Last year around this time I wrote this blog entry to explain a bit about my trips away each year. This year I’m going to go a tiny bit further. God is teaching me that He put this event in my life for a reason, and it wasn’t to hide it away and never speak of it. But I also learned this trip that I can’t ask too much of myself too soon. So consider this a baby step.

This quote was something I came across a number of years ago, although I forget where from. And it is where the whole idea for trips away kind of came from – or perhaps at least how I justified them.
“The world will not stop and our true God ordained ministries will not end when we take the time to let God make us healthier and better equipped.”

Every trip seems to end up having a theme. And this year’s theme came from the ending of Charles Dickens’ short story The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain where essentially a man sells his soul to the devil in order to forget everything bad that’s ever happened to him. But another character says this to him:

“…May I tell you why it seems to me a good thing for us, to remember wrong that has been done to us?” Milly says.
“Yes,” Redlaw answers her.
“That we may forgive it….And if, if your memory should one day be restored as we will hope and pray it may be, would it not be a blessing to you to recall at once a wrong and its forgiveness?”

It struck me as I read that a few weeks ago, What if that is a part of what God wants from this whole experience? Please don’t misunderstand my thought process here, but what if I would truly begin to remember, and that I might be able to one day remember the event and then instantly remember my forgiveness of the wrong done to me. Perhaps I am to even take it a step further and not only remember my forgiveness of the wrong done to me but in the same thought remember God’s forgiveness of me and how much He has done for me. Then it follows that each memory of the event would trigger even more memories of God’s faithfulness, and then, in a way, the entire thing would become a way that causes God to be glorified. Again, please don’t misunderstand my thought process. But when you grow up as a child reciting the Westminster Catechism saying that my chief end is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” and then something like this happens, you start to wonder how it all fits in. But maybe little Milly under the hand and pen of Charles Dickens hit on something. There is a way to glorify God in all of this, and it starts by remembering and forgiving.

Anyways, that is just a taste of what God was speaking to me about these few days away. But here is a little peek at our trip in pictures.

Last May we bought a terrific LivingSocial deal for 3 days/2 nights at a hotel in Breckenridge, Colorado.

It was a beautiful area, and the room was nice and spacious.

 
Luna was very excited to be there!

The view from our porch on Day 1 and then Day 2.

The Double Tree hotels are famous for their “warm cookie upon arrival” and we each got one when we checked in. They were super yummy but you sure do need a glass a milk to dunk them in! Here is the cookie, and then Andrew took a bite out of his so it would match the picture on the bag.

Here we are, finally all settled in and about to go walk around the town.

We found Main Street, and a lot of cute shops, museums, and restaurants.

The scenery was beautiful too – even without any snow on the slopes!

In this picture I am on a mission. The ONE bookstore on Main Street was closing because the owner is retiring and it was just a bunch of almost empty shelves. Our phone maps told us of another bookstore just off of Main Street, and I was determined to find it and spend some quality time there writing and reading (thus the reason my purse is so jam-packed!).

But alas, there was no bookstore. It was just a weird coffee shop. So we headed back to Main Street and spent that quality time writing and reading in Starbucks.

When I needed a break from my writing, we did some shopping

I have wanted a pair of Toms shoes for a very long time. Most of the unique styles are only available online though, and I don’t buy shoes online because they never fit my feet. But when we saw a store that sold them, I went in to try them on and fell in love with them. They’re great, and super comfy. Even the plain colored ones were very nice – and now they’ve expanded to a lot of different styles. If you don’t know about the mission of Toms products, you can read about it here.

I’ve also been very interested in the legend of Kokopelli, the Indian flute player, ever since I was 8 years old and started playing the flute. I found a great little shop that was having a grand opening sale and found this double sided Kokopelli necklace that I LOVE.

There may have been no bookstores in Breckenridge, but we found an adorable little library. We had to walk a mile to get there, but it was worth it. My wonderful husband let me sit there as long as I wanted, people watching, writing, and reading.

It was probably my favorite place of the entire trip.

