Life Lately...

 

Hello from Texas...

This has been a sad week in Texas, as you may know. The flooding that occurred in the Hill Country has been devastating and it's all consuming to continue to pray and hope with those families. I grew up in San Antonio and flash floods were things we were taught to watch out for, as we began to drive as teenagers. We were always told to avoid low water crossings because your car could be swept away in seconds. But when a wall of water comes down the river, rising a foot a minute, there's just nothing you can do to prepare yourself for that. We have been grieving all week as we've watched story after story of families whose lives have been changed forever. They will continue to be in our prayers for months to come. 

In the meantime...

We've unpacked every box and our new apartment is all set up. We need a few shelves hung, but I haven't had time to purchase any yet. However, we did get all the pictures and decor hung over the weekend, before going back to work. 

We've only told a few people that we were moving, but I did send out some cute cards to friends and family, with our new address and the announcement that we've downsized. That will be some surprised feedback, I'm sure 😅

This week I will clean the other house and then meet with the realtor on Friday to officially list the house. Please pray with me that it sells quickly! I would greatly appreciate it 😊 It's always tricky to move and then sell, but it's my preferred method. I find it way more stressful to have boxes packed and rooms torn apart, while having strangers walk through to see the house. I've never liked the process of having to leave the house, either, while it shows. So moving and then leaving a clean house for people to see is the way I like to do it. But, that means paying double for the months that it takes to sell, which can be scary. 

On the blog front...

As you can see, I'm no longer Millie's Cozy Cottage, mainly due to me not having a cottage any longer. 😀 I might change the header and name a few more times before settling down with it, so bear with me as I try new things. I've always written about home and family, but life is changing and it may take me a while to find my writing groove again. But, it always comes back to me eventually, when I get settled in and it will this time too. 

I'm driving a little further for work, but it's not bad. It gives me time to listen to my boys sing and pray on my way. I love the early mornings in the car, as it gives me some room to just talk to the Lord about life, without the distractions of home. 

I am still loving my job at the library. I've been there long enough now that I'm learning people's faces and names and they are recognizing me. I'm amazed at the older ladies who come in and check out 10 books at a time, for a 3 week period. And they read every single book during those 3 weeks! It's amazing! We have one lady who is 93 years old and still drives to the library! 😅 We have men who come in to use the computer weekly and they only want to sit in certain chairs, at certain computers. We have patrons who have been coming for years and they only want to deal with certain library staff. People are set in their ways! Yesterday I met a lady who is the mother-in-law of a little girl that my kids went to co-op with and she was there with the children of that "little girl" (who is now in her late 20's). What a joy to meet all of these people. I love my co-workers and the conversations we have and am thoroughly enjoying my time there. (I hope they feel the same 😊)

In conclusion...

It's been a busy, but good few weeks. What about you? Have you had a good week so far? I hope so 😀

Life is certainly unpredictable. Every day is a gift.

Until Next Time, my friends...

Blessings!

Apartment Living - Perks and Opinions

 

The apartment is coming together and we are feeling great making this move. Thank you all for your encouraging comments. Your positive attitudes are a blessing 😀 

Most have shown genuine excitement over the idea of us doing something different; saying they would love to do that one day. And then there's the "our people" crowd, who have already done what we're doing, as in downsizing to a simpler way of life and loving it. 

Over the months, as we've contemplated this move, we've watched a lot of YouTube videos of retired couples who have sold their homes and downsized into apartments, tiny homes, condos, etc. It's been inspiring to hear their stories and know that, in this phase of life, it's more common than you think, to want to simplify things. 

We are nowhere near retirement, but are seeing this move as more of a pre-retirement set-up. We are setting ourselves up for that season, so that when we get there, we are in much better shape than we have been, especially with all the job loss we've gone through over the past 10 years. 

And the perks are plenty...

We have a pool.

We live in a gated community.

We have valet trash pick up every night at our door.

We no longer have to change a lightbulb, air filter, mow the grass, weed the flower beds, fix the plumbing issues, pay the astronomical amount of property taxes or homeowner's insurance (our renter's insurance cost $16 per month!) and when we want to move next time...we're free to do so and don't have to sell something, pay a realtor, etc. It's a win-win, as far as we're concerned.

