Sigh.

Weeeellllll...it does not look good.

They countered at a price we just can't afford.  We are going to go back with a last offer that puts a bit out on a limb but we know we can do it.  We will just be tight for a little while. 

I am actually surprised I am not lying in a heap all depressed.  I think I really am truly trusting God with this one.  His "no" in this seems so reassuring.  Like, He is whispering, "Wait, beloved.  I have something for you but wait on me."

It may mean this house or another one.  Who knows?  He does.

I promise to keep you posted and please do not stop praying.  You are wonderful friends.

I am off to comfort and care for my husband who has caught this nasty little bug and it has hit him the hardest.  He is so weak and he can't stop throwing up.  Pray for him too!  Just pray us up all over the place!

Oh, here is a pic of the house you were praying for...isn't it cute? Oh well. 

Hugs to you all for being so thoughtful and sweet!

I Did NOT mean to be Literal!

About the throwing up thing. I was just kidding.

But perhaps the Spirit of God was moving within me to declare a warning.  A warning that I would find myself at 1 am in the bathroom with a trash can in my lap, and...ahem...performing other most uncomfortable evacuations.

Ugh!

I even sustained a hurling back injury! Is there such a thing?  My amazing husband took the day off to take care of me and good thing because Cati started throwing up by mid-morning.  I have read so many of your blogs and it seems there are MANY of you dealing with this as it cycles through your family.  

But the best part about it is I was so uncomfortable that I was unable to obsess about whether or not our offer was going to be accepted.  We were too busy cleaning couch cushions and clothes because of poor Cati. And it is now 4:15 pm and we still have not heard anything.  So as I type these words I don't have a clue what the answer is.

So I am going to push this handy dandy save button and wait until I hear the final answer...You are getting up to the minute info, friends...how fun!

UPDATE: 8:52 pm.  We have heard nothing! This is torture!  Apparently, we won't find out until tomorrow.  We pray this is in our favor that they have needed time to mull it over.  DO NOT STOP PRAYING!

I will post tomorrow and let you know.  If I make it through the night.

Will it be Yes or No?

All righty.

The ball has been set in motion. (Is there any oxygen in this room?)

Signed a contract offer tonight, wrote a scary check, and by 5 pm tomorrow we will know if our offer is accepted.

I am off to throw up.

The Last 27 Hours

Insomnia at 2:23 AM this morning


Tick...tick...tick...wait. That's not right.  I have a digital clock.

But you get me.  I am up.  Right now. It's the middle of the night and I am not sleeping.

Why?

Well, I almost typed it but my heart pogo sticked right into my throat.  I am scared to write it because it will make it real.  OK.  I will just take the plunge because all of you are my precious friends and so many of told me you are praying or just asking how this house hunt is going.

We found a house that we love.

Butterflies in the tummy.  Tossing and turning.  A burgeoning hope that seems scarier than a fruitless search. Those are the things that are resigning me to stare at this glowing box, tap away on these little squares and listen to a symphony of sounds that the hubster is producing over there on our bed that I should be lying down on.

Finding a house we love seems harder than not being able to find one.  Are any of you nodding?  Talking out loud to your computer screen like a loony saying, "I been there sistah!  I am soooo with you!" I hope so.  Because I had no idea.

Back up to 6:00 PM Tuesday...

Tonight we saw a few houses.  The first one was this cutie patootie thing right by the gulf in this adorable neighborhood that looks like beach houses.  So cute.  And this house was right in our price range.  We walk in and it looked just as good.  Perfect layout.  Not too big. Not too small.  Just some cosmetic TLC.  And just 4 roof leaks and termites. And flood insurance.  Cha ching!  Real estate sucker punch!  Did not see it coming.  And we were out the door.

Next up.  A cute house on a cul-de-sac that is owner occupied and we needed an appointment.  Not too bad but it becomes hard to picture yourself in a cute house with all their furniture and clutter. Then I glanced outside and became witness to the only hill in the state of Florida right in their backyard.  My girls could daily reenact the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme together.  NEXT!

Now this one was a shot in the dark for us. The One.  The right neighborhood.  Newly listed.  No issues.  Curb appeal.  A bit outdated but only serves us to make it our own while hopefully getting it a bit cheaper. But the moment I saw it online I was drawn in.  Big time.

We walk up to the front door and there it was.  The knowing.  I kept chasing it away asking myself how on earth can we afford this house out of our budget range. I pray for a hideous interior.  We walk in to dark green carpet and peach colored counter tops.  Really.  

And all I saw was my house. 

Within 30 seconds, I said, THIS IS IT!  Great floor plan.  Beautiful back yard.  Fabulous neighborhood.  And all the little things I had been looking for. After discussing some things, we took great pleasure in praying with our realtor over the house and God's will for us.  I  confess I will be so sad if this does not work out but I keep reminding myself that God is my hope.  Not the house.

