Dotson’s Go Back to School!

At the start of this blog post (it usually takes me at least 2 days to write, add photos, proof, and publish — because. life.) it’s been 4 days since I last saw my boy.

But, who’s counting?!

I’m sure he’s probably not. However, I. Am.

The day I’ve dreaded since his birth came and went this past Monday. 🙁

It’s just so hard to accept, as his parent, that at 18 years old he is now old enough and mature enough and ready enough for big-boy life/school! Alas, he is, I guess.

To be honest, I wasn’t going to write a blog about him going away to college because it’s just hard. It’s a tough transition for Mom and child, and probably Dad, too. And, I wasn’t sure what all I could say about it other than – it’s hard. But, then I decided I would like to share some pics that we took and this is a good “place” to do that, especially for family since they’re all out of town. Side note: we’re hoping some day they will follow us to South Carolina!! 😉

This past Monday was a big day in the Dotson household! Caisey started her very first day as a teacher, she’s teaching 4th grade, Damian started his Senior year in high school and Addison (our baby!!!) started his freshman year in high school, and of course Bradley moved into his college dorm room. Sheesh!! Talk about feeling inadequate as a Momma…I didn’t feel like I was doing a great job at encouraging any one of them because I was trying to encourage all of them, if that makes sense? Anyway, I know I did the best I could so all is good. 🙂 Whose idea was it anyway to have all the schools in the entire region return on the same day?!?! I mean, really?! Somehow, we made it through though.

He’s ready for his first day of senior year

We all met up the night before at Charleston Crab Shack on the water for a yummy dinner and so Caisey could tell Bradley bye. I’m sure she gave him some big sister advice about college or something, also. Our food was delish and the company was even better. I “enjoyed” shrimp and grits…so, that is the second time I’ve ordered shrimp and grits as my meal and I’ve realized that I don’t love it. Sadly. I do, however, love to partake in a couple of bites of Joe’s shrimp and grits when he orders it. Ha! The first time I ordered it I thought I just didn’t care for the way that particular restaurant prepared it, but I now know after trying it twice at two different places, I just don’t love it. It’s a very rich dish and after 3 or 4 bites I feel like I need to eat a salad or a piece of broccoli. Anyway, all of that to say, we all gathered for a family meal and the company was better than the food, in my opinion. Everyone else loved their dinner so I know it was just me.

Monday morning, I got up, had my coffee >>because that’s the absolute most important thing there is to life<< showered, and started the day. First up, was to get the high schoolers out the door. So, after Damian high fived Bradley and Addison hugged him bye (which absolutely broke my heart because they are so close!!!) they walked out the door to begin a new year in high school.

They have always been great friends! Bradley is so good to him, for the most part. 😉

After Joe and Bradley loaded up my car with all of his college belongings we headed out for the journey to the University of South Carolina. Off we went…

About 1.5 hours later we arrived! We drove around the block several times and finally decided to just pull up to the curb, unload his “stuff,” and while I waited with the things Bradley went to check in and Joe continued to drive around and look for a parking spot. Monday, the 20th, was move in day for all of USC so parking spots were hard to come by. Finally, we all met back up and loaded his things up 3 flights of stairs to his room! I had the privilege of making his bed, Joe helped organize his closet, and Bradley hooked up the TV and the Playstation (you know, the MOST important things!! 😉 ). We also met his new roommate and his parents. They are very nice people from Massachusetts!!

Him showing me how it’s gonna be! 😉 All about Fortnite.

Look how neat and straight Dad made that closet. Marine Dad at his finest!

Father and son conversating. I love them so much!

After all the unloading and the organizing of his room it was time to eat. We were hungry! So, we took a chance on a sushi place near campus and it was DELICIOUS!! We told Bradley we will be making visits back so we can have that sushi, again. And, of course to see him, too. 😉 We then went to Walmart. Even after making two seperate dorm room shopping trips there were still things he needed that we forgot about. And, we’ve done this before — we have a little experience under our belt, since Caisey went away to Murray. Oh well, our little trip to Walmart allowed for me to spend more time with Bradley before leaving Columbia.

Back to campus we went and unloaded everything, again. Gave him a quick tutorial in the laundry area 😉 , went to the bookstore to pick up his books, and then it was time to say our goodbyes. UGH!! So, we did. I dreaded that moment IMMENSELY, but knowing he was so excited about his new adventure definitely made it easier (not easy!) for me.

Telling my boy “bye.” Gosh that was hard!!

Joe and I had a quiet drive home. I cried and he comforted me. Again. This “leaving your kid at college thing” doesn’t get any easier!! It was nice this time around to kinda know what to expect, but it wasn’t easy!! They are still my babies and I don’t want to take them somewhere and just leave them! Period. But, at the same time, I want them to grow and learn and mature and become responsible citizens that have the ability to form their own opinions and do their own thing. All while putting God first, of course.

So, as I stated above, we left him just days ago. I miss him like crazy!! I worry about him incessantly. And, I text him periodically throughout the day. Joe and I have to remind ourselves he’s not here, often. The other day Joe pulled in the driveway and parked behind me to give Bradley room to park. Two days ago, I went to the grocery and spotted the dark chocolate, I instantly remembered Bradley taking my entire bag of dark chocolates to his room and eating them all! I was so frustrated with him, but now I’m thinking why did I jump on him?! I should’ve let him do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted to do it because now he’s living. 1.5. Hours. Away. ;(

Well, here we are, trying to get used to our new normal with just 2 boys at home. I must say, it’s quiet. And, we miss Bradley! And, we miss Caisey! But, we’re figuring it out and before long he’ll be home for winter break and I. Can’t. Wait! 🙂

Your Eight Tips to Choosing the Best Limo Service

**This is a sponsored post**

When it comes to riding in style, finding a quality limo service can be difficult. There are many companies and cars to choose from all around the country so how can you be sure you are picking the right one? It may be overwhelming or confusing at first on where to start but just by asking a few simple questions, a great company can be located. I’ve listed a few tips to help you choose which one is the best when you are researching different limo companies. So what are these five tips? Let’s find out!

