Please Pray....

This whole house buying thing is really stressful.

I kept wondering why... in the beginning of the process things were going so smoothly. Well it's only towards the end, the crucial time when things get wild and crazy. Basically settlement was supposed to happen March 5th, then March 11th, then today.

NO SETTLEMENT. The loan company is being crazy, wanting proof of something they already have proof of. Everything else is set and ready to go. I have packed it all, I have cleaned the apartment from top to bottom waiting. I have to be out in a week. If I don't go to settlement by then I will have to figure out a temporary living situation. Which would suck.

Here's a list of reasons it would suck. *Bulleted*

• I'd have to move all my stuff twice. Once to my temporary location (storage, or an apt) then to the house.
• I'd have to figure out where the cats would go.
• I'd have to couch surf and put stuff in storage or get a short-term lease apartment.
• I'd be putting out more money I don't need to.
• I'd essentially be homeless.
• I'd be ticked off.

Here's a list of reason's I'd get over it:

• It'd be an adventure.
• I'd get over it.
• Sassy wants to stay in a hotel.

Whatever happens I know God will cover me. I know He's got it. I can't understand His plans and ideas. Who knows who I'd meet in that crazy homelessness process and who I'd be able to minister to or who would minister to me. I don't question His plans. I just follow them. But I'm really banking on us going to settlement as soon as possible, then we move as soon as possible, then I clean the old apartment and everything's great.

Sooooooooooooooooo pray for a girl, will ya???? :D

Sassy's birth.....DAY

Well The Sweet Sassinator is 11 today. What.the.heck??? :|

So you want a story? Would you like it in list-form? Do you have the stomach for it? Ok. Then read.

• I moved out at 18.
• I got knocked up by 19 and I was inexperienced in many areas of life, including diet and exercise.
• First of all to be pregnant at this age when I was on my way to moving to Philly with a friend and going to art school was devastating.
• I stayed behind. How else was I supposed to take care of this baby?
• Her dad stayed with me and we raised the baby together pretty happily for many years.
• Back to the story.
• After going to a pregnancy crisis center I didn't know what was going to happen or how.
• My parent's never raised me to eat healthy or exercise.
• They were "intellectuals". Reading all the time.
• They hated sports and I can't ever remember a time when I exercised as a child.
• I did take a little bit of volleyball and hap-ki-do when I was younger but I always gave up.
• So. As a 19yo girl I eat whatever I wanted and barely moved.
• Her dad didn't help the matter. He was 6'3" 285. A football player and big eater.
• We would get steak dinners for lunch everyday on my lunch break.
• I worked temp jobs while I was pregnant because I couldn't wait tables being a balloon like I was.
• I worked in downtown Baltimore as a lawyer's secretary.
• That was an adventure.
• I had such bad morning sickness for five months I would puke twice in the morning.
• So when I'd get ready to take the bus downtown Baltimore I'd throw up every morning right before the bus came and then again when I got to work. It was bad.
• I liked working downtown because I did get out and walk on my lunch break sometimes. To explore.
• Blah blah blah, long story short I moved to a bigger apartment when I was 8 months pregnant.
• I kept wanting to rearrange the furniture especially when pappa bear wasn't home.
• I was a week late. And was miserable. You can imagine.
• I decided to move the giant t.v. we had.
• Well that set off alarms and I went into labor.
• I had to call pappa bear home to take me to the hospital.
• By the time I get there I am about ready to go. NO EPIDURAL!
• What? Huh? Oh no.
• I didn't take any Lamaze classes or anything to prepare myself.
• And nothing could have prepared me for the pain of contractions.
• Holy cow. The worst pain you can imagine. It feels like your body is going to explode.
• So I'm tryin' to get this baby out and I'm not handling the pain so well. I wasn't "BREATHING"
• I finally get her head out. By this time I'm ready to die and I still have to get her body out.
• I am pushing and pushing and pushing but nothing.
• Her shoulders are too big and she's losing breath. She can't breathe.
• So the nurses are pushing on my belly like maniacs.
• Poking me in places they shouldn't be.
• Screaming at me to push. As if I am NOT pushing.
• She is turning purple.
• The doctor takes a knife and cuts me right down the middle. :|
• Apisiotomy.
• Ow. No numbing, nothing like that.
• They rip the baby out so fast.
• They take her and do little baby cpr or whatever they do to get her to breathe.
• I am dying. Like ready to die. And screaming (the whole time)
• My family is in full-tears not tears of happiness but tears of horror.
• So they finally get her breathing. Thank goodness.
• They finally start to stitch me up (37 stitches).
• I found out she is 10 pounds 7 ounces, 22 inches long. A small giant.
• The only problem with that is the numbing medicine wore off right in the middle.
• I can feel them stitching me. :| what.the.heck.
• So they had to numb me again.
• And I want to die again.
• So they wheel me into my room. No baby. And I sleep.
• Baby is going to be on oxygen and watch for most of the day.
• I sleep like you can't imagine.
• I wake up at 11:00 pm and I am finally able to see the baby.
• I didn't get to hold her after, nothing sweet like that.
• I get to hold her and she is looking at me saying, I'm hungry.
• Me too. So I ate some supper and she looked at me with envy. ;-)
• It was quiet and just us 3 at this time.
• Once I was awake the doctor comes in to talk to me.
• He tells me it is the worst delivery he has ever done.
• And he's an older guy. :|
• He then tells me that when he ripped out the baby he tore her brachial plexus nerve in her arm.
• Her arm is completely limp.
• It will require tons of therapy to recover it.
• :|
• Fast forward to when she's 6 and she's at Johns Hopkins hospital, getting tendon transfer surgery for her arm. Therapy didn't recover it.
• And her arm has and never will be right.
• So baby and I hang out and I feel the greatest love a person could possibly feel.
• Greater than a husband, a pet, your parents. Indescribable love.
• :D
• And today she is 5'3" and 11 years old.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SASSINATOR!!

