New House...New Fun Challenges

We have been in the new house now for about two months.  It has been such a blessing having our own place but also a challenge because it seems like every time we turn a corner, there is ONE MORE THING that needs to be fixed.  Matt is right now fixing our shower drain what was clogged with Chubacka (Sp?) and leaking into the crawl space.  We found this out when we had a team of men in the crawl space on Monday replacing our insulation as the stuff that was there was not doing it's job--it was as if there was no insulation. 

the bags and bags of gross, old insulation

I have been painting and fixing up the place to make it feel like "home"!  I love doing that stuff but we just now go summer here in Seattle, so it has been a long time coming.  I have furniture that I have been repainting and making ours! 

Kitchen BEFORE...

Starting the paint job...

a bit of decor...

and more...

almost done.  Not sure what to make the curtains for the shelving unit out of.  Red gingham, solid green or should I match the window drapes?

I have also been looking for work as I lost my job and decided to try to sell the precious jewelry that I have been creating for years.  Check it out on laluzcrafts.blogspot.com or at etsy.com/shop/laluzcrafts. 

Matt is working hard and staying pretty busy.  Thank you Jesus for provision!  And, he just got signed on to coach youth football in Woodinville, so he is stoked and we are looking forward to fall Saturdays filled with concession stands, football helmets bobbing on children's' heads and whistles!

Speedbumps...

As posted before, we were supposed to close on our house last week, but that didn't happen as planned because of the Appraiser (aka Real Estate deity).  Had we closed on time, nothing that has happened in the past week would have been an obstacle, but God continues to teach us about His faithfulness and we are continually amazed. 

I was told last Friday that my contract at work would not be renewed for the coming school year.  (Another story for another day.)  It boils down to the fact that I was supposed to have left earlier in the year, but I was too scared and insecure to obey that leading.  Since I did not obey, I get to leave under less than desirable circumstances now.  Regardless, I am relieved that I get to move on and at peace with the goings on. 

Without my income on our loan application, it seemed that our loan would no longer be approved.  We debated back and forth about how best to proceed and we decided to submit paperwork with just Matt's info on the loan application.  With my college loans, it looked a little like our debt to income ratio would be a bit too high and therefore we would not be approved. 

On Thursday, we learned that we were approved with just Matt's income! So, we will be moving into our new home in the next week or so, it looks like! 

There have been so many ways God has shown us his faithfulness and provision.  We are so thankful.

Please be praying that I find a job that is meaningful and fulfilling and adds joy and pleasure to our lives rather than stress and frustration!  Thanks friends and loved ones!

Furniture, Appraisals and Toilets...Oh My!

We are still in the process of buying our first home!  It has been pretty smooth, but it recently hit a road block.  The appraiser found a few minor issues that we were already aware of and were planning on fixing as soon as we moved in (i.e. replace current toilet, add support and drainage for hot water heater and add proper drainage around the foundation).  However, in the home buying world...what the appraiser wants, the appraiser gets.  Meaning, if they find issues with the home, the owner MUST fix them prior to the loan closing.  Therefore, we cannot get our loan closed until these things get fixed!  Who knows how long that will take?!?!?  We are praying that we can still close on time and move Memorial Day Weekend!  Please join us in that prayer!

In the meantime, I have been doing a lot of shopping for our new little home!  The kitchen is very small.  For a chef like myself, that could be problematic, as I have lots of gadgets and gizmos that make cooking yummier and easier to do.  So, I have been looking for extra storage for the kitchen (i.e. butches, buffets, and the like). 

A couple weekends ago, I took Matt to work in Everett thinking I would just run to a couple furniture stores and then pick him back up in a couple hours...well...not too long into his shift, he called to say he was going to be about 6 hours...so I looked around with a little more attention than I thought I would have initially.  I was originally planning on looking to price things out and quickly found that some of the things I need are pretty expensive to buy new!  Then, I stumbled upon a little flea market/ furniture store there and found some great pieces.  An old, short, 3-drawer dresser and a bookshelf with some really cool angles and woodworking.  My plan is to stack the shelf on top of the dresser and store kitchen gadgets, cookbooks, towels and other items in it.  I ended up placing them on hold, however, because the clerk told me that there is another store up north on Camano Island!  Since I had extra time that day, I decided to make the trip up there!  It was a wonderful store, and I found some other odds and ends that seemed useful, but nothing more appealing than that combination from the first store.  Thus, I returned to Everett to purchased the dresser/ shelf and plan to repaint and distress it to look uber cute in our new dining area.  (Although, I did go back up to Camano Island to purchase a little table later!) 

The past couple weeks, I have been searching stores, online and especially Craigslist for a buffet to go in the kitchen as well.  I finally found one last Thursday and Matt and I made the trek to Olympia to get it!  It is so wonderful.  It has several spacious drawers, but I am only going to keep the top two and will cut out the rest of the wood to create a "garage" environment for storage down below.  I plan on making curtains to enclose that space that match the curtains I am making for the kitchen window!  And, the best part is that this buffet came with a hutch, but since I don't need it in the kitchen, I will put it in my craft room and it will provide an excellent place for all things crafty!

All four pieces were still cheaper than a brand new one!  I love saving money!

I will post pictures as soon as I am done!

The fall and winter...a brief overview!

