New Baby!!!! A Grand DAUGHTER!!!!

This morning at Midnight our little Kaitlyn Rose entered the world. She weighed in at 5 pounds 13 ounces and is 18 inches long. Proud parents are Aaron & Cara and the proud brothers are Lane & Brendan. It's at times like this that it is SO hard being SO far away. It will be hard waiting until the end of February to see her! Thank goodness for instant photos sent hundreds of miles in a few seconds!

We are so excited for the new addition to our family!!! Thank goodness we have experience with our 2 adopted grand daughters, Clarissa and Abby...or we wouldn't know what to do with a GIRL... after FOUR grandsons, this will be an interesting and fun change.

What have we been doing?

It's been quite a while since I posted anything. I don't know where this year has gone! This time last year we were in Michigan busy packing up our house for a hopeful job and move to Georgia. Today I'm finishing up the inside Christmas decorations. We got to have Lane come visit for a few days before Thanksgiving. We celebrated his birthday a few days late. It was pretty nasty weather most of the time that Lane was here. We got lots of computer time in, of course. We went shopping and played ball in the front yard. In October we got to have friends from Michigan come spend a few days with us. Thanks for coming Gena & Phil. Then the next weekend we got a surprise visit from John, Sue, Julia, Lily & Shaun. They stopped for a sleep over on their way to Disney World, then on their way back we met them for dinner. It was great!

The weather in Georgia has been crazy lately,from very chilly to kinda warm, sunny to lots of rain. I've never lived anywhere where you may have the heat on in the morning and the air conditioner on in the afternoon.

We both stay busy with our church callings. Tom stays busier than he'd like to be at work and our lives go on.

How are you?
Michele

What we did today!

Well...it was new car time. The lease was up on our Envoy. We have been looking around for a new car for awhile now. After 9 years of leasing vehicles, we decided we should purchase this vehicle so we will be almost payment free by the time Tom retires once again. SO....This is what we came up with. It is a 2009 (2010 Vue's aren't out yet) Saturn Vue. The color is called TechnoGray. Cool! It's great to drive, I could hardly keep my lead foot under 80 MPH. We are excited about the new addition to our family.

Mini Vacation to New Hampshire

I don't know where the summer has gone! It's almost August. It is still plenty HOT in Georgia, but thankfully I can stay inside in the air conditioned house! We got to go to New Hampshire from July 17 until July 21. Tom's sister Jean got married on Saturday, July 18. All of Tom's siblings were there and most of the nieces and nephews were also there. It was wonderful seeing Jean on CLOUD 9! Her hubby Russ seems like a very nice guy. We stayed at Fifield Inn (as always) John, Sue, Julia, Lily and Shaun always make us feel right at home. Tom's sister Mary, and her daughter, Molly also stayed with us at the Fifield Inn. We love getting to spend time with them. Tom's cousin Mary and her hubby Angelo from Scottsdale, AZ also flew over for the wedding and we got to spend a good portion of our time there with them. On Sunday,the 4 of us went to Hampton Beach where we met up with Jean & Russ and chatted with them for a few minutes. It was Mary's first time back to the beach in about 30 years. Tom & I love to eat seafood at Alan's, it's right off the beach and we can enjoy the water while we eat. Monday we got to spend the day with John, Sue, Julia, Lily and Shaun. We went over to the river where Sue's parents live...they all enjoyed sliding down the slide into the river, and I enjoyed watching them have fun in the water. Then it was off to the ice skating rink where the kids had skating lessons...I enjoyed the cool air in the skating rink. Like I mentioned, it was a mini vacation...we didn't get to stay for long...but we packed fun and adventure in the few days we had. It's nice to be able to hop a plane and be somewhere else in a few hours.

Thanks John, Sue, Julia, Lily and Shaun for letting us come visit! Good luck Jean & Russ!

Photos of our 2 oldest grandsons!

I finally got some NEW photos of Kacy & Kyler, they are Jason's sons. Their mom texted these photos to me...and thanks to my 13 year old neice teaching me how to send cell photos to the computer...I got them here. You just HAVE to love modern technology! =) I'm SO excited to have some new photos of the boys!


Kacy & Kyler


Kacy


Kyler


Kyler & his cousin

Michigan Trip

We headed to Michigan on May 14 and got to stay until May 18. What a great time we had! We were priviledged to get to stay with our adopted family...the Roger's. It was SO wonderful to get to spend time with them! We also got to go see Steve graduate from Michigan State College of Law. Heather also graduated, but didn't walk. It was great getting to spend time with him and his fiance, Heather. Graduation was Friday afternoon and then we got to go to dinner with Steve and Heather and a few other invited guests. Then on Sunday we were invited to a Sunday Brunch hosted by Steve's mom.

Thursday we spent with the Rogers and had a birthday party for Aaron and Danny.