Years in business – The experience of a limo service is important. Services with a few months under their belt may be questionable so you’ll want to start by looking at how many years they have been in business. If you are limited to services and only find start up companies, be sure to ask the operator’s background. Some of the finest companies may be brand new but are operated by managers and drivers with years of limousine experience.
Insurance – Every car should have a commercial vehicle insurance with them. If you are riding into town, the cars are required to have a minimum of a $750,000 liability coverage. Vehicles that carry eight or more passengers should have at least 1.5 million. This is for the safety of you and your traveling crew.
Positive Reviews – When looking at some of the best sources of information, online revews are key. Look at other customers testimonials and look for commentary about reliability, customer service, safety and other factors. If other customers had a positive experience you are more likely to have a similar experience. Check various websites as well and even look at all of the testimonials, including the bad ones so you know what you may be getting yourself into if you decide to go with a company.
Licenses – Every service should have a license number. These are issued by the state and allows a company to legally operate. This may seem like something that we overlook because we so often see license plates and licenses but you can be sure there are fake ones out there. In addition to being a reputable company, make sure that they belong to an association such as the NLA. If you’re still curious, you could always check with the Better Business Bureau for past complaints regarding this particular limo service. In my opinion, it’s always better to research as much as you can rather than going in unsure.
Live Inspection – If you’re able to see the limo in person before booking, I would greatly suggest this. If the vehicle isn’t available, ask the company to email you photos. It’s important to inspect the vehicle and verify the make, model and various amenities that are inside the limo to make sure it’s everything you are looking for when traveling.
Referrals – Word of mouth is key and having the best to find a good limo service is having a great referral. Looking at reviews online is one thing but if you have someone that you actually know that has used this company on multiple occasions and is happy with their service, you know it’s one you can trust and enjoy because of who told you. On more than one occasion, I’ve gone with companies that a friend or someone I trust has shared with me because I trust their opinion.
Driver Gratuity – If it’s your first time looking at a limo service, you’ll need to understand that some services will charge 15-20% gratuity. If the driver gratuity is not included in your bill I would move on to a different service. More than likely, your driver is not the one for you.
Fleet Size – The number of cars a service has does not mean that it’s great quality but it can give you some idea about the company. Remember, quality over quantity may be your best bet here. You’ll want to make sure the company has highly personalized service and focus on that type of service. Medium sized services may have a variety of vehicles and do everything from airport pickup to specialized occasions such as weddings or prom events.
Image: Lowcountry Valet and Shuttle Co.

Now that you have an idea of various tips to help you choose the best limo service for your needs. If you live in the South Carolina area, I have the perfect service for you. Low-Country Valet & Shuttle Company

Low-country Valet & Shuttle Company offers all of your customer service, transportation, and quality needs for any transportation you are looking for plus they even have vintage cars and buses if you want to ride in style. They have a fleet size to help you pick and choose which service fits your needs plus their quality of care not only for their cars but for you as their customer goes above and beyond. Their reviews leave them as one of the top companies to use in the Charleston area and you’ll have all your questions and concerns asked with quality and knowledgeable staff. You’ll feel confident working with this service!

Thank you for reading! 🙂

~Susan

My Colonoscopy Saved My Life!

**This post contains a WARNING! Read at your own risk! 😳😳**

About 14 years ago I was faced with some pretty scary news!

This is not something I talk about often, but if you are even somewhat close to me, you probably already know some of this…

I have Ulcerative Colitis. UC is an Inflammatory Bowel Diesease.

Now, you are probably wondering why in the world I am sharing this very personal news on the world wide web?! I, too, am wondering the same thing. But, after my most recent colonoscopy I decided this is something I feel led to tell others about simply to bring awareness to it.

And, to maybe even save a life! You see, I’m not sure I would even be here today if I hadn’t had my first colonoscopy at age 28/29!! I know that sounds crazy and like I’m being a bit dramatic, but it’s true.

A short time after our third baby was born I started noticing some weird changes with my body. **WARNING: This may be TMI!! Don’t read if you get grossed out easily!!** Anyway, like I was saying, shortly after baby #3 I started noticing blood in my stool, diarrhea many times a day, I was loosing a lot of weight without trying, I was tired often and I just had a general feeling that something wasn’t right. After enduring that for a month or so I decided to go to the doctor to get checked out. My doctor then sent me for a barium enema test. That was HORRIBLE, btw!!! That evening I received a phone call that the test revealed a polyp in my colon and that I needed to have a colonoscopy. So, a short time later, I had my first colonoscopy at age 28 or 29, I can’t remember exactly. That time in my life is a bit blurry. I had a new baby, 2 other kiddos to care for, and I was just receiving some pretty scary health news!

A few weeks later I had my colonoscopy with a follow up appointment scheduled for one week later. At the follow up, I learned the polyp was quite large and it was indeed pre-cancerous ( I don’t remember the exact terms she used other than “pre-cancerous”). I was shocked and upset! Twenty-eight year old women weren’t supposed to have these issues!! My doctor explained to me that she too was surprised and that I wasn’t her typical patient, but that we HAD to take this very seriously. So, she scheduled me for routine colonoscopies to make sure nothing else alarming was happening.

