How wonderful to be here today

Yes it is a Monday... No I am not insane. The next list item on my agenda, is to keep up with my online ideas. I am involved in typing up a few articles. I have no revenue from any of these sites yet. I think it is because I am not the best writer. I enjoy it though. There is no reason to do things if you don't enjoy them. I know that after some time I may develop a following or even get better. I think it might be good just to see if I can sell an article. I came close on one and was way off the mark on another.
We have some things to do today in the errand dept. Doctor visit here, volunteering there. Should be fun.
Yesterday was really nice. The service was excellent at the restaurant. If you didn't read yesterday, it was the grandparent's 57th anniversary. The food was alright, and overpriced. The reason for going was obviously not the food. I had a good time, but I won't choose to go back unless the prices change or their menu does. 19 dollar salads made with frozen shrimp? We were 100 feet from the gulf. I think there is no excuse there. You know they were paying some kid fisherman to take his wagon and pole to Publix for seafood in the frozen aisle. The chicken was good. The way it was explained on the menu, it didn't sound like fried chicken, but it was. The relish tray and various fresh breads before the meal were excellent. The hot fudge sundae was also very good. The main meal was seriously lacking. I am surprised since that is essentially the featured portion of the menu.
OK I am done complaining now. The good side included conversation, quality time, and family. We even walked down to the gulf and dipped our toes in the water. I wish them many more happy anniversaries.
That's all for now.
me

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my wife's grandparent's 57th Wedding Anniversary! We are going to go to dinner with them at a restaurant down by the beach. I am happy to be here for this. 57 is a very impressive number. Especially in today's age. We thank God for all the time they have spent together and how they found each other so long ago. It is a very special day and we'll be celebrating with them. This morning there is no nursery but we do get to go to service. I think we'll be visiting our real estate agent at her open house this afternoon to see what she has there. Other than that, we'll just take the day easy.
Yesterday was a lot of fun too. The picnic was pretty cool. There are so many people there and we don't know any of them really. Even though we have volunteered there over a year. I'm sure we'll get to know people over more time. For right now we are fairly anonymous. The plus side offers a day where we can go get free food and have fun by ourselves.
Today, the neighbors come home. Happy and sad. I love taking care of their dogs and birds. We enjoy going next door to relax and it is a great time. But we really like our neighbors so we can't really hope they stay gone now can we? Time to get ready for a great day.
Talk to you all later.
me

Picnic and pound day!

It's actually bigger than a picnic, it has quite a few members from the volunteer community for the hospital. They have games and food. It was a lot of fun last year. We'll go for a bit and then we're off to the humane society! We have some more cat cuddler mentoring to do. The mentee is pretty cool and she should pick up fast. I think she has a good grasp already, and we'll probably cut her loose today. Her boyfriend volunteers there too so they are a lot like us in their love for animals.
Yesterday was great! Hettie finished work early, so we got a chance to go for a walk and relax before we went down to the beach. We met up with Tiffany, Adrienne, and Kristen. It was nice to sit out in the sun and have a couple beers. We were there for about 4 hours. That was really nice since we haven't been to the beach for a while. It was also nice to see friends. Since Tiffany is only in town till Tuesday, we'll be hanging out when we get the chance. It is nice to actually spend time with our friends. Most of the time we have about zero interaction with others our age. We love what we do and we set up our schedule that way, but it is nice to just hang out once in a while. I think we are closet socialites. Anyway, it's time to check on a couple other things before we get ready to go. Take care all.
me

Friday!!

Hey everyone, it's Friday! Carelift today, and then time at home. Not much going on here. I had to switch my phone out yesterday. I took it to the cell phone doctors(Verizon). They said my phone had a terminal illness(it's dying). Change phones. So I did. We still have some old phones here and they still work, kinda. I will use these until they wear out and I am forced to get a new one. There was no mishap with picking up Hettie from class yesterday. I was getting worried that I missed her coming out and had to sit by the door to make sure when she came out. I didn't miss her, she was there almost the whole class period. The labs must have been intense yesterday. Today we'll see how all goes with everything and let you know if anything changes. Oh yeah, our dog decided to pig out on Japanese Loquats. It makes her feel bad. I think it's because she eats all of them. Too bad she can't have one then stop. Now we have to watch her out back to be sure she does not gorge herself.
me

What are you telling us God?

