It's ok.

I'm taking one day at a time. That's what happens when you're in the valley. I'm currently at a coffee shop which is becoming my home away from... 

We're still waiting to hear about Rozzie. It's a 50/50 chance. It was actually called off last week and now it's back on again {drama!!}. A LOT has to happen tomorrow for us to potentially close on Thurs/Fri. Either way, we're giddy just thinking we will finally KNOW one way or another by the end of the week. It makes me feel for those who are truly homeless. 

One of the hardest things about not having a place to call home is that I can't decorate. My heart hurts a little when I see others bringing in their Christmas trees or baking delicious things in their kitchen. We've joked that we could always put up a Christmas wreath on our storage unit. That's all we've got. I've really been fighting to be thankful for what God has provided for today. My mind easily slips into thoughts of wanting a home, wanting to be out of this hard place, wanting to cook a meal for goodness sake. But I don't want to miss what the Lord has given us ... providing through friend's hospitality, their hugs, and prayers for us. I also don't want to miss this sweet time of the Christmas season. While I might not have the things of Christmas, I can still prepare my heart and this song has been on repeat this afternoon.

Blessings from this past weekend:

1. Ginna pointing to her head saying, "Top of mind." Which means... I'm thinking about you because I know you're always thinking about what's going on...

2. Lucy reminding me that we still have a week til December. So it's ok that I'm not decorating.

3. My parents who let us live with them for 5 days, fed us, and let me cry on their shoulder.

4. Allison giving me a card that says, "It's ok." She wrote that while everything is going to be ok, it's also ok right now. 

I've been clinging to this verse and even read it to my little chickadees this morning:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding. 

In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths -Proverbs 3:5-6

Current state of affairs

 Life has been hard lately. I think sometimes that needs to be broadcasted in the blog world for fear of always presenting an "I have it all together" image. I don't have it all together, not at all.

It's taken a while for me to call it this, but Andrew and I are on a grand adventure. 

Long {really, really long} story short: we thought we were going to close on October 30th with Rozzie. We told our landlord we'd be out Nov 15th. Everything fell through and our mortgage guy said it was a done deal. We were so sad after 4 months of hoping for this home. We moved on and looked for a rental house. Then we got an email from our mortgage guy saying there might be a chance we could get Rozzie. We very cautiously started hoping again. 

So... we still had to be out of our apartment by yesterday. We're set to close on November 30th but nothing is final and we're still waiting to hear if the underwriters approve us for this house {who are underwriters??}. All of our stuff is in a storage unit. We're couch hopping/house sitting for friends for two weeks. I've learned so much these past few days about how hard it is to move and not have a home, or even to know where we'll be living.

The Lord has been so good to us, though! He has provided through the generosity of friends and family. One of my preschool parents handed me an envelope yesterday with coupons from the Entertainment book. She said she picked out some of my favorite restaurants. Our friends are storing some of our stuff at their house: tv, my wedding dress {it still fits!}, and plants.  We stayed with some friends last night and enjoyed a cozy house {not an empty apartment}, a fire, and good chats. I've been learning to accept the generosity of others.

Who knows where we'll be living in two weeks but I know that the Lord, who cares for the little sparrow, loves and cares for us even more so.

Halloween

So I thought I'd switch things up a bit after I've been a cat for the past 5 Halloweens.

We're snail mail!!

With my friend Elizabeth who is having a bebe! If you look in the corner you can see Andrew's envelope. It lasted for a picture and then he was done. What a trooper. Also, one of our friends told me he was going to bring out the salt! I saw my life flashing before my eyes!!!

Hello

Hello there! It's been a while. I actually blog all the time... on my other blog. Yes, we have class blogs at preschool. So this one has gotten overlooked. Oops! One of these days I'll do a major Life Lately post with pictures of what we've been up to. Until then, check out where most of my life and energy is spent:

The children painted this donut and then I took a picture of them with it and we mailed it to their dads as an invitation to Donuts with Dad. Here my co-teacher and I were having fun before the children arrived.

This was the easiest project ever. I let the children draw on these paper leaves and then I sewed them together and hung on a branch. 

This is what happens to Indian corn when you leave it in water. So cool!

Leaf people.

One of my sweet little ones made this. I loved it!

Our homemade tree! 

Have I mentioned how much I love preschool? I do. I mean, don't get me wrong, 14 three year olds are sometimes exhausting, but they're so, so darling and delightful.

