Our new home…

Well I am sure many of you are wondering how the move went and how the new house is treating us. Sorry it has taken so long for me to blog this! Life is crazy right now. I am in the busy season for work and going away on business a lot. Not to mention we don’t have internet at home so when I forget to get on during the day I can’t at night when I remember. It’s a”vicious” cycle.

Have no fear...pictures of the "after" house will be posted soon, but for now here are the highlights of the move:

1. We started on time (8:00 am…although Aaron and I started around 5:00 am because we couldn’t sleep)

2. Moved quickly (the men worked fast and furious. By the end it took 1 huge moving truck, 2 pick-up trucks, 2 cars and 1 SUV to get us all moved)

3. Ended on time (I had said I would have liked to be finished around 3:00 and that is precisely the time all the moving crew left for their homes)

4. It took the “unpacking” crew (Aaron’s parents and grandma, plus us) a few days to make headway…it looked like a war zone in the house. We couldn’t locate the hinges for the refrigerator doors (which were removed last December in Wylie)…we were unpacking boxes and not putting things away trying to find the hinges. Aaron ended up having to special order them and they just came in last week. That’s right 3½ in my new home with no fridge. Oh the stories we are going to be able to tell our children one day about when we moved to AR.

5. Day 2 in the house we discovered the A/C wasn’t working and the dishwasher was leaking! If you are wondering we still don’t have A/C or a dishwasher…it is taking some time to get them fixed. Like I said…oh the stories we have to tell

Good news…the dishwasher should be fixed this weekend and the A/C should be fixed in the next 2 weeks! Yahoo! We love the new house…I can already feel myself more settled here. During the unpacking days I would get a little sad because I kept thinking, “Now that we are in a house again we can have the Tully’s over tonight!” Then I would remember they don’t live in our neighborhood any more. Then I would think about my friends in Texas who couldn’t come over for dinner one night…I had to tell myself you all can come over it will just take some planning! So don’t be surprised if you get an invite in the mail to a free weekend get-away at La Chateau Ledford conveniently located in Bryant, AR.

Oh, and if you were wondering that picture is one of my 5 rose bushes! I have always wanted a rose bush and now I have 5! Yeah! Well, that’s all I have time for right now…Until later.

The “before” of the new house…

Well for those of you who have been after me begging for pictures of the new house. Here you go….keep in mind the curtains are not ours! After you read this blog scroll down to see the pictures…

The front of the house…the front yard is huge like the back yard, plus we have the humongous flower bed that stretches the full length of the fence. Everything you see in the pictures is part of our property!

The inside of the house…the first one is the view from the front door when you first walk in (curtains not ours); the second is the dining room/kitchen. After we close on the house we are going to remove the cupboards that are creating that “wall” between the two…it will open it up a bunch! The third, hard to see picture is my sink… I have a window right above it!!! Hooray! Remember…curtain not mine.

Finally the huge backyard…Lucy’s new haven!! Last Saturday while we were doing the pre-clean I went into the back yard and there was the biggest rabbit! Aaron said Lucy is going to have fun catching that one! Okay…that’s all for now. After we get settled in I will take more pictures!

Here is the plan for after we close on the house:
1. Install a storm door… I need more light! I have been living in a dark room for 9 months. Me want light!
2. Install a vent-a-hood/microwave, matching stove & dishwasher
3. Knock down the cupboards creating the wall in the kitchen/dining room. Re-hang them else where…TBD
4. Paint, paint, paint
5. Install a mantle above the fireplace…I am thinking one of the little shelf-like mantles
6. Install new blinds…the wood kind. Right now they are the aluminum kind.
7. Update the light fixtures and door knobs

Now keep in mind all of those things won’t be done at once…we are going to have to pace ourselves! Okay. I must work now…I can’t believe the big day is tomorrow!!

Until later….

The House....

Inside the House...

Backyard Pictures...

The day after tomorrow.

Time is flying by…we are moving the day after tomorrow. I am so not ready! Ha ha…yeah right! Life is a crazy “mess” right now. I am so busy at work I can’t think straight most nights when I get home. You ever have one of those days where your mind is spinning in about 5 million directions that you just want to slap yourself to focus?! Yeah…that would be me right now at work. What can I say…that’s busy season.

Church is going really great! Aaron is preparing for Christmas already (man it’s only a few short months away)! Each week I have been interpreting for a deaf lady at our church. It is great fun, but every week I am reminded how much sign language I have forgotten! Since life is a crazy “mess” I haven’t had the time to devote to remembering what I have forgotten…so she helps me. I will sign something or fingerspell something and she will show me the correct sign. It really helps with the friendship bond.

