The Remnants

So, tonight was the first night of BSF: Bible Study Fellowship. It was AMAZING. And while I'll talk more about that later, I'm sure, I was just telling you that to set up the story.

Soooo tonight Matt has to work late. I am betting REALLY late. A lady from corporate is coming to Bham tomorrow to see Matt's progress on Fox 6's new HD graphics. So, needless to say, he was not home. As I headed home from BSF it was, of course dark (almost 9 pm) and I knew I'd come home to an empty house, so of course, all these bad thoughts start going through my head.

What if Matt forgot to turn the alarm on, could someone be in the house? What if someone found another way to break into our house? What if someone hurt the dogs and is just waiting for me to pull in to jump? And so on and so forth.

Then I just yelled out "STOP!" I can NOT do that. I can NOT think of every possible bad thing that COULD in a million years MAYBE happen.

1. Because it is sinful. That is me, not trusting the Lord.
2. You just can't live your life like that. Always worrying about what COULD happen. You know what, even if it did, I should not be afraid, for One bigger than me is watching over and protecting me.

I have been trying (before the break-in and ESPECIALLY now) to live as a "woman who laughs at the days to come" because I should have no worries. When the Lord is for you, who can be against you?

During times like these several things come to mind. First of all, Angie sent me an email the day after the break-in with some verses that I have been trying to memorize:

Psalm 56:3-4
"When I am afraid I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?"

Hebrews 13:6
"So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

And then a David Crowder song.
Full lyrics & video here.

"He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me"

I just love that picture. So much love and mercy just beating down on us, that we can't help but bend and sway underneath the weight of it all.

While I haven't had time today to post about all the good things that have come of the break-in, one obvious one is that we have just seen over and over and over God's provision for us through times like this. Whether it's through people calling and emailing encouragement, to people here in Birmingham reaching out and encouraging us as well. Good night!

And, sorry for the lack of pictures, but they are all gone. And, until we get the insurance money, there will be no camera to take new ones!

Follow-up to a Whopper

Ok, so I didn't mean to end that last post all doom & gloom (but, really, is there a good way to say, um, we got broken into?). So. Now that the sad part is out of the way, it's time to talk about what we did AFTER the break-in. You know, after I called my mom and she gave me one of her best pep-talks to date. So, that means, we go to my FAVORITE, bullet points:

• My computer was stolen, so that means changing all my passwords. See, I'm OCD (in my own mind) and organize my favorites into folders. So I had the Email folder with all of my email links (with the passwords saved of course). A folder named "Money," with links to Wachovia, AmEx, and Sallie Mae (again, with the passwords) and so on and so forth. Yeah. so while Matt was talking to the police officer,I was on his laptop frantically changing all of my passwords.
• Changing all of the locks and changing all the dead bolts to key only (key holes on both sides). That alone cost a LOT, a LOT of money.
• Going to buy (and on Thursday, install) a steel door with NO windows. (Here's a picture of the old door. They ripped out that wood in the middle and busted that small pane of glass, reached inside and unlocked the door, hence the key-only dead bolts)
• Calling all three credit agencies and putting an alert on our credit. You technically only have to call one, but, I don't care.
• Calling Wachovia, canceling both accounts that they stole checks from and opened brand new accounts. Did you know that they (Wachovia) actually have people who only deal with customers who have had checks/info stolen? AND we don't have to get new check cards (since we had those with us, they can link them up to the new account, that was nice).
• We went by the Sheriff's office and got a copy of the police report, and then made copies of it.
• We went by ALFA (our home insurer) and got the "Property Schedule" form to fill out (you list all the stuff that was stolen/broken). We then returned the Schedule form & a copy of the Police Report to ALFA and should hear back in a week or two.
• Calling several alarm companies to get pricing and set up one to be installed. We chose Brinks/Broadview and it was installed today! I haven't set it off on accident... YET!
• While Matt was installing the new front door, I washed, folded, and put away ALL of our clothes. I did NOT want to wear anything that had been rifled through, and that was everything.

