Welcome to our new home!

Monday April 1, 2013 through April 5, 2013

 

What do you call an alligator wearing a vest? An investigator!

Okay so enough of my mission humor. Now on with the show...

                                           

In the Book of Mormon it states:

1 Nephi 2:20, "And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye

shall prosper."

     We have been truly blessed and have so much to be thankful for as you will see.

                                                   

                                                       

 Below is a picture of Elder Busath purchasing dinner at a local Subway after a long day at the office.  (Thanks to the generosity of LaRee and Tony Bermudez).  It has been so nice not having to cook lately that we are seriously considering buying Costco ready to eat meals for two just to save on time and money. Of course we haven't done the math yet so we may very well have to see what we can do with Top Ramen if need be.

Tuesday night we borrowed a van from the Mission Office (used to transport incoming and out going missionaries) and loaded it up with some of our belongings in preparation of our big move Wednesday morning.  Unfortunately the Value Inn isn't located in the best of neighborhoods so we had to wait until the last minute Wednesday morning to pack up our valuables. You know, clothes, shoes, scriptures, the laptop computer, the camera anything we couldn't do without.          

The plan was to wake up, shower, get dressed, study the scriptures, pray, pack up, clean, check out and be in the Mission Office and ready to work by 9:00 Wednesday morning.  Then we would unload the van and unpack after work at 5:00. 

The Parker's, the couple we replaced, weren't planning to hit the road for Preston, Utah until late Wednesday morning. So we would technically be homeless for about 8 hours.

 

 Wednesday morning dawned and we were literally running around like two chickens with our heads cut off.  We finished all our chores as planned including picking up mail from the Mission President's home, and then suddenly Elder Busath decided to stop by the Parker's to say one last good bye and to drop off some recently received mail for them.  Well it just so happened (that's not entirely true, Elder Busath was inspired) the Parker's must have decided to get an early start that morning because the apartment was vacant! You never saw a van get unloaded so quickly in all of your life. I am not sure what we were planning to do with the few things that needed refrigeration, but that was no longer a problem.  Once the van was emptied, 5 minutes tops, we drove back to the Value Inn to officially check out (their office didn't open until 9:00), and then on to the Mission Office.  After all that running around we were actually only 15 minutes late for work :) 

              Welcome to our new home! It will be so nice to finally plant some roots after being nomads for almost 6 weeks (even if it is just for a little less than a year) .

                                                                            

This is our little patio in the backyard.  As you can see it is completely screened in (just like the expensive homes around here) to keep all the critters out and let the sunshine and warm tropical breezes in.

         

Our neighbors, two other Senior couple apartments, across the pond.  There is actually a big fountain in the middle of  the pond, it just wasn't on when we took this picture.

   

You would think with all this water that the ducks would be happy little campers, not so.  We actually saw five little ducks taking a moonlight dip in the swimming pool!  I am pretty sure that little bit of information wouldn't make the apartment management very happy.

 

An actual view from our patio!  There is a nice sidewalk surrounding the pond so we plan to make it a habit of walking around the pond a couple of times a day and count it as our exercise routine. I feel bad for the guy that has to mow the grass though.  I suspect they lose lots of gardeners and lawn mowers in the pond, the ledge is so steep.

 

 

A before picture...

Just to set the scene, the carpet is oatmeal colored, the couch a pale yellow and the easy chair is a light blue green in color. Nice, but  just a little bland.  (Think old retired people décor).

 

 

Yes, that is correct, if you look closely you will see that the apartment did come with a television and a VCR.  No, we don't plan to watch it, although it might come in handy in the event of a hurricane warning or a church video just aching to be watched, per Elder Busath. 

 

 

Okay, so I admit it, we are old, just not that old. We couldn't see the teeny weeny clock on the VCR, so we bought a new clock. It was all of $8.00 so I splurged alright.

 

Someone suggested that I set the clock for California time so that I would always know what the rest of my family was doing.  But then I would need to get a clock for Idaho time too and knowing me I would probably get the three times confused and never know the right time for me.

