Marie's Musings

Musings from the mundane day to day life of a mom of 9 to more serious ponderings of the day.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Home Sweet Home

I must say God is good ... all the time. We have officially made it to our new home as of 9 pm last wednesday night. The last 4 days have been filled with arranging furniture, unpacking boxes and exploring our beautiful new home and yard.

The closing were not with some trempidation and glitches. We discovered the morning of the closings that our loan officer forgot to allocate funds for assessments against the house. I am positive we told him, but it got dropped somewhere along the way. So we are ready to close on the old home and found ourselves 2000 dollars short that we needed to take the next home. Talk bout a trusting God moment!

Our loan officer had to run our loan thru underwriting again with the lower proceed amount and we didnt know for an hour if we were approved or not. We got the computer approval within the hour but another hour or two before we got the final underwriter sign off and we were good to close. God brought us this far, and he did not fail to provide for us once again. All praise and honor go to the Lord for this.

We have been blessed beyond what we could imgaine. For the first two days, it felt like we were imposing on someone elses home or renting, it just did not feel quite real. As we are unpacking our things and settling into home, its feeling like ours. I cannot say enough how much God had done for us, I am amazed at his goodness.

Beyond that we have been blessed by people giving us things ranging from the former owner bringing by their old room air conditioner to the pastor hunting down furniture pieces for us. The Lord has provided our needs tenfold and I know wihtout a doubt he will continue to do so.

I am so enjoying my "quiet room" that I established. I declared the living room a non Tv room( i can use my laptop there of course lol) and have set it up with books and puzzles, games eventually too. We got given a very nice sectional couch for up there, and the fishtank will be in that room as well. The kids have tended to congregate downstairs where the TV is, a few wander up now and then but its nice to have a place to relax. And a place downstairs for us all to sit as a family as well. I love my eat in kitchen, and the ceramic tile and the island. I just loove everything in my new home :)

We havent been without issues though, when we finally got the drain pipe for the washer done, we discovdered the washer didnt work right. Thankfully we still have one month of extended warrenty on that thing, so hopefuly we can get if fixed soon.

I should end now, or ill end up talking endlessly bout all my fabulous closets that I am just giddy about. But I just want to thank God for providing for our family once again!

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Last night

As I sit here on our last night in our old house, I'm in awe of what God has done for us. We have dreamed of moving out of the city back to a small town for years now. We have wanted and needed a bigger house for our large family but it all worked in Gods timing.

I just feel this incredible need to praise God for all of this, everything in this came from his hand. The ability to get a bigger nicer newer house, bigger yard and that small town that we feel in love with, it all came from him. I want to adknowledge that this was for Gods glory, I did none of it.

I cannot wait to get back to having people over, i love having company and it inspires me to clean and declutter more. I can envision having home group in the living room with the kids hanging out in the family room downstairs.

God is eternally good .. all the time, no matter what happens down here, He reigns on high!!!!

One more day

Final walk thru went well, so no issues ... whew ... big sigh of relief ther.e God is good :)

So closings are set for 9 am and noon respectively. Everyeone keep saying bring your checkbook, we really dont use checks anymore. We do have a secondary account wiht one, but we dont use it often.

God is good ... all the time!

Monday, July 24, 2006

Almost there

2 more days and we should be in our new home, God willing. The closing has been pushed off til wednesday thanks to the sellers realtor, but that gives us one more day to get stuff up and out of the way. We actually have times listed now, so we close on the old one 9 am and the new one at 12.

Our new pastor and a church member came with the church trailer today, and helped load it up. The only furniture we have left out is our queen mattress(boxspring is loaded), the crib and one couch piece from our sectional. There still is misc stuff to be stuffed into boxes but the house is mostly empty, thankfully.

Which then just leaves cleaning, my least favorite chore. But a good friend of mine is going to come help clean on thursday and it just lifts my spirits to know im not doing this on my own. Hopefully i can get a few more people to help and we can get it all done in one day, i really want to be in the new house rather than the old :)

The buyer does his final walk thru at 10 tommorrow, prayers that all goes well. Just still a bit nervous with all the roller coaster of house stuff we have been on. I will be soo glad when all the documents are done and signed! God is good ... all the time, i just need to remember to leave it all in his very cabable hands. He has worked every detail up to this point, why should I doubt now?

