Our New Home

This morning as I sat on the porch swing of our new deck drinking my coffee I felt thankful.  Thankful for the rich blessings of God.  What started as questions and dreams, became a reality to us.  He has blessed us with a new business, a dwelling place closer to extended family, and a beautiful large sized home that we will grow into over the years.  The waiting was long and the path was not easy, but it was all worth it.   

The unpacking is coming along, and I am beginning to decorate the little nooks and crannies of the house.  With every day it feels more like our own little sanctuary.   In the middle of all my unpacking and getting settled, I came across the perfect verse in my Bible, that then became my memory verse for this half of the month. 

"Trust in the Lord and do good.  Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness." -Psalm 37:3

That just about sums up my life right now.  Trust God, do good, and cultivate faithfulness.

Below are a few photos from the upstairs.  It also has a spacious downstairs where we have put an office, a guest bedroom, and RL now has her very own bedroom! :)  Plus there's a kitchen, another living room, and a space for the kids' computers/school work area.  As I said, plenty of room to grow! 

Have a blessed weekend all!

~Melissa

The Entry



Upstairs Living Room



My Kitchen!!

JS and BC's Room



LR and CD's Bedroom



Plans Delayed

I should be in my new house by now.  I understand that paperwork doesn't always go through when it's supposed to.  These things happen in Real Estate.  That much I know from when my husband was a Realtor.  Still, that drags our move out for another week, and here I sit with boxes and furniture piled up ready to be moved.  Though we were all disappointed, we weren't about to let this delay ruin our weekend.

Father's Day weekend was full of fun and laughter.  We didn't go anywhere, but just hung out at home, watched the Mariners, played some games, and ate Pizza on Saturday and BBQ on Sunday.  We had company over yesterday for the last time in this house.  They are such good friends and we will miss their family most of all when we move.  They are helping us move though, so they will also be our first company in our new house next weekend! :) 

This week I am planning easy meals and trying to keep life simple.  The older boys are each having over-nighters to say their last goodbyes to their closest friends.  I scheduled BC's annual check up on Wednesday so I can get it out of the way.  Other than that, I will tape up the last of the boxes and hang out with the kids until Saturday finally comes. 

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Spring and bring in Summer.  We're supposed to finally get some warmer weather, so there's lots of outdoor fun to be had!

Next time I post I will probably be in my new home!  Then, the fun of UN-packing begins! 

Company Girl Coffee - Moving

I've known for 4 months now that I will be moving next month.  Slowly but surely I've been packing what we don't need and getting rid of what we will never need again.  I've taken countless trips to Good Will, and I've thrown away numerous bags of trash.  Now that we're down to three weeks, I am anxious to just pack it all up and be done with the moving part. 

I'm ready to close the chapter here and turn the page to our new life in another town, another home.  But oh, this home has been good to us for almost 7 years now.  It's given us room to grow from 3 children to 5.  We've been able to open our doors to family members, and help out a friend by letting them live with us.  We've had New Year's celebrations with friends and hosted many game nights.  There were BBQ's and S'mores in the Summer and snowmen and Hot Cocoa in the Winter.  Yes, we have lived well here.

I am looking forward to those things and more in our new location.  We are moving to a smaller town, with family only 5 minutes away.  We're looking at a quiet, safe neighborhood where I can let my kids ride their bikes without worry.  If we are blessed enough to get the home we want, it is even more spacious than the one we live in now, with plenty of room for my children to grow into teens.  It will be fun to re-connect with old friends from when we lived their before and meet their children.

There are a lot of uncertainties ahead of us, but this I know:  God has facilitated this move, and He is guiding us every step of the way.

"For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end." -Psalm 48:14 

Following His Lead,
~Melissa 

This and That - CG Coffee 4.29.11

I don't have any ONE thing that I want to post about this morning, so I'm just going to hit some highlights from this month and call it good.  Please excuse my randomness today. :)

The first week of April was our Spring break.  Spring hasn't really happened here yet.  In fact, it snowed this morning!  I'm not complaining though.  My heart and prayers go out to the people in this country that are dealing with the devastating tornadoes that have passed through their towns.  It has definitely been a tough Spring for them.

On April 14th, we opened the doors to our Dollar Plus Store.  There is definitely a need for it in the location we chose.  Once everything was out on the shelves and ready to go it was pretty impressive.  It wasn't long before my husband had to order more product to re-stock the shelves where customers had cleaned out the inventory.  After two weeks I think he's getting a handle on when to order and what to keep in back-stock.

