Far Too Long, but Far Too Fortunate...

So many wonderful, amazing things have been happening in my life, and while I haven't made note of them here in quite some time, I have taken the time out in the real world to express my gratitude to those involved and to thank God for the blessings he has bestowed upon me.

I am still trekking along the Weight Watchers path -- and to date I have lost 47.6 pounds! It's amazing to me that I have been able to exercise the willpower and strength to stick to this plan. But when you see a pound or two fall away each week, and those one-or-two pounds add up each month, it's easy to see that the changes you make are working. I am so grateful to my friends and family for supporting me on this journey, and I'm immensely proud of myself!

Also, in the last few months, I've sold a house, bought a house, and moved!

My husband, our parents and I spent several weeks fixing up my old house after it was trashed by my last tenant. His parents worked especially hard, and I can't express enough gratitude to his father for all the hard work and late nights he spent drywalling, even when we weren't there. We got a decent offer on the house and were able to close quickly. Most importantly, I was able to make enough money off of the house to roll into a downpayment towards a new house, which was the whole purpose of selling in the first place.

Hubby and I started looking online at homes in our area and absolutely fell in LOVE with this house. It was a little farther out than we ideally wanted, and it was at the higher end of our price range, but everything about this house was perfect. We took it as a sign that I made just a *little* more money from selling my house than we had anticipated, so we JUMPED at the chance to put an offer on this house -- and it was a good thing, too, because there was already another offer! Thankfully, our offer was accepted, and we closed a month later.

We started moving in a few weeks ago (many thanks again to our families for helping us move!) and are slowly getting settled into our new home.
Our first home as a family. It puts a smile on my face to say that...to know that this is the home in which we will raise our kids someday.
I am so proud of us for buying this gorgeous place, so thankful to our families for the help they provided us in getting to this point, and, most importantly, so grateful to God for the grace he has put into our lives. It is that grace that has gotten us to where we are, and we know we wouldn't be here without him.

We are truly blessed.