Tuesday 4 - Home Sweet Home

I'm joining in again with Tuesday 4 to talk about homes. If you would like to join in, the link is here.

1.  In some places people name their homes or properties. What would you name your home and why?

We called our home in Southern California “Sanctuary.”  We even thought of having a sign made to put near the front door, but we never did. I think that is a great name to give to any home because I want to strive to make my home a sanctuary for me and my family.

2.  Are you more of a romantic or a pragmatist when it comes to the decor in your home?

I am very much a pragmatist.  Our home is furnished with what is functional, practical and within our budget. 

3.   Do you have enough room in your home? Storage space, kitchen cabinets?  What would you add or subtract from your home?

Our current home has about 2800 square feet so it is fairly large.  We have five bedrooms, two bathrooms and a large family room that the previous owners built on to the back of the house. The basement has lots of storage space.  We also have a two car garage and a shed in the backyard.  The kitchen however, is not large and could use a lot more cabinet space.  I would also like a nice large pantry. Our home is 70 years old, and while it was enlarged, improved and  well cared for by the original owners we bought it from, the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom are too small.  The home also has too many stairs for us, and we aren’t crazy about the neighborhood, which, incidentally, is the neighborhood my husband grew up in. We plan to move from this home as soon as we can after I retire.

4.  Is your place really home sweet home ?  Would it be hard to leave it ?   Are you firmly rooted in your abode or would you move if a better opportunity came your way?   

It will not be hard to move from our present home in Salt Lake City. We have already purchased another home in Southern Utah (Ivins), which is about four hours south on the south end of the state of Utah.  It's a nice home with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It has an enclosed porch with a hot tub and a large yard with a wonderful view. If we don't move into this house (pictured above), it is because we need to do some remodeling of the house, if it is feasible and doesn't cost too much. If the cost is too much, we will keep this home as an investment and rent it out. We will most likely buy or build another home in St. George where the air is clearer and the temperatures warmer than in Salt Lake City and Northern Utah.

Our children are scattered across the nation, but our daughter and her family live in Utah county, so we are considering buying a condo in a 55+ area which is nearer to her home.  We would live in the larger home in Southern Utah most of the time - especially in the winter (to avoid snow and ice) but we could come up and stay in our condo in the north whenever and for as long as we want to.  This is our plan right now, but it may change. One thing I have learned is that God's plans are best. I have about 15 months left before I retire (maybe less) and we will see what happens.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope your week is going well.

 

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

"Your home is your sanctuary.

Take care of this and your life becomes

all that you wish it to be."

~Betty Gabriel

September Musings - Tuesday 4 Questions

Here are the Tuesday 4 questions for this week.  They certainly are a thought-provoking.  

How about now? September is still a new beginning to  the year.  What will it hold for you? 

I am hoping that September will bring cooler temperatures and nice fall colors as the leaves begin to change.

As summer's heat fades do you get out and about in nature often?  Where do you go, what do you do?  What would you like to do?

I love to go for walks and hikes and as the temperatures cool, I will do more walking around the neighborhood.  I also hope to do a little hiking - maybe in Southern Utah. 

What has changed in your life that you miss/regret the most?

I miss having my children young and in my home all the time. This is a picture from 1998, and was one of my favorite times with all four of my children still living at home. We were a complete family.  I know that time must pass and children grow up, but I miss my little children.  Of course, I made many mistakes as a parent, as all parents do, but I did my best and I know that God knows my heart.   I also miss living in Southern California, as we did when the children were younger.  When we moved from Southern California to  Arizona in 2001, my oldest daughter was in her first year of college, my second daughter was a senior in high school, my oldest son was in 5th grade and Josh was just starting kindergarten. 

We had a beautiful home in Southern California with a lovely yard.  This is a picture of that home now. It was a different color and did not have the fence or palm trees when we lived there. When we lived in Southern California, we were a one-income family and the companies that Charly worked for kept getting bought out and Charly would be laid off.  This happened three times in three years.  

We also needed a larger home for our family, and we could sell our home in California for much more than a larger, newer home in Arizona cost us. This is the home we bought in Arizona. It was quite a bit bigger than our house in California. I was also offered a job in a K-12 charter school in Arizona where both of our boys could attend while I taught. It seemed like a "no brainer" decision at the time.  Things didn't work out exactly as we had planned but that is not to say that I regret moving from Southern California all those years ago.  We prayed about it and felt that it was what God was telling us to do, and we don't know how things would have turned out if we had stayed in California.  Still, for all it's faults (literally and figuratively), Southern California is a beautiful place and the people we got to know there were some of the nicest we have ever met. 

