Massee Lane Gardens

The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created spring.
~~Bern Williams

I brought Rachel and Anna to Massee Lane Gardens in Fort Valley, GA, this past weekend. Massee Lane Gardens is managed by the American Camellia Society. The gardens were still full of camellia blooms even though the peak times to view them are between October and March. Additionally, all of the peach orchards were full of color as the peach blossoms were out. Rachel and Anna learned a few things about types of flowers and I got to take some pics of my little girls against some beautiful natural landscapes. I'd like to go back in April when the roses and lillies are in full bloom.

During the weekend before last, we bought Rachel and Anna their own flower pots and some soil. They planted the seeds and have been watering them. They were so excited to see the sprouts coming out of the soil.

Some other good news....we should be getting our motorhome back from the dealer this week some time. We are all eager to do some traveling again. We were thinking of some short weekend trips to some state parks that we haven't done yet.

Anna Turned Four

"Mommy. I'm adoreable."~~Anna, 4 years old

I'm a bit late in posting birthday thoughts for my younger daughter so I wanted to take some time to do that.

Yesterday morning, I dressed Anna in a new outfit that I bought her. She loved it and after she was dressed, she said, "Mommy. I'm adoreable." And, that in a nutshell, is Anna.

When Jeff and I were trying to have children, we never thought we'd have one child much less two. And, to have gotten pregnant only six months after Rachel was born seemed like a miracle to us when it took so long to conceive Rachel.

Rachel made parenting easy. She was one of those easy babies that people talk about. She made the whole parenting gig seem like a piece of cake. So we had no reason to panic when I had gotten pregnant again so soon. We could handle it!

Anna made us rethink that shortly after she was born. Let's just say she wasn't so easy as an infant. Come to think of it, she's still not so easy. She was a challenge then and nothing much has changed. She entered the world three and half weeks early at almost 8 lbs. She was already making her choices back then. She's stubborn (Gee! I wonder where she gets that from?). She is a woman who knows what she wants. When she makes up her mind, she's done with it. She has a vibrant personality and is quite the jokester too. She's a bit too smart for her own good. I have to work at learning things. Anna seems to simply absorb knowledge by being in the same room. She amazes me with the speed at which she learns new things. She is joy but she is a one-woman wrecking machine too. We never had to put safety locks on cabinets when Rachel was an infant but we had to with Anna. She explores and climbs and if it can be broken, she'll break it. I suspect she'll be an engineer when she grows up. She is a brave soul. Her favorite ride at Disney World is the Tower of Terror.

She loves wearing "klippy-klop" shoes; that would be shoes with a heel that makes a sound as the shoes hit the floor while she walks. She has a shoe addiction in general. If finances allowed, there is no doubt she would have a suite dedicated to shoes. She loves shoes!

And, yes Anna, you are adoreable. At least, Mommy and Daddy think so.

Yes, We Are Still Alive

The only thing constant is change. ~~Author Unknown

I wanted to update the blog to catch everyone up on the latest. Much has happened since January. We finally got over the cold crud that seemed to never want to go away. But, it was probably the end of January before all of us were healthy again.

As I mentioned in prior posts, we began our search for a home late last year. And, after much searching, we found a home we wanted to purchase at the beginning of January. We entered into a contract with a scheduled closing date of February 2nd, which was Jeff's 38th birthday.

On January 24th, I received a call requesting me to interview for a job that I applied for in Huntsville, AL, that I applied for in August 2006. We were considering moving back to Alabama to be closer to family and since we were living in our RV, the move would be easy to do. However, I had applied for various federal jobs in Huntsville last summer with no promising leads. So, we had abandoned any hope that anything would materialize from those efforts and resigned to the fact that we would continue our life as Georgians for the near future. I was only applying for federal jobs as I am happy with my job and my existing employer and saw no need to leave unless it was for the stability of a federal job to get us closer to family. It was worth the trip for the interview because we were able to visit with Harold and Gail. We also attended Lia's birthday party and Rachel and Anna got to go roller skating at a rink for the first time for the party. We also stopped in Birmingham on the way back home to visit with my side of the family. Rachel and Anna wanted some of Grandma's spaghetti so they were thrilled when they were able to stop in and visit with family and eat their favorite dish.

