Experience Life in Statesboro (Part II of IV)

Week 2 (February 21st-27th)

We found a plethora of Mexican restaurants in Statesboro. Our family loves Mexican food! After hearing conflicting opinions of which is the crème de la crème, we decided to begin the quest for the best. Holy Guacamole! El Jalapeno is delicious! Do we even need to try elsewhere?... I did make a few homemade meals (not all w/pics), but still not enough for my liking. Time just gets away! 

We traveled over to the condo where Tim had been blessed with residency for about 6 months. We are forever grateful to Mike and Elaine, and Elaine’s cousin for being so generous. I would have loved to spend some more time on the beach, but after cleaning it up and gathering Tim’s belongings we were ready to head ‘home.’ 

What pleasure I found in going to the recycling center! You’re thinking, “She’s crazy!” (Yes, but I don’t see what that has to do with the center.) It’s well kept, (I love their organized system!) just around the corner, and even has a section for goodwill! Our empty boxes found a new home, along with a few items for goodwill. We’ve already made several trips.

Someone from Youngsville left these beautiful gloves on one of the trucks. THANK YOU!!!!! If you would like them back,

please let me know. Meanwhile, they are well cared for. I do not usually care to wear gloves, but these fit like a glove! I wear them any chance I get. It’s an addiction, really. I don’t think I could use a screwdriver or prune a branch without them anymore! It felt good to prune our bushes (with help from my young men), and to putter in the yard before the rain came (forewarned by mackerel skies). How gratifying to take a break, soak in the nature, and just being together again. 

Even Lily is settling in… maybe too much!

                                                                          ~Jenny~

An after thought…

A delight I hadn’t anticipated… I’m a one cup a day coffee kind of gal. Not anymore! Tim sometimes leaves behind up to half of his coffee in the morning. Waste not, want not! Oh, I so look forward to those mornings! I don’t think John experiences the same delight though. I often don’t eat much of what I order, or have - and what used to end up with John, now gets offered to his dad first. :)

Experiencing Life in Statesboro (Part I of IV)

One thing I love about living in different areas is the adventure. It’s scary and exciting to discover a place – its land, people, and amenities. There is some of each from the areas I’ve traveled and lived that hold on tight to my heart. Our life in Statesboro is just beginning. As we’ve been told more than once, “Welcome to the REAL south!”

Week 1 (February 14th-20th)

 Our first full week was busy with unpacking, deep cleaning, minor repairs, and discoveries. Our first ‘O my goodness, it’s late and we need food!’ run led us to Krystal. My guys found a new favorite – from burgers to chicken sandwiches to shrimp. All were happy. During lunch one day, we had leftover wings from feeding the gang who helped us moved in. John and I decided one of us likes cleaner bones than the other, or were just hungrier. Any guesses who? We also ventured over to Uncle Shug’s Fried Chicken. Ummmm…. They had some fun pics on the walls, and the company was outstanding! Of course, the best food came out of our own kitchen - made with love. It felt so good to be a family sitting around the table, knowing it would be for longer than a handful of days.

A BP gas adventure made our week! John and I explored a bread outlet around the corner, followed by a BP before hitting the Dollar General next door. The grocery store we now frequent, BI-LO, is paired with BP. Gas was pretty low to begin with, but with our reward points we made out at $1.09/gal! I suppose another outing piqued the boys’ interest. AAA ‘broke’ into our car so we could get the keys from the trunk. My young men thought it was cool. I thought it was cool we had AAA, and that they were quick!

While unpacking boxes, nerf bullets have been discovered in strange places… they do add up! Some of our fixing up has included a leak in the roof (my guys were having way too much fun up there), and a stubborn stain on the vinyl floor. I’ve tried several different remedies to no avail. The floor has lightened a bit, but that’s all. Any ideas? When not busy working, the guys have had fun playing (yep, nerf, also), going for walks, and enjoying our yard – we all appreciate it. You should see our ‘Wateringhole Branch’ stream moving after a good rain. In the sun green anoles have surfaced around our house. They seem to be living around our propane tank. The one surprise is the sweetgum trees. The only reason we moved from Youngsville was to get away from them, and here they are - not for long! (Well, maybe it wasn’t the only reason…)

                                                                                      ~Jenny~

As you can see, I'm experimenting with different picture formats. A huge delay to my postings is due to the frustration I find with getting the placement of photos to my liking. I found a site, www.photocollage.com, which is much easier than what I had been using. Any suggestions?

I Can't Believe The Day of Moving is Here....

Friday, February 12, I woke praising God for the great weather. My feet dragged, hoping to delay the inevitable. I believe everyone’s feet were behaving the same. After our last breakfast as North Carolinians, we said more goodbyes, loaded up Lily, and headed for a new season.

The drive went from tears to pings of excitement. I was thrilled to see the price of gas in Florence, South Carolina. I believe Lily was just as interested, demanding to roam freely at moments along the way. I was pleased she only dined on our plants, instead of using them for other forms of entertainment. The anticipation grew as the Savannah Bridge appeared in sight. Almost seven months living without Tim had been way too long! God grew us all during that time; but knowing He was bringing us back together for longer than a weekend, brought me deep joy. Arriving in Savannah meant signing for the closing of our new home. It was a moving day for our new friend, Stephanie, as well. Our family marked her first closing!

