Whole30: Final Stretch

Day 22:

Breakfast: 1/2 Fritatta

Lunch: Waldoft Salad

Dinner: Coconut Chicken with Spinach and Hash (Sw. Potatoes, Cabbage)

Positives: Using homemade marinade. Prepping Veggies for the Week! Yay!!

Negatives: Not getting in enough veggies in the morning. 

Physically:  

Be aware of: How effective prepping can be!

Day 23:

Breakfast: Fritatta
Snack: Fruit 

Lunch: Taco Salad (Spinach, taco beef, onion, green peppers, carrots, salsa, olives)
Snack: Cashews/Raisins

Dinner: DELICIOUS Beef Stew!! 

Positives: The beef stew turned out great, and I'd make that again and again post-whole30.

Negatives: Hungry in the afternoon - Maybe not enough at lunch? 

Physically: Feels like I'm getting sick...trying to fight that off with conglaplex 

Be aware of: Planning ahead for eating at others - bring extra food.

(Not sure why I didn't write more but here is my entry to the program about my experience:)

There is something wonderful about saying that I made it 30 days within the guidelines of whole30. I think I didn't realize how proud I would be until after making it through the successes and challenges of this life changing experience. 

The week prior to heading into whole30, I tried to cut out sugars and that did seem to help the cravings of that first week. Overall, I'm thankful that I was introduced to this by a friend. I was drawn in by the amount of weight she lost over her whole45 and was desperate to loose my remaining baby weight. However, looking more into what this offers, I realized this could open a world of change for my life. It could open my eyes to when I'm eating, what I'm eating, and why I'm eating it. I had a little bit of knowledge that maybe I would even look at food differently (boy, was I in for a surprise). 

wk1.

Positives: Week 1 seemed easy to me. I honestly felt like something must be wrong because everyone seems to comment on the first week being a craving-filled, headache producing, "I hate whole30" week. I was hyped up and energized. I was making new, delicious meals for my family (after being in a rut of "what do I make for dinner"). I was already sleeping more soundly at night (and have continued to throughout this process.)

Struggles: Initially I wasn't getting in the proper amount of vegetables at every meal which made me snack throughout the day. *Better after I upped my vegetables to 2C a meal.* I also didn't like the idea of not eating typical breakfast and felt like I was eating dinner all the time. This just took time, and it was helpful to be reminded that I could eat whatever I felt like within the guidelines at any meal was fine. 

wk2. 

Positives: This week also started off well with meal planning done and encouragement from friends and family. I began to see that there were typical times of the day I ate for comfort (during my children's nap times and later in the evening). I wasn't hungry, but rather drawn to the habit of eating then. I kept reminding myself, "Even if you want to eat doesn't mean you have to eat." Want vs. Need. I added some different vegetables that I don't typically eat and I was proud that I ate things I didn't like I liked. And my husband is loving all the fresh veggies.

Struggles: At the end of this week, I broke down emotionally. I was fighting a mental battle of "I don't want to eat like this anymore. I hate what I'm eating. I hate that I'm spending all this money for food I don't want. I don't want to look at labels. I don't want to know what I know." Yes, irrational, but honest. I also saw the real challenge of living in a small town where I don't have luxuries of Whole Foods and Trader Joes and being constantly bombarded by the "pre-packed" ease of what 90% of the grocery store has to offer. 

wk3.

Positives: I pushed through those previous emotions and began to feel better about my physical body. I looked forward to the meals I planned. I tried ghee butter for the first time - delicious and dangerous.  I realized, even when I don't want to eat leftovers, I do because I just spent a good amount of money on them!

Struggles: I was sick for a day or two and struggled to eat anything one day. I also hosted a bunch of friends and their children and realized that I had failed to eat enough because I was being the host.  There seemed to be more temptations this week. Although I didn't give it, I just seemed to think more about foods I couldn't have. And I did have emotions of, "I deserve to eat what I want to eat."

wk4. to the finish.

