People that don't follow my plans...

I am so totally irritated. My dear lovely baby sister tells me to use LendingTree.com to find our mortgage broker. I do this and have several to choose from. I choose a nice young man in Salt Lake City named Jared. We have been working together for three months now, since we made our offer on the first house. You would think in three months time he would have all of the information he needed in order for us to be able to close on our house.

Oh, nooooo...not possible. He told the man at the title company approximately 20 times on Friday that he would have all of the papers there in fifteen minutes. That's a lot of fifteen minutes! Randy and I were at the title office at four fourty-five. Jared promised (yet again) to have everything there in fifteen minutes (hey, you Utah people, is there something about fifteen minutes there?). Needless to say we waited for an hour and then left. Randy has to work on Monday so we have made arrangements to get things done without him (we hope).

Everything is now ready for me to go sign the papers on Monday. I have Randy's power of Attorney (mwahaha) to sign his signature. The man at the title office made sure to tell Randy that the power of attorney was only good for the closing. I let him know that there wasn't a paper on earth that would keep me from signing for my husband...lol. I have been signing for him for 23 years.

I guess this means I get to paint the house myself. Randy has a lot overtime coming up and won't be able to help. Not to worry, it will get done!

To the Bemmertson kids...if you happen to be in SLC and run into a guy named Jared DeMann let him know he made the Beck family unhappy. Heck, throw a few projectiles at him for me!!

Another adventure, another day...

Ann B

Working on the New House

The kids and I went over to the new house this weekend to get some repairs done. The appraiser had a little list of things she wanted done before she let us close.

Alan and Steve worked on the back garage door. Alan replaced the dead bolt and Steve repaired the trim. I painted the door while they were working. I wonder if Steve got any paint in his hair?







There was a bad caulk and spack job over the shower in the master bathroom. I caulked, sanded, and painted the area. I didn't know what color paint to get, so I got a darker color, Megan helped me tape off a six inch stripe around the shower surround, and I painted it. It looks pretty good.

There was no power in the house yet so I got to work by the light of a flashlight. Look, Ma, I'm in the spotlight!

I don't have any pictures of Megan because she was too busy taking pictures of my fanny and other assorted fatty bits...gee, thanks Meg!

We are just a little closer to getting things done for the house. I have talked with the pool guy about replacing the liner (no pictures of the pool until it is no longer green!), we are discussing paint colors, and we are planning future things we want to do. We probably won't ever be finished with everything we want to do, but it will be fun trying!!

Ann

Closing is Friday, June 27

Well, I went to the house to be today and took a picture to share with everyone. We are so excited about closing on our home and then moving into it. This ranks right up there with one of the biggest of my adventures. After closing comes painting, building shelves, replacing the pool liner, fixing that spot in the fence for the dogs, then moving in the furniture and other stuff gathered over 23 years of marriage. Man, we have a lot of stuff!! I was going through the kitchen cabinets the other day packing up the things we aren't using right now. I kept thinking, do I really need this? Then I packed it anyway. I can never get rid of any kitchen stuff! Oh well, there are always Randy's things ;). (Don't worry, dear, your things are safe.)

I am excited about my kitchen. There is a pantry closet and another closet under the stairs. In the closet under the stairs Randy is going to build me shelving to store the food storage things that I need in the kitchen. I will store the extra f.s. boxes in the walk in closet of the spare bedroom upstairs. In that closet I will also have my fabric storage for sewing and all my craft bits and pieces. I will have my sewing machine, the tread mill, and the twin bed for company in the spare bedroom. I hope to eventually put a full sized bed in there, but I may not have room with all my other stuff! Off of the spare room, over the garage, is the walk in attic space. I am so happy to have a space for storage that I don't have to climb a ladder to get into! Alan's bedroom and a full bathroom are upstairs too.

The master bedroom is downstairs. Randy and I are glad of that, because we aren't getting any younger. With Randy's propensity for being attacked by wild animals we never know when he will have something broken..lol. In the master bath we have a whirlpool tub and seperate shower. I am looking forward to a long bubble bath in a tub I can relax in. Our closet is the size of a small bedroom! I have already started buying baskets to store things in the closet. (Check out the Cheaper Than Dirt Store on Moffett Road if you need any nice baskets for storage, they are 60% off regular price and in a variety of colors.) I am hoping to talk Randy into getting new carpet in our bedroom. I don't like the color in there, and there is a large bleached out area in the middle of the room. I guess that depends on the closing costs and what we have left over!!

I will have more pictures soon!

Ann

Happy Father's Day!

