Good news...

As you know the people who put a contract on our house bailed out before we got to IN, but this weekend we got another contract!!!! I'm so relieved! This one better go through!! I don't want to get my hopes again, but the awesome thing that these people are cash customers! Can you imagine paying cash for a house? WOW! So, we don't have to worry about their financing and the closing will be fast. It's set for July 14th. So, things are moving and we're hoping to get this done with! Then, we can go ahead and purchase this house we're in! And I can paint and do whatever I want to it without asking! God is still in control and He takes care of our every need!

More good news....we sold our dryer today - thanks to www.craigslist! We have to get a different one b/c it's not 100% compatiable with the house b/c the hole on the back is too far away from the hole in the wall so it's squished in the back and not enough air is getting out. So, a bummer b/c of course you can't sell a used dryer for what it costs to replace it, but thankfully it's only a year old, so I got a decent amount for it! So, we'll be heading out to HHGregg tonight to scope out their scratch and dent and whatever else they have!

Vacation

We took a little vacation before we left FL and headed to IN. Of course we went fishing at Lake Wales and Papa caught a baby alligator...

Then we went to Wet-n-Wild and Regal Palms in Orlando for some sun and swimming...

And one thing we don't normally do is go to a baseball game. We went to a Cubs game at Tropicana field against the Tampa Bay Rays. They didn't win and they lost all three games in the series, but it was a fun time!

Check out the rest of our vacation pictures in my family pics link!!!

Back home again in Indiana!

Finally, we're here and we're unpacking and we just got our internet/cable hooked up today, so I'm able to update everything! We've moved into our house and right now we're renting it until our house sells in FL. The people that put a contract on our house bailed out, so we're back up on the market again. We've had a few more showings, but no more offers yet. So, please be praying with us!

The boys have made LOTS of new friends in the neighborhood and at church. I love this neighborhood and there's so many kids on our street, so the boys love it. Most of all, they love our huge backyard. The playset looks so small now, but there's so much room for them to run and play! This house is perfect for us and we're so blessed to be able to rent it right now.

It feels really good to be back home in Indiana.

The many facets of my dad

I thank Jesus for my dad. He's first of all my friend and mentor. I've learned so much from being raised my him and my mom. He's always been a huge supporter of everything I do. He's encouraged me and pushed me to always do my best (especially in running CC and Track in school) and has always shown how pleased he is with the accomplishments I have made. I've always known that he loves me and would do anything in the world to see me happy.

He came to as many track and CC meets as he could - always cheering me on and videotaping. He would even leave little notes in my spikes for me to find right before the race that would say encouraging things and tell me what my mile splits should be! We started running together while I was in college when I would come home for breaks and one day when I said, "Dad, I could stop running for a whole year and still beat you" he decided to prove me wrong. He started running consistently and then beat me in a 4 mile road race the summer after my freshman year of college. Boy, was I embarrassed. But, running has been one thing we do to spend time together.

And as you can see, my dad is a fisherman. He LOVES to fish! And yes I've gone with him a few times, but I'm not as crazy about it as he is! I do have one memory in particular where I was with my dad fishing and I was sitting up high on a hill of rocks behind him and he went to cast his line out and hooked my eyelid! Luckily, I wasn't hurt too bad!

My dad came to all my piano recitals, band concerts, show choir concerts, instrumental competitions, fine arts festivals, etc. Even when it was boring, he was there videotaping and showing his support. My dad would take us and our friends out on our ski boat to Mississinewa Resorvoir and we would go tubing/skiing. It was so much fun!!! And he always planned the best family vacations to FL. He made sure we made great memories!

So, not only is my dad my friend and supporter, but he has always been my Pastor. My dad's been a Pastor since right out of Bible college, he was a youth pastor for a few years and then pastored his first church at the age of 26? in Kokomo, IN. We were there for 26 years! Nothing is more special than having your dad pray for you in the altar. My dad has always prayed for his children and I know he does it faithfully. My dad has also done our boys baby dedications. One being Jadon's dedication at his funeral and then Josiah and Joshua in Crystal Lake, IL. I've always loved listening to my dad preach....of course I'm biased, but I think he may be the best preacher in the world!

These are just a few of the good memories I've had with my dad and I look forward to what we'll share in the future. I love you Dad!

Vacation

So, the house is pretty much packed up and tomorrow and Monday we start our vacation with my parents and Meg and Chris before we leave for IN. We'll be heading to Lake Wales to go fishing on Mon/Tues and then Tues night we'll go to the Rays vs Cubs game, Wed we go to Wet-n-Wild and Thurs. we'll be at the condo in Regal Palms relaxing and swimming and just having fun. Friday, we'll head back home and load the UHaul and head out on Sat. morning. What a jammed pack week before the long drive!!!! So, the next time I blog may be when we're in our new house!!!! I'm ready for a little fun family time!!!!

