Empty Nest and a Dog

Well its been 90 days or so since I posted last. Our lives have been hectic on the road and we have been in Phoenix as well as Reno for the entire time.
Fortunately we have a bit of a break so we drove back to Texas last week and we are presently enjoying our family for the first time in a long time.

Many folks have wondered and asked what it is we do on the road. I am a partner and Executive VP of Sales and Marketing for “The Winning Seat”. It is a one of a kind patented cell phone application that allows people to win cash and prizes based on actions that happen within a live event. It has never been done before and we have recently launched. (in the last 30 days)

The launch has been limited but very successful. We will be increasing the participation and games by the end of October by adding three National football games weekly. Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights. It is totally free to download the app and play the game. There is no catch! It is 100% free to play and requires nothing on anyones part to win, other than downloading the app and registering for a game on the schedule. Simply go to your App store and or Google Play and download The Winning Seat. Watch the short video at this link to learn more.  www.thewinningseat.com/howitworks 

We will be traveling to most every major city in the Country over the next couple years , tailgating at games and developing sales people and locating partners. If you have an interest in looking into the possibility of sales and or strategic partnerships, please reach out to me. It is an incredible opportunity at this stage of the game.

No reason to not download the app and play, you don’t have to be at the events. Play from home or work or anywhere you choose. Register for all the games!! Now get out there and win!!

Jill and I were spending a few hours yesterday running errands before our 1200 mile trip to Phoenix today. We got home and I realized my cell phone was missing. UGH!!~ I just bought it less than a month ago!

If you have ever lost your lifeline, then you know the panic that hits. I was frantically searching. I searched the car twice, Jill searched the car 3 times. We deduced that the only thing possible was that I left it in the last store we were in at the checkout counter. I never do that? Why would I do that? So before I headed back to the store, I searched everywhere in the house and the car. I even searched places I hadn’t been, just in case my age kicked in and I had been there without remembering. LOL NOTHING!

Wait!! Fortunately we had installed the where is my phone app. Jill got her phone out, opened the app and put in my information. “There it is John, it looks like it is at that store after all”! Well I was mad. Someone had lied and had taken the phone and lied to me about finding it. Surely not? Maybe I just left it on a shelf or something. Yea I know, I am naive. Someone would not blatantly steal my phone, would they?

I jumped into the car with Jills phone in my hand to prove to the ladies in that store that it was there. I had proof!! The store was only 5 minutes away, but for some reason I decided to refresh the app just to make sure of the location. Oh no!! It was on the move and whoever took it was driving down the road. I pulled over to see where they were headed. I kept refreshing. Maybe they were shopping because they had stopped right in my area. I proceeded to the strip center the store was in and pulled over again. They were still in the shopping center, but where?

I moved to the other side of the store and stopped to refresh again. They moved also. I was scratching my head. How am I going to pinpoint which person has my phone in their pocket in this shopping center? I moved again towards the middle of the center. They moved again and closer to me.
All of a sudden I had an embarrassing thought. I decided to drive away from the store about a mile towards home and refreshed. The phone also moved away from the store towards home.

I caught that thief red-handed! Yup, the phone was still in the car!!!! Have you ever gotten red-faced embarrassed even though no one could see you? LOL It reminded me of that babysitter movie where she gets the frantic call, “He’s in the house with you get out of the house now”! LOL

So I returned to the rig, searched the car and nothing again! I got Jill out there with me and we searched it together. Nothing! Jill said, ok, lets move the seats forward, maybe the phone slid under something and we just can’t see it, and there it was. It had slid under a seat belt restrainer under the seat. Totally hidden and safe.

At our age and on this crazy life experience we are on, we call this event normal. LOL its one event out of many every day, and its exactly the reason we love this adventure. Never a dull moment in the lives of the Martins.

Fall semester of 1980, my parents drove me up Lookout Mountain, TN.  I had been here before, because my 3 sisters had all attended Covenant College.  I couldn’t wait to be a “big college” student, just like my sisters!

See the “castle” tower on the right hand side of the main building? Well my dorm room was right beside it on the top floor.  Climbing 5 floors of stairs was the only way to get up there (antiquated elevator was for moving in only).

It took me a couple of days to get a somewhat acclimated with my new surroundings.  I had three roommates (2 of which were missionary kids as well, and one from Atlanta).  We three worked very diligently to get our room all fixed up as soon as possible, because open dorms was that very Sunday night!!

