Moved in...getting unpacked...buying furniture...Gotta Love Craigslist!!

It has been a journey to get to where I am now.  I can't help but think that it really has went by fast...what am I saying!!  It was a LONG winter of work and time away from my hubby.  When he left December 5th, we had dreams, hopes, wishes, and many prayers, that we would prepare our house to the best of our ability with a limited budget, get it on the market as soon as possible, January 13th, sell it quickly, an offer on February 16th, and find a new home in the valley that we both liked and buy it...then live happily ever after...well as close to that as possible!!  LOL!   We closed on our new home on April 7th, moved everything out of storage on April 8th, and now are in the process of making it OUR home.  I have been searching Craigslist everyday since I got internet back, April 15th, and finally got some things I am really happy with.  First a dining table and chairs...$275, then a shelving unit with 3 sections, all mahogany which are over 6 feet tall, the top shelves are glass with lights...$100 (crazy, I know!), then a smaller set of bookshelves that are about 5 feet tall and wider than the other set with glass doors...$135.  I am still on the lookout for a sofa & loveseat for the livingroom, a queen bed for the guest room, and a few odds & ends.  It has been a little tricky putting things away with less storage in this house than our previous house, so the bookcases will really help.  I will take pictures when I feel ready to share.  For now, I feel totally blessed that our prayers were answered and we are getting settled.  We had played the "what if" games when this all began, but I knew that we wouldn't be still be waiting for the house to sell this summer.  I felt that it would all work out and it did...  :-)  God is good!

Have a Blessed Day and may your dreams, hopes, wishes, and prayers come true too,
Cindy 

Moved everything to storage...check! House sold...check! New home closing...a little behind schedule!

Well Friends, it has been a long couple of weeks...We signed papers on March 25th to sell our home in Redmond.  Then got a  UHaul truck for the final load of mostly furniture and miscellaneaous stuff that was left.  We had some wonderful people help us load and clean the house.  I was so thankful to hear the words, "But it is so clean we are just wiping things down!".  Yeah!!  That was my goal!  Then on Saturday, March 26th, with my hubby driving the UHaul and me driving his ranger truck, we headed out.  We hit a snowstorm just out of Redmond that made it hard to see and I was thinking, "Oh my gosh, this isn't good!"  Then after a few miles it let up...Then we got to the real snow; a very snowy Santiam Pass and chains were required on trucks.  My hubby put on the chains that he had just purchased before leaving and we headed out again...slowly.  My little truck was shimmying up the hill, but many prayers and miles later, I released my clenched hands from the steering wheel and breathed a huge sigh of relief!  :-)  We had family & friends that helped us unload the truck; our storage unit is filled to capacity!

After all that, we are staying with friends, waiting to close on the home here.  Knowing that God is still in control, there have been a few glitches, frustrating moments, and wondering if it was going to work out at all to buy this house.  We are still waiting to hopefully sign papers by Friday.  I had a little meltdown Saturday & my dear hubby took me out to dinner, a movie, and a little shopping.  Well, that went a long way in healing my frustrations!!  I even got a new spice rack in Kohl's; I've always wanted one and 40% off made it affordable.  

Hope you are all enjoying a little spring.  There are trees and flowers blooming here everywhere; daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips are springing up (no pun intended) in yards and fields.  It is so beautiful!  It is so different here than in Central Oregon, where it is still doing some snowing off and on.  But the rain is also plentiful here, accent the plentiful, so it is give and take, isn't it?  Wish I could share a few photos, but I'm borrowing a computer to do this.

Happy Spring and Blessings to You & Yours,
Cindy

LIfe is Good...house sale proceeding...found a new home...and a giveaway win!

I got back last Friday from Lebanon.  The mountains greeted us with more snow for the drive home.

That is Hoodoo Ski Resort in the background

 As of today, the pass is really nasty for travel.  My hubby will stay in Lebanon while I finish some packing and do some visiting with family & friends before I move.

Today is St Patrick's Day and usually I'm cooking corned beef in the crock pot and making shamrock cookies, but not this year.  I'm by my lonesome doing some more packing of items I can live without until I unpack in our new home.

The home sale is proceeding nicely now.  There were some times of waiting; news of the appraisal taking longer than I thought it should have.  It was a concern due to the falling home prices, but it worked out.  We will officially move on the 26th out of the home we have lived in for over 9 years; the longest we have lived anywhere in our marriage of nearly 34 years!  It will be hard to leave, but we found a new home in Lebanon that we fell in love with clear back in December.  It waited for us and things worked out in our favor to be able to buy it.  It is larger than our home by about 240 square feet and I will have my craft room in the house, not in the garage!!  Yeah!!

Now on to the giveaway I won from Angie at Hopemore Studio.  Angie sent me a lovely note with the pendant I chose from her Etsy shop.  

 She didn't leave it at that...no, not Angie!  She added lots of goodies, new & old, that she thought I could use in my creations.

It was quite a treat to open my box of goodies and see my beautiful pendant and all the other things that Angie had lovingly put together just for me.  I will definitely enjoy using the items in my crafts.  Thank you so much, Angie!!  

Here is her blog for you to check out:  http://hopemorestudio.blogspot.com

I have so much to be thankful for and soon I will be back with my hubby in our new home.  We will be putting the rest of our things in storage until we close on the house in Lebanon.  Thank you so much to all of you for your prayers and well wishes through this journey that started in December.  I am truly blessed!

