Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice!

Yes!! I was right all along. My besty Carol is having a girl! I'd been telling her since she got pregnant that she was having a girl. Plus, I had a dream about it and told her so. She totally puts stock in my dreams (especially since I play #'s I dream of, and they sometimes come out!).. lol But anyhoo, I'm super excited for her. Well, and for her husband too! LOL Even though he was adamant that it was a boy. They'll both love this baby no matter what sex "she" is. I'm very excited for them and their journey to parenthood... yet again. They've got 3 children between them already so this little bundle will make 4 and has 3 other siblings to be spoiled by. Baby Girl is due in January and everyone's just so happy and anxious to meet her! I wonder if they've thought about names yet?

Mom's Bday

Yesterday was my mom's birthday so my sister and I (and my niece) took her out to dinner. My mom has always loved Tomato Pie and when we moved into our current neighborhood I saw a place called Alfred's Tomato Pie. So, when it came time to pick a place for dinner, it only seemed appropriate that we go there. And we did. It was pretty good.. not quite what I had fully anticipated but it was delicious and it was cozy. It was a BYO establishment, so my sister and I had wine and mom had good old Rolling Rock. That's her drink of choice, and hey, if that's what she wanted to bring in, brown bag and all, then so be it. Anyhoo, the Tomato Pie was great, nice and garlic-y and we had a great time laughing together and talking. My gift to my mom was practical. I got her new sneakers. I know it sounds odd but she really needed them and I wanted to get a 'gift" that she'd use. I also put a little box of Whitman's chocolates in the bag because she loves her Whitman's and I get her a box for almost EVERY occassion. I also gave her scratch off tickets ...... that had already been scratched off. Huh???? Well, here's the story on that. Have you ever given someone a few scratch off tickets tucked in a birthday card? I have. So you open the card and scratch off the lotto tickets only to find that they're losers. Well, that's kind of a rip off right? So, when I was going to get my mom some birthday themed rub offs, I realized I had two winners sitting in my car that I hadn't redeemed yet. So, I gave her them instead! When we sat down last night and she looked at them, she was laughing so hard at first but totally clueless as to why I gave her "used" tickets. Then I explained it. She thought that was even funnier, yet clever. So there, now she has $15 in winnings from her birthday scratch offs. Not bad. And while we're on the subject... I played my dream # for two days straight, knowing I'd play for one more day... (if you dream of a #, you're supposed to play it for 3 days). Old wives tale. Anyhoo, my dream # came out yesterday, box, BUT it came out in the mid day drawing. I never play the mid-day drawing. If I dream of a #, I play it in the evening drawing. So I don't know how much it would have paid, but oh well. Phooey!

4 is my favorite number

And also happens to be the number of days that we have left before our big day. No, not that big day. Another one. Things have come together, hopefully and Monday should be the day. It's tough waiting but we've had so much practice thus far, it can only make us experts in waiting! Hope to be posting Monday with all of the good news but for now - we'll just keep it quiet. Just say a prayer that all goes according to plan for us and that it goes smoothly. Today's the end of my work week so I'll be home tonight doing all of the laundry and tying up loose ends.

Intercession

Without getting too wordy, since I don't want to divulge all of the details involving this particular situation... all I can say right now is that God is good. I do believe He works in mysterious ways and I do believe that He hears our prayers. I've been praying on something for the last month or months, and just recently I prayed for God to intercede with this particular situation. Well, I can honestly say that today, I have been witness to His intercession. Something is taking place right now... and although it may not be such a positive thing in some ways, it's exactly what we needed to happen at this particular time in our journey to 'something'. I feel very at ease right now and just wanted to share that tid bit with you. I often ask for God to intercede in my life and I've yet to be let down.

Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God. --Andrew Murray

This one's just an added bonus: I love it!

