The Best of the Last Week

These are some of the things that made me happy this past week. 

We sold the last piece of furniture we had in our old house this week.  I put this old filing cabinet on Facebook Marketplace for $10 and was pleased when a young couple came and carried it out of our basement and gave us a $10 bill.   It is so good to get that last item gone from our old house.

I have a large Hibiscus plant in my front yard, and it is out in bloom, covered with these large, beautiful flowers.  I love Hibiscus.  I didn't realize that I had a Hibiscus bush in the yard when we bought this place, but having it is kind of like a little bonus. 

We bought and Charly assembled this hose cady which is so helpful to me as I water the Hibiscus and other bushes in my front garden. 

We had our annual church congregation barbeque and swimming party at a local park.  It was well attended.  

Charly and I didn't swim, but it was fun to enjoy a summer picnic dinner while visiting with some of our fellow church members. 

We went to our town's market night again, and got some more fresh-baked sour dough bread, which we have really been enjoying. Since it was dinner time when we went, we got some very delicious Philly cheesesteak sandwiches for dinner. They were made just like the cheesesteaks in Philadelphia, complete with Cheese Whiz, and boy were they good! 

I went to worship at the temple with my oldest granddaughter.  It was a nice experience for just the two of us to attend and worship at the temple on a Tuesday afternoon. 

I've been continuing to work on hanging pictures up in our home. This past week, I hung some family pictures in our bedroom and downstairs in a hallway.   We have a lot of family pictures and there isn't room to display all of them, but it doesn't feel like home without pictures of those I love on the walls. 

We went to a thrift store we like this past week, and I found all of these Nancy Drew books I needed for my collection.

This is Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys collections now.  I need just a few books to complete both collections. 

Charly and I also found another fun antique mall near our home that we enjoyed exploring. 

We got some things for the Coke shelves in our home. 

Even though it's been quite hot this week, I've been able to take both morning and evening walks most days this week.  This is a nearby walking park where I like to walk in the morning. 

I love attending church, and I am always grateful when I can worship there.  We had good messages and lessons in church on Sunday.

I've been using this air fryer that I got for $5 from a neighbor's yard sale a few weeks ago.  I love the way it cooks food. We had French fries last night and hashbrowns with our dinner tonight and they were delicious!  I'll be using this a lot more! 

This past week, I finished this book, Sandwich by Catherine Newman.  I didn't like it much.  It had a lot of bad language and adult themes and content, and I didn't really care for the story either.

I also finished this book, Don't Miss This in the Old Testament, which Charly and I have been reading together.  I loved this devotional book and gave it 5 stars on Goodreads. 

I started three new books this week, Leap of Faith by Kate Hewitt, Don't Miss This in the New Testament and Secrets of a Happy Life by David O. McKay. 

What I'm most grateful for this week:

💗Being retired. 
💗Having a good visit with Josh when he came to dinner tonight. 
💗Making some friends in our new church congregation. 

Praying for:
🙏My husband, children and grandchildren.

🙏A friend recently diagnosed with cancer. 

🙏The sale of our old house. 

🙏Help in finding good volunteer opportunities in retirement.

Coming up this week:

😊Charly has an eye doctor appointment.

😊Contractors are coming to start on our backyard project of a new deck and patio cover. 

That's all for right now.  Thanks for stopping by. See you again soon!

Until next time. 

😊Deb💖

 

Currently on a Hot July Sunday

 

The weather has been hot, as expected in mid-July.   The next week is expected to be very warm and we may get some rain from monsoon storms.  There have been some strong monsoon storms in Southern Utah, and there have been tragic deaths from flash flooding.  Sunday, the I-15, the freeway that goes from one end of Utah to the other, was closed due to flooding and a mudslide.  Despite that, we haven't had a lot of rain here in Northern Utah. 

I've been reading this novel, Sandwich by Catherine Newman.  I will be finished with it in a couple of days. 

I've been watching a documentary on Theodore Roosevelt on Netflix which is very interesting.  I really like documentaries about historical people and events, and this is a good one. 

I've been enjoying going to our city's Farmer's Market every Wednesday evening this month. There is a vender there who makes excellent, fresh sour dough bread and it is delicious!  

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I'm loving that Charly and I have been going to the temple to worship almost every week.   Last week, we went in the morning and it was a great way to start the day. 

I've been working on the "plant ledge" above our kitchen cabinets.  After getting the Coca-Cola bench I wrote about in my last post, we decided to use some fun Coke items as part of our decor.  We got some things through Facebook Marketplace and a few things at an antique and at a yard sale we went to on Saturday. 

Here's a closer view of the fun things we put up there on the ledge.  

We also got this vintage Coke Clock which is now hanging above the French doors by our dining room table. 

In my garden I put out these new garden flags in the front garden, replacing the 4th of July flags that had been there.   I also put a new welcome sign on the front door.

I have some little tomatoes (which are delicious) and lots of flowers, which I love.   The yard at our new home is small, but it is manageable and I am grateful that I have a place to grow flowers and vegetables. 

In the kitchen I made baked chicken, potatoes and green beans for Sunday dinner. I also baked blue berry and banana nut muffins. Josh and our grandson Miles came to eat dinner with us Sunday and it was nice to have them here. 

I'm grateful that this has been a good Sabbath with worship in the morning, a nice nap in the afternoon, dinner with Josh and Miles, a good documentary to watch, and a Sunday evening walk. 

I'm looking forward to (hopefully) going fishing with our grandsons this week.  This is my grandson Clay with a fish he caught last week.   I'm looking forward to spending some time with and learning from this young expert fisherman!

That's all for now!  Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good week, and I will see you again soon!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Everything good, everything magical

happens between the months of 

June and August."