Eight o’clock arrived and it was announced that men were on the floor.  I was excited, but anxious!  I had never experienced this before!  A couple of guys popped their heads in and said hello and off they went to the next rooms.  Then came in this really cute guy in a red shirt – not too tall, not too short, nice stature. Extremely friendly!  He ended up sitting on the floor and got to know my 3 roommates and me.  I kept waiting for him to get up and leave to go on to the next rooms, but he didn’t!  We ended up sitting on that same spot all evening (in front of the closet door) just chatting away.

I had never met anyone before where I could just talk… about anything, and he would listen…with seeming interest!  Every time we would spend time together, I got more and more at ease.  I told him that I had never had a brother before (family of 4 girls), and for the first time in my life I had a brother to come to for anything!  I’m told that that is the LAST thing a guy wants to hear when he is interested in dating you.  Oh well!

I had never gone on a date before without asking my parents for permission beforehand.  I was in college now and it was all up to me to make the “right decision”.  I was petrified!  Fortunately one of my sisters was finishing up her last semester at that time, and so I could get her opinion when need be.

I went out with a couple of the basketball players (since that was in my realm – being on the b-ball and v-ball teams).  That was my “comfort zone” I guess.  Then I was asked out from some of the other guys.  I would come back from them and tell John about my dates – he WAS my “brother”, right?

After a couple of months, John asked me if I would like to go out on a date – just dinner and then walk around the mall and just “hang out”.  hmmm That sounded like fun! Sure!!  When he picked me up, he said that he wanted to go by his parents’ house so that I could meet them, and they me.  I thought that that was so sweet.  Absolutely!  What a great way to get to know someone, especially if he is close to his parents and proud to show them off!

Down the mountain we went and we had a nice dinner….  It passed by, and he was very gentlemanly – opening doors, etc.  I felt like a lady!  Then on to the mall we went.  We got out of the car and began walking across the parking lot.  He reached out his hand and grabbed mine – not the intertwined way, just “normally”.  He came across so confidently!  I’ll never forget that feeling!  I don’t know if I smiled or not, but I can guarantee you I was beaming on the inside!  What a man!  What boldness and confidence he just showed! I felt safe and protected!  I don’t remember much at the mall, my night had already been made!

Well, it was time to head back to campus and so we proceeded the drive up the mountain. We talked and talked the whole way back.  What fun!! UNTIL…. when we stopped at the stop sign right before arriving on campus he said, “You know, I’m going to end up marrying you.”  My heart stopped! I looked at him, I’m sure I had a shocked look, and said, “Over my dead body! There is NO WAY that you know that only after ONE DATE!!  Oh, I was mad!  He was very persistent that he was right.  “Mark my words, we are going to get married.”  Ugh!!  That just upset me all the more!  Needless to say he did NOT get a good night kiss from me!  No way, no how!

The next day… okay the following days he was always down in the lobby (bottom floor of that big castle building).  When it was time to go to chapel, he asked if he could sit by me.  “Sure!”  He tried to hold my hand on the way, and I pulled away. “Not here in public, and we aren’t “dating”, and everyone will think we are, and, and, and.”  That didn’t stop him from trying though, only to get his hand whacked by me.

Well after a while, I decided that I really liked this guy, but he needed to give me a little breathing room. “I’ll date you, but you need to give me a little more space.” After all, I can’t get married until I graduate – Daddy said! And that’s 4 years from now!! “

Well, after dating a few months, John (bless his heart) did anything and everything I asked him to do in order to “fit into my master plan of who I would eventually marry” (he had to be someone that was like my Daddy – wink).  I had had it all planned out before even getting to College as to what kind of a guy I would marry!  I could tell that both he and I were trying to “fit a square into a circle” for lack of a better term.  It just didn’t seem “normal”.  He was uncomfortable, I was uncomfortable…. this just wasn’t working the way I thought it should.  It broke my heart!  I thought it best to break up, so as not to lead him along.  

A few months went by, and I could tell this whole time that I was being watched by John!  EVERYWHERE, and EVERYONE I talked to, he knew all about it.  If he couldn’t be there to observe, he would have one of his friends report back to him.  It got so bad that before I would go down into the lobby to go to class, I would have someone look out in the lobby and see if John Martin was down there.  If so, I would climb up two flights of stairs and go across to the other side and out the back door, to give him “the slip”!!  Well, that worked for a while, but one day he cornered me in the lobby hallway.

He approached and we said the cordial “hellos” and such.  “So, would you consider going to the Greek Restaurant with me?”  Oh no!!! Not the Greek Restaurant!!!  I LOVE that place!!! So quaint, such great and cozy environment, so original………. “okay”.  He got me!!  He knew I hadn’t been off the mountain in quite a while and I was getting a little “cabin feverish”.  His coercion worked.  We went… and had a blast.  ….. I realized then how much I had missed “my brother/boyfriend”.  Needless to say, we started dating again.

