The Mission Oak Inn

I ran just under 4 miles this morning.  My goal was 4 miles but I was afraid if I went any further I may vomit.  So, in order to maintain my dignity in the gym, I choose to stop.  It is the furthest I have run in over a year and it felt so good.  Finally starting to feel like myself again....  Just had to share that.  It has absolutely nothing to do with the Inn.

Almost 2 years ago our church family blessed us with a gift certificate to a nearby bed and breakfast.  Alas, Joe and I just hadn't been able to fit it into our schedule at a time they also had openings.  So this past weekend we were finally able to visit.  And it was so nice.  It sits surrounded by cornfields and a 5 acre lake (I think it is 5 acres..its large).  When I'm at the beach I can totally picture Joe & I living on a sandy beach someday.  However, when I am at a place like this I am reminded that I truly am a Midwesterner at hear.  Oh, and the food was absolutely phenomenal.  We had one of their supper dishes as well as breakfast each  morning.   Oh bliss...can't wait to return.

We scared a deer out of her bed.

I spend a lot of time photographing the birds.  Tons of finches and hummingbirds.  There was even an oriole who visited occassionally.

Yes, that is a raccoon that decided to come visit and chow down on the leftover bird seed.  I was sitting on the porch to our room when he showed up. 

Let the painting begin....

My kids are still at their grandparents.  I miss them.  But I have also been very productive.  Yesterday's plan was to clean up the basement.  I completely misjudged how quickly I could get that done while being the only one home so it was finished by about 9am.  So then I decided to tackle this.....

And unfortunately, it revealed this.....

We knew we had hardwood floors under our carpet but weren't sure what kind of shape they were in.  So we (ahem...I guess I should say "I") decided to tear out Nathan's room because it is the smallest.  I am so completely done with this gross carpet we have.  I cannnot. wait. to. get. it. out. of. the. house.  Now we are deciding if we should refinish them or if we should lay new floor.  After a trip to a couple of hardware stores we are thinking it is not going to be much more, if any, to lay new floor. Unfortunately, for Nathan, we are going to start taking care of this before we lay new floor.

the picture really doesn't show how bad this wall really looks

Yea, the red isn't too bad, but you should see all the nicks in it and I'm kind of tired of it.

Paint, paint and more paint.  We think we have settled on a color that we both like which is a HUGE accomplishment.  And the fact that we decided on one without fighting is an even bigger accomplishment.  For some couples their struggles are with money and various other things, ours is home improvement.  Hardly ever do our tastes match.  So we are pretty proud of ourselves that we selected a paint in a very calm and mature manner.  I know...pride comes before the fall and all that.  So I am off to eat breakfast, go for a run and paint!

Florida Part 2

 The first day at Disney we spent at Magic Kingdom.  I did not take my camera as they were calling for rain and I didn't want to risk it getting wet.  I was so disappointed that I didn't have my camera on the first day, I took the chance on the second day when we went to Animal Kingdom.  I had about 3 layers of plastic on it when it rained and it was fine.  I was so glad I had it as I was able to get some shots of the animals at the park.

If you zoom in you can see all the animals carved into the tree.  When I took the picture I didn't even realize that there were animals carved in it.  Pretty cool.

This whirly roller coaster was on of the kids' favorites.  However, I think the girls enjoyed Mt. Everest even more than this one.

If you know our Nathan at all, you would probably guess that this boy's favorite park was Animal Kingdom.  He is a true LOVER of animals.  He thoroughly enjoyed the safari.

Yes, it rained.  This was day two for the ponchos which is why there are a few holes in them.  We were waiting in line for the safari.  Disney is one of the few places that I really didn't mind wearing a poncho and getting a little wet.

I couldn't believe how realistic the safari was.  I didn't use the zoom on my camera for this photo.  The rhino was right there.