Sticking With It

...parenting, that is.

Monday night we had a big blow up with Mr. Cameron. In the last year he's shot up about a foot or so in height, he's inches from being as tall as his short mother. When I have to drag him anywhere (which isn't very often) it looks ridiculous. Anyway, he refused to come home with me from Grandma's house. I gave him multiple chances, and finally I'd had enough fighting, so I drove home....leaving him screaming on my mom's front yard. I couldn't very well drag him into the car...he's getting too big, and WAY too old for that. I was reamed the whole way home by a certain-almost-4-year-old, and I told that same boy that you do NOT treat your mommy badly, or something like THIS would happen.

I got home and called Steve to pick Cameron up, and told him what happened. He was NOT happy...at all.

Earlier in the evening my mom had mentioned that if Cameron wasn't good, then he couldn't go out to dinner with us the next night for my youngest brother's birthday, so I figured that was as good of a punishment as any other, and grounded Cameron from the birthday dinner.

I was scared.

I've never left my kids at home alone for ANY reason. I thought about hiring a babysitter, but remembered that it was mutual night (when youth between 12-18 participate in fun activities at our church). I couldn't pull anyone away from that. So I decided that it was time he stayed home alone, after all, why should I be punished for his tantrum?

I prepped the boy all afternoon. He could watch TV, if he got scared he could even go to my bedroom....

Then came the time to leave. I left a sticky note on the computer monitor with Steve's cell phone number, told him to only call in case of an emergency, and then I left.

The sad face chased me out of the house. I wanted to run to him, tell him how sorry I was for being so tough with him, and hug his little body, but I couldn't. I'd said something, and I NEEDED to stick with it. If not for HIS sake then for mine.

I had to practice singing a song with some ladies, so I went to dinner late. When I got to the restaurant, Steve informed me that Cam had called 10 times. So much for emergencies....

Dinner was a rushed event for me. I didn't want to make the boy more miserable than necessary, just enough to teach him a lesson that he can't act that way and plan on getting away with it. We could have gone to visit my mom afterward, but I was done making the boy wait. We went home and he was waiting AT the window for us.

He promised me that he will not act that way again. I told him that I hoped so, and we were done. I'm sure this is one lesson that he will remember for a VERY long time. Now he'll know that I mean what I say...even if it's the hardest thing in the world for ME!

Sassy

I was in the mood for something new, so I asked my favorite hair-stylist to cut me short with something fun. I can say that I absolutely LOVE this hair cut. I haven't had something this fun in YEARS!! (And the best part was getting all of the compliments at church yesterday....can we say "ego boost?!")

Forgiveness is Liberating

For a while now, I've been struggling with my bitter feelings for another. I had thought that I had already forgiven them and moved on, but when I saw this person I was suddenly overcome with feelings of anger and bitterness. I was NOT pleasant to be around. I thought bad thoughts about the other person, and I KNEW that I needed to truly forgive and move on.

I mentioned Time Out for Women and Sister Pierce's talk. I was already working on these feelings. The bitterness was more in my heart than in my head. I already KNEW what I needed, but I needed my heart to agree.

Then came General Conference. It was marvelous. There were SO many talks that spoke to this exact subject. Forgiveness. It was something that I must have needed to hear.

On Sunday morning one talk hit me particularly hard. It was from President Uchtdorf. I must admit, I have a bit of a crush on him, and I love to hear his talks. He always makes me feel happier and more uplifted after his sermons.

Anyway, part way through he spoke about harboring bad feelings for others. Judging others and having unChristlike feelings. Then he spoke his magical sermon:

"This topic of judging others could actually be taught in a two-word sermon. When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following:

"Stop it!

"It’s that simple. We simply have to stop judging others and replace judgmental thoughts and feelings with a heart full of love for God and His children."

That was all it took for me. I thought about how silly I'd been, harboring these rotten feelings and feeding them over and over....stop it. I thought about how I'd perceived the actions of this other and realized that it was most likely my bitter attitude that made her seem so angry. I'd decided that I had better give her the benefit of the doubt and move on.

And that was the main key: I CAN MOVE ON! I don't have to worry about her life. I don't have to feel angry that she's having happy things happen to her. I can simply live my life, wish her well, and move on.

I feel like a 2-ton weight has been lifted. It's SO wonderful.

