House Flip

Blinds I put up

painted garage floor

one room full of stuff (there was more to come!)

Nice white garage

new toilet

new tile floor in bathroom

bamboo floor (not cleaned yet)

Darian Drive house

I haven't posted much about our house flip. It's kind of hard to explain. When we decided to rent our house, we needed a place to store all our stuff as we live in a condo in Hilton Head that is fully furnished. Therefore, the house purchase was more of a need for storage then anything else. Unfortunately, when we moved all our stuff, we realized we have a lot more stuff then we thought, and there really isn't much room in the house. When we bought the house, we didn't think it would need much fixing up, but if you know us at all, you will understand why the project became alot bigger then we originally planned! We really only had about 2 weeks to get things done and of course, we didn't finish. However, we did do the things necessary to get all of our stuff moved in. We decided to smooth the ceilings which is a very messy process. We hired Bill, a very old guy who knows his drywall. After the ceilings were done, Mike and "The kid" put in the bamboo floors. I painted the nasty paneled walls in the garage with Emily's help (even though she had a cold) and was able to paint the garage floor with the help of a rented kerosene heater to keep it warm. We also had all the walls and trim painted. Mike put in a toilet and light fixture in one of the bathrooms and tiled both bathroom floors, and I put up all the blinds. It is a beginning, but there is much left to do. The fireplace is an issue as it doesn't work and we had to tear all the brick around it down. We also still have to put in a kitchen, add vanities and light fixtures, hang doors, and fix some odds and ends. We are hoping to be able to work on it in May. All in all, I think it will be a lovely little house when it is finished. It is in a nice neighborhood and it is a unique little house with character which I love. The pictures chronicle some of what we have done so far.

Valentine Weekend

Beautiful Tybee Island sunset

Mudbug Sign

Yum?!

God's beauty from the Sea

DeSoto Bed and Breakfast

My wonderful husband surprised me with a weekend away for Valentine's day. He took me to Tybee Island, Georgia. If you have never visited this place and you like beaches this is a must for your to do list. It is a tiny, quirky, little place with deep beaches. We happened to pick the weekend that they were having a Mardi Gras celebration. While we didn't attend the ball, we did witness a mud bug contest. That was interesting. You had to suck the head and tail off a crawfish. It didn't look good and it didn't smell good but there were several who attempted it. We arrived in the pouring rain but we were quite comfortable in our room at the DeSoto Bed and Breakfast. We ate dinner at the Crab Shack which was also a quirky place but a lot of fun. On Saturday we went to a salvage store and found all kinds of old ironwork, wood work, fireplace surrounds, and antiques. It was fun to look around. Mike also went and purchased a netbook - my gift to him - I let him get one! We then walked to the end of Tybee and walked back to eat dinner at "Marlin Monroe". Sunday we spent a beautiful but cold day exploring the lighthouse and museum. Tybee has quite a colorful history. All in all it was a great get away. I love the beach no matter what time of the year. It always seems to cause me to relax and enjoy the beauty of God's creation. Thanks, Mike for making Valentine's Day so special. I love you!

But what about the rum?

Alexandru, Noriko, Urey, and friends

Ryan and Nico having a good time

Josh can't wait to dig in!

Tuesday was homemade dinner and birthday celebration at our IJGA house. We were celebrating Josh Hopwood's birthday which was over Christmas break. He requested codfish cakes and rum cake both of which are Bermudian foods. Well, they both turned out well. The codfish cakes are a mixture of cod fish, potatoes, parsley, and some spices which are then molded into patties and fried. They weren't to bad, but I think we need a little practice. The rum cake was a hit; no leftovers. Apparently it is necessary to buy a special rum only made in Bermuda to make the cake. After much internet searching I found a place and had Mike's sister purchase it for us. I thought it would be difficult to find, but we discovered that it is sold pretty much everywhere. The cake was very easy to make.

Here is the recipe I followed: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Golden-Rum-Cake/Detail.aspx

I highly recommend you try it!