Blessings to all of you,
Cindy  

Lots going on...the house sale progressing & winning a giveaway!!

I have a lot going on, dear blogging friends.  The sale of our home in Redmond is progressing along.  The inspection went wonderfully & no work to have to do on the house.  Closing is supposed to be March 29th.  We will move the weekend before that.  Leaving my kids there will be hard...so hard;  but our eldest son & his wife (our daughter in love) are thrilled to have us close to them again.  We are excited about that also!  :-)

I will have more to share about our move to Lebanon as things progress...

I also had the excitement of winning a blog giveaway from Hopemore Studio.  I got to choose a pendant from Angie's Etsy store.  I will be blogging on that next week when I have my computer & camera together again.  I can say that Angie made receiving the pendant a joy by adding extra goodies she had chosen for me; the pendant was plenty enough & very beautiful!

I just wanted to check in, since it had been awhile, to update you.  Lots of changes going on and life moves on wherever I am.  I have the blessings of friends in both towns; the one I'm leaving & the one I'm moving to, besides our children of course.  I have even discovered that a friend in Lebanon is a thrift store shopper too!  Sounds like some outings will be on the horizon!!  Have a wonderful rest of the week everyone!!  God bless!  (Sorry no pics to share this week. I am borrowing a computer to do this blog.)

Blessings,
Cindy

We have a buyer for our house!! Praise God!

We accepted an offer on our house this week!   It took 5 weeks, 3 showings, lots of packing & primping & staging, and the grace of God.  We are so blessed!  Thank you so much for all the prayers and  well wishes.

When the Realtor for the buyers showed the house last Friday, she left me a note on the back of her business card that read:  "Thank you so much.  You showcased your home beautifully!  Thank you, Joy".  The showing was at 4pm and we had an offer the following morning.  The same Realtor called me Tuesday to tell me when the house was going to be inspected (Monday) and she wanted me to know that the way the house looked to the potential buyers is what sold it.  She wished that all her sellers would do what we did to our home to prepare it for sale.  She said it is rare that a seller will make their home look as nice as ours.  *Sweet* 

This was the sky just before sunset last night.

 When I caught a glimpse of the beautiful clouds in the sky, I grabbed my camera.  As you can see, it was snowy and cold.  By then I was cozy & warm inside my house, but I woke up that morning to no heat!  I had to call the heating company to come out.  Thankfully I had my paperwork from last year in my file drawer here & not in storage!  The part that went out was under warranty until the end of the month; I just had to pay the service call.  Thank God that it happened when I was here, because I head over to Lebanon for awhile and the inspection is Monday.  Timing is everything!!

Blessings,
Cindy 

 

Found Treasures...& a charm from Katie's Rose Cottage

I received a package Saturday of a beautiful charm I had ordered from Katie's Rose Cottage.  She had a 40% off sale & I couldn't resist.  She delivered promptly & even added a special gift; a pretty tag she had made.  You need to check out her items because they are a treat for the eyes!  Here's her blog:  http://katiesrosecottage.blogspot.com/2011/02/jewelry-sale.html  (copy & paste)

I just love the charm!  Isn't the tag lovely?

 I found some treasures at Goodwill last week and thought I'd share them.  I am always looking for paintings and fell in love with this simple ocean scene...

It is only 11" x 13"

 Then I found a little creamer~sugar set and a tea cup; both were only 2 inches tall!  I'm collecting small containers for my bottle brush trees & these will look really sweet.  Although I must admit, it will be hard to separate the creamer~sugar set.  Maybe I will have to sell them as a pair.  It is hard to see in the picture but there is a faint snowflake pattern on the teacup in the bold gold stripe.

I was really excited when I found some Homer Laughlin bowls.  They are so delicate and pretty.  The only thing that was disappointing is that there were only 3; but I got them anyway.  I hope to add to the collection.  They were only 99 cents each!

Also in the picture below are a blue dish with birds; I will add eggs & more fluff to the nest when I can.  I got it at Real Deals.  The white batten~burg lace topper I got at Ross for $1.99!  It will look nice on my round table in the guest room in our new home.  I always love hunting for new treasures to add to my collections or use in my craft projects.  I have a friend, Melody, that loves thrifting, so we have a blast together.  She always calls & asks if I "need to get away".  It is a perfect friend match~up because we look for different things!!  I am going to miss her something fierce when I move away.  We have already planned on her coming to visit & we'll check out the thrift stores there.  We have way too much fun when we are together.  But that is what friends are for...

 Blessings,
Cindy


  

When you least expect it...

Well, I have to say that when I woke up at 5:30am this morning & saw all the snow, I figured that it was a good day to go through some papers I need to organize, purge, and rewrite.  Right??  A great day to make a paper mess on the table.  

Surely no one would go house hunting in the 6 -7 inches of snow that had fallen overnight and was covering the ground & more falling...

...but I was WRONG!

I had a Realtor call me this morning saying he wanted to show the house to some prospective buyers this afternoon!!  He said that he figured that by afternoon the roads would clear; he had slid all the way to work.  So I put away my paper mess and when I left the house, it was sparkling clean for their tour.  It has been a slow start with the house on the market a month now, but it only takes one person to want it, right??  I went to my friend's house & had a lovely dinner with her & her hubby; plus just a fun time visiting.  It was hard not to think of someone in my house looking at it, scrutinizing it,  but that is the nature of the beast!  I am just thankful that someone else has been interested enough to look at it in person.  It is in God's Hands; the best place to be... ;-)

Blessings,
Cindy