Moving?!?!?!

When Ed and I first moved back to North Carolina from Ohio, we bought a house halfway between Wilmington (where I work) and Myrtle Beach (where he used to work). Most of you know this…but I feel it’s a good way to start this post…so bear with me.

Last spring, Ed decided to change careers…he was tired of never being home, working late hours, etc…so he quit cooking in Myrtle Beach and became a manager in the Fresh Foods dept at Harris Teeter in Leland. Immediately after he started the new position, images of moving closer to Wilmington started swimming in my head. I started talking about it, I started selling our house in my head...I even asked people if they knew anyone that wanted to buy in our area! But Ed wasn’t as thrilled about this prospect and essentially told me to cool it. So I did. I stopped wishing for something else, and instead was content with the home we had, and resigned myself to driving 45 minutes to and from work (and church) all week long. It wasn’t so bad.

Last week, however, Ed and I were talking about grown-up stuff. You know…money, babies…stuff like that (and no, I’m not pregnant Ashley!). Suddenly he says, we need to sell our house and move to Leland. I thought he was messing with me, but nope! He’s ready to move!!!!!!!!! Can I get an amen??!!!

So…now images of moving closer to Wilmington are once again swimming in my head, but this time, it might actually happen! We want to move to Leland mainly because Ed works there, Edwin goes to daycare there, and I work just minutes from there. Plus, the taxes are way lower than New Hanover County. Anybody want to buy a house?? Or know someone who might? Here’s my little attempt at a sales pitch:

It's a 4bedroom/2bath house on 0.67 acres with a fenced in back-yard. It's bugging me because I can't remember the exact sq feet, but I think around 1500? We have a small front porch, but the back deck extends the length of the house. The master bedroom has a big walk-in closet, the master bath has double sinks, a stand-up shower, and a garden tub. The living room, dining room, and kitchen are all open....there's tons of counter space and a big pantry (for all of our grocery game winnings! haha). There's a laundry room, sliding doors leading out to the back deck.... We have central air/heat…um…what else?

I’ve already talked to a few people about realtor referrals…I’ve gotten quite a few names actually. Our first step is to sell a bunch of stuff that is taking up too much room in our house. And I think all of my tv-watching might finally pay off! When we still had cable, I loved watching the shows on HGTV or TLC or Discovery where they’d set up the home for selling (I think it’s called staging?). Anyway, I know that we need to take down all personal stuff, re-paint the rooms to look more neutral, basically detach ourselves from the home. I think I’ve already done that. Hee hee. Don’t get me wrong…I truly love our house. If it were possible (and not expensive), I’d just as soon pick the darn thing up and plop in down in Leland. But that’s not an option here, and I don’t feel like going all Wizard of Oz or anything.

Whew! Ok, here’s where you, my two or three blog readers, come in. Do you have any tips, hints, recommendations for selling a home? This is our first house, so we don’t have any experience in this crazy real estate world. Also, please pray for us. I want to keep a level head about all this…and I want to do God’s will. (I’ll admit, I’m hoping His will includes us in a new home in short order!) But I have a feeling I’m going to be learning some patience!

Better late than never

I had intended to write a big long blog post about the past week's events....but now I just don't want to go into everything.

Here's the bullet-point version:

• Wednesday 21st: Ed found out his dad, Larry, had a heart attack and was in ICU
• Thursday 22nd: Ed, Edwin, and I left our house headed for Ohio at 8pm
• Found out at 11pm that his dad had passed away
• Arrived in Ohio at 8am Friday 23rd - Ed was able to go to the hospital to say his goodbyes

I hate that it all sounds so cold, but a blog for me isn't the place to talk about something like this. I personally didn't know his dad all that well, but I know that if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have my husband or my son. For that, I'm eternally grateful. And I'm sad that Ed is sad.

One thing I will say though is this: If you ever doubted why Ed & I decided to do Financial Peace University, if you ever wondered why it's a big deal to budget, if you ever thought it was a waste of time...let me just tell you something. When we made the decision to drop everything and go to Ohio, we weren't sure what that would mean. Ed could possibly miss out on several days' pay. A hotel could get expensive, gas could cost a lot, who knew how long we'd be gone? But you know what? We were able to drop everything with no financial worries. We used our emergency fund to reserve a hotel (got a great deal on Priceline by the way!), we paid cash for everything...and when we got back, we replenished the emergency fund. No additional credit card debt, no wondering how we'd pay for everything. It wasn't an easy trip, but at least the money part was "easy".

