Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

I have been a very bad blogger.

No update in nearly a week?  Well, to my credit, I was sick as a dog most of that time.  It started on my birthday, and I used up four... yes, four... packages of kleenex!  I didn't feel up to doing ANYTHING, so pretty much I just slept in, watched TV, took naps, watched TV, then went to bed.  It was mostly a throat, sinus, nose thing, and it's still here a little but so much better than it was last week!

My family came this weekend!  I'm so glad they got to come and meet the people we are talking about, and see the area where we will be living.  We had a great time with them.  Saturday they got here around lunch time, we went to Lion's Choice for lunch then showed them our house.  I think they liked it.  :)  Then we went to the zoo, and I was really impressed with the St. Louis Zoo!  LOVED the penguin exhibit, you're like 2 feet away from the penguins!  We got back, had a late dinner at Culver's, then went swimming at their hotel.

Sunday we all went to church, then got lunch at Bandana's BBQ.  Took a nap and played some games at their hotel, then we all came to the Waltrip's for dinner.  It was really good and they had so much food... I think we will be eating it all week!  We all went back to the hotel that night to swim again, and I left a little early to come back and make puppy chow for our church Memorial Day picnic.

Today was our first Memorial Day picnic with the church.  They had a TON of food!    We were there from around 11:30 - 2:30 and I think it was the hottest day of the year so far, but it was fine in the shade because of the breeze.  My family left from the park... I'm so glad they got to come!  Steven and I headed back to the Waltrip's, watched a movie with Paige and her boyfriend, then I took a nap.  We're taking it easy tonight!

In other news, I am seriously excited about our house!  June 16 will be here before we know it, I figured out today it is only two and a half weeks away!  We need to get serious about picking out flooring, carpeting, and paint colors, and getting our time schedule better organized.  It didn't really feel like the day would ever really get here, so now that it's coming I want to be as prepared as possible!

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my 22nd birthday!

Steven's birthday song to me this morning (at midnight) was: 
Happy birthday to you,
You live in a zoo,
You look like a princess,
And you smell like one too!

ha!

Steven is gone at his weekly meeting with our pastor.  I'm not sure what our plan is for today.  We talked about going to Six Flags and getting season tickets, but the weather has been so unpredictable.  We'll see...

I've come up with a list of 23 things that I want to do before I turn 23...
I'll come back my next birthday and cross off the ones I completed, and have a new list for next year.

23 things to do before I turn 23
Buy a house
Buy a puppy
Get customized return-address stamp
Make new friends
Bring a dessert to someone for no reason

Make wedding Photobook
Go camping in our backyard
Look at the stars on the roof
Go to Six Flags
Make lasagna from scratch

Have people over to grill out
Help someone in need
Volunteer somewhere
Buy something from Craigslist
Do something for Steven as a surprise

Paint a room
Really decorate for Christmas
Plant a tomato plant
Get a job in St. Louis using my degree
Get a massage

Plant flowers
Get a nice white Christmas tree
Take “family” pictures

Edited to add:  For my birthday we used my "Free Entree" coupon at Moe's Southwestern Grill, and then we went shopping!  I felt so bad that was about all I felt up to.   My present from Steven was a gift card to a spa in O'Fallon to get a massage!  He was trying to throw me off with his "hints".  Tricky Boy!
The Waltrips were so sweet to get me a cake and sing me Happy Birthday late that night!

Doctor, Doctor

Busy busy busy!

It is so weird being busy after spending the first 4 months of the year just trying to kill time!  I like it though.

Saturday, we met with a "Dinner Fellowship" group for breakfast at Cracker Barrell.  It was the earliest I have willingly gotten up on a Saturday in a long time, but it was worth it!  I'm glad we are able to get to know some of the church members better in a small group environment.  After breakfast, we went with Todd back to "our" house, and we got to talk with him and his wife Dee-Dee.  Their family has already been a huge blessing to us!

