R.I.P. Randal Allen Norton ~

R.I.P. Randal Allen Norton 

January 30, 1955 to October 9, 1995

Today marks 16 years since you left us. This year you would have been 56. 

I wish you were still here every day. I miss your laugh and smile. 

I wish you were here for your son. He looks so much like you. You would be proud of the person he became. 

You would be proud too of how Brittany has grown into a beautiful woman, and Jeremy a great dad, and Julia an amazing mom and worker... and Jason you would scold because you would know how quick life can be taken from us. 

In the blink of an eye you were gone. I only wanted to say goodbye... and never really got the chance. 

So... Goodbye brother. 

Let's see... where to begin...

Ok... I'm ready for some sweet luck at this point. :)

We made the journey to Norcal, and Marc worked a week and the job ended. There's not jobs here unless you have one upon coming. We thought we did. We were told we did. In fact we were guaranteed we did. But nada.

I've put in resume's everywhere for Property Management and not even gotten 'one' call for an interview.

Marc has returned to North Dakota and is currently working for Paul again at P&B Transportation. He is waiting to hear on Oil rig jobs in Williston, and at least he has employment.

When he gets on a rig, we will return at least to Montana, but maybe North Dakota. There is stability at least job wise there. I will miss the grand kids very much though. I have gotten loves and hugs every day since arriving, and it will hurt to leave that. Plus, my health has gotten much better too. I can breathe here, and be outside every day, which is wonderful!! Hopefully Montana will be dry enough for me to keep feeling good... and we can get a large home that I can move about in come winter time when it gets cold. :)

I can remember the excitement about returning to Cali... and now I feel worn and saddened that things haven't worked out. I feel we're put different places for reasons, but why? Two good things have come from this... being with Anthony & Andrew, and getting to see Christina, Malia & Faith. Those two things cannot be measured ... their priceless. Time is precious. Seeing them and being around them has and was so beneficial and good on an emotional level.

Now we will return where a comfortable living can be attained, and I will do all within my power to continue getting healthier. And we will be happy because we have one another.

Tons of love to all!

*Edited to add*
After talking everything over, we have decided to keep working towards a California goal. Marc will spend his offtime with us here because we made a promise that we would be here for our grand children and kids. And we will keep that promise even if it's difficult on us. We've spent many years wanting this, and we're going to carry it through. :) So... Cali is where I'll stay. <3

Flowing with changes...

A lot has happened since my last blog entry. I had so many things to add to the cabin, and we were looking at expanding into a 3 bedroom. All was going well, and things were on track... until... about 2 1/2 weeks ago.

Our friend Tim sent us a message telling us of flooding that was to begin the next week of the Missouri River. From what he knew, this may involve our cabin and property... so we began checking into things.

And the nightmare began. As the days progressed we found out this was going to be far worse then they had first anticipated. Our home was basically going to be a casualty of their man made flood. All in all, 1000 homes were to be lost, and over 4000 people here are now are without their homes. All of this was caused by having to release the waters at Garrison Dam north of us. It was expected that this would last 2-3 weeks, then 2-3 months, and currently we're looking at September/October before we 'may' be able to see and estimate the damage. The time frame puts us into the first freeze and snow here, which means we wouldn't be able to fix any damage before hard winter sets in. Also, their saying this could happen again next year. Our cabin is now landlocked by a dike on our street. We have no access other then to hike onto property in muck boots. We're all staying in a 33' rv... thank goodness to family for helping with that arrangement. Many have no place to be.

All of this happening made us really take count of the blessings in our lives. Also, we came to a decision to relocate to Northern California. So many reasons to go there, and only a few to stay here. But my health and a good job offer has led us to the crossroads and we will be moving there very soon. I know Marc will miss his job because they've treated him so well, and I know we will miss Ken, Katie and kids, as well as Brittany and Kyle very much. For now, Brittany is staying with Kyle. They may or may not join us there. We hope they do.

We do a ton of thanks to our close friends and family for working so hard to try and help us save our home, and belongings before this struck.

We believe this is a good choice for us, and we look forward to being in a warmer climate. We are returning to ND in October for Katie and Ken's wedding... and getting our furnishings and household items then.

Wish us tons of luck!!! Our life is truly an adventure, and the script changes as life does. We just have to adapt, and roll with the changes.

Hugs!

A work in progress...

Well, the moving is just about finished. This move has been so hard on all three of us. It's too cold for me to go outside, so I've been at one house or the other... but no loading or moving things. 

We put a lot of stuff in storage, and are working on getting things put away in the cabin. There's limited space, so right now there's path's through the cabin, which makes us all testy with one another. I'm hoping over the next couple days to get things organized to the point that we have some room to move. hehe

Here are a few snapshots of our progress.

Here is the kitchen...

Here are living room pictures...

Marc's computer area...

And a picture of Maizy finally relaxing in her new home. She had quite an adjustment to moving and was scared to go outside even for over a week. Collie's are so neurotic! haha

I'm looking forward to everything coming together and being done.

