If He Calls

Ok.  So we made a decision on the house.  Its all settled in our minds... BUT.... the landlord hasnt called me back yet.

Seriously, I might am having an anxiety attack.  Panic attack?  Stress Attack?  I dont know, but I am about to scream.  The crazy what-if thoughts are steam-rolling over ANY normal thought process trying to occur in my super charged brain.  What if he doesnt want to rent to us now?  What if he changed his mind?  What if he died and his kids sold the house already?

WHAT!?

Seeeeeee.... no normal thought processes here!!! 

Um... I called him this morning @ 10 and already Im FREEEEAKING out.  My stomach is in KNOTS!  Deerr.  Seriously Dana... RELAX. 

Just pray that I can keepmy mind in one peice until he calls.

IF he calls and says yes, we will be renting a 4 bedroom, 3 full bathroom 150 yr old farm house.  With an INGROUND pool.  And 3 HUGE living rooms.  Yup.. see my previous posts.  But fixer-upper.  I love it.  Im super happy and very excited about the possibilities. 

IF HE CALLS. 

AUUUGGGHHHHH!!!


:o)

A Blog of a Different Color....

So guess what?


Im not going to post about the housing crisis! Haha.. seriously.. dont beleive me, read on!


Im going to post about my marvelous weekend!

Friday night we dropped off the 2 stinkers kids at their respite family we could all have a break from each other.  Im so happy that they love their respite fam.  They ask to go there, and thats so cool!! 
Then we came home and packed up our stuff for our weekend away to VA! 

Saturday morning we packed up the car, the dogs, and Madi and took Mike to work for a half day.  After our errands... we took off down the highway.

Why were we going to VA?  Oh, nothin special.  Just my best friends son's birthday!!  :o)  Little Josiah turned 4 on Saturday, and we celebrated at a park with a Lightning McQueen cake!  YUM!!  Seriously... they have a grocery store down there called Safeway and their cupcake cakes are AMAZING!  The icing is the best! 
Afer the party, we spent the evening with the bffs and her bro and sis.  We played Apples to Apples and chatted.  And LAUGHED!  I so needed to laugh like that!
Sunday, we went their church, where they are the childrens pastors and enjoy some awesome worship and a great Word!  Let me tell ya tho, Sunday was HOOOOT. WHEW, like 100+ hot.  So what did we do?  Went to an outdoor church picnic.  Really?  Yea.  Lol. All I can say is... it was HOT! :o)
Then came Monday.... hehe.. we were all so excited for Monday... because Monday was ZOOOOOO day! :o)
We went to the Washington DC National Zoo.  It was hot, yes, but a lot of the zoo is shaded, and it was so much fun, it didnt matter!  We saw lions, tigers, pandas, hedgehogs, turtles, and tons more!  Madi's favorite was the Flamingos.  WHy?  Cause they are pink! :o)  I took some super cute pics of them and we are going to blow one up to put in her room. 

really, it was a great weekend!  We spent a lot of time talking and laughing and loving on each others kids.  I didnt think very much at all about the house or anything else.  Madi hardly had any fits and was mostly obedient the whole time!  And her and Josiah are so good together! They play well and never fight or argue.  Its wonderful!  It was such a peaceful good time for us.  We needed it, and we HAVE to thank our bffs for showing us love and hospitality. They were Jesus to us this weekend, and probably didnt even know it!

Thanks Tammy & Josh.  Your amazing!!

Another house blog...

Yup, another house blog.  YEa, it rules my life, so Im posting about it. 

I tried to talk myself into renting a house today. 

I told myself that we canfix it up. We can afford to buy all the things it needs to be nice.  We can handle all the different projects that will be a part of this house.

We cant.  I really wish we could.  It could be an amazing (HUGE) house.  I was excited all day.  We went to look at it this morning, and then brought my mom back this evening.  So much potential.  Seriously, I think this home could be a showcase home if it was giving a huge dose of TLC.  But it needs sooo much.

So I am feeling super let down.  And the stress and worry of finding a house is weighing so heavily on me.  I just really want to find a house and get this whole mess situated. 

Please pray for us.  For me.  Im so stressed and worried and burdened.  :o/

House... House... Heeeeerre Housey Housey

Yea.

Still no house.

We looked at one today... in our price range, in our area, right amount of bedrooms, and bathrooms, fenced in yard.... seriously... I had my hopes up.

Lets put it this way.... We have a queen sized bed and IM not sure there was a room in that house... other than the MASSIVE kitchen for our bed.  And since our foster agency just might frown on us sleeping in the kitchen... I think that house just wasnt right.

