Our friend Annalee shared this picture with me. She saw this in Truth or Consequences (Tor C from now on). The van in the picture on the right we saw in the Wal-Mart parking lot.
Here is a picture of yet another beautiful sunset here in Arrey. Across from Wal-Mart we saw this and I HAD to get a picture of it. There are lots of interesting people here in New Mexico, and they have many ways to express their individuality.
On St. Patrick's day we invited Annalee and her husband Wayne over for dinner. Naturally I did a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner, and Jim baked Irish soda bread. It was wonderful. As usual, I forgot to take pictures of our guests, but later I did take this picture of Jim and Millie, in their holiday finery. I believe I told you that we got rid of DirecTV last month. For a while we used the antenna we bought in Quartzsite in January. We hooked it up to the TV in the bedroom. We were able to get about 15 channels on it. The only trouble was that Jim isn't crazy about lying on the bed to watch TV. At the end of March we ordered a satellite dish and two receivers from Dish Network Outdoors. The parts arrived in just a few days, and we set it up. The set up in the living room (the primary) is great!!!!! We chose a smaller package of channels, so we are saving a lot of money each month for that. The satellite can receive programming from THREE different satellites. Therein lies the small problem with the TV in the bedroom. It can only receive programming from the SAME satellite that is being used for the primary TV. That's OK if we both want to watch programs that are from the same satellite. However, sometimes that is not the case. We have decided that we want BOTH TVs to receive primary programming, so we plan to invest in a second satellite dish. It will pay for itself in about four months, compared to what we were paying for DirecTV each month, and will save me the disappointment of not always being able to get the program I want on the second TV. By the way, while we were in Quartzsite, we had to replace the TV we had in the bedroom because it was not HD ready, so we upgraded to a 32 inch set in there too. WOW!!!! The Dish satellite is also easier to set up and find a signal too. Over all, we are only sorry we didn't switch to Dish Network a couple years ago!
In March we also transferred Jim's Elk membership from Garden Grove, CA to Las Cruces, NM. The people there were very welcoming, and we saved a ton of money on the dues. YAY!!!
We have another big project in the works too. The supplies will be delivered tomorrow, and on Thursday Gene will arrive from RV Armor. He will be applying a new surface coating to the roof of our motorhome. It has a life time warranty, for the life of the RV.
If you remember, earlier this year I had posted that Janice might not have a site available for us when we are ready to stop traveling and settle down permanently. You may also remember that we had quite a few problems during our trip back to California last year.
The day we were to leave here, we couldn't get the steps to retract. We ended having to call some guys out to get the steps retracted. They tied the steps in place so we had to use a step stool to get in and out.
The day we left Tempe, thinking our short drive to Blythe would be a piece of cake, was the day we blew a rear tire on the RV. In 113 degree heat we had to move stuff from the car to the RV, so we had room for us in the car while the RV was being towed to Quartzsite to get a new tire put on it.
We stayed two nights in Blythe, and when we were ready to leave there, the awning wouldn't roll up. After much frustration, we got it rolled up and left for Wilderness Lakes in Menifee. We had to call out the "awning guy" to get it working again. We also had to call out a mobile RV guy to replace the motor for the steps, and later we found out that the guys who replaced the tire in Quartzsite had inadvertently cut the wire that powered the steps. Finally got that fixed too.
Two days later I was stricken with extremely bad vertigo (now referred to as IT). Despite the help of my doctor and my physical therapist, IT lasted for most of FOUR months. With the love and prayers and support of our family and very dear friends, we got through that too.
We have decided that all the work of packing up to travel to and from California, or other places, has become too much for us to do every year, so we feel it is time to settle down. We will be back in California on or about May 20th this year. During the summer months we will be making arrangements for Jim to get his VA medical care transferred to here in New Mexico, and transfer my medical records to a doctor here too.
We will be spending a month in Quartzsite, AZ from January 13th to February 13th. After that we will begin our last trip from there to New Mexico. Janice said she does have a site for us to be here permanently. We look forward to settling in here by the 1st of March, if not sooner. We love being here in this park. The people are amazing, especially Janice. She plans activities for us, like pot luck dinners and movie nights in the rec room. We love our church in TorC and the people there make us feel right at home. It will be great not having to pack up and unpack our home all the time.
Here is the added surprise. If we can find one we can afford, we plan to get a very small RV, either a van camper or a tiny motorhome, under 20 feet long. We would use it for short trips when we want to still go places. We can leave our motorhome here on our site, and only pack up what we will need for our short trips. That should make things a lot easier, and maybe I can help with the driving too.
Here is our new night light for in the bathroom. Annalee teased me for not having an owl night light, so now we have one.
And then I needed an owl key chain too. We also got a new set of owl salt and pepper shakers.
I have one more thing to write about, and I hope everyone will read it. Most of us are so busy with our everyday lives that we tend to forget about what is really important. We think we are "taking care of business" but that just isn't true. Our heavenly Father is always looking out for us. Please, please never forget John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Easter is coming soon. There is no better time than right now, to redirect your life from an ego-centered life to a Christ centered life. Jesus never promised that being a Christian would be easy, but He did promise to be there with us. I don't know about you, but I think that's as good as it could ever get! If God leads us to it, He will get us through it. Jesus died for OUR sins, and showed us that He had risen and defeated the power of death over us. It would depress me beyond words if I thought that this life is all there is. I would hate to think that when we die, it's all over. And I would hate to wake up each morning if I believed that I was alone to deal with all of the challenges of each day. I know I am weak but He is strong. Yesterday in church we sang "Just a Closer Walk with Thee". My grandmother taught me to sing that hymn before I could even read. It brought tears to my eyes because it brought back so many wonderful memories. It also touched me deeply because I KNOW that I never want to walk alone. Please think about your walk and figure out who you want to be walking closer to.
Have a great week ahead, and a very blessed life. Get to know Jesus. He wants to be in your life, and with Him in the center, He will always be there for you.
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