Homekeepers Journal Entry

What’s cooking in my kitchen this week is …… pancakes, cheesecake, pasta

The one thing that needs to be done the around here the most is …… straightening up the area we are currently staying it.. It is very small and is starting to become cluttered with our clothes, school books etc...

If someone went through my trash, they’d think …… There are a lot of people with different tastes in this house.

A memory of mine that involves the smell of vanilla …… Sitting on my couch with lit candles relaxing reading to my babies

My mind keeps on wandering back to ……. My upcoming wedding and decorating our condo once we get in.

I need God’s grace to ….. keep me going in the right direction.

Something that I am anticipating is …… Getting into our condo and decorating. Cooking in my kitchen. The wedding and getting to see my beautiful grandbaby for the first time...


Thank you Sylvia at Christian Homekeeper for another great journal.

Saturday 5/22

Yesterday was a beautiful day.. Frankie brought home Dunkin Donuts iced coffee and donuts (YUMMMM!). Instead of going to sleep after his third shift job, he stayed up.. We decided that since it was a beautiful day we would head to St. Petersburg Pier. It was awesome.. We walked around some of the shops located inside.. Then we had lunch at Cha Cha Coconuts.



View from our table

Another view from our table

Coconut Shrimp... Monkey and I ate this... Yummy...

Ohni Burger... This was Frankies lunch..


Another view from our table...



Onion Straws w/ two dipping sauces..











"make sure you keep it between the navigational beacons."

I am so not a patient person...

I love CHRISTmas but hate it at the same time... I love the significance behind the holiday... I love that it is the time we celebrate the birth of our loving Father, Jesus Christ... But I hate it for a few reason.. One reason is that the holiday is so commercialized now... It is really sad to see... Another reason is many people have forgotten the reason behind the holiday.. They teach their children it is about presents and Santa and Frosty and snow etc..... It really pushes my buttons when I see signs that say Happy Holidays during CHRISTmas.. Unfortunately when we had our family pictures done this past year that is what was put on our cards.. This year it will be different. I have a friend that does photography (Rubi's Photography ). She is going to take pictures for us. Then I will make the cards... But this is all off my main statement..

I am so not a patient person....
-Staring at CHRISTmas presents under the tree drives me crazy...

-When I was pregnant with my children I HAD to find out the gender... I couldn't stand not knowing..

-I am soo anxious for my wedding in 30 days...

-Now, I have to wait on this condo association... We finally got ALL the paperwork and all the monies to the proper places... Now, it is a waiting game for the Association to call. They have 5 days to call us for the appointment for the interview (having to interview for a home we bought blows my mind away). Then after the interview they have up to 10 days to make their decision... Grrrr..... The closing is supposed to be a week from tomorrow..


At least Frankie found out he has tomorrow and Sunday and Monday off this week (his work week is Friday to Thursday). So we are thinking of hitting John's Pass tomorrow.. Either pack lunch or splurge and get lunch at Bamboo Beach Bar and Grill or back at The Hut and Tiki Bar so we can sit at the water.. We also might head to St. Pete's Pier. We were talking about grabbing lunch at Cha Cha Coconuts. The Pier is awesome.. We walked it on Mother's Day. We ate off the Pier at Courigan's Irish Pub. Their BLT with Guinness Honey Mustard is awesome!

Well.. Guess I should close for now.. I decided I am going to make some pancakes for The Monkey and me... Of course she wants Chocolate Chips and whip cream with hers!

Hope y'all have a great day!


"make sure you keep it between the navigational beacons."

Ahh Beach

We finally made it to the beach yesterday.. It was so nice.. We walked around a place called Johns Pass. We just did some window shopping and then ate at The Hut Restaurant and Tiki Bar. It was pretty good. It was pretty neat to sit at the table and have the beach come right us at the edge of the open air restaurant.

Then we walked back and hit the beach...







The water was so warm. We didn't swim though just our feet got wet this time. We spent about an hour there... It is amazing that being as fair skinned as we are that Monkey and I only got a little red.. Nothing bad and it is now a golden brown today. We have decided that at least on one of Frankie's days off we will hit the beach... I am thinking next time a nice picnic on the beach...






"make sure you keep it between the navigational beacons."

Homekeepers Journal entry

Here’s What’s Happening ………….

