Tomorrow is "New Year's Day -- 2012". Before moving on to a new year, I always reflect on the past year. Looking back, gives us an good perspective before heading into the future.
I write in a journal two times every year. Once at the new year and the other time on my birthday which is in June.
This is what I wrote in my Journal this new year's eve:
Good bye 2011! Hello 2012!
We did take our trip to Alaska the last 2 weeks of July. It was a worderful trip. The weather was cool there while very hot in Arkansas. May go back sometime, possibly on a cruise to the inside passage.
(Don and I love to travel and I always like looking back on our vacatins)
Before going to Alaska, we celebrated the 4th of July at Jennifer's house. It is fun there because we can see the city fireworks from her house and we can advoid the crowds.
I also rececorated the front porch by painting furniture and the floor of the porch. It does look really nice after the face lift.
I went back to work August 8th and students came August 15th... I have had an interesting first part of the year---- to say the least. I am writing about this on another blog.
Major decision this fall is that I plan to retire after this year! I just feel it is time.
I did get involved in Girls on the Run during the fall for 3-5th grade girls. I was pretty fun but very time consuming.
We ended the fall with a 5k run in Bentonville on November 19.
A couple of trips taken this fall were one to Branson with Jennifer, one to Hot Springs with Don to visit friends, and lastly to Oklahoma City for a one night Christmas trip.
We again hosted Thanksgiving and had 18 here. It was a lot of fun. We had Lyndsay's mom and her firend here and this was quite nice. I think everyone got along well.
The new art galery opened in Bentonville.... Crystal Bridges... Very nice building and artwork... maybe the part I like most is the trail system that runs through the property... I have already been there 3/4 times walking! It is becoming a favorite place for me to walk.
This spring promises to be busy... Don is Master of the local lodge and has Grand Lodge in February. I plan to take a couple of days off and go with him.
We will have some wedding events as well.
I will be finishing my last semewster of teaching,,,,,,
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Christmas.....
Today is Chirstmas day and I am having a moment of peace and quiet..... as I sit here, I am reflecting on Christmas' in the past..... Ones that come to mind right away are my children's first Christmas... Jennifer was two weeks old at her first Christmas and Kelly was only 5 days old at his first Christmas. I remember wrapping them up in red and laying them under the tree so show what a gift they were for us.
They are now grown and on their own.
Jennifer lives in a house she bought here in Bentonville. She is close to us and we see her pretty often. She also gets to "take care" of her MewMaw and PawPaw which she and they enjoy.
Kelly lives in North Little Rock in a house he bought there. He is engaged to Lyndsay and they are getting married in April.
As I write this I am waiting for all of them to come to the house so we can have our "Christmas".
Another christmas comes to mind is another first Christmas for, I think Jane... only I remember this Christmas for the Baby doll that "Santa" gave me with "real" baby cloths... of course these were some that Jane had out grown and would fit a baby doll. I remember really loving that doll and playing with it a lot. (I had gotten up in the middle of the night to see if "Santa" had been there yet to find the baby doll and cloths already there! I had to go back to bed and wait for time to get up and really find the doll and the cloths.)
They are now grown and on their own.
Jennifer lives in a house she bought here in Bentonville. She is close to us and we see her pretty often. She also gets to "take care" of her MewMaw and PawPaw which she and they enjoy.
Kelly lives in North Little Rock in a house he bought there. He is engaged to Lyndsay and they are getting married in April.
As I write this I am waiting for all of them to come to the house so we can have our "Christmas".
Another christmas comes to mind is another first Christmas for, I think Jane... only I remember this Christmas for the Baby doll that "Santa" gave me with "real" baby cloths... of course these were some that Jane had out grown and would fit a baby doll. I remember really loving that doll and playing with it a lot. (I had gotten up in the middle of the night to see if "Santa" had been there yet to find the baby doll and cloths already there! I had to go back to bed and wait for time to get up and really find the doll and the cloths.)
Sunday, December 18, 2011
house # 4 The one we are in now.
House number 4 is the house where we live now.
