Back Home Again in Indiana

While I absolutely love the beauty of the Southwest, I have been surprisingly blown away by the loveliness of my home state.  Normally when we come out here, we drive across the country so the transitions in the landscape are more gradual.  This time, Caleb and I flew...so everything is just shockingly green.  

Go Boilers!

So, I am a little excited about Purdue basketball in the fall. I know it's early, but GO BOILERS!  An excerpt from a website... Boilermakers Already Drawing Attention For 2008-09   Several Web Sites have Purdue top 10 for 2008-09.     Matt Painter has a lot of people nationally talking about Purdue basketball.   April 9, 2008 WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - After a second place Big Ten finish and 25-9 record, the Purdue men's basketball team is already getting some recognition from the media for the 2008-09 season. ESPN.com's Andy Katz released his annual predictions for the preseason top 25 for the 2008-09 season. In his poll Purdue is No. 8, the highest ranked Big Ten team. "Mackey Arena is rocking again, and Matt Painter has ascended rather quickly as a well-respected coach." said Katz. Luke Winn of CNNSI.com has Purdue No. 4 in his top 10 poll for 2008-09. Jeff Goodman of Foxsports.com also has the Boilermakers No. 7. The Boilermakers finished No. 20 in the final USA Today Coaches Poll and return all five starters.

Removing the Paneling

As we are in Indiana, Brandon is busy working on things around the house.  This is a picture of the walls in our dining room with the wood panels removed.  The brown stuff is really old glue.  He says it is all going to be a lot of work.  I am excited to see how it turns out.  Thanks, husband.  :-)  We miss you. 

Before and After

Our little man, like most toddlers, hates to get his hair cut.  I don't like the process myself and he won't let me get near him with scissors.  So, we go to Supercuts and he screams for twenty minutes.  His hair grows super fast, so I just let it go forever until it gets out of control and we have to cut it all off.  

So here are two pictures I took of him today:

Brandon's immediate response is usually, "Who is that?"  It takes a while to get used to it.  :-) Hopefully this will help Grandma and Grandpa recognize him when we see them tomorrow.  We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving.  

We own a house!

Well, technically we don't own a house.  The bank owns our house.  They're just letting us live here.  :-)  I guess we own a small percentage of it.  I decided tonight that it's the wood floors we own...and maybe a small portion of the backyard. 

Our closing happened today.  It was almost two weeks after our first closing date, but nonetheless it happened.  After signing a million and two forms, we bought a house.  It definitely wasn't as exciting as I am sure most closings are since we are already living here, but it was still fun. Now...we have some work to do.

But, my part of that work will have to wait.  Caleb and I are taking off on Thursday to go out to Indiana to see my family.  Brandon isn't traveling this summer, so he will remain home...and hopefully start taking off some of that wood paneling that's covering the walls of three rooms. 

NOTE:  All of the pictures were taken before we moved in.  I haven't taken any since...but I will.  

This is our dining room...eating area. It is part of the kitchen.  We are going to paint the panel-less walls a golden color...which I hope is different enough from the existing floors.  We'll see.  We already bought the paint, so there is no turning back. 

 

The above room is Caleb's now.  We are going to go out and order new carpet tomorrow, and I think we might paint the room green with blue and red magnetic stripes.  We haven't bought that paint yet, so who knows what it will end up as. 

The other picture is our backyard.  It is a great size for us, and Caleb is having a great time.  One carport will be taken down and removed by the previous owners. We're not sure what we are going to do with the other. 

 The picture on top is our living room window, and the picture on the bottom is the front yard.  Do you notice the GRASS!?!? And the wrought iron fence is so great for our little boy to play freely on the GRASS!  I am so excited about that green stuff covering our yard.  Have you noticed?  Now to just learn how to take care of it. 

I have taken so few pictures since we have been here, and we have yet to take a picture of the front of the house.  I will put some more up soon, but just imagine a 1960s ranch...with a porch swing that we (I) are (am) hoping to put up soon.  :-)

Our New Home

Talking with Hope (Brandon's mom) tonight, I realized that it has been at least two weeks since I have posted anything on here.  Things have been unbelievably busy around here...but oh so fun!  