The house we put a bid on came back saying that there was another offer that they would accept. Now the seller's agent said that the offer they received was flimsy. They wanted us to present a more desirable bid for the house. No can do. We have our limit and that is what we are sticking to. If they decide they really want to sell the house, we would be happy to purchase it at the price we quoted. We just can not afford more. I think it will work out the way God planned. If we are to get this house, it is his will. If not, it was not meant to be. We are looking into some other properties in the area to see if any of them jump out at us like this one did. I'm not saying we should lower our standards, just our price range. I think I can get some more things done today with the prep on the house here. I need to start making room for our flooring projects. The materials should be here within the week, so I can get started. I am curious about counter top installation. I keep looking at the framework under our existing counters and they don't seem to make much sense for what I want to do with them. I'm going to consult one of our friends who does a lot of that work and then move forward. The last thing I want to do is mess up one of our pieces and have to go get another one. I might try to handle the freestanding counter first, since it looks easier than the other two. We shall see. Keep checking in here for more info on the progress.
me

Finally getting somewhere

We are getting things done and hearing from people that we were wondering about. First, we heard about the house, and our offer was not accepted. They went with the other offer. God will direct us toward the home that he wants us to have. We got our box springs back too. I am glad that we finished our odd jobs at another house, they came out really nice. I was late to pick up my baby though. :( Now we are going to try to get in touch with the nice lady who wants to try out our pet sitting service. Then we will need our materials for the rest of the floors dropped off. So many things going on at once. It takes a little effort to juggle it all. We need to remember that these things will all just be our little speed bumps along the way. I know that the home we did not get will make an excellent home for some family. I pray it will be a wonderful place for them. We will keep looking on our own terms. Today I think we will go to a baseball game to relax a bit. There is a Blue Jays/Reds game tonight with fireworks too. We can walk to the stadium, so I think it will be a good time. So much to do, and it is good to stay away from stress, it will eat us alive.

Time to get our stuff back

I feel pretty dumb after leaving the wrong boxes out near our salvation army pickup. Luckily, they will be by this morning to drop off our box springs and pick up the other stuff that we did not get rid of last time. It will be another busy day with odd jobs and school. I want to get the ceiling fan put up at cheryl's house and get that fence in if I have time. I am looking forward to getting the rest of the supplies for this house so we can finish up here. Allie is pretty confused lately. We found our couch cushions stowed away in our armoir. Allie of course wants to get up on the couch. That is not allowed anymore. we are getting her used to sitting on her bed on the floor instead. Now she has her own seat here and won't have to use ours. This concept is pretty new to her although I think she'll be fine. Hettie and I lowballed the offer for the house. We'll see what happens. If it is God's will we'll be in the house. If not we look for another one.
me

Salvation mistake.

It is not the subject of religion on this one. No, this is a goof of the salvation army. As some of you know, the movers(us), emptied out the storage unit on Sat. That same day Salvation army was coming here to pick up excess items that we had no use for. During the unpacking, the items to be picked up were left on the front porch. We decided to donate a bed from storage as well. We put the wrong item out by the pickup stuff. They did not have a receipt for the bed, so they should not have picked it up without asking. Some of the things we received a receipt for were still left on the porch. Now the problem is going to be getting them to bring our box springs back and taking the stuff they missed. I hope they didn't get rid of our stuff yet. Today should be another busy day. I'll be looking into dismantling the counter tops. I'm thinking really big hammer! Some frustration needs to be purged. I can't imagine that this situation will really get me worked up. I am feeling pretty good today. I need another cup of coffee though. I apologise if i ramble on this morning. I am just a bit out of it. Hope you are all well.
me

Happy Easter!

Today is going to be a day that everyone decides to go to church because it is something they do or maybe a tradition. I don't agree with that. I think it translates to fair weather fans in sports. I don't know why people choose to go to 2 church services a year. It is certainly not my place to judge, but I am here to witness. Today we have our week for watching the kids in the nursery and it can normally get to about 7 babies. Who knows today. I am a little upset, because we had a very busy day yesterday. Today is the sunrise service and breakfast. We can not attend since we will be watching the little ones right after all of that and it would not be fair to them if we are unable to stay awake. I know that we have to make sacrifices to help out others, and I am happy to do so. I get frustrated sometimes thinking about the people who tend to find their religious duty fulfilled with 2 visits a year. I will be there today, not for the sunrise service, :( but attending the nursery. I also look forward to our family gathering this afternoon where everyone will be there for fellowship and quality time. Love you all and Happy Easter!
me

Moving day...

