It's weird how things hit you all of a sudden. Granted I didn't get much sleep last night at all...and I am 7 1/2 months pregnant...and our whole lives are changing dramatically daily. But, I got really emotional this morning...about everything. But, especially about Sassy cat and having to give her up. And, then about the furniture (the buyers decided to buy the furniture as well at the last minute).
As the day progressed, my feelings were removed from my sleeve and I was back to my old self. But, if you catch me at just the right time these days, you might find a certain someone crying on your shoulder at the drop of a hat. :)
We signed the closing papers this afternoon, so it is a done deal. It's a good thing we signed this afternoon and not this morning or tears would've been streaming down my face the whole time...or, I would have a hole in my lip. :)
Friday, July 28, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Brighter Days
Just wanted to post and give you an update on our "bad day" on Monday.
The fridge: Joel called a fridge repair service and told them what was going on. They weren't going to be able to come out here until today (Wednesday...he called Monday) and so they told Joel what he could do to fix it...at least temporarily, but maybe long-term. So, Joel did what the man said and all is well with our fridge. That was super nice of that guy who definitely knew his stuff. And, great that we didn't have to dish out $150. Yay for cold food!
The car: Well, one of Joel's students flew him over to Jonesboro, LA yesterday. Daddy picked up Joel and took him to Saline. There, Joel picked up Mama's van (which they are trying to sell, so it is not in use) and we are going to use that for the next week or so until we leave for Boston. So, we have wheels again at least. Our car...I think we might donate it to a mission's organization here in town. It's been a good little car to me though, for 10 years now. Awww...I'm getting a little weepy.
The maggots: I just cleaned them out...disgusting, but no huge deal. :)
We are in full-fledged packing mode now...and I mean FULL-FLEDGED. So, that's all for now. The boxes are calling my name.
The fridge: Joel called a fridge repair service and told them what was going on. They weren't going to be able to come out here until today (Wednesday...he called Monday) and so they told Joel what he could do to fix it...at least temporarily, but maybe long-term. So, Joel did what the man said and all is well with our fridge. That was super nice of that guy who definitely knew his stuff. And, great that we didn't have to dish out $150. Yay for cold food!
The car: Well, one of Joel's students flew him over to Jonesboro, LA yesterday. Daddy picked up Joel and took him to Saline. There, Joel picked up Mama's van (which they are trying to sell, so it is not in use) and we are going to use that for the next week or so until we leave for Boston. So, we have wheels again at least. Our car...I think we might donate it to a mission's organization here in town. It's been a good little car to me though, for 10 years now. Awww...I'm getting a little weepy.
The maggots: I just cleaned them out...disgusting, but no huge deal. :)
We are in full-fledged packing mode now...and I mean FULL-FLEDGED. So, that's all for now. The boxes are calling my name.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Wow...What Else?
Today has been a little bit interesting. We started out the day great. Joel didn't have students until 3, so we had a whole morning with him and to really knock out some packing/organizing. As we started to pack, I decided to go ahead and go get some more storage bins.
We went to Lowe's, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart. On our way back, we noticed that the engine was beginning to run a little hot. It wasn't to the red yet, but we were glad we were almost home. We got back to our house around 1:30 or so. Joel went down to the car around 2:30 to check it out right before he left to go to work. Guess what...yep, the engine block is cracked. EEEEEEEEKK!
Also, our fridge is going out. It's a relatively new fridge...really nice. We are hoping it is something very simple that Joel can just fix himself, but something like a broken fridge/freezer is a bit urgent. All the food (including a lot of chicken and fish that we just bought) is going to go bad soon if not taken care of. Another EEEEEEEEKK!
On a lesser note, I did the dishes right before Joel went to check on the car. We thought we had left the kitchen fairly clean before we left to go to Saline on Friday, but apparently failed to rinse out one pot...the worst one we could have forgotten. You see, it had had chicken soup in it. The pot had the lid on it. I just don't know how this happens, but there were little crawling creatures in it when I opened it up to wash. Yes, my favorite thing and yours...maggots. Can we say disgusting?