That night Steven and I had "date night" at Outback Steakhouse.  Our poor waiter- our steak came out two times way rare, and the third time it was cooked correctly but there was a hair on it!  After dinner, we went to Chesterfield Mall and checked out H&M but didn't end up buying anything.

Sunday after church we went to lunch at a church family's house, the Albertson's.  Lunch was really good and we were once again thankful for their hospitality.  We got back to the Waltrip's house and I took a short nap before heading to church again for the youth group night.  We were thinking that when the devotion and game were over, we would all drive to Taco Bell, but it was storming so hard that we stayed at the church and ordered pizza instead.

 This was the Emergency Plan (because it was storming) that the youth kids wrote on the white board.  It cracked me up!

Today has been rather uneventful.  Slept in, and the power went out for around 3 hours.  When the power was back on we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, then to Target to get some stuff for the youth group (a parent had recommended putting together some sort of First Aid kit for when the kids go to events and camp... sounded like a good idea to me!).

Today is my last day being 21.  I told Steven I wanted a massage for my birthday, and he told me today that he took my present in a different direction and there is a 50% chance that I am going to like it.  Hmmmmm....

Buying a House

I just want to jot down how Steven and I came to this house!

Back when we first started "seriously" talking to Dardenne Prairie, I of course scoured Zillow looking at houses in our price range.  There were two that I especially liked, both on Mondair Dr.  They were cati-corner to one another.  One of them (206) I liked more than the other and I really had my eye on it.  I even looked it up on Google Earth and would just stare at it and try to picture it in real life.  I was seriously infatuated with this house!  ha!

So it was definitely on our list of houses we wanted to see when we accepted the job offer.  But, a week before we came down in April, both of these houses were under contract!  So we went on up to St. Louis anyway to check out a bunch of other houses.  One house we visited was actually on the same street, and I remember pointing 206 to Steven and Lisa, and saying "hey, that's the house I liked so much that isn't on the market anymore!... I wonder why there is a blue tarp on the roof?".  And that was that.  We left St. Louis without making an offer on a house and knowing that there was something else waiting for us.

We got back to Springfield, and only a few days later this house (206) was back on the market, and listed at 10,000 LESS than it was listed the first time!  The last contract had fallen through because of the buyer's financing.  The day we got back to St. Louis (two weeks later) it was the last house on our list of four to check out.  Steven walked in first, I was checking out the fence and yard, so when I walked in he was upstairs at the kitchen counter.  He looked at me and said, "babe, I like this house."  I liked it loved it too!  It was everything we were needing and wanting in a house.  Great location (8 minutes from the church), great curb appeal, 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 car garage, fenced in yard... everything!  We knew we would need to change out the carpet and repaint, but with the price being 10,000 less than it was a month ago, there was room in the budget to do that!

That day we put an offer on it- we offered listing price because we knew the price had just been reduced greatly and the house probably had a lot of people looking at it.  It were praying that they had not already accepted a different offer, when a few days later, we found out they had received 5 offers on the house and to give them our best offer!  We did that, and in that time God showed me I had been a little "manipulative' in my prayers and that I needed to pray for HIS will, whether or not it was MY will.  With a little time, I changed my heart and realized that I was "okay" with not getting the house if that meant it was not God's will.

BUT, luckily for me it didn't come to that because when I was in North Carolina I got the call from Steven that they accepted OUR offer!  We signed some paperwork yesterday, and intend to close on it June 16.

So, my thought is that God taught us a little lesson in patience, and His provision and timing, and in return He let us save thousands of dollars!  God is good!

Isn't she a beauty???

Thankful Thursday X 5

Today I am thankful for our realtor, Lisa Adkins!

Lisa is a member of our church, and our pastor immediately recommended her to us when we accepted the position.   Most of the members there go through her when they sell or buy a house, and we know why!  She has been SO great through this process!  She has spent a ton of time and gas looking at houses either with us or for us when we were still in Springfield.  She has been really efficient getting all the paperwork done or asking questions to the bank or listing agent.  She's given us great advice, and told us not to give up hope when we weren't able to get those first two houses.  She told us that something better would come along, and she was right!

