Packing Day 1

Packing has officially begun. We got word yesterday that the buyers are asking for no repairs on the home and that the inspection went well. The other kickers was that they wanted to move the closing and move out date up even further. We now have less than one week to pack and move.

Yesterday, my sweet friend Melissa (and Skylar) watched Jacob while I went to sign the lease on the apartment and they graciously let me bring the keys and lease home so that Jim could sign it upon returning from out of town. We dropped it in the box this morning. Now, once electricity gets transferred to our name, moving will officially begin.

A Gross Confession

I just have a quick confession. You will probably think less of me and that's okay. I'm just trying to be real here, okay?

Yesterday as we were walking out of the house, one of my dogs spit up (so as not to completely gross you out) a little on our bed. I had zero time to deal with it, so I cleaned it up as best as I could. I threw a blanket down on the bottom half of the bed and we left. The house inspector was coming as was the buyers of our house, so I wanted things neat. I couldn't just rip the bedspread off the bed and throw it into the washer.

We got home last night at 8:30. A long day. I honestly looked at Jim and said, "Is it gross if I don't change the sheets tonight? I'm just SO TIRED. I cleaned it up and it's not like it was directly ON the sheets. Just the top bedspread which I never really touch anyway." He shrugged his shoulders in half agreement and half "I sleep in the chair anyway" so I didn't change the sheets yall.

And this morning, right after stripping diapers and washing Jacob's overflowing hamper, the bedspread went in. And you'll never guess what: it HAD SOAKED THROUGH the sheets. Gross. Gross. Gross. Gross.

My name is Sarah and I slept in sheets that had dried dog throw up on them.

All For Nothing

Yesterday, I left my house at 8 am and drove to my in-laws with my dogs, husband, and kid in tow. He unlocked the door and made sure the alarm wasn't armed (it wasn't) and then we dropped him off at his office. About 200 yards down the road, he calls me and says "keys." We made a U turn and headed back to the entrance to get his set of keys so I could get back into his parents' house.

I made a stop at McDonald's for a large coke and then we dropped of Jim's cleaning. I dropped my dogs off in the backyard, got Jacob out of the car, changed his diaper and laid him down for his morning nap. I went to move my dogs from one side of the yard to the other only to discover that Josie had squeezed through the gate to a busy street (the reason I was moving them from that portion of the yard). In a panic of coaxing and reaching, I was finally able to barely reach her and drag her back through the gate. I'll have you know that the gate was automatic and the only openers are in my in-laws' vehicles, so that's why I didn't just open the gate.

After a high stress morning of barking dogs and a non-napping kid, I got in my car a little bit early, chancing that driving around would be better okay for 20 minutes. I drove by my house 45 minutes before I was allowed to and saw that no one was there. I let the dogs in and brought Jacob in to change clothes and diaper. The house was oddly exactly the way I left it. Either the home inspector and family were awesome at putting things back JUST the way they are or...

THEY DIDN'T COME. They rescheduled it for today and told no one. So, that's my house selling complaint in a blog post. It actually isn't that bad. It was just a stressful situation and it wasn't even necessary. If you ever buy a house, be considerate of the people living in it.

Blog Maintenance + House Selling Update

I just completed some blog maintenance. Does anyone else get overwhelmed with the whole labeling and tagging posts in categories? I'm afraid I won't always write fitting in those categories and then I'll have so many specific categories that it's overwhelming to look at. So, I edited some down  (made them less specific) and took some out completely. Since I've committed to making the blog more personal and less project-y, I took my Project Life posts down. No one looks at those for inspiration for Project Life.

Today is day 6 of the 10 day option period in the house selling saga. We will have an appraisal and inspection done this week and negotiate getting any necessary repairs done. If all goes well with that, we'll pay our official deposits for our apartment on Monday and moving day is April 4th! I have the incredible urge to pack (and will start boxing up non-daily needed things this week) but don't want to get too ahead of myself just in case something happens with the deal.

I think I'll be having an impromptu garage sale to sell some things we won't need (lawn equipment) or that we won't have room for (wardrobe, office/craft comes to mind) so that I can raise some money to buy a VACUUM. Yes, we'll now have carpet so I need a good pet hair vacuum to keep things clean.

A Friday List

1. We finished touring apartments in town yesterday and decided on the one we want. We turned in our application and fee and she is holding it until the option period is over for us (which is March 30). We should be getting a call for them to come do the home inspection and then we'll negotiate out anything they find and want repaired.