It all pretty much started about 11ish years ago while we were still living in Benton. Don's work place was closing.. in fact he had already taken an early retirement and was working for them on a contract bases. I was pretty much ready for a change. I mentioned to Don that I might like to live in Bentonville and be closer to my parents as they got older. Kelly was out of high school and in college in Fayetteville so we were empty nesters. While Don was deer hunting with Dad that year, he mentioned to him that we might be looking for some land to build on or a house to buy. Dad told Don that he had 80ish achers to choose from. Don commented that I really wanted somthing on a hill top.... That is when Dad said what about that hill up there... it is away from the main farm, wooded and on top of a ridge. We then had a look/see of the property... Dad said there was about 6 achers up there and that he and mom would deed it to us. That ended up taking almost a year because they had to get someone out there to survey the land. I remember the night that they gave me the deed.... I had driven up from Benton to Bentonville to go to the craft fairs with the girl family.. the drive seemed long.. I had worked all day and was driving up in the evening. There was a lot of road construction so the going was slow at times. Anyway, when I walked in the door I was pretty tired... both mom and dad said that they had something that would make me feel better--the deed to the property!!! And it did make me feel better...
This started a pretty long process of getting a house built... I had to go to the county office and get an address and start looking for house plans that would fit the property...\
From the get go, I had been looking at house plans for they type of house we wanted and had been looking around at houses in neighborhoods being built.
I found a plan that I liked and with some tweeking.... I along with the builder came up with a doable house plan.
I was slow going -- but we got started -- the land had to be cleared and the house staked out... Don and I started coming up to Bentonville at least once a month to check out the building process.. there were some delays because of the weather.. rainy etc...
When we weren't there, mom and dad would go out and oversee the building.. and mom took pictures to send to me.
I had made up my mind that I would not go back to teach at Benton the next year.... so I resigned at the end of the year with out having a job in NW Arkansas...
The plan was for me to live in Bentonville and do sub work if I didn't have a full time job. I had applied in Bentonville and Rogers..(Anita was teaching in rogers at the time)
So, we took time out from job hunting and house building to take a vacation... this was our first time to raft the Middle Fork of the Salmon river.... (we have since been back 2 more times)
While in route, I have a call at one of the hotels we were staying in that Anita had called and everything was fine but there might be a job opportunity for me... I called her and found out they needed a first grade teacher at the school where she was teaching music. I then called the principal and told here I was in Idaho getting ready to get on and river for a week and would be out of touch for that week.
I was to call here where I got back in Arkansas and we would talk not knowing if the job would still be open when I got back.
As soon as I got back into Arkansas.. It was the first of July... I called and the job was still open.. I set up an interview for the next day,,,, a Monday....
Don had to go to work the next day so he went on home and I stayed for the interview.
I had to go to the store to buy an interview outfit and shoes because all I had was river cloths.
I had the interview and had to stay in town a couple more days to have an interview at the admin office...
I spent that time picking out things for the house and surveying progress... long story longer...lol.. I got the job teaching first grade at Tillery Elementary in Rogers with Anita was teaching.
I got a ride with Mike to Little Rock since he was driving down to see his mom.
I spent the rest of the summer getting ready for a move to Bentonville...
the plan was that I live with Mom and Dad until the house was built. Don was to stay in Benton working and selling the house.
I went on to Bentonville in August to get room and stuff ready for the job..... The house sold soon after I came to Bentonville so Don ended up living with a friend until he moved to Bentonville.
This was an interesting time for us. We had never lived apart in all our married live (longest time apart was when Don was in the National Guard and would be gone for two weeks at a time)
We would see each other on the weekends.
The positive of me living with Mom and Dad, is that I didn't have to cook.
I spent much of the time picking things out for the house and working.
Don did get a job and was scheduled to move down December 1 to start job. We closed on the house just before Thanksgiving and moved in that week. I forgot to mention that we had to store our stuff for the months that we were waiting for the house to be finished. Don had a big job in all of this... he had to get movers to pack and move from Benton to Bentonville and to a storage unit that I had gotten... He also had to do all the cleaning of the house in Benton! Big job!
Then since I could not get off work.. He had to oversee the moving into the new house. Before we moved furnature, we slept on air mattresses and cleaned the house from top to bottom.. another big job, dust and sheet rock mud everywhere!
We got moved in time for my Thanksgiving break so I could unpack and put away some of the things..
Then we had a couple of snow days so I unpacked and put away some more.
We were to have the family over for Christmas... however the snow we got a couple of days before kept us from doing that. We ended up going somewhere for the day... Can't remember where.
Anyway, we have since had several family gatherings here at our house since we are so close to everyone now. Not everything has been good, but we have enjoyed being close to family.
Only a couple of years after we moved into the house, Bentonville was hit with a tornado. The twister missed us but we did get some hail damage and had to replace the roof... not happy since it was only a couple of years old...
the road up to our house started out as a private road, then a few years ago, the county took it over and made it a county road and they maintained it. Just this fall, with with help of others who live up the road and the county, we got the road paved with black top... Does make it a lot nicer going up and down the hill.