I honestly have no idea how many colonoscopies I’ve had thus far! A lot! But some time after that first one my doctor started noticing inflammation and ulcers when she did the scopes. Since my doctor at the time was a General Surgeon she then referred me to a Gastroenterologist for more precise care. As time went by and my new Gastro doctor ordered more testing, she diagnosed me with UC.

There is no cure for UC, only medications for the symptoms. The hope is that the medications will put you in remission so you can live a “normal” life. In the early stages of this, I was going to the bathroom numerous times a day. It was getting so bad that I didn’t want to leave my house. It’s super embarrassing, to say the least. Fortunately, the med I am on has worked very well!! I have been on Asacol HD for at least 4/5 years and have had clear scopes with no inflammation or ulcers since being on it!! And, for the most part, my bathroom issues have stopped. Occasionally, I have flare ups, depending on circumstances, but nothing like pre-meds!! Praise God!!!

My most recent colonoscopy did reveal a polyp. That was a little bit concerning, but I just received confirmation that it was benign. 🙂 Yay!!! I go back in two years for another scope. Due to me having UC and past pre-cancerous polyps I am at high risk for colon cancer. So, my doctors always encourage me to have colonoscopies often, at least every 1-2 years. 🙁 As miserable as the prep is, it’s a small price to pay.

Two days before my last colonoscopy. I was large and in charge with my food choices. A girl’s gotta eat! 😋

One day before. I wasn’t supposed to have cream in my coffee, but it’s ok…

One day before. Let the prepping begin. I’d rather drive to California and back than to prep for a colonoscopy.

Pay no attention to how I look. It’s not fun, I tell ya.

I had to suffer through this x 6!! It’s a mixture of strawberry watermelon Gatorade and Miralax (the entire bottle of Miralax). It’s definitely NOT fun, but worth it.

That night I slept on the couch. I was up and down a lot…going to the bathroom. This boy never left my side.

So, I share this embarrassing and personal information about me to encourage anyone that may be having “bathroom issues” to go to the doctor! I truly believe had I not went to my doctor when I did and had my first colonoscopy, even though I was only in my late 20’s, I would not be here today. I believe my body was telling me something was seriously wrong. I was loosing weight and I was feeling tired along with all of my other symptoms. I didn’t even realize how much weight I had lost until I went clothes shopping one day and had went down 3 pants sizes!! Craziness!!

The best part about the entire procedure is the rest and sleep I got afterward. My two side kicks enjoyed that part, too.

All of this to say, take care of yourself and get your colonoscopy if you suspect an issue or if it’s time for your routine care. I believe mine saved my life! 🙂

Thank you for reading!

#getyourcolonoscopy 🙂

~XO, Susan

Our Columbia Fun

Welp, I did it.

I took the boys and myself on a little get away trip to the grand ol’ city of Columbia, South Carolina! Now, considering Columbia is only an hour and a half away our excursion wasn’t a huge deal, but we had a good time and that’s what matters most!

Bradley had to go to the University of South Carolina for orientation and since it’s 1.5 hours away and since all we’ve done this entire summer is clean our house (literally!) due to showing our house 9,763 times I decided we were going to have a little fun. We deserved it! Unfortunately, Joe couldn’t join us. He had to work… so that we could have a little fun. 😉

Bradley had to be at USC on Tuesday at 4 pm to take a foreign language placement test before orientation started the very next day. After him being in the testing room for approximately 5 minutes he returned to us and announced he was done! With a big grin on his face he told us he scored a 1/5. Only Bradley, our easy going boy, would find humor in such. Ha! To explain, he took sign language in high school as his “foreign” language and USC doesn’t offer sign language so he had to test on an actual foreign language, he chose Spanish. Looks like he has lots of learning to do in Spanish class! So, after our super quick time on campus we went to Red Robin for dinner because that’s what we always do when we’re in the vicinity of a RR since we don’t have one in the Charleston area.

While at Red Robin we all enjoyed yummy burgers and fries. So tasty!! Addison also chose to partake in the bottomless root beer float(s). Three root beer floats later he decided to call it quits. Oh to have the metabolism of a 14 year old again! After dinner, we walked around the mall. While at the mall we found a 2018 Volvo XC60. I REALLY want a VOLVO XC60 so I gave it a good look-over and we walked away. As we were walking away Damian ran up to me and asked, “Mom, if I win you that Volvo, can I have your Armada?” I told him “sure!” …I’m still waiting for him to win me that Volvo…only I’d like a white one, please. 😉

The joys of sharing a hotel room with 3 boys. No one wanted to share a bed with Mom. Ha!

Bright and early the next day we dropped Bradley off on campus for his 2 day orientation. Then, Addison, Damian and myself went to the Waffle House for breakfast since it was only 8 am and we had some time to kill. Our original plan was to go to the Riverbanks Zoo, but once we looked at the radar we decided to come up with a plan B due to the high chances of rain that day. So, we decided to go to the South Carolina museum in Columbia since it was indoors. We absolutely loved that museum!! It was so nice with tons to see and do. We actually stayed there for about 3.5 hours. We were able to see so many cool things. Even my two teenage boys were impressed so that’s saying a lot! I’d definitely go back. If you’re ever in the Columbia, SC area give the SC Museum a visit.

We learned about everything from SC habitats to SC history.

I notice all things alligator…even if this one was not real.

A replica of the first passenger train in the state.

Really amazing to see all of these very old tv’s.

