paradise

12 pm Saturday I leave for Cabo. :) I get to spend 7 days with the most beautiful girls soaking up the sun and celebrating Karen's last few days as a single lady! Bright nail polish, tropical-smelling tanning oil, sand in my toes, fish tacos, laughter, dancing, and relaxation. I. cannot. wait.

HOLLA!!!!!

perfect weekend

Saturday morning Caleb and I woke up with nothing on our immediate agenda for the first time in months! It was fantastic! We made coffee, grabbed our morning devotional, Alaska vacation planner, and Pottery Barn catalog, and spent the morning on our porch. The windows were open, and the air was the perfect temperature: cool enough to wake you up but warm enough to keep the goosebumps away. Truly pleasant. We turned the sprinklers on for the first time since being winterized, met the neighbors, went for a nice run, and then packed up the car to head to Vail. Sunday was closing day at Vail, and it was perfect spring (almost summer) skiing. I wore a short-sleeved shirt and a thin jacket. The snow was super soft but not too slushy, and the slopes were filled with crazy locals dressed in bizarre costumes. We saw Santa, a couple 80s brides, Superman, a prom couple, a few bananas, a few banana hammocks (yikes!), and lots of crazy ski tights and capes. Hilarious! We watched a pond skimming contest, which was insane, and then we waited at the top of Vail Mountain for the dynamite to go off, which signals the end of the season. We were only 50 yards from the dynamite. With the first explosion, the air hit my face before the noise went off. CRAZY! We had a relaxing drive back to Grand Junction and then back to work this morning. Tuesday night we are hosting dinner night (tacos and strawberry pizza), and Wednesday is my last day of work. Holla!!!! The inspection on our house is this Wednesday, so prayers for that will be greatly appreciated. :) Then....Saturday I'm off to Cabo for a WEEK to celebrate Karen Koop's last few days as a single lady! I'm stoked!

Pictures from the weekend:

Our cousins Tim and Melinda

Crazy costume, dude!!

What?!?!

Huge crowds at the top of Vail Mountain.

Enjoying the sun on the chair lift!

Truly thankful for the Lord's blessings. Love y'all!

sold

That's right!!! In only seven days of being on the market, we sold our house!!! Praise the LORD! He is so so so good! And I'm especially thankful that the buyers love our house so much and will appreciate it's charm and character like we do. :) We close May 20th, which is a little earlier than we wanted, so we will live in a hotel for a couple of weeks before we move. Fortunately, we can focus on our move to North Dakota and looking for housing options. We fly to Dickinson the first week in May, so hopefully we see something we love!! :)

Caleb and I are heading to Vail this afternoon to spend time with his cousins. Tomorrow is closing day at Vail, so it will be fun to get one last day of skiing in! Looks like it's definitely going to be spring (maybe summer?) skiing, so we could be wearing short-sleeves on the slopes! :) Have a great weekend! Love y'all!

listing

So here is our sweet home. :)

And click HERE to see the virtual tour and inside pictures if you're interested. :)

We had an Open House both Saturday and Sunday and quite a few groups showed up. There were a couple of promising buyers, and we had one family look at our house for over an hour yesterday. We still haven't received any offers, but it hasn't even been on the market for a week yet. I know God is in control completely! :)

Love y'all!

it's a good day

It's a beautiful Friday. :) The sun is out shining with a high of a whopping 70 today. Wonderful. I couldn't sleep at all last night. Mind wandering about things I should do to the house to make it more "sellable", what life will be like in North Dakota, planning our trip to Alaska, on and on and on. I told Caleb that if speakers were hooked up to the voices inside my head, he would tell me to turn it off or hit mute. Even I was annoyed. It was like being inside a subway terminal with people walking different directions, talking on their cell phones or to each other, random thoughts going through each person's mind. Or like a crazy intersection in NYC. That was my mind last night. So I woke up with Caleb this morning, not feeling rested, but totally ready for the day. I feel like a real adult since I'm waking up at 6:30 when I really don't have to. :) I made my coffee this morning, checked email, had a surprise phone conversation with my Aunt, downloaded an album on iTunes (The Temper Trap - Conditions....I TOTALLY recommend this one!), and took a wonderful long shower....you know, the selfish ones where you use up all the hot water, shave, and pull out the scrubs you never use. I used my new Bath & Body Works Fig scrub, and MMMmmm! I smell so yummy. Our house needs a little curb appeal. Caleb and I desperately tried to pick out a bunch of perennials last night at Lowe's. We bought some but neither of us have the slightest idea about designing flower beds. I want some color and cheerfulness without the corny-I'm-trying-to-be-a-gardener-but-failing-horribly look. :) I'm going to the nursery this morning to talk to the experts about plants. Wish me luck. Then I might head to Hobby Lobby to see if there are any spring-y decorations for the house. I also need some cheap fabric to make a few curtains for our kitchen windows. I also bought a $20 coffee table last weekend and the paint to spruce it up. I should probably work on that today. And hopefully I can squeeze in a trail run with Bella since the snow has finally melted and the trails are dry. It's going to be a great day. I just might get a Starbucks, too. :)

My Daily Light reading today:

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. With the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their case. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Praise the Lord. Love y'all.

for sale

Our house goes on the market today. Wow. We bought our first house 1.5 years ago, and now we begin the selling process. Caleb and I have worked hard for the past week, staying up after midnight every night. Hopefully, all of my HGTV watching has helped with the staging process. In one week, we accomplished:

- Painting our bedroom and bathroom (3 gallons of paint and only one coat)

- Painting and installing baseboards in our bedroom and bathroom

- Painting trim around the windows inside the house

- Painting trim around the porch windows

- Tearing down the carport

- De-cluttering/boxing-up/organizing the master closet

- De-cluttering/boxing-up/organizing the guest room closet

- De-cluttering/boxing-up/organizing the bathroom cabinets

- De-cluttering/boxing-up/organizing the laundry room

- De-cluttering/boxing-up/organizing the kitchen

And hopefully before the two days of Open House this weekend, we can:

- Install a new microwave

- Plant shrubs and perennials in the front yard beds

- Caulk and touch-up the baseboards upstairs

- Install new fixtures upstairs

- Spruce up the backyard

We are relying on the Lord during this time. Only He can bring the perfect person to buy our house. I just hope the buyer appreciates this house as much as we have. :)

Love y'all.