This December after 9 years in the house, we paid it off... what a great feeling to have this house paid for. This will lead the way for me to retire from teaching at the end of this year.....And that will be another story of looking back.
It all pretty much started about 11ish years ago while we were still living in Benton. Don's work place was closing.. in fact he had already taken an early retirement and was working for them on a contract bases. I was pretty much ready for a change. I mentioned to Don that I might like to live in Bentonville and be closer to my parents as they got older. Kelly was out of high school and in college in Fayetteville so we were empty nesters. While Don was deer hunting with Dad that year, he mentioned to him that we might be looking for some land to build on or a house to buy. Dad told Don that he had 80ish achers to choose from. Don commented that I really wanted somthing on a hill top.... That is when Dad said what about that hill up there... it is away from the main farm, wooded and on top of a ridge. We then had a look/see of the property... Dad said there was about 6 achers up there and that he and mom would deed it to us. That ended up taking almost a year because they had to get someone out there to survey the land. I remember the night that they gave me the deed.... I had driven up from Benton to Bentonville to go to the craft fairs with the girl family.. the drive seemed long.. I had worked all day and was driving up in the evening. There was a lot of road construction so the going was slow at times. Anyway, when I walked in the door I was pretty tired... both mom and dad said that they had something that would make me feel better--the deed to the property!!! And it did make me feel better...
This started a pretty long process of getting a house built... I had to go to the county office and get an address and start looking for house plans that would fit the property...\
From the get go, I had been looking at house plans for they type of house we wanted and had been looking around at houses in neighborhoods being built.
I found a plan that I liked and with some tweeking.... I along with the builder came up with a doable house plan.
I was slow going -- but we got started -- the land had to be cleared and the house staked out... Don and I started coming up to Bentonville at least once a month to check out the building process.. there were some delays because of the weather.. rainy etc...
When we weren't there, mom and dad would go out and oversee the building.. and mom took pictures to send to me.
I had made up my mind that I would not go back to teach at Benton the next year.... so I resigned at the end of the year with out having a job in NW Arkansas...
The plan was for me to live in Bentonville and do sub work if I didn't have a full time job. I had applied in Bentonville and Rogers..(Anita was teaching in rogers at the time)
So, we took time out from job hunting and house building to take a vacation... this was our first time to raft the Middle Fork of the Salmon river.... (we have since been back 2 more times)
While in route, I have a call at one of the hotels we were staying in that Anita had called and everything was fine but there might be a job opportunity for me... I called her and found out they needed a first grade teacher at the school where she was teaching music. I then called the principal and told here I was in Idaho getting ready to get on and river for a week and would be out of touch for that week.
I was to call here where I got back in Arkansas and we would talk not knowing if the job would still be open when I got back.
As soon as I got back into Arkansas.. It was the first of July... I called and the job was still open.. I set up an interview for the next day,,,, a Monday....
Don had to go to work the next day so he went on home and I stayed for the interview.
I had to go to the store to buy an interview outfit and shoes because all I had was river cloths.
I had the interview and had to stay in town a couple more days to have an interview at the admin office...
I spent that time picking out things for the house and surveying progress... long story longer...lol.. I got the job teaching first grade at Tillery Elementary in Rogers with Anita was teaching.
I got a ride with Mike to Little Rock since he was driving down to see his mom.
I spent the rest of the summer getting ready for a move to Bentonville...
the plan was that I live with Mom and Dad until the house was built. Don was to stay in Benton working and selling the house.
I went on to Bentonville in August to get room and stuff ready for the job..... The house sold soon after I came to Bentonville so Don ended up living with a friend until he moved to Bentonville.
This was an interesting time for us. We had never lived apart in all our married live (longest time apart was when Don was in the National Guard and would be gone for two weeks at a time)
We would see each other on the weekends.
The positive of me living with Mom and Dad, is that I didn't have to cook.
I spent much of the time picking things out for the house and working.
Don did get a job and was scheduled to move down December 1 to start job. We closed on the house just before Thanksgiving and moved in that week. I forgot to mention that we had to store our stuff for the months that we were waiting for the house to be finished. Don had a big job in all of this... he had to get movers to pack and move from Benton to Bentonville and to a storage unit that I had gotten... He also had to do all the cleaning of the house in Benton! Big job!
Then since I could not get off work.. He had to oversee the moving into the new house. Before we moved furnature, we slept on air mattresses and cleaned the house from top to bottom.. another big job, dust and sheet rock mud everywhere!
