Many thanks to my mother-in-law and father-in-law for all their hard work they have put in helping us get the house updated on the market.
We go live soon! You can view the house MLS here and please share on your Facebook page and with friends.
Please pray for a quick sale and while we are at it maybe a multiple contracts bidding war. I mean dream big, always.
I saw Needtobreathe in concert in Huntsville. They were soul filling as always. It’s so fun to follow bands from close to their beginning. Loved the new lights.
This week I painted the outdoor table and pallette couch. Yes, they are staying with the house. And so are the twinkle lights. Thanks EB for your help with them!
Planted some plant babies for the front porch. Here is a tip for tall pots. I put bottles, cans, balled up paper and bags into the bottom (on top of the layer of rocks), then I used a plastic drop cloth on top for a solidish layer before adding the dirt and flowers. It makes it lighter and more easily movable, especially with these cold nights.
I saved us $500.00 (well really $475 if you subtract supplies). By crawling around and applying restoring oil and wax to our hardwoods. Umm, dang they look amazing if I do say so myself. And that money saved is a trip to The Castle right, honey?
I didn’t go see a movie this week but I did take a break to attend a flower arrangement class at Wild Things in Homewood. So much fun!
Mimi and Shark are in Cali and have me dreaming of this roasted garlic we had when we visited a few years ago.
Each day is unique and precious, a coin to be spent thoughtfully. Waste nothing and your regrets will be few. The young cannot imagine death and for that reason they fear it. I am not afraid of death. I greet it as anyone who has a long and satisfying day’s work behind them greets sleep. I have loved the stars too well to fear the night. -Elizabeth Middleton Bonner The Endless Forest
Happy Weekend, lovies!
What a packed week. Last Friday I attended The Best Medicine Show where my sissy was Master of Ceremonies. I have attended before in my younger days but I forget how crazy talented those about to be MDs are.
I stopped by Pepper Place Market, saw some of my favorite “sweetest” 😂 friends. I made our beach treats with their homemade marshmallows. I don’t even know how, when, why or who came up with this idea but I know we had the frequently at the beach growing up. Saltines cracker, peanut butter, marshmallow broil in oven until marshmallow is slightly brown. So good. So nostalgic.
I attended ACLS class. Did my laundry. Ok I got my laundry done, worth every penny.
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I worked for money. And Wednesday, Thursday, Friday I spent money, time and energy working on the house.
The outside is finished and I couldn’t be happier about how well it turned out. I had my doubts about white but it freshened it up! And now it’s time to leave. That’s how it goes right?
I have struggled to rest because all the things I need to do are running through my mind. I feel worn down today though so putting in a little extra effort to rest so I will be more productive in the long run.
I did have dinner with a friend and I plan on seeing a movie next week. Hold me to it!
I keep seeing little things around the house to touch up or noticing well now this paint looks great on the walls seems the door frame needs to be painted.
I did finish reading the 6th book of The Wilderness Series which is what the above quote comes from. Send me your fiction recommendations. I also listened to The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown. It’s one of those books I feel like everyone should be forced to read. So helpful!
Soon I’m going to start a creative, fun because I want to project and I can’t wait to be doing something other than house work.
I wrote a blog post on our trip to California in 2015, in case you missed it.
In 2015, we took a trip to California with my cousin twin and her husband, before I blogged much. I’ve always meant to create a journal/recommendations for what we did. Mimi and Shark leave for vacation soon so they inspired me to document so they could know what we did. There are many stops along the way. I recommend researching many blogs etc to find what interest you the most. I’ll post some links at the bottom of this as well as throughout. Also, please excuse my 2015 photograph skills.
We flew into LAX. Alyssa and Ian had been there for a day or so camping at Joshua Tree. We met at the airport picked up our car and we were off on our adventure.
Our general plan was head down to San Diego. Then back up to San Francisco all on the Pacific Coast Highway. Alyssa and Ian flew out from San Fran and Ryan and I continued back to LA via roads other than Highway 1. We spent time in LA before flying out.
