And...the rest of the story....

I think my calendar is wrong...

I missed a day this week, where did yesterday go?

I guess I shouldn't promise "tomorrow" unless I

have the post ready to go.

*Geesh*

Its been a weird few days. My sister and niece went

back home to Arizona on Thursday.

Jill, Jessica and me on the way to the Airport
(much to my decorating dismay we added a tv to the living room...)

Fun in Aunt Jodi's tub!

My son (my only one at home) went to

Whidbey Island to spend a week with his besties.

My husband is at work...

and I have slept til nearly 10AM 

each morning!

I think its the lull of the fan and quiet house.

Time to get with it girl!!

TODAYS LIST:

*write this post

*sew the summer slipcovers for the couch throw pillows

(before FALL arrives, ha ha)

*Remember to eat the right things 

(Hubby and I are on day 2 of Phase One

of the South Beach Diet!!

Long overdue......)

*Hmmm, do I dare add painting something to the list??

<FOCUS>

So, now after 4 eggs and 1 cup of coffee I am fueled up....

********************************

The REST of the story...

(continued from Sunday)

After leaving Wisconsin,

my daughter, Janelle, and I drove ALL

the way to Pennsylvania! 

I think it was like 14 hours,

$60 in tolls, 2 anxiety attacks in the tunnels

and a lot of potty breaks.

One of MANY toll booths

Anxiety attack about to happen...

Pennsylvania!

Once there, we got her settled into her

new home. I stayed with our

really good friends. I wish I would have taken

pictures of my friends GORGEOUS house!

She has such a beautiful home.

**Almost as beautiful as her heart **

Diane, (a very tired) me, Geri

After a few wonderful warm days of visiting there,

I went to Virginia with my friend Diane.

On the way, we stopped at 

LUCKETTS!


Here are some photo's from other vendors in the store

I was so happy to finally see

Miss Mustard Seed's

space.

Marion is now in the process of moving inside the building.

I am so happy for her, she's VERY talented

and was a huge inspiration to me when

I was considering the blog thing.

She also lives in the same town where my daughter

is now living.

As you may remember, I went from Virginia to

Arkansas as my step father underwent

open heart surgery.

He is doing well now, praise God!

The days prior to the surgery we did some reminiscing by

going to my old stomping grounds.

After graduating from High School in Arizona in *ummm*

the mid eighties *gulp*

I moved to Arkansas to be near my father and his new wife, Karen.

I lived on the 3rd floor of this amazing old building in the

heart of old town Rogers, AR.

My apartment was the top corner (The cross wasn't there then)

Looking up at my old apartment

The doorway in from the street

The stairs up to our apartment. Sometimes this was a little
scary. One time a guy climbed through the window to the roof
and was spying on my friend Laurie!

I loved the Coca-Cola mural on the side of the building.

It was recently restored.

There was a working bakery on one side of the street, 

so every morning I woke to the smell of fresh bread!

The streets are brick, there were office buildings on the first floor.

Across the street the old movie theater was a antique mall.

The DAISY B.B. gun museum is on that street now,

and the old theater is a theater again.

There were only 4 apartments in the building.

I lived in the 3rd floor facing the street, my best friend, Stephanie, lived

across the hall way and our other best friend, Laurie,

lived on the 2nd floor below us. There was also

a "really old" (probably my age now, ha ha)

 man that lived below me.

Some of my very best memories are from that time!

SO.MUCH.FUN...and D.R.A.M.A.

I worked at THE BANK of Bentonville as

the switchboard operator. 

I started as a bank teller, but let me back up a little.

Actually, I was a waitress at Kings Pizza when I first moved there.

A TERRIBLE waitress!

One day I was waiting on a table with

the bank president and bank officers.

I spilled a soda on one of them.

I was offered a job at the bank on the spot.

I'm not sure if it was because I was a terrible waitress

or I just handled it well, ha ha.

Flash forward (a few weeks)...I am now a 18 year old bank teller,

hardly a clue what Im doing, and my first customer

approaches the window.

