Our New Home!

Today my mom and I went to our townhome (see pictures below). It's almost done! The carpet is in, wood work is done, cabinets and all appliances are in, and it's painted. The painter was doing touch up to the paint today-which really needed it. Those construction workers aren't too careful when they are working in new homes. It's so nice, and I am so excited to move in! We close on April 11th, so we'll start moving that day! Today my mom and I went couch shopping. I bought a couch, chair, ottoman, and two end tables. They are really nice!

Olly is in Denver right now training for his new job. He has been gone since Sunday (the day after we came back from Florida). He will be home on Wednesday, so he'll have been gone for 10 days. I can tell that William misses him. This morning we talked on the phone, and I put Olly on speaker. As soon as William heard his voice, he leaned over and kissed the phone. I'm sure he's wondering where he is. This morning I brought him into bed with me, and he was obviously looking around for Olly. I'm know that Olly misses him just as much and probably more!

Below are some pictures of our townhome.

Part of the front


Looking at the living room from the dining room.


Kitchen


Kitchen


Loft-this is what you walk into when you first go upstairs. It's quite big and could easily be a family room/playroom.


Master bathroom-includes a stand up shower, toilet (obviously!), and 2 sinks. I'm excited about the two sinks, because we can each have one! The other neat thing is that the countertop is higher than an average bathroom sink wich I love.


Sitting room in the master bedroom. It's quite roomy-big enough to be another bedroom.


Master bedroom-the door to the left is the walk-in closet, and the door to the right is the bathroom.


Front

William's One Year Pictures!

I forgot to post William's one year professional pictures! These were taken at the beginning of February a few weeks before his birthday. He was such a little ham! Our photographer does such a wonderful job, and she really captures William's personlity.

More Pictures from Florida...

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to Florida. I miss the warm sun! I miss wearing sandals! I miss tank tops! Hopefully it will warm up here soon!

Back from Florida!

We just spent a lovely week in the beautiful and warm Florida sunshine! We stayed near Clearwater (it's on the Gulf of Mexico near Tampa). The weather was gorgeous! It had me wondering WHY we live in Minnesota?!?! I love Minnesota, but I could do with winter being much shorter (or not at all!). There's nothing like the warm sun on the beach when you've been in snow for several months!

William had a nice time. He is such a little trooper. He is quite the little traveler and goes with the flow. He got a bad cold while we were down there (towards the end of our week), but other than that he did really well. He wasn't so sure about the sand at first, but he learned to enjoy it. He loved swimming in the resort's pool. He also loved being outside with shorts, t-shirt, and bare feet!

William and Grandpa-his favorite person
William and Uncle Kevin
Enjoying the sand
The two studs! Olly and Kevin
William and me on the beach

William's First Birthday!

William's birthday plate-we made it!
The three of us
William with his smash cake.
William with his cousins: Isabella, Maya, Thomas
William and his cousin, Sophia.
The birthday boy!
The birthday boy again!

I haven't updated the blog for awhile! Life is always so busy! William had fun at his first birthday. He wasn't too fond of the cake. He doesn't like getting his hands dirty, so he didn't like the cake on his hands. He enjoyed playing with the kids. He was really good!

More good news...we're moving! We've signed a purchase agreement on a brand new townhome-still being built! Our closing date is April 11th! We can't wait! It's really nice and perfect for our family. It's in a great location, and it has plenty of room for us. I'll post pictures soon!

GOOD NEWS!

Lots of good news and things really happening for us-here's an update...

Olly was offered and has accepted a golf professional teaching position here in Minnesota!!!!! After being SO patient for SO (too) long, he has finally got what seems to be a great position. We kept talking about being patient, our time will come, things will work out, etc...but frankly, we were sick and tired of waiting! Now the wait is over! YAH!

The night before my grandma died (when she was no longer responding), I held her hand and asked her to pray with me for Olly's job interview to go well (he was having the job interview at that exact time that I was with my grandma). I truly believe that my grandma was praying with me. She knew how hard it was for Olly to find a job, and she knew that we desperately wanted him to get a job, and she had told me that she included him in her nightly prayers. Anyone who knows my grandma knows that she prayed the rosary and prayed from her prayer book every night. I know my grandma would be so happy for us. It makes me sad that I can't call her and tell her our exciting news.

We've also been house shopping. We put an offer in on a townhome in the area and are waiting to hear if it's been accepted. This townhome is going into foreclosure, so it's between us and the bank. The bank is swamped with forclosures right now, so it takes longer than if it were between us and the seller. We also looked at a house today (in our area as well). We need to get some more information about the house before we decide to put in an offer or not, but we both like the house. It does need some cosmetic work and TLC, but it's not too old, significantly underpriced for what it's worth, and it's on a great piece of land.

We've also started car shopping. Right now we have my car and my grandma's car, but we are handing the car over to my uncle by May 1st. We've just started looking and pricing vehicles this weekend. We are leaning more towards an SUV, because it would be safe and have more room with William.

My job continues to go really well. My principal has told me that as long as the numbers of students stay where they are at (don't decrease) then I will continue to have my same position next year in first grade. He is a great principal and really seems to like what I'm doing in my classroom. I still really enjoy it, but it is HARD WORK. Yes, I do get almost 3 months off in the summer, and I have breaks throughout the year, but I work very hard during the school year. All teachers would agree with that!

I will keep everyone posted on what happens with the housing situation, and I will update everyone on Olly's new job once that gets going.

William...

Here is William looking way too grown up!

William likes Scooter's bed...