houses in Georgia, we've sifted through so many that are too close to flood plains.  I never realized how important it was to be sure of that fact until I saw the potential for flooding in the variety of places.  Thankfully, we have a decent list of houses that are far away from flood potential to look at when we visit shortly.   Then all the fun begins!  

Setting up housekeeping in another house, in another state almost 1,000 miles away is definitely an adventure!   What is more of an adventure is that we're buying a "fixer-upper" to be on our way to being debt free.  We are so very convinced that it is imperative for us to get debt free ASAP in order to be in a position to help others as much as we can--including supporting missionaries when we can.  No one is going to help us do this, but ourselves, and we're going to make this happen for the sake of our future and the future of our children.

We are so very blessed to have been given new eyes to see the Lord's truth in "owing no man nothing but love."   The thought of that freedom makes all the "fixer-upper" work that will need to be done seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

God is so good! 

God Bless,

Just the Beginning of Finishing Up Business

Today four out of five of us went to pick up our new glasses.  This will be the last time we visit our Ophthalmologist.  We will be searching for another eye Dr in Georgia.  It felt a bit surreal that we're so close!  I'm hoping to get one, maybe 2 more teeth cleanings in for all of us before we leave for Georgia, but only the Lord knows if that will happen.

Me with my new glasses.  Sorry about the glare!

Now it is on to the next doctor to get business finished up and begin to transfer records--the Orthodontist.  Our oldest son is getting his braces off next week after almost 2 years.  He'll get a retainer and everything, then we'll look for another Orthodontist for our youngest.  He'll need them soon too.

In all of the excitement of moving, I've made sure to purchase a nice bright purple briefcase to hold the information for transferring doctors, insurance information and so forth so that I can get to it really quick for easy reference.

My husband has told me not to tell him how many more work days he has left so he's not counting down.  He admittedly told me that once it gets down to the last 2 weeks that he'll probably count down days until he can retire from his current job.  He is not sure if he'll look for work after we move or if he'll just make things to sell.  Either way, I just want him to be happy.

And So "IT" Begins

                                      

As March blows in like a lion and continues to roar, we are tucked quite tightly inside our toasty home with lots of things to do.  There are things to clean, paint, flooring to replace, vehicles to replace and the list continues. 

I decided to begin backing our "Religious Books" first.  I'm going through them to decide which ones I want to keep as a part of our library, those I want to donate to our church's library, then ones to sell and others to donate to Good Will.  The interesting part of this particular job is that I'm not bent over at the waist, but sitting on the floor with my wonderful helpers bringing me books to pack.  

Next on the list of books to pack would be my music books.  I love them, but it is time to get them packed.  I need to clean and clear out the books and there is no time like the present.  

The progress I'm making on the shawl I'm working on for a Christmas 2015 gift is slow.  I have problems with nerve damage on my left hand, so I work as much as I can and put it down for and do something else for a while.

Visiting with dear friends is also on the agenda.  My dear friend Mrs. S falls in love with my animals every time she comes to our house to visit.  I'd venture to say that they love her too.  :0)

Ever since my surgery, I have been eating ice every day.  I know that I love the coolness on my throat, but nothing soothes my throat like generic lemon lime soda.  I fill up a mason jar with ice, then usually cover it with lemon lime soda.  The picture above, I decided to add some blueberries to my drink.  I love the slight flavor and the color.  

One problem I am having is sitting still.  I feel so much better than I have in a very long time, but I don't that if I do a wee bit too much--like driving or a few chores--I get tired and it is time to rest.  From what I understand it is common to feel that way.  I rest daily, closing my eyes even for 20 minutes helps.  

I'm pacing myself with painting and packing right now, so I don't over do.  I've been trying to do some each day.  Some days it works and others it doesn't get done, but tomorrow is another day.  

I'm trying to hold my plans loosely.

God Bless,

Regina