Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Friends and moving.....

Things have been busy.  A little packing here, a little down time there and then LOTS of packing here and there. 
We are counting down the days now!!!


We are set to close next week and the house is a total wreck!!!!!

And we have been spending as much time as we can with friends.  The boys are loving every minute of it too!


Last night on our ride home from having dinner with friends the boys were asking questions about moving and if we will ever see our friends again.

We talked about how we will see them again because:
1. My younger sister and her family live here.
2. Ryan will continue to have check-ups at Scottish Rite for many more years.

After discussing our move and seeing friends again Ryan says,
"The sad thing about moving is saying goodbye to friends." 

And man is he right!!!!


I say NO goodbyes....just until we meet again!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Picking up the pieces


Peaks and valleys, a roller coaster ride, a nightmare or as I like to refer to it and can best describe it.......the past four months have been as if we were in an airplane V E R Y    S   L   O   W   L   Y crashing to earth. 

During this time we watched everything around us slowly fall thousands of feet through the air down to the ground where we CRASH!

Everything falling apart, being destroyed, torn up from the high impact of the crash!!!!! 



Once you land you feel pain, you hurt, your confused and you are MAD as hell! You have done everything in your power to make things work!  How can this be happening to us?!?!  Everything we have worked so hard to build is GONE! 

You want to scream and fight your way out of this mess, but HOW?!?! 

You then look around and find that you have all the things you need and love right there with you.
Besides that you know you have a strong faith! 
You know you have a Mighty God that can do all things!!! 

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28




So you fight!!!  You fight your way through all the rubble and start picking up the pieces.

And with every fiber of your being you pray!! And put as much trust as you can muster up in your Heavenly Father!!!!!!

And that is the true test! 

It continues to be our daily test.   A test to believe and trust in Him to get us through all this. 

The airplane crash is my story, but I love my amazing husband's story too......a different kind of crash.

His goes like this:
The wave we have been riding has crashed ashore.  Now it is time to swim back out and catch a new one!





It is no secret and quite frankly there is not shame here either.  I am an open book.  Always have been, probably always will be.  For crying out loud I blog about our life!!!!!! 

Brant had a very successful business for 12 years.  Life happened and things started to go down hill.  Things changed, economy changed and the rest is history.

Mark my word people......life is not always cupcakes and FUN Fridays!!!!

You may remember we had wanted to move last summer.  And a time before that.  It just never worked out....until now! 
I had posted a few weeks ago about putting the house on the market. 
It went on the market July 3rd.  Within minutes(literally...the sign was not even in the yard!)we had a call for a showing.  And then our second showing on Thursday, July 5th.  He was very interested our realtor told us!!  Friday he made an offer and ONLY five days of our home being on the market we signed a contract.  It was really happening this time!  And all going so fast!!!!
Had God sent us a buyer?  It sure felt that way! 
Can you say this potential buyer was a  "Godsend"?!  Yes, YES.....I can!!!!

But why did God makes us go through the "crash"?  At this point I have no idea.....maybe one day.  The ups and downs, the highs and lows were torture!  But through it all He was pulling us closer to him!  Trying to teach us to give the whole situation over to Him to deal with. 

At one point during it all I realized that and put all my trust and faith in Him alone.  Once I did that I felt a total peace about the whole thing! 

I was truly able to say, Your will God, not mine!

No, I had no idea if good or bad would come from the sell of our home.  And it didn't matter anymore.  I knew that peaceful feeling meant God was in control and whatever He wanted for our lives would be perfect!


Packing is well underway right now as you've seen in the pictures.  And plans are being made to move six hours down the road.  Six hours back home closer to family. 

We had wanted to move closer to family before, but would have never planned it this way!  God's timing is amazing.

During the past several months I have had many verses I cling to and pray about.  But I keep going back to a book a friend gave me years ago.  I highly recommend it!!!

31 Days of Praise by Ruth Myers

I keep going back to these paragraphs, that have been underlined for years, and try to apply them to our situation now.  I hope they encourage you too if you are going through some hard times.

