The other day Kelli and I realized that we had yet to share the excitement of buying a new house with our four legged girls so we decided to load the outdoor half of them up and take them to the dog park. This is always an adventure as there is certain to be a plethora of new and exciting smells, sounds, and wagging tails to check out! Kelli and I figured there was no better way to share our joy of our new place with our "kids" than by taking them to they're most enjoyable place on the planet!
As expected they each fell into their respective routine once we got there, Duchess began retrieving the tennis ball and Kashi let her social skills shine. There was probably about 15 other dogs there when we arrived and of course once we were in the area where we take leashes off, every dog inside the park was at the gate ready to meet the new girls. Duchess as I mentioned walked right in and immediately sat and looked at me waiting for the tennis ball I had in the thrower to go airborne. Kashi however walked in and pranced her way around the park with nearly every other dog hot on her trail in an attempt to introduce themselves as her new best friend! As she made what looked like the dog equivalent of a victory lap, the look of sheer joy on her face made Kelli and I laugh out loud, we could almost hear her shouting, "I'm the queen of the world!!"
We stayed at the park until Kashi had introduced herself to every new friend in the park and Duchess had exhausted not only herself but my arm. By the time we left Kashi's tongue was hanging out the side of her mouth and Duch needed my assistance to get into the truck, both of these are the tell tale signs of our two big girls reaching full satisfaction in their visit to the dog park. Every time we go there they are equally as excited as the last time, if not more, and I know they are in a state of pure joy. What I'll probably never know is if they understand just how their parents reach the same state of joy just from being there with them.
Remember, make sure you take time to find moments of pure joy in your life, no matter how you may reach it.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Finally!
Well after a couple months of searching Kelli and I have finally found our new house! In the short time we have lived here we have covered just about every square mile of Spokane county it seems and we have gone full circle. We began our search with the south hill because of the appeal the quaint neighborhoods have along with the craftsman homes with all their charm, and we ended our search on the south hill, finding a house with just the right amount of that character and charm in the perfect neighborhood! Our new house was built in 1925 and although it is smaller, the warmth and charm it offers is enormous! It has a wonderful flow to it and an unfinished basement for us to finish to our liking.
The irony of this house is the first week we were here Jill took Kelli on a tour of the south hill and in their travels they drove by this one while it was having an open house, deciding not to go into it only because it appeared too small from the outside. Well the lesson learned from that drive by a couple months ago was to never judge a book by its cover because upon walking into this house it feels much bigger than it's actual size. After that first drive by we continued to watch the south hill while we checked out other areas, but this house never was towards the top of our list. We drove all over, scoured the internet listings, and put our realtor through the ringer as we went into over 20 houses that were scattered all over the map. When I called our realtor asking if we could get into a different house on the south hill last Saturday he had to sift through three different personalized searches he had for us in order to get the right info!
I truly believe God had a hand in leading us to our new house as there were simply too many small things that fell into place. This started almost a month ago when Kelli and I had a different house under contract, a house we had found for sale by owner, only to have that deal fall through because the taxes were too high to give us a monthly payment we were comfortable with. So we healed our wounds from that disappointment and continued searching which led us to last Saturday. We arranged to get into two houses that we had found and one more that our realtor had. One of the ones we found was our new house, it was actually scheduled for an open house the following day but our realtor called the owner to see if we could view it a day early. Not only did she agree to let us in but she happens to be a friend of our realtor's, he was shocked when he called her and she simply replied with "how are you, I haven't seen you in ages"!
God's lending hand sealed the deal when upon walking into this house Kelli and I both fell in love instantly! She often tells me when we find our house we'll feel it and up until Saturday I didn't quite understand what she meant, I do now! We were able to have the house under contract before the open house even took place!
