CHRISTmas

This year, our Christmas is going to be a little different.  Simplicity is something I've always craved.  We've gone from overboard years ago when we thought more gifts were needed, to more simple and just giving 3 gifts representing the gifts of the Magi, and this year we're doing needs, keeping it simple.

Why?

We're becoming more and more convinced that the we need to strive hard to keep the commercialization out of Christmas.  This is one of those things that we really want to drive home with our kids.  Christmas really means the celebration of the gift of the coming of our Savior.  What better gift can there be?  So we worship, work together and love one another.

...fast forwarding to the day after Christmas...


I would love to begin Christmas shopping for next year right now.  The only problem is finding space to store said items, and hoping they won't melt by the time Christmas 2016 rolls around.  What about home made things?  Well, here in Georgia, those nice warm things--like wool socks, afghans, and fuzzy jammies--are not needed.  This year at least has seen some high temperatures than normal, but I'm assured that they do get cold here.  So far, we've had the AC on up to today.  Go figure!  I've felt a couple nights that have been a wee bit nippy and just a few days, not even a handful, but mostly it has been in the 70's and higher.

Our Christmas was very quiet with everyone pitching in to do their part for the very simple Christmas dinner after opening gifts.  The gifts were simple this year and I noticed how much thought my young folks put in to their gifts to one another.  What a blessing it was to see them putting such thought in to their gifts!  To me that showed so much more care and compassion than any extravagant gift ever could.  We never told them they had to give one another gifts, they want to.

Today my oldest son has been working on his bedroom painting it.  He's really looking forward to making it his own work of art--something simple, but tastefully done.  He's painting it dark green with tan trim.  He wants to have me make plaid curtains, so we've been looking at fabric for that.  I hope to have the fabric chosen and pulled together with the curtains hung in the next 2 weeks.  He wants to get a rug and new bedding too.  I imagine a new lamp is in order as well.

My daughter has been working on her bedroom off and on for the past couple of months.  She's finished painting (I think), and is in the organization phase.  She's got quite a bit more to organize and put away, but she's been working on that.  She has some important decisions to make here soon, so hopefully she'll be deciding in the next 2 weeks and moving on with things.

Me with my youngest son.  :)  

My youngest son has been taking Gus on daily walks down here for a while now.  I'm so glad he does because it gives him alone time, and time to just look around at where we now live and just enjoy himself.  He needs that.  He and I are in the beginning phases of planning for his next school year.  It's hard to believe he's going to be a Jr!  Today we talked about Bible studies and working on the important things, revisiting topics that need to be done, and reading more.  I'm finding that I need to challenge him to keep growing, to learn more and seek more.  He's always risen to the occasion.



My hubby has an interview for a new position here in GA.  Our plans all along have been for him to start looking for work at the 6 month mark so we can make extra payments and get our house paid off quickly.  We're hoping to be debt free in 5 years, Lord willing.  Then we can work toward helping others, giving of our time, talents, and treasures as the Lord makes us aware of the needs.

I hope all of you have had a wonderful Merry Christmas with all of your loved ones.  I'll see all of you next year!

God Bless,

Me & Pickles the cat

Welcome December

We welcomed December with an 82 degree day complete with glorious sunshine.  Running on a few hours of sleep, the day was very busy going from appointment to appointment, so I could enjoy it by having my arm out the window in my van.  LOL  I finally collapsed at home, with dinner almost ready  by my hubby and youngest son having made "Lazy Lasagna" from our new Trim Healthy Mama cookbook.  It was awesome btw!

The rest of the month promises to be just as busy with the slight increase in appointments, but also a slight increase in other activities, like parades and Christmas parties.

I'm planning to continue with the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle right through the holidays.  How?  I've been keeping and printing out all those luscious wonderful treats that I find on the internet to make during this time to help me stay on plan, and have cake for breakfast! Yippee!

I would love to say that all of this change is easy, but it isn't. I am finding it extremely challenging, not for myself, but for my kids.  I have 2 who could stand to loose some weight too.  So, my husband and I have quietly decided to loose weight and get down below where they are to create a little "healthy" competition with them.

Here is a lovely picture of our Christmas tree.

2015 Christmas Tree in the Georgia house.

The picture of our tree symbolizes so much!  It is with so much love and appreciation that this picture, in all of it's flawed glory, represents so much of our lives right now.  Allow me to explain:

1).  The tree is beautiful with the decorations, lights, star, and ribbon.  This represents our family's love and work together to bring about something beautiful.

