Happy Late 4th!

Hope everyone's 4th of July was wonderful! We spent our's at Lake Blackshear with the family. We didn't get to watch much of the fireworks this year...both of our dogs were in RARE form - Mosbey was BARKING at the fireworks - so we left Eddie's family out on the dock, took the two babies inside, and watched the fireworks on NBC. We were exhausted anyway!

I may have GOOD NEWS on the house-hunting ventures very soon. I don't want to jinx our chances like I did last time so I'll wait and post pictures and all until we know for sure. But I'm hoping that this one is for sure! If it is "the one" we'll have to wait 30 days to close on it because it currently has renters in it. I guess that will give us time to get married, honeymoon, and pack before having to move. A blessing in disguise!

11 days left until D-Day. I go from being VERY nervous to not being nervous at all. I'm sure the day of will prove to be a roller-coaster.

I've been busy today packing up the house to move. I'm not even half-way packed and I'm already worn out from it! Then we have EDDIE's house to pack, too! Good thing we have some time between now and when our house will close!

I'll update more when there's something more exciting going on. Everything is pretty much the same here these days! Can't wait to see everyone at the wedding!!!

Picture at right is from the Recipe and Spice Shower in Alpharetta. I'm with Lindsey and Grandmommie!

Oh my...

Well we're down to 19 days and I'm a little bit panicky. I still have a TON of things to do on my list and I'm not sure when I'll ever get it all done. Eddie and I spent the weekend with Dad and Laura because I had a Recipe and Spice Shower in Atlanta given by Grandmommie. I had a really good time and I came home with LOTS of fun recipes! One of my favorite things was a framed recipe called "Recipe for a Happy Marriage." I'm planning on using that one again if I get invited to any kitchen showers for girlfriends in the future. It's the sweetest thing and I can't wait to put it in my kitchen.

On that note...houses. Eddie and I have battled back and forth for a foreclosurer in Warner Robins to no avail. It's been several weeks and they've been very slow. We started our offers low because that was what all of our "mentors" were telling us - my dad, Eddie's dad, and a realtor friend. We've responded to all of their offers, upping our offer by a few thousand dollars each time. We're still several thousand dollars apart from what the bank wants and they sent us a message last week via Realtors saying that we'd need to get closer to what their offer was in order to continue...which is a little strange to me since they've been talking to us for weeks already. Anyway, I feel like you should get an offer and turn around and make a counter-offer but the bank is moving VERY slowly on all of their counters. SO...after all of these weeks (basically the whole month of June) we've still only made about 4 offers or so on the house.

So on Friday I met Eddie in Perry at his office and we looked at 2 more houses. One house is in the same neighborhood as the dream house (and as we rode by we saw someone getting it move-in ready *tear*) and is owned by a couple in their 70-s who wants (I'm an English teacher but that doesn't look CLOSE to grammatically correct...my apologies if it's not...I'm a little brain-fried lately!) to move to Florida where they'll be closer to one of their children. The house is cute and we could be interested in it. They want to leave a lot of their furniture which is a little weird to me, but whatever...yard sale, I guess! The second house is one we've looked at at least one other time. It's a nice brick house with a strange floor plan. The kitchen is GREAT...it's huge and open which I LOVE. It needs a little work (mostly some wallpaper removal) but the kitchen is probably my favorite part and I like that a lot. The weird part is that it's not a split floorplan - meaning the master bedroom is on the same side of the house as the rest of the bedrooms. This isn't bad for us now at all since we don't have kids...but I think once we do have kids we'd want the split floorplan...especially when they're older. Off of the kitchen is a nice sized bonus room with a half-bath in it. I'd never seen anything like that before. It's almost like it should be a mother-in-law suite but it doesn't have the full bath for that. So...that's one of the things I don't like. The other thing is that when you walk into the house from the garage you have to walk through the laundry room...I guess I'll leave the garage down most of the time and make guests come in the other way! I think I like the second house more...but I'm not sure why. I think we're going to be making an offer on it, though. So that's the house update! Hopefully we'll have something in the works BEFORE the wedding! It'd be nice to come back from our honeymoon with something in the works and getting ready to be moved into!

I'll be in Tifton this week until Wednesday night or Thursday afternoon...not sure which one yet. We'll be at the lake this weekend with some of Eddie's family. I may go up on Wednesday night to look at wedding rings that were ordered for me. Hopefully I'll like one of them...I can't get the one that I REALLY wanted (an eternity band) because our jeweler can't find one that is curved - my band has to be curved in order to sit up against my engagement ring. I'm not sure why this is...possibly because it's a princess cut instead of round. The curved wasn't my first choice but it DEFINITELY looks better on.

That's about it for the update. I know I've promised pictures from my girls' weekend at the beach but I haven't gotten them from Anna yet - she was sick this weekend and didn't make it to Atlanta. I'll update on the pictures soon, though!

Love!

It'll be ok

So I'm okay about the house. That isn't to say that I don't want it, or I wouldn't JUMP at the chance to live there...but I'm okay. I've done a lot of praying since finding out we weren't getting it. I've wrestled with being angry with God about it. This isn't the first house we've lost from someone else making an offer after we'd made one...it's the second (and a half if you count the house that we'd decided to make an offer on but hadn't and then suddenly it was under contract, too). I know that life works this way and that other people have to have a place to live as well. I feel like God is telling me that I'm not being patient and letting Him do it in His timing. And I'm not. I just wish that His timing would happen soon! :)

There is another house that we liked the same day we found "the" house. I liked it just fine before I saw that one. So I was a big girl and called Eddie yesterday morning and said I'd like to look at it again. If I can go in and do a few things to it I can make it work for us. It won't be the same, though.

Whatever we do, I really and truly do want it to be with God's timing. This is something that I've always struggle with but when I look back I know that it always does work out. Things happen when you're not trying to force them to...that's how I met Eddie!

On a different note, Stacey and I went to dinner last night at the Thai restaurant and we had a great time. I always enjoy getting together with her, even though it's not very often these days. She's been working out (it looks like she's been working her fanny off...she looks GREAT!) and I have "hired" her to be my personal trainer for the last month before our wedding. I need help with arms, abs, and more cardio so I think we're going to do that! Yea for exercise...!!!

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Ouch...

Someone else made an offer on the house. It's more than what they're asking for it. I've cried and cried tonight. My face is red and puffy and my nose is runny and I can't cry anymore. And then more tears come.

I feel guilty crying with so many other things going on in friends' lives that are so much worse. I'm healthy, I'm getting married to the man I love more than anything, I have a new job, we have money to actually AFFORD a house, I have food in my refrigerator, clothes in my closet...and yet, I'm sad. I'm frustrated. I don't understand why.

This is the third house that has been bought that we were seriously looking at and considering buying. Hard to believe when the housing market supposedly stinks. Everyone keeps telling me to be patient. I'm not sure how many more houses I have to look at and keep "being patient." We've looked at 40 something so far.

I am so sick of this. I think I'm going to live in my classroom.

Engagement Pictures

We went to Gin Creek last night with Carrie Viohl to have engagement pictures taken. I'm SO excited to see them! I can't wait. I think we're going to go on Monday to look at them. By that time they'll be on the web so everyone can see them. Mom was with us and she said she thinks they're going to be good, too. I hope so! Cross your fingers.

What? More pictures of the house? Ok...I guess I'll put one more up. We're going to counter their counter later this week. Oh I hope we get it!!!