All in all, Thursday was a LONG day, especially since we only got 2 hours of sleep the night before. Tonight we are going to sleep in the bedroom for the first time. Whew. So, this whole story is going to be a series of posts. The next one (hopefully tomorrow, we'll see) will be about all the good (yes, good. Lots of good, I think) from this whole crazy thing. Thank you for all the prayers, encouragement, and support!

A Wednesday We'll Never Forget

Wednesday was a long day to begin with. I had to go to the dentist at 4 to get two cavities filled that the dentist said "Hopefully I can fix, if not, you'll have to get a root canal." Ugh! Thankfully, he was able to fix the cavities without a root canal, for now... And just FYI, the cavities were from not flossing. SO GO FLOSS RIGHT NOW!

I got home a little bit earlier than normal, about 15 minutes earlier. I opened the garage door and pulled in and noticed that the door from the garage to the house was left wide open. I thought it was kind of odd, but knew that Matt had left after me, and just to be honest, I could see him doing that. Just leaving in a hurry and thinking he pulled it shut. Or maybe it didn't shut all the way and then the cat nudged it open, I didn't know, but went inside anyways (still on the phone). As I walked into the kitchen I could see the cord to Matt's xbox was unplugged and wrapped from the living room into the kitchen. And as I walked in the living room I didn't notice if the xbox was missing, but noticed that the wireless Internet thing was pulled out in away from the TV stand. I jumped a little, grabbed the cat and ran outside and around to the front door. THAT'S when I noticed that the glass in our front door (there is just a SMALL pane of glass) had been busted out. I put the cat in the front garden bed and ran two houses down to Steph's and told her what I saw. She grabbed her gun and we went back to the house. We came in through the garage. I noticed that the dryer was open (closed when I left) and the door to Matt's office was wide open. To be honest, his office is a MESS right now while we're painting it, so by looking in it, I couldn't tell if anything was missing or not.

Once we got in the living room, I noticed that yes, Matt's xbox was gone, along with the controller. My computer was gone. All the clean clothes I had washed that morning and were separated on the couch were strewn everywhere on the floor. We then walked back to our bedroom and my heart broke.

It was a WRECK. WRECK. Clothes EVERYWHERE. The jewelry box Angie had given me was wide open with the drawers yanked out and upside down. The necklace Matt gave me for Christmas last year was laying on the floor by the bedroom door (thankfully). The closet was ransacked. All the stuff on the shelves had been yanked on the floor, shoes pulled out of the shoe rack. Ugh.

So, I called Matt, called the police and both said they were on their way. Thankfully, Stephanie stayed with me until Matt got home. Once Matt got their, we went around to the neighbors' houses asking if anyone had seen anything until the cops got there. No one saw anything. One lady told us she'd lived there for 31 years and never had any trouble, nor anyone that she was aware of on the street (the officer confirmed that saying there hasn't been trouble in this neighborhood in YEARS).

Once the police officer got their, man, Matt was awesome. He handled everything. I was nervously folding clothes and straightening the closest and just kept noticing things were missing. Our DVDs (including all 10 seasons of Friends, the only thing I have really missed), Matt's xbox games, my backpack from school, our laundry basket, the camera, food out of the fridge. My dad had been letting us borrow a gun. The gun was my Uncle Gary's that dad had gotten after Uncle Gary passed away. That, of course, was gone. THAT was when I cried. I called home to tell them what had happened and my dad answered and I just started crying and apologizing. And of course, my dad was so kind and just said all the right things.

After the police officer left (two hours later) Matt boarded up the hole in the front door and we turned ALL the lights on and headed to Lowe's to buy all new locks and key-only dead bolts for all the doors (those things are EXPENSIVE). We also looked at doors, trying to figure out what kind of door we would get when we came back tomorrow morning. While we were there I had called my boss to tell her I couldn't come in tomorrow b/c of what had happened and while I was talking I was just wondering aimlessly around Lowe's I started looking at fire safe boxes. THAT'S when it hit me. Our fire safe box. CRAP. As soon as we got home I ran to the closet and yes, it was missing. Inside: birth certificates, social security cards, marriage license, the back up CD of all of our wedding pictures and the CD Miranda had made us of our wedding pictures, some coins my parents had bought me awhile back, AND a copy of a Friend's script that was signed by all the actors that Matt had given me as a gift (I LOVE Friends, if you haven't realized that already). Dang. I then started going through EVERY drawer in our bedroom and realized the KEY to the firesafe box (in the back of my underwear drawer) was gone. Empty Macy's jewelry boxes I had saved and used to travel with were all open with the cotton ripped out (I kept those in the back of my tank top drawer).

