Boy, what a whirlwind of a day! Everything is such a blur. And it's a bad day for everything to be a blur, but more on that later. Right now I'm sitting in the laundry room here at the motel. I've never been to a laundromat before, so this is kind of cool. Four washers, six dryers (explain that?!) and only one great big burly guy that was kind of scary, so far. Everybody else has looked just like me. Regular, worn out people who had a long day and will feel much better once their things are fresh and clean again. ;-)

I'd tell you what we did on Saturday, but that's all a blur, too. I honestly can't remember. I think we must have driven around Rio Rancho some more, checking out neighborhoods and scoping out any more possibilities. We found a for-sale-by-owner house and had the guy show us through it. Nice, but just wouldn't work. Went into a big house that was having an open house. It has all of the space we would need, but I remember seeing the listing for this house a few months ago and it might have been a possibility if they hadn't raised the price on it. Like, $21,000! Is that nuts, or what?!

Yesterday was a bittersweet day. We had good services and God really blessed and helped us. It does feel so different now that we're really here to stay. I've always felt like a visitor before, but it's already beginning to feel like home. I've been a little worried because I haven't really felt anything for this Albuquerque church (I hope that's not misunderstood) and have been praying for God to really give me a burden for these people and this place. Yesterday was a great step in the right direction for me. I feel certain we're in the right place and I am glad to be here. That's the sweet part of the day. The bitter part is that James made our local church appointments and had to remove somebody from a teaching position who isn't a member of the Church and really doesn't qualify to be a member at this point in time. She was very hurt and disappointed and we're praying that God will help us to "mend" things with her and that in time she will be qualified to be a member and be used in The Church of God. But for now it's a really tough situation.

Sam asked for some money to put in the offering yesterday. I have his envelope of money in my purse and sometimes he wants to give his very own money in the offering and asks for his money. This time he didn't specify and I just grabbed some of my coins and gave to him. He took them, then swung around and asked if it was his money or my money. I told him it was mine and he said, "Good. I don't wanna spend all my money!" Then when Katie came by to receive the offering Sam put his coin packed fist behind his back, grinned, and said, "I don't have any." !!! He immediately received a good thump in the back of the head (the priviledges of sitting directly behind your children) and presented his fist. I heard the coins chink into the plate, but several seconds after Katie was gone he turned around and grinned at me, holding up one shiny nickel he had withheld. What a rat! That kid is a perfect heathen! Proving himself to be selfish and greedy, a liar, and a theif--all in a matter of 30 seconds!!! ~sigh~ I can't wait 'til my kids get saved!!!

Today was another wild and crazy day of house hunting with Jason. We had him take us all over tarnation and back again. When we first began considering our housing options in the Albuquerque area we had hoped to end up outside of the city, up in the east mountains somewhere. I am sooooo much a mountain girl at heart and would just love to be there. But it looked like all of the doors there were closing, so I really surrendered that to the Lord and felt like I had really placed my heart in the city--and was almost excited about living here. But in the past week or so some new mountain properties have become available and some of the old ones have lowered their prices, making them possibilites for us. So we asked Jason if he'd take us out there one last time. We knew we would either stumble across a new option out there, or our searching today would further confirm our decision to make an offer on "my" house or "James" house here in town. Well...

The first house was in a great location--in the mountains, but only a few minutes away from Albuquerque. It had some issues, but we thought about considering it anyway. Second house was a bit further out, but a definite NO. Third house was 1400+ sq. ft. two bedroom house, log sided, with fantastic views off the front porch. Fourth house was a darling little 3 bedroom stone house with 2 acres, entirely fenced. A beautiful home and we might could have made it work, but not for the price considering the changes we would have to make. The fifth house... well, we never actually found the fifth house! We tried and tried, but to no avail. Jason actually grew up in the area, but he was just as lost as we were. There was lots of mud and snow and slush and we almost got stuck or hurt several times, but managed to come out unscathed. When we finally gave up on looking for that house (who wants a house that nobody can find?! I want to have COMPANY, for goodness' sake!), we went back to the third house to take another look. To make a long story short (think I can do it??? Nah!!!), we went to Jason's office and filled out the paperwork to put an offer in on it. And now...

I'm scared to death!!! I've had this miserable, sinking feeling in my gut all night long. This is the 4th house that we've put an offer in on, but I really think we're going to GET this one. It's priced much, much lower than the others we've tried for and we can afford to come up--really, to the asking price if we need to--and still be able to afford to do what needs done to it. It's not that I don't like the house, it's just that buying a house is so... BIG. I remember this same terrible, nervous feeling when we went to sign the papers on our Andrews house. It's just scary to buy a house, you know?! And besides that, we saw this house for the very first time at 2:00 this afternoon and at 6:00 we were signing papers!!! Whoa!!! That's just a wee bit fast for this girl! I never have handled change very well and this is like total whiplash. I was all set to have a house in Rio Rancho (northern Albuquerque), in the city. And then *POOF* we're landing a house in the mountains--in a matter of just a few short hours! Deep down, I know I'd really rather be in the mountains. But I had surrendered that and just didn't expect for it to happen, you know?! And it seems to be happening so fast! That's another thing. I don't know this house! We just barely met! Does it have a pantry?! Beats me! I can't remember! How many kitchen cabinets are there--will I have enough room for everything I have now? Who knows! And for some reason, I didn't take a single picture of this joint. I usually keep my camera tied around my neck when we're house hunting and take multiple pictures of every room--every possible angle--so I can go back and answer all of the questions I think of later on. Not this time. Scary!!!

