Feeling beyond blessed - our house is under contract!

In my last house selling post I said that we bought a house and were getting closer to listing our house.  Last Monday the photographer came and photographed the house and Thursday the house was listed (it went live at midnight).  Going into Monday we were REALLY stressing and workin' our behinds off trying to finish up a huge to-do list of things we wanted to get done in preparation to list.  We've been working for a few months on listing-related stuff but the last 2 weeks were INTENSE.  Chris took a week off of work and he drove us into the ground making sure we got as much done as we possibly could.  Needless to say it was not a relaxing week.  Before the photos on Monday I took the kids to my in-laws house and rushed back home for my cousin, who was visiting, and I to quickly rake, sweep and do any last minute touch up we could think of before the photographs were taken.  The next few days were spent making sure nothing in the house got messed up.  We wanted to make sure that once we listed we were ready for showings as soon as we got the call.  We just hoped and prayed (and prayed some more) that the right buyer would find us quickly so we didn't have to live in a 'showing ready' state for long.

Fast forward to Thursday morning.  Chris is in Tampa (which FYI is A LONG way from where we live) at a work conference.  I roll over and check my Realtor app to see if our listing is live.  It is and I text it to Chris.  The listing looks and reads great.  We exchange a few texts about how nervous we are and about how much we hope all of the work was worth it.  The boys and I puttered around most of the day trying to stay out of the house to keep it clean when shortly after nap I get the text message asking for a showing for 4:30 that evening.  I respond 'YES!' to the text.  I highly doubt that the messaging service appreciates the '!' but I don't care - I'm excited!  Over the next 2 hours we get 2 more showing requests for that evening!  I spend nap time vacuuming, re-straightening, and re-wiping everything I can for the showings that evening.  Then I wake up the boys, get them in the car and we head to my parents house for the evening.

While eating dinner at my parents house our realtor calls.  She says that there is an offer and wants to know if we can conference Chris in on the call so she can go over it with us at the same time (remember, he's in Tampa).  We finally get the connection straightened out and she tells us that the offer is a bit OVER the asking price and that they want to close the same day we are set to take possession of our new house!  YOU GUYS!!!  I can't even begin to describe how relieved we were to get that call.  The buyers were in our house something like 10 minutes when their realtor called and said not to accept any offers until they saw ours - I wonder if they had even looked at the whole house at that point?!  Here we are taking a week and a half and seeing our new house twice before making an offer and this guy walks in and in TEN MINUTES makes an offer for over asking price.  Awesome and hilarious.

Sooooo, right now we have finished the inspection on our new house and all of that has been worked out with the sellers and the inspection on this house happens on Wednesday.  Fingers crossed it goes smooth!  There are so many words about this situation that are fitting - though none of them fully encapsulate the experience.  We were so torn and apprehensive about listing our house and the idea of moving.  We LOVE this house.  This has been a great home for us and we've been happy here.  I think we both worried that the selling would be hard and intense and stressful and frustrating and that there wouldn't be another house that would make us as happy as we'd been here and that when it was all said and done we would regret leaving our home.  Right now, we'll see in 6 weeks when we move, it feels completely the opposite.  The people we are buying our new house from have been WONDERFUL to work with.  I'm not sure exactly why (I've not even met them, though Chris was able to) but I feel so welcomed into our new house already.  And the fact that our house went under contract in 17 hours - still feels crazy to say that - feels like SUCH A BLESSING.  So yeah, we are feeling great about the whole situation.  Which is a pretty far cry from where we were 2 months ago.

I have so many thoughts about this process and the new house but for right now I'm going to wrap up.  This is already probably about 2,000 words or something.  But I can't end without giving all the glory to the One above.  This situation has felt so expertly and wonderfully arranged that neither of us has any doubts that we are being provided for right now.

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

 Ephesians 5:20

We bought a house!

You know the whole 'we are selling our house' thing?  Yeah, that's still happening.  We list next week so we're still doing all the projects to get it ready.  It's kind of intense around here to say the least.  BUT in the midst of all the house listing stuff we ended up buying a house!  We had really been focused on moving to a historic district, in probably a fixer upper that we could utlize a FHA 203K loan.  (If you haven't heard of it and are interested in a fixer upper that's a great program, just FYI.)  We looked at some houses that fit that description and the idea of them was so so so lovely.  The reality wasn't panning out.  We were hopeful and determined but the houses that were available needed more work than what our budget would allow when figuring in the asking price and neither of the ones that we had high hopes for had parking.  Or a yard really.  With 2 boys a yard is a must, even if it is a small one, and in about 12 years we are going to need additional parking space for two teen drivers.  So no parking really wasn't going to cut it in the long run.

