I LOVE YOU! Thanks for having all these fun babies! Never a dull moment, right?
Pictured: Feiocks, Sanders, Bartels, Shaughnessys, Couts.
Not pictured (we missed you!!): Downeys, Henneys (except you were there via Skype!), Larisons, Heldmans
Monday, July 19, 2010
Recently
YES! We have finally closed on our house (a month ago this week, but whatever) and have been busy making it a home over the past month. We have learned a lot about ourselves and about our marriage in this time (LOL) because of all the home-improvement things we've done (OK just painting and a little decorating) but it is becoming more and more like home all the time.
Every time I walk in the door, I am overwhelmed by how faithful God has been to us, and how WORTH IT it was to stay in that apartment for 3 years.
Moving day was an adventure and we decided that we will NEVER move again. Famous last words, right? Here's a little synopsis of our moving day....
1. We started at Mike's parents' house to load boxes that we had been keeping there for a few months, and put them into the 26-foot Penske truck. We took them to our new house and unloaded them into the garage.
2. The next step was to go to the apartment and load the truck with all our boxes and furniture. When I arrived at the apartment, I noticed that the Penske truck wasn't there, and I just figured it was because Mike had to drive really slow in it. As it turns out, on his way to the apartment, he got it stuck under a 100+year-old railroad bridge. SO that left me to supervise the whole move from then on.
3. GOD IS SO GRACIOUS, let's not forget that! He sent so many people to come help us move, many of whom we didn't even expect. They brought their flatbed trailers, enclosed trailers, pickup trucks, etc and (are you ready for it?) it turns out that we never actually needed the 26-foot truck. With everyone's help, we emptied the entire apartment (minus a few odds and ends) with just those trailers and trucks and LOTS of muscle. Thanks to all who helped out:
Jay
Rick
Tom
Ryan & Laurel
Anne Marie & Jeff
John
Stephen
Mom & Dad
Josh & Patrick
Mike R
Bruce
Ken & Theresa
Rob
The Other Mike R
I'm probably forgetting someone... but there were so many people to help us!
Since we moved in, we have done the following:
-painted the great room Cottonseed (very light yellow)
-painted the kitchen Cracked Wheat (little darker, with a brownish tone)
-painted the hallway, dining room, and living room Informal Ivory (just a tad darker than stark white)
-painted Mike's office Smurf Blue (OK it isn't the name of the color, but that's what I think when I see it)
-painted my office a color I can't remember... but it's almost the same as the great room, a very light yellow.
-painted the guest room Liberty Gray (which looks more like a darker periwinkle)
The whole painting thing was the biggest challenge for us, but we learned a lot along the way. Since purchasing the house and moving in, we have made the typicall 5,774 trips to Lowe's and Home Depot. Oh and BB&B. Yeah, my favorite.
Well, that's pretty much all we've been up to recently. Thanks for reading all the way to the end. I actually don't have pictures of the rooms, but that would be nice for you to see them, huh? You can visit my facebook page at www.facebook.com/rachelcouts for more pictures.
Every time I walk in the door, I am overwhelmed by how faithful God has been to us, and how WORTH IT it was to stay in that apartment for 3 years.
Moving day was an adventure and we decided that we will NEVER move again. Famous last words, right? Here's a little synopsis of our moving day....
1. We started at Mike's parents' house to load boxes that we had been keeping there for a few months, and put them into the 26-foot Penske truck. We took them to our new house and unloaded them into the garage.
2. The next step was to go to the apartment and load the truck with all our boxes and furniture. When I arrived at the apartment, I noticed that the Penske truck wasn't there, and I just figured it was because Mike had to drive really slow in it. As it turns out, on his way to the apartment, he got it stuck under a 100+year-old railroad bridge. SO that left me to supervise the whole move from then on.
3. GOD IS SO GRACIOUS, let's not forget that! He sent so many people to come help us move, many of whom we didn't even expect. They brought their flatbed trailers, enclosed trailers, pickup trucks, etc and (are you ready for it?) it turns out that we never actually needed the 26-foot truck. With everyone's help, we emptied the entire apartment (minus a few odds and ends) with just those trailers and trucks and LOTS of muscle. Thanks to all who helped out:
Jay
Rick
Tom
Ryan & Laurel
Anne Marie & Jeff
John
Stephen
Mom & Dad
Josh & Patrick
Mike R
Bruce
Ken & Theresa
Rob
The Other Mike R
I'm probably forgetting someone... but there were so many people to help us!
