IT IS FINISHED!!!!

IT IS FINISHED!!!! Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!! The closing on our house is done and we no longer own a home.

The closing went through without any trouble, and we now have $2,000 less a month to pay in housing costs, as well as having almost ALL of our credit card debt paid off! Praise the Lord!!!

Today is the BIG DAY!

Well, this is it! Today is the day! (I can say that now that it is 12:12 AM, Friday, March 30th.) Again, I can't sleep, so here I am blogging. (What else do you do in the middle of the night when you can't sleep?!?!) Today is the day set for the closing of our house in Maryland. The closing is set for 4:00 pm. Everything SHOULD be in order (**please, Lord, let everything go smoothly!**) I am so thankful for the way the Lord has provided through all of this. Yes, we went through some VERY difficult times, but during the past 3 months, the Lord has TOTALLY turned our financial situation 180 degrees around. Chris and I stand amazed at what the Lord is doing! Back to the closing... our friend is authorized to sign the final sheet of paper for us, and the title company is going to wire the money directly into our bank acct. Wow - what a blessing that is. It will be so nice to be able to transfer that money right away and be able to pay off those blasted credit cards! :-)

Also, I know that I have said this many times before on this blog, but I hope I never get tired of giving thanks to the Lord for all that he has done for us. In this particular instance, it is God's provision through Chris' job. He finally did it this month... he sold enough cars to qualify for the extra $5,000 bonus, and barring some kind of freak thing where another salesman sells 6 more cars in the next 2 days, Chris should win. He actually sold one extra car than what he had to sell, and has 2 more selling days left in the month. I never dreamed that we would be given this much money. We are so excited to have now the opportunity to GIVE in a way that we never have been able to before this.

We were able to buy plane tickets for our trip to FL next week for my family's get-together to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday! This was a HUGE blessing as it will save us from 24 hours of driving to be in FL for about 24 hours, if we were lucky. This way, we won't have to put all those miles on my poor car, nor will we have to spend all that time driving, AND we will get to spend more time with my family. I am excited to see them all. We haven't seen Steve & Kathryn since their wedding in June 2005. We haven't seen my parents since Labor Day weekend right before we moved. We were able to visit with Nathan and Caroline a little over Thanksgiving when we were in Pensacola for Chris' family gathering. I haven't seen Heidi and her family or Greg and his family since Aksana was born in Feb. 2006, and Chris hasn't seen them since Steve's wedding. It will be nice to have us all together without being so busy with wedding preparations (which is usually what gets us all together at the same time these days... but only one wedding left for my immediate family - Nathan and Caroline in June.)

I have lost 10 lbs. now on my weight loss plan. I am super excited about all this! I am thankful that the Lord has helped me be INCREDIBLY disciplined with my eating... Nutrisystem has really worked well for me. Of course, going to the Y and working out 3-4 days a week has helped tremendously and I already feel better.

Praise the Lord for the way he works in our lives... even through the valleys, as well as on the mountain tops. I was thinking about all of the financial stuff today, and was realizing that all of this money wouldn't have been such a blessing to us (nor do I think we would have been as wise with our money as we are now) had we not gone through the 4 months of barely (if being able to pay them at all) paying bills and not having work that we got paid for doing, and the other trials that we went through recently. We now have a much better understanding that it is not our money, it is just God's money that He is entrusting to us to give us the opportunity to be good stewards with what He has given. I pray that we will always be found faithful, and that we will use this money to help others learn about our Great God!

I'm BACK!

Well, it's been a while since I last posted. Things have been rather busy around here it seems, but yet I still don't feel like I get anything done. How does that work? :-) Actually, my lack of blogging is indication that I'm doing something OTHER than sitting on my tail on the computer... like EXERCISING! Yep, I know it's hard to believe, but it's TRUE! Read on for more details...

