Feeling Settled

Today I woke up feeling settled.

This is strange considering we moved yesterday.

And even stranger considering what the house currently looks like....boxes everywhere...furniture in the wrong rooms...piles of random stuff....old curtains that are not ours hanging on the windows still. Seriously...here are some pictures:

But yet, I do feel settled in a way. Content.

This is the 8th home Tom and I have lived in together...and we celebrate our 8 year anniversary in just a few weeks.


But we bought this one.

Sidenote: How does anyone move with family and a church family around? Between the help we had moving heavy things...setting up beds, cleaning, watching our kids....and so much more...I am just not quite sure how anyone can possibly do these things alone! Thank you Jesus for the people in our lives!

We could live here forever. I am not crazy enough to say that we definitely will because you never know where God will lead us but still, just knowing that it is ours and we can stay makes it so different.

I can unpack one box at a time and PUT IT AWAY! I am not trying to think of how I can store things in a way that will be easy to move them next year. I can take my time trying to figure out where exactly I want things because there is no rush to make it feel like home....

....it is home and in many ways, I already feel settled....not organized...but settled.

There is NOTHING wrong with renting...especially in the area where we live in NY where the Taxes are ridiculously high. God had an amazing plan for us in renting for the last 8 years that allowed Tom to get his degree without us having to fix house problems or take care of a lawn and each step and job and place we have lived has led us to this point. We feel very clear on that and that this is the home that God has for us now.

So....I feel settled. Settled in God's grace. Settled in contentment. I pray that I can keep that feeling and knowing that God's plan is ALWAYS better than mine.

I heard this song on the radio this morning and the chorus describes how I feel....and the first verse really describes how I have been feeling without realizing how much I longed to feel settled. Today is Day One of the rest of my life....Day One of the BEST of my life.

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Oh the moving we do!

We moved...again! haha. Although I am sure that most of you know that already, it did happen kind of suddenly. I kind of feel like my head is spinning. On May 31st, we decided we would look for a place close to Tom's new job. On June 2nd we looked at a place. He started the job on June 9th and we moved last Friday, June 27th. CRAZY! Moving with four kids is really not that much fun but we made it work. So far, our new place seems great. Our landlord seems really nice and on top of things and we are psyched to be close enough to walk to area parks, stores and the library. Best of all, Tom's commute is literally a  6 minute stroll in the park. Yep....he walks!

I just ordered him galoshes. HA!

I think I have moving down to a science although it always comes with expenses that are unexpected. We hired movers for the first time ever and it was amazing not having to move any of the heavy stuff ourselves. But....their estimate was way off and it cost twice as much as the estimate they gave us. BLAH! Then, there are always things like window coverings and shower curtains (our last place had a shower door) and we needed an air conditioner or the third floor playroom would have been useless! haha. We've pretty much blown any chance at affording a date night for the next few months but it's all good. Thankfully, Tom and I are pretty good at spending time together at home :) When we dated, we used to do puzzles and listen to Sermons.....soooo...back to that!

Once it is organized, this will be my favorite place....there is enough room for a whole section to be dedicated to my crafting stuff!! wahooo!!!!

We have been enjoying village living and being able to walk to the park, the pool, the store and the library!

And this is the first time I have even gotten my laptop out in over a week. So....I have a million more things to write about moving. Ideas, Organizational things I've learned (and am trying to use) among many other things so hopefully I will write again soon!!

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Moving

We are moving.

Since Tom and I married 6 year and 2 months ago, we have lived in FIVE different places so you'd think I'd be a pro by now...but I am far from it. We have NEVER been organized when moving and I really wanted it to be different this time.

In March of 2008, we moved from our little one bedroom apartment to a townhouse. I was 6 months pregnant and as soon as we moved, I came down with Pneumonia. We had never even finished unpacking from getting married so moving was VERY disorganized....then we added all of the much needed baby items.

The next year, Tom's brother was going to move in with us for a year so we needed an extra bedroom. Because of the timing of leases, we first had to move in with my parents for 1 month. At this time, I was having gallbladder issues (undiagnosed at the time) and was really sick. So...we packed (or threw) things in boxes (again in a super disorganized manner) and put it all in my parents garage for a month.

One month later, we moved into a larger townhouse.  One week after that, I had gallbladder surgery and yet one month after that, found out we were expecting our second child. You can imagine that none of this helped with giving me time to reorganize or sort things out...so we kind of just lived in a mess.

One year later, Libby was six weeks old and we were yet again preparing to move to the duplex where we now live. I was geared up to pack things we wanted, throw things away, donate, organize and finally unpack those wedding gifts I had never used! Then Libby came down with RSV and ended up in the hospital for a week! This truly was one of the worst weeks of my life.

So, once again, it came down to shoving things in boxes and moving junk to yet another house.

Now, we have been in the same place for almost 4 years...but in two weeks, we are moving once again. Of course this comes at a time when life is crazy but I think I have just come to realize that life is always going to be crazy.

We have been packing every night. Putting things at the curb every week. Selling things on Craiglist like mad and making lists galore. I somewhat expect things to go terribly wrong in the next week because that is what I am used to but also believe that God has great things in store for us.

I am truly thankul for the opportunity we have to move to a house with a little more space and lot more yard for us. It is going to be a great blessing and we are all very excited. We have been doing some painting at the new place and have a bunch more to do but it is fun making it feel like home even before we live there.

I just want to encourage any of you that feel each day like there is no way you can possibly accomplish what you need to. Just take a deep breath and take one step at a time. God carries us through. He will make a way.

And if worse comes to worse...it takes a bit longer than you hoped to get to the end point.

Yes, I feel crazy but I am really trying to lean on God each minute of the day. It will all get done one way or another. Someday, my kids will be old enough to help with stuff like this but for now, I am just going to appreciate what God has provided for us.

(Before and after pictures of our new home to come soon...we are having fun transforming things!)