~ Things that make me smile ~

 The meadow is greening up.
The trees are beginning to leaf out and the last of the snow across the mountain tops is melting.
Spring is here! 
Warmer temperatures are here to stay for a few months and that makes me smile.

 Deer grazing on the foothills...

 and the elk are grazing in the pastures.

 The birds make me smile.
They have quite a routine down.
They hop onto the edge of the bird~feeder, knock the seed on the ground, then all their friends swoop onto the ground and feast on the fallen seed.

 Rogue rooster. Pheasant rooster out touring the neighborhood. 
Seemingly dancing through the green grass. 
Yep. 
Makes me smile!

 Pigweed makes me smile { the purple stuff is what I call pigweed. 
Purple weeds = Pigweed, and Yellow weeds = Spurge weed. 

It matters little if I have correctly identified the weeds, the fact that the weeds are growing is enough to make me smile. 
The color is beautiful in the meadow and I'm smiling to know that the growing season is here once again.

 The flower beds and borders are alive with color.

The skies are alive with color as well.

All is well. 
Spring has returned.
Flower are blooming, trees are leafing out, and the grass is growing. 
It makes me happy and makes me smile.

*Update on the house sale"
All is well on that front too.  So far everything is falling into place. 
We have begun to pack and sort the last of the items that need to be sorted through. 
My goodness, gracious, but we have accumulated a lot in 32 yrs.!!
Downsizing is a challenge, but the reward I think will be worth the efforts.

~Attitude of Gratitude:
 I have so many things to be grateful for...
Feeling grateful that our daughter~in~love and Grand are safe after a fender bender this last weekend. 
~Thankful for a husband that is my rock! 
Whenever I feel overwhelmed and unsure about my abilities to do things that are challenging, he reminds me of my strength and he gives me encouragement. He prays for me, and I am grateful for that.

~ Our new 'Little Home' ~

Today, I'd like to show you our new 'little home'. 

Not to confused with the trendy 'tiny houses'.

As many of you know, we are gearing up for retirement.

I have to smile because some of my dearest friends have confused our 'retirement' with us slowing down.

Nothing like that will be happening to us.

We have no intention of 'slowing down'.

Simply, we are changing gears. 

Entering a new season of our lives.

Our desire is to take blocks of time throughout the year, plan trips and have adventures in new places, and see new things; learn new things, hike new trails, walk new paths.

Fish new lakes, photograph new landscapes...

 The above picture is when the dealership was putting the new hitch, sway bar, etc. on our Yukon, and leveling the trailer.
This is not our first RV.
We've had several travel trailers in the past, and even a motorhome.
It's been a few years now since we've had a travel trailer though, and boy have things changed... for the better!

 Slide outs are awesome and sure increase the usable interior space. We have two slide outs. 
One is for the dining area, and the other is for the Master Bedroom wardrobe closets.

 Intentionally, we bought a travel trailer for a couple. We certainly didn't need nor want a bunkhouse, as it will be just the two of us traveling together.
We looked for a floor plan that had a separate large Master Bedroom. 
Although we have one large bedroom, the dining table will make into an extra bed, if we take our Grand with us :)

 It even has a heated mattress... what a comfy bonus!!

 Large flat screen, sound bar, blue tooth, and indoor speakers, as well as outdoor speakers, will make things very comfortable and enjoyable when we're on the road.

It's the first RV we've ever had that also has a microwave.. yay!
The bathroom is massive (for an RV) and has a double shower, though I neglected to get a picture of that for this posting.
The trailer has A/C and is WIFI ready and also is wired for solar panels.
It's the fanciest travel trailer that we've ever owned and we are humbled by this blessing and opportunity we have in this season of our lives.
We may end up living in our travel trailer for a bit, as we sell our home, and transition to a new home, so the fact that this travel trailer is very comfortably equipped will make that experience that much nicer and a smoother transition for us.
 Our travel trailer is made by Forest River, and it is a Rockwood Mini Lite model.
I think it's just 25 feet long and weighs under 5 thousand pounds. 
My sweet husband reports that it is very easy to tow.