We were supposed to close on our house on Thursday, and being the inexperienced first time homebuyers that we are, we had let our property managers know that we would be out by that Friday.  Our closing ended up being postponed for various reasons, so we ended up getting an early occupancy agreement and moving into our house anyway.  So, technically we have not yet purchased this home, but we are in.  :-)

And WE LOVE IT!  There are so many reasons why this is the perfect house for us, and we are so enjoying making it our own.   Let me list a few of those reasons: 

1) THE YARD!  In our three bedroom home we rented for the last 2+ years, we were so happy there.  The yard, however, was awful...full of prickly goatheads and just a mixture of rocks and weeds...and we couldn't do anything to it because it was a rental.  Our new front yard has beautiful grass and a wrought iron fence all around to contain our little boy. There are two huge trees, and we are planning on hanging a swing from one of them.  In the backyard, there is soooo much space and shade from three more huge mulberry trees, a few pomegranate trees and a pecan tree.  It needs some landscaping, which we hope to get to eventually...but our little boy is practically giddy as he plays in the dirt.  It has been so relaxing to spend time out there reading or talking while Caleb kicks his balls or marks his territory with a squirt bottle we gave him.  So fun!  (One thing you Midwesterners might not understand is that GREEN is scarce out here in the desert.  

2) THE LOCATION!   We are so super close to campus now.  The dorms are about a five minute walk or less, and Brandon can get anywhere really easily now.  I can even take my walks with Caleb on campus now.  Not only that, but it will be easier and more convenient for students to come over to our house.  And for those of you who know Cruces, now I can go to the new Wal Mart instead of the old Wal Mart...which was formerly too close to our home to avoid.  I had the most peaceful grocery shopping experience ever tonight after Caleb went to bed.  :-) 

3) The Size.  It is definitely bigger than our old home.  We could have student and staff meetings over here much more easily now.  It does mean I have more to clean.  I miss our old one bedroom apartment sometimes for that reason.  :-)

4) The Potential.  Our home is a 1960s ranch, and the previous owners took great care of it.  There are several things that we want to update, however, including taking out the wood paneling covering the walls of many rooms as well as replacing the carpet.  We will probably paint the kitchen cabinetry...and I want to make a mosaic in the tile entry when you walk in the door.  I spent hours watching HGTV last night while working...and I am so inspired.  :-)  We looked at new homes on the market that were great prices, but they seemed so boring compared to all the projects we could do in this one.  I just hope I am not being too ambitious.  I hope to put some before and after shots up here.  Yay!

Sidenote:  We have free digital cable for a year instead of our basic cable we had before...hopefully we don't get too used to it.  But hopefully it will get more people over here to hang out with us.  :-)  

5) THE PREVIOUS OWNERS:  This is definitely the reason we were able to buy the home.  The previous owners, Tim and Teresa, go to our church, and we have known them for a few years now.  When we heard they were selling their home, we were interested in finding out more.  We had been to their house once before, and I remember thinking that they had such a great yard and location.  When they found out that we were interested, they told us that we could do it all without a realtor and they would lower the home price by the commission they would have paid to that real estate agent...thus allowing us to afford the home.  

Not only that, but they have taken great care of it over the years.  It is wonderful knowing that the place that they called home for so many years we now get to call home.  They are also great to have around for a resource.  What a blessing they have been!

So, as you can see, our new home is a wonderful blessing to us.  We definitely feel that the Lord has led us here, and He has done much to provide for us.  We spoke with several friends to get their thoughts on buying this house, and our pastor was especially helpful as he sat down with us and looked at our finances.  He was very encouraging.  

Please pray for us as we continue to transition into life here.  We so want to see God use this home for His purposes.  He's already doing so much in my own heart in this place.  I can't wait to see what He has in store. 

We love you guys!  

Another Brandon Update

Okay, so my update the other day wasn't exactly true.  I realized yesterday that Brandon's leg is still bothering him quite a bit actually;  he just isn't complaining about it.  

So, I wanted to clarify.  Please pray for him.  

Thanks.  We love you guys. 

2 weeks...