2. Yesterday was my last day as a dance teacher. One of my siblings is being homeschooled again, I was constantly going going going and not able to fully watch the kids sometimes, scheduling out sitters for Jacob was proving to be more difficult and stressful than originally thought, so I resigned after much thought and consideration. I don't think I've ever felt as out of control and "just surviving" as I have these last three or four months.

3. I think for the most part, our house is finally healthy again. Jim had bronchitis for like 20 years (or 6 weeks) and I've had the allergy, runny nose/cough, my voice was replaced by my sexy man voice thing, and Jacob has had lots of boogers and coughing. I think our Kleenex budget will be significantly reduced in April.

4. I cooked a crock pot brisket for the first time and it was good. Nothing extra special or out of this world, but a nice base cooking method that I can now add layers of flavor too. The recipe is to trim the fat off your 3-5 lb. brisket, put it in the crockpot, add a can of cream of mushroom soup, a package if onion soup mix, and water to cover. Cook on high until it's bubbling, then turn to low for 8-10 hours or until around 170 degrees inside and fork tender. You'll want some kind of good BBQ sauce or something to go with it.

5. Opening Day and Easter are on the same day. What a great day it will be!

6. Also today, my Dad's 51st birthday! Happy Birthday Daddy!

Have a FANTASTIC weekend!

Fear of Being Ordinary

I had a realization in church on Sunday. I don't recall exactly what I was hearing or reading, but it was just like this sudden conviction that in my pride, I'm afraid of being a normal, ordinary, nobody. I almost crave the attention and approval of others and it is a sickness.

Now, this isn't a new realization. My husband would tell you that I work hard to please, and that it has been a process of letting go of the fact that I can't make every one happy. I think I've come a long way from my high school days of constant stomach aches and high anxiety levels and nights of tears; however, motherhood seems to be pulling a strand out here and there and it's a sickness and a sin.

I know I'm not a nobody. I have many characteristics and life circumstances that would make me "weird" in the world's eye. I am a covenant partner and co-heir with Christ, and it isn't because I did enough to please Him.

I think that's why my blogging in the past months has been less personal and more task-oriented. I was afraid that people would think I'm boring or OCD or crazy. Honestly, I don't blog for relevance though. I blog for me. I like writing, I like chronicling my days, I don't have time to sit and journal each moment, so I capture it on my iPhone and put it in Project Life or on this blog. I'm knot particularly awesome at any of those things either, and it's okay. I wasn't put on the earth to have the best blog (though some are) or the most creative Project Life album (though someone is) or the most organized house (but I sure love trying!). I have many roles, none ordinary, but sometimes boring and all redeemed in the name of Christ.

Here's to more personal (not schedules of projects) blogging in April.

20 Days

I honestly flat ran out of time to blog yesterday. The last 36 hours have been a whirlwind of activity and once I finally had everything done that had to be done last night, I was out.

For the sake of coherence, I'll back up to Sunday. We got a call at noon from our realtor that someone wanted to look at the house that afternoon. That night, he texted us and said the same buyer wanted to come back first thing Monday morning. Great news!

They made us an offer around 5 Monday afternoon and it wasn't great. We talked it over and with help from our realtor, made a counter offer. I went to Bible Study and got a text from Jim that they had countered and we'd discuss it once I got home. Our leader was closing out the study time with a prayer and when I opened up my eyes, I had this message:

Greater news! So, while it isn't done until it's done, it's a little crazy because they want to close on April 8th. That gives us 20 days to find an apartment and move. To complicate things a bit more, they have the 10 day option period to get the house inspected and can back out at anytime. We don't want to wait until March 30 to see if everything goes through, but we also don't want to jump all in and then something happen and we end up not actually selling to this buyer.

I spent yesterday making cookies for a church function, calling around for available apartments and prices, signing papers to officially enter into contract, teaching two dance classes, letting Jacob nap, preparing for another home showing this morning, touring an apartment that may be "the one" and watching my siblings in between. Exhausted, but in a good way.

Today, we had another house showing, (and I totally missed the memo that you show your house even under contract- so I made a huge mess making those cookies and then paid for it later) are touring two more apartments, turning in applications, keeping the siblings, going to church and doing the homeschool thing with Alijah!

Spring Cleaning : The Garage

Friday, I took on my first Spring Cleaning project. Here's the breakdown!

1. Before I could finish moving crates from the garage, I needed to get the storage unit better organized and make a list of everything that was in there. I bought a pack of vinyl letters at Target for $3 and labeled all the crates with a letter or combination of letters (so as not to waste any). Then, I just took a general note of what was inside of them. Christmas, home decor, baby items, etc. I made a list and am going to type that up and save on DropBox so I always have it.