Positives: I've had a lot of support and encouragement from others during this process. During this last part, I had more, "I can tell you've lost weight!" "Way to go sticking to it!" and that is definitely a boost (though not the whole point). And my self-esteem has gone up. I am more accepting of my body. I prepped all my vegetables at the beginning of the week, and this was a huge time saver!! Why did I not do this before?! (Thank you Melissa!) I've been okay with others eating foods I can't have and bringing appropriate items for myself. 

Struggles: Maybe thinking about having cream in my coffee a bit too much.  Seriously though, I had a good week. I think I ate a few too many nuts and raisins in tempting moments. 

In conclusion, even if I didn't loose weight, I feel better about myself (probably would feel disappointed a little). I am more educated and will continue to make meals "compliant." I will be interested to see how my reintroduction goes as I've had past digestion issues. While I did miss a soda or two and want sugar occasionally, I missed dairy most - my cream, my cheeses. But I do see some long term changes coming and moderation in need. I want to set some realistic goals for the future and learn to enjoy more of what I'm eating. I'm looking forward to getting Well Fed 2 - reward for finishing this process and hopes to continue in it on a regular basis. And I know I found strength in God as I walked this up and down road! During those hard moments, I just said, "I can't do this on my own, Lord help me!" Whether you believe in God or not, have a support system, a friend, someone that you can share the successes and struggles of this journey. It helps to cope. I am thankful I made it through, and look forward to the future!

Whole30: Wk. 3

Overall, this week went better emotionally than last. It did feel like an off week with being sick and temptations and hosting. Whew, busy week, but I've got to watch out for slipping.

Day 15

Breakfast: ? (Don't remember)

Lunch: Chicken Salad (w/almonds, onion, and tom) in Lettuce Wrap, Steamed Broc and Cauli, 

Dinner: Lemon Garlic Chicken, Cauliflower "rice", and Cooked Spinach

Positives: Trying new things - Cauliflower "rice" is a nice replacement for rice (but not rice :)) 

Negatives: The chicken salad wasn't great but I didn't want to waste food.

Physically: Near migraine type headache and dizzy after dinner. 

Be aware of: Going to places with food smells. The mall was soaked delicious, temping smells of popcorn, nuts, waffle cones. 

Day 16
*Sick (see "Physically")

Breakfast: One fried egg with maybe a 1/2-1C of cauliflower "rice" and half a banana

Snack(10a): Small Handful of almonds to keep me from throwing up and tried to eat half a sweet potato which I couldn't finish (maybe a 1/4 of the potato eaten) 

Lunch?(12p): tried to eat a half breast of chicken - got through half before feeling like throwing up.

Dinner: Zucchini "pasta" with homemade meat/tomato sauce (I love this meal)

Positives: Making homemade meat sauce - I just throw in whatever sounds good! And this one was rockin'. And I tried Ghee butter for the first time - whoa! After not having butter for weeks, this tastes amazing. 

Negatives: Being sick

Physically: Sick -  - headache (leftover from last night) and nauseous/dizzy; Dinner I was feeling well enough to eat.

Be aware of: Ghee! Delicious and maybe could be a downfall. I've also introduced coconut oil to my cooking so I have lots of oil options. :)

Day 17

Breakfast: Fritatta with Cooked Apples (Yum!)

Lunch: Zucchini "pasta" with homemade meat/tomato sauce

Dinner: Stuffed Acorn Squash (Beef, Carrots, Onions and Seasonings) and Cooked Carrots

Positives: Cooked apples are almost a treat!

Negatives: When you don't like something you've made - dinner took twice as long as the recipe, and I didn't like it. I finished it. Another good example of when you spend money, you eat it. 

Physically:  

Be aware of: Time and size of cooked foods. I think that dinner took longer because the squash was maybe bigger than the recipe called for.

Day 18

Breakfast: Fritatta with Cooked Carrots

Lunch: Leftovers: Chicken, Cauliflower/Broc., 1/2 Sw. Pot, Raisins

Dinner: (out-Panera) Apple Chicken Salad (Chicken, Mixed Salad, Pecans, Onion, Cashew, Raisins with Fresh Lemon Juice and EVOO.)

