Our New Home in Virginia

Welcome to our new home!

(this picture was taken before we moved in)

(this is what it looks like now ... our first snow!)

  Many of you have been asking to see the new house, and I kept promising I would post some pictures. With all of our snow days, I had time to get the house in order and take some good pictures. 

We have spent the past two months getting settled and accustomed to our new area. The weather has been cold ... especially since we have spent the past 7 years in Florida and Arizona. Snow is quite the change for us. 

The girls have really enjoyed the snow and have played very well together since moving here. With all the snow days off from school, the girls have yet to make any friends in the area, but have adjusted to their new school pretty well. Reagan is already getting herself involved in the music programs and is trying out for a lead part in an upcoming play. Riley seems to like her new class, but doesn't offer much information when it comes to liking school. She always has been that way and I wouldn't expect much more out of her. 

Scott is working hard at his new job. He commutes about an hour each way, but has joined a "vanpool" and doesn't have to drive, so the commute hasn't really bothered him much. His job is fast paced and keeps him really busy ... so he is enjoying that!

I have kept myself busy keeping up with the house and the girls. I feel I have learned my way around the area pretty well, and I am learning the traffic patterns, and know when to go out and when not to. Traffic here is CRAZY and I don't like to get caught in it, so I do my errands first thing in the morning and get back home by lunch, so I am sure to be home in time to pick up the girls from school. 

We are looking forward to the weather warming up so we can get out and enjoy this city. 

Enjoy the pictures of the house. We are still working on decorating some and the basement/playroom is a work in progress. It is nice to have the basement for all the girls stuff, so I don' have to see it much ... but when they get to playing ...WHOA, the basement is a wreck! But again, it is nice that it is in the basement, so I just shut the door and don't go down there!!!!

The Entry Way

The Living Room

The Dining Room

The Kitchen

The Family Room

The Master

The Master Bathroom

Riley's Room

Reagan's Room

Guest Room

The Basement/Playroom

The Backyard View

Thanks for checking out our new home!

Our Last Remodel in Florida

The final project we had to say our house was completely "updated" was Reagan's bathroom. We have put it off for four years and decided now is the time to update it. We did choose to cut some corners and use the same cabinetry, but gave it a facelift. Here is our new bathroom ... It turned out better than we could have expected and cost very little money. GOTTA LOVE THAT!

Before ... ugly walls, white cabinets, laminate countertop

Before ... white cabinets getting a facelift

Before ... medicine cabinet a gold antiqued look

Before ... nice blue sink and faucet!

Before ... faux bricks painted on walls

After ... painted it grey

After ... grey paint on walls, antique black paint on cabinets, and new granite countertop

After ... painted the medicine cabinet black

After ... updated blue sink to a nice clean white sink

NOW, OUR HOUSE IS COMPLETELY UPDATED! TIME TO FIX THE YARD!

New Camper

So, it was brought to my attention that I never shared our new camper with everyone. 

SOOOO, here it is.

We traded in our Pop-Up Camper, that had the bare minimum for this 19 foot Sunset Trail with LOTS of options. We now have great air conditioning, heat, a kitchen (not only indoors, but also outdoors), a bathroom, a full sized fridge, an outdoor fridge, and many many more. We are so happy with it and have enjoyed the 2 camping trips we have made so far. 

The girls and I on the day we bought it.

The bottom left door is the outdoor kitchen, the square to the left of the door is the outdoor fridge, and the compartment on the far right is storage.

The back ... and a window from the bottom bunk

It fits into our driveway spot perfectly!

Our bed, which is the table area folded down ... with lots of leg room for Scott! We put a 3 inch memory foam mattress on it, and it sleeps very comfortably.

The full sized fridge, freezer, bunks (both bunks are double sized), and bathroom door.

The bathroom

The kitchen area

Nothing like an EXCITING Camping Trip

Another camping trip planned, but this one was unlike the rest.

Friday started out with pulling up to our campsite, unhitching the trailer, and BAM! Scotts head was in the wrong place and got hit with a steel rod, holding up about 700lbs of pressure. So, within 10 minutes of getting to the campground, we were off again to the Emergency Room, where we spent the next 6 hours WAITING! 

Eight stitches later and a massive headache, we headed back to the campground to start our weekend.

Scott, when we got to the ER ... I have more pictures, but didn't want to put the gross ones on here, so if you are interested, let me know!

Our Friday night dinner ... loving having a kitchen in the new camper!

Steak, potatoes & onions ... YUMMY!

Saturday morning, we went on an Airboat ride through Myakka Lake, the home of thousands of alligators. We were shocked to see so many alligators. We were on the boat for about an hour and probably saw over 100 gators! Don't think we will EVER be swimming in that water!

Grandpa Joe and Reagan

Grandpa Joe, Grandma Kelly, Riley and me

My Doodle Bug and I, ready for the boat ride

Reagan and Riley ... enjoying the ride

Dad and Riley 

One of the many alligators we saw ... they were anywhere from 6 feet to 12 feet long!!!

After the boat ride, we went for a hike

Riley leading the way to the canopy walk

Mom and her girls on the canopy walk through the trees

Grandpa Joe and Kelly ... this was Kellys first time and she was a little bit nervous

The view from the top of the tower

So beautiful this time of year

Riley looking through the telescope

Our yearly family picture in the same spot as before!

Grandpa Joe and Kellys photo op

Looking down the tower ... Reagan counted the stairs and it was 119 stairs to the top/bottom!

Reagan as our photographer ... little dark

My girls

Doodle Bug, enjoying her day

It started to rain in the afternoon, we hung out under the awning

Riley during the rain

Sunday, we woke up and went fishing at the bridge before we had to pack up and head home. We fished for about 2 hours, and within the last hour we hit a streak! We starting catching little fish, but it was fun. I almost caught a 4-5 lb bass, but the line broke before I got him up. 

Reagan fishing

Riley fishing ... notice the alligator head in front of her hat

This big ole gator was hanging out, waiting for our fish

He just kept swimming back and forth ... waiting and waiting ...

and here is what he was waiting for ...

WATCH THE VIDEO!!!