Choir Practice

I hope the sound works.  I did this on my phone today of the choir practice for the evening mission trip block party.  Amy is in the turquoise t shirt on the left.

The View

This is the view from my front porch....

Progress

I am making progress in the house ~

*our bedroom has NO boxes in it!  They are unpacked & everything put away ~ at least till we find more boxes!

*the kitchen is unpacked (the boxes I could find anyway)

*the freezer is full & now locked to keep the door shut (it likes to open and defrost)

*the craft room is unpacked, file cabinet drawers cleaned & consolidated, & I've gotten to sew some yesterday & today ~ working on a quilt I started in the 70's....better late than never!  (It just kept hanging around and the quilt fairy never came, I figured she had ample opportunity to work on this and didn't.)

*Greg hung the laundry room and bathroom cabinets, and they are filled now.

*The garden is plugging along in this heat.  I've picked lots of yellow squash and now blueberries.  I've got tomatoes on 3 of the 4 plants, and loads of blooms on the pumpkin vines.  Gregs picked some of his peppers too.

*Only had to cook Sun.-Wed. last week.  Thursday we ate dinner at Allens, Friday at Moms, and Sat. Greg and I went to eat dinner at Longhorns with a gift card we had been given! 

*The 5 of us have our Georgia drivers licenses.  And 2 of the cars are registered and tagged here, so far.  Not done yet, but its a start.

*I've unloaded a couple of boxes of our books & feel like I've rediscovered friends.  I love books and can read them over and over. 

*We are coming up with some creative storage solutions for our smaller home.

*We are discovering we should have been more ruthless in our donating, tossing, etc. before the move.

*I've signed up to sell and volunteer at a huge consignment sale here ~ goodies for grandbabies!

*Sat down with the boys last night and watched "American Sniper"  ~ oh wow, what a powerful movie.  I could have done without several explicit scenes (James fast forwarded through them) and most of the language ~ but whose to say what my own response would have been or how colorful my speech given those circumstances.

*Getting ready for our mission trip to New York now!  I am greatly looking forward to it since I missed last year! 

Guess its time to do something else......or get on Pinterest for a while ~ guess which option wins! 

An Adventure in Red Tape

We went to the DMV today to get our GA drivers license's ~ what an adventure!  And not a good adventure.  We knew we needed some paperwork, some documentation, but this was crazy.....we needed ~

*our old drivers license
*a birth certificate or a passport
*a social security card or W2 with our number on it
*2 pieces of mail with our current address on it

CRAZY involved paperwork ~ if your birth certificate was not in your current name (and no ones would be if they were married) then you also had to have the paperwork trail of the name changes up to your current name.  And social security card is NOT to be used for identification as stated on the back of the card.

But you have to jump through their hoops to get your license.  For me, that involved 2 trips home to look for their required paperwork before mine was issued.

So my question is ~ how do illegal aliens get a drivers license?  They don't have this paperwork.  Or is it just harder for citizens?  Something to ponder!

Mississippi to Georgia

Our last week has been super busy ~ we drove back to MS from GA last Tuesday.  Took our van in to get some tire work done. Went and ate our last breakfast at Primo's (a yummy Jackson restaurant) and our last dinner at Dickeys Barbeque (technically, there is Dickeys in GA but just not 15 minutes away like we are used to).  We packed the kitchen and finished packing the backroom cabinets and our closet.  We swam in our pool ~ and cleaned it!  We ate some interesting meal combinations, using what we had. We also found someone to take our lab, Rosie....thanks to our friend sharing our "ad" on facebook.

 We picked up the moving truck and started packing it on Friday. Saturday morning, bright and early (7 am), some men from our church came to help load the truck.  They took the beds apart, moved the piano to the truck, got the washer/dryer and fridge loaded, plus most of the other furnishings ~ unfortunately, everything did not fit.  Greg will have to rent a trailer on his last return trip to bring the rest. After he moving truck was crammed full ~ the guys helped Greg take down the large dog chain link pen, finished scooping dirt into the hole to fix a fence post, and dismantled the chicken coop.  We had my van full, the full moving van, and Wills truck was full.

We got to GA about 9 pm an unloaded just a few necessities.  Then we all went to sleep.  On Sunday morning, my sister and her crowd came over and son, Allen to start unloading.  They unloaded all the vehicles.  Then they started helping put stuff up and clipped tree branches and hauled them to the burn pile.  Mom brought over deli meats, cheese, breads, chips, dip & fruit for our lunch ~ thanks Mom.

