Acts 17: 26-31

"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us: "for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, "For we are also His offspring.'  "Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising.  "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, "because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.  He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him(Jesus) from the dead." 

05:53 - Sunday, April 19, 2009 - comments {0} - post comment

MOVE IN DATE:

HOPEFULLY THIS WEEK!

 October 19, 2007 my husband and I left our home in central Washington of 13 years.  We decided to take a step of faith and see where God would lead us. 

Our Journey

We took a step of faith

and prayed that God would guide.

Faithfully He's led us

Just a little at a time.

Through the land of Hebron

a place of letting go.

He speaks of only

what we need to know.

No longer in the desert

or the wilderness.

Now intimate relation

gives us peace and rest.

We crossed the Jordon River

into the Promised Land.

Take care of what you're given

continue in His hand.

Pretty sure it would be to Kentucky, but we were open to His guidance.  It was very hard leaving our friends and family.  Hotel stays were no longer fun and romantic.  House hunting was full of frustration and just when we were about to give up and try moving on, we made an offer on 19 acres November 15, 2007.  We broke ground March 17, 2008 to build a shop, in hopes of putting an apartment in it until we could save to build a house some day.  In the next few weeks all of our siding, trim and roofing were stolen.  Not long after that our son called to tell us that he had a skin disease called vitiligo and then we found out that Grammy had cancer.  June 23, 2008 we decided to head back Washington for a while to visit family, be with our son, and help Grammy out while she took chemo and radiation.  She finished her treatments in August and is now cancer free.  So we headed back to Kentucky and on November 1, 2008 we decided to make our shop into an actual house.  Almost six months later we have a home that we built together.  During this whole process sometimes we'd wake up in the middle of the night and ask ourselves what were we thinking?  What did we get ourselves into?  Are we crazy?  Whose idea was this anyway?  My husband is a man of many talents and is a very smart guy.  The poor man, everytime he thought he had something planned out, I'd say well what about this or we can't forget that, that doesn't look right, are you sure you know what you're doing?   I know I must have made him age a few extra years during this whole thing.  I'm so proud of him.  He did such a wonderful job on everything.  His motto the last six months; "if you can't do it right then don't do it at all".  If it was up to me I'd had us in that house months ago and it would be falling down around us.  Sure I drempt of it, fantasized about it, and for years collected pictures out of every magazine known to man that had anything I liked about a house in it.  But in reality it wasn't really something I thought we'd ever do and we made it through it.  It's almost done.  Tomorrow, hopefully is the final inspection, we can receive our certificate of occupancy and move in. 

God is good ALL THE TIME.

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I suddenly have a craving for iced tea. 

Iced tea tip:

 Use frozen fruit instead of ice

cubes and then your tea won't get too watered down. 

My favorite is frozen peaches. 

03:10 - Sunday, April 19, 2009 - comments {0} - post comment

After the storm yesterday this is what popped out.  Amazing.  the storms here are so much different than the ones in Washington.

I don't think I truely knew what a storm was until we moved here to Kentucky. 

We're finished hanging our kitchen cabinets and doing some final touches and getting an estimate for the counter tops today.  Looks like we'll be moving in soon. 

The redbuds are in full bloom now.  I think they are probably the most beautiful trees ever. 

Two crazy things that are not fun about Kentucky:

You have to pay property taxes on your vehicles if you owned them past the 1st of January of that year.  Even though we'd sold our truck in Feb. we still had to pay $50.00 tax on it.

Also you have to sign a waiver when you're building a house stating that you will not move into it until it is completely finished.  If you do then they will not let you have what they call your certificate of occupancy.  I'm glad we aren't building in the city limits or we'd have to have all of our landscaping done and the sidewalk installed also before moving in.  And we thought Washington had some dumb rules.

I can't complain though.  Our property taxes for our home were only $24.00 this year. Times that by 100 or more in Washington.

God bless. 

We are doing well and are looking forward to family visits soon.

06:11 - Monday, April 6, 2009 - comments {0} - post comment

Daffodils are out and trees are budding.  Can you belive it? 