Some Sunday’s we can get to laughing and she will tease me about signing…I am thankful that God allowed me to take sign language because until I started signing she would come to church and just sit there. She can read lips really well and she can hear “noises” (more like vibrations) better than most, but she can’t hear. She first came to church through our food pantry ministry. She was saved and baptized and has been coming ever since. Some Sunday’s she brings some deaf friends. I am hoping and praying that when I am fluent again I might be able to start a class at church to teach how to sign that way more of our church family can talk to her. We’ll see…

My parents were in town last night and we were able to take them by the house…the next time they will be in town will be October (they and my high school teachers, the Dawsons, will come over for dinner one night) their company will be doing a seminar in Little Rock during that time. I wanted to show them the before and they will see the after. Mom is just as excited as I am…Aaron and dad are men (they’re happy if we’re happy). Aaron is excited though…I think he is ready to have a home that’s ours again and to have the opportunity to take Lucy for a walk at nights like we use to in Wylie.

Aaron’s dad is coming into town tomorrow and spending the night with us to help with the big move…his mom and grandparents will follow on Friday evening after mom gets out of school (she’s a high school algebra teacher). They are going to spend the weekend with us unpacking. We aren’t sure if they are going to go home on Sunday or Monday. We are really glad they are coming…we haven’t seen them in a long time.

Last night Aaron and I, along with my folks, went and looked some hotels that Aaron’s family could stay in this weekend since we won’t be unpacked…I suggested camping out with us, but they want to stay at a hotel. Anyway, let’s just say some of the ones we went into were really scary! I think we found a nice one that is very affordable in Bryant (the town we are moving too).

Well I guess I need to get off and do some work….since I am leaving early to go to the foot doctor. Hopefully this will be my last visit. I have had 3 shots in my right foot and 2 in my left over the course of 3-4 months. The shots hurt like you wouldn’t believe! I have planter fasciitis really bad in both feet. Hence the shots and all the trips to the doctor. Anywho…today I have another appointment and I am hoping no more shots! Think happy thoughts today!

Until later….

The Count Down begins...and is nearly over!

WOW! Hard to believe in just 7 short days we will be moved into our new house! Yikes! Okay, for those of you who haven’t gotten crazy phone calls from me announcing the days, and hours left until the big move let me bring you up to speed:

We officially move NEXT Friday, August 29, 2008! I have been counting down since 3 weeks ago…recently I have been known to call someone and announce, “10 days, 17 hours and 34 minutes!” ….Bet you can’t you tell I am excited?!

“What’s the game plan?” you may ask…here it is… we have several men from our church coming to the church at 8:00 a.m. to move us out of the church. I am leaving the “where to begin loading” task for Aaron… All I know is, I have packed up basically the entire apartment, moved all the boxes to our upstairs storage room, and am planning the menu on what to feed the “boys” when they come to help us. Not to mention planning/practicing my “bossy voice” so I can direct traffic…jk!

We are renting a truck to move…we decided it would go much faster if we loaded and unloaded everything at once instead of making multiple trips in pick-up trucks. Plus, it has been really rainy here so just in case the pattern of thunderstorms continues we don’t have to worry about everything getting soaked through.

Okay…what else has been happening here (besides me becoming obsessed with moving)?! We have been so busy the days/weeks are flying by. We are doing an outreach program at church and that has consumed most of Aarons days getting ready for it all. There is a new sub-division only a few miles from the church and we went and pasted out flyers last weekend advertising our church’s outreach program…painting their house number on their curb! We have had a great response so far…over 100 homes I believe.

Here is how it works…we handed out (or hung flyers on their doors) inviting them to call and make an appointment where our church’s “curb painting team” could come out and paint their house number on their curb for FREE. No cost to them…all they had to do is call, make the appointment and guarantee someone will be home when we come by so that we can talk with them, and they can watch us paint. (Wink, wink, which is where the evangelism comes in…get it?).

We were scheduled to paint Thursday night, Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday night this week, but because of the rain we had to try to move the Thursday & Friday appointments to Saturday/Sunday or possibly next weekend…don’t worry if we have to paint next weekend it will not stop me from moving….NOTHING could stop me…I am a very motivated lady!

Anyways…the entire church is really excited about this. In fact when we went out last Sunday night you could feel the excitement building. By the time we were going back to the church so many were practically beaming and excited…there was more talking riding home then there was headed to the sub-division. It was great!

Well… my job is going well. Lots going on there and I don’t have the time to go into detail today. I will do that later. We are gearing up for our busy season to begin in 3 weeks. Basically in September and October I will be gone on a trip almost every week. 2x some weeks. It is going to be crazy…please pray for me.

Well I must sign off for now, but I will ask that you pray for some family friends of ours…they are going through a really rough time right now…I don’t feel comfortable telling their names, but pray for them. They are having major health issues on both sides of the family and trouble finding a job (which we all know can cause financial difficulties). Please remember them in your prayers.

Until next time!