Does anyone feel like gagging with me?

We moved to our new house in Alexandria.....the house is wonderful....other than a few issues.....
The people who lived here before us had 2 big dogs. Even though they shampooed the carpets before they moved out...their was an IMMENSE amount of dog hair in the carpets. And this house is carpet throughout. This one picture I am sharing (sparing you the many) is of what came off of the carpet in the master bedroom ALONE. :( Dog hair and dirt. Gag. I have pictures like this after vaccuuming EVERY room in the house. I guess it is true with your pets also - that "Love is blind!"


And even worstestestest (if that can be a word) - the back yard was COVERED in huge dog poop! Covered! The waste guys can't come clean it until this week - so since it was frozen the other day - BRAD and I got out there and picked up as much of it as possible. GAGGGGG. Wearing rubber gloves of course... And a lot of it we could not get up b/c it was frozen to the ground. But better picked up frozen than when mushy after rain! We got 3 bags of it and there is still more out there.

I just want to be a blessing today by sharing this joy in my life! And Billy R., I am NOT making this up! Another poop story!

WHITE HOUSE!!!

During the chaos of moving - I didn't have a chance to post about our visit to the White House! On the Wednesday before we started packing up the house to move, (last week) we went with Floyd and Rutha on the White House Christmas Tour! Since Floyd works with the White House Communication Detail (or something like that??) he was able to bring guests....and WE were officially on THE LIST!

It was kinda like in all of those movies where people stand in line to get in to a big party...and if your name is not on the list - you don't get in.....except I think our approval process to get into the White House was much more rigorous! We had to provide our SS #'s to Floyd for FBI clearance earlier during the week, he had to show his military ID to "The List" people, Brad and I had to show photo ID, and then we were "in"!

As we were walking thru the White House we would run into different military/government people who would proclaim...."Oh, Seargent Major! How are you!" to Floyd....made me feel like we were in the "inner circle" of the mafia or something! LOL! I wonder if Floyd really works for the Army?? Maybe he is really a secret service person.....or a spy....hmmmm...things to ponder... :)

This is one of my favorite pictures....taken from INSIDE the White House....looking through the window towards the Washington monument....pretty cool.

Floyd and Brad hanging out while the wives take pictures of everything! Rutha is an AMAZING photographer...especially of flowers and intricate things....

Here is our gang! Rutha, Floyd, Brad, me, Macy and Mia! This is taken outside the White House on the North Portico.....of course I grabbed a stranger and asked them to take our picture! :O)

Mia posing outside the gate to the White House.....so sweet.

The wind was REALLY cold this day and we ran out without jackets. Daddy shared his with Macy. So cute!

Exhaustion...

I am just now getting the chance to get online to update since our move yesterday. There is no way we could have done it without help. What a blessing that God has destined us to find such a friend in Floyd Hepler. He drove the moving truck for us, and he even paid for it. Sniff...

Floyd is definitely a go getter, get 'er done guy. If it was not for Floyd and his son Adam, and our friends from NCC - David & Sharon and Dave & Kate.... I don't think we would have survived. Not to mention that Brad's mom and dad had GREAT timing in coming to visit for Christmas! We have worked their tails off since they got here Monday!

We finished paperwork on the new house Wednesday, packed the entire house up on Thursday and Friday, moved the entire house on Saturday, and went back to clean and show the old house today (Sunday). Whew!

Pray with us that God will send a new renter for that house...pronto! :)

I am thinking I should probably spend the day tomorrow....unpacking?! I did take the time to put the tree up tonight - it is Christmas week afterall! Now I hear something calling me....I think it is ....sleep....

Chaos again...

OK. So some will call us crazy. We are moving to a different house.
Moving twice in 4 months.
Maybe we will be crazy after this! Or maybe I already am??? Hmmm...??
The house we are moving to is 19 miles from this one...across the Potomac River on the Virginia side of DC.
Brad will have to take the subway/metro in to work here in DC, about a 40 min commute one way.
BUT - Macy will be able to attend a great school that is 5 miles from our new house.