Our realtor got right to work with much research and information digging. Tomorrow (today) we find out if they would even accept.  Even as I type, I am unsure if I will even post this for fear I will have to deliver bad news to you that it fell through. And before most of you read this, I will probably know where we stand so I figure what is the point?

Because God is in the business of making the impossible possible. I remember becoming pregnant with Ella after such a long infertility journey.  We found out in November and used our family Christmas card to announce the pregnancy,  We had professional photos done and I remember agonizing over the last line announcing...And Baby (our last name) due in July! I send out over 60 cards each year and at this point I was 7 weeks along with my first pregnancy ever.

As I struggled, God just spoke to my heart and said, "Believe and walk in that belief." And I did. And of course that little baby is Ella.

So I walk in the same belief now, knowing God has already established our next home and is lining up all the details.  Here is my day of manic obsessing with a side of godly peace...

8:00 AM Today
Our realtor calls. Apparently the sellers have been renting the house to their pastor after moving into their other house.

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!!

He told the realtor a little about us and about us praying over the house last night.  The realtor responds with, "That's funny because the sellers were just doing the same thing for the right buyers."

Oh boy! Oh boy ! Oh boy! Oh boy!

So after much consideration we are going to extend a one time offer.  Today.  No negotiation dance.  Just  what we can afford.  Because we are really needing  a miracle here.  And if we start off low we may lose the whole thing.  And our realtor prayed over all of it so I am trusting His wisdom since it is the very thing we have been praying for.

12:45 PM: Mortgage Broker Phone Call
Numbers will be crunched.  But not yet.  Maybe in an hour.

1:45 PM
Have not heard anything.  Decide to concoct stress reliever food by combining random items from pantry.  Feel sick.

2:45 PM
Wondering if the way I am obsessing could be transposed to praying without ceasing.  Yet I keep refreshing my email hoping to hear back from hubby to give the go to our realtor to start the ball rolling. Click.  Click. Clickclickclickclickclicklcickclick.  Click.  Nothing.


3:31 PM
Still waiting. Just clicked refresh.  Again.  Nothing. Now I am looking to keep myself busy while the girls are still napping.  There is that pile of laundry...wait...click. Shoot. Nothing.


3:36 PM
EMAIL! Now we are told we are prequalified for more money than we want to spend  Say what?  No, no. Do that again. No reason to spend more than we have. More waiting.

4:36 PM
BING BONG!  Email...with scary numbers of a mortgage we might not be able to swing.  Enough to make us shy away from making an offer. Scary because we never sat down and figured out how we could make it work.  Insert broken hearts and dramatic response.

6:30 PM
After much freaking out on both our parts,  we come to our senses by getting on our knees and we are still going to make an offer. An official offer...with incredible peace.

I want all of you to know that I am so amazed at how many of you have emailed or asked questions about our house hunt and said you have been praying.  That means more to me than you will ever know. I am excited to continue to keep you posted.

Stay tuned and in the meantime...and if you think of it...please pray for us...we need a miracle.

Or send money.

Two Tips Tuesday

Tip #1: Two Tier Plate Stand

This was so simple and fun to make. I was inspired by this post from Tatertots and Jello. I was incredibly impressed that this project cost her only $2! And what I loved best is she used a candlestick to make it.  Brilliant! So I tucked this idea away in the inspiration board section of my brain.  Then I was out shopping and came across these melamine plates.  I loved them because they were two different sizes and the smaller ones had the same graphic but only larger.  Each plate was $1.99. I knew this was the project to use them for! I am astounded at how fabulous they look after only these simple and easy steps...

You will need 2 sets of plates, white spray paint, and two candlesticks from the dollar tree.

Spray paint the candlesticks with 2-3 coats of spray paint and let dry.  Seal if desired.
Do not do this as close to your family van as I did.  Praise God it is white.

 This is what the candlestick looks like when finished.

I used hot glue but Jen at Tatertots and Jello used gorilla glue in her tutorial which I think is a great idea too.  I just did not have it and I of course waited until Monday afternoon to work on both tips for this Tuesday.

I made sure to coat the edge with hot glue and let the drips fall to the inside. I centered it on the bigger plate for the bottom tier and then centered the smaller plate for the top.

 That's it!

Tip #2: Turn a Pot Holder into an Eyeglasses Case

Sunday, I had an opportunity to walk to the library while the girls napped.  My intention was just to browse books and magazines and hang out.  I started reading some back issues of Country Living magazine (May 2009) and I came across this awesome tip in their Idea Notebook section.  

Turn a potholder into an eyeglasses case!  

