Sold

That's right, folks.  The ole trailer is off the market!  I know what your thinking - you didn't even know it was for sale!?  That's because it has only been on the market for less than a week! We were surprised to get a call within a day or two of it listing and even more surprised today when it sold to the first people to show interest.  When we were discussing when to put it up for sale, I'll admit, I was a bit concerned on how quickly it would go.  It is an older model home, but it's had it's dose of repairs and upgrades in the past 6 years, and it's in one of the best trailer parks in Auburn.  It's all about location, location, location, right?  And we have a wonderful view from our lot.  For those (few) of you that have visited, our park is nice and open with large fields and ponds throughout - perfect for pet owners.  Apparently this sweet family that visited us this morning agreed, because within an hour after checking out our place they called with an offer!  What a blessing (especially for Gene and Marilyn!) to have the deal already done before we've even started packing!  Here's a glimpse into one of our home improvements done a little over a year ago:

Before = horrible, faded blue/yellow exterior (back view)

From Our Kitchen

I have to admit, we have not been eating very healthy this week.  I miss the fresh fruits and veggies of summer, and my disappointment in the produce section is leaching over into my kitchen - causing me to loose a bit of interest in cooking.  I have been craving a nutritious meal, and came up with this soup while in the grocery store.  I've had something similar to this once, but never knew the recipe, so I came up with my own.  Meet my Sweet Potato & Spinach Soup:

Meet my Brother

Who did you think I was talking about?!

Rewind

While uploading pictures for the next post, I ran across a few photos on my camera that I forgot to share.  I know we are halfway through January, but I wanted to share these few pictures from Christmas.  In case I forgot to mention in previous Christmas posts, Marilyn and Gene hosted a seven fish dinner on Christmas Eve. The Budraitises originated from Lithuania, which is predominately Catholic.  The Christmas Eve seven fish dinner is a Catholic tradition (since they abstain from eating meat on holy days- a dinner of fish it became!).  It's always fun to do, especially since Marilyn makes some pretty mean crab cakes.  But we like to think other Budraitises are doing the same thing in Lithuania on the same night, which somehow brings us closer together in the spirit of Christmas!

Christmas morning we spent at Northside Baptist Church in Troy with my mom, Wes, and Kristi.  I enjoyed being in church on Christmas Day. It really helps keep things in perspective and helps everyone stop and think about Jesus in all of the busyness we get into during the holidays. As usual, the church was adorned with beautiful poinsettias, which in my book meant a perfect photo-op. :) 

The Hunt Begins

In May we will be moving to Birmingham for Jesse to start work and me to start school.  We have been looking online for a little while trying to get a heads up on apartment hunting.  We had a few places picked out and went up yesterday in hopes of finding the perfect place.  Our friends Hannah and Adam, who will also be moving to Birmingham soon, went with us and had a few places of their own picked out.  Our choices were typical apartments in the Homewood area while they chose more historic style apartments closer to downtown.  Unfortunately, none of us found anywhere that we thought we HAD to live at.  But here is what I learned from our trip:

1)  I need to start studying a map of Birmingham today so that I will know my way around by May! :)
2)  There are a billion places to live in Birmingham, we just need to figure out what type of place we want and in what type of area.
3)  I don't know what type of place I want or what type of area.
4)  I realized how much I am going to miss our little trailer.  I get in moods sometimes where I am tired of living here, but now I almost wish we could just plop it in the middle of downtown Birmingham and not have to pick a new place to live.  It may be a little shabby in places, but Jesse's parents have put a lot of love into it to fix it up. We are so grateful for all the work they have put into it.  It will soon be for sale and the next owner will be lucky to get it!

We finished apartment looking sooner than expected so we stopped at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on our way back.  It was the first time we have been there.  Of course, during this time of year not many things were blooming, but it was a nice, peaceful place to end our visit and stretch our legs before the ride home. It will definitely be on the top of our to-do list when we return in the spring/summer - it will be beautiful then!

Needless to say, another Saturday of hunting will be in our future - hopefully with better success.  If any of you have recommendations, we are gladly accepting them!

Construction

As some of you may have noticed our blog is under construction right now.  I'm trying to give it a little more style and make it easier to read and comment.  Keep checking back for updates!

UPDATE:  Now, as you can see, our blog has a whole new look!  After hours of searching, reading, downloading, and fidgeting with Picasa and then Microsoft Word (aka - old trusty) I have created my first blog header with a photo!  This may not seem to be a great feat to some of you, but I feel quite accomplished! :)  I hope you all like the new look!

Notice that to the right of this post you can now see who is following our blog.  You can become a follower too!  Just click on "Join this site" and log in through Google or Yahoo (or make an account if you want).  There is now also a "Blog Archive" in the right-hand panel so that you can quickly access previous posts.

Several of you have asked how to comment on a post (or had trouble doing so).  I don't know if our change in template design will help, but you can try again!  Below each post the number of comments will be displayed.  If you are the first to comment you will click on "0 comments."  A new window should open where you can type your comment.  Then you need to tell us who you are: select "Name/URL" and type in your name.  Then click "Publish Comment."  Your comment may not immediately post, but you can refresh the page to see.  We would love to hear from you!

A New Year...

Happy New Year everyone!  It's hard to believe that 2011 is gone.  I guess it was a really busy year for us... the first half spent wedding planning & finishing college, and the second half settling in together. We spent the last moments of 2011 at Gene and Marilyn's annual fondue dinner where you fry up your whole meal at the table - from steak to mini hotdogs (my fave) to cauliflower!  I guess you could eat that raw... if you want.  Heidi and I barely made it to midnight, but a groggy round of Apples to Apples saw us through. :)

I never make new years resolutions.  They seem a little silly, and most people do not keep them anyway.  I'm just going to enjoy 2012 and all that is to come this year, and I hope you all do as well!