Day 1 of Moving

Well as of 4:30 this afternoon, this is what inside our house looks like. Everything except for our computer and the office has been wrapped, boxed, taped and is ready for the loading day tomorrow. I still can not believe that we are moving in a couple of days. I thought we would live in B.G. the rest of our life. I thought these pictures of Rascal were too cute to pass up. Twice Rascal got a hold of a roll of tape and had a good time with it, including get tape stuck around his mouth and neck.

First Goodbye

Well, the time has come to start saying our Goodbyes. Our dear and close friends, Alicia, Jason, Lizzie and Rachel, came over yesterday to say their goodbyes before they headed to the beach. Needless to say, we both cried and I had the hardest time watching them leave our driveway. Alicia and I have became very close friends over the past several years and it tore me up when she told me that she had never had a best friend to move away. Well, over the remaining days left in B.G., I am sure there will be many more tears shed. Several friends have already said that they can not bear to watch us pull out on Monday. The moving company dropped the semi off yesterday that will soon be loaded with every material thing that we own and the packers arrived early this morning to pack everything. I consider myself lucky to not have to pack.

I Have a New Look Too!!!

Well after looking at Courtney's new "do" and helping her fix it, I was hooked and had to get my hair cut the same way. I love it. It is so easy to style. So, Jill and Valerie here's the picture of my new "do'.

Happy Birthday MOM

Today my mother would have celebrated her 65th birthday if she was still alive. This photo is one of last photo that I have of her and I together. It was taken a few days after Christmas in 2003. If I had only knew then that she would only be on this earth for 5 more months, I probably would have taken a hundred pictures of her and I together. I surely would have hugged her and thanked her and loved her just a little more. I miss her terribly, especially now that we are moving back to Florida, she would have given anything for Phillip and I to have moved back closer to home while she was still alive.

Happy Birthday MOM, I love you!!!!!! Bryan (brother), Robbin (sister), Aunt Bernice ( my mom's sister), me and mom

Labor Day

On Labor Day, my family had a cookout at my brother's house. Which again is something that I had not been able to enjoy for several years. We had a great time together. There was a nice breeze blowing and it was comfortable enough to sit outside and enjoy the afternoon. My nephews, Spencer and Brandon, along with Jonah and Courtney enjoyed slipping and a sliding on the slip and slide. This is what happens when you get Rascal and a slip and slide together. You get one very wet dog! Rascal had a blast chasing the kids as they played on the slip and slide. In fact I am not sure who had the most fun, the kids or Rascal.

My dad and brother

My HONEY

My brother Bryan, my brother in law Doug, and my try to dodge the camera by putting a cup in front of her face sister Robbin. She should know me my now that even when a cup in front of her face, I'll still take the picture!

Phillip, Cheyenne (my sister's look alike daughter), Robbin (no cup this time, she was not fast enough) and Ms. Betty watching the kids play on the slip and slide.

Courtney's New Look

As you can see, Courtney has a new look. She decided to have Ms. Jay cut her hair before the big move. Doesn't it look cute. She loves it so much that she has decided that this is her new style for a while. I like the way it makes her hair look thicker.

3 Football Games in One Day

While in Florida we had the opportunity to attend three football games in day. The first game was my youngest nephew, Brandon's pop warner game. This is his first year playing and he is really excited about the game especially after watching his big brother play for several years. He did a really good job and played most of the game both defense and offense, however after the game he did make the comment that he would be happier if they did not play him as much. This is also the first year that my brother is helping coach, he has always enjoyed playing football himself.

Brandon #10

After Brandon's game, Jonah and I headed to "The SWAMP", to watch Florida play WKU. It was a good game even though it was very one sided. Jonah and I had a blast. It was neat to watch our two favorite football teams play each other. By the way, I did have a little of WKU spirit with me even though I wore a Gator shirt, I still had my WKU tag on the front of the van. Oh, by the way, thanks Shirley for the awesome football tickets.

Jonah and me

After getting drenched leaving the Florida football game, Jonah and I headed back to my dad's to meet up with Phillip and Courtney before heading to the third game of the day which was my nephew Spencer's game. Of course he is a natural when it comes to football. It was nice to be able to attend both of my nephew's games since this is usually not the norm with us living so far away. I guess that is about to change.

Spencer #85

Florida Friends - Old and New

Just thought I would share these pictures with you of our Florida Friends, both old and new. On my birthday, a dear friend since 1995, Tamera came down and surprised me with a birthday cake. I had not seen Tamera since the death of my mother, so it was a real treat to have lunch with her and to show her our new house. Oh, we did a little shopping also. Don't kill me Tamera for posting this picture.

Our next friends were new ones that we made at the hotel, who were in the same situation as us. This made us get to know each others families and hopefully we will keep in touch in the days and years to come. Nicole and Courtney became good friends at the pool. Before we left they were spending a lot of time together playing with Nicole's 200+ "My Littlest Pet Shop" pets.
This is Cade, him and his family are also relocating to the area and his mother and father along with Phillip and I, spent several evenings sitting by the pool talking. We hope that once we are all settled in our homes we can continue the friendship.

Thursday night, while we were getting everything togther for the trip back home, both families had to come by and give us their numbers so that we could stay in touch after the move. Nicole's mom is also a big scrapbooker so maybe a good friendship has been started.

We Chose House #...............

TWO!!!
I loved house #1, the screened in pool was nice but it was on the west side of town and after looking at the whole picture with the location of church we thought it would be out of the way when it came to church activities.

House #3, had me written all over it, I was even ready to deal with the washer and dryer being in the garage. However the kids and Phillip was not to sure about all the work especially with it being the same price as house #2.

So we chose house #2, we like the fact that it is move in ready, even the ceiling fans in the kids rooms matched their decor. The hardwood floors are awesome and the tile has character. Phillip will have his own office located at the front of the house. The house also has lots of closets which I love (now to get them organized). We had the home inspection done this morning and everything looked great. We love the location of the house, we will be only a mile from church. Also, not having a pool at the house right now is fine with the kids since we will be able to hop on our bikes and ride to the community pool, this will give the kids a chance to meet the other kids in the neighborhood and who knows we may take the challenge of putting in a pool next summer. Plus, the bonus of being in a gated community with security sounds nice.


Check out the before pictures (click on the colleges to enlarge them), before we move in that is. These pictures are of Jonah and Courtney's new rooms (which I plan to paint first thing) and their bathroom. The sage room is Phillip's new office and there is even a closet in there for me. The picture to the far right on the middle row is our new dinning room.

These are pictures of the master bedroom and bath (the master closet is huge with lots of built ins). The kitchen has the same color counter tops as our current home and has a large walk in pantry. The kitchen has all stainless steel and black appliances. The great room is located in the center of the house and as you can see the house has lots of natural light and windows.

These are pictures of the foyer, outside of the house and the screened in lanai, which I can not wait to fill with plants and enjoy a relaxing evening on.