So we're set up for the final series of hurdles in the process of buying a house, the home inspection and appraisal, the first of which is scheduled for this afternoon. Once those two are done we will be ready to close and move again! We have been eager to move in to a house of our own since we have been here and this move will allow us to finally feel as though we've settled in to the area. We will finally be able to unpack all of the boxes in the garage and officially set up our lives for the next chapter! The fact that this next chapter will be set in arguably the coolest neighborhood in Spokane is just icing on the cake!
Remember, if you present all of your worries to God he will help you put them at ease!
The irony of this house is the first week we were here Jill took Kelli on a tour of the south hill and in their travels they drove by this one while it was having an open house, deciding not to go into it only because it appeared too small from the outside. Well the lesson learned from that drive by a couple months ago was to never judge a book by its cover because upon walking into this house it feels much bigger than it's actual size. After that first drive by we continued to watch the south hill while we checked out other areas, but this house never was towards the top of our list. We drove all over, scoured the internet listings, and put our realtor through the ringer as we went into over 20 houses that were scattered all over the map. When I called our realtor asking if we could get into a different house on the south hill last Saturday he had to sift through three different personalized searches he had for us in order to get the right info!
I truly believe God had a hand in leading us to our new house as there were simply too many small things that fell into place. This started almost a month ago when Kelli and I had a different house under contract, a house we had found for sale by owner, only to have that deal fall through because the taxes were too high to give us a monthly payment we were comfortable with. So we healed our wounds from that disappointment and continued searching which led us to last Saturday. We arranged to get into two houses that we had found and one more that our realtor had. One of the ones we found was our new house, it was actually scheduled for an open house the following day but our realtor called the owner to see if we could view it a day early. Not only did she agree to let us in but she happens to be a friend of our realtor's, he was shocked when he called her and she simply replied with "how are you, I haven't seen you in ages"!
God's lending hand sealed the deal when upon walking into this house Kelli and I both fell in love instantly! She often tells me when we find our house we'll feel it and up until Saturday I didn't quite understand what she meant, I do now! We were able to have the house under contract before the open house even took place!
So we're set up for the final series of hurdles in the process of buying a house, the home inspection and appraisal, the first of which is scheduled for this afternoon. Once those two are done we will be ready to close and move again! We have been eager to move in to a house of our own since we have been here and this move will allow us to finally feel as though we've settled in to the area. We will finally be able to unpack all of the boxes in the garage and officially set up our lives for the next chapter! The fact that this next chapter will be set in arguably the coolest neighborhood in Spokane is just icing on the cake!
Remember, if you present all of your worries to God he will help you put them at ease!
Monday, January 14, 2013
Memories
The past couple of weeks have, as usual, felt a bit chaotic. It has been just twelve days since our New Years party with the Nagle clan and yet those days have blown by in a flurry of events! Between job hunts, house hunts, and trips to ND for grandpas funeral, it seems as though two and a half weeks have really been just one big day!
Little by little though things are beginning to fall into place. Kelli had a couple of interviews last week that have led to two working interviews this week! She's pretty excited to be close to finding a good fit! We've also spent countless hours searching every available option for housing in the greater Spokane/Coeur D'alene area. It seems as though we've pursued every viable option out there and although our minds are beginning to melt from MLS number overload, we both feel like our next home is just around the corner!
A week ago Curt, Jill, Jaxon, and I made the trek over to Adrian, ND to join our parents and the rest of our family for Grandpa George's funeral. It was a very quick trip, three total days with the majority of two of those days spent in airports, but it was a good trip that brought back many fond memories of our childhood vacations to my mothers home town. On Saturday afternoon after the service Jaxon was in dire need of a nap and he refused to do so unless he was in his car seat in the back of the moving rental car. So I gave Jill a little break and offered to drive him around for some much needed rest, this time was easily the highlight of my trip as the J-bird caught some z's I drove by every single landmark of the valley that held a fond place in my heart. It was nice to be able to revisit all of the sights that we visited as kids and see how many of them have not changed one bit. As Jaxon and I sat in the warm SUV overlooking the Heinrich-Martin dam, the image of a 10 year old Kyle holding the small fish he had just caught in front of the small wooden pavilion right next to the boat ramp was as fresh as ever. Considering the quickness of our trip we still managed to catch up with many of the friends and family that we haven't seen in years which was very nice.
