I’ve been in a bit of a slump with blogging (i.e. I’ve just chosen not to do it…) so I wanted to update on some really great things that have been happening in my life recently. I think it’s important to reflect on the blessings in your life and I have so, so many. I’ll just share a few for now though.

God has been leading me in improving my health, both physically and spiritually. After our visit to the specialist in Seattle, I’ve found out more about why I’ve been feeling so ill for the past two years. This may seem small, but after two years of “guess and check,” just knowing is kind of an amazing feeling. I’m on a new dietary plan (which isn’t fun to say the least) that will likely be a permanent change. The first week was trying and frustrating. But now, both Anthony and I are quickly becoming proficient at reading food labels to scan for any possible trigger foods. My doctor has said that it will take several weeks for me to feel substantially better, but I knowing that I’m working toward normality is what fueling me.

Though I have made light of it, Anthony’s continual support and encouragement has been essential in my success thus far. He’s following my same dietary restrictions though I haven’t asked him to (though when he’s consumed my ex-favorite foods/drinks in front of me I may have threatened his life more than once…). In a somewhat unexpected way, my health concerns have pulled Anthony and I together even closer than we were before. He understands my symptoms and discomforts better than anyone and is at my constant beckon call when I’m at my worst. I’m truly grateful for him.

On the spiritual front, God has presented Anthony and I with an unexpected opportunity to strengthen our marriage through prayer and reading of The Word. I will say that I have not been very good about either of these things, but we certainly feel the need for it now more than ever. For as strong as I claim to be in my faith, I realize how little time I’ve put into truly studying it. I suppose for me, the feeling of God and my faith has always been substantial enough for me. Now that I’m maturing, though, I realize that I need to do more to grow in this way.

A few months ago, I wrote about the frustrations of not being able to get a decent loan for a home for the next year. This became exceedingly frustrating as we quickly started outgrowing our space and felt out-of-place in our community. While we love our home, the area isn’t the nicest…we are reminded frequently of the real need for us to move into a safer area. It was only a week after I purchased my car that it was broken into and our neighbors upstairs had a brick thrown through their window. All-in-all, we’ve been fine, but we want to look toward the future.

We had accepted the fact that it would be a ways down the road before we could get qualify for the kind of home that we wanted. We’d even found a new-build home that we put a deposit on, but we found after some number crunching that it would be too far out of our budget. Still, I’d occasionally peruse the “For Sale” homes online. My mom sent over a potential home. I was hesitant because we are still in the same boat we were several months ago, but I figured we could go look at least.

Long story short, my parents offered to purchase the home under the condition that we purchase the home back from them once we were able to get a decent loan. In the mean time, we will be renting from them. So, we are officially home…renters! But soon to be home owners. I can’t thank my parents enough for giving us the opportunity to have our first stand-alone, no noisy neighbors, two car garage, beautiful home!

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of nail biting, deep breaths, budgeting, and Craigslist-ing. We’ll be moving in the next three weeks (though it’s not determined when) and we absolutely cannot wait!

We have a large (probably insane) number of projects on our hands. The place is certainly move-in ready, but the walls are mostly white (which is very un-Lindsay like). All homes require some work. I think we are just inventing things to do at this point because we are so excited.

Every night before bed, Anthony have talked about all of the things that we are excited about at our new house. On the top of my list are:

1. STORAGE
2. STORAGE
3. STORAGE
4. Giant bath tub

One last thing. My next baby niece is going to be on her way here shortly! Likely right when we move into the new place. I cannot wait to have the babies over and just watch them make a mess of our house (on our white carpets…sigh). But really. I can’t wait to have room for my big, crazy family.

Overall, we have been incredibly blessed lately (not that we aren’t always), but we have a lot to be thankful for.

I’ll update soon! (Maybe…;) ).