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Tangle Tuesday – Thank you Angels

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Beth F.

It has been quite a busy time around our household. My honey and I had talked about combining households so we could eliminate the travel back and forth between our respective homes and have “our home” instead of “his home” or “my home”. We had been casually looking at homes that came on the market for a while, but not seriously looking.

After he proposed this summer, we started talking a bit more earnestly about our future plans and talking about our wish lists for our home. He wanted a three car garage, and I wanted a nice yard with the potential for adding my own flowers and plants. We both wanted a master bedroom with an attached bathroom, something I didn’t have in my house, but he did in his. We wanted at least three bedrooms since his youngest daughter is still with us, and we wanted a room for guests to stay when they visit.

We first found a house that had an amazing “man-cave” garage and a very nice yard, but no master bath and a very dated interior. For the remodeling we would have to do, it was too expensive for us. The second house we looked at was beautiful, checked all the boxes, but was above what we wanted to spend. We agreed that it helped us to know what we were looking for at least. After that, we looked at several other homes but didn’t find one that had everything we wanted.

We considered maybe finding a lot and building and kept looking through listings. After a weekend of perusing open houses, I said that I wished we could find one like the second house we looked at, but with a lower price. Lo and behold, the following week, the price of the second home was reduced by 25,000.00. We decided to take a closer look than we had gotten at the Open House. We liked it as much or maybe even more than we had at the first viewing. 😊

We started the process of getting pre-approved for a loan. It was a little more complicated since we wanted to do a short-term loan until our two houses sold. After a long process of submitting document after document and bank statements, pay stubs, and all the good stuff that goes along with taking out a mortgage, we received our pre-approval. We were able to officially make an offer on the home we hoped would be ours. After talking through what we were both comfortable with, we decided to put in an offer that was 19,000.00 below the current asking price. We hoped for the best, but expected that we would most likely receive a counter offer.

We put our offer in on Friday afternoon and gave 24 hours for their response. We waited and talked about what we would do with a counter offer and how high we might be willing to go. The next day, around 11:30 in the morning, our real estate agent called and said they accepted the offer, with no counter! We had our home! I credit our Guardian Angels for helping to make it such a smooth transition. 😇💕😇

We closed on our new home October 20th. Ted listed his house on the 16th and received a full price offer on the 17th! I give Saint Joseph credit for that one because I prayed for his intercession to help sell that house. Once that one closes, we will get mine ready to list and will ask for heavenly help again that it also sells and closes quickly.

There is no place like home.
L. Frank Baum

My puppy Romeo and Ted’s cat Pretzel tolerate each other.

The dog and cat seem to be making a little progress getting along now that they are together much more. Last night, I saw a sight that I credit our angels for. Romeo and Pretzel were settled in together on the sofa without being coerced. One of these days, they might even be buddies. ♥️🐱♥️🐕

Romeo and Pretzel are getting more comfortable with each other. 😊

Things here are still not all in place, but day by day, it is becoming our “Home Sweet Home”. ♥️🏡♥️

Thanks for reading! ♥️ Beth

Posted in accomplishment, adventure, angels, home, looking forward, Tangle Tuesday, zentangle | Tagged angels, home sweet home, L. Frank Baum, moving, new adventures, new home, no place like home, pets, Tangle Tuesday | 16 Comments

Tangle Tuesday – 9/26/23 – Take the Risk!

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Beth F.

Last Friday, my sweetheart and I did something big! We have been talking for a while that eventually we want to be in the same household so we can spend more time together and less time driving across town to each other’s respective homes. We have gone to quite a few Open Houses, but hadn’t found a house that had everything, or at least enough of what we each wanted that we could agree on it.

Ted wanted a three stall garage so we can fit both our vehicles in and still allow him to have space for his tool chests and to give him space to work on projects. I wanted a yard where I can enjoy flowers and trees and can feed the birds and squirrels. We both wanted a master bath and a kitchen with lots of storage. We found a beautiful home, actually one of the first ones we saw, but the asking price was too far above our price point. It was absolutely gorgeous and so very well maintained. We agreed that something like this house would be perfect for us. As a Catholic who loves asking the saints for their intercession, I asked St. Anthony to help us find a home like this one, but with a bit lower price. He has never failed to help me when I need to find something, so I had faith that he would come through.

On August 29th, the listing price was reduced by 25,000.00 which put it closer into the range we were looking for. After looking at a couple more Open Houses where we found ourselves saying, “We need to fix this.” and “This would have to be changed/updated, we both kept coming back to the house that had almost everything we both wanted. We set up a time to go back and look a bit more closely at it on Sep. 18th. When we saw it again, we were in agreement that it was a home we could both see ourselves being happy in.

We decided that we would like to put an offer in, but first we had to get pre-approval, so we started the process that evening of getting all of our financial information submitted to a mortgage broker. After a couple days of submitting paperwork and clarifying income, assets and the like, we were approved! Because we both have substantial equity in our homes, we are able to get a loan without immediately selling either of our other homes. Late Friday afternoon, after hearing we were approved, we put in an offer that was 19,000.00 below the lowered asking price. The sellers had 24 hours to consider our offer. We were hopeful that it would be accepted, but also prepared for a counter offer.