Since I'm not crafty, I tend to "borrow" from others. On this blog, there are many of the top quotes from Conference. I'm definetly sharing my new one:

New Friends

This weekend was quite eventful for me. I attended Time Out For Women, a religious event held annually. I've never gone before, but my new friends in my church encouraged me to go, so I did. I had NO idea how wonderfully I would be spiritually fed. It was absolutely wonderful.

Friday night 3 speakers participated: John Bytheway, Virginia Pierce, and Macy Robison. John Bytheway is ALWAYS fun to hear. He makes me laugh so much. That night's topic was marinating yourself in the good. (You might have needed to hear the talk to get the topics...) Virginia Pierce is the daughter of President and Sister Hinckley, she SO looks like both of them. Her topic hit me RIGHT between the eyes: forgiveness. It was absolutely wonderful. Then Macy interspersed the evening with song and her story. It was wonderful as well. I left feeling VERY uplifted and thrilled for the next day.

A little aside, I was a carpool driver for ladies in my ward. I'm VERY new, and don't know where people live....yet. I was left alone with my last person, who happens to be blind. SWEET, sweet woman. Anyway, I had picked her up earlier in the day, so I had a general idea of where she lived. Anyway, I took her to the house and told her that I was dropping her off in the driveway. She was fine with that, and I waited as she walked to the house, felt around a bit, then turned and walked back. I asked her if something was wrong and she said, "That screen didn't feel like mine, I think we're at the wrong house." Oh, my GOSH!! I was so thoroughly embarrassed. I quickly found out that I had dropped her off one house too early. (If there was a forehead slapping emoticon, I'd use it here....) She was very sweet about it, and I literally laughed the way home. It was QUITE funny, and I can now say that I will NEVER forget where she lives....EVER!

The next day I had breakfast with my ward ladies and then we went to the event. The whole day was just wonderful. I thought for SURE that it would drag on, but it went by super quick. The rest of the speakers were: Jericho Road, Emily Watts (substituting for Kris Belcher, who I HOPE to hear someday....), Mary Ellen Edmunds, Kelly Ogden, Merrilee Boyack (who I was SO excited to hear from, she wrote a book that literally changed my marriage....and made me laugh at the same time) and finally Emily Freeman. All the talks were inspiring and wonderful. The theme for the whole weekend was "Seek the Good." And truly, I found good and want to keep it always.

I will touch a bit on Merrilee's talk. I have wanted to hear from her since I saw her name on the line-up. She is one of my favorite authors. I actually REALLY want to read my book by her again, just so I can laugh and learn at the same time. Anyway, her topic was wonderful. She talked about giving out the good and spreading it around. I can't remember her exact phrase-ology, but it was something like, "Give out just 5 nanoseconds." It doesn't take much to make someone else's day. Saying a simple, "I love you and appreciate what you do." Or "You're so pretty/handsome/beautiful/funny...." Or "I'm so glad you're my friend (or in my family)." Those things don't take much time, but a purposeful count of 5 is what she made us raise our right hands and promise to do. I will say, that my morning was FABULOUS, because I'm using my 5 nano-seconds on my boys and husband. Cameron just about beamed out of his clothes with the simple praise I was giving him. I truly appreciated her message, and was lucky enough to go squeeze her and tell her that I appreciate her. She again encouraged me to do my 5 nano-seconds, and I said that I was most eager to do it on my boys and she said I reminded her that we could get our children doing it as well....she then thanked me. I have to say, I was a bit star-struck, and honestly, no one really truly would know her if they didn't go to TOFW or know her from her books.

I bonded quite well with ladies from my ward and have made some absolute GEM friends. I'm so blessed.

What a great weekend. I can't wait to get my DVD copy of it so I can relive all the wonderful words/feelings and thoughts of this weekend.

****************

Today we had some friends from church invite us over tonight to play games. I'm SO grateful they did. We had a blast. The boys had fun as well (Jake's decided that their daughter is his girlfriend.....SO cute!) Anyway, I think we're settling into this ward VERY well, and I'm so grateful.

Grandpa

Two weeks ago, I got a call from my mom. I could tell she was upset. She told me that my grandpa, her dad, had died. I was in shock. He has been living in a facility for the last 3 years and my mom mentioned that he'd been falling down lately. He also had dementia/Alzheimers. It was hard to see him forget things.

