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We Are Officially Homeless!

Posted by html404 on June 7, 2013
in Articles, Family Stuff, Home, Seasonal Stuff

Now before you all start freaking out over my eye catching blog post title stating we are officially homeless….it is true…however, it’s only because we sold our townhouse and no longer own a home of our own. We closed on our house last Friday and are no longer homeowners. We are officially only renters. So yes, we have a place to live….it’s just not ours.

We are beginning a new chapter in our lives. We know we are here for another year and eight months since we renewed a 2-year contract in February of this year. But whether or not we move on to find our forever home or stay here remains to be seen. It’s exciting and scary all rolled into one.

We waited nearly 2 years for our house to sell. Longer if you count when we first put our house on the market in early 2007 just before the housing market crashed – it would have been a more profitable sale to have sold it then, but alas, it was not meant to be. We tried renting out our house, we tried selling it by owner and finally we got a realtor in March 2013. It took her less than 2 months to sell it. We were signing an agreement in late April. Then it took nearly a month for us to set up and complete the necessary repairs based on the home inspection.

We are extremely grateful for our buyers as they had looked at all the homes like ours and found our house was in the best condition, probably with the least amount of work/updates to be done. Our appraisal came in woefully low and based only on foreclosure sales in the area. Nevertheless, because of the condition of our home and our buyers extreme interest they were willing to pay above the appraisal price. We are very fortunate and knew we wouldn’t find another buyer willing to pay more than the appraisal.

So, while we are officially homeless in the sense we do not own a home, we are embarking on a new journey and possibly will begin a search for our own farm or continue to rent. Who knows? We are just glad to finally be done with the townhouse and all that went with getting it ready to sell and maintaining it from here to there. Yet a little apprehensive at the same time because we do not know what the future holds.

Have you ever been without a home?

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My Perfect Spring Day

Posted by html404 on May 20, 2013
in Articles, Family Stuff, Home, Seasonal Stuff, Uncategorized, Writing Prompts

I love all the seasons and the fact that we live in an area where we get to experience all four season to their fullest. However, I must admit that I get tired of winter and the other three seasons never seem long enough.

My Perfect Spring Day

My perfect spring day would be sunshine and weather in the 65-70 degree range, with a slight breeze. I would be able to smell the cherry blossoms or lilacs (if in bloom). There would be lots of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths in bloom; an the irises would be budding. It would be a day without any rushing around. All of our family would be home and we would be working together, with minimal fighting or disagreements. But hey, this is my perfect day so let’s just eliminate any fighting among the children and all disagreements!

We would also take a leisurely walk, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. We would be thankful and enjoy being together for the day. We would eat dinner out and the house would remain neat and tidy – for once!

That’s what my perfect spring day would look like….I have to say that I have experienced all of this, just not always all in the same day.

What would your perfect spring day entail?

P.S. This post was inspired by Mama Kat’s Writing Prompts.

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Mother’s Day 2013 – Wordless Wednesday

Posted by html404 on May 15, 2013
in Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Home, Seasonal Stuff, Uncategorized, Wordless Wednesday

Mother’s Day 2013 saw me served with a delicious homemade breakfast in bed. (I was also served with a yummy meatloaf dinner the night before and a strawberry dessert Yahoo featured!)

The whipped cream is homemade from our own cream – yummylicious!

And I bought these for the purpose of having a Mother’s Day flowers photo….we ended up giving them to Grandma on her special day too….

How was your Mother’s Day? Were you given the royal treatment too?

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Greenhouse Disaster – Wordless Wednesday

Posted by html404 on May 1, 2013
in Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Gardening, Seasonal Stuff, Wordless Wednesday

This is what I call our greenhouse disaster. We had storms go through a couple of weeks ago and destroy our cheap greenhouse. I know even the large, well-made greenhouses on larger farms often get completely blown over in bad storms, but still it’s very disappointing to say the least because we also lost many of our transplants.

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Fun in the Snow – Wordless Wednesday

Posted by html404 on March 27, 2013
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Kids Stuff, Seasonal Stuff, Wordless Wednesday

I think this photo says it all – family fun in the snow!

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Posted by html404 on March 17, 2013
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Holidays, Seasonal Stuff

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Or as some say, Happy St. Paddy’s Day! Especially to all of you who are Irish!

Today is usually a day when you can witness the Chicago River being green. Yesterday they dyed it that color in celebration of today’s Irish holiday. The St. Patrick’s Day parade was also yesterday, plus there are other special celebrations of this day going on around the city. Visit the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day 2013 website.

To be honest we have never really done much other than maybe wear green for St. Patrick’s Day. I have witnessed the Chicago River being green, but have not attended the parade or any other of the St. Paddy’s Day festivities.

Here are some fun facts about St. Patrick’s Day (source: Chicago Tribune):

– There are some 36 million people in the USA who boast of an Irish heritage. 9x that of the population of Ireland itself!