Even now, she is great in letting us into the house when we are just wanting to check on measurements for carpeting, etc.  She brought her husband over with her last Wednesday so he could see how he can help us make some repairs to the house! 

We are so blessed to have her helping us in this very special and exciting time of our lives!

Inspector Gadget

I need to start posting more often because every time I write I feel like I have so much catching up to do!

Last Sunday was really great.  Lauren was home for the weekend, so I got to hang out with her (since I am living at her house! lol).  She went to church with us, then we went to lunch with my Steven and another guy from church named Steven.  We went to Crazy Bowls and Wraps (not to be confused with Crazy Bulls and Rats, lol).  It was really good!  Went home and took a short nap, and that night we had our first high school get together at the church!  Todd was there by chance when we got there, and he was willing to play a few songs before Steven started the devotion.  After the devotion, they decided on a "youth group name" and then played a game called Signs (well, we tried to play it...) and then Dodgeball.  Afterward, we all went to Taco Bell.  It was definitely a "rough" run-through, but now we have a much better idea of what it will be like time-wise and everything.  I think  hopethe teens had a really good time!

Monday was the inspection on our house...  We knew going into it that we will have to replace all of the carpet and paint all of the interior walls.  We also thought that there might be something wrong with the roof or skylights because there were some "spots" on the ceiling of the top floor.  Well, the inspector thought the roof looked fine so we couldn't figure out what the spots were from.  When he went to the attic, he discovered that all of the insulation up there was scratched up and it looked and smelt like some kind of animal (racoon?) had somehow gotten in there and spent the rest of its life trying to get out... so the spots are most likely from its urine!  Gross, but I guess its better than roof damage... The animal is probably dead up there somewhere, so we need to figure out who to call to remove it as well as all of the "contaminated" insulation.   Obviously, there are other things "wrong" too, but he said that most of these things were standard in a house of this age (22 years).  The attic is our main concern right now.

We stopped at Home Depot on our way back, to check out the prices of laminate flooring and carpet.  We took some samples, and are going to check Lowe's at some point also.

Today, we went to a choir concert that is for home-schoolers in the area.  I'm so glad we were able to go- a lot of the kids in the youth group are home-schooled and several of them sang in the concert today.  They did a really good job!

The Old North State

Ever since we got to St. Louis, we have been busy, busy, busy!  I got back Saturday night from my North Carolina trip!

Monday morning, Steven and I left at 4:30 to head to the airport.  I had a short layover in Memphis (and left from a gate right next to where Steven and I left on the way back from Mexico), and was in Charlotte by 11:15!  Kim, Kelly, and Ari all picked me up, and we stopped by Chick-Fil-A to get lunch and brought it back to their house.  Kim told me all about her pregnancy and labor... I called Steven that night and told him we are going to have to adopt all of our children because I do NOT want to go through some of that!  ha!  We spent most of the day hanging out at their house and catching up.  We watched "The King's Speech" that night.  Ari is SUCH a good baby.  I think I heard her cry one time all day.  She's so cute, has dark blue eyes, and smiles in her sleep.

Tuesday we picked up Kim's boyfriend, Tristan, and went to the mall. On our way, I heard a beep on my phone that I had a new voicemail.  Steven had just called me but I hadn't heard it ring, so I called him back.  He asked me some questions about how to use coupons on toothpaste.  It seemed a little weird, because obviously he knows how to use coupons!  He then said, "oh, and by the way, Lisa called and we got the house!"  We were SOOOOOO excited.  God has been so good to us!  We got to the mall and checked out a couple stores, then headed back to the house for dinner.  Kelly and I spent that and the next two nights at Steven (their brother) and his wife Amber's house because they had some other family staying at their house.

