i've got my groove back!

i am alive!! i know, i know, it has been an entire month since i last blogged, and i have so much stored up inside that i just might burst!! if you have been following me on Twitter, then you've been pretty much up-to-date with all events here, such as: packing, closing on houses, unpacking, basketball, pool, fatigue, rearranging for the millionth time, and so on.....

so yes, we sold our beautiful home on june 25th and that same afternoon signed the papers to purchase our new home. if you want a recap on our new home, i'll get there, promise!! and it has been absolute chaos since that day!! last minute issues with buyers, filling up a 24' truck two times to get everything moved and then fitting everything from a 2200 sq.ft. home into a 1500 sq.ft. home is proving to be a challenge....

however, here is our life in a few briefs photos over the last month! enjoy....

our new home is in between two parks! yes, we live smack in the middle of town now, instead of our backyard view being a cow pasture, but it honestly is even quieter outside than at the old house (aside from the ambulance sirens every now & again). but one of the super fun perks of our home is how close to the parks, the pool we are, and 'P's favorite: the locally owned donut shop!!

here's my lil' Lou-Woo Girlie playing and i swear that she gets more beautiful every single day!

big trees!! our home has 6 very large, old trees that are perfect for climbing.... this cute face was captured climbing trees while playing at the park though.... he's so stinkin' adorable and all that curly blonde hair, oh i just love it!!!

we are at the pool A LOT! ok, we weren't at the pool at all the first week we moved, and we might have gone during week 2 had it not been storming some every day!! geez, is it april showers in july?! but thankfully, it has cleared off this week and been very hot, so we have been living it up poolside....

our oldest, mr.'P', is always playing some sort of sport. he is very blessed with athletic talents, thanks be to God!! and since he is headed to jr. high this year (tear...) he had an opportunity to play on the junior high basketball team for a shootout tournament. they did amazing, playing teams from all over the area. we were incredibly proud of him and his hard work!

(he's the one in the front to the right, during warm-up drills before their 8:20am game.... which wouldn't have been so bad except this was day 3 of the tournament and last game from the night before didn't get over until 10:45pm!!)

and while we've been at the park, the pool and playing lots of basketball, there was SO much preparation for moving. have you moved recently? then you can relate to utter chaos that engulfs your existence has you pack up every scrap of your life and try to find a box to stick it in.

that last week prior to moving was hard for us: not only were we all a little teary still about leaving our home but my Man had a business trip that had been scheduled for months & months, so there was not any getting around the fact that he would be leaving that saturday morning the 19th and not return until 2 hours before closing on friday the 25th!!

so while i was doing this.....

....my Man had meetings with this man (yes, that's Jeff Gordon!)

...at all the places on the planet, he was here....

...oh yes!! he was at Disney World!! is my jealously seeping through your screen?! we had planned on escorting daddy down to florida, but with the move it wasn't even the tiniest bit possible. darn!

nevertheless, we survived that week without my Man around to help me with all the last minute preparations, but much thanks to my mama and my brothers & sisters-in-law... i got our new home painted that week and pretty much everything at the old homestead packed up.



but why is it no matter how well you think you've done in packing and organizing, that when everyone shows up to graciously help you in loading up the truck (twice...) that you "find" all these little things that you forgot about?! and with people calling your name from upstairs and downstairs asking "what do i do with this?" and "does this go in a car or get packed into the truck?" it feels that much more stressful..... and not to mention the crabbiest, most ungrateful buyers on the planet that decided to display there nastiest for all to see that day, too... but i'm not even going to tell you that story because then my hateful side will emerge and i'd like this post to be mostly 'cakes & pies' for you dear readers!!




so we got moved that very warm friday evening and had everything into our new home by midnight....


we had a birthday our first week here!! it was baby Big 'K's third birthday!! oh, how did he get so big? we had a toy story themed birthday, completed with a large buzz lightyear balloon floating around our home for days :)



here's sweet boy blowing out the candle on his birthday cupcake (we had his big party with family at nana's house the next day)....




and it is a tradition that began with 'P's first birthday, when they're little and don't have much of a say, we have a cheeseburger at mc-d's....


isn't his faux hawk hair-do just awesome?! i did actually have it cut that way because i think he wears it splendidly!