As I've told my kids - this is not their season of life. They are in the season of building families, getting excited to buy their first home and having their own backyard to play in. Every family should have that privilege. We did and we have the best memories of those years. I don't want to discourage them from doing any of that. 

But this is the season we are in; the one where we've already done all of that (many times) and it's time for simplifying and letting go of things now, so we can just enjoy living. That's what we're looking forward to.

Change is hard and I get that. But it's part of life. I think those who are adaptable to new seasons will be happier in the long run, because you can't stop changes from coming. What you can do is make choices for the season you're in and put things in place that can help you navigate new seasons with grace, instead of panic. Like the saying goes...don't just let life happen to you; make it happen the way you choose. (or something like that 😅)

The exciting thing is finding people who are also thinking of doing what we're doing and they are genuinely curious about the process. Now we can be the ones to help people along. David has already had that opportunity this week, with an old friend and it was so exciting to think that we could help guide someone with our (very new) experience. 

Well, that's all the news for now. We are getting settled in, boxes are all unpacked, but we still have work to do at the house to get it ready to be sold. I'm dreading dealing with all of that. But at least I get to come home to a tidy, little apartment at the end of the day. 

I hope you all have a fun and safe 4th of July! See you soon!

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

It's the Little Things

 

Well we survived another move (so far). We are now officially apartment dwellers and we love it! I was a bit overwhelmed on moving day as all the boxes poured into the apartment and began to fill each room. Even after brutally downsizing our belongings, we still had so much! But as each box has been emptied and the stuff put in its place, I feel a calm settling over me and this new home. 

Along the way we've had a few "little things" that I've taken notice of, such as the fact that it has rained all week and yet on our moving day, which was Saturday...no rain. What a blessing!

Another "little thing" happened yesterday as we made another trip to the house to load up more stuff (😓).

I was expecting some curtains to be delivered yesterday and my hope was that they would be sitting on the porch when we got to the house or at least show up while we were loading the car. But, even after loading and closing up the house, the curtains were still missing, so we had to get on the road back to the apartment because it was raining again and we still had to unload. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would have to make another trip the next day to pick up the curtains, which I really dreaded, since we had made so many trips already.

As we got about 3 minutes down the road, David realized he had left his phone at the house, so we had to turn back to pick it up. I waited in the car while he ran inside and not a minute later, the mail lady pulls in the drive way with my curtains! Thank you, Lord! What a blessing! 

And one more "little thing," which wasn't really so little. When we were still trying to decide on when to move, I was checking the apartment website daily to see which units they had available. The postings would show the floorpan, the location and what day the apartment would be ready to rent. After talking to the leasing agent, she convinced us that we would want a certain floorplan that would have all the features of home, including a full sized kitchen and even a two person desk in the hallway going toward the bedrooms. So each day I would check to see if that floorplan was available and most of the time, it wasn't.

Eventually another floorplan came available, but we didn't feel good about the location and it wasn't really the one we wanted, so we passed. I had laid out several points that I wanted: a bottom floor apartment, toward the front of the complex, near the pool, but not facing the pool and the certain floorplan that was suggested to us. I knew it was a long shot because the agent said there were only so many of those units available, so I prayed that God would open one up within all of those parameters I had in my mind. Well, the same week we didn't feel a peace about the first one that showed up, another one became available at the end of that week and guess what? It checked off all the boxes that I had prayed for! What a blessing!

Some say these "little things" are just coincidences and maybe they are, but I really believe that God is in the details, even the little bitty details (or the big ones, like which apartment you get!). 

I am on the lookout for more little things that turn into the big things. How about you?

Have a great week, my friends! I'll be back soon with more updates. 

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Hallelujah Brings Me Home

 

I hope you enjoy this beautiful song. 

The Sweet Memories of Summertime

 

There's something so nostalgic about summer mornings. Maybe they take me to that first summer day, after the last day of school, and the feeling of freedom that was suddenly in the air. The long, lazy days when getting a tan (which I never did) was priority, finding a summer job was somewhere on the agenda, and spending weekends at the lake was always the goal. 