In the meantime, the other girls in my dorm were asking about us, if we were dating, how serious we were, beware of him because he’s out looking for a wife, he gets too serious too quickly, and on and on and on.  They all warned me to watch out. Well, of course this made me hesitate and wonder! “Am I making the right decision? Is he being ‘real’ with me? etc. Oh I was a mess!  I would watch him play football outside my window (5 stories down), and he was pretty good! I was impressed with his quarterback abilities!  He kept looking up to my window to see if I was watching him, so of course I would duck and hide so he wouldn’t catch me!

Well….. the doubts crept back in again and I called it off, once again.  I have no idea how many times I did this to the poor guy!!  Again,… bless his heart.  But I was a mess!! I DIDN’T KNOW!!!  Better to be safe than sorry, so take some more time to think and pray about it.

John has already mentioned his trip back up to the College to see me after he moved to Texas so I won’t bore you with the same information.  Oh! one thing he didn’t tell you was that during that time away,  not only had he moved to Texas he also joined the Army! I had no idea! He said it was to get back at me, but I had no clue! :-p

 All I can say is that I loved being with him and spending hours and hours just being together and talking about anything that came to mind.  I liked him A LOT! But he STILL wasn’t fitting into my pre-planned list of “credentials”.  And that bugged me half to death!  He was more focused on business! I had NEVER been around  anyone or anything business! I grew up as a missionary kid in Mexico and Costa Rica and Ecuador! He didn’t have plans to be a missionary, or a pastor, or even a youth pastor!  That was MY plan!  Why oh why John!!??!!

Two years passed. I had moved to California for a semester, and then back to Covenant to finish up my senior year. I had no idea where or what John was doing.  After graduation I sent out resumes for teaching positions across the country, wondering where God would have me go next.  California it was! I was accepted by a Christian School in south LA!

My parents picked me up after graduation, and we traveled across the “great state of Texas”.  I remember laying down in the back seat of the car. Mom and Dad were in the front.  I was unaware as to our location.  Dad broke the silence. “I understand there is a young man you know who lives around here.” My heart thumped. I don’t know why, it just did.  I’m not even sure if it was a good or bad “thump”!  Dad began to go over the past that John and I had had.  (I was keeping my parents up along the way as to my relationship with John – even via Ham Radio while they were still in Ecuador).  I put a stop to the conversation. It just hurt too much. Way too many feelings and emotions!  But, even when conversation stopped, I still thought about him.  He’s the only person I ever could feel real with; he’s the only person I felt comfortable around; he’s the only person who made me feel special; he’s the only one who ever told me he loved me; and so forth…. but I made myself stop.  “He’s not the one for you, Jill, so just move on.”

Out of the blue, during the summer where I was running a summer day camp, I received a letter in the mail. *big eyes! Gulp! Whaaat? How did he get my address? How did he know where I was? What are you doing, God?  I took the letter to my room and opened it up.  I recognized the hand writing. I saw the picture he sent of his new niece. “That scoundrel!! He wants me to send it back to him??” Oh how the emotions went haywire … again!!  He’s the only person EVER to stir up so many emotions – but mostly anger right now, cuz he was up to his “tricks”!  After reading his hand written letter many times, I put it down.   What to do? I hated that fact that he just “played me”.  “I should just put the picture in an envelop and send it back!”  “ughhhh”! What to do??  “Fine! I’ll just write a VERY generic, one-paged-letter and be done with it!”  I couldn’t have been more cold in my writing! Just the facts, just the facts!  “There! That should make him mad! I didn’t tell him anything that would make him feel that I had any feelings for him. I did good!”  Off to the post office!  I never expected to hear back from him because I was “so cold” in my letter.

A few weeks later… Mom and Dad were living in Escondido, CA where he had taken a position at the seminary.  One weekend he and mom had a cookout for all of the new, single, seminary students.  “Oh how nice! Not!”  More like, “Oh how awkward!”  Anyhow…. in the middle of being sociable with all the guys (around 15?) the phone rings.  “Jill, it’s for you!” …

“Hello?”

“Hi! Do you know who this is?”

“ummmm…. John?” (my heart, adrenaline, blood pressure, nerves, stomach tightening went bonkers!)  “Um, can you call me back next week? Dad has a bunch of people over and I need to get back and help out.” It took me a few minutes to gain composure before heading out.

