Inspired to House Hunt

So to all of you who have endured me complaining for the last 10 months about our neighbor I apologize. I apologize but the bitching does not end there. In July the neighbor we had upstairs (the one I had been complaining about since we moved in) moved out (praise the Lord) and in moved the quietest people ever. It was great. No more late night poundings on the ceilings, no more late night trips upstairs for Beau to ask him nicely to please shut the "f" up before I punch your face in (noisey upstairs neighbor+5am rise and shine=not a happy downstairs neighbor), and no more frustration over the fact that he was completely incompetent and RUDE.

Well, I shouldn't have ever dreamed the new neighbors were going to be here til we moved. One day Beau calls me and tells me that we have new neighbors. Almost immediately my heart sank because I was so thankful for the last neighbors (who I am pretty sure levitated across the floor because they were so quiet). He told me that he had already been up a couple times since they had moved in asking them to quiet down. "GREAT!" I thought. And since I have been back to NY, I have wanted to get out my broom and do some pounding on the ceiling. Its the loud guy times 2! And, and we have a neighbor DOWNSTAIRS as well who has (as Beau puts it) decided to audition for the next season of American Idol. At the same time every morning I am awakened by the bass of the SAME SONG and the man soulfully singing along apparently completely unaware that he is not the only person who inhabits this building.

So where I am going with this is that Beau and I are house hunting. Before you say "whoa you're only going to be in NY a few more months WHY are you house hunting?" Well, the planners that we are we have started looking for houses in Janesville. Last night we were looking at website after website and even hit up craigslist to see what there was for rentals. I am thinking we are DONE with apartment living. That being said, the neighbors we had in Toledo were AMAZING and became friends of ours. Maybe its just New Yorkers.

We are pretty much sold on buying. Especially if we get residency there. Here is what we have on our wish list:
-hard wood floors
-fenced in back yard
-garage for Annie
-at LEAST two bedrooms
-full basement that we can utilize either as storage or as a living space
-nice size yard for our boys (Oliver and the future Joey) and room for a garden
-close to Mercy Hospital
-a good size kitchen
-LOTS of windows
-SPACE

I am a sucker for Arts and Crafts Architecture as well as anything Art Deco. I LOVE my friend Jenna's house with all the built in wood work and natural hard wood floors. To me that feels so much like a home. Here is an example of Arts and Crafts:


This house is an example of a Craftsman built in 1910. But before the architect in me gets carried away I will just say this: it looks so homey and I can just see us filling a place like this with loved ones. *sigh*

I don't think we have an unreasonable wish list. We have even looked at many foreclosures and fixer-uppers. There was one in particular that we were particularly interested in. It is definitely in need of some TLC, but it had all the original woodwork and LOADS of potential. I am not afraid to dig in and really make it ours. We will see what the Lord has in store for us. We are so blessed in that we have family and friends who have had lots of experience in home improvement. One thing is for sure, we are having a house warming party when we do find a home and we will have everyone over to help us paint and pray over our home. We want the Lord to fill every corner.

I am a sucker for Arts and Crafts Architecture, as well as anything Art Deco. I love my friend

Its crazy to think that we are married. It still hasn't sunk in yet. As far as owning a home and starting a family? Well that seemed like a lifetime away. Its hard to believe that this time next year we may be home owners. Its so exciting. And babies? Oh my goodness! But as I sit here and watch Beau I can't imagine our life any different. I am so excited to start physically looking at places (not just over the internet) and I cannot wait to see his face when I tell him we are pregnant for the first time. We have been emotionally ready for this for a very long time now, we just need to rely on God for the rest of it.

And then there is school...another entry for another time.

So yes, are we eager to have our own place that we can do whatever we want with, and not have to share all four walls with someone? Um, YES. Wow, its coming up quicker than we think...phew...