Us in the Charleston scene at the museum. 🙂

After our museum adventure and lunch at Salsaritas we were all tired so we went back to the hotel and took a nap. It was glorious!! 🙂 That evening the boys wanted to hit up the Goodwill that they had already spotted. You see, several weeks ago I drug them to our local Goodwill with me and D found some Nike LeBron 13 shoes that were his size. They were in good shape and only cost $5.50 so I bought them, of course. Now, they are hooked and always want to check out the Goodwill. Addison is bound and determined to score him a great deal. Ha! Unfortunately, we didn’t find a single thing on this trip. I told them sometimes you find good treasures and sometimes you don’t, that’s just part of the adventure. We then went to a really nice park with a walking trail along the river. We walked around and took some great pictures. Finally we headed back to the hotel, but not before stopping at Freddy’s Frozen Custard shop. The three of us had turtle sundaes. So, so good!!

Salsarita’s was SO good!!
But, we ate so much food. We were full the rest of the day…until it was time for ice cream.

That Goodwill was huge, unfortunately we didn’t snag any deals.

Just wanted to document that I was on this little trip, too. 😉

Thursday morning we slept in a little. Had some hotel coffee. Then, headed out for our big zoo adventure. The Riverbanks Zoo & Gardens was very nice!! I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t been to the zoo in a long time or what, but we had a great time! The Columbia zoo is quite large with lots of animals and different fun exhibits to see. Several hours later we wrapped up our time at the zoo just in time for Bradley to text me and tell me he was finished with orientation. Perfect timing!

These guys were very entertaining and quite boisterous!

We took this pic as we were leaving and we were all so hot and sweaty, but we had a great time!

We had such a great time in Columbia! I am thankful for the time I was able to share with all three of our boys. I wish Bradley would’ve been able to join us for more of the fun, but I think he grew in his adventure at USC. I can’t believe in less than a month he will leave for college!! Where in the world does the time go?!? I still look at him and see my baby boy. At the same time, I am so proud of the young man that he is and I know that he has a bright future ahead of him.

At the book store on campus. He had a 25% off coupon so he HAD to use it. Bought this hoodie. He says he’ll root for USC basketball EXCEPT for when they play KY.

As we wrapped up our trip and drove home I told Bradley that at least when we go to Columbia to visit him we will have some fun things to do, unlike going to Murray, KY to visit Caisey. We loved our visits with her, but there was just not much to see and do in that small Kentucky town.

Lastly, as an update from the Dotson household, our house is still for sale. No news to report. School starts in 3 weeks. If you could, please pray for clarity in the decisions that we need to make. Thanks so much!!

Thank you for reading! ~Love y’all, Susan

The Waiting Game

We are playing the waiting game. Again.

UUGGGHHHH!!! This is certainly not my favorite game to play. There’s probably not many people that actually enjoy it, I suppose.

Our home went on the market about 3.5 weeks ago and nada. We’ve had some showings and some good feedback so that’s a plus, I guess.

As I stated, we’ve shown the house several times so we’ve cleaned the house several times…in those times of lengthy cleaning I’ve done some thinking about home buying and selling. We have some experience, with both. HA! We are looking to sell house #4 and buy house #5! I’m sure to some that sounds absolutely horrifying, but I think it’s fun and exciting. All except the waiting that comes along with selling. Sitting and waiting for a buyer.

In my hours and hours of cleaning I’ve come up with a few conclusions:

Trying to keep a house clean while 2 adults, 3 teenagers, 2 cats, 1 dog, and 1 turtle are actually living in it is pretty much impossible. It would be magical if we could all move out and live somewhere else while the house is being shown and sold. We could clean it one good time and let it be. However, since that’s not the case at this time, we are trying to keep it relatively picked up in case someone wants to see it on short notice. We’ve had a couple of people request to see the house in less than 2 hours!
I hope you are not eating lunch! I know this is gross. This pic shows what I’m up against. I try to sweep only to have my kitten playing in my pile of disgustingness. #helovesit
In every home selling tip guide out there, they always say bake cookies. And, I agree. That’s a wonderful idea!! The house smells great and you have cookies for the potential new home owners. The thing is, when I’m trying to get my house ready to show for the 1,000th time I don’t have the time or energy to add one more thing to my to-do list. So, my fantastic solution is to light a great “cookie smelling” candle and let that baby burn for as long as you can in the kitchen. Right before you walk out the door put the lid over it to blow out the candle (and not fill the house with the stinky smoke smell to totally eliminate your great smelling house). And, if you’re feeling real generous, go by some store bought cookies and lay them out on the counter in a pretty serving dish! DONE! 😉
Y’all, I can’t imagine why we haven’t sold our house?! 😉 #nocatsonthekitchencounter

…and, again

…and, again…
Toy mice that might look real at first glance. #wewillneversellthishouse
Do a little de-cluttering and organizing. Fortunately, Caisey has moved into her first Charleston area apartment just in time. So I’ve been able to give her some of our junk…I mean great stuff. 😉 It helps to have closets and cabinets and such a little cleaner. You don’t want someone to think there’s not enough storage space in your home because they definitely DO look through your closets and cabinets. One time we came home after a showing and almost all of our closet doors were left slightly open.
So proud of this girl!!!
I think curb appeal makes a big difference. Ideally you would have a bright fun door color to draw attention along with some beautiful flowers. I planted some flowers at the beginning of summer that are looking pretty good. I’d like to plant a few more but not sure it’s worth it, at this point. Don’t forget to add a wreath or other front porch decor to add a little extra pizazz. Lastly, tidy everything up..trim bushes, sweep porch and sidewalk, etc.
I do love my flowers!

Those purple petunias came back on their own. I didn’t plant them this year.

…when all else fails, paint your front porch chairs a bright and fun color! 😉

Now, keep in mind, our house is STILL on the market so you may want to disregard any and all advice I give. I may not know anything about the home selling process. I’ve just had lots of thinking time and thought I’d share…for what it’s worth. 😉

So, in conclusion, if you’re the praying kind we’d appreciate a little prayer that our house would sell soon, if that’s the Lord’s will for us.