When I was younger, there were trips to the lake with my family, homemade ice cream on the back porch at night and fireworks in the driveway, yelling at my dad to be careful as he lit the fuses on the roman candles. 

There were visits to my aunt's, where we spent our days riding bikes, playing with friends and eating what we could afford at the local Bonanza. 

Summer has always held such fun memories for me and even now, when I get in my car early on a summer day, I find myself feeling that special feeling that only a summer morning can bring. It's a feeling of hope and excitement mixed with a feeling of memories and good times.

Lately summer has consisted of packing boxes for our move, spending time with my kids and grandkids for Mother's Day and Father's Day and taking my girls to see Lilo and Stitch at the movie theater. That brought back sweet memories of the summers with my own boys, taking them to the Tuesday Dollar Day at the theater, buying little snack boxes of popcorn and drinks and going home afterwards to happy boys and lazy afternoons.

Going back even further, when my boys were little bitty, we had a baby pool in the backyard and we would head outside every morning, with towels, toys and always snacks and they would splash in the pool for a good while and I would sit and read right next to them in my lawn chair. Sometimes we would invite a friend over and that would add one more kid to the tiny pool and they still had so much fun. 

One summer I signed Ted up for tennis lessons at the local country club. Always the good sport, he enjoyed learning a new thing. Me...I spent the hour chasing his little brother (an active toddler) around and wondering why this was a good idea. But it was fun and it added to the fun of summer. 

In June, for many years, the boys took swimming lessons and we would spend two weeks wondering if the summer thunderstorms were going to keep them out of the pool each day. Some days they did. 

Just after swimming was over each June, we would embark on Vacation Bible School, which was a full week of being at the church early in the morning and going home happy and tired by noon. 

Still to this day, when summer rolls around and the VBS signs go up around the church, it brings back sweet memories and feelings of those years of having young kids in the house.

Summers have changed over the years. My boys are grown, married, working hard in their business, their wives creating beautiful homes and memories for my grand babies, and I have a job for the first time in a million years. 

But I still open the front door every morning, look out at the moist grass, the sun shining on the yard and it takes me back to all the life we've lived and all the good memories we've made and I fall in love with summer all over again.

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Gone for Summer Break

 

Gone for Summer Break

🌞

You can follow me HERE or HERE

for weekly updates.

I hope you all have a lovely summer!

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

A Great Weekend

Good morning friends!

I can't believe May is coming to a close! Happy Memorial Day and happy Monday. 

Our weekend started on Friday night when I got off work. David and I went out to eat at a restaurant we never go to, but I was just ready to have someone else cook for me and dinner was very good. It was a nice change at the end of a busy week.

On Saturday I got up early and headed out to do a big grocery trip. Most of the time I like to do a pick up order from Walmart, but once in a while I want to walk the store and see what they have on sale at Kroger, plus they always send me coupons, so I had a small stack of those to use. 

I like to do a big grocery trip every few weeks and then not have to go back for awhile. That helps to cut down on spending (for me). Plus, now with work, I have to be strategic about shopping before my next shift starts, because there is no time to shop on those days. 

I spent the rest of Saturday decluttering different areas of the house. Have I mentioned how good it feels to have less stuff? 

I have always decluttered when we've moved, but this time I'm getting rid of things I've hung onto for years and years. Things like jars, storage containers for the pantry and decorative items that I used to love, but not so much anymore. I even sold two chairs that I won't have room for, but a friend bought them and said she has loved them since she first saw them a few years back, so they went to a good home. 

I was able to sell a bed we didn't need and that also went to a friend who had been saving up for a bed frame. So all is not lost when you can pass things along to people you know. I was able to give some extra items to that same friend who bought the bed, as she recently built a small house and is still acquiring decor and other things she needs. Since she has a garden and does some canning, I gave her a good amount of jars that I no longer needed. 

But, enough about that...

 

Sunday evening we had a little visitor for a few hours while his parents went to a wedding. Asa is always a bundle of energy and fun. 

We played with every toy we have, read a few books, ate some chicken, snacked on some toddler cookies and watched some choo-choo trains on TV.  We even brought out the mini trampoline and he had a great time jumping and playing on that. 