Our first stop was Santa Monica Pier. We ate lunch at the Mexican restaurant at the end. Rode the ferris wheel and walked around. It was interesting but nothing too compelling for me. We ventured around Venice Beach before heading towards San Diego. I was disappointed in how dirty Venice Beach seemed to be and how far away the water actually was.
We stopped at Encinitas Beach at twilight where I fully intend to touch the Pacific for the first time but alas there were hazardous water condition signs. This I believe is one place that sometimes you can see the bio-luminescence. Worth looking into for sure.
We continued on to our hotel. It was just a generic hotel in the downtown area. We grabbed pizza with a friend from college. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I loved San Diego. It was clean, not too crowded and greener than I expected which I love.
While in San Diego we visited the San Diego Zoo. We have all heard how fabulous it is but it’s hard to imagine! There’s bus tours inside the zoo and a sky tram. My most memorable animals where the pandas, koalas and flamingos for obvious reasons.
We also visited the world famous Coronado Island. We took the Coronado Ferry over and back. But we walked from the ferry dock over the island to the resort and beach area. This is actually where I was able to put my toes in the Pacific for the first time. We grabbed tacos for lunch at Clayton’s Mexican Takeout. Popped in a few stores and just leisurely explored the island. Seaside Papery was one if the cute stores we visited. Charming and fun. Watched the sunset from the beach at the resort.
A few years ago when traveling here doughnuts where all the rage everywhere. We pre-ordered some of the famous Donut Bar. By preordering you can skip the line but there is a minimum order. They were so good and fun. I have followed their journey and they still seem to be doing an amazing business and growing. There is one in Las Vegas if you ever visit there.
We had dinner one night at Stone Brewing at Liberty Station. I am not a huge alcohol fan but the food was good. I highly recommend it based on the atmosphere. We sat outside in the garden/patio area which was lovely.
We headed up Highway 1 with some stops along the way. We drove from San Diego to San Luis Obispo. If I did it again I would stop somewhere in between for the night if there was time. Traffic in LA will slow you down more than you can imagine. But if you had to chose add a day in the Big Sur/Monterey area.
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve was one of my favorite stops. We hiked on the cliffs and visited the beaches below. (Mimi and Shark this is a place for y’all.)
Of course we had to stop at La Jolla to see the seals. We didn’t do much else here but I know there is shopping and dining if that’s your thing.
Huntington Beach was another stop. A quintessential California beach. Think surfing and lifeguard towers. We stopped in Malibu at Wildfox. Before continuing to the Madonna Inn.
I love funky, crazy, beautiful, historic hotels. Here is one area where Ryan and I differ but I see his point. He would rather spend money doing thing around and area and just get a reasonable hotel but to me sometimes the hotel can be part of the destination not just a place to sleep. Over the years we have had a great mix of the two. The Madonna Inn being one of them. I had to stay in the pink glitter room. So we did. I definitely want to go back here one day.
That night we got in later than expected. We had Mexican food as it was one of the only places open. We picked up our famous cake from the bakery at the Madonna Inn and played in the hot tub and pool. It was so cold but also so fun. The cold made the memories of fun had stick a little more. The wind was blowing like crazy and we had the place to ourselves.
We had breakfast at the cafe at the Inn and on true want to be blogger fashion we basically did a photo shoot with our cake and pink glitter walls. We headed back onto the Pacific Coast Highway, for arguably the most famous and most beautiful portion of the drive towards Monterey.
Along the way we stopped at some of my favorite spots. Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park offers hiking, views of the Pacific and McWay Falls. This falls drop from the cliffs 80 feet into the Pacific. You park inside the park to your right and then walk down a short easy trail under the highway to the falls. Breathtaking.
A MUST stop for lunch, dinner or even a snack is Nepenthe. The prices are not cheap but the view is incredible. Try the roasted garlic appetizer.