2).  The ribbon stops before it gets to the bottom.  There is a reason for that.  I have a beautiful dog named Rustie who has served us well for 14 years this month.  We love him to pieces.  He is getting older, moves around in a not so organized fashion anymore and when he goes by the tree, we'd rather be sure he doesn't get tangled in ribbon while we're gone.  Occasionally, he's been so nice to us to give us another view of the tree by rotating it for us.  That's why there isn't a tree skirt in this picture and why there is one lonely bulb on the floor instead of the tree.  ;)

3).  The bare, unfinished cement floor....yes, I love it!  It represents sacrifice.  It represents love.  It represents frugality and patience too.  You see, we could have taken our money and finished the floor, but instead we've decided to wait until our house in Pennsylvania has sold before we finish the flooring.  We want to be sure we tend to the obligations we have before tending to the floor.  So the floor takes a back seat.  Why not use a credit card?  Well, we have used the "all cash" system for a very long time and we will continue to use the all cash system not because credit is bad, but because it gives us more control over our money.  We can tell our money where to go.  This is a basic concept that Dave Ramsey uses in his Total Money Makeover program.  This is a basic concept that we're working diligently to pass on to our kids--patience with our life circumstances, and telling our money where to go.  So this floor represents love--as an action word.

4).  The love of books and reading is represented so well in this picture too. I bet you thought I wouldn't bring that up!  LOL   Yes, I have too many books, but I love books.


We are working toward becoming debt free.  This is a step in the journey.  We are selling more of our things and downsizing, decluttering, giving things away too.  The less clutter there is, the less we have to spend time taking care of, dusting, cleaning, upkeep and so forth.

I promise, I will post pictures of our progress.  The thought of being debt free tastes soooo good!  


God Bless,

Mr. G and me

Thanksgiving

Today, while being our first Thanksgiving in our "new to us" Georgia home, has been a little surreal for all of us.  The challenges of a larger dinner is one that needs some planning ahead, organization, and usually purchasing things ahead to ensure you have all of your ingredients on hand.  This year has been much the same, but different.

In years past, we have always purchased the largest turkey we can find so we can enjoy leftovers for a while.  This year I started by getting a smaller turkey because we have a smaller wall oven instead of a full size free standing oven.  Then we found a discount store with some pretty good prices, so my husband said we could handle a larger turkey--in one of the large roasters that we have.  I couldn't resist telling him, "Only if you do NOT peak!"  LOL  He has this habit of wanting to peek at "Tom" while he's cooking.  I time it so that Tom is done and there is no need for peeking.  LOL  So, we took Tom out of his frozen lair on Sunday in preparation for his grand appearance as "Guest of Honor" today.

As with every other holiday for every other year, the planning continued.  There was just one thing that was thrown in to the mix.  In October, just a day or so after my "intake" appointment at my new Dr's office, I decided to begin (again) Trim Healthy Mama (THM) lifestyle program in earnest.  I just felt so "icky" for the past year and needed to do something for myself to feel better.  I was having some serious anemia, surgery, then moving, living in a motel for almost a whole week and getting settled, and still getting settled.  But, it was time.  I knew it.  It was confirmed a week later after my results came back with an enlarged heart, higher triglycerides (doubled from the time before), and fasting blood sugar that was the highest it has ever been in spite of my A1C only rising just a smidge.  By the time I received the results, I had already lost 5 pounds, so it is all good!

All that said, I started looking at Thanksgiving thinking, loathing in some cases, the foods that inevitably would be made for my family.  Don't get me wrong, I love baking.  I love making things for my family.  However, knowing that both my husband and I (and possibly 2 of our 3 kids) would need to drop some weight, I needed to be the one to take action.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make home made marshmallows, or the pecan custard pie that I wanted to make.  BUT!  I will be ordering those ingredients soon and I'll be able to make those things for my family without a worry or concern about their health.

As I planned, I consulted my husband with each dish I wanted to make.  He specifically asked for mashed potatoes and promised that he wouldn't go crazy because he likes my mashed potatoes.  I started preparing the cheese bread THM style on Monday.