Here is the update on what is going on with us:

unwanted guest

Yep, you guessed it... we have had a mouse in the house. He apparently like saltines, ramen noodles (thankfully they don't cost much!), and some of my NutriSystem lunch bars (see below for more about NutriSystem.) I was a little bitter about the NS bars... I paid good money for those! Fortunately, one I was able to salvage by cutting off the end, and the other I cut in half and ate the rest that did NOT get nibbled on by our furry "friend." I guess this is a little payback from the Lord for not being sympathetic to my friend, Beth. Beth HATES mice, and she had one very tricky one in her house for 4 & 1/2 weeks. She tried glue traps, which the little thing pulled against the base of the counter until he got loose... several times. Finally she bought the real mouse traps and got him. Now, our mouse got the treatment you see above. However, apparently my mouse was small, because as you can see, the trap is licked clean, but the mouse did not spring it (twice.) I know D-Con works very well... if the mouse eats it. Since I wasn't sure that the mouse was eating it, after the first time the trap got licked clean, I mixed the peanut butter WITH d-con to make sure he ate it. He did, and we haven't seen signs of him since! Praise the Lord! (There have been no nasty smells, either, so we are hoping he died outside somewhere.) How do mice get in houses anyway? :-)

my weight loss program

I know I've already made mention of the NutriSystem program, but first of all, the exercise part that I am doing with it! Last Wednesday, Chris and I joined the YMCA. We had discovered, Monday night, that it is within about 2 minutes drive of our house... very conveniently located! :-) It is about a year old, and is very nice. We both started working out there. Last Saturday (Happy St. Patrick's Day, for any of you that care about that holiday), I met with a personal trainer (for FREE with membership) that set up a workout program with me. It's a 12 week program: 1st 4 weeks - 3 days - 30 min cardio, plus lower back and abdominal weight training - light weight, lots of reps. 2nd 4 weeks, as above, plus more strength training targeting other areas of the body... 3rd 4 weeks, more of the same, plus more strength training exercises. I can always add in days of cardio, so I am doing at least 4 days/week right now. I met a lady today that I think will be my buddy on M/W/F. Her name is Deborah. Man, time flies when you're talking WHILE you exercise!

Now for those of you who really KNOW me, know that I don't really care for exercise AT ALL! But, I'm actually EXCITED about this. This is the first time that I am DETERMINED to lose the weight... but more importantly, be healthy, feel good, feel like I LOOK good, and make these things HABITS!

So... here's the REST of the program (for now): nutrisystem

Here's how it works... You get a NS entree for breakfast, and add 1 serving of fruit and 1 serving of dairy or protein. (I usually eat yogurt and drink 1/2 cup of juice for my servings)

Sampling of Breakfast entrees
Lunch: NS Lunch entree, 1 dairy or protein, salad, 2 tbsp fat-free dressing
(My salad consists of romaine lettuce, raw spinach, mushrooms and cucumbers, with cottage cheese for the dairy/protein and basil&balsamic vinaigrette)

Snack: 1 fruit, 1 dairy/protein
(I usually eat cottage cheese with 1/2 cup no sugar added fruit)

Sampling of Lunch entrees

Dinner: NS dinner entree, 2 servings of vegetables, 1 salad or fruit, 1 fat(I vary this a little more, but usually eat cooked carrots, broccoli, cauliflower or green beans, or a combination of them, then fruit. I use 1 slice of American cheese for my fat if I'm eating broccoli and/or cauliflower. I'm not sure if that counts, but it does for me! :-) )

Sampling of Dinner entrees
Dessert: NS dessert
Sampling of desserts

I drink at least 64 ounces of water per day (most days) and green tea for a little variety. I can drink as much tea as I want, but usually limit it to drinking tea with dinner. I also have mixed things up a little bit to fit my lifestyle. I have moved some things around... for example, I eat more of the dinner extras at lunchtime, and eat my dessert after lunch. That is when I am most tempted to snack... when I'm at work and there are yummy (junk food type) things around to eat that I normally don't have at home... and I'm feeding kids every couple of hours. I figure it's better to eat it earlier in the day anyway, right?!? :-)

As close as I can figure (as of last Thursday), since I started exercising at the beginning of March, I have lost 6 pounds. I started Nutrisystem on March 12th. So far, I love NS!! It is so easy, you really don't even have to think about it! The food actually tastes good - I only had one thing I didn't like so far - and eating what I am supposed to eat actually fills me up. (I picked my own menu.) I figure that if I can just get used to the right PORTION sizes, I should be OK. The only thing that I DON'T like is that I still have to cook something for Chris, and I don't get to eat with him, since I won't eat after 8pm if I can help it. Other than that, so far, so good.

