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Wednesday, October 22, 2014

An Early Christmas/My Birthday And The Big Move To Florida




Greetings from Florida.  We made it but first let me take you back to our last breakfast of the year with the kids.  Since the winter weather can be so temperamental in the mountains Mike and I decided it might be too risky to go back home to TN for Christmas.  So we had an early Christmas with gifts for the kids.  My birthday was also on Monday of this past week and the kids surprised me on the same day.  Oh what a celebration for all of us.


Nicole puts on some Christmas music while Ella says hello to Niki girl:


Ooh…time for presents.  I won't bore you with all of them but just a few, lol.  We have all been playing Apples to Apples each weekend so that is the theme.  For AJ since he loves acting and Disney we got him a Disney version:



Nicole is next and she is finally getting her very own miter saw and stand:)  Now she won't have to borrow Mike's anymore:



And Ella…she is all about Frozen…so we bought her decals for her bedroom wall:



And my birthday….Ella, the sweetie, made me a big sign that says Happy 28th, lol:



Nicole bought me these pans that I have been wanting to try for years now.  It takes me a long long time to finally buy things for myself:



And my homemade cake…chocolate of course:)




After the kids left Mike and I had to close down the house and move the last of the things to the store.  We already picked up the U-Haul so the fun will begin…ugh!!


Before we get to that, Nicole sent us a picture of Ella's room and her new Frozen decals.  What a cool room:





Now for the move…

Mike and I didn't think we could get the U-Haul truck up to the house so for a couple of weeks we took our packed things and brought them down to the store.  It is pretty full.  We are taking the shelves that we built but we had to dismantle them for the move.  As you can see we filled them:



Getting empty:



Filling up the truck which took Mike and I about 4 hours:



Time to hit the road.  Mike drove the truck and the lawnmower while I drove the van and the Jeep.  It is going to be a long trip without each other to talk to.  Mike checking to make sure we are safely hooked:



We rented the truck on Friday, loaded the big stuff, had the kids over Saturday morning, closed up the house, finished packing the truck and started driving about 2:30 saturday afternoon.  Shortly after leaving I found out my A/C was not cooling enough.  This would be bad for Niki and I especially in Florida so we drove through the night taking short naps along the way.  We got to our new house about 10:00am on sunday.  We made it safe and sound:)


Pulling up:




Now for the tricky part…we need to get both vehicles to the sliders you see on the right.  That was the original garage in this house and we are going to unload everything in that room for now:



Yay no sinking in the grass and we didn't run anything over, lol.  We start with the van and unload that.  Next up was the truck which took us Sunday and part of Monday to unload.  


We were exhausted but we did get the U-haul returned on Monday and that turned into a fiasco…grr.  We had a specific location to return the truck to…in the next town even after I asked the man at the U-Haul back home if it was in the right town.  So Mike drives the truck and I follow in the Jeep to the return spot.  "Sorry we are full try another U-Haul place".  So down the road we go and we pull into a second one…ugh…they are also full.  Third time is a charm….yay finally we got rid of the truck.  Just an FYI…if anyone ever moves you can return your trucks/trailers at any location.



We have been super busy unpacking and trying to clean up our mess.  We are almost finished with all the "inside" stuff.  Mike still has to sort his tools but everything is staying in the house.  First part of the remodel will be the workshop/garage area…I think, lol.



One of our new neighbors.  I tried to get closer but he went under:



Some very cool trees here.  I told Ella it is like a big hairy monster tree:):



Ahh the life.  Mike finally taking a break.  Our boat house is on the small canal across from the workshop.  




It is very peaceful here.  We have seen and met some boaters but other than that we are in our own
little world again and you know we like that:)


So now we have the best of both worlds.  We left this:




And came to this:



Life is good.  We are going to try to enjoy it a bit before the heavy work starts.  Mike doesn't think we will last that long.  He is itching to get the sledgehammer out.




That's all for now.  I hope you enjoyed the update.  I will post each Monday and maybe more if and when we get very busy.


Have a great week.

