SMR Parts 1 and 2 . . . Approved!!

Okay . . . it is not quite that difficult,

but getting your dissertation topic and

methodology approved is QUITE the

laborious task.  Thanks be to God, my

Scientific Merit Review Parts 1 and 2

were approved today!!  I did the 

celebration dance forever all around

the house . . . okay, both inside and

outside the house in total amazement

that it was approved on the first try.

Now, without a moments hesitation,

it is on to Parts 3 through 5.  We are

getting there.  That is why so many 

complete the coursework and remain

ABD "All But Dissertation".  It takes a

HUGE amount of sticktoitniveness to

get the dang thing approved.  Writing

the thing is nothing compared to all of

the prep work that "they" put you through.

In other news, we are moving swiftly along

in the relocation project.  I can now see

the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

We have are packed and cleaned and are
ready to rumble.  I have spent my last
official weekend "up north" and am eager to
venture back into the desert.  Mike and
Luke's bachelor days are coming to
 an end . . .  I pray that they are excited
about that!!!  Southwest airlines had better
prepare themselves for a few items that
 I must take with me this weekend
as I begin to set up our new home.  

Mike continues to do well!!  We are excited

that he has had this project to work on.

We praise God for His continued grace

and mercy.

Almost There . . .

 I'm waaaaaay to excited to farm

up our new home!!!  The painters are

almost completely done!!!

 Mike reports that the new paint

really makes our new home

look "Jillyized"!!!  We so cannot wait!

I am flying to Las Vegas on Friday

to nest and clean . . . 

I will drive back to Reno with two

of my favorite people next

Monday to put the white glove test

on our rental home and then we

will click our heals and be

home, home, home!!!!

Night Moves.

Wow!  All I can say is, wow!!!  Mike's

bestest friend on the entire planet since

first grade came to our rescue once

again.  Jerry brought a HUGE truck

and trailer to load and move all of

our stuff to Las Vegas.  Jerry got up

at 1:00a.m. on Friday to go to work,

hopefully to get off by 8:00a.m. to

arrive in Reno by 2:00p.m.  As 

circumstances would have it, he was

not able to leave work until 2:00p.m.

He did not arrive in Reno until 9:35p.m.

By 9:36p.m. Jerry, the boys, and I 

were loading, loading, loading.  We

loaded that moving truck until 4:00a.m.

Saturday morning.

I cannot express enough gratitude to

Jerry for all of his hard work and love

for our family.  Our boys worked so very

hard and diligently.  They NEVER ONCE
complained!!!  They are troopers.  I love

them so much and am so thankful for

all that they do.  I could NOT make it

without them.  Each of them, with their

own unique personalities, are gifts to our

family.  I treasure them and am so very

honored to be their Mom.  I truly do not

know how I am so blessed.

Yep, it's 11 days and counting . . .

By God's grace, WE ARE GOING TO

MAKE IT!!

What Is It?

 Any guesses?  While I was

waiting for the moving truck

to arrive and for my SMR for

my dissertation to be approved,

I had to kick out another 

 sweet item for our new home!

Do you know what it is??

You will have to come over

to our new home and check

it out!!!

11 more days and counting!

Movers on the Way . . . PTL!

We are surrounded by boxes . . . 

EVERYWHERE!!  Getting in and

out of the front door is a real 

challenge!!  Walking anywhere is

almost impossible.  The garages are

just as packed!!  We are down to

6 forks, 3 knives, several plates,

and 4 cups.  

Today I am thankful for:

*an awesome husband

*wonderful boys

*great family

*12 days . . .

*haircut appointment

*amazing friend bring

a HUGE moving truck

*spring on the way

*painters coming to new

home tomorrow

Hidden Valley Golf Tourney.

 As suspected, the weather did not want

to cooperate AGAIN for the boys' golf

tournament.  It was seriously windy and

rainy during much of the tournament.  I

took this pic while peaking outside of

my blanket and two hoods.  It was so

windy that my umbrella repeatedly blew

inside and out BROKE.  I was so mad that

I threw the darn thing away in a trash can

on one of the tee boxes.  You can see my

golfer in the wee distance.

Hidden Valley Golf Course is a very

beautiful golf course.  It is nearly 60 years

old!  The trees are amazing and there are

birds and wildlife everywhere around the

course.  I think that I had much more fun

than the golfers who were trying to golf

in this mess all day long.

The 17th hole is where Gram made 

one of her SEVERAL holes in one.

They have a little bench on this hole.  I

took advantage of it and thought about

her and the many memories that we 

had together over the years.  I also said 

lots of prayers for all the we have going

on at the moment and felt very peaceful.

I have been excited about the 17th hole

at Hidden Valley Golf Course all season

long.  I tried to give my Sam some advice

on how to shoot a hole in one on that hole . . .