Friday was Graduation up in Lansing.

Saturday we went over to the Jewell's house and surprised them...They had NO idea we were in town. Doug was smiles from ear to ear and Dinah was just beside herself. I'm glad we got to stop and see them. We also dropped in on the Brumbaugh's and spent a bit of time catching up with them and just enjoying the visit. Then it was back to Roger's house for an afternoon of just hanging out. Saturday nite we enjoyed dinner with the Richardson's.

Sunday was brunch at the Gandy Dancer in Ann Arbor. Then we ran down to Blissfield to spend an hour with our good friend Cil. We missed the chance to get over to the Hansen's house and spend time with them. That was the saddest part of all. But we did see Jenny, Paxton and Dana on Saturday and Thayne and Shelby at Church on Sunday.

Monday was our last day in Michigan. We spent it with Angie and the girls. Angie had flown to Utah for her sister's wedding on Friday and got home late on Sunday. So we made the most of the time we had with her. Lunch on Monday was at Logan's. Matt came over from work, it was a great lunch! Then later on Monday we went to Haab's in downtown Ypsi for an early dinner with friends from the VVA. John & Jane Kinzinger, Phil & Gena Hecker and Roy Hall all joined us for a quick bite to eat before we flew back to Georgia.

It was a quick trip, but very enjoyable. We missed seeing many people, but are very thankful for those that we did get to see. It is so nice to be able to hop a plane and be back in Michigan in under 2 hours. Even though I really hate the hassle of flying, it sure was wonderful to get there quickly!

Happy Birthday DAD!!!

Today is my Dad's Birthday! I hope you had a good day Dad!

Love you very much!
Michele

Blog vs Facebook

I just wanted to comment on these two things. When I started this blog, I don't really know what I expected. I've really enjoyed doing the blog, even though I really don't care to write. Makes no sense, I know. It has forced me to practice writing out my thoughts and events happening around me. So that is good! The one thing that has really disappointed me about the blog, is that there really was not alot of feedback, or maybe feedback just didn't seem to come as quickly as I'd hoped? I don't know. So that has been the one drawback of a blog.

Now, on to Facebook...I'm HOOKED!!! I spend way to much time playing Farm Town on FB. The difference between FB and a blog, is that you have almost instantaneous comments from any number of people on FB. It really is NICE! AND, you can also have conversations with people from all over the world. That is what is really nice. Even my dad is on FB now. And I got to type to him one night. That was really fun!

Last Sunday while Dawn was still in Utah, we even got to chat (type) for almost an hour. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with her and catching up.

SO? While blogs are nice for writing history type things...facebook is like an instant message quickly! They both take time and I'm really glad that I have that time!

How is everything in your corner of the world?
Michele

Our week with Lane

We had a wonderful, exciting week with Lane here. We so enjoyed getting to see him and showing him some of the sights around Savannah. Today is Saturday, and we are just waiting to hear from his mom...then we have to go meet her so he can go back home and get ready for school next week.
Day 1 Sunday....Lane went to church with us, he said he enjoyed it.





Day 2 Monday...We took the missionaries to Statesboro, then ate lunch at McDonalds and then went to play putt putt golf. Tom skunked us both. We had lots of fun though.

Day 3 Tuesday...Was beach day at Tybee Island. It was an overcast day ( days like that are best for me ) kind of chilly...BUT that didn't stop Lane from heading into the waves! AND we actually watched some people catch 2 stingrays from the pier! That was cool!

Day 4 Wednesday...We took Lane to WalMart for photos. He had some great photos taken there. We won't be able to pick them up until the 9th. Then we went to the Mighty 8th Air Museum. It was really interesting. Lane & Tom even got to try shooting planes out of the sky with the machine gun! Lane was top gunner! He had 16hits! Tom had 3...Way to go Lane!!!!

Day 5 Thursday...It rained and rained and rained...so we stayed home and watched TV, and spent lots of time on the computer.

Day 6 Friday....We went to the Savannah Wildlife Reserve and saw some gators, lots of turtles and many different kinds of birds. Then we went out to dinner with some friends from church. Lane was the only child there. Our friends were very impressed with how well behaved and polite Lane is.

Day 7 Saturday... We were going to try and go to downtown Savannah and show Lane River Street and all the little squares around the city. But he has to go home today. So, we will save that trip until he can come back.

We had a wonderful time with Lane here and will really miss having him around!
We Love You LANE!

Tomorrow is an Exciting Day!