I should have known by the dead silence that fell upon

the teller line....

Me:  Good morning sir, may I help you?

Sir:  Good morning, I would like to cash this check please.

Me: Ok, may I please see your I.D.

*Gasps among the other tellers*

Hands me his drivers liscense.....

Me:  Ummm, Ohhhh, Mr. (SAM) Walton. I am so sorry,

this is my first day on my own.....stutter.

Mr. Walton:  Thank you for treating me like a regular guy.

Then he went in to talk to the bank President. I thought I was fired for sure.

But they called me in and praised me.  *whew* (I was a terrible teller too,

but a good talker, so they "promoted" me to switchboard operator...I loved it!)

I made $210 every 2 weeks and my rent was $190 month!

I lived there until Stephanie and I went on a big

adventure and moved to Jacksonville Beach, FL  a few years later.

(That's where I met my husband, but that's entirely another story!)

Now that Walmart has become so big and Mr. Walton has passed away, Its fun to remember how our lives crossed for just a brief moment.

My step mother's mom worked for the

5 & Dime Store on the Bentonville town square

before it became the Walmart we know today.

Now there is a really neat museum in that building!

Another place we stopped by is Susie -Q!

It has been there FOREVER.

My grandpa took me there when I was 9 years old.

I love their Cherry Lime-aide! Soooo good.

We also went by the Veterans Cemetery so I could see my dad's
Memorial Headstone. This was very special.

During my stay, my moms brother Uncle Don and Aunt Donna came over to visit.

Their daughter, my cousin, Angie was visiting
from Kansas City. She and I are like two peas in a pod.
We always have a great laugh. She has a beautiful family.

I spent most of the time with Mom and Ron at the hospital and at their home.

I enjoyed helping mom around the house
 and planting flowers for her.

I also went out to visit my stepmom, Karen, and step siblings

Stacy and Traci.

I had not been back to the "family farm" since my dad passed

away in 2007. It was bitter sweet, and very healing.

Karen took me out to the family homestead in Pea Ridge. We took

pictures of the old family cemetery and the original old house

that my grandparents lived in when they were first

married.

The hundreds of acres that have not been

touched since the Civil War are now plotted and for sale for

development. Life moves on...

I wish I had the money to buy it all and restore the house to its

original glory. Oh, it was spectacular.

After 2 weeks there, I headed back to my family in Washington.

Its always fun to go back to where you came from,

but really there is no place like HOME!

What was it like when you moved from home for the first time?

I'd love to hear your story!

xoxoxo

Jodi

calves, curds & a LOT of words!

If you have followed my blog this year

you may remember that my daughter and I 

drove from Washington State

 to Pennsylvania in April.

As a 19 year old,

she is experiencing life away from home

for the first time....and thriving!

Today, as I was looking through our trip pictures

and missing her, I thought of all

the fun things we shared together that week.

Like the Semi truck that tailgated our teeny tiny car at 85 mph....eeek!

She never complained about my ooooo

and awwwww's when I'd spy a 

big white farmhouse and red barn in the distance.

She would grab the camera & shoot!

We laughed while searching for radio stations, 

belting out lyrics to sad country songs...

all the while connecting in a special new way.

 I felt her enthusiasm and anticipation for

a new start. I remembered being 18

and living on my own for the 

first time. 

She is starting her own story now,

and I couldn't be prouder!

While we drove through the states, I shared stories of

growing up as a Air Force "brat".

Like the time we moved from North Dakota to Washington 

when I was 8. My little sister and I laid in the

over-the-cab bed of our camper watching for

the "mountains" that we had never seen before.

With every big white fluffy cloud in the horizon, I would

ask my parents "is THAT a mountain"?

Finally, the Rockies emerged in all their magnificent splendor.

The highways in North Dakota are very "wavy" and

we laughed as our tummies "tickled" traveling 85 m.p.h.

over the bumps, much like mine did when I was

5 years old.  I would stand in the middle of the 

front seat of my dads old truck saying "tickle my tummy, daddy!"

as he would speed up on the old dirt roads.