Our closing date is in two weeks.  We are in the middle of disorganization as we get ready for a garage sale tomorrow morning.  

So we won't be posting much in the next few weeks.  

But, I did want to get out another update on Brandon's health.  He is doing really well.  The clot is not bothering him anymore, and he has to go to the doctor less frequently to check his blood thinness level.  We're still so grateful to the Lord for the diagnosis...and grateful He is doing better. 

The Global Food Crisis

As the cost of food has increased, the world's poor are the most affected.  The rise in the price of food due to gas prices, higher demand, etc., has caused a crisis among those living in poverty. Please check out Compassion's website for more information about what we can do to help ease the crisis...the first and foremost being prayer.   

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter --when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

Isaiah 58:6-7

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

(Patrick, Hannah and Nerps at my parents' house over Thanksgiving)

So, technically it's not her birthday anymore, but I did want to say happy birthday to Hannah!  She is my brother Patrick's wife, and we are all crazy blessed to have her in our family...especially Patrick.  She is so great for him.  

Though we don't get to see them nearly as often as we would like, we're grateful for the opportunities we do get to see them. 

Happy Birthday, sweet Hannah!  We love you!

***edited to add***

  I guess my blog is on Pacific time because it marks this post on Sunday still.  Yay...guess I made it in time.  :-)

Never pay retail!

Brandon and I took a financial class in early '05 that has helped us immensely  (THANKS, Jeff and Julia).  :-)  It was Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, and we have been so blessed by that class in so many ways.  In one of the lessons titled "Big, Big Bargains," he says to never pay retail price on anything.  Great advice. 

And while it's pretty impossible to avoid paying retail price on everything (i.e. groceries), we have learned to shop only sales and even go out of our way to get bargains.  I think we both like the hunt of it.  

Well, a week or so ago we were watching something on tv called ubid tv.  It was a local auction (like ebay) that was televised.  We ended up getting a nice Kenmore grill that retails at 179 for 50 dollars.  It had a rack missing but Brandon has fixed it to make it pretty close to perfect.  

This morning, we went to a going-out-of-business auction at a local furniture store.  We ended up leaving with a tv stand (entertainment center?), two wood bar stools for our new kitchen, a queen mattress and a box spring for 335.  We weren't planning on buying a mattress, but we have been wanting a new one for years.  So, it was too great a bargain to pass up.  

Thanks, Dave, for the advice.  I can't even begin to ponder how much money your advice has saved us over the years.  :-)

Anyone want to come visit?

Well, the temperature is 103 degrees, and that is cool compared to what it has been. Yesterday it was 106. And it's only going to get hotter as the week goes on.

On Father's Day, while Caleb and I were taking naps, Brandon went out and bought a swimming pool. He had it filled and ready for us when we woke up. Such a great husband/dad! Last year (see picture), we learned that it isn't a good idea to have an inflatable pool in the desert (with cacti and prickly things everywhere), and we had to trash our pool. This year, we are trying again with another inflatable pool...with the idea that our more midwesternish landscape in the new home will not be so fatal to our summer fun. :-)

I think that this pool will help keep us sane in the summer heat. Now...if we can just keep the bugs from cooling off in there too. Yuck!

Happy Father's Day!

Hope you had a great day!

A Few Random Updates

Brandon had an ultrasound last week, and we found out that his clot has hardened.  This is good because it means that it is much less likely to break off and cause an embolism.  Really good news.  We also found out that it is in a superficial vein and not a deep vein.  Also good news. Although our doctor had diagnosed it as a DVT, the technician thought that it was never in a deep vein.  Our doctor thinks it was and that it has just dissolved.  Either way, we are happy and still so thankful for the diagnosis. 

We are still moving ahead with the house but there isn't much that can be done over the weekend.  We are still very excited, and I spent too much time this weekend looking at decorating magazines.  :-)  

We finally went on our first hike with a walking little boy.  He loved it!  We went up and did a tiny hike in the Organs at La Cueva.  It is pretty slow paced, but we notice a lot of things that we wouldn't otherwise notice...due to our very observant child.  The first picture is from that trip and the second was Memorial Day weekend when we tried to have a cookout at a park with a lake.  Bad idea.  Caleb seems to have no fear of water.  Wish I could say the same for myself.