In August of 1984 I wrote in my diary that I would probably never marry and have children. I had went on a lot of "first dates" but nothing past that. I had never met a man that I would consider being my husband and the father of my children. Now, take it, I was only 18...but I was the type of person that had been grown her entire life so 18 wasn't young for me...lol. About a week after my diary entry I received a call from my sister (I was away at college in the dorm). She tells me that her manager at the Sonic wanted to meet me. I was confused because I didn't remember ever seeing her manager at the Sonic! I tell her that I will be home the following weekend and I would come into the Sonic and meet him. Later I find out that she had told him that I wanted to meet him! She was a sneaky one!!

I go the the Sonic the following Friday evening, sit at a table for two, and order an onion ring and unsweetened iced tea. Out comes this man bringing me my order. He looked at me in the eyes and said: "Hi, my name is Randy." He sat with me and we talked for a while. I don't even remember the conversation, only that he was the first man I had ever met that sat with me and had a conversation with me. He was smart and funny and was genuinely interested in me as a person.

Because of his work schedule our first date was on a Sunday morning. My Daddy stayed home from church with me so I wouldn't be home alone when Randy got there. Randy was supposed to be there at nine in the morning. I am ready at nine. I am waiting at nine-thirty. I am getting annoyed at ten. I am getting irritated at ten-thirty. Then I get a phone call. He had worked until two that morning and didn't hear his alarm. He then asks me if I still want to go out. I told him I was dressed, he might as well come over. (Of course I let him off the hook for being late...he did work awfully late the night before.) We went for a great drive through Etowah county in his Chevy truck. He took me to eat at a dive that had the BEST hamburgers. We chatted the entire time, and I started falling in love.

We planned the wedding on our third date. He left for boot camp in the Navy on October 10, and I was miserable without him. I loved every letter I received from him...even though he writes horrible letters...lol. He tends to not only drop words in sentences, but entire phrases! I discover in November that we were going to have a child. I wrote him a letter telling him and he writes me back saying we would marry when he was home in December instead of waiting until April. We married on January 4, 1985 and welcomed our son into the world on May 31, 1985. Fifteen months later we welcomed our daughter. We were twenty and twenty-two, and our family was complete.

Even from the first Randy was wonderful with the children. He was always available to play with them, and love them. I think the most important thing Randy did for his children is to love their mother. We have had our ups and downs, but we have always come together and become all the stronger for it. Where I am weak, he is strong. We complement each other rather well, I think!

I love you, Randy Beck. Thank you for being my husband, the father of our children, and the wonderful man that you are. Heavenly Father knew from the beginning that we would be a perfect match.

Ann

Oh my cracking back!

First of all, thanks to all of you that are reading my blog. It will make me write often!

Today was a busy day. Randy is off this weekend so we were able to sleep in together, that is always the best! We got up about nine and let the dogs out. Then we did our body test on the Wii Fit. I love having the Wii fit, it makes me do the exercising I need to do! Then we went to Big Lots to see the recliners they have on sale. Unfortunately they don't have the furniture at the Saraland Big Lots! Instead of the recliner we got a nifty patio set for a great price, an industrial mop bucket, some blank cd's, and some pyrex soup mugs with nice handles and snug fitting lids. Now we have to go to the Tillman's Corner store to look at the recliners! We had lunch at Taco Bell after that, then went to the Sears Essentials store and found the refrigerator I wanted for half price!! I was so excited!!

Well, on the the title of this blog. I go to the chiropractor every two weeks for my pitiful back and neck. She did her thing, and then I went in to have my "prescribed" massage from Megan. Don't you wish your chiropractor would prescribe a massage?? To make a long story short, Dr. Agren didn't hurt me, and Megan didn't at the time, but oh my heavens....do I hurt now!! Apparently the massage flushes toxins into your body if you are in bad shape and now I hurt. I should feel better in the morning after a good nights sleep and some ibuprofen.

Oh well, I know that things will be better soon. And my back will be the better for it. Now I need to get my men away from the tv so I can work out with the Wii!

Another adventure, another day....

Ann

You have dragged me into it....

Well...I have had so much fun reading everyone else's blogs that I have decided to start my own. I know I should be journaling, but have never been one to do it. Maybe I will use this as my journal.

I am the wife of Randy and the mother of Alan and Megan. Megan brought another family member in last September when she married Steve. I had wanted a huge family, but Heavenly Father knows what is best for us and I was only able to have the two best kids in the world (don't be jealous!!). The family has jumped to three kids now with Megan's marriage, and whenever Alan decides to start looking we hope to someday have another daughter. My favorite times now are when all five of us are together eating a meal and playing games with each other. I am now looking forward to grandchildren. The way Megan and Steve are going, I will be fifty before that happens!!

One adventure we are working on now is the purchase of a house. We are very excited. Everything is in the hands of the mortgage people now...appraisals and whatnot. I will put pictures and more information in a future blog. The house is located in Semmes, Alabama so that will put us joining a new church family. We look forward to meeting new people while keeping in touch with the members in Mobile that we have grown to love so much.

Well, I guess I will close this one for now. Look for more adventures coming soon!!

Ann