Home interprets heaven. Home is heaven for beginners.
Charles Henry Parkhurst

Late Saturday morning, we were discussing what our next move should be. Would we counter again if they countered? How much were we willing to increase our bid if we needed to? Should we look at other properties before we put another offer in? We hadn’t been talking very long when Ted’s phone rang. It was the realtor saying that our offer had been accepted with no counter offer! Wow! We are so excited!! Now the work begins to get our homes ready to list. Being able to move things from both of our houses will help them to show better. Now I will ask St. Joseph to help find a family to purchase my home and one to purchase Ted’s home. It makes me happy to think of a family enjoying the house that I love so much. In the next months, we will dedicate ourselves to spiffing up our properties and making them the perfect home for other families who will be as happy to get them as we were to get our new home.

While we have a lot of work ahead of us, I believe it was worth taking the risk and getting our new chapter started!

Beautiful curb appeal and a three stall garage. Who could ask for anything more? 😊

Home is the nicest word there is!
Laura Ingalls Wilder

We will need to find a dining room table, but we have time. The seller’s looks great, though! 😉

Posted in accomplishment, adventure, Embrace Life, happiness, looking forward, Tangle Tuesday, zentangle | Tagged Charles Henry Parkhurst, home buying, Laura Ingalls Wilder, new chapter, new home, open house, Risk, St. Anthony, St. Joseph, T.S. Eliot, Tangle Tuesday, zentangle | 15 Comments

Tangle Tuesday -Exhausted- 8/29/23

Posted on August 29, 2023 by Beth F.

Some days, I definitely relate to this little kitty. 😄🐱😄

Posted in drawing, Tangle Tuesday, zentangle | Tagged drawing, exhausted, Nayeon, Tangle Tuesday, zentangle | 7 Comments

Tangle Tuesday – Happiness (8/8/23)

Posted on August 8, 2023 by Beth F.

Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.
William Feather

Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.
Guillaume Apollinaire

I got to share a happy adventure with my fiancé, Ted, this past weekend! It was a wild and muddy ride, but oh, what fun!

I hope you’re having a wonderful week! Love, Beth 💕

Posted in adventure, drawing, happiness, Tangle Tuesday, zentangle | Tagged CF MOTO ZForce, drawing, John Harrigan, Tangle Tuesday | 7 Comments

Tangle Tuesday 8/1-Dance

Posted on August 1, 2023 by Beth F.

The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word.
Mata Hari

Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Robert Fulghum

Posted in Celebrate, Dance, drawing, Tangle Tuesday, zentangle | Tagged Dance, H.Jackson Brown Jr., Mata Hari, Robert Fulghum, Tangle Tuesday, zentangle | 1 Comment

Throwback Thursday – Joy! (7/27)

Posted on July 27, 2023 by Beth F.

A photo taken by my Aunt Nora many years ago. It’s sometimes the simplest things that bring the most happiness.😊

To be more childlike, you don’t have to give up being an adult. The fully integrated person is capable of being both an adult and a child simultaneously. Recapture the childlike feelings of wide-eyed excitement, spontaneous appreciation, cutting loose, and being full of awe and wonder at this magnificent universe.
Wayne Dyer

Posted in Embrace Life, happiness, living life to the fullest, Nostalgia, Throwback Thursday | Tagged childlike, happiness, joy, swing, Throwback Thursday, Wayne Dyer | 9 Comments

Wowza!!😍

Posted on July 24, 2023 by Beth F.

Did you ever have a regular, ordinary day turn into a day that you’ll never forget? That happened to me Wednesday night. I got home from work, filled up my bird feeders and Ted arrived shortly afterward because we were going to have dinner together. Once we were in his pickup, he asked what I felt like for dinner. I said maybe Qdoba or something simple. He said he would prefer something nicer like Longhorn Steakhouse. We don’t often splurge, so I told him that I certainly wouldn’t say no to that. 😉

We got there and I got ready to hop out and grab his crutches from the back seat when he said, “Before we go in…” and he reached in the console, brought out a little brown box, opened it to show me the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen and asked if I would marry him. I think I was so surprised that I must have said, “Oh my gosh, how beautiful” three or four times before he finally said that I hadn’t answered him. I quickly remedied that by saying “Yes!” and kissing him.

Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me.
Carl Sandburg

I was very surprised, but pleasantly so. I knew this was the direction we were heading, but hadn’t started “planning” anything yet. I was very happy to discover that we both share the picture of a future together. There is no urgency to our timeline, but I think we both agree that life will be much easier when we can share in caring for one household as well as sharing utility and maintenance bills instead of each having our own.

Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I know I am ready to start planning our future together. I believe it is true that life really is a wonderful fairy tale. Like a story, bad comes along with good, but with the right person, challenges can be overcome and true happiness and contentment can be found. ❤😍❤

Posted in happiness, looking forward, love, Marriage, relationships, zentangle | Tagged Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Carl Sandburg, drawing, engagement, engagement ring, fairy tale, Hans Christian Andersen, surprise, Wow!, zentangle | 32 Comments

Tangle Tuesday 6/27 – No Bad Days

Posted on June 27, 2023 by Beth F.