Lisa

13 comments:

  1. Happy belated Birthday!. Sorry to hear you’re getting so ‘old’ at 28, my mom stopped at 22..lol The kids are really growing up fast. Maybe its time they came down to visit the grandparents in Florida for Christmas.
    Looks like you guys are there for the long haul on this one. About time you two slowed down for a bit, if that’s possible..lol Had no idea you were so serious about moving in this time. The Spanish moss hanging off the trees looks very cool. You will get some good use out of the mower with that big of a yard. I bet Mike wishes he had put the tractor on that trailer...lol I bet it will be no time and ya’ll will have a boat in that boathouse..it’s all about priorities.. Great pics of the mtns. in fall and the sunset in Paradise Have a good week and look forward to the updates.

    Ps..still haven’t seen the inside yet..the mystery continues~
    Gary

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    1. Yes it feels great to be 28:) The kids are planning to come in January of February. Ella already called and asked if I could make her chocolate crinkles, lol.

      I love the spanish moss.

      I think Mike will enjoy mowing here as he doesn't have to worry about any hills. We almost had the tractor shipped but decided we can probably get away without it.

      Ah yes…a boat. Mike has been looking. I think I would like a jet ski:) Sounds like a really nice birthday present, right?:)

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  2. Oh wow! I love this place already. Happy y'all made it safe and sound. Some of us need to take bets on how long y'all can last before picking up that sledge hammer! :)

    Kats

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    Replies
    1. Ha, ha….Mike took the sledge and tried to hit a brick wall yesterday. Nothing happened…uh oh.

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  3. Glad you arrived safe and sound. I look forward to your further adventures in paradise. gentlearts

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  4. Wow. how beautiful and I can feel the warmth over here. Can't wait to see the inside, and hear the plans for it. I agree with Gary the kids need to come down for Christmas, or new years. AND yep, did you leave anything in TN?
    Have fun and enjoy.

    Sandy

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    Replies
    1. Sending some warm air and sunshine your way. We left the house set up but with no extras. We can go back and forth and stay for awhile.

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    2. My daughter loves Ella's room, she is thinking something similar for my 6 year old granddaughter. We got the warm air, 78 yesterday and 80 today! Enjoy!

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  5. Happy belated bday Lisa and tell Ella her room looks really "cool". :) You don't need to get closer to those long green things with lots of sharp teeth for us. Better watch for a good zoom lens to go on sale. Can't wait to see what you are going to do with all those rooms & workshop. Oh I did spy with my little eye the Ball canning jars made the journey right? :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the birthday wishes. I will tell Ella:)
      We'll be careful of the green monsters with big teeth.
      I have all of my canning stuff…but an electric stove. I have jars everywhere. Do you know how heavy it is to move filled canning jars, lol? Holy cow the trunks/boxes weighed a ton.

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  6. I am excited and I love the pictures of both places. The best of both worlds. I think I know where you are as I am familiar with most of Fl. It is a beautiful area. Good luck to you both, tell Mike to try and relax some. It will all be there to tackle when he gets up the next day and if he doesn't slow down, he may not see the next day.....lol.

    I am so looking forward to this. I think I need to get a life.

    My youngest daughter and DH have a cabin in eastern Tenn. and I love it up there but, they still have their home in Central Fl. They want to move to Tenn, though.

    Again, good luck.

    Annie

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  7. Happy Birthday...Merry Christmas....and congrats on a safe trip down to the new place......and yet, we still want to see the inside...you tease! LOL!!

    So, what happened to the pool table at the place in TN? Did that get swept away with so much of the other stuff when you thought you had to move?
    I agree, the family should come down to visit you guys for Christmas vacation.....it's only gas, since I'm thinking the place is big enough to hold everyone.....well, until you start demolishing the place....but you could wait on that, until after the holidays, since you mentioned that you plan to work on the garage/shop first anyway.

    How about a picture of the boat house...the only ones I've seen were from the aerial shot, and a little bit of it in that picture of Mike fishing. And let me add my smile to the group that is saying that he needs to relax a bit, and enjoy the house and fishing, before you guys start tearing it apart.
    Though I know I'm speaking to deaf ears...LOL!! Heck, you've probably already torn down half the walls. (since we are getting this a week or so after the facts...LOL)

    An extremely hard choice as to which photo is nicer, so I guess you really should keep both places, and enjoy them both for all that they are worth!

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