The Small Deck Project!

Wednesday September 1, 2010: We actually finished our first project, the deck off the kitchen! Yeah!!! Kevin has been grilling steaks in the oven since we have been here and I finally got tired of cleaning the broiler pan and the oven so I insisted we finish sealing the deck, get a shade tent up and buy a small barbeque so we can make use of the deck and start grilling outside. It took us a week to finally get the stain finished on the deck. Then we went to about four different stores looking for a shade tent. I originally wanted one that was 10' x 12' to cover the whole deck but couldn't find one that size. We finally found a nice 10' x 10' easy up in a brown color at Walmart and it was the last one there. After we were home and putting it up we decided it was a good thing it was only 10' x 10' then it left room on the one side for the grill smoke to go up. It fit perfectly on the deck and we tied it to the rails so it won't blow away. I went downstairs and found the cushions for the chairs and put those on. Now we're almost there, just need to find a small inexpensive grill. We went shopping for the grill on Friday after I got home from work. We were looking for one of those portable tailgating kind so we can take it camping also. We went to about four different stores again and couldn't find a small one. I told Kevin that Walmart probably had one so Saturday while I was at work he stopped in at Walmart and they did have two different small ones. The tailgating kind used the small green propane cannister and he didn't know now if he really wanted that one. The other small one used the standard propane tank. They were both the same price but he wanted my opinion before he bought it. On Tuesday after we dropped the car at the shop for a tune up we headed over to Walmart and picked up the small standard grill. As you can see it fits great out on the deck and now we have a nice place to watch the hummingbirds and the deer while we grill and eat out on cool evenings, rain or shine. One project done about twenty more to go.

Monday August 23, 2010:
It’s funny that after two good weeks and feeling like I finally have a place here in Kentucky, a home, a neighborhood, a job that I love, the ward and a calling, that this week one small incident stirred up my emotions and suddenly I’m feeling sad, lonely, homesick, and that life is not fair.
My first week at my new branch I was full of energy. I was getting up and walking every morning at 7:00.
I was getting yard work done, house cleaning done. I was bringing in boxes, going thru them, putting stuff away, I even moved everything over to one side in the garage so we could get the old washer and dryer out to give away to some one in need. One reason I was so ‘gung ho’ about getting thru all the boxes is because I was looking for the last of my pictures. I have found them all except the wedding portraits of my four daughters. Kevin helped me go thru every box last Saturday and we cannot find them anywhere. Of all things that could have been lost that one was too sentimental for me to not do anything about locating it.. I racked my brain for the last time I remember seeing them and I think I remember putting them in the drawer of the old empty dresser in J’s bedroom. But I had wrapped and boxed all of the other pictures throughout the rest of the house so I could have wrapped and boxed them too, but I don’t remember doing that. I carefully went over the packing list from the movers trying to locate a box that would have been labeled ‘pictures’ or ‘portraits’ or ‘wedding’ but there was nothing. However there was one boxed labeled ‘POB’ (packed by owner) that we did not have marked off on our delivery check off sheet. This was not the part that set me off emotionally although there was good reason for it. I was still motivated to find them and being rational I knew that I could replace the pictures somehow although the frames were unique especially Rachael’s’ which she had spent a lot of time personalizing the matt with pictures of herself growing up. The thing that set me off was the lack of customer care I received when I called to talk to the moving companies about the missing box. No one wanted to listen to my explanation of where it might be or that the box may not be a standard shipping box, all I got was ’If you need to file a claim call this person’ and I called that person and was told ‘You can file the claim on line‘. I couldn’t even find out if they have a ’place’ for lost boxes. The final moment came when one lady asked me ’why has it taken you from December till August to realize you were missing this box?’. At that point I was so frustrated I just broke down and started crying and she took the information she needed and said if they located it they would send it to me. I know for a company that moving is just their business and they probably deal with emotional people quite often, but customer service is customer care and these particular people didn’t care! I think they need to improve on their courtesy skills.
Anyway, now I’ve been down in the dumps this week and I’m blaming it on life not being fair and I’m back to ‘Why did this have to happen to us at this time in our lives?’. All I ever wanted to do was be a good mother and a fun Grandma. I loved being there for my girls and my happy little granddaughters. I loved my flower beds, my fish pond, the horses in the backyard, my Jacuzzi tub, my job, my neighbors and my friends. I certainly hope I wasn’t taking any of that for granted. I’m trying real hard to make things feel good here and be happy, but my heart is and always will be with my home and family in Utah. Can’t wait till December to be there with the ones I love.

Tuesday August 10, 2010:
Yeah! I got my new crowns put on today, finally! I also asked the dentist about the tooth that I broke off. He said there was enough of the tooth left that I won't have to have the surgery again but because it is such a small eye tooth he will put a post into the bone to secure it in good so it won't break off in the future. He also said we could wait until January when the new insurance kicks in, thank goodness!
Well, I put away the books and all the desk stuff in the lbrary/office today. That emptied about eight more boxes. I found the box of video tapes for the cabinet too and got those put away. Then I broke down the boxes and got them bundled up for the garbage pick up tomorrow.
I found a zumba class offered thru the community center on Tuesday and Thursday evenings 7-8 pm for $4.40 per class. They start Sept 21st and go to Nov 11th for now then hopefully they will continue. Also an aerobics class on Monday evenings 6;30-7:30 for $5.00 per class. They are also having a 'toothbrush rag rug' class that I'm going to take to learn how to make those rugs Grandma Park made for in front of our couches. So you can see I am no longer going to be sitting home doing nothing!

Sunday August 8, 2010: This was my 'can I make it?' or 'will I break?' it week at work. I was assigned my own window and my own drawer to work from all week. I counted my money in Monday morning and had to take on customers as I became available. The other tellers were all really cool about helping me out and my trainer was a sweet, funny gal named Sally. She was very encouraging and kept telling me I was doing fine. At the end of my first day my drawer was short by $15.50. I worried about it all night long. The next day Sally made sure I was itemizing and double counting the money every transaction and at the end of the day I balanced even. I got more comfortable all week and by Saturday I was helping customers and talking to them and doing the transactions faster and I balanced to the penny again. This job is going to work out great. Starting Monday I will be at my permanent location, MT. Zion branch. My schedule will be the first week; Mon-1:15 to 6:15, Weds-1:15 to 6:15, Fri-11:00 to 4:00, Sat 9:15 to 2:15. Then the next week it will be Mon-9:15 to 6:15, Tues-11:00 to 3:00, Thur-11:00 to 4:00, Fri-1:15 to 6:15 and it just rotates back and forth. That will give me enough time in the mornings to get a good hour walk in and weed the flower beds or empty some more boxes for now. I've got most of the rooms done except the libray/office which I went through all the papers that were laying around and got them filed away where they belong. Now I need to go thru the boxes in the closet and put books in the bookcases and finish organizing the colored papers and stuff in the desk. I am committing myself to carry two boxes from the garage to the basement every day until the garage is empty and also breaking down four boxes and bundling them for the garbage pick up on wednesdays. Kevin and I have planned a trip over Labor Day weekend. I work Fri till 4:00 then we'll leave early Saturday morning and get into Gatlinburg, TN about 11:00am. We are planning some hiking and sight-seeing excursions, seeing a show, a museum, going to Dollywood and Pigeon Forge one day. I have monday off for the holiday and not scheduled for tuesday so we'll head home sometime after lunch on Tuesday. It's still hot and humid here. We'll have a good thunderstorm roll through but then it gets miserable as it heats up.