He even snuggled up to PawPaw and shared some graham crackers with him. At one point in the evening, he just came over to each of us and gave us a kiss out of the blue. He's always been the sweetest boy 💙

But when mommy and daddy got back and took the baby out of the car seat, Asa climbed in and was ready to go 😅 He was ready to get home and go to bed. Me too, buddy. Me too 😴

Today David and I are both off work and have a few errands to run. We were going to work in the garage, but I think we'll just wait until next weekend. After all, it's a holiday and no one should clean the garage on a holiday, should they?

Have a wonderful Monday and Memorial Day! 

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

My Experience on Facebook Marketplace

 Good morning friends!

I'm just popping on here to share my experience in something that you might be familiar with or not...Facebook Marketplace. What a nightmare!

This past weekend I decided to list some items on Marketplace. I had a grill, a bed, a toy train table and some enamel top tables for sale. All reasonably priced.

The first day or two I had a few inquiries, but nothing crazy. By Tuesday afternoon, I had some solid interest in the grill, bed and the tables. They each told me they would come the following afternoon to see the items and even though I had plans with my little girls the next day, I allotted the time for each of those pick ups to occur.

Then Wednesday came along and my phone never stopped dinging with notifications from other people asking about these same items. It was chaos! I was having to tell people that I would get back to them if the items didn't sell that night and keep track of who was first, who was a real person and who looked sketchy, etc. 

This is the life of listing something on the Marketplace.

A lady told me she was "for sure" coming to get the bed the next day. She even went so far as to tell me that her daughter was so excited to get it and that she would come after work on Wednesday. In the meantime, the man who wanted the grill was also coming, as was the lady wanting the tables. 

Here's how it all played out:

The lady wanting the tables showed up and that went fine. Great!

The man wanting the grill showed up and decided it wasn't exactly what he was looking for, but he enjoyed meeting us. No problem.

So around 4:30 I sent the "bed" woman a message asking what time she would be here, because I needed to schedule a time to get the girls back home.

It was at this point that she writes back and says, "Oh, we decided not to get it and we bought a new one instead." 

Keep in mind that all day I was putting off other people who were interested in the bed!

I replied to the "bed" lady that I wish she would have had the courtesy to let me know earlier, since other people were interested in it and then she called me rude.  Mind you, if I had not taken the time to message her, she would have never even contacted me to tell me she wasn't coming. 

I had already stripped the bed and thankfully we had not taken it apart. But it's just the principle of the thing.

After that conversation, I was done. I had spent so much time on this, that I was just done and didn't care about selling anything at that point.

I took the girls home and the minute I got back, I had another person text me to ask if they could come see one of the items. It was already 7:00! I said no.

In fact, I ate dinner, fixed me a strong cup of decaf coffee and proceeded to delete every single listing off Marketplace and called it a day.

I don't think I will be doing that again! 

Have you ever experienced selling or buying on Marketplace? Share your experiences, if you dare.

Inquiring minds want to know 😬

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

The Beginning of a New Adventure

 Hello my friends!

I hope this post finds you well and having a great week so far. I usually start out really strong on Mondays and then drag a little on Tuesdays. What about you?

David and I had a great weekend. We spent Saturday decluttering the garage, which was very satisfying. 

When I stood at the open garage door and looked at all the boxes, tools, unwanted furniture, bikes, etc., it felt overwhelming, to say the least. But item by item, we either threw it in the trash or put it in the back of the truck for the thrift store, and before we knew it, the entire bed of the truck was full of donations. We still have several weeks worth of doing the same routine, but after seeing how fast it can actually go, I felt encouraged.

We are officially calling this our "pre-retirement" preparation 😅 We are nowhere near retirement, but we are at the beginning stages of setting ourselves up to be in better financial shape and with much less clutter.

We are definitely moving in the near future. By the time we actually move, we will have been here close to a year. Not how we planned it, at all, when buying this house, but this is what life has handed us and we're navigating it with wisdom and prayer. All the reasons for buying this bigger house and all the income we had when we bought it, are gone and we do not want to spend the rest of our lives paying for a home that we aren't invested in. 

