today...

(Heads up ... I'm going to ramble. But I'll throw in some pictures for entertainment... I apologize... its been that kinda day!)

• We have officially taken over the house! It is full of our stuff (yes I actually doubted that we could fill this place with the things we have... but it is FULL!)
• I am currently eating broccoli and cheese soup at home for lunch. I have a cold and it makes me feel better. It also makes me miss my best friend, who quit our relationship about this time last year. I'm working on a post about that, but until then, I'll eat my soup and enjoy the sweet memories we had together. 
• We have spiders... nasty mean ugly spiders. The kinds known as 'brown recluse'! They are EVIL!! I hate their stinking guts and I want them all to DIE! Apparently ALL houses in the Ville have them... they just usually arn't as well seen as ours have been. We are getting this under control. 
• Our sewer backed up 6 days after signing our contract! Our hot water heater is also going out. And did I mention we have spiders? But I love this house!! It is amazing... really... I'm not being sarcastic! 
• I'm drinking water like I'm addicted to it. Seriously... I could float the Titanic with the water I have drank in the past two days. More water means more trips to the bathroom. Therefor on my 3rd trip last night, I became very grateful that we have a bathroom in our bedroom! 
• My father in law comes this weekend to help with some more 'home repairs'... I love that term... 'home repairs' - it means we can actually... REPAIR something!! 

This is the hubs and I with our Realtor and the previous homeowner. He is a precious precious man. But he likes to say 'damn' and 'hell' a lot. And even though I can be overheard muttering such profanities at times... it shocks me when I hear it from him...

Andrew and some friends painted the ceilings for us... yes... that is WHITE up there... I lost that fight, but it looks lovely and I'm content with it. 

Andrew's family came to help us. His sister made a trip all the way from St. Andrews to help us move in, wasnt that sweet of her. Alright... she didnt come just to help... but she did make us one of her many stops! 

Our first lunch at the new house was my 'specialty' sandwiches and fruit!! It was quite enjoyable!

The weekend we were moving into the house... we dog sat our favorite boxers. They were so well behaved and got lots of extra special treatment that our stinky hound dogs didnt get. I love these dogs!!

I broke the first dish in our new house... it was a big bummer.These are my favorite glasses... oh well. It had to happen sometime.

July 4th I made sour dough pancakes and they were YUMMMY! (that reminds me... I gotta feed my dough!!) Andrew has this unique ability to get the most awkward pictures of me!

This is Aiden, you can read all about him here.

Around 10 am on the 4th we decided to have some of our favorite friends over for dinner... note that these are just SOME of our favorites, if we would have invited everyone... there would have been NO room.

These guys crack me up. We have lots of fun when we are with them. Their little girl turns 1 this weekend and is my BFF!

Ryan and Andrew work together and his wife is going to be teaching school this fall. Their little guy Aiden is 6 months old and so much fun!!

I was taking the pictures so Andrew decided he needed one with my food and his...

Josh and Ann from our small group!! These guys are so much fun! Last winter they came and rescued us from our house in the midst of being snowed in.

Me and my love! This guy makes my day!!

Us with our realtor in front of the house with the SOLD sign.

My dessert for the past 2 nights chocolate banana shake!! DELISH!

Andrew's dessert - a little frozen yogurt COVERED in fruit. I was MUCH happier than he was after dessert time!

OH Watermelon!! This is what Summer is all about...

“A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.”

We have a home.
There was a bank transaction, a few signatures and the hand off of keys ... and the house is ours! As soon as we left the bank (after getting the water switched) we went to our new home.We marveled in it. We dreamed! We cherished the moment. Then we left... the 'old man smell' was getting to us!

We got the ceiling painted on Saturday and Sunday. That was fun... I helped 'cut in'. That takes more time and skill than rolling the ceiling. Andrew got to roll, he is such a slacker. HA! Just kidding!! He is going to kill me for that. He the hard part of rolling ! He did great... and didnt complain at all. I know his neck and back must have been killing him. He is such a hard worker. I'm very proud of our ceilings. OH what color are they?? They are Ceiling White. We had quite the debate over this. I wanted them to be 1/2 the color of the walls... but he put his foot down (when someone offered to give us Ceiling White) and said that we will be JUST fine with white ceilings. So like a good wife I backed down... I've been told before to 'pick my battles' and so I did just that. I'm sure there will be another one in the next few days worth fighting.

On Monday my favorite person (even though I didn't meet her face to face) came to the house. The cleaning lady. She did a fabulous job. Our house no longer had an 'old man smell' to it. It was wonderful. Then my next favorite person came along... the carpet cleaning man! The carpets were so soft and fresh when we came by last night. I fell in love. Nothing feels better than walking on soft clean carpet.
We both soaked the moment in... knowing this is the VERY LAST TIME our carpets will ever feel that way again.