Saturday July 31, 2010:
I went to the dentist on July 19th, the last day Jessica was here. I had a cleaning done and a prep impressions for the crowns to be made. No, I still am not finished with those crowns that started clear back in February! I said good-bye to Jessica and Kevin drove her to the airport while I went to my first day for work. It was an orientation class from 5:00 to 7:00pm up in Cincinnati. I had to drive up this way last week for a drug test and finger printing. My class is in Sycamore Township which is a forty-five minute drive up on the east side of Cincinnati. It was at 8:00am Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday last week and again Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday this week. I can't belive I am driving on the freeway this much and this far for a job! When for the last 20 years I wouldn't even drive in to SLC or Centerville for a job. Now I've driven all over and around Cincinnati and feel comfortable doing so. Like I've said before, "Do what you have to do, no whining, no complaining".
I took the CSR test on Thursday morning and I passed with a 95%, yeah! Then I worked at my training site the rest of Thursday and all day Friday. Monday they are going to set me up on my own drawer and have me start doing transactions on my own. I will train everyday next week and then I start at my Mt. Zion Branch on Monday August 9th. I was a little nervous at the thought of starting something new at my age but I now feel I can do this and I will be comfortable with it shortly.
By the way, I forgot to mention that Kevin was released as the Gospel Doctrine teacher on Sunday and is now the Ward Clerk. I think he likes that much better. Although now we have to drive two cars to church as he goes early for meetings and stays after to count tithing.

Jessica's Visit!

Wednesday July 28, 2010: We drove to Louisville Airport on Monday the 12th to pick up Jessica. When we went in and looked at the board for arrivals her plane was not on the list. I had a bit of panic attack until we talked to an agent who said not all flights are listed on that board and that her flight had just landed. Then Jessica texted us and told us her plane was just sitting there waitng for the other plane to leave the gate they were supposed to come in to. That plane had been delayed because the pilot had not showed up! We stopped on the way home to see the Louisville Temple. We almost drove right by it, It's so small. It is built next to the LDS Chapel in Crestwood and they actually share the same parking lot. It's really nice to think it is only 45 minutes away from where we live because when we lived here 20 years ago our area was assigned to The Altlanta Georgia Temple and was a once a year bus trip. Now we can go any Saturday morning we can.

So, it was really fun to have Jessica here with us. First thing she did was to help me go thru all of the Kitchen boxes and figure out what to keep, what to sell at a garage sale and where to put stuff away since the kitchen is so much smaller now. We decided to keep all the china packed for now and put all the stoneware in the china cabinet. All the food stuff is in the pantry except for spices and the baking stuff that is again in the corner round about cupboard. All of the rest of the upper cupboards have mixing bowls, measuring cups, casseroles and storage containers. And the two other bottom cupboards have the pots, pans and baking trays in them. It's a good thing we brought the TV stand from the front bedroom because that is now the microwave stand and the hot pads, dishcloth, and tablecloth cupboard. We hung pictures up in the livingroom and put the grandchildren's pictures along the piano. And that was enough cleaning and organizing for now. We finally got to go in to the county building and get our driver's licenses and get our vehicles registered. We went to the Aquarium one day and out to dinner. We went to the zoo one day. It was hot and muggy. Then we went out to dinner. Jessica and I went shopping a couple of days. I was looking for dress clothes and shoes for work and she was looking for whatever! We just had fun being together again and talking. She loved how green it is here and all the narrow winding roads (which she wanted to drive on). She loved the big old plantation type homes with the big yards. There are basically three ways out of our neighborhood: Cody Rd will take you over to Turkeyfoot Rd, which is the way we go to the Dentist office and to the Church. Independence Station Rd will take you out to State Rd 17 which is the way to Fidelity and Walmart and the freeway to go into Cincinnati. And then if you go thru the lower part of the neighborhood and come out onto Bristow Rd; if you turn left it will take you to our Towne Square where we fill up with gas and get fountain pepsi, get haircuts, have the dry cleaners, the grocery store, the hardware store, the nursery and go to dinner. If you turn right onto Bristow Rd it will turn into Mt Zion Rd where Lori's job is (at the Fifth Third Bank) and the freeway to go to Florence Mall (north) or to Louisville (south). Sounds complicated but you get used to it and it seems like a smaller area.

Sunday July 25, 2010:
My, how time flies when you are working full time and overtime!! Yes, I finally got a job with a temp agency and started working full time at the L'Oreal warehouse on May 19th. No air conditioning or fans, no water fountains out on the floor, 175 people sharing one fridge for lunches and ten tables in the breakroom and two (one male/one female) bathrooms. I started out working eight hour days from 6:00am to 3:00pm and off at noon on Fridays. But were asked to work overtime so on the second week we were working from 6:00am to 5:00pm all six days. Then the next week we went to twelve hour days for six days. Then back to ten hour days for a week. The work consisted mostly of just standing at a conveyor belt and putting products on the line or checking them before going thru the heat machine and sometimes you fold boxes or inserts all day. By the last day of June I had no feeling in the ball and toes on my right foot, both heels hurt to walk on them, my hands were both stiff and sore and I had lost ten pounds since starting there. Luckily I had figured out how to look for and apply for other jobs on the internet and had applied for a part time teller position with Fifth Third Bank. I had recieved a phone call from the recruiter and she did an interview over the phone and said I passed and said she would set me up an interview with the Branch Manager. I took a day off from L'Oreal to go interview. I liked and felt very comfortable with all three people I interviewed with and the branch is just a few miles down a main road from our neighborhood. It was really hard waiting the week to hear back but they offered me the job and I gladly accepted on June 29th and made arrangements to start the new training class on the 19th of July. I only worked two more days at L'Oreal and was off for the holiday weekend and two more weeks. Yeah! that nightmare is over!
We had closed on the house and moved in during all this time I was working so much so we hadn't really opened many boxes, just what we needed to get by. So, for the whole next week we worked really hard at finding boxes we needed and getting stuff put away, made up, hooked together, washed down, cleaned up, etc because Jessica was coming to visit on the 12th! Yeah!!! We did a little work out in the yard before it got too hot to work. Made a flowerbed across the front of the porch, cleaned out the side flowerbed, planted flowers in the Urns and hung some potted plants on the porch. Then Kevin killed a patch of lawn in the back and got it rotilled up for a garden for next spring. I've opened all the picture boxes and I'm missing all four bridal pictures of my girls and Rebecca's and Liz's family pictures. I guess I'll have to go thru every box we have left to find them. Pictures are the worst thing to lose during a move. Three things we gave away that I really wish we would have brought are the BBQ grill, the treadmill, and the riding lawn mower! It's really too muggy outside to do much walking and Kevin sent smoke all thru the house grilling the steaks in the oven.

