A New Home Update

When we were making plans to move from our Ohio rental home back to Florida it was difficult to search for housing from such a long distance.  My husband made a trip down here for job interviews and found what we thought had worked out to be a decent temporary rental house.  At the last minute it fell through.  We scrambled to find something else and secured this house that we're in sight unseen.  The real estate agent had told me it came with a washer and dryer (so we sold ours to make more room in the moving truck) and that it would be cleaned before we arrived.

 Well...it wasn't.  Far from it.  It was disgustingly dirty and I burst into tears after walking through it. There was no washer and dryer as promised and the agent claimed she didn't remember telling me they would be here, and she insisted that it had been cleaned and basically had the attitude of "It's not my problem it doesn't meet your standards."  It was obvious to me and my whole family that it had not been cleaned.  I refused to sign the lease and we were basically homeless and living in a hotel for 2 days.  She agreed to have the cleaning team come back and clean again, but she outright refused to have the carpets cleaned or to supply a washer and dryer.  We went round and round with her, in the nicest way possible while still being firm about it.

We came back to the house after it's supposed cleaning, and it was minimally improved but still not at all what could be considered "clean."  (I am baffled that she actually pays people to do nothing.)  Because of the conditions I told her we would only sign a 6 month lease with a month to month option after that.  She quickly agreed.  My sweet and wonderful family all pitched in and we scrubbed and scraped, and bleached and mopped, and cleaned this place from top to bottom like it should have been done the first time.  We rented a Rug Doctor and my dad cleaned the carpets.  It was liveable.

The stove was really gross and I couldn't imagine having to cook on it.  My mom did a great job scrubbing it up as much as could have been done seeing how bad it was.  It was at least passable and I felt I could make a meal on it with only a small chance of contracting some disease.  :)

After it's scrub down, and from a distance it didn't seem too awfully bad.  But....when you looked up close...

The display was cracked in 3 places, the timer didn't work, it was yellowed and gross in all the hard to reach nooks and crannies...

The paint was bubbling and chipping off along the metal parts, there was just grease and thick grime in the places you couldn't get to.....

and the broiler drawer was a nightmare.  Corroded and rusty and disgusting.

The range hood above wasn't much better.  It was almond colored, but it was supposed to be white.  It had really yellowed from age and probably from smokers.

It was yellowed and gross around the switches, and the paint was chipping off all over it.

The very worst part was up underneath.  It was SO greasy and sticky and filthy that you couldn't even touch it!!  I tried to scrub it down with a steel wool SOS pad and even that wouldn't clean it!!  Bleck!! 

So.....I said all of that to say, the very first night that I was finally able to cook a homemade meal I did spaghetti and garlic bread.  I got the pasta all made and went to heat the oven for the bread.  I checked it a couple of minutes later and....nothing.  No heat at all.  I called my dad, he told us what to try, we tried it, and it didn't work. I was secretly jumping for joy and praising the Lord it didn't work!!  I was hoping beyond hope that this would mean we could get a replacement.  

I emailed the agent told her the problem (along with all the other things wrong with it) and asked about the possibility of replacing it with a nice used one instead of trying to repair it.  I offered for us to do the leg work of finding one and installing it, saying that it would make it easier on her, but really it was so that I could pick out my own and not have to worry that they'd come in with some avocado green monstrosity that I'd stroke over.  Amazingly the owners said we could spend up to $400 on a replacement.  They never even questioned the fact that we were claiming it didn't work....hmmmm, sounds suspicious, no?

We started searching Craigslist, but weren't having a whole lot of luck finding a gas range that was nice, in good condition, the right color, and in our price range.  Finally we found one for $250, but the guy told us he wouldn't be able to meet with us until the following evening.  Later that night we called to confirm that we could still come see it and found that he had sold it out from under us!  I was so aggravated, but I was trying to trust that God had something better in mind.

So...the next morning we headed out to a town a little over an hour away to check out a used appliance store.  There we found a really nice, really clean GE range for $250.  I hadn't actually asked the landlord about replacing the range hood, but figured it really needed done even if we had to foot the bill.  I didn't see any in his shop, but went ahead and asked if he happened to have any.  He thought for a moment, then went and dug out the only one he had.  A brand new, never been out of the box, beautiful white one.  He said he'd sell it for $35 (the cheapest one I saw at Sears was $170!).

