Living Our Dream Life

Devin's Data: TWELVE MONTHS

2013-06-19T09:06:00.001-06:00

I wrote this the day after Devin's birthday (June 10). I have still not taken his 12 month picture with the bunny because I haven't felt up to the fight to lay on his back. Hopefully when Casey comes home we can get the picture! :) Until then... here is all of his data! Weight: 22.5 pounds Height: 30 inches Clothing Size: mostly 6-9. Some 12 month, some 18 month.Diaper Size: threeMilestones:

Quiet Book for Toddler {printable}

2013-06-17T13:49:00.001-06:00

Before Devin was born, I made several church bag activities (most of which I never posted on the blog--sorry). I had plans. Devin was going to sit quietly and look at the activities and we would all listen to Sacrament meeting and be uplifted. We would never eat cookies or play with cars at church. Well, allow me just to say that my super curious one year old has a very hard time sitting for

One Year Later

2013-06-16T20:33:00.000-06:00

Devin has certainly changed in the past year. And so has Casey. I watched Casey become the Daddy I always dreamed of for my children. He is horsey, book reader, and tag player. He turns diaper time into a giggle outburst. And dinner into an airplane contest. He even has a way of making bedtime fun. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband by my side. He is my cuddle

Home Inspection = Miracle

2013-06-15T06:58:00.000-06:00

We took a giant step forward yesterday in the home buying process! Our home inspection was completed and along the way we witnessed many, MANY miracles. This house is definitely an answer to countless prayers. Miracle #1. All of the utilities had to be turned on in our name yesterday by 1:30 pm. I found this out Thursday afternoon (the day before) at 4:20 pm. I was able to make separate

We spent the day...

2013-06-14T15:06:00.000-06:00

M&M Missionary Printable

2013-06-13T10:33:00.000-06:00

So for the past couple of hours (seriously) I was working on making a "Get Well" present for my sister's missionary companion. The reason it took so long is because I searched and searched and could not find anything I liked. I wanted to use M&Ms because we already had a giant (Sam's Club sized) bag. It had to be a ziplock bag topper because I didn't want to have to pay to send the entire giant

HONESTY --the best policy

2013-06-08T08:28:00.000-06:00

We went under contract. The loan was being processed. I had turned in almost all of the papers for our grant and it was being reviewed with the missing papers. I thought everything was moving along smoothly with buying our home. Yesterday our loan officer called me. The first thing he said was he had bad news. My first thought was interest rates had spiked super high and now we won't qualify

Under Contract

2013-06-04T07:17:00.000-06:00

We are officially under contract as of yesterday. We received our contract papers back--signed and accepted! Which means... our home is no longer listed on the MLS. :D Holy cow... it is actually ours! Everyone else that was eyeing our home and hoping to be able to buy it will realize that it is gone now. Off the market. It is finally beginning to seem real. We are actually buying a home!!

Floor Plan

2013-06-02T08:40:00.001-06:00

I thought I would take you on a tour of OUR home!! It still seems weird calling it ours.... And we don't have a closing date because some of our paper work was not signed correctly. A couple of days ago we had to write "married couple" next to our names on one of the lines then initial it. We are planning on mid July... probably.... We have seen the house three times now. And each time, it is

Dream Home vs. Actual Home

2013-06-01T08:03:00.001-06:00

When we started the home buying process at the beginning of this year, I made a list of of our dream home. There were certain requirements that it had to have and then others that we really wanted but could live without. I thought it would be interesting to compare and see if our home matches our dream home. My list is posted below in orange and the actual home is written in purple.

The Ideal Place

2013-05-28T14:04:00.001-06:00

"Many voices from the world in which we live tell us we should live at a frantic pace. There is always more to do and more to accomplish. Yet deep inside each of us is a need to have a place of refuge where peace and serenity prevail, a place where we can reset, regroup, and re-energize to prepare for future pressures. The ideal place for that peace is within the walls of our own homes, where we

"Jesus Wept"

2013-05-26T18:05:00.000-06:00

I love just about everything with the rain. I love the clean, refreshing smell it brings. I love staring out the window and watching it fall. I love the coolness it brings to a hot summer evening. I love hearing the pitter patter on ground, especially when I'm falling asleep. I love the green growth that follows in a dry desert. I love feeling of it on my face and through my hair. I love

in an instant

2013-05-25T09:01:00.000-06:00

A week ago yesterday, my mom and I went in to her parents house. We were there to help take them shopping--just like a regular day. One of us would take my grandmother to the store and the other would stay home with my grandfather. Before our shopping trip, we decided to have a picnic with my grandparents in their living room. We picked up some sandwiches from Subway and I attempted to feed Devin