Hi Everyone,
Tomorrow we are driving down to Florida to get Lane. His mom is meeting us half way, which works out well for everyone! He is on Spring Break for a week and he's spending it with us! We are excited...can you tell?!?!?! It will be interesting, as we haven't had him around for that long before, so I'm hoping we all will be happy and have a good time. We are planning on doing some fun things (I hope he thinks it will be fun) while he is here...like the beach, putt putt golf, the Air Museum, Savannah Nat'l Wildlife Refuge. I'm thinking we will give him the choices and see what he chooses. His Mom told me that Lane has homework to do...what is with teachers these days? If you're on break, why aren't you on break? I do plan on spending time each day doing this homework and have him read something for at least 20 min. each day. I'm excited to see how well he reads. I will let you know how it all turned out...photos and all!

Rogers Children...I sure wish we were closer so you all could meet Lane, I think all you boys would have fun doing something together. Just so you know...we sure do Miss you!

Anyways, that's the excitement here in Georgia...how is everything in your corner of the world?
Michele

The Little Ones!

Well, it was today...but now it's past midnight, so it's tomorrow. Anyways, it Was Caleb's 6th birthday, so we gave him a call to wish him a Happy Birthday. He was very quiet, but seemed excited that it is his birthday. We also talked to Abby, Clarissa and Mom. I'm just amazed at how many words Smiley Abby can say now. She seems to have grown up so much since we left Michigan. Clarissa, as always, sounds much older than she is.

We are also getting excited for next weekend. We get to go pick up one of our Grandson's, Lane. He gets to spend his Spring Break, the whole week, with us! We are really looking forward to getting to spend time with him and really look forward to doing many fun things.

I also spent an hour last week texting with our oldest grandson, Kacy. That was an experience as I'm still a texting novice. It was fun, but I missed getting to hear his voice. It also seems like you can get much more SAID than TYPED...I must just be old fashioned?

It is SO hard being away from family, especially when there are little ones involved. We love and miss them all!
Michele

The Haircut...My side of the story!

I just have to tell MY side of the story. Ever since we moved here, Tom has been talking about how his hair was going to have to be shorter. Tom has ALWAYS cut his own hair. He would allow me to help just a bit. The ONE other time I cut his hair, he was hollering at me the whole time. Well, this time around he actually LET me do the cutting, with supervision, of course. After I was done the first time around, he decided it wasn't short enough. So I did some more cutting, it still wasn't short enough. Well, I kinda slipped with the clippers, just a bit ( said OOPS) and that was it. I ended up cutting it all off. If he would have only let me cut his beard at the same time, I'd have had it made! Anyways, Tom now has his SHORT SUMMER DO!

Write Your Congressmen!

I've got something on my mind that just won't go away! I am SO fed up with our government that I could spit! In talking to my parents the other nite...I found out that most of the places that Pres. Bush said could be explored for oil(in Utah) have now been shut down by Obama! So much for trying to find oil in our own country and NOT be dependant on foreign oil! Much of the oil industry in Eastern Utah is already suffering. Also the oil shale and tar sands are being affected!

Our pious congressmen/women sit in Washington (flown there courtesy of the government in PRIVATE JETS!!!) does THAT sound familiar? When are they going to start paying US back for the use of these jets? I haven't heard anything about that...they try to keep that HUSH HUSH! They have NO clue that they sit in judgement each and every day, seems like they are just trying to see how many people they can put out of work! OH WAIT!!!! A FEW lucky ones will be able to find new jobs on the Road Crews, IF they are lucky! The Obama New Deal?!?!?! I'm sure NOT interested!

We the PEOPLE need to do something before we ALL are out of jobs!

SO, Please write your congressmen/women!
Michele

Gulfstream layoffs

Yes it's true. There was a big employee meeting yesterday where everything was laid on the line. Between 150-200 employees who work where Tom works will be laid off. So far, Tom thinks he is safe. Gulfstream does an evaluation and decides on merit and work ethic who they will let go. Times are tough everywhere! And with all the negative publicity corporate jets have gotten over the past few months (THANK THE NEWS MEDIA!), Gulfstream has been hit.

So...please keep us in your prayers. We sure hope we aren't out of a job before we even hit the ground running.

Hope all is well in your little corner of the world!
Michele

RE:Facebook & other things

Ok, I caved! Or as Emily said: Peer Pressure! I don't know what. Curiosity killed the cat? Maybe that too! Anyways, I'm enjoying Facebook. I still have lots of friends who haven't added me as friends yet....angie :~ other family members cara ;~ If you are interested, you can click on the badge below, but I think you won't see anything unless you also have a facebook account. I'm not a guru on facebook, so can't tell you much about it. I have had fun chatting with people I haven't talked to in a long time. As many mentioned...IT IS ADDICTING!!!!

For all our northern friends and family...IT IS COLD HERE. It was only 35 degrees this morning when I headed out and I don't think it got above 45 all day long. We don't have any snow, that is a plus. And we didn't get any snow over the weekend either, just a bunch of rain.