So we did something we didn't think we'd do, we went and looked at a bunch of houses outside of the narrow scope we'd been looking at.  All of the houses were finished and met all of our size requirements and had some sort of character to them, they just weren't historic.  There was a house that we had been looking at and thought looked cool that had been on the market for a while.  We went and looked at it and honestly we pretty much loved it from the beginning.  It is just so livable.  I was standing in the living room and felt like I could actually see and hear my kids playing and running around.  When that vision comes true I may actually cry, we'll see (I'm a sap like that, luckily the guy I'm married to is as well).

There were some things we weren't totally sold on so after looking at the house twice we sat on it for a week.  We figured it was worth the time to think about and if it sold it wasn't meant to be.  I have to say that was a very healthy way to be about it.  We are not fast decision makers.  And that's ok, that's our process ;)  So when we made our offer we felt good about it.  We had heard some bad stories about the sellers agent and he did try and bluff our agent when we made our offer but the sellers were really fast with their counters and within a day we had successfully negotiated a sale!  It felt like it happened really fast!  Obviously we have not met the sellers but so far we get a really good feeling about them and it really has made the whole process so much smoother.

Our current house gets photographed on Monday and listed on Thursday.  We still have a bunch of small projects to complete before Monday but I can't tell you how good it feels to know that we have a place to go after this place sells.  I also can't begin to describe how very much I hope this house sells!  I am hopeful that another couple will see all the things we love about our house and will make a (very generous! ;) ) offer the day we list!  (Just kidding, though that would be amazing.)

Wish us luck, we're going to need it!

And then we decided to move

A few months ago we were toying with the idea of moving.  When I say that we were 'toying' with the idea, we honestly weren't seriously thinking of it at all.  We were looking at real estate listings online and dreaming.  Our oldest will be starting school in a few years and we'd never envisioned him going to school in our current area.  We don't live in a bad district but for whatever reason it just wasn't on our (my) radar.  Through a series of events we felt we really needed to move.  There are a lot of things that have went into this decision, and honestly it's something that we have faltered over.  Moving is a B-I-G thing.  Especially when you love your house.  And you live down the street from your best friends.

We feel heartbroken about the decision.  This is our HOME.  We love our house.  It's not a perfect house, it has quirks and is a little wonky here and there, but we love it.  This house has encapsulated so much of our lives together.  We moved here just after our first anniversary.  So much of our history is here.  This house is where we learned how to be adults (ok, we're still learning).  And then, this is the place we brought our babies home to.  This is where we prepared a place for our children and where we have watched them grow.  This house is their world right now.

[This is where I start being a real downer.]

Can I just say that we haven't even listed it yet and already this feels GINORMOUS?  We are both super stressed about getting everything ready to list.  And then who knows if the house will even sell?  And then there is the added bonus of not knowing where we are going to go.  We don't even know what town or area we want to live.  I feel like we are living in a limbo with all these things out there looming and it honestly really sucks.  I know this makes me a complainer, but right now I don't care.  I am having a really hard time right now wrapping my head around the whole thing.  It feels huge and overwhelming and hard.  Yesterday I spent 4 hours with two kids in tow going to six different stores looking for replacement lights for our hallway.  By the time we got home I was spent, I had no lights, and the kids were exhausted.  The best part was that I had accomplished nothing.  So then I basically sat in a funk all day about the whole thing.

[I'll try and wrap it up now.]

So that's what I'm up to these days.  Sorry I can't seem to be more consistent with my posting!  But nothing's better than a long absence ended by a long whiny post right?!  Glad you're with me!  I have some things in draft that I still want to publish but I do *hope* to blog more as we go through this experience.  If you're reading this any prayers for our selling/buying process would really be appreciated!

