On the Move.....

Sorry it has been a week since I have posted. The good news is that we made it past their due diligence period, so they are locked into the house!!! Wahoo! We have been packing all week a little at a time, usually taking a couple of loads of stuff to the storage unit we have. It has been exhausting, but we are making progress. We had the home inspection done on the house we are buying and there are no major issues with the house which is a relief as well, especially because of the age of the house. Our paperwork is in the works as well.
Sarah was asked to homecoming this week as well. She is going with another freshman named Tripp Burgess. She was very excited and is looking forward to going now. We are probably gonna go shopping tomorrow so she can get some stuff to wear to it.
We once again have been very busy this week. I had jury duty on Monday, but the cases we were supposed to be brought in on all hit a plea deal, so I was lucky to get off on that as well.
Todd's mom is here visiting just for the weekend. She arrived here on Friday. She came to see Sarah march at the football game. She was introduced to Friday nite football in the south.....it is like what the NFL is to those that are up north.....huge stadium, huge crowds,tailgating, etc. If you have ever seen that show Friday Night Lights, it is like that here. She was amazed at it all. She was also shocked to here the prayer before the game. She couldn't believe they prayed at a school game. We quickly explained to her that in the bible belt, there is no such thing as separation of church and state. It was a neat experience I think for her. Anyway, she is headed home early Tuesday morning, so in the mean time, she is helping us pack up all the do dads we have in the house.
Well that is the update for now. I hope everyone is doing well. I will post later in the week.
Hugs to everyone.

Jamboree and Rainbows

Well, we have had some very long and stressful days this weekend. My day started off on Friday with a phone call from Todd that the people that are buying our house were coming by to bring a contractor to look at "repairs". My heart dropped because they had just had the inspection done, and I thought they were going to pull out of the deal. I felt nauseous all day. We heard nothing from them all weekend though so I guess we are all good with God's help anyway. I just need to get through Tuesday and then their due diligence period is over which is the only time they can pull out of the deal. We had to work the football game on Friday nite again till about midnight. We got home, and then we were up and going again first thing in the morning because Sarah had a band competition with 7 other high school marching bands that day called the Southern Marching Band Jamboree. Tift County hosted it so needless to say we were running around all day doing band parent stuff..... We were at the stadium until about 5:30 pm. The kids did great and had a blast. As you can see in the pictures, it is a pretty good size band. I couldn't even fit them all in the frame of my camera. Sarah is the 6th one in on the middle picture. I was upset all day Saturday still about the "repair" issue. Our real estate agent called us several times and told us no news was good news, but that still wasn't making me feel any better. After we got home from the jamboree, Todd and I headed out to the house we are buying to sign our contract. As we were heading out there, I was telling Todd how stressed I was still about the whole thing, and he told me to stay calm and that God was in control. What is meant to be is meant to be. No sooner does he say that and I look out the window of the car and there is a rainbow in the sky. I just started to cry. The funny thing about this is that ever since we started looking for houses, every single time we go out, I express how I hope we are making the right decision, how I hope God will lead us to the right house etc. Well, each time we have looked, there has been a small rainbow in the sky. No Lie! It has always been just a small little rainbow, but each time I tell Todd that God must be watching over us. As most of you know, in the bible, God sent a rainbow after Noah had left the ark to show his promise to us that he will never flood the earth again and that he was making a covenant that he will always be there for us, and he wouldn't forsake us. Well, when I looked in that sky and saw what I would say was a large rainbow, I knew that we were doing the right thing. I tried to take pictures with my camera on my cell phone, but not all of them came out very well, and you can't really see the size of the rainbow, but it was a big one. The rainbow was literally over the land we are purchasing. It was the most amazing thing. (I also teased Todd and said it was the luck of the Irish too, to which he made some German wisecrack!) So with that being said, I felt so much better about the happenings of Friday and Saturday, and went on to the house to do the paperwork. We have it stated in the contract that we must sell our house first or we can pull out, as to protect us during that "due diligence" period, so I knew signing them was okay because we have our out should something happen between now and Tuesday. So I ask you all to say a little prayer for us that it all goes through, and nothing does happen, cuz I love this new house!!!
Tomorrow, I get to report to jury duty......ugh! I hope I can get off. We will see.
I will keep you posted.
Hugs from us.

House and New Additions

Here are some shots of the house/barn. We took them driving by, so sorry for the blur. If you click on them you can get a better look. Also, the girls went to meet their new kittens tonight which will be our barn cats. Sarah has named hers "Pooter" and Bailey is still undecided on a name. The girl that has the kittens works with me and told me she would keep them until we move in. Just wanted to post the pictures quick, but now I am going to bed.