Yeah, right!  Anyhow, today was a great

day.  It tried to take advantage of being in

the outdoors, reflecting and being thankful

for all of our very many, many blessings.

MOVING UPDATE:  How much do you

like to clean the refrigerator?  Well, tonight

I conquered that demon by cleaning the

refrigerator at our rental home.  Mercy!

The boys and I think that we are pretty

much packed around this pad!  We have

bubble wrapped and taped just about

everything besides ourselves and the

dogs.  We are down to one spatula, some

silverware, and a toaster . . . 

13 days and counting . . . (Do you love

how I like to skip count?!?)

Exciting News . . .

We now consider ourselves professional

packers and movers!!  Low and behold,

we have been excited over colored bubble

wrap.  Believe me, during packing, it 

is the little things that become exciting

and colored bubble wrap is one of them.

Home Depot has tons of it and we now

cannot force ourselves to purchase the

regular "see through" kind.

NEW HOME UPDATE:  The floors,

staircase, and beautimous baseboards are

now complete.  The painters will begin on

Friday and paint, paint, paint all weekend.

Mike and Luke now have internet and are

completely THRILLED.  Until now, they

have been baching it without internet, 

television, appliances, or furniture.  They

have a refrigerator in the garage, several

bar stools, their beds, and computers.

That is all about to change as Jerry is

bringing a HUGE moving truck this 

weekend to take all of our furniture to 

the new digs.  Now the guys will have

EVERYTHING and we will be eating

on a card table.  It is exciting and we are

ALMOST there.  We are thrilled with the

renovations and could not be more in

love with our beautiful new home.

Moving . . . gotta.love.it.

With Me?!?

Are you catching my vision?!? I know

that Mike is so excited! Wink! Wink!

I love it when a plan comes together!

16 days and counting . . .

Countdown Project.

Here is a just a little snippet of my

last countdown project!!! I so

cannot wait to display this treasure

in our Las Vegas pad!! Our little

family is hanging in there and so

counting the MINUTES until we

are settled!! . . . moving truck comes

Friday!!! The loading will take place

on Saturday and then my little elves

and I will clean, clean, clean our

rental house until it is spic and span!!!

Moving, gotta love it.

16 days and counting . . .

Another Countdown Project.

In between working like a dog on my SMR

for my dissertation and packing . . . I have

a few projects for the new pad that I must

get done . . .

Wood flooring continues at the new digs!

Most of the hardwood will be done

tomorrow! Then work will begin on

the staircase followed by the baseboards.

These poor guys from Reno are

just about dying in the 98* weather

in Las Vegas. They didn't listen

to me when I told them to bring their

shorts!!!

Awesome quote for the day: When

you come to the end of all the light

you know, and it is time to step into

the darkness of the unknown, faith is

knowing that one of two things shall

happen: Either you will be given

something solid to stand on or you

will be taught to fly.

-Edward Teller

18 days . . .

She's All Packed Up.

It's official . . .

After I finished TWO quilts today, I packed

my "girl". She will ride with me to Las

Vegas in the FRONT seat with a seatbelt on!

Didn't this turn out just dreamy!?! I am so

excited to whip this baby out in Las

Vegas! I am certain that we will need

it as soon as we arrive in May!!!

Love, love, love those colors!

. . . so excited about this beauty!

No more quilting for me until we arrive

in the BIG CITY!!!! 19 days and

counting!!!

NEWS FROM LV: Wood flooring continues

to be laid throughout the house!! Painting

of the entire digs will take place next Friday!

It sounds like it is getting close for the

Tietjen clan to move to their new home!

21 Day Countdown Projects.

In between packing and writing my

dissertation, I am busily working on

projects for the new digs!! Won't this

wrinkled quilt top that just came out

of the dryer look dreamy with this

flannel quilt back?!?

A wee bit early for Halloween you say?

Not me, I am super duper excited to display

this baby in our brand new home.

Our flooring guy from Reno headed to

Las Vegas on Monday to install the

wood flooring in our new house . . .

According to all reports and pictures

on my phone, it looks absolutely

FABULOUS!! The painters will be

arriving as soon as the floors and

stairs are done!! How awesome is that!

The boys are busily finishing up their

semesters in school!! Sam will be

finished with golf season soon and

we will be hitting the bricks in less

than 21 days . . .

Ahh!!

Fabulous Finds.

Moving . . . ugh! A tough job for sure, but

it does have its rewards. The boys and I

have had a blast finding random stuff.

Our favorites so far include gift cards that

we had forgotten to redeem.

My personal favorite is the Target

gift card that had $40 on it!!!

We also found Subway gift cards

and treated ourselves to treats

before the FREE movie that we

also found gift cards for . . .

Tonight Grampa and Zach had dinner

courtesy of the Wendy's gift card that

we found just this afternoon. They

also enjoyed frosties as a yummy

after dinner treat!!!