All week long while teaching, I kept finding myself anticipating this phone call that next weekend. I couldn’t focus very well.  “What are you doing, God? Why now?  Don’t you know I’ve got my life on track and have accepted the fact that I’m not supposed to have a man in my life, much less get married yet?”

The weekend came – 6:00pm Sunday night.  “Ring Ring”  “It’s John!”  My heart skipped.  “Why is my heart skipping?  What’s going on?”  Six hours later we hung up.  SIX hours!!!  I wish I could describe how good it was to talk to someone again who “got  me”!!  It had been 2 1/2 very long years for me.  So many things took place in my life and I had a lot of growing up to do.  But I was alone – lonely.  I wouldn’t admit it to anyone. I had to keep up a good front.  I didn’t have “that someone” to talk to and help me along the way.

Next Sunday night I had another call.  We talked for another 3-5 hours.  Wow!  Feelings are stirring up again, like really fast!  That phone call ended with, “Can I come out to see you?”  THUMP!  What to do? What to say?  So confused!  “Give me a week and I’ll give you my answer.”  All week long I thought and prayed, thought and prayed, thought and prayed.  “I’ve never felt like this before! Is this what love feels like? Why can’t I get him out of my mind!?  “You know, Jill, if he comes out, he’s going to ask you to marry him… again.  What are you going to say?” is what I kept asking myself.

Next Sunday night… “Ring Ring”…  me: “You aren’t on a plane yet?”  I had already decided that I would answer “yes” to him if he were to ask.

The next weekend FINALLY got here.  I couldn’t wait to see John!  I got to the airport with plenty of time!  Full of anxiety, excitement, nervous stomach, blood pressure through the roof, feeling all “oogley-googley” inside.  Finally the airplane lands. I wait patiently – kind of.  The door opened and people started filing out.  “Where is he?” “What does he look like now?” “Am I dressed ok?” “THERE he is!!  My! He looks SO good!”  My heart begins to pitter patter all the more.  He finally got to the bottom of the steps and I really really surprised myself.  I kissed him!!  Whaaaat?  I never initiated anything like that before!!  I couldn’t help myself!! He was just so handsome! I was a nervous wreck!  But he was here, with me!

The next morning we headed off to Disneyland.  I figured that that would be a good place to go to get reacquainted and catch up on our lives and enjoy the Park at the same time.  The day seems like a blur to me.  Nightime came and it was time for the Electric Parade.  We found a bench on the center town circle and sat and chatted and chatted and chatted.  While we were chatting John said, “you know, we should get married.”  I remember that clear as day, because I had waited all day for that question.  I knew it was inevitable!  “Okay”, was my response.  He paused.  “What? Did you just say ‘okay’?”  “Uh huh” (big smile).  “Did you just accept my proposal???”  “yep”.  John, “I want to stand up on top of the bench and tell everyone that you FINALLY said YES!!!!!”  I held him down.

The following morning we called my parents, and then went to the jeweler.  ALL friends and family were shocked!

But all I can say is….. God is the One is charge of our lives, not us.  It all has to happen in His Perfect Timing.  God knew all along back in 1980, Freshman year that He had created us for each other.

Oh, and one more thing… “You just know …. you just know when you are in love and want to marry that special person and spend the rest of your life with them.”

Sweetheart, thank you for loving me so much and being patient while I grew up.  I love you Baby!

I felt compelled to write the entire story, since we had so many wonderful comments about the 1 small paragraph I wrote yesterday for an anniversary post on Facebook. The story is nothing short of a miracle, so if you like love stories and miracles, please continue to read. I will keep it as short as I possibly can.

I did not care about attending college but for one reason, and that was to find a wife. I was making plenty of money and felt that college would only slow me down. I had plans! I had a dream to get married, build a ranch-style home and put up a white ranch rail fence, get a dog, have 2 children and live happily ever after! So, I registered at Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, Ga. I already lived on the mountain, so it made the decision quite simple.

It was 1980. My first week there. The big day. The guys were allowed to go meet the girls at their dorms. The first dorm I visited, she was sitting on the floor. Her name was Jill. I didn’t go to any other dorm that day. I didn’t need to. I had found the woman I wanted to marry. SHE was Smokin Hot! 35 years later, she is even more Smokin Hot than before and she has been my wife for 29 years. This is the actual picture taken that evening in Jill’s dorm room.

Jill is one of 4 missionary daughters. She was born in Mexico City, and lived there and many other places south of the border for most of her childhood. She was this adorable little girl, with a blonde Dorothy Hammil hair style, and that beautiful smile was mesmerizing.