This was Luna’s favorite place the entire trip – under the table in our hotel room.

She also liked being on the porch when we left the door open.

On the drive back home we passed this beautiful lake and then this weird little building with antlers all over it!

And then we passed a sign – my husband’s worst nightmare – for ANOTHER library! This time in the town of Frisco, Colorado. My super extra wonderful husband said that this trip was all about me and what I needed/wanted to do, so we turned off the main road in an attempt to find an extrememly well hidden library. He let me stay at this one too, reading and writing as long as I wanted.

So that was my Trip Away 2012.  Let me leave you with one last quote that God brought continually to mind these last couple of days.  This one is from Corrie ten Boom:
“Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.”

I remembered.  I wrote.  I forgave.  To God be the glory.

A few years ago I got it in my head that I wanted to complete a triathlon – don’t ask me why.  It was just one of those “bucket list” things.  2 summers ago I started training for a tri with a group at my gym, and since then it has been a LONG journey to get to where I am today – A TRIATHLETE!  There were a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of setbacks, but I have finally done it.  This race today was my last chance to do one this year.  The Tri season here in Colorado doesn’t last past September because October often is too cold and snowy.  If I wanted to do one this year, it had to be today’s or I would have to wait until next summer.  I’ve maintained motivation for 2 years, but I didn’t think I could keep it up another year – especially with all the physical setbacks I have had this season.

Not long after I found this tri I found out I had to have gall bladder surgery, and I knew that I would be cutting it close.  So, on my very first meeting with my surgeon I told him about the race and asked him if it would be safe for me to try to compete in it.  He said that basically it would be safe for me to complete it,  but not to consider myself a serious contender.  I would not be able to train much in the couple of weeks post-surgery and pre-race, but that the race itself was well within the date of safety – it was just a matter of how I felt.

I felt like doing a triathlon. 

I didn’t train much, and what training I did just showed me how slow I’d have to go (I was anticipating to walk the entire 5k for example), but I was determined.  And today, crossing that finish line and knowing I was a triathlete, made it all worth it.  Here are A LOT of pictures about my day.  My wonderful hubby came to support me and took pictures at every point he was allowed to be at.

(Speaking of which, we forgot the memory card for the camera – I had left it in the computer from the last time I uploaded pictures.  So that wonderful hubby of mine did a little race of his own to the closest walmart while I was setting up my transition area! !)

We were told to get to the race site one hour before our start time.  My start time (based on my anticipated swim time) was 7:28 am.  We had to park at a different building though and walk over, which I was nervous about, so we got there in plenty of time.  Yesterday I attended a First Timers Pre-Race meeting and a seasoned triathlete explained everything we needed to know about what would happen throughout the day, what to expect, and how to prepare.  For example, he talked about setting up your transition area and showed us how he sets up his.  Here is mine:
 

My bike is hooked to a bar by its handlebars – you can’t really see that.  Then I have a towel laid out next to it with everything I’ll need for transitions.  My shammy towel, my sunglasses, my mirror that attaches to my sunglasses, tissues, extra water bottles, hat, etc.

First up was the swim!  450 meters, and it was set up so that we snaked down the entire length of the pool, swimming width wise (the width was 25 meters) 18 lengths. We’d swim down one length, duck under the lane line, and then swim back, then duck under, then swim down, over and over.  Then when we got to the end of the pool, we’d pull ourselves out and race out the door!

   
You can see me at the end of the line in the 3rd picture – gray/white swimsuit, white cap. We were all being sent out in 10 second increments.

I passed about 4 people in the swim, but we all got caught up in a bottleneck at the end.

Next came the first transition – swim to bike!  Out the door into the FREEZING COLD in my suit.  I had to dry off a tiny bit, put on clothes on top of my suit (my choice), put my shoes on, put my helmet on and buckle it, then grab my bike and run for the bike exit! That orange thing around my ankle was my timing chip. 

Next was a 13 mile bike ride. Obviously, Andrew couldn’t come on that, but he caught pictures of me arriving back! There was an enthusiastic half-naked body builder flexing his muscles to show me which way to go – thus the funny smile.  I wonder why Andrew didn’t get a picture of that?!

