Home-owning, Moving, and the Chaos in-between

Hello Friends,

My apologies for the delay in blog posts! We have had so much going on that I haven't had a chance to sit down and type an update.

Yum yum!

Pancake Breakfast Update

Since I last posted, we hosted a Valentine's Pancake Breakfast with our sweet friends, Chip and Ginny Perkins, to help raise money for both of our adoptions and our church's adoption fund. Our incredible faith family at Imago Dei Church provided all of the resources, Bisquick, syrup, eggs, milk, griddles, and several helped serve by setting up, cleaning, and actually making pancakes!

Thankful for these guys!

Joseph making some awesome pancakes!

Thankful for these ladies!

As if that weren't enough, they also showed up, ate pancakes, and donated money! We served pancakes from 8-10am - 2 hours.

A total over $3,300 was donated!!!

Chip and Ginny

We are incredibly amazed, overwhelmed, grateful, and blessed beyond measure for our IDC family and all of the support they have shown us and other families as we corporately and individually strive to care for orphans through adoption. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the generosity of our IDC family because it is the Gospel that demands our generosity and love for one another, but once again, I find myself so underserving of the grace that has been shown to me, my husband, and our growing family through this act of kindness. Thank you, Imago Dei Church, for your steadfast love and support!

Homestudy Update

We have also been journeying through our homestudy, which has been going very well. This process can get tedious with the education training and all of the paperwork necessary to complete it, but it's all worth it. I love being able to "check" things off my list, because it means I'm one step closer to achieving my goal. We are almost done with our homestudy and will be moving on to complete the next phase soon: dossier paperwork. Although the journey to adopt from Ethiopia is long right now, every completed task is still one step closer to bringing our child home. Please continue to pray for us as we complete our homestudy, prepare our dossier, and wait.

Home-Buying Update

Yes, in the meantime, we have also purchased our very first home. And I must say, it's adorable. I would be lying if I said our home-purchasing process was not met with any anxiety. We looked at several homes, liked several homes, considered making offers on several homes, and a few homes already had offers by the time we went and looked at them. Raleigh is a booming place! If you're planning to buy a home in the Raleigh area anytime soon, happy house hunting to you and "may the odds be ever in your favor!" (Name that book!) 

We finally settled on a house, experienced a lot of ups and downs with setbacks on closing dates due to this or that, but the Lord, who is deserving of all the credit and praise, orchestrated everything to work in His perfect timing. 

My sweet mother-in-law came up the week before we ended up closing and helped me pack pretty much my entire kitchen, living room, and most of our guest/office room. Then we found out we wouldn't be closing that week. So, we lived out of boxes... My parents came up on a very short notice and helped us finish packing, clean, and move into our new home. A few of our sweet friends also helped us get moved out, moved in, and get a little painting done as well. 

I found it so exciting to say "that goes here" "that goes there," and finally my favorite, "that goes in the NURSERY." Yes, we have a space designated for our little one! Of course, it won't be ready for a while, but if you follow me on Pinterest, then you know I'm already dreaming of what to do in my most favorite room in my new home, the nursery. 

Captain Jack, our ferocious, 7lb. (after a full bowl of Beneful) Miniature Pinscher is loving his new kingdom (backyard) and lounge area (chair by the fireplace). He's not a fan of early morning, but he does enjoy soaking up the sun - even on the stairs. 

 Stay tuned...more to come on our crazy lives! :)