We hope you are all well!
Michele

Timeshares

Hi All,
I just wanted to put a warning about Timeshares here for you. Last year Tom & I went to Nashville, Tennessee for my birthday. While there, we checked out a timeshare through Wyndham Resorts. I got suckered in, Tom didn't want to buy a timeshare, but he gave in. Anyways, we now own a share of some property in Nashville, Tennessee. We haven't used it yet, don't know when we will. Now with the economy in the dumps, we thought we'd try and unload it. We were invited to a meeting yesterday to hear about SELLING our timeshare. We should have known better. IF WE paid THEM $3500, they would take our timeshare off our hands. What nice guys! So, I just wanted to warn anyone out there that is thinking of buying a timeshare...BEWARE!!!! You MUST understand that(for now) there is NO WAY OUT of a timeshare. They are put in wills and whomever you put as a beneficiary on your timeshare WILL inhert it!!!! All monthly fees included!!!!!

If you are interested in buying a Timeshare, look online, there are literally HUNDREDS for sale! You can also look online and RENT almost any timeshare for anywhere in the world, for almost anytime you want. If you are interested in seeing places you'd probably never go, then a timeshare would be great! We are hoping to use our timeshare and go visit somewhere close and enjoy the experience. But it doesn't look like we will be selling it anytime soon.

SO...if you'd like to take a trip for a week....you could let us know and we could see if we could set you up in a nice resort for probably about $700-$800 for a week. You would have to figure this out way far in advance, but it would be fun!

So....Buyers Beware! I hate it when there is a wolf lurking in sheeps clothing!
Michele

Sundays

Sunday is an interesting day. It has sure changed since we moved to Georgia. Not many people knew that we used to spend most Sundays at Matt & Angie's. For many months, we were there every Sunday, unless somone was sick. We always enjoyed fine food and all that was going on with a family of 8. It was a great time. Someone, in their wise wisdom...thought it would be a good idea if we kind of backed off and came 2 times a month. After much discussion, it was mutually agreed that this may be best. This way they could have time to themselves and time for phone calls to other family members. It gave us time to do all the things we needed to get done too. And it gave the guys time to get their home teaching done. All I can say is that I'm glad that we were weaned off of every Sunday. Because it is SO hard to not be able to spend any Sundays with them now. Each Sunday rolls around, and I wonder what wonderful food is cooking for dinner, how each of the children are doing, what game I may be missing. I'm pretty sure Tom misses his naps. How he and Matt could sleep through the rest of us making our noise was way beyond mine and Angie's comprehension, but they knew how to do it. I never did figure out how Matt & Angie both made it look so simple to feed 10 people. Maybe they should open an Restaurant? Anyways, I always had the easy job.... just help clean up! That is something I can handle. One of the greatest things was watching Abby eat. Some of you have had that opportunity. Abby loves her food! She also loved to get it all over everywhere! I know that her brothers don't like cleaning up after her, I don't think I'd like that job full-time. I'm hearing that Abby has learned to eat with a spoon, something else I'm missing. I actually talked to Abby on the phone last night. She was saying WORDS! It's only been 7.5 weeks since we moved, but I guess children grow and change in that short of time. I'm betting those boys have grown 5 inches since we left. When you talk to Clarissa, you'd think you were talking to at least a 5 year old. She pronounces her words so clearly and says the cutest things, she just makes you smile!

Some Sundays found us at my cousins house. On the rare occasion that we weren't at the Roger's, sometimes we got to go to Jenny & Thayne's house to enjoy dinner with them and their children. Jenny is also an awesome cook! We also miss those Sundays that we got to spend time with them.

Then, if there were any Sundays left, we'd be at Richardson's eating dinner. Now I'm sure you all are wondering...Do I know how to cook on Sunday? NO!!!!! We manage to scrounge something up to eat, but it will never match the wonderful food and wonderful people we used to spend our Sundays with.

How I ever lucked out to have such wonderful friends and family, I'll never know. But I'm thankful every day for the times we got to spend with them!

Sundays....like every other day around our home in Georgia, is Quiet! Way to Quiet! Now we have the room to put 10 people in our dining room too! All I need to do is figure out a way to transport 8 people or 15 people or 5 people in the blink of an eye! Where is that darn Genie in a Bottle when you need her?

Today I Miss Abby!