Tribute to Dad

The Schreck Family

Well, it has been quite a week. We went to Dad's memorial service on Sunday. It was full of laughter, tears, and family. Josh and Em were able to fly in and all the grandkids were there except for Jessica and Alli who was unfortunately to sick to fly. We had a family pizza party Saturday night and spent the evening sharing our memories and stories of dad. The service on Sunday was a beautiful memorial of song, scripture, and a tribute of a life well lived. Dad was always prepared and well organized in his life and it was no exception in his death. I asked Mike if dad forgot about anything and if there would be a blessing like they did in the Bible. He said he didn't know. While staying at mom and dad's we learned that dad had left a note on his desk that the family had just found. It said the following:

"To My Grandchildren:

Trust in God and treasure his written word - read it daily - if no more than a chapter of Proverbs a day it will reveal God's likes and dislikes to you.

Work - If you are working for someone you need to give your best effort every day. If you find that you can not do this, find a job where you can. A job that you want to do every day - as for the Lord."

After we read this Mike turned to me with tears in his eyes and said, "That was the blessing". I don't think I can add any more to that.

Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake

Jae and Josh

Jae turned 16 over Christmas

The strawberry cake seemed to be a success! It was not difficult and it was pretty, as well. I did have some icing leftover. Here are some pictures. My next task is a Bermudian Rum Cake for Josh. He turned 16 over Christmas break, too. Any ideas?

Recipe

I would like to do something different with my blog this year as it is the beginning of a new decade. I will continue to update my life but I would like to post some useful things here as well. Recipes, tips, photos, things I love, etc. I always enjoy perusing other peoples blogs and finding new recipes to try, a new website to visit, or tips that are useful. So, here goes my first bit of info for you. It is a recipe I am going to try this week. Jae had his 16th birthday over the Christmas break, so since we were all away during that time, we will have to make him a cake this week. I asked him what his favorite cake was and he said it was strawberry. When I asked him if he had a recipe for it he said, "search for it on the internet!" So, that's what I did. I discovered , "Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake" by Paula Deen. Here is the link to it: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/simply-delicious-strawberry-cake-recipe/index.html I will be making it on Tuesday to serve after our homemade dinner of Shake-n-Bake Chicken, green beans, and Reagan's mac-n-cheese. We haven't tried the mac-n-cheese recipe yet, either. It should prove to be an interesting dinner. Hopefully, I will be able to give you a picture and report of whether the cake and mac-n-cheese are any good!

New Year

Mike and Dad, January 25, 2010

It has been a long time since I posted. The last video was uploaded by Emily for me. Yes, we are working on a new flip. I will try to update that in the future. Time has gone by quickly. The last two months has been spent packing up and moving out of my house of 23 years. We haven't sold the old homestead yet. Just made room for a new family and new memories to be enjoyed there. All our belongings are resting at a new address in Lexington, SC. We are still in Hilton Head hosting a home for 8 golf students. We now have two new faces. Mike, who is from Baltimore, MD and Alex, who is from Romania.

After finishing moving, we arrived in Hilton Head for a day, and then headed to Naples, FL to visit mom and dad. It was a bittersweet visit as we knew dad's time was short. We enjoyed a normal visit of food, family, and football.:) As we said our tearful goodbyes and pulled out of the driveway, we turned around to see mom and dad standing at the door waving goodbye as they always do. It would be the last time we saw dad here on this earth. Even though we knew his time was short, it is difficult for us to realize that only 3 short days later, dad was ushered into the presence of the Lord. I remember an earlier conversation we had with dad. He stated that ever since he was a little boy he always wondered what was out there and was excited that he was finally going to get to see it! He had a tremendous testimony of faith and will continue to be an inspiration to us all even in his death. As most of you know, my dad went to be with the Lord over 10 years ago now. It left a tremendous whole in my life and still today I miss him a lot. I was always thankful for Dad Schreck as he filled that whole for me over these past years. I have many fond memories of pouring over his pictures of wonderful travels to far away and exciting places. He was a great father-in-law and I will deeply miss him.

Already, the new year has produced life-altering changes. We praise the Lord for all he has done and all he is yet to do.