Thursday, June 24, 2010

"Home"

The other morning I was spending time in prayer with a friend at church. As she prayed, (and I can't remember her exact wording) she talked about "home" being not our actual houses, but it being a place of "pure worship". As she prayed, that statement stirred my heart. We are getting ready to say goodbye to our first house and we are packing all of our posessions up, not exactly sure where we will end up. So as we enter this stage of our lives, that statement strikes a chord within me. So many times, we put so much into our homes and having things "pretty", and I am by no means saying we should not keep our homes nice, but this world is not home. My joy should not be found in having nice things and a pretty house. I truly feel that God is teaching me more each day that I do not need to be tied to things of this world, for they will wither and fade. So, while I am sad to leave this house, I have found joy in thinking on how I look at where my home is. I should feel "at home" when I am in "pure worship". No matter where it may be, that doesn't matter. I am so thankful for our house selling and anxious to see where He is going to open doors (or shut them if He so chooses). I am learning so much so far from this time and know we will have many years ahead of us that will continue to teach me to trust in Him and be content with all that He has given us (most importantly for the gift of His son so that we can go to the throne to worship Him!). I desire to be "home" more and enjoy moments just resting in Christ and knowing He is more than sufficient enough.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Happy Belated birthday, Sarah Kate!

Well, I am getting to be quite a slacker with blogging, but packing and purging are consuming my time lately (plus Sarah Kate time too:)). Last week we celebrated our baby's 2nd birthday! I can not believe she is 2 already. We had a birthday party at our friends (The Clayton's) pool the weekend before her birthday. She had a blast at the party. She loves swimming in the pool, and add to the some pizza, icecream, and cupcakes, and we had one happy baby girl! Here are some pics of the party day! Enjoy!



Sarah Kate got many special gifts from friends and family. We have had a blast playing with her new babies, dress up things, make-up, bubbles, and all sorts of fun things. One special gift was made by her Pop and Daddy (with design and paint credit going to Momma and Nana). We decided it would be so awesome for the guys to build Sarah Kate a play kitchen (Pottery Barn like--without the Pottery Barn price tag). We had so much fun designing and putting together this kitchen for Sarah Kate. Here are just a few pics for now, more with come :)



We haven't been to our check up at the doc, so I don't know her stats for what she is weighing these days. Here are some things she is up to though:
*Loves Milk! Will drink a whole sipy cup in the morning and then ask for more.
*Most days it is a challenge to get her to eat good. She eats, just not as much as Mommy thinks she should sometimes (varies each day)
*Talks like crazy now and makes sentances. Remembers her friends names and talks about them when they aren't around.
*Loves the swimming pool and being outside all the time!
*Plays with: babies, bubbles, cooks in her kitchen, piano (loves to play Mimi's piano and Nana's keyboard), LOVES reading books, and coloring--likes to color more with pens than crayons though.
That's about all we got time to report on now! We are having a Moving Sale this Fri and Sat., so our week has been filled with preparing for that! Come check it out if you are in town! Lots of goodies you should take to your home :)

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Crazy week!

So this week has turned out to be quite busy! We went Mon. to the zoo with friends. Sarah Kate had a blast seeing the animals and then playing in the water. She had so much fun that she took a 3 hour nap when we got home :) We are gearing up too for her 2nd birthday party on sat! I can't believe my baby is turning two. She is such a sweet baby girl, a bit of a diva at times, but she has been such a blessing to michael and i. I hope to have a post soon with updates about what she is up to! I am beginning the process of purging at our house as we get ready to move soon! we are trying to divide our things into stuff we can get rid of, stuff we will keep with us wherever we move to now, and stuff we will have to store. With all of the purging going on around here, i think we have decided to have a little garage sale (maybe it can help pay for the moving costs). That is all i have time for this morning, but I will leave you with some recent pics!