 I made a double batch and added thyme, sage, and a smidge of garlic powder because we like garlic.  I didn't have room in my refrigerator for it, so I put it in the freezer until last night.  I took it out, dried it in the oven a little more, added sausage, onion, celery, butter, chicken broth, sage, thyme, salt, pepper, and (that's right!) garlic.  Tom was thoroughly stuffed with the mixture and it was good!  It was satisfying and filling!   My hubby put him in his honorary roaster and while he was gone, I added a loving note on the tin foil, "No Peaking!" just for him.  LOL  He honored my loving request and when it was time to unearth Tom, he was "popped", moist and yummy.  :)  

While Tom got happy and yummy in the roaster, I made 2 pumpkin pies that were THM recipes.  After I put them in the oven and did some clean up, I gave the job of peeling and boiling the sweet potatoes to my youngest, the green bean casserole to my daughter, and the peeling and boiling of the white potatoes to my oldest.  While all of that was happening, I started smelling some smoke.  "HOLY MOLY Bat man!"  I went in to the kitchen, opened the oven and out it rolled!  I was thinking my THM pies were "toast", but I took them out and finished baking them in the toaster oven for the remainder of their time.  In the mean time, everyone got the fans in the windows to pull the smoke out.  I thought to myself, "I sure hope the neighbors don't call 911 when they see the smoke rolling out the window!  Wow!"   So, we spent some time out in the sun on the back porch while the house cleared out and just looked around, talked, and enjoyed the 72 degree day in shorts and tank tops.  (Go figure!)

When we sat down to dinner, I sat there quietly hoping that everyone would like the wee bit of the change made.  It wasn't a major change, just one that took out 2 more insulin spiking carbs and replace them with healthy satisfying fats.  I think it was a success.  I think the pumpkin pies, next time I'm going to add the same amount of spices from the Amish cookbook that we have in lieu of the one we used.  We like flavor, so those spices were missed, in my opinion, at least for me.

What would I like to do next year?  I want to make my own cranberry sauce.  I'd like to do that without sugar, and a bunch of other pies as well as making "Radish Toes" instead of potatoes.  :D  I'll have to experiment.  :)

Now we begin looking forward to celebrating the Christmas Season.  I love Christmas.  It is my favorite season.  I love decorating, baking, having friends over, caroling, singing in church, looking at Christmas lights with my hubby and kids, watching old Christmas movies, and some new.  I love "Silent Night", I love tradition, candle lighting and everything else.  I do not like, however, the commercialization of this most precious and holy time of year.  I do not participate in the commercialization--Black Friday or Cyber Monday.  I just get simple gifts for my family.  We do not go to extravagance which we do not think the celebration is all about, but about the ultimate love of a Holy God who came down to live among us.  In trying to keep things simple, we do not go to malls and stay away from stores as much as possible around those peak hours where people will be there to Christmas shop.  We shop to get needs taken care of.

Ok, enough of my soap box....

How was your Thanksgiving?  Did you do anything different this year?  Did you serve the same traditional things your family has served in years past?

God Bless,

Organizing Continued

Organizing continues throughout the house.  Please forgive me for this disjointed post, but it shows some goofyness, some pets, some school work, some of my guys and my lovely daughter, boxes (still) and just trying to get things put away and in place.  

I have my calendar connected to my phone.  It is a wonderful tool to help remind me to unpack and find homes for things, appointments, when I need to leave for certain things, and other important things in my life.  I love using this tool!  It is becoming very close to my right arm!

...taking a break from organizing...

For your viewing pleasure...yes, we're goofy!  I noticed my husband and my oldest son had blue jeans and orange shirts on the other day...by sheer accident.  I called them in and asked to take their pictures in a "Like Father Like Son" sort of thing. It was fun!

They dressed alike and didn't realize it.

...back to organizing...

Organizing continues in the dining room.  I have my dry erase board and calendar up right where everyone can see it.  The bulletin board, however, needs to have a couple screws put in the concrete wall.  My youngest wasn't too sure about doing that since Daddy wasn't home.  He wanted to be sure Daddy was ok with it.

We continue to work on streamlining daily chores to keep things running smoothly.  I'd love to do so many different things to this room and have tons of stuff on my amazon and ebay "wish lists" to purchase in the future.

My dining room in the morning light.  I just have a little more to do and it will be finished unpacking.  The work, however, will continue.  LOL

"Bunny Trail"....or organizing pet care during traveling or moving...

