That's not the door we were expecting

Since we're moving in less than 50 days, we thought we should find a place to live.  Just a minor detail.

On Saturday, N and I went in search of the perfect rental house for our family.  That would give us space, but also time to get a lay of the land in our new city.  The first two rentals weren't really for us due to size.  However, the third rental was perfect.  Big enough for our family and in a great community that has walking trails, an 18-hole golf course, two ponds, playgrounds, tennis courts, basketball courts AND a swimming pool.  Hello lover!

N and I decided to drive around the neighborhood and get a feel for the area before we committed to anything.  About 6 houses up the road from the rental was a house for sale.  We decided to take a look and see what expensive area we would be living in. 

This house is 2,192 sq feet, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths plus a den.  It also has a fairly good sized back yard.  Did I mention it's new construction?  Like never been lived in.

I was expecting to see $250,000-$280,000 on the "Take Me!" page on the for sale sign.  To my absolute delight it was under $200,000.  That would mean it's in our price range.

With access to a community pool.  AND tennis.  AND basketball.  AND golf.  AND walking trails. 

Isn't it totes cute?  (That means "totally cute" for people without teenagers)

In a way that only God can orchestrate, we went to a perfect rental and fell in love with the house that was for sale. 

For less than $20 more a month, we can pay to buy this house rather than rent.  In His perfect plan, He slammed shut the doors that weren't His plan and opened wide the doors that He has for us.

That has been the absolute story of this move.  In many ways, we're stepping out in faith.  Despite how unworthy we are, He is always faithful, always good.  His love is unconditional.  We are completely blessed beyond any of our hopes.   

It's Amazing to Watch God in Action

As you know, N and I live apart during the week.  He spends Sunday evening - Thursday evening working at the dam.  I spend that time with Zoe here in Spokane.  For about 7 months we've been feeling like we HAVE to be together NOW!  We even use shouty capitals in our thoughts.

There is always 612 things that bring anxiety when we would talk about things:

1) What about Zoe's school?
2) What about a little thing I call a job?
3) What about our obligations at church?
4) What about the older girls?
5) What about Zoe's care?  My mom does that now, so I'd have to find daycare and what if I pick the wrong one and she gets hurt in some way? 

Then the rollercoaster of anxiety would carry me up the big hill and send me crashing into a ball of flames that made me only want to think of good things like rainbows and unicorns.

We spent much time in prayer.  At the end of summer I was told about an opening at an investment firm in the Tri-Cities.  I was overqualified, but I figured I'd apply and see where that led.

It led to them telling me that I was overqualified for the position, but they had an opening for the exact same job I do now.  The exact same job!  They only needed to create the job first.  For the last three months we've been talking and they've been creating.  N and I have been praying.  In the last three months things have happened to eliminate all my anxiety:

1) We found a Christian school in the Tri-Cities that is identical to Zoe's school here.  They have an opening.  We've applied. 

2) I've got the job that I love to do with the added bonus of a raise!

3) Our church is going through a split.  It's ugly.  It's saddening.  A large part of me grieves for my church home of the last 28 years.  It's definitely God's way of telling all of us, even my mom, that it's time to go.

4) We've been in a battle over the older girls for the last 10 months.  Without saying too much, we got word last week that all this will be resolved in the next two-three weeks. 

5) My mom found out that she can work from anywhere in Washington state.  She's moving too.  Zoe's routine will remain the same, which is what I worried most about.  She cries when she outgrows clothes, so I can only imagine what a move to another house in another city is going to do to her!

I'm awed by Him, His plan and His love.  He knew my anxieties and He's answered every one of my prayers.  While I know this move will not be easy in many ways, I also know, without question, that this is where God is leading us. 

Now comes the fun part!  It's Christmas, we're planning a two-prong move (N from the house we're renting now that isn't big enough and us from Spokane), and we're all going to be starting anew.  None of that worries me.  He will continue to open wide the doors to His plan. 

My Twi-Heart is Happy

This weekend, between Disney on Ice (posting pictures soon), cooking a memorial dinner for some friends who lost a family member much too early and church business, I had time to see Breaking Dawn Part 2.

I love the books.  I love them so much that I've read them at least 5 times.  I do think they get a little bizarre at the end, but they're sci-fi, that's what happens.

You can imagine my trepidation about this movie.  There is a child that is...less than human. 

I was blown away with how well they did it, how well they honored the book and how they ended the series.

I still refuse to watch the Twilight movie.  It was a shame to the series.  These last 4 movies make this very old Twi-hard very happy.

Smiling is Our Thing

A few weeks ago we went to get family pictures taken.  One of the local co-op groups does a fundraiser.  You get professional pictures for less than a tank of gas and all money goes to their co-op.  We met at a beautiful park and had a blast. 