 

Jill’s idea was a bit different than mine. She was planning on marrying a tall slender athletic type of guy who was most probably a missionary like her father. That wasn’t me unfortunately, and that made for a tough hurdle to overcome. We did however get along really well and we spent hours over the next week or so, talking and becoming great friends. During that friendship over those next few weeks I was really struggling when she started to go out with some of the athletes from the school. I couldn’t get angry about it though because we were just friends, so I started dating other girls at the same time. But mostly to try to make her jealous. You see, I was a so-so athlete, more so than so, unfortunately, so I couldn’t compete with those guys. I had to compete with my business acumen. 😉 I had a business at the time and two other jobs. I was determined to make money while at school and I always had plenty AND I had a truck, which was huge, since our college was isolated from most activities, (being 2300 feet above the city of Chattanooga).

Because I had a vehicle, I was finally able to coax her into going out with me some 3 weeks or so after meeting her for the first time in that dorm room. I was so excited! For some reason which now escapes me, we went all the way to Hixson Tennessee, about 45 minutes away for dinner at a little restaurant called Mr Steak and then we went to the mall to walk around and people watch. 😉 She actually let me hold her hand that night, but I think she was probably trying to keep from hurting my feelings. We really did have a great time, however – especially me, I was absolutely head over heals in love and I just had to tell her. LOL UGH! Why did I have to tell her?

We returned to the school later that evening and we sat in the car overlooking the valley below when I promptly told her that I was incredibly in love and planned to marry her. Look, I didn’t feel like I had a choice. If I didn’t let her know my feelings, someone else was going to sweep her off her feet and she might marry them instead. Her response was “um…. over my dead body!” LOL Seriously, she was not a happy camper. Looking back at it now, a first date semi proposal was not a good idea.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months until I was finally able to convince her to go out with me again. We went to this wonderful Greek Restaurant in RedBank, and we both really loved it. Of course it had been months since she had been off the mountain, so that’s one thing to remember as to why she liked it so much. That restaurant and my truck were the two main things I had going for me. She loved that restaurant, and none of the jocks had a car. LOL

Several weeks went by and I finally got her to agree to date me. I was ecstatic!! Of course I had to go totally overboard and start buying her things. Remember, I had money. I’ll never forget the day I bought license plates that said “John and Jill” and put them on the back of my truck. She did not like that at all, especially when I gave her a key and told her the truck was hers. Of course she needed a vehicle, so she took it out for a spin and promptly ran out of gas, because I have a propensity to drive on fumes. That’s just me, but that event caused her to throw the keys back to me and turn me down. “and take those tags off the truck!” I took it like a man. 😉 She loved me, I could tell. LOLOL

A couple of weeks later she broke things off. I did not take that like a man as I should have. I literally wept over that event and responded in the absolute opposite way I should have. I started to watch her every move. I guess you could call it stalking. ;)) I would make sure to position myself in certain areas around the school so she would have to walk by me on her way to class. I would intentionally play flag football out in the front of the school just below her dorm window. When her parents would come to visit her, I would make it a point to hang with them so I could see Jill when she came down to see them. This went on for a year. Jill knew what I was doing. She would walk the opposite way when she would see where I was. She would never show her face in her window while I was playing football, otherwise I would see that as “progress”. She would even hurry off the basketball court after her games, for fear that I would come down to the court to see her.

I remember one really embarrassing moment when I wanted to impress her during one of her basketball games and entered the half court contest. The entire school was there and she was sitting on the front bleacher with her team mates. I proceeded to air ball it by a mile and I remember her face in her hands. That was a rough night.

I know it now, but didn’t know it then, but she always had feelings for me, she just couldn’t handle the way I did things. She didn’t like my perspective on money, I wasn’t interested in being a missionary, I was not tall and slender, I was not overly athletic, and her parents had told her before school even started that she couldn’t get married until after she graduated, so why date someone seriously if she had to wait 4 years? Plus I was a nuisance!!

I remember finally getting her to go back to the Greek restaurant with me one evening, and we got back together. She finally gave in, until the next week when she broke it off with me again, and I was determined that would be for the last time.

My family moved to Texas, and so did I. After two years of fighting this situation with Jill, dating tons of other girls at the school and talking about Jill to them, lol I left for good and decided it was just not going to happen. I was miserable, I was angry, and I was late with my plan of getting married and having that white ranch rail fence. 😉 I had cried enough over her. Time to move on.

