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                                                                                              Source: brightnest.com via Joanna on Pinterest

Well, SURPRISE!!

Aaron and I didn't get either house we had an offer on.

See, both were "short sales". I didn't know they were going into putting a offer on either of them, but alas.... they both were. Basically, I don't understand all of the details but, I know it takes FOREVER. We put in an offer on the first house and it took a month and a half to hear back from the bank (which owned the house). ugh. And the second house didn't take as long, but roughly 3 weeks to a month.

The suckiest part of it all is... I think deep down, I really thought ONE of them had to work out. I mean, come on. The odds had to be in our favor, right? How many houses have we put an offer in on and another buying outbid us, or an owner was a grotchety grouch and wouldn't go below asking price? WE HAD TO GET ONE OF THEM.

But, here I sit, telling you... we didn't get either of them.

I was pretty upset at first. I went to my realtor.com app on my phone and looked at house (like I do all day every day....) and I saw BOTH houses weren't considered "active" anymore. So... I got really anxious and sweaty and upset. Then, I had an AMAZING night's rest. It was the strangest thing.

Aaron talked to our realtor the next afternoon and I tried to prepare my heart and acknowledge God's blessing for us in allowing us to live at our current apartment for as long as we wanted for our dirt cheap price of rent... but, it didn't work. I was angry.

Then, Aaron told me our realtor didn't even KNOW someone else got the bid. That makes no sense to me... So I became angrier by the minute. I was angry at the other realtors who never told our realtor that we didn't get the bid. I was angry at myself for allowing my hopes to get up for the billionth time. I was angry at both of us that we didn't just pull our offers out in the first place to avoid the angst we now felt.

AND THEN... there are these other houses around here that are cute charmers and have great potential, so I stalk them like a crazy person for the last 3 days. Driving by them, looking at them endlessly on my app.. and then. I just felt like I needed to stop. I had to sit there and assess the situation. I HAD to talk to Aaron about it.

So, we came to a decision.... God provides for us ALWAYS. He is Jehovah Jireh. He gave a chance to live in our current apartment for longer. Whereas it isn't ideal... it's something. And, seriously... it means I can have HUGE, REAL Christmas trees at Christmas still. And, maybe walking up those stairs day in and day out will give me some much needed exercise for a little longer.

Also? I am totally going to be painting more in that place. Maybe that will help :)

Happy Friday!

friday's lettters: 1/25/13

dear friday, you have been good to me. thank you!!

dear phone, I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU. I am so glad that you die every 5 minutes and don't really work. I cannot wait until my upgrade.

dear hair, I think you are growing on me. (speaking of which, I NEED TO SHARE!!)

dear houses that are for sale online one day and then not the next, you guys suck. getting my hopes up and everything and then BAM.

dear house-hunting, oi. headaches.

dear God, thank you for your many blessings you have been giving to us. I thank you for all the good things you are bringing our way.

dear new job, I AM SO EXCITED TO START YOU!! (oh man, I still have to share THAT too!)

dear current job, I won't miss you, per say.. I will miss the people, my boss. My boss is seriously the best boss. It will be hard leaving, but I am excited for a new adventure.

dear frozen apartment, i can't move my fingers very well to type this. WARM UP, DUDE.

dear husband, I am so proud of you for finishing your second class for your master's degree! You are awesome!!! I LOVE YOU :)

dear pinterest, you need to stop tempting me. I think we need a break.. some separation. it's not you, it's.. ah, who am I kidding, it IS you!

dear readers, thank you for all your sweet comments! Life has been quite a whirlwind and I hope to be able to comment back soon :)

dear weekend, be kind to us. last weekend was FULL of moving people and never resting... I hope we can get recharged this weekend.


have a good weekend :)

wisdom and other things

It has been a while, hasn't it?

Currently:

+ I am on "recovery" from getting my wisdom teeth out. It's funny, I don't feel less wise without them??? (ha see? I got jokes, man.) Can I just say, this sucks... ? Between eating like a squirrel (Aaron's words) to cleaning my mouth what seems every hour and downing tons of meds, I just feel BLAH.