On being the memory keeper

I've always been the type of person that has felt bittersweet about the passing of time.  Having kids has only made that worse.  I've tried so hard to be intentional about the days I have with my boys because I know that they will be gone before I know it.  There have been times when I have done nothing but watch (and stare) because I want to impress the memory deep inside of my brain so that I won't ever forget.  One day when my oldest was an infant I was worried and upset about how fast his little life was moving and that I wasn't going to remember it all.  Despite my husbands best attempts at comfort I was becoming quite emotional and I blurted out, 'But it's my job to be the memory keeper!'.  He looked at me like I was crazy and continued with his soothing words.  But the reality is that I am a mother and I do believe that a big part of my job is to remember.  I think that there is such value in the oral histories that we pass down to our children and instilling them with roots of belonging.  A big part of that, I believe, is telling them their stories.

I know I won't remember everything, and that's ok.  I do my best to record the big things obviously, but also the day to day little stuff.  One of the things I use a lot is the Mom's One Line a Day journal.  I got it a few months after having Davis and I've loved having that brief space to record. I have a lot of grace with myself about doing it each day and there are times when I don't update it regularly.  But one of the things that I LOVE LOVE LOVE about it is now that it is filling up (I only have 1 year left on some of the dates, crazy) is looking back and seeing what we were doing on that day in the years prior.  It's like the manual version of time hop.  :)  

1 day I've managed to write on each day for the past 4 years in my One Line a Day Journal

Mom's One Line a Day 5 Year Memory Book

I'm a photographer by trade which means that I have thousands of amazing photos of my kids, thank you Sarah, and equal amounts of iphone photos as well.  I hate the idea of those photos just being on a computer or link somewhere.  So I also keep scrapbooks (I've switched over to the project life system because it's easy enough I can keep up with it.)  Both of my boys have a small box under their bed with some keepsakes from the hospital, letters that we wrote to them before they were born, and other special mementos.  I want my boys to know that they were wanted and valued since before they were born.  I think one of the biggest gifts we can give our children is knowing that they belong.  I have a lot of thoughts on that subject but I'm not sure that they are coherent enough to pull into a blog post, or really relevant enough for anyone other than me to care about. 

   

 It is definitely something I do to myself but does anyone else feel this pressure to remember it all?  Do you keep journals, scrapbooks, or something else?

New, fresh clean look!

Ok, guys - I am SO stinkin' excited about the changes around these parts.  After years of messing around here and there with downloadable templates online that didn't allow the customization I wanted, I finally decided to just do it all myself.  (Feels like the story of my life!)  I had been looking for a fresh, clean start to this blog and I have to say that I am very happy with the start I've put together here.  It's plain, but I LIKE it!  There are some things I'd like to continue to tweak, but for now I'm am a VERY happy gal!  Big thanks to my curly haired mister who let me dig into my computer this Saturday night, sacrificing our hang out time.  (I promise I try not to do too much of that.)

I am really excited to dig back into this blog as time allows and hopefully post more often.  There are so many things that I haven't posted due to my long absence that I think would be solid content.  I'm excited!  (Can you tell?!)

I hope you all are having a great weekend and are enjoying your Saturday as much as I have enjoyed mine :)

Insomnia

It's late and I can't sleep. 

I really hate when that happens, especially because I love to sleep.  I love napping, going to bed early, and sleeping in. 

Tonight I can't sleep, my mind is racing with things I want to remember for tomorrow, things to put on that never ending to-do list, things I want to teach Davis, things I want to do with Chris, ways to decorate the bedroom, things that need to be done before next week....so many things fill up a space I wish would rest.  Sometimes when my mind goes so fast while I'm laying in bed I really do count.  Not sheep, ever, I just start counting.  I think I may becoming immune to the counting though because more often than not I find myself in triple digits instead of the singles that I'd prefer.

My baby turned one recently.  17 days ago.  I still can't really wrap my mind around it.  We celebrated in style with friends and family, but it still isn't sinking in.  So much has changed in the last year.  I feel older.  In some ways I feel wiser.  I feel way less 'together' than I did before he came along.  I have far less time and money than I ever have had before in my adult life, but I am so happy.  And yet I find myself so much more content in my day to day life.  Sometimes I look around my house and find my helper has found the laundry basket or his bookshelf and I smile and try and take a mental picture of my day.  I know these days won't stay forever and I want to remember the exact look on his face as he explores and discovers.  I want to remember what him being one is like.  I try so so hard to not wish away days and moments, and I think I do pretty good at it.  Maybe that is why I am so content now?  This year has been tough and stretched me in ways I didn't think possible.  (Stretched US in so many ways.)  I want to be a better person.  I want to be neater for my husband and remember to pick up my shoes/clothes/make-up/fill-in-the-blank. I want to be more a more intentional friend.  I want to redefine what success is to me.  I feel like that last sentence is something I think on a lot.  What should my life look like right now.  What should my days look like?  What do I want to look like to my son?  How do I want to represent my family?  How do I want my husband to see me and our home when he gets home from a long day at work?