Overall, we have prayed much about this over the past 4 months....and feel total peace that this is the right move for us.

But why would God allow us to be in the wrong house in the first place??? We have asked ourselves....

But I really feel that these 4 months have been part of the plan. As agonizing and frustrating as it is to move again - these 4 months have taught us much about living right in the heart of DC, and much about ourselves.

Also - the church we are working with (www.theaterchurch.com) is planting a new satellite church right down the street from our new house! That is a big reason why we chose this area! So we will be on the team for launching the new church in Kingstowne. What a neat opportunity! We wouldn't have known to choose Kingstowne 4 months ago - and could be living anywhere in the metro area....but knowing what we do at this point - Kingstowne becomes a perfect location for us!

We are still going to be in the DC Metro Area - remember 5.8 MILLION people live in the DC Metro area!!!!

It is about like moving from Huntsville to Goshen in distance....or West Memphis to maybe Olive Branch?? (maybe not that far)

None of this could have happened without our friend Floyd going to bat for us. And our new realtor friend Sam Jones. Since we are poor and don't even have a salary, someone has to convince landlords that we really are good people! :)

Please pray blessings on him and his wife Rutha this Christmas season. They are treasures.

That's My Girl!

Macy was talking about "Zach" from Disney's Zach and Cody the other night. She said he 'kissed' a girl.....and then she giggled about it. I thought...hmmmm....what perceptions is she getting about kissing....this could be a teachable moment...

I wrinkled my nose and said, "People don't always do the right things on TV shows, do they?" She said "Noooo".

I told her, people are not supposed to kiss until they are married....like me and daddy....but on TV they don't always make good decisions." (We will keep telling her this until she is 30...by the way!)

I then asked her (role play here!) .."what if a boy came up and said...'Let's kiss Macy'?
She said..." I would say NO and run away!"

To which I pressed it further...."But what if he said "Macy -everybody is doing it - let's kiss!"
She then said, "I would say NO! And then PUSH HIM DOWN!"

I pondered for a moment....should I correct her about this seemingly violent reaction to a boy's advances for a kiss? Should I teach her..."No, don't push him...just tell him no...."

But I decided to say...."Good job!" :)
That's a mom for you! LOL!
By the way - it was such a deep conversation...she was looking deep into my eyes and we were REALLY talking. I loved it!

Macy & Mia Story

I can't believe I haven't told this story yet:

We were taking the subway to China Town right after we moved here....and when Macy heard me talking and saying we were going to "Chinatown"....she looked up so inquisitively...and said "But we already have a baby sister!"

Soooooo cute!

By the way - they are playing better together than they ever have. I think it is because all they have is each other now. (But on the other side of the coin they are also still having more skirmishes than before....b/c of ALL of the time together!)

Being the New Kid on The Block

I have always heard that people on the East Coast can be "cold". I never really understood that.

Even though I would not say that the people I have met in DC are cold, (or at least not as much as what I have heard about further north)...there is definitely a LACK of warmth. People are polite. They smile and talk. But many of them have no warmth. There words are sweet...but they don't seem to really LOOK at you. Sure their eyes are on you while they are talking...and they are being nice...but they really are not interested in YOU....not interested in who you are as a person....in KNOWING you. Maybe people don't really realize they are being distant. Or maybe many people are just BUSY and have no idea that they seem standoffish. Or maybe there is so much on their plate that their brain doesn't have enough room to take in the wholeness of a new person more than a quick smile and moment of chit chat... (oh...that sounds like ME for the past 10 years...)

The SCARY thing is - I just described myself 3 months ago. I NEVER realized until this move what it was like to be the new person....the outsider. I have learned through this of how TERRIBLE I have personally been at reaching out to new people and really taking interest in them. I have always been so BUSY. Wow. Really looks different from this side of the fence.