I hope you’re all enjoying your summer!! Thanks for taking the time to read. I’ll continue to keep y’all posted on the goings on in our life.

So, real quick, if you’re going to the beach or pool and take your “old school” book use a post-it note as a book mark. It stays attached to the book and will not fly away in the wind. Y’all, I’m a freaking genius! It only took me 42 years to figure that out. :/

~Love y’all! Susan 🙂

Ch-ch-ch-changes. Again.

Did you see my Instagram story? Do you watch Instagram stories? Are you even on Instagram?

If not, you need to be so you can watch my stories! 😉 I love Instagram stories more than actually looking through my Instagram feed. I only learned how to do them a couple of months ago. I learned because I have a teenager. Actually I have 947 teenagers. Ok, maybe I have 3 teens but most days it feels like 947 of them! Anyway, one of my teenagers taught me how to create an Instagram story. And, I’m sure now he regrets teaching me, I’m also sure I embarrass him on the reg. Oh well, that’s my J.O.B.

So, about my Instagram story…the one I am referring to, it’s a short little boomerang video with a pic of our house and a for sale sign in the front yard! I mentioned there would be more to come in a blog post. So, here’s said post.

Lord willing, we will be moving soon!!! 🙂

Now, let me explain some things. I’m sure you’re confused because we just moved here 2 years ago. Most days I’m just as confused as you are. I’m still trying to figure out this journey God has placed us on. And, I am praying fervently that this move is exactly what The Lord wants from us.

Joe has recently accepted a new position with Total Comfort Solutions, the same company that he has been working for since we moved here to SC. He is now the General Manager for the Myrtle Beach/Florence, South Carolina location! Needless to say, he is excited about his new role and ready for the challenges it will bring. And, of course, we are super duper proud of him!! We know he will do an amazing job!! …He’s come a long way from making and hanging duct work back in the day. 😉

Joe’s new office. Of course it has USMC and UK paraphernalia. I mean, what else is there?!

With that being said, we are planning a move to the Myrtle Beach area…hopefully soon. Our house has been on the market for about a week so we are hoping and praying for a sale SOON! We shall see…

Not only are we moving, but Bradley is still planning to attend the University of South Carolina in the fall. The plan is he will start there in August. Instead of him being about 1.5 hours away from us he will most likely be about 2.5 hours away from us once we move. While that makes me sad, it’s not nearly as far as Caisey’s 4 hour drive to Murray when we were in Kentucky. I think Bradley is a little more excited about us being 2.5 hours away as compared to 1.5. :/

And, as you probably know, Caisey moved here at the end of April once her job with KD was completed. She has decided to stay here in the Charleston area, even though we’ve tried and tried to convince her to follow us to Myrtle Beach. Oh well. At least she will be in the same state and only about 2 hours or so from us.

If you read my Two Year Anni blog post you may recall at the end I said “wherever He leads I’ll go” (like the song says) and I truly meant that then and I still feel that way today, but I didn’t realize then he would be leading us away from Charleston, SC so soon. God is funny like that though. 😉 I’ve never felt super settled here so I will admit this move feels right. Scary and hard, but right. Earlier today, I was listening to a Podcast, and the speaker was talking about doing big, scary and hard things. He explained those things are necessary for true growth. I believe God desires us to make the big changes when He nudges even when we are scared. I’m trying to remind myself to “do it scared!” Some days I feel like this upcoming move is more difficult than our big move from KY to SC. I’m not sure why I feel that way, other than moving here has been SUPER challenging (for many reasons) and I’m afraid to do it all over again. Feeling a little “gun shy.”

This past Sunday we had an open house, it was 100+ degrees and we had our old dog in tow. So, we went to the park and melted.

At the park, I realized the three of us had on UK gear. We represent.

At least we had pretty scenery to look at in the heat.

I always love the spanish moss in the trees. It never gets old.

Damian wanted me to take this pic so I did. That evening he informed me it wasn’t centered so he wanted to return to the park to repeat the pic. Umm no. I’m no photographer. Sorry!

Alas, it’ll all work out. One way or the other. I just have to keep looking up. 🙂 No one will be more excited when the house sells than Joe! He has been making the drive back and forth from Summerville to Myrtle Beach for several weeks now. And, that’s a haul.

In Myrtle Beach a few weeks ago, took this one evening after dinner.

Hopefully very soon I can report back to you with the news of a new home. I can’t wait to give you all the details of our new area and our new house and all the things that come along with relocating…again. Also, don’t worry, it is still a MUST to have a guest room/space for our special peeps!! It is very important to welcome our friends and family with a nice place to stay… and a beach nearby. 🙂

We had two house showings today. Hannah always has to go with us when we leave for a showing. She says she is too old for this ‘stuff’!

Thanks for reading! I’ll keep y’all posted. 🙂 ~Love, Susan

The Blue Island

After giving it more thought than usual,

I finally painted the kitchen island…well, not exactly the entire island, just the wall part that is attached to the cabinets.

And, I love it!It was originally painted flat, builder grade white. So, that was painted over a long time ago, like before we even moved in. 😉 I didn’t mind the white color as much as I minded the flat paint. I knew that was not going to go over well in this household. As a matter of fact, we painted the entire first floor of our home before we moved in. We closed on a Friday, painted all weekend, and the movers were here that following Monday morning to move us in.

Addison turned 12 right before we moved into our house. Look how young he looks in this pic!! Where did my baby go?!

