Its a beautiful life

What a beautiful family. Only two siblings and their spouses missing from the celebration of Mom & Dad's 50th wedding anniversary. Its such a shame Leroy & Deb and Roger & Joyce couldn't make it, but we enjoyed a grand celebration.

I'm not sure what I enjoyed most, the evenings around the game table or the family dinner and slide show. Bethany put together an AWESOME slide show, including music, of photos and memories from Mom & Dad's life together.

I could go on and on but am pooped from unpacking tubs today. We emptied our storage unit and drug all remaining 'stuff' home to Texas on this trip.

It was only 104 here today! HA HA HA HA Expecting just 99 tomorrow and hope to get some more of those pictures taken that I promised Darlys & Jan. Stay tuned! ;-P

More later .............

PRAY OFTEN

LIVE WELL

LAUGH OFTEN

LOVE MUCH

Thank GOD for my husband

In the past two months my wonderful husband has undergone a beautiful transformation. He is still the sweet, understanding, patient friend that he has always been to me and has now become a much better friend to himself. His level of confidence and conviction have grown, or recovered, along with his physical stength and ambition.

He used to be a softy to everyone, not just me. He wouldn't argue with or push a salesman, he wouldn't stand his ground with contractors or say NO to much at all.

After two months of being at the mercy of contractors, sales people and manufacturers, and getting more physically active, he's taking a different approach. He's not being angry, rude or belligerant, but he is standing his ground and making his point. I have a hard time doing that myself. I get frustrated, I get angry and I get impatient. I don't always communicate that to the people it might effect, but I sure vent it later.

This morning our home warranty company sent two men from a local plumbing service to our home for the water heater. We told them the hot water faucets were simply trickling water out and it was not hot. We believe the water heater is full of sediment and either needs flushed or replaced. Before they came out the plumber called, listened to the symptoms and declared that it must be some other problem, not the water heater. He sent his guys out and told them not to spend more than an hour and to do whatever they could shy of replacing the unit............

When they opened the outflow they saw what they believed to be a marble. Rather than believing this is some sort of safety valve, they decided they would try to break the 'marble' to clear the tube. They called their boss to tell him what they found and he said the warranty would not pay for a water heater, that they needed to fix it. Bubba called the warranty company while they hammered and drilled and convinced themselves that there was something behind the 'marble' that wouldn't move either.

The possitive thing is that we didn't even pay the service fee we were supposed to pay and we didn't pay the parts they installed, unnecessarily, and wanted to charge us for. The negative is that they left and now we have to wait for their boss to accept the order for a new water heater and send them back out. If they don't call back by this afternoon I'm sure Bubba will call the home warranty company and request a new service provider. These two were not someone I would choose to invite back into our home if we don't have to.

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Follow up after lunch .... The plumber called and said the home warranty company will not pay for a water heater. They offer to pay him for two hours of labor to come fix it...... Bubba called the home warranty company back and drilled through at least two levels of customer service and still has no positive response. Now that the service men have drilled through what may be a valve and have declared that they don't believe the unit is fixable we are still being told that home warranty won't replace it.

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Another follow up. An hour after Bubba got off the phone with the home warranty company the plumber showed up with a new water heater. Praise be!!!!

More later .....

PRAY OFTEN

LIVE WELL

LAUGH OFTEN

LOVE MUCH

We need a new church family

We've been searching for a couple months now but just haven't found the right congregation for us yet. We've visited three churches so far and wonder how many more we'll visit before we find the perfect fit.

The first church was, we found out later, the largest United Methodist Church in San Angelo. The church is beautiful and very active. They have multiple services per Sunday and per week but we found little warmth or evident faith in action there. We saw a great amount of form and function, a very organized service and a preacher full of passion. Unfortunately the congregation didn't show any of that passion and the preacher is moving on to another congregation this weekend.

The second church was, we found out there, the smallest United Methodist Church in San Angelo. The Sunday we joined them we brought the congregation to a whopping 14 individuals. I was, by far, the youngest person there and we were two of 5 white folks in the pews. They were an extremely welcoming group and we enjoyed worshipping with them. I felt the faith and passion for their faith with them, but didn't feel there was any room for us to grow with the congregation. They have been an established congregation for over 105 years and I anticipate their joining with another to survive.

This morning we attending worship services as a large Baptist church. I was expecting a large congregation because they have three services, but I wasn't expecting to walk into a Christian rock concert. That congregation made me feel old and old fashioned. I've been in a Baptist church a couple times, but nothing like this. I put them on the list because they're an Angel Food Ministries host site but don't feel they are the church family we're looking for either.

