Closing!

Hi! It's been a long and good weekend, and we have a long couple of weeks ahead of us, but I wanted to make sure to write an update. Well, we want to tell everyone that we are officially homeowners. Yay! It seems so surreal. When we got married, we had a list of things we wanted to do. Having children was right close to the top, but unfortunately we haven't been able to do that because of my diagnosis with Lyme Disease. God had different plans. However, we are okay with that! It's hard sometimes because we desire so much to be parents, but we also know that God's ways are best. Hopefully, in his time, we will be able to experience that blessing.

Also on that list was to buy a house. It was exciting to see that dream come true last Friday!! Our closing was supposed to be on Thursday, but we were waiting on some paperwork to be approved for our loan, so it was delayed until Friday. God definitely had his hand on everything, and it was awesome to watch Him work right before our eyes. My realtor had called ahead and talked to our closing agent at the title company about my sensitivities. She made sure that everyone who had to be in that room did not wear any scents. :) She got there before us to make sure it was all going to be okay. She kept us out in the hallway (cuz the office ladies went a little heavy on the perfume) and arranged for us to be in a big conference room with a lot of air circulation. She also spoke to the closing officer and told him that we wanted to speed through closing. I have about a 20 to 30 minute tolerance with all of my sensitivities and also with feeling so yucky. The guy was AMAZING!! He talked so fast that he should have been an auctioneer, lol. We got out in about 30 minutes and I had NO allergic reactions!! Yay God!!

My parents came to visit on Friday also, and are staying the week. It has been so wonderful to have them here, and they have blessed us in so many ways. Brian and my Dad have been the "handymen" installing cabinet hardware and putting together a ceiling fan. It's neat to see the house coming together, and we still have to pinch ourselves that it's ours. The biggest praise report is that I have been in the house for hours and have been totally fine! This is before even the walls have been painted. The only thing that made me react was the new refrigerator, but once it's plugged in for awhile and off gasses, it should be fine. A big thanks to my Mom and Dad for their generosity in helping us get some furnishings for the house including the fridge! We are blessed and humbled!

The rest of this week and month are going to be pretty busy. Brian and my Dad are going to start moving some things in towards the end of the week so that it takes a little pressure off of Brian. Brian is leaving town on a business trip for two weeks. I start treatment on Tuesday of this week, so my Mom is going to stay an extra week to help out since I get SO sick after treatment. The week Brian gets back in town is about a week before we move. That is another treatment week. Good timing huh?!! In fact, the day where I take the largest doses of drugs is the day that I get so sick, and that day is March 27th which is the day we are moving and also my birthday. LOL I sure know how to pick'em. Ha! So, you can see how we have kind of a crazy month ahead of us. It's exciting and we are chomping at the bit to get into our new house, but we also know that it is going to be a tough month physically.

So, we definitely have some prayer requests. First, we got word on Saturday that Brian's car needed a $1500 repair. OUCH! That was a big shock and definitely not the best timing after just purchasing a house. However, time and time again, we have seen God provide, so we are just trusting Him that He knows our needs and will come through. Second, please continue to pray that I would not have problems in the house. I have been doing great out there, but they are starting to paint tomorrow. It's a special paint good for sensitivities, but new things are always such a gamble for us. So, we would appreciate your continued prayers that I would be reaction free! Third, please pray for safe travel as Brian goes on his first long business trip. Pray that everything will go smoothly at home and that I would have no complications with my treatment and would do well when I am alone that second week of his trip. Finally, please pray for my treatment this week. As you probably saw from my last post, my last round was pretty horrible. I am a little apprehensive about what this round will bring and I won't be able to call in sick to work like I had to do last time. Work has picked up busy-wise, so the shifts will be tougher to get through. I am SO thankful for the increase in money, but it does get challenging with treatment.

Thanks so much for praying!! Your prayers are working! I promise to post some pictures of our new house soon. I always forget the camera when we go over there, lol. I will update next week about Monday or Tuesday after I finish this week's treatment round. Have a great first week in March! :)

Perseverance...