Gus was interesting bringing down to Georgia.  The vet suggested giving him 10mgs of Melatonin while we drive each day to help calm him until we arrived at each destination.  It worked well to settle him a bit, but a lot of the time he spent in the kids' laps snuggling, or like you see him pictured here.  We purposely planned to break up the trip in to 2 days so the dogs would get a break from traveling.  Rustie, Biscuit, & Pickles traveled well.  They just curled up and slept.  Gus was a little more of a challenge because it seemed like he either couldn't get comfortable, or sensed a change was happening and was just restless.

My precious daughter holding Gus on the way to pick up my youngest son from a Civil Air Patrol function.

...moving on to the house...

 I'm trying to let these colors (3rd one down on all 3) grow on my husband.  I know that eventually whatever color I choose, it will look nice.  I have ideas!  :)

Different colors I'm considering in the living room--3rd color down from the top.

 This is the biggest wall in our living room.  It is drab and very dull looking.  I really want to brighten it up with some color, add a nice clock and some other things I find.  :)  Yes, there are still boxes in here.  I'm trying to stay "hands off" with those because I've left it up to the kids to take care of.  Here in the next week I'm going to get them moving.  It's been long enough.  :D

The large long wall I get to decorate, the wall opposite of this wall is almost completely one full huge window.

 Mr. Pickles has enjoyed our new house.  We found him a kitty condo and he loves eating at the top because the dogs cannot get to him.  He also likes his morning cream in a tiny dish while I make coffee.  He's found that visiting people while they're doing their daily work most often ends up with him perched on a table on top of a piece of paper or inside a box or something that inevitably needs cleaning.  LOL  He likes sitting on top of boxes.  I'm hoping to eradicate the boxes from the house very soon so that he won't have anywhere to sit, but on the chairs he's supposed to be on!  LOL

Pickles decided to come see my youngest while he wrote his memory verse of the day. 

 The living room is getting cleared and a wee bit of decorating done.  I received some birthday money from my in-laws and bought the "G", plaque and candles on the mantle.  My hubby thought I was funny getting the "G" as a deer antler.  I don't want everything to be done completely with a feminine touch, but one of masculine and feminine combined.  I have a bit of my floral and lace here and there, but not much.  I'd prefer to blend the two.  Besides, my husband and sons live here too!

The boxes are dwindling, now it's getting difficult figuring out where to put things.  I know we'll need more bookshelves!  That's a given. The piles of boxes directly behind the lamp is all books!

 I'm excited to have a place for all of my fabric and crafting supplies!  Outside this picture to my extreme right, almost behind me is a table where I plan to cut fabrics and lay out patterns.  I can sit and do delicate, tedious quilting cuts or large scale work.

To the left is my office supply shelf.  To the left of that is filing cabinet drawers and my L shaped desk that I'm clearing off and filing all the papers that everyone seems to have found upon unpacking.  I thought I had everything filed or thrown out, but not so!  Just a bit more to go and it will be done.  I'm not allowing myself to do any crafting (except knitting) until this is done.

I know where all of my fabric and patterns are!  Hooray!

To the left of the above picture, just add the book shelf where the boxes are to the right.

While I organize and put things in their place here in Georgia, I'm finding that a lot of things are different than I had them in Pennsylvania.  I love the above "L" shaped desk that we bought to hold files, the printer, my sewing machine and my sewing notions.  I love the space here.  I love how large our bedroom is.  I was telling my Mother-in-law that I think it is the largest bedroom we've ever had in our married lives.  Of course there are lots of things that still need to find their place.  Yes, there are some things I'd like to give away, but all in due time.  I cannot do everything all at once.  My goal is to unpack AND put away 4 boxes per day.  However, while unpacking, the house needs cleaned, concepts reviewed and retaught in some cases, and life still needs to move forward.  Appointments need to be driven to, classes and functions need to be attended, new friendships need to be nourished, and I need to spend more time with my husband.  With all of this busy time, we need to purposefully set aside time to spend together.  I'd love to snap my fingers and have everything done to my liking, but realistically that takes time and money.  We're doing things debt free, so the changes we make will take time, as money becomes available. Until it is done, we wait, sometimes not so patiently, but in those times God is growing our patience and showing our young folks how to wait for things until the money is available.  The fruit will show itself in due time!

