Just Call Us..."Home Owners!"

That's right...we bought a house! Matthew and I have been house shopping for about 2 months now, out with our agent almost every weekend viewing houses. Within the first few weeks we found one we fell in love with, only to have it bought before we could even think about making an offer. As time went on, we got tired of seeing more and more junk out there on the market, with hefty price tags attached. We really were praying for a home of our own, hoping it would happen before our wedding too. I was calm about the whole thing, hopeful and trusting that God knew the right thing for us; and if that meant staying in my apartment under mom's house, then God would give us the patience required to make that arrangement work. But I know God is a God who loves to give His children the desires of their hearts, and we so wanted a home of our own. So we were waiting on God...

I think it was Dec 19th when we saw the listing online. We contacted our agent to make a viewing appointment for Sat Dec 22, along with a few other listings. This one didnt look too outstanding on paper, but it was nice, and in our price range and in an area of town we didnt mind considering. So, we waited...

Dec 22, Matthew, mom, George and I all met up with our agent to see some houses. This was the last one of the day: Stanley St. We walked thru, taking time to look around, really look around. It was a small house, but so clean and so well kept! It seemed like no one was really living in it, but there was some furniture and stuff around. Nice lot, nice backyard, and the inside was in great condition...basically move-in condition with old hardwood floors everywhere, except for tile in the kitchen and bathroom. I knew then that this little place would sell FAST. We left with mixed feelings, knowing it would not stay on the market for long, but knowing there were a few things we didnt like about it...just layout issues and the lack of a bathroom on the second floor. We went home and prayed about it that afternoon.

We talked with our parents, talked together and just felt like this was the right thing to do. We called our agent that evening to put in an offer. He said it could wait until the next afternoon to do the paperwork and it would be presented to the owner on Monday morning. So, Dec 23, Matthew's birthday, we put an offer on Stanley St., conditional on a house inspection, of course. Dec 24 Matthew came over to my place and we waited by the phone...

The phone rang...it was the agent. Matthew talked to him, with mom and I close by, staring at him for a sign of what was being said on the phone. Ok, Ok, yes, Ok...we had no clue...but it sounded positive...LOL! He hung up and confirmed our offer was accepted! YAHOO!!! So we had until Friday to find an inspector. We had to go see the agent to sing some more papers, and when we got there he had set up a temporary appointment with an inspector for us and gave us the name of an electrician he knows. (There is some electrical work that needs upgrading). I was amazed it took us less than 20 minutes to make such a huge and monumental purchase! Later in the day Matthew talked to the inspector and booked him for Friday morning. So, we waited some more...

Friday morning, Dec 28, we met at the house and were there for about 2 hours with the inspector. He was really great about going thru things with Matthew and George. Mom and I walked around looking more at layout and potential arrangements and stuff. Matthew's mom and sister (Jen) showed up to see the place too, so Jen and I were running around taking pics of the house from every angle in every room! The longer I was in there the more excited I got about envisioning us living there! Our house, our first house!!! The women ended up sitting in the living room while the men finished up the inspection in the basement...we were eavesdropping...and heard the inspector say he was rather impressed with the construction and condition of the house considering its age (about 50+yrs). He had pointed out things we already knew, like the electrical, but nothing major. So we all left the house, and Matthew and I headed to the agent's to see if he was around. He was there, so we went in to waive our condition of the inspection and finalize the sale.

On Jan 11, 2008, Matthew and I will take possession of the new house! I pray that together, with God and family and friends, this house will quickly turn into our HOME.

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow..."

Happy Birthday, Matthew!!!

It's my man's birthday today!

(I can't hide how stressed I get about finding the right gift for someone...but besides that, I do love to celebrate birthdays).

Not only is today his birthday, but he and I are about to take a very large step forward in life today. We are making an offer on a house today!!! Imagine that! It won't be presented today, but on Monday...just think, if our offer is accepted, it'll be one heck of a birthday/Christmas present!!! Please pray for us; that if this is the right house, God will help us formulate a fair offer that cannot be refused, but also that if this is not the right house, that God will close the door on it somehow.

Matthew, I wish you all the best on this, your birthday. I am honoured to be the woman you've chosen to stand by your side, today and forever. I love you. I can't wait to see you today, to hug you tight and wish you Happy Birthday.

God Bless you, Matthew

i love you, i love you, i love you

Lesley-Anne

1st Term Complete! & Christmas is Coming!!!

Yup, it's true...school's done for the term! All my courses run for half a year, so I wrote all my final exams in the first two weeks of December and since the 14th I have been enjoying some well deserved time off. It's been great to chill (freeze while shoveling), layback (stiff and sore from shoveling) and relax (knock myself out on pain killers)...LOL! Seriously, there's been so much snow, and shoveling just kills my body.

I've also gotten to spend loads of time with Matthew, which is wonderful. We are pretty much done our Christmas shopping which is a good feeling...now I just have to finish the wrapping! Matthew has to work tomorrow and then he is off for two weeks too, so we'll be spending our holidays together, of course, making appearances at family's and friend's houses...I haven't met many of his family members at all, just immediate family, so our Boxing Day will be spent house hoping around town to meet his aunts, uncles and cousins. We'll have Christmas day dinner at his parents place and then another Christmas dinner at my mom's on the 28th for which my aunt and cousins are coming from TO...I don't remember anything in the Bible's Christmas story about so much FOOD!!! I have a wedding dress to fit into a month and a half after the holidays! YIKES!