We must have brought some of the ND weather back with us however as temps have been abnormally chilly for this area as of late! Of course part of what makes the weather seem so bad is it seems as though nearly everyone we know is planning a trip to somewhere warm this winter except us:) I think once we get our feet back under us form this move we might have to change that next winter and join the migration to an island for a week or so!
Remember, when the waters begin to get choppy, faith is what will calm them back down.
Little by little though things are beginning to fall into place. Kelli had a couple of interviews last week that have led to two working interviews this week! She's pretty excited to be close to finding a good fit! We've also spent countless hours searching every available option for housing in the greater Spokane/Coeur D'alene area. It seems as though we've pursued every viable option out there and although our minds are beginning to melt from MLS number overload, we both feel like our next home is just around the corner!
A week ago Curt, Jill, Jaxon, and I made the trek over to Adrian, ND to join our parents and the rest of our family for Grandpa George's funeral. It was a very quick trip, three total days with the majority of two of those days spent in airports, but it was a good trip that brought back many fond memories of our childhood vacations to my mothers home town. On Saturday afternoon after the service Jaxon was in dire need of a nap and he refused to do so unless he was in his car seat in the back of the moving rental car. So I gave Jill a little break and offered to drive him around for some much needed rest, this time was easily the highlight of my trip as the J-bird caught some z's I drove by every single landmark of the valley that held a fond place in my heart. It was nice to be able to revisit all of the sights that we visited as kids and see how many of them have not changed one bit. As Jaxon and I sat in the warm SUV overlooking the Heinrich-Martin dam, the image of a 10 year old Kyle holding the small fish he had just caught in front of the small wooden pavilion right next to the boat ramp was as fresh as ever. Considering the quickness of our trip we still managed to catch up with many of the friends and family that we haven't seen in years which was very nice.
We must have brought some of the ND weather back with us however as temps have been abnormally chilly for this area as of late! Of course part of what makes the weather seem so bad is it seems as though nearly everyone we know is planning a trip to somewhere warm this winter except us:) I think once we get our feet back under us form this move we might have to change that next winter and join the migration to an island for a week or so!
Remember, when the waters begin to get choppy, faith is what will calm them back down.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Time for a fresh start
It's been a few days since I have posted anything on here so let me catch you up on the activities of our past few weeks! Kelli and I continue to try to adjust to our new life over here, finding a house to buy would sure go along way towards us meeting that goal! Our search has taken us all over the Spokane/Coeur D'alene area, I swear there's not a neighborhood in either town that we haven't explored. But like every other aspect of our lives we are making a conscious effort to turn it all over to God and just let him lead us to the right house that we can turn into a home!
We spent Christmas over in Stevensvile with Kelli's parents and had a delightful time! I ate WAY too many goodies, which was made evident by the way I felt on Christmas morning! Most of the weekend was spent relaxing, although Dan and I watched the Cowboys barely loose to the Saints on Sunday afternoon while the girls shopped and as you can expect that wasn't very relaxing for me:) Christmas eve, after another one of the Dobson's amazing meals, we found a small candlelight service at the Our Saviors Lutheran in Stevensvile. The service was one of my most memorable in recent years as the small little church in the country was nearly full and yet there was probably 50 people in attendance. I loved it as it brought back memories of the church my mother grew up attending in Adrian, ND, so small and quaint that even though no one there had ever met us before we felt like members. The pastor had a great way of connecting with the congregation along with emphasising the true meaning of the season! We opened stockings on Christmas morning and had a fantastic dinner, followed by an episode of the Christmas Story and more relaxing! Overall it was an awesome weekend!