~ Floating away ~

 Well maybe we don't have an ocean of water yet, but we have been getting a ton of rain here! 

 We took a drive down by the farm and there was so much water in the fields. The water has filled the culverts and irrigation ditches and overflowed onto some of the roads.
  Today, it is still raining. 
I'll take the rain over snow, any day though. 
Still, it feels as though if the rain continues, we're going to float away **grin**.

(normally, these are grazing fields and do not have standing water on them)

It seems that everyone has had a crazy weather winter. 
I am ready for spring! 
I have looked for signs of spring...daffodils or crocus starting to push through the soil, but so far, no signs yet.

I'm still working on downsizing, and packing things that we want to keep.
Keeping in mind that once we buy a new house, that home will more than likely be a much smaller home than we have currently, so I am thinking about that when choosing what to keep.
I am also on a self-imposed Pantry/Freezer challenge. We have two freezers, plus the freezer in our fridge, and I am trying to empty them by cooking from what we have and using our foodstuffs. 
Because we are empty nesters, it has been a challenge and I have had to use my creativity.
 One roast will feed us for several meals, though we don't want to have the same thing night after night.
Last night I made spaghetti squash with a southwest/taco topping. Because I have plenty of meat left, and tortillas etc. tonight I am making enchiladas.

Attitude of Gratitude:
~Grateful that our commuter car fired a warning shot before giving up the ghost, and that we were able to buy a new commuter car that is perfect for what we need.  
~Thankful that our kids still need us...every now and again  *smile**.
 * Helped with an oil change
 *Helped install a new toilet
 *Helped temporarily with a monetary concern.

~ House People ~

 My husband and I have always been 'House People'.
We have renovated over 12 houses, and nearly every one of those houses was an old house. 
 We are still 'house people', therefore we spent a few days going to the St. George Parade of Homes.
We are preparing for our retirement move to that area and wanted to see new homes and builders that we may be interested in.

 Some of the trends in houses that we noted: Walk in double showers, and double shower heads. Also, a return to brass, more notably, antique brass fixtures.

 More of those brass touches. Nearly all the kitchens that we saw were simple white cupboards and the design highlights were displayed in the backsplashes.

 Another double walk-in and double shower head.

 Every home had a fireplace, though not many of the fireplaces were traditional, and most of the fireplaces were these linear styles, with glass,  or rock where traditional faux logs would be.

 Some gorgeous tile was used throughout the homes. I adore these tiles that have an old fashioned feel.

 This was an interesting tile.. tone on tone, but lots of different designs. 

The tile in this laundry room was hands down my favorite tile. I think it's really pretty tile, and I don't think I would ever get tired of it... I've always loved checked patterns.

So... did we find a house?
No.

We found inspiration, neighborhoods, and builders. 

We are currently working on editing our stuff... what we want to keep, what we want to move, etc.
 We have had beadboard and trim for the den stored in the garage, and this week we installed it in the den. Now, we have to paint the den, then we can check off that project.
There is an excitement about moving to into a new house and moving to a new city. 

 On to new adventures!!

Attitude of Gratitude:
Feeling so grateful, once again, for safe travels. We dodged two major snowstorms and visited St. George between those storms. 

Thankful for the talents that our Heavenly Father has blessed me with.

~ Wintery~

Hello friends.

I wanted to share these pictures of an incredible sunset.

We've been quite busy around here. 
Taking advantage of the season to work indoors. We are downsizing. 
Organizing and donating tons of stuff. 

Preparing for retirement.

Some of our retirement plans include traveling.
There are so many gorgeous and amazing places to see, and things to do.

Last weekend, we bought a new travel trailer. 
Ohhh... it's gettin' exciting!

For those of you that are retired, let me know what you enjoy most about retirement. 

Also, what advice do you have for people that are about to become retired?

Attitude of Gratitude:

Thankful for a life filled with blessings. 

Thankful for this season in my life.

Grateful for good health.