Moving to Florida this week

Seeing Palm Trees in front of the Cracker Barrel seems funny to me, but I'm thankful that Cracker Barrel is down there!
The movers come tomorrow to pack and we will be in Florida by the end of the week. We had two showings this weekend on our home. One buyer has driven by twice since the showing. If this is the family for our home pray with me for it to happen!

We hung out in the front some too. Here is Little Man taking an ipod break from his bike ride.

I'm gonna miss my back porch area! It's been a special place for me while in Michigan. My Michigan friends always said..."How did you get such a Southern home up here?" My simple reply was..."God."

My Last Fall in Michigan

Since I've been in Michigan, Autumn is usually the BEST season, by far, but not this year. We had very few sunny days...mostly gray, gloomy and cold. It will seem like Summer to me when I get to Florida! The move is getting closer and the "to do" list is getting longer! Keep us in your prayers during this transition time. We are all very excited, but it is bittersweet for the kids.

New Hutch for Hubby's birthday

I really like my new hutch. It was so hard to decide on a final design...I thought about it for over 2 yrs! This is Amish made and will last forever, so I wanted something that felt heirloomish. However, I wanted it to be huge and this style of hutch is usually much smaller. I love the stain color, but not the smell, down fall of local made furniture. What a privilege to design it my self and have one fella build it! I am thankful and blessed.

Yes, it true, hubby's birthday IS this weekend...however, the hutch and table are not his birthday gifts. However, we WILL have our first meal together at that table on his birthday...does that count???

That's a fifth leg you see; the table is very heavy! It was built by my Amish friend. Plus it has 4 leaves that extend it to over 100 inches. Those are my old chairs. Hubby was in Florida when I made all my final choices and I wanted him to be involved in choosing new chairs. What style chair do y'all think would look nice?

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(Just deleted the close up of tea and pumpkin muffin and don't know how to replace it to this exact spot...oh well, y'all can picture it in your minds...right?!)

I enjoyed my first cup of tea at my new table along with a pumpkin spice muffin. They are a favorite Fall treat in my home. I add those tiny little chocolate bits! I'm looking forward to all the future muffin crumbs and family memories around this table. Let's pray the movers don't destory it on the way to Florida!

Hard times, yet blessed

This photo was taken in Oct 2008, as were a few others I posted earlier. Life was "normal" then...well, y'all know what I mean. The Michigan economy wasn't the greatest, but we were doing ok...God had provided. Come the new yr, 2009, things weren't so pretty. In Feb. God "told" me that Hubby's company would be gone by Fall. I felt strongly about contacting our recruiter. As y'all know...we ARE moving to Florida. God provided and I am thankful.

Above you see photos of Hubby and kids at the airport. He has been in Florida for 3 months now and it has been hard on all of us. I have not had time to visit all y'alls amazing blogs for I've been a "single" mom, if ya will, without much free time. To top it off, I've been fighting a sinus infection for over 2 months. Stress and Fall allergies are not helping...prayers welcome! I have also spent much "free" time working on the house...above you see my entry. It was a beautiful rich tone, but now it's buyer friendly Cottage White. Sigh.

We are not gonna talk about the awful housing market up here...just pray for God to send my buyer! We dropped the price another $40,000 today! It's not pretty...but God will provide.

HE provided an amazing job for my Hubby before the fall of his MI company. Yep, y'all read correctly...last week we learned his old company was finished. Thank you Lord for that still small voice...hard times, yet blessed.

Here's where my hutch is...

I snapped a few pictures around Ray's while Little Man was playing with his adorable children. Ray is the Amish fella that is making my furniture. What a beautiful home and family he has. My table is a bit behind b/c I was sick all last week and didn't call him with some details...hmm, story's sounding a bit familiar, huh ?! He did confirm that the hutch is finished.

My new hutch, sort of

Well...here's what my hutch looked like on my trip down to IN a few weeks ago. I guess I rambled a bit on my message to Ray about how I wanted the doors, so he just waited for my visit to find out the truth! He wanted them to be correct. He is the nicest, most kind fella. While at his workshop I decided to have him build a dining table for me too! The hutch IS finished, but I'm gonna wait for the table to be completed before we ship it. I can hardly wait!