"Wheeeeee" I would yell out.

Minnesota reminded me of age 12, and the short 6 months we lived in

northern Minnesota.  The snow was as deep as our

rooftops, and the "no see ums" would 

eat us alive in the spring.  The town celebrated

"St. Urtho" day with giant grasshopper float.

And for some reason I remember singing along to the

Bee Gee's as I tried to stay awake for the 7th grade

sleepovers.

But by far the state with the most memories of my

early childhood was Wisconsin.

My parents met there, I was born there and

my mom's family is from there.

While we were there we visited with my Aunt Barb and Uncle Dale.

Barb is my fathers sister. She moved from Arkansas to

Wisconsin when I was very young. She never left.

I remember living in a single wide trailer in a small park

just across the field from my grandparents 

corner store.  My sister and I would walk across 

the field as my mom watched from the front steps.

There was a "scary" house along the way with a

crab apple tree.  The crabby lady would yell

at us to stay away from her tree. Perfect tree for her, I guess!

Gramma and Grampa Hunt had a lot of penny candy.

 I especially loved

the root beer barrels, candy necklaces, and bazooka gum.

This is where gramma and grampa's store used to be...
now its a big gas station

ok, this is a creepy photo...but the white trailer is where ours used
to be and the car is where I wrecked my bike...after 35 years,
the park is still there.  A little creepier...but hey.

It was in that trailer park that I got my first stitches.

You would think it's common sense to not close your eyes

and let go of the handlebars while playing follow the leader

on your bike.

 yah, I know....

I have a scar to prove it.

As a child,

we spent alot of time at The Eau Claire Dells

 catching tadpoles in the spring

 and jumping into piles of leaves in the Fall.

When Aunt Barb took us there in April, I was flooded with memories

of my mom and I in the park.

Funny Aunt Barb and my daugher at the Dells

 

We also saw the saw bags on the Maple trees as

the farmers were collecting sap for

Maple Syrup.  I remember going

to a Maple Syrup farm when I was in 

kindergarten.  WAY back then

the farmers used metal buckets on the trees.

I think the bags probably keep a lot more bugs out!

Sap bag on Maple tree

"Honey, I bought us a vacation home in Wisconsin" hee hee

We visited Uncle Dales family dairy farm.

My daughter said they were the biggest cows she had 

EVER seen. 

She really enjoyed seeing

 (not so much SMELLING) 

the dairy farm.

Especially the sweet little calves.

I told her to stick out her fingers....

This little black cutie thought she made a good snack too.

Of course, all that sightseeing made us hungry!

You can't visit Wisconsin and not get

fresh cheese curds!

We visited Bonnie, my moms best friend since childhood.

  When I was in 7th grade

we lived near Altoona.  My sister and I would go to 

Bonnie's after school and watch Loony Tunes.

 We thought she had the best toast.

Weird the things you remember!

We drove by the house my Aunt Bobbi lived in

before moving to Arizona. Even at 13, I appreciated 

things like a old staircase and built in cupboards.

I remember BBQ's in the backyard with my cousins.

A few blocks away was my grandma Hunt's house.

She could play the piano so beautifully. She

always listened to Paul Harvey's "the rest of the story"

and had a ton of M.A.D. magazines for us to read.

I am so grateful for the time I spent with Aunt Barb and Uncle Dale!

It had been 30 years since I'd been back.  It meant 

so much to share these childhood memories with my daughter.

After a few days in Wisconsin, we drove to PA.....

but I will share more about that leg of the trip

tomorrow.  Come back to hear

"the rest of the story"

xoxoxo

Jodi

No pity parties allowed!

Its been a month of unexpected surprises,

shoot, its been a year of them!

But isn't that what makes life interesting?

Its how we learn and how we grow

into the person we are supposed to be!

Late last year we found out

our family friend had Stage 4

Pancreatic Cancer...expected to only survive two

months.