So, yes...a few very lovely things have happened today. :)
On a super-terrific note, we have a place to stay here in E. Texas so that we can have the baby here with our midwife. A couple that go to our church here have a guest house that they let missionaries stay in when needed. So, they have so graciously offered this place to us for the few weeks that we will need it. What an answer to prayer! And, it's so super cute and nice too. We are very excited.
So, I made light of our "bad day," but seriously be praying for us, that this all gets worked out. Pray that Joel will be able to figure out the refrigerator/freezer and how to fix it. And, about the car...pray that we just take the right steps. Do we replace the engine and keep our Saturn (we only have 6 more months or so before we go overseas)? Do we go ahead and get some kind of used bigger vehicle (we are definitely running out of room in our little bitty car, esp. since we are about to add the 3rd carseat to the mix...it's already a very big challenge to take a trip in it with our luggage and all). Does anyone know of anyone who wants to give away a good minivan or SUV? :)
Welp, off to pack some more...out of the house in a week from today.
We went to Lowe's, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart. On our way back, we noticed that the engine was beginning to run a little hot. It wasn't to the red yet, but we were glad we were almost home. We got back to our house around 1:30 or so. Joel went down to the car around 2:30 to check it out right before he left to go to work. Guess what...yep, the engine block is cracked. EEEEEEEEKK!
Also, our fridge is going out. It's a relatively new fridge...really nice. We are hoping it is something very simple that Joel can just fix himself, but something like a broken fridge/freezer is a bit urgent. All the food (including a lot of chicken and fish that we just bought) is going to go bad soon if not taken care of. Another EEEEEEEEKK!
On a lesser note, I did the dishes right before Joel went to check on the car. We thought we had left the kitchen fairly clean before we left to go to Saline on Friday, but apparently failed to rinse out one pot...the worst one we could have forgotten. You see, it had had chicken soup in it. The pot had the lid on it. I just don't know how this happens, but there were little crawling creatures in it when I opened it up to wash. Yes, my favorite thing and yours...maggots. Can we say disgusting?
So, yes...a few very lovely things have happened today. :)
On a super-terrific note, we have a place to stay here in E. Texas so that we can have the baby here with our midwife. A couple that go to our church here have a guest house that they let missionaries stay in when needed. So, they have so graciously offered this place to us for the few weeks that we will need it. What an answer to prayer! And, it's so super cute and nice too. We are very excited.
So, I made light of our "bad day," but seriously be praying for us, that this all gets worked out. Pray that Joel will be able to figure out the refrigerator/freezer and how to fix it. And, about the car...pray that we just take the right steps. Do we replace the engine and keep our Saturn (we only have 6 more months or so before we go overseas)? Do we go ahead and get some kind of used bigger vehicle (we are definitely running out of room in our little bitty car, esp. since we are about to add the 3rd carseat to the mix...it's already a very big challenge to take a trip in it with our luggage and all). Does anyone know of anyone who wants to give away a good minivan or SUV? :)
Welp, off to pack some more...out of the house in a week from today.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Packing
We have started the packing process. Well, in truth...we have started the thinking about packing process. :) I've been organizing and trashing things all day, but no actual putting of the stuff into boxes. Maybe Monday that will start. Monday, by the way, marks only a week we have to move out of this great house. We love this house so much, but it's so crazy how when it's time to go it's time to go. You just know it. Thank God I'm not a clingy-type person...He made me just right for what He has us doing. That's so good. I would be completely emotional all the time if He hadn't wired me that way. As I've mentioned before, we've been married 5 1/2 years and this is our 5th move. And, these next few months will be more and more moving about. Craziness.
Just an overview of the next few months...tentative as usual. Our lives seem to be out-of-this-world "tentative"...and our tentative plans are tentative up until the very day usually. But, here are the tentatives...
