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Our New Home – God’s Blessings Abound

Sorry it’s been so long since I have posted, but Derek and I have had a lot going on this past month. First and foremost … we are moving! Yay!! Photos appear at the bottom of the post, so make sure to take a peek. :)

We have been trying to decide if we should move to a new place or not for the last year or so; Derek needed more room for his computer repair business (PC Med Tech), and I needed a larger kitchen so I can continue to work on my cake decorating to get my own small business up and running.

It’s been a tough decision because Draylen graduates next year and if we wanted to, we would have the freedom to move out of state. We always thought we would move as soon as Draylen headed off to college, and if that were the case, it would be wiser to simply stay in the apartment until then. Here lately though, we have been feeling like maybe we should stay in the Flathead Valley. We have a church and a church family we love, Derek’s job is very steady, and we truly do love living such a beautiful part of the world. Ok, so we could do without the bitter cold in the winter, but hey … if you have a fireplace and someone to snuggle with, it isn’t always bad. ;)

We have been praying about this decision for a long time now and just when we thought we had made our decision to move after Dray graduates, God started opening doors to the most wonderful home we could have imagined! Not just cracking the door, mind you, but flinging that door wide open! It is times like these that you just sit back and say, “Wow, Lord! You couldn’t have spoken more clearly!”

Why do I say that? Here, let me give you some examples:

We thought we had found a duplex to rent until Dray graduates, and literally at the very last minute, it fell through due to the fact that he has a piano. (Weird!?)
I had bypassed the ad for this home multiple times because I never thought we would be able to afford it.
I emailed about it on a whim (after looking at it about 6 times! lol!) and lo and behold, things started falling into place.
The owners took it off the market so we could rent it, and also gave us the option to rent while we get our financing together to purchase it. Woo hoo!
It comes with 1.5 acres of land in a beautiful spot here in the Flathead Valley, and a little bit of land is what we had been praying for.
They are giving us an extra week at the end of the month to get moved in, so we don’t have to pay any cross-over rent.
Derek received an unexpected bonus at work, which we can use for the deposit.
We have an extra pay period this month, which we didn’t realize, so we are not going to be “crunched” getting moved in.
The current owners are related to some friends of ours from church … and we had no idea!
Last but not least, the home has everything we have specifically been praying for:

A.) A garage (this one has a huge double garage)
B.) A large kitchen – with a pantry
C.) A fireplace
D.) 2 bathrooms
E.) Room for Draylen’s piano
F.) Room for Derek to do his computer business
G.) Room for the grandkids to play (they are even leaving a swingset for us)
H.) An extra upright freezer for my cakes (they are leaving one of those too!)
I.) A front porch and a back patio
J.) Plenty of room to landscape and maybe even plant a veggie patch!

Needless to say, we are taking this as an answer that we are not supposed to be moving at this time in life, and this home could not be more perfect for us. It is almost 2,700 sq. feet, newly built – literally 1 year old, beautiful new appliances (including a convection oven!), with plenty of room for everyone in the family to do what they need to do.

I am so thankful to the Lord for blessing us with this home, and I am also thankful to T.J. and Krista for being so willing to not only offer their home to us, but to also be so willing to work with us on all of the details. We are incredibly excited, and so grateful! :)

Now, onto the photos! (Click to enlarge images)

Kind of a side/front view of the home. It even has columns on the front porch! Yay!	Second view of the front. Once we get some grass planted, it is going to be gorgeous.
This is the living room. Just love the large windows and the fireplace. So open and airy!	To the left are the stairs to the basement, and down the hall takes you to the bedrooms and bathrooms.
The kitchen – How awesome is this?? I can’t hardly wait to start baking! So much space. :)	This is the dining area. I am so loving these hardwood red oak floors! Walk-in pantry is the door to the left.

T.J. and Krista did a fabulous job of designing and building this home, and we are so looking forward to further beautifying it by putting our backs into the landscaping. It’s going to be a wonderful summer! Ok, I think I am done gushing now. :)

With my heart full of gratitude,

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Sir Maximus Mew Mew

Have you ever had “one of those days” where things are just tough? Where the day seems long, and you hope that tomorrow is better? Today was one of those days for me.

Sadly, we had to take our beautiful, ornery, spunky kitty to the animal hospital and have him put to sleep. Sir Maximus Mew Mew was both my greatest irritant and a huge piece of my heart at the same time.

He irritated me because he was sometimes more like a dog than a cat; he always had to be near me, was always underfoot, and if I didn’t pay enough attention to him, he liked to reach out and “swat” me as I walked by. He was always catching my sweats with his claws, or attacking my feet as I walked up the stairs. He definitely had personality. :)

He was also a huge piece of my heart because he was my ever-present companion while Derek was at work and Draylen was at school. If I came upstairs to work on websites for my clients, he would lie down on the little table next to my desk, and take his nap on the modem. I think he liked the warmth coming out of it. (see photo below) If I went downstairs, even just to get coffee, he was right behind me … mewing softly and rubbing up against my legs.

Maximus was also one of the only cats I ever saw that actually went to bed with me each night. He would stay up with me (usually sleeping on my lap) during my insomniac periods while I watched tv, but as soon as I would get up to go to bed, he would follow me into the bedroom, hop up on the bed, and either curl up next to my tummy or right on the top of my head on my pillow. He usually slept with us all night. Such a strange cat, but we loved him.

Having to put him to sleep today due to medical issues he was having was heartbreaking. I have been crying off and on all day, and being there when he went to sleep at the hospital was bittersweet. We stayed with him until the tranquilizer took effect, and he went to sleep with us petting him. We chose not to be there when they actually euthanized him. I don’t think I could have born it. I’m glad that we could be there with him to that point, but so incredibly sad that he wasn’t coming home with us.

In all honesty, I think I almost feel a sense of guilt about the whole matter. It’s hard to know that you are the reason your pet is no longer alive. Deep down, I know that it was best for him. Had we let his disease progress, it would have been incredibly painful for him. I couldn’t stand the thought of him being in pain simply because I was too selfish to give him back to God before he reached that point.

How I ever got so attached to Sir Maximus is beyond me. I can’t remember being this attached to any of my other pets before. Maybe I am getting soft with age, or maybe it is because he chose me when we went to the Humane Society to adopt him. We had actually gone there to adopt his sister, but every time I walked by him he reached his front leg out of the cage and flexed his little paw backwards like he was saying “Come here. I want you.”

I don’t know. All I do know is that I miss him already.

I am thankful for the time we had with Maximus, but for now, I think we are going to remain pet-less for a while.

Missing my kitty,