“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”

Be forewarned - This is a rather long story, which I will try my hardest to condense. Yeah, that’s not going to happen, I just realized. So I won’t be offended if you bail out now :) HOWEVER, if you do make it to the end, please do leave a comment as a tribute to your stamina :) You are a true friend and I promise to make you Ba’s Famous French Toast sometime. (is that bribery??)

ANYWAYS, it started around Christmas-time 2008. We were having a conversation with some friends of ours about houses. They had been considering buying one, and we were listening intently, very excited for them and not at all thinking about buying one ourselves.
And then I had a crazy thought (apparently I have them often?) – what if we could buy a house? That is when I slapped myself. I shrugged it off and moved on. It was not in our plan. We’d been married for a grand total of 2 and ½ months. We were going to rent for a while and pay off student loans and then save. That was the plan.
My plan anyways.
The new year rolled around, and my dear friend Meghan and I had been talking about goals for the new year – she forwarded me something from Justin Taylor’s blog written by Donald Whitney:
I printed it out to use in my devotions and immediately zeroed in on #2. “What the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?” I picked a house. And then I slapped myself again. But it was useless because that’s when my crazy idea morphed into a prayer.
Over the next month or two all we did was pray. We prayed for God to make His plan clear and to tell us which foot to put forward next, since we had no idea what we were doing. And quietly, God kept confirming that this “idea” was not just the pizza I had eaten the night before – it truly was Him whispering into my ear to pray for big things. To pray big because I serve a big God. We reached the point where we talked things over with my parents and Mike’s, and decided to switch our game plan from paying off loans aggressively to saving for a house. And all along the way, God has been faithful.

The Practical Side:
God gave us a first-rate real estate agent, Dave Rivell, who has helped many of our friends find houses this past year. We HIGHLY recommend him!
We also have an excellent mortgage consultant, Gary Lehndorff, who specializes in first-time homeowners! And, he not only goes to our church, he also happens to be our realtor’s top-recommendation, so when we told Dave that Gary was our consultant, relationships and reputations were already well under way before we even got there! :)
The sheer fact that there is a stimulus for first-time home owners and that interest rates are so low is a blessing from God to us in this season! We are not the only ones benefitting from it, but we certainly feel the effects of it as though this was a personal gift from God :)
The final practical is that Emily actually found this house for us haha :) She and Ben had seen it, liked it, but decided to look for something different. So she showed it to me, I liked it. I showed it to Mike, he liked it. We showed it to Dave, and he liked it. So we bought it. Emily has promised to not be bitter towards me – I made sure of that before we moved on it :)


The Emotional and Wisdom Side:
All I have to say is that Michael has been a strong pillar for me when my emotions have been tossed to and fro like the ocean in a storm :) He has been steadfast and full of faith, and it has never served me better. I’ve battled doubt, fear, unbelief, and Mike has always been there reminding me that God’s wisdom and perfect timing are always sure things, regardless of how circumstances turn out. There was one night we had been to see a fixer-upper condo that was not what we thought it was – we were looking at it as an investment, and when the numbers proved it would not have the return we were looking for, I threw up my hands and walked away crying. Much like a child. Because of course, this meant that we were NEVER going to find a house. Mind you, this was the first place we had looked at. Ever. Have I mentioned that I am quick to lose heart? That I am often irrational and unnecessarily dramatic? Perseverance is something I’m working on. ANYWAYS, the point is, I was discouraged. Very discouraged. But looking back, I see the wisdom of God in it. That condo was not to be ours (thankfully!), but it WAS to be the starting place. Very recently before this condo came to our attention, I had more or less resigned myself to the fact that we were not going to buy a house this year. The idea and prayers had been great to be sure, but this was clearly an exercise in FAITH for me, not in ACTION. In my heart, I was quietly and slowly moving away from the idea of buying a house for a while, simply praying that if God wanted US to move, HE was going to have to move first. And it was this condo that sparked our interest and got us back on the road to searching for a house. And, honestly, things moved very quickly after that. We went on vacation the week after that. The week after that, we sat down with Dave to tell him what we were looking for. That very night after meeting with him, he found a foreclosure in West Chester, which we went to see the next day. It was not for us. That Saturday, we went out with a list of 6 places to look at. We liked the very first one (the one Emily had shown me), discussed, and put in an offer that afternoon. By Tuesday, we had reached a deal with the seller, signed the contract and had inspection the next Saturday. Did I mention things moved fast?

