I am starting to get antsy to close on the new house, I wish it hasn't been postponed for so long. I am looking forward to getting out of this neighborhood. Every time I take the dog out, or go somewhere, I see/hear something that makes me hate this place more. I'm looking forward to the privacy and peace our new place will give me. Also, I can't wait to throw on some hiking boots and explore the woods once the leaves fall and reveal the land to us.
I just finished my last speech in speech class today. I am excited to be down to only one class a week after next Tuesday. I'm also glad I took it easy this semester. It would have been hard with more classes, with all we've had going on in the last few months. I think I will start packing stuff next week. I've been putting it off because our house is so little and we don't really have that much extra stuff around the house to pack up.
The kids are getting excited about Halloween. Joy really needs dress up clothes in her size. She has outgrown her box of dress ups from when she was little and I haven't added to it as she's grown. she loves to dress up and will be spending the next couple of weeks getting into the Halloween box and pulling out all of the costumes. Maybe that's something I should think about this Christmas, as now we will have room to store that kind of stuff.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Friday, October 07, 2011
Moving Along
The other day we got word that our financing was approved. Shew! finally.
This has been such a UN-fun ordeal for me. I want the house too much to walk away, so it's been hard because I've felt like walking away a few times. This is the LAST time I buy a house.
I wish I could drive up there and take a look at the leaves in the yard. I bet it was beautiful this week. The wind has been blowing today and many trees in the neighborhood have been stripped in a matter of hours. We won't be in the new house until the leaves have all fallen and we have a HUGE yard to rake, because until we sell this house all we have is a small mower/bagger. It might have to wait until next spring to be cleaned up. There's no more beautiful place in the fall than Minnesota.
My parents will be delighted to know that the ward we are moving into includes a special friend Amy that I was good friends with in our teenage years. Amy also married a non-member and her husband joined the church a couple of years after Joel did. He's now in the branch presidency. We are going to a pumpkin carving activity at Amy's house the day after we close. I'm so excited to see her again and also meet her kids and get to know her family. Also, I learned that her mother Alice passed away a couple of weeks ago. I was very sad to hear that. Her mother was such a nice wonderful lady.
I have started my 20 hours of volunteering in Joy's class for my Education class. She has a really great teacher and I am really enjoying watching how she teaches and the activities she has for the kids. I love that she never even seems to raise her voice, and the kids listen and hear her. It's been great.
Colds are going around early this year. A couple of the kids and I have already started/had ours. ICK. I'm trying to figure out what I should keep stocked up on for the season. Last year I loved cocktails of Sprite/Airborne/Zantac. It made me feel good through my colds and I seemed to hardly suffer after the initial onset. So far that's been the best thing to work for me.
The dog has been healing from his neck scratching. I have taken off his flea collar, and have stopped locking him up in his kennel and it seems to have cured the itching. This week I have started him on a diet of special food for dogs with sensitivity to certain grains and protein. Hopefully this will also help, in case it's a food allergy, but as of now, I'm convinced that it is entirely in his head and happens only when he's locked up for long periods of time.
Jaeden's class has been reading Pippi Longstocking and she has become obsessed! She thinks Pippi is the neatest girl in the whole wide world. This Halloween she wants to be Pippi and wants her costume based on the book's description of what Pippi looks like and wears. I borrowed the movie from the library for her, and she loved the movie. She even took the case to school to show her teacher. I asked her what she liked about Pippi, how would she describe her to someone who didn't know who she was. She said, "The most amazing girl in the world. Adventurous and wondrous, amazing and intelligent. She is a remarkable young girl."- and later she also said, "I think most people don't see Pippi the same way I do. Maybe they think she is odd, but I don't." I love that she finds Pippi so interesting. I've tried to encourage my girls to live true to themselves and be themselves. Even sometimes if that means letting them go to school in very strange outfits they've put together. I love that she loves that about Pippi. I hope she embraces that in herself!
This has been such a UN-fun ordeal for me. I want the house too much to walk away, so it's been hard because I've felt like walking away a few times. This is the LAST time I buy a house.
I wish I could drive up there and take a look at the leaves in the yard. I bet it was beautiful this week. The wind has been blowing today and many trees in the neighborhood have been stripped in a matter of hours. We won't be in the new house until the leaves have all fallen and we have a HUGE yard to rake, because until we sell this house all we have is a small mower/bagger. It might have to wait until next spring to be cleaned up. There's no more beautiful place in the fall than Minnesota.