Praising God from whom all blessings flow including my crazy bunch of wonderful kids! Its certainely been a challenge trying to pack around 8 kids, not without some stress, some yelling and quite a few threats to put kids in boxes ... Okay so i really didnt do that, but i cant say i wasnt tempted. Ezekiel was feeling ill this morning and i almost cheered cause he stayed still in one place and wasnt getting into anything! Thankfully he is feeling better but you know i kinda liked the down time, you know the time i didnt have to make sure he wasnt jumping out a window or unlocking the front door.

Well its late, and i need to hit the bed,w hats left of it anyway.
MJ

Friday, July 21, 2006

We are moving!!!!

Praising God from whom all the blessings flow. The loan for the buyer was approved today at a much lower rate than what he was quoted before. Our fabulous loan officer does it again. If anyone in Minnesota needs a good loan officer, ihave one for you!

So we close on tuesday. The trailer is pretty much loaded, probably could fit more boxes in ,if we had more packed at this moment but we are taking what we have out there to the garage tommorrow. Then we will take the final load out tuesday after we close and then have wed, thurs and friday for cleaning the old house.

Well gotta go, baby girl is calling!
MJ

Thursday, July 20, 2006

No news yet

The day has drug on and on and when i checked wiht the fabulous loan officer at the end of the day, no word yet. They have been really busy at the loan company so its likely they may have not even gotten to it yet, so hopefully that loan on is the agenda for tonite and we can hear tommorrow.

God is still good ... all the time!

MJ

This is why i never pray for patience

Checked in with fabulous loan officer and no word yet. Apparently loan company was super busy yesterday, so he promised I would be one of the first calls when he knows. So we wait.

Its really hard to be in such limbo, should pack but a little unsure with it not being settled. I know God isnt up there worrying as i am down here, so I need to work on upping that faith leval i think.

Keep praying folks!
MJ

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Looks like we are on track

My fabulous loan officer is working his magic, we should hear whether we are a go for a monday closing, tommorrow by noon.

So God is working the details, I am defitnely encouraged~!

God is good ... all the time!

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

More Waiting

Waiting for the phone to ring with news from the realtor or the loan officer. Waiting for hubby to get up so we can discuss options, do we want to call ugly house people and see what they have to offer? Do we just want to wait? Do i keep packing with this all in limbo?

I know God is in the details but man waiting for some answers is really hard. God has brought us this far, he has worked out so many details from bringing us a buyer, to providing us a trailer to borrow, to providing a wonderful church home in our new town. I just need to trust that he can work out this loan situation for the buyer as well, hard as that is.

God is good ... all the time!
MJ

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Saturday fun

Looks to be a scorcher here in minnesota, near 100 degree temps expected. So today will be attempts in keeping cool while trying to get some more packing done.

Still way more to do than it looks like, but i will keep plugging away!

Thats all for now folks!
MJ

Friday, July 14, 2006

We got our final approval!

The status officially changed to somthing like prior to final approval, since we have two documents to turn in, which i already found the one and the other is my husbands id. But thats the last piece for our new loan, woohoo, God is sooo good!

We are now waiting on the appraisal to come back monday and the thought of the day is that we will close on thursday, July 20th! God is good .. all the time

MJ

Whew

Guess i didnt realize quite how much i have been worrying bout finances til we got paid today and I could pay a boatload of bills. I feel much relieved to have that chore out of the way for today, now on to packing.

Its boiling hot here in the midwest, a weekend full of 90 degree temps at least, loads of fun for July. Thanking God Im not pregnant this summer like I was last .. yikes, that would be miserable.

Andrew comes home today, and my spirits are lifted by that fact as well.

Thats all for now folks
MJ
PS no news on the home front, but we are aiming for a thursday closing, please keep praying!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Appraisal finshed

Whew ... it was much more low key than i feared it would be. Guy spent maybe 5 minutes walking thru the inside of the house, then he went outside to take pics and measure stuff.

