HOME!

We are finally HOME! :)
I cannot believe it, but our move to North Carolina is finally over. The past couple of months have been so hectic and so full of emotions. We sold our house, saw our son off to the military, bought a new house, packed up and moved to another state, all within a couple of months!
I know that this was all in God's plan, for it seems that it all worked out in perfect timing.."HIS" timing.

I must say, it was very hard to pack up the truck without our son. My  husband and I are getting older now and we can't do as much as we used to do.
It was very difficult! We did it though...a friend helped us in Florida move the furniture onto the truck..here is the back of the truck in front of our Florida home jam packed!!!

We used a 26 foot truck for this final load for our move (we had previously taken a 26 foot truck up to storage in the Carolina's before selling the house)...can you say too much "stuff"!!!

When we arrived in North Carolina, I contacted one of my son's friends who was more than happy to help us unload the big heavy furniture, I prayed so hard that somehow we would have help, God answers prayers! We were two days shy of closing on our new home...we stayed with wonderful friends who have a house on the Lake..it was WONDERFUL!!
We spent time on the lake in their boat...

Their lake house is gorgeous!

After our boat trip, we came back and had a lovely dinner made by my sweet friend...she eats all the healthy things I do. For the guys there was burgers, for us nice healthy salads with turkey burgers and avocados!

It's amazing through all of this I have even lost a couple of more pounds. I continue to eat healthy and like wearing a smaller size too! :) I hope I can continue to live my life this way for my health and long term benefits.
It was fun to eat dinner on the deck and watch the baby geese with their Mama's :)

Since my son has left for the military, I have been seeing bluebirds here and there..makes me think of him so much...

We finally closed on our new home and transferred our pet birds and Peter Rabbit to the new house. I am sure they were probably wondering what was going on! Our daughter was so happy to start setting up her new bedroom...we have a very long way to go though. There are boxes everywhere!!
We are fortunate that there are plenty of bedrooms in this house, so when our son comes to stay, he will always have his own room...
I am very excited...there is a bonus room that will be my very own sewing room!!!
Can you hear me scream with excitement?!!
YES!! A sewing room and a place just for ME!!
It will need cabinets of some sort, but for now, I am happy setting up on the floor! lol
Look at the wonderful window too..lots of light comes in during the daytime.
This will be my creative space! YIPPEE!!
A place to call my OWN!

It is difficult to hide all my craft and cross stitching stash from the hubby when we move....it all comes out from hiding then...he even had to carry it up the steps!!
Yes, that is all my "stuff". lol
He just shakes his head.....
Our backyard is quite large and beautiful..it reminds me of a park:

I ventured around and look what I found!
Honeysuckle...it smells wonderful!!

And then...I found this!.....
Wild berries too!

We have a "block" window above our garden bathtub in the master bathroom...it does not exactly give you full privacy..so for now I purchased a spring rod to put inside the window frame and I also purchased pretty "sheer" curtains with flowers on them....I am hoping this helps....

I probably need to hem the curtains ..but for now I just "scrunched" them up on the bottom (being lazy)! lol
I love the nook for the table in the kitchen! I used my Waverly curtains I purchased many years ago at Target for the windows...

We put new hardware and locks on our front door...I really like the front door, it's so pretty!

Our neighbors dog comes to visit me..he is the cutest thing ever!!

I finally have the front porch I have always dreamed of having..can you imagine all the crocheting and cross stitching that will be happening on this porch?! Endless hours...yes, endless my friends. :)

I am so happy, but yet, my heart still hurts. I wish I could hear from my son. I know he is safe in boot camp, but I miss him so much. I wish I could hear his voice and tell me that he is doing fine. A Mother will always worry about her children. We are so proud of him. I wish he could be here to share in the joy of our new family home, but I know that will come in time. He does have his own room here too, his own place in this house, as he will always have. I miss him terribly.

