Off to college

Though we live very close to the college, Danielle chose to live on campus. We supported the idea and she wanted to be amoungst others to share her faith and the journey. I wish I had more pic's but the crazyness of getting unloaded and up to her dorm room...with 500 other students and parents and u-hauls....and RV's, well you get the idea. I also don't have any pics of Chris getting his Orientation papers for Non-Trad students (non-traditional). I am grateful God has already developed a whole community for non-trad students and they are very active in supporting each other. They have all experienced some sort of calling, whether literally like we had (see God's story), or a longing in their heart placed by the Holy Spirit. It's awesome to hear all the stories and see how God works in His own way to call each person when they are ready. You know the saying "When the student is ready the Teacher will come." Praise God!

Danielle and her dad carrying some of her stuff in. Can't tell she's excited can you?

Check out the grin! She's so cute.

Off they go to register and take stuff up stairs.
The proud owner of the key to her first home away from home. I must say after this pic she rolled her eyes at me and said "Okay mom that's enough pic's!!" I already miss her and it's only been 14 hrs.

The college gave out a paper to parents for "parent survival" with web sites and recommended books. It was cute, my loving hubby saw the periodic tears well in my eyes through the day so when he saw this paper he grabbed one and handed it to me with a loving hug, yep that caused some actual tears to flow.

I wish them both God's peace and Wisdom on their journey. Classes start Tues. please pray for them, hmm better ask for prayers for me too.

Our big day today

Today is a milestone day in our family! By the grace of God we have reached the day that my husband has orientation for college to start, and my step-daughter moves into the dorm on campus AND has her orientation as a Freshman. All today. Please pray for our family, esp. Danielle..she is so nervous yet terribly excited I don't know if she will eat anything today.

Will post pic's later.

God's peace to you.

Cold day in Aug?

Huh? Somebody messed with the thermostat outside. It's only 63 degrees outside and it's 5pm. AND it's raining. Go figure! The past couple weeks it's been hot, and overnight we have had the same temp as when we got up.

Ok, you can quit messing with the thermostat now! It's August and I thought August was suppose to be warm. Is this the pre-curser to fall that I don't know about? Can someone fill me in?

Hot tea here I come!!!!

Saturday morning splurge

This was my breakfast this morning! Can you believe there is no wheat, sugar or dairy in this! Yes way. I don't eat wheat, dairy or sugar for health reasons and through time I have found all the things to make this tasty breakfast.

Pancakes are: buckwheat flour, water/pure apple juice, baking soda and oil..oh and pecans inside. Butter is Earth balance which is the best dairy free butter out there, and I've tried a lot of very not so great one's. The bacon is a new one. We went to Whole Foods Thurs and I sucked it up to pay the price for this hormone free turkey bacon (pork and I don't like each other). There is raw sugar in the ingredients but it is minimal and the ingredients only have 5 things listed and I can pronounce and know what each one is! No nitrates.

A blogging friend at Electic Culture Farm reminded me about nitrates in one of her posts. So I'm trying to find bacon that doesn't have any. We don't eat TV dinners or pre-packeaged stuff besides milk and bacon. Mr. P sometimes likes his sage sausage that's "loaded" but I make my own from hormone free ground turkey. Doesn't this make your mouth water? Come on over for breakfast next Saturday and I'll fix you right up!

Our new rugs

I've always dreamed of having braided rugs and now I do. The one I chose for the dining room is unique, like me . It is braided but made from fabric and it is called Thimbelberries Keepsake. Some of you may be familiar with Thimbelberries fabric for quiliting. The company has authorized a well known braided rug company to use her fabric and make these rugs. I love it! I was worried about the fabric under the dining table, dogs, walking on it etc. But I thought you know, I love it, it's going to get well used, we don't typically spill major things onto the floor and the clincher was that my grandmother made several runners with the fabric from leftover clothes, etc. So why wouldn't a quality rug made a fabric not stand the test of time? I still have those runners and use them upstairs.


This is the one for the living room. We chose the burgandy and tan as a more traditional color and pattern so this one would withstand the dogs. Yep, you are looking at one happy girl sitting on the rug! She does not like the wooded floors and as I write this her and Koda are growling and wrestling on the rug.

God's peace~

Catch Up Day

Today was my designated catch up day! Once a month I throw the schedule out and do all that I can to catch up and get myself back on track. I figured today was the best day since my hubby was in DC for the day. So in the spirit of "Catch Up" I am posting several events from the past couple of weeks. You can see there has been a lot of activity. The pic's are most recent to oldest.

These are from a baseball game that Chris took me to. I secretly love baseball, and so for a treat he surprised me to a Pirates and Reds game, with dinner at Outback too! We had a great time (except it was during that hot spell WHEW!)

Can you believe this! The parrot shoots hot dogs (wrapped of course) out into the stadium!

Our view from our dining table at Outback, this was pre-game.
My honey and me!
Our view from our seats into Pittsburgh, the skyline was amazing!
Pre-Game walking by the Agrimony(?) river
Moving to a new location: $$$, rebuilding outside stairs: $$, the grin on Danielle's face when she gets an ice cream from the ice cream man: priceless!

Right after we moved in we had the electrican over to give an estimate on updating our "knob & tube"wiring. He discovered something that still makes me cringe. One of the lines in our box had gotten so hot that it was black. So with in the week we had the power cut off and the box and line outside the house updated. Can hardly wait to do the rest. A little at a time though.
This is Damon, our electrician that thought to check the box in the first place. Thank you Damon!
The burn mark in the box! YIKES!

So as you can see, we have been very busy. I hope to post this week on Chris' current project. You will have to check back to see what it is, but I will say it is beautiful and very sturdy!

God's Peace~