Feels Like FALL

It is down right chilly today in Michigan! Upper 50's and cloudy with a Canadian wind! Brrr! I bought a pumpkin pie at the Farmer's Market today, where Little Man hopped up and down saying..."please mama please...it's fall today!"

Look...Hubby forgot to be somber...y'all know what we are doin'...right?

There ya go Hubby...it was such a wonderful day that being somber was hard to do! We took tons of photos and chose a couple to send in our Christmas cards.

However, these days somber comes more naturally. Many of y'all know we are trying to sell our home in Michigan...talk about some somber! It even brings down a happy girl like me. I am thankful that I know I have a God who is in total control and will take care of my family. Please be in prayer for us as we are in transition back to the South.

Papaw's church

It's my father in laws birthday and I wanted to share his church with y'all. This church has a long history with his family. Papaw is a pastor and preaches here along with other local churches. These photos were taking in Jan...it's a long drive from Michigan to Arkansas, so we don't make it down there as often as we wish we could. It's especially hard when birthdays come around. Happy Birthday Papaw!

Moving to Florida

This is our first meal in Florida. Ya can't go wrong with Cracker Barrel and I love seeing the palms in front of it! Below Little man is touching his first palm! Sissy is realizing how heavy he has gotten. She says he needs a new nick name cause he's not so little any more!

Here we are having supper down town at a wonderful Mexican restaurant. I only had one hour of sleep that night and still look ok, huh ?! Little man is draggin' big time. OK...do y'all think Sissy is barefoot under those floppy pants of hers? Tell me what you think if you comment!

Sissy wanted y'all to see her dinner plate. Hers is above and mine is below. Y'all this was REAL Mexican food. The owners are from Mexico and keep it authentic. We will return.

Little man loved "catching a wave" as he called it...see, he thinks he's a pro after one day on the beach! He would say..."oh, I hate it when I wipe out." Y'all he's 6...too cute.

I'll have to "catch" y'all later...my life is so full right now, I have not had time to visit all y'all.

I am off this weekend to visit Amish country. I'm having a custom hutch made by an Amish fella and he is ready to stain it. I have to choose a stain...y'all pray I choose the right one! I'll have this hutch forever! I actually designed it and can't wait to see it in person!

Big news!

We didn't get up at 4 am for a 7 o'clock flight just... To see this well known castle...

Or to see Mickey and all his pals on the 4th of July!

Not even to see these crazy humongous birds at a tiny feeder...

Or spending time on the beach...

We really came to see a few of these! Trees??? No, silly...houses! That's right, we are moving to sunny Florida! We have been praying for God to put us back in the South for many months. (Michigan is beautiful, but oh so cold for this southern girl) God answered our prayers with an amazing job for Hubby. He still had his job here, but the economy up here is so ify that we decided to be proactive. Covering all in prayer and going out on faith for a job...in the South.

Little man loved the ocean. I think we will spend many days on this beach. He tried so hard to boogie board. Hmm...will he end up being one of those surfer dudes ?!?

Ya gotta love seeing Palm trees next to Magnolia trees! We really enjoyed hanging out at the pool looking up at Palms and a beautiful blue sky. Now y'all see why I was (am) so tired, tons happening here, but all good. I think I can get used to those warm evenings by the pool with a slight scent of Magnolia blossom in the air.

I've been in Florida...

Hey y'all...I've been gone for awhile and just got back in town. I am so very tired, but had a great trip. YES, I actually rode Splash Mtn, twice! I did work on the powder room before we left for Florida...more on that later. I've gotta get some sleep.

My powder room wallpaper

What does this have to do with the wall paper in my powder room...scroll down and you'll see.

It just had to go...I kept waiting for a "rainy day" to do this, but all my "rainy days" were always full. One day I just started ripping...I really did y'all! I soon realized ya gotta have "stuff" to get it off the wall completely. Sigh. That didn't stop me for long...as you see below.

I was so frustrated when I found a dark stencil under the wallpaper which was under a thick and huge border! Grief, more work than I bargained for, that's for sure. At this point I was very thankful I only had to paint the beadboard that was below the wallpaper. I painted it Cottage White; in this photo it is still bright white.

I had 4 bags full of this mess. Hmm, 4 bags full, kinda reminds me of a rhyme. I loved tossing those bags into the trash; I was finished...well, at least the wall paper was down.