SERIOUSLY... the kitchen was gorgeous and BIG... the living room and the rest of the bedrooms were TEEENY tiny! 

AUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!

So, I continue you high pitched cry... House!  House.   Oh little housey-wousey.  Come here House!!


Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere Housey House!

Way back in the day....

We have been visiting churches in York lately... since we are moving there... (the Lord only knows when..).

Last night, Mike and I were talking about where to go, and we kinda decided, eh whatever, lets just go to "Church A". No real reason... just thought, why the heck not.  Waaaaay back in the day, when Mike and I were youth leaders, our youth group and this one had done some functions together, so we knew basically that it was a church a long the lines of what we were looking for.

So, we get there this morning.. and right away see 2 people we knew from (haha, gonna say it again) way back in the day. 

A nice suprise, for sure!

The second thing we noticed... it was so very empty!  One of our friends from the past was the guest speaker for the day and told us that the church was going through a LOT... a huge split, they have no staff and scandal and AHHH... My heart was immediately hurting for these people.  Our friend then introduced us to one of the elders (who are running the church right now) and said, "Dana is a great worship leader... she could help out!"  Uh... HOLD UP there buddy! lol!  :o)

Anyways... the worship... hmm.  Musically... not awesome, but God was moving and the 3 women on stage had hearts seeking strong after Him.  And that, my friends, was music to my ears!! 

The word... our friend gave a great (hard to hear, but so true and sooooo needed) message on Repentence. 
And... our friend got a word from God for us... it was so awesome.. I want to get it on CD.

Lets put it this way... my mail was READ!  I needed that word... I needed to hear it so much.  Thank you JESUS!

I felt a very strong connection to this place.. to these people.  These wonderful people who were so so so welcoming to us.. amazingly welcoming!!  I dont know if its my "mommy-fix-it" mentality, or what.  But this huge part of me just wanted to jump up and embrace these people and tell them, its ok, Mike and I are here... and we want to help.... PUT US TO WORK!

PATIENCE is NOOOOT my virtue!  :o)  I need to wait on the Lord and He will show us when and where.  But if He has us going to this church and helping in anyway... I would be totally (seriously, totally) ok with it!


 Praying!!!

SAD. FACE.

We just got a call from the people that own the super cute Blue Farm House.

They said we were #2... but #1 still wanted it.. and they got it.

:o(

Of course, super optimistic, Mike, says, that just means there is something better.  Pft. 

Ok, ok.  Im sure there is.  I know there is deep down, but right now, Im just feeling down and out and like its impossible.  Sigh.

:o(

Disclaimer....

Just to clarify....

I have never ever EVER spanked or used any other form of physical punishment with our foster kids.

Madi's primary form of discipline is still time-outs, like the foster kids, btu occasionally, we do spank her when the offense warrents it.  Ya know... spare the rod, spoil the child!



Disclaimer over.

Lol! :o)

Wondering...

Since I made this stinkin blog private... Im wondering if anyone reads it.

DO you?

Haha... it doesnt matter really.  Im just enjoying being able to write what I want, and to share what pictures I want, even if Im just sharing them with myself...  haha!

So... what to blog about?
The craziness that has ensued in the 6 hours the girls where home before they went to bed?
The sweet peaceful time we spent with Madi while they were gone?
The money that we dont have?
The GInormous amounts of money we will need to move?
The feeling that I just want to tell our agency we quit?
The ball thats stuck in my gut... the ball I call stress?
The worry and wondering and worrying and wondering I do?
The beauty of the Lancaster Country Side?
Wait.. I like that last one!!

We get to go through some awesome country side to get to our agency and the respite house we use.  Its glorious and I enjoy the ride every single time.
God rocks!!

As for the rest... Im chosing to be positive.  Im chosing to praise and thank God in spite of it all.  I know He will work it ALLLL out. 

Doesnt make it any easier.... doesnt make the problems go away... and doesnt really make a worrier stop worrying, but it does give me a measure of peace. 

Hmm... I dont think its suppose to work that way though.  God really does want me to cast my cares on Him.  Not some of them, but all.  And then, He wants me to pick them back up....nope... wait, thats not right either!!  :o)  I just have a hard time leaving them.  Ive been getting totally obbsessive about checking the internet for houses... .like 5 and 6 times a day.  Like its going to change in 10 mins.  UGH.  Im driving ME nuts!!