Next was the second transition – bike to run.  I had to re-set my bike on the bar, take off my helmet, pin my number to the front of my shirt, grab my hat and water bottle, and set off through the run exit.

And then I was off on a 5k!  I ended up running a little bit of it, taking walking breaks.  It is hard mentally to just walk fast when so many people around you are running.  But my body and incision sites felt good enough to run some, so the run portion ended up taking me only a little over 40 minutes, which was much better than I was expecting. 

I made it!!

Here I am at home, showing off my body markings.  The guy at the first timers meeting said to NOT wash off the body markings, and then tomorrow wear a shirt with sleeves that showed at least the bottom number.  Then when people ask why you have numbers on your arms you can say, “Oh that? I did a triathlon yesterday.”

And finally, they gave us shirts!  I was told once to never wear a shirt for a race you didn’t actually do – so now I have one of my very own that I HAVE done, and I’m incredibly proud of it!

And interesting side note from the race – there were two paraplegics competing and it was cool to watch them.  Andrew got a couple pictures of their bikes.

And then finally, just some other pictures from the day.

Overall I just had so much fun, and I’m so proud that I finally met a personal goal I’ve had for a long time.  I’m addicted now and I can’t wait to do another one!  Once this soreness wears off that is…

My husband’s work schedule recently changed and I’m finding myself home alone more than I’m used to.  To fill those lonely hours, I have been getting very crafty!  Here is a sampling of some of the stuff I’ve been working on!

Of course, I made the super cute crocheted bunny that you can read about in my previous post

I also found an adorable little stamping, scrapbooking, and paper crafts store not too far from my home and I have been taking classes there! My first class was called Tags Tags Tags! and we made all these cute tags.

My second class was called Stamping 101 – so we learned all the basic techniques and all kinds of stuff about different types of inks and stamps and when to use what.  It was very interesting.  Then we made these cards using those different techniques.  We wrote the descriptions on the back so that when we are making our own projects and want to have a certain look, we can use these as references to remember what to do.

But by far my biggest project has been my very first QUILT!!  Years ago I went with my mom to a quilt show (I mostly agreed to go to spend time with my sister and see my super cute nephew).  At the time, I was NOT into quilting.  My mom has quilted for a very long time, but our tastes are very different, and I never had any interest in making those kinds of quilts.  But this quilt show really opened my eyes!  There were so many styles!  Cute quilts, and modern quilts, and crazy quilts, and quilts that told stories.  I was fascinated.  I came home with a kit that day – a kit for a summery flip/flop quilt.  I had intended to make it into my bedspread.  But, also at that time I was committed to doing ONE project at a time and not starting a new one until the previous one was finished.  I had a series of cross-stitch pieces I was making, so the quilt had to wait.

One day, in an effort to break me of this One Project At A Time slogan I had, a quilting friend came over and she and my mom helped me cut out all the pieces for the main quilt top. It required some hand stitched applique, so I started making those.  But everything else had to be machine sewn and I didn’t have a machine yet. Fast forward a LONG TIME and I was getting married and moving, so we got me a super cute absolutely tiny little wee sewing machine.  It is adorable.  And just the right size to fit in the tiny little apartment Andrew and I would be having.

Before I made the quilt though I had to practice a lot on the machine because I was new at it and I didn’t want to make mistakes on my quilt.  Finally the time came when I felt comfortable enough using it AND I have all this time alone now, so out came the quilt.  I cut all the sashing for all the blocks and sewed them on.  Here is an example:

You can see the hand sewn applique in that picture too.  Then when I had all the blocks done, I put them all together in different ways until I found color combinations I liked.  Then I sewed all the blocks into 4 rows, and then all 4 rows together.  I did all that in one day!  I can’t believe it!

Look at that!  I still have to do the inner and outer borders, and then obviously the back, but this is such a huge accomplishment for me that I feel the need to show it off a little now!