We continued to chase the sun and race against sunset to stop at our next two stops.
Pfeiffer Beach is located down a dirt road but worth the trip. There is a beautiful rock formation. It’s a great spot for sunset to watch the sun come through the rocks and cast everything in a golden glow. We found a In Pursuit of Magic sign here. Lovely.Bixby Bridge is the picturesque bridge often in car commercials. You can stop off the left side for views or the bridge and land but I preferred the right side with the ocean and bridge. If you have time do both. We lost daylight here this any good hope of a quality picture.
We unfortunately just didn’t have time for everything. Guess we will have to go back! Hearst Castle and Carmel by the Sea are also in this area. This area in between San Luis Obispo and Monterey is the main place I would add another night if I could.
We spent the night in Monterey at a generic hotel. Here we had planned to have a fire on the beach but never got around to it. That is one of my regrets since it’s legal and common on the West coast but not on the East coast.
We had a delicious dinner at Monterey’s Fish House. The next morning we took a whale watching tour. One of the best I have been on. We saw a pod of doulphins that was estimated to be 500 large. We toured with the Monterey Bay Whale Watching company. One side of the boat saw a whale breech. We missed it but had other great sightings as well. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is also a large tourist attraction in this area.
From here we continued onward to San Francisco. First we went to the Golden Gate Bridge park. Grabbed some photographs and walked around before driving over the bridge to head to Muir Woods National Monument. Again we lost daylight here but saw the great redwoods and a raccoon at dusk. We had dinner in the Mission District at Pancho Villa Taqueria. We drove down Lombard Street.
We woke up at the crack of dawn to head to Point Reyes National Seashore. We explored the area and went to visit the lighthouse when it opened. Sadly the winds were too strong so they did not open the stairs down to the lighthouse that day. There are many beautiful areas to explore in this National Seashore. We also stopped by Cowgirl Creamery, as recommended by Shauna Niequist. It did not disappoint.
We headed back to San Francisco to drop Alyssa and Ian off at the airport for their flight out.
Ryan and I checked into a new hotel. We rode a trolley around to see some sights, stopped in China Town for dinner and hit up Ghiradelli Square. As well as chocolate there were some cute shops and a beautiful jewelry store. We even were able to take a pic in front of the trolley since the one in front of us hit a car and so we were stopped for a bit then ended up getting off and walking.
We grabbed sandwiches from Davey Jones Deli. Which I am pretty sure is one of the best wraps I have had in my life. We took them to Rodeo Beach. It was a bit windy and cold so we didn’t stay too long.
Of course we had stop by Alamo Square/Full House. We continued back towards LA via more inland roads.
We expected to go to Sequoia National Park but upon getting closer we saw signs stating the roads were already snowy. So we had to turn around. The area was beautiful though. We spent the night in Bakersville. We did stay in a cool hotel here The Padre Hotel.
Next we went back to LA. Ryan hurt his back somewhere along the way so I
ended up driving from Bakersville to LA. We checked into the Millennium Biltmore Hotel early rested a bit then headed to Disneyland! Of course I got my Dole Whip Float West Coast style. We also grabbed Roscoes Chicken Waffles with another friend from college.
We had a great adventure and I can not wait to go back.
Happy Friday! Although I have ACLS and work Sunday so it does not seem like much of a weekend.
Finally house progress abounds. The half bathroom is finished. There has been progress on the outside painting but it needs to stop raining so it can be finished! After last week firing our contractor and getting a new one. Phew. What a mess this is a full time job.
I took off last week so Ryan, his parents and I could work on the house. We got most all the painting done. A few spots that I need to touch up. Yay for progress. But still somewhat feels like so much.
Embug spent the weekend with us. She somehow just in the past few weeks looks grown to me. I realized she will be double digits in 15 months. I introduced her to a party pally. Unsure how she made it this far in life without.