Greg has riden around, and around, and around the front yard and back pasture on his John Deere.  We've picked squash from our garden.  Discovered our corn was now waist high!  Our pumpkin plants are filled with blooms.  Had a fun dinner last night with our friends from MS (as they were traveling through GA) and we ended the night at Stone Mountain Park watching the Laser Show.

Greg got our cabinet in the laundry room hung up.  We found a tile to use for a back splash behind the mud sink ~ just a little border to protect the wall if water splashes.  The pantry is getting organized.  We are storing extra stuff in the basement & the barn.   I got to work in the sewing room this afternoon.  No sewing yet, but organizing. 

It took me 3 days to find a prescription med.  I still can't find my cell phone/kindle charger.  Took 3 days to find a library book.  Took 2 days to find our silverware ~ thanks Amy. 

We got internet and tv yesterday, so we are back online! 

This is a great adventure and I am thankful to be on it with my husband/best friend.  My family has been very supportive of our move and very helpful. 

Dinner tonight will feature squash casserole....with our homegrown squash! 

What I Miss ~

*When I am in GA, I Miss ~

my friends
My bed (the air mattress is comfortable but gets old pretty quick)
Will
my comfortable sofa
the internet (we don't have it yet in GA)


*When I am in Mississippi, I miss.....

my Farm
the quiet
my children that have already moved
Family
watching my pumpkin & squash plants get bigger and bigger

*What I miss no matter where I am ~

knowing where all my stuff is
having our possessions in one place
my books ~ they are packed in boxes in moms basement
my craft supplies

Even with our unpainted walls, our ugly blue carpet, our boxes everywhere, the confusion in every room ~ I am ready for our move.  Its happening very soon! 

Blessings from our Savior ~

Gregs job interviews
James' job interview
Amys job
Wills job transfer
interest in our house and the trailer
excitement for our upcoming  mission trip (a first for my niece & nephew)
spending time with family ~ Andy & Amy Kate came this weekend, cookout with A & AK, Amy Lynn & Granny, Allen, Jennifer & Aiden, & James, and going to SC to spend time with Robert & Thomas ~

The Way to NOT Clean Out Your Freezer

We've been eating lots of leftovers that were frozen and trying to pare down our freezer ~ so as not to waste food.  I've bought very little meat since we have started moving.  But there is a very unfrugal, costly, depressing way to clean out the freezer ~ have the door not close all the way ~ and then not notice for several hours.  This is NOT the recommended way to clean out a freezer.

Most of what we had to toss was leftovers ~ yuck!

We had about 20+ pounds of ground bacon burger (venison) thaw.  That is being cooked today and refrozen either as baked hamburger for meals either with ketchup or alfredo gravy (yum) or crumbled and browned for taco salads, soups, spaghetti sauce etc.  I am thankful that not all of it thawed and non of my pork loins thawed. 

I have packed a majority of the kitchen, so I was thankful that there were 3 pyrex/corning ware dishes I could use for the baked hamburger.

In cleaning out drawers and cabinets we found the key to the freezer ~ I had forgotten it had one.  So the door is locked shut. 

But again ~ this is NOT the way to clean out your freezer.....don't try this at home!

Living!

We are currently living in 2 homes in 2 different states.  Most of our boxes are already in GA ~ some unpacked, but only some.  Most of our furniture is still in Miss., but only for a couple of weeks.  When we are in GA, we are sleeping on air mattresses on the floor.  We have a small table and chairs and 2 rocking chairs to sit in to watch movies.  The sewing room is moved and kinda set up, but has a long way to go ~ at least I know where the machines are. 

We have food in the pantry and our small fridge (little freezer space).  3/4 of my plates are there, the rest are here.  As well as mugs, glasses & bowls.  When we had our Memorial Day get together, I realized I didn't have any large bowls there, so I had to raid moms kitchen for the broccoli salad bowl to serve in.  We are using James' pots and pans and his silverware ~ because we have to live & eat in Miss too. 

This is getting confusing & stressful. 

However ~ the timeline is set.  Plans are in place & we are ready to be living in 1 place.......at least for a couple of days till our New York Mission Trip!

Prayers would be appreciated for all to fall into place ~ and for our Mississippi house to sell!