Not quite the moving day you would think. We are emptying our storage unit today to save about 200 a month in unnecessary expenses. I will be happy when today is done. We visited the house we love last night. I hope the family loved it as much as we do. BTW Manuela, I hope you are feeling better today. This morning is starting off just peachy. Getting up we are excited and in need of a coffee I.V. I will try my best to get all of the stuff in the house and put in it's place by tonight. It may be wishful thinking, but I need to have some semblance of normalcy here. Hettie needs it too. The house has been a mess since starting the renovations. We are really close to finishing all the repairs, and as soon as it is done, then we can have a normal clean living space. I am starting to dream of wood floors, and tile jobs that are finished. We just have to be patient with the suppliers. Time to go, I'm out of here early to be sure I get everything done today.
me

Will we get it?

Making an offer on a home today. It is going to be well below the asking price. I know that it is something we can not get our hopes up for but we would regret not trying. For right now, we know what we can afford and that is what makes us a bad fit for the price on the home. We do know that we have been divinely guided to this house. If we are supposed to learn a lesson here I don't exactly know what it is yet. I do know that we will be enjoying our day and not stressing about the outcome whatever it may be. Knowing the market nowadays it becomes difficult to determine who will come down in their price and who will not. There are a lot of possibilities out there. Hettie and I truly love this house. I will not stress. This morning I am off to volunteer at the hospital till noon. It will be an adventure. The people have many different reasons for visiting the hospitals and I am glad to take them there. I don't know if you all know what I do on Fridays. I am an aide on the Carelift "A" van. We transport people to their appointments within our affiliate offices. The service is here for those who are unable to drive themselves or take a cab. The service is free. We run on donations only. I think that is pretty spectacular especially with the prices of gas still rising. All of the money goes toward running the service and all of the people involved are volunteers. We enjoy hearing the stories told by our riders in the morning. I miss my wife while I am gone, but i know that we will be together soon. I have some more mail to check this morning before I leave, so I will be back tomorrow.
me

Time to work!

Going to school with Hettie today before i have to do some little fixes on a house. It should be fun to do some more home improvements. I am looking forward to getting more work from friends who don't have the time or know how on home improvements. I love working with my hands and think it is a lot of fun to fix things up so that they are working the way someone would want them to. It is raining today, so I may not be able to put the new fence section in. I will certainly try though. I am wondering how to transport the 3x8 ft fence section in the little mercedes. I may put towels on the roof and secure it with twine. As long as the weather holds up I should be able to do it. We are still on for tomorrow with making an offer on the house. I don't think they will go as low as we want, but who is to say they will decline. I am putting this in God's hands. If it is his will for us to be there now, we will be. It is nice not to have to stress about that stuff. We'll be calling the salvation army to cart away some older furniture tomorrow, then we'll have room for the storage materials. Those are coming on Saturday. We'll save about 200 a month on storage! Can you believe it? What a rip off. I can deal with moving around furniture in order to do my projects here. Time to get to my other duties this morning. Take care all.
me

What to do

This week is getting busier and busier. I am trying to balance everything including odd jobs, school prep, and my marriage. I can't seem to have enough energy for everything and it is becoming apparent. I am busy worrying about how I can get all of our things together and in the best way so that my wife and I have more time. I guess I am failing. I need to reassess my priorities and be sure to spend more time on the things that really matter. Why do all the things that come up seem to take the front seat in our lives. Whether it's school, or work, or hobbies, things will swoop in and take the focus away from your real goals. I know that what we are doing here is to make sure we get to have time together. The time isn't there if I am doing things constantly. Why did life have to be hard? I think God has a plan for all of us. He certainly gets a chuckle when he looks at me. I cannot describe the rollercoaster ride since I have not yet reached the end. Today is a question. What am I doing right. What am I doing wrong. I hope I make the right decisions. I can hope to be invited again.