~Jenny Han

Mid-July Hodgepodge

I decided to participate in this week's Hodgepodge, so let's get started.  

1. "Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability." Sam Keen

Do you feel less guilty relaxing in July than you do in January? Elaborate. 

Last January, I was still teaching and now I am retired, so my schedule is less rigid now. That being said, this has been a very busy summer, because we have been finishing up our move, getting settled into our new home and getting our old home on the market and ready to sell.  That is all more time consuming that it seems that it will be.  We also live much close to family in our new place, and we get to spend more time with the people we love.  My husband and I have a plan for each day and talk about what we want to accomplish so that we can stay productive and not be overtaken by "laziness."  

2. What's a telltale sign you're upset? 

I'm not good at hiding my emotions, so when I'm upset my voice gets louder (something I'm working on).  If I'm really upset, I cry.

3. July 16th is National AI Day. What are your general thoughts and/or experiences with AI? Have you purposely used it? Does it excite you, scare you, or worry you? What do you see as a benefit? How about something relating to AI you see as a negative? 

I'm not a fan of AI.  I know that AI can do many good an beneficial things, but honestly, I find it very scary and troubling. There is a lot of potential for harm in AI.  I try to avoid using it, although if I Google something now, I usually end up with AI telling me about what I Googled.   I realize now that AI is imbedded into many things, so there is really no way to avoid it altogether.  

4. You're invited to a summer potluck and are asked to bring an appetizer, salad/side, or dessert. Which category do you go for and what are you bringing? 

I am going to a summer potluck next week (our annual church barbeque and swim party).  I signed up to bring coleslaw, which I will purchase from the Winco Supermarket we have been going to since we moved here.  Winco has super good salads and deli items and their coleslaw is excellent, so that's what I'll be bringing. 

5.  It wouldn't be summer without __________.

Summer road trips and time with family.   So far this summer, we've been to Idaho and visited Yellowstone National Park, then went to Las Vegas.  We've also made some great memories with our children and grandchildren.  It's been a very good summer so far. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Our old house is now back on the market with a new realtor, and just a few hours after it went live, we had a showing request.  I appreciate all prayers that we can get this place sold soon.  I am hoping and praying that this house can make a great home for another family before long!

That's all for now!   Enjoy the rest of the week!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Summer is a verb."

~Lisa Birnbach

Mid-July Catch=up

How is it possible that we are already in the middle of July?!  It was another busy week for us, which is the way most of this summer has been.  I had hoped to do an update on Sunday night, but here I am on Monday evening playing catch-up once again.

Last Monday, I met up at the IHOP restaurant shown above to have lunch with my cousin.  We enjoy meeting up every few months.  

Charly and I decided that we wanted to sell this area rug that we have had for a long time, and get something new.  I had my doubts that anyone would want to buy it, but I listed it on Facebook Marketplace and it sold right away.  

This is the new area rug we found at Lowe's to replace the old one.  I love that it is much different than the old one and has lot of bright and cheerful colors that go with the decor of the home. 

I've been looking for a bench for the covered front porch area of our new home.  I found this fun yellow one on Facebook Marketplace, and knew that it was just the thing for this space.  

As I was pursuing Facebook Market place, I also found this great bench with the Coca-Cola logo. Charly and I both fell in love with this Coke bench and just had to have it. We decided to put the it in our family room/dining room area.  

This is what the room looks like now with the new rug and Coke bench. 

While we were in the mood for buying benches, we got this one that has storage in the seat.  It will go on our back patio.  Like the other two, I found it on Facebook Marketplace.  

I hung the Mixtiles we had in our living room and hallway at the old house, up and down the stairway in our new place.  I really like how this arrangement turned out.  I found the large canvas at a thrift store for only $15.  It is a photograph of Lake Powell in Southern Utah, a place we have seen many times, as we drove between Arizona and Utah. 

I've been going on a walk almost every morning. This park and walking track near our house is a great place for some morning exercise. 

I've also been going on evening walks.  I find that I sleep better and more soundly if I take an evening walk.  I love these sunflowers I often pass on my evening walk route. 

One day last week, Charly and I went to a huge antique mall which is about 15 minutes from our home.  We had fun browsing two large buildings with all kinds of fun antiques.  

We didn't buy a lot, but I did find these three Nancy Drew volumes that I need for my collection. 

Another night, we went to the Farmer's Market in our town.  It was super-hot that evening, but Charly and I browsed the different booths for a while and ultimately bought some really good, fresh-baked sour dough bread.

We have been unhappy with the realtor we listed our house with back in April, so we asked him to cancel our listing agreement which he did.  Last Friday, we met with our new real estate agent and signed a new listing agreement.  She gave us some suggestions to help sell the house, and will put our home back up on the market this week.  There will be another open house this coming Saturday. 

Friday night, on our way home from checking on our old house, we stopped in at our favorite Asian place.  I always get the Mongolian Beef at this place because it is so delicious.  

Saturday morning, I went out for a walk and passed a yard sale that had some fun things.  I couldn't resist these little snowmen that will decorate our home at Christmas time. 

Later Saturday, we went to the temple with our daughter and her family.  After worshipping, we all went to lunch at a popular pizza place in the area.  

It was great to spend the afternoon with our daughter, her husband and all of their five children. 

Sunday morning we went to church.  We had not been there for two weeks, so it was good to be back.  

Sunday's dinner was crock-pot beef and rice casserole.  Here is the recipe.  Josh came over and had Sunday dinner with us. 

Sunday was very hot - 109 degrees which broke the all time temperature record.   Monday was in the upper 90s. 

We had some work done at our old house on Monday. We had our exterior doors painted and all the windows and storm doors in the house washed. The place looks really good now, just in time for the open house with the new realtor. 

That's all for now.  I hope be back in blogland more often this week.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