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Friday, August 19, 2011

Wheaton, IL...

We're here! We finally made the BIG move to Wheaton, IL!
It's only been a week...but we're really starting to settle into life here.

WE LOVE IT!

It has been and continues to be a place of trusting God as we follow what He has called us too, but He has of course shown Himself abundantly faithful. His love is UNFAILING!

One of the abundant ways He has provided is with a home for us! We found a house to rent in the north part of Wheaton...nestled within tree lined streets and in a neighborhood full of beautiful century old homes. We have already met some of our sweet neighbors and we're literally across the street from a great little park and the bike/running trail. We could not have asked for more! 

Micah will be starting Kindergarten at Longfellow in less than a week...he is so excited and has already met a friend who will be in his class and his teacher at orientation today! Also, the school is where church meets on Sunday morning...which is amazing!

Gavin will be doing a preschool program at First Baptist in a couple of weeks and is excited to make new friends. Sawyer Bear will be getting some mommy only time in the mornings 
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays!

Chris continues to hunt for a job, we're really feeling full of faith that God has already prepared something great for him and that all our needs will be met in the meantime. 
God is surrounding us with amazing community who have fed us and checked in on us...

Oh, and who moved us into our new home in an hour and a half...that's right!! Almost 20 people showed up to move us in! We were blown away! This is why we moved here! HA!

Which brings me to...some pics of the new abode...


I'm already picturing a little garden in these front beds and maybe some pretty flower boxes under the windows!! We'll be getting busy come spring time!


The three seasons porch on this house is our FAVORITE thing about it! The boys love to play out here and Chris loves to sit in the swing in the evenings! It's awesome!


You first walk into the living room/dining room. It's a work in progress, but it's cozy and full of light!


So glad to have our big table back! Can't wait to have big dinners here with friends!


Love the big windows and there is soooooo much storage! I'm in heaven! Now I just need all the great cabinet/drawer organizers to keep it tidy! HA!




Little play room that will be great extra guest sleeping space and perfect for play dates!



The guest room will also double as my craft space...I need to find a little desk or work table so I can get to work!!


The landing at the top of the stairs will not always look like this (hopefully)!! We'd love to have a little desk space here to computer work and eventually homework!


It's the smaller of the two rooms upstairs, but really we're just thankful to have our bed back from storage! We spent almost 8 months with just a mattress on the floor...ha!


The boys' room is awesome! Plenty of room to play and an HUGE walk in closet!


Sawyer has his own little space tucked into the corner of the boys' room...it's quiet and dark and he's actually slept in a couple of mornings this week, which is a miracle!

So, that's about it! There is also a tiny porch on the back of the house and a really small yard with a two car garage. We'd love to put up a little picket fence to enclose the yard a bit, especially with Charlie. 

And there's a huge unfinished basement which has been amazing for storage. Texans, you need a basement! It's like the best place to store extra stuff!!

That's the Otts' house! I'll post more as things get more put together! Thanks for all your prayers and support as we've made this adventure to Wheaton...it's been amazing and we've felt so loved along the way!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Craft Fail

I've been crafting for about 7 months now...
I know, not long..

BUT

I have experienced my first major craft FAILS all in the same day.

BUMMER.

For those of you who have ever attempted to make anything, you can relate here..
some days there are just projects that go horribly wrong.

I tried to make a necklace using washers...

EXECUTION PROBLEM

I tried using rings instead...

AGAIN EXECUTION PROBLEM

I scraped the idea.

I attempted to do my first ever applique shirt project with my sewing machine. I have up until now been choosing to hand stitch instead. I'm starting to remember why...

I sewed the two side of the shirt together.

(Did I also mention that my dog saw something outside, darted through the dining room and in the process tripped on my sewing machine cord...taking with him my sewing machine, Chris' laptop and Chris' ipad?!! Thankfully it was all fixable, minus the chunk of plastic now missing from the side of my sewing machine.)

IT"S JUST BEEN ONE OF THOSE DAYS!

Thank you, Lord, that you are bigger then our mistakes. That there's nothing you can't repair in us and that YOU NEVER EVER make mistakes. You never fail and ALL of YOUR creations are good!


(P.S. I send Chris to get another shirt at Target so I can try the applique project again, 
sometimes persistence is a good thing! HA!)

Friday, August 5, 2011

It's about time...


We've been on quite the journey these past 16 months...
It's been challenging, it's been amazing, it's been LONG! HA!
But, finally we're moving forward into the next season we feel like the Lord has called us to.

In 6 days we will load up our moving truck and head for Wheaton, IL.
(and yes...we realize the winters are long and cold up there!)

I have spent the last few weeks really thinking about what a huge transition this will be for our family and how much I really will miss our home here in Waco, TX. We've grown up here in this town. 
We came here as teenagers and now we're leaving as a family of 5!

We are so thankful for Antioch Waco. This community here is responsible for leading us to real encounters with the Holy Spirit and for showing us what intimate relationship with Jesus really looks like. Thankfully, we are not leaving this Antioch movement...instead we're just moving to 
Antioch Wheaton! 
These people, this tribe...it's ours for life!

Thank you to every person who invested in us, discipled us, disciplined us, encouraged us, and taught us along the way. We leave Waco full of thankfulness and better equipped for the journey ahead.

This will forever be our rebirth place...where we truly encountered Jesus and His Church!

So long WACO...WHEATON, here we come!!