In Gods Love,

Beau and Kenz

This Is What The Lord Made Sundays For

This morning Beau and I cracked open "Becoming Soul Mates: 52 Meditations to Bring Joy to Your Marriage." We do the best we can to keep the Lord central in our lives and since we haven't really found a church that we can attended on a weekly basis, we decided to start a devotional together. The first day was great and I feel already that its something we will really enjoy and a great way to reconnect when things get a little hectic.

As a wedding gift our sister and brother got us this most amazing family bible. It touched my heart in so many ways when we opened the bag and pulled out the big beautiful maroon colored treasure. She had even had our names inscribed on the cover. I remember when I was little, I would open our family bible and wonder what mine would look like. Now I Beau and I have one and we are able to fill the pages with our family histories and document our history as we begin every stage of our life together. So cool and such a precious gift. We used it for our devotion time today, and it made me feel how loved we are and how much the Lord is already a part of our marriage. Thank you Beky. Its such a precious precious gift.


Sundays...I used to think it was the last day to get your homework done or the last day you could cram before test. At least that what it has been for me for the past few years, but as I sit here next to Beau while he reads and as we listen to music and as I update our FB forum with new recipes for the upcoming cold weather, I start to think about what Sunday's meant for me as a kid.

Most weekends my brother and I would stay at my grandparents house. We used to look forward to that so much as my grandparents would make us all kinds of good food, throw us a "party" as we watched Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights, and they would take us into town to this little dollar store to pick out a treasure. On Sundays we would go to three or four church services as our grandpa was a pastor and had a yoke ministry meaning he preached at several of the local rural churches each weekend. I didn't appreciate those times when I was that age. But there are many times where I think about those simple laid back weekends with my grandparents and miss them so much it hurts.

When we weren't spending time with my grandparents on the weekends, we would go places as a family. There were many weekends where mom and dad would load up the car and we would take trips all over the state always remembering to pack our swimsuits because they delighted in taking us to hotels with swimming pools in them. It was always such a treat and there is nothing I love more than taking those little day trips here and there. My brother is in college now, and now that we live so far away, those weekends trip have almost become obsolete. But we were able to introduce Beau to one of our favorite family past times this past winter before we moved to New York. My mom and dad, Beau, and I took a day trip to Galena and it was one of the most incredible weekends. I can't wait til we get home so we can pick up where we left off and carry on the tradition with our kids, nieces, and nephews.

I am fairly convinced this is what the Lord made Sundays for. To sit and relax, to talk to one another, to cuddle with your spouse and watch TV or read together, to pack the kids up and make memories, to just sit and be still and marvel in all that the Lord has given you and the blessing that loved ones are. Yep, that is what Sunday is for.

In God's Love,

Beau and Kenz

That White Stuff Is Back...Great...

I was sitting on the couch watching one of my most favorite shows ever (The Office) and was completely lost in the cliff hanger episode when I glanced up to look out the window at the dreary, gloomy day. What happened next was much like Ralfie in A Christmas Story... "HOLY FUDGE IT'S SNOWING!!!" "Only I didn't say 'fudge' I said the F dash, dash, dash word." I guess one would have to have seen the whole thing go down to really appreciate my disbelief and absolute DEVASTATION written all over my face as I jumped up and ran over to the window to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

IT ISN'T EVEN HALLOWEEN YET, FOR PETE'S SAKE!!!!!!!

I feel hurt, I feel beat up, and I feel even colder. I feel like my most FAVORITE season is over for the year and there is NOTHING I can do about it. I feel as though I was tricked, deceived, and down right ROBBED. And because of this I am also in denial. As of two weeks ago the corn was still in the fields, and even the trees in Vermont were not so totally in the fall spirit yet. In fact, the tree outside our window is STILL GREEN and so with that, I refuse to change the background on this blog. I won't do it, not until AFTER Thanksgiving. I don't care if there is six feet of snow on the ground...I WON'T GIVE IN TO THIS NASTY WHITE STUFF!!!!