God Bless,

That's me trying to get a picture without glare!  LOL  I'm goofy too!  LOL

Culture Shock or Culture Love?

Moving on from Pennsylvania has been interesting.  Our main reasons for moving south were to be closer to my husband's family, to get better health care for our son, to get out of debt faster, and to allow my husband to get out of the career mindset he was in while working in the PA state corrections system.  These reasons have not only brought thankfulness, but also challenges of their own.

Currently, we live a few hours from my husband's parents and brother.  We haven't had a chance to go see them yet with 4 animals needing to stay here with a house sitter.  We haven't found a house sitter yet.  We're hoping to find one soon so that we can go down to see them soon.  It has been too long!

Health care for our son has been met with the challenge of a Dr. who is only in our area 3 times per month.  If we needed anything, like a signature for a pre-authorization for medication, we'd have to wait until he came back in to town, otherwise he's unreachable.  Ugh!  So, we're switching Dr's to one that is more reachable.  The advent of more technologically advanced practices down here has been an eye opener.  Some of the Dr's in this practice do a type of Tele-conferencing where you just show up to the office for your appointment and sit in front of a computer screen with the Dr in their office--where ever that may be, and have your appointment with them.  Definitely an interesting change from Pennsylvania!   Fortunately, he is getting the care he needs and we're able to move on and get him in to a program for vocational training.

Originally, our prayer was to be able to buy a house outright, without debt.  But, after looking at countless houses, including foreclosures and HUD homes, we decided that a small mortgage with a 10 year loan from a local bank was the best way to go.  We tried larger banks, but for the small amount we needed, they would not lend to us.  They would not be making much money off our loan, so they would not lend to us.  Go figure!  So, here we are with a modest loan from a local bank, getting ready to pay extra on the principle balance to pay it off early--5 years instead of 10.  Will broach the "why" at a later time.

Our current house has been dropped in our laps, filling our needs quite nicely and many of our wants, in a very quiet little town with a quaint blow of a train whistle about 1/2 mile away a few times a day and once at night (confirmed by my daughter since she hears it at night from her bedroom).  LOL  The challenge, as I'm sure you may have read or heard from me has been that this house, while fitting our needs, has needed quite a bit of work.  The cockroach infestation has been mostly controlled, but we had to wait for a bit to put the kitchen items away for a good 2 weeks, sometimes longer in some cases, due to the infestation.  There is a cupboard that I won't use to this day because when I open it and clean the dead roaches, there inevitably is more once I open it again.  They are getting in from somewhere, but due to the spray my husband put down, they die within a foot or so of being inside the cupboard.  So, I clean them up every so often.  They don't get any further than that, fortunately.

Another issue has been ants!  Not carpenter ants, but the little bitty brown ants.  They've come up through the smallest of holes and gone after the dog food.  One morning Gus was barking at his dish and upon further investigation, the dish had ants marching in it and continuing to it from a tiny crack where the floor met the wall!!!  We had a good laugh, pitched the food, cleaned the dish and within minutes, he had more food and it was relocated.  Another incident with ants inside the house was on the "clean" dishes on the counter.  We followed the trail and found that they had gotten in where the addition meets the main house.  It only takes a small pinhole for these things to get in and they came up through the grout in the kitchen and made a trail to a wooden spoon that was just barely wet from being washed the night before.  Once again, my husband sprayed and they're all contained.  More ants though!  In the vehicles has been the roughest area.  They get in to the engine after the sweet smelling antifreeze, then make their way in to the main part of the vehicle.  If you don't stay on top of things, getting all the trash and wrappers out from a Mega shopping trip, then the next day you have a stream of ants forming a line to some small crumb laying on the floor.  Whew!

Lastly, my husband has been retired from corrections for 6 months now, thankfully.  His spirit is more at ease now.  He is much more relaxed and content.  He now has a new name that the locals gave him, "Mr. C____ from Pennsylvania."  He beamed when he told me.  He is no longer identifying himself in the former job he had, which I will not repeat the name he dubbed of himself which is very demeaning to himself.  He is such a visionary man.  He is a leader when leadership is called for, otherwise he is a Mr. Steady, going with the flow.  These have always been a part of his nature outside of corrections, he just didn't see it.  He was saved on December 30th, 2012 and now he's able to relax, away from the corrections environment, and allow the Holy Spirit to grow him.