So now were back in reality and continuing the house hunt along with the job hunt for Kelli, she finally has an active assisting license with the state so that will help, it only took them 2 1/2 months to process! Gotta love that Gannon luck! As we continue to adjust to the new chapter in our lives we only hope that each of you have had as good of a year as we have! We are very grateful to be heading into the new year with all of the blessings we have been given, we are both healthy, happy and ready for the next step, whatever that may be:)
Remember, New Years resolutions are a great way to remind us that we're all human!:)
We spent Christmas over in Stevensvile with Kelli's parents and had a delightful time! I ate WAY too many goodies, which was made evident by the way I felt on Christmas morning! Most of the weekend was spent relaxing, although Dan and I watched the Cowboys barely loose to the Saints on Sunday afternoon while the girls shopped and as you can expect that wasn't very relaxing for me:) Christmas eve, after another one of the Dobson's amazing meals, we found a small candlelight service at the Our Saviors Lutheran in Stevensvile. The service was one of my most memorable in recent years as the small little church in the country was nearly full and yet there was probably 50 people in attendance. I loved it as it brought back memories of the church my mother grew up attending in Adrian, ND, so small and quaint that even though no one there had ever met us before we felt like members. The pastor had a great way of connecting with the congregation along with emphasising the true meaning of the season! We opened stockings on Christmas morning and had a fantastic dinner, followed by an episode of the Christmas Story and more relaxing! Overall it was an awesome weekend!
So now were back in reality and continuing the house hunt along with the job hunt for Kelli, she finally has an active assisting license with the state so that will help, it only took them 2 1/2 months to process! Gotta love that Gannon luck! As we continue to adjust to the new chapter in our lives we only hope that each of you have had as good of a year as we have! We are very grateful to be heading into the new year with all of the blessings we have been given, we are both healthy, happy and ready for the next step, whatever that may be:)
Remember, New Years resolutions are a great way to remind us that we're all human!:)
Monday, December 17, 2012
Daddy's hands
Last Thursday, the 13th of December, our world as we know it lost a very special person. My grandfather, George, left this earth to spend eternity in a much better place! If you've talked to any of my family in the past few weeks you already know that he had encountered some setbacks that ultimately resilted in him spending his last few days here in a hospital. Although his last few days were indeed a struggle, we all know that he is in a better place now and someday he will be reconnected to each of us.
George Heinrich was a man like no other! I have extremely fond memories of my grandpa, like our summer visits to the Adrian valley where all of us kids got to take our turn being grandpas helper for the day. He would load us up into the truck and make the short, but extremely fast, drive over to the farm where we would spend the day litteraly following in his footsteps! Now if you knew my grandpa you understand how difficult this could be as not much grass ever grew underneath his feet:) I can remember following him around as he would work on a piece of equipment, thinking that there is probably nothing he couldn't accomplish. A true farmer with the gift to just simply make things work, he truly was the handiest man I know! He would pass along his knowledge to us kids willingly, answering every single one of our many questions, never stopping until we were fast asleep. My grandpa has many grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, so I imagine many of the same questions were answered hundred of times! This never hindered him form making each story just as compelling every time he'd share them!
Along with being extremely handy he was an expert craftsmen, if you've seen any of the woodworking projects he's done you know what I mean! Grandpa took great pride in combining his love for his family with his craftsmenship as each of his grandchildren have recieved one of his masterpieces for wedding gifts. Some of my fondest memories of grandpa come from watching him carefully turn a piece of ratty old wood into a beautiful piece of art in his Arizona workshop. From the glass front hutches he built for his grandkids, to houses and barns, there simply wasn't anything he couldn't do! I too find great joy in building things with my own two hands and each time I do so I think of him and am thaknful of the gifts he has passed on to me.