Update on Rozzie

It's been a week! I am finally sitting on the couch after this morning's Race for the Cure, and I don't plan on moving all day. {Plus I have a Gamecock banner I really need to finish. I think we're like 6 games in... oy.} We were at the beach with my family last weekend and ever since we returned it's been nonstop. I'm so thankful for time to rest.

Yesterday we went over to Rozzie as the Inspector was looking around. We hadn't been to the home since early July so it was great to finally be inside. Some rooms were smaller than I remember and other things surprised me like how much work the builder put in the details. We're hoping for a good report from the Inspector on Monday.

 This is a picture from the far side of the great room. I love the kitchen except I'm not crazy about those sconces on the bar. Oh well. The least of my worries at this point, though.

This is the view from the kitchen/great room. In some ways I feel like we overlook a countryside. But don't let that fool you. Our neighborhood is very rough around the edges. It will be quite a transition as we leave our beloved Myers Park. But we're excited to see how the Lord will use us in Biddleville. Plus we have lots of friends in the 'hood and have already been invited to a neighborhood block party in a couple weeks.

Rozzie is not a done deal yet. We keep reminding ourselves of that. But it sure was good to be there yesterday. I hosted Cocktail Club at our apartment last night and realized that this might be the last time my home is mostly decorated for a very long time. We will have to buy so many things for Rozzie {rugs, beds, side tables, couches, the list goes on} but have to start with the basics like blinds, shower rods, and all that. So it will be a while. But that's ok. I'd much rather decorate with patience and buy things we love than quickly put it all together.

Now about that Gamecock banner...

Hardest thing about getting married

Was changing my name.

No, I'm not kidding. Let's go back to last Saturday, ok? We're helping our friends Craig & Janet move into their in-between homes apartment. A few of the guys went back to fill up their cars with things leaving myself, Janet, her mother, and another friend Ashley to line the shelves with paper, put things away, and unpack.

I was getting a few things from off the kitchen bar counter when I saw a folded piece of paper. It was a note from the apartment complex/realtor and then I saw her name. Carrie Cole. Oh my gosh, I almost burst into a thousand pieces. I probably gasped then told myself you are crazy, hold it together. I told them that this was my old name and even though I'm close enough to my two friends to fall to the floor in tears, I don't know Janet's mother well and I mean, Carrie, it's been 18 months. You would think I'd be used to it. I do love my last name and a preschool parent even said it was the most perfect preschool teacher name, but I really do miss being CCC. 

I was reminded of this when I read Cup of Jo's post today on changing your name. I don't think I would've kept using my last name but being CCC was part of my identity so I think {I hope} it's normal to miss something I had for 27 years. Leave and cleave, I guess.

All that to say, Andrew and I are going to visit this new brewery in town soon. :)

Best news in the entire world!!

You know those times when the Lord asks you to wait and not just wait, but wait patiently? Well. It all started back in early July when we started thinking about what was next in terms of housing. I was terrified of buying a home. I wanted to leave our apartment and move into a house we could rent for a year. It felt logical that we would save enough money for a home. So we started driving around neighborhoods and long story short, fell in love with this one home.

Turns out it was a short sale and from what I would learn meant that nothing is ever short about it. We decided to try it out. Everything seemed to be a good fit: price, neighborhood (minus a few things), lots of friends in the area, and the size of the house.

We were in NYC this past summer when we got a call that we needed to submit our offer asap (something to do with short sales, banks, it's all fuzzy, I dunno). We were actually sitting at the Starbucks near my old office (Suz, you remember!) and I was on the phone with our realtor asking crazy questions like "There's nothing mentioned about sewage. Is that taken care of?!?" before we signed on the dotted line. That evening we enjoyed dinner with Mir and Chris and talked to them about it. Thought about it even more and on our way home in PA we managed to find a FedEx to scan and send in our offer! Just in time.

While two and a half months doesn't seem that long, it is when you're waiting to hear about a place you might call home. We thought we were going to hear on Friday and didn't. I was so disappointed. I've been reading through the Psalms and Proverbs in my quiet time which has been very encouraging. I read this verse:

Hope deferred makes a heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. - Proverbs13:12

 I had to trust that in His perfect timing we would know our answer.

We found out today! We got the house! I think we've felt a wide range of emotions: joy, panic (holy crap we have to buy a fridge, washer/dryer, blinds, and so much else), sadness over saying goodbye to an amazing neighborhood and a cozy lil apartment we've loved these last 18 months, and of course we've felt excitement about what's to come.