My parents will be delighted to know that the ward we are moving into includes a special friend Amy that I was good friends with in our teenage years. Amy also married a non-member and her husband joined the church a couple of years after Joel did. He's now in the branch presidency. We are going to a pumpkin carving activity at Amy's house the day after we close. I'm so excited to see her again and also meet her kids and get to know her family. Also, I learned that her mother Alice passed away a couple of weeks ago. I was very sad to hear that. Her mother was such a nice wonderful lady.
I have started my 20 hours of volunteering in Joy's class for my Education class. She has a really great teacher and I am really enjoying watching how she teaches and the activities she has for the kids. I love that she never even seems to raise her voice, and the kids listen and hear her. It's been great.
Colds are going around early this year. A couple of the kids and I have already started/had ours. ICK. I'm trying to figure out what I should keep stocked up on for the season. Last year I loved cocktails of Sprite/Airborne/Zantac. It made me feel good through my colds and I seemed to hardly suffer after the initial onset. So far that's been the best thing to work for me.
The dog has been healing from his neck scratching. I have taken off his flea collar, and have stopped locking him up in his kennel and it seems to have cured the itching. This week I have started him on a diet of special food for dogs with sensitivity to certain grains and protein. Hopefully this will also help, in case it's a food allergy, but as of now, I'm convinced that it is entirely in his head and happens only when he's locked up for long periods of time.
Jaeden's class has been reading Pippi Longstocking and she has become obsessed! She thinks Pippi is the neatest girl in the whole wide world. This Halloween she wants to be Pippi and wants her costume based on the book's description of what Pippi looks like and wears. I borrowed the movie from the library for her, and she loved the movie. She even took the case to school to show her teacher. I asked her what she liked about Pippi, how would she describe her to someone who didn't know who she was. She said, "The most amazing girl in the world. Adventurous and wondrous, amazing and intelligent. She is a remarkable young girl."- and later she also said, "I think most people don't see Pippi the same way I do. Maybe they think she is odd, but I don't." I love that she finds Pippi so interesting. I've tried to encourage my girls to live true to themselves and be themselves. Even sometimes if that means letting them go to school in very strange outfits they've put together. I love that she loves that about Pippi. I hope she embraces that in herself!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Ok, big problems lately with buying the house. We won't be closing on October 3rd, I'm pretty sure, unless there is some sort of miracle. However, we are not out of the game yet.
We had financing before, but then they decided that it was a "mobile home" on a foundation instead of a "manufactured home" and told us they can't finance it. So we are working on financing with another bank or two.
We should know within a week or so if we are getting the house or not.
This has been an emotional roller coaster for me and combined with that and the gloomy weather, and sadness over one of the bears I'd been watching online being shot dead, I'm a little concerned that maybe I need to up my meds. Today I didn't feel like doing anything and layed on the couch until it was time for my VT to come over. I would like to just dig a hole and not come out until I know what's going on with my life so I can get on with it!
I have schools to visit, Viola rental to work out, propane tanks to order, electric companies to contact, news papers to call, etc. So much!
And everyone keeps asking me, "when are you moving?" and in my head all I can think is, "I wish I knew!" I hate feeling like I have to explain the whole story to people.
Plus I have to give a talk on Thursday and I am not very prepared yet. I should have worked on it today but I really had a hard time caring.
If you were one of those that followed me to the black bears in the north woods of Minnesota to watch the birth of the twin cubs, Faith and Jason, there is news today that their one year old sister was hunted last week and killed. Her name was Hope. During the summer one of the cubs, Jason, was also injured by coyotes and died from his injuries. This leaves Lily and Faith left on this earth. I learned so much about black bears from this little bear family and have grown quite fond of them. I am very sad to see that the family dynamics have changed and that the study of how a momma bear mothers two cubs of different ages. It was a once in a life time opportunity, because only the special circumstances of their separation during mating season allowed Lily to become pregnant, but then after they were reunited she mothered Hope again and did it all in front of a den camera. That opportunity now is lost.
I will post again when I know more about the details on the house. In the mean time wish me luck on my talk!
We had financing before, but then they decided that it was a "mobile home" on a foundation instead of a "manufactured home" and told us they can't finance it. So we are working on financing with another bank or two.
We should know within a week or so if we are getting the house or not.
This has been an emotional roller coaster for me and combined with that and the gloomy weather, and sadness over one of the bears I'd been watching online being shot dead, I'm a little concerned that maybe I need to up my meds. Today I didn't feel like doing anything and layed on the couch until it was time for my VT to come over. I would like to just dig a hole and not come out until I know what's going on with my life so I can get on with it!
