Just the week I needed!!!

After 7 weeks of constant stuff going on in our lives and Holy Week, I needed a few days off!!!  Monday of this week was a comp day for Good Friday and Easter Monday.  So much going on, I haven't had a true day off for a while.  Tuesday and Wednesday are continuing education days.  I took some time to work on my call papers and FINALLY have them done.  I need someone to proof read them and then on Friday I will make the changes and submit them via e-mail.  Its an amazing feeling to have them done.  We've had a few showings on the house, one open house, good feedback, found a home for Chester (hopefully May 6th moving him to his new home), preparing for a garage sale May 5th, selling some of our stuff on a new website I'm a part of and its a virtual garage sale and I LOVE IT!!!, working full time, mowing 4 lawns, soccer, soccer, soccer, prom is this weekend, graduation preperations, and trying to spend time with Sophia and Carlos.  Our family is going in several different directions at this time.

I will be back to work on Thursday and have a full day.  Then Friday, Sophia gets her 6 month pictures and next Tuesday her 6 month shots.  Can't believe our little girl is 6 months.  YIKES!!!  The greatest job I have is being her mother.  She brings pure joy to my life and she is loved!!!

This blog post is short because its time to go take a nap and spend some time by myself before Carlos gets home from school and our busyness continues!!

A lot has changed

Thanks for reading our blogs and keeping up with the Waterman's!!!  We have had about 4 private house showings and one open house.  No takers so far, but its early and we keep praying.  The moving sale was a BIG success.  We got rid of a lot, but still have more so we are going to do another sale with our neighbors.  YEAH!!  Tonight we are opening up the pop up camper for someone to look at who is very interested so I'm hoping that works out.  Additonally, we have a found a GREAT home for Chester (our dog!).  I couldn't be more happy where things are at in our lives right now.  It all works out according to God's plans and little by little things are shaping up.  Finally we have a little time to relax at night and on the weekends.  We are staying busy that's for sure, but we can at least talk to one another instead of having crazy schedules.  Sophia survived her first slumber party and sounds like she had a great time.  She slept a lot yesterday when she came home...must have partied too hard!  She has a cold and has slept a lot at day care today which is unusual for her.  So, I'm excited to see her tonight again and hang out.  She's a gem and is so loved!! 

We have a few bigger items that we are trying to sell and we put them on the Cedar Valley garage sale Facebook page.  Hope that it works!!!

This Saturday is Waterloo city wide dump day!!  So, we are loading up the truck and trailer and heading out to the dump to get rid of JUNK in our house.  The dogs couch is finally going.  It's ripped and stinks!  Don't know what they will lay on while we are gone during the day, but they will adjust.

Thanks again for all of your support, prayers, and friendship.  Each week we have changes taking place...keep checking back for the latest updates!

Our next journey....Dubuque, Iowa

Our next journey takes us to Dubuque, Iowa so Paul can go to seminary at Wartburg.  I graudated from Wartburg Seminary in 2004 so I'm going back as a spouse and I'm so excited!!!  Its been a long discernment process and I'm excited for our new adventures.  This week we are having our first moving sale!!  We have lots to get rid of so we might have to have another one in early May.  My mom comes on Wednesday night to help us for the week/weekend and Sophia is having a slumber party with Aunt Holly all weekend.  Its going to be different not having Sophia around the house but we are going to be so busy this weekend she'll have much more fun with Aunt Holly.  After this weekend, we hope that our lives slow down a little it.  It seems we can't keep our heads above water right now.  We have had some showings on the house, but no takers so far. 

We need to sell a house, 2007 Viking pop up camper, and have a moving sale.

In other news....because we are going to Wartburg Seminary and due to their strict pet policy, we have to get rid of a dog. Easy right??? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dallas and Chester are part of our family and we adopted them both. So, we are in the process of trying to find one of our furry friends a nice home. Its not easy and everyone asks "which one are you getting rid of." We don't want to get rid of one, but in order to live on campus, we have to. So, decisions have to be made again. Its been a very sad day for me as I took both dogs to the vet and explained our situation to the staff. They totally understand and are willing to help if they can. Both of the dogs have their own special qualities that make them each unique. My heart breaks knowing our family is changing.

Here are a few pictures of our dogs:

Chester- 2 months old

Our lap (Lab) dogs!!!  This was taken in the spring of 2010.  Chester was born in January 2010

Dallas is a wonderful snuggler...even with Sophia!!

Watching Sophia....well at least Chester is.  Dallas is resting!!

The House is FOR SALE!!!

The house is officially for sale as for Tuesday, April 2nd.  Please pray that some wonderful family or person wants to live in our nice little house.  We are thankful for the years of memories, but its time to move on. 



