Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I feel as if I am back in Alaska! It has been snowing the last few days and it looks like we have 2 feet of snow in our yard. Since my Dear Husband has been gone since Monday on a business trip, the driveway hasn't been plow at all.

As I sat in my kitchen drinking my coffee this morning, I heard someone plowing the driveway and when I opened the garage door, there was an older gentleman removing the snow. He introduced himself, and told me that he is one of my neighbors. I live in a cul-de-sac and we have a lovely neighborhood and even lovelier neighbors. I guess he noticed that DH car hasn't been seen in the driveway and he figured with all the snow, I might need some help. What a very, very nice man!

I am so blessed to be living in this house and I feel very at home, like I belong here. And, God is so good for providing for all my needs. Thank you Lord!

Home Sweet Home Part 2

Well, we have been in our house for two weeks now. It's been very busy and chaotic. We have so much to do!!! With the holidays coming up we are trying to get the house in order for friends and family.

Darling Daughter has a childhood friend from Illinois visiting her for Thanksgiving and along with DD's "Manfriend" they will be having dinner with us. I still have yet to unpack my fancy china and silverware.

The rest of my Dear Husband's family will be here weekend of December 12th for family get together. And DH doesn't seem to understand that I'm a little nervous since this is the FIRST time his whole family will be visiting us. And I want this to be absolutely perfect, which I know it won't be.

New beds have been delivered for the guestrooms, sectional sofa was ordered from Lazyboy and a big flat screen TV has been shipped. I just hope they get here before Thanksgiving.

Now if I can just unpack the boxes in the garage and put away... every thing would be so nice!

Back to the World Wide Web!

Oh my goodness! We finally have interwebs!!!
Will post more later. :)

Home Sweet Home

After our marathon househunting over the last few days, DH and I struggled which house we were going to make an offer to. There were two houses that were on top of our list, one was in the Upper South Hill area (very desirable neighborhood in Spokane) and the other house is in Liberty Lake. After thinking and talking it over, we decided to choose the house in Liberty Lake.

This morning our Realtor called to tell us the good news, our offer was accepted! I am hoping and praying that everything else will go smoothly. We're having a home inspection done in a few days and I hope there's no major problem with the house.

This is Century 21's description of the property:

Pottery Barn Contemporary Home in Liberty Lake, WA. This Home has Lovely Curb Appeal and is situated on a wonderful view cul-de-sac location.

Within a short walk to Liberty Lake Golf Course, Liberty Lake and the beach, Pavillion Park and Liberty Lake Elementary School. Liberty Lake is a Urban Lake Community south of I90 between Spokane, WA and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho with an upscale flair. Lifestyle is at the top of everyone's list. Paved Walking, Jogging and Bike Trails. 15 minutes to Centennial Trail where you can ride or run for miles and miles. It's all about "enjoying Life while enjoying Nature at its best!" Wonderful community, Great Location.

Near everything yet has a kind of Lake Tahoo-ness to it yet located in the Inland Northwest! Much more affordable here too! Home Features 5 Bedrooms, 4 Bathrooms, 2 Car Garage. 2 Master Bedrooms both with Adjoining Bathrooms. One of the Master Bedrooms has a garden window and a single french door to a beautiful backyard courtyard (wonderfully landscaped) Newer Roof, Tiled Countertops, Gas Fireplace in Family Room. Living Room is adjacent to the Kitchen and Dining Room.

If you would like to see a virtual tour you can see the house here.

Hello Spokane, WA

We're here! We made it safely and getting settled in our new temporary housing.

DD (darling daughter) and her "Manfriend" came over for dinner and we watch the VP Debate. We had fun watching and playing VP debate bingo.

Tomorrow, we meet with our Real Estate agent and start our house-hunting marathon.

Goodbye Charleston, WV

Please pray for travel mercies, as we will have driven around 2300 miles by the time we get to Spokane.

Wall Street Bailout

I'm sure most of us have been reading and talking about what's going on in the Economy right now. I thought I'd post the draft of the bailout plan if you haven't seen or read it. Please pay close attention to Section 8.

Here's another article I found very interesting:
Sackcloth and Ashes on Wall Street


Text of Draft Proposal for Bailout Plan:

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY

TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS

Section 1. Short Title.

This Act may be cited as ____________________.

Sec. 2. Purchases of Mortgage-Related Assets.

(a) Authority to Purchase.--The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States.

(b) Necessary Actions.--The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation:

(1) appointing such employees as may be required to carry out the authorities in this Act and defining their duties;

(2) entering into contracts, including contracts for services authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, without regard to any other provision of law regarding public contracts;

(3) designating financial institutions as financial agents of the Government, and they shall perform all such reasonable duties related to this Act as financial agents of the Government as may be required of them;

(4) establishing vehicles that are authorized, subject to supervision by the Secretary, to purchase mortgage-related assets and issue obligations; and

(5) issuing such regulations and other guidance as may be necessary or appropriate to define terms or carry out the authorities of this Act.