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?-- Corrie Ten Boom

Don't ask

Seriously. Don't. One thing I knew was inevitable when I got engaged was the age old question coming at me, in a matter of time. "So, when are you two gonna have kids?" Hmmm. I don't very much like that question. In my 'situation' I've never liked it. I think this is a very personal question so when people just abruptly come out with it, I usually just entertain it to the slightest degree possible. I had one gal ask me a while ago and I ignored her. She wasn't in front of me, so it wasn't that rude of me..it was on a message on another website. Some times I feel like Jeff's family wonders why we haven't had any kids yet. Recently when Jeff told an in-law about the house we had interest in, it was questioned as to why we wanted a home with 3 bedrooms. "Why do you want 3 bedrooms, unless you're going to have kids". So, now it's assumed that we just don't want children??? That's pretty presumptious, I'd say. At times, I feel like really stopping them in their tracks and saying, "Well, ya see. I can't have children on my own. in fact, I've got the card for a fertility doctor in my purse, but have yet to make the call. Maybe you could do it for me?" I don't know why I take offense, when at times, I probably shouldn't. But sometimes it just bothers me. It's a touchy subject and I stay away from it unless I'm having the conversation with my closest friends or family. I could go into details, etc etc in this post but I'll save it all for another time when I have the time to actually share it. Caio.

Catchin' Up

Sometimes I can't be creative and think of a better title for my post after I've been M.I.A for a while. I just updated my wedding blog so I might as well come over here and update too. So many things are going on. We're still in the throes of home buying and it's been quite a nice mix of emotions the last month or so. Lots of aggravation, anxiety, and yet, excitement as well. We're very close to hopefully making a big change in our housing 'status'.. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed and my hands clasped & ready for prayer. Prayer has gotten us through a lot of this venture so far. Hopefully by September 5th, I'm writing a really great post with lots of great news! Other than the housing dilemma, not much has been going on. Wedding planning and getting things in order there and packing up. Again. So we can unpack. Again. Hope to have a more creative post later. My blog is a bit boring.

Holy Hot Today

Wow, was it ever hot here today!?? It was in the high 90's. I think it was said to be around 95. And whew, it felt like it. Funny thing is, it was a scorcher outside, but here I was walking to my car to get my light jacket because I was freezing my ass off in the office. It's always so cold in there! Sheesh. I'm used to it after 5 years but still, it irritates me. Things are starting to look up for us with the housing situation. Hopefully we'll have a place to call home in the months ahead. I can't even begin to tell you how much I am not looking forward to moving out AGAIN and then moving in AGAIN. I think we've decided to get some movers this time.. it's just too much on everyone. I appreciate, immensely, the help that we've received from everyone but we can't possible ask them to help us yet again. I don't like to impose, ever. Right now, we're taking things one day at a time. In the meantime, I'm also putting my feelers out and seeing what's in the job market. Yes, I know, could I possibly put anything ELSE on my plate right now? Wedding, home, and now I'm ready to take on a new job???! Well it just seems that things are not looking so good right now. I could be wrong but I guess it's good to have a plan in place in the event that something 'happens'. I went to dinner with my sister and my niece tonight. Olive Garden, of course. It's always yummy and we always have a great time. We laugh so much when we're together.. it's always such a great time. I really need to get out and have those laughs tonight, that's for sure. I was amazed at how well my niece behaved! Not that she always misbehaves at restaurants, but she's had her moments. Like most kids do. I know, Amy will comment on this one! = - ) After dinner, my sister showed the cute outfits that she bought for my niece ... She is going to pre-school!! Oh, heart be still.. I'm going to be a mess. Blubbering mess. Right along side my sister. I know Baby M is going to LOVE Preschool... She's so psyched already. The outfits my sister got, were the cutest. I tried to find them online but had no luck... they were at Nordstrom on sale so I probably won't find them. Pooey! I'll just have to post some pics when my niece actually wears them. I'm off to bed, I think Drop Dead Diva re-runs tonight, which is good because I missed it last night! Army Wives, I only caught so much.. so I have to wait for that On Demand. Good Night!

What the...