He gave us a discount for paying cash as well as a little discount for bringing in the old stove, so we got both items for a grand total of $265, well under the budget.  It is SUCH a huge improvement in the kitchen and makes me so much happier to cook on.

Ahhhh...much better!!

I hadn't even prayed about the disgusting stove.  I just figured it was one of those things I'd have to learn to be content with, but God saw fit to provide a blessing even though I hadn't asked for it.  I am so very grateful for His all knowing ways and for His love for me that shows even in the little details of life.

Meanwhile, I'm making really good progress on the rest of the house.  There are no more boxes left in the main living areas and I would consider them complete.  The only room left to address is our master bedroom.  I'm sure I'll be sharing more pictures soon.  

Thanks for sticking around and being patient with me through all this change.  :)

                                                            

It's Official...We Have a Moving Date!

(Ok, first of all, a huge congratulations goes out to my hubby who finished up 2.5 years of schooling today!  He graduated with a diploma as an auto, diesel, and agriculture mechanic.  SO very proud of him and all his hard work!)

And now onto business.

Well, it's official...after much waiting and uncertainty, a few tears, LOTS of prayer and conversations with God, we finally have some permanent answers on this move to Florida.  

L..o..n..g story short, my husband accepted a job at a John Deere dealer and he'll be working in the agriculture industry repairing and maintaining the local farmers' heavy equipment.  It's exactly the kind of job he wanted and he's very excited to get started.  

We leave on July 2nd.

This will be our rental house for the next year.  It's small, a 2/1 and only 1,000 sq feet, but we'll make do, we always have.

We thought we had a house lined up, but it fell through at the last minute (thus the many shedding of tears on my part).  We had to scramble to find something else and were very fortunate to find this little place.  You want to know the "funny" thing about it?  We've never even actually seen it, only pictures.  It's a huge leap of faith for us.  : )

A woodsy neighborhood

My in-laws are just awesome sauce and they made a 4 hour trip up there and checked out the house (only from the outside though) and the neighborhood for us.  My father-in-law can talk to just about anybody and he made contact with a couple of the neighbors and spent awhile chatting them up and getting a feel for things.  They gave their stamp of approval, so that made us feel a whole lot better about going there sight unseen.  

We really did NOT want to live in the city again.  We've just had our fair share of that and SO wanted to live a little more in the country again.  God knew the desires of our heart.  The house may be small, but check out the "country" factor.  It's just under 20 minutes from town, and there are neighbors across the street and on one side, but the other side and behind us is nothing but woods woods and more woods for miles.  I love it!!  Can't wait to do some hiking and exploring.

(source)

Just down at the end of our road, less than a mile away, is the beautiful Suwannee River.  The chatty and kind neighbor has already said he wants to take us out fishing on his 18ft. boot!

Two miles away is a state park with these gorgeous, crystal clear, springs that stay at a constant 72 degrees all year round.  This is a 25ft. deep swimming hole.  Hubby visited the park when he was down there for job interviews and he said you could see straight to the bottom!  Aren't the colors just awesome?  Those are actual colors, I didn't mess with the color saturation at all.

We are SO excited to be starting on this journey of the next part of our lives, and along with that we can't wait to be back in warm and sunny Florida again (and also be back in the country again, of course!).

 I'll do my best to keep you updated along the way.  If you're not already, make sure you become a fan over on the Facebook page.  I keep that updated a couple of times a week at least with goings on around here, decorating ideas, tried and true recipe shares, and other fun things.

(And just a note about Facebook, make sure that you're interacting with the page by either "liking" something or leaving a comment.  If there's no activity from your end, FB thinks you're no longer interested and will phase those postings out of your news feed.  So make sure you at least leave me a "like" on one or two of my postings if you still want my content to show up in your news feed.)

                                                                   

Another Update on the Big Move

So, my hubby is down in Florida this weekend doing job interviews and house searching.  I decided to hold a yard sale while he was gone, so that's what I did all day yesterday.  My very good friend and faithful sidekick came and helped me out and we sold a good amount of stuff.