Mike and I spent some time singing and worshipping today.  It was nice... but we definitly didnt spend enough time doing it.  I love when he plays with me... since we dont have djembes and congas.... he plays the chairs, the thighs, the feet, the floor, and any other random thing that he can reach as he sits beside me.  It works.. and Jesus must love it!! (Ya know... joyful noise 'n' all!)

WHoa.... I just kinda zoned out... haha... of course, if I didnt type that, you would never know that I truly am a scatterbrained mess! :o)

Anyways... tomorrow... errr... today since is 12:30 in the morning will be a good day.  Mike has to work till 7, but he has a great job!!
Its going to be hot, but we have AC and a pool!
The kids will probably fight and bicker and tattle tail all day, but they are healthy, and mostly happy!

Thanks, Jesus for all you give us.  Thanks for the trials, tests, storms, rainbows, blue skies, happy days, and surprises!!!  I will praise you in the storm... I will lift my hands!!!

Pros & Cons

So, we got up BRIGHT & EARLY this morning to go to some yardsales, and about 3 mins before we left the house it started Pouring.  Special.  But, we had already decided to take Mike to work and hang around York until the it was time to go to the blue farmhouse to check it out at 11. 
Let me just say, it hasnt rained in over a month.  Its been super dry, so it was starange that it was raining, but we sooooo needed it!!  Thank you Jesus for watering my plants and lawn.... they were brown and sad looking... hopefully tomorrow they will be bright and happy again!

Well, we ended up finding yard sales.... ehem... uh, garage sales... but we didnt find many prizes.  I did find a GORGEOUS aqua/turquoise plate, a cute lamp for the girls room, and Jasmine found a cute shirt, Madi, a fancy smancy skirt (her words, friends, not mine!).  Kiana didnt find anything... sad face.  We hardly ever find clothes for her.... they never have her size.

Than.... (dunh dunh dunh) the blue farm house.

One thing.... the people who own the house were SOOOOO nice!!  They grew up in this house, and their love for it shows!

On the positive.... the master bedroom is BIG, and so is the main bathroom upstairs.  The master bedroom has a great little balcony, and its own steps up from the kitchen.  We still love the yard and all the room and the huge bonfire pit. The eat in kitchen is HUGE!

Negatives.... that house has like NO closets.  AT ALL!!  Im a closet kinda girl.  I love closets and drawers.  They make organizing and storage simple for me.  There are 4 bedrooms total, the master, 2 small ones, and one miniscule one.  Not joking.  Miniscule.  :o)  The last people had used the 4th teeeeeeny room as a big giant closet.  The owners bought two large um... i dont know what to call them.  Closet type things.  I know there is a name... but its just not there... lol!!  The stairs are soooo narrow... and steep.  Not the safest stairs.  A little scary.  Also, there is not AC... and we dont have any window units anymore.   The storm windows are magnetic and go on the inside.  The 2 other family areas downstairs are small and laid out very strangely.

Man.... I was soooo hoping the positives would outweigh the negatives, but they arent.  In the end though, if they except us and we cant find anything else, this may be our house for the next bunch of years. 

Still praying... hoping.... wishing.... and I havent heard from the Pool House.

Another house...

Today, Mike and I left the girls with Mimi for a bit and drove to get a free dresser and headboard (thanks craigslist), and on the way home we drove by another farm house for rent.  OH MAN.  Im in LOOOOVE!!!
Its HUGE.

This picture does NOT do it justice.  It is a very large home, the back and side are all fenced in... and, wait for it... waiiiit fooor it...

INGROUND POOL! 

Oh man.

Jesus, can we have this please?

4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms.

Jesus... this is perfect!

Lots of room to run, lots of room to play!

There is a barn on the property, and its in a decent school district.

Please!!!!!!!

Im in love.  I called the people yesterday and left a message, and I emailed them today.  I am hoping to hear from them soon!!

Pray friends... I would LOOOOVE to have this house.  So much room... for more kiddos!!

For family fun, for home schooling, for babysitting, so much room!

Im feeling a little calmer today... not a lot, but a bit.
Still praying we get a place.  And it seems even moving in with my mom (as much as that WASNT an option, it was still nice that it was there in case everything fell out from beneath us) is out too.  My mom's business completely tanked over the last 3 or 4 years, and it looks like (barring a miracle), she will be out of her home on Aug. 18th by a sheriff's sale.

I think she is going to need some major major prayer over the next few months. 


Thanks everyone.

Whatta Weekend!!