Our house has been nothing but sickness lately.  I'm ready for that fog to pass.

This blog has been on my mind so much lately.  I feel guilty for not posting more.  I love to blog, I do like to write and share ideas, projects, and updates...but it always is at the bottom of the list.  There are so many big projects I could post but I never get around to it.  Oh well.

Work.  Full time work for part time pay, haha.  I love to work.  I love to problem solve, I love design and marketing and thinking through what the next step should be (in business).  The lists never get shorter.  Sometimes it feels impossible to break away from work.  Even if I close the laptop my mind races with possibilities.  I find myself sending my cohort one line emails with ideas to discuss later.  I'm lucky to be surrounded by partners who let me have a long leash with my ideas and for the most part trust my work.  Potential, I love the possibilites of the future!  Work, sometimes a double edged sword, but I know God has plans for my vocation.  Little or big, He's looking out for me.

And yet I'm brought back:  I can't believe that my son is one.  That year went by so fast...what if they all go by that fast?  I love his smile (and those teeth).  He is very snuggly.  His dad says he is a momma's boy.  Though I feel bad about it (and worry that it might be a bad thing) I love that I get so many opportunities to snuggle with him throughout my day.  I want to make sure he is growing and developing but it is bittersweet to see him move on from the things that were such big accomplishments to him just a few short weeks and months ago.  Packing away onesies and sleepers that he's outgrown, wondering if they will be worn by another someday or be done with for good.  Change, always change.

I've got to attempt sleep again.  In less than 6 hours I'm going to groggily start my day.  But it will be a good day.

Hello old friend...

It's a bit dusty on this old blog!  So much has happened since the last time I was here.  Mainly I had a baby.  What I've come to learn is that having a baby means that (at least in the beginning) everything happens day to day.  It's good to have intentions to do something, but often those don't come to fruition.  So while I had planned on doing lots and lots of blogging a lot of other things came before this old blog.  These days my daily goals (outside of taking care of my son) include getting dressed (who would have thought that would be an accomplishment?), maintaining a somewhat clean supply of clothing for our family, and making sure we eat.  Outside of that everything else is a bonus.  (Maybe I'll come back another day and share my goals for this year...hmm)



I've thought of just letting this blog go by the wayside but despite it's lack of readership, I like it.  Heck, I love blogging.  I have lots of projects, redo's, and misc material that in my mind I think I'll post, but in reality that may not happen.  In reality this may become a space that is filled with ramblings of an overtired mama.  (Oh yeah, my son can now say ma-ma!)  I'm not sure what this blog is going to look like in the future, or the frequency of which I'll visit it,  but for now it's staying put in it's small little corner of the internet. 

A little bit of early birthday fancy

Today marks 28 years of my husband being alive.
My husband is no stranger to this blog, I'm sure to his dismay he is often mentioned and has been pictured numerous times (as well as having permanent photos on the side bar).  I link to his blog nearly every time I mention him.  Each year I write a short blog post wishing him a happy birthday and this year is no different.  Although this year's post may be a bit sappier than in years past...sorry - it's my blog.

Christopher I am so glad you are my husband.  I am SO looking forward to seeing you be a dad to our little guy.  You have a generous spirit and a genuine caring for others.  You love me more than I ever could have wished for someone to.  I love your film reviews and even the tacky stuff you want us to buy for our house (I think you can picture your most recent purchase).  Our house is lonely when you are not home and I always look forward to 4:30 when you walk through the door. 

On your birthday remember that you are loved and feel special, important, blessed beyond measure, and grateful for the many good things in your life. 

