Staying in South Carolina!

There's really no picture to post with this one ... Ray has decided to accept a job offer at Powers Printing Co. here in Spartanburg. So it looks as if we will be able to enjoy all the improvements that Ray has done on the house!! Now if we can just get our house in Virginia Beach sold, we'll be able to live life with only one mortgage ... something we haven't done in nearly 4 years!!

Happy Easter!

Easter has come and nearly gone in the Mechling household. It has been so fun the last several months, having a child that actually comprehends holidays and gets into them. This was the first Halloween, Christmas and now Easter that Cady has been excited about. She was thrilled with the whole process of dying eggs and was so excited about everything that the Easter bunny brought her, although the candy and the pinwheel were definite favorites. We had a simple little egg-hunt this afternoon in our backyard and, although everything was pretty simple this year (no need to set the bar too high!), it was all so magical with a "believer" in the house. Of course, trying to teach the meaning of Easter was not a big attention-holder! Any ideas on how to make the resurrection of the Savior as interesting to kids as the Easter bunny??!?

Don't be scared!!

You guys that are new at this blogging thing, like ME, don't be afraid to leave a comment here! They're fun to read AND it reassures me that I'm not just writing this for my sister-in-law ... although I would, just for you, Paige!!

Working on the house

The HUGE project of renovating our home here in Spartanburg is finally drawing to a close and I could not be happier!!! Here are SOME of the reasons why:

1. the dining room will actually be used for dining, not just as a holding area for paint cans and power tools
   
2. no more awakening in the middle of the night to the very loud hum of the air compressor (or the sander or the dry-vac or the power saw) as Ray's pulls a late-nighter working on a project


3. we will no longer be the embarrassing eyesore on our street


4. our "charming, quaint" home will actually be just that!

I realize that "charming" and "quaint" are just words that people use to describe old houses with slanted, hardwood floors and only one full bathroom, but hey, it's ours and it will be exactly the way we want after all the work is done! Ray has poured his blood, sweat and tears into this place (ok, maybe no tears, but LOTS of sweat and definitely some blood too!) and it has been worth it. When it's done, done, done, I'll post some pictures, but for now you can see some pics of the process ...

Let them eat cake!

Last night, we celebrated Ray's father's 60th birthday at Spartanburg's own Wades' Restaurant, which recently edged out Paula Deen's famous fried chicken at The Lady and Sons restaurant in Savannah, Ga., for Southern Living magazine's Readers' Choice Awards favorite family restaurant. Big time, huh? The food was delicious and the company was wonderful, as some of Daddy Ray's (as our girls call him) siblings traveled from around South Carolina and and even as far as Atlanta to join in the festivities! The cake was a big hit with Cady and Maddy. Left to her own devices yet still not too proficient with a fork, Maddy took matters into her own hands and made a royal mess!

Getting Started

Well, I guess we've bowed to the pressure and decided to get on the blogging bandwagon. It's a cool thing because I certainly love reading our friends' blogs ... helps me feel less out of touch with friends that are "taw away", as Cady says.