I went to hot pilates and didn’t die although it sure did feel like it! Today my underarms are sore.
Happy Weekend! I hope you all had a week filled with love, significant other or not you yourself are significant.
It’s been a week and then some. People that flip house for a living, golly. I can not imagine. House stuff has been insane. I can’t even recall it all here because I will just feel like a broken record, debbiedowner, and I can’t tell you how many times this week I have thought what have a done to deserve for things to always go terribly wrong? For. The. Love. Obviously something is wrong with me. Just when I think so many bad things have happened something positive needs to. And I don’t mean little positive. I mean life altering positive.
On that note I have been a terrible friend this week. I apologise. There is so much going on I can barely keep up and my body physically hurts. No excuse but. I am sorry.
There has been some forward progress on the house although it does not feel like it. Most of this wall was a gapping hole but it finished out ok. Our plan had always been build a cabinet to go over it, with no back basically and holes in the bottom for the water line.
I got Beautycounter’s new brow gel and I am in love.
I fished three books this week. I have become one of those people that reads multiple books. I used to have to finish one before I started a new one. Becoming by Michelle Obama. It was great. I listened to the audiobook read by the former First Lady. Love You Smore by Beth Merlin. It’s the third in a series. Cute, romantic, super easy read. Queen of Swords by Sara Donati. The fifth book in The Wilderness Series. I so listened to this while painting. I only have one book left in the series.
I have new fairy hair and Emily did some fun color on me that I love.
I spent some of the past weekend in MS visiting my favorite girlies. We hung out, rested, got snuggles and visited Laurel.
I did not feel well on Sunday so I did not accomplish as much as I would have liked, but thanks to my mama for picking up my groceries, my neighbor for a football food plate, my sissy for lunch.
The outside painting job is wrapping up, hopefully we can push through and get this wrapped up and on the market. Except today the power line on the house fell off. I called Alabama Power they seemed it would be no problem. Just stay away from the line since I still had power to the house it was live. I had some errands to run and a friend to meet so I left the house. After instructing Alabama Power and the men working on the house to call me with any problems. Well when I arrived home at 6 pm on a Friday night. I had no power because it’s not Alabama Powers problem I have to pay an electrician to have it fixed. I called to find out what was going on and apparently they put a note in the system at 2 pm today but no one could bother to call me and alert me so I could find a solution before it was after hours and freezing cold. Ugh. Ill. Too bad Alabama Power is the only option. So I spent some time by candlelight.
I got some work in for some money this week. We need it with all this house work. Thus burning both ends of the candle I began Sunday with a stomach bug and midweek caught a cold. Message received body, I am TRYING to slow down.
Let’s talk house selling here. If you are the praying kind PLEASE pray big, grand, seemingly impossible prayers. Multiple offers within a few days of listing, money over listing price, I KNOW money is not everything and one must properly manage it but I really would love to be able to off (or down) Ryan’s student loans. What a blessing. I know it would be nothing short of a miracle. But I am sitting here in expectant waiting of a miracle not because we deserve one or because I feel like we have one due (ok like I do feel like all the sad, sickness, etc one would be nice), but because why not sit and expect and anticipate miracles. I think we will see and find them more with an expectant heart rather than a hardened, glass half empty heart.
Also no joke here. If you have any experience or talent at painting a wall, or if you have potential. If you come help me paint the interior of my house I will buy you dinner and an adult beverage, if you are old enough for an adult beverage legally, if not we can work out some cash payment.
Beautycounter launched their Brow Gel this week. I am excited to try it.
Key West banned sunscreen containing oxybenzone and octinoxate, which are known to cause damage to coral reefs. YAY!
I’ve been researching and dreaming of this Grace & I fruit press since we visited San Francisco a few years ago. So glad to have the mystery solved and now we can order them for cheese boards!
*First and foremost, this is not a pro-life or pro-choice post. Nor will comments about your beliefs delivered in a disrespectful way be tolerated.