I think the most exciting part about this whole thing is that I’ve seen what God can do with a whisper of a prayer. And I don’t even mean that figuratively, I mean that literally! Because that’s how it started – a thought, that became a prayer, that God confirmed and then put into action. It’s taught me how to pray big and not put God in a box. It’s taught me how to believe that with God, ALL things are possible. Not just some things, ALL things. And that includes things that are humanly impossible for me ;)

To God be all the glory, for “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” ~ Psalm 118:23

An Eventful Week

So it has been somewhat of an exciting past week! Among the events, in no particular order:

- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (don't read into the fact that i put that first...)
- Brass on the Grass
- Lucy Healey was born!
- Chris' 12th Birthday
- We bought a house

Yes we bought a house!! We are so so excited - God has been so good!! Keep an eye out for an upcoming post for the entire story - it is amazing and all because of what God has done! Honestly, we had very little to do with it, and I think that's what makes it so exciting :) I have a few pictures below that we took yesterday at the inspection. For now, here are some pictures from the week, in order this time i think! I'm getting better about that.....



Sunday: Chris' birthday. Here is Daniel taking a picture of Chris while opening gifts. Ever since he got Amy's old camera he's been having a lot of fun with it.




Dan in his typical twisted state. I don't think i could sit like that for too long



Chris and Tom




Chris during encouragement time



Tom and Chris



Cyndi and Meagan




Whispering




Sean and Mary




Tuesday: Brass on the Grass
Brian Vander Weide and Mark Prater at Brass on the Grass. Gotta love the hawaiian attire :)



Rick, Traci and Matt. This was originally supposed to be a picture of just R&T but Matt decided he wanted to be a part of it :)



The lovely Healeys




Meghan with her tank of a camera as Mike calls it :)



Beautiful Meghan




Michelle and Alex




M&M



No she didn't pose for this, whatever gave you that idea? ;)



The Praters



Saturday mornings: sleeping in is the best thing ever




Saturday afternoon: home inspection.
This here is my favorite room of the house - the kitchen! I love the green cabinets




We have a fireplace!!




This is a built-in-bookshelf that we absolutely love. it expands to a server for entertaining - an added bonus.




The family room.



Mike outside with the house inspector. I think the guy was on the roof - Mike was supposedly steadying the ladder?? :)



Mirror mirror



And so begins the packing. We close on August 28th - cannot wait!!!!

Happenings

So, here's what's been going on this last week.

First (though not first chronologically), Mike cooked dinner on Monday night! I was running out to do grocery shopping, and he said he would have dinner ready when I got home :) He made homemade pizza, and I have to say, it tasted better than when I make it!! We buy the fresh whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's (only $0.99!!) and also their pizza sauce. Sooooooo good. And this is the perfect pizza Mike made. As you can see, it is pretty much perfectly round, which if you come on a night I make it, I assure you it will be in the shape of an amoeba.


Then on the 4th of July (again, sorry this is not chronologically in order), we had Joe and Heidi over. We had a blast with them and later went over to a bonfire at The Great House (the house where Ben & Em, Mat & Steph, and Jason & Vicky all live). But anyways, as part of my meal, I was trying to make a drink for which I needed lime juice. So, the normal thing to do would be BUY lime juice. But oh no, I couldn't do something as simple as that. I had to buy LIMES. That's right, the actual fruit. And then, as if that wasn't enough, I was won over by the KEY LIMES, because they were so darn cute. Why are they so cute, you ask? Because they're so tiny and are about the size of a large grape. And they are indeed cute, but let me tell you, trying to get juice out of those things is like trying to get Voldemort to spill his darkest secrets. (Ok, so that didn't make any sense, but can we please let it slide due to the fact that Harry Potter comes out in less than a week and I'm absolutely ECSTATIC?! Did I mention that I am also 22 years old.) Besides, the point is, it wasn't happening. And the 1/4 c. measuring cup that I needed to fill felt at that point like an entire pool that needed filling. So Heidi had just arrived and found me strangling the Key Limes for all they were worth when I told her my dilemma. How I should have resisted the cuteness of the Key Limes and gone with their larger counterpart. And lo and behold, what does she then pull from her purse? REAL LIMES! REAL, REGULAR-SIZED LIMES! "How did you know?!" I screamed. And she informed me that she didn't know, that she just had them lying around and thought she'd bring them. Maybe I could use them. And it's moments like that when I realize that God really does care about the littlest things :) Here you can see the difference between Key Limes, cute though they may be, and regular juice-producing limes.


