365.45: We Got a House!

I am just so excited right now! God has totally provided the perfect house in the perfect location for the perfect price! (Which happens to be neither of the options from this earlier post.) It is close to the church, but even closer to Holden's preschool and Ryan's work that the other really small option most of you bloggy friends voted for. It is slightly larger than our house in Woodstock, and being an older house, has so much charm: think built-in bookshelves, hardwoods, french doors. It's on a beautiful street lined with old trees and we even have next-door neighbors with little kids! (They had a lemonade stand set up yesterday when I drove by.) It is 3BR/2BA with a breakfast nook AND a large formal dining room. "But didn't you sell your dining room table?" you ask. We did. But the owner is providing an even nicer table complete with chairs and a hutch for free! And we sold a couch and sofa-chair. Guess what else comes with the house...two couches. That's right. Also included is a desk, patio tables and chairs, new refrigerator, newer washer/dryer, new dishwasher. Basically everything we sold in Atlanta is being provided, saving us so much money in not having to re-buy them. Hmmm...sounds like God was up to something!
Below are a couple pictures from the ad. You KNOW I will post more once we're moved in! Ryan is going to Seattle on a business trip next Tuesday-Friday, and we should be moving in that Saturday/Sunday! Perfect!
Thanks a million times for all of your prayers!

365.44: Mom Saves the Day!

Our family arrived at the Country Inn & Suites in Waco on Tuesday. On Wednesday Ryan had to start work, and won't have a day off until 4th of July. Bramp.
This thought, combined with the depressing reality that it takes a REALLY long time to find a house to rent, was really starting to get to me. My ship was goin down. Fast.
The winds of motivation were out of my sails after carting two small boys and a (not-so-small) dog from house-to-house, apartment-to-apartment all alone for just three days.
But that all changed this morning when something flew in to town...
Is it a bird?
Is it a plane?
No! It's Super-Mimi!
My mom could tell I needed support, bought a plane ticket and flew out within 24 hours. So amazing! I am just so so blessed to have a mom that is a selfless friend, someone who literally drops the million things she has going on to fly across the country to help me. Wow. So now I can concentrate while she does fun things with the boys like taking them to the zoo and the Children's Museum.
So cool.

365.43: Home-Finding Dilemma!

Help! We need input with our housing situation! Would you rather live in:

Duplex #1:
Very large and spacious with FOUR bedrooms! This means we could have a playroom/office! Larger living room where we could easily have people over.
BUT the area isn't great. It's not that it's dangerous, just not pretty and nice. There is an empty lot next door, which had some trash in it. And there is no yard at all (except for the lot), which means we would have to walk Phoebe on a leash a few times a day instead of just letting her out.
The location is about 10 or 15 minutes from the church and probably 20 minutes from Holden's preschool and Ryan's work.

Duplex #2:
This is a really cute, newer place with stained concrete floors, 9-foot ceilings, and newer appliances. Also a three-bedroom, with a private, fenced-in little back patio, and a shared grassy area behind that where we could put Phoebe on a lead staked down in the ground. The location is AMAZING! About two blocks from the church and three minutes from our friends the Montgomerys. It's about 10 minutes from Holden's preschool and Ryan's work. This is more the downtown area. But here is the drawback: it is TINY. Each of the three bedrooms looks barely big enough for a bed. We're pretty sure that we couldn't put both our bed and dresser in the master. So we couldn't have more than a couple people over at a time. Here is a link to the floor plan and some pictures of this place from my camera phone:



This would probably be Holden's room:
Turner walking in from the back patio:
This is looking at the entire thing. Three bedrooms are all on the right of this hall, I'm taking the picture from the back of the dining room. Holden is standing in the living room, next to the front door:

365.42: Hotel Living

OK, so we are on day two (of hopefully only four days) of living in a hotel!
The boys and Phoebe are doing relatively well. Right now, I've been policing the boys for an hour as they lay in adjacent beds, trying to nap. Turns out a hotel room is way too fun for sleeping in!
Here are some snapshots of hotel living.

Our room from my camera phone:


On the first morning (after spending the night on the road in Louisiana), I packed up my toiletries to head out, then put my bag on the bed. A few minutes later, Ryan asked what had spilled on the bed. Uh oh. My foaming body wash unscrewed in the bag, drenched everything inside, and leaked all the way through the bag. So then I had to spend an extra 20 minutes cleaning everything off. (See all the bubbles in the sink?) All these toiletries got put into a plastic bag, and the sopping wet, soapy (yet delicious white citrus-smelling) is still drying out!



The amazing Texas-shaped waffle we had for breakfast!

This is absolutely the only way to have an effective time-out in a hotel room. It seems fun can be found (or the TV can be seen) in every corner, so we resorted to the old-school, military-style nose-in-the-corner method!

365.41: The Drive

We arrived in Waco today!! Here is a play-by-play of my twitters throughout the drive:

June 21, 10:30am: Just crossed into Alabama! Is texting while driving illegal here?

12:25pm: Grossest gas station bathroom ever. West of Birmingham

2:00pm: My ipod put Rusted Root on my emo genius mix. Whaaa?

2:54pm: My twitterverse is so sad today! I'm flattered in the saddest way.

6:16pm: Just walked in to our hotel in Ruston, LA. Gonna take boys to the pool, get some dinner, then hit the sack!

June 22, 9:15am: On the road again. Texas or bust!

10:25am: Welcome to Texas! (Insert handshake here.)

10:36am: Kelly Clarkson's "Ready" and Glee's version of "Defying Gravity" are my soundtrack for this drive.

1:10pm: Just saw my first sign for waco! 46 more miles!

2:30pm: Just arrived at our "new house" for the next 3 days! http://twitpic.com/1z2l6q

Man it seems like such a fast trip when it's laid out like that!

Please do yourself a favor and listen to these two songs!

365.39: Father's Day / Saying Goodbye

On what is normally a joyous day of celebrating the fathers in my life, we were faced with the dim reality of saying goodbye to so many friends. It was a sweet day. My whole family was together, and Ryan's dad cam over for dinner, too. My best friend Becca Meloy was over for a few hours and the Stanleys dropped by to say goodbye. Below are shots of all the celebrated dads chillin before dinner and Jayci getting to go into the boys rooms during their naps for one last hug!
This evening we went to One Church for the last time, then out to dinner with the crew.
It was a day I'll always remember.