3.  Money is no object, nothing stands in your way.. are you going to move  or stay where you are?

This last summer, we purchased a home in Southern Utah (Ivins, Utah - near St. George) which we will move to when I retire in 1-2 years.  This is a picture of it. We are renting the home out until I retire and we move there. So far, that is working out well.  

The 70-year-old home where we currently live (pictured above) is one we purchased in 2016.  It is a nice home, with many lovely features, but the neighborhood is not as good as we were hoping it would be.  The home also has too many steps and stairs for an older couple with bad knees, bad backs and arthritis.  

4.  How can you improve your life?

I can improve my life by changing my mindset to be more positive and looking for the good with gratitude.  I am better than I used to be, but I still need to do better.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to join in and answer the Tuesday 4 questions by linking up here.  

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Yesterday is gone. 

Tomorrow has not yet come.

We have only today. 

Let us begin."

~Mother Teresa

First Weekend of June

 

Thursday and Friday, I was able to get to school a little later than usual because neither day were regular school days for students.  Friday was graduation day for seniors and the ceremony was held at the University of Utah because there is not room for all of the students and guests at our school football stadium.  I requested not to attend, but to be at school as "security" on site instead of sitting at the ceremony.  There were only a few students who came back to school, probably because they had no where else to go and didn't want to be home (that's what one student actually told me).  

My room was clean and ready for summer and my grades were submitted, so I had some time to finish up some more Letters Against Isolation cards while waiting for any students who wanted to come in and have me sign their yearbooks.  I finished the cards and got them in the mail to Meals on Wheels in Ogden, Utah, on my way home from school. 

Everyone had to be out of the building by 11 a.m., so I was able to leave school well before lunch time.  Charly and I spent most of the rest of the day running errands connected with our move.  It was very rainy most of the day until late afternoon.  I took a walk after dinner when I took this beautiful picture. The skies had cleared and the weather was perfect.  

We spent a lot of time over at house this weekend. You can see that the yard needs a lot of work, but we haven't started on that yet.  The repairman from the property management company was there to fix a few things, but as I said in my last post, we were pleased that there really was not much damage from the last tenants.   The contractor we have been using for renovations at our condo met with us at the house Saturday morning and we told him what we want to do.  He said that he will bring his tile contractor back with him this week to measure so we can get started on remodeling both bathrooms as soon as possible.  

Because of repairs and cleaning that were still taking place in the upstairs areas of the home most of this week, we decided to begin by moving items into the large storage area of the basement.  

We also put some books in the built-in bookcases on either side of the fireplace in the living room.  

We went to Home Depot to get a new ceiling fan for the family room which our electrician will install on Monday.  We also looked at video doorbell cameras, which we want to install on our house.  We were overwhelmed and confused with all of the options.  (If anyone who reads this has any experience with or thoughts on the different video doorbells or security camera options, please share in the comments!)

Saturday evening I went for a solo walk and finished up an audiobook I had been listening to. 

Sunday, we went to a new church congregation that is located closer to the home we are moving into.  We know a few people in the congregation as we used to attend services there four years ago.  The congregation has grown and changed a lot!  There were many more young families and children than four years ago.  The service was really nice and we left spiritually fed and we are looking forward to returning to worship there again!

Sunday after church, I did some indexing of mortgage records from the 1800s for Familysearch.org. I also took a nap because this has been a busy and  exhausting week.  Sunday dinner was tacos made with Beyond Beef, plant-based "meat."  They were very good. We had fresh Kale salad on the side.   After dinner, Josh called and we had a nice chat, then I exchanged texts with our daughter Tiffany. We also took a few more things over to our house. When we unlocked the door and went in, it was very apparent that it had been cleaned and sanitized. Everything looked great and it smelled very antiseptic.  We were pleased that the place has been cleaned before turning it back over to us, even though we plan to tear parts of it apart soon to remodel and renovate. 

Weekend  Gratitude:

• Getting so much done at our house.
• Meeting with our contractor to make plans for renovations.
• Having a good experience at church today and seeing friends in that congregation.
• Being out of school for summer break. 
• Having fun summer plans in the works. 

