Two Years and Settling In!

That’s right! Today is my two year anniversary of being married to my wonderful husband!

I really can’t believe it has been two years! Some days it feels like it has been a decade and other days I feel like it just happened last weekend.

I really feel blessed to have found my other half at such a young age. It’s funny where life will take you and it sure has taken us places we never would have gone with many first for us both.

Our First

House together

Furry Child (WINSTON!)

4-Wheeler

Snow Mobile Weekend

Moving Trip

Farm-ette (not suppose to call it a farm :)

Stock Car Races/Trailer Races (Most red Neck thing I have ever witnessed)

I’m sure there were lots more but those are the ones that come to mind.

I have done a lot of thinking over the past month and not a lot of blogging. I think I was in a deep Blog-pression over what to talk about and was over thinking things so I just didn’t post at all. So here’s what’s happening!

G and I are settling in to life here in Iowa. We went to an auction (one of our new favorite weekend events) last weekend and ran into lots of people that we had met from around the area. Mostly old farmers that G met through trying to find a tractor but also some of our neighbors. It’s SO nice to go somewhere and just be able to recognize faces and just chat for a few minutes. Over time I’m sure these will be people that we come to know more and more.

Speaking of Tractors… today our F5000 will arrive at our house!

G looked far and wide to find one that he really wanted. He bleeds blue… not green, red, or any other color for that fact. . . unless it’s red and yellow hay equipment (New Holland) He did try and venture out for the best deals by looking at other brands but when it came down to it there was no way any other equipment besides a Ford or New Holland was going to park in our shop. This is more of a hobby tractor for cutting hay and bailing along with other farm chores. There is the prospect of getting some other equipment later down the road.

Venturing out

I have been trying new ways to meet people, last night I starting a beginners Quilting class! How fun! I love to sew and my mom took a class not to long ago and loved it. I had to drive 30 minutes to Ames for the class but it’s worth it to get out of the house and MEET people! There were only 4 girls in the class, one a little younger then myself, another a sophomore in high school, and another retired and in her 70’s. Maybe not people that I will become friends with but socialization it the key! Also, I learned so much and surprised myself by being the most skilled in the class. I have already cut my fabric and started piecing with the sewing machine. I will probably work all this week in the evening to get all my pieces together before my next class.

I’m making a Fall Quilt… love the oranges!

Craig’s List …. meet ups!

Okay, I know this rings a little “Craig's list killers” for some of you but really it’s not bad. If you go under “Community & Activities” you will find post of groups wanting to meet up. I went on and found a co-ed soccer league that will meet up this Fall once a week in Ames. It’s just pick up ball so no competition, anyone can play, and again a nice way to get out and meet people doing something I love! There is nothing scary about it, your are meeting in a public place, with lots of people, and if you go once and don’t like it then your aren’t committed since you didn’t pay anything.

Here is my theory… I can’t just sit around and hope to meet people by some act of God. I have to make myself get out there and explore a little. This is now my home and could be for many years to come so the sooner I start making the effort the more I will feel like this is now “home”.

Canning Season

Holy cannoli has my garden taken off! Every day I harvest at least 4 big boy tomatoes from my 6 plants and a 1 pint of cherry tomatoes!

I made some fresh Bruschetta the other day and it was AMAZE! Probably more so because I grew it and made it myself of course. My mission tonight is to make some hot salsa using the Jalapenos in the garden along with this basket of Toms that I have before they turn to waste.

G and I’s favorite Garden snack are the Jalapeño Poppers I make… super easy!

1. Cut off stem end and hollow out center and de-seed
2. Mix Cream Cheese and Sharp Cheddar Cheese in a bowl
3. Stuff peppers with cheese
4. Wrap with bacon, secure using tooth picks
5. Bake at 410 degree for 12-15 minutes
6. Enjoy :)

Wow… I was all over the place today but was happy to finally share what is going on at this Rigdon house. I promise to post again sooner then later. :)

Old house vs.. New House

 

Yesterday George and I got the lovely privilege to replace a wax ring on the toilet bowl in our house.

Now, I’m not a lazy person but we are selling this house so at this point I’m tried of plastering, painting, removing wall paper, and fixing things that the new home owners can deal with. However, I am for fixing things that are going to be a deterrence to a potential home buyer walking though.

Ever since I visited George back when he first moved to SD I can remembering smelling some sort of gas from the bathroom area. It would be there even if no one had used the bathroom so obviously something was wrong. George has had the septic tank emptied twice now and still the smell is there. About 3 weeks ago we had to have a Septic company come in and run stats on our water pipes. As soon as the guy walked in the bathroom he says to me… “um ya know that smell? Well, it’s methane and it’s leaking up from the toilet. Your wax ring has deteriorated so you may want to fix that.” DUH! why didn’t I think of that, oh yea because I’m 26 and this is my first house.

Well, because of the smell being so strong at times I told George we HAD to fix it. I didn’t want the realtors bringing people on tours of the house and having the house smell of Methane Gas. Which may I also add it poisonous so it def. needed fixed. The smell was getting worse as time has passed on.

