Maybe??

So we wonder...... Have we found "the" house???

We've definitely found houses.... (count is still at 46 b/c we're taking this weekend "off.") We've found nice houses in crappy neighborhoods, we've found nice houses in OK neighborhoods but with yards smaller than 1/10th of an acre (and that one was next door to a water-treatment plant), we've found nasty houses in nice neighborhoods, and yes, even several nasty houses in nasty neighborhoods... and don't forget the one that smelled of recently-smoked pot--which was in Anderson, I hasten to add.

You'd think we were being picky. Yanno, no broken windows, not the ONLY framed house on the street (what's with Southerners' love-affair w/ trailers anyway?!?), at least 1/2 acre for yard space, not too many miles from hubby's office... That's really all we're asking!! That's not so much is it?? *whines* Come on.. three freaking criteria: livable house, decent neighborhood, nice yard. But we've been finding out by sheer force of looking that these three are not *quite* all available at the same time in our price range.... and by our price range I mean we're NOT sending me back to work or hubby to get a 2nd job over a house--not over ANY house.

But..... whining aside, after two months of recreational (and not-so-recreational) house-hunting on-line & by truck we've found a house. We're not jumping up & down saying it's the most wonderful house imaginable, but we've learned a few things over the past few months of house hunting. We're going to have to go with 2 & 1/2 of 3. It's got a great yard (just over an acre of land), it's in a relatively quiet established neighborhood... and the house meets all of our "minimum requirements"... like 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, non-leaking roof. It's currently being remodeled, and so far they're doing a great job of things. Nice neutral colors, good workmanship, modernizing/updating, etc. It's a little smaller than we would have liked (especially after living a trailer for the last 8 years), but it's definitely bigger than where we are now.

So.... we're dragging a friend over to see it tomorrow.. one of that wonderful kind of friend who's remodeled every house he's ever purchased & had already volunteered to help us give any possibilities a once-over.... Not that we wouldn't hire a building inspector eventually, but he's got a good eye for things that we probably wouldn't notice right off that could make it a no deal after all (before we spend any $$ on an inspector). Anyway... said friend is getting le grand tour of la casa tomorrow with us & the realtor again.. we'll see what he thinks & go on from there.

Put it this way, it's the first house that we've seen that we've both said... "Yea, this'll work!" And after 46 houses, that's a nice thing to hear!!

Another Wednesday....

I used to post a lot on Wednesdays (back before Christmas)... maybe that when I'm finally caught up from the weekend & have a minute to think. Maybe it's just because Wednesdays are boring.... anyway....

We've now seen 46 houses. O.O If there were a cross-eyed face, I'd go for that one instead. They're not exactly starting to blur together, but getting close (the houses I mean). I guess the good news is we've finally seen everything in our price-range in the areas from which we're interested in commuting.... So now we wait, as the flurry of new listings begins, dear folks trying to find a another domicile before the next school year begins..... and we're not out of 3rd quarter yet?! So we'll see. In the mean time, maybe the kid will get to enjoy one weekend w/o his butt being slung in a car-seat so Mommy & Daddy can drag him around the countryside looking for a yard for him.

Welp...

The hunt is still on. First really nice house we found (in our price range) is being closed on this weekend, and not by us. I'm sure this will happen several more times before we find what we want.....

In the mean time... I'm packing boxes for the first time in 11 years.... which is incredible considering my parents moved like 20 times before I was 20! O.O The move in here with hubby (over 8 years ago) doesn't count, b/c I didn't bother boxing anything up... most of my stuff was still boxed from moving to SC in '95, and the rest of it we just threw in the back of his car over the few weeks before the wedding. It's hard to believe we've lived here for 8 years..... longest I'd ever lived in one place before that was 4 years. I love my hubby. He's good to me! The Lord sure gave me a good one!! -]

Hoagies...

1 head of Lettuce
2 ripe Tomatoes
1 Onion
1 jar hot banana peppers
1 jar Sweets & Hots (more peppers for the uninitiated)
8oz Beano's Original Submarine dressing
4 fresh baked crusty-on-the-outside soft-on-the-inside torpedo rolls
1/2 lb ham capicolla
1/3 lb slicing pepperoni
1/4 lb pepper ham
1/4 lb THIN sliced Genoa salami
1/3 lb aged provolone cheese

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4 wicked good hoagies... enjoyed tonight with friends from PA. Sorry, no leftovers! :-D

Woot!!

Steelers!!

And the hunt continues... OR... 13 houses in 5 1/2 hours...

We went house-hunting again today. Had out the Pickens & Anderson Co maps, and print-outs on 15 houses. Found 13 of 'em. #14 must not exist--nothing but woods where the house should have been--blast MapQuest!!

Skipped #15 b/c it was the most expensive on our list but with the fewest bathrooms, also the furthest away from hubby's work, and was in down-town Anderson--our apologies to you Andersonians reading here, but there were just too many strikes against it.

So... we saw 13 houses today. Actually might be interested in a couple of them. Haven't quite reached "oh, that's our DREAM house" status yet, but one was pretty close.... we've actually initiated contact with the realtor over that one. We'll see.....

Wash me with hyssop...

Exodus 12:21-24 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip [it] in the blood that [is] in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that [is] in the basin; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite [you]. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.

Hubby and I are working on reading through the Bible this year.... Anyway, middle of last month landed us in Exodus 12, dealing with the first Passover. As we were reading through the verses above, I had one of those *ding--light going on* moments that I thought I'd share.. but first a bit of background.

Back when I was in 5th grade, we were attending Newport Baptist Church--very near the homestead of the Knipe family. The church tossed out a challenge to us kids: memorize Psalm 51 and bring 3 visitors to SS between now (the fall)and the following summer & the church would sponsor us for summer camp. I still remember c-o-l-d winter mornings, mom waiting with me for the bus drilling me on Psalm 51. :-) Well, I never went to camp, but I did get the major part of Psalm 51 down cold. It starts: Have mercy upon me oh God, according to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquities & cleanse me from my sin for I acknowledge my transgressions & my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest & be clear when thou judgest. Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness..........

So last month as hubby and I are reading in Exodus 12 about the Passover, the hyssop imagery hit me... hard. See, Psalm 51 has always been my favorite "repentance" passage. Purge me with hyssop. I've kinda viewed it as the OT equivalent of 1 John 1:9 ...if we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive--especially with David's reference to the restoration of the joy of salvation. But as it occurred to me, that (the believer's repentance) might not be the big point.

Ultimately, the hyssop imagery is salvific. It wasn't the hyssop plant itself that was in focus--it was the blood in which the hyssop was dipped. The Israelites didn't have to stand outside all night, dipping the hyssop & re-applying blood to the doorposts. They were to do it once & then stay inside. The blood did the work. So, too, for me today. 'Tis the washing in His blood that makes me whiter than snow. I don't have to keep dipping the hyssop, so to speak. I'm forgiven--freed, by His blood.

Bottom line?? It's not the hyssop that was so important... it was the blood of the Lamb.