Gearing Up

I'm spending the day making pumpkin pies and Mac 'N Cheese (James' request) to take to Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving tomorrow. We are heading that way this afternoon and I can't wait. There just isn't much better than Thanksgiving Day!

Then James' family is coming to our house on Friday to celebrate. I will be making my first Thanksgiving dinner. Wish me luck! I only agreed if I didn't have to make a turkey. I know, everyone says "its not that bad". Well, I'm sure its not, but I don't want to do it yet. So...I was going to order one, but didn't totally know when or who would be here, so I never got around to it. The compromise, stuffed turkey breast. I have very detailed instructions and don't think it will be too hard. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Also, I broke down and put up the tree last night. It looks so beautiful. We have the perfect Christmas tree window! I went and bought the tree yesterday, hoping to beat the crazy crowds this weekend, but had convinced myself that I would wait until Saturday to put it up. I'm easy to unconvince! James called right after I had gotten home with it and asked what I was doing. "Oh nothing, but I bought the tree today."
"You did, Oh I can't wait to drive up and see it in the window when I get home from work."
"Well, I'm not going to put it up today, we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet."
"Are you kidding me, who cares!! Please, please put it up today."
Smiling, "Okay, it will be up when you get home!"

So, I did some Christmas decorating last night. We are missing more than half of our decorations, so I'm hoping to find them in Mom and Dad's storage building. I'll post pictures this weekend when our winter wonderland isn't mixed with our fall decor.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, my family and friends. I love you all and count you among my blessings.

Must Read

As with my last book recommendation, I'm sure many of you have already read this book, but if you haven't...YOU MUST!! I can promise, you will not be disappointed.

Somebody is ready for Christmas!

$87.50

I got caught in a really weak moment on Saturday. I was home by myself and as I was walking by the front window, there was a lady waving into the house from the driveway. I already told you everyone watches our every move. She clearly saw me, so I had to go open the front door. (I've already been instructed by James to NEVER open the door when I'm alone, but what was I supposed to do?)

So, I went to the door and she begins this spill about how she was "your neighborhood, fresh fruit and vegetable lady. I have sweet corn, beautiful onions and potatoes, pineapple oranges, sweet grapefruits, oranges and a mix between an apple and a pear. I'd love to show you what I got, people in your new neighborhood been buying from me for years." Before I had time to think, she had cut a piece of each of the above with her dirty hands and a knife not much cleaner and they were either in my mouth or one of my two hands. I was trying so hard to hold all of it that I didn't even really know what she was saying or what was happening. I did hear that she would just love to sell me a box of my pick and "sug, I promise to fill it to the top. I'll give you the best I got."

I said, "okay, sure. I'll have a box of grapefruit."
"Well, darlin' you so sweeeet, I'll give you a box of mixed fruit and a box of mixed vegetables. You need them vegetables for Thanksgiving comin' up."
"How much is each box?"
"Only $87.50, but I fill it all the way to the top." Grapefruit juice spewed from my mouth and I think my nose too, I choked so hard.
I thought well, crap! What in the heck am I supposed to do now? $87.50 are you kidding me?

So, I did the only thing I knew to do. I told her I'd be right back and I went and wrote a check for $87.50. When I came back to the door there was some pitiful looking guy with my box of mixed fruit and vegetables and sure enough it was filled to the top.

I beat myself up all day over being "ripped off", but I wasn't ripped off. Yes, I wouldn't have spent that much for the fruits and veggies from the grocery store, but she wasn't standing on the corner begging for money. This woman was spending her day going door to door trying to make a living. Whats wrong with that?

I now know that I will probably be getting a knock on my door on a regular basis ("I'll be back right after Thanksgiving to set you up for all them fruit baskets you'll be giving away at Christmas"), but I will have a plan next time. She caught me in a weak, unprepared moment on Saturday. Next time, I'll ask her what 20 bucks can get me.

I'm not the only one who gets caught in a weak moment, right?

A Few Pictures

So here they are! We are basically all settled in to our new home. Of course we have a long list of things we would still love to buy, do, etc., but we are content with what we have accomplished thus far. Since my debit number was stolen, I'm a little hesitant to spend even a penny until that is completely resolved. Having said that, we did order new windows yesterday and plantation shutters will be ordered in the next few days. Right now we are living on display, which isn't ideal, but we can handle it a little longer. At least all of our neighbors know exactly where everything is located in our house, what time we eat dinner, when I wear my sock monkey pjs, what shows we watch on t.v...

So, here is the entryway My new favorite piece of art, the picture doesn't do it justice. You must come visit to see it.

Our dining room, this table was a killer find. I won't brag on here about what a great deal I got. I'll wait til I can brag in person. : )

Our kitchen, which I love!! It's been very fun cooking in here.

Our cozy, little living room.

Again, probably not okay to toot my own horn, but I'm very proud of our bedroom. It doesn't really go with the rest of the house, but its our room--who cares!

This room still requires the most work. We are planning on using it for an office, junk room, but are thinking now we should clear it out and work on our dance moves in there. Any other ideas?

Not much exciting going on in the guest room, but it is open for reservations. We hung a sheet thing with thumb tacks when mom spent the night to cover the window.

The guest bathroom. I also think this turned out very pretty. On my last post, I mentioned that there was no hot water. Guess what? There is lots of hot water, its just that the hot/cold knobs are switched! What great news!

James and I have already agreed to spend the weekend having fun, enjoying our house and each other. That means no house projects, just hanging out with each other. Last weekend was wonderful, but we didn't have a single minute to ourselves. So far on our list Mexican food and either a movie or bowling tomorrow night, renting movies, playing scrabble and eating junk food at home on Saturday and probably more of the same on Sunday. Not totally sure yet, but maybe some Christmas decorating. That doesn't count as a house project right?