Rehearsal Dinner for Aunt Lala and Uncle Jeremiah

Playing in the water at the zoo with our friend!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Publix 6/1 trip


We had a great trip to publix this week! I spent a whopping $10.47 and saved $83.04!!! So here's the run down:
2 Muir Glen tomato Sauce--free with $1 printable!
2 Bic Razors--Free with b1g1 and $3 newspaper coupons!
Deli Boar's Head sliced cheese--this was a splurge-no coupon $3.60
4 Planters Nuts--$1.50-$1 blinkies and a b3g1 Target coupon=.50 for all 4
4 Nabisco Fudge Cremes/cakesters--$.150-$1 coupons and b3g1 Target Coupon
2 Kelloggs cereals--$2.10-$1 off 2 coupon
Clorox--free with Foodworld home mailer-try free coupon
2 Hillshire Farm Sausage--$2.50-$1 coupons= $1.50 each
4 Yoplait go-gurts- $1.39-$1 coupons and $1 off 2 Target coupon-Free plus overage!
4 Dove Deodorants--raincheck for b1g1-$2 coupons and $1 Target coupons-free plus overage!
Country Crock spread-$1-.40 cent coupon=.20 cents each
2 HP Hood Milk--2 free home mailers!
Butterfinger--Free with coupon!
I also made a trip to Target to stock up on their ground chuck on sale for $1.49/lb.! I got 6 lbs. for $10! that is 6 meals (or more if i stretch it out in soups and such!)==so total for my week I have spent $20--so we hopefully will make it to the farmer's market again this sat for our fresh produce and I have money left in our budget to get a good amount of fresh stuff!! I do need to start using up what we have in our freezer if we are moving in 6 weeks! How can i resist such great deals though.
We went to the zoo yesterday with Mimi and Haven! Sk and Haven had a blast playing in the water! We are loving the great outdoor time we are getting this summer! Off to play dress up with my princess! yall have a great day! I hope to get some pics up tom. from Lala's wedding festivities that happened last weekend! Sarah Kate was a beautful flowergirl and Lauren was a GORGEOUS bride! We will update all about that tomorrow though! Enough for today!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Big News!

Well, it's been a while since my last post. Things have been crazy around here lately. We had a house showing last wed., then got a phone call on Sat. the person who saw it wanted to return to look again on Sun. So after a lovely date Sat. night with my hubs, we went home and cleaned. It worked out great, because Sk was spending the night away at nana and pops (her first time), so now she has officially spent the night with both sets of grandparents, and we all did wonderfully! She had a great time and didn't want the fun to end, and mommy and daddy had some nice down time too. Back to the showing---So Sun. we left for church with the house clean and headed to get Sk and go to church. She has been occasionally been complaining of an upset tummy but still was playing fine and acting like she is fine for the most part, so with that we headed to church, but then decided not to keep her around anyone later in the day, as she started to complain again of an upset tummy *We were supposed to go to friends to swim and grill out after church. We were supposed to leave our house for this person to look from 4-5. So, we returned to our house at about 5:05 and she was still there with the realtor. We drove around till they finally leave at about 5:25. The next morning, we get the phone call! We had an offer. After one counter, she accepted! last night, our realtor came over and we signed the papers, now she will sign them and we will be officially under contract. We are in complete shock and amazement of God and how he is working things out. She does not have a house to sell herself, just some other details to work out, so hopefully (and PRAYERFULLY) things will go smooth and we will close on July 14th.
So there is that story! in short...We are so excited, anxious, scared (at least i am a bit). We are excited to see where God will lead us, and we are praying for Him to continue leading us, shutting doors where they neeed to be shut, and openning where He wants them openned.
It is hart to think about leaving the only house Michael and I have lived in and started our family in together. We have so many memories here. Sarah Kate's nursery is here....maybe i am silly, i know i probably am, and i know we will make a home wherever God leads us. It isnt the walls, its that my baby girl and husband will be there. We are excited and can't wait to see how the next year unfolds. If you are still reading this long post, please pray for guidance for us. Pray God would slam doors shut if we aren't supposed to go anywhere, if we are supposed to stay here, we pray God would clearly show us! We are so thankful for our friends and their prayers, and know we are being lifted up by many friends and family during this time. I cherish this and truly am thankful.
On another note, I will have updates soon on Sk, she is turning 2 in a couple of weeks! CRAZY! I also hope to have pics of Sk soon from her aunt lala's wedding that was May 28th (last fri). She was the flowergirl and did a wonderful job and danced the night away with everyone! Her dress was AMAZING!
I think that is all i will say for now. Off to go purge a closet :)