Omg, guys it's been wayyyyy too long! I'm SO excited that life is slowing down, and we're getting back into our regular routine! A lot has happened since we've last posted. WE ARE OFFICIALLY HOME OWNERS, PRAISE GOD!!! But what I didn't fully realize at the time is the physical, mental, financial, and emotional work you have to put into making a house into a home.

Yes, it's a wonderful thing owning a home, but it's so much deeper than just that. My husband is just so amazing! This whole experience has actually brought us closer. I hear so many say buying a home will make you are argue, disagree, etc. And while we've had our fair share of small disagreements, it hasn't been bad. When we bought this house, it was a wreck! But fortunately, we saw the potential behind the mess! The day we got the keys, Lowell stayed until 4am scraping the popcorn off the ceiling. He didn't waste anytime.

Keep in mind, we got the keys on May 26, 2018. We didn't move in until August 21, 2018, that's how much work needed to be done! But the beauty in all of this is, I've seen my husband work so hard. I mean border line fatigue. He would go to work 10-12hrs a day, and literally come straight to the house to work on it. Tired or not, he was so determined, FOR 3 MONTHS. And now that we see the benefits of his hard work, I have gained so much respect for him. Seeing how he wanted to do this for me and his children, whatever it took to get us here, is just mind blowing to me. He is so selfless, because he refused to allow anything get in his way.

For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.~Ephesians 5:22‭-‬24

When you witness someone working so hard to create a better lifestyle for you, there is no problem submitting. But even beyond submission, I've gained another level of respect for my husband. This past year, I've had to opportunity to see his strength in a new light. I've witnessed him having to make the hard decision to tell the Dr.s to pull the plug on his father, followed by him saying the last prayer seconds before his heart stopped beating. I've witnessed him get off from a graveyard shift, still mourning and exhausted, and he'd come to the house to pull baseboard, lay laminate flooring, connect electricity in the attic, paint, crawl under the house for plumbing, etc. All these things, he's put his own personal needs and wants aside to care for someone else. This year has shown me that his heart is absolutely amazing, but it's on another level. I am forever grateful to my husband for his strength, hard work, dedication, love & faithfulness that he has shown his family. It's an honor carrying his last name, being able to call myself his wife, and seeing the fruits of his labor in our home! Here's to making new memories in our new home!

***And on a side note, our parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all of our support system is amazing. NONE of this would have been possible without their help!!! I'll save the thanks for the next blog, because their help deserves their own!