I not only interviewed for the job but was offered the position. Ultimately, I turned it down. Suffice it to say, there were multiple reasons that made the move unattractive for us at this time. As I've mentioned before, I do believe in "signs" and I believe that the signs were telling us that it was not the right time to move back to Alabama despite our strong desire to be closer to family. So, we jointly decided to pass on the job opportunity in Huntsville, closed on our house in early February, and began moving our stuff from storage. The weeks have been a blur since then since Jeff's birthday was February 2nd, Anna's birthday was February 17th, and we have been busy painting the interior of the home and purchasing items that were needed to establish a home again. We sold many of our old belongings when we sold our previous home so in many ways we were starting from scratch. We didn't have any master bedroom furniture nor mattresses for Anna and Rachel's beds so that was on the first order of business to take care of. I won't even list the remainder of things but when you don't even have a garbage can, suffice it to say, I made many trips to stores just to get the basics for our new home.

Speaking of the home....it's not really "new" per se but it's new to us. It is 10 years old. It is significantly smaller than our last house. Our goal was to be comfortable without excess because we still wanted to keep our motorhome and travel as often as we could. The thing I mainly like about it is the location. It is in a cul-de-sac which means significantly less automobile traffic. I don't worry as much about Rachel and Anna riding their bikes and scooters in the driveway or road now.

Where is the RV you wonder and where will we keep it? It is being serviced. We knew it needed some service to fix some warrantied items but we kept putting it off since it was our home. We turned it in for maintenance a couple of weeks before we closed on our home. We lived in a hotel for that duration. As I've mentioned before, I hated that aspect of full-timing it in an RV. If it was just Jeff and me, I could deal with it. But, it is quite the effort to pack and move things for a family of four. I'm not sure when the RV will be ready for pick up but I can say I'm itching to hit the road again so I'm hoping it is soon. We specifically picked a subdivision and property where we could keep our RV on our property. That was a tough thing to find.

And, what home would be a home without a pet? We had heard too many horror stories from friends having adopted puppies as of late to know that we weren't ready for that. Although we were greatly intrigued by some bloodhound puppies that we saw. We just felt that with our travels and busy schedules, it wasn't a good match for us to have a dog. While we were at a local mall getting Anna's 4-year portraits done, we spotted some baby ferrets. Rachel and Anna fell in love. Jeff and I had ferrets in college so having them as pets was not new to us. We knew they slept a good portion of the day which removed the guilt from my mind of not being home a major portion of the day. These ferrets were 9 weeks old when we purchased them and they are brother and sister. Rachel chose the girl and named her Molly. Anna named the boy Meko. We have been pleased with these new additions to our family. To be so young, they are extremely gentle and loving. Rachel and Anna absolutely adore them. They will be easy to bring with us when we travel.

So the question I'm sure everyone wants answered.....how does it feel being back in a house again? Well, it feels great. But, it's not the space that makes it so nice. It's having a home base. It's knowing that I have a spot to return to at the end of the day that is ours. The RV was great. It was the problem of parking it on property that we didn't own that made it troublesome at times. That and the fact that service done on the RV meant hotel living for us. Interestingly enough, our children seem indifferent about the whole thing. Rachel actually said she preferred the RV. Although, I think they both have enjoyed having a bath tub again. As for me, I've enjoyed having a full sized kitchen again. I missed baking. I have found that I have a significantly reduced tolerance for clutter. After living in such a small space, my appreciation for simplicity has not left me.

And, what about Suede? Well, after her return to our campground, she met a single man who was also camping there. The last I heard, he had asked her if they could travel together. I haven't heard her answer yet. But, wouldn't that be something if she found a companion to enjoy her travels with?

In the end, would I recommend selling your home and living in an RV? Absolutely!!!! I'd do it again, and will do it again when my children are grown and it's just Jeff and me. We rearranged our expenses such that we still have a comfortable home but have a nicer RV. It was a journey and adventure of many sorts.

I will still keep this blog so that everyone can stay tuned with our travels and see what is going on in our ho hum lives. Actually, I think you'll find that even our daily life can be entertaining at times. And, I still plan to stop and smell the diesel. I hope that you will too.