Project 52:43 | Blessings

There has been a lot of heartache amongst friends and family lately. I know many of them are probably having a hard time seeing the blessings among the pain...I KNOW it is hard. However, I know that God doesn't leave us in times of need. In fact, if you let Him in you may find His arms around you. Sometimes the blessings are big and sometimes they are small, but they are there. For those of you currently going through trials of any kind, you are being prayed for and you are loved. Stand firm. God has great plans for you. 

For more Project 52 goodness, check out these fine blogs:

styleberry BLOG, Lucas and Mahina, Wicked Kate, The Mog Blog, Dana Moran Photography

Let me know if you want to join in on the fun! It's never too late to start your Project 52 :) 

Project 52:42 | Rejuvenation

I'm back! I am so sad at how many Project 52 posts I have missed. I am really hoping I can post the past ones because I would really like to make this into a book in the end. Oh well, life happens.

Speaking of life..instead of getting ready for the church retreat I am heading to in 40 minutes and that I am not ready for (still have wet hair...) I am blogging. I am a great procrastinator. I always know that retreats and girls night are good for me, and yet I always have second thoughts when the time comes. I would happily just not go if I could. Ironically if you asked me if I thought I would have fun the answer would be yes. In fact, I didn't think I was going to be able to go to retreat this year and I was so sad because I remembered how much I loved last years retreat. And now, here I am, nervous to leave. I know the retreat will help me grow as a woman, wife, mom, sister, friend, etc....but I am so bad at leaving. I am not the one who wants to be away from my kids. I am so the opposite. BUT in the end I am going to come back raving about how great it was and so excited to snuggle my little family again. I hope you all have a chance to get away and be refreshed. It's good for the soul.

Love you all!

The Day I Got Over Myself And Became A Soccer Mom

If you happen to follow me on Instagram (thecrainsnest) you may have seen that we made a "big" purchase. If not, well, surprise! We bought a minivan.

Now I will have you know I've never been a girly girl. I'm beginning to embrace my femininity a bit more, but sometimes I surprise myself with my less than girly ways. Growing up I loved cars. I knew which ones were the best, which ones were the worst. I was a total car snob. My dad taught me how to take care of my own car so if my car broke down in the middle of nowhere I had the hood up right away investigating the cause.

My car snobbiness meant I would never ever ever be caught driving a minivan. I was going to be the cool suv mom. I never judged those that found themselves driving a van at all, they just weren't for me.

Fast forward to a few years ago. I married a van enthusiast. He loved their space and organization and promised that one day I would drive one. I said he was crazy (not so politely) and stomped off. I'm super mature like that.

About a year ago as we discussed having the desire for many kids versus my original 2 kid only plan (ha!) I started to open my mind to new options. It may have helped that I was driving a 20 year old car that we got when we were first married that has zero working interior lights (yes we tried adding new lightbulbs), only one car door that unlocks (unless it's cold then good luck getting in), no radio, and that had a damaged front end. Add to that the fact that only one seatbelt worked for a carseat and a van was sounding greater everyday.

When we became pregnant with baby 2 we knew it was a necessity to upgrade. While I would have happily driven the Camry until baby 3 comes along, it just couldn't happen. I could never have two kids in one car. Ummm that's just not going to work.

So after lots of prayer and discussion and consultations with my parents we figured out a way to get a "newer" safe vehicle that could last us for all of our kids school years in a way that made the most financial sense for our family. Despite my desire for an suv, the gas and insurance costs were not practical for us..we needed it to still be cost effective.

Enter the 2003 Mazda MPV with 21,000 miles that we were able to buy for over $4000 less than its worth. It doesn't have the bells and whistles of my highly coveted Honda Odyssey, but after owning a car that had few working parts, I think it's a dream come true. God totally had His hand in this purchase. The van was owned by an older couple for one year until they sadly passed away and then passed on to another sweet grandma (who had the most incredible family) who only drove it once a week. I mean, what a huge blessing. It's like getting a new car even though it's technically 10 years old.

I wasn't looking for beauty, but I think "Greta" is pretty cute. I am now a van enthusiast and will happily give you 50 reasons why it's the best thing ever. A true organizers dream...I'm excited to start organizing her :) anyway just wanted to share the new addition to our family! God never ceases to stop blessing our family and we are thankful.

Moving On And Moving Out

I owe you all quite the explanation. We moved. Over a month ago now. We knew moving was inevitable but the way it happened was so shocking that we are just now finally feeling somewhat settled again. Let me explain...

I believe it was a Wednesday. I heard the sound of the mailman dropping the mail in the slot on the outside of our house. I took note and then kept doing whatever E and I were working on. Around 12 I opened the door, grabbed the mail, and noticed something from a lawyer. I opened it quickly as It struck me as odd.

Back up a bit. On the 13th of August our house was going up for auction. Because we had an offer on our house (which was actually friends of ours) the auction date should have been postponed. Long story short..it wasn't. So we had been waiting to hear what the next step would be. We had assumed we would be given about 30 days so at the time that I received this letter we believed we had 20 days left.

We didn't.

The letter had a whole bunch of legal speak, but the one thing that stood out was the part that said we had 10 days after the auction date to be out of our house. That meant TODAY! I called Josh in a panic and he left work to come deal with everything. After a little chat with the lawyer (because certainly no one sends a letter through regular mail saying they expect you to move within a few hours right?) we found out that yes that's exactly what they expected but they would let us be out by Sunday night. Reasonable if it weren't for the fact that we had to be out of town for business that weekend.

So, a quick message to friends and we had a whole moving crew at our disposal. It was amazing. I should add that I was only 8 weeks pregnant so very few people understood why this move was even harder for me. I was sick, tired, and couldn't lift much. Good thing for friends who make you sit and relax!

So where are we now? We moved out with not a second to spare and made a quick plea to my parents for us to move in. We have been here since and it truly was a blessing in disguise. It was so helpful having extra hands to help me with Eden when I was too sick to do much. We have our own floor of the house so I think we stay out of each others way for the most part ;) at this point we are just saving up and trying to relax a bit before making any more moves (literally).

I'm thankful to be done. We loved that house but it is just a temporary home. We both recorded videos (unbeknownst to one another) for our kids to watch one day to see our first house. We learned so much and are so thankful for every moment of those lessons..even when I was in tears at times. It was hard, but we have been blessed so much through it. Thank all for your love and support!

Bye little bungalow!