Hopefulness in frustrations

Here are some things that I have said in the last 2 weeks:

"Wow, I can't believe everything is working out so perfectly!"
"This is crazy timing!"
"I can't believe our house sold!"

On Monday morning, my girls at work threw me the most fantastic going away brunch ever! It was fun, laid back and exactly what I had hoped it would be. 5 hours later my travel contract for my job in Plano came in the mail and as I was looking over it all to sign and mail, Bob the realtor called to tell us that the buyer's "pre-approved" loan did not get accepted. He also non-chalantly stated that he would be over in 30 minutes to take our SOLD sign down and replace it with the flyer tube again.

So hmmmm....here we are back at square one. I think we are as disppointed now as we were excited 2 weeks ago. I've heard everything from "This must not be God's timing", "This is God testing your faith", "This is Satan trying to tear you down", to "This is worst case scenario". I can not say that I really agree with any of these. It is what it is. Nothing is guaranteed. We wanted to move in 2 weeks, and we planned on it, but now it's not happening and that is okay. We have everything in the world to be grateful for and one setback is not going to destroy that! It's taken me about 48 hours to get over my initial anger and now we are ready to persevere!

I have a some faith left in the housing market and it is still our hope to be in Dallas by the fall for Jordan to start at Criswell. A good friend of mine shared this verse to me yesterday...it is encouraging and daily I am trying to figure out how to do what is says :)

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

Goodbye rain, Hello humidity.

I think I may create the ultimate blog blasphemy and create a post with no pictures...bear with me because I just have a lot to say. Jordan and I have had an incredibly crazy last week or so. I think I can best describe the events in a screenplay format....here we go:

Sometime last week
Stacy: I've been looking at schools online in Dallas, TX and I think you should check them out. Maybe, just give us some more options.

Jordan: Why would we want to go to Dallas...that's dumb. I'll talk to Richard and see what I can find out though.

2 days later
Jordan: I found a sweet school named Criswell College. I wonder if it's legit.

Stacy: Let's just freakin drive to Dallas this weekend and find out.

Sunday morning in Dallas:
Stacy: I like Criswell. And I can give you list of a million reasons why Dallas trumps Portland. But it doesn't really matter because no one is ever going to buy our flippin house in Albuquerque.

Jordan: Yeah...stupid housing market.

Sunday afternoon in Dallas:
Bob the Realtor via phone: Someone just put a sweet offer on your house.

Jordan: Shut up.

Bob: Congrats. You close on April 25th.

So....this was the turn of events in a nutshell. To say we are surprised and overwhelmed would be a massive understatement. We really had no preconcieved ideas of going to Dallas or even considering it before last week, but for some reason it was on my heart and we started talking about it. It made no sense to drive all five of us down there for 4 days to check it out...we were really just searching for clarity because it seemed that we had none. Why would our house out of the other 150+ homes for sale just in Ventana Ranch sell...and for an actual profit!!!! It's truly a miracle and we feel that we are walking right where God has intended all along. We don't have many details finalized as far as where in Dallas we will actually be living in 3 weeks, but we are working on it and we have a number of options.

I am devastated to leave Albuquerque. I can't imagine not living near my mom or our best friends, but in order for Jordan to complete what he dreams to do, then we must. The past 3 1/2 years have created so many memories, that I am liable to break our housing contract if I think about them right now. I'll have to create another blog later filled with all the things I am going to miss here.

I look forward to Dallas and Jordan finishing his degree with excitement. If we have to be anywhere else than here, then Dallas is a perfect fit. I look forward to the plans God has for us. And it is my prayer that our eyes and ears remain open to Him so we can follow Him humbly wherever he may take us.

March Madness

If I blogged as much as I thought about blogging, then I'm sure this would be a lot more interesting! Instead, I get sidetracked and a month goes by and I have procrastinated to the max. Either way...we've been having a good ole time and here are some pics to prove it!

Noelle thinks her own feet are pretty hilarious...and basically anything my mom does with her :)

Me and Austen just chillaxin...that kid loves the camera.

Um, Landon liked the baby doll a little more than Jordan and were comfortable with.

Noelle LOVES this baby...she cracks up everytime she sees her and insists that she sleep in her bed...by "insist" I mean pointing and grunting.

Classic...I have no idea what he is cracking up about.

Last weekend we went to our friend Braidyn's birthday party at Hootz fun zone. It's basically a warehouse of big inflatable slides and jumpers things. We had such a blast watching the boys play. I was SHOCKED that Landon ended up liking it. I literally drug him on to the first play set while he was screaming bloody murder...I could see all the other mom's shaking their heads. But it ended up being worth it for him. Next year we will conquer the fear of precipitation, in 2008 the battle against slides was officially won.

Probably my favorite picture of Landon so far too date.

It's faster that it looks! Austen went down about 1,852 times.

I have to admit Jordan and I had our fair share of sliding too :)

Here is one party goer who did not slide. I would like to dedicate this picture to the manufacturers of Benadryl...I love you.

"Landon, I promise we will come back to Hoot's again soon" He was not so pleasant on the car ride home.