On Thanksgiving I was taking him home. It took him 15 minutes to figure out how to climb into my car. I was frustrated because he wouldn't allow me to help him, and so after 12 minutes I went inside to get a step-stool, by the time I got out he was in and buckled.

I'd actually spent quite a bit of time with him because my mom and uncle made sure that he was included.

The last time I talked to grandpa I was picking up my uncle from his weekly visit. Grandpa was sitting in his chair watching Disney Channel. (My uncle's idea, I'm sure.) I gave grandpa a hug and kiss like I always did and he invited me to stay. I told him that I had to get my boys home and in bed, but that I loved him and would see him later.

Nothing big, but I do feel bad.

We had all the family here last week. That was fun. We stayed up late talking and laughing. It took quite a toll on my little 3 year old. He's been grumpy and throws tantrums at the drop of a hat. I think once he catches up on his sleep things will mellow again.

Cameron took it hard. He knew what death was and cried. I told him that things were going to be okay, because grandpa was with grandma again and he could remember. That's the thought that got me through the week leading up to his funeral. He was happy. I knew that.

Then came the viewing. I wasn't there, but mom and dad took Jake with them. I hadn't discussed any of this with him because he's too young to understand and I didn't want to make him unduly sad. When he saw Grandpa in the casket, he said, "That's GRANDPA!" Then he was sad. My mom explained that he was happy and with grandma again. Jake then said, "But why did he have to die?"

How can you answer that one?

The viewing was quite fun...as grandma's had been. We laughed and talked. I swear, those viewings were the LOUDEST things I've ever attended.

The next day was the funeral. I knew that since I hadn't cried that the tears were coming....boy, did they EVER come. I lost it during the opening song, "O My Father." I realized that I will miss him dearly and won't be able to hug him again. It was sad, but then I also remembered how happy he is. It was a mix of emotions.

We slowly said good-bye to family after that. It was great to see them, but sad to see them go home. Good thing we have a reunion this year.

Grandpa was a great man who worked hard for his family. He knew the importance of making memories with his kids, and did it....frequently.

Good bye, Grandpa....until we meet again.

Cam's New Braces

Before:

After:

Isn't he just too cute?

Tooth Month

I hate that my blog has become something I don't update nearly as often as I probably should. This month has just FLOWN by. I blame it on all the orthodontist and dental visits.

Cameron has been seeing the orthodontist for a few years now. A few years ago, they told me that he would most definitely need braces (he literally has a tooth on the roof of his mouth and his canines are so far UP or DOWN on his gums it's ridiculous...) They quoted me a price and we let it go. I wanted to pay for the braces all at once, because there was a 10% discount. Who wouldn't love to save nearly $500?

Anyway, we put it off a few years, and at his last appointment, the orthodontist told us that he would be ready to go at his next appointment, and we should set up our payments.

Thank heaven for tax refunds....but boo that over half of the refund went to pay for braces.

Anyway, Cam had been playing with his space-maintainer. He'd flicked it with his tongue so much that it was standing up instead of laying down. I called the orthodontist and we went in the next day. After the orthodontist checked him out, he called me back. He said, "He's good to go on the braces, and doesn't even need this space maintainer." Then he pulled out the little bar and we were off on the braces train. I paid for the braces. Biggest, ugliest check I've ever written. Then we set up the appointments. I figured his teeth would need to be cleaned, so we set up a dental appointment. He had a cavity and instead of fighting him in the office, they set him up for a dental surgery. We've done the dental surgery MANY times in the past, but we went to a new facility. They wanted a doctor's approval before surgery, and the surgery was kind of quick notice, so we saw the dentist, went to the doctor, and then did the dental surgery all in 2 days' time. He did well, and was good to go.

Today we got his x-rays, molds and spacers placed. Next Monday he'll be getting the braces. He's excited....he doesn't know WHAT he's in for.

On top of Cam's dental problems, Jake's had issues. One morning while giving him a bath, I noticed that one of his caps was missing from his front teeth. (Quick note, when Jake was 18 months, he had dental surgery to cover his severely thin and rotten front teeth. They grew in rotted, it was quite sad.) I called the dentist, and they had him come in the next day. Jake was VERY brave. He went back to the seat all by himself, and sat still while they cleaned his teeth. I was in the waiting room worrying whether he was okay. After he was done with the cleaning, they brought me back. He had MANY cavities and they asked how he'd do with in-office visits to fix them. I worried that he'd get frustrated with it, and asked about getting him set up for dental surgery. The dentist agreed, and we set it up, but not for MANY weeks. Funny enough, Jake's dental dilemma was WAY before Cam's, but Jake is STILL waiting to go in for surgery.

