My Thursday Thoughts

So, I got up this morning thinking ... "I don't think I will go to the fitness center this morning. I have already missed three days being home with Bethany. I am not going to be able to go on Friday because I have to be at the school most of the day. So, why go?" Then I put my newly washed jeans on and realize why I need to go to the fitness center. Granted, my jeans are NOT going to fit any different today because I went to the fitness center, but my attitude will be different. I will feel better for having gone. And I DID burn some calories.

Now, I am off to baking a pecan pie, from scratch, and pumpkin muffins, from scratch. I also have to make labels listing the ingredients for them and package them for the School's bake sale on Saturday.

There are more house updates but I am not in the mood to go into all those. I will say we put an offer on The Little House on Tuesday. They countered on Wednesday. We countered on Thursday. I have yet to hear the results. **Prayers to God and fingers crossed**.

Busy Weekend Ahead

We have lots of activities going on this weekend starting Friday. I hope to get lots of pictures posted next week. Friday the girls will be participating in the All Saints Day parade at school. All the kids have to dress up as a Saint. Bethany chose St. Rose of Lima and Sarah chose St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. I have been frantically trying to get their costumes together. I finally finished with everything last night ... Whoo hoo!!!! Luckily, I didn't have to buy too much. We already had some things at the house in NC that will work just fine.

Saturday, the girls have a Halloween Recital where they will be wearing their costumes and playing some scary tunes. Plus, we get to see the Children's Museum which should be very exciting. And of course, trick or treating that night.

Sunday, we are going to look at two possible houses. Please pray for us.

Crazy Hat Day

Last Friday was Crazy Hat Day at school. I guess it was a fundraiser for something ... I have no idea. All I know is that the girls had to pay $1 to wear a crazy hat for the day. They were judged by the Student Council and prizes were awarded. Unfortunately, neither of my girls won but here are their hats.

BETHANY



SARAH



SARAH & BETHANY

House Hunting Update

Well, the Little House fell through for now. A long story short: there was a contract on the house some time back. The Buyers applied for an FHA loan through an internet source. The FHA appraisal came back really low; therefore, the Buyers were not able to get the loan. That is on file now. So anyone who is wanting to finance with an FHA will have difficulty doing so. Anyway, from what we gather the Home Owner is the Realtor. She is not willing to budge much from the asking price.

So, we moved on. I spent Tuesday looking at 10 houses. What was I thinking? That was a lot for one day but well worth it. I have come up with another little house. I think I will name it The Little Blue House. Oh my ... is it blue. Can vinyl be painted? If not, we are going to have to do some major updating on the outside. It is blue vinyl siding with burgundy shutters. Definitely, the shutters have to go. This house is a little bigger than the other but the lot size is smaller. It has a fenced in backyard and a fireplace.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/217-Highland-Drive_Greer_SC_29651_1112317883#Detail

Myron and the girls are going to look at it on Sunday. Hopefully, things will work out better with this one.

None of the houses really "shined" for me. I still go back to the original Little House. That one I could really see myself in. But life goes on and so must I. Hopefully, the Blue House will grow on me.

Up State Update

We have been here in South Carolina for 4 months. Our house in North Carolina finally started having some activity last week but came to a screeching halt. Our Real Estate agents hosted an Open House on October 11th where we had one couple come through. Then the following Friday, a showing was scheduled but eventually cancelled because they ran out of time. Then on Sunday, there was a showing. The feedback was that "the house was not their style". Well .... I can understand that. There have been plenty of houses here in the Up State that have "not been our style".

We are moving on. We have two more months on our lease here in the apartment. We have to turn in a written 60 days notice of when we are moving out. If we stay, our rent will jump up $200 ... FORGET that!!! So we have decided to find a smaller, less expensive house to purchase. That way when our house in NC does sell, we can use it as a rental if we want.