July 31st - move out of house and go to Saline
Aug. 2nd or 3rd - fly to Boston to visit Joel's family
Aug. 21st - 26th - Joel and I go to Brazil to visit the organization and Joel will
get evaluated
Aug. 28th or so - back to Saline/E. TX
Sept. 14th - if not already back in E. TX, will travel back to stay in E. TX until
after the baby is born
Oct. 16th - probably before this a bit, but depending on when the baby decides to
show up (due the 6th), we hope to be back in Saline by this point
Then, from then until the holidays we will be living in Saline (not sure what will happen after that, until the tentative date of February for moving to Brazil). We have a couple of options for housing in Saline. There is the possibility of a rent house to stay in. But, then there is also the option of possibly buying our own place. This would be good for 2 reasons (at least): 1) we would have our own place to stay in, not just now, but also somewhere to come back to on our furloughs, and 2) we would be able to have somewhere to put our stuff (beds, living room/dining room furniture that we still have, other random things) without having to sell it or pay for storage. We are actually traveling to Saline tomorrow to look into that option of a place to purchase. We'll keep you posted and I will let you all know what we found out Monday. Have a great weekend!
Just an overview of the next few months...tentative as usual. Our lives seem to be out-of-this-world "tentative"...and our tentative plans are tentative up until the very day usually. But, here are the tentatives...
July 31st - move out of house and go to Saline
Aug. 2nd or 3rd - fly to Boston to visit Joel's family
Aug. 21st - 26th - Joel and I go to Brazil to visit the organization and Joel will
get evaluated
Aug. 28th or so - back to Saline/E. TX
Sept. 14th - if not already back in E. TX, will travel back to stay in E. TX until
after the baby is born
Oct. 16th - probably before this a bit, but depending on when the baby decides to
show up (due the 6th), we hope to be back in Saline by this point
Then, from then until the holidays we will be living in Saline (not sure what will happen after that, until the tentative date of February for moving to Brazil). We have a couple of options for housing in Saline. There is the possibility of a rent house to stay in. But, then there is also the option of possibly buying our own place. This would be good for 2 reasons (at least): 1) we would have our own place to stay in, not just now, but also somewhere to come back to on our furloughs, and 2) we would be able to have somewhere to put our stuff (beds, living room/dining room furniture that we still have, other random things) without having to sell it or pay for storage. We are actually traveling to Saline tomorrow to look into that option of a place to purchase. We'll keep you posted and I will let you all know what we found out Monday. Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
If One More Person...
insists that I'm having twins, I might have to pull out the hurt on them. :) It's not that I don't want twins...don't get me wrong. I would love to have twins. But, I'm not having twins this time. Every pregnancy people, complete strangers of course, argue up and down with me when I'm out and about that I must have more than one in there. Geez. I KNOW that my belly is big. But, really...there is only one baby.
I know that I promised pictures all this week, but it's a no-go. I'm not sure if it's our computer or the blogsite itself, but I am unable to upload the pictures. It's a real pain in my booty. Does anyone else with blogspot have this problem? Is there a way around it?
I know that I promised pictures all this week, but it's a no-go. I'm not sure if it's our computer or the blogsite itself, but I am unable to upload the pictures. It's a real pain in my booty. Does anyone else with blogspot have this problem? Is there a way around it?
Thursday, July 13, 2006
More Pictures and a Teaser
The appraiser came to the house today. Things are moving along. Of course, we haven't even started to pack yet, but things continue to move along regardless. The good thing is that we sold most of our stuff. We still have our beds, clothes, books, some kitchen stuff, some toys, and some other piddly stuff. As far as furniture, we still have our dining room and living room furniture that came with the house. It is very nice stuff. We had thought that maybe the new owners would want to negotiate to keep that with the house, but they didn't. But, if we do get a house somewhere to come back to on furloughs (one of our options possibly), we will need it anyhow. Anyway, it really is time to start thinking about packing. :) Hard to know exactly how to pack though when you don't know where you are going, in what kind of place you will be living, and how you are going to get there. :) :) Again, we'll keep you posted on all of that.
