The New House

Well, we're officially under contract.

And we've officially done the inspection. There are a few things to fix, but overall it seems like a good house. If the seller agrees to fix some of these things and all else goes according to plan, we'll be closing on July 16 (wowzers!) and then moving in when we get back from Africa; there is a tenant in the house right now who will stay through the end of the month.

I recognize that what I'm about to type is absolutely crazy, but stick with me. We are going to be completely packed when the board the plane for South Africa: as in, everything in boxes, all food cleaned out, furniture and clothes ready to be put on the truck. The day we get back (oh my) after about a five-hour period of rest, we're getting a moving truck and loading up. Yes, moving the day we get back from Africa. We have to pay for every extra day we're in the apartment, and after missing 10 days of work, neither Duncan or I can afford to miss more work. And who wants to sit in a crappy student-housing apartment when you have a lovely house waiting on you? Maybe I've lost my mind, but I've convinced myself that it'll be worth it to push through one hard day and make it work. Feel free to convince me otherwise :)

Speaking of the house, here are few snapshots:

Of course, someone else's stuff is there right now. Based on their stuff, Duncan is convinced we'd be friends (there is definitely a graphic designer in the house, and TOMS shoes wearers, cat owner, and Ikea lover). But we'll definitely make it our own.

We said if we got this house (which we're on track tos), we decided we wanted to do 1950s decor inside. So, we're reaching out to friends and family to keep an eye open for the following items:

• Awesome chairs. These are amazing, but we're on a budget, so something similar but affordable. And when I say affordable, I mean craigslist pricing.

• Awesome Couch: If it's a sleeper, all the better. You can stay with us.

• Retro Table: Color is not right on my example, but shape is :)

• Nice and sizable shelving

• Retro Serving Cart

• Swivel Chair I can drink tea in and turn around to look out the big window

• Retro Fabric for curtains

• TV Stand

• Vanity

Give me a call if you spot any of these for a good deal! And be praying that all of this does work out :)

Chaos

The title of the entry may be a bit misleading, but is also partially true. So, I suppose I'll start with the chaotic part. Duncan and I have decided to start looking for a house. Some of you are going to be really confused by that statement. In the last year, Duncan and I have planned many, many things for our post-graduation life: join the Peace Corps, move to Austin, Texas; move to Northern Ireland for a year; move to Nashville, Tennessee; serve on a ship that travels abroad... and the like. You will see that a common theme among all of these plans is the absence of staying in Atlanta. And I think our closest friends and family could report a sense of unrest and (perhaps) lack of direction for where we are headed. I truly thought we were going to Ireland... I think I even announced to some people that this is what we had decided to do. But the weird thing was, as right and logical as that felt for a little while, after a few weeks, it no longer felt so right. And I think that has actually been true for all of the afore-mentioned plans. They feel right for a time, but then cease to seem like the right move.

But we're young and not planted, so we dreamed many a crazy dream about where we would go next. But as graduation creeps closer and closer (we're under a year, praise the Lord!), I think we both started feeling like we needed to stay close to where we are now... for now. I don't think God put dreams of travel in our minds for no reason, but it does seem like this stage in our life isn't the right timing. As we talked and talked and talked about our future, we eventually landed on what we see our family looking like in coming years (emphasis on years, not months, here), and little ones are a part of that scheme. And with that in mind, planting roots didn't seem so scary. In fact, planting roots close to family actually seemed pretty important. And as we looked at where we fit in the great, big, wide world, we knew we had community, love, and a sense of belonging right where we are. Thus... a decision to start looking at houses.

But, you're a church worker, Whitney, and Duncan is a seminary student! you say... yes. You are correct. And we're looking for a little place to call home. Thanks to some awesome Realtors, we can actually find homes that someone in the ministry and a student can afford. Though we're not sure if we've found the right one just yet. We're praying and waiting and looking... and looking, and looking. I'm a little OCD sometimes about the looking. We'd love your prayers in this direction as it is both a scary and exciting adventure.

So, that's part of the chaos. Another part is that we are indeed leaving for Africa in less than six weeks. Yikes! It still feels far away, but this amazing trip that is going to undoubtedly change our lives, is rapidly approaching, and we're trying to prepare mentally, physically, and emotionally.

And Duncan has started his internship at Grady, which—thus far—he is totally loving. I'm at home today, and he's working, which is strange. And he's working tomorrow and tomorrow night, and I'm just not sure what to do with myself. I think this is the first time in our marriage that I've had two days all to myself with Duncan working. It's kind of odd. So what is a girl to do on such days? Well, I hang out with the cat (shouldn't this blog actually just be called the Moki blog?). See us below:

And as one last note, I ordered a new pair of TOMS... wedges. And they are awesome.

Well, that's the update for now. Appreciate your prayers these days to help us wade through the chaos. :)

God is good!

So, our friend Jessica just stopped in to say we'd had a miscommunication with the people organizing our travel on the ground in Africa, and that we were going to have to raise $8,000 more dollars.

And just when I was griping about this to another co-worker, Jessica walked back in and reported that an elderly woman who had just passed away had donated $10,000 to to the youth fund as part of her estate, which would cover the remaining cost of the trip.

Literally 5 minutes in between Jessica stating the need (which felt overwhelming) and God's faithfulness shining through. Wow. That's pretty incredible isn't it?