“Home is the place where it feels right to walk around without shoes”

After we took in the cleanliness of the house we decided to pray over the house. We wanted to set a special time to do this, but decided that this might be the last time we have 'time' to do it. We walked from room to room praying over the things that will happen there.
In the living room we prayed for :

• The small groups that will be held there
• The interactions of friends
• The memories made with family 

In the kitchen and dinning room we prayed for:

• The meals that will be prepared
• The goodies made for others
• The conversations that happen over the dinner table
• The meals shared with friends

In the Bedrooms we prayed for:

• Safety and comfort for whomever they hold
• Joyful times, and laughter
• We prayed for our children, who will someday live in those bedrooms. (yes you better believe that made me cry!) 

On the back porch we prayed for:

• The gatherings that would happen
• The game nights 
• The dinners 

It was beautiful. The house now feels like ours.
We walked around and got an idea of what furniture we want where and how it is going to look. We are loosing quite a bit of bedroom space but we are getting an extra room and 2 living areas!! I'm thrilled! God has truly blessed us beyond what we deserve. My biggest prayer is that we use His blessings to bless others, and that no one will ever feel uncomfortable or be turned away from our house. I want to have memories of laughter and love coming from bedrooms. I know there will be sad times, there will be overwhelming times,  but I hope that our memories are over flowing with the happy times!

This is it...

Plans change. Things happen. Sometimes this is good... sometimes this brings distress and frustration. In this case... it is a little bit of both. Here is what happened:
At the suggestion of Andrew's dad we thought it would be great to get into the house this weekend and get the ceilings painted.  Yesterday Andrew mentioned this to our realtor and asked if it would be possible. She said probably, but why don't we just close early? Andrew said "I don't know, why don't we?"
So that lead us through a busy busy busy afternoon of getting things in line.
All of our paperwork is in and approved therefore... as of this afternoon... we will be homeowners!! WOW... I have had many titles before:

• daughter
• friend
• teacher
• student
• lover
• cook
• cleaner
• babysitter
• assistant
• boss
• dog feeder
• nail biter 
• coffee conosuer 
• eater
• daydreamer 
• slacker
• bag lady
• shopper
• driver
• wife
• fun sucker
• dingy 
• clueless 
• worshiper
• church lady
• (The list could go on and on ...) 

Lots of titles... but NEVER homeowner!! 
This is exciting... this is stressful!!
Here is the plan for the weekend.

After Lunch: Sign the next 30 years of our lives away....
Tonight: We pack like we have never packed before. Our house is about half packed now. I was counting on my extra week to get it done.
Tomorrow: Andrew has clients (including me and a friend) until 11.
Tomorrow afternoon: We paint ceilings and pack pack pack
Sunday:  CHURCH... gotta go to church!! Then MOVE!! We find everyone we can with a pick-up and load up our boxes and get them loaded into the garage. Some furniture will be moved in as well. Garage will be PACKED TO THE BRIM... Rent house... as empty as possible!!
Monday: Someone is coming to the new house to clean the carpets and house for us! (GOD LOVE THEM!!)
Tuesday night: ALL furniture moved from old house to new house!! All beds set up in new house! Bathroom unpacked.
Wednesday night: Inlaws coming to survey the work that needs to be done. God blessed us with two very handy daddies!! Andrew's dad gets the first call to duty. Dinner with them to discuss... the damage!
Thursday: Bible study
Friday: UNPACK
Saturday: UNPACK
Sunday... FUN DAY!! (I think I'll schedule a nap)
MONDAY - TUESDAY : work with inlaws.
Wednesday - Sunday: My mom is here to help get us all unpacked and settled.
Monday: Figure out life in a new house...

Some changes that this new house will bring are:

• Frozen Custard at Jareds every night of my life... (or I'll dream about it at least!) 
• Longer drive to work for Andrew, this means he will not be biking to work anymore. I know he will miss this... 
• Shorter drive to work for me... this is so good... I struggle with punctuality. 
• smaller kitchen... guess that means less space to clean so that is good! 
• Dogs will no longer live in our bedroom!! GLORY BE!! I'm so tired of them being EVERYWHERE!! They are not our children. Even our children will have their own room!! The dogs will get to come inside in the evenings but... they are dogs. They will have a doggy door that will lead into the workshop if they need to escape the heat or wind or cold or rain... or if they just want to be inside. BUT... THEY ARE DOGS!! They will be ok! (well except Cami... she will have emotional damage because of this change... poor girl!) 