How smart! And being a 4-eyes since the age of 6 that I am and unable to see the Big E on the chart without them, I was intrigued.  I need to take care of my glasses because without them I am LEGALLY BLIND!  Seriously.

So I made them two different styles using...

 

...these pot holders. 

STYLE ONE (the above picture) is just the kind you slide in with an opening at the top.

  

I started by turning the pot holder over to the back lying horizontally.

I first folded in the terry cloth, pocket portion towards the center.

Then I folded the printed side back towards the center.  I stitched the bottom closed and up the one side leaving the top open for the glasses to slide into. 

No, I do not use a sewing machine.  The last time we got together, we had words, said some things we did not mean, objects may have been thrown across the room. It was not pretty.  And that was before I threaded it.  

But this project is so easy with or without a sewing machine. (Just looks nicer with one of those mean old things).

STYLE TWO is more of a clutch style. This one was my little spin on the basic case.

 

Fold the print side up first.

Stitch up the side on the seam of both sides.  

I used brown thread because I ran out of the pretty tealish color. Grrrr.

 

When you are done sewing the sides, fold down the top and it should look like this.

 I took the pot holder loop off using a seam ripper.

I carefully cut it off as close as I could to the edge.

 To cover it up, I stitched brown felt on the inside edge over to the top. 

I then attached a fun green button for flair. :o)
I plan on attaching a Velcro closure but never got the chance because I had a class to get to.  Sorry for waiting until the last minute. 

The best part about this little clutch case is that you can use it for anything. Throw some make-up in there, coupons, whatever.  And shhhhh.  Who would know it was a pot holder?

Happy Tuesday Friends! 

What is more fun than house hunting?

Let me count the ways...

Tweezing my nose hairs one by one for pleasure.

Getting a huge tax return and then finding out the IRS was wrong and you owe it all back.

Stepping on a huge sewing needle and having your husband pull it out (happened last week).

Dropping a cake you just baked while removing it from the oven.

Having your daughter have a diaper explosion at church and having to pick her up dressed in a diaper and a church issued t-shirt that says "Ski Bunny in Training." Then later finding out they accidentally threw away her poopy clothes that included a pair of Baby Gap pants, a cute shirt from Nordstrom, and $50 Stride Rite shoes. (Oh wait. That really happened too)

Finding an unidentifiable hair in my $8 ice cream cone.

Paying for a pedicure and while walking to the car, tripping and scraping your big toe on asphalt. 

Dropping a cell phone while reaching for coffee at a drive thru and watching it smash into smithereens.

Having a talking scale proclaim your weight at a grocery store.

Having your pants fall to your ankles at a full sprint on the treadmill at the gym.

Giving birth. 

There you have it.  All those things would be better than my past week.  

Now I need to give you highlights from this enlightening process.  A process where us po' folk have eyes and dreams bigger than our wallets.  And friends, we have been schooled in the fact that  the needle in a haystack will take some time to find.  Sadly, time is not on our hands.  Our search has included fixer uppers so allow me to invite you into this new world I did not know existed...

 Admit it.  For a split second you thought this was our new house.  But alas, no. Just another attempt to find humor in this very humbling process.

Found a house with a missing section of stair railing, half finished floor boards and a faux finish that was a hybrid of a Tuscany and Grecian villa. There may have been a cat sitting in this faux painted window of this random wall.  I have blocked out the memory so don't hold me to that.

A laundry room that had wallpaper in ginormous, cutesy font with the sentence over and over and over...I HATE LAUNDRY ROOMS.  The words each had their own primary color for effective POP!

A house with a bay window that had a "fixed" window seat that had issues. Well, those issues were termites and they ate the entire window seat.  It was wood pulp.  

A house that was redone from the inside out and soooo gorgeous. When we arrived, we saw it had a fabulous view of Applebees and Home Depot right out front.

More blue bathrooms.

Pink bathrooms.

Hunter green bathrooms.

Bathrooms that make a phone booth look big.  Remember those?

A house with an island that was a stove and oven.  Yes, the top was the stove.  The best part?  It was that dingy yellow color and still had the last meal on it.  True story.  And when we arrived I believe we walked into a house that was once part of a 60's commune.  Wood paneling was EVERYWHERE and a bathroom where I believe the only way to use the loo was to climb in it because there was no room to stand in front of it.


I know I will have more stories to tell.  But get this.  We have an AMAZING realtor.  He is someone we already knew from church, he is amazing at what he does, and he lets us call the shots. He never pushes us but he is so great about reminding us of what we want when we consider settling for something less than what we are looking for.  We have been blessed!

But I covet your prayers.  I am struggling, I am stressed, and I am NOT standing on faith as I should. It has been a week that has felt like a year and I am slightly panicked.  Yes, after a week.  I am not a laid back kind of gal.  More like an intense, overly worried, freaker outer. 