Sunday might have been considered a “bad day” for me and my honey, but I think Paul Henderson has the right idea in the above quote. Sunday after church, I came home and filled up my bird feeders and was relaxing in my room when my sweetheart gave me a call. The conversation began in a normal way, but I soon found out that he had an accident and was going to be heading to the ER. I had something planned with my daughter, but thankfully my sister was able to fill in for me so I could be with Ted. He was on crutches when I got to his house. We headed to the ER where we were actually able to get in right away.

Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.
Willie Nelson

The more than three hour visit brought dismaying news. His ACL was torn and in addition he had broken his tibial plateau, the bone at the top of the tibia, often known as the shin bone. Through the use of an X-ray and CT scan, the ER doctor determined that a visit to an Orthopedic specialist was in order as soon as possible. In the meantime, he was given a brace and instructed that no pressure should be placed on the left leg at all, not even resting his toes on the floor.

We are planning to leave on a trip to North Carolina where I will finally get the chance to meet Ted’s dad and stepmom. Hopefully the Orthopedic doctor will give us the green light to continue on the trip. Ted is a wee bit stubborn and says that we are going no matter what. We shall see. 😉

Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up.
Allen Klein

While bad things certainly happened on Sunday, it didn’t make it a bad day. I believe guardian angels were watching over him and prevented what happened from being even worse. If he had wrenched his back or hit his head, it could have been an injury that was impossible to bounce back from. Thankfully, he does have very good insurance and a considerable amount of sick time accrued. While this is definitely inconvenient and most certainly painful for him, maybe it will offer him an opportunity to sit back for a bit and let others do for him the way he does for everyone else.

Tomorrow morning we visit the Orthopedic specialist where we will find out more about recommended treatment and recovery. I pray that all goes well and he is cleared for travel. Whatever the outcome, however, I will (try to) remember that while we can’t control the circumstances, we can control our attitude. In the meantime, I will keep thinking positive thoughts! 💕

If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges.
Pat Riley

Posted in Acceptance, adversity, anticipating good, Embrace Life, Tangle Tuesday | Tagged Allen Klein, No bad days, Pat Riley, Tangle Tuesday, Willie Nelson, zentangle | 9 Comments

Tangle Tuesday – 6/6/23 – Meeting Again

Posted on June 6, 2023 by Beth F.

In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.
Alex Haley

Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great.
Roger de Rabutin

Last night, two of my kids, my honey and I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with some family members we don’t have the opportunity to see very often. It was truly a joyous occasion. We spent time talking, catching up, playing games and laughing. It was a great reminder of days gone by when my Mom was still with us. Getting together with her siblings and cousins was one of Mom’s favorite things to do. I remember a lot of laughter during those get togethers and this was no different. The laughter was especially prevelant during the “Apples To Apples” game that many of us played. Thank you, God, for the gift of these special people. ❤

Love, Beth❤

Posted in drawing, happiness, love, Love Yourself, Tangle Tuesday, zentangle | Tagged Absence, Alex Haley, Charles Dickens, cousins, family, Meeting Again, Roger de Rabutin, Tangle Tuesday, zentangle | 4 Comments

Tangle Tuesday – 5/30 – Do It Anyway

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Beth F.

Yesterday I visited our local greenhouse and among other things, I purchased flowers for the window boxes on my shed. Shortly after I finished planting them, a storm blew in and they were pummeled with hail. They survived, but were a little worse for the wear. I was reminded of the saying by Mother Teresa called “Do It Anyway.” I am glad I planted the flowers even though the hail damaged them a bit. They will bounce back and be beautiful in my yard for the rest of the summer.

Here is the full quote from Mother Teresa:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
Mother Teresa

Posted in drawing, gardening, Tangle Tuesday, zentangle | Tagged Do It Anyway, Flowers, hail, Mother Teresa, otter, planting, Tangle Tuesday, zentangle | 6 Comments

Tangle Tuesday – 5/23/23 – Insomnia

Posted on May 23, 2023 by Beth F.

Some nights I can relate all too well to the anonymous quote above.😉 My alarm goes off at 5:45am, so I will count the hours to see how much time I can sleep before that if, as the quote says, I get to sleep right now.😉 This weekend was one of those instances. I have so many tasks that have to be done. I woke up this weekend from a dream in which I was scrubbing the floors. I did finally accomplish that task over the weekend, so my brain can check that off my list of things to do. 😉

Insomnia is a gross feeder. It will nourish itself on any kind of thinking, including thinking about not thinking.
Clifton Fadiman

I often joke that I want to find the “off” switch for my brain so I can just sleep restfully instead of waking up throughout the night thinking of what I need to do that day/week/month. I know I’m not the only one who struggles with this. One of my favorite comics, “Pearls Before Swine” featured the following strip which I was compelled to cut out and put up in my office.

Until I find that “off” switch, I will have to make the most of the restful nights I do get. On the postive site, waking up often does allow me to remember an important thing I need to do or an item that I need to bring to the office, so for that I am grateful to my sleepless brain 😃