Exciting News!

First of all, we are one step closer to the Pot o' Gold being officially ours!  The bank has now accepted our offer and we are on to the next step in the process, getting the loan.  We have been pre-approved by several different institutions, and Eric has taken charge of finding a balance between the best lender, interest rate, monthly payment, etc., which is not an easy job.  We contacted Lending Tree so we're getting bombarded with calls, and he's juggling all of the numbers quite well.  Annie is here visitng and I'm sure she thinks we're this boring all the time!

In the meantime, we were present for the home inspection today.  Apart from the usual short sale/foreclosure home issues (missing showerheads, etc.) and a few minor quick fixes (dent in the garage door, etc.), everything seems to be in pretty excellent shape!  I was able to take a few photos while we were there.  (Don't be jarred by the paint job--we don't call it the Pot o' Gold for nothing.  We've already started stockpiling buckets of the new color, Citrus Spice.  I couldn't locate a swatch online, but in paint color terms, I'd say Citrus Spice is a blend between Mountain Honey and Prairie Wheat.)

Our second bit of news isn't really ours to share, but we're still excited about it!  Eric's sister Laura is expecting--by November, we're gonna have a niece or nephew!!

P.S. I know it seems hypocritical after I warned you against it, but I am totally distracted by the walls in these photos.  Thankfully we've (barely) seen this house's true potential past the swirly madness!

Blessings Abound

We had a blessing hosting both of our families last week for our Encore show, but our families seemed to be blessed with even better fortune! On Monday, my mom called and said she had some good news. My sister Annie, who graduated in May and has been searching for a teaching job ever since, got a job as the choral director at Gainesville Middle School in Gainesville, Georgia! It was such a relief to hear that she found a great fitting job even in this dismal economic environment. P.S. She starts this Monday!

We were overcome with excitement, but then my mom said, "Guess what else?" Well, we knew that during the last week of school in the spring, she found out she had been chosen as Teacher of the Year for her school, the first to do so without having a full-time class (she's a Title 1 reading teacher). So she went on to tell us her news--that she had been chosen as the entire school system's Teacher of the Year as well, the first time anyone from her school had been given the honor!

No one deserves these blessings more than those two. We were hoping a stroke of luck might hit us too, that maybe we'd hit the lottery (even though we hadn't bought a ticket), but even though nothing extraordinary happened to us, it was still a blessed day.

Annie's Senior Recital

The hero of the day!

Last weekend, Eric and I drove/rode (respectively) to Rome, Georgia, for Annie's senior voice recital at Berry College. She'll be graduating in May with a degree in music education. It makes me feel so old (!!), but her instrument has grown by leaps and bounds, and we were all blown away by her performance.

The amazing recital was followed by a beautiful reception, and we had some much needed time together as a family. And we also took some cheesily cute photos of Eric outside in the cold. :)

More photos from the holiday weekend can be seen here, and below are links to the videos from the recital:

Danza, danza fanciulla gentile

Caro mio ben

Awake, sweet love, thou art return'd

Heidenroslein

Fur Musik

Thy Beaming Eyes

The sleep that flits on baby's eyes

Zion's Walls

J'en prendrai un, deux, trois