Keeping track along the way... hugs to all!!

Working at it...

Yesterday, the landlord came by and said " Can I show the house today?" lol I was like 'Sure... no problem.' YIKES! hehe The mad dash began since we're in the process of packing, and have pictures off the walls. So I straightened and cleaned in an hour, and all went well. He showed the house to two prospective tenants. Today he'll be showing it again in the afternoon. His hope is to get it rented today, so neither of us has to worry, and we can move in peace. :)

The pain is pretty bad over these past few days. Swelling in my ankles, and lower legs, and shortness of breath are hitting me hard. This happens in the winter when I'm close to a bout of CHF. I'm fighting like hell to hold it away this winter. On a good note... I've come so far since last year at this time. I've not been in the hospital this year, and my health is much better then it was. So I'm grateful for the small improvements.

Today we begin moving things to storage and the cabin. I'm hoping to be all moved by next weekend, and begin settling into our new home. Then I can tend to some health issues and recover. The ablation didn't work that I had done in December, so I'll be scheduled for a hysterectomy within these next few months. Then the recovery and healing from that. lol I'm taking it all in stride... and just taking each day as it comes.

Tons of love to all!!

Packing begins...

Today I began packing and Oh my goodness there's a lot of  'stuff'! lol

We rented a 10x20 storage, and we're separating things we need to move to cabin, and things we don't use often and don't need for a while. That's hard because I'm sure you know that you don't need something until it's put away. haha

I've packed all the pictures of the kids, and grand kids. Those are going with us. Also, I've began taking down the curtains and packing those to go to cabin. :)

Next, I'm deciding to sell a few pieces and see if we can generate just a little more income for moving and cabin repairs. 

Back to work... and love yas! 

Picture's of progress...

Just a little difference in white's on ceiling. hehe

Looking at far wall... needs finished.

Bedroom carpet and baseboard...

If we remove that heater... hmmm...

Living room has carpet!

Seaming... not perfect but ours...

Distraction!! My $20 Bargain find Stove!!!

Monarch Wood Cook Stove - all there! Only 500 lbs!

OK... I moved a 500 lb. stove... you want me to do what???

Soda break time first... lol

Oh look... heater is off wall... and it's painted!

Yay! Thank you Marc!

Bedroom carpet is finished...

Now just gotta paint the baseboard...

Hallway with carpet...

Beginning to trim out living room... time to go home.

We put in two full days this weekend, getting lots of things done. It's so rewarding to look back at the before pictures and see how far we've come in getting the cabin ready to make our home. Thank you to Dusty and Aaron for their helping us this weekend... especially in getting that heavy stove brought in. I love that stove!! hehe

Thanks for sharing with us!!

Marc, Suzi, and Brittany

Works in progress...

We worked on the cabin again yesterday.

I have to say I'm not feeling as overwhelmed as I did at first. With each accomplishment comes the satisfaction of being one step closer to moving into our new home.

We had a few snafu's thrown into the works this week, with getting a call from the water company on Wednesday saying we had water leaks, and had used 60,000 gallons of water! Marc and I went out and found two broken pipes. The carpets were wet so we had to rent an extractor, and fan for a day to get the water up.

Then on Thursday when I checked my bank account, I found that someone had charged my paypal account $500.00!!! I about had a coronary. The bank not only helped clear this up, but gave us a credit to cover the monies until paypal comes through and corrects the charge. I'll be happy when that's all cleared up.

Marc laid the carpets in the bedroom, and put the baseboards on. They turned out pretty great. I painted the ceiling in the kitchen. It went from yellowish to white! Looks so much better. Also, I began cleaning the appliances, and floors underneath them, and found things like eggshells, boxes from prepared foods, straw, and filth. It was disgusting! Oh... and the burner guards on the stove were cast iron, but had gummed on foods and burnt on spots, so we left those soaking overnight and will have to scrape the yuck off. Underneath their beautiful.

Today, we go look at a early 1900's stove that we can put to use in the kitchen for usable space, and conversation. It's pretty neat looking and a bargain at only $20. I can store pots and pans in it, and put usable things on top.

Also, we plan to lay the carpet in the living room today, and that will make such a huge difference in the way everything looks. Then we can begin moving things and setting up.

I'm very excited to get resettled in our new home. I think it'll turn out pretty neat, and it's ours! YAY!

I'll post some more pictures soon!!

Hugs!!

A new beginning...

Well, we bought a cabin and 4 acres!

So I figure this is a start to a brand new phase in our lives. We're settling in with lots of work to be done on property, and in cabin, as well as plans to expand in the spring/summer this year.

I will probably just keep small notes and pictures along the way, but since this is so significant I feel it should be written for years to come, and looking back on our accomplishments.

Just a few of the before pictures... with the one painted wall in the living area that we've done. We've painted the bedroom, the kitchen, and the kitchen cabinets for a fresh look. :)

Hugs and loves... Wish us well!

Suzi