We started our little project around 10am. Being the husband that he is, George googled how to fix the wax ring. Estimated time: 1 hour… we’ll see about that!First, we had to cut off the water in the house. We wanted to cut just the bathroom line but couldn’t find it. Sure enough that’s because it was right next to the toilet bowl and not in the basement. DOH! Better safe then sorry. After we shut the water off we detached the bowl from the floor and then emptied out the water. The guy was right, the wax ring that was there was almost gone. It wasn’t doing a darn thing. Not to mention the “Flange” was completely corroded and wasn’t even holding the bowl to the floor! (I like to take these opportunities to learn new words…

Flange; noun

1.

a projecting rim, collar, or ring on a shaft, pipe, machine housing, etc., cast or formed to give additional strength, stiffness, or supporting area, or to provide a place for the attachment of other objects.

Around 10:30 we headed out to Menards (It’s basically a Lowes) to pick up the items we needed:

• Wax Ring
• Flange
• toilet bolts

Of course that took almost 45 minutes because we were trying to figure out which ring we needed; just FYI they come in different thicknesses. We also didn’t measure which is a major DIY no-no! Measure before you go to the store!

When we got home, of course the Flange we bought was the wrong size.. George had to go back to the store and buy a new one. (This time he measured)

By the time George got home from the second trip to Menards, it was a little after 1pm at this point in the day. He had bought two different Flanges just in case and guess what! Neither of them fit! What the heck! We were starting to feel defeat upon us, this old house had almost beaten us. But George always says “You have to be smarter then the object” … one of this Grandmother’s quotes that he often states. So what did we do? We took a hack saw and cut the darn Flange down so that it fit perfectly! Haha! After we got that part screwed in  to the floor it was smooth sailing! Next was the wax ring; I had a great moment “ah ha” moment when I said we should use my hair dryer to help warm the wax so it would warm to room temperature and stick better to the bottom on the toilet. It worked! We got the ring on, reattached the seat and WAAALAA 3 hours later we have completed our first reinstallation of a toilet seat. Blast you Google for saying it should only take an hour!

George and I have done many projects in our house over the past 14 months and none of them are ever done in the time stated in most the directions. Our house was built in 1930 and although I love old homes because of the character they depict I’m starting to realize that a newer home would be less of a hassle.

A few our a biggest irritations with this older house have been:

• #1 Plaster Walls: They are uneven so forget handing Shelves. They start to deteriorate over time leaving cracks and holes to refinish. If you try to hang things you have to be extra careful.
• #2 Old plumbing: It’s just OLD, corroded, and rusted out!
• #3 Old Wiring: Most all electronics come with a 3-prong insert, most old houses only have the 2-prong… Guess you’ll be switching them over.
• #4 Wall paper: I’m not even going to comment, if you have taken wall paper done you know my pain
• #5 Windows: Basically all old house NEED newer windows. Old windows are drafty and are not as efficient as today’s windows.

I really would love to find an older home that some one else took the time to update to the 20th century but the chances of that happening is slim. I think George and I are set on getting a newer style house so that we can move in and not have to do so much work to it.

Next problem: finding a newer style home in our price range 3+ rooms 2+ baths, that isn’t in “town” or a neighborhood. Preferably on 2+ acres of land, with a large garage, and close to the Ames area.

Is there a realtor fairy that can wave their wand and make this happen?

{ We're Moving! Again! }

 

For a month now I have wanted to say openly that we are moving but couldn't due to all the other bridges we had to get over initially. My husband has been given the opportunity to go back to being a Dealers Sales Manager which was what his job was when he initially moved from Maryland to South Dakota 3 years ago. It seems as though I just moved here... oh yeah because I did just move here only a year and 4 months ago! When he was approached to apply for the job he was very hesitant to do so, I think for my sake since I have a salary job now and have a few friends in the area. After talking about it we weighed the pros and cons. I laugh because on my list I put a (B) next to my pros and cons and a (G) next to my husbands. We are definitely people that think differently but balance each other out.

Pros:

• Better Salary (G)
• Greater commission (G)
• Smaller Territory (G ) which means less travel (B)
• Larger population of Dealerships (G)
• More traditional Ag rather then Ranches (G & B)
• 5.5 hours closer to the East Coast (you have go to take what you can get) (G & B)
• Newer house with more area (B & G)
• Trees and Greens (B)
• In state tuition at an Ag University (B)
• More people (G &B) but not as much at back east
• College towns so more possibility to make friends (B)
• and much more

Cons:

• Only 5.5 hours closer to home (B)
• Missing out on weddings, family events, and more like we do now (G&B)
• selling our house - we still like it, it's our first house together (B)
• Leaving my job (B & G)
• Switching over all the tags, titles, licenses (B)
• Leaving the few friends I have (B)
• Leaving his dealers (G)

Ok, by now you are probably scrolling to the top to see if I mentioned with state I am moving to, well I never mentioned it.

We are moving Iowa! Well… Western Iowa since that is where the dealerships are located.

We have an idea of the area that we would like to move to but it’s stressful and not set in stone. Our house just went on the market last Friday Jan. 6th so we can’t really start looking at houses because it’s all about timing. Sure we can look on realtor.com every day to look at prospective houses but it will be just my luck that the one I like gets sold before we can even walk through it. This is Cruds-Ville USA right now.