Happy Lunar New Year! :) I say that because I work part-time from my home (from my bed, lol) tutoring South Korean students in English over the internet. This was the holiday they just celebrated yesterday. It's bigger than Christmas if you can believe it. I love my job, and I am so thankful that the Lord has given me something I can do that involves teaching and allows me to work from the bed, especially during treatment weeks. Thank goodness for laptops! :0)

Here is an update on our house. Everything is going well, no glitches yet! Yay! We are actually set to close on our house on Feb. 25th. That's a week from Thursday! I can't belive it! Okay, I will stop using exclamation points. ;)It is exciting and overwhelming at the same time. If you could begin to pray for our closing appointment, we would appreciate it. I am really allergically sensitive these days and buildings w/ all of the chemicals, perfumes/colognes etc. are really hard for me. My realtor is calling everyone ahead of time that has to be in that room and warning them to not wear any perfume/cologne. So, hopefully that will help! If you could just pray that I would be able to persevere through the appointment, we would appreciate it. Obviously, it's very important to be able to sign those papers and sometimes it can take awhile. :)

Brian still LOVES his job. It's such an affirmation that this is the career for him. It's a perfect fit. He has the opportunity to work on a couple of auditing teams and has completed many assignments. They are really impressed with how fast he has caught on and also the level of difficulty he is able to successfully tackle with only working there a month. I am SO proud of him!

On to a health update... I wanted to write an update yesterday, but today is actually the first day I have been able to function. This treatment round was pretty horrible. Since the start of treatment, I have never experienced anything like it. After my first day, I had a lot of trouble breathing. It hurt to take a deep breath, and I felt like I couldn't get enough air. I have asthma, but I could tell it wasn't that because I wasn't coughing or wheezing. We think it must have been inflammation around my rib cage called costochondritis (inflammation where your ribs meet your sternum). I have had trouble with that for years now off and on; however, now we know that Lyme is the culprit. Over and over I thank the Lord that he led us to finally being able to get a diagnosis and start treatment. We went six years without knowing why I was so sick. It was agony to have life be so limited and not know why. Even though treatment is tough, it's such a relief to finally be working towards better health.

By my second to last dose of my antibiotics Saturday, I could barely walk to the bedroom. I was experiencing a lot of pain and nausea on top of being extremely dizzy and fatigued (the kind of fatigue where you can barely move). It was pretty horrible. Brian said he had never seen me this bad. Thankfully, because of the Lunar New Year holiday, I did not have to work yesterday. That was such a blessing! I don't know how I would have made it through. I spent most of the day sleeping and the rest of the day watching the Olympics with Brian. I just have to take the opportunity and once again say what a wonderful man God has given me. He is so caring and shows me the love of Christ in so many ways. He cooked, did the laundry and cleaned when I couldn't do anything. What a blessing he is!!! Today is better than yesterday, but I think these symptoms are here to stay for awhile. Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement. They are helping us to get through this time! Know that each one of you are in our prayers!!

Moving Ahead

Hi! Well, I wanted to write an update, but it won't be very big because not much has changed. We are moving ahead in the house purchase. Yay! Our inspection went well, and our appraisal came back for our purchase price. What a relief! That was a major milestone to pass because of the declining housing market. We were a little concerned that the house wasn't going to appraise for our purchase price, but God came through! :) So, our loan has been sent to underwriting, and we are set to close on February 25th. How exciting!! Since Brian is in the middle of his 90 day probationary period at his job, we will need an "at-a-boy" letter (that is what our mortgage broker calls it, lol), but it looks like that is the last piece of the puzzle. We have decided to paint now before we move in at the end of March because currently our house is done in flat paint which is known to off gas for years. By painting with our No VOC paint, it will seal up the walls. So, we are in the middle of picking colors and getting the painter scheduled. Oh, the decisions, but they are so much fun!

Health-wise, I am doing a little better since my last treatment, but I still have never recovered fully. I am still struggling with a lot of the same left-over symptoms. I wonder if this is a picture of what's to come. Thankfully, the Lord is in control, and I know that He will sustain me. I am set to do another treatment round starting next Tuesday. I will update after I finish with that round. My sleep schedule is still messed up, but I will be starting a new medication to help me. Our prayer is that I won't react to it, and that it will work. Lately, I have been able to fall asleep about midnight (which is wonderful!!) for two days in a row, but then on the third day I don't fall asleep until 5AM (not so wonderful!!). So, we are praying that this medication will make a difference as sleep is very important in the healing process.

Well, that is all for now. Sorry, I don't have too much to report. We are just leaning on God and "moving ahead" one step at a time. :)