But I now understand the addiction of quilting and I can’t wait to get this one finished and then start on the next 3 quilt kits I have waiting for me!

A few years ago, I started doing what are known in my family as Crisis of Life Projects.  When going through a particularly trying, stressful, and negative life event, I change that outlook into a craft project.  It gives my hands something to do and my mind something to focus on instead of succumbing to sadness or depression.  It gives me something fun and new to do and in the end I have something beautiful that I might never have had if I hadn’t gone through that particular life event.

My last Crisis of Life project was this crocheted afghan:

When my mom came to visit, we decided that Gallbladder Surgery warranted just such a Crisis of Life project.  I was warned that coming out of surgery I might be very depressed for awhile, plus I would have countless of recovery hours to fill with something.  Mom and I searched for a good Crisis of Life project to fit the situation.  I wanted to get fabrics with different foods on them to make a quilt or something, documenting all the food I couldn’t eat with my diseased gallbladder as well as the food that I was craving and would be able to eat again after my gallbladder (affectionately named Gustav) was removed.  But no such fabric was available.

It was then that I mentioned a crocheted rainbow bunny I had started a VERY long time ago, but hadn’t gotten very far on.  I had finished the head, part of the body, and part of the a leg and then had set it aside, but had not yet returned to it.  So, we decided to make finishing it be my Crisis of Life project.  It is a rainbow pattern with a lot of bright colors – truly a cheerful project.  Each body part is made and stuffed separately, then attached to the body with buttons, so the limbs are movable.  Then the facial features are simply stitched on with yarn. 

And now, just about 3 weeks since my surgery, I finished it!

Isn’t that adorable?  It’s GIGANTIC, but I think it is one of the cutest things I have ever made.  Although it was time consuming (because of the size) it was relatively easy to make and didn’t take too much concentration (if you know basic crochet stitches).  Here it is with Andrew so you can get a better idea of size.

This is the website where I downloaded the instructions from (I had originally gotten this magazine, which gave me the idea, but once I decided to actually make the bunny, I had misplaced the magazine.  But this website lets you download it for free). This would be a great gift for a child if anyone is interested in making one, and although I followed the colors in the pattern, you could use whatever color scheme you wanted.

These show a closer look at the button attachments, the facial features, and the tail.  The tail is a crocheted circle as the base, and then a latch-hook effect with 5″ strings of yarn in a random spacing of the yarn colors.  Mine isn’t as bushy as the pattern pictures, but it is still pretty cute.

Mom and I texted back and forth about B names (since it is a Bunny, and we have a thing for alliterations – long story).  I decided it was a girl, and we finally named her Brietta Bunny.  Brietta means Strong, and after all, that is the point of a Crisis of Life project – to give you the strength to get through whatever life is sending you.  It also serves as a reminder afterwards that if you were strong enough to get through that, you are strong enough to get through whatever comes next – as long as you have a good Crisis of Life project to get you through that as well!

While everyone else in enjoying their long weekend off from work, Luna is getting ready for an entire week off. And it’s breaking this mommy’s heart!

On Saturday, when Luna woke up, she came limping out of her crate, highly favoring her front left paw. We checked for any obvious problems, but there was nothing we could see. We decided to give it some time, just to see if it would wear off. Sometimes her legs fall asleep depending on how she was sleeping, and it takes a little bit for all the blood to start flowing normally.

As the day progressed, however, she got worse. It went from a slight limp, to not putting any pressure on it at all and hopping around on 3 legs. But as we massaged and manipulated that leg and paw, there was no indication of any pain. She was also just as lively as normal – listening to every noise around, trying to play, wanting to run (hop…) up and down the hallway after her ball. When it didn’t get better, we called the vet to schedule an appointment for first thing Sunday morning.

Well, the vet loved Luna. All the vets do. They love how beautiful she is, they love that she just sits patiently on the scale while they get her weight, and that she’ll lay down in the exam room and let them do whatever they want to her. She did all of that this time, still not putting any pressure on her front left paw. Even in the examination, she showed no signs of agitation. The only indication she gave of pain was a slight tensing when the vet was manipulating the tendons and joints in that leg. She said how tough Luna is, even for a dog.