I woke up this morning thinking about Abby. I don't know why, just a random thing, I guess. OF course, I started crying. I've never met anyone like Abby... she has the most beautiful smile, huge blue eyes and a wonderful wiggle! I always knew where I stood with Abby. She always greeted me with a huge smile and was ready for me to pick her up. Abby has a wonderful family, but most of them are pretty good at keeping their emotions to themselves. Abby's sister, Clarissa, is a cutie too. Clarissa really likes Tom...so it always worked out well. Tom took care of Clarissa and I took care of Abby...on the days Caleb was at our house, he would quietly play..Caleb was usually quiet unless one of his sisters broke what he was building. I was talking to Clarissa the other day, she always wants to talk to Tom... so I put Tom on the phone and she asked him if she could come to our house. How do you explain to a 3 year old that you have moved far away and you just can't jump in the car and come pick her up? Of course, I miss Matt, Angie, Danny, Jake, Aaron, Caleb & Clarissa too! I miss those (quiet) Sunday family dinners, I miss the homemade rolls, homemade cinammon rolls, all the good food actually. I miss the hours we got to spend with the whole family. Today I'm also missing all those baseball games that will be coming up this summer.

Our new home is way toooo quiet...there are no toys in sight. There is no laughter of small children, no cartoons on the TV, no snack cups sitting around with goldfish in them. Clarissa & Abby would love our new house, I'm thinking I would never know where they are, because there are many places for them to hide here. We have a huge yard for them to play in, a quiet street that we wouldn't have to worry about speeding cars...now we just need the little ones back!

You are probably wondering? It's one of God's greatest mysteries! You can fall in love with a family that isn't even related by blood, marriage or anything like that. The Rogers snuck into our hearts, and they will remain there even though many miles now seperate us.

We do have 4 biological grandsons. They have always lived far away. So we have never got to spend time with them like we did our Michigan grandchildren. I do love my 4 grandsons dearly, and wish I could spend as much time with them as I have our adopted grandchildren. Lane lives in Orlando, so hopefully we will be able to have him spend time with us here in Georgia.
Kacy, Kyler, Lane & Brendan...we DO love you too! And we miss you all very much!

But Today I Miss Abby!
Michele

Tom's New Church Position

Today Tom was asked to be the 2nd Counselor in our Ward Bishopric. It was a big surprise for both of us. For those non member family and friends...a ward is our congregation and the Bishopric is made up of 3 men...they are responsible for running our ward. We have the Bishop, who is the main man in charge and he has 2 counselors...the 1st Counselor and the 2nd Counselor. If any of you would like to talk to Tom personally and find out more about his new Church calling, I'm sure he'd love to tell you. BUT, please give him a couple of weeks to really find out what exactly his responsibilities are! All I really know about it is this...I HAVE TO SIT BY MYSELF because Tom has to sit up on the stand every Sunday now. Boy how I miss my Michigan FAMILY!!! I wish they were here to sit by me!

We hope everyone had a Great Valentine's Day!
Love,
Michele

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

We hope everyone enjoys a very Happy Valentine's Day! Most of you know that today is also my birthday. I can hardly believe I'm the age I am. If any of you want to know that magic #, you'll have to ask Aaron Rogers. I don't think I want to admit what that number has climbed too! I can remember when my Grandmother was my age, and boy did I think she was old! I guess I will count my many blessings and be thankful that I'm still alive and Kickin' and in relative good health.

It's cloudy and rainy here today. But this past week was just beautiful.

For those that don't know my secret...it's always a good birthday for me IF I'm NOT SICK! February has historically been a sick month for me. But I'm well..so it's a GREAT DAY!
Love to all!
Michele

Doctors, Insurance & Meds

Well...yesterday was an amazing day in regards to Drs., Insurance & Meds. We went to our new doctor. He is CUTE, very young and very nice and he had no problems ordering blood work, which can be done right in his office. I have to say that our NEW insurance is SO much nicer and cheaper than our old insurance. We were able to go back to our old meds, at a cheaper price. Surprise #1 came when we had to pay at the Dr. office, $20 for both of us instead of $70. Then came surprise #2 at Kroger where we went to get some of our meds. We got generic 30 days supply for 3 meds, cost 80 CENTS! ( for all 3). Surprise #3 came when I was dealing with our online meds. The people were friendly, helpful and the meds. so much cheaper. 4 meds for $180 (90 day supply), compared to 2 meds for $160. And supposedly we will have NO hassle getting the meds we need! That will be another blessing too! And the last added blessing is that this new insurance is $50 cheaper per month than our previous insurance. It is hard for me to believe what a mess insurance companies have made for all of us. We are truly at the mercy of these insurance companies. I can't even imagine having to try to live without insurance! I am very thankful we found a company that has such amazing insurance! All I can say is this: I HOPE IT DOESN'T CHANGE anytime soon!

It was an amazing day, and we were BLESSED!

Birds

I thought I'd just bring everyone up to date on the birds we've seen around here. I haven't seen the wild turkeys since last week, that is disappointing. But yesterday Tom told me to look out the front window to see all the robins. There were at least 40 robins in our front yard. I've never seen so many robins together like that. Then about an hour later Tom hollered from the kitchen to ask me what I thought was in the tree. At first, all we could see was something bright red. When it moved, we decided we better take a closer look...so we went to the other door and sure enough it was a pretty good size bird. After it moved around the tree where we could see it better, we decided it was a red headed wookpecker. I'd NEVER seen a red headed woodpecker before. He sure looked like Woody. It was fun to see him! I've also seen cardinals and somekind of blue birds. Each day brings different kinds of birds to our yard. I guess that's a benefit of living down south in the winter? We get to see so many kinds of birds that head back home for the summers.