As I sat with a friend of mine yesterday who has recently moved, we had a conversation about life and how we never expected to be moving so much in our older years. But life is a journey, for sure, and you just never know what circumstances are going to arise and call for a change. Things like divorce, job loss, illness...these are all things that change the way we live and I think being flexible is healthy.

No one asks for trials to come our way and not every trial demands a drastic change of life, but some do and I think it's healthy to keep open hands and go where the Lord leads you for each season.

I knew some people who once thought they would stay in the home they built, at the job they tolerated, and said they would "never leave" their hometown. Well, guess what? God had other plans and called the man into ministry and they left that hometown, that custom built home, that barely tolerated job and have since lived in multiple places, serving the Lord in multiple churches. 

We can't dig our heels in and say we won't move. Instead, we need to be willing to go when the Lord says go, and know that life is a long line of events, from beginning to end, and we can be like the stubborn mule who fights at every turn OR hold things lightly, knowing if the Lord moves us, it's where we need to be. 

I recently gave out a book (my favorite gift to give) to my daughters-in-love and my friend who just moved. I talked about it HERE, it's called The Nesting Place, and that one book speaks to each season of life that we may find ourselves in:

For my youngest daughter - she is dreaming of her own home and anticipating the memories they will make fixing it up and raising their kids there. I love that season of life!

For my oldest daughter - they just moved into an amazing home and are enjoying the space and beauty of this gift they've been given and all the decorating that comes with finally having that space they've been praying for. 

And for my friend - who's life is going in a direction she never imagined and now finds herself navigating living as a single parent - she needs to read the words and realize that she's not alone and that moving and starting over are hard, and yet, we can make the best of it and still have a beautiful space to call our own, even if it's not what we planned. 

And for David and I...we have faced many trials this past year and sometimes we were hanging on by a thin thread. But we're making it and as so often happens when life gets hard, we are learning and growing and figuring out what matters and what doesn't and we are adjusting to that growth.

The "American Dream" is to own your own home. In fact, the dream has become such an idol, that people are willing to let someone else raise their kids so they can work at jobs they hate, rack up debt they can't even pay and be slaves to the banks for a lifetime...just to own a home. 

We're done with all of that. Home ownership is great, if you actually own it. But is it worth paying for the rest of our lives? Not to us. 

I won't pretend to know what the future holds, but I'm trusting God for the next season and the adventure of doing something new and different. 

We are actually excited about downsizing, about renting, about living in a community where we can walk to the pool in the evenings, meet new people and have minimal responsibilities in our home. And we are excited for the freedom that renting allows. 

I know this will sound like a nightmare to some, and that's ok! If it's not part of your journey, then you won't understand. But this is where life has led us at the moment and we are trusting God to get us to the right place, in the right time, and we'll make the most of it when we get there. 

In the meantime, with every load of "stuff" I take to the thrift store, with every item that I just thought I had to have, with every thing that I let go of...honestly, I feel like a weight has lifted. It's a good feeling.

Whether you're renting or in a paid-for home or still paying for the one you wanted...the main thing is staying open to whatever God brings your way. Be willing to let go of your earthly possessions if he asks you to. Hold them lightly. Don't sacrifice your family for bricks and sticks. Don't work at a job that is killing your soul, just to live beyond your means. It's not worth what you'll be giving up. 

Thanks for attending my lecture 😅 I had no idea where this post was going or leading, but it's what was on my heart today.

Have a great Tuesday, my friends 💚

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Hello Monday!

 

Happy Monday, my friends!

Well, another Mother's Day has come and gone and mine was full of blessings of the best kind. It was kind of a mixed up day, but those are the best when you can roll with the punches and go with the flow. 

I texted all my favorite moms - sisters, aunts, friends, daughters-in-loves and my mom, got to talk to some on the phone, then we met the kids and grandkids at a local bakery, which we didn't expect to be crowded and boy were we wrong!

The meet up was chaotic, with moms, dads, babies - standing in long lines for dessert, one mommy having to spend it in the car with hungry baby and fussy toddler. Just pure chaos, but somehow we managed to get hugs, exchange some really sweet gifts and laugh about the memories the day will hold.