One More Offer

2013-05-21T21:18:00.001-06:00

We placed another offer today. It is a bidding war again. I had an awh-ha moment. Most people bid with pretty whole numbers that have zeros after the thousands place. So... we went slightly higher than the pretty numbers with random digits in every place value. And now we pray. Pray. PRAY!!! This house is not exactly what we want. Ok. The layout does not even come close to what I actually

Devin's Data: ELEVEN months

2013-05-16T07:29:00.000-06:00

Devin was not thrilled to have to lay on his back! Weight: 21.56 pounds Height: 30 inches (he is a tall boy!)Clothing Size: mostly 6-9. If I buy something, I buy it bigger so it will last for a good long while!Diaper Size: threeMilestones: he prefers to walk everywhere now. He climbs up stairs by himself and I never taught him. I have no idea how he learned! He can step down stairs as

A Sigh of Relief

2013-05-15T06:49:00.000-06:00

We heard back on the house that needs some a lot TLC. With the seller's agent accepting all offers and then choosing the best, ours was not chosen. Someone out bid us. Our agent first told me that he had some bad news. Truthfully I was so grateful to hear that our offer was not accepted. As I thought about it, I did not want to deal with it. There were several problems that we already knew of but

The Life of a Mother

2013-05-12T11:22:00.000-06:00

Eleven months ago when my itty bitty baby was placed into my arms, I knew I loved him. Seeing his eyes and snuggling him close. And knowing that he was mine forever. I was exhausted but couldn't sleep because I was a mother. As Baby Bunny's first year has past. The love inside of me grows even deeper. His smiles. His waves. His cries. Coming to me. Sitting on my lap. Refusing to

Our Safety Net

2013-05-05T11:15:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we found another short sale house that was in our price range and the style I want. We wanted to be in primary position with the offer so submitted an offer before we saw it. After our agent had our offer turned in, we went to see it. The house is cute. Very small. But clean and smells clean and move in ready. However because it is a short sale, we won't be moving until fall at

Con-GRAD-ulations!

2013-05-04T07:43:00.000-06:00

Last August, Casey officially earned is Associate of Science in Information Systems & Technology. We were not planning on having him graduate with his A.S. degree. But last summer as he was applying for jobs, he was not getting any interviews. One company told him something about being under qualified and that he needed some education or experience to back him up. Well, Casey started looking at

The Silent Bidding War

2013-05-02T07:05:00.000-06:00

We found another house that we like. Well, mostly like. It needs some TLC before we could move in so that part we don't like so much. But it has the potential to be liked! :) I placed an offer on it yesterday before Casey had even seen it. After work, we went together to go see it. But I feel like we entered a silent auction. Seriously. We found out later that the seller's agent is

Nonverbal Communication

2013-04-30T07:19:00.000-06:00

I remember a young toddler in our student ward that had one form of communication. Screaming. I also remember talking to the mom and telling her what I had learned in some of my child development classes. Supposedly, you can teach a screaming toddler to talk or at least sign. Lesson learned. I will never share textbook answers with anyone without real life experience as back up. Devin is just

Memories

2013-04-24T07:33:00.000-06:00

Casey and I were watching the sweetest movie the other night, "Love Begins." And I fell in love with this quote by Clark Davis, the main character. "Memories are what our lives end up being. We gotta hang on to the good ones. Let the bad ones go-- never let 'em haunt us." These are some of the memories I'm hanging on to!! I absolutely LOVE this!! He

Verge of Tears

2013-04-19T15:59:00.001-06:00

Short sale homes are a LOOOOOONG process. And ours doesn't seem to be getting any faster. I'm on the verge of tears. I just talked to our real estate agent and unfortunately, he doesn't know very much because he is just the messenger. All of the communication with the bank goes through a negotiator who then talks to the seller's agent. The seller's agent then tells our agent who then tells us.

Praying!

2013-04-17T14:42:00.001-06:00

I hear about the tragedy in Boston. I read about a friend whose baby is in ICU. I watch as people I love go through a separation. When I think about the trials that others are going through, it makes mine seem insignificant. But we need your prayers. I just talked to our agent. We are still in the housing limbo land with no news yet. But the problem is that housing prices are going up. And if

The Awaited Phone Call

2013-04-16T08:20:00.001-06:00

Generally, we have a rule that we don't answer the phone during dinner time. That is family time and we treasure being together. But last night my phone rang. I saw it was our real estate agent. And we have been anxiously waiting for his phone call. So I make an exception to our family dinner togetherness time and answer the phone call. "Hi Lisa. How are you?" I didn't even answer the