I have schools to visit, Viola rental to work out, propane tanks to order, electric companies to contact, news papers to call, etc. So much!
And everyone keeps asking me, "when are you moving?" and in my head all I can think is, "I wish I knew!" I hate feeling like I have to explain the whole story to people.
Plus I have to give a talk on Thursday and I am not very prepared yet. I should have worked on it today but I really had a hard time caring.
If you were one of those that followed me to the black bears in the north woods of Minnesota to watch the birth of the twin cubs, Faith and Jason, there is news today that their one year old sister was hunted last week and killed. Her name was Hope. During the summer one of the cubs, Jason, was also injured by coyotes and died from his injuries. This leaves Lily and Faith left on this earth. I learned so much about black bears from this little bear family and have grown quite fond of them. I am very sad to see that the family dynamics have changed and that the study of how a momma bear mothers two cubs of different ages. It was a once in a life time opportunity, because only the special circumstances of their separation during mating season allowed Lily to become pregnant, but then after they were reunited she mothered Hope again and did it all in front of a den camera. That opportunity now is lost.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Change the World
“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.”–Margaret Mead
Monday, September 12, 2011
Buildings
On Friday, while the kids were in school, I took a trip by myself up to the new house. I wanted to check out the schools in the area, for one. I also wanted to find out what the situation was with the mailbox and the nearest fire hydrant.
It took about 40 minutes to get up there. I timed it from Joel's work, just to see how long he would need to commute each day. That's not bad. We had looked at some homes that were at least 60 minutes.
When I got up at the place there was nobody there, so I pulled into the driveway and turned around. On the way out I opened my windows so I could listen to the frogs and bug noises. I drove really slow and looked for trails in the field parts that led to the woods. I saw quite a few and took pictures of deer prints. Can you see one?
I decided to drive around to the back of the property and see who was farming the land behind us. While I was driving, I found a school bus and followed it to the elementary school the kids would go to if we stick with the school the neighborhood is assigned to. I'm not sure if I want to do that, because they only have an elementary school and a high school and the sixth grade and up go to high school. To me, this is not a good idea. I feel that kids that young should not be mixed with older teenagers, for many reasons. I may choose to drive my kids about 8 miles to a different school district and have them attend a district with a middle school. I have to do some more investigating on that.
Back to my story....
After that I went back to the house and decided to take pictures of the buildings for my dad. He'd called earlier in the week and was asking about them.
So I got out and took some pictures...
This is the new front porch...
This is the wood play set in the back yard....
This is the side view of the house, looking south....
Then from that spot I turned and took a picture facing north, with the rest of our lawn and the farmer's bean fields....
The four extra buildings have been moved up against the woods. They have wood floors so they can be moved around the property. They all could use a new paint job, as you can see. The shed...
The bus stop shelter....
The cottage shed (my hobby building)...
OK, so as I was moving down the row taking pictures of these buildings I could hear something big in the woods moving around. I thought it was a deer that I might be disturbing. After taking this shot above, I noticed a face in the woods, to the left of the building, peeking out at me (it's not in this shot). FREAKED ME OUT! It was a big red dog that had been stalking me! I didn't see his ears (I just noticed his eyes and nose), so I don't know what breed it was. I hope it was domestic. I started yelling, "Get! Go on! Get!" It didn't move. I kept yelling and made a move towards it, to which it slowly turned and left (odd). After that I kept my eyes on the woods and aimed my camera towards the green house frame and snapped a shot before walking back to my car.
That scared me a LOT!
Here's the bad shot I got of the green house...
It looks like the buildings have all been sitting by the woods for a couple of years, they have branches on the roofs and plants growing all around them. They will have to be lifted out, painted and fixed up. I fully intend to use the first three buildings.
Next week we will be visiting our new branch and will come back to the property and check out the woods to see what we can tell about what I saw, and what is living in there. I think we will be bringing Josh's birthday present, (a BB rifle).
It took about 40 minutes to get up there. I timed it from Joel's work, just to see how long he would need to commute each day. That's not bad. We had looked at some homes that were at least 60 minutes.
When I got up at the place there was nobody there, so I pulled into the driveway and turned around. On the way out I opened my windows so I could listen to the frogs and bug noises. I drove really slow and looked for trails in the field parts that led to the woods. I saw quite a few and took pictures of deer prints. Can you see one?
Back to my story....
After that I went back to the house and decided to take pictures of the buildings for my dad. He'd called earlier in the week and was asking about them.
So I got out and took some pictures...
This is the new front porch...
This is the wood play set in the back yard....
This is the side view of the house, looking south....