– St. Patrick’s Day was originally a religious Christian holiday. The holiday honored St. Patrick who shared his Christ with Ireland in the fifth century.

– Today the holiday is a celebration of everything related to the Irish.

– March 17, 1762 marked the first St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world. It was held in New York City.

So do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Are you wearing something green, cooking something green or attending any St. Patrick’s Day festivities?

Another inspired post from Mama Kat’s writing prompts: Write a blog post inspired by the word green.

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5 Things to Do in Our Town During Spring Break

Posted by html404 on March 11, 2013
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Home, Kids Stuff, Seasonal Stuff, Travel

We do not have a lot planned while my mom is here. Our beast is out of commission. It broke down a couple of weeks ago right at the end of a farmer friend’s driveway when we were visiting to learn more about goats. Our 14 year old has been interested in goats for…oh…about five years or more I’d say. We gifted her an educational goat class through one of the local farm organizations one year for her birthday and this year we plan to give her a goat. So what we’d do, but what another family chooses to do on Spring Break will probably completely different.

Here are 5 things to do in our town during Spring Break:

1. Go to the theater. Surely there’s one family friendly one playing.
2. Visit a park. Depending on the weather you might be able to hit a few during the week of Spring Break.
3. Go to the Farmers Market.
4. Coordinate a visit to a local farm. This is for the sake of other families since we live on a farm. But even so we enjoy visiting other farms and learning from them.
5. Travel to Chicago to visit a museum or Shedd Aquarium. This is something we plan to do in the fall when the public schools are back in session and the crowds are minimal.

So what is there to do in your town during Spring Break?

Inspired by another one of Mama Kat’s writing prompts: 5 things to do in your town during Spring Break. Mama Kat’s prompts sure came in handy when it came time to do up blog posts in advance for my mom’s visit!

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Melissa & Doug Easter Shop and Giveaway

Posted by Brande on March 8, 2013
in Blog Stuff, Contests, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Girl Stuff, Giveaways, Holidays, Kids Stuff, Kids Toys, Seasonal Stuff, Shopping, Uncategorized

Click the picture above to be entered into Melissa & Doug’s Easter Basket Giveaway!! What child or children wouldn’t love $20.00 worth of Melissa & Doug products for Easter! How cute is Brambles Bunny you can find him and lots of other fantastic Easter toys at Melissa & Doug’s Easter Shop!

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Sears Patio Furniture #GrillingisHappiness @Sears #Ad

Posted by html404 on February 21, 2013
in Appliances, Furniture, Home, SALES, Seasonal Stuff, Uncategorized

This is the first year winter has gone by fast for me. I spend all winter looking forward to spring and summer. What about you? Warmer weather will be here soon, considering it’s only a month before it is officially spring. Warm weather brings longer days (yay!), BBQs and lots of outdoor activities. Sears believes outdoor living is a lifestyle, not just a seasonal must-have.

Remember last year when I did a post about my dream patio and included Sears patio furniture? I am still dreaming of that patio. If you are looking for a new patio set, you’ve gotta check out this new lighted patio furniture Sears has available!

This exclusive patio set will extend your time outdoors with the Halley collection of patio furniture from La-Z-Boy and Bella Luna collection of patio furniture from Agio – only at Sears.

Don’t let the outdoor fun stop there though, Sears also has this new Kenmore Elite Grill for this summer of 2013. It has three burners, 692 sq. inches of cooking space and a warming rack.

We can agree that Sears patio furniture and grills offer sophisticated outdoor furniture to match your taste and pocket book. Get ready for warmer weather by heading to Sears for all your summertime needs! http://bit.ly/Yy6TVk

“This is a sponsored post. I am a Sears blogger, though all opinions are my own.”

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More Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas

Posted by html404 on February 7, 2013
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Seasonal Stuff, Uncategorized

Valentine’s Day is only a week away! I came across some more Valentine’s Day gift ideas that I want to share in case any of you are still struggling to find just the right thing for your sweetie or loved ones.

1. Reasons Why Mug. A Reasons Why Mug for mom or dad with little sketches of the children is something I’d enjoy! My husband not so much since he doesn’t drink tea or coffee.

2. Glass Keepsake Box. I think any female over the age of 12 would love something like this to keep jewelry and small trinkets in.

3. Heart in Sand Framed Print. I wish I had known about something like this when Robert and I were dating! It would have been a lovely reminder of our trip to both sides of Florida to watch the sun rise and the sun set.

4. Bucket of Love. Feelings of love low? Need some help? Try this bucket of love to sweeten the mood with your better half. Ha ha. Not sure it will work, but hey it’s worth a try, right?

5. Bee Bear. The Bee Bear can be personalized for each of your children’s names. He’s awfully cute and cuddly looking!

All of these Valentine’s Day gift ideas can be found at the link I provided.

What are you getting your sweetie for V-Day?

This is a compensated post.

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