While I’m at it, I should tell you about the “little mishap” that happened that weekend…

So, we started painting on Friday evening and got quite a bit accomplished from what I remember. Then, Saturday morning, we arrived back at the house to begin another long day of painting. Joe and I began setting everything up and got out all of the needed supplies. I decided I was going to start cutting in around the ceiling so I set up the ladder to begin. Since Joe was stirring the big 5 gallon bucket of paint he poured (a lot) of paint in my container. One of those red containers that has a handle designed to go around your fingers so you can easily hold it and paint at the same time. As I was saying, he filled that container ALL the way up with the new gray paint. I climbed the ladder while holding onto the container and before I began I sat the container down and kind of looped it over one of the ladder steps. Well, guess what? That was a terrible idea because that very full bucket of paint fell and went EVERYWHERE! It was too heavy to sit where I had it. 🙁 When I say everywhere, I mean ev-ery-where!! To this day I wish I had stopped to take a pic of the huge mess. The idea did cross my mind in the moment 😉 but I remember thinking if I stop to take a picture he is going to kill me. HA! I knew Joe was not happy with me! But, I will say, he did so good at keeping his cool. He didn’t say a word and simply went into clean-up mode. There was paint all over our brand new home..in the grooves of the wood floors, splattered all over the walls, on the cabinets, counters, doors, trim, everywhere! We knew time was of the essence so we quickly started getting towels wet and went to work. I have no idea how long it took us to clean the entire mess up, but it did set us back a couple of hours, I’m sure. It was awful! Afterward, when all was said and done and cleaned up we could laugh about it. The whole time I was cleaning I was so thankful that it didn’t spill all over the brand new carpet…we would’ve had to replace it. There would have been no cleaning that much paint out of carpet!

Man, I SO wish I had a picture to show you how much of a mess it was! It was quite unbelievable. Of course, now it’s a good story to tell. At the time, it was horrible, needless to say! We’ve painted a lot of rooms (in a lot of houses HA!) and never had anything like that happen. I guess there’s a first time for everything. Prayerfully that will never happen again. Not sure our marriage can handle another episode of Dotson Paint Palooza! 😉

Back to the kitchen island. Friday evening Joe and I went out to dinner at the local “hole in the wall” for tacos. This place is one I’ve driven by many times and thought ‘no thanks!’, but after hearing tons of great things about it I thought we should give it a try. Joe had been there before with his coworkers and he agreed it was good, but he was surprised I wanted to try it. Lol So, after eating there I would say it was good and I will go back. I didn’t love mine, but I’d like to try something different and maybe add a strawberry margarita to my order — they looked delicious! 😉 After dinner I convinced him we needed to stop by Lowe’s for (island) paint. We had dinner and a Lowe’s trip wrapped up by 7:00 and were back home in our pj’s no later than 7:30. What an exciting life we live on a Friday night in SC! 🙂

My tacos. They were ok. I want to try vegetarian nachos next time.

Saturday, after helping Addison with hopefully his very last middle school project, I painted the kitchen island wall. After painting a very small section of it the new blue color and leaving the trim white I decided I didn’t like that. Mainly because the white trim was FILTHY. And, I do not like to paint trim! So, after convincing Joe it would look better with the trim and everything painted the same blue color I decided to paint it all. He later told me he was not convinced it was going to look good, he wasn’t sure about the color nor the painted blue trim, but afterward he agreed it looks much better. I wanted a darker shade because that area gets so dirty from shoes and such; in the beginning I couldn’t decide if I wanted a dark gray or blue. In the end I decided on a blue-gray. I love the color.

Before. Kinda. I’m terrible at remembering before pictures.

I’m embarrassed to show this pic. This was before, look how dirty. I promise I do clean my house every once in while. 😉

I don’t love the dark stools with the dark paint.

I do think new off white stools would look better…

What new projects are you working on? I love to see pictures of what others are up to. As a matter of fact, I scroll through Pinterest for home decor tips/ideas waaaay too much. Joe wishes I’d stay off Pinterest for a while, I’m sure. 😉

‘Till next time…

Thank you for reading! 🙂 ~Susan

My 5 Daily Cleaning Tips and Why I <3 Mondays

Today is Monday.

Monday may be one of my favorite days of the week! I know, I know…that sounds cray cray. 😉

Friday evenings, Saturdays, and Sundays are my very favorites (because my people are home with me), but I don’t mind a Monday, typically.

Before you think I’ve completely fallen off my rocker, let me explain. I am a very organized, structured kinda gal. I like to have some sort of a plan, usually. Now, I’m not a super big planner that allots for each hour of every day, but I do like to have a good idea of what’s going to happen on a day to day basis. I like to have things in order and I like to feel “together.”

Usually Monday – Friday I can be that person, for the most part. BUT, let Friday evening roll around, I loose all control in this house! I mean the house looks like a disaster zone by 7 pm on Friday evening UNLESS I go behind everyone in my home and pick up after them, in which I probably used to do. I don’t do that anymore. Unless we are having guests. 🙂

So, from Friday evening until Monday morning I just let it go. You know like Elsa sings in Frozen…”Let It Go, Let It Go” …well, except for a few things.

It’s Monday! Drink coffee. Get stuff done.

Back to what I was saying about loving Mondays; what I enjoy most about Mondays is that I can put the house back into some sort of order, I can get caught up on laundry, I can make my to-do lists for the week, and I can plan our groceries for the week (that’s probably my most dreaded chore ever, next to shopping for said groceries and preparing/cooking said groceries). The best thing about doing all of my Monday chores is that I have a quiet house to do them in! As a matter of fact, as I type this, the only sound I can hear is the dryer going. Magical! 😉

Our little entryway. I’m thinking about painting that buffet piece.

Now, I realize not everyone has the luxury of having a day to themselves to get these things accomplished. So, as I was drinking my coffee this morning, I came up with a few of my go-to chores to make me feel like all is right in the world. Most of these I try to do on a daily basis, but as I stated, the weekends are sometimes questionable.