 Thank you for letting me share a bit of my life with you,

House Hunting

We are back from a weekend away. We continued our search for a new home for our family and this was the weekend to find one! It was a very interesting weekend indeed. Our son was not able to come along with military restrictions, not being able to go out of town. Such a short time till he will be departing for bootcamp. This is so hard for a Mom's heart to take, I feel as if I cannot get enough hugs and kisses until that day comes. It seems all too soon!
We left last Thursday, giving us a nice early start to our house hunting. We drove up to the Carolina's, making stops for fast food along the way. So glad Wendy's has those salad's with grilled chicken in them..oh, and the pomegranate dressing is really good. So, It is possible to go to fast food restaurants and eat healthy!

 Our realtors were wonderful, so helpful and knew exactly what we were looking for. We knew we couldn't get everything we wanted in a home, being as we weren't building one..but we came pretty close!
We saw big homes, little homes and in-between homes.
We were a little taken back when walking through the door of this home.
I don't think the owners of this house knew exactly how to stage a home? I also think they will have a hard time selling it!

Each room was worse than the other! My husband just walked out...I of course could not believe it..and I continued on into other rooms, because I really did not think all the rest of the rooms of this house would look like this...but as you will see....they were.....
the kitchen...

After passing through the kitchen, I thought surely the master bedroom had to be a little more tidy? After all, with all this chaos, wouldn't the owners need a quiet calm relaxing place to unwind???
I guess not....

 I tried to look beyond the clutter to imagine what the house looked like beneath all this "stuff"..but it was just impossible!!! How can this house sell, especially in this market??
How can anyone even find a sock to wear??
There was one plus to looking at this home...it was when I walked into the garage...I saw a lamp on top of a cage..look what was inside!!

 yes, they had baby chickens in the garage! Sooooo sweet!...Then..we moved on to seeing other homes.
Many of them were very nice with pretty yards. One house had a wreath out front with a nest of baby birds in it!
I snapped a photo of the baby birds....

Not sure what type of birds they are..but they are adorable! Interesting looking beaks.
The next day our car broke down...then it started to rain..and then I started to cry!!
I guess I was feeling a little overwhelmed. I guess I was thinking that it wasn't exactly good timing for the car
to break down, the rains to start and we were stuck in another state ....no tools and not sure what was wrong with the car.
But, my dear sweet husband is just amazing..as I have always said before. He is a ROCK! He never waivers and is always so calm.
Our friends came to help us. We used his tools, and he drove my husband to the auto store to get a new alternator. My husband felt that this was the problem with the car. Bless my husband, he is so good at fixing everything! In the meantime I went with my friend  and my daughter to mass at our soon to be new Catholic church . I have never prayed so hard!!
We left church, drove to our friends house, and there was our car...at their house, so we knew it was FIXED! My husband had said, while the car was stuck, tons of people had come by offering to help. Sounds like we will be moving to a wonderful new town in North Carolina!
We looked at more houses but knew we had found the perfect house when we found one with just about everything we were looking for.
I had always loved the look of a home with dormered windows. I have always wanted a rocking chair front porch too.
We finally found a place we can settle and call HOME!
We are very excited!!!

Hubby cannot wait to work on the landscaping, and I cannot wait to decorate and put a wreath on the front door! I am finally going to get a craft and sewing room again, and I will have plenty of space to spread out in the room over the garage! YAY!
After the stress of the car ordeal, and the signing of papers was done..we had a most relaxing rest of the weekend at our friends home on the lake. They have the most beautiful scenery as you sit on the deck in their backyard. Their backyard is the lake!
Soooo peaceful. :)

 Our friends showed us their wine bottle collection...they save bottles that people give them so they can fill them with their own homemade wine!

As it looks right now, the dates of our closings should work out well..the closing of the Florida house will take place, then a couple of days later, the closing in NC should be just a couple of days later. We are praying for a smooth transition, and that all will go well with this house selling/purchasing and that our sons transition will also go well with the United States Navy.
So much happening in such a short time.
May God continue to Bless our family one day at a time.

Until next time,