Sec. 3. Considerations.

In exercising the authorities granted in this Act, the Secretary shall take into consideration means for--

(1) providing stability or preventing disruption to the financial markets or banking system; and

(2) protecting the taxpayer.

Sec. 4. Reports to Congress.

Within three months of the first exercise of the authority granted in section 2(a), and semiannually thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the Committees on the Budget, Financial Services, and Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committees on the Budget, Finance, and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate with respect to the authorities exercised under this Act and the considerations required by section 3.

Sec. 5. Rights; Management; Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.

(a) Exercise of Rights.--The Secretary may, at any time, exercise any rights received in connection with mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act.

(b) Management of Mortgage-Related Assets.--The Secretary shall have authority to manage mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act, including revenues and portfolio risks therefrom.

(c) Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.--The Secretary may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at prices determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into securities loans, repurchase transactions or other financial transactions in regard to, any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act.

(d) Application of Sunset to Mortgage-Related Assets.--The authority of the Secretary to hold any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act before the termination date in section 9, or to purchase or fund the purchase of a mortgage-related asset under a commitment entered into before the termination date in section 9, is not subject to the provisions of section 9.

Sec. 6. Maximum Amount of Authorized Purchases.

The Secretary’s authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time

Sec. 7. Funding.

For the purpose of the authorities granted in this Act, and for the costs of administering those authorities, the Secretary may use the proceeds of the sale of any securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, are extended to include actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses. Any funds expended for actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses, shall be deemed appropriated at the time of such expenditure.

Sec. 8. Review.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

Sec. 9. Termination of Authority.

The authorities under this Act, with the exception of authorities granted in sections 2(b)(5), 5 and 7, shall terminate two years from the date of enactment of this Act.

Sec. 10. Increase in Statutory Limit on the Public Debt.

Subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking out the dollar limitation contained in such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof $11,315,000,000,000.

Sec. 11. Credit Reform.

The costs of purchases of mortgage-related assets made under section 2(a) of this Act shall be determined as provided under the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, as applicable.

Sec. 12. Definitions.

For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) Mortgage-Related Assets.--The term “mortgage-related assets” means residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before September 17, 2008.

(2) Secretary.--The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Treasury.

(3) United States.--The term “United States” means the States, territories, and possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia.

Manic Monday #1

I decided to join Manic Monday meme (pronounced /miːm/) since I'm always racking my brain about what to post. So here goes:

Pick out the most important item you have in your purse/wallet and tell me why it's important to you.
~ My Driver's Licence... it would be such a pain in the neck to replace it.

What would you take from your house if you knew it would be flooded tomorrow?
~ Photos, our portable safe with all of our important documents in it and our computers.

If you were stuck in a room for an hour with a chalk board, what would you draw on it?
~ Faces of people... I like drawing faces and probably writing my signature in different ways. Since I do this on paper when I am bored, I assume this is what I'd do if I'm stuck in a room for an hour with nothing to do.

Highligths of the day:

* Got my haircut, (a little shorter more this time) my manicure and pedicure.

* DH wasn't feeling so good today, he thinks he might have "Dumping Syndrome", you have to ask him what that is. ;)

* Went to U-Haul for more boxes.

Seven Days!

Today is my self-imposed deadline to have every thing packed. Well, let's just say it's not. Although, I am not panicking yet! I have gotten a lot accomplished and actually pretty proud of myself.

We have been working with our mortgage officer and Realtor from across the country and someone in Spokane are previewing houses I emailed to them, so when we get into town we can do a "marathon" house hunting. I have been looking online and making a list of the homes I'd like to see when we get there.

I was on the phone today and reserved our temporary housing while we wait to close on our house. So for the next month we will be living in a "corporate housing". I re-confirmed our movers, and asked them to store our household goods when our "stuff" gets there. Merry Maid and Stanley Carpet Cleaner has been scheduled. Now I need to "kill" all my vegetable and herb plants, so I can pack my Earth Boxes.

My Dear Husband got the Expedition ready for the long road trip, has our route mapped & printed and hotels picked out for when we stopped for the night.

There's still a lot to do for the next 7 days, so please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, that I will manage the remaining time I have here in Charleston well and get my tasks done.

PostOp: Day 2

It's day 2 after DH's surgery and he is doing very well. I'm so happy that everything went well and he came out of the surgery with flying colors. We're hoping he can go home this afternoon. We're waiting for his doctor right now.

I've been here since Monday, so I'm getting a little tired of hospital cafeteria food. Also, DH is getting a little stir crazy in this room. ;)

Prayer Request

My DH (dear husband) is having his surgery today. Please pray that everything will go as plan and there will be no complication.

