Sunday, June 29, 2008

My Southern Fried Side of LIfe

I have had the opportunity to observe some truly southern things that can only be found east of the Mississippi River.

-Civil War reenactors at a battlefield just down the road from my neighborhood. I had lived in Georgia two whole days before I experienced the depth of pride of the southern heritage and the War Between the States.

-breakfast at a biscuit shack that has live bluegrass music starting at 7 a.m. The biscuits were fabulous, covered in gravy and sausage. Roxy started dancing on that old wood floor. We will definitely go back, maybe next weekend.

-the southern version of Mt Rushmore, complete with three great Confederate leaders that are larger than the presidents in S. Dakota. It is called Stone Mountain and it was a fun trip and an impressive site.

-a gift shop selling plush baby toys of the Stone Mountain men - Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson. Their horses were included, but I am not from the south and I don't know the horses' names. All three dolls and horses fit in a purse, too. Just what every baby needs to chew on!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

My 210 lb. Bundle O Joy

My much anticipated delivery arrived this morning and I couldn't be prouder. Take a look at my baby (who has yet to be named) that I want to show off. She is a gas powered, five burner range with a bottom warming drawer for rolls, casseroles, etc. The fifth burner in the center is elongated for a simmering function as well as designed for the griddle that fits over it. The also lovely microwave over the range is new as well and it is pretty slick too. I have had the stove from you-know-where for the last couple of weeks and have hated that thing. But now it is only a memory. I will be making bacon and eggs on my griddle tomorrow morning, and this afternoon cupcakes are in order. My first new stove is a beaut.
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More Church party fun

Our church celebrated the wrap-up of VBS with a party of watermelon and ice cream. There were giant slides and a bouncy house and a special activity called Da Wheely Big Wace. Four teams of teenagers dressed up and had big wheel races all around the building on tracks drawn out on the pavement. It was pretty hilarious watching them get in to the race and it was fun to have some people to cheer for. My favorite part was the lap where they brought out giant buckets of cherry jello and you could chuck huge globs of jello at the racers. Then there was the post-race jello fight that I managed to avoid. I think all the teens were going to their neighborhood pools after the race to rinse off, because everyone smelled like Jello. In case you are wondering, this was a party for the entire church and every age was there but the old people like me did not go near that jello.

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Beach Babes in Georgia

I took my gals to swim yesterday at the Sun Valley Beach, which is less than 30 minutes from where we live in Georgia. It is a giant swimming pool with a beach built around it. Surrounding the whole beach are water slides, fountains, docks, diving boards, ropes courses, and the beautiful Georgia landscape. This place is fun because the deep areas are sectioned off from the slides so your kids know exactly where they can go without getting in over their head, plus there are plenty of shallow places to play, sand to made castles, and about a dozen water slides. After five hours, the girls were not yet ready to go home. They tackled every slide and were bursting with pride because they are no longer too chicken to do certain things. That made this trip worth every penny.
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Two girls hyped up on water slides
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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The Common Denominator

I found today that no matter where I live, I get along with people that will actually leave dirty dishes in the sink. I admit, I am one of them. I visited a home of an acquaintance today (new place, new faces) and saw something that told me that we have common ground - the daily dish battle in the kitchen. For me, this battle is inevitable because I do not use paper products at home, other than when entertaining large groups of people. I know my hostess was self-conscious about the dishes, but for me it gave me a connection, and I appreciate that openness in a new friend. Now if only I could find someone who struggles with keeping the socks sorted...

Monday, June 23, 2008

Closet Sweet Closet

Well, it's been 5 years since I have had an organized closet, one where the shoes fit inside it, all my clothes fit inside it, everything is hung on a hanger, belts are on my Ikea $.99 organizer, etc. Did you know that having a real walk-in closet makes you look better in your clothes? I am so glad to have a walk-in closet, one that I don't have to share with Scott.
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Thursday, June 19, 2008

Just Call Me A Grouch

Here's something different about Kennesaw GA: Trash is big business down here. The area we live in is not a city, so we do not have city services like trash. I had to choose from 30 different waste disposal companies, decided on one, and for the first time in two weeks we have trash cans. My brilliant company has yet to pick up my trash without a specific complaint from me, and today they left the trash bins and all my trash that has accumulated over the past week. I really picked a winner, let me tell ya.

