So, we ruined the' chair. That really sucks. The dye just ran right out of it. Live and learn I guess.

It's down to blues and reds.

I helped Amy dye a chair tonight. It was cool. We aren't finished yet and neither one of us have any experience, but it was fun. I hope it turns out nice.

Thanksgiving was nice. I haven't called anyone from my side of the family yet, but they haven't called me either, so I guess that makes us even. I am sure they were all busy anyway.

I am excited to be getting into a new house and being able to decorate and paint again. Reds, blues, blacks and tans are all colors I am looking at. We shall see. Greens are still in the running as well. Silver and rod iron are a must. Oh what fun!!

Death Valley was so beautiful!! We had the greatest time, and saw some awesome views, etc. We took a moment to pray for everyone at six.

What is it about the mountains that are so attractive to me?

We are about to leave, just wanted to express my love and prayers to the Ohl's on this day.

My heart aches for them as do many others I am sure. I can not comprehend the emotion they have been going through, and will continue to go through. I pray for God's love to surround them as always, but even more so today. Healing will come in God's time. We will not be there tonight, but will be praying at that time where we are staying.

I hope that at 6pm, anyone who reads this will be saying a prayer as well for the Ohl family.

Church was exactly what I needed tonight. Although there was a sadness in my heart, there was the reminder of God's love for us, and a good amount of time for reflection.

Greg did a great job.

I am filled with mixed emotions about the house. Although I am thrilled to be going to a place called home again, I am sad that we will be moving out of this house. Amy and Dave and the kids have been such an inspiration to me, and have taught me many things. I need to work on being a better friend, as I tend to be very lazy, and forget like an eighty year old which causes me to be even worse at follow through than usual. I feel like even though the house hunting turned into a stressful, and frustrating thing, Amy was so there for us, and helped us find our direction. She really took much stress out of it. I don't know that there are enough words to express just how grateful we really are for all of their help. I only hope that with the time we have left here we can drop the stress, and just live and learn.

We will be going on an overnight trip to Death Valley this week. (Shad's idea) We need a day or two to just process the past events. Many prayers to pray, many things to always be thankful for.

God is so good. We found a house today, signed the papers, and should be bugging friends for help with moving in about two or three weeks.

Thanks to Amy for the free realty services.
You rock!

Still looking for a house. God will lead us.

Sounds like there are some issues with house church. That makes me sad.

My troubles are very small and meaningless today. How very unbelievable, and very heavy on the heart. Many prayers to you and your family.

Another house, another rejection. No shit.

Another rejection. I feel like I have had enough.

Leaving it to God today and just trying to get things done.

I am missing my community. I guess I should be more active in it, then perhaps I would get more from it. You only get out of life what you put in.

God has a funny way of teaching us things.

We were turned down on our offer for the house we really liked.

Back to the drawing board.

God, I give it up to you.

Being a parent is so hard sometimes. Like when one is sick and you have to sit and watch and wish you could take it all away but you can't. Or when the other one wants to do something that would probably be really fun, but you feel deep down that it wouldn't be the right thing to do, so you say no and can just feel the pain in their heart as they cry because they don't want to miss out on the fun that they know the other kids will have with out them.

My mother put "The Fear" in me as I call it. The fear of just about everything. I am trying not to pass it on to my girls, but find it hard not to. I hear all of these stories of kids being taken, raped, killed, whatever, and it breaks my heart. And to know that it could happen to anyone, even us, that just is a very scary thing. I can tell that I am going to have some major issues with letting them go as the times come. I already am. We are so blessed.

Pray for our friend Misty.
Pray for my friend, (brother) Michael and his father who is dying with cancer.
Pray for my brother's mother-in-law who is dying with cancer.
Pray for everyone who is dying with cancer.


I hate cancer.

What?

The house that we made an offer on sent us a counter offer, and then we countered their counter, and in the process we found out that what we were about to offer and buy this house for was not what it was really worth, and that was a concern which then made us realize that maybe this is not the right house.

So, We took back our counter of their counter and started all over again. We then found a house in an area that is close to where we used to live, but not that close. It was the nicest house with a big backyard, a quiet area, (we think) and well, just so perfect. It is older, but we like it, and we made an offer on it yesterday. We find out some info on Monday afternoon, and then we will go from there. If we get it, we might be in there before Christmas, otherwise it is just starting all over again. House hunting basically stinks. It was fun at first, but now...............Just stress!

So I am sitting here thinking, work sucks, and.......I quit! No, not really, I have to do this. I made a commitment until January 1, and that is that.

There is this person who is threatening to sue because I sent a bill. :b

The extra things to do that have nothing to do with my job has started already, but I stuck to my guns and didn't budge. :) Yippy for me.

We received a counter offer to our offer on the house, that I think sucks. Sucks, that's my word for the day. So now we have to figure out of we accept it or not. I think not, but how bad do we want this house. I keep seeing other houses that are just perfect and they are sold before we can even look at them. Now that really sucks.

Sucks, sucks, sucks.

God doesn't suck. He Rocks! He loves me, and he loves you too. That's cool.

House

We made an offer on a house yesterday. It isn't in the area I thought we would end up in, however, when we drove up to it, I had this feeling. A feeling of calmness, and of peace. It is a small house, but with so much potential. The neighborhood is quiet, and well taken care of. It has all the space we need. I even felt this small connection to the lady who lived there. I know, that sounds very weird, right? She is from a small island near Jamaica and she was very polite and while we wondered her home, she sat in bed reading her Bible. We probably have nothing in common, yet I just felt very comfortable around her, and felt that there was a lot of history in this house.

Anyway, we gave her a couple of days to give us an answer, so we should know something for sure by the end of this week. It is all in God's control, and what a loving God He is.

Time to think

I've had some time to think which isn't always a good thing. For me, that can be dangerous. I am feeling comfortable in my skin these days. Although yesterday I realized that I still have some old habits that I really need to work on. One of those is talking too much. Not just talking on and on, but giving way too much information. I just really don't care what people think of the things I have done in my life. It is my life, and they were things that have gotten me to where I am now. If I had it all to do over again, I would do it all the same. And why should I change who I am for anyone other than God?

Sometimes I am not certain of where I am going, (as if anyone really is) so I get a bit sad, and then I decide to do something to make a difference so that I won't focus on that anymore. Like, cut all my hair off.

So when you are married, it is hard to be yourself because you are so focused on your family. It is like you lose yourself, and then it is so hard to find yourself again. And although you just want to be yourself, it might not mesh well with your partner, so then what? Do you change who you are to better fit in the couple mold? Or do you continue to try to be who you are, not budging an inch to perhaps better fit in the mold. Being a couple is hard, almost harder than being an individual. I wasn't even an individual for that long anyway, but then here I go dishing out too much information.

Hello

We are finally going to have a weekend with no plans. It has been a wild ride, but we are finally able to take a breath and reflect on the last few weeks. I miss my friends.

Tea at Starbucks is on my agenda for the morning with a good helping of reading on the side. I want to just take time to process what has been happening, then lose myself in a book for a while. God is very much in control, and I am loving it.

The Carder's are fun to live with. I learn something new every day that I am here, and I feel very comfortable here. Even Sheba is doing good. I think she is in love with Jack. That could be a problem when it comes time to leave.

I am so thankful and grateful for all of the prayers and help we received and continue to receive. You rock!

Prayers for my friend in Arizona. You are greatly missed, and loved. Talk to you soon.

Just a quick note. We are here at the Carderland Ranch and life is good. How time has flown by and so much has changed.

God is moving us in a good direction.

more later