We hope ya'll are having a great day!
Michele

Face Book

Ok, so a friend asked Tom to join Face Book, which he did. So, I have a question. What are the pros and cons of Face Book? I know that a number of you do have Face Book accounts. So, if you'd please let me know what you think of Face Book, I'd really appreciate it. Tom actually got to type to his cousin in Phoenix, so that was cool. I guess you can see who is online and then do an IM like thing with them. I don't know if I want to take the time or have the energy to do another thing besides this blog...so any and all advice would be appreciated!
Michele

My Closet, The adventure continues

Back to My closet. I've finally gotten all my clothes and shoes unpacked. Since I decided I couldn't use the walk-in closet, I took over the smaller closet in our bedroom and the closet in the office. I am proud to say that I think it will work fine. Now I have a summer closet and a winter closet. And I must admit that I have a bit of stuff in Tom's big closet...but he is very kind and willing to share with me. I don't think he's ever had such a big closet, but he's got it organized really well. We are sharing my shoe rack, I figured since he let me put it in his closet I could share it with him.

I've been reminded lots lately of a thought my good friend, Dawn, shared with me long ago. It goes with my potted flower pens she gave me when I was released from Young Womens. The thought is this: "BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED." I'm trying very hard to do just that. These past few weeks, I think I was acting more like a weed than a beautiful flower. I'm trying really hard to do better and be more creative on how and where I'm putting things in our new home. All seems to be more settled each day and our home is becoming more homey now that most of the boxes are removed.

Stay Safe & God Bless!
Michele

Spiders

I ABHOR SPIDERS!!!! They just give me the creeps, to say the least. I have killed 5 spiders since we moved in. These are those dark black spiders about the size of a nickel..including their legs. It's to the point that I just start looking in all the corners expecting a new spider to appear. I think I'll keep wearing shoes or slippers in the house, just in case I happen to step on one. In my younger years, I'd just start hollering for someone to come kill the spider. Usually one of my sons was around and could handle that for me. Now that I'm here alone most of the time, it's up to ME to kill the spiders. IT just seems like everytime I see a spider, Tom's at work, hence home alone! I haven't come to the point that I'm nice to spiders and just try to pick them up somehow and take them outside where they belong. If they are inside, they must die! If I could find a fly swatter, I'd use that, but no luck finding a fly swatter yet. SO, I just have to get them with a paper towel and squish. I hate that feeling, seems like I can feel that squish and it makes me tremble.

How is YOUR day going?
Michele

Water?!?!

Have you ever stopped to think about water? It's been on my mind since we moved here. I was hoping that we could drink the water, and we can...as long as we drink it from the side by side refrigerator. Thank goodness for that side by side! The water tastes kinda funky if you drink it from the sink. Sometimes it even smells! I haven't decided WHAT it smells like yet. It's NOT that sulfur smell I'm used to...but something entirely different. The water is very soft, we can really tell the difference in our hair after a shower. There seems to not be much iron in the water either. Hence no red ring in the toilets. When we went to Savannah to pay our deposit at the water company, we found out that this water company actually manages most of the water companies in the area, with over 10,000 customers. I wondered at the time how they managed to take care of so many different water companies. I am very thankful that we can drink this water and that it doesn't have that funky smell all the time.

So? The next time you get a chance, just take a few minutes and think about your water, please! It seems like a trivial thing to most Americans, but what a priviledge it is to just have decent water each and every day of our lives.

Michele

Boxes, and More Boxes & Wild Turkeys!

HI All,
There really isn't anything new to report...I'm STILL unpacking boxes and looking for missing things. I thought we'd labeled the boxes really well.....BUT, not well enough apparently! Seriously though, the garage is looking a bit bare, that has to mean that most of the boxes are already unpacked or else they are in the spare bedroom still waiting to be unpacked! I thought I'd gotten rid of A LOT of my clothes and shoes, but I still have way to much here. I still have 3 boxes that aren't even unpacked yet, mainly because I don't know where I'm going to put that stuff!

On the bright side...we have wild turkeys in the backyard! I first saw them Monday morning and couldn't figure out what they were. I saw them again yesterday at noon, so I went searching online to see what I was actually seeing. They are wild turkeys. And NO, I haven't been drinking the "Wild Turkey!". I saw about 10 of them, they just feed right behind the house in the dead brush and grasses. I tried taking some photos, but didn't get any really good ones, because I was shooting through the French Door...and when I tried opening the door, they took off.