Although I must admit, as Beau and I are still reveling in our honeymoon it wasn't so terrible to snuggle up under the covers with my new husband, drink hot cider (the most amazing cider we picked up in Vermont) and watch out the window as the flakes went from tiny and painful looking to big, fluffy, and almost loving and dare I say it, "welcoming." There was a split second where I had visions of putting on our coats, hats, and mittens and going for a short walk. Then I felt a shiver and changed my mind in a hurry as I pulled more blankets over us. Its downright cold in here but I refuse to turn on the furnace.

I am sure I look like a little street urchin right now. Beau lit a candle and told me how much heat it put off as he held his hands close to the flames. "So bring it over here and set it on the table" I said to him. Well I am sitting maybe three feet away and I am not feeling it!

I suppose once we are home and settled I won't feel the same way I do now. I used to love snow. I use to love to cuddle up and watching the big fluffy flakes. I used to love to take my dog out to play in the snow. But now, well. Lets just say I don't get a childhood thrill out of it anymore. Maybe its because I am an adult now and don't really benefit from massive amounts of snow fall.

Here is the video I made of our first snow fall:




Tonight we are making stew and cuddling up with homemade Pumpkin Spice (eat your heart out Starbucks) and a good movie.

Hmm...maybe snow isn't as bad as I thought :)

In Gods Love,

Beau and Kenz

Starting To Feel Married...

When we first got married our friend told us it may be a while before you actually start to FEEL married. I wasn't really sure what he meant by this. Beau and I have been together a LONG time and we had lived together for a little over a year before we were married so in my mind and in my heart we had always been married. And then I had to sign the receipt at the hotel. I am clearly not used to the new last name yet as I signed it with my maiden name. Its one of those things that you do for so long that it becomes a very hard habit to break. But when do you actually start to FEEL married?

Since we got back into NY on Monday we have done some overhauling of the apartment. This is what it looked like when we first moved in back in January:
Since we moved out on the train, and were only allowed a set amount of 50 lb boxes, we needed to fill our apartment once we were here. It was the first time I had ever been in an IKEA and praise the Lord that our sister and brother had rented a full size SUV to help us get moved in. We loaded UP and slowly started opening boxes, assembling our furniture, and starting this new phase of life so far from home. We were determined to make it home to make the move as easy as possible for our hearts.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am the type of person who loves to have people over. I love to feed you all kinds of good food and make you feel so at home that you never want to leave (or if you do, you come back again soon). We went for MONTHS without pictures on the walls or a rug on the floor. I would sit in the apartment while Beau was at work surrounded by everything new. Nothing we had in the apartment was anything that we brought from home so when we came back after the wedding I had this unbelievable NEED to make this place feel like HOME. We brought back pictures, our rug, goodies that we got as wedding gifts, blankets, pillows, candles, books, baskets...you name it and if we could jam it into our car we did it! Here is what our place looks like now:
*Note: this is just a teaser because we are wanting to surprise our family when they come to visit ;)

We also stocked up on groceries. Our fridge has never been this full since we moved here. Now that we have Ruby here, I think grocery shopping will be much easier and more enjoyable. And HOPEFULLY more cost effective!

So as I sit here on this cold and rainy day I think to myself that I now feel 32% married. Life hasn't changed that much at all and I like it that way. I look around the apartment and I think to myself how good it feels to be settled into our first home as husband and wife. I am so anxious to really delve deep into our new adventure. I want to be the best wife I can be. I want to cook. I want to do dishes (or at least load them into the dish washer). I want to do laundry. I want to be so domestic and I want to welcome our loved ones into our home with open arms and stuff them with all kinds of good stuff!

AND...as I was writing this my HUBBY went down to get the mail and look what I got...
My NEW IOWA driver's license!!!! A new name, a new chapter...

In Gods Love,

Beau and Kenz

Sadie, Sadie Married Lady (Thats Me!)--and other amusing happenings

October 14th was a beautiful day. The weather was PERFECT and I was not in the least bit nervous about what was to come. Although I wanted to spend every second with my fiance and missed him every second that I wasn't with him.