We have also found a plethora of

pennies . . . pennies . . . pennies!!!

Luke is excited to get busy wrapping

these babies. We have found about

a million guitar picks, some quarters,

nickels, and dimes. The best treat was

taking out the couch cushions . . . Oh, my!

Jack Rabbits and Squirrels at the Golf Tournament. Oh, my!

Super cold and super windy. Check.

It must be time for another golf

tournament. I swear, Sam has had THE

worst weather for golf tournaments again

this season. It has been raining,

thundering, lightening, hailing, windy,

cloudy and cold every.single.tournament.

Anyhow, our Number One did pretty great

out on the dry greens of Sierra Sage

Golf Course today.

I had a ton of fun in the golf cart watching

my guy play a great round and have a

ton of fun with other great golfers.

There were animals all over the golf

course today. We saw millions of

jack rabbits and squirrels. The boys

even had the two cutest dogs following

them around for a couple of holes!!

That certainly took their mind off of

the hellacious weather conditions.

Fun day on the links for sure! I

am so proud of my crew and thankful

that they let me tag along! Since

Mike and Luke are in Las Vegas and

Tim and Zach had other commitments,

Sam and I celebrated with a little

dindin at one of his favorite

Mexican joints!!! Fun.times.

Monday Musings.

Yes, I realize that these Crocs have had

it, but seriously, they have been through

many projects including drywalling,

painting, texturing, trash hauling,

gardening . . . I could seriously go on!

They have had multiple nails in the

bottom, yes, I have had a bloody toe

or two, but these babies are worth

their weight in gold. Don't be a

hater of the Crocs.

Today I regretfully let two of my

special men hit the road to Las

Vegas. Without a doubt, watching

Mike drive off down the road has GOT

to be THE hardest thing that I have

EVER done. I am so counting the

days when we will all be together in

our brand new home. God has been

so gracious to orchestrate this so far

and we are certainly counting on Him

for the countdown!!

My Monday was special as I chatted

with one of my very favorite people!

Mike's Aunt Alice is most definitely

one of my favoristist human beings

on this planet. I loved her from the

very moment that I met her and am

so glad that she and Uncle Richard have

been such excellent examples for Mike

during the years that has was growing

up. They have most definitely

demonstrated what it means to be

Godly parents! Mike loves them both

dearly! We are so grateful that we have

been able to remain close to them.

As the countdown continues, I will

pray without ceasing. I will not worry.

I will be anxious for nothing. I will

continue to have faith and hope.

New Project.

I so love how my boys support

my endeavors . . .

Aaron is one of my friends that I met

while working on the house at Home

Depot. He certainly did not mind cutting

the 4x4x8 into FIFTY separate pieces for

me . . . not.one.little.bit!!!

Exciting project for our new home . . .

Free Is Good.

Today marked my TENTH and free visit

to Yogurt Beach!! I was so excited to

walk through those doors, grab my

yogurt cup, fill it up, put on my

sprinkles and present my FREE coupon.

I immediately ran home, put on my

pjs, hopped in bed and celebrated my

fantabulous day with my boys who

spent FOUR hours at RC Willey with

me picking out our new couches, recliner,

and appliances.

Thinking . . . I have a wonderful life full

of so very many blessings. We are so very

excited to be settled in our new home in

fabulous Las Vegas with friends and family.

The electrical is now complete on our

new home . . . New floors coming straight

from North Carolina next week.

Less than TWENTY FIVE days and counting!!

We are simply waiting for our Sambo to

finish finals and the golf team.

Las Vegas . . . get ready . . . here we come!

Quick Trip to LV for Me.

Yep, I am headed to see some of my very

favorite peeps for a quick turnaround trip

to Las Vegas today. I will be there for

a grand total of TWELVE hours but have

MANY things planned. We are excited

to pick out furniture and appliances.

That will take place after we get our

income taxes done . . . it's always best

to do the yucky chores first!!!

Quick trips . . . I love 'em!!!

Oh, yeah!

As part of my Mother's Day gift from LAST year, I

was excited to enjoy a luxurious hot stone massage

today while it was cold and snowy outside.

PERFECT!! During my massage, I was able to

focus on blessings and pray for those most

important in my life. It is hard to stop and take

time for things like massages, but it truly was

wonderful!!

LAS VEGAS UPDATE: My Mike and Luke are

in Las Vegas at our new home!! Things are really

progressing!! The electrician has been there the

past two days making exciting new changes!!

The carpeting and other flooring is being

REMOVED . . . Our new hardwood floors

straight from North Carolina will be

arriving next week. Our hardwood flooring

guy from Reno will be making a special

trip to Las Vegas to install our new

hardwood floors and new baseboards

throughout our entire new home!!!

All of the walls and ceilings will

be repainted as soon as the floors

are completely installed!! My men

love our new house and cannot wait for

the rest of us to join them.