In My Kitchen …… Nothing right now as we are still at my brother in laws

On My Mind ….. The paperwork for the condo, a family in MA that has been devastated by a fire killing 4 of the children, some friends of mine going through some difficult times.

One Big Goal For This Week …. Start walking

Something I Would Like To Do …. I would like to get the paperwork stating that the condo association accepted us so we can move. I would also like to play a few games with the Monkey and get her to wlak with me.

It Means A Lot To Me …… when others make that first move to be kind and understanding… when someone offers that understanding ear and a shoulder. (Whining moment warning) I spend a lot of time being strong for others, its nice when someone reaches out to me to be sweet!

I am looking forward to …… my new house

On the Back Burner of my mind …… My wedding in 31 days, moving all my stuff from KY down to FL, getting into the new house.


Thank you Sylvia over at Christian Homekeeper Network for doing this..

Figures

So... We have had beautiful weather just about every day since we have been here. Once probably two days after we got here it rain.. But no rain since then.. So we made plans to hit St. Pete Beach today... We figured today would be good. Jason's first day off and he could nap at the beach.. Well.... Didn't happen... It poured and thundered all morning... It is finally clearing up but now its almost supper time.. LOL... Just our luck!

I can't wait for us to get into the condo.. I am looking forward to getting our stuff from Louisville especially my cookbooks and my sewing machine..




"make sure you keep it between the navigational beacons."

Found it!

After looking through real estate sites for 3 months. Writing a zillion MLS numbers down and viewing 16 homes we found our home... It is a condo.. 930sq feet... But it is so cute... All new appliances (well almost all new.. The refrigerator isn't new but can't be more than 5 years old). We walked in the condo and knew that it was the one we wanted... Possibly sooner.. I realized yesterday after watching my brother in law, outside in the hot Florida sun, trimming the bushes that I was really glad we found a condo instead of a house... ;-)
Double Sink.. Something I have always wanted...
Small but doable kitchen... Enough space for me (which is fine with me.. I am the cook and no one else needs to be in my kitchen.. LOL) But more than enough cabinets.
Michaela's/Main bathroom


Master bathroom (2 bathrooms is going to be great!)


Our porch

Pool and Jacuzzi... Added bonus of condo- we don't have to do the daily care!


I have decided that with this new beginning that I am going to use this as the opportunity to only put more eco friendly cleaners in my house... I am looking at 7th Generation cleaners. I really don't feel comfortable having all the chemicals in my house (which is kind of funny since I have to use ammonia for Science classes with Michaela.)

The only drawback of the condo is no garden.. But I will have to find a Farmers Market to get the fresh veggies and fruits. We have decided that we want to eat better. More fresh fruits and vegetables and less red meat...


Oh, I guess I should say that we did put an offer in on the condo and the first offer was rejected but we kept going and finally agreed on a price. So they accepted our offer and now we are just waiting to close. We should close at the latest the end of the month..



"make sure you keep it between the navigational beacons."

Well... I didn't get my hopes up too much for the condo.. Good thing too... Once we got the contract we were shocked to see all the issues.... The biggest one was that it was in a flood zone and needed flood insurance.. No thank you.. Don't want to deal with flooding.... The current owner didn't fill out the contract very well... Anything that had yes and no boxes she checked both boxes... One spot asked for an explanation and she wrote -Personal see owner (hmm... thought that was what the contract was for.) Of course this was in the space for whether or not the condo was free and clear to be sold without and issues from the HOA etc... So as much as I LOVED the kitchen we chose together to walk away...
Last night we saw a cute little house. It was small but it was so cute... It had a few of the things I wanted.Fenced in back yard, rv parking, 2 bedrooms, w/d hookups. I also wanted 2 bathrooms and a big kitchen but I know I need to make some sacrifices...
Tonight we will go looking at some more houses.. I have to say again that Peter Nemethy is an awesome Realtor. I called him up Sunday and he told me to call and leave a message on his machine at the office with a list of properties we wanted to see and we would do it Monday... Last night I gave him a list of 14 houses (he said he wished more of his clients did that) with mls numbers and addresses of homes we wanted to look at.. He said we will try to look at most of them today after 5 (which works around Frankies work schedule).
Please keep your fingers crossed for us that we find something fast... I love my brother in law and his fiance but I would like my own place...


"make sure you keep it between the navigational beacons."