Home Sweet Home...

You know, I have wanted to move to Florida for some years now, and it is finally happening! I can't believe it, picked up the keys today though. Taylor and I are the only ones down here, and the only reason we came down, is we found the house on Craigslist, and we read so many stories about people conning people out of $$, so I just came down to meet them in person, they are legit and the home is fabulous and in a great community with pools, workout rooms, spa, tennis courts, etc, etc, but the best part is, and Taylor timed it today, it is 2 minutes and 37 seconds from the ocean!!!! Yeah...

Taylor at the ocean today...

You can walk for miles if you choose, I LOVE it!!!

Yeah, like I said, 2 minutes and 37 seconds from our house... :)

Ponte Vedra Beach baby! Can you tell I'm excited? I am!

Yes, this is our new home! The guy we are getting it from is such a nice guy, we had a great time meeting him today and his kid. Yeah, the van, they are cleaning it up for us. The guy is so nice, it was very great to meet them...

So yeah, dream come true... I am so stoked, and luckily my company let me do it... Now to just get all of our shit down here, 13 days... I don't care... A few more days to toil, then we will be down here. So from now on, instead of watching Imus in the Morning, I will be at the ocean, each and every day, strolling through the surf at 5:30 or 6ish, then will head home to wake the kiddos up to get them ready for school, did I mention that the ocean is only 2 minutes and 37 seconds away?? :)

Rodeo...

Yeah, these are in no particular order, but we were driving back from lunch yesterday and saw a sign that said the rodeo was in town, so we decided to go. I guess the last time we went to a rodeo, we took Cory and James when Cory was about 10. So off we went...

Carolyn and I, obviously...

Taylor and I, Taylor with her new hat on, Tanner decided to go for the bullwhip instead... :)

Tanner trying to win $100 for going up that side of the rock wall, he did not make it... :)

The start of the rodeo...

Before it started. Chance isn't with us because he decided to go to his friends house instead of join us, although he did tell me he wants to go to a rodeo, but he had already made plans for this particular evening... :)

So we had a good time, and LUCKILY I wore jeans as it was a bit chilly the later it got. First time I have even worn jeans since Spring, sigh... Also, I REALLY need a new camera as out of the 45+ pictures I took, only these really turned out, oh well...

Let The Final Leg Commence...

Jacksonville, here we come!

Happy Birthday Tanner!

So my boy turned 13 on Thursday, but of course did not want to celebrate until today! So we did! We went to the fair from about 10 - 4, then came home and had the pizza party and opened presents! A good time was had by all...

The birthday boy!

Chance got a laptop for his birthday, Taylor got one for Christmas, so Tanner was the only who did not have one, he did have an old computer of mine, but I do not have ethernet run here, so he could not use it really, so he is finally glad to have his own!

Opening cards and presents!

Of course I only took about 5 pictures at the fair, not sure why...

Taylor and her friend Victoria! All of the kids took one of their friends, and my co-worker and his family met us there, so we all had a good time.

The fair just about wears me out though, just walking all over the place. I of course wore shorts and a t-shirt, and it was freezing! I just have a thing about this time of year and dragging my jeans out, because once Spring hits, I put them up and only wear shorts until about now, sigh, I guess I need to break them out... :)

Jacksonville...

So, back to Jacksonville again, trying to pin down the home we are going to move into. I think we have found it, now to just get down there for good, I'm tired of going back and forth as it is a LONG drive! At first I almost did not think it would happen, but it is... Now just to get all our shit down there, sigh...

This is the view from the boardwalk at Mickler's Landing in Ponte Vedra Beach, which is where we will be living... The home we are getting is not far from there, about 3 minutes, so I will be out there most mornings, along with Carolyn and Taylor, the guys prefer to sleep, they do not like getting up at 6AM, I ALWAYS get up at 6AM, and Taylor is most of the time up before me, good to have a morning person in the family to hang out with... :)

Taylor the other morning, strolling in the surf, which is what Carolyn and I LOVE to do, and we mostly do it with only Taylor when we have been there as Chance and Tanner would rather sleep... :)

Sunrise this AM, a bit cloudy, but I could care less... I've wanted to move to the beach for years, now I AM!!

Carolyn and Taylor at the hotel we stayed at last night. It was a nice hotel, I probably am one of the few people who stayed there who got it on Priceline for a fraction of the price they normally charge, there were SO many snooty people there, yeah, them and I don't mix well, we had fun with them, the kids and I... :)

So yeah, we are nearly there, in Jacksonville! I CANNOT wait! :)

Yikes...

Yeah, I can now confirm with first hand experience how people flip their SUV's... Lightly holding the wheel, texting, etc... It was all I could do when the tire blew out, and it didn't just blow out, the tread came off, and I thought the road was bumpy for a while, but when it blew, the wheel jerked so hard to the right, I was lucky I had both hands on the wheel, wow...

The tire...

Me thinking, yikes, and thanking my lucky stars that there had not been much traffic on the road as I had been in the fast lane doing 85...

