Graduation, Goodbyes, Boxes, Boxes, and More Boxes

First, I have to say Congratulations to my husband, who is now officially a "Master Scuba Diver"...the highest classification you can have in the diving industry!! He took his final yesterday, and finished #2 in his class, so Woo Hoo!!!! for Ryan. I'll post pics of his graduation (which is tonight) eventually, but we're going to be internet-free for the next few days as we turn off our utilities here, set them up at the new house, etc...you know how that goes.

This past week has confirmed for me that I HATE goodbyes. It doesn't matter how long, or short in this case, you live somewhere...you always become attached to something. On Sunday, we went to our last service at Crosspoint Church, which has been the hugest blessing during our time here in Houston. I will really miss playing for that early service that I always griped about having to wake up at 6:30 for. On Tuesday, I had to say goodbye to a perfect job and all of my wonderful co-workers, who I will truly miss. On Wednesday, I had my last "Jason's Deli Lunch with Rachel". We've been meeting for lunch every Wednesday for the past few months, and I am SO going to miss our girl talk over her turkey wrap with no sprouts and my chicken panini. ha ha! I guess it's always bittersweet to move, but it's nice to know that we made some great memories while we were here.

Anyway, I guess when we moved from our 3 bedroom house to this small apartment, I didn't realize how much we put in storage. I can't walk around my apartment there are so many boxes! HOLY COW...I don't know how it's all going to fit into our Uhaul on Sunday, but I'm praying for a miracle. Ryan's parents are coming in tomorrow to help us load and to drive Ryan's truck back to the metroplex so that he can drive the Uhaul truck Monday morning. I'm not sure how it's all going to work out yet, but I do know that by this time next week, we will be in our new house! I'm really excited to get settled in and finally make a place HOME. We've been looking forward to that for the past 5 years, and it's finally here!!! WOO HOO!!

Spoiled Rotten

Yep, that's me...I was TOTALLY spoiled rotten on my birthday this year. Since Ryan was actually in the country for the first time in 3 years, he went all out. From a suprise dinner party, to breakfast in bed, to MORE presents than I needed, he gets an A+ in my book! Here are some pictures of me ringing in year #27!!!

A few couples from our life group surprised me at Carrabba's...I love, love, love their spaghetti and meatballs!! From left to right: Bill & Elisabeth, Steve & Diana, Ryan & me, Amber, and Rachel & Justin

I had 3 of these Sid Dickens tiles already, and Ryan completed my collection so that I can have them above my piano in the new house. I was SO excited...I can't wait to hang them up!

We went to Ryan's parents' over the weekend to take our first load of stuff (Woo Hoo!!) and celebrated mine & Kendall's birthdays in downtown Fort Worth Saturday night. I cannot wait until we're living so close to them!!

Brad goes broke in July because mine & Kendall's birthdays are 5 days apart. Lucky him. :)

Kendall's brother, Ryan, and his wife Emily. They live one neighborhood over from our new house!

Movin' on Up

Wow...it's been a month since my last post. That is so irresponsible of me. It's not that I haven't had any news to blog about. It's just that I've been nervous to say too much about it for fear that something might go wrong. But, I'm taking a leap of faith and posting pictures of our NEW HOUSE!!!! 3 weeks ago, I went house hunting in Burleson with my mom, Kendall, and Kathy (Kendall's mom). Ryan couldn't go because of school and work. After looking at house after house after house of nothing that I really loved, I found it. I called Ryan when I got back to my brother's apartment and told him that I knew he'd love it and that I could see us making it home. It is a newer house, but in an established neighborhood with lots of trees and NO CONSTRUCTION going on around it! That's really hard to find these days! I showed Ryan pictures, and without ever laying eyes on the house, we made an offer on it. Talk about trust!! We were looking for a house that was move-in ready, but that we could still invest in making a lot better over about 3 years. There's something about blood, sweat, and tears that Ryan and I really love, so we're excited to get to work on it. You'll have to keep the "before" pictures in mind, and I'll be posting updates as we re-do a lot of things. The craziest, probably stupidest, thing about the fact that we already bought this house is that Ryan still hasn't signed on the dotted line about his job in Burleson yet. Yep, I guess that's what you call putting all of your eggs in one basket. We really did just take a leap of faith in purchasing it before all of the details are official, but I know that it's going to all work out. It's not the first time we've done something spur of the moment. So after lots of repainting, new floors, changing fixtures, and some other things, we hope to move in late this month, or August 10th at the latest. We have our apartment until then, and we can't afford a mortgage and our rent at the same time for too long. We can't wait to be closer to all the people we care about! You'll all have to come visit us!

Here are some "Before" pictures:

Here is the entry...where you see carpet, we'll be putting in wood floors to match the floors in the living room. We'll also get rid of the ugly brass light fixture.

Some things I love about this house are the windows, the molding, and the fact that none of the ceilings are square. This is the dining room...The ceiling fan will go away, and we'll put a chandelier in...wood floors in here also.

Our "maroon" study won't be maroon for long either...it'll get painted.

Lots of updating to do in the kitchen, but I'm excited about it! I love buying new appliances. And that light in the eating area has to go...it reminds me of a cheap pizza parlor or something.

My realtor, Bill, in the living room.

This is one I got off the internet, so all of the owner's stuff is still in there. We don't have to do much to this room...I actually like it the way it is! They did a great job with the molding and flooring, and I like the paint color too.

This pink room will be the guest room, but it won't stay pink.

Guest bathroom

This is what we are calling the "empty room" because I won't let anyone call it the "N" word. (aka. nursery) Perhaps it will be an "N" word while we live here, but for now, it's just the empty room. Nuff said about that.

My master bedroom, which will also get a paint job. Periwinkle blue just isn't my color.

The master bathroom...not huge, but really nice and bigger than any I've had so far!

Sorry, but you won't be able to swing on this swingset when you come visit...the dogs need their running room, so we're getting rid of it. We'll buy a nicer one when the time is appropriate. :-)

My golfing family is WAY excited about the golf course that is literally right behind the house. There are lots of walking (for me)/jogging (for Ryan) trails too, which is going to be really nice.

So, there you go. The pictures don't do it justice, but I'll keep you posted on all the changes we make. Please keep praying that nothing falls through!! :-)