Home Sweet Home.

We moved into our house on Jones Gap Rd. on May 25, 2009 and closed on our house June 3, 2009. The seller was kind enough to let us "pay rent" to her until we closed. Good thing because we were supposed to move out of our rental house on Love Lane on May 8th...we got an extension until the 25th. Whew.

So we have been in the house for almost 3 weeks. In that time we have discovered a couple things:

• The dogs LOVE the back deck, and so do we ;-)


• There are A LOT of critters in the woods--so far I have seen a ton of butterflies/bees/wasps/carpenter bees, 1 black widow spider (she was eating a moth-very cool), 2 toads, a bijillion rabbits, 5 blue tailed skinks (lizards), and a multitude of insects. More to come for sure. I have heard the coyotes, but thankfully we haven't seen them.


• Our neighbors are really cool


• The house is perfect for us and we are so happy


• We have a big yard

Which brings me to my next story...

Memorial Day weekend Andy was in Atlanta for a friend's wedding. That Saturday I came home from the grocery store very excited to make rice crispy treats for my work buddies. I pull up in our drive and our neighbor Loyd is walking across the yard. At this point, I haven't met him yet, but Andy has. Loyd is a really nice guy, but a little intimidating. He looks like a bald lumber jack/mountain-man with a huge smile. Loyd says to me right off, "Great day today, right?" Of course I agree. I am about to do some pseudo baking. He then says, "It is a great day to cut grass too." Oh darn. Well Andy is out of town so I am off the hook, right? Nope. Loyd escorts me over to his very fancy lawn mower. Asks me to get on it and start it up. Ummmm. Ok. After a very quick tutorial on how to start the darn thing Loyd suggests I go ahead and cut over an acre of grass. Ummmm. Ok. Here is a picture of the beast...

If good ol' Loyd had a video camera he would have made some serious money on America's Funniest Home Videos. Loyd forgot to tell me how to steer the darn thing! I ran over so many things -- that weren't grass! I also ran into a couple trees and Loyd and Denie's rock wall! After about 10 minutes I got the hang of it. Then it was the most fun thing I have driven since I was 16. I felt like I was in a video game. This thing turns on a dime and goes FAST! I was done cutting the grass (over 1.5 acres of just grass to cut) in less than 45 minutes. It would have taken me a couple days to do that with the push mower. Fun times.

We are still without internet access. Bummer. We are planning on getting DishNetwork, but they had trouble getting "a part" this weekend and have postponed our installation until next Sunday (6/14). Once we get our computer up and going, and maybe a new digital camera, the pictures of the house and yard will come rolling out. Our current camera takes great pictures outside, but total blackness occurs when we attempt to capture images of the inside of our beautiful house. Good thing, I guess. We are still unpacking all of our boxes. Hopefully, we can get the boxes sorted out before the weekend because we are having our first party at the house. We are having a "stock the bar" and BONFIRE party! Whoo Hoo. Hopefully someone will have a camera and we can document the carnage for you all.

A small request from you all, we want to name our new home. So far Andy has come up with The Lucky Duck Ranch. That got vetoed right away and for some reason he can't think of anything else. Personally, I think he is pulling my leg. ;-) So if anyone can come up with something cool and fitting, I would really appreciate it :)

Take care, Heather