An early celebration

For Sassy's soon-to-be-11th birthday.

You see we go to settlement on our house Thursday, March 11th. Sassy's 11th birthday. She's getting an awesome present if you ask me. A house! So the night of settlement Sassy and I will have a special night in the new house with air mattress and movies and gnocchi and meat sauce. Friday the 12th we clean the new house and move lamps, plants, my tv, things like that. Saturday the 13th we move! I was planning on having a little birthday thing for her on Sunday the 14th. But that is just too much. It is too stressful. So we had an early get-to-gether with just the family. A very small party. We went roller skating then back to Grandmom's for some pizza, cake, and presents. She was so sweet. :0)

I had some of the best laughs ever! We had a great time.

More snow pics..

The dog I want...

So I have been waiting and wanting a dog for like 12 years now. I wouldn't get one before because I was a renter and I didn't want to risk having to get rid of a dog and the such...

Pretty soon (like between 6-9 days) I will be a HOMEOWNER!!!!!!

I will then be in search of my dog. I have done extensive research and it is almost impossible to find a reputable breeder whose puppies haven't somehow originated from a puppy mill. The puppy mill industry is so big that almost all pet shops get them from puppy mills. They don't think they are but they are. What happens is people are "hired" to house the puppies in a staging situation where the breeders look like reputable breeders but really get their puppies from puppy mills.

If you don't know much about puppy mills, here's a great website:

Avoiding Puppy Mills

Anywhoo I am in a great search for the right breeder. One I can visit the premises, preferably someone a friend knows. I want to be able to visit the mother while she is pregnant, and of course visit the puppies after birth all the way up until the time I take my baby boy home.

I am in search of a Boxer. I have wanted a boxer since I was little. It didn't help that when I house-sat for my friend her boxer and I had a little love affair. ;-) Everytime he sees me he goes crazy and cuddles me.

So anyway, keep posted for my baby-boy dog updates.

Please keep me in prayer this week. Buying a house is soooo stressful!! I've got just one week and I'm praying everything goes well.

Thanks!!

How ya'll doin?

So my laptop cord is mad-whack and I gotta check my 1000 emails by way of the library. don't mind the weird teen boys sitting next to me jumping in their seats because they did something awesome in WOW or dungeons and dragons. 0_o. **siggggghhh*

Not only that but instead of doing something constructive online with the hour the library allows you, I look at cute cuddly puppy pics on google images. :| Like I need to see those faces. They'll make me scream for joy and delight!!!

Who I am

Nicknames

So I love nicknames. To the point that I don't like calling people their names. Everyone has a purpose! Err I mean a nickname. So sometimes I get a little wild and talk in other personalities and voices. And last week I came up with some serious nicknames for our cats.

Cow-Cat:

This cat looks like a cow and so I always tell her to stop moo'in around and grazing in the pastures. So cow-cat's new nickname is:

the cow is grazing in the pastures and dragging her utters!

Babyface:

Has a baby-face. But since he's grown up his face is so big his new nickname is this:

Face with the baby attached!!!

Tt:

Tt's getting big. And she's part siamese so she has really skinny legs and a big body. She is solid muscle and she weighs a lot so I always call her african elephant or rhino. When she sleeps on my legs she is soooo heavy so her new nickname is:

Rhino leg-warmer!!!!