Friday May 7, 2010:

Busy week. Tuesday I went to the Periodontist for a consultation on my crown lengthening. Apparently this all started back in January when I had pain in my back tooth. The dentist found a big cavity under my crown. When I went to the endodontist to have a root canal he said there was decay in the tooth next to it too, so I had two root canals. Now I need two crowns, but because the decay was below the crown line now I have to have the periodontist grind down the bone between the teeth to fit the crown down far enough to cover the filling area. Pain in the Jaw!!!! and in the pocket book. Double the cost of a root canal and a crown and there goes all the dental insurance max coverage for me. So this jawbone surgery we just have to pay out of pocket. Meh.....! I go in for the surgery next Wednesday. Then it has to heal for six weeks before I can get the permanent crowns on. Started in January ends in June, crazy.
On Thurday afternoon we went to the New Home and met with the guy who is doing the home inspection. He checks everything from the shingles, vents, water pressure, heat and A/C to downsairs all the electrical, plumbing, foundation, cement work, he even has a termite inspector come check. It's only seven years old and just a couple with no kids lived there so the carpets, linoleum, walls, bathrooms, fixtures and cabinets are all like new still. The house is bigger than I initially thought. There is plenty of room in all of the rooms for all of our furniture. Until we get the Family room finished in the basement we will be using one of the bedrooms for our office/library. Everything looked good except the cement driveway right in front of the garage floor. It has sunk maybe three inches so there is this bump to drive into the garage. He said there are several concrete companies that can raise those pads. (Not nearly the cost and mess we had to do inside of our old house.) So now we can order the appraisal with the mortgage company and see how that compares with the purchase price.
Then Thursday evening we were given tickets at the last minute to go to the special three stake combined missionary fireside at our meeting house, put on by the 'Saints Unified Voices' directed by Gladys Knight. To get tickets you had to bring a non-member friend. I asked my friend Wendy but her and her husband were going out of town that day, so we called some of our inactive YSA. Neither one of them would come but their mom said she would love to, so we picked her up to come with us. It was first come first seated so we were in line by 7:00 for the 8:45 performance and my feet were killing me by the time we went in, but we had awesome seats in the first row in the gym on the padded chairs. We had four feet of room in front of us so it wasn't as warm and we were just off the center asile so when the choir entered from the back of the gym up the center aisle then Sister Knight came up the aisle also we were just feet away from her. Yeah, I'm a huge fan, it was awesome to be so close to her! The choir was awesome! It seemed a little strange to have a band in the chapel and it felt almost like a Baptist Gospel meeting, with some audience members shouting "Praise the Lord" and "Amen" and "Sing It" but the point of her firesides is to have all races and cultures feel welcome and become aquainted with the Latter Day Saints. There was a Brother that spoke and talked about all of us being Children of God and then Sister Knight bore her testimony at the last and how she came into the the Church through her children and had all of her questions answered at Last. She told of how the Missionaries never sold her the gospel, but would offer her truths and then ask her to pray to the Lord herself and ask if these things were true. She said to those in the audience that this is a true Christian church. We do worship Jesus Christ and encouraged them to accept invitations from friends to meet with and listen to the missionaries. They are not pushy or threatining, they are sweet and 'crisp' and have a wonderful message to share with them but then it is up to them to find the truth through prayer and then be prepared to do some work. I felt a very strong spirit from her and enjoyed the whole evening immensely.

Monday May 3, 2010:
We have known for the last three weeks now that our Relief Society President was moving to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and we have been waiting to hear the new Presidency announced in Sacrament Meeting. My friend Phyllis was the 1st Counselor and I felt like it would probably be her. Saturday evening I recieved a phone call from the executive secretary asking if I could meet with the Bishop at 11:00 Sunday morning. Kevin imediately started teasing about moving out here was for me and not for him and who would I call as counselors, etc. But I really had no worries that I was going to be called as President, maybe a counselor for Phyllis. I thought I was doing fine with all the move and the new house stuff but when the Bishop asked how I have been feeling lately I had a breakdown and proceeded to tell himm all that has been going on. He just grinned and handed me a kleenex. He first asked where our new house was located to make sure it was still in the ward and then He asked if I knew why I was called in today and I laughed and said of course, everyones has been waiting to hear who's going to fill these positions. He said your name has been submitted and approved and you have been called to fill the position of...and he pauses......and I'm holding my breath..... and he says 1st Counselor in the Relief Society. I exhaled with a grin and said yes, I can do that. I'm assuming it is Phyllis I would be serving with and He said no.... It is Sister Manire. Misty was the 2nd Counselor who I worked with on the RS board as activity chairman. Last Month at our RS evening meeting it was Misty, Myself, Jennifer Griffith and a new Sister that moved in from SLC, Ashlee Mullins. Ashlee was called as the 2nd Counselor. So, now I am serving as the 1st Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency and two of us are new to the Ward. What was Misty thinking.
The Missionaries that live in our complex came by tonight and had us watch the Joseph Smith the Prophet movie with them. I had made a choclate cake with cream cheese icing and offered them some. They were both still fasting so just took it home with them. They asked us if we wanted to go to the Gladys Knight Fireside at our stake center on thursday night, they had two tickets that their investigators had given back to them. We told them we would love to go if they couldn't find someone else by then. I'm excited, I have wanted to hear her story since she became a member years ago.

I just went for a walk this morning and it is beautiful outside. It had rained all weekend but this morning the sun is shining and everything looks and smells so clean and green. There is a slight breeze and it felt good to get outside, breath in some fresh air and relax. I didn't feel like I was hot while walking but when I came back and opened the front door it was not cool in the Apartment is was warm and muggy and didn't take long till I was just pouring with sweat so I had to turn the AC on for an hour or so till everyting cooled down.

Saturday May 1, 2010:
It's raining out today, actually it's pouring, thundering and lighting quite the storm! We started to do laundry this morning but the apartment is getting to muggy inside so we'll have to for go any more work today.
Rachael and Tyson and Grady skyped with us this morning. He is so healthy and big and happy and bright eyed. Rachael says he just loves to goo and talk to her all morning long that's why they skyped us so early. Of course, he wouldn't do it for us but we did get one cute smile from him. He is going to be giving his parents the run around before he turns a year old for sure.
We went shopping for a little while looking for a new bedframe for our new mattress we will be getting after we move in. Saw a nice one at the unfinished furniture store.
We were supposed to meet our loan officer at our apartment to get updates on our paperwork for the new loan but he called and said he couldn't make it so we rescheduled.
We sat around and watched the Kentucky Derby late in the afternoon. My pick, the gray, came in third. Other than that we are just boring.