 Ok thats all for now... I'm sure there will be MANY funny stories to tell of our adventures over the next few weeks.

Did I mention I get to see my sister-in-law during all this?? I'm so excited!!

Homeowners!!

My daddy..

As you know, father's day was this past Sunday.
Saturday was our one year anniversary and along with all the chose from packing and buying the house, I let the importance of this day slip though my fingertips.
We are doing something for our dads... it will just be a few days late. This is good... its like a belated birthday gift... it is extra special that way... right? This is horrible! Andrew and I feel horrible about this. I can't believe that we can't even remember to keep up with the one day that "Good 'ol Dad" gets! UGH! We are failures as children. Luckily one of the things that our dads have both always shown us is grace... so yet once again... on Father's Day, they had to pull out the Grace Card and remind us that they love us with or with out a gift on Father's day. As a slight make up gift, in addition to the gift I'm getting my dad, I decided to write a list of a few attributes that my dad has:

1. He keeps his cool -I have seen the man loose his temper maybe 4 times my whole life, the only two I can remember are when I wrecked car #2 and when I caught my bedroom on fire the day after Christmas. Both totally justified. And trust me... I gave him PLENTY more opportunities to blow his top.
2. He doesn't judge others. I remember sitting at a wedding, my mom and I were saying this "I can't believe she did ______" "I would NEVER do _____" "That's the song I wanted to use!!!" "This is not what I would do..." My dad looked at me and said, "Do you want someone saying that about your wedding?" I am not going to lie... my first thought was, they wouldn't say that about my wedding... my wedding will be perfect!! Nonetheless I quit judging and actually ended up enjoying myself. It was a beautiful wedding! Now that I have lived through my wedding, and looked back many times, I have relalized that there were ample opportunities for people to say "I can't believe she did ______" "I would NEVER do _____" "That's the song I wanted to use!!!" "This is not what I would do..." But yet, my wedding was perfect! 
3. He rolls with the punches! My dad does NOT need a plan. The man can wake up and just take the day as it comes. I. Can. Not. Do. This. I need a plan, a schedule, a back up plan most days. Daddy has a way of just dealing with whatever life throws at him be it a wedding, a daughter  moving 50000 miles away, a son moving back home, car wrecks, friends coming over spontaneously... whatever it is, dad just rolls with it. And finds a way to enjoy the ride! 
4. Dad laughs every day. I don't think I can remember a day that went by where my daddy didn't chuckle at something. One of my favorite sounds is his laughter. Its really great when he is giggling and he doesn't mean to be ... like when he is watching the same episode of Seinfeld  that he has watched at least 6 times... and laughing... oh thats a great one!!
5. My dad shows grace. I can remember (a little too well) when my parent's found out some stuff about me in college. Some was because I was bold and strait up told them ... for instance I remember one conversation going something like this: We are sitting in Chili's, they have come to Angelo (Go Rams) to visit their oldest daughter who has been gone a little over a year when this conversation transpired.
   Dad: "Have you ever had any alcohol?"
   Me: "Yeah...." (I've always had an issue with the lying thing... you always get caught... so why even try!)
   Dad: "What all have you tried...?" (he had a hesitant look on his face as he asked.. like it almost hurt him to do so.)
   Me: "The list would be shorter if I told you what I hadn't tried." (STUPID STUPID STUPID... there were so many other thing I could have said here and STILL been telling the truth!!)
   Dad: (After a moment of letting it sink in) "Well you turn 21 in a few months. You know it is illegal to drink until you are 21. So, I'll just ask that you wait until then to drink anymore."
   Me: "Yes sir."
   After that the meal went on wonderfully but I'll never forget the look of disappointment that he had on his face. Not only had I broken the law but I was not as innocent as he thought I was.
   Around the same time in college, after a difficult weekend back home where I had opened up to my mom about some other stuff I had done, my dad called me when I made it back to town. The thing I remember most about that conversation is my dad saying something like this:
   "Heather, I love you, you will always be my daughter and I will always love you! No matter what!"
   That line was the first time I remember feeling grace. My daddy's ability to show grace when grace is hard has always been my one of my dad's most outstanding characteristics. 
6. My dad can't sing... but he does. I get my musical abilities from my dad. All of them. Neither one of us can sing... but we still love it. If a song is on and we know it... we are singing it. Its what we do. Deal with it. :) 
7. Daddy can fix ANYTHING!! Its true. Just ask him. He will fix it or try really hard to do so. I love this. 
8. He balances his check book. Every month. To the penny. It is what Mr. Hunt does. It is what I have seen him do every month for the past 27 years. Thats 424 months. Thats alot of check book balancing. UGH... I wish I would have stuck with this. 
9. My dad talks. He acts like he doesn't like to talk. But he does. And it is great. When we go to church, he is never standing around looking around. Nope, he is chatting with someone. And he is having good conversations with them. They don't just talk about the weather or the coffee. He knows about their kids, their grandkids or whatever... he is just that way. I love that. I like to do this too. :) 
10. My dad reads his Bible. Every morning. For as long as I can remember, I have seen my dad sitting at the kitchen table, with his coffee and a bowl of oat meal, reading his Bible. It is amazing. It is inspiring. 