That's right, our wedding is getting closer...58 sleeps today! LOL! Ya, I'm still counting. Seems like our weekends are full of house hunting and our weekdays are full of discussion about what we saw on the weekend...so much to consider...so much money! We just want a home of our own! I'm trusting that God has a place for us, somewhere, somehow, He'll provide.

God Bless Everyone!

Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noel

worry often outweighs excitement

i've been contemplating...

my brain's been processing at high speeds...

I can hardly concentrate on the day at hand, let alone tomorrow...

it's true, isn't it, that worry often outweighs excitement...

We are less than three months away from our wedding.

There is so much to do still...

I find myself going into final exams a tad unprepared.

How is my brain supposed to take this all in?

School: learning new information, understanding it, applying it?

Wedding preparations, let alone marriage preparations?

The hunt for a house we can turn into our home?

And the bottom line...money money money.

The last few days I have been thinking of the scripture

that talks about God clothing the lilies of the field,

and how much more He will provide for us.

I don't pray enough, lately I've been missing God's presence.

I know it's me that's too busy; He's always there waiting for me.

This morning I finally looked up the scripture

that's been fluttering around in my head.

Matthew 6:28

"And why do you worry about clothes?

See how the liles of the field grow.

They do not labour or spin.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon

in all his spendor was dressed like one of these.

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,

which is here today and tomorrow will be thrown into the fire,

will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

So, do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or

What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

...your heavenly Father knows that you need [these things].

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,

and all these things will be given to you as well.

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow..."

Father God, help me to grow closer to You in this busy time of my life, the time I need You the most, help me to want to grow closer to You, to learn more about You and the trust You with all the details; to lay my worries at Your feet, and get through this day, this gift of another day, focused on You. I love You, Lord...

Help me to live that love out loud!!!

And to feel the excitement of this special time in our lives!

Invitations Are In The Mail

At Last!!!

Our wedding invitations are off! (well, at lunchtime, Matthew will bring them to the post office). But, today is the day they are out and on their way. We thought we would get them all printed, packaged and ready to mail out last Friday night. It ended up taking us the weekend and last night to get the ones that require mailing ready to go. We still need to write up directions to the church to go into the invites for the ceremony. Crazy how much work is involved in such a seemingly simple task. But we stuck it out, did it all together, and the end product is rather nice, (imho).

I think this will be it for wedding plans for a few weeks...I am heading into final exams starting next week until the 13th of December, so I need to focus on school.

We contacted another mortgage broker and got another quote. We now have a real estate agent keeping his eye out for houses for us. Please pray that we find something: before our wedding, in our price range, in an area we are comfortable with, and a place we can make into our first HOME.

Things Keep Falling Into Place

Days go by and more things keep getting accomplished!

SCHOOL:

Midterms are all back and I did really well. I can't believe that this term's finals start in less than three weeks!!! Pray for me to handle the heavy workload of final projects and studying for finals.

WEDDING:

So far, Matthew and I have spent tons of time on wedding plans, which is to be expected; but the surprising thing for me is that it seems so simple. We keep coming up with more to do, and each decision we make is one thing done. LOL...does this make any sense?

I guess there were so many people thinking we wouldn't have time to pull together a wedding in 4.5 mths, that I expected a little more trouble with the whole thing. I am NOT complaining at the ease with which it is coming together!!! I am thrilled and really enjoying the planning process.

So far, we have the church and minister, the reception hall, our great friends standing for us, a dear friend making our wedding cake, another good friend singing a solo in the ceremony, another good friend is going to be our photographer, and so on. The invitation list is about complete, with invitations ready to go out probably later this week or coming weekend. Almost all the decorations are purchased. Wedding bands have been selected. And best of all, we have been working on all aspects together, it's wonderful.

HOUSE HUNT:

That's right, we're starting to look for a house. We just got in touch with an agent and with some reservation and some excitement we're about to enter the world of real estate! Pray that God's got a house picked out for us to turn into our first home together.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I understand there is still TONS to do...I'm no fool. But what a great time in our relationship to enjoy together and store up memories!!!

I love you, Matthew

113 more sleeps...

That's right, I just counted...113 more sleeps alone! Then, I'm getting married and Matthew and I will be able to snuggle up together at night.

Things are coming together so smoothly, there is no doubt God's hand is in this all the way! February 16th will be our big day! We've got the church and pastor booked for the ceremony. We've got friends in agreement to stand with us. We just booked a hall yesterday! I honestly spent about 3 hours on the phone the day before calling around, many places were booked that date, or too small for our reception. I went to see one place that day and we booked it within 24 hrs! It's a beautiful room, a good central location and the price is right! God is so good! So now we can get working on invitations and thinking about decorations and such. We also had a meeting with Jeremy this week that got us thinking about how we might personalize our ceremony. There are so many little details to think about, it's crazy! But I am totally having fun with the planning stage. Yesterday, Matthew and I talked about colour scheme/wedding theme. We're pretty sure we have settled on that stuff too! It's so exciting to think of being surrounded by family and friends on our most special day! Most of all, I can't wait to meet Matthew and God at the church, to unite our lives, hearts, minds and souls into one. (bodies is later that night...hehe!)

Oh Matthew, I love you so very much. I can't wait to be your wife, to share my everyday life with you. You are an angel God's brought my way; I am so blessed! Our dream is becoming a reality! Sleep well my love, for there are only 113 more sleeps before I am there by your side.