 

We found a house!

After much prayer and conversation, we have decided to move forward in purchasing our friends' home.  It is just way too great a deal to pass up!  The home is just a few blocks from campus, has a huge yard, and would be a great home for us.  So, assuming everything goes well from here on out, we will be moving sometime in the near future.  

Please be praying for us as we move forward in faith.  We are trusting that God will continue to lead us as we go through this process.  I get a little freaked out sometimes about the economy, but God is reminding me to "not worry about tomorrow" and seek Him first.  I don't know that I will ever be done learning that lesson. 

A Jam Session

This is just one of the many jam sessions we have daily in our home. 

Anything gets converted into a guitar. 

And they really get into it.  :-)

If you think this is funny, you should hear them in person.  I think this last picture might just become an all-time favorite.  :-) 

Only his parents could know...

So these are the watertowers (or water tanks?) of Las Cruces.  The picture is a post card that Hope and Barry, Brandon's parents, sent us when they were traveling through the state.  The one in the top right corner is just outside our neighborhood.  Its mural depicts either the wagon trains on the Santa Fe trail or the Camino Real.  I am not sure which. 

That water tank means a lot to our little boy. 

As Caleb's vocabulary is increasing, there are so many things that he says and does that only his parents would ever understand.  An example is that watertower.  It can be seen from quite a distance...and whenever Caleb sees it, he starts pointing and getting really excited...

"Miiiiiiiieeeeee!  Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!"

I respond, "Yes, sweetheart."

"Miiiiieeeee!"

"Yeah, little one, we are almost home.  We're going to see Millie!"

For Caleb, that watertower means Millie (our cat) which means home to him.  Mi-ee is Caleb's word for both our cat and our home.  No one else could ever understand what he is saying... 

We really are so blessed to have this little guy in our lives. 

 

Do you have this yet?????

Helping our friends Steph and Daneel move today, I found out that not everyone knows about this amazing product.  I have had a few favorite cleaning supplies, but this little piece of foam is truly a wonder.  It makes cleaning tubs and showers so much easier, and I know I will use it more and more now that my little man is getting better at drawing on things we don't want him drawing on. 

Just thought I would share.  :-)  Brandon was against me using my blog for advertising, but I think that everyone needs one.  

Have a happy Tuesday!  

p.s.  Steph and Daneel, we already miss you!  And Kyle and Chrissy, we hope to see you guys soon.  :-)

Longs Peak

When we were at our National Staff Conference in 2005, Brandon and I climbed Longs Peak.  I did some scrapbook pages tonight, and this was a fun one to do.  Almost all of the pages I have done so far are about Caleb, so it has been fun doing some of our pre-Caleb days lately.  

We are still house hunting.  We have found a few we like, but we do want to make a financially wise decision.  We would really appreciate prayer.  THANKS!

American Idol: The Toddler Edition

On Tuesday night, Brandon and I watched a little of the American Idol finale.  Caleb was fascinated.  

You see, our little boy is quite the musician...if you want to call it that.  In an earlier post I mentioned his obsession with guitars.  He loves them.  He pretends to strum when he hears music or whenever he sees someone playing.  He has grown more and more attached to his little guitar, and he always has to play for our friends when they come over. 

Lately, we have been blessed more frequently by his singing skills as well.  Just as I am not sure where he first saw someone playing guitar, I have no idea where he learned how to hold a microphone.  But all of the sudden, he has started singing into his fist.  It is really pretty hilarious. 

After a song or two on American Idol, Caleb had the moves down.  As we were putting him to bed, I took the photos below as he sang on his changing table.  He was really getting into it.  I told him that he could even be "the next American Idol."  I don't know if I will tell him, however, that he has just about the worst musical genes in the world.  At least the genes I gave him anyway.  Poor kid.  So, I guess we could see just how far pure practice and hard work can take you.  :-) 

Seriously, how can such a little person make us laugh so hard?

  

The photos above were taken as we were getting him ready for bed Tuesday night.  The photo below was taken this morning after he woke up.

There is never a dull day in the Pelton household.