Last week my life-long friend and mentor came for a visit.  I really loved having her company along with her Daughter-in-Law and Grandson.  She cut my hair and LR's while she was here.  LR has been begging to have her hair cut short for a while now.  No more tangles! :) 






My Expert Egg Finders!



Easter weekend we went to my MIL's house to celebrate with family.  We hid over 300 eggs in their back yard for the kids to find.  The weather was beautiful!  It's the first sun I've actually felt warming me in months.  It was nice to soak up some vitamin D for a change.  I loved watching the kids as they enjoyed the fresh air and HUGE back yard to play all sorts of games.



306 Eggs!



Lookin' Good!

JS got his glasses this morning.  It's a totally new feeling for him, so he'll have to get used to wearing them.  Hopefully they will help him see better in school and at home when he's doing his homework.  I know eyes change a lot at his age (8), so we'll have him checked again this summer as a follow-up.  I think he looks very handsome in them.  He looks even more like his dad now.



My DH is looking around at homes for us now.  We're down to the 7 week mark 'til we move.  I haven't been doing as much packing as I should, but it's slowly coming along.  I try to do a little bit every day.  I'm getting pretty "garbage" and "donate" happy.  The way I look at it, if it hasn't been used in the last year, then why should I keep it?

Speaking of which, I should probably get back to it.  I want to keep on top of my list.  Thanks for stopping by for coffee to chat and have a great weekend!

~Melissa



Company Girl Coffee - Store Update

"Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." Jim Elliot

This is a favorite quote of my friend Melodi.  It's very appropriate in this season of my life, as I am going through transition.  It is sometimes hard to be all here when our new life is being built in another town.  It is strange to think that in less than a few months this home, and this city will be our past.  Still, for now, I need to be ALL HERE. So that is what I intend to do until God closes this chapter of our lives. 

With that being said, here is a little "sneak peak" at what God is writing into the pages of the next chapter of our lives.

We named the store "Dollar Plus."  There will be an entire section of the store off to the side that will sell larger items at a discounted price.  Think overstock.  Throughout the rest of the store items will be sold for $1.00, $1.25, or $1.50.  It's our own unique design.  There is a lot of buzz and excitement going on around town about it.  Our sign is up and under it is a sign that says "Coming Soon."

My husband attended a conference in Las Vegas at the beginning of this month that was so big it had to be held in two separate locations.  He walked for miles and miles as he searched for the right vendors to fill our store with the perfect product.  I hear that my Father in Law was quite impressed at his ability to barter down a price tag!

After four days of doing that, he came home to us for a spell and put my daughter to work reading numbers to him so he could enter them into the computer. In preparation to make a toy order, he handed all the kids catalogs and highlighters and told them to mark toys that they would like to see in the store.  They really loved that!

Before very long, it was time for him to head to Walla Walla again, to work on the building and begin interviews to hire a staff.  Floors were shined up and fresh paint applied. The next step was to install the point of sale desk.  I can tell you from experience that the hand-crafted, U-shaped station is very heavy!  They got it in place though, with cash registers and computers ready to be networked. 

He ended up hiring a small crew with plenty of experience, two of which worked for the former Dollar Store in town.  Once the shelves arrived, he and the crew proceeded to complete the task of setting up, cleaning up, and arranging the shelves for the next few days.  This proved to be more difficult than first imagined, so he hired two extras in town to get it done more quickly.

During this time the first shipment of product arrived so he put a couple of the girls to work setting up our first official display - jewelry.  At week's end, he told everyone to come back on Tuesday (when more product was scheduled to arrive) and he came home to us.

The kids and I soak up every minute we get with him these days.  It's hard on all of us to be away from him, even for short periods of time.  He loves us so much and over the years I have appreciated his drive to work hard so that I can stay home with the kids.  We are excited to go out over Spring Break and see the store coming to life.

This week the network guy came in and got the computers all talking to each other and my husband began the process of entering product into the computer, one item at a time.  It took an entire day to scan in just kitchen items, but after a lot of hard work and some fiddling with the program, he succeeded!  We can officially scan and sell any kitchen item in our store! :)

There is much more ahead of us.  Some of it will be routine set-up, and then there will also be the unexpected bumps along the way.  I'm sure glad my husband is a strategist.  He is not the kind to give up in the face of adversity.  I know that he will continue to press on until the doors are ready to open.