My mother and her sister recorded an album many years ago which was titled the Heinrich sisters, easily the best song on that entire album is Daddy's Hands. Many of us kids still have a copy of that old cassette tape and while listening to that song you can feel the love that both Amy and Georgia have for their father. When I think about how fortunate all of grandpas children were to have him in their lives for as long as they did I am extremely greatful! Many people don't have the chance we've all had to connect with their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents! I think about all of the lives he has touched and I know that each of us who were privelaged enough to know him are very lucky!
I know he is up in heaven now, most likely whipping God in a hot game of cribbage, and one day we will all join him. For now though, all of us who have been taught by him will continue to carry on his legacy, passing on his passion for hard work, along with his love and devotion to family, understanding along the way no matter what we run into in life that we all have one more gaurdian angel looking over us now!
Remember, no matter how down we get, there is always love in daddy's hands! We love you grandpa!!
George Heinrich was a man like no other! I have extremely fond memories of my grandpa, like our summer visits to the Adrian valley where all of us kids got to take our turn being grandpas helper for the day. He would load us up into the truck and make the short, but extremely fast, drive over to the farm where we would spend the day litteraly following in his footsteps! Now if you knew my grandpa you understand how difficult this could be as not much grass ever grew underneath his feet:) I can remember following him around as he would work on a piece of equipment, thinking that there is probably nothing he couldn't accomplish. A true farmer with the gift to just simply make things work, he truly was the handiest man I know! He would pass along his knowledge to us kids willingly, answering every single one of our many questions, never stopping until we were fast asleep. My grandpa has many grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, so I imagine many of the same questions were answered hundred of times! This never hindered him form making each story just as compelling every time he'd share them!
Along with being extremely handy he was an expert craftsmen, if you've seen any of the woodworking projects he's done you know what I mean! Grandpa took great pride in combining his love for his family with his craftsmenship as each of his grandchildren have recieved one of his masterpieces for wedding gifts. Some of my fondest memories of grandpa come from watching him carefully turn a piece of ratty old wood into a beautiful piece of art in his Arizona workshop. From the glass front hutches he built for his grandkids, to houses and barns, there simply wasn't anything he couldn't do! I too find great joy in building things with my own two hands and each time I do so I think of him and am thaknful of the gifts he has passed on to me.
My mother and her sister recorded an album many years ago which was titled the Heinrich sisters, easily the best song on that entire album is Daddy's Hands. Many of us kids still have a copy of that old cassette tape and while listening to that song you can feel the love that both Amy and Georgia have for their father. When I think about how fortunate all of grandpas children were to have him in their lives for as long as they did I am extremely greatful! Many people don't have the chance we've all had to connect with their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents! I think about all of the lives he has touched and I know that each of us who were privelaged enough to know him are very lucky!
I know he is up in heaven now, most likely whipping God in a hot game of cribbage, and one day we will all join him. For now though, all of us who have been taught by him will continue to carry on his legacy, passing on his passion for hard work, along with his love and devotion to family, understanding along the way no matter what we run into in life that we all have one more gaurdian angel looking over us now!
Remember, no matter how down we get, there is always love in daddy's hands! We love you grandpa!!
Monday, December 10, 2012
What a week!
Wow! That is the first word that comes to mind when I think about all that has happened in the past week. We started our week in sheer joy taking in a home game for my beloved Cowboys! This can be described no other way than mesmerizing! Even if you simply cannot stand the Dallas Cowboys, which lets be honest they're truly a love/hate team, even those of you crazy people who fall on the hate side of the line would be mesmerized by all that Cowboys stadium has to offer! The sheer architecture of the building is fascinating in itself, then you throw in a show unlike anything else I've ever seen and you've got an unforgettable experience! Even Action Gannon, who has arguably been to more high profile sporting events than most of us will be in a lifetime, was overwhelmed by how much of a show Jerry World puts on! I could be mistaken but I swear I even caught him jumping out of his own seat when my 'boys scored the go ahead touchdown half way through the fourth quarter. To say the least, it was the experience of a lifetime, and to be able to share it with two of the most important people in my life made it even better!