Positives: Leftovers - for those non-motivated days

Negatives: There is so much you CAN'T each out. I wonder how to manage post-whole30 with the knowledge I have now. 

Physically:  

Be aware of: Salad dressings - Panera had some dressings that appeared okay, but I was glad I asked about ingredients cause it was packed with a bunch of non-compliant items. 

Day 19: Missed Documenting

Day 20:

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs and Sw. Hash

Lunch: Taco Lettuce Wraps (Gr. Beef, Onions, Green Peppers)
Snack: Cashews/Raisins

Dinner: Taco Lettuce Wraps (Gr. Beef, Onions, Green Peppers) with Broccoli

Positives: Enjoyed the wraps

Negatives: We were hosting and I did not pay attention to what I was eating and by the afternoon, I was hungry. And I know I did not choose a great snack option (exhausted after hosting). 

Physically:  Cravings (see negatives)

Be aware of: Making sure to eat appropriately even when busy

Day 21:

Didn't Document Much...
Dinner: Leftovers - Sw. Hash, Broc, Pull Pork

Whole30: Wk. 2

Sounds so good to me to hear I'm making it another week. Here's to making it to the almost half-way mark!

Day 8: 

Meals:

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs and Leftover veggies 

Lunch: Chicken Salad on Lettuce Wraps, Leftover Roasted Carrots and B. Sprouts
PreWO: Cashews (Didn't realize I need something different here till after)
PostWO: Chicken, Half Sw. Potato

Dinner: Chicken Vegetable Soup

Positives: Making homemade broth from previous roasted chicken and making delicious soup that the family loved! 

Negatives: Get more educated on workout snacks! I have to be better about this. 

Physically: Got in a great workout with the boys! Pulled both in the bike trailer and it kicked my butt!! 

Be aware of: 

Day 9: 

Meals:

Breakfast: Leftover Fritatta, Hash, and Cooked Apples (a treat!!)  

Lunch: Tuna Salad, Leftover roasted carrots and b. sprouts, olives

Dinner: Pulled Pork (crockpot) w/raw veggies and cooked spinach

Positives: Encouragement from family over dinner! Makes me feel like I definitely do this longer term with meals others like. 

Negatives: Apples don't taste great in EVOO. Water would be fine for next time. 

Physically: (don't remember)

Be aware of: Others eating does not mean that I have to. 

Day 10: 

Meals:

Breakfast: Egg Muffins, Hash, and Cucumbers  

Lunch: Spinach salad with pork, tom, olives, avocado, onion, carrots, raisins 

Dinner: Pulled Pork (crockpot) w/raw veggies and cooked spinach

Positives: Encouragement from family over dinner! Makes me feel like I definitely do this longer term with meals others like. 

Negatives: The days left feel long and boring. 

Physically: Emotionally down

Be aware of: Don't add to much salt and watch fats (lunch)

Day 11: 

Meals:

Breakfast: Eggs and Califlower 
Snack: Raisins, Cashews, and Watermelon

Lunch: Leftover Chicken Soup, Broc. and Olives

Dinner: OUT! - Grilled Asparagus with Fried Egg (romescu sauce) with Moorish Chicken with Roasted Cauliflower, Hazelnuts and Preserved Lemon 

Positives: If I'm eating, I'm making better choices that don't include sugar. And I was able to eat out!!

Negatives: More feelings of this not making a difference. Or that I'll get to the end of this and feel the same. 

Physically: Tired

Be aware of: Others eating does not mean that I have to (need to remember this!). Ate a morning snack as I was at a Moms group and didn't want to eat the treats. *TMI: Started my period today - may be playing into my emotions. Check at restaurants about food! It gives more peace of mind. 

Day 12: 

Did not keep records this day. Still feeling down. 

Day 13: 

Meals:

Breakfast: Eggs w/onions and red pepper, cumcumber, cashew butter

Lunch: Spinach salad with almonds, raisins, and apple (balsamic vinegar and oil) with leftover Pork

(party) Snack: Fruit salad (apples and pears)

Dinner: Leftover Pork with cooked spinach and carrots

Positives:  I make a side that I could eat at a party we went to. 