The Xrays the vet requested showed that Luna has Elbow Displaysia, Arthritis, and joint problems – which isn’t quite normal for a dog Luna’s age. She’s 4ish. But since we don’t know her full history due to her being a shelter dog, there is some indication that something happened early in her life to sort of start these issues. It’s something that I can expect to be an issue in the future, although there isn’t really cause for concern in the amount of activity she does as a service dog. But, the vet said, surely this has been causing her pain before now, but she just never showed it. She’s one tough cookie. And she must have a very high pain tolerance, like her mom.

But she is showing us now, which means it must be a pretty severe amount of pain. She must have done something that morning that just aggravated all this to the point that she couldn’t ignore it, although she is desperately trying to and is VERY angry that this means no jumping on our bed or playing with her ball. She is on some pain medicine, and might be getting more depending on what her bloodwork shows, and she has been given very strict instructions to take one full week off.

From this picture, you would never know she is hurt!

Here you can see her favoring that paw, not letting it touch the ground.

This is how she has started sleeping – I wonder if its the most comfortable since it puts no pressure on that leg?

And here are a couple videos (Video 1 and Video 2) of her hopping around.  (Sorry they are sideways – I didn’t think about that when I took them…)
(Side note – to play the videos, I had to hit the Pause button at the bottom of the movie square, THEN hit the big play button that came up in the center)
Even with a hurt leg, she still sits in front of the door before I open it and waits until I say she can go on the porch.  She’s so obedient!

But it’s going to be a LONG week of “bed rest” for this hard little worker.

Last week Andrew and I were a part of the Rocky Mountain Deaf School’s performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  I was involved from the very beginning, but a little over a month ago, one of our actors quit, and Andrew very graciously stepped into his roles.

I played the Queen Mother of Snow White – the one who dies basically in child-birth, leaving Snow White’s dad to marry the Evil Queen who is obsessed with her beauty and thus starts all the problems.  I had one scene – I pricked my finger while sewing – and that was that.

Andrew played the King, the father of the prince who eventually marries Snow White, and also the Servant of the Evil Queen.

This is Andrew’s King costume, and my very pregnant Queen costume. I only had a brief scene at the very beginning, but I had to stay in that costume the entire 2 hours! Sheesh being pregnant is hard!

Both of us in the green room, just before the final show. On the walls are pictures and playbills from all the acts that have performed at this venue over the years.

All things considered, we both had a lot of fun, and got to work with some really great kids. 

When Andrew and I filled out the application for the marriage license, we discovered that our birthdays are exact opposites of each other.  Mine is 11/5 and his is 5/11!  Which means we get to celebrate his birthday two days before our anniversary.  I think its so fun to get to celebrate him right before we get to celebrate us.

The day before his birthday, his parents came down to Greeley (they live a little over an hour away) for dinner at our place.  Andrew cooked his favorite meal (yes, HE cooked it, otherwise it would have been a disaster) and his parents brought salad and a side.  My contribution was purchasing a cookie cake for him (neither one of us love cake cake) and then adding a bit more decorations to it.

It was the first time his parents have gotten to see our new apartment, as well as the first time we’ve really gotten to show it off.  It was really nice to have them here, and we had a fun evening.  Here is Andrew’s cake:

It’s a chocolate chip cookie, and they place that made it did all the white icing.  They won’t mix plain and chocolate icing on one cake, and I hate the taste of icing that’s been tinted different colors.  So I had them just do white around the edges and white words, then I added the chocolate stuff myself.  The colorful parts of the balloon tops (yes, that’s what they are, balloons) are different kinds of sprinkles.  I think it turned out pretty good!

We added some fun squiggly candles.

The birthday boy!

Look at that monkey face!  But, he got them all out in one blow.

Then on Saturday we had a full day of rehearsal for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which we both play very minor roles in.  Then we headed back to the Denver area because we (and Andrew’s parents) had tickets to see WICKED!  It was our anniversary present to ourselves, and we were so excited.  This was my 5th time seeing it, and I love it each and every time, but it was Andrew’s first time seeing it, which was extra exciting.