Yeah, could have been much worse, but we are all still here, and there was a Walmart a few exits up, so once I put the spare on, I went and bought a new tire... :)

9.11.01

Yikes...

Wow. Has it been that long? I suppose it has, I'd say I've been busy, but I really haven't been, although I am about to be as we get ready to move again... :) I guess we will head back down to Jacksonville the week of Sept 19th and try and figure out which house we want... In the meantime, here are a few more pics from our last trip to JAX...

Taylor's sentiment about Jacksonville... :)

Carolyn and I at Castillo de San Marcos...

Taylor and I at one of our favorite spots...

Kids at Castillo de San Marcos...

Ditto! Hopefully we will be down there for good soon... :)

415 Grist Mill Drive...

So I decided to go through all of my digital photos and make a picture book chronicling our ten+ years at 415 Grist Mill Drive. Turned into quite the project, but it is now complete. Can't wait to see the hardcover version once it arrives. Feel free to peruse it you want to:

The Money Pit Project...

Happy 15th Anniversary Carolyn!!

Happy Birthday Carolyn!!

Update, huh?

Yeah, just got back from a BBQ at my old neighbor's house... Have a house FULL of kids, and life goes on... :)

We are still trying to find the right home/area to move to down in Jacksonville, but making progress... I suppose we will be down there in the next month or so, and I cannot wait!

I will be glad when this is all over though so I can just concentrate on my career and other things, I'm tired of moving, but I am SO glad we decided to move out of that other house, that house drained me for ten years, time to start doing something other than building and remodeling. Whew!

So yeah, not much of an update, but I'll have one soon... ;)

Jacksonville Bound...

Well, back from Jacksonville, long drive... :) We had a great time though, and are planning to move there, so let the fun begin! I AM glad we moved here first though, because it took us months to sort through all the crap we had accumulated living at 415 Grist Mill Drive for 10 years. SO glad that is over! Now just have to find a house in Jacksonville, we have found many we like, and now we'll start the process... We are all very excited about it though, and can't wait to be down there to be honest, I have wanted to move to FL for years, now I am finally going... The GE facility I will be working at down there is in a very quiet and nice office park, so the work accomodations, they already have me a cubicle down there, will be nice. The school district we are looking in, good schools, so that is great...

Now we just have to move basically, after we find the house we want, so I'm sure I'll be busy over the next few months. We plan to be down there in the next few months, hopefully the sooner the better... :)

A few more pics from our trip...

Taylor and I on the beach this AM, we left the hotel at about 6:30AM to get out early, spent about two hours out there looking for shells and riding the boogie boards... Taylor loves it down there, the boys? Yeah, they wanted to sleep, so we left them at the hotel, they were still sleeping when we got back... :)

Carolyn and I this AM, there is nothing better than strolling on the beach in the AM, we LOVE it!!!

Sunrise on the beach the other day, it is so beautiful!

We were out yesterday, and this guy was trying to get that contraption going, it is a kite basically that hooks to a ski of sorts, and you skim across the water with it, he had brought the wrong pieces, I tried to help him get it launched, but it wouldn't work. I'm getting one if we move down there... :)

This was me for two whole days out there, I mistakenly started a Sidney Sheldon novel, and I cannot put his books down, so I read it in two days, and of course, the next day, I started a Jack Higgins novel, and could NOT put it down and finished it in one day! I think that is the first time I have ever started and finished a novel on the same day, ah, the beach... :)

So yeah, we are moving again, but we all are looking forward to it, we are tired of the area we currently live, time to move on. I'm amazed I have lived here as long as I have, I have the "rambling fever"... :) Yeah, time to move on... Keep reading, I'll keep posting details... ;)

Jacksonville...

I think we have all decided that this is the place to be, as opposed to where we currently live anyway... :)

Taylor and I on the beach yesterday...

Chance and Taylor on the dunes...

Tanner at the end of the pier...

Carolyn and I this AM out for a stroll in the surf, which is quite nice I might add...

Me, after a swim in the ocean...

So now, off to do more exploring and bask in the sun on the beach...

415 Grist Mill Drive...

Several of our neighbors called us this AM and said it looked like our mail box had exploded... So I came home from work and wow...

Yeah, pretty much obliterated...

I'm surprised that was still intact, the one on the other side, the 4, 1 and 5 were halfway down the street...

They must have been going pretty fast, notice how far down the street on the other side of the driveway the bricks are...

So anyway, we called the police, while waiting on them, we found several car pieces that identified the vehicle as a Volvo, one of our neighbors stopped by and said he saw a white volvo going back in the opposite direct with extensive front end damage... They could have left a note! Oh well, we have half of the neighborhood on the lookout for a white volvo, as well as the Paulding County Sheriff's office...

Lake...

Well, I didn't go, but the kids went with our old neighbors to the lake for some fun and relaxation in the 93+ degree weather, while they were doing that, Carolyn and I were busting our asses over at Cory's house helping him get a few things done he needed help with... :)

Taylor at the wheel of the pontoon boat...

Relaxing on the boat...

Chance, Tanner and TJ, buds hanging out at the lake...

Ditto...

Happy Independence Day!!