Just in case you were wondering what Landon looks like at bedtime after a day at Hoot's with no nap...there you have it. (There was no Benadryl involved in the taking of this picture). I do love snuggle time. :)

In other Young-related news...Jordan is doing fantastic in school. He's maintaining all A's so far...even in college algebra! I am so very proud of him. We've also been checking out some other churches in Albuquerque and are so encouraged at what the body of Christ is doing here. I think we are guilty of putting ourselves in a social bubble and not paying attention to basic needs of others...in our city and as far away as Haiti. We have been incredibly challenged spiritually these last few months. We are daily, prayerfully seeking wisdom in our decisions. I truly believe God has something planned with us that is better than anything I can ask or imagine. But asking and imagining is kind of wearing me out, so I've simply resorted to listening and obeying.

I think that's all for now. I'll try to be a more consistent blogger....GOSH!

What happened to February?

I'm not sure how it is already the middle of February. I have found a new love for February since last year and here are the obvious reasons why. Last year on February 10th in Durango, CO my brother Matt married the most amazing, beautiful, expressive girl I've ever known. That may sound like I'm just saying that because I really love her, but I actually mean it. As a matter of fact, at their rehearsal dinner during the toasts my own mom stood up and told her and all 60-70 guests that she "could not imagine having a better daughter"...of course everyone smiled and then immediately looked back at me with very sad faces. My mom threw in "daughter-in-law" after the laughter...thanks mom. But, she really is that fantastic.

Here they are tearing it up salsa style at their reception. We miss you and love you both more than you can imagine!!!!

And this is my other favorite part of their wedding and ultimately February. Here is Noelle t-5 days. So it seemed fitting that when Jordan was asked to speak at a ski retreat for this weekend in Durango that of course we went. We left on Noelle's bday (Friday) for Durango and came back this afternoon. We spent most of the day on Saturday swimming at the rec center and walking around downtown and the evenings were spent fixated on Lightening McQueen and Mater.

Here is Noelle in the cutest swimsuit given to her by her Granmommie and Grandaddy. She wasn't too excited about the whole swimming situation as you can tell by the expression, but after a little while she lightened up and seemed to actually have fun.

This is the perfect picture to describe Austen in the water...the kid is a fish! He loves it. He ran around, went down all the slides and could not wipe the smile off of his face.

Landon liked the water just about as much as he liked walking on snow. But I managed to get a picture without him crying or clinging on to Jordan for dear life. In his defense, he did go down the crazy wet-n-wild style slide twice...the second time was actually willingly!

On Tuesday night we are going to my mom's house for a real birthday dinner and cake for Noelle since we didn't have the chance for it last week. It was actually a lot easier for me on Friday to get through the day without going through the birthday party motions. Maybe I can survive Tuesday without too many tears...yeah right!

January Madness

Anyone who knows Landon, knows that he is not a fan of the elements. I thought surely with his snow boots on he would be okay with actually walking on the snow. Not so much. I should add a disclaimer that about 20 minutes after his initial shock of actually having his boots touch the snow, he ran around in a few circles then proceeded to shout for the next hour "I walked in the snow Mommy and I didn't even cry!" Way to go kid.Austen is not afraid of the snow in the least...he had a good ole time launching it around the yard!


I am actually quite a bit scared of this snowman/robot looking thing in our front yard. Our house has been on the market now for 2 weeks without a single glance. SURELY this little guy will be pulling it all kinds of prospects...we may even raise the asking price for this fine upgrade.
Noelle was quite proud of herself for finally figuring out how to pull herself up in her bed...right after this picture I promptly pushed her down and reminded her of my "no more milestones" rule.
Look at this face...I'm sorry to all of you who don't get to kiss it on an hourly basis like I do. We did get the most blessed diagnosis of RSV for Noelle yesterday...she's doing ok...very junky cough and kind of wheezy. I am praying that we are seeing the worst of it now! She has never really been sick before, so she is getting huge amounts of sympathy from us :(

Can this month last forever?

Today marks the first day of the last month of Noelle's infancy. I am ridiculous I know. When I gave birth to Noelle, Austen was barely 3 1/2. So, even though I remember most of the highlights from the boys first 12 months...I didn't quite hold on to them as tightly as her's. She's, ya know, the grand finale. I am not fully prepared to embark upon the first birthday, so I am going to cherish the 11th month the best I can. I know that each stage gets more and more fun...really I know that, but still can I be a little sad? We are kind of in the "weaning" process now. I am nursing her in the morning and at night and she drinks milk and juice during the day. I thought that for sure after I went back to work full time that I would be exhausted and ready to regain my body back 100%...but yeah, not so much. I look forward to that small 10 minutes that is just her and I in the mornings and at nighttime. I know I am not alone in this feeling! I can't be!

Beloved

Most of you know by now that Jordan and I got tattoos for our 6th anniversary on 12/22. Here are the pics for your enjoyment :) Jordan's says "I am my beloved's" and mine says "My beloved is mine"...in Hebrew obviously. Song of Solomon 6:3...look it up people.

JY being tough.

"I am my beloved's"

"My beloved is mine"

The finished product...Hebrew reads right to left.

They were done by Dave Martinez at Addictive Ink....he's pretty much amazing...as a person and as a tattooist...check him out if you want some ink!