Catching Up

I thought I would post about what has been happening in our neck of the woods since I have been so busy lately.

Unpacking/Decorating
The unpacking is all done...yay! Still a little bit of decorating to do, but almost there. I'm very happy with the way the house is turning out. :o) We LOVE our new home!

Visitors
After a day's flight delay due to snow in Chicago that was connecting with her Philadelphia flight to Florida, DD#2, Rachel, and grandson, Anthony, finally made it to Florida. To make up for their flight being a day late, they were upgraded to first class. They enjoyed that a lot! They are now permanent residents in Florida! YAY! We're all soooo happy! Now both my girls and my grandson are only 30 minutes away. :o) Rachel and Anthony are spending 2 weeks with us and then they will be staying with DD#1, Heather, and her hubby Jerry until they find a place of their own. They plan on residing in Titusville, so that works out great. Anthony starts school there on Tuesday, 1/6.

Christmas
WONDERFUL is the only way to describe it! It was awesome having the whole family together for a Christmas. It's been too many years to count since that has happened. We all spent the night at the in-laws and woke together on Christmas morning. It was exciting for everyone to see the look on Anthony's face as he saw the tree with all the presents that Santa left. Priceless. :o) Presents were passed around and opened and Santa was very generous. I must have been an exceptionally good girl this past year as I was shocked to receive a Viking Designer Diamond and Huskylock 936 serger with coverstitch capability and a freearm. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd receive such extravagant gifts! As for the meal, Heather and I cooked and everyone else pitched in cleaning up afterwards. Hubby's brother Jeff and his wife, Linda, arrived for dessert and that made Chris's family complete. I was so happy for him to be so excited, healthy and blessed after all he's been through the past two years. I truly praised the Lord that day.

Fun Stuff
We are enjoying our new community to the fullest and have been to the pool several times. LOVE IT! It's so funny to see Anthony in the pool. He would never leave it if he had his way. LOL! In addition, every Thursday from 1-4pm is a quilting/sewing get-together at the Clubhouse. I've met several of the wonderful ladies and plan on attending regularly beginning in the new year. I haven't been quilting or sewing at all since I really want to get the house settled before focusing on anything else, but I have big plans for the new year and hope I can accomplish my resolutions. I also want to utilize their fitness center and maybe even take some of their aquatic aerobic classes.

Well, that's it for now,
Suzy

Merry Christmas Everyone!

A joyous season to all!

Blessings,
Suzy

Just Checking In...

Just wanted to let everyone know we made it to Florida with no problems. Settlement on the old and new house went smoothly and are now a thing of the past and we are making progress with unpacking all the boxes. PODS was a great way to move and although I hope to never move again, I would definitely use them again. LOL!

We got our temporary tags for the car yesterday and will probably get our licenses taken care of tomorrow. Not to rub it in or anything, but the temps here have been in the 70's and 80's and I'm LOVING IT! Just too busy to really enjoy it with trying to get the house in order. I'm currently working on my sewing room and am quite happy with the room size. It is smaller than in the old house, so I was afraid that I'd either be cramped in so much I couldn't move or that everything would have to be stored hither and yon. Luckily that isn't the case and with the exception of the larger yardage pieces which will go on a shelving unit in our huge master closet, it looks like it will all fit with room to move. LOL!

I'm typing this on Chris's laptop on the dining room table because we still have to purchase new furniture for the office. We found desks, etc. we like and just have to measure the room and where we want to place them so we know if the arrangement will work and what pieces we will ultimately purchase.

TTFN,
Suzy

A Baltimore Christmas

Now that Thanksgiving Day is behind us and it is Black Friday, which officially kicks off the Christmas holiday season, I thought I would share with you a quilt I designed in EQ yesterday. Of course it is Christmas-themed. I call it "A Baltimore Christmas."

This will probably be my last posting for awhile. We hit the road tomorrow for my sister's and leave for our Florida journey early on Sunday morning.

TTYL from the Sunshine State,

Suzy

Happy Thanksgiving!

There are many things for which our family is thankful. Much too many to enumerate.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving. Enjoy not only the food, but each other.

Blessings,

Suzy

Killing Time

Ok, ok. So I'm a bit bored in this empty house with nothing but a mattress, two TVs and two computers (hubby's lap top and my PC). I thought I wouldn't have time to blog with cleaning and all, but we got a phone call from our realtor yesterday informing us that the buyers are having professional cleaners come in to clean the house before they move in. Yeah, I know it sounds like I'm a slob or something, but I'm really not. In fact, some who know me would say I'm obsessive compulsive about my home and its cleanliness. However, the wife is pregnant and due in about 5 or 6 weeks and is now on complete bedrest, so I guess they just want to do it their way. Which is fine with me, because I was going to sparkle up the place, but hey, it's all good!

So what am I doing to kill the time? Well, since I'm really not into TV all that much except a few shows during the evening hours, I decided to play around with my EQ program again. Here is the result of today's fun.

I actually came up with a name for it already, too. I call it "A Butterfly In My Garden." If you have a minute, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Echoingly yours,

Suzy

Decorated in Early Empty

...also known as I'll be MIA for awhile.

The house is empty, the furniture and boxes are packed and loaded in the PODs (which are being picked up today) and cable and other utilities will be shut off shortly. Our last day in NJ is Friday, we drive to my sister's home in PA on Saturday for a Thanksgiving/Farewell get-together, and plan to leave from there early Sunday morning. We are very excited for our next adventure (driving to FL) and you probably won't hear from me until we are set up down there. I don't know how long that will take, but if I get a chance in between the chaos of setting up the new house, I'll be sure to update you all on our progress.

Onward to the next adventure,
Suzy

Takin' A Break

Notice anything different? Uh, yup. I redesigned my blog with the help of "The Cutest Blog on the Block." Figured I needed a break from all the packing, so this is the result. So whatcha think?

Suzy

(*Sings*) Oooohh, I'm Packing My Life Away

Eddie Rabbitt may have been driving his life away, but I'm packing mine away. My house is now in official chaos. We are also putting out furniture at the end of the driveway with for sale signs on it, as weather permits. So far we've sold our kitchen dining set. We have plenty more where that came from, though...but the weather has not been cooperating. In fact, as I type this it is POURING outside! Ugh!

We are hoping to have a moving sale this coming Saturday (with a raindate of Sunday) and our POD is being delivered on Monday, the 17th. YIKES! Where is the month going??? *running around the house flailing her hands in the air*

If you're wondering about the nicely lined up boxes in the picture's foreground, let's just say that they are there to keep out our cute little, loveable doggie. She has a weird fetish for all things paper -- newspaper, toilet paper, xerox paper, magazines....she just loves to shred it to pieces. Love her, BUT! Let's just say I've had to rewrap a few things... Not to mention the one time she stole a toilet paper roll from our bathroom and our bedroom looked like a toilet paper blizzard! *chuckles* Gotta love her! :o)

Amidst all the chaos,

Suzy

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Graphics