I think I have found the smaller, less expensive house. I am taking Myron and the girls to see it today. It sits on 1.1 acres and is close enough to everything. I will still only be 10 minutes from the school which I am all about. Plus, it puts Myron 4 minutes closer to work. This is all according to Mapquest. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Supposedly, new carpet was put in yesterday. We will know in a few hours. The tile in the kitchen and bathrooms will be replaced. For some reason, they used a light colored tile and a very dark brown grout .... UGLY!!! And of course, PAINT!!! There has got to be color on the walls. Oh and did I mention there is a little front porch? Just big enough for a little swing. I think I will start calling it the Little House.

It's funny .... after we moved to NC and bought a 2000 square foot house then finished the basement to add another 500 square feet, we talked about how nice it was to have such a small house in FL and how we missed it. Well ... welcome back!!! Our house in FL had 1450 square feet ... The Little House has less than 1400 square feet. Here is the listing. Hopefully it will work.
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/207-James-Rd_Greer_SC_29650_1113340430?mp=1

Sarah is doing very well socially in her class. The teacher informed me the other day that she has made lots of friends. Academically, she is suffering a little but only Reading and Math. Her report card sported 5 As, 1 B and 1 C (Math). So she has been banned from TV and computer after school. She now has to do extra Math work to help reinforce whatever they are doing. Right now, she is working on counting money. It's weird ... one day she gets and another day she doesn't. I have found a few websites that have interactive games for her to play. But that is the only way she can get on the computer.

Bethany got all As. She was close to having 1 B but was able to pull it up at the last minute.

Our school has a website where we can go on and see their grades on a daily basis. Plus it automatically averages them so we can always see where they are academically.

Bethany is suffering socially. She just has not connected with anyone in her class YET!!! I am going to have to make that a priority here pretty soon. She still talks a lot about Asheville and all her friends there ... well Mason anyway.

Next week is All Saints WEEK!!! Oh My!!! And on Friday, every student has to dress up as a Saint. I hate I have put off dealing with this. Now I am under pressure to get TWO costumes ready before Thursday night. And this week is a FULL week. We have something every afternoon except Friday. Plus, the girls have a violin recital on Saturday where they will be dressed in their Halloween costumes at the Children's Museum in downtown Greenville.

Well, I have got to get breakfast ready. Everyone is finally up for the day. We have a busy weekend ahead of us. We still have to get to Asheville to wash laundry and cut the grass. UGH!!! Please Sell That House!!!

House Selling/Hunting Update

We have still had no lookers at our house in NC. Although, the realtor did tell me last week that someone called about it but didn't look at it because it is in Madison County and her kids are already attending school in Buncombe County. ... bummer! At least people are looking at the listing.

I have to say though, that houses are looking up here in the Upper State. I have found a few that would most definitely work for us. Although, the perfect house was not located on the perfect lot, the perfect lot house could work in so many ways. A three bedroom, two bath house with a bonus room on almost 5 acres would definitely fit for this family of 4. So we will watch this one and wait it out. Hopefully it will still be available WHEN our house sells. If not, God will open a window for us to crawl through with another house just as nice to move into.

I sit here and try to figure out what it is God wants me to do to make all this right for our whole family ... or what do I have to do for God to make all this right for our family. What is it that God wants of me? I think sometimes it is my feelings towards this move that is keeping us in this rut ... that maybe I have to find happiness where I am right now. Sometimes, I think I have done that. I do love being so close to everything : school, church, shopping, library, etc. But then, I get down because of something that happens or doesn't happen.

The girls are doing so well. I can't tell you how they have just taken to this move. Although, they do make comments sometimes about why did we have to move even though we have explained it NUMEROUS times.

I pray God's will be done in our lives. I have to remember it is HIS time not mine that matters here. Maybe it isn't time for the the right buyer to come along (I guess that would be the obvious).

I guess it is time for me to head to the fitness center. If I sit here long enough, I won't have time to go which subconsciously I think I am trying to do. That is another topic that has me down right now too. But I must not give up. I must keep pressing on and trying harder to make the pounds melt off instead of stick.

First Communion Portraits

I finally had Bethany's picture taken in her Communion dress. Here are some of the results.