Then from that spot I turned and took a picture facing north, with the rest of our lawn and the farmer's bean fields....
The four extra buildings have been moved up against the woods. They have wood floors so they can be moved around the property. They all could use a new paint job, as you can see. The shed...
The bus stop shelter....
The cottage shed (my hobby building)...
OK, so as I was moving down the row taking pictures of these buildings I could hear something big in the woods moving around. I thought it was a deer that I might be disturbing. After taking this shot above, I noticed a face in the woods, to the left of the building, peeking out at me (it's not in this shot). FREAKED ME OUT! It was a big red dog that had been stalking me! I didn't see his ears (I just noticed his eyes and nose), so I don't know what breed it was. I hope it was domestic. I started yelling, "Get! Go on! Get!" It didn't move. I kept yelling and made a move towards it, to which it slowly turned and left (odd). After that I kept my eyes on the woods and aimed my camera towards the green house frame and snapped a shot before walking back to my car.
That scared me a LOT!
Here's the bad shot I got of the green house...
It looks like the buildings have all been sitting by the woods for a couple of years, they have branches on the roofs and plants growing all around them. They will have to be lifted out, painted and fixed up. I fully intend to use the first three buildings.
Next week we will be visiting our new branch and will come back to the property and check out the woods to see what we can tell about what I saw, and what is living in there. I think we will be bringing Josh's birthday present, (a BB rifle).
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Deacon's Bench
Many years ago I got the idea in my head that I simply MUST have a deacon's bench. One year Joel told me that he knew how to make furniture and so I started begging him to make me one. I must have bugged him too much because one year for Mother's Day I got an I.O. U. for one hand made deacon's bench.
I've waited
and waited
and waited
I've had three children since then.
No deacon's bench.
The last year I have wanted one more than ever. Mostly for my children to store their winter hats and mittens in, since the puppy has been chewing on them. I thought it would look so nice by my door and the kids could sit on it and take their things off.
I stopped waiting for Joel to work his wood work magic and this week I found one I simply couldn't pass up. I bought myself a deacon's bench!
And I love it!
It's going to go so nicely in the new house.
Now I need a rustic one for the outside of my front door.... Joel!
I've waited
and waited
and waited
I've had three children since then.
No deacon's bench.
The last year I have wanted one more than ever. Mostly for my children to store their winter hats and mittens in, since the puppy has been chewing on them. I thought it would look so nice by my door and the kids could sit on it and take their things off.
I stopped waiting for Joel to work his wood work magic and this week I found one I simply couldn't pass up. I bought myself a deacon's bench!
And I love it!
It's going to go so nicely in the new house.
Now I need a rustic one for the outside of my front door.... Joel!
Who Knew?
Who knew that a dog could be allergic to you? I didn't. I might have a dog that is topically allergic to either environment, dust or us! Yay. I can just see Joel's eyes rolling when I tell him this news. 15 years of special baths, pills and sprays. Its gonna be fun.
Rats. This really bums me out.
Rats. This really bums me out.
Monday, September 05, 2011
Summer..... stop.
Tomorrow is back to school! My kids get on the bus at 8:50, I have a class at 9:30. I have a bunch of stuff to do to get them ready to get on the bus. Get their lunches bought, get their backpacks packed, the papers filled out, their outfits picked out, their pictures taken, etc. Yeah... I put it off until the last minute. I do that a lot.
Joel went through the new house with the inspector and the house looks great! No major fixes are needed, and the owners agreed to all of the fixes we requested. While he was up there, Joel found some choke cherry trees and some grape bushes. That's cool!
I find myself daydreaming a lot about the new house. Imagining us in it, the things we will do. It's fun just thinking about it. I can hardly wait until it's real.
We have been fasting for a buyer for this house. I plan to fast every Sunday until it is sold. Please keep us in your prayers for this! If we don't sell it, I will have to find work in November until we do. That's something I'm willing to do to get us into this new house. It will be worth it! The short term sacrifices will be worth the long term benefits.
Joel went through the new house with the inspector and the house looks great! No major fixes are needed, and the owners agreed to all of the fixes we requested. While he was up there, Joel found some choke cherry trees and some grape bushes. That's cool!
I find myself daydreaming a lot about the new house. Imagining us in it, the things we will do. It's fun just thinking about it. I can hardly wait until it's real.
We have been fasting for a buyer for this house. I plan to fast every Sunday until it is sold. Please keep us in your prayers for this! If we don't sell it, I will have to find work in November until we do. That's something I'm willing to do to get us into this new house. It will be worth it! The short term sacrifices will be worth the long term benefits.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)