We still have a lot of do yet, but maybe some time real soon we can have a whole weekend as a family.  Our moving sale is Friday, April 13th and Saturday, April 14th.  Then maybe we can breath a little bit. 

It's Holy Week so you know what I'm doing...procrastinating on the blog instead of working on ministry stuff.  Back to work I go.  Please pray for us as we sell the house and make a decision on seminary.

Packing is DONE!!!!

Well, our packing is done for the most part.  Now the house needs cleaned from top to bottom before it goes on the market THIS Monday, April 2nd.  I'm so blessed with such a hard working husband and family.  Carlos has helped a lot too and is very good about taking care of Sophia.  So, the storage unit is about full...it has just enough room for my office books.  Speaking of my office, now that the house is done, I'm in the process of cleaning out my office.  It's slowing getting there, but we would like everything done by our moving sale.  MOVING SALE is April 13-14th.  Lots for sale and lots of big furniture items.  As we have been packing, we also have been getting rid of STUFF!  I have realized in this process that I am selfish!!!!  I have bought and kept stuff that I haven't used in three years.  As humans, we get into a regular routine and use the same stuff over and over again without changing our ways and adding new stuff.  Our kitchen has been packed for 2 weeks now and we haven't missed anything.  We are getting by on the bare essentials.  I feel guilty with all my STUFF and now look differently at things.  I ask myself a lot of questions before I buy something.  I'm proud of the progress that our family has made but at the same time, I have a lot to learn about myself when buying things.  Lent has been a wonderful season to clean our house which has cleansed my soul!  Thank you to our parents, siblings, and Zion family for all the support!!  We are so blessed.

Here's a few pictures from the weekend.  May I present Pepe Le Peu! Someone decided to put Sophia above his head! This is the result...

My little Bradley girl...



Another packing weekend!!

My mom and two nephews (Joshua and Joseph) came for the weekend.  They came on Thursday so mom did some painting and a little cleaning while I was at work.  Then Friday we packed most of the kitchen stuff that we don't use regularly and then mom babysat while Paul and I cleaned out our storage room and packed a bunch of stuff.  Our garage is filling up quickly with moving sale items...we might have to rent another storage unit just for our moving sale.  Our storage unit is getting full as we have taken 6 trucks loads, but there is still room for a couple more loads.  The house is emptying out and its looking and feeling good.  We appreciate all the help we can get to make this a successful move.  We should be hearing something soon from the seminaries so we know what the financial package looks like.  Keep praying! 

The weather was awesome this past week.  Carlos was on spring break so he was a huge help getting things done.  Sophia enjoyed being naked most of the weekend and dressing up in her spring outfits.  Here's a few pictures of Sophia's weekend.

Now its back to another work week and getting small things done during the week.  This weekend we hope to accomplish moving furniture out of the house that we aren't going to use.  Most of it will be sold in our moving sale.

IMPORTANT INFO:  Moving sale is Friday, May 4th and Saturday, May 5th!!  Also, we have a 2007 Viking Pump pop up camper for sale.  Let us know if you know anyone interested.  Thanks!!

SPRING BREAK!!!

Like students, faculty, and spring break trip planners- the time has arrived that we enjoy some nice, sunny, warm weather! Luckily for us, the aforementioned words are describing Northeast Iowa! As we have sprung forward in time (the clocks adjusted, the dogs and Sophia have not), we have been blessed with some beautiful weather! This doesn't make staying in the house and sorting/packing/storing/selling stuff any easier.

As I walked 2 miles over the lunch hour, I couldn't help but think of the changes that are ahead and what our future as a family looks like. We are all excited, yet nervous for the next step. Through the adjusting process, we have managed to spend some quality time as a family, watch Jonathan run, enjoy meals with friends, and reflected on our home and possessions.

The cleansing process is not easy- we have talked about it, thought about it, justified unused things, talked about it some more, and even started sorting. After working for over 12 hours this weekend on going through boxes, sorting piles for immediate use, storage, sell, recycle, shred, and throw away, we have both realized all the stuff we have (some of which we had forgotten about)! With one corner of the basement and our attic closet complete, we each commented on how cleansing it feels to get rid of old or unused things. There are lots of memories, some before we met, some as we dated, and some as we are married, but we realize we get caught up in the 'stuff' we have! Always easier said than done, we are feeling good about living more simply and knowing that we will be moving multiple times in the next decade!

We still have plenty to work to do, and we know we are blessed with some good help! Thanks for reading, for those who help, and those who have lifted us up in thought and prayer! When I was thinking of Spring Break, I didn't know it was code for 'Spring Cleaning!'