Here we are, all ready to go!

We had great seats! First row of the mezz level. 

It was a fabulous production.  The actress who played Elphaba was by far the best I’ve seen – and I’ve seen it on Broadway, in Chicago, and in North Carolina.  And Andrew’s family knew the guy who played Fiyero!  Cool!

So we had a very fun weekend celebrating all of that, plus getting to spend time with one of our mothers close by, and texting with the other mother who is far away and getting to celebrate both of them as well.  Happy Mother’s Day to our mothers!

And Happy First Anniversary to us!

I had recently seen a lot of facebook and blog posts by my friends of them curling their hair using a method they learned on Pinterest.  Now, I’m not on Pinterest and don’t plan to be any time soon, but I was intrigued by their descriptions of making their hair curly in the morning by sleeping with their hair wrapped around a headband.  Yesterday I was on StumbleUpon.com and came across a website that showed exactly how to do this process.  She made it look so simple with her step-by-step pictures, and my friends had raved about their results, so I decided to give it a try.

My hair is curly when it is wet, but the second it is dry and I run a brush or comb through it, it straightens right up.  Normally I like my straight hair, but sometimes it is fun to curl it up a bit.  I don’t like using a curling iron very often though because I have too much thick hair and my arms get tired too early.  I’m also secretly terrified of what the heat might do to my hair.  Here is what happened when I tried this new method.

Step One: Start with DRY hair.  I suppose it helps if your hair is kind of long, but I think it would work with most hair lengths.  This is mine when I started last night.

Step 2: Put a stretchy workout-type headband on your head.  So you look like a hippie.  It’s very important that the headband be outside your hair.

Step 3: Take a small chunk of hair and wrap it around the headband. 

Step 4 should really be to grow two extra sets of arms/hands because this is HARD.  There are no pictures of this process because it was a DISASTER.  I don’t know how everyone else does it, or how the girl got her hair to look so darn cute when it was all wrapped around.  The back is espcially hard.  I ended up going along each side and then leaving the back.  I braided the back into tight little braids and then kind of tucked that into the headband too.  Here is what it looked like from the back.  Sigh.  Good thing I was just going to bed!

And then you go to bed! Sleep on it all night, and then in the morning go through your regular routine of getting ready.  When it’s time to do your hair, you gently pull the headband off your head, moving towards the back, gently shaking out the curls (and in my case, unbraiding braids).  Then hopefully you’re left with beautiful curls!  Mine didn’t turn out too bad – I was pleasantly surprised.

So there you have it.  Curly hair with a headband.  Maybe with practice, I’d get better at it. 

With the long drives that I was making almost daily over the recent months, I had started listening to a lot of my older music in an effort to keep me awake and perky.  On one of those trips I picked a CD I had made of songs to workout to when I was in college.  I had actually just transferred colleges and started school in Virginia.  I was dealing with a lot during that time, especially struggling in a new theatre department and not getting along with my professors.  I let my frustrations out on the cardio machines after class four days a week.

There was one song I became particularly attached to during that time and I would often listen to it over and over.  It is called Better Days by Point of Grace.  Theologically, I’m not a hundred percent on par with it, but for the most part its positive message got me through that school year.  The chorus says:

Better Days are on the way, my friend,
Just aways on down the line.
I believe that just around the bend,
Everything’s gonna be fine.

Better Days are just a dream right now.
It’s like all you do is pray.
But the world keeps turning
Bringing you Better Days.

It hit me the other day while I was driving that NOW are the Better Days I so desperately wanted back then.

I’ve married a man I love.
I have a hearing dog that helps me in countless ways.
I’ve gotten to “start over” in a brand new city.
I have a job in a library that I love.
I have a job with a Deaf Theater that has the potential to turn into something amazing.
I’ve just moved into a new apartment that God Himself provided for us.

And that’s just to name a few.

