Which one's the hog?

My friend Tim brought his new Yamaha bike over the other night, so I thought it was a good photo op. Or, at least something for others to laugh at since those who know me realize I am definitely not a "born to be wild" type.

Moving Update

We have really appreciated the prayers sent up on our behalf in regards to the sale of our home in Dallas, NC. As of a few weeks ago, our house went under contract to a family who are viewing it as their "dream home" of sorts. Our close date was set for June 19th. This put us into a higher gear so to speak in regards to our house search in Mooresville to avoid having to "move twice". Fortunately, we were able to find a house relatively quickly, which we subsequently put an offer on and we were able to work out a deal. So, we're under contract on this property as well, too, also set to close on June 19th. The inspection on this property was today, and although there are a few things still to work out, we're still optimistic the Lord is helping us to complete this transition.

I thought I would attach a few photos of the new place, with the request that you all keep us in your prayers as we look to finalize getting new insurance, getting financing, etc. on the new place, and that there will be no further problems with "the old place." There's much to be excited about!

Nice spring evening...until...

Since our AC in our house was out, and the weather was pleasant this evening, we decided to go romp in the backyard. I snapped this nice moment with Mommy and Nathan on the swingset with the cell phone camera. The AC repairman came this evening too, but wasn't able to fully fix the system. In addition to a blown circuit board, our dog, Princess, who has been sleeping under the house, found a way to tear down some of the duct work as well. This could add several hundred dollars to the total bill, and about 3-4 more days without AC. Sigh. However, in some ways this is a praise, because if it wasn't for the blown circuit board, we wouldn't have discovered the ductwork. If we wouldn't have discovered the ductwork, we may have either made some other repairs we didn't need to, or left the future owner of our house a very unhappy camper.

We do have some very good news about our house selling and searching that I'll save for another post in the next two or three days.

Saving for sister/China update

I cleaned out a bunch of pennies that had fallen behind the bookcase in the home office. Waking up early (with the hopes of playing Mario), Nathan comes into the computer room and asks what all of the pennies are for. I told him he could have them for his piggy bank, and he said there were too many for him to carry However, he said he would take them "three at a time." Okay, I said. On the way back to his room, he kept trying to tell me what he wanted to buy with this new found wealth. I kept encouraging him that the piggy bank was for saving, but he should also think about giving some to the church. Then, on his own, he told me that he wanted to save up to buy something for his baby sister. How sweet, I said.

Since the wait for China has gotten astronomically long now, it has been very discouraging for us. It has definitely tested our faith. This, plus the logistics (and financial burdens of the upcoming move) has really dampened our spirits a bit. In fact, we have toyed with the idea of being open to domestic situations, should they happen to arise over the next year. The current timetable for China doesn't have us even having a referral now until late 2009.

It is moments, though, like the one with Nathan this morning that keep us going, despite the every so often "Why China?" comment from someone who doesn't understand our heart or history. It also makes me proud of my son.

I guess I have too many CDs...

Today was the culmination (or close to it) of a project I embarked on to get rid of all of the jewel cases for all of my CDs, consolidating them into a single binder (that fits about 250). Well, I filled that one up and still have about 50 plus left over. In fact, even with some blank spots left in for some late additions in certain categories, I was barely able to zip it up. Therefore, I may have to go back and take out the paper inserts I kept with each CD just to make it thinner. After all was done, here was the mountain I created, which I thought would make an interesting picture.


P.S. There is a cat well camoflauged in this picture. Can you find her?

Bite the Bullet

A few weeks back our roof over the sunroom was replaced, and some other touch-up roof work was done too. Somewhere over the main house, one of the roofers found an interesting shingle. One with a hole in it. Well, that's not that unusual. What caused the hole was indeed unusual - a bullet. Scary, right? I just now got around to taking a picture of it, as it's obviously an interesting souvenir of our house. It seems to have happened a long time ago. most likely when someone in the neighborhood perhaps shot up in the air. And after all, even bullets have to come down somewhere. Glad it wasn't my head!

In the "pits"

A friend of mine who works as a gas man for a Craftsman Truck Series Nascar team hooked me up with a Pit Pass for the race at Martinsville last weekend. It was a surreal experience to say the least. In addition to being in the pits with th 11 Red Horse Racing Team, I was able to catch glimpses of some famous drivers, and see beginning to end what goes on behind the scenes at a race. It was great! Here are some pics.