Monday, March 19, 2012

A Dream Come True!!

No kidding! I have been dreaming of owning a Travel Trailer (RV) for the past 6 years now! Hubby found "Our Little House" sitting on a lot for sale not too far from where we live. It is a 2006 Gulfstream Cavalier, very clean and in great shape. And at the asking price, it was a steal! We had it delivered to our driveway a week ago. We brought it here to check it out, load it up, and just basically "play with it"! After a month or two, we are taking it to our little lot in the country. At least for now, we will be camping out in it on the weekends. As with everything else, we are taking it one step at a time--the future has yet to be decided. I believe that traveling is looking hopeful!! :)  The picture above is the floorplan to our Travel Trailer. In one of her last posts, my daughter Alexis tried to explain the layout, so I thought I would clear things up by showing the picture. In that same post of hers (We Bought a Gulfstream!! And, Also, a new plan),  There is also a picture of the exterior of the Travel Trailer, so I didn't repost one. My Grandson Dylan spent the weekend with us, and loves "Gramma's Li'l' House!"!

 2 Corinthians 5:7
"For we walk by faith, not by sight."

We have been looking at many options and alot of doors have been closing. The way in which  our little house became  available and was so easy to make happen  assures us that this is "A God thing"!! Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow!! :)

Now I must go and read some more RV Blogs!!

Moving Down The Simple Path,
Robin

Brownieees!

The brownies I made today :) They have snowflake sprinkles on them.


Up close..!

 Kind of loo
ks like it has steam around it, right? Well, I mean, they did, but you couldn't see it with the camera. I used Dream effect for it, and whenever you take a picture of food it looks like it's steamy.

Isn't the plate cute?!

My brownies♥

The ingredients...and no, I did not use bottled water, I just used that for the picture instead of a bowl of water ;)

I made the fudgy kind. The cake-like kind tastes just like chocolate cake. Well, duh, that's why it's called that, lol!

 Annd of course, you need a glass of milk♥ Well, it's not a glass, and you can't really tell what's inside, but whatever. I wanted to use my....

Snoopy and Woodstock cup! Ever since I was little, I have LOVED Woodstock. I used to have this little Woodstock lip balm that I carried everywhere :D

~Alexis

We Bought a Gulfstream!! (And, also, a new plan)

                                                       (This was written last night!!)
Ignore me standing behind the door...hehe, Tori took it too fast :)

(I would be writing this next to the first picture, but it won't let me!!) No, not a Gulfstream Airplane, a travel trailer! Tomorrow (Monday) will be a week since we bought it! It's so cool :)

If you're wondering why Dyl is in these two pics, it's because he thought we were taking a picture of him. ("we" meaning Tori & I. She's the one that took most of the pictures.)

Welcome Home! :)
Ignore my legs, please. I was holding the door. There is a way to hook the door to the side of the trailer so it doesn't swing back & forth, but I didn't know how to do it at the time. So, I was designated Dylan watcher and door holder, while Tori got the fun job--photographer! It was kind of cool though, because I jumped out and scared her later ;)

 
This is the "master bedroom" if you can call it that. It has like a queen bed in it, I think, so there's not a whole lot of room to walk beside it, but there's still enough room for a little intable sort of thing on the left side, (not pictured) and a closet that you can see on the right. I hid in there one time, so it goes pretty far back. You can't really tell, because of the shadow it casts. We don't have it plugged into electricity yet, so it's not the best enviorment for picture-taking.

Almost the same picture, but you can see the window on the right.