Coming Up This Week:

Monday -  Doctor appointment for Charly. 

Monday - Electrician coming to do some work at the house and in the garage.

Monday - Contractor and "tile guy" coming to measure bathrooms.

Tuesday - Window covering company coming to measure for new blinds at the house. 

Tuesday Night - Going to our grandson's baseball game. 😊

Wednesday - Locksmith coming to change locks at the house. 

Thursday - Our 44th wedding anniversary. 💘

That's all for this weekend.  Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful week!

Until Next Time, 

😊Deb💖

"We hold the key to lasting happiness

in our own hands."
~ Brene Brown

Best of a Rainy Week

There has been a lot of tragedy and sorrow in the world this week.  Bad stuff has been happening.  It's on week's like this, that it is sometimes most important to change our focus and see the small and simple things that have gone right.  So, again this Friday, I am joining with other blogging friends for Friday's Fave Five.  

First week of school - Monday, I began my 20th year as a teacher when students came back from summer break.  I started teaching in August 2001 - shortly before 9/11 happened. I will be honest, this first week with students back in school, had some stressful rough patches, which is all the more reason that I am grateful I made it through.  I am hoping that the more we settle into the new school year routine, the better things will go. 

New classroom - A positive thing about the start to the school year is my new classroom, which I really like.  Student chairs came last Sunday as promised, and by Thursday, all of the new technology was even working. 

Bathroom project nearing completion - the bathroom remodel project is nearing completion. We noticed a problem this afternoon that may delay final completion as some tiles may have to be replaced, but we are getting there. 

This is primarily my bathroom and it is small. In removing the old tile, we found out that this shower actually used to be a linen closet when our home was first built.

We are well pleased with the tile work. We have small rectangular tiles on the ceiling and the floor. 

The bathroom floor is tile that looks like wood. We really like all the tile we picked out, as well as the quality of the tile work.  It will be good to have this bathroom fully functional again.  

Rain - We got much needed HEAVY rain on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  This picture of the back patio was taken when it was really pouring.  Some areas  around here got up to four inches of rain in a day. We also got hail and a couple of ski resorts got snow!  Cedar Breaks, the wonderful national monument area where we went hiking earlier this month got seven inches of rain from Tuesday to Thursday. 

I do like having windows in my classroom so I can see what is going on outside.  I took a few minutes at lunch one day to watch it rain.  I actually have quite a nice mountain view from my classroom when the clouds and smoke aren't blocking it. 

All things red in the garden - various shades of red was the color of the week in the garden - beautiful flowers, strawberries, tomatoes and of course our delicious grapes.  

A postcard from a friend - I got the nicest surprise in the mail this week - this postcard from my good friend Faith, over at Gold in the Clouds.  The scene is of a beautiful lake in the Adirondack Mountains.  There was such a sweet note on back.  I am using the postcard as a bookmark, so I can think of my friend every time I open my book to read. I truly treasure relationships I have with blogging friends.  People who blog are some of the nicest people anywhere.  

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good weekend and remember to be grateful for simple blessings. 

😊Deb💜

"A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles."

 

Friday Favorites - Best of the Week

Gratitude always makes a week better, and here are some of the things I grateful for as this week ends. I am joining once again with Susanne and other grateful friends over at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five. 

Sunshine and flowers - We had some cool, wet days this past week, but by Thursday, the sunshine was out and there were more spring flowers everywhere.  

Great hiking shoes - I went on a couple of hikes last weekend. For the first hike, I grabbed a pair of cheap hiking boots I bought right before our trip to Yellowstone last summer. The boots were one size too big because the store where I got them didn't have my correct size, but I figured they would be fine if I double-socked with thick hiking socks.  The problem was that last Saturday, I was in a hurry and forgot to double sock.  When I got home from the hike, I had a large and painful blister on my big toe.  I thought I would not be able to go on the hike Josh and I had planned for Sunday afternoon, until I remembered I had these wonderful hiking shoes, that my blogger friend Karen (a.k.a. Happy One)  had gifted me last summer because they didn't fit her.  I got the shoes out of the closet, and put them on and could immediately feel the relief in my feet. I enjoyed the hike, without being aggravated by the blister.  Thanks so much Karen!  The other hiking boots are history and from now on, these are my go-to hiking shoes.  When they wear out, I will buy more of this same kind.  