Just 'Cause

This post is just 'cause, I feel like blogging. I missed it so much this past week. I'm now sitting on the couch, listening to James snore from the bedroom and feeling so thankful to be in our home. This week has been so much fun, but honestly, it has been very stressful. James and I have both been so busy and had so many things on our "to-do" lists that we have not connected the way we should have. Thankfully, we got most of that fixed last night. Now, I feel like we are back to being on the same team, rather than working independently.

We thought we knew that there would be a few bumps in the road with buying our first house, but when you actually come to the bumps, it kind of throws you for a loop. For starters, the toilet in our bathroom isn't functioning properly. I thought I had fixed it and was so proud of myself, until this morning when I had to get up at 5 and turn the water off because it kept running and was keeping me awake. Mom came and spent Saturday night with us, when she tried to shower the next morning, she didn't have hot water in the hall shower. It looks like we need to call a plumber. Maybe the electrician that came on Wednesday can give us a recommendation. An electrician? Oh yeah, he had to fix the outlet for the dryer after the poor man delivering the washer and dryer almost burned to death. Okay, okay, he didn't almost burn to death, but there was a small fire. Thankfully that was resolved with a few minutes and small fee. Hopefully that small fee doesn't turn into returned check fees due to someone having a bit too much fun with my debit card number this weekend and taking my checking account to a negative $22. Thank you for that. I will now be going back to the cash only system.

Yes, there have been lots of loops, but man we are so thankful. We love our house and we wouldn't change a thing. We are tired and sometimes scared, but overflowing with joy. The fear and time and money, makes us that much more grateful. Mom was talking to James this weekend when she came to visit and she kept complimenting him on how great the house was. She then said, "as much as I love the house, what I really love is the home that you have created for my daughter". She is so right. We love the house, but it's not about the house. It is about the fact that we are living this great life together that we almost gave up on. We almost let this pass us by. How grateful I am, that through God's mercy and a lot of work on both of our parts we are here in the place healing our past, living our present and dreaming our future.

Thank you to everyone for checking in on us, praying for us and encouraging us. Just cause we are moved in, doesn't mean we don't still need all of those things. Without James' permission, I won't go into detail, but I do ask that you say a special prayer for James and his family tonight. Perhaps being a bit selfish, I ask that you especially pray for James.

We love all of you and I thank you so much for checking in on us and keeping up with our lives.

Doing the Happy Dance

I'm doing the happy dance because our Internet and cable were finally installed today. Yippee! I've been living in my own world with no clue as to what everyone else is up to. If there is anything that I may have missed on the news, Facebook, emails...just feel me in. Thanks!

So we are in the house and we love it! There have definitely been a few somewhat scary and overwhelming events, but overall we could not be happier. I will fill you all in later, but I just wanted to let you know we are back. We have to make a trip to Lowe's real quick and then I should post again later tonight. Pictures too, I promise!

Quick Update

Just to update everyone, we now have a home!! Closing was this morning and absolutely painless in my opinion. I had imagined that it would be awful, so I was relieved when it wasn't. After we got the keys, I spent some time cleaning up the inch of dust on every surface in the house and did some serious shopping. It has been a great day, but I'm ready for bed. Our refrigerator and washing machine are being delivered at 7 in the morning and the movers will be here at 8. We are preparing for another long, tiring, but good day.

Just to let all my loyal readers know, we will be without Internet until the 17th. They promised to let us know if an earlier appointment become available, but I'm not counting on it. I will try to do some type of update post before then, but if I don't, please forgive me. Stay tuned...Love to all!

The Candy Trade

Today I got to be a part of something really special that I hope to share with my own children. The girls that I keep went Trick or Treating on Friday night and collected a TON of candy. Each year they get to "trade" in their candy at a store of their choice.
Here is how it worked. After picking out 10 pieces they wanted to keep, they put the rest of the candy in a bag to trade in and donate to children who didn't get to trick or treat. They chose to go to Joann's Fabrics, of all places to trade in their candy. I told them they could get something that was $10 or less because that is what their candy was worth. Seven year old picked out a "make your own lip balm" kit and five year old chose a jewelry making kit with glow in the dark beads.
We went to the cash register with our two items and bag full of candy. I stood behind the girls and told the lady that we would like to trade our candy in to be donated to children in exchange for our items. I'm pretty sure at first she thought I was a crazy woman with a severe eye twitch, but then she caught on to my winking. It was funny because she was speaking in a normal tone until she realized what was going on. She then began to whisper, even though the girls were standing right there and could hear her.
After handing over the candy and scanning the items, I paid for their new treats. Somehow that didn't seem weird or wrong to them. I guess they were too excited about their stuff to worry about that.
Of course they agreed to hand over their loot for something in exchange, but all week they have talked about giving their candy to people who didn't have a Happy Halloween. I love that they are learning at such a young age about sharing with those who have less than themselves.

Tomorrow is Thursday...

Which means the next day is Friday!! We close on our house Friday morning. Perhaps that explains the lack of blog posts this week. I am super, duper busy and probably will be for the next few days. I promise to be a dedicated blogger again soon. I hope you all are having a great week!

A Good Time

As I mentioned James and I headed to Tyler for some much needed TLC on Saturday. There isn't anything too exciting to report, but we did have a great time. The guys got to spend time hitting golf balls and watching a lot of football, while Mom and I were able to do a little shopping and a lot of chatting. Thanks Mom and Dad for a great little getaway!