This morning to celebrate Chris's birthday we had an early morning birthday breakfast.  Chris requested a coffee cake.  I'd never made a coffee cake.  It was surprisingly simple (and super yummy) - but it made for A LOT of cake!  Hopefully his co-workers like coffee cake!  Since I do like to bring a little bit of fancy to our everyday life I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do a special little birthday set up to start the day.  Chris is a big Royals fan so I went with a Royals theme and snatched up a few royal blue plates for just $0.88 cents each (the only expense outside of the cake supplies and the gift).  The rest of the items were items from around the house. So here's a quick pic:

Happy birthday Christopher!

Love 'em!

Just a personal post to show off some cutie patootie shoes I got for my little mister.  He's going to be pretty dang cute in these kicks.

It's hard to tell in these pictures but they are blue and orange plaid, not black and orange. 

And in like a year and a half he can wear 'em.  :)

My husband's famous!

Check it out!

Sewing SUCCESS!!!!

After our first sewing day didn't go so well Gail ended up taking some of the fabrics home and starting on the linens herself (amazing).  A few days later she returned with her sewing machine in tow to let me borrow it.  It is amazing what a difference a working machine is!  A brief lesson from Gail has turned me into a very novice, but excited seamstress!

Here I am successfully working with some scrap fabric!

To date I've nearly completed all 4 curtain panels and the crib skirt.  There is still more to do, but until the nursery gets a little further along I'm at a bit of a standstill as to how to finish off the curtains.  I also need to pick up the last bit needed for the bumper that Gail started.  Her bumper looks way better than anything I've done so far (the crib skirt looks pretty rough folks), but it's been pretty fun learning! 

Sarah was also in attendance this day, but alas someone has to take the pictures.  :) I can't wait until I can show off some of the completed projects.  It's great to have talented friends!

Sewing day

This weekend Sarah and our lovely friend, Gail (with Miss Molly in tow), gathered for a sewing day to being on the nursery linens.  The day started out regular....

Here's Miss Molly - isn't she a doll?

And here's her momma, Gail, beginning the bumper.

The bane of my existence at the moment...Singer Futura II model 925...little did we know that Rocky would be the only one cheering at the end of the day.

Not far into the project we needed the manual, which has been temporarily misplaced.  The internet has everything though, right?  WRONG.  Apparently not when your sewing machine is from 1975.

So alot of this happened....

And a WHOLE lot of this happened....

At the end of the day we parted ways with Gail (who is my new hero) taking the pieces with her to begin work on them and an agreement to reconvene later with her machine another day.  This last picture is a little blurry, but the sentiment is worth posting - love these two gals!



2010 recap...

I've never done a year end recap before, but somehow this morning it feels right to do.  If I'm completely honest, 2010 was rough.  Sometimes really rough.  Normally I look back and think, 'was that a whole year?', but this new years I'm not asking that.  I'm looking towards 2011.  Here are my personal highs and lows of the year:

Low points:
(I'm starting with the lows so I can end on the highs)

• My mom & step-dad moving to Las Vegas
• My sister, nephew, and brother in law moving to New Hampshire
• Leaving a good job to take a risk with a new job
• Losing the new job
• Being unemployed for 4 months this year

High points:

• Chasing a dream to start my own business (being scared but doing it anyway)
• Seeing our business take off faster than we expected & meeting tons of great people along the way
• Visitng DisneyWorld, Puerto Rico, and taking a mini-cation to Topeka
• Seeing Sarah get married
• My brother in law getting married
• Getting to know my mother in law better
• Watching my nephew turn 1
• Seeing my dad's family so much recently
• Getting pregnant - hello 2011!

Overall the high points are much higher than the low ones...but somehow I've let the low ones stick with me way more than what I should.  So although I'm not making any resolutions I am really looking forward to 2011 and all that I know it will bring.  I've been working on getting my more cheerful attitude outlook back and being less pessimistic for a few weeks, so today I'm channelling that into the new year.  So with that being said here are some things that I am currently looking forward to:

• Visiting my mom in 3 weeks!
• My doctors appointment tomorrow
• Continuing work on CES and growing it like crazy!!!!
• Hugging my husband when he gets home
• Working on some small projects around the house
• BABY!!!!
• Working on the nursery
• Pregnancy massage
• Getting the basement organized into a workout & business space
• Looking up the PBS Jane Austin mini-series schedule on TV (thrilling, right?)
• Did I mention I'm seeing my mom in 3 weeks?!?!?

I hope that 2011 is a great year for all of those reading right now.  Happy new year!