Our new home

Well, we finally found a house. We put our earnest money down last night on it. Todd and I are both very excited about this house, and very much at peace with our decision. The best part of the deal is that we will maintain the same house payment we have now, if not a few dollars less, and we will be able to keep a 15 year mortgage which is very important to both of us. We don't want to live above our means, and we still want to have a life too. We still want to be able to take vacations, go out to dinner etc. Now for the house.....I will try to take a picture of it today and post it on here when I can.....it is a country farm house built in 1915 that has been completely renovated. It is a 2400 square foot, 4 bedroom, 2 bath home on 5 acres. A majority of the acreage is fenced pasture, so Todd will not have the huge yard we have had here to mow. There is a barn, complete with a hay loft and 4 animal stalls. Bailey and Sarah are already on their daddy about getting a Nigerian Dwarf Goat......look them up on the internet, they are tooooooo cute. There are two cement pads already poured where the farm used to have grain bins on them. They are not there anymore so Todd will utilize the cement pads to put his "workshop/storage sheds". The house itself is so cute. The family that we are buying it from bought it 10 years ago, and completely gutted it. They put in new plumbing, electric, central heat and air, roof, septic etc. The house is vinyl sided with a big front porch. When you walk in the front door you are in what they call the "keeping room". There is a fireplace right in front of you. Off to the right is the guest bedroom. There is also a bathroom down the hall from that. If you go to the left you go into the living room. Then through the living room to the kitchen. There is a mud room/laundry room off of the kitchen and the master bedroom is also off the kitchen also. The master has a fireplace in it, as well as french doors that go out to a huge back deck completely covered in shade by a big pecan tree. There is a dressing room/closet off of the master as well that literally is the size of Sarah's room now. There is a wooden staircase in the kitchen that goes upstairs to the girl's rooms. The entire downstairs with the exception of the kitchen, has the original hardwood floors that have been completely refinished, and look beautiful. The upstairs is neat for the girls. There are two bedrooms and a bath off of what we are calling the "teen suite". It is basically a cool hang out area where the girls can put a tv and a couch or whatever to just be there own space. We are probably going to refinish the floors upstairs eventually. They are the original floors as well, but they haven't been refinished yet. We will use throw rugs until we get a bonus check to do the floors. They aren't bad at all, but I know I will want to get them to look like the ones downstairs. The only other thing we are going to do to the house is we are going to replace the floors in the kitchen and baths. They have laminate flooring down in the kitchen and I think it clashes with the cabinets....they are basically brand new floors, but I really think eventually we will put ceramic tile down just to appease my decorating sense. Other than that, the house is exactly what we wanted. It is quaint and very much a livable space.
So now we move on to the packing process of this journey......yeh. Todd and I packed up some china etc. on Tuesday, and tonight he is gonna attack the garage a bit and I will probably work on my craft room. Todd arranged a space for us to put all of our stuff, so we have a storage spot we can slowly take our stuff too over the next few weeks. We will probably schedule the closing a few days after our closing on this house, so we will spend a few days in a hotel, but nothing ridiculous.
I am so happy and at peace about this process. It has been amazing how God has taken care of us. I know this is the right decision, and although I will hate to leave this home we are in right now because it has been a great house for us, I know we are going to make more memories together in our new home. So thanks to all of you who have been cheering us on and praying for a great outcome for us. We appreciate your support more than you know.
Have a great day!

SOLD

Well, the house if officially sold. And so begins our search for a new home. We have about two weeks to find something. Needless to say our stress level has suddenly elevated. We will close on the sale of this house on October 27th, so hopefully we will close on a house for us to move into right after that. Key is finding the house first!
We have been so busy this week and we are all absolutely drained. But I have to accept in my head that I will not be able to relax any until about November now. Between packing and unpacking, football games, competitions, piano lessons, work, and the normal day to day chores/errands we have, it really will be around Thanksgiving before I can hopefully say I can slow down.
We were at the football game last night till midnight, got up this morning at 6 to be at the high school to catch the bus to the Omega Parade that Sarah marched in. Got home about 2, but had to turn around and go get Bailey who had an all night lock-in last night at church. She was exhausted when she got done, but had a great time. Tomorrow, Sarah is playing in the church orchestra and has to be at church by 8:15. I do have a little play time from 2-5 with some of my friends coming over to stamp. Tomorrow night I am planning on relaxing a bit after shuffling the kids to church and back for evening activities. Monday and Tuesday, Todd and I are going to look at houses in the evening. Also, on Tuesday, a guy is coming to disassemble the pool table for us. So with him being at the house, that will force me to be home for a while so I can start to pack up some china and stuff I don't use that often.
On top of our crazy schedule, I got a lovely letter in the mail telling me I was being summoned to jury duty on Sept. 22nd! AHHHHH! Never done it before but it is for superior court, so I am hoping I can get off cuz I can't have it be drug out for days/weeks......that would put me belly up to the bar with a stiff drink!
Well, that is the update today. I am sorry I haven't posted pictures in the past few posts. I truly haven't had time.
Hope you all have a good week!

