Updates on the house

O.K. So the only room in the house I am finally getting to look the way I want is the bedroom and it still has a long way to go. I hung some wall hangings and decluttered and thought you might like to see.

Easter Sunday

This is me and Calvin on Easter Sunday! I didn't go buy a new dress due to my shopping fast! That's right I am not shopping for a month. I've made it a week and a day already...Anyway, Calvin has a suit he wears for special occasions and he looked so handsome! It was hard to take pictures because it was just the two of us. So Easter was great. We love celebrating that resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He LIVES, and we know He lives because He lives within our hearts! So we went to church Easter Sunday, we both had to be there at 8:00 am. I wanted to make sure Michael had enough help for Easter and Calvin led the choir at 8:30 (he is such a talented musician)! I don't know if I have told you, but I am the Children's Ministry Associate for First Baptist Church Joelton. I am constantly working with children and I love every bit of it. So Sundays are kind of like a work day for me. I get to be at church from 8:30 - 12:30 and make sure we have enough help and that Sunday school teachers have everything they need. At 11:00 a.m. I make sure there are plenty of nursery and preschool extended care volunteers and plan a lesson for them to do. Needless to say, I was worried we were going to be slammed Easter Sunday. It was awesome though. God truly provided enough wonderful helpers and volunteers and there were a lot of children who got to hear God's word!

After church, Calvin and I rushed home so I could finish dinner for his parents who were coming over to watch the Master's golf tournament. I had put a beautiful pot roast in the crockpot with EVOO and huge chunks of potatoes, carrots, and onions. Dashed it with some salt and pepper, a little secret ingredient, and 2 tbsp of butter! Poured in some organic salt free beef bouillon and low sodium organic beef broth and let it hang out and do its thang! Next, I made three cheese tortellini with homemade alfredo and fresh Parmesan. I steamed some broccoli and threw together a salad and baked off some biscuits. I also cut up some fresh strawberries. We ate like kings and queens! I LOVE to cook and haven't gotten to cook a nice meal like that in a long time.

After we watched Angel Cabrera win the Masters golf tourney. Blah, Blah, Blah...

O.K. So these are just some random images. One is of my birthday which was March 17th - St. Patrick's Day. I turned 23 years old. No biggie - we were so spent from moving all we did was go out to eat. It was pretty nonchalant, but that was fine. My boss Krinda made my birthday pretty special and so did my boss Michael. I got to work on Monday and there were balloons and cake! And Krinda, Anton, and A.J. got my a Pottery Barn gift card (LOVE IT!) and took me to lunch at a tea room. It was great! One pic is of the pink toile shower curtain I have in the guest bathroom. One pic is of me on Valentine's Day. Calvin and I went to Carabba's. We didn't even get a pic together, I forgot. The picture of me and my mom is just random.

You know, I was gonna' try really hard to blog consistently, but it is hard. I don't really like to blog. But here goes, I'm gonna' try. Calvin and I had our world turned upside down when we decided to buy a house. It started last year around January 2008. I decided - with Calvin - that this was our year. We were going to buy a house. I prayed a lot, and I remember even asking God in complete faith for around 14,000 dollars. I figured that's what we would need to get out of debt and to have a decent down payment. I completely forgot I prayed that and over the spring and summer of 2008 we started getting serious about saving alot of money. Every week, when I would get paid I would designate money for bills, for our Dave Ramsey envelopes, and for savings. I saved ALOT of money. Anyway, We got really serious about being wiser with our money and the next thing we know, we're ready to start looking. The crazy thing is, we didn't start really looking until around December 2008 and January of 2009. I prayed alot, everytime we looked at a house and we liked it we put an offer on it. We put an offer on two or three different houses that didn't work out.

Finally, one day in late January we went to see a house in Pleasant View and a house in Hendersonville. We loved them both. We weighed the pros and cons, we prayed, we went over and over our budget. We went to my dad's house the next night (my dad is my real estate agent) with intentions to put an offer on the house in Pleasant View. We liked the house in Hendersonville better, but thought it was a little out of our budget. Well, LONG story short...after praying some more and talking with my dad we put an offer on the house we REALLY wanted in Hendersonville. The offer was accepted and we had to wait a month to close. It was a LONG wait. In the mean time, I had started packing up the apartment. The more I packed, the harder it was to live in the apartment. It was starting to feel less and less like home, which was sort of exciting!

So, February 26, 2009 closing date arrives. I had to watch A.J. that day and left early to meet Calvin @ the mortgage place. Everything went really smoothly, no glitches. The first thing we did after signing millions of documents, and selling our souls to the mortgage company...we drive to the new house!!! The first time we walked into the house as homeowners was an AMAZING feeling. This was our house - Our first Home - most likely where our first baby will be born - where we'll make so many memories - where we can have parties and I can have sleepovers and dinners and decorate and paint and grow flowers! (I am the queen of run on sentences, I know.)

It is so awesome. Friday after we closed i spent the whole day moving boxes all by myself. Calvin had to work so I spent the next three Fridays moving us. I used my dad's big white dodge Ram and moved and moved and moved. My muscles got really big. It took two weeks, but we finally got moved in to our new home. We both walk around all the time saying, "I can't believe we live here." It's so nice! We have really grown closer throughout the whole process. Calvin has been very involved in picking our furniture, paint, lamps, etc. He's got a say and that's cool with me. Anyways, This is as much as my blogging self can get out in one sitting.

We've been here over a month now and it feels like home more and more. I can't believe God gave me such an amazing home.

p.s. Remember how I said I prayed for 14,000 dollars? I forgot I prayed that until two weeks ago. We were already in the house and settled. The Holy Spirit revealed to me that he had indeed given us MORE than 14,000. Between the savings, my dad's commission, and the new housing stimulus, God gave us above and beyond what I asked for. He is so GOOD and I give Him ALL the glory. He was answering a prayer i forgot I had prayed AND I will declare His mighty works. He provides for His children. AMEN!