Daddy, these are only a few of the traits that I know you hold but, we can't let the world know all the good stuff about you. They might want you, and even though I'm 50000 miles away... I still need you.
Love you so much!!

Our First Year!

We made it to one year.
I can't think of anything special or witty to write.
We had a good year. It was full of ups and downs.
It was FULL of growing pains.
It was full of learning experiences.
It was full of temper tantrums... thrown by me.
It was full of compassion given by the hubs.
It has been full of new puppies.
It has been full of big plans.

I look forward to another 50 plus years with this amazing man!! I am truly blessed.
Here are a few pictures to recap our fun year.

We started our first year off by ... getting married. We thought it would be a fun way to kick things off! :)

Our first home!

This is moments before beginning the worst camping trip of my life. And that even includes the time it was so cold we couldn't keep a fire going to cook our food. (I wish I had a picture to commemorate the end of that trip, it as the best part of the whole thing... but it would not be pretty!) The trip was full of spiders in the car, freezing nights and one particular boxer puking all over our bed in the tent.

Cami Joe and Buster Boy! Our first two babies... they love each other!

Dudley Doodles... our newest addition!

We made a trip home in August to pick up a few things that were left in Midland... most importantly my baby girl!! On the way we stopped by Pampa to see my family. This is the first picture with nearly all the grand kids in it. The only one missing is Brandon. We have GOT to make it happen one of these days...

Farmers market... this is a fun steam engine train!!

May 1st. My sweeties 30th birthday... he ran the 1/2 marathon and I walk/run/joggished the 5K!

We have bought our first house... well almost. In a little over a week it will all be final! 

We did so many more fun things like, finding new friends, starting a small group, getting involved in our church, a couple trips, a few random fun dates, a trip to a zoo close to town, I started a new job, we had family come visit, I had a friend come visit, we set up the 'envelope' system... we did so many fun things and I can't hardly wait to see what the next year holds.

My mom and dad sent us a card that summed up our year...

What is Marriage? 

Its vacuuming carpets and hammering nails. 

Its saving a dollar by shopping at sales... 

It's balancing checkbooks and paying off bills. 

Its cleaning the windows and mopping up spills. 

It's doing the laundry and matching up socks. 

It's a washer that dies when the car needs new shocks ...

It's two busy schedules, but one happy life,

With each moment you share as husband and wife!

The card also included a couple gift cards for dinner out. :)
Andrew's parents sent us Flowers that were amazing... I have pictures but not loaded yet.

Thank you to all who have supported and loved us through this year of growing pains. You are all special to us. We are blessed to call you family and friends!


Happy Anniversary My love! I look forward to sharing many more with you!

Guess what...

We can now announce proudly and with joy that we are buying a house here in Bartlesville.
The hubs and I have been looking for about 3 months, not wanting to rush the process or create a stressful situation, we really left it in the hands of our realtor. She was AMAZING!! 
We looked at about 10 houses. However, there were only a few that we were willing to put an offer on.
One day our realtor (who, along with her husband, are Andrew's first Tuesday and Thursday appointments) mentions to Andrew that there is a PERFECT house that she is getting ready to list on the market.
She said that the man living there is getting ready to move into a retirement facility here in town. When she mentioned a little bit about us to him, he got very excited about a 'young newlywed couple' moving in to his house.
Here is a little information... in bullet points... you know its how I think!