Chris' work

Chris is still doing an AWESOME job at work. At the risk of sounding like I'm bragging... well, let's face it... I AM! Chris has sold 13 & 1/2 cars (deals) this month so far. Most salesmen average 8 cars a month! Chris had 11 cars out before the second pay period of the month started, which exceeded his goal of getting into double digits before the 15th. As of Tuesday night, he was 5&1/2 cars in front of everyone else at the dealership. Praise the Lord for his provision through this! So, you may ask, "What is Chris' secret?" It's simple. Every day before he gets out of the truck at work, he stops and asks the Lord to help him sell one car today. The Lord has honored that... not every day... but enough to make him very successful at his job. He actually is at a sales conference now in Indianapolis, to which the manager says he NEVER sends salesmen unless they have worked at the dealership for at least a year. The management loves Chris, and are constantly encouraging him, and telling me that they hope he stays around for a LONG time. You don't know how encouraged and proud it makes me to see my husband successful in a field that he has never worked before now. I thank the Lord often for giving Chris good success in this job.

My work

Well, my work should be changing at the end of this month as well. I don't have to work quite as much these days to help financially, so I am actually quitting one of my cases. There are many reasons for this, but it boils down to the fact that I do not feel that I am the best nurse for this particular patient. I get very irritated and frustrated, though I know some things this patient does are not their fault. However, it is getting overwelmingly stressful, and since I don't HAVE to work that case, I'm not going to continue to do it. I will be going full-time at the other case that I am working, I believe, and will be very happy to do so.

Our Maryland House

We received all of the papers to sign from the title company today for our house closing. We are blessed to have a friend in Maryland that is willing, and with our authorization, is also able, to sign the HUD sheet for us so that we do not actually have to be physically present in order to close on the house. Only a little more than one week, and Lord willing, our house will be sold! YEAH!!!

I believe that is about all for now. I think I have pretty much caught up with the events of the past couple of weeks that I've been out of blogging land. Oh, yes, one more thing...

Google Reader

If you have not yet discovered Google Reader, you need to check it out. It is a great time saver for those of you who check multiple blogs on a regular basis. As a matter of fact, it saves so much time, it will allow you extra time to surf for other blogs that might be of interest! :-) Though I do miss going down the list and clicking each individual bookmark, and reading all the comments others leave on people's blogs, Google Reader really has been good for me since I don't have as much free time on my hands now that I'm working out. For those of you who have no idea what Google Reader is, it is a central place where you can subscribe to the blogs that you frequent. Instead of checking every blog every day for updates, you can just go to Google Reader, and it will show you only the ones that you have not read. When you subscribe to a site, make sure you mark the box for "Mark all read." Anyway, it is a great time saver, and thanks to Trisha, who introduced this to me!

Scrapbook pages of Maryland house

Since we now have a contract on our house in Maryland, I thought it would be fun to post some scrapbook pages that I did to show you what the house looked like when we bought it, and what we did to it while we lived there. I really loved this house, and am somewhat sad that someone else is going to buy it. I know they are already planning to redo the kitchen, which I admit needed a little more work. However, the house had so much character, I'd hate to see what they are going to do to it. I am thankful, though, that they will be paying for it, and we won't anymore! :*) Oh, well, maybe one of these days I'll get another house to decorate.

Enjoy the pictures. I don't think you'll be able to read my handwriting in these pictures because it's so small, but you'll get the idea. Oh, yes, don't be too hard on me... I can't do anything straight, so you'll have to forgive me if the pages don't look perfect! Also, I took pictures of the pages in the protective sleeves, so there might be some glare on the pages as well.

Showings on our house...