Due to rush hour, driving the final leg took almost an hour and a half. Peace settled within me upon seeing our ‘Saddle Creek’ entrance, and new home. Once all we brought was unloaded and beds were put together, we crashed. I was thankful to have a day to clean out boxes, and for the boys to begin unpacking their room before another load came with Mike and Dad and Mom Clemens. What a joy and blessing to see them again ~ Celebrating Valentine’s Day with ones we love! Although they had to turn around quickly, every moment was special. It meant so much to our family for them to share in this new journey. 

                                                                                                      ~ Jenny ~

Here's two of our boys taking a break from unpacking and taking advantage of no furniture in the living room....

Leaving Our Loved Youngsville Home

A whirlwind…. That has been my past couple of months. (Realistically, the past few years, but I’ll focus on this recent period.) My Little Men and I – okay, I really should call them ‘Young Men’ – joined Tim in Hilton Head, SC for New Year’s and my birthday. What a busy trip! House hunting filled the days via the computer (oh, yes, I brought an updated spreadsheet with us each day), city to city, and county to county. Our last day, we narrowed the search to five, and found our home. I’m so grateful to Stephanie (our wonderful realtor), and the Shelske’s for taking care of our beloved cat, Lily, and for much more!

Our last days in Youngsville were busy, fun, and sad. I wish we could have visited more people and said more goodbyes in person. We did engage in some nerf battles, peeled potatoes (sometimes the skin), ate good food with great friends, and worshipped with wonderful brothers and sisters when not packing. What a blessing for Joseph to join the choir and to hear the youth (and many other people each week) sing together one last time!

I am blessed by memories of friends who prayed, helped, visited, and stole me away for a break! I was going crazy with boxes everywhere. Praying for a miracle, our family continued hoping God would provide a way to remain in Youngsville. Once it was obvious God was moving us to Georgia, serious packing began. Even Lily helped. I tried to school as long as possible, while working with the realtors, inspections, due diligence, and other calls that come with moving. Yikes! I learned a few things myself, including installing insulation in a crawl space from YouTube. I thought I’d be finished a week before Tim came home (Feb 9th), leaving plenty of time for fun with friends. Ha! Many nights of less than four hours’ sleep, and it still took until the very end.

Our first celebration moving into Youngsville was John and Joseph’s 14th birthday. The last celebration occurred the day we signed our closing papers, February 10th - their 16th! Hmmm…. Born on Thursday (Thursday’s child has ‘far to go’) - I wonder how many times they’ll move around their birthday? Maybe they’ll just travel.

Wednesday we also picked up the U-Haul, enjoyed Flat Rock (but the goodbyes were difficult), and invited friends over for one more Nerf war. Why not? Are we not young whippersnappers who can stay up until 3:30 to finish packing and cleaning? Ha! Thursday, loading up day, flew like a gale! Such amazing help –grateful and blessed! I believe we began close to 9, and the loading was mostly finished by 1. We still cleaned, vacuumed, and divided some plants. We brought the few hens and chicks we still had from New York, some ferns, lilies, and a hosta (only one clump – became sidetracked with the new owners arrival and forgot to get more along with the Moss’s ginger – ugh!) I love the stories that come with shared plants.

Thursday night we were pooped! It felt great to get cleaned up at our friends’ house. Elaine and Mike graciously invited us for a delicious rib dinner, apple dessert hearts, and some games of aggravating aggravation. Mum’s the word on who won. Then we crashed with prayers about the next morning’s warning of icy roads as we thought about the journey ahead…

                                  ~Jenny~

I Believe the Dailey's are Moving!!!!

     As I write this, I smile. Above us I hear furniture moving, vacuuming, music, banging and chatting. Our first neighbors above us were wonderful, and we were sorry to see them move. These people seem nice enough, but they are awake at night versus the day, vacuum almost everyday, and love to run on their treadmill during the middle of the night. It has helped us to be ready. Ready to MOVE!!!

     We chose the house in Youngsville, NC to be our new home. Youngsville, NC, population 1,173 is soon to be population, 1,178 (plus a small panther!) I thought our town, Massena, NY was small! Of course, we are less than 10 miles to Wake Forest.

     Our home does sit on a beautiful lot in a lovely neighborhood. Above is the view from our front stoop. We all love the trees... I'm afraid of the snakes which might be lurking in the mulch waiting for their next victim. It's a good thing we have valiant boys!

      Our realtor, Kathy, has been excellent! She has such a sweet, exuberant personality and is from Youngsville herself. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of her. You can't tell by this photo, but our front door is Tardis blue ~ another sure sign this is the house for us!

     Below is a front angled view. Yes, there is a garage attached to the house and a separate one. The guys are in bliss! I'll probably have the house to myself except when they're hungry or tired!

If you'd like to see more pics of the house, fb message me, or comment here and I will email you a skydrive link. :)



     We fell in love with this new home. We already have a sentimental story. The current owners had it built in 1993 (the year we were married). They have built a new smaller home for themselves after 20 years, and we will be moving into this one in our 20th year of marriage. It was meant to be!

     Joe is thrilled to be moving into the room which housed a Dr. Who video collection. Each of the boys' closets have a 'secret' storage area. They are psyched! They'll have an acre to play on, and there's a beautiful screened porch! I can't wait for Lily to see it! 

     The above photo gives you a little idea of the backyard, and below to the right is the back of the house showing the porch. 

     When are we moving? The closing was scheduled for January 31st. Today, the plan changed, and no one is complaining! We are closing in one week on January 24th! Due to having our apartment through February 14th, we will have plenty of time to load our backs and set up camp.

~ Jenny ~

Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.

Psalm 127:1