Since we moved in, we have done the following:
-painted the great room Cottonseed (very light yellow)
-painted the kitchen Cracked Wheat (little darker, with a brownish tone)
-painted the hallway, dining room, and living room Informal Ivory (just a tad darker than stark white)
-painted Mike's office Smurf Blue (OK it isn't the name of the color, but that's what I think when I see it)
-painted my office a color I can't remember... but it's almost the same as the great room, a very light yellow.
-painted the guest room Liberty Gray (which looks more like a darker periwinkle)
The whole painting thing was the biggest challenge for us, but we learned a lot along the way. Since purchasing the house and moving in, we have made the typicall 5,774 trips to Lowe's and Home Depot. Oh and BB&B. Yeah, my favorite.
Well, that's pretty much all we've been up to recently. Thanks for reading all the way to the end. I actually don't have pictures of the rooms, but that would be nice for you to see them, huh? You can visit my facebook page at www.facebook.com/rachelcouts for more pictures.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Just give us the keys, already!
So Mike and I are just 4 measley days away from owning our first home! We are beyond excited. Wednesday we had the new home orientation where our builder took us thru the house and taught us how everything works, from all the breaker boxes to the water hoses. It was exciting. It was also the last time we had to critique any part of the house like niks in the drywall, paint drips, etc. Mike has an incredible eye for detail.Here's our schedule, and it's a crazy one!!!
Friday 6/18 work, pack some more
Saturday, 6/19 work, bridal shower, cooking show (unrelated to moving, so I guess that Mike will shoulder all the work tomorrow!)
Sunday 6/20 PACK PACK PACK
Monday 6/21 work, final packing
Tuesday 6/22 CLOSE ON HOUSE! After closing, we'll go over to the house and tape off everything to start painting
Wednesday 6/23-Friday 6/25 PAINT, PAINT, PAINT!! We are painting all but 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms of this giant house. We will be thankful to have Mike's mom with a brush in her hand.
Friday 6/25 All appliances will be delivered and we're crossing our fingers for the couch and loveseat on that day too... this day will feel like Christmas to me
Saturday 6/26 MOVING DAY!
We are pretty busy, obviously, and I'm looking forward to every bit of it. Mostly because I only have 3.5 hours of work today, 3 hours of work tomorrow, and 8 hours on Monday until we close. Yippy! And I"m taking the rest of next week off. That will feel GREAT.
Here are some more recent pictures. They are of us in the kitchen of our home, and also Mike wanted a picture with Brian, our builder. He did a great job.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Such wonderful blessings
As I've said before, this has been a year of waiting. Well, a life of waiting, but you get the idea. We are continuing to see progress on our house, pretty much all that's left to do right now is put in the carpet, get the water running (which will be good b/c it seems like every time we go over to look at the house, I have to pee), and do the landscaping.
We close on the house on 6/22, and move in on 6/26. It seems like in the past year or two, the beginning to most sentences is "when we get a house, _______" (fill in the blank). I have been waiting...
waiting to have an organized and more spacious place to live
waiting to have a more fulfilling job
waiting to start a family that I've wanted since I was a little girl
waiting to actually run a clean and efficient home
...you get the picture.
In the past 2 years, especially, I have struggled with an incredible amount of discontent. Now sometimes I'm so perfectly happy and content, and then one thing will send me back into the pit. I've gone thru times when I wouldn't allow myself to read other peoples' blogs because I was jealous of them and what they were doing. It would actually cause my heart to sin. Who knew?
But last June, Mike and I joined a small group through our church, College Park Church. When Mike went to England last year, it hit me that we spend so much time working and sleeping and working that we don't really have a lot of friends who we meet with regularly to share the ups and downs of life. We have friends, but we usually only see them every few weeks, and only take a few minutes to talk and ask how the other is doing.
We have been SO blessed by our small group. We love them so much and always look forward to our meetings. The group consists of 9 couples (18 adults) and 18 children (including 4 Henney babies and 1 Sanders baby who live overseas) so it's a wild and fun bunch. We get together about every other Sunday and talk about the morning's sermon and we also have an opportunity to pray for each other. This is so sweet.
