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💖

Catching Up - Again

I'm behind on posting again and haven't been in blogland much for the past week, so I haven't been around to visit my blogging friends.  I was out of town part of last week, so there's that, but I've also been busy with lots of other stuff, so here is a little update.  

My first week of retirement, I got this lovely retirement card from my blogging friend Faith over at Gold in the Clouds.  It is always nice to be remembered with kindness.

We are now completely moved into our new home, and while we aren't completely unpacked, we are making progress in settling in and we love our new place.

I have had a few moments of relaxation and downtime, but mostly this last week was just very busy.   One of the goals I have for my retirement is to increase the time I spend reading to about two hours a day.  So far, I haven't been able to achieve that although I do begin every day by reading from scripture and I end every night by reading a novel or nonfiction book.  

One morning I was out running some errands, and found myself in the area where Josh lives, so I asked him if he wanted to go get an early lunch.  Josh suggested this place, The Brunch House.  

The food at this place was absolutely delicious!  I want to go back to this place again. 

We had the carpet cleaned at our now empty old house. 

We also had some yard clean-up work done at the old house.   A lot of overgrown plants were removed from areas in the front and back.  I think it looks great. Even though I really like flowers and plants, I think the new look is clean and has better curb appeal while the house is on the market. 

Yes, the old house is till on the market. We got a little statue of St. Joseph and buried in the garden.   We are not Catholic, but we are Christians and we believe in God, and we are praying that God will intervene and help our house to sell.    If St. Joseph can help us, so be it!

Here's the area in our garden where we buried the little statue of St. Joseph. After we sell the house, we will dig up the statue and display in a special place in our home. 

At the end of last week, we went to Idaho with Josh for a few days.  The first day we were there, we ate at one of our favorite all-you-can eat pizza places, Pizza Pie Cafe. Josh went here a lot where he was going to college in Idaho. 

Another day, we went to a fun farmer's market one afternoon and got some very delicious home baked treats

We went to Yellowstone National Park, and had a lovely visit there.  It was a beautiful, sunny day - not too warm or too cool.  It was a perfect day to be at the park.   Here are some more pictures of our day at Yellowstone. 

We had a great day at Yellowstone.  It is truly one of my favorite places, and I look forward to going back there again before too long, and being able to spend more time there. 

Monday, was our 47th wedding anniversary.  We had a nice day, but didn't do anything special because we have an anniversary trip planned for later in June. 

Tuesday morning, we decided to get back on our walking schedule, so we went to the mall in our new city and walked for about 40 minutes. 

Before we left the mall, we got Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches for lunch. They were delicious!  I atae half of mine for lunch, and save half for dinner.

I've been spending a lot of time going through boxes and throwing away what we don't need.  I've also been hanging some pictures.  These are our framed family Christmas cards from over the years. They are hanging in the hallway right outside our bedroom.  

Here are a few more pictures of the inside of our home as we get settled in.  I love the picture of Jesus that is the first thing you see when you come into the entry way. This is looking into the formal living room. 

This is the entry way looking into the formal living room, with the stairs going down into the basement.  The basement has two more bedrooms and a large family room, which is 100% finished, but is still a work in progress with unpacking and arranging. 

Another view of the living room - looking away from the fireplace. 

This is the living room looking at the fireplace and bookshelves, which I love!

This is the entry way looking into the family room. 

This is the dining room and family room or great room area, which is on the other side of the entry way. 

This view is looking at the family room with our two recliners positioned so we can watch TV.   Everything is still a work in progress, especially in the garage and basement. We are still sorting through things and getting rid of a lot, and trying to decide where to put the things we want to keep. It's a big job.

This is the kitchen of our home which is part of the great room (family room, dining room, kitchen) area. 

Downstairs, this is our large family room area, which is taking shape, but still a work in progress, with some boxes to unpack and organizing to do. 

This is the other view of the family room, looking at the entertainment center, which still has some empty shelves. 

We have enough space in this house, that both Charly and I have our own room for our books and hobbies. This is mine, and again, it is a work in progress. 

Wednesday morning, we went to a used book sell at a library in a nearby town.  We each got a few books, but not too many. because we are trying to get rid of things, not accumulate more. We have plenty of books, but it was fun to go to the book sale. 

After lunch, our handyman came to help us with a few repair items around the house.  Here he is, on a ladder, replacing a light in the garage.  You can see what I said our garage is still a work in progress, but a lot of the boxes are empty and just waiting for space in the recycle bin.  

The afternoon and evening on Wednesday were spent sorting through things to determine what might needed to be donated or thrown away.  In one box, I found these two old comic books.  I did a little research and found out that they were not very valuable. We took them in to a store that sells old comic books, and while they were not worth a lot, I did get enough for Charly to get a book from a sci-fi/fantasy series he likes. We exchanged items we didn't need for a book Charly will enjoy, so it was a win-win.

It's late and I want to get this posted, so that's all for now. Tomorrow and Friday will be busy days, but I'll make time to visit you all and post another update. Thanks for stopping by.  I'll see you all again soon!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"You will never be happy is your

happiness depends on getting solely 

what you want. Change the focus.

Get a new center.  Will what God wills, 

and your joy no man shall take from you."

~Archbishop Fulton Sheen