Wow... this has been one crazy (but good) weekend!!

Friday and Saturday we had our yardsale... which God totally blessed... we made about $200!!  And we had no furniture or big ticket items! Just lots of clothing and books!

Since we were having the yard sale at my moms, we stayed over night there on Friday.  After the sale in the afternoon, we enjoyed the little blow up pool and a camp fire.  Then Saturday we went to see some fireworks and we were so close, we had ash falling on us.. it rocked! Haha! :o)

On Sunday, we went to church and enjoyed a nice time of worship... but man, I miss singing!!  Then, lunch and naps (a Sunday must!).  After our lovely naps, we went to a friends for a nice cook out, a camp fire, and lots of fireworks!!  I think we saw some of the best fireworks EVER at a local park... they had some crazy crazy colors and shapes... and it was LONG!

After getting home at about 1:30 am, we all crashed and slept in until about 10 today.  Man, on man, we all needed to sleep! 

I cant wait to upload some pics from this weekend and post them... :o)  Hope all of you had a great weekend as well.

I just felt reminded all weekend about what freedoms we truly have.  The freedom of being in the USA is awesome... no doubt... but the freedom we have in Jesus is limitless and phenomonal!  "For if the Son has set you free, than you are free indeed"!!  REALLLLLLY free.  I wonder if we truly grasp that?  So free.. we dont have to carry ANY baggage... no pain, no sorry, no fears, no NOTHING.  Jesus just really wants to take it all.  There is nothing that we have to take along on this journey... but yet we do. I do.  I carry around the fear that we will never have a biological child.  That I will miscarry again.  I carry around a lot of regrets too.  Regrets that Jesus has already told me to let go.  That my Daddy God has already said, Baby Girl... dont regret it, use it, learn from it, and move on.  Your forgiven, your clean, your FREE!

Really
Really
Free.

Its time for us to get free.  To take back what the enemy has stolen from us.  To celebrate what the LORD has done for us. 

Yard Sale TIme

Its that time of year... time for the yearly yard sale!  Time to purge the junk... make some extra cash.... and simplify life!

We are having one on Friday and Saturday at my Momma's house.  I am determined to get rid of everything!!  We have tons of clothes.. like 3 HUGE bins full of clothing.   I have taken clothes to consignment before, but the one that I like is very picky... so these are their rejects... which are still very nice and not at all stained, just not "current" enough, or not a name brand. 

The girls are selling rice krispie treats and popsicles and maybe cupcakes, if I find enough time to make them.  Right now, I am crossing off my to-do list.  On it... "sit outside and read and blog for an hour".  Hey, I need that time and it makes me feel accomplished to put it on the list and cross it off with a big flourish of the pink pen!  Seriously... it does!

Today has been a very random day... I couldnt fall asleep until about 3:30... then I had to get up at 5 with Mike to take his car to the garage for inspection.  Then, I came home and tried to go back to sleep... only to find a big giant nasty iccky TICK on me.  Talk about heebie jeebies!!! Makes my skin crawl. 

I eventually did get back to sleep... but Im operating on about 5 hours of sleep.  And actually, I am doing pretty well! 

I have been praying that Mikes car wouldnt need bucket loads of money worth of prayers... and God totally answered.  He only needs tires and some rear break work... for about $700!  We knew it needed tires, and I think we may be able to find cheaper ones that they quoted us.  AND, Mikes check was about $400 more than it usually is becuase of an error last pay!  :oD  PRAISE GOD!!  He always supplies for our needs. 
Thats something Im learning and leaning on more and more.  Im learning that He always supplies... but sometimes we need to ask.  Sometimes we need to put a need out there.  And yet other times... He just does it.  But I think the key is trusting and listening!  Im trying to be better at that.  Trying to listen to Him and His whispers more.  Shutting up every once in a while and just listening.  Im not good at it... thats for sure.. haha! :o)

Still no word on the house front.  The blue farmhouse I have my eye on is finially vacant and we will be able to see it next Sat.  I really hope its as nice as I dream... and that they pick us.  I have quick flashes... almost photographes of what life would look like in the blue farmhouse.   I keep wondering if they are from my own over active imagination, or if they are God...  and if they are God... is it the Blue Farmhouse Im seeing, or another house that He has prepared for us!?!?  I wish I knew.  I know HE knows... but Im getting a little desperate.  I need to just sit back and relax.  Trust Him.  Maybe I should put that on my to-do list.. haha! :o)

Mike and the girls "Geo-Caching" in the spring.