 

 

Okay for those who know me you know that I do not have a crafty bone in my body.  That being said it could explain why I struggle so at interior decorating. I really tried to get inspired at Wal-Mart when we went to pick up a few necessities after moving in.  You know important things like light bulbs, batteries, lamps for the night stands, a clock, a garbage can, a few groceries. But I just wasn't feeling it.  So I made an attempt at adding a little color and it's the best I could do on a tight budget.

 

 

 

 

The bedroom came with a king sized bed! We have been sleeping in a double bed for the past month so it took about 2 minutes to get used to!

 

 

I tried to warn you.  There is not much of a change in the bedroom with the exception of two night stand lamps, our pillows and some personal stuff. The comforter is lilac and in fair condition. 

Why fix it if it's not broken?

 

 

 But wait my sorry attempt at redecorating eventually does get a little better in the bathroom.

 

Before it was, yawn, okay, nothing to write home about. 

 

Now it just screams Florida, right?

 

The kitchen was surprisingly well stocked. Three crock pots, counting the one I brought from home, and one of just about everything else.  Of course nothing matches and I could definitely outfit the neighborhood Dollar Tree Store or make a killing at a garage sale when we move. But we have sufficient for our needs and we will just pick up some paper plates and cups if we ever decide to entertain.

 

 

I actually brought these colorful things from home, much to Elder Busath's dismay. 

Look at me being frugal.

 

 I hate to end this little tour of our new home with this picture because it really doesn't do the dining room transformation justice. First of all the dining room table is big, that's the good news.  It seats six, although I only have chairs for four.  The table is well loved and off  white in color.  The chairs are black and dark brown striped, and that's the bad news.  What can you do with black and brown striped chairs? Then I heard Andi, my oldest daughter, as though whispering in my ear, "ignore the chairs just add a bold color as an accent," so I did. The results may not be exactly what she would have suggested, but I have red in the kitchen to tie it all together doesn't that count?

The map hanging on the wall is actually covering up a big gray electrical box containing the circuit breaker.  Two of the other senior apartments that we recently visited made no attempt to hide it.  I, on the other hand, am a little more OCD and it would have driven me CRAZY so I tried to think of something temporary and yet  fun to help conceal it. The map of the United States is the one we used on our trip here and is highlighted in pink charting our progress from Sacramento to Idaho, to Utah, all the way to Florida so I thought it was appropriate and maybe even a little bit education.  Okay so I am stretching it just a little.

The bottom line is we are happily settling in and loving every minute of our missionary experience. We have been keeping plenty busy during the day taking care of the many behind the scene details of keeping our missionaries happy, healthy, focused and in the field finding and teaching people.  In the evening we have been trying to make contact with individuals who have not been officially notified of our recent ward (congregation) boundary changes and we were just recently invited to "find" individuals who may be living within our ward boundaries who may qualify to be placed in the Young Single Adult Ward. There are seriously not enough hours in the day to do all we hope to accomplish, but thankfully there is always tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow...Saturday and Sunday, April 6th and 7th, beginning at 9:00 AM and at 1:00 PM California time, I would like to invite you to join me to come and listen to a Prophet of the Lord. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints is holding their bi-annual General Conference and it is televised for all the world to see.  I don't know what channel it will be on in California or in Idaho, aside from the BYU channel, but you can always check out the church website:   http://lds.org for more details.  In Florida we will be watching the conference sessions at our local church buildings beginning at noon and again at 4:00 because I am told you have to have expensive equipment to get the satellite feed which as a missionary we can not afford.  I hope you will take the time to check it out and if you will I promise that you will not be disappointed.

 

"There are messages in each General Conference given as a gift and blessing from heaven specifically for our personal life situations."  President Dieter F Uchtdorf

"If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit some of us will touch on your circumstances, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you."  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Thanks for stopping by and checking up on us.  We feel your love and prayers and appreciate them more than we can say.

Make it a great day!