This week, Jake will get his surgery, and then I'll only have the braces to worry about.

Welcome to tooth month in my home.

Trying New Foods

Yesterday, Jake and I went to the store. As soon as we got to the produce section, we saw something interesting. It sort of looked like a pomegranate that had a bad hair day. We were looking at them when someone who works in the produce section came up to talk to us. He said they'd cut up one the day before to try it, and it looked like a pale kiwi on the inside and tasted pretty bland, kind of like an apple or pear.

I'm ALL for new foods, so we bought two. (Mostly because I really wanted Cameron to see this funny fruit.) Jake marched through the store talking about our dragon fruit.

Today I cut it up to eat it for lunch. I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan. It's REALLY bland, and would probably be best if put into a fruit salad where it can look pretty, because that's what it does best....look pretty.

I'm Spoiled

For the past month, Steve has been working on my Valentine's Day present. I've been frustrated, well, because I knew he was putting SO much work into it, and I knew my gift would pale in comparison....yup, I was right.

The vase says: "I'll Love you until the last one dies"

Yup, spoiled rotten.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Just For Fun

I'm doing a photo challenge for the month. It gives a different object/time/thing to photograph each day. I have SUCH a hard time taking pictures, so I figure that I should at least TRY to improve.

Today's topic was "front door." I have one of those!! :)

Here's my attempts. (And yes, it's all just for fun!)

What? A Video???

Yup, I'm attempting to share more of my life with you all.

This was our little adventure tonight: Steve wanted the boys to try Jack in the Box's new shake flavor.....bacon. YUP! Bacon, as in "meat!" It's pretty tasty if you ask me....but just ask my boys:

And the second part....

Yes, we're evil. Thanks for asking.

Being Led By the Spirit

I've had a few experiences in the last week that have shown me that I can truly help others when I follow the Spirit. It's been quite humbling and exhilarating at the same time to realize that I've been the way Heavenly Father has been able to answer others' prayers.

On Sunday we mixed things up with our church schedule. Usually we go to Sacrament meeting, Sunday School and then Relief Society/Priesthood. This week we switched the last two hours. In Relief Society we watched a beautiful video about working on our own family history....finding those of our family who belong to us. I "leaked" through the story about a couple with four teens. They were struggling and the husband admitted that they might get divorced. The video was following actual people, so it wasn't a story that someone had written. Anyway, the couple worked on doing their family history together and began to get closer. Then at the end of the video the couple ended up getting sealed in the temple. It was absolutely a beautiful story.

Then we went to Sunday School. I hate to admit, but all through church, I was feeling sleepy and thought I might fall asleep if I had to sit still through one more class. We started out with a very good discussion talking about whining vs. murmuring vs. speaking up. One brother talked about how his young son had whined that he didn't want to go to his Primary class, then at that moment we heard loud whining in the hallway. His wife was out trying to wrangle that little boy and keep him happy and calm. We all kind of giggled at that, and went on. As we were going on a thought came to me, "You need to go out there and help." It was VERY strong and VERY persistent. I calmly put my scriptures away, gathered up my big bag and went into the hallway. I saw the look of frustration on the mom's face and asked, "Can I help you? I feel like I need to." She laughed and said that another sister said the same thing. We went to a table and pulled things out of my giant church bag. The things I had in there weren't necessarily things I would usually have, because I don't like taking treats to church, but I took them because we were supposed to have choir practice and my boys get a little whiny and rambunctious during that time. I gave this little boy some animal crackers and he instantly stopped crying. The other woman and I shooed the mom off to Sunday School and we proceeded to play with this little guy. We played cars, raced them, laughed when they drove off the table and then talked a lot. He didn't scream again for the rest of the class.

I honestly don't know why I needed to help him, other than I THINK that he would have kept screaming if I hadn't gone out with my cookies. But his mom got to enjoy Sunday School with her husband and not worry about her little boy.

Last night I had a voice mail from the lady that helped us do our lending. She sounded quite frantic and frustrated. She said she was trying to track down a check that our insurance company had sent for $412. She wondered if we had it.

I called her back, leaving her a message, that yes, we had gotten a check for $412, and that it was sitting quietly in our escrow account.