+ We got our tree and I would love to share some pics of that soon! This has been our second married Christmas. Verrryy different from last year, but nonetheless, lovely :) We cut down our tree last year as well as this year as a sort of "thing-to-do-on-or-for-Joanna's-birthday". So, that was fun. It's all decorated. Nothing too fancy, and it's probably only pretty to me, but I love sitting and looking at it twinkle at night. It's so calming.

+ My birthday has come and gone. For a second there I had to think about how old I am now. 24. wow. That feels and sounds so much older for some reason. We had a great time celebrating it. I have never been to Ikea (CRAZY, I KNOW), so I asked Aaron to take me. Now, that is a post for another day, which I hopes comes soon because I don't want to forget the insanity that WAS our trip to Ikea. haha We lucked out and got a bed frame I had my eye on as well as some other items.

+ Pumpkin and I have just been chilling these last few days while I recover. She is the best.

+ Things have been put on hold in regard to a house. We were eligible for a "first time homebuyers grant" but, due to hub's little promotion, though he is only making a small amount more, it's just enough to send us over the limit of being eligible.. so, here we are, saving our pennies for a down payment. Oh well. The Lord will provide, He always always always does.

+ Other things are happening around these parts. Some things that I am a little "bitter/sweet" about. But let's save that for another day, shall we?

annnddd.. that's been life lately. not too much. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a snack pack calling my name and then I have to begin the grueling task of brushing my teeth and cleaning my mouth which takes about 10 - 15 minutes (if I'm lucky!)

Five Thanks on Thursday

Source: bitsotruth.blogspot.ca via Joanna on Pinterest

Happy THURSDAY! :) We have almost arrived, people!

Ok, so, a LOT of good things going on in my life and heart lately, besides all the blubbering I have been doing on this here part of the internetz. and... I am going to share it with you guys. That quote up above really hit me on the head and reminded me that I truly need to be more grateful for things and express them as well. so, here we go!

1) I am SO thankful for my sweet sweet husband. guys, he is made of GOLD. I cannot express to you the amount of times I have literally mental breakdowns and he is there, helping me during and after the mess of it all. He supports me in literally everything I do and want to do. For instance, I mentioned staying home and being a stay-at-home dog mom and he was all for it. See,  G O L D E N! Last weekend we watched 3 of our niece and nephews. They were a lot of work for me to handle in my mind because I am just not used to kids and kids sort of just overwhelm me sometimes... Aaron was amazing through the entire weekend, and even allowed me some time to just stay at home. Yeah, sure I cleaned, but still.... I LOVED IT. I could go on... but I will save that for another day :)

2) I am thankful for this job I have. Yes, it isn't my dream job by any means, but honestly, my boss is great and I get to work in a Christian environment. It's really awesome. And, it has taught me a lot about myself.

3) I am thankful for the Lord. I am thankful for the work He does in my heart. My heart sucks. I just am really bitter and hateful sometimes. I am pretty selfish and greedy (maybe those go hand in hand?), and I am sometimes very rude and very boastful in a certain setting. The Lord is truly accepting of me at this stage in my life... and He is working with me to help me get from this place to better things. I wish I thanked Him more...

4) I am thankful for friends. Sometimes I feel like I am not a good friend, so it is amazing that I even have friends (read #3 to see why!). I am just grateful for those friends who have stuck through life with me. Even if they are far and few between, they are my friends, my very best friends, and I love them all :)

5) I am thankful for our apartment. We seriously are living in a steal. It has character, lovely wood floors, and it v e r y cheap! I need to be more thankful for it, so here it is. Aaron and I have been house-hunting since probably November 2011, and.... nothing. Any time we are trying to put in an offer or something, someone else has put in an offer or something else happens... We feel as though God is just not ready for us to buy a house. We are trying to PATIENTLY and OBEDIENTLY accept that... but, it sucks sometimes. Instantly when the most recent house-fail happened I couldn't help but think, if God cannot trust us with the small things (keeping our little apartment cleaned and lovely and making it a home...) then WHY oh WHY would he trust us with the big things. So, here we are. We are so grateful we have a place to live. We are learning to appreciate our 'home' and all that it is.

So, there we are! What are YOU thankful for? :)