In the meantime, here are the rest of the pictures that I couldn't get to upload yesterday...and a little preview of the pictures to come the rest of the week. Enjoy.
Sassy cat on her perch. And a great look at one of the great features of our house...I LOVE these great big old-fashioned windows all over the place. Oh well...guess I have about 2 more weeks to enjoy them.
Me and my boy, who is now 2 1/2 years old. Man, those 1/2 years come quickly. :)
Hadley with Sassy...this cat is amazing. She is so patient and gentle with our not-so-gentle-at-times kids. Look at the definition in my girl...she looks really tone doesn't she? And, by the way, if any of you want a great, sweet inside cat, looks like she might be up for grabs at the end of the month. We thought we might be able to take her with us when we left Longview, but it is looking like that might not be a wise and practical plan. So sad. But, anyone want a cat? You'll have to fill out an application and go through an interview process, but let me know if you are interested. :)
This was our last night in Saline. We walked down to the water and the kids wanted to get in. They are great little skinny-dippers. More Saline pictures to come this week.
In the meantime, here are the rest of the pictures that I couldn't get to upload yesterday...and a little preview of the pictures to come the rest of the week. Enjoy.
Sassy cat on her perch. And a great look at one of the great features of our house...I LOVE these great big old-fashioned windows all over the place. Oh well...guess I have about 2 more weeks to enjoy them. 
Me and my boy, who is now 2 1/2 years old. Man, those 1/2 years come quickly. :) 
Hadley with Sassy...this cat is amazing. She is so patient and gentle with our not-so-gentle-at-times kids. Look at the definition in my girl...she looks really tone doesn't she? And, by the way, if any of you want a great, sweet inside cat, looks like she might be up for grabs at the end of the month. We thought we might be able to take her with us when we left Longview, but it is looking like that might not be a wise and practical plan. So sad. But, anyone want a cat? You'll have to fill out an application and go through an interview process, but let me know if you are interested. :)
This was our last night in Saline. We walked down to the water and the kids wanted to get in. They are great little skinny-dippers. More Saline pictures to come this week.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Back and Baffled
Hi all. Yes, we are still alive even though the blogsite doesn't show it. I can't believe it's been over a week since I posted last. We had a GREAT time in Saline and I will be sharing some pictures of our time there soon.
Just letting you all know that we are back in Longview though. We close on our house the 30th and are still oblivious as to our next step. So, we are just still praying and waiting. Some of the things that we had been praying about concerning our stay in Saline...we saw definite answers to. God moved greatly and it was very obviously Him. So, it's not that we aren't hearing from Him at all, which is encouraging. Here's the deal...sometimes God gives you directions as you are approaching the intersection, sometimes it's as you are stopped at the intersection, and sometimes He seems to make you sit at that intersection for a bit before He gives you clear direction. We seem to be in the last category these days. :) So, we'll let you know our plans as soon as we know and will continue to keep you posted. Again, pictures to come soon, but here are a few that were taken right before our trip to Saline (there were about 3 more that I planned to put on here, but wasn't able to get them to upload...maybe tomorrow you will get to see those too):
Grady took this picture of me while I was exercising. Isn't that funny? Don't you just love those squats, esp. when you are pregnant? Anyhow, just thought you might want to see a good shot of the belly, although it's a loose-fitting t-shirt so maybe you can't see it all that well. I will be 28 weeks on Friday, by the way, and feeling great. This baby seems to be about to punch his/her way through...he/she is SO active. It's so fun.
Hadley trying on Daddy's hat.
"We love Veggie Tales!"
