T - 3 Hours

It's almost over, the wait and chaos is drawing to a close, folks. What will I do withmyself now? No more using a porta potty at the job site. I now won't have to go scouring through 4 different closets to find Greg's belt. I won't have to stare at 1" square paint chips trying to plan the color scheme of the whole house. No more waiting, and waiting, and WAITING for a worker I have named "Dude" to show up and work on the exterior windows. He should've never told Greg he spent his whole day watching TV when he was supposed to be at our house. My husband has it calculated down to the penny per day that we are spending as we wait for guys like Dude. This chapter is ending, finally. I have enjoyed this storyline of creative adventure and anticipation, but I'm thrilled to move on.

The movers will be here very soon, I better get ready instead of watching TV!!

Fairytopia, Oklahoma

While at Mom's for an early Thanksgiving, these pretty little dancing fairies giggled, twirled, switched dresses, and danced again. The plastic tiara broke and the wings were too tight on their arms, and we couldn't find the floor of Mom's "princess room" for 3 days. Between the Irish dance, the constant spins to see how big the skirt would fly, and even a little square dancing, it was quite a site. Why did I even bother to pack the jeans and sweaters? How unfairylike of me.

What am I thankful for?

The Cross (seriously, I'm not really trying to be super spiritual here)

My husband, his wisdom and love

My kids!

Mom (and my Daddy, wish he was here)

Nana (and Papa, I miss him, too)

My sister and her fantastic family

Steve, JoAnne, Ashley, Daniel

My friends - Shannon and Cheri- who are like blood relatives, no matter what, they stay by my side.

My missionary friends who choose to be strangers in a foreign land for the sake of the Gospel... Armstrong's and Eastins, and so many others, I love you dearly.

Cousins and their kids... too bad I don't get to see them very often.

New friends

Old friends that I actually don't see anymore, either, but whose friendship has shaped who I am

The blogging community, although you all must suffer from NCS - NoCommentSyndrome (thanks to Tami who identified the dreadful disease)

Suzanne, the visionary, who crushed me in tennis

88.7 FM, if you can get it to come in (Where the heck is Tumecula?!)

Croissants

Nutella (Chocolate hazelnut cream)

Pilates

Kendra Rogers and her color magic

Friends, even if they don't hardly know me and yet rake my leaves and offer to come dig through my yard looking for a little diamond.

Denise at"Decorating Den", for putting up with me! Who also scoured Greg's farm truck looking for the diamond.

FINDING THE DIAMOND!

Learning how to play chords from Jen and discovering that after all these years, I really can play the piano, just not very well... yet.

My church, where God has literally raised me for 18 1/2 years

The sound of giggles coming from the darkened kids room after we've prayed, kissed, and said goodnight

Dreams come true

Even dreams that don't come true

More Pics of the House???

Aren't you all sick and tired of these house pics, yet?! I know that I am sick and tired of living in a state of transition. That's now a dirty word in our family. December 9th, folks. The countdown is in effect, it just so happens to coincide with the countdown to the opening of "The Chronicles of Narnia!"

My FAVORITE time of year!

... my FAVORITE subject!

Is it Southern Colonial or Georgian?

At this point, I don't care what style of architecture you want to call it. All I know is that, finally, instead of 2x4's holding up the front porch, we now have column's being installed.


Check out the painter, John, calling to me from the doorway. On this particular day I made 1,228.5 decisions regarding the house. I can't wait until we're on to other things: like, should we have spaghetti for dinner or hamburgers?

PROJECT UPDATE

For all of you who are reluctant to drive all the way out to Roygersville to visit, here is a way for you to at least feel connected through this amazing www. You can be sure that if I know your name, you will probably be expected to come over very soon (no internet wierdo's please). We are having hospitality withdrawal, it's been quite visitless around our house since May.

I am looking for good TWEEN room idea's --- please help! She wants lime green, blue, and chocolate brown. The brown is already on one wall. I have striped rugs in these colors and a throw from Target, same colors with circles. It's so not me, so I would like to enlist the opinions of other young, hip persons. If you qualify, please post. Thank you.

I say the butler did it in the library with a candlestick!

