High Five for Friday!

It's really a high five Friday! Instead of doing 5 points I'm just going to stick with one long important one!

Josh got a job, Josh got a job, JOSH GOT A JOB!!! Wahoooo! We found out Wednesday (September 11th seems to be a big day in our family) and have been over the moon. He will begin in 2 weeks as a correctional officer (CO) at the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta. It's a great job with awesome benefits and just a great move overall for our family. He had a couple other leads that seemed hopeful (applied to be a police officer, had an interview yesterday for an assistant manager at Chick-fil-A), but this was the one he applied for back in MAY. It's taken this long and 3 interviews, super intensive background checks, and this much dedication to get where we are. We moved out of our house, 2 hours from our "home" with no promise of a job, and we are very thankful that it has all come together.

Many people asked me- aren't you worried about income? What are you going to do?! It was simple- trust and obey. We actually won't have a break in income which is awesome with our house hunt. Also his health insurance will pretty much pick up where mine left off. We sold Josh's truck back in June to give us some "cush" cash hoping we wouldn't have to dip into it. The amazing thing? We haven't had to touch it. That was a super smart move with us looking at a down payment on a house (more on that in a minute).

There were days and weeks that seemed endless. I won't sugarcoat it- it wasn't easy. I never panicked over our situation, but I did get a little frazzled over health insurance. Luke has been uninsured since July and that made my mama heart nervous. But we knew we were doing the right thing and we had to believe that the Lord would provide. And He did and is continuing to do so.

The next step is to find somewhere to live. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but we were blown away at the price of apartments. $1,000 for a 2 bedroom? yeahno. After coming from a 3 bedroom HOUSE and paying almost half of that for a MORTGAGE it just seems absurd to sink that into renting. Although we're not sure if we'll qualify for a loan with me not working, we have committed to at least trying. The worst they can say is no. We can more easily carry 2 mortgages than we can a mortgage and renting an apartment. So let the house hunting begin! We've found a real estate agent and we are going through listing after listing narrowing down our wants and needs.

Although we were pretty set on getting an apartment, part of me is giddy excited about a new house! Oh the possibilities with a new space!! We will probably end up with a fixer-upper/foreclosure/shortsale which is totally ok. I'd rather choose the finishes and colors than pay more upfront and have someone else choose them for me.

I'm still committed to staying home with my babies. I've put applications out and registered on care.com but I'm really only looking at petsitting/tutoring jobs. Something that allows me to still be home. Josh will have to work every shift at the prison over the next year so I can't commit my hours to anyone. And I absolutely refuse to work full time only to pay daycare and a mortgage. I have also taken on a small writing job. Maybe something will come from that?

So here goes the next step! Yay! Thanks for lifting us up in prayer during this incredibly nerve wracking, exciting time!