Negatives: (see physical)

Physically: Emotional breakdown. I lost it tonight. After feeling so frustrated trying to find items in our small town, I just broke down. Here are some of my thoughts from tonight (post experience): I hate what I'm eating. I have barely any options since this is really just a vegetable and meat diet. I feel guilty when I eat fruit or nuts or raisins. I hate knowing what I know - I can't find anything in the store that doesn't have crap in it for my kids or that does gooze of sugar. I want to go back and not know anything I know now. (All irrational but honest) 

Be aware of: Foods that trigger - all these fall candies and flavors make me want them!!

Day 14:

Meals:

Breakfast: Fried Egg over Sw. Pot Hash 

Lunch: Chicken Vegetable Soup with Banana and Cashew Butter

Dinner: Redo Soup, Leftover Hash

Positives:  I am feeling a bit better emotionally than last night. 

Negatives: Recognizing food is comfort for me. Food is pleasure for me. And I'm wrestling through that. 

Physically: Fine

Be aware of: Food to fill. I need to remember this isn't about self-sufficiency. This is about seeing the role food plays in my life, to find strength in the Lord as I wrestle through this. 

Whole30: Wk1.

I was first introduced to this thing called Whole30 by a friend and blogger Kirra (passionate about life and honest about the good and rough patches of life). It took me past my baby's first birthday and still looking at my post-pregnancy body and still having those pounds and maybe a few extra on to even look into this. It took me about a week to commit and a week more to begin at Day1.

(I'm not going to go into detail because this is mostly a journal for me, but if you are reading and want to know more info check out their website Whole30.)

I came to realize that this is more than just a diet. I am drawn to the idea of changing the way my mind thinks about food. Drawn to making a life style change and not just a "fix-it" diet. I don't want to keep coming back to the same place. This does not mean I will never eat wheat or sugar again, I am just removing many items to possibly remove any foods my body may have become addicted to. I also am wanting to remove foods so that I can reassess whether or not my body has become used to any intolerant foods.

And I'm as I shopped for foods I found there's sugar in almost everything. And it can be disguised by many, many names. Would you believe me when I say there is sand in my cumin seasoning? Yes, it's true.

I'm finding that I am going to learn a lot about what I'm eating, why I'm eating it, and when I'm eating? Am I bored, lonely...etc. I read that many times you think you are hungry is actually a sign for dehydration. If you drink water and wait 10-15 min and are still hungry, then eat!

Getting off track...:)

Overall personal goals during whole30:
*Make it to bed by 10p 3-4x a week so that I can get a good 8hrs of sleep.
*Bike twice a week. 30-45min with boys in two (3miles)
*Loose 10-15lbs - not a must, but I would like to feel better in my skin.
To also see when and why I want to eat & which foods. To be more aware of what I put into my body & make longer term changes. 

Day 1: 

Meals:
Bfast - Two scrambled eggs w/ fruit salad (strawberries, blueberries, apples)
Am Snack - Handfull of cashews
Lunch: Spinach salad with grilled chicken, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, and carrots with a little salsa (approved) for flavor

Snack: Sm. handfull of cashews and raisins 

Dinner: Grilled Chicken (marinated in Balsamic Vinegar), sweet potato, and roasted zucchini and broccoli

Positives: I'm excited about this process. It helps to get the kids involved - and they get to try new things if they see me preparing.

Negatives: I felt hungry all day. I tried to drink water, but still felt hungry. The only time I felt full was after dinner. (I feel full after meals but found out I'm may not being eating enough vegetables or healthy fats.) 

Physically: Nothing

Be aware of: Kid's can get hungry in the food making process - have foods they can snack on or distractions for them. 

Day 2: 

Meals:
Breakfast: Three eggs with sauteed mushrooms, peppers, and onions 
Lunch: Spinach salad with turkey, carrots, avocados, mushrooms, peppers, onions (and salt/pepper)
Snack: Sm. handfull of cashews, half spoon of cashew butter (hold-over for dinner)

Dinner: Naked tacos - seasoned taco meat with grilled peppers, onions, mushrooms, carrots, and tomatoes topped with salsa and guacamole  

Positives: My mom was encouraging about trying my best. I'm feeling more full today after adding more veggies. 

