As I usually do at the end of the year, I look back at what we’ve accomplished around here. It wasn’t a really big year for projects, but we did wrap up a big one that was on our list as well as a few smaller ones. We don’t have a lot left to do in this house (thank goodness) and I’ve been asked, will you sell your house and get another so you will have more projects to do. Absolutely not! I’ve been blogging going on 18 years now and I’ve done so many DIY projects and accomplished a lot of big and small achievements in home renovations, so I can be proud of that and happy and content with where we are. We are getting on up there in age and DIY’s are not as easy anymore and we are so glad we’ve been able to do so much ourselves in this house. Now we will enjoy it! We traveled a lot more this year and enjoyed that so much and will continue to travel in the coming years.
Before I get going on the projects we’ve done, I’ll give you a little recap on Christmas and end of year on my daddy. Daddy is still doing well in memory care. He’s 97 now and his health is holding up pretty well. He’s getting more feeble and some days are better than others as far as walking goes on his walker. Some days I arrive and he’s gone back to bed or hasn’t gotten up for the day. I know that can be normal at his age and it may be expected as someone approaches the end of their life. The care manager and I have talked and she thought we should see if he qualified for hospice yet. I really wish we had gotten hospice involved sooner with mom last year. We didn’t know she would fade so fast and they were only there for her for a few short weeks. Hospice did an evaluation this week on dad and they told me that he doesn’t qualify yet for services. I guess he’s doing too well! We will get him a wheelchair to use when his legs can’t support him anymore. We don’t want him to fall and he has taken a few spills in the last year, luckily nothing broken.
Dad doesn’t bring up mom or anyone at this point and he hasn’t asked about her in months. I think that’s normal too with someone with dementia. He seems pretty content day to day and just talks about the day to day things and not a lot from the past. He knows I’m important, but I’m not sure he knows my name anymore. He always lights up when he sees me walk in, so he knows I’m someone special to him. I just try to look after him weekly and make sure he’s taken care of and he is. They have a hard time getting him to shower once a week, so that’s sometimes a fight. Other than that, he’s mostly agreeable and content and that’s all we can ask for at this stage of life. Thank you as always for loving my daddy. He’s a Godly man who has always relied on his faith to get him through and he still does. When he does get to talking, he will always say things like I’m very grateful that I can still get up and walk and I have a comfortable place to live. I’m so glad he’s content, that makes such a difference!
For the first year ever, my sister and family stayed in Louisiana for Christmas and didn’t come home. They were here for Thanksgiving and Lauren wanted her girls to be in their own home for Christmas, which I totally understand. I missed them, but I’ll go down and visit them all again in the spring and they will be back here too. The girls are growing up so fast and are 10, 8 and 4. Parker is catching up with Lauren in height and is already 5’4″ at 10!
The girls got a new puppy for Christmas which of course, was fun for them! They named her Peaches. Mark and I celebrated Christmas with his family on Christmas Eve and our traditional Christmas day late lunch with his daughters at a Chinese restaurant. Everyone looks forward to that time and it’s a fun tradition. So Christmas has come and gone. It was a good one!
I thought you all would enjoy seeing Mark’s 9 grandchildren lately from his 4 daughters. The 3 youngest all turned 2 in the last couple of months so this was a birthday party. They range from 2 to 12, with 5 boys and 4 girls (the cousins in the middle are holding their sibling babies, except one boy is an only child. The two on the right are siblings of the 2 on the left. You can imagine the activity when they are all together, it’s pretty wild!
Now for the projects this year, not that many, some small and only one big one:
I got my spices organized finally (after 7 years living here). Organizing Spices
This wasn’t our house, but I flew down last spring to visit my sister and BIL and we got their bedroom put together and it turned out gorgeous. Sister’s Master Bedroom
We finally renovated our 3rd bathroom upstairs and made it an Art Deco haven, Mark’s fave. It really turned out so snazzy and we both love this space, with its vintage retro charm. 3rd Bathroom Renovation: Art Deco Inspired
I did a summer deck refresh and added a new table and chairs out here, along with that new umbrella table. We love our outdoor spaces and it was so nice to have the deck floor done last year and everything stained for this year. Summer Deck Refresh
That’s it for this year! Thank you all again for hanging out with me for all these years. Some of you are new, but some of you have been with me since the beginning and I’m so grateful for all of you who choose to follow along with our life journey. It’s had lots of ups and downs, but we thank the Lord for all the blessings he has given us. I will keep on blogging into the New Year, but I will remind you that the best way for all of you to support me is to visit my blog often and every time I put out a post, if you can just come here on the blog and read it, that helps me so much. Blogs and online creators are suffering these days, with all the changes with Google, Pinterest, and other ways to get traffic. We are all down in traffic to our blogs and that makes a huge difference in making a living doing this. So thank you for your support! It’s appreciated more than you know. I couldn’t keep doing this without all your support!
Great recap Rhoda, you sure do keep busy, glad your dad is content and comfy, Marks family is such a blessing, all those G-kids!! Love your sisters master bedroom, so sophisticated, she’s lucky to have you for many different reasons.