This was our kitchen table for the past 2.5 years, but I sold it off.  We thought we would love the breakfast nook style of it, but we didn't.  Benches just aren't all they're cracked up to be and they were more aggravation than they were worth.  So it went to a new home and in the mean time...

this is our kitchen table and chairs.  : )

We'll look for something better once we get moved and settled.

Remember this shelf contraption that I picked off the curb?  I had intended to take it apart and turn it into something else, but that never happened.  So I sold it too.

A couple of years ago I redid our coffee table and took it from it's white chippy look (too chippy...as in the paint was falling off in chunks),

 to this soft yellow, aged look.  It was beautiful, but it just wasn't working out as a coffee table.  Just a few inches too high to prop our feet up on comfortably so it went on to a new home as well.  

(You can read about its makeover {here}.)

The same lady who bought the layered shelf thingy also bought the trunk.  She owns a cute little shop in a nearby town called "The Junk Ladies" where they resell great old "junk."  The trunk will have a home in their shop until it sells.

While I was helping her get her purchases loaded in her van she asked, "You don't happen to need a baby's car seat do you?"  I told her, "I don't need a baby seat, but I am looking for a booster seat."  (I've been scouring yard sales and thrift stores for awhile now hoping to find one.)  Out pops the perfect little booster seat in great condition and she said, "Here, it's all yours."

Can't beat that!  My pretty trunk went to someone who could truly appreciate it, she helped me downsize my stash, and I got a free booster seat out of the deal!  I call that a good day.  : )

Less, than a month to go 'til the big move!

                                                               

Oven "Grilled" BBQ Chicken

Today I'm bringing you a method of making BBQ chicken that I sort of discovered by accident thanks to my forgetful ways.  Now, let me just preface this by saying the best BBQ chicken comes off of an actual grill, charcoal preferably.  There's nothing that compares to my hubby's BBQ grilled chicken.  The smoky flavor the charcoal gives it puts it over the top. 

 BUT....if it's winter time and too cold to grill, or your hubby works 12 hour days like mine and doesn't always have the time to grill, this is the 2nd best thing.  Like I said, I discovered this by accident one day when I got focused on a project and forgot to start the chicken in the oven when I intended.  I cranked the heat up on the oven trying to get it done in time, and voila!   A discovery had been made!  It was dee-licious!

I decided to start taking pictures after I already started so I don't have the "here's what you'll need" picture, but I'm sure you'll get it all figured out.  :)

We prefer chicken thighs (with skin on of course, that's a must!), but I'm sure you could do it with drums or quarters as well.

You're going to start by par-boiling them for about 20 minutes.  This releases some of the juices so that you end up with nice crispy skinned chicken.  I've tried it without par-boiling, but I was left with a big juicy mess on the pan and the skin was soggy instead of crispy.

You'll also want to get your oven pre-heating to 450º.  

You might be thinking that sounds ridiculously high, but trust me on this, it works and it doesn't dry the chicken out at all.

I suggest covering your baking pan with a heavy duty foil just for the sake of making your life a whole lot easier during after dinner clean up.  I've used regular foil and just doubled it up, but it somehow doesn't work nearly as well, it always ends up ripping and leaving a burnt on mess.  You really should use the heavy duty stuff.

Give it a good coating of non-stick spray so the skin doesn't stick to it and rip off.

Lay them skin side down on your baking sheet and give them a good sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Next, you're going to give them a good thick coating of BBQ sauce.  (Our favorite is Sonny's Sweet BBQ Sauce.)  Put them in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, turn them all over so they are now skin side up.

Give them another good sprinkle of salt and pepper as well as another thick coating of BBQ sauce, and stick them back in for another 10 minutes.

Here's what they'll look like after that 2nd round of 10 minutes.  At this point, slather on another layer of sauce and put them back in for another 10 minutes.  Part of the secret of the gooey yummy goodness of these is the layered, thick sauce.  Some recipes will tell you to add the sauce in the last few minutes of cooking, but I say no way.  You want that stuff to soak in and get seared on there for the best possible flavor.