But the hubster provided some perspective for me tonight and has ordered me from the "Search Process."  He is a good man.

And you all are good friends to be vested in this process with me.  More updates to come.

Two Tips Tuesday

You all know I am crazy busy right now, right? And as much as I love doing Two Tips Tuesdays, I am not sure I have the time to do this every week.  Hubby and I do a class every Monday night and you know all the other house and kid stuff that is keeping me hoppin'!

Now I want to see if any of you would be interested in guest blogging for Two Tips Tuesday.  It would be a great opportunity to showcase your amazing skills and know how in...well...anything! It would also be a fabulous way for others to peek in on your blog and for all of you to get exposed to other blogs.

Interested?  Let me know!  It will be fun, fun, fun!

Now I am so incredibly excited to introduce you to Crafty Chic Mommy.  MY FIRST GUEST BLOGGER! The first time I stumbled upon her blog, I was hooked.   Not only does she have a ridiculous amount of craft genius brimming to overflowing but she makes being craft savvy look like the easiest thing in the world.  Plus, she is a brilliant google searcher outer. I am convinced this is a paid title for some genius out there.  I love how she shares crafty scoops from the webby world.

The wealth of information, sources if inspiration and just crafty flair all make for a fun blog to read.  Plus, reading her is like a warm hug from a forever friend.  She is so down to earth and sweet all at the same time.  So without further ado...Crafty Chic Mommy has an adorable craft with pictures of her scrumptious and even more adorable daughter.  Enjoy!

Hello Two Shades of Pink fans. You and I are very lucky to have come across this wonderful blog and I'm even luckier to be her first guest poster. I'm always touched when I read Jessica's posts, I feel like I know her personally and to tell you honestly if we lived close I would want to hang out with her. She has a beautiful soul, I can tell, and she sounds like a wonderful Mommy.....she is a wonderful mommy. Thanks for this opportunity Jessica. 

So a bit about me, then I'll quit rambling and get on with my project. So my blogging adventure starts with google...my favourite search engine. Whenever I needed craft inspiration I would search on google for other brilliant craft website and blogs. In my search I came across some very wonderful blogs both about motherhood and crafts. Then it hit me....I need a blog. So one rainy day in November 2009 I sat down with my fat free caramel latte and CRAFTY CHIC MOMMY was born. I often think to myself why didn't I do this years ago? Every week I find myself crafting away in the little happy corner of my house, then I take pictures to share with everyone else just like other blogs have done for me. I'm giving back to the bloggy world and it feels good.

So onto my post already... 

Tip #1: Apron Craft

Last week I made my daughter Ashtyn a wooden play kitchen. I figured every good cook also needs a good apron so I got down to work on Friday night making Ashtyn one...yes lame I know on a Friday night...welcome to motherhood....   

I used a placemat, ribbon and a sewing machine to create this little gem. It took me no longer than ten minutes to make only because I had to re thread my sewing machine.

 Here is whatcha do...

1.  Lay your placemat down with the wrong side facing up towards you.

 2. Fold both corners down, and pin them for sewing.

3. Sew along the sides leaving an inch or so for your ribbon to feed through. Do this on both sides.

 4. Then take one long piece of ribbon with a safety pin on one end and feed it through each little pocket you've sewn.

5. Tie off the ends of your string so they don't come back through the holes during use. You can also tie on a few big beads but keep in mind choking hazards

 6. There you have it.... a cute little apron made in minutes and the perfect size for your messy munchkin or your blooming chef.

Happy Craftin,

Crafty Chic Mommy

Is this not the cutest?  It looks so easy and I love the end result!  Now, you must, must go see this amaaaaazing kitchen she did with her own 2 talented hands and incredibly sweet heart.  

Tip #2: Felt and Fabric Rings

OK.  Well since we have a craft vibe going, and Crafty Chic Mommy did an amazing job,  I will just share with you my latest craft fun inspired from one of my favorite craft blogs, Happy Together.  She has a fabulous tutorial for making ribbon rings and I used the basics of that tutorial to make these...

These were so fun to make and fast too!.  Instead of ribbon, I used gray suiting fabric for the gray one using the selvedge edge (is that the right term?), brown felt and green scrap fabric with woven looking button, and the hem of a white cotton shirt that my youngest daughter outgrew. The middle of that one is a fabric covered button using a nifty little tutorial here for fabric covering a button with out using  a kit.  The best part?  The ring is actually a pony tail holder!!!

This is what they look like on....

 

  

I actually wear these all the time!  They are so fun and make me feel girly.  They would make great gifts, a fabulous brooch, or a great accessory on a necklace.  Or even fun dress up jewelry for a little girl.

Happy CRAFTY Tuesday friends!