Negatives: I found out that I need to eat more vegetables...like 2-3C a meal...this is extremely hard for me, and I don't want to have a dinner type meal at breakfast. I didn't even want to eat breakfast after I made it.

Physically: Tired tonight (may just be associated to less sleep than normal last night)

Be aware of: The amount of time it takes to make meals. Try to prep at night or during naps.

Day 3: 

Meals:

Breakfast: Two scrabbled eggs, Sweet Potato Hash (contains fat and veggies), and blueberries/strawberries

Lunch: Spinach salad with chicken, carrots, tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, peppers, onions (and salt/pepper)

Snack: sm amount of cashews and raisins

Dinner: Chicken with fresh lime juice, maranated green beans and broccoli, and oven sw. potatoes. 

Positives: Friends visit! It can make you forget about eating completely to have friends around. 

Negatives: I am still not to crazy about eating breakfast, but I felt full after eating and didn't need to eat a snack. I'm not sure if this is mental or I just like a simpler breakfast? I eat the 2-3c recommendation of veggies at lunch with protein and fat, but can't seem to make it to dinner without something small to munch. But I am also turning to the Lord and asking for his strength and self-control in these moments.

Physically: Tired. Apparently this is apart of the typical "first week" detox. And I felt dehydrated at waking. 

Be aware of: What I'm making for dinner. I almost forgot to pull out chicken to dethaw. I can see how if I forget how this could be a problem. It pays to prep for the week. It has been super great to have cooked chicken for lunch and sw. potato hash ready for "unenthusiastic" mornings!

Day 4: 

Meals:

Breakfast: Frittata with (leftover) beef and veggies, with sw. potato hash

Lunch: Frittata (yes, it was that good I wanted it again!!) with green beans dipped in guac. and 1/2 banana with cashew butter 

Dinner: Zucchini "pasta" with meat and homemade tomato sauce. 

Positives: I actually wanted to eat today and I enjoyed my meals. Coconut milk in my coffee does make drinking it much more enjoyable. :)

Negatives: I'm missing dairy. :)

Physically: Rested and energized 

Be aware of: Times of relaxing. I've come to associate relaxing time with sugar time - a bit hard to kick

Day 5: 

Meals:

Breakfast: Three eggs with sauteed mushrooms, peppers, and onions 

Lunch: Vegetable skillet with chicken and spinach

Dinner: Leftover zucchini "pasta" and meat sauce, sw. pot. hash
Date Night: Handfull of cashews and raisins 

Positives: Date Night!

Negatives: My emotions were out of whack - missing friends, irritable; I'm realizing that I tend to want to eat when I'm sad or lonely. 

Physically: Woke rested! And felt good about the way my body looked. 

Be aware of: Date night - have a small snack ready so that if tempted you won't eat bad food.

Day 6: 

Meals:

Breakfast: Three eggs with sauteed mushrooms, peppers, spinach, and onions 

Lunch: Vegetable skillet with chicken and spinach

Dinner: Roasted Chicken with Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Carrots

Positives: My husband is home to help either prep food or watch the children while I prep a more complicated meal. 

Negatives: More downtime to be tempted by food (and a spouse who eats foods you like)

Physically: Rested

Be aware of: Weekends! I don't even know what to say...there are just more temptations. I guess, I just need to be prepared for saying no to myself more often. And food shopping at big stores - I just feel like I'm having to look away from lots of boxed foods to not be tempted.

Day 7: 

Meals:

Breakfast: Fritatta and Hash 

Lunch: Steak, Sw. Potato, Roasted Zucc, Broc, and B. Sprouts

(Dessert: Raisins)

Dinner: Egg Muffins (with leftover meat and veggies) and carrots *full from lunch

Positives: Supportive in-laws. After being asked about whole30, I was very supported and encouraged by my family. There was no pressure to give in to my "food desires" and I felt like there was a team around me. 