Now, on to the thoughts. You know I’m a verbal processor. Yet this isn’t probably what you expected on the topic.
I’ve been noticing myself feeling a bit wonky lately. I mean true we are moving, trying to sell our house, etc. But this has been a deeper wonky.
Like everyone else the news about the new NY abortion law has caught my attention and flooded the news outlets and social media feeds. Now I am a human with neonatal intensive care nursing experience with my own right to how I feel about that topic but that won’t be discussed here or with my closest friends even.
This is about the sadness and grief that settled deep into my belly. Why you might ask? Triggers from things you didnt expect but make total sense. The best way I can explain it is this. I’m seeing hundreds of post about this law. Being in the deep South most of them are pro-life. A baby is a baby before it’s born.
And yet when a baby is lost before birth due to “natural causes” the world around you does not treat you with the depth of compassion and care that they would if you baby had been born living and then died. And that disparity blows my mind. It that was the case that I had birthed a live baby and lost her I would have been expected and encouraged to take as much time (up to 12 weeks thanks to the FMLA) as I needed. But instead I went back to work within a week. To this day that fact baffles me. At the time it just seemed like I was expected to be back at work.
I am not saying the entire world was not helpful or healing. But for the most part the argument for a baby is a baby in utero to experiencing a miscarriage and how insanely hurtful some people can be afterwards there is a huge disconnect. And I’m hoping I help change the dialogue and the support for grieving parents.
I wonder had a taken a little more time to heal my heart shattered into a thousand pieces over our baby girl before I returned to nurse other people’s broken but living babies and hearts…might I still be a NlCU nurse? Might I feel a little more whole almost two years out? Might I have a different perspective and experience?
So you see to have the world go up in arms about a baby being or not being a human baby in utero is something that draws out and highlights some very hard things. The world shouts a baby is a baby and yet I was told I could go back to work 24 hours after my D&C. Less than 48 hours after it was confirmed that indeed life AND death had been held within my body and passed through me. Death is always a sad thing even when you know the person will no longer suffer but as a mama to a baby that was miscarried had your child die before birth, you LITERALLY have created life inside your body and held death inside of you. Every fabric of your being.
Reading the above you will say well she is saying her baby died in utero so she must be pro-life. I’m not saying what I do or don’t believe. I do want to lay this out there, as well.
On the other hand pro-choice post can make me feel like all my pain and grief and hurt has been devauled in a split second.
To the Mamas that by choice or necessity had to terminate a pregnancy. I see you too. And I carry your heart and pain with me. You are seen and known and loved, irregardless of what the past holds. You most likely live with regret, pain and shame. Maybe not necessarily because that is how you feel but because that is how society has made you feel. You and your baby is still seen, valued and loved.
If you dont know much about our girl you can read more under #1in4. But I will highlight the portion that I feel is relavant.
On February 28, 2017 I got this erie feeling. I was 13 weeks. We were supposed to be in the safe zone though as a nurse you know that to be a lie, there is no safe zone. Safer maybe but not safe. I tried to doppler her heart beat with my at home doppler as most all NICU nurses have but probably shouldn’t. I couldnt find it. I panicked and yet I knew. Even though I trirf to talk myself out of it, I knew our girl was gone. I experienced death within my body and soul. The next day I received a call from our doctor. The genetics came back and our girl was unwell. She would most likely die in utero but if we did make it to birth she would not live more than a few hours. I never had to make a choice about termination or my health versus hers because when we arrived that the hospital ultrasound confirmed she already had her wings and was rejoicing with the angels. No doubt being held by all of our dear loved ones. On the trails of Flatwoods, by her Sants looking Great Grandfather and walking the shores of Hunting.
No doubt had she still been alive on that dreadful Wednesday afternoon, we would have been asked and encouraged to terminate. I remember riding to the hospital next to my husband. He had rushed home from work to be with me after the phone call that changed the course of our life forever. I remember praying, let my baby be ok, let them be healthy but please Lord dont make me chose what to do if she is not well. Let it be done, let it be decided. In a way I feel so guilty and selfish like I wished her away from us. But yet I could not fathom having to decide.
