Sometimes we look at sights in nature but don't really see. While hiking in the woods the other day, it became a realization that we need to open our heart and eyes to see the beauty of the simple things in nature with each season. There is so much order and purpose in His creation. God has given us awesome beauty in this world to see and enjoy... if we would but stop to see and feel it. Join us as this blog is about stopping to see the real beauty around us...to touch and feel it... "Through the Lens".

Our Friends

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Geocaching

Waiting is not always easy. You would think Mike and I would be getting better at it but it seems we are indeed getting worse. I know everyone that has ever had their house on the market understands our pain. You keep the house totally clean EVERYDAY! Now I am a good housekeeper, always have been, but this is getting ridiculous. We had not had anybody looking for the past few days so I decided to take some time off. Well, as luck would have it, I got a call today that somebody wanted to see the house this afternoon around 4:00. Note I said around 4:00, that could be anywhere from 3:30 to 5:00 on a bad day. On a good day it means around 4:00. So I got the house in its "show" mode, grabbed our Shih Tzus and headed out for our road trip. They are getting to the point that they know the signs of an upcoming road trip. They are the only ones having any fun with this selling process. The folks came around 4:30 and stayed approximately 15 minutes. Wow, all that work for 15 minutes! One day it will all pay off, at least that is what I keep telling myself!!

With that said, Mike and I decided to look into Geocaching. This is a huge, fun, phenomenon that many fulltimers are involved in as they travel. I went to http://www.geocaching.com/ to see what it was all about. The more I read the more hooked I got. I signed up for a free account and found out that there are many caches hidden in the area around where we currently live and many in Pine Mountain, where we did our hosting last summer. There are not many tools necessary for geocaching but one item that is needed is a hand held GPS. After doing some reading on the subject I discovered that you don't need to purchase the most expensive GPS available for this hobby. We have found the Garmin eTrex Legend might be the one to meet our needs. The GPS should have the following features: basemap, 12 parallel channels to help acquire satellite signals faster , the usual antenna jack, interface jack, memory, power source that can support external power, rocker keypad or touchscreen and most newer GPS devices have functionality specifically created for geocaching. In addition, it was noted that sooner or later you would be glad you purchased a GPS that was waterproof. There are many good GPS devices suited for outdoor use, such as geocaching, but we like the Garmin eTrex Legend and the cost is in the mid range. Once we have purchased the GPS we will begin our first search. We are excited and should be able to purchase the GPS this weekend.

It sure beats cleaning and waiting for that 15 minutes of glory and besides getting outside and smelling the fresh air has to be better than the usual Pine Sol and Scrubbing Bubbles.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

Ok, generally we are very rational people but after all these months on the market we are getting a little desperate. The other day I found a site on the computer explaining all about St. Joseph and the belief, by many, that he has helped them in the sell of their home. The legend says that St. Joseph is honored as the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus. He represents a humble family man who worked as a carpenter and is considered the patron saint of home, family and more recently house-hunting (or in our case, house selling). Popular belief holds that people wishing to enlist St. Joseph's help in selling a house should bury his replica upside-down, facing away from the house about three feet from the "for sale" sign. After the statue is buried you say a sellers meditation and then wait for a buyer for your house. Well it seemed harmless enough so I bought one. Sunday afternoon Mike and I buried our replica of St. Joseph, said our little meditation and now we wait for that perfect family to fall in love with our home.


















Of course, some people are VERY skeptical!!!

We will let you know how it goes - you just never know!!