Been Busy

Sorry I haven't really posted in a few days. We have been extremely busy with just day to day stuff, and it is going to continue into the weekend. I will try to post late Sunday with updates as to what is going on. But just to give you all a heads up, we got an offer on the house that is reasonable, so we are counter offering today. If all goes well, we may be moving in the next few weeks! The couple that came to see it yesterday hand delivered an offer to our agent within an hour of seeing the house, so they must really like it. They had never seen it before either. It is a young couple and he is a severely disabled vet....must be from Iraq,I guess. They said the house was perfect for them. So say a prayer for us and we will keep you all updated.
Talk to you soon.

Got Gas? Part 2

Okay....just to update you all. Friday my radiator crapped the bed and today I was grilling chicken and our gas grill ran out of gas! Also, my father in law is here visiting and he took Todd to the hunting land and on the way there his low fuel light came on...........need I say more?
LOL

Got Gas?

No, not that kind of gas.....we are always in full supply of that at our house.....I am talking about the kind that is making every household in America poorer by the day.....
My day started off with Todd leaving first thing this morning to go fishing with his friend Chris up to Lake Blackshear. He took the van because it has the hitch on it, so I was left to take the girls to school in the Escort.....not a problem at all. I shuffle the girls into the car, start it and notice the Low Fuel light is on and then look at the gas gauge to see we are sucking fumes. So I go up to the corner and fill up which was not a big deal but you know as a mom, it is just one more thing on my list of to do's. $45 later we are on our way.....I remember when $45 filled my van, now it is filling a little Escort. Then Todd arrives home only to have to head out again because he is selling his hunting trailer and a guy calls about it that wants to see it. He proceeds to tell me he is going to take the motorcycle to "save on gas". Great....no problem. I go to leave to pick up Bailey after school and go to get the car keys and they are no where to be found. I was going to take the car because when you are sitting in a car pool line for 30 minutes....yes, it takes that long to get my child from school...you tend to burn gas sitting there, and it is too dang hot to not have the air on, so rolling down the windows with the car turned off is not gonna happen when it is 95 outside....sorry call me spoiled. Todd must have the keys in his pocket, so I get in the van instead to go to the school. Lo and behold, I turn on the van and imagine that the Low Fuel light is on. All I can do is laugh because it is par for the course for the day. I am giggling to myself because I know a lot of women....my mom was one of them, who don't pump gas, and here I am sitting there thinking two cars in one day.....funny, but I am a modern day woman....hear me roar....no biggie again. Go up to the same corner and fill up the van....$76 later I am on my way again. I arrive back home only to tell Bailey she has 20 minutes before she has to go to her piano lesson, so get your homework done as much as you can. Fifteen minutes goes by and we are getting ready to leave. The phone rings. "Hello", "Hi honey. You aren't gonna believe this but the motorcycle ran out of gas." "What? Where are you?" " I am on the road the hunting land is on. I tried to push it as far as I could so I could get cell phone service. I have gone about a mile now, but I am no where near a gas station. Can you bring me the red gas can?" "Why don't you put it on the reserve tank?" "I must have already been on it and I forgot" "Todd, I have to take Bailey to piano lessons and see if I can get someone to pick her up. You will have to wait a bit" "I know, I am sorry" "Okay, I will be there as soon as I can". I hang up and just start laughing uncontrollably. This is a joke right? What today I am gas girl? Is my husband really that air-headed that he doesn't see three vehicles without gas in them? Okay, God....take me back to last week with my lecture to myself on being where I needed to be in that moment......OHM! OHM! BREATHE! OHM!.....not working.....
All I can say is thank God for my friend Susan. She went out of her way to pick up Bailey for me so I could drive 30 minutes to Alapaha to deliver gas to my pitiful husband who is baking on the side of the road waiting for me. I drive 30 minutes back home just giggling to myself because I am reflecting on his words as he left earlier about trying to save gas by riding the motorcycle. By the time I get back to town, I look at my gas gauge on the van that I just filled up...I have already burned a 1/4 of a tank of gas.....hmmm.....where does all the money go from week to week? That is a question that I know he won't ask me for a while.....I'll make sure of that! LOL
Have a great evening!