I've been sending off for organic and heirloom seed catalogs.  There are alot less choices compared to the regular catalogs which helps me since I'm easily overwhelmed.  I've narrowed my list down to our favorites so far: 

Carrots, beans, tomatoes, beets, potatoes, zuchini, cucumber, onions, swiss chard, garlic, lettuce mix and peas.  We can't wait to get our hands on vegies grown on our own land.  The whole gardening thing has never worked for us before, but I'm determined this year.  Usually the garden gets mowed down with the rest of the yard quickly after it's been overtaken by weeds.  We've been paying $4.50 for a mesclun salad mix and $3.00 for swiss chard. That's enough for a package of seed for over 100 plants.  I think that the berries will have to wait until fall or maybe even next  year.  For those of you who don't know, our plan, God willing, is to have a berry farm.  Blueberries were our first choice, but our soil is very alkaline and blueberries prefer acidic soil.  Our soil is loaded with limestone which is rich in calcium and makes it very difficult to keep it acidic.  So brambles such as blackberries, raspberries, loganberries are the next choices.  There are aproximately 3 acres to plant the berries and about 16 on the otherside of the creek that we plan on fencing for a few cows.  Guinea hens are on the list to for tick control because those little bloodsuckers were out of control last year.  Guineas are very noisy though so it's a toss up.  Which is worse, the horrifying experience of finding a tick in your pants or irritating bird noises?  

Spring is near.  Speaking of near, guess what?  We're nearly finished with the house.  The mudding and taping will be done in a few days and then it's time to paint.  I said I wouldn't post any pictures until we were done, but here's a few of the inside anyway.

This is what it seemed to look like forever.

And here's what it looks like this morning. 

Do you think we should've added just a few more windows?

09:10 - Saturday, February 21, 2009 - comments {0} - post comment

08:33 - Sunday, January 18, 2009 - comments {1} - post comment

Hi everybody.  Sorry it's been so long since I've updated.  We've been busy building.

  Our windows are in and we've started on the interior walls.  The driveway is finished and we put up a retaining wall.  We have three walls left to put up on the isnside then onto the wiring and rest of the plumbing.  Our garage door will be installed next Tuesday and the kitchen cabinets will be here on the 9th.  It seems like everyday has it's trials, but it's coming along and we love it.  We're really happy that we decided to stay here and not sell. 

Some friends from church have invited everyone over for an early Thanksgiving dinner this Sunday.  Thank you!  I don't think I could cram a turkey into the motorhome oven.  We've been so blessed since we've been here.  People have been very kind  and generous and have made us feel so at home.   

 The nights have been setting records for lows this last week.  But the days are beautiful with the changing leaves and blue skies.   We have the most clear skies here at night to.  My husband and I have seen two different shooting stars in the last few weeks which is really awesome.  We lived in town the last few years and weren't able to see the stars very well.   

Here's a picture of our view that we wake to everyday.  Sometimes we get busy and forget to enjoy it.  May we never forget to enjoy the things that God gave to us like the beauty of His creation.  It brings alot of joy to your heart if you remember to slow down and just enjoy it.

I think I'll wait till our home is done to post a picture of it.  

Sorry for the suspence.    

01:54 - Thursday, November 20, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

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We had a really nice time visiting with my dad and his wife this last week although our visit had to get cut a little short so my husband and I could go to Louisville for the week for his job.  My dad brought us a little truck up from NM.  Thanks Dad!  I was just talking to my sister on the phone the other day and casually said that I wished someone would give us a truck.  Only because someone gave her and her boyfriend a truck did those words even come out of my mouth.  I just knew that we needed to sell our big truck because of the gas prices and hoped to find a smaller one.  Dad called two days later and asked if we needed a little pick up without even knowing of me and my sister's conversation.  Wow, God is good.  I never even thought to ask Him for a truck, but He must of knew we needed one.

There have been alot of turtles on our road lately.  This one got run over and was belly up, but I think it'll be fine. It just had a little blood on his/her toe.