Last picture! I promise I'll get better pics soon, maybe tomorrow. This is the couch. In the left bottom corner, you can see the kitchen counter/sink. Above the couch is a window.the brown you see on the right is the door to the bedroom. On the right side, theres the door, then the dinitte/dinette/dinnette (I have absolutly no idea how you spell it), with a window above the dinitte/dinette/dinnette thing. then theres the fridge. You know how most RV's have little fridgies? Well, this one has a normal sized one. I mean, normal sized because it's the normal width, but i'm still taller than it.  Okay, then there's a wall a little bit longer than the fridge, with a curtain attached to it. This you can pull across if you, like, need privacy to change or something. Behind this wall/curtain, is a bunk bed. Now, seeing as I'm a very tall 12-year-old, and taller than most of my family at 5' 5" and still growing, and I can barely sit up straight on the bottom bunk, and can't even squat on the top one, I'm pretty sure i'll be sleeping on bottom. Especially since there's a window on the bottom bunk. Okay, this is a little hard to explain...the bunks are like half open. there's a wall that covers the other half. Well, not just a wall, a room. This is the bathroom. It's the very back of the trailer. Now, let me explain the left side.( and while I'm explaining this, I'm leaving out the bedroom, since it covers the whole front, and it's seperate. You've seen the couch, and the edge of the counter. Right where the couch ends, the 'kitchen" starts. The sink comes first. It has two sinks. Well, not two faucets, but two of the buckets things. ARRGH! I'm horrible at explaining!!  Then, there's the counter, and then the stove. It has 3 burners in a triangle-y shape, and it's gas I think. Directly above the stove is the microwave.  Above and below the rest of the "kitchen" is just drawers and cabinets. Next to the stove is a closet, much bigger than the one in the 'Rents Room, and it's mine ♪♥ Yaay!! ♪♥  Anyway, next to the closet is the sink for the bathroom, since theres no room for it in there. Now, you're back at the bathroom. If you understood any of that, you deserve a medal or 1,000 bucks or something.

I know I said I'd post every day, but sometimes there's just nothing to blog about!! And I don't wish to have a boring blog, but I'm not very good a self disiplining myself to find something to blog about, so I don't think I'm well-suited for blogging every day. I will try to post alot though. 'Cause blogging is Rainbow~! ♥ (If you need translation, read my last post!) I also thought that if I found a cool site of something, I could have a little section at the end of my posts for the links to sites I find interesting.

Well, ta-da! (Or is it ta-ta?)
I do have a secret, but for now my fingers are sealed!!

~Alexis

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Confessions of a Former Packrat


Happy St. Patricks Day!!

WOW! I am actually starting to see a difference! In fact in the last week, while throwing out some things, I can hear my inner voice say "Why on earth were you keeping that?!"!I have come across lots of things with missing parts, miss-matched socks, and shoes without mates. Easy trash! Not to mention the stacks of papers I was saving--for some reason!! Yay! One closet empty!! And still working on the master bedroom. But it is coming together and I  can see light at the end of the tunnel! This feels sooooooooooooo good!!

We are baby-sitting my Grandson Dylan this weekend so that his parents can have some time off. He is such a joy to be around, but unfortunately, I am not feeling very well at all. I am very weak and in a lot of pain! My new Doctor has not given me anything adequate enough to fight the pain. I am really hoping for a visit to the Cleveland Clinic. They have specialists who deal with Sarcoidosis that I need to see.

Looking forward to living a simple life with just the bare essentials!!

Moving Down the Simple Path,
Robin

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Shamrocks and butterflies♥

 About the blog title. I have no idea why I decided to call it that, it just kind of popped in my head. And I decided to go with it, as you can see :) Something kind of funny, though: Since I'd decided to call this blog "Shamrocks and butterflies", I want to look on Google images to see if they might have a picture of shamrocks and butterflies...although I figured it would be hard to find. Anyway, I typed it in kind of fast, and ended up typing "shamrocks and buttflies"!!! I laughed so hard, mom thought something was wrong. Hehe. This picture was kind of random, and just popped into my head also. I love these flowers :) So pretty. Even if in a warped way.

Shamrock day is almost here! That's what I call Saint Patrick's Day. Anyway, I thought, what's better than shamrocks? Well, you're right! RAINBOW SHAMROCKS!!!

You know I had to put a butterfly in here somewhere. And it's rainbow too♥

Shamrock Peace Sign=awesomeness in an icon!

 Whenever it's storming, I always think it's a party in heaven--the rain is confetti, the lightning is strobe lights (or a disco ball, perhaps?), and the thunder is music~! :D Maybe I'm just weird....?

I got a new game--Rune Factory 3!!  It's a Harvest Moon game. It's SO awesome. One of the characters, Daria, LOVES rainbows (like me), and whenever she's like happy or something, she shouts rainbow. I might do that from now on :D The character I play is a guy, which I don't like, but it's like that with most Harvest Moon games.

I know I haven't really been sticking with my program. Not only have I not been doing the whole book thing, I haven't been posting everyday, which I  really want to do. I'm going to call off book month, mostly because it's boring. Buuut,I might do other stuff like it. I just don't like themed posts!! :S I like being kind of spontaneous. I don't plan any of my blogs, and I like it that way. I seem to write better. That's like with some of my books i'm writing--if I get stuck, it helps me to just freely write whatever I want.. which is why I love this blog and my journal so much. Welp, rainbows to you all :)

(RAINBOW!!)
~Alexis

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Book Month!!