Neighbor's car

I am helping my neighbors to sell their car. They don't speak english very well so I have been asked to mediate. If anoyone out there is interested in a 2001 sequoia in excellent condition, post a comment for me. They are asking 16000 I don't know how negotiable yet. But if you know anyone who wants a great vehicle, please send them my way.
me

Good Morning

We had a nice St Patrick's day. We decided to stay at home and avoid the crazies. I am happy that the opportunity was there if we wanted it, and I think we would have had fun either way. Today is a school day and Hettie and I will be there this morning. More Micro for her. I'll be visiting Lowes and the veterans counselor if I have time. I have a little job to help out with the grandparent's cleaning lady. We are happy to help out any way we can.
Volunteering went really well yesterday. The gift shop was busy even though we couldn't accept credit cards. The place we volunteer our time at together has a lot of little knick knacks. It is tough to go there and not buy something. Especially since it all goes toward a good cause. Most of the time we justify buying a peanut butter cup or two. All in the name of charity right? I love how we can go and relax. Hettie gets a lot of studying in for classes. Since the shop doesn't have a lot of traffic, it can sometimes be just 3 hours of listening to hospital music. The job is one that anyone could do, but it feels so much better knowing that we want to be there instead of having to be there. The same goes for the Humane Society. I was apprehensive at first starting out with volunteer time. As soon as we got into it though, we're hooked. You get a really great feeling about yourself when you go and give your time and effort for something you enjoy. We don't need pay since we get the satisfaction of helping out people and animals who really need it. This week will go by quickly because we'll be busy all through the weekend. I can't wait to get everything done. The flooring materials should be ready for pickup, the storage unit should be empty and we'll have more jobs at home to work on. I am excited. I think I have rambled on enough for now.
me

Happy St. Patrick's Day

To everyone, have a happy and safe St Patty's Day. We had a very busy weekend. I was running around with Hettie a lot to get errands done and we really pushed our time and got everything done. Yesterday, we went to church and had a great time on Palm Sunday. The sermons have been hitting close to home every week we go. It is as if God is speaking to us alone, and we are growing as better people and enhancing our marriage every week. The little messages say so much in a few short words and many trivial things that seemed to occupy our thoughts and time don't hold the same importance. We really have grown closer each time and hope to live up to our christian views of ourselves. Being good is not easy. It takes a lot of work to not go with the flow and just be like everyone else. I thank God everyday for our situation and we are truly happy. We have ambitions and dreams. Some day we will be further along in the things we want to accomplish. Our pace is not the normal one. I guess you could say we are behind on some important things. Most people our age have completed college and grad school by our time. I will be going back to school as a Sophomore in August. Hettie is a Junior now. I would not trade any of my experiences for a degree and a nice career right now. If I "what if" all day, I will certainly lose most of the great things in my life that I have already earned. I know that we have our life lessons and I have learned a lot. I will not take any of my time for granted. Hettie and I make decisions everyday that concern our future and the way we want to live it. We will not bend on our values just to appease others. I really do enjoy being here with my wife and I want to make sure things stay this way. I will keep you all posted on how we intend to do this in future posts. We love you all and wish you a wonderful holiday.

St Pat is nearing

In our town there is a very large following for St. Patrick's Day. It goes on for about three days in some areas. Yesterday we treated ourselves to a date complete with corned beef sandwiches and bagpipers. It was a blast. I love having the chance to go out with my wife when we don't have any other concerns. The beer limit was one to be sure we got home safely. I don't think we trust any of the drivers here sober! I almost saw a lady run down in a crosswalk. Just last week, I was stopped at a red light while this dumb lady decided to cross. She was wrong to go when the red hand was showing. Nonetheless, it was a wake-up call for her when she heard the tires squeal. The car stopped about 2 inches from her! She must have been on something, because after she moved slowly out of the way, she tried to cross again before the light changed. I was out of that intersection before she got to my car. I think the southeast is a very dangerous place to gamble your life on the attentiveness of the drivers. Between the crazy youth and the older generation that is too stubborn to "give up their freedom" when they should stop driving. It gets pretty dangerous. Just a couple of months ago, a neighbor down the street was killed crossing the road less than a block from her home. I feel for the family and I don't think they even know all the details of the accident. I guess we appreciate how safe our little corner is so much that we get lulled into a feeling of safety. Our area is in fact very safe. The people on this street drive the speed limit or less. We have children that play outside and sometimes find their way into the street. All of the occupants are aware and watch for stray kids. Just 2 streets over is a major through street that would be more of a problem. I think I have rambled on long enough for this morning. I may be a little too tired. Need more coffee.
me

