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Building the House Episode 10

There are so many things I need to say about this process from the beginning to this point that it is all jumbled in my head. If nothing else comes across, I want this journey to show people that God is truly real and just a mustard seed is all you need in whatever difficulties and obstacles you face in life. I had a discussion with a friend of mine about how people think you are bragging when you share your accomplishments and things that happen in your life.  While I am not saying that some people really are braggers by nature some of us are just trying to show the goodness of God.

From reading blogs I’ve seen people go from infertility to motherhood. From negative to positive thinking. Career changes, moves and just overall self improvement. I never look at these things as bragging but rather I think to myself if God did that for them, He can surely meet MY needs. Those are shows of God’s grace to me, confirmation for me at times comes through other people’s success and I hope my blog does that for someone.

*steps off the pulpit* Whilst the collection plate is being passed around let’s get on with the update.

Soooo, there was drama a few weeks ago. I got a call that our short sale process hit a brick wall and that we would need to go back through the original process that yielded an unfavorable result a few months back. Then the next day I got a call that one of the very first homes built in the community did not appraise and there was a possibility that we may not be able to build our home as it is currently showing on paper regarding upgrades etc. I just cried.

I cried because I was overwhelmed, I cried because I am tired of the unknown, I cried because I was mentally, and physically tired at that point. I woke up the next morning, prayed and told God that I believed in His path and that was our house until someone else put their curtains up in the window….and I truly believe that!!

Went about gathering the additional documents needed and a few days later got a call from a very nice lady at BOA who was assigned to be our new liaison through the process. When I say overly helpful and understanding, she is amazing, compared to the rude and condescending one we had before. She informed me that since we already had the majority of the paperwork in she could expedite some of the process, and she has. I took that small improvement as a sign. I said thank you out loud. The next day our contact at the builder called and informed us that they are doing pre-appraisals to make sure the house will appraise before making any decisions on whether or not changes need to be done. She informed me that at this point we are fine to move forward as written.

In the meantime nearly all of the houses around us are being built. Like completely framed while our lot was still just a mound of dirt, no explanation either. No one could tell me why the delay. The other day I started to go ham but I said God you know the timing and it is always perfect, increase my patience, it will all come together at the end.

I went by this morning and was not expecting to see anything so I left Candace (that’s my camera) at home but was surprised to see this.

march 14 collage blog

March 14 front blog

March 14 b

How can I say I am trusting God and not start packing this place up…

Photography Project 365 Wordless Wednesday

{kinda} Wordless Wednesday Project 365/43-49

Absolutely nothing fancy this week since the baby was sick the entire weekend.

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Giving big bro a hug after his Math Bee

 

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Who doesn’t love Daddy snuggles

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I can’t believe she is big enough to climb on this by herself..

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Saw this at Ikea. I think I want to grow an herb garden like this at the new crib

Mr. and I ridin’ round and gettin’ it….

Sick baby is alllll better!!

Recipes

Garlic Chicken with Yellow Rice

I think it is safe to say we are all extremely busy and by the end of the day the last thing we really want to do is spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking up a meal. I have been trying out a ton of recipes lately and moving forward I plan on sharing the really good ones with you.

This particular recipe I adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food collection of recipes. The original recipe was Slow Cooker Garlic Chicken with Couscous. Y’all know I am good for remixing a recipe. Seeing that I didn’t have couscous on hand and didn’t get it in the slow cooker in time I instead put mine in the oven and substituted the wine with chicken broth and it came out delicious. Next time I will stick to the recipe…maybe!

Lightly seasoned chicken breasts

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While the chicken was browning on the stove top in a bit of olive oil, I coarsely chopped up about a half an onion and 3 cloves of garlic and mixed with 2 teaspoons of ground Thyme

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Placed the onions, garlic and Thyme in the bottom of a deep casserole dish and placed the browned breasts on top.

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Then mixed 1/3 cup of flour with one cup of chicken broth

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Poured the mixture over the chicken and then added an additional cup of chicken broth. Per the recipe the additional cup of chicken broth is not needed if cooked in a slow cooker

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Cover

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Cook at 450 for about 40 minutes

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The flour and the broth made this amazing gravy sauce. I put it all over some yellow rice that I cooked in my rice cooker. From start to plating this recipe took about an hour. We like that!

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Beauty Nail Polish

Just Another MANICure Monday

I am a little late to the party this week but between the fact that my daughter has Scarlet fever AND I lost an hour of sleep I think y’all will be understanding. Since I haven’t had a chance to do my nails this week I am sharing with you my top 3 tips for making your manicure last a week…even through cleaning.

Prior to these steps you want to make sure that you have cleaned, filed and buffed your nails really well.

DIY Manicure

 

1. Prime your nails: Much like the primer that goes under the paint on a wall, this step will make sure that the nail polish has something to adhere to, increasing your chances of a having your manicure weather the storm. I swear by Orly Bonder. There may be others but I don’t know about them. I only know about Orly Bonder and I love it.

2. Sandwich your coats: Sandwich? Yes, sandwich as in place very thin coats of a good quick dry topcoat between very thin coats of polish. On average I do at least 4 coats…Hey, I’m a mom! I will do two very thin coats, a thin coat of quick dry and another two very thin coats. Key word is THIN, if you make them thick they will bubble and won’t last.

3.Use a good topcoat: Unless you want to reapply your top coat daily I would suggest you shell out the $8-10 and get a good one. For good measure when applying your top coat, lightly brush a thin amount across the tip of your nail every 2-3 days.

Time to show off your manicure for the week. Next week I am going to use a linky that won’t require you to have a blog so everybody is welcome…Get ready!