2010 came with lots of surprises. We started out the year unsure of our financial and spiritual health. Kent was working two jobs just to get by and our family was starting to feel the toll of the long hours he was away! Megan would often accompany him just to stand beside him a few more hours a week. I had become very reclusive as Kent's car bit the dust and my car was his new one. The days were dark and lonely and I couldn't wait for spring and all the newness it would bring.
In late February we began to search for a puppy hoping the new edition to the family would breath a little life into us all. In March we brought home the cutest little Beagle we named Lucky Girl. She was a lot of responsibility, wrapped up in a fur ball, but it was pure therapy for our family, we had become way too wrapped up in our own problems. We were thrown into neighborhood walks, meeting new people and lots of noise, laughing and love where there was once loneliness. It was just what we needed to start feeling whole again.
As April began we still had no answer to our financial issues but we new something had to change. Early one morning in the middle of the month I got a call from Kent saying, Are you sitting down? you need to sit down. I thought he had lost his job. He went on to say he had been offered a better position in Kentucky, would we be willing to move? He had to know right away. I was more than ready to leave behind all that had become our life in Massachusetts. We were so overwhelmed there. There were so many questions though. First could we sell our house? The market had dropped significantly and our homes value was far less then what we owed on it! I thought it wasn't possible. I didn't think the BANK would let us. We saw the move as our only life boat and decided to take it no matter the consequences.
May found us knee deep in home improvements. We had to finish the painting we started in the fall that was curtailed by weather. We needed to fix the bathroom in the basement we had semi-gutted. There where several other projects we had put on the back burner also. Kent worked his second job till he couldn't possibly anymore. We borrowed money from his parents to make the home improvements and we prayed daily that it would work out. At the end of the month Kent started traveling to Kentucky during the week. At this point there was no turning back.
In June we had just enough time to get the house on the market listed as a short sale. We had met with a couple of Realtors and picked the one we thought could get the house sold. We priced the house a little high hoping for a good offer. Our first open house was scheduled and fear began to set in. What if we couldn't sell the house? The kids finished up school and we began getting ready. We moved lots of our things to a storage facility to make the house seem bigger and we bought some new plants to freshen up the house. I began searching for a place to live in Kentucky and stress was burning at both ends!
In July I found a place for our family to live in Kentucky of all places on Craigslist. Kent was gone all week in Kentucky and I was home alone keeping the house clean for showings with 4 kids all day. I spent hours scouring the Internet, looking up everything about our soon to be new home and how to sell your house on a short sale! We planned our moving day for the end of the month and kept on praying! At the end of the month a buyer placed an offer on our house and a few days later we were packed up and on our way to our new home. The home inspection happened the day after we moved so we spent all our time on the phone with the realtor. There were some things the woman wanted fixed and now we were 17 hours away!
August was a blur! We moved into our new house on July 30th and school started on August 1th. Between getting the roof fixed on the old house. talking to the realtor everyday and calling the bank constantly we were fried. Kent was loving his new job and the kids assimilated to their new home and school quickly. I spent the days worrying and praying. I read everything I could on short sales. I spent every hour trying to push ours along. I secretly feared it wouldn't go through.
In September the bank countered the buyers offer, they wanted more money for the house. We knew the buyer wouldn't budge so we offered to fix some things in place of a better offer. She agreed! ......that meant borrowing more money from Kent's parents! It was a circus trying to get things done on the house from Kentucky. Kent and I didn't sleep all of September. However, the kids were doing great! Our closing date passed without a closing and we didn't think it was going to happen. Kent also needed to get a new licence and the registry was making it impossible. We spent late nights faxing and calling trying to make it happen. Whenever we would lose hope, we prayed!
In October the stress was really beginning to wear us down, on a whim we called the bank and were assigned a new negotiator he said they'd approved a closing, but we had to sign a large promissory note. We were In a state of shock but more than willing if we could close ASAP. Amazingly we got all the paper work together and the house sold in the middle of the month. After all the stress and all those weeks of calling, e-mailing, faxing, etc... it was done our house was sold. It took us the rest of the month to wind down from the sale!
November was a month of celebration for us, we started reading the scriptures as a family, we tried harder at good family home evenings, we gave thanks for all of our blessings, we paid back Kent's parents and we let the load of our old home slip away into oblivion. We got straight with God and our tithing and were able to renew our Temple recommends. Kent and I started going on dates again too! Yay for 13 year olds in the house!
December was easy like an old pair of jeans. We sat back and marveled at how God worked in our lives. We missed seeing family at the holidays but we started new traditions. We made a lot of new friends. We survived the year. We breathed a sigh of relief and we celebrated the birth of the savior. New Years Eve we spent with new friends. The whole family stayed up to ring in 2011 and 2010 went out with a bang, literally there were firecrackers!
I am so thankful for all the friends and family who helped us get through 2010! If you did you know who you are! THANK YOU!
My thought for 2011 Matthew 19:26
Jesus beheld them, with men this is impossible, but with GOD all things are possible
and my word for the year......
Courage
Megan got to go to Girls Camp which was a surprise as she didn't turn 12 until August! She had a blast and can't wait to go again next year!
Against my will Joe spent a lot of the summer doing this! We would find him all over the house playing video games. This is a picture of him curled up in a corner in the girls room!
Towards the end of summer Kent took a week off and we had a few adventures, I managed to forget my camera most of the time! We went to King's Island which is a amusement park in Cinncinatti. The kids loved this place though many of the rides they went on caused me to think I may never bring them back! : )
We also took a trip to Berea, Kentucky which is the Arts and Crafts district. We enjoyed exploring all the different shops filled with sulptures, arts and crafts.
We kept a morning schedule this summer which included getting dressed, picking up bedrooms and having breakfast by 9:00 then reading , weed picking and 4 trips around the circle on bicycles. It kept us going in the morning, kept our house clean and I didn't feel bad when they watch TV or played video games because all of our "have to's" were already done!
Chris drew pictures too! 