Make our bed. I feel so much more productive if the bed is made. First of all, I don’t have the desire to get back into it if it’s made and looks pretty. However, I do not make anyone else’s bed in the house. I should have the kiddos make their own beds before school, but if I’m honest, I’m only half awake when they are leaving in the mornings. Most days I don’t have my coffee until after they’ve left.
So much more peaceful and relaxing, at least to me. I will not show you a close up of that white duvet cover, let’s just say there is a significant amount of cat hair on it. :/ I do love the white though!! Notice, there are no lamps or anything on our night stands…that would also be due to the cat.
Empty and reload the dishwasher. I don’t think an explanation is needed for this chore. Ha! Put clean dishes away and put all dirty dishes into the dishwasher. I can not stand to have dirty dishes everywhere and with a family of 6 (as we currently are, with our Caisey at home) we ALWAYS have dirty dishes.
Do at least 1 or 2 loads of laundry. As I stated, we are a fam of 6, need I say more? If I miss one day of laundry it gets crazy quickly!! My rule for the kiddos is, bring your dirty clothes down daily. If you let them pile up in your room then you can/will do your own laundry.
Clean off the kitchen counters. One of my biggest pet peeves is having crap all over my counters. And, usually, we have crap all over our kitchen counters. UGH! But, if I can attempt to clear them and wipe them down once a day then I am good.
Clean the cat’s litter box/Sweep the floors. This probably only NEEDS to be a daily chore if you have animals. Of course, if you do not have a cat you are not going to clean a cat’s litter box ;). We have 1 cat and 1 dog… one very large dog that sheds black hair all over our light colored wood floors. So, I try to sweep everyday. If I skip just one day then I can make a small dog or cat with all of the hair we have floating around. Gross, I know.

Now, I realize these cleaning tips aren’t rocket science and most people probably already do them, but if there is one person out there that can benefit from them then I have done my “job.” 😉

What are some of your daily household chores? Do you have any tips for me? Do you feel better when things are together and organized?

I recently read an article from Huffington Post about home organization and the stress it creates. This article stated that 81% of men and 87% of women reported experiencing anxiety over home upkeep and clutter. (Can I say that it kinda shocks me that 81% of men report anxiety over home upkeep!! Whaa?!) 😉 I believe if we can at least do a little everyday to clean and organize our homes we will feel SO much better and lessen our anxiety.

Now, off to finish up the grocery list. UGH! One day, if we are ever independently wealthy (HA! HA! ..I know!), I would like to have someone that does this for me. Someone that plans meals, purchases groceries and prepares the food. That would be pure bliss, in my opinion. Oh how I wish I loved to cook…alas, I don’t. Unfortunately, I do love to eat, though and so does my family. So, to the grocery I must go. At least there is a grocery pick up now! 🙂 🙂

Thank you for reading! I hope you are doing well. 🙂

Spring Time ‘Must Haves’

It’s one of my favorite times of the year…

SPRING!! And, flower planting season!

I LOVE it!!

Do you?

I love to get outside in the nice warm air with a slight breeze and do my thing. Usually we have weeds to pull and fresh mulch to lay as well as just general clean up from the long dreary winter months. But, my most favorite part is planting bright, pretty and colorful annual flowers.

This year, instead of our regular pine straw or mulch, we decided to put black rubber mulch down. I will tell you this was Joe’s idea. I was not on board with this idea because 1) it’s more expensive and 2) it’s more expensive 😉 …and to be completely honest I don’t want to invest a lot of money in this house. I just don’t. We may not be living in this house in a few years. (Lord willing. Ha!) At the end of the day, he won. And, several days later black rubber mulch was delivered. Finally, I admit, I really do like it! It looks good and seems to stay put better than regular mulch. 🙂

This past Saturday afternoon Joe and I headed to Lowe’s to pick up our spring time ‘must haves.’ My ‘must haves’ consist of red, pink, and yellow flowers, hanging baskets of ferns, outdoor string lights, and of course a new decorative pillow for the swing on the front porch. Duh! 😉 His ‘must haves’ are nothing like mine, needless to say. His are actually very boring, in my opinion. You know, things like Roundup, grass seed, fertilizer, and garden lime. All I see when I look at his things are $$ and when I look at my goodies I see lots of beautiful-ness!

After our Lowe’s trip we loaded up and came home. By that point it was into the evening, but I did get most all of my flowers planted in pots. I just love the physical act of planting the flowers. I find it kind of relaxing and fun to start a new journey with my flowers. I realize that probably sounds crazy. And, maybe it is. But, in some small way, taking care of my flowers and watching them grow gives me joy.

I only planted flowers in pots this year, which is what I’ve done for the past several years. I think it’s just easier. I used to plant tons of annuals in the flower beds, but man that’s a LOT of work. On top of that, our soil is terrible and our yard holds quite a bit of water so to avoid the frustration with that situation I just dug out my trusty ol’ flower pots and went to work.

After. Not a lot to look at yet, but when they start growing they will be so pretty!

My bright green chairs. Y’all know that “story”, right? 😉

I can’t have a beautiful red door so the HOA can look at my obnoxious green chairs. I don’t think the HOA cares about my chairs, but it makes me feel better. Ha!

Sunday evening we (I say ‘we’ loosely, it was actually Joe and Damian that did the hard labor) hung three ferns in hanging baskets. They hung two on the front porch and one on the screened-in-porch. I’ve always loved ferns on a front porch, to me they have a very southern, tropical look to them. So pretty!