Wednesday, Kelly and I picked up some donuts from Dunkin Donuts and brought Kim one, too.  We hung out at the house, and I got a call from Steven that he and Lisa had e-mailed me all of the papers I needed to sign, and to sign them and then fax or scan them back.  It was quite stressful printing out the 23 pages, signing and initialing at the right spots, and then trying to get it all back to them!  Mr. Litfin really did most of the work for me...  all I did was the signing and he took charge from there.  He first was going to try to fax it, but hadn't used his fax machine in a while so he thought it might take a while to re-figure out how to do everything.  So we decided to scan everything and e-mail it back to Lisa.  Finally all of the pages had been scanned, when we discovered that they had been scanned wrong-side up, so we had just scanned the BACKs of all of the papers!  So we did it again, right side up, and went to send it in an e-mail but after 5 minutes of it trying to send, it came back and said the attachment was too big.  So we had to scan everything AGAIN, but half and half this time.  We finally were able to get it to Lisa.  That night was Kevin's confirmation at the Catholic church.

Thursday Kelly and I stopped by Cindy's consignment store that they are in the process of opening.  It is looking good!  Later that day, after Amber got off work, we went to Ikea.  I don't know if that was good or not... it was definitely a bittersweet experience, ha!  It was sweet because it was one of the most amazing shopping experiences of my life, it was like a magical world.  But bitter because the one closest to us is in Chicago!  And because I had only brought a carry-on bag that was already full, so I could only buy SMALL items.  But all in all I am glad I went and I hope they bring one to St. Louis or Kansas City!  We left with the mentality that they were not going to buy anything, but I was going to buy a shower curtain (since I knew we got the house, I wanted to get a shower curtain!).  And we left with everyone buying a couple of things!

Friday we went to Asheville, about 2 hours away from Charlotte.  It is on Kelly's way to college and they hang out there a lot, so they wanted to show it to me.  It was a really cool, artsy place.  We had lunch at a pizza place and went to where the Biltmore estate is (you had to pay to see it, so we just drove on the Estate).

Saturday afternoon we went bowling with Mr. Litfin and Kevin.  Kelly was the Toe Fairy, Kevin was Confirmandor, Kim was Kimbowl, I was the Missourian, and Mr. Litfin was The Dawg.

After bowling, we went to a coffee shop until I had to go to the airport around 5.  The flights back went smoothly- the layover in Atlanta was 2.5 hours long but it was still fine.  In Atlanta, I ate at the food court where Steven and I ate at Qdoba on our way to Mexico!  And this is the first trip I have ever taken where NONE of my flights were delayed!  :)

The trip was great, I'm so glad I was able to go and meet Ari, and spend time with my "second family."  Kelly and I had some good talks at night, and I hope that I was a blessing and encouragement to her and to Kim!

It is good to be back.  I have more to write about yesterday and today (we are getting our house inspected today at 1:30!) but this is already a long post!

Memory

I want to write about this while I am thinking of it, so that I don't forget it!

The Friday when we drove to St. Louis from Springfield, we stopped at McDonalds before we left town to get breakfast.  Steven and I were in separate cars, and he was in front of me at the drive-thru.  I saw him talking to the lady taking his money and pointing back at me, so I figured that he was just telling her to put both of our orders on his ticket.

I drove to the cashier, and she excitedly tells me that the guy in front of me paid for me, then hesitates, and says "and he wanted me to tell you that you're the most beautiful girl he's ever seen."

I smiled and said thank you.  I don't think she knew we knew each other!

Yep.  I've got a good man.  :)

Weekends

Hey hey!

I was able to go to the dentist last Wednesday- found out that I have TMJ.  I don't know a great deal about it, except that I have a tight joint that connects my jaw and ear?  He said it is made more prominant by stress... I guess I have had some stress in my life lately!  Anyway, I have been taking aspirin and putting a warm water bottle on my jaw area before bed, and I have slept a lot better!

Thursday night we left to go back to KC.  Steven's brother, Jhon, graduated today (Saturday) so we wanted to come a little early to see my family too.  We got there close to ten, luckily everyone was still up so we got to talk for a while.  Saturday, we ran some errands with my mom and then picked up A&K from school with her.  We all had dinner together, then Dad and I ran to Dollar General, WalMart, Family Dollar, Target, Family Dollar, and one last stop at WalMart!  We got back and played some games before bed.