That is all!!!

You may go on with your day now.

;-)

Home Plans

I have years and years of home plans and renovations planned out and chosen. I need to be able to remember them so I'll write them here. :)

Here is a list of those plans: :O a list! Numbered list!!

1. Complete remodel of kitchen including new appliances, floors, counters & cabinets.
2. Tile removal in 1/2 bath, paint corner attached bookshelf.
3. Refinish hardwood floors.
4. Install coffered ceilings to living room and dining room *swoon*
5. Lattice separator for front deck.
6. Rip up carpet in attic, install white washed wood floors.
7. Remove wall tile from full bath.
8. Rip up and install new floors in full bath.
9. Tub resurface in full bath.
10. New vanity, mirror and light fixture in full bath.
11. New mud room lighting.
12. New blinds for all windows (which will take a long time, there are so many)
13. Gated fencing for side of house.
14. Take out chain link fencing and replace with vinyl in backyard.
15. Get a shed.
16. New front door.
17. Railing for back steps.
18. ADT security.
19. Fire extinguishers.
20. Replace smoke alarms.
21. Replace side-walking along the side of the house with pavers.
22. Powerwash house.
23. Install kayack and bike racks in basement.
24. Install lock on attic passageway door.
25. Replace basement door and install doggie door.

That should keep me outta trouble for a couple of years. ;-)

What I did this weekend...

DIGGGGGGGGGGGGGG MY CAR OUT. :| NOT HAVING A MAN SUCKS SOMETIMES. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HAVE A COLD AND YOUR TRYING TO GET OUR CAR OUT OF 2 FEET OF SNOW.


FACE WITH THE BABY ATTACHED IS TRYING TO GET LOOSE!!!! HE DOESN'T LIKE SNOW APPARENTLY.


POOR OL' BOY.


HOW WAS YOUR WEEKEND???

The house...

I know, it's not the white one. I know. But I like this one more. I'll explain later. :)

This is it. This is the house I am buying.

I am approved at a 5% loan and I put an offer on the house. The seller accepted it and pending a clean inspection I go to closing on March 5th. :D My mortgage guy and my real estate agent (a good friend) have covered me so well you wouldn't believe the deal!!! Holy.Moly. I can't believe I am approved for a house all by myself and that I'm buying it.

God has brought me from a place of sheer poverty as a single mom. Bartending, Deep in dirty debt, scrounging to pay my bills, almost being evicted every month. To flourishing, debt free, good credit, I own my own car, and soon I will be owning a home. The testimony in and of itself financially is a miracle. I will never understand why He is so good to me in this way but I won't argue with it and I take it in thankfulness everyday.

So I had the white house and this house as my #1 favorites but this house had no online photos of the inside of the property. So I assumed the white house was the one. I was wrong. The main thing that attracted me to the house was it's character and big yard. I did wonder how I was gonna take care of all that property. As if I ain't busy enough. Anyway I was driving by this ^ house and the painters were there and some other people. I got to take a tour. Holy moly.

I.LOVED.IT. LOVE.IT.

It is HUGE, has a lot of character, original hardwood floors, tons of windows and rooms, and SOOOOOOOOOOO much potential.

But the real kicker is this: it is cheaper than said white house. And it is in my town. Right in the heart of it. I can see the Chesapeake bay from my front porch. I can walk to the historic little town with all the shops and restaurants. It is also on a great street in town where lots of rehabbed Victorian homes are. :D

This home will be good for me. You see the other house was out in the boonies where I would easily be isolated. Not good for me. This is in the heart of it all. And we can bike ride everywhere and go kayacking whenever we feel like it.

Ahhhh.

Another thing is that God has literally paved the way. I haven't had any opposition or problems through the whole process. Which is pretty amazing. I am trusting this is what He wants for me for whatever reason and I look forward to a lot of memories being made and LOTS OF RENOVATIONS AND HOUSE PROJECTS!! :D I can't wait for that. First project: Completely demolish and replace the kitchen.

Oh and another thing: pretty soon we'll be getting one of these:

Thank you for your prayers friends. I am so blessed to have them!

My Interior Decorating Style

I never knew what my style was. I always thought it was a weird hodge-podge. But I found this:

A Quiz that finds your interior decorating style out for you!!

Click it.

What I found out is that I am:

Which makes a lot of sense. It truly is my style. If given ultimate funds I would have styles very similar to the pictures you see here:

^Notice the cats.

^My favorite. :)

Let me know what your style is.