N LOVED it because I didn't have rules about what everyone should wear.  I didn't care if we matched.  I just wanted everyone to wear their favorite outfit or something they were comfortable in.  N's response was as excited as if I said he was going to meet George Lucas. 

One of the things that N really, really, really wanted to do was hold the girls on his shoulders.  You have to understand, they are 13, 11 and 5.  D is almost as tall as me and E isn't too far behind.

He did it!

You can't get much bigger smiles then that!

She Wants To Be Everything

October usually includes about 612 different ideas of what to be for Halloween.  It starts out with ideas that we are all part of a theater troupe and we need to coordinate.  Zoe has planned for us to be The Avengers, gnomes, different vegetables so we could be a salad family, etc. 

Then it morphs into what she specifically wants to be.  We've had ideas to be a fairy, a princess fairy, a princess, etc.

Honestly, even though it's thee day, I'm not entirely sure what she's going to pick for tonight's harvest party at church.  Last Friday was the harvest party at school.  All the kids had to dress as a fruit, vegetable or farmer.  Originally Zoe wanted to be a granny smith apple because those are her favorite.  I had an idea in my head and about 30 minutes before I was to buy the supplies, she changed her mind to a carrot.  Which, in all honesty, was MUCH easier.  I needed some orange felt, some tan thread, green felt, green thread, a pipecleaner and a head band.  And voila!

I have absolutely no idea why this picture is sideways.  I cannot, for the life of me, get it to change.  Sorry about that.

She decided she wanted to be a baby carrot, so we took some of her fake corn, poke a stick into the bottom, filled it with rice and now she's a baby carrot.  The whole corn thing was a daddy idea.  I think for the first time, we've all had a hand in her outfit. 

We were all geared up to do the Pumpkin Pacer race on Saturday.  It's a costumed race.  She was going to be a carrot and I was going to be a rabbit.  She's not the only one with ideas for family costumes.

Thursday night I came down with a cold.  The race was out for me, but I was so excited for our carrot to do her thing.

20 minutes to show time...she changed her mind.

She wore the same M&M costume from last year.  The only difference this year, she ran the entire course and beat out a small cow!  Yeah for Zoe!

Now onto today.  She's planning to be a fairy at her ballet class this afternoon, but is still undecided about the party tonight.  She's goign to see how she feels.  Considering she has about 612 choices, it could be a long process.

What Has 8 Wheels and All Her Bones in Tact?

This weekend we spent time with three of my favorite girls.  For months they've been asking to go rollerskating.  Finally this weekend it seemed to work out that we could strap on the wheels and roll to the music (while praying we didn't fall down and break a hip or something).  I used to be a roller skating maniac.  I LOVED it.  Probably because it was the one sport that I could actually do.  After 24 years out of the game, I was a little concerned about going.  Here's my entourage:

D - she's only 13 people.  I'm not sure, I'm positive she looks about 21 in this picture.

She's a dynamo on skates.  She can squirt sour candy into her mouth, do the chicken dance and skate without missing a beat. 

E - she tends to be tired after about 3 laps.  Until she squirts about 1/3 of a bottle of sour candy spray into her mouth.  Then she's ready for 3 more laps. 

She is the video game queen.  I'm not entirely sure how long she was at the games, but she was clearly in her element.

Zoe - she was ready to strap on the wheels and see if she liked this roller skating business.  Then she found out they had a bar.

For the next 90 minutes she wouldn't come off the rink.  She LOVED it.  By the last 15 minutes, she was racing me.  She won.

N complained about his knees and how we would need someone to sit with all our stuff...blah, blah, blah.  Personally I think he was texting our friends and making bets about how many laps before I fell down. 

It was a great day with our girls, learning the joys of sour candy spray and realizing that after 24 years, roller skating is like riding a bike.

Something Sparkly

On Saturday we had family pictures taken and then we dropped off my wedding ring at the jewelry store to be checked and re-dipped in rhodium to make it silver rather than gold.  For the next 5 days I'll be without my wedding ring, trying to find one that fits that finger because I don't like going without a ring there.

Then we went to the mall because we owed E some new shoes.  N told me he had some birthday money to spend and would meet us at the department store we parked at.

We beat him there, he called to tell me he wasn't quite done and that it would be about 15 minutes.  The girls and I went to the play area so Zoe could play and the girls could put on their new purchases.

I see N coming toward us with a smile on his face.  That kind of smile usually means he's up to no good or he has a surprise. 

He placed a black velvet ring box in my lap.  Inside was this:

That husband of mine spent his birthday money on something sparkly for me.  This ring includes my birthstone (the light pink sapphire), his birthstone (the opal) and Zoe's birthstone (the raspberry garnet).  He'd like to add D's & E's to it at some point in the future.

I cannot even tell you how surprised I was that he did that. 

I can't stop staring at it.  Once I get my wedding ring back, I'll take this in to get sized so I can stop wearing a band-aid underneath it, like Elvis.