As we have met people and talked with them about our lives, they've asked us, "What brings you to Southwestern Georgia?  Work?"  We say, "No, God  brought us here!"  That small statement has opened up so many wonderful conversations about God's work in our lives and His goodness toward us.  What a balm to our soul to find that just about every person we come across has enjoyed hearing about God's work in bringing us here.

We will become members of Sherwood Baptist Church on December 6th.  We have found our church home and look forward to being stretched and challenged by THE Word of God in a hope to continue becoming more like Jesus.  The pruning of our hearts and minds are about to begin.  Yes, pruning hurts, but we truly believe the Lord has brought us here to this point in our lives.  Because of that, our willingness to lay down our "self" and willingly submit to His loving pruning should be cause for celebration.  Thank God for His loving kindness!

In Christ,

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,

Little Weeds

The newly established flower bed as seen from the front porch.  I have Shasta Daisies, Lavendar, Hybiscus, Irises, and some other small flowers that I can't remember their names, but they're perennials.

This wonderful new flower bed has given me fits with the little weeds that have popped up over time.  I know that with more mulch and pulling weeds more often, this flower bed would do much better.

Isn't that always the way it is with our own lives as well?  Give us more "quality" food and pull the "little weeds" and we'll grow exponentially.  I don't know about you, but my "Miracle Grow" comes in the spiritual form.  In the past 2 weeks, I've had the awesome pleasure to worship in Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, GA as well as First Baptist Church of Clarion, PA.  Both places were filled with spiritual food beyond anything one would begin to hope or desire.

But what about the daily "weeds" that spring up?  I love to garden.  I love to compare any portion of life to gardening because it really hits home and many people can understand the meaning of what you're trying to say when comparing it to gardening.  I love that Jesus made many word pictures for those he taught in the Bible with gardening symbols.  One of my personal favorites is in John 15.

John 15:1-9

(1)  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

(2)  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

(3)  Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

(4)  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

(5)  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

(6)  If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

(7)  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

(8)  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

(9)  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

I love how the Lord directs us to remain in His love just like the branch is remaining in the vine.  What about the "little weeds?"  

The little weeds, much like the ones you see in my picture above are sin.  Sinful thoughts, deeds, words, against our bodies, our husbands, our children, parents, anyone really, are what those little weeds represent.  Much like "little foxes" spoiling the vinyard.

 Song of Solomon 2:15

  "Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom."

Although the little foxes are full of mischief and want to eat all the good luscious fruits off the vine, we can compare little foxes that spoil the vinyard to weeds as well.  When a vinyard hasn't been tended to, it gets spoiled with wild and sour grapes.  

Proverbs 6:6-11

(6)  Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

(7)  Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,

(8)  she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

(9)  How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?

(10)  A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,

(11)  and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

Once again, the Lord uses not just gardening, but also the example of an ant in how to work hard without being told in the appropriate season for the work given.  So should each of us work in each season as the Lord has given us to prepare for our families' needs, weeding out the "little weeds" as we go along.

How do we weed out the sin in our lives? 

When a weed takes root, it is much easier to remove when it is little.  If we allow the weed to get larger, the roots will have taken hold and are much more difficult to remove and once visibly removed, the roots could grow back.  

Keeping ourselves 24/7 in the word of God, worshiping always, praying on our knees always--ignoring the needs of our family is not what we are called to be doing.  In my own opinion, we need to be taking our walk and relationship with the Lord much further, talking of God's goodness, having a thankful heart and mind throughout our daily lives, while giving, working, and learning and growing together with other family members.  It is important to share with one another, to talk and encourage one another and at times, help one another to remove the little weeds of sin by willingly being accountable to one another with our own weaknesses.  

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul 

and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be 

on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk 

of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when

 you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, 

and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the 

doorposts of your house and on your gates." 

(Deuteronomy 6:5-9)

I think this is the key, "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when  you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."  as well as "and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes."  It is imperative for us as "weeders of the garden" to be deliberate in our lives, gain a vision for what our lives would be like if we continue diligently weeding, then think of what it would like if we did NOT diligently weed with consistency and deliberateness.  I shudder to think what my life would be without deliberate consistency.  Most days I fall and fail with some weeds, but the next day they are right there staring me in the face, needing attention with that same deliberate consistency.

How about you?  How do you handle those weeds?

God Bless,