House Pictures -- 4

These are the last of the house pictures. This post is pictures of the basement rooms. (Except for my sewing room and my hubby's shop. Those rooms aren't finished yet.)

Our exercise room. 

The Guest Bath in the basement.

The Guest Bedroom.

Family Room. I really like the windows and the light that comes from them. The room feels very cozy to me. We bought the piece under the TV in Singapore. I really love it. The long skinny thing in the wall? A fishing basket from Indonesia.

The roll top desk is from Malaysia.

This bookshelf is full of mostly children's books. We loved reading to our kids when they were little and there were just too many books we couldn't part with.

And there you have it. This now concludes the photo tour of our new house.

The Latest From the Not-So-Great White North

It's been quite a winter already up here in the North Country.
This was a month ago.

And now we are on storm number, oh I don't know, 568? And it's only December?

I see a loooong winter ahead.

Here's a shot of what came through here yesterday:

There's a road under that snow.

It took the snowplow driver 5 tries to ram his way through that drift.

Needless to say, we were snowed in. The snow plows were pulled off the highways Saturday because of the 30-40mph winds and blowing snow.

Here's my hubby using our way-to-often-used snow blower to clear off the driveway.

Have I mentioned that I have never (kinda on purpose) never learned how to use this? Yes. I am smart.

Yesterday we hunkered down in the house. Hubby worked on building some shelves for his shop and I took a nice warm bath and did some baking.


I made Swiss Cheese Mustard Bread (the rectangle loaves) and Italian Bread. Yum. Yum. Yum. I wish I would have thought about more baking when I was at the grocery store on Friday and I would have bought more ingredients.

Before the storm came at its strongest, we went to a concert Friday night. We bought season tickets for the Opera House (just a big old theater) in town. We were highly skeptical of Friday's performance because it was a Country Music performer. The hubby and I? NOT fans of country. We promised each other that if our ears were hurting by intermission, we'd leave.

Well, we actually, sort-of, kind-of liked it. Despite the fact that we only sorta recognized one song in the whole first half of the concert. The second half was Christmas music.

Hoping I get out and about tomorrow, but with a low of -15 tonight and a high of 7 tomorrow, maybe staying inside in the warmth sounds better....

House Pictures -- 3

**Before we get on with the next round of pictures...Our daughter-in-law was released from the hospital Friday morning! The doctor is unsure what caused her severe vomiting. At first they thought it was sepsis (a potentially serious blood infection), but they now wonder if she had a severe case of food poisoning. What ever it was, we are so thankful for her healing.**

Our Master Bedroom.

The Master Bath. Oh how I love that tub!

I discovered Red Letter Words through another blog that's called Nesting Place (which is a fun design blog). When I was exploring the Red Letter Words website and saw this verse, I knew it would be great in our bedroom. I love to read this verse right before I turn off the light at night and when I wake up in the morning.

An Army in the Flood and Fire

 We got one of those phone calls yesterday evening that makes it hard to be so far from our family. Our son called to say he was heading to the hospital with his wife. She had been vomiting quite severely and they just knew something wasn't right. Turns out she has a not-very-serious (but serious enough to be admitted to the hospital) infection in her blood (sepsis). She's been getting antibiotics and is doing much better. She has an Army praying for her. (I'd appreciate prayers from my Internet friends, too!)

Our son is a music junkie. He says he turned on his iTunes this afternoon to random and this is the first song that played:



(It is basically the 23rd Psalm.)

His comment on his Facebook page was "Random song, huh God?"

God is so awesome in His tender care of His people.

This verse came to mind:

When you pass through the waters,
   I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
   they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
   you will not be burned;
   the flames will not set you ablaze. 

Isaiah 43:2

Hopefully our daughter-in-law will be able to go home tomorrow morning.

Good 'Ole Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Have you ever been on a real sleigh ride? How about the warm weather version - a carriage ride?

No! and No! And I really, really, REALLY want to do BOTH of those!! I have a BIG birthday coming up next month and I have entertained the thought of a carriage ride around Central Park. But, you know, it's January and I think it's likely to be COLD in New York. And, oh how I have dreamed about a sleigh ride in the snow in the mountains. But, we live a looong ways from the mountains and from New York.

2. What's your policy on 'chain mail'...you know, the emails you receive that are often some sort of poem/blessing/good wish that ask you to send it on to 10 or 12 friends? Do you delete without opening, read and trash, read and trash and then worry you won't be blessed/lucky/protected? Do you delete the sender from your contacts or just go ahead and send the love onward?

Most of the time I just delete those types of emails without reading them. Sometimes I glance at them. They are always stupid. Does someone really believe they would be blessed/lucky/protected?

3. Who is your favorite character in any of the Christmas movies and why?

Mary Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life. I just love how she consistently has her heart set on George. LOVE this scene:

4. Share a favorite quote. 

Several years ago, my father-in-law photographed a very old headstone in New England that said "She Done All She Could." I want that as my epitaph.

5. What's your favorite holiday scent?

My mom's Swedish Rye Bread. Mmmm. I think I need to make some.

6. Does the Christmas season stress you out? In what way?

Sometimes. This year I'm feeling a little stressed because I just cannot get my self in the mood to drag out the Christmas decorations. I guess I have a couple more weeks before the kids get here...

7. What's the best thing about your life right now? 

The BEST thing is the fact that Jesus Christ is my Savior. The next best is being able to live with my Best Friend, my hubby. I'd truly be lost without either of those.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My grandma used to use Dippity-Do on my hair when I was little. She would put my hair in pigtails and then use Dippity-Do to plaster the little hairs down. I remember sitting in church with her and picking at the stiff hairs. Oh, the memories.

(How's that for random?)

House Pictures -- 2

Time for some more photos of our new house. Here's a shot from the Dining Room into the Kitchen. Notice the wonderful Cabinet (under the calendar) that adds a little more class than the mixer box did...

The sign above the window over the sink says: Rejoice in His Salvation. Love it. Through the french doors is the Four Season Porch. We hang out there a lot. I love all the light/sunshine. (Well when there is sun the in winter in the Upper Midwest.)

A view from the Four Season Porch. The doorway on the left leads to the Laundry/Mudroom.

We really like having this space for laundry and for coming in from the garage and taking off our shoes and hanging up the coats. Oh, and can I say I LOVE our new washer and dryer? After going the last 6 weeks in our old house without a working washing machine, to have these is such a blessing

Looking into the house from the back door.

Our Thanksgiving Vacation

I want to post a few shots from where Hubby and I went for the Thanksgiving weekend. We loved the warmer weather and how it didn't really seem like winter. (Right now it's 15 degrees and we're waiting for a snowstorm.)

Here's the view from our bedroom.

We rented a unit in this house-looking building.

We had a very enjoyable, relaxing weekend. We loved the weather. No coats needed.