For all our Northern Family & Friends...it's been cold here the past few days. I mean COLD! Lows at night...mid teens, daytime temps...high 40's. Tom even had to dig out his window scraper again!

We hope ya'll are surviving your bitter cold temps! Take Care & God Bless!
Michele

Our New Home

I was finally able to get the photos of our home off the property management website. You are getting first hand what I saw when I went looking for a rental home. Of course, we have lots of stuff in the house now. When we get it a bit more organized, I'll post some new photos. Until then...this is it!

Trials & JOYS? of relocating!?!?!?!

Oh, the joys of moving!?!?! It seems like everything we try to do takes way more time than planned. The most popular stores in Rincon, GA are Super WalMart and Lowe's. WalMart is ALWAYS very busy. I dislike having groceries at WalMart. If I want groceries, I'd just as soon go to a grocery store. The problem is..the stuff at the grocery stores is quite a bit more expensive than at WalMart. So, my dilemma is this? Do I just bite the bullet and just buy everything at WalMart (where it's always packed with people and a VERY long checkout line) or pay a higher price and shop at the quieter, but more expensive grocery stores?

We went to get our new Driver's Licenses and get the new plates for the 2 vehicles today. All went well with the new drivers licenses. And Georgia even prints the licenses right then. (Angie, It only took me an hour to get all my makeup on, unlike the hours and hours it took last year!) Then we went to get the cars licensed. Tom was able to get his truck license and a new title. Of course, I didn't have all the paperwork that was needed to license the Envoy. Since it's a leased vehicle, I had to have the lease agreement, address of the leasing co., and a power of attorney from the leasing company. What a joke! I've never heard of having to have so much paperwork with me to just license a darn car! So, back home we go to find the lease agreement and call GMAC to tell them I need a power of attorney. GMAC tells me they will fax the power of attorney to the TAG Dept., but it will take 24-48 hours to do so. Since today is Thursday, that means the fax may not show up until Monday. Of course Monday is Tom's first day of work...he's on day shift for 2 weeks for training. Tom also has to sign the paperwork for the license plates for the Envoy. We don't know what time he'll get off work, but the TAG Dept. is only open until 5PM. So, I will probably have to go give them all the paperwork, get it all from them to bring home for Tom to sign and then go back again to take all the paperwork back! AND...of course....they don't take out of state checks and I only have $100 in the new checking account. In Georgia you also have to pay a vehicle tax based on assessed value of the vehicle. Between $200-$300 dollars a year, I HOPE not more than that. The other problem...the lease is up on the Envoy Oct. 11, so I won't even get the full year on the car taxes I have to pay!

Don't these people understand that we are STILL trying to unpack and put everything away somewhere?!?!?! And of course, they only give you 10 days to get new drivers licenses and 30 days to register vehicles.

Oh.... we also had to have the faucet replaced in the kitchen sink this morning. We had to have a plumber come because of the way the current faucet was installed. Thank goodness the plumber was prompt, 9 AM exactly, and got the faucet replaced in record time...40 minutes. I'm glad we didn't have to pay that bill...I guess that is one plus for renting? Let the landlord foot some of the bills!

Oh...and we are STILL trying to clean. I don't know how people live in homes that look like this! I didn't think I was a very good housekeeper. But after seeing what was left behind here, I don't feel the least bit guilty in my house keeping skills. I don't think the baseboards in this house have EVER been cleaned! It will take me months to get them all cleaned....MAYBE I won't bother, and I'll just put my blinders on? I did ask our property manager if we could get a break on the rent because of all the cleaning we've had to do, not to mention having to spend a night at a hotel because the carpets weren't dry. The pat answer: I don't know, I'll have to ask the owner! What do you think our chances are on getting a discount on the rent? I'd say slim to none! The only good thing I can think of is that I don't have to worry about leaving this place very clean if and when we have to move!

We hope all is well with ya'll. Especially to all those family members and friends who are in the snow country! Please be safe! God Bless!
Love,
Michele

Fifield Adventures (Days 3-7)

Hi Again,
Well....we finally made it to Georgia! Actually we arrived about 12:30PM on Friday. We got to the house to find it unlocked so we could get in...but were we disappointed! It wasn't cleaned at all! We made some calls, finally found out that the carpet cleaner was supposed to clean the carpets on Friday (but hadn't gotten here yet), but all the other floors were dirty, not even swept yet alone mopped! Needless to say...we had to spend another night in a hotel(because the carpets were still wet)...something we weren't planning on. We got a few things unpacked Friday night, then Saturday morning we had the unloading crew here. We met some very nice guys from our new ward...they had everything unloaded into the garage by 11:45AM. I didn't want a bunch of boxes in the house, so we've been bringing them in a few at a time and getting things put away the best we can. Of course, through all this we've still had to clean the house. It's still not all done..but we are slowly getting there. We got the DSL and phone lines in yesterday (Monday) without a hitch. I thought Direct TV was going to be here yesterday too...but they called me from MICHIGAN wanting to know how to get to the house, I laughed and told him I was in GEORGIA! Needless to say...we didn't get Direct TV yesterday, but the guy is here as I type trying to get the Direct TV hooked up. It has been an interesting few days without internet AND TV! We lived in our own little fish bowl and had no idea what was going on in the rest of the world.