-----------------------------------------------
Even in troubled circumstances, or when God does not choose to work in spectacular ways, praise can help us view our situation through different lenses. It can help produce within us a restful invigorating inner climate.
True praise in unconditional. It's not an attempt to manipulate God into producing the precise results we hope for. Instead it helps us accept our situation as it is, whether or not He changes it. Continued praise helps us reach the place where we can say,
"Father, I don't want You to remove this problem until You've done all You want to do through it, in me and in others."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WOW!  For me that is powerful stuff!!!! 

We have no idea what the future holds for this new journey in our life.  But I do know God's plan will be amazing!!

As I pack up a home we built 12 years ago, think about leaving my baby sister and SO many good friends I have made through the years, I rest a little easier knowing God has this!

I'll try to update here and there, but for now I am busy picking up the pieces.
(And packing!!!!!)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Last days of gardening

It is always a sad time when our summer gardening days are just about over.

Right now we only have tomatoes and cucumbers left.  Oh and the watermelon growing in the compost bin.

I still walk out every morning to see what new growth has come although it is all slowing down drastically!

God has blessed us this season of gardening with lots of beans, a TON of lettuce, bookoos of cucumbers and more tomatoes than we have ever had!!!!!

Speaking of tomatoes......Arthur the tomato eating dog is back! And although he is blind this summer it is not stopping him from finding those sweet 'mators.   

This summer he is loving the Roma tomatoes.  Last summer it was the little cherry tomatoes....you can read about that HERE . 

He may be blind, but that sniffer still works!

So as summer moves along and the days are hotter our last days of gardening grow near.  Plus with us moving we really have no choice.  More on that next week!



The whole enchilada!


 Tomatoes-Cherokee Purple, La Roma II Red and Brandywine

Cucumbers-a few to pick today and more to come!


And the compost watermelons! These are far from ready.  Maybe the next homeowner will enjoy them late summer :)



Are you down to your last days of gardening for the season?

Friday, July 6, 2012

Embrace Change

Sorry I have been MIA for a week.  Lots of changes around here!!!

For a few years now we have wanted to move.  Every time we put our minds to do it something prevents it from happening. 
Well it may not be how we had envisioned or planned it to happen this time, but it is going to happen.
Funny thing is God has His own set of plans for us. Regardless if you are ready or on board with it!!!
Many things have been happening or the lack there of over the past three months for us. 

And at this point we have to laugh.  God either is trying to kill us or make us super STRONG!!  You can't imagine the strength we have these days. 

Brant is Superman and I am WONDER WOMAN!!!!!!!


Life can change in an instant so hang on to your capes!!!  Or this head piece thing!! Man, it gives me a headache!

I think you should always have goals and plans for your life.  But I also know you should never grow too comfortable in the good life you are living.  Change is gonna happen to all of us.  Death, major illnesses, job loss/finances, problems with children, etc. 

You must be able to cope.  And I know for me it is looking to God for my strength!!!!

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13
(A verse my Momma taught many, many years ago!!!)


I'll share details at some point of where we are going and when. That is the big question. Our home went on the market just this week.  It has been encouraging to already have showings, but who knows how long it will truly take.

For now my head is full of so many things I can not seem to sit and gather my thoughts. I'm sure there will be some days here and there that something will come to me, but for now I am just trying to make it through each day without pulling my hair out.

Right now I am going to say I am "kinda" taking a break.  But I know every time I say that I find something I want to share. And that may happen again!!!

I'll leave you with a few thoughts......
-Always be grateful and Praise God for what you have!!!
-Embrace change!!!!!
-Live a SIMPLE life!!!!

I know you are asking....But what about FUN Friday?!?! 
Popcorn and a movie.....here at home in the AC!!!!  If it is not too hot where you are get OUTSIDE and have some FUN!  If it is super hot, jump in a pool!!!!  And drink lots of water. 

Happy Friday!