On Tuesday I witnessed a waste disposal company picking up trash at a neighbor's house and saw an incredibly old male slowly pace the neighbor's driveway, roll the bin to the truck, and begin to empty it while smoking a cigarette. No gloves, no work clothes. After he dumped the bin, he reached up to puff away. I'm glad he found a way to multi-task with hazardous and vile materials.

Today was a swim day for us, at a lavish pool no less. There was a young teenage girl there that looked just like my niece Abby and it really made me miss the fam in OK. I hope the girl doesn't think I was staring at her like some kind of freak, but she really looked like Abby, right down to the braces. Abby, I have found your real world twin!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Roxy Rocks the Keys

Roxy started piano lessons today. I did not anticipate starting my baby so early on the piano, but we found a good teacher (blessing #1) with openings (blessing #2) who lives about six minutes away (blessing #3) and used to teach elementary music (blessing #4) so I took it as a sign to dive in now. Roxy is SOOOO proud and I teared up watching he put a little stool under the piano for her feet to rest upon. She's not a baby today...

Monday, June 16, 2008

Dead Couch #3



At the Franks' great purge of 2008 I could not get rid of dead couch #1 or dead couch #2. A sweet, well-intentioned charity picked them up (God bless them) and I kept dead couch #3, which we hauled all the way to Georgia. Guess what - it still looked tacky in the Eastern time zone. It now has a slipcover from Target and the back room looks like it had the extreme home makeover. Picture to follow as soon as I find the camera recharging equipment...in a box...somewhere...

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Look at what I live by...

This is an intersection in Kennesaw right by my daughters' new school and right by our new favorite bakery (which I found on day 1). It appears you can go west three ways. Hmmm.
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Mr. Preacher Man

So now my husband is a preacher. It's a little like putting on a brand new pair of shoes - we're walking around in them, excited to have something new that feels good, but knowing that we need to break them in before it feels loose. We are very impressed with the spirit of all the people at this church. They are ready to adopt all of us. We know as we break in here we will form deeper friendships, but right now we just want to remember a few names and faces. The blessing I am grateful for is the way the girls have been so positive about their new church and environment. I pray that this lasts for years! But realistically I know that every day they are happy with this move is truly a gift.
The church picnic was really fun and showed us a great, fun side of the congregation. They have made us feel welcome and valued in every way, which we truly appreciate more than they could know.
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More of the Casa

Scott and our truck driver getting ready for the big load-out. I have not opened every box yet, but so far nothing has broken - knock on wood.
The Dining Room
The Kitchen
The Living Room and a view to our den/study/piano room
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Southen Hospitality

Our church members did us a huge favor - they cleaned the house top to bottom, then helped us move in, then fed us. We were so honored and so humbled by their servanthood. By the first night, everything in the kitchen was put away and all the beds were built and dressed so we could sleep in our new place. Moving is truly exhausting, especially when there are two flights of stairs to deal with, but we are very happy to be here.
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Into the Woods

We have a very private, partly wooded back yard. My entire downstairs looks back to these wood, which are lush, quiet, and pretty. I can do dishes looking at them, eat breakfast looking at them, read from our den looking at these woods. It sure isn't Oklahoma.
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Franks Casa #6

I have this morbid fixation of constantly reminding myself of how often I have moved. The math is simple: I have been married 12 years and I am now living in my 6th house. This house, in Kennesaw,Georgia gives me a couple of things that I have always wanted: a house with shutters, an open kitchen with an island, a couple of bay windows, and a large bathtub in the master bathroom. Score for me.
Our neighborhood is pretty and our location is beautiful, so we truly feel blessed to have found this place.
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Oh look, Darby's out of the water. How unusual. The girl needs to be a scuba diver.
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On the Road Again

The commute to Georgia from Oklahoma is not a real commute, it's a long haul. We get to stay at hotels, which means swimming time for Roxy and Darby. At least someone can put on a swimsuit and thoroughly enjoy themselves...
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Where the Waving Wheat Can Still Smell Sweet

This pic is my reminder of Oklahoma in the spring - pretty, sweet golden wheat, slightly ominous skies that look tornado-prone. I just love the color of it, and my sweet girls that are no longer going to be Okies.
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