When I was listening to that song on the elliptical machines that long time ago, I was overwhelmed and depressed and praying for better days but unable to imagine what that might even look like.  But here I am, 5 years later, so thankful that God does keep the world turning, bringing me my very own Better Days.  He is faithful, and able to do abundantly more than we could ask or imagine!

A little over a week ago we moved into a brand new apartment.  The entire process was a complete roller-coaster and so overwhelming, but in the midst of it we saw God provide so amazingly for us.  We are confident this is where He wants us and we are so very thankful to be in this place. 

When Andrew and I got married, we chose an apartment that was the smallest and cheapest in Greeley for our first year because we wanted to save as much money as possible when we were just starting out.  And, as the saying goes, we got what we paid for.  The place was decent, the low rent included all utilities, and maintenance was fairly quick to come address the few problems we had with plumbing and electricity in the first few months.  But, it was in a less than ideal part of town, and I never felt very safe there.  Most of our neighbors didn’t speak English, and some families had 5+ people living in the tiny one bedroom apartments.  Half naked kids were constantly running around, leaving trash everywhere, and banging on doors.  The police showed up a few times to talk to one neighbor across the sidewalk from us.  But we made it cozy inside, and our friends put up with the lack of space when we had a Super Bowl party, and we made do.

In the middle of February we got the first reminder that our lease would be up April 30th along with a notice that rent would be going up and utilities would now be separate and our responsibility to pay.  At first we ignored it.  We had not anticipated moving out and had planned to stay in that apartment until Andrew was all finished with school (another year or so) and then decide about possibly relocating to a different city.  As time went on, little things started getting worse around the apartment, including the management.  We started thinking more seriously about moving.  I did some investigation on rent costs around town, and with our rent going up and the utilities being separated, we were now in the range of many other complexes in Greeley, even some two bedrooms.  We started looking at ads and even visited a place or two around town.  I then found a listing online for a complex on the complete other side of town, only a mile away from my work.  It was beautiful.  The rent was more than what we’d be paying (even with the increase) but, it was over 200 square feet larger.  One Saturday morning we went to look at it.

And we fell in love with the place.

The model was the smaller of the two one-bedroom options and it was beautiful.  It had a fireplace and a patio, beautiful hardwood floors, a pantry, and a washer and dryer IN the apartment.  No more laundromats or saving quarters!  The complex even had a fenced in dog park! We were ready to sign a lease that day.  But, the lady broke our hearts.  She said that there were absolutely no units available, of any size, and even if there were, there was already a waiting list. This was early March.  We had to give notice to our current apartment by March 30 if we were moving out.  If we did give notice, then we had to be completely out by April 30th.  The tenants of this new complex though, did not have to give their notice until April 10, and they would also have to be out by April 30th.  If we decided to go with this complex, that would be a long 10 days to go on a leap of faith.  And there was not even the slightest indication that anyone would be moving out.  We put our names on the waiting list for both of the one bedrooms, saying we would take whichever opened up first.  We left that day very disappointed.

We looked around at other places, but nothing compared or was worth actually going to see in the light of this apartment we had fallen in love with.  We started praying very seriously about it, and asked all of our family and friends to pray too. 

Within the next week we had decided that our best option was to sign a month-to-month lease with our current apartment (adding on an additional hefty fee on top of the new rent rate and utilities) in the hopes that if nothing opened up for May, maybe something would for June or July.  We scheduled a meeting on Wednesday at noon to sign that month-to-month lease.  This was now mid-March. On Wednesday morning, I was at Bible Study when Andrew texted me that we had to talk as soon as I got home.  I stepped out of Bible Study a minute to text him back to see what was wrong.

Nothing was wrong!  An apartment had opened up, and not just any apartment, the BIGGER of the two one-bedroom apartments and it had all the features we had wanted (a fireplace, a patio, and hardwood floors – some units don’t have the fireplace/patio, and have all carpet)!! The only condition was that we had to be able to move in by either April 6th, or April 13th, which we could easily do!  The people on the waiting list ahead of us were not able to move in on that time frame.  When I arrived home from Bible Study we called them to tell them we wanted the apartment, and that we would be over that afternoon to filling out the paperwork.  At our meeting with our apartment (at which we intended to sign a month-to-month lease) we simply filed a notice to vacate form and left!  If the call had come only 2 hours later, we would have been financially committed to an extra 800 cost.  God’s timing is PERFECT!