but before the birthday, before the move and before the paint, this was what my family room looked like... i so love the big picture window



and this is one of my bathrooms with its original 1961 pink floor tile (which i just adore, by the way!) and the original 1961 wallpaper (which i don't hate but can't wait to change!)

isn't it cute? can to see another sink in the back? there is a pocket door between them because there's a door from the master to the tub/sink/toliet area so we can have our privacy and if kids or guests need to wash up, brush their teeth or fix there hair they can still do that! neat, huh?

and here was my kitchen/dining prior paint and such.... it is now two delicious shades of purple and i can't wait for ya'll to see it

so in a nutshell that was what the last month consisted of... well i do have a video post for you that will walk you through the house now that i've had three weeks to organize, paint some more, decorate and re-organize again...

i've also been spending much time in the Word and in prayer, writing and trying to keep my thoughts positive. it has been a challenge to stay in a 'cupcakes & pie' sort of place when it's all a mess and there is a long list of things that need updated or fixed in a 50 year old home, but i am beginning to feel like this is "our home" and being home with my kiddos is such a wonderful blessing, even when it's hard

i have also been working on some crafts and sewing projects and i would love to reward one of you!!

here's a sneak peek....

curious?

good!!! there's a post prepped and scheduled for tonight at 9p cst and you can see the prize and enter to win!!

i can't wait to start reconnecting with everyone again and i have several posts i've been preparing that i want to share with you, so swing by tonight and enter to win!!!!

love ya much!

the move that almost wasn't...

our home sold!!!!

i know!! it has been a long time comin'!! well, technically only four months, but it has certainly felt like forever. i have the utmost respect for you if your house has been for sale for awhile without an offer, because the whole process is exhausting! no joke... the impending sense that a realtor will call at any moment to show your house, so it must be perfectly presentable all the blasted time, well it can send you right into a straight jacket!!



however, we almost didn't sell the house...


but thankfully the Lord answered my prayers to save us from ourselves. does it sound odd that i have honestly been praying that prayer for several weeks?

"Lord, you know my heart, that our intentions are pure and we honestly want to do whatever YOUR will is, so please give me wisdom & discernment... save us from ourselves! don't let us do anything that won't bring you glory and praise and blessing"

yes, our home has been on the market, patiently (ok, not always patiently) awaiting buyers and we knew that this life change is exactly what God had for us. and i have been so excited to downsize our mortgage payment and having a smaller home just means i'm done cleaning that much faster, right?!

but then something happened.... a huge, ginormous blessing!! it was out of the blue, completely unexpected, not even on our radar. God is so awesome that wasy! when we were just going about trying to get this house sold, trying to stay on course and BAM!! my Man (he is so wonderful, just so you know!!) got a huge promotion! that's right!! (and i am aware that i am using a ton of exclamation points, but this is big stuff!!!) it's the promotion that we didn't ever assume would come available anytime in the next couple of years, much less now. and we weren't even looking or asking for it!!

so do a little big dance right now with your arms lifted high to heaven in thanks to God for giving my Man the talent, the wisdom, the favor for this position!! thank you Jesus for loving us and having such amazing gifts instore for your children, even better that we can plan for ourselves!!

okay, on with the show!! so the house keeps not selling... we lower the price... still no buyers want my beautiful home... we lower it again... but february, march, april & most of may pass with no buyers to be found, but...

we began to pray and think.... hhhhmmmm.... maybe the Lord has given this amazing promotion out of His utter depths of goodness (of course!) and now we can stay in our house and i can still be at home with the kiddos!! we still wanted to increase our giving to missions & charities, be more involved with ministry, grow stronger as a couple and as a family, but now we could stay in a home we loved!

it is so wearing to have the house listed for sale.... i know, i know, broken record.... but three kiddos and a horse a mammoth puppy and the cleaning & straightening never ends. and so with now prospective buyers in sight, it seemed that the Lord had granted my wish to stop cleaning the house 10 hours a day and we were going to stay put....

remember the prayer to save us from ourselves? well, just as we were going to take the house off the market, a realtor called one saturday morning and asked to show the house, and reluctantly i said "sure" and we scadadaled out of their way.... then the realtor called again that afternoon:

realtor: "they really liked the house, can we swing back by again just to walk through one more time?"

me: "um, sure. my youngest is napping already so, we'll just hang out in the backyard while you're here, if that works for you & the buyers."

realtor: "that is perfect! we'll be there in five minutes!"