He lived 8 months, and when I say he lived

I mean he L*I*V*E*D it!

He savored every relationship.

 Everyone he met

was more than a friend, they were family.

He became a second father to my oldest son

and many other boys over the years.

He left behind a legacy that has impacted

a generation of young men.

He demonstrated what a difference it makes to have a happy demeanor

and positive outlook on life...and just loving people...

NO MATTER WHAT.

Last week our friend Rodney went home to Jesus

and I do believe Heaven is smiling!

Thank you Rodney for such a beautiful gift.

Today, Im headed to the airport to pick up 

my sister, Jill, and my 7 year old niece.

My sister and I a few years back. We were visiting Coupeville, WA

It has been a few years since

she has visited us.

They love to come during the 4th of July

because its a extra special treat to 

do fireworks!

They can't do them where they live because

its WAY too hot and dry.

I have the guest room all cozied up

and ready for their visit.

There was no time to paint it, but I know she

will enjoy the fresh flowers from

the garden.

I added 3 quilts to her bed.

It has been a cool Summer for us...

and they are used to the Phoenix heat.

Having them come is a happy surprise!

So...we may rename our home "The Money Pit".

ha ha...seriously.

Remember that movie??? Im living it!

This was before we moved in. We have removed the grass on the slopes
and put in perennials and bark. We added a storm door in white,
put in new outdoor lighting.

I should do a post on the importance of a GOOD

home inspector.

NEVER use the selling agents inspector....

NEVER decide not to be at the inspection...

and get a second opinion on anything that seems questionable!

I know, I know, after  buying 5 houses I should

have known this. But if you

remember from my earlier posts,

my husband was living in San Diego for 2 years

and I bought this one on my own

 (with his confidence...poor guy)

THIS week alone,

we found out that the roof was not installed properly

and has been leaking into many parts of the house.

Fortunately we have not noticed any serious problems to date.

The gutters are all leaking and draining in bad places.

AND the house REALLY needs a new paint job

with some dry rot and bubbling paint and unsealed windows.

(with 3/4" cedar siding, its not a quick fix)

The "New" furnace still has all the original

1930's ducting and one bedroom was completely

unvented...hence the damp/moisture problems.

After getting many estimates

it looks like we will have a fixed roof, new gutter system,

and freshly painted house by the

end of the summer.

Thankfully, the furnace will only need some tweaking in the Fall

to prepare for Winter.

Its not what we had hoped to spend money on this year

especially since these things passed inspection

according to our inspector a year ago.

BUT

Lesson learned, and we can put it behind us.

Beans and Rice

for the next year though.

 ha ha ha

Thanks to Rodney...I will appreciate the bright side!

Hey, if you are headed up to Poulsbo for the

3rd of July Celebration,

be sure to stop in at the Poulsbo Antique Mall!

I added some more things this week.

Maybe we will see you there!

xoxox

Jodi

The gift of Love...

Sunflowers!

Do they make you smile?

They have always been my favorite

HAPPY flower,

like a big smiley face.

Several years ago my dad gave me the

greatest gift.

We have lived several states apart my entire adult life.

In the summer of 2005 my family

went on vacation to visit for the 4th of July.

My dad, knowing my favorite flower, surprised

me with the most amazing gift....

Nearly an acre of sunflowers planted

 just.
for.
me!

Imagine the love I felt.

My dad passed away suddenly in 2007.

Every 4th of July since, I have displayed a large bouquet 

of sunflowers to remember

that loving gift from my daddy.

THIS year, I have my own little sunflower garden of my own.

My sweet husband gave me a corner of our garden 

JUST for Sunflowers.

I can't wait for them to bloom!!! Happy smiley-faced flowers,

a beautiful reminder of a loving gift.

Each day we have an opportunity to give...

IN FACT...

Smokey, the cat, brought me a special gift today....along with the fresh leaves
from the tree he found it in.
Thank you Smokey, I love you too.
Next time you can leave it at the door...outside :)