Report is supposed to be to the mortgage broker by monday, so a little bit longer and we should know if this is a done deal

MJ

Thursday fun

Lets see on the agenda: not throttling children, packing, again not throttling children or selling them on ebay, packing, more packing, putting kids on the side of the road with a free sign LOL.

Okay its not that bad but it does feel that way, when im trying to accomplish getting this whole house packed up and their agenda seems to be creating as many disruptions as possible.

Good news though is Andrew comes home tomorrow night, woohoo, i miss him!

that's all for now folks
MJ

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

One last hurdle to complete

First off i just want to say how awesome God really is. Even if he wasnt working this out, which he is, He is still good ... all the time. Praising God from whom all blessings flow!

The buyers loan got approved today subject to appraisal of hte home. Woohoo, I am jumping for joy. So the next hurdle then is the appraisal coming back okay, once thats done we are home free.

The only bad news of the day is that our closing will likely be delayed from tuesday to thursday or friday of next week. But a few days is doable. PRaise God, he is moving mightly!

Thats all for now folks
Mj

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Further encouraging news

Buyer called my realtor last nite at 930 and indicated he wanted to still buy the house. He got further documentation in for his loan today and we should hear tommorrow whether or not that goes thru, then the appraisal on thursday. Apparently the dude did not realize he could refinance some time down the road. Once he understood that, he was more okay with having a higher interest rate now til he builds up his credit some, i guess.

So God is indeed working out the details, good thing I left him in charge :) I am constantly amazed at how these things work out, I do know this, God is good ... all the time.

Well guess this is my cue to get packing again, thats all for now folks!
MJ

Monday, July 10, 2006

Some progress, Go God!

The buyer took the afternoon off to find all the documents he couldnt produce either. So that allows him the opportunity to keep trying for the first two loans. Still not a done deal, if he doesnt qualify for the first two, and is only down to hte last one at high interest, we dont know what he will do.

but God is working and we are definitely moving in the right direction. Praising God from whom all blessings flow.

God is good ... all the time!

MJ

Its the waiting that gets to me

We got word today that the buyer is likely backing out on the deal. He didnt get the loan he wanted and the one he does qualify for is high interest. He supposedly is going to let us know for sure by end of the day today.

We are a week from closing, the majority of the house is packed up, closings are scheduled, everything is in order and now this? I am trying not to panic and be fearful, after all God is bigger than this tiny blip on the radar screen but its easy to get discouraged. Its likely though if the buyer backs out , we will lose the other house, i believe, but dont knwo for sure, they have a nother buyer lined up behind us. We just showed the kids the house yesterday and now they are all excited as well. Gives new meaning to trusting God though.

Especially just sitting here waiting for that phone call with news one way or the other. I do know this, no matter what, God still reigns on high, even if things are fallign apart done here, I know God is good ... all the time.

MJ

Friday, July 07, 2006

Little by little

Making progress, we made our way thru the boxes of misc papers tonite. Managed to recycle one whole box's worth , shredded another box's worth, and packed up 3 more boxes(1 papers, 1 memory box and 1 box of photos).

Glad to have that task out of the way, still have some paperwork to get packed up but that was the bulk of it. Now on to the clutter piles. Our garbage pick up day is tuesday and its already overflowing ... yikes. Guess thats the nature of moving though.

Its late and I should get to bed, but we are finishing up watching a season 1 lost DVD.

thats all for now folks!
MJ

Slow progress day

Only got 3 boxes packed today, although one was a extra large tall box. Hoping to make some good progess tommorow since a home group from our church is taking the kids for about 4 hrs.

Im getting to the point where I dont quite know where to pack. I have already packed the clothes, whats left we need to wear. I packed a good bit of the kitchen, left out what we need for cooking. Closets are emptied mostly, books and movies and games packed. I did the back porch today. Guess I will just need to start tackling random things and labeling the boxes well.

Still need to go thru papers , yuck, one of my least favorite jobs. Contractor made it over today and did some painting, but needs to do some more painting tommorrow and supposedly the carpet will get put in next week. Once thats finished, we can collect our boxes in that room and really determine how much crap we have accumulated and what size truck we will need.

Well best get to that paper pile, i have 3 boxes full, at least this time around we own a shredder!

MJ

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Im rather disapointed

With my extended family that is. I realize we all lead busy lives and its usually not convienent to help out. Even still, I like to think that family, would be able to make some time.