I've heard time and time again, that buying a home is not fun. In that, it very rarely is a smooth ride from start to finish. We started our home buying journey with that attitude, I guess you could say. Not entirely but we had the thought in our minds. Well, I can tell you now that our journey has really just begun and it has been nothing short of a nightmare so far. At times, I sit back and really reflect on whether it has been so bad or if I'm making it out to be more than it is. Truth is, it feels like were dealt a really shitty hand BUT at the same time, we were tremendously blessed. I know that doesn't seem to make sense but it does. We were disappointed with not being able to buy this house after all but we felt like there was a reason we ended up renting it first, under no obligation.. because it got us in the door and all of the problems with it came right to the surface. I can't thank God enough for that. Now, we're basically going to walk right away from it. We've learned a big lesson, of course, and we'll take that with us, but I feel so fortunate .. even though I feel like my life's been a little turned around.
I've always said I'm the person who sees the positive in the negative. Here I go again.

On a wing and a prayer

Well, we went and checked out 4 homes today. We were able to cross 2 of the list, so we're narrowed down to just 2. It's hard to decide which one really took the cake on this but we put an offer in on both and will see what the (the owners) come back with. I think our numbers are realistic and I almost have a feeling which one will come back to us first and that they will actually accept. I think that house would actually be more in our favor. It's an estate sale, which is what I told Jeff we should really try to find, because usually the owners/executors are usually trying to unload those homes pretty quickly and pretty badly. We're going to pray on it and hopefully we'll get some news over the next week. Thers's a plan in store. For now, I'm looking up storage places & we've got to figure out where we're going to stay for a couple months still. My (future) mother in law, said we could stay with her but I don't know that that's the most practical option for us. I guess, money wise, it could be quite beneficial but sanity wise? Not so much. For either party.

Back to fill you in

The past few weeks have been nothing short of 'eventful'. In good and bad ways. But I try to see the good over the bad in everything. It was against my better judgement initially, but Jeff and I decided to buy a house.... before we get married. So way back in April/May we started looking and after several homes, we decided on "the one". Well, long story short, rather than getting into all the details, all I can say is that it turned out to be NOT "the one". So NOT THE ONE. There were some things that needed rectifying before we actually BOUGHT this house, so luckily the owner offered to rent it to us for a few months while we waited on those certs. Well, I can not say ENOUGH, how relieved we are that we were tenants before owners. Once we got into the house, there were more problems than we could have imagined. Details later. Maybe. I guess in retrospect, I think I might have had some instinct that we weren't going to make this our "home" because I never fully unpacked my boxes. Literally. I'm still getting clothes out of boxes in the morning when I dress and everything else, that is not a big piece of furniture, is still sitting in a neatly packed box... just waiting to be taped back up. In all of this, as much as I wanted to scream or cry, I've prayed every single day. I think it's because of praying and giving this all to God, I've remained content. Even though this is not what we planned and now feel that our lives are being turned upside down, I tend to see the positive and I know that there is a greater power in control of this. I keep telling Jeff that. Yesterday he said he's so upset because he feels like he's lost the control, doesn't have a hand in this anymore.. like things are just whirling out of control. But I told him that someone IS in control and does have a hand in ALL OF THIS. I think he believes that. I hope he does. In the beginning, we prayed on this house alot. We asked God to help us along and totally accepted that whatever happened, it was His will. Even now sitting here thinking about packing up our lives AGAIN and figuring out where to stay for the next 2 or 3 months, we still have Faith that there's a plan. We may not know what it is, initially, but I believe it will come about. Yes, that's the part I left out. The owner has agreed to leave us rent the house for the balance of August and has also agreed, in writing, to return our "good faith deposit". We just need to figure out where we're going to stay for a few months (or maybe more)... until we find a house and make settlement. We've decided to put all of our things in storage for now.. and we're definitely getting a U-Haul this time. One trip. So today, we're meeting with our realtor, once again, to check out some homes that we'd like to check out. Wish us luck. Say a prayer.

Yep, still here..

I've been really out of the blog world lately.. I can't believe it. I'm so ashamed.
Please forgive me. Things have been so nutty lately. Lots of big events have unfolded and I've been too damn tired to even talk about it, let alone blog about it. Good grief. Once things really start to dwindle down, I promise to update on everything. I have access to the internet, and thus, my blog all the time now! Woot! So I have no excuse to not post... each and every day. I'm really going to try and make the effort to do that. But for now, this is all I can get out.

Sorry.

Be back soon.