6 months after moving to Texas, I was sitting in my office where I sold new Buicks for a living, and I had a soft moment and decided to call her. We had a great conversation. Of course, carrying it too far is my middle name so I asked if I could come visit. She reluctantly said yes, and I was there the next day. We had a great day together. She cooked for me for the very first time, and it was the BEST PBJ I have ever tasted. I had to leave the next morning to get back to work, so I had to move quickly and she agreed to get back together!!

The trip home was glorious! I had finally won her over. I couldn’t wait to get home and call her. Instead, as I walked into the door the phone was ringing and it was Jill crying. She just had to break it off with me. She felt so bad. We cried together for an hour. I cried by myself for days. Evidently she did as well. My anger was back, my wall was up, and I wrote it off again… for the last time.

2 years later, having totally lost track of her, some great friends came through Texas on their way to California. He had taken a position as the principal of a Christian school out there and they had a few hours to visit. During lunch, we started asking questions about his new job and he proceeded to look at me and said, “By the way, I just hired a new teacher who went to your college, do you know the name Jill Hamilton?” Are you kidding me??? I have totally lost track of this girl and someone I know hires her 3k miles from where I saw her last and he just happens to come visit and ask me If I knew her. Really??? Other than my mother telling me to don’t even think about it, there was complete silence. I admitted that I knew her and left it at that. Of course on the side, I had to get her address from him. Do I dare? Should I write her or throw the address away? What if she doesn’t respond? So I came up with a plan.

Keep in mind that back then, there was no such thing as computers or ways to keep pictures. They were real pictures that you held in your hand to look at, or of course place them in a frame or picture book. So I sent her a letter and included a picture of my sister’s first baby. I informed her that it was my only one, and I would appreciate it if she would send it back to me. LOL Brilliant!! Of course that didn’t sit well with her because she knew exactly what I was attempting, and while she contemplated just sending back the picture by itself, she decided not to be mean and wrote a quick letter. Of course I read into that letter and realized she really loved me. LOL

I got in touch with our friend who hired her out in LA, and asked him for her phone number and I got up the courage to call. She was busy at the time so I asked if I could call her back. She said “next week, same time” That was the longest week of my life, and the best phone call of my life. We talked for 6 hours. When we finally decided to hang up, I asked her if there was any way she would let me come see her. She said “call me in a week, same time, and I will let you know”. UGH! another week?? Had I just blown it again? Had I moved too fast again? Was she going to say no?? So the next week I called her according to plan.  She picked up the phone and before I had a chance to say anything, she said “you are not here yet”? I was on a plane the next morning on a redeye from Houston to LA. Now that’s fast!

I had no idea what to expect when I got off that airplane. I was going to play it cool. I was going to give her a quick hug and play coy. I wasn’t going to rush things ever again. I walked down the stairs on to the tarmac and there she was standing outside waiting for me. She met me at the bottom of the stairway and planted the biggest kiss on me that you could imagine. I was stunned and for the first time in my life, speechless. She had a big day planned, we were headed to Disneyland. I had never been, and I was excited to experience it with her.

So you will know, over the past 5 years, mainly in the first 3, I had asked Jill to marry me at least a dozen times. Those proposals were met with a dozen no’s. Somehow I am a glutton for punishment, because I threw out all caution to the wind and figured, hey, I am going to either go home happy or heartbroken again, I might as well get it over with instead of drawing it out for a few days. So during the electric parade, I asked her again and without hesitation, she said yes. She knew that if she had allowed me to come out, I was going to propose once again, so she had to decide before my arrival what her decision was going to be. As she puts it, “for the last two years I have compared every guy I went out with to you and no one matched up. I always loved you but you were just so obnoxious.”

We were married 10 months later.

Now 29 years almost to the day, we are more excited about our lives together than we have ever been. We have 4 wonderful children, 3 of whom are married and the 4th is independent and lives in his own home. We are empty nesters on a fun journey together, living in a motorhome, seeing the countryside, while we work and play.  God willing we will have another wonderful 29 years together.

 

What a wonderful morning it is today. Its Sunday June 21st and it is Fathers Day. This is the first Fathers Day with no children in the house, and of course the first one in our new home on wheels. Normally, one of my children would have been in the kitchen early, making my breakfast. That’s a little thing we have always done during days of celebration, we make breakfast for each other.

I woke up around 5:30 having slept in a little later than usual. I did my normal thing which of course includes making “Smokin Hot” her coffee. One of my biggest challenges now is figuring out how to get up, use the facilities, and make her coffee all while not waking her up. It’s not that she minds getting up early, it’s just I know she would prefer sleep in if she can.

