Movin' On Up

I posted on facebook the other day that Roger and I both are starting to have a deep desire to find some property with more land to grow more of our own food, raise chickens and maybe get a horse. Roger wants about 20 acres and also wants a little woodsy area and a pond/lake on the property to fish and hunt, but we suspect that may be a little difficult to find unless we move really far away from the big city. I was amazed at all of the feedback comments from my post from friends who read it--either adding comments under my post or talking to me about it face to face--they all have the same desire as us.

One of the friends is from church and homeschooling. Her husband told me this morning at church that they may be moving out our way. They were going to look at an open house really close to us. He piqued our curiosity so we went to look also, and ran into them there. He jokingly said, "I knew I shouldn't have told you about this!" The property was gorgeous and would be something that Roger and I would be interested in--it had every aspect that I mentioned up above, but we know this is not our time. We had discussed at lunch today that if we were serious about this, we were going to have to continue working on getting out of debt--we are getting closer all the time, still need to get our current house in good condition, cut back on our travel plans--which is difficult for us because we love to travel, and it's possible we could have this dream 5 years from now--God willing.

It's exciting to think about this, but I am also grateful that both of us know that there are other things to do before this dream can come true. It is so nice to be happy and rejoice with our friends if they decide to buy this property without feeling any discontentment about our own circumstances. Besides, they would be living so close to us that I'm sure they wouldn't mind us dropping in a couple of times a week to enjoy their property, right Kelly? (She knows I'm just joking...maybe?) Wink, wink!

The Frickin' Bull

This actually happened a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to blog it just so I wouldn't forget it.

On a Friday evening we went to eat at a restaurant called The Firkin and Bull. It's designed like an English pub and has a lot of that type of food and it is yummy. Mine and the kids' first time, Roger's third or fourth I think he said. Anyway....there were two things I wanted to remember from that night.

One: the kids kept accidentally calling it The Frickin' Bull which just made me laugh over and over again. They literally kept calling it that by accident.

Two: I just kept thinking over and over that the name of the restaurant did sound like almost some type of swearing, so Roger got out his fancy phone with everything on it and looked up the meaning of the name. Firkin is an old English unit of volume for beer, wine, butter, and soap. Now I know--and so do you in case you never knew that before.

A Fearful Night

Last night we got a call from my dad in Kentucky around 9:30 saying that my 14 year old brother and 2 of his friends were lost in the woods around their farm and search and rescue was being called in. Now, this is not just some small woodsy area--this is the Daniel Boone National Park.

The boys had gone off to do some exploring and were told to be back by dark. When they were not showing up, 911 was called. Word was spread to different people and before they knew it the farm was filled with dozens of people and emergency vehicles and tremendously bright spotlights.

There were 22 teams of 2-3 people on 4 wheelers who went out looking for the boys. They knew that forest. They had maps and names for parts of the forest. One of the places they decided to look around was where cliffs were--not where the boys would have fallen off, but overhangs they could be sheltering under towards the bottom of a hill. That is where they were found.

The weather was in the 50s and the boys only had on t-shirts. They had just gotten so turned around from the cabin. And it was so dark they didn't even have the moon or starlight to light a way. They were found a 45 minute walk away.

Two hours after my dad called us the boys were found. I am amazed at how quickly word spread, the number of people who came out to help search, and the organization of this search and rescue. Word had gotten to the closest big city of Lexington 30 miles away and this morning they called to ask to do an interview, but were declined.

Word was spread around facebook so many people were praying. Evan and Lauren only found about all of this at church this morning when people asked us about it. Lauren--our spiritually sensitive child--first reaction was to remind us all that "God was with them." Evan was just in awe about the whole thing and kept saying "really?" and "wow" in a thoughtful, calm way as if really contemplating what exactly had happened to Uncle Sammy. Not to mention we had just finished reading a chapter book in school about a little girl who got lost in the woods in the 1800s, but the people believed that God would help them find her, and it happened. I'm actually kind of amazed the parallels between what happened in the book to what happened with my family even though there are hundreds of years apart.

All I can say to end this post is "Praise God"!!!!!!!!

P.S. On the map above at number 78 is Sand Gap KY and that is where their homestead is--all forest surrounding them.

Beautiful August Evening

Was last night really August 20th in Kansas? The weather was absolutely beautiful so we ate dinner outside and played some badminton and volleyball. So fun! Yes, we are eating under the gazebo where our hot tub used to be. It's gone now, so it has become our outdoor dining area until winter when we will bring the table and chairs back into the sun room.

Yearbook Pics

This was something fun to do on facebook. I took a picture of me and put it into different yearbook photos. Yes, on some I could have adjusted the face pic better, and the color contrast is not that great. I say so what...it's still hilarious! How about those boy pics--do you see Evan as a teenager in any of those? Fun, fun!

14 Years of Marriage!

Roger and I are celebrating 14 years of marriage today! We've actually been a couple for 20 years, so we've kind of been celebrating that this year, too! If you've ever listened to my playlist, there are two songs I put on the list that are dedicated to Roger: I Promise You by Michael Bolton, and Because You Love Me by Celine Dion. The Michael Bolton song has special meaning to me--it reminds me of the feelings that two people have on their wedding day and how I want to try to always keep those feelings throughout the hilly path of marriage. But, the Celine Dion song I have always dedicated to Roger for years because that song says exactly how I feel about him! Take a listen.

Fireplace and Bedroom Windows Renovations

Our lovely new fireplace and bedroom windows are done. The fireplace reno started last July with demolition and except for new fp doors needed--it's done! Roger did most of the work with the exception of his dad helping out a little back in April. He did an excellent job! I love the color of the wood, tile, and paint. One hidden blessing from this job was finding termites after demolition. Yuck, but because we found them and had treatment for them, we shouldn't have to worry about termites again. We also took down the 6 rows of wooden beams on the ceiling in the same room as the fireplace. The room looks larger now.

The bedroom windows needed to be replaced NOW! Two of them had dry rot and even our bug spraying guy was getting worried about bugs getting in through the rotted ones, but that never happened. Roger's dad came out this past Saturday from Colorado and the guys worked on the widows Sunday replacing all 5. They are so much better than the old ones. We still need to replace a bathroom, kitchen, large living room, and 8 sunroom windows, plus a new patio door, but those are not an emergency, so that time will come in a while.

Next projects? We still have a completely gutted master bathroom and laundry room, but Roger wants new siding on the house this fall. We have to figure out the color we want and then submit that to our home owners association before we can get started.

Blog Background--too many choices

Couldn't decide what background to put up for this month. I was leaning towards fall because the weather last week was so wonderful and such a tease for the autumn temps that will be coming soon. But, walk out of the house today and it's going to be 100 degrees--that is definitely not fall weather. Was thinking of a school theme because the kids and I woke up today ready to really focus on school Monday-Friday again and trying to finish up Evan and 2nd grade. I still think it's going to be October before we start 3rd (but, that's part of the beauty of homeschooling). Finally found the flip flops and knew that was a good one. After all, we are still in August and the dog days of summer. The heat's not over with yet (sigh).