And what a grand opening it will be!

I'm looking forward to it.  But until then, I am here.  This is home sweet home, where I will continue to "live to the hilt," as Jim Elliot so wonderfully puts it.  I'm holding back nothing, making the most of every day.

Have a great weekend all!
~Melissa

Company Girl Coffee 2.11.11

T.G.I.F! I'm happy to have made it to the end of the week. I have been trying to stick with my 28 in 28 challenge, despite this cold that we're passing around. We've thrown out plenty of garbage, packed boxes of things we don't need and stored them in the garage for the move, and bagged/boxed up items to donate. I am going to reach well beyond my goal of 28 bags by the end of this month.

Today was the 100th day of school. LR was so excited! She's been looking forward to it for some time now. The kindergarten classes celebrated together with a popcorn party and lots of activities involving the number 100.

This morning with my 4yr old I finished off one of the hardest puzzles we've ever done. It took us a few days to complete it. Everyone pitched in to help. We didn't realize until we were half way into it that all the pieces had two holes and two prongs. It made it rather difficult because they all seemed alike. The picture was also a lot like a painting, so the colors all blended together. I'm glad it's done. Now we can move on to the next one! :)

Today we got an offer on my dad's house. I'm happy that there is a couple interested in buying it but I have mixed feelings about the possibility of that chapter of my life being closed. I have a lot of fond memories involving that old house. Growing up we would go and visit my Grandma there and after she passed away, my dad moved in. I was living in Seattle at the time, so I would go over and just hang out with him. I miss my dad so much. It's hard to say goodbye to a home that has been such a big part of my life, but I know the memories will remain stored up in my heart forever.

Speaking of memories, we only have two Sundays left at our church. Last week was my husband's final sermon. He did a great job. He got a little choked up when he was talking about how it's God's will for us all to be plugged in at a church. We are going to miss our church family so much! Our time there has been wonderful.

Things are really coming together for the new store. My DH has been planning and ordering, preparing for the big convention that he and my Father in Law will go to in two weeks. They will be ordering all the product for the store there. When they return home from that, they will begin setting up shelves and preparing for opening day! It's all so exciting!

Well, I've got to be moving on to the next thing on my list, but I'm looking forward to getting around for coffee this week. Have a great weekend all! Thanks for stopping in to visit. :)

~Melissa

A Few Random Ramblings

I have been looking forward to reporting in again on my 28 in 28 progress, but I also have a few other things that I want to blog about, so rather than write out three separate posts, I'll just combine them today.

28/28 progress: I've been chipping away at clutter. This is day 5. Most days are split between trash (I LOVE throwing junk away), donate, and pack. Today I'm going to dig in and sort my linen closets. I have two of them. A small one upstairs, and a larger one downstairs in our guest bedroom. I am obviously working in two different zones today, but I wanted to get all my linens done at once.

We've set up some new "screen time" rules: Screen time in our house involves tv, wii, playstation, leapster 2, computer, and watching other family members on those things. We had to add the last rule because I was finding that even though I limited my kids' time, they would watch each other and we have five kids. You get the idea. That's a lot of hours that can build up! Mom and Dad are cutting back too. I think I got on the computer all of twice yesterday, only for a few minutes at a time. It felt good!

It's puzzle season! Around this time of year my husband always seems to go puzzle crazy. He went to the store with my daughter and picked out a 1000 piece "I Spy" puzzle on Friday afternoon. It was all put together in less than 24 hours. I suppose that's not too impressive with 7 people working on it, but it sure was a lot of fun!

This post actually took me two days to complete because I've been cleaning, packing, and we've had company over. My Mother-in-Law is here to visit. We're going to church this morning to hear my husband speak for his last time at our church. Then we only have two weeks left there...but I'm trying not to be sad about it. I know God has new and exciting things for our future!

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans." -Proverbs 16:3

Siesta Scripture Memory Verse 3

It's a new month, so that means it's time for a new memory verse! I can hardly believe one month in 2011 is already in the past. It means we are that much closer to Spring, and that much closer to opening our new business. Only two months to go before we open the doors to our new store.

I've been reflecting a lot this past week on Genesis 12:1-7. To sum it up, God asked Abram to leave his country, relatives, and father's house to go to another land that He was going to show him. So Abram packed up his wife, nephew, and all their belongings and headed out until he reached the land of Canaan, where God then promised to give the land to Abram's descendants.