Great recap, Rhoda. Can you text me the first 2 pics of you and Uncle Albert. He looks great for his age. I understand what you are talking about with the memory issues. I’m having a time with Al. He’s having significant memory issues. I have to do ALL the driving no. God knows I cannot have another Myrtle.
Love yaw!!
Happy New Year, Rhoda, to you and Mark. I adored your Art Deco bathroom – my favorite era, too! it’s always nice to read of your father’s journey too. May you have success in 2025.
Always happy to see your posts in my email box. I especially enjoy following along with your travels. Happy New Year, friend!
Thank you, Barbara, for all your support, appreciate you my friend!
I often read but don’t comment. I am a full time caretaker for my hubby at this point. He is getting close to the place your daddy is at (and he’s only 74). You are blessed to have a daddy that is accepting of his life stage and happy for the most part (except for showering)..lol.
I love how the bathroom turned out-and not sure if I told you that when I read the original post. I am glad you are enjoying your home and have no plans to sell and redo another. We have settled in here, too, after rehabbing 17 homes and selling (this is #18 and is a 2 story condo). I still have to finish the upstairs but that will happen this coming year, I hope.
Wonderful to see all the little grands and your family, too. Blessings- Nana Diana
Loved this recap. While we hate to see our parents decline I’m glad your dad is doing as well as he is. Praying God will bless you and your family in the coming year. ❤️🙏🏻
Love your blog and I certainly am happy that you plan to continue it! I have followed you since the beginning…I hate to hear there is less blog traffic in general. I always enjoy seeing and hearing about your projects, fashion, travel, and your thoughts and perspective on life in general! ….So happy your dad and family are doing well. May 2025 be full of fun, new adventures, laughter, good health and much happiness!
Happy New Year to you and yours!
So enjoy your blog and sweet family!
May 2025 be filled with good health, many blessings, lots of travel, and much love !
I love the pics of your Dad. He looks very content. The Art Deco bathroom is beautiful. I enjoy reading about your family, DIY projects and your recent travels. Thanks for all the inspiration. Happy 2025 !
Love you! Love your blog! Wishing you health and happiness in the coming year!!
Hard to believe it’s been 18 years? I feel like I have been reading for a long time but hard to think that it might’ve been that long!😉 I remember one of the first things I did was by your white wallpaper that was like shiplap. Unfortunately, it’s still in the closet where it’s been for years. I always think of you when I see it! Lol!
Thanks for sharing with us about blog post versus Instagram, Pinterest, etc. I would imagine most of us do not know how these things work.
So, when we get your email each week, is that the same as reading your blog post or do we need to go somewhere else and read it for it to count for you?
Wishing you a very happy new year!🎉🎉🎉🎉
Hi, Debbie, thank you so much for following along all this time. When the email comes out, it only has a snippet from the blog post, so yes, click over to the blog and read the whole post. I think most people who get my emails do that, but only a fraction of people actually open the emails regularly. It would be nice to have more of you opening most of the time. The email clicks over LIVE to my blog and that’s how I get pageviews counted.
Hi Rhoda, I have followed you I guess from the beginning what I have appreciated most was your testimony. Whatever you do next I’m sure God will bless blessings to and Mark for 2025. Ted and I travel more also so I get that
I always enjoy your posts, Rhoda! It was so nice to see pictures of you with your dear Daddy! So glad that he has settled in at his Memory Care Facility. Thanks, too, for sharing all your house improvements. Your home is just beautiful. You and Mark have done a fabulous job with everything you have done in adding all your personal touches. I’m so glad that you can do some travelling now. Just enjoy every trip! If we lived closer to you, we would gladly look after your precious little Daisy while you are away on your trips! Daisy is such a little sweetheart and I love seeing pictures of her! We sure miss our little Princess but have decided, at our age, that we just can’t give another little dog a home! We have had 3 little Maltese dogs and they have all gone on to “Doggie Heaven”. We really miss having a little dog. I pray that you and Mark will be blessed with a wonderful 2025! God Bless you and Mark!
I was just going to ask about your father. Thanks for posting an update. I am in the same stage with my mother, who is in memory care. We have to cherish the good days. Wishing you a fun filled New Year!
Always check your blog first. Enjoy all of your hard work through the year.
Used a similar wallpaper that you have in your new updated bathroom. Love it!
Especially always want to hear about your sweet Dad.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
I always love to see your dad. I think I will always remember the timber of his voice when he prays. Lauren’s kids are growing up, and I loved seeing all of Mark’s grands!
Your bathroom turned out great, and it’s fun to refresh spaces, too!
I did a year in review on my blog, too!
I have enjoyed your blog for many years. You have a beautiful home and a beautiful family. Thanks for the recap of the year. Happy New Year!
I am so glad to see your Daddy doing well. I can’t believe you have been blogging for 18 years. There are very much of us that have stuck around that long. I often click on book marks to find the blogs have been left dormant. But, I fully understand as I have ebbed and flowed though the years. I intend to get back to it in 2025. It used to be such a wonderful form of therapy! My forward is looking back to see what I used to love to do. I will be excited to reacquaint myself with blogland this year and the new season of blogging I am in!
Hi, Michelle, it’s been a fun journey for me and I can’t believe it’s been 18 years either. Crazy, but it’s still enjoyable and I’ll continue until I don’t feel it anymore. Happy New Year to you!