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This doe and fawn come by a few times a week in the evenings.  They are pretty shy though compared to the one we saw at Mammoth Cave.  My Dad's wife got to feed it crackers.  I've never been that close to a live deer before.   

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We finally made it to downtown Nashville the other day.  We were told to stay away from there by a few people, but it didn't seem so bad to me.  There are alot of bars, but it wasn't anything like Seattle which we're used to. 

 Take care everyone and God bless you.

12:52 - Monday, October 13, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

This is for the person who left a comment.

Funny I don't even remember saying anything on this blog about that, but I do know that everytime my wisdom tooth got infected that I would use oregano oil on it and the infection would disappear within the 3rd application.  It can make you sick if you use to much so you need to follow the directions on the bottle.  They sell it at healthfood stores and it is used as a natural antibiotic.  Hope this helps.

10:09 - Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

Yes I have too much time on my hands and am spending way too much time on the computer.  But if everything goes as planned I may not see my computer for awhile.  We probably won't have any wi fi out on our property.  So if I don't email anyone for awhile don't take it personally.  Our cell phone works out there most of the time though.

My husband and I love the old craftsman style homes.  The last house we owned was a craftsman.  We would love to be able to build a new one someday with all the same character as the old ones.  Here's a link to a builder's website that we went and looked at their homes.  http://www.providencehomesky.com/forSale.php?type=Signature

They are the best built homes we've ever seen.  There are transoms above the entryways, rod iron hardware on the shutters, wood floors and gorgeous kitchens.  I have to say this builder pays attention to every detail. 

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Here's a few pictures of some craftsman's back in WA.

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My camera distorts anything with lots of lines in it.  I'll figure it out someday.  So no this roof isn't some new swirly design.

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09:59 - Monday, September 1, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

There is just something about an old barn. 

Here's a link to an old barn site where you can buy or sell one.  The site also advertizes restored barn wood.

http://www.oldbarnwoodsite.com/

We've been across so many states lately I'm not positive where I took these, but I think they are in La Conner, WA.

09:39 - Monday, September 1, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

Pictures of some things we did while in WA.

This is our favorite roadside market in La Conner.  They have fresh seafood, produce, local wine, and huge ice cream cones.

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We visited a few restaurants that were on the T.V. show Drive Ins Diners and Dives.

Voula's offshore cafe is a down home cooking and Greek type restaurant in Seattle.  One order is enough for two people.

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Bobby's Hawaiian restaurant is downtown Everett.  You can smell this place a  few blocks away.  Mmmmm.

Classic consignment is an awesome second hand store in Seattle.

Guided tour vehicle in Seattle that also goes in the water.

This building is downtown Seattle next to an organic market that was really fun.

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A dingy that people have been using for donations for some rotary.

08:53 - Monday, September 1, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

It feels good to be back.  We haven't really been able to accomplish much because of the holiday weekend.  Meaning that the motorhome wouldn't start and we can't find a mechanic till Tuesday.  So back to the hotel.  It was a relief to know that nothing had been disturbed at the property.  Some of the grass there is 7 feet tall so we need to get out there and do some mowing and weedwacking around the building.  The man that cuts our hay told us that it won't be ready for hay till mid October.  If it was up to me the jungle would come down.  During our scouting around we spooked a spotted fawn out of the woods and got to see a few new butterflies. 

We are going to look into getting a loan on Tuesday to get the place finished.  If that doesn't work out then we're  going to put the property on the market and hopefully find something later on that is comparable to ours with a house.  We absolutely love our property, but we can only do what we can do.  So our journey continues. 

Take care everyone. 

08:20 - Sunday, August 31, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

We've got about another 8 hours before we get home.  This is our 6th trip across the states and it seems to be taking us the longest for some reason.   The scenery in South Dakota and Iowa is really beautiful.  If you're one who is obsessed with farms anyway. 

Can you see the rainbow?

08:58 - Friday, August 29, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

Just a quick note to let everyone know

that we'll be headed back to KY on Monday

 if everything goes as planned.  