Our neighbors just stopped over and, once again, invited us to their church which is just a mile down the road. She's singing a special song next Sunday so I think we'll go there. She said their average worship service is around 40 people, a bit smaller than than I think we're looking for. She has mentioned a couple times that they're the only hispanic church members and feel very comfortable. It seems very important to her. She's such a sweety; I really like Erma.

Well, its onward and upward. Our Heritage church family in Iowa is a tough act to follow and it may take us some time.

More later ..........

PRAY OFTEN

LIVE WELL

LAUGH OFTEN

LOVE MUCH

Just a few more pics

Guess what Bubba's been up to? There are too many mesquite branches in the drive through the pasture. He's been excercising his chain saw and clearing the path. It will take some time for this wet mesquite to dry, but it will burn well in the fire place eventually.

This pretty purple bloom is one of many different kinds that paint our property.

This funny little black thing looks like a mushroom or fungi of some sort. There are many of them popping through the dry ground. Look familiar to anyone? I have no idea what it might be.

Our mascot, No Fear, is dilligently setting another clutch of unfertilized eggs. She's got nothing better to do and no friends to chase around the pond...  Now that she's setting again she doesn't leave the nest for more than a couple minutes to drink and swim so we brought the water to her along with a little corn. This baby pool is one of many things we found left here and usable.

More later .........

PRAY OFTEN

LIVE WELL

LAUGH OFTEN

LOVE MUCH

Kirkland's Home Store

Have you ever experienced the Kirkland Home Store? WOW ....... candy store for an interior designer. Very reasonable prices, interesting variety and lots of faith based decor items. If you get a chance, check them out.

http://www.kirklands.com/

More later .........

PRAY OFTEN

LIVE WELL

LAUGH OFTEN

LOVE MUCH

Progress

I haven't posted much lately, but felt like dropping in a few pictures I've taken.

I've removed the cabinet hardware and am preparing to refinish. The kitchen walls are orange taffy; not nearly as bold as it sounds. 

Finally got the new dining area painted yesterday. I'm anxious to get moving on curtains and wall decorations soon. We got a great deal on this table and 4 chairs but are not 100% excited about the comfort, or lack there of, of the tall chairs. Two of the chairs are currently working with a countertop cut out to function as an entertainment center till we get one. 

These bad boys fill our pastures in places. According to our electrician these are just red ants. Their bite hurts like heck and will welt but they won't swarm and attack like the infamous fire ants do. We have lots of fire ants too. They're much smaller. We keep after them with the fire ant killer but they're tenacious.

As long as I wear solid shoes and keep my eyes open to whats in front of me as I'm walking, I don't worry too much about whats out there. I'm a bit anxious to get some grazers in the pastures before they grow up beyond where I'm confortable walking through the green.  

This pretty, blue green thistle sure offers a pretty white bloom!

This is the horny toad from behind. What a beautiful little thing! I don't know why they call it a toad; it sure looks like a lizzard to me.

This dove danced around on the feeder cover for almost 10 minutes trying to figure out how to access the seed. It's simply too big. I need to get some open feeders out. 

Bed Bath & Beyond had an amazing sale last week. I brought home this 10 piece bedding set for less than I've paid for a good set of sheets. Right now we're sleeping in my future workshop room. We're waiting for the carpet to come in before we move the bed into the bed room.

Where you see the beautiful french doors with integrated blinds, there used to be a window in the wall. Where you see the small tile pieces and the white wall there was a wall to wall closet. I still have finish work to do but our contractor has completed his work.

After 4 years of carrying my laundry to town and stocking quarters, you know how amazingly excited I am about this new laundry room!! Lots of room for the freezer and a utility sink too.

New hard surface counter tops and new back splash. The counter tops were installed by Lowes and the back splash by me. Cool stuff!!!!! The cabinets are on the to do list soon. I'm going to sand, primer and paint them dark walnut.

More later ........

PRAY OFTEN

LIVE WELL

LAUGH OFTEN

LOVE MUCH

HGTV

Being the loyal HGTV viewer that I am, my great room / living room had to have an accent wall. The North and South walls and bedroom hallways are painted in the light brown color called natural bark, to compliment the fireplace. The East wall is now my accent wall painted in a soft blue/green color called old colonial. When the contractors get done in the kitchen it will be painted a soft orange/yellow and the dining area will be the same as the accent wall, to set it apart from the kitchen. Sounds like a rainbow, I know, but I promise it will look great. After I paint the kitchen walls and I have my work room to myself, I'm going to paint the kitchen cabinets a rich dark walnut brown and change the hardware to match the stainless appliances.

These supplies I already have on hand, the white crown molding will have to wait.

More later ..........

PRAY OFTEN

LIVE WELL

LAUGH OFTEN

LOVE MUCH