Here's the whole story.

A few weeks after we'd moved into our home, our homeowners insurance company sent us this large check. Steve had checked the mail, and was pleased that we were blessed with this extra money. He hid it from me, planning on surprising me with a Kindle Fire or an iPad for Christmas. Well, he couldn't hide it for long, and after 3 days showed it to me. I was INSTANTLY worried. I knew that we shouldn't be getting an extra check, and that we had JUST bought the home. I worried that we might lose our insurance or something else would happen.

I called the insurance agent and he suggested that we call our mortgage company and have them put it into our escrow account. I called the mortgage company and sent them the check. This was well over a month ago, and I haven't thought a thing of it since.

At the same time another couple, who'd just bought their home, got a cancellation notice on their homeowners insurance. Their premium wasn't paid at all. This was a more than a little frustrating to them, I'm sure, and they called our friend Julz.

Apparently, the title company accidentally paid OUR insurance (which is the same company) with THEIR money.

At the time I was putting the money back into escrow, I never felt good about *just* spending it. I only felt peace once it was safely tucked away, where we couldn't spend it.

Again, the Spirit works in mysterious ways.

My friend told me that I was one in a million, because anyone else would have spent that money. I explained the situation to her and how I knew it wasn't right to spend it. She said that it was a miracle, because they never hear about those kinds of things happening.

I don't know why I was so blessed to be the one to help others, but I'm grateful and happy that I listened.

Random Thoughts

**Today I woke up with a thought, "Be productive. Do more than you have been. You can do this!" So I woke up doing *some* of the FlyLady tips. I got out of bed, made my half (the other half was being slept in by a cute man), went to the laundry room and found my clothes for the day, got dressed, combed through my mane of hair, then went upstairs and got to work.

My mantra was different today too. Usually my only thought is, "Survive....you can make it through this temper tantrum. Things will get easier once everyone is sleeping again...." (Yes, I say this all day long, and usually it just makes me more anxious and more uptight.) Today my new thought was: "I am a powerful, yet under-control woman. I am the boss, CEO and leader of my family. I will show a good example and I will NOT fight." For the first hour or so of the day, it worked. (I have to admit, as my day went on, and fuses got shorter, my mantra changed to "It will be okay, you can try harder later.")

Before Cameron went to school I had taken care of the kitchen garbage, fed Jake breakfast (before the asking/begging began), set things up to do dishes and had calmly diffused 3 fights between the boys.

GO ME!

All through the day I did little things: dishes, mopping the floors, sweeping, unloading boxes....and I felt like I was QUEEN of the world. I had done SO much more than I've been doing and it was wonderful.

I do NOT want to lose my momentum. I mentally made the goal to wake up earlier than I do now and get myself ready before I have to get the boys ready. I've also made a goal to sleep better. It will be hard, but I can do hard things.

**I'm also extremely sensitive to comments right now. I don't have ANY sympathy for people who are having pity parties, and don't like being accused of having one myself. I had commented on a friend's status on FaceBook, and someone said, "Oh, I think ***** wins the pity party...." Like I was whining?? I thought what I said was funny, not whiny. I was less than pleased about it.

Then I go to my favorite place online, where my friends are, and people are having pity parties left and right.

I am beyond frustrated. I want to say, "You know, the world doesn't revolve around you. Get over yourself...you'll be SO much happier...." But I won't say it, because I would hurt feelings and that is NOT my goal here.

**After a month in this ward, we got the call today that the bishop would like to visit with us. I don't know if it's a get-to-know-you type visit, or if it's a calling-issuing visit, but we shall see. I'm truly loving our new ward. Don't get me wrong, I love and miss my old friends and old ward, but this new one is SO friendly and welcoming. I have yet to find someone I can connect with, but there are a lot of friendly women who have invited me to many things. I'm excited for this new adventure.

I Just KNEW There Had To Be a Reason We Don't Live in Austrailia...

Jake was sitting on my lap (like he likes to do) and was being silly. Then I asked him, "Do you know what we should have for lunch?"
(At this point, I'd expected him to say a sandwich or noodles....)

"Yes," he said.

"Really? What?"

He hesitated for a second and then he exclaimed, "KANGAROO!"

Uh, erm....

"Silly boy, I didn't get any of that..."

"You're the kangaroo..." Then he proceeded to "eat" me.