We got moved in time for my Thanksgiving break so I could unpack and put away some of the things..
Then we had a couple of snow days so I unpacked and put away some more.
We were to have the family over for Christmas... however the snow we got a couple of days before kept us from doing that. We ended up going somewhere for the day... Can't remember where.
Anyway, we have since had several family gatherings here at our house since we are so close to everyone now. Not everything has been good, but we have enjoyed being close to family.
Only a couple of years after we moved into the house, Bentonville was hit with a tornado. The twister missed us but we did get some hail damage and had to replace the roof... not happy since it was only a couple of years old...
the road up to our house started out as a private road, then a few years ago, the county took it over and made it a county road and they maintained it. Just this fall, with with help of others who live up the road and the county, we got the road paved with black top... Does make it a lot nicer going up and down the hill.
This December after 9 years in the house, we paid it off... what a great feeling to have this house paid for. This will lead the way for me to retire from teaching at the end of this year.....And that will be another story of looking back.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
House # 3
After selling our house in Little Rock, we had to stay in an apartment for about 3 months. That was interesting with 2 children. At least it was during the summer so we were either at the ballpark or at the swimming pool.
We finally found a house with a good price and in a good neighborhood in Benton, Ar. This is a town about 20 miles southwest of Little Rock. Jennifer was going into the 3rd grade and Kelly was entering kindergarten. The house was in a subdivision called Dark Forest. Ours was a 3 bedroom/2bath home on one level. (we did not want stairs anymore) We lived in this house longer than in any other house. It had a large backyard which we had to put a privacy fence around.
Before we moved in, we painted the house through out. Through the years there, we did some up grades to the house: build ins in the master closet, new deck, hot tub in the deck, french doors to the back, new carpet, new paint, new floors in the kitchen and a sprinkler system in the front yard. We also did a couple of rounds of landscaping in the front yard and made paved drive to the back yard. The master bedroom was really big so we set up a seating area in that room for us.
Kids went to school in Benton, and I worked 12 years in the Benton school system. Overall it was a good move. I liked working there. Don would drive back and fourth to Little Rock to work.
When his company closed, he took early retirement (he was able to work for the plant for a few more years)
But we knew that we did not want to retire in Benton, so we began looking for something in The Bentonville area.......story to continue.
We finally found a house with a good price and in a good neighborhood in Benton, Ar. This is a town about 20 miles southwest of Little Rock. Jennifer was going into the 3rd grade and Kelly was entering kindergarten. The house was in a subdivision called Dark Forest. Ours was a 3 bedroom/2bath home on one level. (we did not want stairs anymore) We lived in this house longer than in any other house. It had a large backyard which we had to put a privacy fence around.
Before we moved in, we painted the house through out. Through the years there, we did some up grades to the house: build ins in the master closet, new deck, hot tub in the deck, french doors to the back, new carpet, new paint, new floors in the kitchen and a sprinkler system in the front yard. We also did a couple of rounds of landscaping in the front yard and made paved drive to the back yard. The master bedroom was really big so we set up a seating area in that room for us.
Kids went to school in Benton, and I worked 12 years in the Benton school system. Overall it was a good move. I liked working there. Don would drive back and fourth to Little Rock to work.
When his company closed, he took early retirement (he was able to work for the plant for a few more years)
But we knew that we did not want to retire in Benton, so we began looking for something in The Bentonville area.......story to continue.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
House # 2
We lived in the Lake Charles area for 5 1/2 years when Don got a job in Little Rock. We were moving back to our home state and would be closer to both parents. Don's lived in Little Rock, mine in Bentonville.
Soon after we moved back to Arkansas, I found out that we were expecting our first child. We needed to find a house soon. We lived with Don's parents for a few months until we found our second home. It was in a quiet, older neighborhood in Little Rock called Western Hills. Although the neighborhood was old, our house was new. It was a green tri-level, 3 bedroom, 21/2 bath home. The kitchen, garage, and laundry were in the downstairs. The middle level had the livening room and half bath. Up stairs were the 3 bedroom and two of the bathrooms.
This house will always be special to me because both children were born while we lived in this house. Both of them had their first Christmas here when they were newborn, as their birthdays are in December. They spent their early years here and had a lot of fun playing in the fenced in back yard. This house served us well until Jennifer was going into the 3rd grade and Kelly in Kindergarten. We decided that it was time to move out of Little Rock. After looking around in North Little Rock, Benton, Bryant....etc... We ended up buying house number 3 in Benton, 20 miles south/west of Little Rock.