This is the kitchen in progress. Yes, I will have such modern conveniences as a stove, an oven (actually 2 ovens), a fridge, sink (2), and automatic dishwasher. Very high tech, I know.

Here is the back of the house. Love the dirt mountain, huh?

The Big Red Barn

I love barns. Strange, I know. But, I love them. They have history, a past which is left untold for us metro people. I even like to go find barns and take their pictures before time and nature claims their weary life. My all time favorite childrens board book is called, "The Big Red Barn." So, I guess it's destined that we would one day own one ourselves. My dream barn would be built out of reclaimed, weathered barnwood, complete with a loft and a cupola (a vent thing on top that holds the iron rooster thing). But the budget can only handle so much creativity, so I'm quite happy with the look we have here. I'm also happy that next spring a new pony or horse will call this place home and there will be 3 excited children overfeeding our new addition to the family and fighting over who gets to ride him/her first. Although we have committed to NEVER owning chickens, I do look forward to barn cats having kittens, watching the deer hop our fence, planting rasberry bushes, and maybe even running off the skunks that find their way onto our property with a 22. ( the Belschner way of handling the nasty creature)
I know I promised to show pictures of the house, and I will get to that, but this is in itself a dream come true for me. Thank you to my fantastic husband who shares this dream with me and strives to find joy in our lives by stretching our comfort zone and reaching out to pursue something that has always been in our hearts.

"... and they played all day in the grass and in the hay, and when the sun went down in the great green field, the big cow lowed and the little pig squealed! ... and they all lived together in the big red barn."

A Pumpkin Pregnancy

No thoughts on that last blog??? Maybe this will get some rumors flyin' around...


Today I will go to take pics of the house, so check back in a day or so for my building project update blog. Oh boy, can't miss it.

I am a horse.

No really, I am. And read that correctly, I said horse, not house. At least this is what my friend told me. You see, I don't know that many women (that wear makeup and fix their hair) who can wrestle a 2,000lb couch into the back of a pickup truck all by themselves. OK, so it wasn't exactly 2,000lbs and it wasn't a huge sleeper sofa. More like a "setee" my mother calls it, but it is very, very old and they don't make setee's like they use to. In fact, I don't think they make them at all. Also on the move was a lovely floral tapestried wingback chair, which brings me to the explanation of why I was so desperate to haul them. They look really, really bad. AWFUL. Verging on grotesque. Someone I know is going to transform these cast offs into lovely sitting pieces for our new home. They called me, saying they know of my furniture's lowly state of being, with no hope of making themselves beautiful on their own. Desiring them to be placed in a special place of comfort and protection under our new roof, I had no choice but to pick them up alone, sacrificing my body (as well as the diamond out of my engagement ring) and place them securely in the pickup truck for the journey to transformation. The ride wasn't always easy. At one point I accelerated hard, and the wingback wanted to bolt out of the truck on it's own, but I would never take off faster than that chair could handle, I made sure that nothing would let it fall. On to the drop off point we traveled together, singing to the music and flying right over all the rest of the bumps and turns in the road. Finally, we reached our destination, I stopped the truck myself and brought my tattered and worn furniture pieces inside. The one who called me looked at the chairs and yet spoke to me. I stood between them and explained how I had sacrificed myself to get them there and even though the choice to do it that way had proved to be very costly, it was the only way possible. The promise of hope was given, and restoration would be complete as we both rejoiced in the beauty that would soon come for these precious sitting pieces. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE FINISHED PRODUCT IN MY HOME!
You know, I may be paying for it today, but sometimes it is good to be a horse.

{{{By the way, there will be a stone searching party in my front yard at Noon today!}}}

Indian Summer Pool Party!!

Go get the Rubbermaids and start digging for those summer flip flops you just put away, this lovely 80 degree weather in mid- October is giving me the itch and a hankerin' for a pool party!

I know the itch is really from the poison ivy my family is currently enduring, but just what exactly is a "hankerin'???" Could be one of those Foxism's that only my Dad could explain... Sis- any input on that, as well as homeopathic remedies for that itch?

Anyway, I think maybe we could gather and sip smoothies poolside in a week or so, but I'll have to keep you posted on that one.