On another note, it was soooooooooooooo nice to see Jeanie and Glenn! Obviously the circumstances of our trip weren't the best, but we made it work. They were thrilled to see Edwin, and it was even more fun because he remembered them this time. Edwin also got to play in the snow for the first time. Yes, we got some in Wilmington last week, but that doesn't count...we barely had a dusting at our house. I have much more that I could say... but again, this doesn't seem to be the right place for it... Enjoy a couple of videos instead :) Oh yeah, and if you want to see pictures, you can check me out on facebook!

Mighty to Save...Hillsong

...lyrics to a song that I love...and I'm trying to remind myself of this...

Everyone needs compassion
A love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me

Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

My Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of Salvation
He rose & conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as
You find me
All my fears & failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender (I surrender)

My Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of Salvation
He rose & conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

Shine Your light &
Let the whole world see
We're singing
For the glory
Of the risen King
Jesus

You're the Savior
You can move the mountains
Lord
You are mighty to save
You are mighty to save
Forever
Author of Salvation
You rose & conquered the grave
Yes You conquered the grave

God's Hand

A miracle.

I'm sure by now most people have heard about the US Airways flight that went down this afternoon in the Hudson River. There's still a lot of chaos surrounding the crash, and I'm sure they'll be investigating it for a long time to come. All I have to say is that God's hand must have been all over that plane today. It's an absolute miracle that every person got off that plane safely.

Thank you Jesus. Thank you for being merciful, thank you that those people have another day on this earth. I pray that all of us will take this chance to realize how fleeting this life is - and we need to know what eternity holds for us...

A miracle!

The Baby Mullet Had to Go!

Business in the front

Party in the back!!

After the haircut, dinner, bathtime, and new pj's. SOOOO Cute!

I don't have time to write much, but the pictures should say it all. Edwin was in desperate need of a haircut....so last night we took him to this super cute place called Cuttin' Up. They had tons of stuff to keep him occupied while we waited, including a table & chairs for coloring, and a huge pirate ship that was also a slide! For the actual cut, Edwin sat in a car that made noise...Pappy & Ed kept him distracted (the lollipop didn't hurt either) because it took awhile. He had so much hair!!!!! Anyway, my baby looks so much older now....and I'm in love with the cut!! They did a great job and I'll definitely be taking him back there in the future. Enjoy the pics!

In No Particular Order

As I've mentioned before, I get mighty frustrated with posting pics on blogger. So....I tried my hardest to get these in some sort of order... Enjoy!

Isn't this mug great? My friend Misty made it for me. She owns "Stuck on Words". You should definitely click on the link and check out her website. We also had customized ornaments made this year (but I can't figure out how to get a good picture of them).

Edwin was helping daddy with the tree

Experimenting with new textures :)

Waiting patiently for daddy...

Yes, we're busted. We have a boxed, pre-lit tree. But let me tell you, this thing is a breeze to put up and take down!! And as you can see, it's not too heavy. Edwin felt the need to push the box around the living room. (This was a couple of weeks before Christmas).

I took this picture first thing on Christmas morning. My baby is so cute!!

Every time I tried to get a picture of him in his santa hat, he crouched down to mimic me!

The day after Christmas...Edwin was wearing his new superman pjs from Auntie Katie, sitting on his new Elmo couch from mommy & daddy. He insisted on sitting on his couch to have his bottle...such a big boy!

Here is is looking dapper in his new clothes

My boys make me so happy :)

When my brother David & his wife Jenny were here, we took Edwin & Anthony to Monkey Joes. Unfortunately, they've changed the rules since the last time we were there. The only way an adult can "jump" is if they're supervising a child under 4. So Ed & my brother took turns supervising Edwin. My little guy loved this slide!!!

He wasn't so sure about the toddler area though...

Anthony & Edwin

Can I get a smile...please???

Uncle Dave & Edwin

These were just a few pictures I took on my own camera. I admit, I got a little lazy this year and just enjoyed the moments instead of feeling compelled to snap pics every five seconds. But hopefully Katie will post some of her awesome photography skills soon :)

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I haven't had a chance to crank out a really good blog post in awhile, but this video will just have to tide you over. This is pretty much the scene at our house every night...the toys are all over the living room, and Edwin attacks daddy on the floor...oh yeah, and I laugh the whole time! Happy New Year everybody!!

Edwin Singing

It's Almost Here!

