Making a Home

Bob and I moved to Saint Charles from Jefferson City in 2012.  Our primary reason was to be a bit closer to our daughter, Ashley, who was living in Bloomington, Indiana.  We fell in love with the neighborhood where we were renting and decided to build a home there.

View from our front porch

Our neighborhood is called New Town at Saint Charles.  We are a planned, new urbanist community with walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods with high population densities.  We are about 18 miles from the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.  We have an extensive range of housing, from single-family homes, condos, senior housing, townhomes, live/work units, and more.  There are parks, lakes, a farm, two swimming pools, fountains, restaurants, bars, and shops all within walking distance.  New Town is comprised of five neighborhood districts, ours being the newest, which is called the Beach District. One day, when the development is completed, there may be a beach on our lake!

We chose the lot due to the beautiful view we have of the lake across the street from us.  No homes will be built in front of us, so that makes it fantastic!

Home Tours are available on the blog on these posts:

Sunny and Bright Summer Home Tour 2016

Christmas Home Tour-Living Room 2015

Christmas Home Tour-Dining Room 2015

Fall Homes Tour 2015

Summer Home Tour 2015

Garden Club Tour 2014

Outdoor Christmas Decorations 2013

Building the House 2013

More about us...

Our Current Home

We built our current home in the summer of 2013, moving in on October 4, 2013.  We are living in New Town St. Charles,  a new urbanist community in the St. Louis area.  The home is a craftsman-style home with three bedrooms, a loft, three baths, a living room, a dining area, a kitchen, and a large walk-in closet!  Our wrap-around porch gives us the feeling of being on vacation, as we are directly across the street from a large lake with beautiful sunsets. 

  

Our Rented Cottage

We moved to New Town, in the Saint Charles area.  We rented a darling cottage apartment while we waited for our home to be built in the summer of 2013.  We changed the name of our blog in 2013 to reflect the blessings that God has given us.  Our Good Life reflects the true nature of our blog!

Our Former Home

We purchased this home in 2002, our second home in Jefferson City.  It is a two-story, 4 bedroom, three-bathroom home with approximately 3400 square feet.  Bob does all the landscaping and outdoor work. We moved from Jefferson City in June 2012.  Our blog was called Lakewood Manor after this house.

Years Together

We were married in 1977, so that's 47 years!

Careers and Education

Bob went to HS in Marceline, graduated with a BS in English Education from Truman University, then got his master's, specialist, and Ph.D. at the University of Missouri.  He is in his 32nd year of education, 17 years as a middle school principal.  Bob retired in 2011 and joined the staff of Columbia College as a recruiter for the teaching program.  In 2013 he became the Assistant Director of the St. Louis Campus and later that year became Director of the College.  He retired from Columbia College in 2016.  He teaches as an adjunct professor for Columbia College in the Education Leadership department now and is now a full-time professor at Lindenwood University.

Terri went to HS in Marceline, graduated with a BA in Elementary Education from Columbia College, got a master's and specialist from Lincoln University, and a doctorate at Saint Louis University.  She graduated from SLU with her doctorate in 2013.  She had 25 years in education, 12 years as an elementary principal.  Recently retired, Terri is now the Project Manager for the Collaborative Work Grant for the University of Missouri, Columbia, Network for Educator Effectiveness field representative and adjunct professor for Columbia College for preservice teachers.  In 2021, she became the first Teacher Development Specialist for the University of Missouri and continued that role until 2024, when she retired.

Interests and Hobbies

Bob loves to read, and watch sports, especially Mizzou sports! cook, drink good wine, and smoke an excellent cigar.  He also likes to smoke meats on his smoker.  He loves cooking shows and shows like CSI. He's a big fan of Hell's Kitchen!

Terri loves to read, watch Mizzou sports, cook and did I mention read?  Books are downloaded on her Kindle, computer, and iPhone so she can read anyplace, anytime.  Loves to travel.

Favorite Adventure

Raising their daughter, Ashley has been Bob and Terri's favorite adventure.  We've been Girl Scout parents, ice skating parents, Show Choir parents, and golf parents and we loved every minute of it!  Ashley has a BA in Textiles from Stephens College and a master's degree in Textiles and Apparel Management from the University of Missouri.  She finished her Ph.D. in Textiles at Mizzou.  She and her husband Eric live in Chicago where Ashley is a professor at Indiana University and her husband works in Chicago.  Their first child was born in 2022 making us grandparents!

Dogsons

We are proud of our dogs, Truman (a rescued Cavashon) and Wilson (deceased), a West Highland White Terrier.  They bring us hours of joy and fun!