We filled out the paperwork, paid the deposit, signed the lease, and moved in on April 6th!  We had given ourselves that long to move out of the old one (we still have to be “out” by April 30th) because this is quite a busy month for us, and with the two of us doing the entire move by ourselves, we didn’t know how long it would take.  We expected the actual move would take a week or so, and then that would give us another week to clean the apartment before doing the inspection the week before the 30th.  It ended up taking us 3 days to move and get everything set up.  We still have cleaning to do, but it is so nice to be able to do it in little bits and not be stressed. 

Here are the pictures of our new place! (this is mostly for our families who want to know what our apartment looks like but are unable to visit yet)

Our living room! Isn’t that a beautiful fireplace? It *almost* makes me wish for winter. 
I was so excited that our couch, my grandfather’s chair, and BOTH of my bookcases fit comfortably in this room, with room to spare!  Our friends will be able to hang out much better here.
Andrew was glad the TV unit fit.
That door you see there goes out to our porch.

The opposite side of the room.  We plan to do a bit more with pictures on this wall, documenting the stages of our relationship.
The door you see in this one is the main door.

The porch!  Right now my bike is the only thing out there, but hopefully we’ll get some chairs and a table out there soon!
Luna is so confused by this patio.  When we open the door she gets very excited because she thinks its outside, then she gets out there and can’t find the grass.

A glimpse at the kitchen and dining room. 
And a lovely built in bookcase! That was a surprise to me – it wasn’t in the model.

The dining room!  At the other apartment we pretty much could only sit on the couch to eat.  But now my grandma’s table has its own special place.  I LOVE being able to eat our meals here together.

The kitchen.  It may look small, but its almost twice the size of the kitchen at our old apartment.  Andrew and I can BOTH be in here at the same time, and STILL be able to open the refrigerator door!  We also have a pantry there in the back that has SO MUCH ROOM! That built in microwave above the oven was a surprise too.  It is such a blessing to not have our microwave taking up precious counter space.

The view when you walk in the door.  Luna loves to play fetch up and down this little hallway.

Our washer and dryer!  I have never been so excited to do laundry in my life.  Being able to do small loads while watching TV or reading is so much nicer than having to set aside a chunk of time to go to the laundromat and saving big loads to make it worth the cost.

One side of our bedroom.  Sorry its blurry!  Notice all my Jamaica quilts and pillows

I’ve turned the middle of our room into a little sewing section!
That quilt on the wall was the “guest book” from our VA wedding reception.  Everyone signed the middle and then a friend actually quilted it all together for us.  It’s beautiful and I love having it up on the wall.

Luna’s little bedroom in our bedroom!

That is the door to our gigantic walk-in closet! I can have ALL my clothes and shoes organzied by color and season.
Andrew’s clothes are all in here too (although I don’t make him follow my OCD requirements) and there is STILL room for storage!

The bathroom set-up is a little weird.  The door on the left goes from our bedroom to our bathroom, but the sink/mirror/counter are in our bedroom.
It’s super nice for just the two of us to have the shower and sink separate, and to have the sink/mirror, in our room, but it makes it weird for guests.
So, when you come visit us, you’ll have to wash your hands in the kitchen – sorry!

This is from the hallway door into the bathroom.  The door straight ahead is for the water heater tank, and the door with the red towels goes into our bedroom.

When you round that corner or go in from our room, this is the bathroom!

And that’s it from the outside!  We have the bottom one.  The windows on the left are on either side of the fireplace, then the patio, then the window by our bed.
Although right now there is a sign that says Happy Spring and a container of daisies on the patio!

So that’s it – our beatiful miracle apartment that is a gift from God.  We are so thankful to be living here!