I thought the initial telling friends, family, and work that I was leaving was stressful, but now that I am dealing with the open houses & walk-through’s is even more stressful.

So here is more news that I am leading up to. My Blog is getting a revamp. I am new to the blogging world and enjoy it thoroughly but my blog is not what I want it to be. I love to craft but don’t have enough time to keep up posting on that stuff. I work 40+ hour weeks people! I love to cook but rarely do anything too exciting to read about, I am into fashion but not a trend setter, No kiddies yet to post cute pics of…. so What do I write about!  It took me awhile to figure it out but this move has really helped me in finding my way as a blogger.

{ Simply Adapting: A guide to making a HOME where ever life takes you } is the title of my new blog set to be released sometime this February. I have many friends whom I have reconnected with on facebook that ask me questions all the time about adjusting to a new area being so far from home because they themselves have moved or are about to move. This will be my second time adapting to a new house, town, work environment, etc so I think I have some basis to speak on the topic. I will post mostly about my new move or leading up to it and then about how I am adapting but my blog will also feature other women like myself that have moved and had to adapt to their new surroundings whether they are a military wife, a company transplanter like myself , or just chose to move for schooling, family, work or adventure. It will give helpful tips on how to join your new community in social engagements, church, work, friends & family.

I am really excited for the launch and until then will enjoy ranting about my crazy home sale going on right now through my Sixty Six blog. I hope you will stick with me and invite friends in my new journey through {Simply Adapting}.

Here’s a sneak peak of the picture going in my header of the new blog.  

January Desk Top Calendar

 

My January desktop calendar! I just thought it was the cutest out of the bunch listed on Smashing Magazine’s web site.

Now if I could only get a calendar for my kitchen and office bulletin… Something is telling me that the “free” one that George picked up from the bank just isn’t going to cut it. :/

New Years Resolutions:

• Make it to the gym at 5am at LEAST 2 days a week and in the afternoon 3 other days {I am really trying to not over shoot this one with telling myself I will get up every morning at 5am. I need to slowly build into this habit or else I burn out and say Fluff. it! As I am sure many of you have. :)
• Call my Grammy once every two weeks. I have it on my iphone calendar, Now I won’t forget!
• Send birthday cards more frequently… I feel that I did an okay job of this in 2011.
• Only eat fast food 1 day out of the week. Today was Culvers… guess I’m done
• Limit Sodas – I have already started to cut this back LOTS
• Try new recipes!

I hope you have your list of Resolutions as well. :)

Vacation back east wrap up

I am posting this on day 1 of my trip back home to Lakota Land as Geo and I call it. Obviously, I am exhausted from a week of running everywhere trying to visit family and friends. People get left out and it feels really bad but we all live in different areas and have our to do's over this crazy week, so I can only hope that next time will be different.

I've come to realize that living in South Dakota isn't the hard part of living away from everyone. People adjust easily to their surroundings. What's hard is coming home. You want to be able to do everything that you use to do before you moved and want it to be the way it was before you left, truth is , it isn't. People adjust to you being away as well.

As tired as I am I was blessed to be able to see my family on both sides. Geo and I were able to split time with my family as well as his during this trip. Usually, it feels like one side gets the short end of the stick. Here are some highlights of my trip!

• Seeing everyone at the Rigdon Open house Christmas eve & seeing George’s 1 year old cousin Weston for the first time since last year!
• Winston playing his Christmas presents = super funny & entertaining
• Going up to my parents from Christmas to Wednesday evening
• Going bowling with my mom and sisters and rolling the best game of my life! 175!!!
• Seeing my brothers new house! (and organizing a little for him :)
• Going to Baltimore with our friends Adam and Kristin. Went to the Brazilian steak house, walked by a “Needle Exchange Van”, Went shopping on the Inner Harbor
• Spending time with George’s Uncle’s family on new years. George held a baby for the first time! So cute!
• Spending New Years with friends but not getting drunk.. sometimes its fun to watch everyone else. I was a hit with Kristen’s niece “Hannah”.
• Going back to see my family to say Good-bye on Sunday.

Things I missed out on :(

• Seeing my BFF…
• Going to a friends Bridal Shower
• Seeing my Grammy– She went to Orlando for the holiday

Things that have changed majorly since I moved:

• My willingness to deal with mall traffic and people has diminished…
• Went to Grottos on Main St. with my husband, sisters, and brother…. didn’t see anyone that I knew. (I’m getting old)
• Clothing – I don’t think it has changed, I just have adapted to my climate and region a little more.

I hope that everyone enjoyed their break and had a Wonderful Holiday.

{ Life gets in the way }

Well, as you can see my 5 days of cricut is kind of on hiatus so I haven't posted. With Christmas coming right around the corner I have just been overwhelmed with wrapping, finishing knitting projects, cooking for pot lucks, etc. Plus the hubby has been away on business back East with our Internet hot spot which leaves me to only to be able to post while at work. It's been crazy there as well, so my apologies.

I will post my 2nd day of Cricut tomorrow! I promise!

For now, Happy Wrapping!