Lazy Saturday morning

Today we wake up and start looking into removing some work files from the laptop. In my experience, it is a very easy process. The laptop didn't seem to agree. My wife and I had one heck of a time getting the computer to recognize the stupid disc. We were trying to use older discs, but apparently that is a bad idea. I guess we chose wrong. When the computer froze and decided to restart itself, I had to take a new approach. I'm sure you all have had similar problems and it can get really frustrating. I figure the program should work the same way every time whether I use an old disc or new. I will have to settle for little disagreements from time to time.
Yesterday, we spent a lot of time in the rain driving to the store to spend about 6 grand on flooring materials. Holy crap! I think oak will look good on the floors. We have new tile too. No labor costs in this one. I'm teaching myself. My first attempt at tile came out great. I hope I don't mess up the wood though. They are the lock and fold type, so it should be easy. We are not using any glue except for the one step in the house. I will be happy when everything is over. The house has been in a serious state of disrepair for over a year. It gets difficult when the entire house needed to be practically gutted and lived in at the same time. I enjoy the challenge of learning a new skill but would rather not have a messy home all the time. I guess you can say the house has come really far since last year but I can't wait till we're done. Baby steps.
Still doing the home search. If the owners decide to lower their price by 75000 we'll have our dream home for a very reasonable price. I am hoping that they will see how good we can take care of the house and will let us adopt it for cheap.... Yeah right. Only time will tell. I will keep you all posted and see if God really wants us to have this house.
me

Early to rise

Today we are going through a usual routine with lots of coffee early in the morning. Most days, we get up at 0500 and we'll be in bed by 2100. I know, not usual for two 27 year olds with no kids. We enjoy being up early and spending time together. I like to get on the computer first thing after grabbing a cup of joe. Walks and light jogs also come early in the morning. I can't go to hard because I messed up my back, neck, knees, etc. in the service. I would like to stay fit and not become a slob. It's Friday, so I'll be at the hospital this morning. I enjoy my time there because I have a chance to help people who can't get to their appointments without someone to take them. I have a 4 hour shift where my driver and I take a van around the community to pick up those who cannot otherwise get to the hospital. The service is free and runs entirely on donations. Even with gas prices the way they are right now. I like doing it even though we have to wear a uniform. When we have time to take a break, the driver and I will stop to go through our daily crosswords and sudoku. Those are so addicting! I have books on both now and get new ones every couple of months.
We look forward to this afternoon because we are putting in an order for some wood for the floors. Tile is needed too. The whole house is getting a facelift with the floors. We will need a truck to haul it all back next weekend. Then just to make room, we're calling the salvation army to take all of our junk out of the house. That should give me room to work and a chance to empty out our storage unit too.
I have to go now, so I can get ready to work out before leaving.
me

Hmmmmm... he must be new.

This may be the biggest trainwreck I offer on my first blog entry. I guess you could say I'm going in blind. I have no idea whether what I say is interesting to anyone else, and frankly I don't care. I would, however, like to know if this is something I would enjoy doing. I think if I have a chance to voice my opinion I will most definitely be ignored. We'll see.
I am struggling with the fact that we have a credit score that is too high. No really, it's true! I found out that we qualify for a large loan to purchase our first home, but the payments are way out of our comfortable range. I am trying to talk to our real estate agent to let her know that we only want certain payments. However, it is difficult when she has no idea that we are only interested in one home. We have had quite a time dealing with her in the short term. Don't get me wrong. She is wonderful and sincerely looks out for the interests of her clients. I just think my wife and I have a more mellow approach to home buying than she is used to.
Here is the backstory. We have lived in our little town for a little over a year. The entire time we have been here, we have made a hobby of looking at homes in the area. Our idea is that when we do want to settle, we'll have all of our research out of the way. Makes sense right!? The real estate agents seem to have a problem with this train of thought. We are NOT interested in getting a house until it is one we absolutely love. Is that so bad? We do want to get the house we are interested in and nothing else. I would prefer to get it over with and avoid the complications. I think it is all just a big mess right now. We have explained many times how our thought process works, and I don't think it is getting through. Anyway. I think I have rambled on long enough for my first post ever.
me