Packing our household is coming along nicely. I hope to get all my packing done by September 20th. I'm really getting excited about our move to Spokane and I'm looking forward to this new chapter of our lives.

Another birthday, another year older!

Happy birthday to me!

I got a very nice Dooney & Bourke handbag from DH this year... I love it!

Summer in a Basket

After a very heavy rain this morning, I decided to harvest some of my vegetables. Here's my beautiful bounty!

Zucchinis, Eggplants, Squash, Leaf Lettuce, Early Bird Tomatoes,

Yellow Pear Tomatoes and miscellaneous herbs.

Gardening has given me so much enjoyment. I didn't know growing your own food is so much fun!

DH and I will be eating zucchinis, eggplant and squash in the next few days. I harvested a couple of my bell peppers a few days ago and made some beef stir-fry with it. And it seems like every time I cut some of my lettuce from my Aero-Garden, they just keep growing back.

I am planning to have an SFG (Square Foot Garden) next year along with my EarthBox. I might even join a gardening club in Spokane!

Congrats Tex!

Texas regulators have approved a $4.93 billion wind-power transmission project, providing a major lift to the development of wind energy in the state.

The planned web of transmission lines will carry electricity from remote western parts of the state to major population centers like Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. The lines can handle 18,500 megawatts of power, enough for 3.7 million homes on a hot day when air-conditioners are running.

The project will ease a bottleneck that has become a major obstacle to development of the wind-rich Texas Panhandle and other areas suitable for wind generation.

Read the full story here.

Congratulations Texas. Great move!

Zucchini

For dinner tonight, I sauteed some zucchini from my garden with pork, onions, tomatoes and some herbs. It was yummy!

My garden is growing like crazy... I have tons of Ichiban eggplants, some of my grape tomatoes are starting to get pink and my bell peppers need to be harvested soon. My leaf lettuce are getting big and herbs are coming out of my ears. ;)

I love all these fresh produce coming from my garden. Gardening rocks!!!

73 Days!

WHAT?!? You're probably wondering what happened to the other 14 days.

Well... while DH was out for his doctor's appointment Seattle HR called again and told me that he needed to call them back because the date got changed. When I mentioned that I was his wife and we knew that it was changed to Oct. 12, she said... "Well, his new pick-up date is now Sept. 28!"

GRRRR!!!

Fortunately, 80% of our boxes are still packed. Since, we were planning to do a "touch and go" here in CRW, we decided not to unpack everything.

I just finished talking and making reservation for the moving company. They will be here Sept. 29th to load and take everything. So, Tuesday, Sept. 30th were on our way out to Spokane, Washington!

Now, I just need to make airline & hotel reservations and get a rental car for Spokane. We're planning to go at the end of August to do a "marathon" house-hunting.

Of course there are still a lot of editing and packing to do. I'm getting stressed-out thinking about it.

87 days

AUGHHHHHHH!?!?

DH just got off the phone with Seattle HR and they told him that his pick-up date for his job in Spokane is October 12th. That's 87 days from now!!! I really need to get busy!

Please, keep me in your prayers that I will use my time well and focus on the task at hand. I get so distracted easily when I'm packing, that I lose track of what I'm doing.

In Loving Memory

Paul Rene Saunders
May 5, 1959 - July 14, 1997

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."
~Psalm 116:15

I could not stay another day,
To love, to laugh, to work or play;
Tasks left undone must stay that way.
And if my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.
~ Shannon Moseley, “Don’t Grieve for Me”

One of the worst days of my life

Sunday, July 13, 1997 exactly eleven years ago today.

Some things I remember about this day:

• It was an extremely hot day

• I did not go to church - Paul and Autumn went
  

• Paul made some sort of chili-pie for lunch

• Paul had a "things-to-do list" - mow the lawn was on it
  

• Someone else usually mow the lawn - I do not know why he decided to do it

• He was going on a business trip the next day - maybe this was the reason why

• I was in the garage doing the laundry - getting his clothes ready
  

• I didn't hear the sound of the lawn mower

• I went outside to check on him - I thought he was resting on the grass

Life as I knew it ended.

I'm So Excited!

...and I just can't hide it
I'm about to lose control and I think I like it – Pointer Sisters

So, this afternoon DH found out that he got the job in Spokane. You can read more about it in details here.

I am so excited!!!

So much to do and there still so much I want to see around here. There’s a possibility that we can be out of here mid November. That’s only four months away! I was hoping that we can go back to Washington, DC before we leave the area. And I had plans for a Niagara trip for our anniversary but more than likely we’re going to go to Spokane for a few days to look for a house.

However, I am going to take advantage of my remaining time here in West Virginia and try to see as much as I can of the surrounding area.

Please keep us in your prayers that everything will go smoothly and there’s no SNAFU with the paperwork this time.