Today we left around 9:30 for graduation at 10.  It lasted till around noon, then we got to see the Tucker's for a little bit before the graduation party which was at 3.  We stayed a couple hours, then headed back to St. Louis.  It was a long car ride (3.5 hours each way) for a short trip, but I'm glad we were able to go.

Tomorrow is Steven's first day actually preaching in youth.  He's going to give his testimony.  I'm excited for how it will go!

AND... Monday I leave for North Carolina! 

Change of Heart

Okay, I will now tell you that I have had a change of heart about the house.

Up until last night, I have been SOOOOOO sure that this IS the house for US!  That WE are the ones meant to be there, and have prayed that God would give it to us because it was such a perfect fit.

But as of last night, my prayer has changed that God will give us the house that is His will, whether it is this one or a different one later down the road.  That everything will work out with the RIGHT house... and if that is this house, then great, but if it isn't, then we don't want to be there anyway.

So basically I have had to swallow my pride a little bit and submit more to what God knows is best, instead of what I think is best.

In other news, I have had some pain lately in my ear.  It started a month ago, with pain in my right jaw.  But last week, I started having THROBBING ear pain when I was laying down.  It has only gotten worse, so yesterday I went to the Walgreens clinic to have them look at it.  All she could tell me was it wasn't an ear infection, and sent me to a physician.  I had my appointment today, and she couldn't figure out what was wrong either.  So I have a dentist appointment at 4:00 today, to hopefully get some X-Rays and see what is going on.  If that doesn't work I will have to go to an ear, nose, and throat doctor. 

Ain't Got no Home

Things have been good from my corner of the world!  Yesterday we went grocery shopping, and then to Paige's ice skating practice.

Today we got a call from our realtor that FIVE people have put an offer on the house we are wanting!  So they want everyone to put their "best" offer in by noon tomorrow.  Steven and I talked about it and upped our offer, we don't want a couple thousand dollars to get in the way of such a good house.  We should find out in a few days if they accepted our offer or not.

I'm so nervous for Lisa to call us in the next few days... I have butterflies right now just thinking about it!  I am just praying that if God sees the house fit for us, that we will get it.  We want a home where we will be able to serve the teens and other church members, and potentially start a family, and we know that if God wants us to have it it will work out!

God is so Good!

Yesterday was our first day at Dardenne Prairie!

We have been keeping pretty busy since we got here on Friday afternoon... first, we met with our realtor and put an offer on a house!  We haven't heard anything back, but are PRAYING that they haven't already accepted another offer!  That night, we had dinner at Pastor Dan's house and met some of the people who are volunteering with the Jr. High and High School classes right now.  Dinner was great and we are thankful we were able to get to know some families before our first day!

Dallas, my faithful traveling companion

The back of my car...

the house we put an offer on!

Saturday, some of Steven's family was in the area so we hung out with them.  We started out at a park, watching Landon's soccer game.  Next we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, and watched Maddie pull our her tooth!  And then we went Downtown, and checked out the Arch.

Our first Sunday went GREAT.  We were SO blessed by our new church family! Pastor Dan announced us during service, and had us come to the front.  They gave us a huge bouquet of flowers, and they had also asked members to collect some gift cards for us and we had an envelope full!  We NEVER expected anything like that, and it is such a blessing that they are willing to go outside of their way to help us get settled in!  We then went to the High School class and just observed the way they are doing class presently.

After church they have breakfast foods in the Fellowship Hall.  Probably almost every single member came up to us at some point or another, and welcomed us.  Everyone seemed so genuine and happy we were there.  I don't think I have ever felt so welcome anywhere in my life! 

We are so excited God gave us this opportunity and has worked everything out perfectly!  We know that this position was worth the wait, and we can't wait to build relationships with the teens, their parents, and the other members.