We got a contract!!

Yesterday we got the call from our realtor. We got another offer and it was a good one! So, now we're under contract!!! This is just another confirmation that we're doing the right thing and God has His hand in this! I have felt a peace about the whole house situation in the bad market from the beginning, but I did not expect it to go this fast. I thought we'd be leaving here with a house still up for sale. Why do we always expect so little from God? So, we're working towards closing and now everything in IN can close too! This whole thing has been unbelieveable! God is so good!

So, the past few days all I've been doing in getting car, home and medical insurance quotes. I think I'm about done with all that, but it's sure not fun! The only good thing about it is all of it will be MUCH cheaper in IN than in FL!

And last night we had our farwell party in youth. We had pizza, salad and cake and a lot of the youth wrote really nice cards to us and we got a few gifts too, so that was very nice. So, this coming Monday my parents and my sister and her husband come in and we spend 5 days with them before we go! I'm so excited for what God has ahead for us!

Thank You Jesus!

God has answered one HUGE prayer!!! Our counter offer on the house in Indiana got accepted last night, so we have a house!!!! I'm soooooooooo excited! They're allowing us to rent it until our house sells, so we don't have to move twice! This will defintely be the nicest house we've ever had and the biggest, but it's not majorly expensive, so it's perfect! Ronnie's just concerned about all the decor I'll want to buy!

We've had 4 clients come to look at our house so far and it's only been on the market for a week and a half, so I feel like we're getting some good traffic coming through! We just need that right one!

Thank You Lord for answering this prayer!!!!

Update

Still have the sinus infection...ugh! Last night I started the coughing and my chest was hurting sooooooo bad! So, I added some Mucinex to the Zyrtec. Today, I hardly have a voice at all!

Anyway, we're going back and forth counter-offering with the house in IN. We should hear back on the final counter today. It seems like everything is going to go through.

The offer on our house did not accept our counter offer, so we're waiting for another offer. We have another showing tonight, so we're hoping they like it!

And I'm packing some today. The real heavy duty packing will come in this weekend, but I don't want to pack up too much while we're showing our house. So, that's about it!

Zyrtec and housing....

I've discovered that Zyrtec D is a great medicine for sinus infections! It took away my scratchy throat and now I don't sound like a man anymore and I can breathe and I'm not blowing my nose every 3 min.! So, if you haven't found something over the counter that works, this does!

I put an offer on a house today with a contingency of our house selling in 90 days with an added request to rent the home until our house sells. They were actually going to start looking for renters soon, so let's pray they accept our offer! We also had an offer on our house and we're waiting to hear back from our counter offer! Things are moving, so I pray it all goes through! It would be two HUGE miracles and I think I would start crying if just one of them were answered!

Moving back home

Well, some of you know this already, but we are moving AGAIN! But, this time we're going to IN where I'm orginally from. I've wanted to make this move for a long time! About a month ago we interviewed at Ellettsville First Assembly and were offered the youth position there. It's only an hour from my parents and my brother's family. We're so excited!!! I love the area of Ellettsville. It's a beautiful small town right next to Bloomington, a much larger college town where Indiana University is.

I'm leaving today for Ellettsville to finalize our living plans. We had already looked at some houses and I'll do something final this weekend. Our house here is up for sale and yes I know it's a bad time to sell, but we believe it will work out. We've already had two showings and it's just been on the market for 5 days. So, I'm encouraged by that. And the church there has offered to help us with rent while our house is on the market - what a blessing! So, God is providing and once again He's taking care of us. Just pray that our house sells quickly!

Now, if I can just get over another sinus infection, I'll be happy!

Aquatica

Sea World has a new water park called Aquatica. We took the boys there yesterday and it was soooooooo hot! You could barely walk on the concrete to go anywhere b/c it burned your feet! Eventually they had people spraying the concrete so you could just walk across it. We had to carry the boys b/c it was too hot for them. So if you weren't in the water you were getting toasted! Of course we all put sunscreen on but guess who forgot to put any on their back? ME! So, today my back doens't feel too great! The boys had fun that's all that matters! I still like Wet-n-Wild better....it's easier to keep track of your kids and it's not as chaotic! Aquatica is new this year so it was pretty crowded too!

And today I went to see my cousin's baby who was just born yesterday morning. I loved holding him....he is so precious! I was thinking that maybe I try again for a girl??? Ronnie saw the look on my face when I got home and said, "Oh no!" But then I keep thinking of Josh pouncing on the baby like an animal!