It's almost Christmas!!!! I have so many thoughts swirling around in my head right now, it's hard to make them cooperate so you'll have something coherent to read. I'm just so excited for Christmas....for so many different reasons. Some of the more obvious reasons include watching my son unwrap his presents, spending time with family, getting to see David (my little bro) and Jenny (his wife)....they're flying in from freezing MN tomorrow!, umm..what else? Oh yeah, the food...definitely looking forward to the tasty treats we'll have. But I keep going back to a cd...some of you are familiar with Todd Agnew's Christmas cd....he goes through the whole christmas story and tries to imagine what it was like for all those involved...what was going through their minds? How could they know what was happening? Did they understand the magnitude of a tiny child being born? My favorite song on the album relates to the angels. At his concert, Todd explains his thinking behind the song. When the angels were in heaven, they must have been looking down on the earth, knowing what was about to happen...they must have been so excited - can't you just imagine it? Like a kid on Christmas morning waking up knowing that Santa brought them presents...only this was real!! The angels must have had all they could do to hold back their excitement - "Can we sing yet? Can we shout yet? "...and then the song erupts as they sing "Glory, glory to God. Glory in the Highest!!" I know I'm not doing it justice. But that's how I feel lately. Like I know this secret and can't wait to yell it at the top of my lungs! I just want everyone to know how truly miraculous it is that GOD sent His ONLY SON to DIE for US!!! It's not enough to just go to church, to know intellectually who God is, or who Jesus is....but you have to know Jesus, have a real relationship with him. And since that finally happened for me, I just want it so bad for the rest of the world! I listened to a sermon from Perry Noble today...it was from the Christmas service at New Spring church in south carolina....it was probably one of the most powerful messages I've ever heard. It was definitely not your typical Christmas isn't-it-nice-that-sweet-baby-was-born kind of story. It was in your face, it asked the tough question - what is it going to take for God to get your attention? It looked at Christmas from King Herod's perspective. God did so many things to get his attention....Jesus was born mere miles from where he was, but Herod eventually died never knowing Jesus. And he'll spend eternity in hell because of it. God was merciful and gave Herod chance after chance after chance...but he never got it. I pray all the time for people I know (and people I don't know) that don't know Jesus. I pray that they'll stop putting Him to the side, stop putting Him off until "later"....

....see I told you I had all these thoughts in my head. I could go on and on, but maybe I'll save it for another time. I found the Todd Agnew song I was talking about and added it on the right. Check it out :)

Merry Christmas everybody!!!!

Games anyone??

This is going to be a quick post (I'm trying to get out of work and go get my baby!!), but since I can't access internet again until Monday, I have to get it out there.

My darling little brother David (now that he's a grown up he has people call him Dave, but I just can't bring myself to change) and his wife Jenny are coming to NC for Christmas!!! They'll be here for a week. Since we're cutting waaaay back on the gifts this year, we're trying to find different ways to spend time together and just enjoy each other's company. So....I'm on a mission to find board games (or something similar) that we can borrow. We have Scattergories and Cranium....but are open to new games. Does anyone have something we can borrow? I promise we'll take really good care of your stuff and it'll only be for a week.

Thanks!!!!!!!

Many Thanks

You guys rock! Thank you sooooo much to all of you who commented on my last post. I've gotten a lot of great ideas for our date nights and I'm excited to give some of them a try. I have to admit I cracked up at the thought of going roller-skating with Ed, but hey, he lived through the 80's, I'm sure he's an old pro!


One other update on a recent post....the Operation Pretty Things deadline has been extended to next Wednesday, December 17th. So if anybody has something to donate, let me know and I'd be more than happy to include it in the giant stash of stuff I've collected so far.


Tonight is our final class in the Financial Peace University series. Ed & I talked about this a little last night and we both agreed that it was the best $90 ever spent. We're communicating about money, we're sticking to our budget, we're slowly but surely climbing out of debt...it's such a wonderful feeling! God has truly blessed our family - and I'm grateful for the kick in the butt it took for me to realize that!


One more thing and then I've got some online shopping to do before my lunch break is over. A friend of mine (from Financial Peace) emailed me this morning to tell me about this awesome deal at Chick-fil-A (the Mayfaire location only). Check this out!!

Ideas Anyone??

Okay people, I need your help. Put on your thinking caps and let's get creative!!!!

I'm trying to come up with some new ideas for date-night with the hubby. Yes, there's the standard dinner & a movie, or even bowling. Those nights have their place, but I don't want to always do the same thing. Our budget is somewhat limited, but thanks to Grandparents (seriously, what would we do without you??) we don't have to worry about child-care costs in general.

Any thoughts? Really, throw them out there...be bold...leave a comment!! Do you have any funny stories of places you've gone, activities you've tried? Now that Ed isn't working a billion hours a week and we actually have time to spend together, I'm trying to inject a little more fun and adventure into our rare evenings out.

Come on people!!!