Ok, here they are after a total of 30 minutes in the oven (10 skin side down and 20 skin side up).  You might be tempted to call them done at this point, but hang in there for 10 more minutes!  Once again, trust me on this!  That last 10 minutes will sort of caramelize the sauce and finish them off to perfection.

So go ahead and slather on another layer of sauce and stick them in for one more round of 10 minutes.

And here they are, darkened up and caramelized.  The skin should be a good mixture of crispy and gooey.

I peeled back the skin so you can see that, in fact, it is not at all dried out under there.  See all that juicy moisture?  I think the higher temperature sears the skin and helps hold it in.

Pair it up with some yummy sides like mashed 'taters, and corn on the cob and be ready for your taste buds to experience a little bit of heaven!

(So all in all, your cooking time for these is going to be a little over an hour - 10 minutes or so for the water to come to a boil, 20 minutes of parboiling, and a total of 40 minutes in the oven.)

                                               
                                                                  

Fun Friday Finds #18

I wasn't planning on doing any yard saling today since I went all the live long day last week, BUT....I caught wind of a sale that said something about moving after 40 years in the same house.  Well now, that smells (literally, lol!) of vintage to me and I just couldn't resist.  I had to see what treasures were lurking there.

Total spent - $16.00

20qt. canning pot and accessories - $7

I was really excited to find this canning pot and rack.  This is something I've been wanting to learn to do for a good long while now.  Once we get settled in Florida I plan to start a garden and am looking forward to canning some of it.  The boxes of rings aren't useable as they have spots of rust on them so they'll be turned into some other project.  But all of the lids seem to be in perfect condition.

Stack of vintage tea towels - $3

My heart always skips a beat when I see these old 1940's-50's prints.  I was hoping to find some tablecloths too, but no such luck.  That's ok, though, I'm thrilled with these.  All but two of them will end up in the shop.

I'm keeping this one, and I'm giving one other one to a friend.

Wooden box with dividers - $2

I spotted this wooden box filled with nails, screws, nuts, bolts, etc. in the "man" section of the garage and loved it.  (What else did you expect by now?)  :)  I almost told the guy I didn't need all the hardware, I just wanted the box, but then I remembered how much fun I had picking through another tin of hardware I bought last summer and how a few of those pieces have come in handy since then, so I decided to just take it all.  

I think I spotted "the look" in his eye.  You know the one, "What in the world does a woman need with a box full of hardware?  She's probably one of those crazy hoarders."

Hot dog/marshmallow cookers - $2

Yard sticks - $1

We have a fire pit that we love to use, but our current "cookers" are just wire hangers that have been straightened and the kids have a hard time handling those without dipping their food into the ashes.  We plan to live out in the country once we move and will have another fire pit I'm sure, so I figured these would be a good investment.

Not sure what I'll use these for yet, but you just never know.  :)

I spotted this great industrial style filing cabinet in a corner of the house and just had to laugh to myself.  I bought one almost  identical to this last year and sold it in my Etsy shop.  But...it took awhile to sell and in the mean time it was taking up space in the garage and driving my hubby nuts.  Then when it did sell he had to help me box it up and haul it in his truck to Greyhound for shipping.  He said never again.  So, when I saw this one, in great shape (even better shape than the one I sold) it made me chuckle.

Vintage wool blanket - $1

On our way from that yard sale to McDonald's Play Land (to celebrate my daughter finishing up her Kindergarten year of homeschooling!) we spotted a couple more sales.  The only thing that made me break out my dinero was this great ol' wool blanket.  Most likely it'll be put up for sale.

Ok, so now I have a question for all of you.  In rummaging through my "new" box of hardware I found these and I'm stumped as to what they are.

They're little solid metal balls, bigger than ball bearings, but smaller than marbles.

Two of them have little images on them.

And three of them say "Hit Center."

You can see how small they are compared to my badly-in-need-of-lotion fingertips.  I had to break out the macro lens for these little guys.

My thought is that maybe they were part of an old miniature pin ball style game?  But I really have no idea.  

Do any of you happen to know what they are?