We had a *stack* of people over here on Sunday night. 25 or so. This get-together accomplished two purposes: 1) it was our 2nd annual pumpkin-carving extravaganza with the Gardners (and expanded to friends and family from all over), and 2) it was a great opportunity to show off our house, to give everyone the “tour” at once. =)

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words, so I won’t spend time talking about the shindig. (I disagree with that saying, by the way.) Here are some photos:

The first bunch

 
Trogdor rage (he did a Trogdor pumpkin)

 
Racoon rage?  (she did a racoon pumpkin)

 
one of my favorite pictures.  this is one NEAT kid.

 
Robin’s yuck-this-is-gross face

 
mmm…  this was Rosita’s (left) first pumpkin carving experience.

 
Trogdor and Rather Dashing

 
my very favorite pumpkin design - James’ Zim and Gir.  isn’t this amazing?!

 
Most of us.  Check out James’ head (on the coffee table)!

Our new house is stinky.  There’s a foul, unidentified smell eeking up from the basement.  I’ll be calling a plumber tomorrow.

We spent the weekend out of town.  Before we left, David dumped some bleach water down the drain in the basement.  When we got back, it was still stinky.  Dave just dumped an entire container of liquid fabric softener down the drain (as recommended by the guy from the Mayor’s Action Center).  We’ll see if that has any effect; my guess is that the plumber will be necessary.

There was a big earthquake on the Big Island of Hawaii today - my family felt it on O’ahu.  They’re staying at Bellows this weekend, which has cabins literally on the beach.  They were in their cabin when the earthquake hit - Mom said they all ran for the same doorway and had a collision.  =)  After the shake stopped, they ran out to the car…  their first thought was big earthquake = tsunami.

No tsunami actually came, but the quake shook some gas pipes loose on the base.  They can’t get back in to get their stuff - and they can’t get back in to have my Dad’s birthday party with their friends.  But hey - they’re all still alive, and no loss of life has been recorded as a result of this 6.6 quake!  Since they can’t get back onto the base, they’re going over to Debbie’s - Mom said she and her kids were a little shaken by the earthquake (who wouldn’t be, on an island after the 2004 tsunami in east Asia?).

No earthquakes here in Indy - just a long, long 24 hours.  =)  Our Saturday/Sunday schedule (this isn’t even much crazier than a typical day for us!):

SATURDAY
7:30am-8am - prayer meeting at church
8:15am-9:30am - breakfast with church folks
9:30am-11am - work day at church (we raked and raked and raked leaves and acorns)
11-12 - shower and dress
12-12:45 - drive to Anderson
12:45-2 - lunch with Dave’s family
2-5 - errands
5-5:45 - free time
5:45-6:45 - meeting with contractor who’s going to do some work on our house
6:45-7:00 - dinner
7:00-1:30am - chaperone youth lock-in at church (we left when they went to sleep)

SUNDAY
8am-8:15 - prayer meeting
8:15-8:45 - serve breakfast to the kids & clean kitchen
8:45-9:30 - shower & dress
9:30-12:30 - Sunday school and church
12:30-2 - prepare, serve and clean up after youth-hosted lunch for entire church
2-4 - crash HARD (2 hour nap)
4-5 - stumble around waking up
5-6:30 - choir practice
6:30-7 - wash dishes left over from church lunch

This kind of schedule is why we’ve been so exhausted.  =)  It was a good couple of days, though - I had a great time with the Mead kids at the lock-in, and I always enjoy the folks at church.  As hard a day as today was, it’s nice actually serving.  Sometimes I feel like I just exist - I go to church meetings, but that’s it.  Today, we were USEFUL.  =)

Our loan application for the house has been approved!  Now, all we have to do is wait for a new roof, and we’re ready to close!

It sounds pretty ridiculous in here.  =)  David and I are at the table in the dining room, both on our computers.  I’ve just finished making up the hour of work I missed today (I went to the bridal shop with Bethany to get her alterations done - it’s a maid of honor’s duty!) and I think he’s just playing around online.  We’re both sniffling like crazy.  I’m just coming off a week-long head cold and I think he’s just now starting.  Anyway, thought I’d share - it’s cracking me up.