Almost all of the women in our group are stay-at-home moms, and to be honest, I find myself extremely jealous of them at times. They probably think I'm crazy, but being in their state of life, being a wife and a mom, taking care of the home... that's my dream. And they're living it right in front of me. Although, I have discovered that these women have so much knowledge and experience in what I hope to experience myself in the near future, and I look to them as incredible resources and kindred spirits. I know that when the day comes and we start a family, if I have concerns about something, I know that I'll be able to call them and be encouraged. I find myself in conversations at the table about potty-training and breastfeeding, etc and I used to tune it out... but now I listen. There is no baby on the way right now, just to be clear, but it's something that I hope will eventually change. I'm just so blessed to have these women in my life, and know that I'm not the only one who struggles with certain things. Thanks so much for your transparency, ladies!!
AND it's also a nice time to hold and play with precious little ones, and of course see Mike engage with them as well. THAT is downright comical at times.
As I'm sure many of you understand, it's hard to see the blessings in the midst of discontent. Hard to see the big picture... hard to see the forest for the trees, if you will. There are times that I feel (as silly as this sounds) that God has forgotten about me... I pray for a good day at work, and I'm met with more challenges than ever. I find myself in a pile of tears at the end of the day from being exhausted and burned out. The exact opposite of what I prayed for... it is discouraging. But I'm working on looking at the big picture and thank God for the little things in life
like holding off the rain until I get home with my truck full of groceries...
like holding my sweet babies at Riley...
like a fun, swingin' song on my Pandora station...
like giving me a great verse right when I need it...
like having a precious friend write something sweet on my facebook wall...
I'll never understand God and WHY he does things, but I think the idea is that we're not supposed to understand it all. Like Pastor Mark says, "Don't think about the WHY, but the WHO."
Thank you God for such wonderful blessings!
We close on the house on 6/22, and move in on 6/26. It seems like in the past year or two, the beginning to most sentences is "when we get a house, _______" (fill in the blank). I have been waiting...
waiting to have an organized and more spacious place to live
waiting to have a more fulfilling job
waiting to start a family that I've wanted since I was a little girl
waiting to actually run a clean and efficient home
...you get the picture.
In the past 2 years, especially, I have struggled with an incredible amount of discontent. Now sometimes I'm so perfectly happy and content, and then one thing will send me back into the pit. I've gone thru times when I wouldn't allow myself to read other peoples' blogs because I was jealous of them and what they were doing. It would actually cause my heart to sin. Who knew?
But last June, Mike and I joined a small group through our church, College Park Church. When Mike went to England last year, it hit me that we spend so much time working and sleeping and working that we don't really have a lot of friends who we meet with regularly to share the ups and downs of life. We have friends, but we usually only see them every few weeks, and only take a few minutes to talk and ask how the other is doing.
We have been SO blessed by our small group. We love them so much and always look forward to our meetings. The group consists of 9 couples (18 adults) and 18 children (including 4 Henney babies and 1 Sanders baby who live overseas) so it's a wild and fun bunch. We get together about every other Sunday and talk about the morning's sermon and we also have an opportunity to pray for each other. This is so sweet.
Almost all of the women in our group are stay-at-home moms, and to be honest, I find myself extremely jealous of them at times. They probably think I'm crazy, but being in their state of life, being a wife and a mom, taking care of the home... that's my dream. And they're living it right in front of me. Although, I have discovered that these women have so much knowledge and experience in what I hope to experience myself in the near future, and I look to them as incredible resources and kindred spirits. I know that when the day comes and we start a family, if I have concerns about something, I know that I'll be able to call them and be encouraged. I find myself in conversations at the table about potty-training and breastfeeding, etc and I used to tune it out... but now I listen. There is no baby on the way right now, just to be clear, but it's something that I hope will eventually change. I'm just so blessed to have these women in my life, and know that I'm not the only one who struggles with certain things. Thanks so much for your transparency, ladies!!
AND it's also a nice time to hold and play with precious little ones, and of course see Mike engage with them as well. THAT is downright comical at times.
As I'm sure many of you understand, it's hard to see the blessings in the midst of discontent. Hard to see the big picture... hard to see the forest for the trees, if you will. There are times that I feel (as silly as this sounds) that God has forgotten about me... I pray for a good day at work, and I'm met with more challenges than ever. I find myself in a pile of tears at the end of the day from being exhausted and burned out. The exact opposite of what I prayed for... it is discouraging. But I'm working on looking at the big picture and thank God for the little things in life
like holding off the rain until I get home with my truck full of groceries...
like holding my sweet babies at Riley...
like a fun, swingin' song on my Pandora station...
like giving me a great verse right when I need it...
like having a precious friend write something sweet on my facebook wall...
