Sweet Home Alabama - The Last Days

Alright, let's wrap this trip up shall we??  It seems like it's been forever since it took place and I realize that the whole thing is old news.  But for the sake of completing something that I started, let's just keep going.

We left off at Wednesday and the "If Only" post about the dreamy B & B idea.  Earlier that week I talked with one of my friends and previous customers, Melissa, and she invited Bill and I to share Thanksgiving dinner with her and her family.  When I say that I "talked" with her, I mean that we texted.  We hadn't actually had a spoken conversation before and come to find out, we were both hoping that the other wouldn't think the situation was just weird.  Thank God, neither of us did!  Since we are who we are, we knew that we couldn't show up empty handed.  Also, and not that there is anything wrong with it, we also knew that stopping by the store to pick something up other than drinks wasn't going to sit well with us.

So, what did we do?  We baked two pumpkin pies, nope, not the pre-baked ones in the cute little aluminum pans.  We bought everything that we needed to bake the pies from scratch, crust and all.  Now, settle down, before you start thinking and asking out loud "Are you crazy??", let me just tell you, YES!  WE ARE!!  But technically I think we would argue that we aren't really crazy at all, it's just who we are and what we do.  Nope, it's not too much trouble, or even a little bit of trouble, it's truly just who we are!!

We had a lovely time with the Wright family and friends and even though it wasn't our home or our family, it was a close second!!  We are so thankful for the way social media can bring people together.  It truly felt like we had known each other for ever!  A gift from God for sure.

Friday, our last day there, we had offered to help Evan around his office with whatever he needed help with.  I was so excited about this day, yes I am fan girling - so what? It was a dream come true.

 

 

Let's see.....I used to work for a florist, I've always loved design, creating and color coded, organized shelves full of supplies/props, so this seemed like the perfect day to me!!

 

Evan had a wedding that coming weekend that he needed to do the flowers for and his office was right in the middle of a renovation and he was a week out from his first holiday open house!  There was plenty for us to do. On that Tuesday we had met up with Evan for lunch and he took us back to his office.  We started to clean things up while we were there and move some of the furniture back to where it belonged.  Friday we split up and I helped Evan with his flowers and Bill painted those huge urns, primed and painted a fireplace mantel, painted a mirror frame, moved furniture and hung things on the walls. 

Evan was even kind enough to let me play around with his mantle design.  I knew he'd change pretty much everything that I did and that was okay, because I would do the same exact thing!  It was still a blast and I loved every minute of it!

 

All day long, I just kept looking around and thinking "I can't believe I'm sitting here, working with Evan G. Cooper!".  Now, I know that he would say that he's nobody special, I know that because it said it more than once to me that week.  Yes, I would agree with that in the sense that he really is just a regular guy with amazing talent and an amazing personality.  He's making a name for himself in the event planning world.  But from an IG followers perspective, this was a pretty spectacular opportunity!!  I was in awe of the fact that I was there!

 

We finished up the day and went out to dinner together.  It was a really great, really fast week!  I couldn't believe that we were heading home the early next morning.  We made great friends, saw a lot of great houses, and made great memories that I will hold for a lifetime. 

 

We plan on heading south again, hopefully sooner than later.  In the meantime, we're hoping that Mr. Evan G. will make a trip North to visit us!!  I think he'll have to wait until the weather warms up quite a bit.

 

 

Thanks so much for following along with us!! 

 

 

God Bless,

Lorraine and Bill

Sweet Home Alabama Part Three

Hey there!  Welcome back!!  Moving on to the next property that we looked at, I want to preface this by saying, when we found this place on line, the first line of the description hit our biggest dream of all.  It simply said, "Could this be your bed and breakfast?".  Now, if you don't know us, I'll tell you that owning and running and B & B is our biggest dream to date.  We've stayed in a few and with both of us having a heart for hospitality, to say it caught our eye would be an understatement!

Now I have no idea if we could ever even pull off a dream like that.  But I don't think we ever thought that we'd see a hint of possibility, but here it was!!  Again, I'm not saying that anything is happening.  There are no concrete plans, but there are dreams and wishes and tiny prayers of big things.  It's in God's control as I've mentioned before. 

This property is at the other end of the road that the sweet cottage is on.  It boasts of 12 acres, a silo, horse barn and so much more.

 Hey, a girl can dream, right?!

We entered through the back of this massive home, but trust me when I say it has a grand entrance!!  A nice wide front hall, large staircase, and access to several rooms on the main level.  This home was full of surprises, including the "original" claw foot tub complete with original fixtures!  

We can totally picture making breakfast in the large sunny kitchen for our guests.  Hosting tea time in one of the beautiful sitting rooms, filling the two front balconies with guests as they enjoy their event (hosted by none other than the fabulous Evan G. Cooper).  The 12 acres is dying for some extra TLC.  Bonfires, Hayrides, Horses, Stables, expansion of the B & B with specialty suites, gardens where we'll pick fresh herbs and flowers for our meals and bedrooms.  That little red run down "shack" is the perfect little residence for the innkeepers.  We walked hand in hand around the entire property sharing dreams and ideas with one another and with our sweet Lord, whose hands our future rests.

This experience was so amazing on so many levels that it's unreal to me that we even experienced it.  God is so good and He never ceases to amaze me.  The way that He longs for us to give Him our future, plans, hopes, dreams, fears and hearts.  He's good for it, He won't let you down.  My best laid plans don't hold a candle to what He has planned for me (not even a three wick candle!) 

