Settling in

We have been here for exactly 8 days now and it feels so weird! We still feel like we are on vacation, even though we know we are here for good now. It is hard to be a guest in someone's house for an undetermined amount of time, but Jason's parents are so awesome that they are making it as nice as possible. His mom even does my laundry if I forget to change out the loads! We have eaten well and I am cooking more now than I did in Lubbock. Now, to find a house...

We have found two houses that we could move in to. House A is brand-new, never been lived in, on .75 acres, in the town Jason grew up in, but surrounded by mobile homes. It is one street away from a beautiful neighborhood, but there are no other houses by this one, so that makes us nervous. The price is right, especially for how beautiful the house is, but we don't want to buy a house that is going to have mobile homes around it so that we never get our money back that we pay for the house. We love this house so much that we are talking about just building an exact replica of it (+ 1 room) in 5 years or so if we find some land in a better neighborhood. There are three lots next to the house that could either have houses or mobile homes on them, and it would be a total flip of the coin as to what will actually go there, and we are not sure we are willing to take that chance. Who knows.

House B is only 2 years old, lived in for a short period of time (we think), in the town I grew up in, in a nicer neighborhood, needs quite a bit of work in the kitchen and one of the living areas, needs a lot of landscaping, and is $30K more expensive than the other house. If this house was the same price as the other one then it wouldn't even be a question of which one we would get. We know we could get our money back from this house, especially if we change the kitchen and do some nice landscaping. Plus, it is in a better location (maybe a little too close to my parents?) and I would feel a little safer there. It would be a much more temporary house than house A, but as I mentioned we already plan to build house A no matter what in about 5-7 years. House B would be perfect for us if we could get it for $30k less than what it is listed for, but I don't know that that is realiztic... though it has been on the market FOREVER. Again, who knows. We aren't going to do anything until we get back from St. Lucia, and hopefully by then there will be a couple more houses to look at and we can start making a decision. We haven't even heard back from the bank yet as to what we can afford, even though we have a pretty good idea. And thankfully Jason's dad is our realtor, so that helps a whole lot.

On a different note, my dad won at the Memorial Day drag race this weekend! We have seen him race quite a few times in his '67 Chevy pickup, but never seen him win! It was really exciting, even though it made for a really late night. My brothers were a lot of fun to be around, and we all had a lot of fun together hanging out at watching the jet cars (a dragster with a jet engine on the back, no joke), my dad, and the "southwest superchargers" and "RODS" show cars. We had a good weekend at the races, and I am so glad that my dad did well so his confidence will be up for his next race!

Finally, we leave for St. Lucia tomorrow. We have NOTHING planned for the 5 days we are there, and will just do stuff if we want, or not if we don't. We plan to spend a lot of time on the beach and eating a lot of yummy resort food. Hopefully the weather is good, but either way it doesn't get much better than being in the Carribean. Then Jason starts work in less than two weeks, yikes!

Home again, home again

Finally, we made it home! It has only been a day and we are already settled in, with all our clothes and stuff put away. We don't exactly have room for most of our stuff, other than in the garage, so there is not a lot of unpacking involved in this transition. We are already starting to look for a house, which is really fun. I guess we should get pre-approved for a loan first, but whatever... lol. We are hoping to be able to move out of my in-laws' house within 2 or 3 months, so we have to get this process going.

Tomorrow I get to go visit my makeup lady, who I love, and then am going to lunch with my mother-in-law, and then go get a new phone (finally). Then Thursday we are going to talk to our money people then will go to dinner to help support my cousin who just finished chemo and is about to start radiation. They are doing a fundraiser at Applebee's so we will for sure go eat dinner there to support them. Friday I am going to lunch with a friend, woohoo! Hopefully I will have time to quilt, tan, and workout these next few days.

Speaking of working out, I went with Lauren and Jordan to swimming "lessons" tonight. It was so cute! He puts his face under the water on his own, loves being splashed and splashing, and jumps into the water. It is so adorable and I loved getting to experience that with him. I really hope to get to bond with him quite a bit during the next couple of weeks, especially before the second baby comes. Speaking of... I am not sure my sister is excited about this baby (which is appropriate) because of a couple of things she has said to me. I am nervous for her because she has no idea how much work this is going to be or how this is going to change her life, even more than Jordan did. I just have to keep praying for her and about that. I just hope this second baby doesn't suffer, or Jordan either, because of these decisions she has made...

Exhaustion

Wow, talk about a tiring day, and it wasn't even my big day! I only got three hours of sleep last night and I am really feeling it now. After the wedding (yay for the happy couple!!) we came home to find my amazingly wonderful in-laws here already working on the house even though we were not here. Shortly after that I went and picked up my parents and brothers to go to dinner at Buns Over Texas... mmm. We came back to our house after dinner and the boys wouldn't leave the cat alone and he ended up jumping on top of our kitchen cabinets. The poor kitty was so scared :-( Anyway, they all just left, after we all talked about housing options for us, and now I am going to bed. That's right, bed at 9:20, and it is going to be great. Church and lunch out with friends tomorrow! Then comes moving, yikes.