A new house plant - a neighbor randomly showed up one day as I was getting out of my car after coming home, and said she wanted to give me this little potted plant.  It's a nice plant and addition to my other house plants.  It was nice of my neighbor to think of me.

I have a great west-facing window for plants in the office.  I do enjoy having greenery in the house. 

Josh's second Covid vaccine dose  - This happened Tuesday afternoon.  Josh came home from getting his shot all smiles, and said he was very grateful to have gotten it. He was a little achy and felt feverish the next day, but was back to work and school all day on Thursday and felt just fine.  I am so grateful everyone here in our household is now completely vaccinated.  

Back to school - speaking of Josh, he was back in class for the start of a new semester this week.  All of his classes are online once again, but with so many getting vaccinated, he is hopeful that he will be back to in-person classes by next semester.  He did well in his classes last semester and is excited to keep progressing toward his degree. 

These are some of the best things in my week. I hope you also have much to be grateful for.  Have a good weekend.

😊Deb💗

"Gratitude is appreciation of the positive aspects of our own situation.  Gratitude is a form of love."

~Patrick King

 

First March Weekend

Time for a weekend catch-up.  Friday, was a stressful day at school.  It started out as a normal online learning day, but  by afternoon, it was filled with tension.  I have never taught at a school that has so much drama going on, and I am not the person who likes drama or "work politics."  Drama causes anxiety.  I was so glad to get home, walk outside with Charly and have a good "comfort food" dinner of chicken tenders, mashed potatoes and country gravy and fresh asparagus.  

Saturday morning started with laundry.  It seems that there is always laundry that needs to be done, even though Charly and Josh both do their own laundry.  I ended up doing three loads of laundry by the end of the day on Saturday.  I am not complaining because I remember the quote that  says something to the effect, I am grateful for laundry because it means I have plenty of clothes to wear. So true. 

Saturday morning, we did some shopping at Dollar Tree and Big Lots.  I also had to go to Walmart for a few things, including a prescription.  After all that running, it was lunch time so I stopped at Artic Circle for my Weekend guilty pleasure treat of a burger and fries.  I always get the kids' meal and put whatever toy comes with the meal in the boxes for the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child service project we will participate in this coming November.  

Saturday night we got a pizza from our current favorite pizza place for dinner. 

Pizza with a green salad is one of my favorite meals. 

In our pantry room  downstairs, we have had a small fridge, which Josh sometimes keeps bottles of water in.  Saturday evening, I found water all over the floor in the room.  It seems that our little fridge (we I had for probably ten years and I had used in my classroom in Arizona) had filled with ice, then the ice started to melt and was all over the floor.  We immediately carried the little fridge out of the basement, which was no small feat. It was terribly heavy filled with melting ice.  Thank goodness Josh was home to help. Once the old fridge was outside, I looked online at KSL.com classifieds, (which is like a Craig's List for the local area here in Utah) and I found this little fridge that someone wanted to sell because they are moving.  It was only $40 and in pretty good shape, aside from a few scratches on the side.  

Sunday morning before church, we drove out to a neighboring area to get it.  It it perfect for what we need in that small space, and it works great! 

You can see that it works well sitting on the counter in the pantry room. 

We watched church on Zoom again this week.  I also watched Sunday School on Zoom which indexing military records from 1918 and 1932.  After that, I took a little nap then when I woke up, Charly and I took our walk.  It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon with temperatures in the 60s.  

Our Sunday dinner was spaghetti with meat sauce,  Italian bread, fresh broccoli and green salad. It was a excellent dinner. 

Charly and I watched episode 3 of a true crime drama on Netflix.  (We had watched episodes 1 and 2 Saturday night).  Later, I made some baked oatmeal, which is a quick and easy weekday breakfast.   After that, I exercised on the Health Walker downstairs for a bit, but I was pretty tired by that time and I wanted to finish this post tonight.  Soon after I post this, I will be off to the shower, then I'll read for a bit, then go to bed.   Monday morning starts early for me at 5:20 a.m.!

Thanks for stopping by to get a peek in to our weekend. I will close with this comforting thought for the coming week:

"No matter what you're going to face this next week, you're not going to face it alone.  God is with you.  He is in you and He is for you."

~ Leanna Haasbroek

Thanks for visiting.  Come back soon.

😊~ Deb💙