This trip was capped off by celebrating my tenth year of sobriety on Friday the 7th! The trip to Arlington was my gift from Dad and Mom, now you can see why it was so special! Most of you already know how much both of my parents have done for me over the years and Lord knows I wouldn't even be here today if it wasn't for their love and support, and Kelli has easily meant way more to my sobriety than she will ever know! Each day I remain sober is a testament to how strong our love is and I know having her on my side has made things easier! So being able to share that weekend with both Dad and Kelli was like icing on the cake!
We wound down our week by scouring the Spokane area in search of our next house to buy, we're currently in a rental in CDA but we are eagerly searching for our next home. We've narrowed our search down to one area, now we just have to find the right house! We know we will find it soon enough but this is the first time we've been able to take our time looking, we've always had to scramble to buy a house because of our animals. It's comforting knowing that we can take our time and be really picky, that being said, we both really want to get into a house while the timing is right with interest rates and such! We know we'll find the right one if we're patient enough!
To cap off the down part of our week my grandpa has had a couple slip ups in the past week in Arizona. The doctors think he may have had another stroke and right now Mother, Harlan, and a nurse who spends the night at the house have been taking care of him. None of us know too many details right now, all that is for certain is that he could use all the prayers out there as he struggles to recover. Please keep all of the family in your prayers, especially my mother who has been like a saint dealing with her Dad in this situation!
So we enter this week ready to get back on the roller coaster of life! All of us know all too well just how fast and windy this roller coaster can get at times. All we can do is hold on and enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts!
Remember, there was a time when all of us loved roller coasters, there's no reason why we still cant enjoy them:)
We wound down our week by scouring the Spokane area in search of our next house to buy, we're currently in a rental in CDA but we are eagerly searching for our next home. We've narrowed our search down to one area, now we just have to find the right house! We know we will find it soon enough but this is the first time we've been able to take our time looking, we've always had to scramble to buy a house because of our animals. It's comforting knowing that we can take our time and be really picky, that being said, we both really want to get into a house while the timing is right with interest rates and such! We know we'll find the right one if we're patient enough!
To cap off the down part of our week my grandpa has had a couple slip ups in the past week in Arizona. The doctors think he may have had another stroke and right now Mother, Harlan, and a nurse who spends the night at the house have been taking care of him. None of us know too many details right now, all that is for certain is that he could use all the prayers out there as he struggles to recover. Please keep all of the family in your prayers, especially my mother who has been like a saint dealing with her Dad in this situation!
So we enter this week ready to get back on the roller coaster of life! All of us know all too well just how fast and windy this roller coaster can get at times. All we can do is hold on and enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts!
Remember, there was a time when all of us loved roller coasters, there's no reason why we still cant enjoy them:)
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Big D!!
Amidst all of the chaos of our recent move, Kelli and nearly forgot about the trip to Dallas we had scheduled to watch the Cowboys game! So after a long couple of days in Missoula closing on our old house, which happened yesterday morning, we hauled our last load of belongings over to Coeur d' alene and caught an early flight out of Spokane to head for big D!
We met Action down here and he has planned the entire trip out, even getting us a hotel room directly across the freeway from the stadium. So in the event that my excitement keeps my eyelids open tonight I can step outside and just stare at the "8th wonder of the world", Cowboys Stadium!
So as I get ready to lay down and attempt to get some rest, I realize that this post is a bit short, but don't worry I'm certain that I will have PLENTY to write about after the game!
We met Action down here and he has planned the entire trip out, even getting us a hotel room directly across the freeway from the stadium. So in the event that my excitement keeps my eyelids open tonight I can step outside and just stare at the "8th wonder of the world", Cowboys Stadium!
So as I get ready to lay down and attempt to get some rest, I realize that this post is a bit short, but don't worry I'm certain that I will have PLENTY to write about after the game!
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