I have left 5 or 6 messages for my parents over the last month, they havent called back once. I plan to ask my dad to help us move, even though it means he'd have to take a vacation day. But if past history means anything, im sure he will have to " make hay" or attend my sisters 7 millionth volleyball game or take care of the cows. I usually keep my expectations low in this kind of circumstance but for some reason I thought maybe this time would be different.

Maybe I thought since andrew isnt 100 percent with his broken leg, people would be more willing to help.

Even Andrews brother, who currently isnt even working(just working on their own house they bought) doesnt seem willing to help or bring down his trailer. They now live 6 hrs from us rather than across the country in florida but that doesnt seem to make a difference.

Maybe ill be surprised maybe people will come out of the woodwork to help, but the way it looks we are on our own. Ill make it work either way, Im stubborn that way, cause well there isnt any choice and I want that new house. But along the way Im saddened that people are missing out on our lives .

Thats all for now folks!

Grand total of the day

Is .....


17 boxes! I know it doesnt seem like a lot, but it was definitely a full days effort. The nice part is im still caught up on laundry(most of its packed lol) and will only have a load to do in the morning, once everyone ditches their clothes from today.

I am utterly exhausted. Thankfully two kids went over to sleep at a friends house, they each have friends their own age in that family and im good friends with th emom as well. That takes care of the sleepover for those kids, whew!

I know i wont pack any more boxes tonite, if i can muster up the energy, im going to start going thru papers but thats about it. Andrew is teaching tonite, his last class of the summer and then hes off from that job til october. It will be nice having him home on monday nights again but we will definitely miss that paycheck :)

When we move, we will be 30 minutes from teh college he teaches at and Im strongly considering going there either possibly this fall yet or next fall. Andrew is still considering going back for his masters, he cant teach any other classes at the college until he has it, and of course he loves learning. Hes a natural at it and gets good grades pretty easily, me on the other hand has to work a little harder for some decent grades.

Well thats it for this post, i have another theme post brewing in my head for later!

12 boxes done, 100 billion to go!

Made some good progress on packing today, got a bunch of clothes packed away, some stuff from the closet, and misc items.

We did get to do the water fight but with andrews broken leg he basically manned the front porch, so it wasnt as fun as I became the ultimate target of the children. Zemirah was in her exersaucer, she didnt quite know what to think, Ezekiel took great pleasure in taking a water balloon and stomping it, Josiah had quite an arm with the water balloons(ouch) and Katarina had it in for me! All in all a good day, we ended with going to a friends 4th of july party and watching the fireworks and coming home, realtively early.

Well back to the packing fun, its on to the kitchen next!
thats all for now folks!

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Waiting for the water

Every 4th of July, we hold a family water fight complete with water guns, the hose and sometimes water balloons. Even mom and dad participate. The kids love it and its a fun tradition. I look forward to it as well.

Unfortunely we have been sidelined by a migraine. I think Andrew got a bit too much sun without his sunglasses and is trying to sleep off a migraine. Im still hoping he can shake it off enough to come down and join in hte fun . Its not the same doing it without him.

Then we are off to a 4th of july party that a couple in our church hold every year. Should be fun as well.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Monday, July 03, 2006

15 days to go!

15 days people! Thats just a tad over 2 weeks. I wasnt freaking out at 18 days, i mean that seemed almost like a whole nother week, ya know, how close of course 18 is to the number 21. But man 2 weeks is scaring me.

Add the fact that Andrew travels to chicago for teaching next week and we have a recipe for disaster. The timing for the trip could have been better, but it was planned a good 6 months ago and isnt somthing he can get out of. So we just have to work with it.

Good news is that he got an air cast today and got to get rid of the heavy walking boot! Woohoo, it was such a drastic change that he almost felt dizzy.

In other fun news, i got 5 boxes this morning while single handly wrangling 8 children to do as they need to. Course the work they are assigned to isnt done but my lasso arm is tired, so we are doing a movie break(read sanity saver for the mother) this afternoon.

Okay back to the boxes, they are calling me and despite my intention to resist them for a good 30 min, i cant :)

Thats all for now folks!