Negatives: When other people eat desserts. I have no problem with it, but the personal pressure to have something sweet is strong. I had a handfull of raisins to quench the desire and enjoy the time with family

Physically: Energized and rested. 

Be aware of: Others. I'm sure I can get to a point where I don't need to eat something while others are eating desserts, but I'm glad I had prepared an option if I needed it.

Overall: I'm proud that I made it this week without cheating. I'm proud that I made it without so many snacks. I need to find something else to do since this week was so rainy and I didn't get out to exercise. But I did get to bed before 10p many nights (mostly cause I couldn't keep my eyes open after 9:30p). But I'll be honest to say that I feel like 23 more days living like this just sounds like a long time...

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My Life

I can't believe it sometimes.

House Buying Journey

I am a homeowner. I keep thinking, "Is this real?" "Am I old enough to do this?" (And then I remember I already have a minivan and that makes me feel older than owning a house. :))

Seems crazy that we are here. At this place in our lives. I think a year ago, we never would have expected to walk the journey we walked to get to this place today. The day we close on our first home. (7/30/13) What a special and strange day.

After months of consideration and many reasons and more prayers, we realized our current city was just not the place for us to continue raising our family and owning property. And we chose to look in a place we'd never even thought of before - Indiana. Let me pause here for a moment; we chose to consider uprooting ourselves from everything we've known these last 5+ years of marriage. We chose to consider leaving the friends who have known us before children, those who've journeyed down parenthood through the joys and struggles that that brings. We chose to consider leaving a church that has solid theology and undeniable fellowship that is HARD to come by. Even typing that now makes me teary, as I know we've chosen to leave a place we've made so many memories with and that is loved. And I can't even transition from this point very well. It's not a "but Indiana is the promise land!" All I can say is that it is where God has been leading us and what our family is needing at this point in life. I don't know that we will live their forever; for now this is where we are supposed to be.

We went into this process with a whole lot of unknowns. We've never owned a home and thought with this being a sellers market (at least when we started-Jan 2013), we naively thought it would a breeze, a plate full of options. Hmm...I was so open then...I had no idea what road we'd be walking. The only way I can describe this process is as if I've lost someone.

House #1: This was our "we're living the dream and finding a house as fast as we expected!" Not a perfect home, but more space than we expected. A tri-level with a wonderful basement with fireplace. Smaller rooms, open eat-in kitchen. Huge backyard and hardwood flooring. We wanted to make some changes, but these owners were the most like us in style. The funny thing about this house is the owners were only willing to go $200 below listing price...we liked it so we thought, "whatever." Doesn't sound like a heartbreak...until the inspection shows LOTS of mold in the attic - like covering the entire underside of the roof and mold in the crawl space. Not all would walk away at this point and they were willing to fix it, but we know some scary stuff about mold and had to walk away. And we felt like it was the right decision but we were sad and disappointed.

So we carried on. (We'd seen about six houses at this point.)

House #2: This was my dream home. Everything was perfect from my perspective. New everything! Big bedrooms with organizers in the closets. A fourth room for the studio near the bottom portion of this tri-level. Only downside was a huge front yard but small backyard. It was a flipped foreclosure which presents a whole set of issues like unknown age of larger appliances and what the home has been through with previous owners. However, since it was our realtor's property, we didn't want to seem too excited and told her we'd get back to her. But I loved this home. Long story short, we were informed a bit too late that an offer had been accepted. To say that I was devastated is an understatement - I broke down. I was so emotional and didn't realize that I was so attached to the home. I left this house feeling like nothing would ever compare.

And we carried on again. (We'd seen about 20+ houses at this point.)

House #3: This was Eric's favorite. Having my heart broken on the last one, I was hesitant and reserved. I can't say there were many downsides to this home. Beautiful eat-in kitchen (with those fancy slow cabinet closers) with a semi island with stools. A stunning deck with a huge wooden fenced backyard, and one of the few houses that didn't have a pool taking up all that yard space. The bathrooms had been refinished, the house was so well kept. We saw this house on day 2 of it being on the market. Day 3 we made an offer and found out we'd have to give our best offer (which we did!) since there was another offer on the table. We were outbid. I wasn't surprised or disappointed (Eric was); I think I just felt apathetic at this point and began to question if we should keep looking.