This morning I was successful. I timed it with the AC unit. It came on, and out of the bed I jumped. Fortunately we bought a memory foam mattress and she can’t feel me moving anywhere near as much as our old mattress. I even asked her to spray some WD40 on the bathroom door hinges so they wouldn’t squeak. I was a morning Ninja, moving swiftly and quietly through the dark MH rooms. LOL (more like a bull in a china closet) bumping into everything, dropping stuff, and making noises you would never hear under normal situations. Everything makes noise??? Whats up with that? LOL

I couldn’t find the coffee filters!! Of course I couldn’t, she’s asleep and something has to wake her up right? I reach down for my phone and turn on the flashlight feature and shine it in the cupboard. They were right here yesterday? Finally after several things falling over in the cupboard I was successful. COFFEE FILTERS!!

Glass coffee pots make noise too! Especially when they hit the side of the sink, and then the faucet while attempting to fill it with water. UGH Anyway, I get it full, and proceed to fill the coffee machine in the dark. Well I thought it was in the coffee machine. I must say that I did get most of it in the water tank ;)) Fortunately dish rags don’t make noise as I was wiping up the excess water.

So coffee was made, and I needed to start breakfast. I don’t normally make breakfast but this is Fathers Day, so I made my famous scrambled cheese eggs and bacon wrapped in a griddle warmed tortilla. Smokin Hot is still dreaming back there, so I have been successful thus far. I was feeling rather proud of myself until the fire alarm went off??? Really?? As you can probably imagine, I am running around the kitchen like a chicken with its head cut off trying to shut the stupid thing off!! But no!! It has to continue for 5 minutes. I was so careful to open vents and turn on fans. What can I say, I like my bacon crisp. 😉

The next sound I hear is “waiting for my coffee” I love that little voice. I’M WAITING! Makes me smile.

All in all I loved waking up in my new home on Fathers Day. I also get to go to church with most of our kids this morning, so waking up without them in the house wasn’t so bad. I hope you all have/had a great Fathers Day.

 

https://youtu.be/hTymo6UHdk4   Before Video

 

  https://youtu.be/fkHhzzyAPLk       After video         

 

We left East Texas the morning of the 24th of May and headed to see Jills mom and dad in Atlanta.

The trip from Tyler Texas to Atlanta is around 700 miles. A bit more than I am comfortable driving in a day, so we planned on stopping in Clinton Mississippi in order to break the trip up to a nice drive both days 300-400 miles is about right for me. The trip to Clinton was uneventful. We stopped in a fairly run down park on Springridge road right off of I20. The reason for that choice was that I used to live across the street from this park years and years ago, not to mention we also have some very close friends and family who live in the area, so we got to see them all while there.

The following morning, we took off about 7:00 am and headed for Atlanta!! Its about an 8 hour drive by MH, so we settled in, enjoyed the ride and arrived at Jills parents home around 3 pm Saturday afternoon. Jills parents live in a beautiful retirement center south of Atlanta. We were told that they even had hook ups for Motor Homes although not 50 amp. Which essentially meant that we would only be able to run one AC unit at a time and not the coffee pot while the AC was on. 😉 Once we got there, we realized that even the 30 amp was not working. Fortunately we have an Onan generator that runs everything on Diesel. We could even use both AC units if needed and of course the coffee pot as well. We ended up using the generator for 3 days straight. Our longest use at one time. It did beautifully!! BTW, I figured out that the generator uses about 10 gallons of diesel per 24 hours.

There were no other MH’s on location, so we were essentially out in the middle of a field which I loved. It was so peaceful and quiet. I decided to see what the area looked like from Google Earth and there was another MH in the very spot we were, so I took a picture of it and posted it. Tons of people questioned how we captured that. LOL I admit it was definitely weird that there was only one MH there and in our exact location.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We have always stayed in their home in the past, and having our own home with everything we need was so much more comfortable for all. I think the trip over all was a great success!

 

On Memorial Day, Jill and I were able to take her parents on a day trip to Calloway Gardens, approx 60 miles away. We all so enjoyed the trip!!

 

Dave sat up front, Marilyn sat in my office chair, and Jill sat in the red leather chair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a wonderful time at the Butterfly exhibit!

 

I was a great visit, but all visits must come to an end, so on Tuesday morning, we headed to Orlando to see our great friends the Wehrums. They had procured one of 8 Grand Villas at the Grand Floridian Resort at Disney World and had invited us several months earlier to come spend some time with them. We were off to see Mickey!!