So, skipping ahead, last night I made this: Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
It is amazing. You should try it. Pioneer Woman certainly knows how to cook.




So that's it. I will leave you with a quote that I read from Susannah Spurgeon that I absolutely love.
"Waiting for the Lord is often the surest mode of progression in the divine life; and to be silent before Him, is not infrequently the most importunate of petitions."

And so I will wait for the Lord. How grateful I am that His timing and wisdom are perfect.

Tostada Night

So Friday night I made Tostadas for dinner. The inspiration for this recipe came from Real Simple and lunches with Margie to La Tolteca :) So I took those ideas and came up with this:

I felt like it was a huge accomplishment, because it did not have any meat in it, and Mike liked it. I repeat. Mike liked a meat-less meal. SUCCESS!! :)

Ingredients:
Habanero-Lime tortillas (these can be found at Trader Joe's and are AMAZING!)
Cheddar Cheese
3-4 Avocados
1/2 c. finely chopped red onion
Lemon Juice
Coarse Salt
Fresh cracked pepper
2 Ears of corn, corn off the cob (Michelle told me that would explain it well enough. Basically, don't use the canned stuff.)
Baby Portabello Mushrooms, sliced
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Shredded lettuce
Fresh Salsa (we got some from TJ's - the hot and spicy kind. Sooooo much better than jarred.)

1) Make the guacamole. Scoop the avocados from their skins into a large bowl. Mash. Add the chopped red onion, a few splashes of lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.
2) In a large skillet, heat a small amount of olive oil. Add the corn, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Sautee 5-10 mins, just until cooked through. Salt and pepper to taste.
3) Lay tortillas on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with cheese and broil until melted and bubbly. Remove from oven and assemble the tostada. On top of the cheese put the corn/mushroom/tomato mixture. Next add the guacamole. Top with shredded lettuce and salsa. Eat with a fork and knife until your heart's content.

I will say, Mike was impressed that something without meat could be so filling. But, of course, we did not finish the meal without Mike commenting, "you know what would go really good with this? BACON!"
Oh well. He still liked it. And i like it. So we will be having it again :)

Later on that night, Michelle and Alex came over to watch a movie and we made this for dessert: Brownies with Pineapple, Strawberries and fresh whipped cream. Yuuuummmm.

This just in: Vertigo is NOT a good date movie

So last night, we watched this:


Mike thought it would be a fun date movie. Love, I enjoyed spending the evening with you, but next time maybe we should pick something, say, more lighthearted? :)
Anyways, I had never seen it before. And for those of you who haven't seen it either, you may as well stop reading now - what follows probably won't make any sense. My apologies. But anyways, this is how my thought process went throughout the movie, from start to finish:

I like Hitchcock, so I'm interested. I like Jimmy Stewart too, so it's a double bonus. --> This looks intriguing - it's dark and suspenseful. I love suspense. --> I like this a lot! Brilliant! Hitchcock is BRILLIANT! --> Wait, did she really just do what I think she did? Really?? But the movie's not even close to being over! (for those who haven't seen it, i won't ruin it) --> Oh no, is Jimmy Stewart mad also? Because I don't think I can handle it if Jimmy Stewart goes insane. --> Are you KIDDING me?! She's ALIVE?! And he did WHAT?! (ok, so maybe I have ruined it a little for those who haven't seen it) --> Is she going to tell him? Will Jimmy figure it out? (He is a detective after all) --> Oh dear. He figured it out. Now what? But maybe this will all turn out ok - I mean, Rear Window ended happy, didn't it? --> Yes! Yes! I think it's all going to be ok!! They're both sane now! Right? RIGHT??!! AREN'T THEY BOTH SANE NOW?! --> **GASP, WIDE EYES AND HORROR FACE** NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! SERIOUSLY????!!! Are those the CREDITS rolling?? That's IT??? That's the ENDING??!!! --> I hate this movie and Hitchock just ruined my evening.


I hope I've captured my emotional thoughts accurately for you.

Hitchcock is brilliant yes, but that movie made me want to curl up in a ball and cry. And I am never watching that movie again. I don't care if it's a classic. I'll stick with A Bug's Life, thank you very much.