And we carried on again... (We'd seen upwards of 40+ houses...)

House #4: The deceivingly large house. A ranch style house (hadn't looked at many of these) with a full basement. This wasn't on the market yet and was a foreclosed flip. We saw it at the point of flooring just in - everything was beautiful and almost like we'd remodeled it ourselves based on taste. The seller was also the one remodeling the place, and we told her we were willing to pay what she wanted for it and asked her if she'd be willing to add a fence. There was work to be completed on the house, and we were willing to wait. We asked to wait to sign a contract till completion but were continually asked what kinds of appliances we'd like, fencing, etc. We were told we were the only ones who'd seen the house. We were told it was ours...until she calls our realtor (after 5+ wks of waiting and saying it was "only two weeks more") and to say there's a contract with another couple. It was an offer she couldn't pass up. "Sorry, nothing can change at this point." We COULD NOT believe this. At this point, we were both just angry. We felt deceived and strung along.

I did not want to carry on. Eric was much more hopeful that we'd still find something, but I was spent. I said that I thought I could only keep emotionally going maybe one more time. Then, we just needed to take a break, allow myself to heal and not be so tainted from this experience. I was hopeless. (I'm thinking upwards of having seen...50+ houses?) One last trip with about four more houses. Also, I forgot to mention that we'd been bringing our kids along with us (3+hr. round trip with the added time of actually looking at the houses), but our relator was/is a rock star and was very VERY kind and patient with us.

House #5: Another "not on the market yet." Annoying? No, but our relator was the selling agent as well. (Not as bad as it sounds, and hey, look at our situations, we were open to anything at this point! She even said, "I'm in control of this one, unlike the other.") A family lived here and had toyed around with the idea of selling but needed someone willing to buy their home before they bought another home in the area. This was not a "dream" home for either of us. It was simple, moderate. But perfectly fit our needs. It did have some awful hunter green carpet and a dark, dark cranberry kitchen, but nothing a feel hours (or now I know days) couldn't change. This house had cosmetic changes, changes we felt hopefully would make this feel like 'us'. A couple bonus, unexpected items in this house were a huge, fenced backyard with screened in porch. A two and a half car detached garage. An office area separate from the three bedrooms, and a huge! pantry/laundry area. We saw the ability to host friends and parties here - something we have a passion for. It's not extravagant, but it was just what we didn't know we needed. We were willing to put in an offer that day.

At this point, I'll cut to the chase and backtrack on the details of what occurred next - we bought house #5 (or #60, whatever way you look at it)! But you must know that it couldn't be easy, cause nothing had been easy on this journey for us. (We are at early-June 2013 at this point.) We were willing to pay asking price; however, our offer was contingent on the sellers finding a house within 10 days. There was a "maybe house" for them that fell through, but at the last moment on day 10 (yes, hours before the contract was voided), they had a signed and accepted offer on the table. So we finalized paperwork and the closing date was set for July 15th-30th. And then, we waited through the inspection - all was well! Waited through financing - a natural part of the process. All all good. A week before we were to close, there was speculation from our realtor that we might not be able to close in time because our financing paperwork might not be ready. But all was a go for July 30th - Eric bought a house right before he turned 30 (on the 31st!), one of his goals. :) Only hiccup here was their financing wasn't going to come through until Aug. 2nd. For us it was no big deal to let them "rent" the house for a couple days till they could move since we were going to be out of town that weekend anyways.

So, we are homeowners and we earned our way here. :) We moved in Aug. 10th, only eight months after we started looking. To finish off the "good luck" of our journey, we didn't have water supplied to our house for two days...something just had to go wrong at this point. No big deal, we just laughed it off and thankfully could shower at our friends's/neighbors house down the street. :)

Let us know if you're in northern Indiana! We'd love to see you! We'll give you a good meal and lots of love. :)