Let's Take a Small Tour of our New Home

We've been in the house for a month, and you'd think in that time, I'd have everything JUST how I want it, right?

Well....

The kitchen is still mostly boxes and I don't have my pictures hung. (When I've moved in the past, this is one of the first things I do....but right now? Not so much...) I'm still trying to figure out where I want things hung. It will come, I promise....

For now, enjoy the little tour:

Living Room/Dining room:

Jake's bedroom (where the toys are kept...)

Cameron's bedroom (where the books are kept, and for some reason, my craft dresser...)

Kitchen

(see, this is my main pile...)

Office area in the family room

Rest of the Family Room

Is It REALLY So Easy to Change?

New Year almost always equals new resolutions. Some may want a hot new bod, some want to be more frugal, others want to give more of themselves....Me? I want to be a better mommy and wife to those I see every day.

I will admit, I'm an angry person. When my kids do things they're not supposed to, I yell and lecture them. When I need them to do something, I usually yell it at them, or plead over and over....and then I get no results so I resort to yelling at them because I'm angry.

I'm SO tired of it.

Being angry so often is exhausting.

My resolution WILL happen...it must. I want a happy home. I want to be able to tell my kids things and have them obey quickly and happily.

So far today, I've already yelled at the boys (they woke up WAY too early, and fought for an hour, all the while banging and throwing things around and screaming and yelling...) BUT I've also tried to stay calm and talk to them instead of lecturing. I must learn to pick my fights well. I need to let the little stuff go and focus on the big picture.

I can do this....I MUST!

Merry Christmas!

Remember the reason for the season....

Settling In

We've been in the new house for 6 days (I'm including Friday....because I can.) and we're STILL in pretty much the same position we were when the boxes were dropped off here. I've only arranged the family room and the boys' bedrooms. We're still looking for things that have been packed, but we're surviving.

Over the weekend we found out that we didn't have any hot water. Our hot water heater was not working. After 3 different men looking at it, and one professional plumber, we figured out that it wasn't getting any power to it. Someone had moved the fuse box to the wrong spot. All is well now.

The boys have been enjoying sleeping in their own rooms, I'm enjoying the non-late-night-brawls.

I'm sitting in the family room watching the little puffs of snow fall into my back yard....BACK YARD. I have one now!! It's really nice.

Unfortunately, since we've moved, both boys have gotten QUITE mouthy and disobedient. I'm beyond frustrated with their attitudes and think that I might just cancel Christmas all together.

We'll get there, right?

But for now, my number one priority has been cleaning up the old place. I know that our landlord is planning on taking out the carpeting and the icky floors, repainting, and generally fixing up the place, but I don't want to leave a huge mess for him. He's done so much for us over the years that I don't want to do that to him. Today I have to clean the kitchen floor, sweep the garage/basement, and then take all the left over stuff to DI. It's overwhelming, but I CAN do it. I have to....we're supposed to be turning in our keys today.

All is Quiet....

So, my last post....yeah, a bit of a lie.

We had a miracle. On Friday, we began running around doing errands for the house (changing the electricity, gas....) when our mortgage lady, Julz, called.

Me: "Hello?"

Julz: "Dawnyel?? I just left you a HUGE rambly message on your home phone. You're funded."

Me: "What!? How did that happen?" (Seriously dancing in my seat and grinning ear-to-ear.)

Julz: "You're funded. You can get the keys...NOW!"

There was other talk (boring, boring, BORING...especially after the happy news...) and she told us that we had to see the title company and it was ours.

We finished our errands and hurried to the title company, signed the extra papers (a few mistakes) and we were done.

We've been moving in since yesterday. It was a HUGE job, but we had TONS of wonderful help. We're actually IN the house right now. I'm sitting in my cold family room with freezing fingers typing right now (darn that draft...) but we're HOME!!!!

Just a few things left to move over, an old apartment to clean and release, and then we can unpack and just BREATHE!!

Signed, Sealed, but not QUITE Delivered....

Today we signed the closing papers on our house. It feels AMAZING to have a house of our own.

BUT, because we didn't sign all of the papers and get them processed before 5:30, we have to wait until Monday before it's "official."

We're just hoping that the owners will allow us to move our belongings into the house before Monday. We have everyone set up to help, and it would be amazing if we could. (It's most likely to happen, but you never know....)

Anyway, we're on the TAIL end of apartment living.....and it feels GREAT!! :)