6 1/2 WEEKS and counting...

Move in date is still set for the week of Thanksgiving - but there's sooooo much to be done. Ya like the brick??? I was afraid it would look too purple. I am now in the process of figuring out all the lighting, door pulls, knobs, finishes, etc...

Friday we spent our day on itty bitty bike seats for 30 miles, from Vail Pass down to Vail and over to Avon, Colorado. Saturday we were in the saddle, can you guess just what is sore now?

Not your typical trail ride!

Saturday was spent on horseback with our guide, Jeff, in the middle of this pic - the one that looks like he belongs on horseback in Colorado!

God of Wonders!

Words just can't describe the beauty of Colorado in the fall, the golden tipped Aspen trees, the deep green of the evergreens, the stony bluffs, and the bluer than blue skies. Amazing. I'll let the pictures speak instead...

King of the Mountain...

I love this picture of our two littlest ones.

I know it's been awhile since I've updated, I've just been a little blue lately. A good night of sleep and I'll get over it, I'm sure. Wasn't "Answers in Genesis" great this weekend??? I love that stuff, really makes me want to be ready to give an answer.

Have a great week if anyone happens to read this!

This guy has Friends in Low Places...


Why is it important to attend church on Sunday night? You could end up at the public park watching some guy try to start up a Karaoke night for all the highly interested Canadian geese.






By the way, happy anniversary to my Incredible sister and her Major husband, married 19 years today. (this post has nothing to do with your happy marriage!)

"Teacher, Teacher!"

Thursday morning the phone rings, and I jump as though I have been shot out of a canon. Assuming the 6:08am caller to be my out of town husband giving me a wake up call to get the crew moving, I answer in the most chipper, "of course I'm awake" voice possible. When I perceive the mysterious voice to be that of a woman's, I then wonder, who is in the hospital? Wait... no more of that, right, MOM? Finally, I come to my senses and realize who this person is: the vice principle of my kids' school where I have signed up to be a substitute teacher. A glutton for punishment, I know. Nevermind the fact that I went to bed well after midnight, that I have groceries to buy, and errands to run, and, and ... I said "Sure!" Oh what joys were awaiting me! People should pay good money for opportunities such as this, it was quite a kick of a day.
I began by taking the lunch count and starting in on the schedule before they even said the pledge. A couple kids asked if I ever taught before, thanks kid. On to DOL or DLR or whatever it is they call it. I called it grammar. Then math, I told them all it was my favorite subject to try to instill a little hope in their hearts for this strange new sub. I didn't even know the way to recess, but I'm a quick learner and I think to search out the teacher's pet. She was not hard to find. The first one done with her morning work, the one with impeccable handwriting, well dressed (ie: clean), quiet, and sweet all over. Math went very well, they use Saxon, of which I am familiar. HOWEVER, somewhere along in there, one boy passed a note to another (bigger) boy and "forged" a girl's name on the note (so 5th grade). The bigger boy stood up and yelled out loud "Quiet down!" or something rather close that I don't want my own kids who will be reading this to use on each other. Sub to the rescue! I got them under control for awhile, but on the playground, things escalated between those boys into an actual knockdown dragout. My first day was complete with only 1 suspension, one lost recess, and one kid who thinks I should cut my hair off and give it to "Locks of Love." Hey, at least I know where the bathroom is now.

Chez Roy...

Hey! I'm getting the hang of this blog thing. You know, if any of you think we've been a bit non-hospitable lately, here's why. Sheetrock dust and a porta potty. This is what dinner at our household is like these days.
This is actually a pic of our first meal in our new home. I say we fared much better than those down South.

On the menu:

100% Fortified white bread with America's favorite chicken and pork Bologna, sans fromage.
Crispy,Crunchy Sun Chips
Ice Cold CocaCola flavored with hint of lime

All I want for Christmas...

It's time to start thinking about it. OK, folks, what's on your wish list this year?

New Kid on the Block

Ladies and Gentlemen..... welcome to the one and only (OK, one of probably millions) , fast paced, incredible, mindboggling, brand spankin' new BLOG by ROYWIFE!!


ok. That's all I can think of now. There will be more later, I'm sure of it.