So whether or not your baby was “miscarried” or you had to make the most difficult desicion in the world. I know these news lines and social media walls can prove to be a minefield of triggers. I hope you know you are loved and you are not alone.
If you want to learn more about how you can be a better help to those grieving tbe loss of a baby/pregnancy around you please stay tuned thats something I am working on.
Happy Weekend, friends! And happy February! I know we will be starting to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s in the blink of an eye but it felt like January lasted a full three months.
We unloaded the Uhaul and got settled into our house-y with some people we love minus some sadly too.
I found some beautiful flowers in out yard.
We also celebrated Shark’s birthday with cupcakes!
We found the Pluff Mud coffee company with a pay it forward wall. Be still my heart.
Unpacked many boxes. Unfortunately there is still an embarrassing amount to go. We hung lots of pictures and curtains. Ok, Ian and Shark hung lots of pictures and curtains.
Follow from the Mickey Oreos last week- legit.
I spent the night at work for the great snow of 2019. Except there was no snow. But better safe than sorry!
This gardenia candle is in my cart although it reminds me of Jasmine. The smell is sweet but not too strong.
We are making progress on prepping the Homewood house to be listed. I feel like I’m eating and breathing gray paint colors and soon I must move on to a bathroom floor. It you are the praying type let’s pray for the impossible short market time, multiple offers, over asking price. God and I have had many a conversation about the amount of money needed to pay off the house, Ryan’s student loans and have a little extra to start exploring a seed in my heart. Its praying big and believing it is possible.
I’m hoping to get all of our Greece pics posted soon and my Powersheets post up. House work has drained my body and soul a bit.
Also this is your public service announcement. You can get a free 6×6 Shutterfly book through the app one a month. You do have to pay shipping but this is a great way to get those pictures off your phone. I am making some for em. I’ll post mine when it comes. You can change the layout and add multiple pics. You can add additional pages for a fee if you want. I think they would make great birthday prizes, Mother’s day or Father’s day happies.
I went to Pepper Place indoor Winter market last Saturday.
Ryan’s parents came over to help me pack and paint. What a wonderful big help they were. They painted the two of guest bedrooms and the guest bathroom!
I worked alot this week but only a little bit for actual money.
We ate some yummy food. Ethiopian twice and Mississippi Delta Hot Tamales.
Ryan and I got the UHaul to Beaufort yesterday. We unloaded a little today and our excitedly awaiting more family.
Did I buy these because the had Mickey on them yes I did. I haven’t tried them yet but Teddy has.
I tried watching Marvelous Mrs. Maisel earlier but didn’t love the pilot. But after hearing people rave I tried again and I am hooked.
Finally Friday! I was extra looking forward to Friday because I have my Dr appointment to see about this stomach pain. So ready for some answers so we can fix the pain.
This week has been survival mode. Survive the pain, work and make it til the weekend. Just praying for answers and reduced pain.
I have been able to get a bit of packing done but not a ton. During my breaks I have watched Marie Kondo in hopes of feeling inspired. I have just tried to embrace the chaos.
I have been looking for a cheap unlined sherpa and think I found one. Any other suggestions?
Beautycounter launched Counterman this week, which has been three years in the making. They are working to bring safer products into the hands of everyone. And everyone means everyone.
Pepper Place indoor market starts this weekend and I can not wait!
This is a a to be filmed in Fairhope. This is about this sister if one of my fellow Capstone College of Nursing graduates.
I am not going to lie it’s been a week that is hard to find a celebration. I guess my proudest thing is I took time for myself to get a massage, go to the dr and asking for help because I needed it. Which asking for help is something I do not like to do. I’ve been taking lots of warm baths.
The Barefoot Mermaid 