This is Dennis Lee. He was at every church children's camp I went to when I was little...and then at the same camp when I worked there as a college student. He's a ventriloquist and is AWESOME. He was in Longview a couple of weeks ago doing a VBS, so we took the kids to see his show one night. They loved it, esp. Grady...he just sat there wide-eyed with mouth open the whole time. :)
Just letting you all know that we are back in Longview though. We close on our house the 30th and are still oblivious as to our next step. So, we are just still praying and waiting. Some of the things that we had been praying about concerning our stay in Saline...we saw definite answers to. God moved greatly and it was very obviously Him. So, it's not that we aren't hearing from Him at all, which is encouraging. Here's the deal...sometimes God gives you directions as you are approaching the intersection, sometimes it's as you are stopped at the intersection, and sometimes He seems to make you sit at that intersection for a bit before He gives you clear direction. We seem to be in the last category these days. :) So, we'll let you know our plans as soon as we know and will continue to keep you posted. Again, pictures to come soon, but here are a few that were taken right before our trip to Saline (there were about 3 more that I planned to put on here, but wasn't able to get them to upload...maybe tomorrow you will get to see those too):
Grady took this picture of me while I was exercising. Isn't that funny? Don't you just love those squats, esp. when you are pregnant? Anyhow, just thought you might want to see a good shot of the belly, although it's a loose-fitting t-shirt so maybe you can't see it all that well. I will be 28 weeks on Friday, by the way, and feeling great. This baby seems to be about to punch his/her way through...he/she is SO active. It's so fun.
Hadley trying on Daddy's hat.
"We love Veggie Tales!"
This is Dennis Lee. He was at every church children's camp I went to when I was little...and then at the same camp when I worked there as a college student. He's a ventriloquist and is AWESOME. He was in Longview a couple of weeks ago doing a VBS, so we took the kids to see his show one night. They loved it, esp. Grady...he just sat there wide-eyed with mouth open the whole time. :)
Monday, July 03, 2006
Progress and Paradise Resort
Progress - Our house now has a contract on it and it is in Escrow as of Friday. So, we will be closing on it at least by the 30th, but possibly even as early as 2 weeks...that is if everything goes through according to ours and the buyers' plans. So, we are very excited and ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers concerning our next step.
Paradise Resort - We are in Saline right now...got here Friday night. We are staying for about a week and a half, so when planning to come, we decided to try to stay in this house on the lake. Most of you know, I consider Saline Lake "paradise." Well, it worked out for us to stay there and make a real vacation out of our time here. It is AWESOME. It's a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom house that is in a big patch of woods about 150 feet from the water. There are tons of huge windows in this house and a big, wonderful deck on the front of it overlooking the trees and lake. You just go down some steps off the deck and walk down a trail to the lake where there is a great place to swim. It's SO great...just the wonderful vacation we needed. Ahh...we are loving it. So, that's what we are doing these days. We had a great family reunion on Saturday and then this week there are tons of events leading up to the big annual world-famous Saline Watermelon Festival. :) It should be a week full of fun. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures for you all to see soon.
If there are sporadic posts these days though, that is why...we have no computer access where we are staying, so we just get to a computer occasionally. We are doing great though and having a wonderful little Saline vacation.
Paradise Resort - We are in Saline right now...got here Friday night. We are staying for about a week and a half, so when planning to come, we decided to try to stay in this house on the lake. Most of you know, I consider Saline Lake "paradise." Well, it worked out for us to stay there and make a real vacation out of our time here. It is AWESOME. It's a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom house that is in a big patch of woods about 150 feet from the water. There are tons of huge windows in this house and a big, wonderful deck on the front of it overlooking the trees and lake. You just go down some steps off the deck and walk down a trail to the lake where there is a great place to swim. It's SO great...just the wonderful vacation we needed. Ahh...we are loving it. So, that's what we are doing these days. We had a great family reunion on Saturday and then this week there are tons of events leading up to the big annual world-famous Saline Watermelon Festival. :) It should be a week full of fun. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures for you all to see soon.
If there are sporadic posts these days though, that is why...we have no computer access where we are staying, so we just get to a computer occasionally. We are doing great though and having a wonderful little Saline vacation.
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