Finally, “we” hung some outdoor string lights up in the screened-in-porch. We’ve talked about doing that since we moved into this home about two years ago and just now decided to just do it. We picked those up from Wal-Mart on Sunday. I didn’t really want to spend a million dollars on lights, but I didn’t want the dinky little lights either (sorry if you have the dinky little lights, no offense ;)). Wal-Mart had a really good price on them, but Joe (the one that ALWAYS looks for quality, no matter the cost!) doesn’t think my WM lights will last more than 1… MAYBE 2 seasons. I went with the middle of the road lights, he would prefer to go with the Taj Mahal lights. I just can’t even.

Last, but not least, since I’m talking flowers, ferns and such I need to fill you in on our palm tree saga. So, before we moved here, I talked and dreamed about one day having a palm tree in our yard. Fast forward many years, we move here and we buy not just one, but two palm trees for our front yard. The very weekend we closed on our home there was a guy that delivered and installed palm trees driving through the neighborhood. Of course, my husband being the sweet and generous guy that he is, had the guy put TWO big beautiful palm trees in our front yard! Two VERY expensive palms! Before moving here, I had no idea how many different varieties of palms there are nor did I have any idea of how expensive they can be. Anyway, you get the gist. Fast forward to about year 1 of us living here and we are down to one palm tree. We believe the first tree had root rot due to the yard not properly draining. Fast forward, again, to year 2 and we are down to zero palm trees. 🙁 Our second tree was starting to look bad (like the first one) so Joe dug it up and put good soil down all around the root ball last summer. It was looking so great! Then, it snowed here this past January. Not just a little snow, but about 7 inches of snow!! So, here we are, early May and the second palm tree looks like a goner. 🙁 🙁 I told Joe, “NO more palm trees!!” I didn’t want him to get any ideas.

HOWEVER, our indoor palm tree is doing fantastic! So fantastic that if you tried to sit at the kitchen table beside it you felt like you were in a jungle. Yesterday, I had had enough with the indoor forest so I trimmed it back some. I’m praying I didn’t start the beginnings of killing another tree. I just couldn’t deal anymore. The irony is, we couldn’t keep the outdoor trees alive for anything and the indoor tree that is pretty limited on space is growing a foot a day it seems.

I’m from Kentucky, I have no idea what I’m doing, but this tree was crazy and had to be tamed.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about our Spring Shenanigans here in The SC! If you decided to get outside and do a little spring time spruce up let me know how it went and what pretty flowers you decided to plant.

Relaxing after all that hard work. #nicecrocs 😉

Hanging out. Love it! Love them! Where’s Matt the Cat?

Take care, y’all! 🙂

Thank you for reading! ~Susan

Addison’s Bedroom

As y’all know…

I like to paint and do projects.

So, a while back I finally got around to painting Addison’s bedroom and making it look a little more presentable. You see, my boys do not care…not even one little bit about what their rooms look like. As a matter of fact, I think the only thing they really care about is having a bed to sleep on (sheets are completely optional) and an outlet to charge their phone.

They also could care less how many dirty clothes and wet towels are piled up on their floor. The only real reason to be concerned about that is if they need to wear those clothes to school or work that VERY day. Otherwise, no worries!

DRIVES ME CRAZY!!

Life with three teenage boys. While they are definitely not the cleanest people to be around and they could care less about how their rooms are decorated I wouldn’t trade it for a thing! What they lack in the household domestic department (I’m so sorry to their future spouses — I tried) they make up for in the comedy department. They are quite fun and entertaining to be around!

As I was saying, I painted Addison’s room and I love the new color. It’s a nice shade of blue with a bit of gray to it. Looks really good with his blue and black bedding.

New room color:
Sherwin Williams “Aleutian” SW6241

While painting I closed the door to keep the cat out. Umm…that worked out well. 😉

After. The terrible lighting makes the color look much darker gray than it is.

Once that was completed, I made two collages with some of Joe’s old baseball and football cards. They turned out really good! I was so excited about finding a use for some of those cards. We have hauled around boxes and boxes of very heavy baseball cards for years. So, to find a use for even some of them makes me happy! 🙂 Once again, Addison could care less. He did have a preference though, if I was insistent on making the collages for his room, he preferred more football than baseball cards. He loves basketball and football…baseball not so much. Ha!

Joe and Addison deciding which cards to use. Big, big decisions were being made.

Before you get concerned (if you collect baseball cards), the cards that have any value whatsoever are in plastic cases inside the frame. And, those are not the cards that I cut up to go along the edges of the frames. 😉

To make the collages I simply lined up the cards in a straight line to go across and then just worked my way across and down from there. Once all the rows were completed there were some empty spaces on the sides, top and bottom. I decided leaving it empty would look not-so-pretty so I then cut up cards to fill in the gaps. Again, not to worry, I got the approval from Joe before I started randomly cutting up his baseball cards. Ha! He gave me the “ok” and sorted through his cards to find the “duds.”

So, if you have extra baseball cards lying around and you need a good use for them, I recommend making a collage…even if your kiddos could care less. 😉 It’s a fun and easy project. Or, if you need someone to make one for you, let me know. I can create and ship it to you…for a small fee! 🙂 Seriously! I still have tons of baseball and football cards that need a good home.

As I finish this up I’m thinking about my next project. We only have four rooms in this house that haven’t been painted (by us) so I’m really thinking about tackling one of those rooms very soon. The TV/bonus room could really use a face lift. The dirty hand prints on the walls are not appealing…at least not for me. 😉

What do you enjoy doing? Reading, writing, crafting, hiking, running, painting… Whatever you enjoy, make time for it. Life is short. Do the things you enjoy. 🙂 🙂

…and, some days I enjoy laying on the beach (ok, MOST days I prefer the latter…who cares?!).

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this I’d be honored if you would share it.

~Susan

SusanintheSC.com