A Quick Trip To Lowes

Homeownership. It's one of those goals in the lives of most Americans. One of the joys of homeownership is to create a home that YOU want. Different from what the previous owner had.

We've had our house for seven and a half years now. In that time I have taken an almost blank slate and created many flower beds, and a vegetable bed. I've begun working on garden rooms interspersed throughout our lawn. This began with spending so very very much money at Home Depot. This year my youngest began working after classes at Lowes. Lowes was always my personal favorite but my husband isn't a fan. No reason other than his uncle likes Home Depot. After being given a tour of Lowes by my youngest, my oldest and I prefer to do our shopping there.

This time was no exception.

My oldest and I went to Lowes with a loooooong shopping list. He recently purchased his own home and has some things to do around there, but owning his own home hasn't stopped him from working around our house.

A new shrub (hyacinth) and boards for a couple of new gates for us to build

were just the larger items from this huge shopping trip.

While my son was securing the lumber I folded up the back seats and filled the truck with our goodies.

Off in the distance my youngest was getting ready to head out. We were in the store until his shift ended.

Time for us, and my new houseplant, to head home. I found her in the plant section, where she was the last Mother's Day plant (I didn't discover this until I read her tag later that day). I had to bring her home.

Oh My God! They match! How cute!!

            

            Stay Happy!

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Thoughts on Life

I don't normally put my life out there, but I figure there aren't a lot of people reading this blog so I need to do something cathartic.

My life has been through many highs and lows. I made wrong decisions which led me to bad marriages. I wish I could say that it has left me believing in love, but it hasn't. I realize many people, including a few of my friends have amazing marriages. I feel like that was because they took the time to really know the person they were marrying. I never did that. I was so grateful that someone seemed to love me that I listened to the courting ritual they used. They told me lies and I bought the stories. After they reined me in they treated me terribly.

Do I wish the marriages hadn't happened?

No. Each marriage gave me something.

I was able to raise the son from the first marriage by myself, for the most part. He turned out to be an amazing man, and I am so very proud of him.

My second marriage gave me five children whom I love dearly. Input from their father has left a few of them confused, but I will never stop loving them. Other things this marriage left me with is empathy toward those who are suffering or are hurt. It taught me how to be strong. It helped me find who I really am (more on that in a minute).

Finally, my last marriage. This will be the last. This is where I realized that I can only trust God. He has done many amazing things in my life, and he has kept me alive when I should have been dead long ago. Not because I was suicidal. So many times in my life, because of coincidence or because of men, I should have died. God wanted me alive. He is my best friend and I spend a lot of time diving deeper into being a Christ-follower (a Christian in more than just words). God and I have had many really good conversations.

Who have I learned I am? 

My oldest using the Black Magic Pocket Cinema
(video camera) on the Dolly track.

I am nothing like my first two husbands thought I was. I am much more intelligent that I gave myself credit for. My oldest is a web developer/systems manager, and production volunteer (he had been Interim Multisite Production Director on top of his IT Director job). He taught me to use computers, now I'm taking coding classes.

He voluntold me for the production team at church and I absolutely loved that! I learned computer programming, video cameras, how to program lighting, wiring of lights, directing cameras, and what each piece of equipment does and how to set it up. I am eternally grateful to Rob, Bev, Mike, Matt and Scott for sharing their knowledge with me. 

I learned that I'm pretty funny. I kept the people in production (and my kids) laughing. I think the snarkiness adds to that. I stopped being self-centered and learned to let things go. I learned that I am pretty independent, and often prefer to do things by myself. I learned that I love, love, love hiking in the mountains. I learned that I want an off-grid cabin in the woods. I don't want to live there (yet), I just want to spend most of my spare time there. Maybe one day...

Buck Mountain Summit
overlooking Lake George, NY

Have a great one!

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