Wedding stuff

Some of our best friends are getting married today! We are both in the wedding and both very excited that we get to be part of this day for them. They have been together for almost 5 years and are really ready to be married. They get to go on a fantastic honeymoon, which she doesn't know where yet, and then will be moving in the near future so he can start his job. We are continually praying that this day will go well and that they will keep Christ at the center of their marriage. Yay!

Frustration!

I have been working non-stop on this quilt and all of a sudden my machine decides to stop working! It is the most frustrating thing, and I am supposed to enjoy quilting! I think I bit off more than I can chew when I said I could finish by Sunday. Though, if I had not had these troubles with my machine I possibley would have been done. It would have been tough to finish, but doable. It is just irritating to make a promise to someone then not be able to finish because of reasons outside of my control. GRRR...

Ok, just had to get that out of my system. Hopefully the woman I am making the quilt for is understanding and will be OK with me finishing it on my mother-in-law's machine once we get back to NM.

Crazy week

Man, I am exhausted! We have done so much this week and it is only half over. Sunday we had friends over to play games and hang out, Monday we cooked spaghetti for a couple who are expecting a baby in July, Tuesday we had our LIFE group leaders and thier family over for chicken fingers and mac and cheese, then tonight we went to eat with a third couple. Then, after dinner tonight, we went to take a tv and a printer over to the house I am going to live in next semester, and that took about an hour. All this week I have been frantically working on a quilt to finish it before Sunday so I don't have to take it home then send it back here when I am done with it. So, it is only Wednesday and I am already exhausted. I have a ton more to do with that quilt and I am not 100% sure I will get it done... I will try!

The rest of the week is not going to be any more calm. Tomorrow at 10am some people are coming to the house to look at it. I will have to work frantically on the quilt. Friday is the rehersal and rehersal dinner for the wedding we are going to be in. Saturday is the wedding so we will be busy with that all day long. Both of our parents are coming out on Saturday evening then staying until Monday when we actually move home. Sunday we are going to church and then lunch with all of our church friends that are still here, including my parents, brothers, sister, and nephew. I have to give the quilt to someone on Sunday evening, so it has to be done by then. We have to finish packing up our entire house... yikes! Then we actually move home on Monday. This is absolutely just chaos! I am not very good at handling things like that, but God never gives you anything you can't handle when you trust in Him, and I know He will do the same right now, it is just hard to take in everything at the moment. All I can do is pray and trust that He has everything under control! Story of my life...

Mouse Hunt

'Twas the night before graduation and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, except for a MOUSE!!

That's right, we saw a mouse in our house. Not only saw it, but saw it at 10:30pm the night before Jason's graduation. It was in our livingroom under the tv stand and came running out towards the fire place. I saw it and Jason decided we should try to catch it. I didn't really want him to kill it, so we had to catch it alive. It ran around behind the couches, under the couches even, and it was not all that scared of us. Jason had the couches moved and turned on their sides, we closed all of the doors down the hall except for the bathroom, assuming we would be able to catch it if it went in there. Well, he ran into the cat's room, all the way down the hall, and went under the door. We decided that was OK because it was an enclosed space and there is not much furniture in there. This mouse decided it would climb our curtains, so that added some excitement. It went all the way to the top of the curtains and when Jason tried to knock him down into the bucket it took a dive over Jason and just kept running. We finally caught it in the bucket and Jason put this little grey mouse outside. It was quite an adventure! I decided I am not scared of mice I just don't really want them to touch me. It was an hour ordeal, and quite exciting.

After all that, Jason graduated on Friday evening. His grandma and grandpa drove out from NM to see the ceremony (the only reason Jason actually walked was because he knew his grandma wanted to see it) which was really nice. We went to a very early dinner on that evening then dropped Jason off at the Stadium. Then I took his grandparents on a driving tour of the campus. They thought it was pretty cool and were surprised that I was able to find my way around, lol. I told them it just takes a little bit of practice. Then we met up with some friends to sit with at the ceremony. The speaker was very nice to hear but the ceremony itself was really long because it was all graduate students (master and doctoral degrees). Jason was lucky enough to get the very first seat on the very first row, lol. He was the first one in line when they all started walking out. We thought that was hillarious, though he did not. It was nice to see and I am glad he will have that experience. It is crazy to think that he is officially graduated!

This week is going to be interesting. Tomorrow is not regular church so we aren't sure what we are going to do about that. Monday I have a long distance student teachers meeting/orientation. Tuesday I am getting my hair cut. Wednesday Jason's parents are coming to help us fix up the house some more. They are staying until Friday. Friday we have the rehersal and rehersal dinner for the wedding we are in this weekend. Saturday at 3pm is the wedding, which I am really looking forward to because I think it is going to be so nice and our friends are going to have a great marriage. My parents are coming out late on Saturday and staying until Sunday or Monday, depending on how much we get taken care of and when we are ready to leave. Somewhere in there I have to finish a quilt before we leave. It is going to be a busy week! But I am so ready to move home that I will do whatever it takes to get to that point. Jason starts work on June 8, the Monday after we get back from St. Lucia, which will also be interesting. Lots of changes are in store for us these next few days.