Soon after we moved back to Arkansas, I found out that we were expecting our first child. We needed to find a house soon. We lived with Don's parents for a few months until we found our second home. It was in a quiet, older neighborhood in Little Rock called Western Hills. Although the neighborhood was old, our house was new. It was a green tri-level, 3 bedroom, 21/2 bath home. The kitchen, garage, and laundry were in the downstairs. The middle level had the livening room and half bath. Up stairs were the 3 bedroom and two of the bathrooms.
This house will always be special to me because both children were born while we lived in this house. Both of them had their first Christmas here when they were newborn, as their birthdays are in December. They spent their early years here and had a lot of fun playing in the fenced in back yard. This house served us well until Jennifer was going into the 3rd grade and Kelly in Kindergarten. We decided that it was time to move out of Little Rock. After looking around in North Little Rock, Benton, Bryant....etc... We ended up buying house number 3 in Benton, 20 miles south/west of Little Rock.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Taking a backwards glance
Sometimes traveling forward means looking back.... remembering.....reflecting.....pondering days gone by.
We have paid off our house 5 1/2 years early. We paid our last house note on December 1st 2011. We just got the receipt telling us that our check was received.
This got me to thinking about past houses we have bought...(or at least made payments on as this is the first house that we have paid off)
The first house that we bought was about 2 years after we got married. We were living in Lake Charles, LA at the time. We had saved and lived in cheap apartments so we could make a down payment. We looked all over Lake Charles and areas just around it. We ended up buying a house in Moss Bluff which is a town just north of Lake Charles. It was a small 3 bedroom 2 bath home with I think about 1500 sq feet. A good size for us. I remember the day we went in to close on the house. It was totally an overwhelming feeling. I felt like I was signing my life away.. But I soon got over that and we really loved this little house. We put a fence around it for our little dog, Peanut. Since it was a brand new house, there was not a lot to do to the house. Don's parents brought some furniture for us, I think some that has been Vickie's, a couch, chair, table and chairs for the kitchen, and bedroom furniture.
I remember loving to sit on the back patio reading. The weather in Lake Charles is warm most of the year so it gave many opportunities to be outdoors. The house did not have a garage, but did have a carport. I remember "Peanut" would lay in the carport waiting for Don to come home from work.
Not too long after we moved in, we bought a bedroom set. We paid quite a bit for it knowing that we would keep it for a long time, and still have it 35 years later. The bed and side tables are in the guest bedroom and the two dressers are in our master bedroom looking just as good as they did when we bought them.
We had a few parties in this house also, the last one being a Super Bowl watch party and going away party for us since we moved Little Rock soon after that.
We lived in this house for about 3 years... until we moved to Little Rock to be closer to family. We were lucky that a young couple bought the house after one showing.
Next blog will be about the Little Rock house....
We have paid off our house 5 1/2 years early. We paid our last house note on December 1st 2011. We just got the receipt telling us that our check was received.
This got me to thinking about past houses we have bought...(or at least made payments on as this is the first house that we have paid off)
The first house that we bought was about 2 years after we got married. We were living in Lake Charles, LA at the time. We had saved and lived in cheap apartments so we could make a down payment. We looked all over Lake Charles and areas just around it. We ended up buying a house in Moss Bluff which is a town just north of Lake Charles. It was a small 3 bedroom 2 bath home with I think about 1500 sq feet. A good size for us. I remember the day we went in to close on the house. It was totally an overwhelming feeling. I felt like I was signing my life away.. But I soon got over that and we really loved this little house. We put a fence around it for our little dog, Peanut. Since it was a brand new house, there was not a lot to do to the house. Don's parents brought some furniture for us, I think some that has been Vickie's, a couch, chair, table and chairs for the kitchen, and bedroom furniture.
I remember loving to sit on the back patio reading. The weather in Lake Charles is warm most of the year so it gave many opportunities to be outdoors. The house did not have a garage, but did have a carport. I remember "Peanut" would lay in the carport waiting for Don to come home from work.
Not too long after we moved in, we bought a bedroom set. We paid quite a bit for it knowing that we would keep it for a long time, and still have it 35 years later. The bed and side tables are in the guest bedroom and the two dressers are in our master bedroom looking just as good as they did when we bought them.
We had a few parties in this house also, the last one being a Super Bowl watch party and going away party for us since we moved Little Rock soon after that.
We lived in this house for about 3 years... until we moved to Little Rock to be closer to family. We were lucky that a young couple bought the house after one showing.
Next blog will be about the Little Rock house....
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