I'm so excited... we got a contract on the house. Our house was listed for 14 days and we got an offer for $900 less than our asking price. Due to the state of the housing market we are so surprised, thrilled and feel incredibly blessed. The only thing that has us a little bit nervous is we are supposed to close on Feb. 26. We have soo much to do before this date, but feel confident that we'll accomplish all that this great opportunity requires.



There have been several times in my life when I have felt the Lord guiding me in a specific direction. I know that He is in charge always, but during those times I feel myself making decisions with Him gently watching over my shoulder allowing me to run with it. When I've felt Him guiding me, it can feel almost overwhelming. It's like I'm watching my life from the outside. I can see a chain of events happening and know I have little control over them, which is a good thing. The ultimate control is in His hands and what better Captain can I have? I guess this is where the overwhelming feelings come from. I'm overwhelmed by His love for me. He is so intimately a part of my life and cares enough about me, His daughter that He takes my hand and leads me down the road I need to be on. I have felt this guidance all through the process of choosing to sell our house that we assumed we'd grow old and gray in. When I've thought I was making the right choice, He has changed my course and then shown me why it was wrong (we don't always get such a blessing). I have no fear about our journey because I feel His watchful eye and His knowledge OF me and His love FOR me. I am so full of gratitude that I just needed to express it.

I'm back...

It's so nice to know you're missed when you're gone. I haven't actually been GONE, just GOING, GOING, GOING.

We are in the process of building a house. The process began months ago, but each month has brought us closer to this goal. We knew we would need a place to live while we built and so Steve started inquiring at Apartment complexes to see if they had a need for a Courtesy Officer. A Courtesy Officer is given a free apartment in exchange for services to the complex. Much to our surprise, we were offered an apartment right away. We saw several advantages to moving now even though our house hasn't sold. Right after Christmas we prepared for the move. The first week of January we moved into our Apartment. We live in the same complex that we lived in right after we got married. Steve served as the Courtesy Officer then as well. It was fun to come back to our Honeymoon neighborhood. We then got the house spic and span and it's on the market. We've had three showings this first week, so we're hopeful. There are several random things I've been noticing about Apartment living that I'd thought I'd mention:

1. I love the way you can smell what each of your neighbors are cooking for supper.

2. I don't like the way the stairwell smells like it's 30 years old. ( it is)

3. I don't like how the stairwell carpet is always dirty.

4. I love that I can plug my vacuum cleaner in once and vacuum the whole house.

5. I love that the kids each have a bigger closet than they had in our house.

6. I hate having to lug groceries up a flight of stairs.

7. I hate having to make sure I've locked my car and all valuables have been removed.

8. I love that it only took me two hours to clean the whole apt. instead of the normal 4 hours for the house.

9. I love that I don't worry about everything being "just so", it's an apt. after all.

10. I love/hate that I can hear my neighbors conversations just below.

11. I hate having to remind the kids not to run in the apt.

12. I love that the apt. has two sliding doors that let in a ton of natural light.

13. I love that we have new carpet so I don't mind when the kids lay on the floor.

14. I love that we get free cable.

15. I hate that we have to take our trash to a dumpster and the people before us never manage to get their trash inside of it.

16. I love that there is a playground right out the door.

17. I'm going to love having a complex swimming pool.

18. I love that the complex has a work out room.

19. I hate having to lug the bicycles down the stairs.

20. I love the blessings that Heavenly Father provides my family. I know He's in charge of this adventure we're on and I feel incredibly loved and protected by Him.

Oh yeah, I am shocked that I allowed my husband to talk me in to getting pets (two geckos and two hermit crabs).