Actually, that's how I felt for the first few hours, but I'm feeling much better now. I know that we've done a whole lot of praying about this move for the past several months and I trust that God will work it out according to his plan. And there's still no guarantee that this offer will go through! The guy could just say, "Whoa, Nellie! I don't think I'm ready for this!" and just yank it off the market. After all, he only listed it 4 days ago (really!) and this might be a little overwhelming for a guy who has no idea where he's going to go next! Anyway, God still knows best and I still trust him. And James is soooooooo excited. I think I will be too, once I get it settled in my heart again that God may actually let me live in the mountains after all! :-)

So let me tell you about this place...

It has just over a half acre of land, fully fenced. Like I said, it is 1400+ sq. ft. and only has two bedrooms, both of which are very large. It has two full bathrooms, the guest bath needing new floors and some serious cleaning, but hopefully nothing more. The master bathroom is... interesting! It's very, very big and... empty! Ha! I mean, it has a sink, a toilet and a tub (boy, does it ever have a tub!), but there's lots of great big empty space in the middle of the room. I'm not sure what to do with it! Ha! Anyway, the tub is really something. It doesn't have any jets or anything (I'm happy about that--I've heard they get clogged up all the time), but it's HUGE. It's a great big oval thing that the kids could probably swim in. Ha! Seriously, it's got to be 7' long. Bizarre! And then there's all this open floorspace in the room, a toilet, and the little itty-bittiest pedestal sink you've ever seen in your life! Ha! Crazy. It's like the tub was fashioned for King Kong and the sink for Tiny Tim. Anyway...

The master bedroom is very big, too, and even has a wood stove in the corner. Kind of weird, but very cozy! There's a nice sized closet and a linen closet as well.

The living room has a wood stove, too, and a tile floor. I always prefer carpet in living rooms (it just feels more cozy and comfortable), but it's nice tile and I'll be happy with some big cushy rugs in there. It's actually a living room/dining room combo thing, next to the kitchen. I think it's what they call a "great room" when they're all smooshed together like that. The kitchen is rather small and needs a little work. There are some dippy tiles all over the one wall (white ones with blue birds and such craziness) that will have to go, and we could stand for a new sink and new counters. The cabinets will be fine, but I'll probably paint them. Something very country. :-) I am a wee bit concerned about cabinet space, but there's a small area over to the right of the kitchen that has hardwood floors that I will probably end up putting some sort of table or something at which to do school with the kids, and there might be some room for extra "storage" over there. I'll just have to do lots of thinking to come up with HOW I want to do it.

The laundry area is down the hall from the kitchen, which is much better than actually IN the kitchen! The second bedroom is very large, which is a very good thing since all three kids will be sharing it for a while--along with some office stuff, too, probably! It has a nice sized closet as well.

And that's the entirety of the house! BUT... it also has a two car garage that is already insulated and finished out, ceiling included (even a sky light), all except for the side with the garage door. So we plan to put up a couple of walls and create a third bedroom and a den area. AND...

There is a little storage shed outside that already has electricity running to it, so it would be relatively simple (we think!) to finish that out for an office for James. Perfect! So there you have it--all the rooms we would need! There is room behind the house for a carport if we ever decided we needed one.

The house is located up in the mountains and while there are neighbors quite close, it doesn't really feel like it because of all the trees and mountainish stuff around you. There is a deck on the front of the house and the views are just gorgeous. Although the "yard" is mostly just the mountain that it is, there is an area out front for a nice little patch of grass (would God bless me with mountains AND grass?!) and some nice landscaping touches like rock steps in one area and wood steps in another--even the beginnings of what will eventually be a little stream and fountain going under a mini bridge, of sorts, that you walk over to get to the front deck! Wow.

Truth be known, there are a lot of things I don't know what to do with in this house and it's going to take some serious thinking and planning to figure it all out. But I'm sure it will work, in time! (And after living in a motel room for a few weeks it will feel like a mansion to have two whole bedrooms!) And there are so many things to love, just as it sits. Namely: location, location, location! :-)

So there you have it. We went, we saw, we put an offer in House #4, we at Schlotzky's for dinner, I did all the laundry, I blogged and now I go to bed. It's been a full day. :-) It was great, but hopefully tomorrow will be a little less eventful. I'm hoping for breakfast (hhmmm... what's for breakfast--we ran out of milk today!), devotions, school, and ironing. Maybe a nap. Ha! Not with three kids and a dog, all hyper from being cooped up and not able to run! Anyway, that's the latest from around here. Please help us pray for God's will, and that alone. I'll be posting again soon!!! I hope. :-)