Wednesday April 28, 2010:
Okay, we have just been through a few crazy days. Our Real Estate agent, Marilyn called us Monday morning to let us know the Bank was going to be sending us out a counter offer on the house. We didn't know what that meant and couldn't get the other RE Agent to tell us anything, in fact he hadn't even had our last extended offered signed by the seller's so we really weren't under contract at that point. We looked online for answers to our questions and figured out we could make a counter offer back to the bank but could still take a while for a response and then still not accept it and we would be out of luck anyway. When the Bank's offer finally came through it was way higher than we expected so we made the best counter offer we felt we could manage and waited. By Tuesday morning we began getting nervous because we knew it was close to the deadline for the tax credit so we started looking for other homes out there in our price range. On Wednesday morning I had Marilyn line up three homes for us to go see. The first one was a bank owned property and Marilyn said not to be too hopeful because sometimes with foreclosures people just take what they can when they leave. This one was missing carpets, light fixtures and all the appliances from the kitchen, we didn't even dare go up stairs there was too much repair in this one.
The next one didn't have a backyard just a downhill run. The third one looked like the backyard just dropped off but when we walked out the basement door the backyard was flat all the way back to the wooded area and there was this huge nice deck built back there in the trees. There was plenty of room for a good sized garden!
The home is not as big as the last one but has a full unfinished basement that we could finish and expand in to and maybe will give us some extra equity for resale value in five to ten years.
We still had not heard back anything on our last offer to the seller's or the bank so we made the decision to sign a release of the first home offer so we could write up an offer on this new one. Marilyn called us back at 6:00 and told us there was a second offer made on this new home, so I started looking again just incase ours wasn't accepted.
On Thursday by noon Marilyn called and told us our offer had been accepted and to come to the office for a final signature and we could start the paper work with the mortgage company. Our closing date for this new home is May 24th and we will be moving in over Memorial day weekend!!! Yeah!!! I'm sad that we didn't get the other home, it was bigger and reminded me of the one we sold in Utah, but I'm am also relieved that this whole house hunting thing is over and we are finally getting out of this apartment and into a home soon.

Friday April 24, 2010:
Okay it's been way too long since I wrote anything on here and for Hannah, who doesn't FaceBook, that's way too long to go without hearing what we've been up to.
After we got home from Utah we we're supposed to close on our home, but we still hadn't heard from the bank so we extended our offer for two more weeks giving us some time to look for another home. We have driven by at least fifty homes looking for a flat backyard for a garden and the few we have found with that were too close to the neighbors or had no fenced yard or was more than we want to spend. At least we now have narrowed it down to we want to stay in the Independence area. Other places like Florence, Burlington, Hebron, Walton were too far away or in the path of the airport.
On Saturday April 17th I attented 'Time Out For Women' with my friend Phyllis and two of her Daughters. We met and left from the church parking lot at 6:15 in the morning for the two and a half hour drive to Indianapolis. This was the first time I have attended one and what a great day it was. This years theme is "We hope all things.." The speakers were very inspirational and motivational as they shared their experiences of hope and faith during their trials. It made my trials seem very trivial, and I am very grateful for my Family from Grandparents to Grandchildren. I love and appreciate all they do and have done to stay strong in the gospel and raise their families with those same great values.
On April 23rd we went and took one more look at our home since the owners have moved out to check for any damage or leaking water. Everything looked good so we decided to wait it out to get this house and hope we can close before June 31st to get the tax credit. We extended our offer out to June 15th with a closing date of June 20th. The last email we recieved said it was "pending service release" so we think we will be hearing something soon.
Since We have been back home, I have gone to a job fair and signed up with four different staffing agencies trying to get a job. That's the way they advertise jobs out here. There are no classified ads in the paper, it's all done online through these agencies. All positions are temporary to hire after a 60 day trial period.
So, I have heard from one of those agencies for a temporary 3 week position which my resume was faxed to the employer along with several others and they choose one. I didn't get that job. I think this is going to be a long process to get a job.

Thursday March 11, 2010:
Today has been a sort of surreal day. When I am alone with no project for me to be working on and I am left with just my thoughts, they begin to wander in strange directions let me tell you. Having all my projects done there was nothing going on this morning so I walked up to the fitness center but they were closed due to replacing of carpets. I decided to keep on walking up the lane, out of the complex and up through the two strip malls on either side of us. I was glancing in windows and taking note of store names and contents there in. There is a Wonder Bread store, a Coins shop, a clothing repair/sewing shop, two cafes, the Antique Mall, The Navy and The Army recruiting offices, three different hair styling salons, a college, a craft store, and a Toys R Us store. As I crossed through the parking lot towards the outer sidewalk I took a look around and up at the sky and suddenly felt very alone. Nothing was familiar, I didn't know a soul around and couldn't just go get in my car to go visit someone, anyone I knew. I suddenly felt so lost, alone and empty. The thoughts came to me again; where am I and why am I here? Where is the life I know, the friends I know, the neighborhoods I know, the stores I know, the reason I know for getting up and getting going each day, my children, my grandchildren, my family... I am supposed to be the stable one, I am supposed to be 'home' for my chidren to come home to. It just seems bizzare that I come 'home' to my children. I was just plucked out of that life and dropped into a whole new dimension. I just am lost. Bizzare!! Bizzare!!
My longing for home gets the best of me on these days and the only way for me to find comfort is in praying to my Father in Heaven. I know he knows me and hears and understands my thoughts and emotions. He sends me comfort through my next set of thoughts which go somethig like this; As much as I love my children and want to be reunited with them, My heavenly father must feel the same way, even more so he wants me to come home to him. So I want to make sure I am doing all the things he requires and asks of me so I am worthy to return and see him and be with him and have him put his arms around me and welcome me home again. And if he feels this way about me, then he must feel the same way about every single person I see everyday and if they are feeling lost and alone I would think that they need him and his comfort too, just like me. So we are all equals, we all have the same needs, so we are not scary to each other we are brothers and sisters in need of love and acceptance, just like me!!! So carry on in this new dimension, be friendly and caring, spread the Gospel of love and acceptance, of a knowledge of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, a Father and a Brother that are waiting with open arms to recieve us home.

Wednesday March 10, 2010:
Well, I think I have everything ready to come home to Utah. We bought some gifts for all the girls and decided they were too big to take in my suitcase so I wrapped them all up this week and took them to the UPS store and sent them to Liz's home. I have called and made the reservations at Abbey Inn for when we go down to Rachael and Tyson's for Grady's blessing. We have the plane reservations, the car rental reservation, I've put together a list of all the things we need to DO while we are home. I have finished the cushion covers for Hannah's couch and will bring those in my suitcase and sew them on while I am there. Yes, I think we're all set to go.
We still haven't heard anything more on the house, just waiting.....waiting..... waiting.
It finally quit snowing and has warmed up this last week. I started getting out and going up to the fitness center at the apartment complex and walking on the treadmill. The first day I was there a younger gal was on the stationary bike so I just said Hi and introduced myself which triggered an hour of conversation with her. Her name is Wendy (I know, I know) she is in her early forties, a newlywed, likes to walk every day, grew up on a farm, active in her church and even invited me to go with her. So, I do have a new walking partner while we are in these apartments.
Last night we started on our new assignment of contacting the Young Single Adults in the ward to visit with them and inform them of activities for them in the ward and in the branch. We made flyers for the special kick-off FHE this coming Sunday evening to hand out. We found four of the homes but only one girl, Christina, was home. We left flyers with the mothers. We are going out again to night and find at least four more. Hope we have better luck.
See you in two weeks!!!

