"Life Is Not Tried, It Is Merely Survived...

If You're Standing Outside the Fire!

We call them fools.

Who have to dance within the flames.

Who chance the sorrow and the shame.

That always comes with getting burned....

But, you've got to be tough when comsumed by desire,

Cause it's not enough just to stand outside the fire!"

Thank you, Garth Brooks, for writing my husband's theme song!

His fearlessness and tenacity...his ability to see the potential value of something and faithfully go for it, all in - I both admire and fear these qualities of his... This is how I know that we will see our little beastie race in a couple of years. 😉

 I love his amazing faith in God, which has grown from the tiny seed it was twenty years ago to the steadfast oak it is today.  Though the wind may blow hard, and troubles may chip at it's bark, his faith in his Heavenly Father stands firm, deeply rooted in God's promises.

Truly, though, I share the sentiments of Scottie in the new Star Trek:  "I like this ship!  It's exciting!"

As I predicted two blog posts ago, we have been facing some unexpected trials...and we still face some uncertainties with this big move of ours.  However, neither of us regrets the decisions that we have made, because every one has been bathed in prayer.  I'm so grateful for our prayer warriors who have come alongside us over these last five months!























To make a long story short, delays on our buyer's side have pushed our settlement back to April 27th, 28th OR May 1st or 2nd...apparently, in New York, the buyers, sellers and real estate agents have NO control over the actual date and time of settlement.  It is totally in the hands of the banks and attorneys... and they only HAVE to give us 72 hours notice!  This makes me crazy, but there's not a blessed thing we can do about it.

Meanwhile, we had some issues with our new mortgage due to some wording in our appraiser's report.  God provided a way around this through some faithful servants of His.  So, at this moment, we are on track for settling the same day on both properties.




And, we've been getting lots of pressure from the real estate agent representing the property we are buying. She wants a specific date...which we, literally, can't give her because things are done differently up here than in PA.  She has behaved rather unprofessionally a couple of times, creating much stress and tension for us...prompting us to look for "plan B", just in case...in those moments when we've experienced frustration and doubt.

However, Don has purchased the first of the two campers we will call home for the next four months or so, while we rehab the house on our new property. We'll be buying a second, smaller one for our girls, so everyone has adequate space...I would hate for us to be on the brink of killing one another by August!

I am so excited to see it all come together!  We've always wanted to build our own house, and this comes pretty close.




Despite all of that, we had a lovely Easter Weekend!  The weather was gloriously warm and sunny up here for a couple of days and we took advantage of it!

My time at the salon is finished, now, but I'm still cutting hair...for the family!

In fact, After much self-reflection and thoughtful discussion with my husband, I'm thinking I may not jump into that transfer with Regis Corporation.

Rather than being beholden to a corporate-owned salon every Thursday, Friday and Saturday...and every other Sunday...for barely over minimum wage...I'd like to spend lots of time with the people I love this summer, as well as getting to know my new community.

I will joyfully provide hair services at the requests of family and friends in PA for whatever they want to "gift" me or trade me for the next several months...then, I'll work on securing employment...maybe in a private spa, where I can become an expert in facials and skin care!   At the moment, I am still waiting on PA with my licensing.

It was so nice to have our whole family together to celebrate Christ's resurrection!

And, we packed up the first load of our belongings bound for Pennsylvania!  Mostly, Don's tools and equipment from the shop and books that we don't need right now.  It's all going into a storage unit temporarily.  I find it quite fitting that there's a viking ship on the side of this U-haul!

One way or another, we'll be heading to PA - horses, dogs, cats and all - in two weeks!  Stay tuned for another update soon!