I'll never understand God and WHY he does things, but I think the idea is that we're not supposed to understand it all. Like Pastor Mark says, "Don't think about the WHY, but the WHO."
Thank you God for such wonderful blessings!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
What's going on with us?
Waiting! That's all we seem to do these days! 2010 has been the most boring year ever so far, but in comparison to 2009, I'm totally OK with that! It has allowed Mike and I to spend more time together before the house is completely finished and our weekends are gone.
I'm not one of those bloggers who daily showers her readers with cute anecdotes of what her kids said or pictures of kids or pets or anything.... that's because we are SO busy with a lot of nothing! Pretty much all we do is eat, sleep, and work. Oh and I try to clean. :) We rarely go anywhere or do anything anymore because we're still saving up money for our house.... but these days of boredom will soon be over! Sewing has been my recent "anti-work" and is one of my favorite things to do. Maybe I'll post pictures of some of my products... they can be my "babies."
We close on our house on June 22, and after that it will be full steam ahead! Since this is a brand-new house, we have to get everything to fill it up, and there will be a lot of work in that. I'm excited! Finally a place to call our own! I can finally put everything in it's place! Our apartment has been overtaken by STUFF, so much I can hardly stand it anymore. In our new house I will have my own office, and Mike will have his own office, which will be a nice change. We'll have a yard, so Mike will have to shoulder a little more work around here, which will be nice. The past year or two I've been counting the days, rather than making the days count, which I know isn't a good thing. I'm working on it.
AND on top of getting the house in June, I have a packed Pampered Chef show schedule (praise the Lord)!
AND we will be welcoming our first niece or nephew into the world the first week of July! Ryan & Laurel will have their first child and we are so excited to meet him or her!
AND I have Pampered Chef conference the 2nd week of July in Chicago
AND we're having weekend visitors (Melissa, Jake, Holly) in September and Bethany in October
AND we're hosting Thanksgiving this year, and hopefully my parents will come to see us!
We have a LOT to look forward to, which is nice after all the boredom we've been having!
Since we've been spending more time at home, it has allowed me to pursue things and give more time to things I've wanted to for a long time... my Pampered chef business has been so great this year so far and I'm absolutely loving it.
I am also becoming quite the seamstress, as sewing has become my favorite new thing. I still love to cook more than anything else, but it's more expensive and the things I make aren't always used. I've loved making gifts for all my millions of friends having babies and my new thing is making purses. SO much fun. I love finding blogs online with tutorials, and I can't wait to make curtains and drapes for the new house.
I'm also becoming better at saving money on groceries. I've been a pretty devoted coupon-clipper since we got married, but I've been more serious about it lately, and it's paying off big time. I love www.couponmom.com and even got her book. I joined www.e-mealz.com for the meal planning tips... I always prided myself in being a good meal planner, but this has helped even more. The meals on e-mealz are only OK, and I tweak them a little bit but still save $$. Try these sites!
Mike has spent most of his spare time on the house... going over there every day and taking pictures and talking to the neighbors and workers. He has caught a few mistakes that they've made and mentioned it to the supervisor so our house is gonna be the best! It's cool... our neighbors are so nice, and we are really blessed to live near such helpful and kind people.
OK that's all I got now. I would upload another house picture, but not much on the outside has changed! Later!
Rachel <><
I'm not one of those bloggers who daily showers her readers with cute anecdotes of what her kids said or pictures of kids or pets or anything.... that's because we are SO busy with a lot of nothing! Pretty much all we do is eat, sleep, and work. Oh and I try to clean. :) We rarely go anywhere or do anything anymore because we're still saving up money for our house.... but these days of boredom will soon be over! Sewing has been my recent "anti-work" and is one of my favorite things to do. Maybe I'll post pictures of some of my products... they can be my "babies."
We close on our house on June 22, and after that it will be full steam ahead! Since this is a brand-new house, we have to get everything to fill it up, and there will be a lot of work in that. I'm excited! Finally a place to call our own! I can finally put everything in it's place! Our apartment has been overtaken by STUFF, so much I can hardly stand it anymore. In our new house I will have my own office, and Mike will have his own office, which will be a nice change. We'll have a yard, so Mike will have to shoulder a little more work around here, which will be nice. The past year or two I've been counting the days, rather than making the days count, which I know isn't a good thing. I'm working on it.