I then went through every single room, every closet, every box, under every bed. And I noticed all of our blank checks were missing!

So, needless to say, Matt and I made a pallet on the floor and that is where we have slept for the last few nights. Tonight I THINK I am ready to sleep in the bedroom. I folded up all the covers from the pallet and put them away and put clean sheets on the bed, so basically I have no choice.

This is long enough for now. We are safe, we are protected. God is good and sovereign. Tomorrow I will talk about Thursday and all we've done to the house, etc. Thank you for all who already knew and for all the prayers!

Back....from the Past.

Ok. I know it has been awhile. And there are lots of reasons why. One is that I am trying to journal more during my quiet time. I love writing on the blog, but there are some things I have been working through I didn't want to write about. Mainly because on here, I can't say names, or address some issues. And that leads onto Reason 2: I am NOT good at being private. So, I struggle with things I WANT to write about, but is it TOO personal? I haven't decided yet, but it's hard to write about things when ALL I am thinking about/praying about is something I'm not sure if I can TALK about on here. Does that make sense? Something Matt and I have talked about, especially with Ang & her Matt getting married, and Jay and Rachel too and as we spend time with both couples. We REALLY want to be transparent. To them, and everyone around us. We want people to know our faults and know US, and know that you don't have to be perfect to have a good marriage, and it's possible to have a good marriage and not always "appear" perfect.

That leads me to my next point: Houses.
For those of you that know our "buying a house" story, you know that it happened fast. We made a bid without me seeing the house. And when Matt was asking me how I felt about it, what I wanted to do, I said "Whatever you think is right, BUT if we get this house, I WANT us to be hospitable. I want it to be a house where people always feel welcome and where we really get to know and interact and live with our neighbors. I want people to come over and feel like they're always welcome." And I feel like that is something Matt and I have been working on over the past 6 months we've lived in this house. Reaching out to neighbors and friends. Trying to have people over, and wanting them to be at home.

And when I dream about getting the chance to move home, I always imagine people just always over, family & friends always there. And I know this sounds weird, but I love when people come inside without knocking. When Jake and Alana come over, they always come in without knocking, and I LOVE that. And I can imagine when, in my imagination, we get to move home, and sometimes if we weren't home, Mom or Angie or Sam or Grace needing something or being close to the house and just walking in without us being there. And I LOVE that. I love that they would be so comfortable to just go on in.

I know all this seems random, but my post later tonight or tomorrow will make all this make sense. I promise.

Wreaths, Azaleas, & Ants

I haven't posted in QUITE awhile. One reason is because I've been having the HARDEST time with blogger and uploading pictures. The other reason is because I'm lazy. And have a million other things to do. ANYWAYS.

Before the next weekend creeps on us, here are some pictures from LAST weekend, and their subsequent stories:

This is going to be a long story. This is a picture of our house from the front. The "front garden" (as I call it) is as long as the house. It took me THREE HOURS to weed it. And I had just weeded it two weeks ago! And then, our LOVELY previous owners (who I secretly loathe for all the ugly things they did to the house, but secretly love, b/c it's a foreclosure) put down that black tarp to prevent weeds, which are WORTHLESS because weeds always grow through them. And because it was so long ago, there was a nice 12 inch layer of dirt, leaves, and mulch on top. Well, I had the fun job of pulling that up. See, we are about to plant holly bushes in the back of the front garden (the windows are really low to the ground, and while having blinds makes me feel safer than before, I would just like one more obstacle). And then we're going to plant hostas in front of that and keep the Shasta daises I planted. And BOOM. Everything is simple, comes back every year, and rarely needs to be messed with. Organization, Clean-cut, and Simple. My three favorite things :)