Like I continue to say, I haven't the faintest clue as to what is going on in our lives.  All that I can say is that we are trying to be diligent in seeking His will and His timing for our lives.  We are careful to look for the next step that He calls us to take, no matter the size of the step.  Knowing that any size step toward His plan is a goooood step, no a great step.  We can't go wrong when we surrender all that we are and all that we have to our Father in Heaven.

Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Sounds like a good deal to me!!

Until next time, God bless!

Lorraine

A Place to Gather goes to Alabama- The Prelude

Hey ya'll!!  I can't help but say that after being in the south for almost a week! I really thought that I would post daily about our time here in Montgomery, but our days have been fuller than I expected and  we've been exhausted by the end of the day.  Sunday night we were in bed at six o'clock!   Bill was fast asleep and I was not too far behind him!

There are some pars of this trip that I'm not quite ready to share yet, like what God has been impressing on our hearts, but that day will come sooner than later I believe.  In the mean time, I'm going to need a bit of time to process all that this week has been for us.  In short, it's been fabulous! We've gotten to meet online friends  who are now face to face friends and have seen some of the beauty of the south, in its nature and it's people.

Here are just a few shots that I can share with ya'll.

A Different Perspective on Christmas

My husband sent me an email yesterday, I wasn't expecting it and I new immediately that I had to share it.  The hubbs, as I like to refer to him as, doesn't express a lot of thoughts or emotions, he has them, don't get me wrong, but he's a get-er-done kind of guy...he doesn't spend a lot of time standing still talking, he's a doer.  So when I get a glimpe into his heart and mind, I'm always surprised and appreciative.

 

I've been wanting to write about our situation, but haven't figured out how to word things so that it doesn't sound like complaining or like we're looking for handouts....we're not.  I think that "the hubbs" has done a beautiful job.  So without further delay......I present you with a guest post by Bill Richie (aka the hubbs)

 

 

So this Christmas finds our family in a different place than we have ever been.  It’s been 22 months since I was laid off from a company that I had worked at for nearly 20 years, the company I always thought that I would retire from.  Fortunately, I was hired as a contractor and have been employed for about the past 9 months.  Throughout the past 22 months, we have been fortunate enough to be able to pay all of our bills through receiving a generous severance package, NJ unemployment insurance, generous gifts and donations from friends and family, and my current contracting position.  The most recent struggle has been with the fact that there has been and is no extra cash.  So this Christmas we find ourselves without the “normal” Christmas celebration.

The “normal” Christmas for us has been to celebrate with a multitude of gifts for the kids under the tree, being able to provide an Angel Tree family with a Christmas meal and gifts for their kids, being generous in providing for others during this season, and being able to make multiple batches of Christmas cookies with our kids.  Our normal family traditions have been to purchase Christmas pajamas for all seven of us, having a Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls (homemade or store bought), and enjoying the opportunity to celebrate with the extended family in the afternoon with an appetizer dinner.

This year is going to look different.  It has to look different because we have nothing extra for all of those things.  We have no cash set aside or saved for Christmas.  We have no room on our one credit card (yes we only have one left).  About a week ago we had a family over for dinner and during our discussions we ended up talking about Christmas and our financial situation (we are not embarrassed and not ashamed to talk about it, and we are not looking for donations either).  In turn that family and two other families in their extended family decided to provide us with $300 in gift cards to Walmart.  We took the time to go shopping and were able to buy each of our kids something for Christmas with that money but there is nothing left over.  It is hard to split $300 between 5 kids but we did it.  We are so grateful to that family for their generosity.  It means the world to know that we have friends who care enough to make a sacrifice for us, even though one member in the family has recently lost a job as well.

My heart is broken by the things around us that are pulling for everyone’s attention this Christmas season – toys, lights, trees, presents, and decorations.  My heart is broken by the events that are shaping this season too – the economic situation and the “fiscal cliff”, the tragedy in Newtown, CT, the devastation left behind by Hurricane Sandy, and the discontinuation of a long standing live nativity at a military base due to an atheist group’s complaints.  I am torn on how to serve and how to provide for those that are struggling even though I myself am financially strapped.

Well this Christmas we are going to have to do things differently.  Christmas is a time to celebrate.  We need to celebrate the fact that we are able to be together, that we have good health, and that we have a Savior who has fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament and cares for us.  He loves us even when we don’t deserve it.  We quarrel, complain and doubt out of the same mouth that we praise His name.  We need to change our focus from internal and temporal to external and eternal.  He came to give us freedom from the things that bind us, from the things that hold us back from fulfilling His promises for our lives.  We are called to be His Ambassadors and His Disciples.  We are called to serve those in need with our hearts, with our souls and with our talents.  If we do not have the financial abilities to provide than we need to focus on what we do have that can be used for His purpose.  This year our Christmas is going to be different.  It has to be.

 

*Thank you, my dear husband, for sharing your thoughts and heart with us <3  Our situation has provided us with the challenge of accepting being stripped down from the chaos of the season and has offered us, instead an opportunity to really count "the gifts", the one's that truly matter <3

 

May your family be blessed this Christmas with quiet times to reflect on His goodness, I urge you to count your gifts as well, no, not the ones under the tree but those around it <3

 

God Bless <3  Bill and Lorraine Richie