Monday March 1, 2010;
Friday night we took the Elders from our ward out to dinner. We told them about our new assignment and informed us they would be working with us also as they are asked to work with those that need to be reactivated. They are great Guys and they are the Zone Leaders for this area. Elder McClelland is from Las Vegas and has two friends serving in the Anchorage Alaska Mission.
Saturday while driving up to the bank and post office we past a big sign that said 'Tewes Turkey Farm' so of course after we finished business we got out the map to see if we could find our way over there. They sell turkeys, fresh chicken eggs, ham, sausage and bacon. We bought a small ten pound turkey for Sunday dinner. I'm sure we'll be going back there often.
We found the $3.00 theater not far from our apartment and went to see '2012'. It was bizarre watching that particular movie right after we had heard the news about the earthquake in Chile causing a Sunami that would possibly hit Hawaii. We kept watching the time during the movie as the sunami was suppose to hit Hawaii around 4:00 our time. I never did hear if it really happened. Anyone else hear?
We skyped with Rachael and Tyson this afternoon because Hannah and Ryan were down there visiting the new Boy in the Family. I was so jealous! Hannah was holding my little baby and he is so cute. He woke up and we got to see him with his eyes open being alert and holding his head up. Hannah was showing me her new phone she got which she can now receive texts again. It was good to see Ryan again and see him holding the baby. He's going to be a natural when it's his turn to be a Dad. Tyson was stenciling car and motocross logos on t-shirts for Grady. Baby is going to be dressed in style that's for sure. It was just like being there relaxed and comfortable. Again, I love skype. Mom, you really need to get a web cam now.
So when we decided to get a post office box we decided the one across from the church would be a good location so if we didn't get there during the week we surely would be able to go pick up mail on Sunday after church. Well, also across the street from the church is another great big church 'Lakeside Christian Church'. The parking lot is not big enough to hold as many cars as needed to fill that church so the extras are parked along both sides of the street and of course in the Post Office parking lot. It was just funny to see the Post Office parking lot so full on Sunday so we have started calling it 'Church of the Post Office'. It's difficult to get in there to pick up our mail on Sunday because the 'Church of the Post Office' meets the same time we do.
We were invited to PEC this morning to meet with and hear the report of the new Missionary couple we will be working with. Apparently they came on Tuesday this week and started looking up the Single Adults on the list. We were given three inactives names and three actives names for our list to visit to start with. We also set a time to get together to go out this week visiting. This is going to be a great responsiblity but a fun one. After Relief Society was over I had to hurray over and introduce myself to a gal who walked in during the middle carrying brand new twins! One boy and one girl. I asked if I could hold her little boy and explained about my new grandson. These babies were only six pounds each and they were born on February 14th so now Grady will seem really big to me when I get there. But it was fun to hold a brand new little one so now I don't feel cheated about missing out. Only 26 more days. See you soon.

Friday February 26, 2010:
Oh My, I can't believe it's been two weeks since I posted last. Let's see what have we been doing. We spent Valentines weekend going to dinner Friday evening, drove around the area a little on Saturday and found a great massive neighborhood just southeast of us in Burlington. No wonder the traffic is so bad around the freeway exit just south of ours. We recieved four cute refrigerator magnets from our four darling grandaughters for Valentines Day. On Monday, President's day it was snowing again and we spent all day in just watching TV.
On Sunday at church we received an interesting assignment. The Bishop has asked us to be Home Teacher/Visiting Teacher to the Young Single Adults in this ward starting the 1st of March. A new missionary couple will be here then and together we will go down the current list of 60 names and find out about them; if they still live in the ward boundaries, if they are still single, if they are interested in returning to activity, and inviting them to a special Family Home Evening Group weekly meeting at the Stotts' home and also to the YSA branch activities or see if they would like to attend the Singles Branch on a permanent basis. This could possibly lower our list to about eight to ten YSA to visit each month or mondays or whatever. Sounds fun!
We finished our taxes and sent them in on turbo tax on Wednesday, heard back on thursday that they had been accepted and we should have our deposit in the bank 10 to 14 days, yeah!!!!!!
We haven't heard any more about the house. Marilyn sends an email every week to the selling Agent to see how it's coming. Last weeks report was that we had now been put on the 'to be reviewed' list. Hoping that it happens soon. I've been watching HGTV alot during this cold snowy winter, getting ideas for painting, tiling, countertops, and decorating and can't wait to get in and start doing!!!! First things first; a major house cleaning, furnace and duct cleaning, carpets cleaned, a new bed, a new water softener and garage door opener fixed. Then we can do the rest as it comes. I'm now wishing we had kept the big patio tent as it would have covered our patio perfectly.
I went to my first R.S. evening meeting here on Thursday the 18th. It was a small group but that was good as I got to know them all while playing UNO and eating munchies. Phyllis is going to be my new best friend. She is about my age, very out going, has five children, one daughter that is married and lives in the ward and she invited me to got to 'Time Out For Women' with her and her girls.
So I finally got back in to the endodontist on Tuesday February 23rd to finish up the root canal on my lower back tooth. I felt funny during the procedure like I couldn't catch my breath and my heart was racing. Never felt like that before. I don't know if it was anxiety or what, anyway the procedure went fairly quickly since it was just one side and there wasn't much pain after the numbness wore off so didn't think much about it again until last night and my jaw began to hurt. I took a couple of tylenol and went to bed. When I woke up this morning my whole jaw and side of my face clear up to my temple was swollen up. I called the Dr. at 8:30 and they said he would call me in a perscription right away.
I went to Walmart to pick it up and while I was there I called Liz. We talked for 45 minutes while she danced around in her kitchen and I walked around at Walmart. It was good to get caught up but I think it made me homesick. I can't wait to get home. I'm sure alot of it has to do with me being home by myself everyday till six o'clock and it being under 30 degrees outside every day. But I really miss all of my girls.
I went and got my hair cut to shoulder lenth this week and then dyed it the next morning. Kevin and I went to the Mall finally and saw all the shops that are there.We found our number on the sleep number mattress. Cool! There was a Dairy Queen and we got blizzards! Kentucky past time. Remember girls?

Thursday February 11, 2010:
I figured out my skype today and got to see my new grandbaby squirming and squeaking and yawning. Tyson was showing me all his new clothes and little shoes.

