When Life Throws You Lemons...

Make Lemonade!

Ok, have you ever thought that you wanted something sooo badly but after many failed attempts realize that it just isn't in God's plan for you? Well, that has been Mitchell and I over the last couple of days. After 10 long and miserable months of house hunting set backs we have finally decided that God has something completely different up His sleeve for us.

A couple of weeks ago we decided that maybe His plan was for us to not buy a house but rather for us to rent a house for a while. Well, we were wrong! After having a heart to heart with each other and our Mommies we realized that everything we need and want is right where we are...at home.

After thinking we had finally found a place to rent we started scrambling to come up with all the moving expenses. By the time it was all calculated we were well past the $3,000 mark. After attempting to block out the words of my responsible, always right husband I finally had an epiphany. Yep, it didn't come easily or even at a reasonable hour for that matter but it did indeed come. After Mitchell went to sleep Tuesday night I found myself with a million thoughts running through my head. You know the ones I'm talking about; all those what if's and maybe if's. Yep those are the ones. I laid in bed, no kidding until 2:00 in the morning, thinking of all the advice we had received over the previous 24 hours. It was then (2:00 a.m.) that I realized what I had been searching for was right in front of me all along.

Let me explain:

Waaay back last August when we began this whole fiasco of "house hunting" my wish list was simple yet specific. I wanted a country or "farm" type of house. A huge yard was a must and I preferred it to need some work so that we could put our own touch into it. I wanted 2 living areas as well as lots of character. I told myself there was no way I was going to buy a "cookie cutter" home. After looking at over 30 houses I never once found the perfect house for us. Sure the house we live in now is far from perfect but it fits my wish list perfectly. So I guess you can say that we have finally found a house.

Now remember, my wish list called for a house in need of some work. Well, by golly this house is in some NEED! We have been so eager to move for so long that all our projects have turned into never finished projects. I decided it was time to dive right in and get to work. The only problem was it was still 2:00 in the morning and Home Depot was most definitely closed. :(

Mitchell had to work Wednesday and then went to play golf with his co managers ALL day long. Not that I mind the peace and quiet but with no kids, peace and quiet, and a MILLION home improvement ideas running through my mind being alone was probably not the best idea. But, there I was pondering away until the temptation was too great. I'm not sure what happened next but I was in my car on the way to Home Depot in no time flat. I probably spent over an hour picking out paint colors and other goodies. I came home and got right to work. I had the entire living room painted before Mitchell even got home. Boy was he in shock! I think he thought I had lost it and in some ways I had. But hey, he was one of those trying to convince me not to move so I hold him partially responsible.

Today I got up at 6:00. No kiddos to wake me up and I was still up at the crack of dawn. I tried to go back to sleep but I was too eager to do some more renovating. I went outside and removed all 500 (exaggeration) of my packed boxes from the shed and poker room and then I proceeded to organize everything that was left to still be stored. I then cleaned off the entire back porch so that we can begin to work on finishing closing it off. After that I painted the entire playroom. Unfortunately I realized that I was going to have to put an agonizing second coat on so I decided it was lunch time. I went to wake up the still snoozing hubby and we were off to Home Depot. This trip took us 2 whole hours. Mitchell caught my renovation fever so that just added to the hunt. We got more paint (for the kitchen and the girls room), a new porch light, and some lumber and tiles for Mitchell to make us some new end tables that I am overly excited about. We also picked out our new backsplash but it has to be ordered so it won't be in for a couple of days.

Of course all these improvements come with a pretty little cost so our next stop was to Nana's house. I am so grateful that I have the most wonderful Mommy in the world! She gave us $600 to help with all the expenses. Thanks to her not only can we finish all our current projects but now we can work on painting the outside of the house, rebuilding the front porch, and landscaping both the front and back yards. My Mom is AWESOME!!!!

Well, that's about all. Sorry I had such a mouthful this time around but we were kind of thrown for a loop this week so I needed to blog away. No pictures this time! I'm way too busy lol!