We went to our new Ward on Sunday and met a whole lot of very nice people. It seemed like they all were fighting a cold like I am. The ward isn't all that big, compared to our ward in Ypsi. There are only 6 rows of benches(front to back)and the standard 3 sections (left to right) in the chapel. There were about 30 people in Sunday School class and only 20 in Relief Society, including the Relief Society Presidency. Tom said Priesthood met together (Elders & High Priests). I don't know if that's always the way it's going to be or if it was just a special Sunday. Sorry to Tom's family that may not have any idea what I'm talking about here... I just wanted to pass that info. onto my family and our friends from Church up in Michigan.

Temperatures! What can I say! IT'S NICE and warm! It's been in the 70's every day since we got here. The mornings are a bit chilly...about 59 degrees. I'm NOT trying to rub it in...just trying to keep you all informed. ;-) And NO we DO NOT miss the snow and cold!

Gas Prices! We we got here on Friday, gas was $1.58, today (Tuesday) it's back up to $1.68. And I haven't seen any gas stations that vary on the cost.

Food Prices! They are the pits! A gallon of milk is $3.13...bread anywhere between $1.97 and $3.00 (not on sale) and I can't find any brands that I'm used to seeing. Fruit is a bit cheaper than Michigan.

MY Closet! I'm having a big problem with MY closet! The darn attic access is in the ceiling of MY closet, and I can't have anything hanging because it's in the way of the fold down steps! I really had a break down over that! The first nite I layed awake wondering how I was possibly going to use that closet. I know.... a trivial thing? Well...to me it's a big thing. I was telling Tom I couldn't deal with the closet and he kindly told me I could trade with him. So, I'll take over his closet and at least 2 other closets in the house. I just don't understand why a builder would put an attic access right in the middle of the walk-in closet? Seems really crazy to ME!

We are very busy trying to find places for all our stuff.....it's really interesting to figure out. Tom's been busy carrying all his stuff up to the top room over the garage. I guess that will be the Man Room, minus Direct TV and a big screen TV. Maybe we'll put in a small TV and a DVD player, at least we could watch movies up there..OH! there's NO furniture up there either. We got the new washer & dryer yesterday and I've been busy seeing what I could wash up. I LOVE THE NEW SET! We got front load machines and they sure seem to clean well. I've even got the big blankets washed. It's nice not having to take them to a laundromat!

If any of you are interested, we got a Fridgidaire set (around $1,600 with pedistals). So far, they've worked really great! I did a bit of consumer checking on them, and most people gave them a good rating. I was quite surprised to find front loading machines for under $1000 each.

All in all, we are doing ok. We are both stiff and sore and tired. Bedtime can't come quick enough most nights. We don't even have the bedroom set up yet and I've been sleeping in the recliner where I can breath easier and not cough so much! I'm sure after the TV gets all set up, Tom will stay up and watch TV, but I'll be in bed!

BOTTOM LINE... We love and miss you all! We hope all is going well for ya'll!
Love,
Michele

Fifield Adventures (Day 2) HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

Hi Again,
I missed the ball drop, I was in bed by 10PM last nite, I was totally worn out! Today we did much better with the trip...of course, we started before noon too! We made it to Columbia, SC. We are only about 4 hours away (Uhaul speed) from our new home. Tomorrow will be an exciting day for us! We'll go get our new house keys, and check out the house and then start the unpacking!

The weather has been great, the roads haven't been all that busy, except for around Charlotte, NC..it was pretty busy there, I'd hate to be in their rush hour traffic! The turtle has survived, he's had front door service to our hotels and gets wheeled right up to our room on a luggage cart. I can't say that my plants have faired as well. It looks like most of the car full have died. It was just tooooo cold for them last night, stuck out in the car. I may be able to save 3 or 4 out of about 12 plants. So sad! Can you tell, I LIKE PLANTS?!?!?!

We won't have internet access after tomorrow morning (Friday) until Monday...(hopefully)...the phone company is supposed to be at the new house Monday morning, so I'm hoping to be back online sometime Monday. I will post again as soon as we have internet service again, and I can take a break from unpacking!

We hope everyone had a Great New Year's Eve...and a good New Year's Day...May God Bless you all and please have a safe, healthy, prosperous New Year!
Love,
Michele & Tom