Holy Toledo!

It has been far too long since my last post. We have been some busy bees and truthfully my poor mind has not had the will power to come up with a post worth any ones time to read. I am not sure this one will really captivate anyone either, but I thought I would share what has been going on in our world over the last few weeks.

We got all moved into our new home. We are now located in a suburb of Tulsa. We have a big backyard for the dogs and kids next door which means we might actually have some trick or treaters this year!!

This is our kitchen, which absolutely sold me from first glance. It has an antique finish and is so open. I love cooking in here.

Sorry about the sideways picture, but this is our teeny bathroom. I was a little on the fence about this at first, but I have actually grown to like it because it doesn't allow for much clutter.

Our living room with nice big windows that over look our front yard and porch. Please note: We bought our coffee table and end table the first weekend we moved in on craigslist, but it has turned out to be a great buy! We felt like we were moving up in the world. Zeb says we will furnish our entire house with craigslist. Is it sad that I might be OK with this?? 

Zeb surprised me one day after work by hanging our quilt that we received from Grandma Austin on our wedding day. It is absolutely beautiful! This woman has skills. She hand made this and she is nearly 90!

And then we celebrated Valentines Day last night. This was Zeb's gift to me coupled with a card and chocolate.

And this was mine to him. A card and a truffle. We completed the night with some wine, The Voice, and conversation. It was perfect.

And in between moving and Valentine's day we have been wrapped up in managing this chaotic life. I have been trying to keep up with my training for my half-marathon, which I am happy to announce that I succeeded in running 5 miles in 35 degree weather at my fastest pace yet which really isn't all that fast, but hey it is the small milestones! And then job searching. Yes, I said it, job searching. Because wouldn't it just be that as soon as we get all settled in our new home that serves perfect to our liking, a wrench gets thrown in.

My sweet husband was laid off last Monday. We have finally felt the impact of this economy personally. However, there is something so unique and humbling about this experience. We have grown closer. We have spent more time in communication with each other and God. We have laughed more and cried (well I cried). We have asked why and we have prayed more together. I guess sometimes, most times, personal growth, spiritual growth, marriage growth, comes from trials rather than comforts, deserts rather than gardens. I like to believe though, that when you are the most confused about where your life is headed and what exactly God is doing with it, that you better hold on because He is about to do something really big.

So we don't know where we are headed. We don't know why we got settled in a place we love and made goals to get debt free and got excited making plans for the future just for all of it to be taken away one month later. We don't understand what this part of the plan is all about, but I guess that is why we feel really lucky. We feel lucky because there is a peace inside of us that continues to remind us that we don't have to know and we don't have to understand we just have to be willing to go and I feel even luckier to have a husband that looks up first for direction rather than to this world. This might mean we have to move AGAIN in the coming months, but we are ready for whatever may be.

In the meantime we are trying our hardest to be patient and taking it one day at a time. We keep our heads up and stay focused on where we are headed. We know what has been placed on our hearts. We have goals to accomplish and one tiny stick in the road sure isn't going to stop us. You see when life happens in a way you didn't expect, you can either let it paralyze you or you can fight back.

We refuse to be paralyzed.

"No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us." Romans 8:37