We all agreed that next year we will forego the cafe and just meet at home, like we normally do. 

The kids gave me the sweetest gifts, but the cards are always my favorites. David gave me some sweet cards too and told me to buy myself something, but I didn't want to spend the money (plus I had splurged on a new book this week, so there's that 😅).

When my kids were growing up, I would always tell them that the best gift they could ever give me was a card with their feelings written down. Gifts are great, but the words will be the true treasure, every time.

I still feel that way. 

Today begins a new week of working. I'll try to do some decluttering each day, either on my lunch break or when I get home in the evenings. I actually enjoy shedding some of these possessions. With every load to the thrift store or as we sell things off, I feel lighter, in a strange way. I'll never be a minimalist, but sometimes we hold on to things that just clutter up our homes and it feels good to let some of that stuff go.

I need to work in the garage, but ever since David found that snake in there, I'm hesitant to pick up any boxes. Any tips on this? 😳

I would put on big, rubber boots...but they're in the garage!

Tune in later to see whether I make it in there or not 😁

But for now, I'm off to get ready for the day. I had a nightmare that I overslept and had to run to the library just before opening time, in my pjs and no make up. Yikes! Don't want that dream to come true, so I'd better get going.

Have a wonderful day, my friends!

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Life and Other Things

Hello Friends!

Happy Wednesday...happy day before I go back to work day...happy "it's already May" day!

Wow! This year is moving on, isn't it?

As I'm typing this today, it's dark and rainy outside. It's been storming since yesterday. I don't mind, though, because I'm really enjoying my time at home right now and I kind of like this cozy feeling of not having to go anywhere.

 

We had a busy weekend with our oldest granddaughter, Emmy. I picked her up on Saturday morning and she stayed until Sunday evening. We did a lot of fun things while she was here and had a great weekend together. 

On Monday I got straight to work on some things I wanted to get done before going back to work this week, one of them being this little concoction I wanted to put together. I've made this homemade dishwasher powder once before and remember it doing a fine job, so I had it on my list to make more. The recipe is so easy, so I made a container for myself, as well as two jars for my daughters-in-love. 

 

Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups washing powder

1 1/2 cups Borax powder

1/2 cup salt

That's it!

I used two recycled sauce jars and made a cute label and that should last them for a while. Every night when I would use the store bought powder or liquid, I wouldn't feel great about washing my dishes in all of those chemicals, so this was the alternative. I didn't do a cost comparison, but I would think it comes out to our benefit, either way. 

This has been on my reading table this week. I've had this book for many years and go back to it once in a while, when I need a reminder that a home is what you make it. Myquillyn is a beautiful decorator, but she also shares her experience in this book about moving 13 times in her first few years of marriage. Life happens! Jobs happen. Crazy things happen. But she rolls with the punches and makes the best of each home she moved into and it's really inspiring.

This is another book I've been perusing this week. I have probably shared this here before, but I keep several of her books in my kitchen and I will read a few pages while I'm cooking or waiting on things to cook. I'm planning on sharing some tips here soon. 

Today I'm cooking some ground beef and making some meals to put in the freezer. I'm trying to get ahead of the game by having things I can heat up after work.  Yesterday I made a big pot of Chicken Taco Soup, which we ate for dinner and then I was able to put 3 containers in the freezer for the next few weeks.

Today I will be dividing up the ground beef and putting it the freezer for lasagna, tacos, more soup and some "hash" that I make with cubed hash browns. Nothing fancy, but it will feed us on the days I don't want to cook up something new. 

In other news...

David and I are talking about downsizing, which I will share more of when we get closer to actually doing it. I've already started cleaning closets, selling a few items and envisioning myself in a smaller space. Lots of thoughts going into our next season of life and what we want that to look like, financially and just in ways of how to do life. 

These are thoughts that I will share as time goes by. For now I'm watching a lot of YT videos about other people downsizing and living their lives free from debt and mortgages and all that entails and I'm getting really excited about the possibilities. 

But for now, I've got a list of things to do today, so I better get to it!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!