OH WAIT. I forgot to mention the ants. The ants. The sheer freaking fracking volume of them. And I am not exaggerating. EVERY tarp I pulled up had a WHOLE colony underneath them. I'm talking eggs and everything. Apparently our yard was/is the breeding ground for all ants in the southern Birmingham area. And, you already know what joy I get from spraying them, but I ran out of spray after 2 areas of tarp and some lilies that I pulled up that had an ant colony in their roots. COME ON! But, Matt did make me feel better. See, he has been spraying gasoline down by the ditch/mini-creek in the very front of our yard (you can't see it in the picture b/c the ground drops straight down after the road). Our plan is to kill everything there and then put a bunch of big rocks along the sides of the creek. 1. It looks pretty. 2. Matt will never have to mow the hill of death again! So, while he was doing that, I kept yelling about all the ants I was finding (our poor neighbors). So, to make me happy, He sprayed gasoline on two ant hills and then lit them on fire! and of course, it didn't really kill that many ants, but, I loved it! (I know, I'm crazy)

And all those azaleas. Oh the azaleas. I'm giving four away to a lady at work later this fall when they can be transplanted. The rest, I will, of course, throw in the burn pile, unless someone wants them (any takers???). They are just annoying to mow around and it looks STUPID. Now, in the picture below is a random, definitely not organized, flower bed around the two trees. Here are my plans: clear out all that junk (and there are two more azalea bushes in there!). I am going to move those two azaleas and I might go buy some hydrangeas or something to put like a line in b/t the two trees, and again, surround with hostas, shasta daisies, and a monkey grass border. We have TONS of monkey grass all over our back and front yard which I will transplant down there and let it multiply!



Ta-da! The wreath! I must say, I am quite proud. Even Matt was surprised I didn't butcher it (Creativity is not my thing!). And I got those two mums from Home Depot. What I want to do is split them in half (I just got four big pots from WalMart yesterday), so I'll have four planters full and put two at the top of the stairs and two at the bottom. I LOVE decorating for holidays now that we have a house! And when they have all the after-season sales I am going to stock up on stuff for next year!

A close up.

Matt is a grill master. After working in the yard for 8 hours on Saturday, this grilled perfection was a great way to end our day. I had to brag on him and his grilling awesomeness!

If you read all of this, THANK YOU! I know this one is long and a lot of word vomit!

Creative, I am not

This past week I was inspired by Angela, and her homemade wreath. So today during my lunch break I headed across the street to Hobby Lobby and bought a plain big twig (whatever) wreath for $6 and some pretty, fall-y things to stick in it. Zoey thought it would be more fun to play with the leaves than I did...

AND today was pay day, so that means we got to go to Home Depot and buy two more sets of faux wood blinds! We have TONS of windows, so we are just buying two sets every 2 weeks. After we hang these we got today up, we'll only have four more windows to go until all of them are done! While we were there I also snuck some mums in the buggy to decorate our front porch. I mean, what fun is it to have a house if you can't decorate it with the seasons?

Matt is already dreaming (and dreaming being the key word here) of fog machines and jumping up in some horror costume to make whatever poor trick-or-treaters that come to our house pee on themselves this Halloween. And I am really nervous about how over the top he is going to go at Christmas. I am already envisioning a Tim-the Tool man-Taylor re-enactment. We will see, I reckon ;)

Prank Phone Calls

While I'm at work, Matt usually calls my work phone because I always forget to carry my cell phone, but unfortunately, I always have my head set. ANYWAYS. Every time he calls he comes up with a fake name and an "illness." And he talks in this AWFUL southern/red neck accent. Which usually ends up with me busting out laughing and the people around me rolling their eyes because they know what just happened. Some examples:

"Hello, this is Earl. I need some help. I just broke my funny bone and I can't stop laughing."

"Hello, this is Bob. You gave me the wrong medicine today and now all I do is sob."

"Hello. My name is Frank and I got somethin' that stanks."

There's more, but that's all I can think of. At least we share the same sense of humor ;)