Here are some pictures back in August when we went with Andrew's mother to show her Rozzie:

Look at that front porch! I need to be on the lookout for rocking chairs.

Who knows if we'll get it!

We got it!! Now, the yard needs tons of work after not having an owner since it was built and we have all the things such as inspection, appraisal, all that. So I guess there's a small chance something could go wrong... but for now, we're on our way to moving into Rozzie in a month if all goes well. We're already dreaming about Saturday morning pancakes with neighbors, praise and worship on the front porch, dinner parties, and visits from family and friends. What a blessing a home is whether it's an apartment or house! 

Life Lately {in August}

Good grief I'm way behind in blogging! 

I've been making this bread a lot lately. 

Ben's birthday celebration!!

Kristin & me 

 

I took a sewing class and it was pretty helpful! I would love to take a quilting class next. 

We're still trying out new restaurants in Charlotte. This was a good one!

Another visit from my MIL, niece, and nephews!

Adia and I had a coffee date and then went to Park Road Books.

Emily's bridal shower at my parents home. Al & Gin did such a great job decorating. Hooray for getting married!

Happy

I really have so much to post but guess where I've been? I've been in my classroom, sitting on the couch working on lesson plans {and making the wreath below for our classroom door}, hugging sweet children, and saying things like, "Oh really? I never thought to put mustard and ketchup on my watermelon!" {play kitchen}.

It's been the busiest two weeks ever and you know what... I love it.

This has to be love

So I'm sitting on the couch with Andrew when he tells me he has a surprise for me. I kind of hate surprises and have to know immediately what it is. He said I had to work for it so I go through 20 questions to get it, although it was probably like 40 questions. 

I finally get close and then guess this:

And I'm right! Andrew pre-ordered the Smitten Kitchen cookbook for me as a congrats on being a preschool teacher gift!

The best and sweetest part is that he spends so much time doing odd jobs on Mechanical Turk that he finally had saved up enough to buy it on Amazon.com without me even knowing! 

So thoughful of him. Now I'm super excited to get it in two months!

Life lately

It's a Friday night and I'm just so happy to be at home. 

Here's what we've been up to lately...

Olympic watching these last few weeks. I'm so impressed with their athleticism. Gold medal cookies.

A few weeks ago I went to see Michelle & Reagan! Oh what a little love!! Mich is such a good mama.

We visited and had some good laughs over lunch.

I held the little Rea most of the afternoon. I loved it.

Ginna came for a night last week and we celebrated our NEW JOBS (more on that later)!

Last Saturday I drove up to PA with my Mother-in-law to get these fun kiddos.

It was a long but beautiful drive.

Maybe 11pm at a gas station with 4 hours to go. Do you see the coffee?

Bedtime stories with Uncle Andrew. So sweet.

This past week I was busy with the shredder. 

Yesterday was such a fun day surprising Lucy at work, having a yummy Greek lunch with my Dad!, hanging out with Katie, Alden & Blythe, then heading to Raleigh to see Gin, Jeff & Reynolds. (Hope you're feeling better, E!!)

That cute Ginna girl.

Last night I spent the night with Lu! Bebe's (Phoebe) enjoyed my water. Animals are so entertaining.

This morning I met Lorrina & Margot for coffee at Dean & Deluca. She is just the cutest, has such poise and style for a 6 year old, and it was wonderful to catch up with them!

Happy Weekend! 

Weekend in Atlanta

This past weekend we went down to Atlanta to spend time with family & friends.

Chloe's 4th birthday celebration! 

The theme was princess & Barbie. While I usually like to buy useful gifts like books, I found myself going crazy at the Dollar Store buying a handful of Disney princess items. 

{Which was really, really fun!}

I love that Maggie is dancing in the background with her American Girl doll.

Andrew and Charlie

Had to capture Andrew drinking out of a Barbie cup.

Caroline made the Barbie cake and apparently it's so easy if you use the Pampered Chef bowl and then flip it upside down. Who knew?

Maybe my favorite moment as Mr. Charlie fell asleep in my arms right after this. 

Around dinnertime we went to see the Parkers!

Al makes the best fruit tea.

Toby was having a slumber party with one of his friends.

Me & Al. She made the most wonderful shrimp & grits for dinner.

Then we decided while watching the Olympics that we needed a baking project. :)

The next morning was Charlie's baby dedication at their church.

Group shot

Oh you know...

What a fun weekend it was! Thanks, Dales & Parkers.