Jobs, houses, and our future

Jason officially has a job! I am so excited I don't even know what to do with myself! He gets to work on a project that seems super interesting, with a friend's dad who is really fun to be around, at the company he wanted, and he is going to make a little more than we anticipated. God is so good! I can't think of a better place for him to work or a better situation inside the company, so it is going to be so great. I just pray that Jason enjoys his work so he can advance in the company quickly and build a career there.

Now, with that news, we can start thinking about buying a house. We have no interest in renting because we feel that would just be throwing our money away, but buying a house could be a challenge as well, especially if we have to get a loan. Our parents may want to buy a house for us to buy from them on a real estate contract (at least that has been mentioned in the past) but we have not talked about it since Jason got his job (yesterday, lol). We are excited about the possibility of at least getting a starter home that we can fix up and decorate however we want to. We will just have to wait and see what God has in store for us regarding that, but He worked out the job situation two days before graduation, so I know He will work out our living situation as well.

This summer is going to be interesting, but I know it is going to be so fun. I will learn some sign language, Jason will bring home the bacon, and we will be around our families. God is so awesome for setting all of this up for us!

Huh?

What a strange day I have had. First thing this morning, when we are about to go to churc, I dropped my phone in the toilet... Don't worry, there was just water in there, but if you don't know, I have an iPhone, which is just a small computer. And as I am sure you know, computers and water do NOT mix. It turned itself off, Jason shook a bunch of water out of it, and now it won't turn on... at all. We have been drying it with the blowdryer all afternoon and so far no such luck. We took it to the phone store and they said there is nothing they can do about it. A new phone would cost hundreds of dollars, so right now I am using my old phone until we see if this one is going to work or not. Jason read that if it dries out completely then it will work again, but that could take a couple of days. I feel so bad about it and it kinda dominated my day. I realized that I don't feel so bad about the phone itself, but all of my contacts are on there, not on my SIM card, like I though, so that is stressful because I had a TON of phone numbers on there I can't really get now. FRUSTRATING!!

Then, at church, I had a different friend help me in the nursery and it was SO MUCH FUN because there were only 3 baby boys and they were great today. It was really relaxed and more fun than work. We have not had very many days like that in there, so it was a nice change. Too bad that was my last day :-(. On a positive note, the teachers that are in there before me are going to have their first baby! This couple has been trying for at least 3 years and they are finally going to have a family! I am so excited for them and I know they are going to make great parents because I see how they interact with the babies. Praise God!


After church we went out to eat at Rudy's with our Sunday school class. It is the last Sunday for class and there are quite a few couples who are not going to be going to FBC over the summer (and three couples are moving for good) so we all had a nice lunch together. It was so great to see EVERYONE and we got to have a nice time just talking and hanging out. It was really fun.

When we got home we decided to take Abby to the park to go swimming, just like we do almost daily. There were a few people that just stopped and watched as we were throwing the ball for her and just hanging out. Everyone thinks she is super cute and really smart, so it is fun to see how other people interact with her. She does not behave very well, especially for me, but she is still really fun to take to the park.

We didn't have anything spectacular for dinner... I made mac and cheese and Jason had a sandwich. Now we are hanging out and watching Independence Day on TV. Like I said, today was a very interesting day. It started out so horribly, but after that it was nice, even though I was kinda in a bad mood all day. Jason was so great and supportive, and he didn't get mad at all and I was so thankful for that. He said I was mad enough at me for the both of us, haha. I got a keeper! Anyway, I don't kow what I am going to do for the next couple of hours, but hopefully I won't obsess about my phone.

Weddings galore!

Well, today was interesting. I went to TWO lingerie showers today for TWO great friends. It was so encouraging to go to them because I know they are entering into marriages that will last a lifetime. Both of them are Christians and I know they have saved themselves for that first night, and I know from experience that they will not regret that decision at all. The first shower was much more... uh... exciting than the second one. We played some... uh... interesting games and talked about some... uh... crazy topics. There were a lot more people at that one and everyone had something to contribute for what she should know on the wedding night. She is very innocent, so she needed to know some important things... things you won't know unless someone tells you what to expect. So it was good, and awkward all at once. Anywho, it was fun.

The second shower was much more low-key. We went to eat at a nice restaurant, didn't play many games, and just talked about all kinds of fun things. We never once talked about the "first night," even though I know she doesn't have any experience. What an amazing thing to go to two showers for christian girls who have kept themselves pure for their husbands. There is hope!

Actually, at one of the showers a statistic was read that the average guy has 10 partners before getting married. How sad... and I know there are many who do not have that many, which means there are plenty who have more than that. If only they understood how important it is to save yourself for your spouse... but I know that is not realistic. Just had to get that out of my system.

Well, off to church tomorrow so I must go to bed now. Praise God for Christian marriages!