Wednesday February 10, 2010:
Here he is! Isn't he just the dang cutest little guy you ever saw? He actually looks like Rachael's baby pictures, fuzzy blonde hair, little tiny ears and a perfectly round head. I got to skype with them today but all I was getting were a still shot and then jump to another still shot. He would yawn and Rachael would say did you see that and I never would. This is going to be very frustrating if I can't figure this out. Tyson is such a good Dad taking all the pictures, emailing them to me, getting triple prints made to mail out to grammaws. Thanks Tyson

Tuesday February 9, 2010:
My tooth didn't hurt too bad this morning as long as I didn't touch it. It started snowing during the night and there was about 4" of snow to clear off the truck before I could get to the dentist. I didn't even think to call before I left to see if they came in to work this morning. Luckily they were there and took me right in even though I was a little late. After looking at x-rays the dentist called right over to an Endodontist to schedule a root canal before he will work on my tooth. The endodontist had several cancellations due to the snow so I drove right over there. When he looked at the x-rays he could see it was both back teeth and just wanted to test the further back one. He put a drop of cold water on it and I about came right out of the chair he told me to let him know when it quit hurting. I just started crying and they began asking me questions trying to get my mind off the pain but asking about my children was not helping me. The more things I said out loud about leaving home and my girls the worse fit of crying I got myself into, even after the shot of novacaine subsided the pain. He said he was going to do two root canals to relieve all the pain I had been experiencing. After he was done I went to Walmart to get the percriptions filled and it was three by the time I got home due to the snow. I took the antibiotic and the pain pill and posted on facebook before I went to sleep for a couple of hours. I think I talked to Rachael and Tyson sometime in there but can't remember what time. They said all was good and they had spoken to everyone and they were sending pictures to my email. I finally got the pictures and stats of Grady posted on Facebook about about 7:30 pm. I'm so excited to be able to see him on skype tomorrow.

Monday February 8, 2010:
Rachael and Tyson called me this morning and said they have been at the hospital since 2am, she went in to be induced, we are having a baby today! I talked to Liz later and she said it could be ten to twelve hours after starting on the patossin drip which would put delivery somewhere between eight and ten tonight. The pain in my tooth is just constant now, no relief even from the ibuprophen and acetaminophen. I finally located a dentist that would see me at 10:00 tomorrow morning.
Tyson called again around 6:00 pm my time, 4:00 Utah time and said she was at a 9 and it could be one to two hours. By 6:30 Utah time all the girls took turns calling me and asking if I had heard anything. They say no news is good news, but it can't stop you from thinking the worst, there must be some kind of trouble. I just kept watching the Bachelor trying to keep my mind off of Rachael and the pain in my tooth. At 10:30 Rachael finally called to let us know they had a healthy Baby Boy!
Born at 7:30 and his name was Grady! Liz and Hannah both texted me at the same time asking just if I had heard yet, yes or no. I could only text back 'yes' and couldn't even tell anyone. I couldn't go to sleep till I could talk to some one so I was glad Hannah texted me back later to say 'A BOY!' Then she called and she told me the weight and lenth. 7lbs 8ozs, 20 inches long. I finally went to bed around 11:30 pm.

Sunday February 7, 2010;
In Sacrament meeting today we were sustained into our new callings, Kevin-Gospel Doctrine Teacher and Lori-R.S. Enrichment Leader. Yay!, I'll be getting out of this apartment at least a couple of times a month. I've had a slight tooth ache in my back molar for a couple of weeks. Last night at dinner the pain became unbearable. I got through the night with pain killers and anbesol. This morning the pain isn't so bad, there is no swelling and I can keep the pain under control with ibuprofen and acetaminaphen. One of the sister's that bore her testimony was talking about her toothache and how just overnight her jaw swelled up with infection. While she was at her dentist he told her he had treated several patients lately with the same problem and that it can spread so quickly if you don't get it treated it can kill you, So, Monday morning I really need to get to a dentist to see if it is a cavity or just sensative nerves.
It was just the two of us for our Super Bowl party. Rooting for the Saints! Yay!
Really bad half time show and as for the commercials we don't watch those at this house, commercial time is to see what else is on that we might be missing, so, I didn't see one funny commercial. But I heard there was nothing to miss there either.
Skype is the greatest thing on the internet. I can visit like I was right there in the room. I was at Jessica's apartment last night visiting while she was cooking dinner for her and Kyle. I visited with Rebecca, Niki and Lyndsie on Friday night. I'm waiting for Liz to get her computer back so I can visit with her family again and just a couple of more days and I'll be able to see my newest grandbaby and spend an hour or two with them at their house. I can't wait.

Saturday February 6, 2010;
This week was again pretty uneventful. I spent everyday cleaning through a new room sterilizing, sanitizing and organizing. I got Kevin's bathroom all put together. He said he would use the hall bathroom to get ready at five o'clock in the morning since the master bath doesn't have a door to it and it would wake me up. He is so thoughtful especially since I should be getting up anyway to go exercise.
The complex here has an awesome fitness facility with treadmills, bikes, elypticals, weight machines and steps with a t.v. and videos. There is also a hot tub, sauna and tanning beds all free to residents. I better make use of it for the three months we are here.
Then I got my bathroom all done. Went thru a few more boxes and put stuff away in dressers and closets. Went thru the kitchen and organized what I had unpacked so far. Went grocery shopping in all my food boxes and then found some plates, glasses and bowls, washed them and put away. I made some cookies yesterday and forgot I hadn't found the cookies sheets yet so we baked them on a pizza pan and a cake pan. Today I found the cookie sheets. I think I have out everything we will need now for three months. Now I just need to haul some boxes out to the garage and then just glance thru it quickly to see if I can find a box labeled 'files from office'. I need a copy of my 2008 tax returns for the loan on the new house.
It started snowing about four o'clock yesterday and has snowed off and on all day today. We have about three inches covering the vehicles. We were going to go exploring the area again today but I don't think we're going anywhere now. Too cold and blustery and icy. Blehhhhhh!