We started leading Young Life at Woodinville High School and one of our clubs was 80s themed!  It has been a rebuilding year so we don't have a ton of kids coming, but we are working diligently at building relationships with kids and growing the kingdom! 

We are fired up! Seahawks game that Christina's mom took us to in October!  So fun!

Just so I can move on, we also attended a Husky game (yuck!) and it was literally the most miserable day ever...aside from the Stanford Cardinals kicking their butts!  A very typical dreary, rainy Seattle winter day.

Our first Christmas Tree!!!

We attended the Scheuerman Christmas Party and as such participated in a gingerbread house decorating contest...mine was a Seahawks Fan House!

We found Matt a nice little fishing hole.  He is so in his element when he gets to say "bobber down!"

And, I not only sewed this table runner, but I also got an espresso machine that makes YUMMY drinks that I get to enjoy in my big FiestaWare mugs!  Heaven!

This is the birthday cake Matt made me.  Isn't he thoughtful?

Now it's officially SPRING and I am in heaven!  Hooray for sunshine!

I think we found our house people...

Here's to hoping everthing goes through! 

We have a pretty small budget and we want to stay in the general area that we are living in currently.  So, our options were very small homes (like this one) or very run-down, dated or crack houses (literally!).  This is a three bedroom, one bathroom home in a nice neighborhood in a great school district!  And almost everything inside has been updated--new carper, flooring, and kitchen cabinetry.  It has a long one-car garage and we'll probably put in a shed in the back.  It's been on the market quite a while because it was a short sale that fell through, so we will be the first offer on it since it has been relisted.  Please pray that our financing and all the minor details go smoothly!

front

layout inside (i drew this)

the BIG backyard...

finally a place to hang those hammocks!

We can't wait to have you over for a BBQ, game night or a weekend stay! :)

Dave Niehaus and the M's Home Opener

For those of you who are not from around here, we love the Mariner's.  They tend to be, well let's be honest, horrible.  BUT, true fans stay loyal and true to their team through the thick and the thin.

Since I, Christina, was 15, I have been a FAN!  It was mid-July in the Kingdome and the Ms were challenging the Chicago White Sox.  Frank Thomas was a mammoth of a man and unfriendly.  However, our Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner, Edgar and Tino Martinez...the good ol' boys were poised to give us a great game--America's game! The Kingdome was a monstrous globe protruding from the earth in the Sodo District of Seattle.  Everything about it was amazing, but by the mid-1990s, it was beginning to fall apart.  The Mariners were pretty good in those days.  I have vivid memories of the 1995 Mariner's going to the play-offs--I had a lot of substitute teachers as all my Y-Chromosomed educators seemed to think it appropriate and fun drove back and forth across the state during the weeks the Mariners were in contention.  We lived 300 miles from Seattle, by the way! But we all felt the energy and excitement bursting through every vein in our bodies.  That was my senior year of high school. 

Then off to college I went, although, as most college students quickly find out...a full-time student's life shrinks from footloose and fancy free to a miniature bubble filled with reading and writing and lectures (or at least mine did).  Therefore, nothing that went on between 1996 and 2000 registers clearly in my brain aside from school and summer baseball!  School was out, games were cheap and the crowds were contagious.  I fell more in love with the game and my M's during those years because it was really the only thing I could latch on to...that I had energy enough and time enough to pay attention to.  And we got a new stadium!

In 2001, we had a 116 game winning season (for those of you who don't know in baseball...that's real good--a Major League record for most wins in a season!).  What a thrill it was to watch and see them consistent and unified.  Since then, we've had our ups and downs, but I'm still a fan.

Many a summers' evenings, I spent watching or listening to the Mariners and the voice of the Mariners was Dave Niehaus.  Last winter, he passed away while preparing a BBQ for his big family and the entire Seattle area wept over the loss.  I never realized how special a voice can be until this tragic moment.  I wept.  When people think of the Mariners, they think Dave Niehaus.  He had a was of bringing baseball to life through the airwaves.  Matt and I went to the Mariners Home Opener the other night.  The game was pitiful to say the least, but it was still an amazing night.  Seattle honored Dave well and it was a bit surreal to hear commentators; voices but not hear his.  He will be missed, truly. 

Here's to hoping the Mariners can pull it together and at least be a 500 team!

Big decisions...

We are currently doing well with our finances...not over abundant, but saving and giving and doing our best to honor God! However, with the recent rise in gas prices and the forthcoming rise in our rent, we are considering two big changes.

New car?

Matt's truck is a guzzler!  We are spending far more than we would like going through his two tanks of gas every three or four commutes!  Yikes.  We have been looking for a small SUV for months but have not been able to negotiate a price in our range!  Ideally, I would LOVE to get a Honda CRV, as it is fuel efficient and family oriented!

But, since we are having to move and gas prices are not-so-slowly and steadily rising...we will be settling for one of these instead...for Matt to drive to work! :(

Which takes us to BIG DECISION #2!

New housing?

We really like our apartment and especially the location.  We are an ideal distance from most things that we frequent and about half-way between Matt's various locations for work.  However, our lease ends in a few months and we recently learned that our rent will go up about $150 a month. So, we are considering purchasing a home!  That sounds crazy to me because I always thought that was a long ways off, but it might be the right thing to do.  Otherwise, we need to find a new apartment soon.

I would really love this!

Not this!

We are praying for wisdom and peace and major doors to open if that is God's will!  Your prayers and advice are welcomed!