Happy 4th of July

Just Another Day

My apologies for the non-post! I've been busy with my "current obsession" at the moment, EarthBox gardening and Digital scrapbooking. Besides, there wasn't much exciting going on right now and I've been spending my online time reading about gardening and digi-scrapbooking.

But alas, when I woke up this morning and went out to the back deck to check on my veggies and herbs; look who I found hiding in the corner!

It's the Sneaky Gnome!!!

DH said he took pity on him and let him come home with him when he was out and about this morning. Besides, he said I really wanted to take him home the first time I saw him, so he did it for me! Isn't my hubby sweet? :)

So, I guess I'll let him stay outside and guard my tomatoes!

My container garden is growing like crazy. I have six varieties of tomatoes, two Ichiban Eggplants, three summer squash, three zuchinni, three different types of bell pepper and of course our herbs.





I can't wait until my veggies start producing! I'm planning to get 15 EarthBox for next year. So, if you're thinking of giving me a gift for my Birthday, Christmas, etc... an EarthBox gift would be perfect! ::wink wink::

Blogwear Design

I'm really excited about learning and creating "blogwear". So far, I made two complete layout. The Winnie the Pooh layout is for DD. I'm not sure if she'll use it or not but I wanted to make something for her. It might be too cutesy for her taste.



If you want a new blogwear or a signature (like the one I have below) for your blog, let me know and I'll try and make one for you.

Sunday Roundup

It was a good week. We got our “container garden” done. DH and I went to visit Capitol Market a couple of times this week to check for veggies and more herbs to plant. I discovered gardening with “Earth Box” a few days ago and we went to Beckley (closest dealer within 75 miles radius) on Saturday to buy one. It’s not cheap but I’ve read some great reviews about it so I decided to spend the money.

There’s another garden container similar to Earth Box called “Garden Box” it’s less expensive so I ordered one online as well. I’m going to experiment with both boxes and compare to see which one I like better. Next year, I plan to expand my “garden” beyond tomatoes, peppers and herbs. I was hoping to plant some leaf lettuce in the 2nd box but I found out its too late in the season. I ended up getting some summer squash and zucchinis instead.

These are some photos I got from the forum I visits so you can see what an Earth Box looks like. I’m excited about it; people plant all kinds of things using EB… from tomatoes to corn to strawberry to watermelon.

Patio Garden

Rooftop Garden

Rolling Garden

DH got busy working and imported his Wordpress blog to our own domain. The Thompson Chronicles site is looking good. If you have his blog linked, you might want to change the URL address. You can check his blog at the new digs.

I also got my first complete blogwear design finished for a friend. I used a digi-scrapbook kit I purchased to create the banner and the background. I learned to tweak the existing “Minima Template” from Blogger and it turned out nice.

Beginning next week, I’m going to start getting organized and edit more stuff to prepare for our move. We are either moving across town when we buy a house or across the country if he gets the job in Spokane, WA.

I hope you had a good week as I have.

Wordless Wednesday - DH in Caricature

Before

After

A plug for the company

Wordless Wednesday - Sen. Obama my presidential nominee!

Google Docs

Testing 123 Hey it works! I'm checking out Google Docs, using it to write and post. So far I like it! You get 4 more extra fonts and there are more features, like Strikeout. I'm not really sure if I'll be using Google Docs much when posting on my blog. It's easy and very convenient to use my Dashboard, click "New Post" and I'm done!

Anyway, I guess I better get going... DH is going to be home soon!

Why do I blog? Let me count the ways!

This week when there’s something fun, clever or sad that happened I find myself thinking “Oh, I need to blog that!” I remember the reason I started this blog, was to write about my trip to the Philippines.

So, here’s some random reasons of why I blog.

~ for my own personal pleasure and amusement
~ to connect with far away friends and love ones
~ to pass time and share my experience
~ to keep my friends and family stay informed of my life (in case any of them care!)
~ because it's fun

Those are just some of the reasons I am here; and if you, the reader, find something amusing or entertaining, then it's been twice the fun.

What about you? Please, feel free to share why you blog.

Cute Banner

I was feeling creative today and made a new banner. DH suggested I should delete "one day at a time" since I only blog occasionally. I decided to incorporate both. I like it! :)

Green Stuff

DH and I went to Capitol Market today to look at some plants. We weren’t really planning to do any “gardening” this summer. But, there were some heirloom tomatoes that sprouted and growing from our old container last year. So, we’ve decided to go ahead and plant some other things.

(Black Krim from our original tomato plant)

We purchased some herbs, bell peppers, a flower plant, more tomatoes and more herbs.

"please take me home!"

This little guy wanted me to take him home... but I decided to leave him there for now. I might come back for him one of this days!

I apologize for the bad photos... I used my Moto Q to take these pictures instead of my Cannon.

Memorial Day Remembered