oh mercy! they come, they look, not quickly but for 20 minutes, and while any other time before i would have been so excited that they had returned for a long second look, but i had gotten to the point where i just didn't care anymore, just the truth.

and two days later, we had an offer! but you know what we did, after much prayer and talking and debating the pros & cons, and prayer?

we rejected their offer... we didn't even counter offer, nope! not us, we felt that with the offer they had made it just wasn't being a good steward of God's money and resource to move, and then we told our agent to pull the house off the market! i am laughing now as i write this because i can see how God knew what He had prepared for us :)

however, we got another call that afternoon from our agent, the buyers were devasted. i told him unless we got full price we weren't going to do it. so he asked us to counter offer at full price... so we prayed again, talked more, talked to our parents seeking some Godly counsel, and i reminded my Man of the prayer: "Lord, save us from ourselves"

so we counter offered at full price, the next day they accepted it! wow!

and five days later, after looking at handfuls of homes that we didn't ever get that "feeling" about, we met a wonderful buyer selling her mother's home (who had passed away a couple years ago) who was doing 'for sale by owner'....

my Man and i walked into the house and i was overwhelmed to teary eyes by that "feeling" and the Spirit's leading that this house was the house.

i want so badly to tell you all the cool stories about our new home! the sellers grew up in this home, it was the first house their parents had built and the only place the ever lived! i love hearing about their family dinners, where their mother would spend her time, their favorite rooms.... to say that we love it is a complete understatment!!! (i think that's worthy of 3 exclamations!!)

so we bought it... it is definitely under our budget, it was under our budget before the promotion... it is old, but i just love it!! the lot is huge!!! it has original 1961 pink tile in one of the bathrooms and i love that, too!

what i really love is how God is good, so splendidly good! He knew He had prepared this home for us, He knew that if we waited until this predestined time that we would get it at the price we needed, He already knew we were close to giving up on selling and just when He had destined it the house sold. He answered our prayers to lead us and guide us, to save us even when we were seeking and trying to do His will. He knows our hearts are set on surrendering all to Him and He is so good and His blessings never end.

we have a good lot of work in front of us... i have been priming walls & cleaning carpets, scrubbing bathroom, wiping down the kitchen, and the endless packing, oh my the endless packing, but it is even better than we could imagine....

i can't wait to show you all before and after pictures!! it's coming tomorrow!!

God can do anything, you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! Ephesians 3.20 (the message)

it's gonna be great!

so our home is completely refreshed and updated... people have come and seen the freshly painted walls, plush carpet in shades of woven baskets, and new slate tiles. hopefully they've overlooked the dust that keeps coming back to blanket my tv and shelves, it really doesn't matter how many times i wipe it just keeps returning uninvited.

and how do fingerprints magically reproduce on the fireplace doors and coffee tables? honestly?!!




and i know that i just cleaned those blasted stainless steel appliances!! please potential home buyers, just ignore my babe's sticky finger residue.... i swear that i'll clean it before you move in!!

and we have taken the tahoe filled with excited kiddos to adventure out to peek inside of homes, as well. i have been diligently praying & fasting for God to give us a sense of 'home' when we see the house that He has prepared just for us. i haven't had that yet, so our new home is still out there.

i find it amazing to know that God is working this all out, in the perfect time in order to put us in the place that He has specially chosen... no detail has escaped His notice. WOW!!





while i have had moments since we listed (it's only been 10 days but it feels like sooo much longer) of discouragement, i also have felt Jesus very close just holding my hand and leading down this road... i am so thankful for all those that have emailed, commented, called and offered their words of love and are lifting up prayers on our behalf. the Lord responds and is moved to work in our hearts and situations when we press into Him... i am truly grateful to know that others are joining us on this journey into a brand new chapter of life.





additionally, i have so many exciting happenings to share with you, to remind you that when you pray God moves... but i can't tell you just yet, sorry. but it is totally worth it to keep checking in on us and i promise that you will be encouraged and your faith will be built when you hear about the other areas God is providing in our life.



i would be ever so privileged to pray for your situation, or i would love love love to hear about a recent praise report in your life.... give God all the glory, right?!! leave a comment or email me ( floodedbygrace@gmail.com )



"because He bends down to listen, i will pray as long as i have breath" Psalm 116.2 (nlt) WOW!!