Proverbs 31:22

We heard from the Realtor on Friday. We are pondering whether to negotiate more on the price on the house we made an offer on last week. We offered him his full price, but asked him to pay the closing costs. He didn't like that. We might meet him halfway; we're still thinking about/talking about it. I was fully prepared for Michael to say that we needed to just walk away. I even told the Realtor that on the phone. "I think we'll probably just have to walk away." But, Michael said, "We'll think and pray and talk about it and make him wait a few days." Today, we went to visit Kimberly, Dewayne, and Nathan and figured out that moving to Lakeside Highlands would cut our driving time to them in half . That's a BIG plus. We've only had one more call (today) on our house. Still no appointments to see it, though. We are running an ad in a local paper this coming week. We will see what happens with that and then make the decision on listing with a Re...

We made an offer on the house in our old neighborhood yesterday. We haven't had any word yet from the seller. We put up a for sale sign for our house on Sunday. We have had three calls, but no appointments set yet. We are deciding if we want to list with a Realtor. I know that if the seller refuses our offer, then it's God's will. But I'll still be a little disappointed. Even though the house is really nice, my disappointment will come from something else. We drove by the house on Sunday again. While in the neighborhood, we drove down to the community park and boat launch. I had forgotten (or didn't realize) how much I missed living near the river. When we lived on the other side of Lakeside Highlands, we were around the corner from Veteran's Park, which is on the Tennessee River. We often walked to the park and down the river when we lived there. Even when we were living through the difficult months of Michael trading online from home, we would walk down to the...

I finally get to post a picture to my blog --- because it's only of Nathan's hand. Isn't it adorable??? For those of you who aren't yet grandparents, I have to tell you --- you are in for such a treat!! I have never been so in love. :-)

Well, I'm plugging along, still going to the Y for 2 hours Monday-Friday. The results this month are less-than-stellar. I seem smaller when I look in the mirror, though. No change in the weight on the scale this month. I've lost a total of 7# since June 18. This month, I lost 4.5", which is better than the measly 1.25" last month! That brings me to a total of 13" since June 18. Woo Hoo!!! Some days, I feel like I can increase the weight I lift on the machine with no problem. Then, there are days like today when I feel absolutely drained and I have to bump it back down to get through the workout. I feel the most increase in muscle in my quadriceps. That feels great! I have been able to do more strenuous walking on the treadmill, though. When I first started, if I tried to walk too quickly, my knee would start to hurt and I'd have to slow down. I've been slowly increasing the intensity and my knee usually doesn't hurt. Laikyn and I are still taking Pil...

Laikyn has been doing so well lately with her asthma. She has hardly had to use her rescue inhaler. Yesterday, we were at the Y working out and she came to me on the treadmill and said, "I'm having trouble breathing. I just did my inhaler." I told her to go get some hot coffee. She did and then came back a few minutes later and said, "I drank the coffee, and it's not getting any better. I'm starting to get light-headed." I got off the treadmill and we rushed out and to the doctor's office, which was just around the corner. When we got to the counter and I told the receptionist Laikyn was having a severe asthma attack, she said, "I don't have a doctor. They're gone at 4:30." It was about 4:40. I said, "Is there a nurse that can give her a breathing treatment???" She said, "Let me check." We sat in the lobby and Laikyn said her hands were starting to tingle. The nurse came and got us and brought us to the back, sto...

Our house search has heated up this week! :-) Laikyn and I looked at a total of 6 houses Wednesday. The gas has been eating us up driving to look at only a few each day, so I decided to spend the day in town looking at numerous ones. (We did look at only one yesterday. We didn't look at any today. I'm worn out!) After the last tour was over, I called Michael and said, "I just looked at a house that I want you to see and I seriously want to make an offer on it." It's in the neighborhood we first lived in when we moved to Florence. We would like living there again. The neighborhood is 5 minutes from the main shopping area of our city. It's also right around the corner from Veteran's Park. Plus, there is a neighborhood boat launch and park that residents can use for an optional fee of $35 a year. Michael is already planning to take Nathan down there to fish. (And Dewayne, too!) The house is very nice, and the best part is that we wouldn't have to do much ...

Laikyn and I viewed 4 houses today--the two that I showed pics of the other day plus two others. The green cottage was SOOOO cute and I absolutely LOVED it, but the kitchen was tiny and the washer and dryer were in the tiny kitchen, too! The dining room was small also. I was trying to think of things we could do to remodel, but the price isn't really conducive to our remodeling it as well. Of course, we could make an offer for lower than what they're asking, but for now we're just going to keep looking. We aren't opposed to getting something that needs some updating *IF* the price is right, because it would allow us to make the home into what we want. The stone cottage also would need some adjusting of the layout. I didn't love it enough to even seriously consider it and it also was not at a price conducive to remodeling. On the way to one of the other houses we looked at today is a yellow ranch-style house that I commented on each time we passed by it. It was re...

Kimberly turned 21 yesterday!! I honestly don't know where the years have gone; they have flown past. I gave her a table runner "in progress." With making Nathan's dedication gown, I didn't start her table runner early enough to have it done by her actual birthday. Hopefully, it will be done by the end of this month. I am hand quilting it. I'll post a pic when I'm finished. She and Dewayne and the baby came over for supper and cake last night. She requested homemade cake, and I tried to comply. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but rarely do my cakes come out of the pans in tact. These were exceptionally terrible, so I had to revert to a boxed mix made into a sheet cake that stayed in the pan. (Yes, I butter and flour my pans!) At least the icing was homemade. The icing was like nothing I'd ever made before. It was from a Betty Crocker Chocolate cookbook and called "Marshmallow Frosting." It had the consistency of some merinque coo...

It always peaks my interest to hear a soldier's take on the Iraqi War.

Kimberly, Dewayne, and the baby moved out late last week. I'm happy for them because they now have MUCH more room than they did here in Kimberly's old bedroom, but we sure do miss having them here. They came for a visit today. Laikyn said it looked like Nathan had gotten fatter in just a few days! :-) He's got a double chin and rolls on the back of his neck. Too cute! I'm soooo in love!!! Since we now have two bedrooms more than we need here, we are contemplating moving into a smaller house (with a smaller note) back inside the city limits of Florence. I, for one, have really missed living in town, closer to shopping, etc. I've missed having the services in town, too, like curbside recycling and large trash pick-up (limbs, etc.). Laikyn and I spent yesterday morning and part of the afternoon driving by some properties for sale. Even after living here nearly five years, we still don't know all the different neighborhoods. We have appointments to see two propertie...