Sunday January 31, 2010:
On the drive down we were checking on how long it would take us to get to the Temple, which is in Crestwood, just east of Louisville. It took one hour. Not too bad of a drive. Next the Louisville airport took one hour and twenty minutes. That would be the airport with the lower rates for whom ever comes out to visit us.
Funny thing, Alan called us as we were leaving Florence and said they had just landed at the Cincinnati Airport and had an hour lay-over on the way home from their cruise. He said they flew over a big Mall just before landing. I told him that is right where we live! Just across the street from that big Mall and behind a strip mall. He said he flies thru Cincinnati a lot and if he has more than an hour lay-over we will get together next time.
Churhill Downs is about ten minutes west of the airport. Then Elizabethtown was fifty minutes south from the airport. So we are just a little over two hours from Elizabethtown. I tried to get pictures but you know how cameras work from cars and I was getting good pictures of window frames and dashboards and antennas. I'll post what looks the best.
Sunday morning we went to church at 9:00 and the Bishop happened to be the door greeter and said it was the Elizabethtown ward (the other ward is the Radcliff ward and starts at 1:00). We walked in to the chapel and spotted Studer's sitting up front. We walked up, tapped them on the shoulder and Aleta jumped right up, gave me a hug, and we picked up right where we left off. I love good friends! She immediately invited us to come to dinner after and went out to call Wendy who was at home to get something on for dinner. They told us there are only a few left from the ward when we were there. Zahringers are but they were not at church today. Wolfs, the older Finches, the older Calderas, Hauns. We talked to Sister Lefevre. No ones kids stayed around they have all moved away. Wendy's husband has moved back in with Marlin and Aleta while he is looking for a nursing job. As soon as he gets one Wendy will sell their home in Morgan Utah and Move out here with Him. Heather is in her second year of college up at USU in Logan! It was a fun afternoon, we remembered why we loved being around them so much. Nonstop talking, joking and laughing.
When we left we drove over to Long Grove Road to see our old home. Baugh's tall old home was still there. There are homes built on the hill that was across the road from us. There was our house up on the hill under the big trees. The drive over the river and thru the woods to Preston's was longer than we remembered, but was still there with the black rail fence all around the pastures. We drove up Bacon Creek road to go by The Whistle Stop cafe. Then decided to drive over to Lexington. We saw signs for 'My Old Kentucky Home' historic site. Remember the Stephen Foster Story? We saw the Maker's Mark Distillery sign. Remember that trip? The closer we got to Lexington the bigger the homes and fenced pastures. We'll go back next summer when it's all green and the horses are out. We drove by Keeneland Race track, they have a drive thru betting window! I just love looking at all of these big old Estate Homes, this area is the start of the South's big old Plantations. It's beautiful here. From Lexington to Florence it is eighty-one miles, just over an hour drive. We'll have to take you down there when you come out.

Saturday January 30, 2010:
We mostly just went thru 'laundryroom' boxes to see what was in them. If there was nothing we needed we taped them back shut and put them in the guest room closet. We started going thru Master bedroom boxes and did the same thing, if we don't need them the boxes are getting stacked up in the corner of the room. We quit about 3:00 and started on a little trip down to Elizabethtown!

Friday January 29, 2010:
We went back down to the new apartment today to start putting things away. I really don't like the way packers pack and label boxes. I found the pots and pans okay, but I couldn't find any box labeled silverware but there were seven boxes labeled tupperware! Who has that much tupperware, I know I don't. In those I found most of the stuff from kitchen drawers, like measuring cups, mixing bowls, lunch boxes, thermoses, waffle iron, cookie and cake pans. I found lids for my pitchers but no pitchers, I found parts for my mixmaster but no mixmaster. I found the silverware! We went on to find bedroom stuff so we could make the beds. We found one shower curtain but no hooks. Found one box of towels one box of sheets, and all the rugs. Now there are only two boxes marked bathroom supplies, hope that will be what we need to get moved in.
We had the cable guy hook up the TV, DVD player and the internet, we're all set there. The phone got hooked up and is working. And the guys came and hooked up the washer and dryer, they are both working. We had to stop by the bank before it closed to change the address on our account. The guy who was helping us asked for our address. After we gave it to him he asked if that was the Paddock Club apartments? We told him yes and he said that was the exact same apartment he lived in two years ago. Of all the apartment complexes there are around here and there are at least twenty buildings in each complex and twelve apartments in each building and we were in the exact same apartment! What are the odds of that! Really, really odd if you ask me! Really tired, going back to the old apartment for the rest of the night.

Thursday January 28th, 2010:
Holy Cow, it's freezing cold, there is a slight wind, and I have to stand out here by the moving truck and mark off everything that comes off the truck and then tell them where it goes. My hands and feet went numb after the first hour. Once there was room I got up inside the truck in a sunny spot and was finally unthawed by the time everything was done. It only took five hours, but everything fit with the garage being full clear to the top. It's a good thing we will have a basement to put all this stuff in. We started moving in before the cleaning lady got in there, so we spent the rest of the day cleaning the kitchen before I could start unpacking anything. Then we went to dinner at Smokey Bones. Hannah and Jessica, do you remember that restaurant from down in Florida? It was across from our timeshare and Dan and Gaylene went with us. Good food!

Wednesday January 27, 2010:
Sorry, It's just been a long boring week with nothing noteworthy to write about. It rained for five days straight. I spent those days watching movies on cable and applying for jobs online. The high light of my day was to go down and get the mail. On Sunday we went to church at 11:30 to attend the right ward and found out the ward members are Huggers! Several gave us hugs as we came in welcoming us back from last week. Our records were read into the ward during Sacrament meeting so afterwards we received several more hugs welcoming us into the ward. The Relief Society lesson was on how strong our testimonies are and need to be to endure to the end. Several sisters shared their testimonies and experiences with us during class. I love it when that happens. You get to know each other on a closer level than just "Hi, how are you today?". We met with the Bishop after church and received callings. Kevin is the Gospel Doctrine teacher and I'm on the R.S. board for Enrichment activities. We can do those. Although next week is ward conference and Kevin and I are going to drive over to Elizabethtown to go to church and visit with friends there.
The rain turned to snow on Monday afternoon and it snowed off and on all night. But Tuesday morning the sun was out at 9:00 so I went for a walk around the apartment complex and down the hill and back. The wind was blowing and I was frozen by the time I got back and then the clouds came back and it was overcast the rest of the day. Tuesday I spent the day on the phone talking to insurance agents getting car, home and renters quotes. The car insurance seems a lot less out here which is funny considering the narrow, winding, hilly roads. I also called and got the utilities set up for us to move in to our new apartment on Thursday. We'll be getting a land line phone to have local calls from within the ward. The number will be able to transfer to our new home when we move there. You have to get cable to even watch TV with all the hills around here. But they do offer reasonably priced bundles with high speed internet so I guess that's okay as long as we don't get into a bad habit of watching movies.
Today we are going down to sign the lease and get the keys to our new apartment and we are set to move in tomorrow morning. The storage company will be delivering and setting up our stuff and it should take just one whole day. Then on Friday Kevin and I will spend all day getting out what we'll need and putting stuff away and the utility companies will be hooking up the phone, TV's and the computer. Then Saturday we'll move the rest of the stuff out of our current place to the new apartment. So I won't be on here for another week. It sounds like it should go smoothly, wish us luck!

Monday January 18,2010:
It's Martin Luther King Day and Kevin has the day off, so I'm not alone today. We drove down by Florence Mall and I showed Kevin where the new apartment is and we drove around the area to see what stores are near by. Macy's and JCPenney's are the big stores in the Mall. Kevin found a Harbor Freight Tools. There is a Toys R Us, JoAnns Fabrics, K-mart, Hobby Lobby Craft store, Barnes and Noble just to name a few.
We then met Bob at the home to do a thorough inspection of the premisis. I did remember to take the camera and got a few more pictures. Bob checked everything and explained quite alot to us. I'm glad we got to go thru with him it was very helpful in what things are and what to watch for. There was nothing major wrong with the home only being eight years old but there are a few repairs we'll need to do: a ball valve in one toilet, use plumbers tape to re-attach a dripping shower head, a clamp on the dishwasher drain hose, tuck under and nail down a piece of siding that warped up, just little things like that and routine cleaning and maintenence of vents, carpets and light bulbs. If you can tell in the pictures someone is a decorator or painter with all the different colors and custom paint jobs thru-out the home. We'll probably tone it down a bit with tan walls in the family room, kitchen and the two smaller bedrooms. That was a long day. Now we are home and getting together information to take to the loan officer tomorrow. Bye for now.