I spent the day with my sister and it was perfect. We just hung out and did fun little things. I was spent from decorating the church and reception hall the night before but I had so much energy. Partly because I knew there were most likely some things I was forgetting, and partly because Sarah was there and partly because...well... I was MARRYING MY BEST FRIEND.

So anyway...we had rehearsal and all our loved ones were there. I couldn't ask for a more beautiful memory then the one where I walked down the aisle and we were practicing for the big day and all our loved ones were there with us. That is, until the actual day came. But I won't elaborate on that too much. Anyone who reads this was most likely there and if you weren't there, you know me well enough (and Beau and I's relationship) that you already know how emotion filled the sanctuary was. So to sum up October 15th...it was perfect, it was beautiful, it was emotional, it was blissful, it was amazing, it was MORE than I could have ever hoped for.

And then the honeymoon. We had planned on driving down south the following Monday after we had gotten all the paper work done. However, we had a couple hick ups along the way. Our officiant and dear friend of ours signed the marriage license in blue ink. Before I could even get it out of my mouth that it needed to be signed in black it was already done. It was then that I started PRAYING that the courthouse would take it and all would be well. Well, Monday came around and guess what...they didn't take it. At first I was peeved at the county because it seemed like no big deal to me, but then it dawned on me that it was the Lord's way of giving us more time with our family before taking off again. So we had lunch with my grandpa then headed up to Sioux City to have the marriage license resigned by the officiant and one of our witnesses. Then we had dinner with Beau's parents and then checked into a hotel. Oh boy...

As we were driving along the gravel roads (at night in the middle of no where) we were trying to freak each other out with spooky stories. While *trying* to freak me out Beau pulls over the the side of the road and tells me that he sees (imaginary headless ghost) standing in the field and that she was coming towards the car. "Beau!" (as I lock the car door and tell him its really not funny). So he pulls back onto the road and as we are pulling into city limits we see cop cars, EVERYWHERE. As we pass by the park we see cops and rescue vehicles parked. Then we look up and see a helicopter flying over with a spot light. We pull into the parking lot of the hotel and as we are unloading the car Beau says to expedite the process because he didn't want to be standing out in the parking lot in case there was a mass murderer on the loose. And I think to myself: "maybe now you won't pull over to the side of the road in the hopes of making me pee my pants."

The next morning we woke up and made our way down to Kansas City. The five hour drive was a boring one. Nothing pretty to look at and NO radio stations to jam out to. Still I was anxious because I knew we'd be getting to see Annie and Sarah again before we headed down South. The next morning we stopped over to see my sisters before starting out on our honeymoon. It was so wonderful to sit in the kitchen and drink coffee and just talk. Then we headed out. For our honeymoon we planned on stopping at roadside places that were "off the beaten trail." We stopped at a couple of places in Missouri but both left us disappointed. Apparently historic places in Missouri are only open at random times. We got about as far St Louis when we got a phone call that changed our plans yet again.

Beau's school...lets just say their incompetence never surprises me but this was TOO MUCH. Basically we had to put our honeymoon on hold yet again as we had to turn around and drive BACK to Toledo and schedule a doctors appointment per the schools request. At this point we were more upset with the school than the fact that we had to drive back home. It meant we got to spend more time at home. We ended up staying in town for a couple a days. It was wonderful to spend the time with my parents but because of the detour, we decided to take a different route back to NY. This too was a blessing though because we ended up honeymooning in Vermont. Neither one of us had ever been there and it was the PERFECT time of year to go. The views were beautiful and we got to just relax and enjoy our time together.

Getting into NY I think we were both thinking the same thing "only a few more months" Then we will be back in the Midwest for good and can really settle in and start our life together.

We've made the apartment much more homier which helps. Pictures to come when we're all done.

Love,

Beau and Kenz WADDELL