Packing It Up! AGAIN!!!

Well, it is now March.  In fact, it is bearing down on the END of March.  I have sold my condo on Beautiful Okaloosa Island and have made the decision to become a full time permanent resident of Ogden, Utah.

Yep, the Okaloosagirl who thought she could/would never leave the beautiful Gulf of Mexico behind.  However, I have fallen in love with this amazing place, and besides that my beautiful daughter and granddaughters are here too!

We have actually enjoyed every single minute and new adventure here in Utah.  The people here are amazingly friendly and giving…volunteerism here is beyond belief and people are proud of their home town and work to take care of the environment.

I decided to sell the condo on Friday, February 28th and flew down on Saturday….the first day of March!  They started showing the condo immediately to the tune of two to three times a day!  Dawn and I had to keep leaving because every time we came back, they called to show it again.  By Wednesday, March 5th I had a Contract and we CLOSED on Friday, March 7th! What a whirlwind.

Just before I left to go to Florida, and immediately after calling my Realtor, Mary Ann Miller, I contacted a Realtor here in Utah, Shawna with Cornerstone Real Estate.  I went out to see the some on the Monday before I left for Florida and immediately fell in love with the very first one I saw!  Good grief…come to find out the people who were selling it had just listed it the Friday before!  All of this has been amazing.  The Riley's, family who own the town home, are being transferred to Georgia, from whence we came! What an interesting turn of events.  The home has EVERYTHING I could possibly want and more, including a lovely view of the mountains.  We are sitting right at the mouth of Ogden Canyon and one tenth of a mile from my favorite walking trail along the Ogden River!  I don't believe in coincidence, and know this was all orchestrated by an all-knowing, all loving God who has looked out for me all my life.  Amazing.

So, here we go again, packing up to move for the FOURTH time in two years!  Hysterical! I am becoming an expert at packing.  In addition to this monumental move across town, we are leaving for Italy on April 1st!  This lovely trip to Venice, Florence and Rome is a gift from my son Charles!  What a gift!  We can hardly wait to get there and see all the lovely things Italy has to offer (Kevin is anxious to eat a lot of pasta!).

So in a few weeks I will be posting a lot of pictures from Italy as we enjoy our trip.  I am also excited and somewhat melancholy to say I will be going back to Macon to watch Eric Kline graduate from High School the middle of May!  Melancholy because I can not believe how quickly the last 18 years have passed…but, so proud of the amazing young man he has become!  I will collect my hugs and cry a lot I am sure!

Then I am coming home to get ready to welcome dear friend Roberta Johstono and her sister, Barbara, to Utah and we will be driving to Seattle, Washington and boarding a Royal Caribbean ship to Alaska! More pictures will be forthcoming!  Blog, blog, blog.

I am still deciding about whether to take my lovely, expensive camera with me on these excursions, or just rely on the old reliable iPhone!  I really need to practice with the camera before I go anywhere!
As you can see, the next couple months are going to be extremely hectic ones, but exciting at the same time.  I better get a B12 shot or I won't be able to keep up with myself.

I also started teaching a nutrition and diet class this week in Layton…as if I don't have enough to do!  But, as usual I am better when I am busy!  So I hope I will have lots of pictures and adventures to share with you all in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, I wish you all

PEACE, LOVE & JOY

Linda

Moving Again!

Oh My, we are moving again! Thank goodness it is only across town, but I sure hope this is the LAST move for awhile!  I am looking forward to getting out of the Hotel, although they have been really good to us here.  It's just kinda strange not having your own things around.  Also, most of my cooking utensils, etc are in storage and that is definitely inconvenient at times! 

We will be living in Layton, Utah now instead of downtown Ogden.  I am going to miss Ogden (but it's only going to be 15 minutes away) because of 25th street and the park across the street.  I absolutely love getting out and walking here.  I can even walk to the train station from where we have been living.  It will be a short drive, but still I will have to drive, to get to the train station in Layton.  The apartments look quite nice though, and there will be a dog park for Buddy!  I am a little concerned that we will be on the third floor and up and down stairs with the dog could be a challenge!  He is weird about stairs.  One good thing about the third floor however, is that no one will be above us stomping around! 

We have hired Two Men and A Truck to help with the move this time as Mel and Aaron have just gotten settled into their place, and I didn't want to ask Aaron to help again.  So, Sunday we will start moving some of the small stuff the movers won't take (like glass table tops) and clothing etc.  Then on Monday the truck will arrive and Tuesday the additional furniture I have bought for the new place.

It will be nice to get back to some kind of "normal."  Really, the Ben Lomond Hotel staff have been amazing, but living in a hotel is definitely different.  One thing I am going to miss is the Monday cleaning service! I'm spoiled.  It was also nice to be able to occasionally wander downstairs and get breakfast!  But, I need to get away from eating out, it's too easy to gain weight doing that!  Bread and potatoes are a big thing out here, and I don't need either!

Mel, Aaron and the girls are going to be staying here in Ogden for awhile.  I will miss just being able to walk a few blocks to see my girlies, but again it is only 15 minutes away, and it will be much closer for Kevin to go to work.  The funny part is I was just learning my way around Ogden, and now I am going to have to learn Layton!  My old brain is definitely getting a workout.

We are all looking forward to the Holidays out here.  The snow on the mountaintops is already providing skiing for the locals and soon all the Ski Resorts will be busy.  So, for now I am just getting ready to move, set up my little electric fireplace and begin "nesting" in my new home. 

PEACE, LOVE & JOY

Linda