So we should be back by the end of the month.

How's the weather there?

It got up to 109 here this week.  Yucko!

12:01 - Friday, August 22, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

Psalm 73:23-26

Nevertheless I am continually with You:

You hold me by my right hand.

You will guide me with Your counsel,

And afterward receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but You?

And there is none upon earth

that I desire besides You.

My flesh and my heart fail;

But God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

12:46 - Saturday, August 16, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

I told everyone we would be home by the end of the month unless something bad happened.  Well it isn't that bad, but it's over 100 degrees here this week and it's suppose to be over 100 in KY next week and our AC in our car just broke.  So it may be a week or two till we can line everything up to get it fixed.  Bummer, we'll get back just as soon as possible.  This will give us some more time to visit my husbands  family anyway. 

 Grandma is doing pretty good, she's fighting with thrush and messed up tastebuds so she's still not able to eat solids yet.  Her energy level is still pretty low, but doctors say that it could be another 2-4 weeks before that comes back.  But praise God the cancer is gone. 

Our son starts working next week.  Praise God again!  Now, as my best friend said, I can head home in peace. 

11:51 - Saturday, August 16, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

Grandma is done with her treatments and is doing really well.  Yeah Grandma!  So we may be heading home in about a week. It's been nice being back in WA and seeing everyone.  Thanks to everyone who is babysitting our plant, guns, guitars and dog.  You've helped make it possible for us to be with Grandma.  We'll be glad to get back to KY and settle down again.  Does life ever really settle down though?  I'm starting to think not.  I am 37 now and I remember about 5 years ago I was really getting bored with our same routine and prayed to God for a change.  Whamo, things haven't settled down since.  I blame it all on our chihuahua, she was the first sign of all the chaos that was about to begin.  When we found her she was the size of a hamster crossing a snow covered road on Christmas day.  We searched for her owners throughout the day, but finally realized they didn't care that she was missing.  Life's been a rollercoaster ever since.  We've lost two parents, three grandmothers, two grandfathers, had financial ruin which God has so generously and gratiously restored, moved about 8 times, lost a business, lost two homes, experienced a church split, and some.  God has faithfully carried us through it all.  He's blessed us, tested us and stretched us.  Praise God for being such a gracious God and that we need not worry because He's got it all under control.   

10:17 - Saturday, August 2, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

I just love this picture of my Grandmother, Mother, and Aunt. 

Just wanted to give you an update on Grandma.  As of Friday her doctor couldn't feel or see the cancer in her neck any longer.  Her last treatment is on the 30th and boy is she happy about that.  She hasn't been able to eat real food for over 3 weeks and I coudn't say for sure, but I think she spends most of her time in her room fantasying about the delicacies that await her.  She's doing great and she still has her hair.  Woohoo! 

Once things settle around here we'll head back to KY and start on the house again.  Coming back to WA for awhile has made us thankful once again for our place in KY.  We are so blessed.  Thank you so much for your prayers for Grandma.  I know they've helped because whenever we're at the doctor's office they keep referring to her pain and we keep telling them "what pain"?  She hasn't got any pain".  Praise God!

12:38 - Monday, July 21, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

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2 Corinthians 5:4-8

For we who are in this tent groan,

being burdened, not because

we want to be unclothed,

but further clothed,

that mortality may be

 swallowed up by life. 

 Now He who has

prepared us for this

very thing is God,

who also has given us

the Spirit as a gurarantee. 

 So we are always confident,

knowing that while

we are at home in the body

we are absent from the Lord. 

For we walk by faith,

not by sight. 

 We are confident,

yes, well pleased

rather to be absent from the body

and to be present with the Lord.

05:58 - Friday, June 27, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

We're staying in Missoula, Montana tonight and we'll be at Grandma's tomorrow.  She's still doing really good considering the circumstances.  Please keep praying for a full recovery. 

James 1:17

Every good gift and

every perfect gift

is from above,

and comes down

from the Father of lights,

 with whom there is no

 variation or shadow of turning. 

08:51 - Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment