Home.Sweet.Home

This morning I woke up early and decided to use the time for myself and catch up on TV and my computer while enjoying a fresh brewed cup of Kona coffee. As I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs; my dear friend Susie's. She mentioned that her husband made statement that hit me hard...."How are we ever going to live anywhere else?".....wow, that is a bold statement but a realistic one that has haunted my mind as well.

I ADORE  ALBANY (more like LEESBURG), GA.

Did I really just admit that??? I mean, this is the person who was terribly homesick (and still is) months ago and also the person who second guessed moving here. This is the person that cried the minute she walked into the front door, had a panic attack and was sent to the ER for heart palipations the very day we arrived on Doublegate Drive.

However, something has changed my mind and my heart about this quaint little town. Most people that were bred, born and raised here ask the same question "Why in the hell did you move here?".  I can't tell you the number of people I have heard that sentence from....more times than "Oh, you will love it here". I don't think I have ever heard that sentence uttered. Seriously.

Albany is very diverse and it's still very much small town living....although it is very divided it reminds you a bit of Andy Griffith times on occasion. Everyone knows everybody.... and their business. If there is something "shady" going on you will hear about it. People are cordial here and show manners that many large cities are lacking. It almost feels like you stepped back in time....that can be a good and bad thing.

I will be the first to admit that this small town does have it's own share of problems and inconviences. Race is very much a factor here and it seems that the town is still very much stuck in a 1950's "bubble". The phrase that comes to mind is "To each their own". The communities are still divided in a sense but I have never felt any animosity; although I am sure it's there in certain situations.

Living in the "Deep South" also means we are very much a part of the "Bible Belt" so being part of a church is a big thing. I think there is seriously more churches in this town than I can count on my two hands and feet. It's basically a ghost town during worship hours because people are attending a church service somewhere. However, if you ever want to skip church to get your grocery shopping done then that is the best time to do it because you are not part of a huge chaotic crowd....trust me, I have done it and it worked out well....no lines or aggrevation. However, if you are wanting to buy alcohol on that Sunday trip you are out of luck becuase there are no alcohol sales on Sunday in Albany....so you have to plan ahead if your wanting a drink while lounging by the pool or catching up on whatever sporting event is on TV that day.

We also live in what Georgia calls the "Plantation Trace" because there are tons of Plantations in the area. Agriculture is a big deal here and our biggest crops are Peanuts and Pecans. Quail hunting is also another big deal in these parts. We are also the only city in the WORLD to house a World Series MVP, Super Bowl MVP and an Olympic Gold Medalist....so I guess the city is doing something right. We are also the home of Paula Deen (yum!), Buster Posey (Go SF Giants!) and Ray Charles! I can't forget to mention the entire reason we moved here....the Marine Corps! Albany has one of the largest logistcal bases on the East Coast.

As far as educational things in the area we have The Parks at Chehaw (Zoo) and Flint RiverQuarium. There are several other things like the Civic Center, Museum of Art and several theatres of the arts that we haven't had the time to endulge in.....but in due time we will .We also have Albany Panthers which is a SIFL (Southern Indoor Football League) team.  For such a small city there is so much to do and see!

While all of those "perks" are fine and dandy it's not what made me fall in love with this city. My heart is in love with the house and neighborhood we live in. I am happy that our children seem to thrive in this enviroment. Victoria can't be in a better public school system than Lee County and she is so involved in school activities/sports that make her beam with pride. Brody loves his friends he has made in the area and even has a cute Geogia twang that echoes in my ears (ex: Drink =Draannk). I have met some great people whom I am lucky enough to consider really good and dear friends.

There is so much more than I even blogged about that I haven't had a chance to discover yet. I am excited about being here and I am hoping one day my parents can move closer to us because I share the same thought with Susie's husband JB....

"How are we ever going to live anywhere else?"

Hues of Blues

Today was a pretty exciting afternoon when it came to my special haven in our house...the master bedroom. As I mentioned in an earlier post we finally got around to having the painters come this weekend to paint our bedroom a beautiful new shade of blue. I honestly can't believe I am admitting that because there was a time in my life where I would have refused to let any of the walls in my house be blue. As a child both of my grandmothers loved the color "Country Blue" and their house was covered from the carpet up in the putrid color. As I have aged a little I find myself picking out certain hues of blue in every aspect of my life....clothes, accessories and decor. Granted, I still *hate* the "Country Blue" color but I do seem to like the other lighter shades. 


We agreed to go against all of our usual paint picks and choose a color that was new for our bedroom and I am so glad we did! I am in LOVE with our new shade of Agave Blue. It's so serene and peaceful...it reminds me of a spa and what girl doesn't love the spa? 


One of my biggest "wants" during this whole new bedroom redecorating phase was to purchase new linens and a comforter set. We have been sleeping on the same two sets of sheets for almost 5 years now and it was time to fold those up and stash them in the linen closet. I loved our old sheets because they were so soft and the thread count was heaven but they had seen their better days. Our duvet comforter has also seen it's share of better days so I wanted something new in that department too. I am kind of over the whole "Duvet" phase because we have 2 covers for ours and it seems like you pay a fortune for something that is really nothing more than two pieces of fabric sewn together (Hmmm, future sewing project??? possibly). Today I was looking at new coverlets and they were $100 and that was without shams or a bed skirt and I just couldn't bring myself to buy one. Call me cheap but it seemed like a huge waste.


I bought a new set of sheets at Wal-Mart this past Saturday and about died when I forked over $70 for 400 thread count Egyptian Cotton sheets but I kept telling myself the old ones did last 5 years so it was worth the money. I couldn't find any coverlet or comforter set there that I fancied so I decided to give Stein Mart a try and I came out a winner!


Stein Mart is usually hit or miss with me and today I hit pretty big when it came to a comforter set. I found an awesome deal on a set that matched our room perfectly and the price was reasonable. It was your  typical "bed in a bag" without the sheets which was fine because those had already been purchased. 


Now I am laying in bed...recouping from a dinner that turned my tummy sour but at least I can feel somewhat better sleeping in my freshly painted bedroom with beautiful new bedding!! 


(Bedroom picture is from Google; not our own goods )

You "Sago" What?!?!???

Since we have closed on our house and we are the "official" home owners of our "Doublegate Escape" it's time to do a little landscaping. I have been out of commission the past few days with some awful stomach bug aka "The Stomach Flu" but now things are back on track and the work shall begin...

Earlier this evening Mike and I were out in the back yard trying to figure where we were going to place Brody's playground, make a dog run for our fur babies, make boxes for my garden beds, build his work shed (and my "dog house" as Mike so eloquently called it) and extend the entertaining area around the pool for the humans of the house. We have been blessed with a very large back yard so we have plenty of room to make all of the above happen but making it happen on a tight budget is where we butt heads. My wants and our needs are two totally different things but with Mike's analytical thinking we always seem to make it work. He usually drives me CRAZY when he draws things out on paper or over thinks things for hours on end but in certain cases  I truly  appreciate it (ouch, that hurt to type). Hmmm, maybe opposites *really* do attract? Noted.

While drawing the "map" < insert my MANY eyerolls>  of our plans for the backyard it became evident we would have to use part of our neighbors privacy fence as backing to our dog run. We will have to nail boards at the bottom of their fence due to gaps where the land has settled and could possibly be areas where our dogs would/could dig out. Thanks to good timing our neighbor came home and we were able to ask him for his permission to nail boards to his fence and he gave his consent after we told him about all of  the things that would take place in the next couple of weeks. Whew, I was relieved he gave the go ahead because sometimes you can get the "neighbor from hell" who agrees to nothing. Check that off the list!


Mike and our friendly neighbor were chatting it up about  their careers in the Marine Corps and somehow we got to talking about dogs and landscaping they had done recently. The neighbor had mentioned that their young Labrador had eaten two of the plants they had discarded from their side yard recently and it made her very sick. He wasn't really describing it all that well so Mike pushed a little further because he was concerned since we also have dogs that will eat anything and everything. As this man starts to describe this mystery plant it becomes evident to me he is talking about a Sago Palm plant. 


Now, I know most of you probably do not know or even care what a Sago Palm is but being the Southern girl I am these plants are like heaven on earth. It has "SOUTH" written all over it's prickly leaves and body. It's a sure sign your in the South or somewhere tropical and that is somewhere I want to be! 


After I recovered and pulled myself together from hearing him say he "threw the bushes out back" I excused myself because all I could think of is how I would have loved, loved, loved having those beautiful babies somewhere in my yard (away from the animals, of course). I atill can't stomach hearing them called "bushes"....seriously, dude, bushes??? Sago's do not come cheap so he basically threw $200 worth of sunshine out into the wooded lot behind his house. Too bad it's days since they were uprooted and tossed  aside because I would be stealing those things from their final resting place and put them in pots for my front steps!  


It also occurred to me afterwards that I was actually a tad insulted he did it...did it make me feel bad??? Nah, it's just another reminder that I am a true "Southerner" through and through.