Sunday January 17, 2010:
We went to church this morning at nine and Kevin picked up a tithing envelope for the Lakeside Park Ward and said the Bishop's name sounded familiar so we guessed we were in the right place. We found Matt Baker, (the friend of Roger's that we went to church and had dinner with in July when we first visited here) got reaquainted and sat with He and his family for Sacrament Meeting. After the meeting Matt took us to the clerks office to look at bounderies for the ward. We found out that the 9:00 time is actually called the Highland Heights Ward and our apartment and our new home are not in that ward we will be in the Lakeside Park Ward as we've been saying and they meet at 11:30. There's another confirmation that we are being guided by the spirit to be here, as it turns out we are in the Lakeside Park Ward but it is not the name of the one we visited this summer. And so we know nothing of how long this Bishop has been in now! hehehe! So, we stayed and went to sacrament meeting in the right ward this time. The Bishop, Ben Schafer is from Bountiful, Utah and graduated from Woods Cross High in 2009. He knew Lynn Westergard and Mark Earnshaw and Brian Singleton. I asked if he knew Diane but he couldn't remember. Small world huh? This ward was very friendly too, everyone introducing themselves and Kevin said he feels even more comfortable here than in the other ward. So there you have it. I guess we have our new home!

Friday January 15, 2010:
Yeah! I finally found an apartment we both agreed on and I put down a deposit this morning. We will be moving in February first. It is on the ground level, three bedroom, two bath with a screened in porch and a garage right in front of our building that I can see out my front window. It is the same amount in rent as the two bedroom apartments I've looked at. The location is a really easy on, easy off exit for the freeway and I don't know if this will be good or bad, but it is right behind the Florence Mall and next to two different strip malls. I'm sure we'll have everything we need close by. It will be fun doing some more exploring!
We took the truck in to a repair shop today, we'll probably not hear until monday what the problem is. At least it never died on me while I've been driving all over the valley looking at apartments.
The weather has finally gone up to 35* and the sun has been shining for two days now, hope it will last for a couple of more weeks.
We met with our mortgage officer last night, Eric, everything is moving forward on the house. We just need to get him some more paperwork on tuesday. We will meet the home inspector at the house on monday to look over everything, get his assessments of the property and ask any questions we may have. Then it will just be a waiting game with the bank. I hope I remember to take the camera to get pictures this time.

Wednesday January 13, 2010:
I must have called ten complexes looking for a two bed, two bath apartment that said they offered short term leases. Several said no they didn't really offer short term leases. The rest of them I made appointments to go see and again found out why they were only $650 a month (old, small, too far away). So this afternoon I was online again trying to find some more places that offered three month leases. I did find a couple more to go see. The first one was really nice, secluded, large floor plan, nice kitchen, with or without a fire place, w/d hookups and comes with a garage for $1170 a month then you still have to pay electric, phone and internet. The next one looked just like it about five miles closer in to town $975 a month, no garage and they require you to have renter's insurance. I found two more that say they have short term leases so I'll call on those tomorrow. Whew!

Tuesday January 12,2010:
Yesterday I spent most of the day on the internet looking for apartments available with short term leases and health and fitness clubs in the area. I also went thru the mail we recieved from Liz! Yeah! Christmas cards and refund checks, nice!!!
We did go to the Five Seasons Fitness and Tennis club last night. Way too expensive for our class but we do have a ten day pass to use. Better go if it's free. I'm not sore this morning, I guess I didn't push myself hard enough.
This morning we heard back from Marilyn. The couple accepted and signed the offer so now we need to get busy and get the inspector in there and get all the paperwork to the lender and find an apartment and a storage unit asap! No time to dawdle on here for a while. Love You, Bye.

Sunday January 10, 2010:
We were up and ready and drove over to the church in time for the 9:00 meeting this morning. When we pulled into the parking lot there was only one other car there. As Kevin went to try the door the lady rolled her window down and told him it was Stake Conference. That it was here, but wouldn't start until 10:30. It was freezing so we drove the ten minutes back to the apartment to wait. When we came back the parking lot was pretty full and so was the building with chairs set up all the way to the back of the gym. I spotted the Relief Society President and Kevin spotted our Bishop during the meeting, but we weren't able to catch up to them afterwards. The meeting was just like one of ours with two youth speaking on how their faith has made a difference in their lives so far. Then a sister gave a very good talk on raising your family in a way that your children know you love them and they know that you love Jesus Christ. When the choir started to sing is when memories started flooding over me, the singles ward choir and all the fun we would have there, the thirteenth ward choir and how beautiful they always sounded, but when they started singing I know that My Redeemer Lives the tears wouldn't stop and Kevin had to run get tissues for me. The first counselor in the Stake Presidiency spoke on fulfilling his dream of raising a family in the gospel and then the Stake President spoke and on a very interesting and good topic. He was very concerned about the many problems he has recently been dealing with among the members of his stake with pornography, adultery, spiritual decay and wanted us to know what we have in the gospel is what alot of people on this earth are looking for and we shouldn't be taking it for granted. We shouldn't be thinking the signs of the times means in the future. A lot have all ready happened and that we are towards the end of preparing for the second coming and we need to get ourselves on the right track now and help get and keep our families and friends on the right track as well. The message was good but after he had talked for forty five minutes and the time lapse had been two hours and fifteen minutes I noticed people began getting restless, watching the clock, some got up and left, so I think there were a lot of people who forgot the message and didn't take it home with them. Sad.
We're tired of this freezing cold weather and wish it would warm up to 32* so we can go out and do a little bit.

Saturday January 9, 2010:
So, we went out with the Real Estate Agent again this morning. There were about four homes we had been looking at on the internet since we sold ours so we went to those first. They had stated that there was some TLC needed and we are not opposed to some fixer upper repairs to get a good deal on a home, but these were bad.... I mean gut the whole house bad.... sheetrock subfloors, everything to the bare frame and start over. We finally got to one that was in a good location, all brick, no visible repairs or paint to the outside, lots of storage closets even though it didn't have a basement. nice inside with just a paint job in one or two rooms. We could live there, but for the same price if we could get the other house I liked there's a lot more value and could turn it for a good profit with no more than painting a couple of rooms and not even that, really, it is fine the way it is.
When we finally got to the nice house Kevin was sold immediately. We even cancelled looking at the next two homes. We went straight back to the office and signed an offer and Marilyn sent it right over. It is on a short sale so she told us to prepare for a long wait. It could take three to six months before it is all settled. So now we need to look for an apartment with a short term or month to month lease option and move twice. But it will be worth it.
We went to Carabba's Italian Grill for dinner. Not as good as Johnny Carinos!!!