We had a showing on our house in MD today from 1pm-2pm, and have another one scheduled for Sunday, 02/11/07, from 3pm-4pm. It has been a while since there has been anyone even interested in looking, so this is encouraging. Please pray with us that the Lord will bring the right buyer in the right time.
Here is the listing if you're interested in seeing some pics of the inside/outside. It doesn't look nearly as good as when it was all decorated, but it's still really nice. I LOVE the kitchen floor!

Salesman of the Month!!!

Chris made Salesman of the Month for January! He sold 14 cars (the next closest salesman sold 11.) He missed getting the extra $5,000 bonus by 1&1/2 cars, but he still gets tons of bonus money for the amount of cars he sold, being salesman of the month, etc. On top of that, he gets a prime parking space for the month! :-) God has really been good to us in providing through Chris' job. We are so thankful for that. We are also thankful that God has provided in other ways... a tax refund for the first time in our married lives, being able to sell some stocks and get money from that to start our savings acct. back up, etc.
I also have been working regularly, and that helps with the financial aspect of things as well.
Our house in MD still has not sold, nor have we had any activity on it for about a month now. Please just continue to pray that the Lord will provide the buyer that we need.

Stamping Party

I went to a stamping party last night (I LOVE STAMPING!!) Above is the card that we made. I'm not much "into" the color pink, but I really liked the combination with the black accent. The first picture was taken with my digital camera, but without flash, so the color of the pink isn't true. The second one I scanned it into the computer, so you're getting a gray haze on the image from the dimensionals I used on the centers of the big flowers, but you get the idea. The funniest thing about this is one of the older ladies there commented that this is a "50's" color scheme. Yes, it is eerily similar to the color scheme that we found in our bathroom in our house in MD when we bought it. (See below.) We remodeled the bathroom before we even moved in... I just couldn't take the colors (and it needed some serious work to be usable anyway!)

The other thing about going to the party is that my husband gave me $20 to buy some stamps... and I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO ASK FOR IT!! I was thrilled to be able to buy stamps, and then got a free set from the Sell-a-bration catalog b/c the demonstrator was very kind and matched my $ amount. That was a wonderful surprise!

Please pray with us

Please pray that our house in MD would sell quickly. We have had quite a bit of activity going on lately as far as the house being shown, open houses, etc. (Praise the Lord - activity is encouraging) Our realtor is showing it today to an individual, and then she is having an open house for it tomorrow, as well. We are praying that the Lord will have a buyer for us soon. We have been paying 2 sets of bills for 5 months now, and the financial burden is heavy. We would appreciate you praying with us!

Maryland house - August 2006

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We hope you have a wonderful year, and that you enjoy many of God's blessings in this new year.

Please pray (again) for our house situation. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch..." We found out on Friday that the people who were supposed to rent our house have not signed the paperwork, and their realtor cannot get ahold of them, which means that we have to pay another month's mortgage that we weren't planning on. However, someone called our realtor on Christmas Eve and they are looking at the house to BUY tomorrow (Jan. 2nd). We would love to be able to just sell it and get it off our hands. We'll see what God does!

Chris was able to sell 8 cars this month, and has until noon on Tuesday to finish up the month. He has one guy coming in that morning, so he may be able to get to 9 cars. He would like to get to 10 cars sold, so he can get the bonus... that would be a blessing. The Lord has really blessed him in this business so far. He is doing a great job, and his managers and the owner are very pleased with his work.

I am doing a little job change, too, in the new year. I am still working for the same company, but will be working 2 different cases. Rather than going to school with a little boy (driving about 30 minutes one way), and only having work when he's at school, I will be splitting my time between 2 home care cases. Both clients are within 15 minutes of our house in Indiana, and I will work 38 hours a week. I am working 3 ten hour shifts at one case, and 1 eight hour shift at the other. Unless they are in the hospital, I will have guaranteed work. I am very thankful for that. Also, the company office is moving across the river into Indiana, so I won't have that 30 minute drive to the office every week, either.

Well, that's the new news for this year. Please continue to pray about our house situation... we sure would appreciate it!