2. Next came moving crates from the garage. I labeled them and added them to the list at home and loaded up the Cube. With the seats folded down, I could get 12 crates in the Cube. 

3. I had to make a quick phone call to Jim to see what he wanted to keep of his gardening stuff. Since the plan is to move to an apartment, we won't have a huge garden. But, Jim has spent hundreds of dollars on his gardening projects, so we don't want to be wasteful. We kept the tools and some of the supplies for storing until the next house, and recycled the plastic seed starting planters and some of the fencing. 

4. I also took a load of things I don't want anymore to Goodwill.

5. Then, I blew out the garage with the blower because a lot of leaves had gotten in. There are a a few crates I want to go back through, so they're still in the garage. 

Next up: Sunroom and Jim's closet!

Book Review :: Loving the Little Years

One of my goals for the first part of this year was to read 3 books. One of those titles that had been suggested to me by a friend was Loving the Little Years : Motherhood in the Trenches. I purchased the Kindle version and had it read as fast as any book I've ever read.

Actually, in doing a little search, I saw she just came out with a new book called Fit to Burst that is going on my "to read" list.

I liked the book because I could so easily identify with her anecdotes and found her "advice" to be more of an encouragement than someone telling me how to be a "mom." I laughed out loud and read things to Jim and also did some highlighting for things I wanted to remember. The book affirmed my "no judging" rule I have when it comes to mothering- everyone's battle is different, yet the same because we're all fighting a sinful heart that just manifests itself in different ways.

Here are a few of my favorite highlights:

"If your son in his high chair is struggling with anger about his vegetables, you should be seeing a high school boy acting out after a lost basketball game. Give him the tools now that he will need then." 

"Christian childrearing is a pastoral pursuit, not an organizational challenge."

"Scars and stretch marks and muffin tops are all part of your kingdom work."

So, if you want a quick read that might be a re-read, that will make you laugh and give you some good things to remember, I suggest this book!

There's Always Hot Pockets

When Jim and I first bought our home, and got cable, I started watching a LOT of HGTV for inspiration. However, it seemed to contribute more to my discontentment than to the cuteness of my house so I had to stop watching. You can ask my husband if you don't believe me- it was pretty ridiculous and all completely the fault of me.

When I went on bed rest, I started watching Food Network. I don't really remember what turned me on to the channel but so began my love for all things Food Network. It was really odd considering I was probably the worst cook around. I come from a line of great cooks, but somehow the genes skipped over me. I once rebaked cookies thinking that it was a broccoli cheese casserole. The whole cooking thing really scared me.

Jim was the cook in our home until a few months ago, really. He was good at it and wasn't afraid to mess up. I couldn't bear the thought of failure, so I just stuck to baking (an exact science, something that fits for me) and left the meal prep to him.

I started cooking more once Jim went back to work after having Jacob. I wanted the break in the evenings and Jim wanted bonding time with Jacob. I started out with easy recipes that I had seen JIm make over and over and slowly branched out.

So, thanks to Jacob and Food Network, I've become more confident in my chef skills. We have good knives, a new cutting board, new pots and pans, and lots of new cook books. I'm eager to try new ingredients and new cooking methods. Thanks to the cooking shows, I've seen how things can and are prepared and I'm not afraid to try it out- because guess what? Jim pretty much eats anything, and if it's so bad he won't, there's always Hot Pockets.

March is a Fresh Start

I don't remember where I heard it, but in a past conversation, the thought came up that God was a God of fresh starts. In Him we are a NEW creation, the old has gone (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). And that new self? Well, it's constantly being renewed in the image of our Creator (see Colossians 5:10). God is the God of "new." He has structured our time around that fact: Friday was a new month; yesterday (or today, depending on how your brain works) is a new week. Today is a new day. We've been given another shot at it, a fresh start, a clean slate.

March for me is going to be about "fresh." It's s-l-o-w-l-y starting to feel like spring. The days are getting longer. I love this time of year. Jim and I are also going to commit to eating more "fresh" foods (even if they were meals we made from fresh ingredients and froze them for convenience) and less fast food. With the spring-like weather comes a desire to freshen up the house. And, Jacob and I are getting a fresh start into the next chapter of our relationship as he transitions out of always having to have momma around to becoming a boy and not a baby anymore.

It's easy to get weighed down by stuff of life. Today, I'm laying it aside. Some of it needs to be dealt with, some of it let go, some of it bathed in prayer as I search for wisdom in knowing what to do. I am thankful for fresh starts and new mercies, every morning.