Hebrews Chapter 11:8-12 commends the faith that it took for Abram to make this journey. Because we are on a "faith journey" of our own right now, I have chosen Hebrews 11:8 as my third SSMT verse in 2011.

"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."

He obeyed and went. That is what we intend to do. By faith, as God leads us every step of the way.

Following His lead,
Melissa

28 Bags in 28 Days

Good morning! And welcome to Company Girl Coffee! I'm on my second cup this morning, as I didn't get a very good night's sleep last night. It was one of those nights where I had way too much on my mind to sleep. I thought about blogging, but it may not have made much sense at 4:30am. I am not much of a morning person!

We're nearing the end of January. For me, January is a month of getting back on track with routines and schedules. Kids are back in school and I find myself thinking about a little early Spring Cleaning. This year, the "urge to purge" has hit me very hard, since we will be moving in June. I've come up with a little February Challenge for myself that I think will be a lot of fun.

I call it 28 bags in 28 days. I know, not a very original name. I'm not going for idea of the year here though. Actually, I can't even take credit for the idea. It's a combo of several things I've tried over time. I've taken cues from FLYlady and divided my home into zones. The idea to do a certain number of bags in a certain number of days came from my friend over at Clover Lane who did this challenge herself last year during Lent. As suggested in several organizing books that I've read, I will be using the "give away, throw away, and put away" method. I picked February because of a fun contest Org Junkie did last year with one space in your home.

28 days, 28 bags. Four weeks of glorious purging. Doesn't that sound fun? After all, I can't take it with me to heaven, so might as well slim it down to the bear minimum to move. I'll be sharing it right here as I go, so stay tuned for more excitement! :)

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." -Matthew 6:19-21

Have a great weekend all!

~Melissa

The God of All Comfort

Five more Sundays. That's how many we have left at our church before my husband steps down from his job there. I have to be honest. I am a little sad. In the 16 years of our marriage there have only been three times that my husband has not served on a worship team, whether he was on staff, or not. I am going to miss that voice of his leading me and the rest of the congregation into worship every Sunday.

Don't get me wrong. I am excited to begin our new adventure. And I trust that God will help us find the right church for our family to attend together. I am looking forward to worshiping by my husband's side for a season. I can't help but wonder if it's going to be difficult for him to allow someone else to lead him in worship. I'm sure that will be very different for him, to say the least.

Yes, things are going to be very different. We will be living in a smaller town, with family nearby, and a brand new business to build. We are official part owners of a building, that we will fill with merchandise and open doors sometime in April. I can't wait to see what God has planned for this new chapter in our lives.

Still, today, here and now, I am a little sad to think about leaving our old lives and our church behind. I don't think God minds. He knows my heart and I look to Him for comfort in the middle of change and uncertainty.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." -2 Corinthians 1:3-4

How has He comforted you recently? I'd love to hear.

Blessings,

~Melissa

Sanctuary in the Middle of Change

I've been thinking a lot this week about my Homekeeping Mission Statement for 2011. The first time I wrote one, was back in 2008, when I joined the Company Girl fun and dove into Small Things.

Back then, I had a one year old, a three year old, a four year old, a five year old, and a six year old! Needless to say, I needed that mission statement to keep me sane! Today, my children are a little older, and four out of five of them are in school. Though the wording has changed some, the main statement (in bold) has stuck with me.

HOMEKEEPING MISSION 2011
I want my home to be, peaceful, simple, and cozy. I will value my relationships with my husband and children by showing them unconditional love and acceptance. I will maintain a reasonable housekeeping schedule and designate chores to keep clutter at bay. I will decorate tastefully and affordably, creating a relaxing environment for my family and all who enter my home.

Do you recognize the three elements in the beginning? They may be different words, but they are still the same three legs of an old reliable stool. Peace, Order, and Beauty. You can find the origin of this story on Rachel Anne's Blog.

And now for my big announcement:
My family will be moving to a new location in June of 2011! We have the opportunity to begin a new business adventure in my husband's home town, where his parents still live. I will be blogging more about it in the future, but today I simply wanted to share the good news with you over coffee.

Over the next several months, I will be living out my Homekeeping Mission Statement while I pack, organize, and slim down our belongings. I'll be honest with you. Maintaining sanctuary in our home while preparing for the big move will be a challenge. Hopefully, with a little patience and a lot of prayer, this Company Girl will be able to keep peace, order, and beauty alive in the middle of it all. :)

May all of your homes be blessed in 2011!
~Melissa