The house: No news on the mortgage loan yet - but in this case, no news is good news.  The only way we’d hear something back this soon is if something’s wrong.  We’re meeting with the realtor Thursday at lunch to talk over the inspection. 

After we got back from the bridal store today, I drove Bethany by our new place (she hasn’t seen it).  As we walked around outside we almost ran into [literally] four huMONgous spiders that had strung up webs in all the walkways around the house.  They were evil-looking, even to a non-arachnaphobic like Bethany…  After the fourth we saw, we just decided to leave and come back later with other people.  There’s safety in numbers (and in carrying big cans of Raid) when you’re dealing with GIGANTIC arachnids. 

We found a house. We’ve looked at house after house over the past couple of years (between going around with friends who are house-shopping, watching friends buy and move into new houses, and searching ourselves last year and recently), and I’ve never seen a house I love as much as this one.

That said, let me tell you a little about it. This house is on a one-block section of street that’s between a brand-new elementary school and a city park. it’s got a large lot with a lot of trees. It’s a two-story “Arts and Crafts” style house that was built in 1935. It has all hardwood floors and the original woodwork of the house. It’s been kept up very well and updated. There’s a large deck in the back and beautiful landscaping (complete with a fountain, pond, and a couple of herb garden enclosures). There’s a 2-car garage. We just couldn’t find a thing to even worry about - it’s gorgeous and well-kept!

The house we have fallen in love with (these pictures don’t do it justice):

the front yard

the porch

the entryway - and the beautiful staircase

the entryway - and the beautiful staircase

some of the kitchen.

some more of the kitchen.

the dining room

more of the dining room

the deck and the backyard

the house from the backyard

the downstairs bathroom, just off the kitchen

the staircase

the second bedroom

the washroom (on the second floor!)

the second floor bathroom

the master bedroom (two walk-in closets)

We decided that we didn’t want that house. There were some really neat things about it, but neither of us really loved it. We figure that it’s not a good idea to spend that much money on something we don’t absolutely LOVE. So, we spent some time last night on MIBOR and have contacted several realtors about other properties. Hopefully we’ll hear back from them soon. =)

…

Also, AdoramaPix is having an amazingly great sale on 11×14 prints. Now’s the time.

Last night, we looked at a house.

While we were moving from GC to Indy and transitioning from employment to unemployment, it didn’t make any sense for us to think very seriously about buying a house. We, while we still had jobs, talked about buying a house - we’d move into the city, rent from a friend for a while, and take stock of our options, then find a cute little fixer-upper somewhere on the Near East side of town. All that discussion was put on hold when I lost my job and David’s year-long term at Taylor ended. Our only option was to rent.

Still, as we moved into this rental house, I was thinking of it as a short-term home. I have a job now. We have since put a lot of work into the house (cosmetic work, mostly) and are getting pretty comfortable. And moving is such a pain…

But renting is giving away money. We’re doing the best we can - we’re giving our money to a friend who’s investing it in this neighborhood - but we’re not making a difference ourselves. It’s been my dream since I first came to this city 5 years ago to do what our friends are doing - investing their time, their money and their lives in this mission field. We’re doing some of that, but in a transient way.

One of my friends, Sarah, told me last week that she’d found a house we should check out. The last time she said that to me, she was talking about the most wonderful house (ever, in my opinion) - one she ended up buying. So, I started the dialog again with David. We talked several times and decided that it couldn’t hurt to go look. The house was inexpensive, liveable, air-conditioned (YES!), and very cute on the outside.

We made an appointment with the realtor and toured the house. Some neat things: very high ceilings and doorways, double doors, lots of space, neat floorplan - lots of potential for someone who wants to spend the time and money to fix up a house with a lot of character. Some not so neat things: in bad need of a complete re-caulk and re-paint on the outside, a vandalized alley just out back and a club of some sort across the street, warped floors on the top floor. We had quite a few questions that the realtor couldn’t answer, so she’s getting back to me with the answers sometime this week.

I’m not dead-set on buying a house, but it is something I’d like to do if we can. We don’t know if it’s feasible right now, but we’re going to talk with a mortgage broker and see where we stand. I think the most positive thing to come out of the experience is that we’re talking about buying a house again.