One of my biggest concerns was where to keep the MH? Also, what were we going to do with Lucy once we got there? The obvious choice was to just keep it in the parking lot at the Grand Floridian, and stay in the  motorhome at night and spend the days with our friends. Fortunately the Staff at the resort allowed us to keep it in the Valet parking area at the back of the lot. So I chose a park under some trees and our place to live for 3 nights was ready!! 😉

Of course we had to keep the Generator running for another 3 days straight so Lucy would be comfortable in the day and so everything would be cool for us at night. Periodically during each day either Jill or I would go take Lucy out. 😉

Our most gracious hosts allowed us to live like kings with them for those 3 days. We enjoyed an incredibly beautiful living space by the lake, a beautiful pool, and incredible restaurants in the evening. Wow what a place!!

 

My offices during the day. 😉

We were sad when we had to say goodbye Thursday night. We had, had so much fun, but again, all good trips have to come to an end and we were on our way the next morning to Destin Florida to see Keri and Caleb.

During our trip we had been following the horrendous weather that was going on back in Texas. It had already been the worst spring weather season in our history, so we were glad to be gone for a while, but it continued while we were traveling and in a big way. One of our friends sent us this while we were driving in beautiful weather.

 

Keri and Sugar Sevcik live in a cute little apartment outside the gates of Eglin AFB. There is also a very quaint RV park nearby and for a beach resort area their 43.00 per night charge is not too awfully high. However, since Sugar is in the AirForce, Keri figured out how we can utilize the FamCamp RV park on base which was less than half the price. We were able to get passes for the base, Keri loaned us her car, and we were able to come and go from the park as we pleased. It was very enjoyable location for several reasons. The main being it was about 200 yards from the Marina where Keri and Sugar keep their sailboat. 😉

 

As I am sure, all who know us know we love to fish, so we fished all day Saturday, half day Sunday and again Thursday afternoon and evening. We had a blast!!

 

We got to spend 7 days in the Destin area. Jill and I still worked every day, but we were able to see our kids all weekend and every evening. One evening we would go to their house for dinner. The next I would cook a crock pot dinner or something in the motor home. The key was we got to spend great quality time with them and that made our trip. We thoroughly enjoyed being there and we are looking forward to returning again soon.

It was time to head back to Texas. The weather was all clear. The stormy cycle had passed, and we had been gone from our home base way too long. So Friday Morning the 5th, we headed out. We had a tad over 600 miles to drive and we didn’t have a reservation for our home base park until Saturday, so we planned to stop at a Walmart somewhere along the way. Ruston Louisiana was the winner!! LOL We stayed in Ruston for the night. We were tired, and we slept well  until 7 ish Saturday morning. Since we hadn’t opened everything up, it was as simple as taking Lucy potty, moving in the bedroom slide, and we were off.

We had an uneventful last few hours. We arrived in Bullard Texas around 1:00 pm on Saturday the 6th. We were so glad to be back. We set up our home, took a shower, and after a short dinner visit from a friend, we went to bed and slept.

I am having a difficult time describing how I feel right now about this time of year. Memorial day is coming in 6 days, and then July 4th is not far away.

I am not a conspiracy guy, and I don’t hate the government per sey, but IT has always caused a lot of doubt and fear among the people of this great Country and it’s because of its abuse of the power that we have allowed it to have.

Republican or democrat makes no difference, the power has been abused in some form or fashion. I fear that it is too late to change some of the policies of our past Presidents, so we must live with them and do our best to flourish despite them. I would love to say that someone is going to stand up and change the way we function, but I really don’t think it’s going to happen. I haven’t seen anyone surface that can do it. IMHO.

However, while our great land may not be as free as it once was, we still have the most free land in the World. I have the ability to live in a MotorHome and do business from anywhere I please. I can decide to wake up at the beach, or the mountains, or the desert! Whatever I want. Thats a life of freedom that is only available in America. We have the freedom to go to church and worship the one and only true God every week without much disruption, so far anyway, but where else do you have this freedom?

You can probably tell that I am really struggling right now when it comes to the freedom we have, because I think its deteriorating quickly. But the thing we must remember despite the issues we have, brave men and women have died to protect that freedom from outside aggression. We must never forget them, and we must never let their deaths be for nothing!!

My family gave me a Flag to proudly display on the back of my MotorHome this last weekend for my Birthday. I have always wanted one. I love our Flag, and I love our great Country and I am proud to dipslay it 22′ in the air!!

Please join me by displaying your patriotism this year like never before. Let everyone who serves know that you appreciate them and respect them for their service and please join me in praying for this great Nation, because without God, we have nothing, and if we turn our backs on Him, we can kiss our freedom goodbye.