AND on top of getting the house in June, I have a packed Pampered Chef show schedule (praise the Lord)!
AND we will be welcoming our first niece or nephew into the world the first week of July! Ryan & Laurel will have their first child and we are so excited to meet him or her!
AND I have Pampered Chef conference the 2nd week of July in Chicago
AND we're having weekend visitors (Melissa, Jake, Holly) in September and Bethany in October
AND we're hosting Thanksgiving this year, and hopefully my parents will come to see us!
We have a LOT to look forward to, which is nice after all the boredom we've been having!
Since we've been spending more time at home, it has allowed me to pursue things and give more time to things I've wanted to for a long time... my Pampered chef business has been so great this year so far and I'm absolutely loving it.
I am also becoming quite the seamstress, as sewing has become my favorite new thing. I still love to cook more than anything else, but it's more expensive and the things I make aren't always used. I've loved making gifts for all my millions of friends having babies and my new thing is making purses. SO much fun. I love finding blogs online with tutorials, and I can't wait to make curtains and drapes for the new house.
I'm also becoming better at saving money on groceries. I've been a pretty devoted coupon-clipper since we got married, but I've been more serious about it lately, and it's paying off big time. I love www.couponmom.com and even got her book. I joined www.e-mealz.com for the meal planning tips... I always prided myself in being a good meal planner, but this has helped even more. The meals on e-mealz are only OK, and I tweak them a little bit but still save $$. Try these sites!
Mike has spent most of his spare time on the house... going over there every day and taking pictures and talking to the neighbors and workers. He has caught a few mistakes that they've made and mentioned it to the supervisor so our house is gonna be the best! It's cool... our neighbors are so nice, and we are really blessed to live near such helpful and kind people.
OK that's all I got now. I would upload another house picture, but not much on the outside has changed! Later!
Rachel <><
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Finally
After more than 2 years of living in our apartment, saving as much money as possible (close to my salary), and driving me pretty much out of my ever-loving mind, I am proud to say that we have BOUGHT A HOUSE!!
What? What just happened?
That's right!! We have been saving so much pretty much since we got married so that we could have a home that we really wanted, and wanted to stay in for a long time. Neither one of us were interested in the small "starter home," so we decided to save and go BIG. We have sacrificed date nights, vacations, shopping (seriously- I haven't been shopping in over a year) and many other fun things for a 20% down payment on a house and it looks like it's finally becoming a reality.
Our plan was to save until February, then get a mortgage, realtor, and start looking for a house. Back in August I was out shopping at Metropolis (outdoor mall in Plainfield) and saw this cute little community and decided to pop in. It's a Centex community, building custom homes at a price. A BIG price, mind you. I went in, talked to the salesman, and brought Mike back the next day. The guy spent several hours with us, walking through the various options, what they would cost, etc.... and the total came to WAY more than we expected to pay. We left a little deflated, and tossed the idea of building a house out the window....
... until the first week of January. Mike felt that the Lord was leading him to reopen the discussion about building a house. He looked online and found that because Pulte Homes acquired Centex, then the base price of the homes had dropped $20K! Wow! It's within our reach now! So in a matter of about 8 days we picked out the options again, found the lot, looked at an existing home, and signed the contract! Whew!
The home we will be building is a Sizemore model. You can check it out on the Centex site... we are going to be in The Settlement subdivision in Avon/Plainfield. I say "Avon/Plainfield" because we will have a Plainfield address, but we will be in Avon schools and pay Avon taxes. Silly postmaster. The neighborhood is really quiet, and it's far enough away from all the city lights so that we can see the stars on a clear night. Yay!
So Lord willing, at the end of June, we will be moving out of our apartment into our very own house! I will try to post pictures here and on facebook of the building process, as this will be very exciting for us. I am extremely pumped about this.... we have so much stuffed packed to the walls in this apartment. Partially due to my packrat husband, and also due to the fact that we just don't have enough room for everything. Just to give you an idea, we'll be able to fit pretty much our entire apartment in the basement of our new house. OMG. I have surrendered to the fact that our apartment will never truly be clean until we move out, because there just isn't room to get around. It's bad, people.
AND when we got married, we didn't get anything new (big stuff like furniture, bed, etc) so we'll finally be able to have some nice things!
Below are some pictures of our lot and a home that is similar to what ours will look like. Ours will have the garage on the other side of the house, and be a different color siding, brick and shutters. Enjoy!!
our muddy lot...
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