Beginning.....

As I wash my dishes, I'll be following a plan,
Till I see the brightness in ev'ry pot and pan.
I am sure this point of view will ease the daily grind,
So I'll keep repeating in my mind.

Look for the silver lining
When e'er a cloud appears in the blue.
Remember somewhere, the sun is shining
And so the right thing to do is make it shine for you.

A heart, full of joy and gladness
Will always banish sadness and strife
So always look for the silver lining
And try to find the sunny side of life.
(just an old Judy Garland song that pretty much sums things up)

LOL....as I begin this journey (blog), I am stumbling with the very first assignment. THE BACKGROUND! Just when you think you got this html "stuff" conquered. LOL!!! Who knows how this will appear???


Give me time...I will get it...I HOPE!

I really don't know why I have decided to explore the world of blogging. Otherthan the fact, I am craving to meet people from various spectrums that may possibly have some of the same interests as myself. As you can see, I am a very simple person. At the time, my goal is quite simple, to turn my modest home into my "dream home".


In 2008, my husband and I decided to sell our home in an area we had lived for over 20 years. Now...grant it...we were not leaving the county we lived in, only the community. But in the south...that's a BIG deal! We grew up in that community, we raised our children in that community and all of our friends were in that community. But, it was time. Our oldest son had married and moved out of the community and our youngest son was off at college in a different town. We needed a change! More of an adventure. So....the hunt was on.

We began looking. Made lists of what we wanted in a home. We enjoyed home projects, so of course we were looking for a home we could put our touch on. Nothing too big...we didn't want to spend too much time cleaning. Just enough yard for my husband's therapy. (mine is shopping, his is mowing....but hey, it works!) We looked at soooo many homes. Mostly new constructions. You see...we had just moved from a 1960's home we had renovated over the last five years. And prior to that, we had moved from a house we built ourselves. (those are future blog entries) No...this time, we were going to move right in. LOL!!!!!!!

One day, or should I say late evening, we happened upon a "new construction" home site, that was about 70% complete. It was on the other side of the town. In an area where we knew very few people. It looked as if noone had been at the site for months. If you have ever watched Christmas vacation and remember the smile on Clark's face as the gleam of light shines down on the the Griwald Christmas tree in the middle of nowhere with snow all around, then you can imagine the look on my face. My husband....well, he was like Audry with frozen lips. I just looked at him and said, "this is it!". He said, "NO WAY!" Oh....but WAY!!

Immediately I began searching for a contact name. Remember, we knew noone in this area. We finally found a telephone number stapled to a post. After many failed attempts, we finally reached a human being. Yep....the contractor had gone belly up. (he had yet to realize that, but he had) To try to put it in a nutshell....it was our "as is" offer vs. his 'I can finish this job and make money". WE WON!


Moved in a rental home and had a 70% complete home. Yep....we won! LOL!


Remember, always look for the Silver Lining!

to be continued....



(Below) Greg standing in disbelief or what we are about to embark upon
















A couple of views of the kitchen area.