• Mr. B purchased the house in 1961just after it was built. That makes this a one owner home. :) 
• He has done many of the updates and repairs on the house himself, which in some cases situations I would be nervous about, but in this case most things are up to par. Minus a little electrical work that he did in the garage that needs to be brought up to code.
• When the house was first bought, there was a field behind it that had a couple horses... now there is a neighborhood full of houses and a school around the corner. 
• Mrs. B passed away this past August. She had an ailment where she lost the use of her legs. However, this did not stop them from getting out. Mr. B would scoop her up and put her in the car and take her to dinner EVERY night! His love for her was quite obvious. He cared for her with love and compassion until she was gone. 
• Mr. B walked me around his back yard, expressing his love for her and telling me about all the plants and details around the yard. He said she loved to be out there and caring for her garden. 
• Mrs. B was a collector of bird houses, therefor Mr. B was a builder of bird houses... he told me with pride, and eyes brimming with tears. 
• The B's also had an unusual taste in paint choice. to go along with the wood paneling, there is also a fuchsia wall in the living room, the first guest room is baby pink, the second bedroom is a rose pink, the master bedroom is light blue, the master bath is light blue and peach, and the guest bathroom is mauve and blue sprinkles on the wall. The kitchen has lovely light yellow cabinets which I love. I am even thinking about keeping the color for a while... just updating it for a while. Then when we get new doors for the cabinets and such then we will do a new color.
• The kitchen has beautiful parky (SP) floors... which I love... but you can't get them wet. So I am wondering what the practicality was here. 
• The carpet is old and miss matched... Much like the colors of the house. My parents are going to come up in the fall and help us put down pergo floors. :) God love 'em!
• The back yard is stunning... seriously... we couldnt have dreamed up a more perfect back yard. it is just big enough for a few kids and dogs to hang out. There is a very nice shed out there that will hold all the yard equipment plus some stuff. 
• The garage has an enclosed shop for Andrew to perfect his handyman-abilities. This will also be our babies new room. YES... thats the truth!! We are cutting the cord. They are leaving our room. They will have a doggy door which will give the access to the back yard at their will, they will have their beds in the room. It will be cool in the summer and warm in the winter. They are dogs. They will be fine. THEY. WILL. BE. FINE. (yes I'm trying to convince myself) Our room is just too small and I'm honestly, tired of our time in our room when we should be sleeping... being focused on the dogs. If the dogs wake up so do we... well so does Andrew. This isnt fair. THEY ARE DOGS! Ok I'm stepping off my soap box.
• The back yard has a tree that was stolen off some property here in town and now it is HUGE. When it was planted, Mr. B didnt think it would last... well it did! It is my favorite thing about the yard. 
• There is a fantastic closed in porch that has a brick flooring and it will be simply my favorite hideaway. 
• The front door is the same yellow as the cabinets and I love it. Our realtor thinks it needs to change... but I love it!

Ok here are a few pictures. I'll update them or write a new post with the house empty and obviously before and after pictures from the painting and flooring projects. 

The front of the house. It is beautiful. I think we will pull out the shrubs there in to open it up some.

The living room looking in from the entry way. Curtains swill go. There is also a 1980's hanging lamp in the corner that will be going as well. There are no other lights in the room as of yet, so we hope to add something (lamps for the time being) more permanent down the road.

This is the 'den' it is at the other end of the living area. There are some FABULOUS bifold doors that you can shut between the rooms... they will be going. This is the wood paneling that we will be painting on Friday night... before we move on Saturday.

Looking out the window in the Den to the screened in back porch. :)

The kitchen. Its not big, but boy does it have storage. :) The fan hanging there, is from the old Phillips Hotel in town.     Mr. B bought it for $4.00 and fixed it up. He bought 4 or 5 and gave them to friends. That will making cooking in this little kitchen much more enjoyable.

Our sweet dining room. The Chandelier will be replaced soonish... This is right off the Den.

Guest bedroom 1. Baby pink with orange carpet... LOVELY!! :) See the off colored spots... HELLO termites!

The next guest room. Decent carpet. 2 windows. Right across from master.

Master. Blue. My room was blue when I was in Jr. High. I was in a 'I hate everything the shade of pink' phase.

The garage. (Honda not included).  The workshop is to the right.

This picture doesn't do the tree justice but this is the tree I love. The bricks around it are crooked and some are falling apart but it is perfect. So cute. There are so many opportunities for this fantastic back yard.

This section of the yard will be the Dog's run. They will be fenced in here so they can do as they want. Tear up what the want and poop where they want. It will not get in my way any more. :) I will enjoy this back yard!

The door to the left is the porch and the door to the right heads to the shop/dog's room.

The back porch... the rug will be pulled up... just brick! It will be amazing!

The laundry 'room' or closet. It is outside by the garage doors. It will be a cold chore but it will need to be done. And there are many organization options here!! Look at those shelves... don't ya love 'em?

That is our new little house. We will take possession on June 30th after we sign our name a million times. Then will begin a weekend of whirl-wind of moving mayhem. Anyone that has a truck and fairly strong arms is more than willing to come hang out with us. We will have all the water you need and if you are lucky we might even feed you some pizza.