Alright, first off, I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to TORI, A.K.A VMF!! Her birthday is tomorrow :) Her favorite color is yellow, so that's why the letters are :)



I know we're already a WEEK into March, but I'm a little late :) I had this awesome idea (And if you must know, it was a week ago, but I've been lazy so I'm just ow getting around to it.) that I would post every day, and it will have one story from Aesop's Fables, and then one review of another book. Oh, and regular stuff of course :) Sooo, let's start!! :D (I am going in order of how the appear in the book, i.e. I am not picking specific stories.)

Well, there's really not a WHOLE lot to report, actually. Oh, I might be getting a Kindle Fire :) Okay....I'll go ahead and skip to the story & review!

Review:
The Double Daring Book For Girls
By: Andrea J. Buchanan & Miriam Peskowitz

This. Book. Is. So. AWESOME!!!! I learned SO many things from the book!! They have everything from How to become President of the United States of America, to Fun things to do with paper. It's a really great book for when you're bored, because even if I never do anything in the book, just reading it is fun :D

Aesop's Fables Story:
The Fox and The Grapes


A hungry Fox saw some fine bunches of Grapes hanging from a vine that was trained along a high trellis, and did his best to reach them by jumping as high as he could into the air. But it was all in vain, for they were just out of reach: so he gave up trying, and walked away with an with of dignity and unconcern, remarking "I thought those Grapes were ripe, but I see now they are quite sour."
*
Small-minded people scorn what they can't have.

And there you are :) Byee!!
~Alexis

How do you eat an elephant...

                                  ...One bite at a time!!



Well, hanging out around the bed and couch! Not much energy! Just finished a round of antibiotics and prednisone for Pleurisy. Still feeling blah! The good news is that I have found a new doctor! This one seems to be knowledgeable, thorough, and compassionate! The more pleased I am with her, the more upset I get at all of the others! Don't they take the same oath? I have always felt that I have fallen between the cracks concerning medical care during my 25 years with Sarcoidosis. My new Doctor discovered some new problems and may have just saved my life! Thank you Lord!!! :) My new Doctor is part of the M.D.V.I.P. Program. Check it out if you're looking for a really good Doctor!! You will pay an upfront fee, similar to a retainer with a lawyer. For your office visits, they file most insurance, just like other Doctors, with a co-pay. The great thing is that these Doctors are limited to 400-600 patients, which means you get more individual attention. (And a personal cell phone number)

"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

About the elephant...we are moving toward a simple path but right now our lives seem pretty complicated! There is light at the end of the tunnel, but we have a major to-do list!! Between Hubby's full-time job, the additional work of the animal rescue, doctor and lab visits, and house-hunting for whats next, we are very busy!! Then add in giveaways, throwaways, sorting through boxes of books, and mounds of papers in order to down-size. Oh yeah, I need to help Melissa (My middle Daughter) get the rest of her furniture and belongings out of the master bedroom. YAAY--one whole room will be empty soon! And of course, we could always use a few more forever homes for our rescue animals!

Rental house at the lake in the country or park model travel trailer in the country near the existing animal rescue? Both appeal, and are smaller than our current house--a definite plus! I love just sitting outside and listening to the birds sing!! It makes me happy! Whichever one we decide, will be a more simple lifestyle, and require us to down-size even further. This is going to feel really good, but getting there is really a rough ride right now. Living a simple life is the goal and well worth the struggle!

                                                          Moving Down The Simple Path,
                                                                         Robin

Monday, March 5, 2012

We are going to go see The Lorax friday!

:) Welcome to our new follower, Melissa (MamaBear09)! She is my daughter, and mother to the D-man (Grandma's Boy!)!! I think she followed me just to see what I've been saying about her!! ;)

I entered to win a The Lorax Movie Prize Pack from Blessings Abound Mommy! It includes a $25 Limited Edition THE LORAX Fandango Gift Card, Seedling, Re-usable Tote, Water Bottle, T-shirt, Pencil, Re-usable Lunch Bag, Activity Card, and Mustache! To enter to win, go to:http://www.akblessingsabound.com/2012/02/giveaway-universal-pictures-dr-suess-the-lorax-prize-pack-25-fandango-gift-card.html There are only five more days to enter to enter!!

Moving Down The Simple Path,
                                                                          Robin