A Lost Cause

We finally have an approval letter from the bank, stating that we can close on or before August 7th. So that's the good news.

The uncertain news is that the appraisal is being reviewed at the moment by a third party. A third party that we can have no contact with to say, "Hey, this house will be foreclosed on on August 8th, can you hurry up?" A third party that may need us to address more repairs, something we don't have time for. A third party that hasn't been dealing with our unique manufactured home and may have questions about the comparisons we gave them and why they don't quite match up. A third party that doesn't know me or Jude, or our beautiful children and could care less about us. A third party who, if they don't turn things in in time, could be the reason we lose that house to foreclosure.

We feel like it's a lost cause. And so, we call upon the name of our advocate and friend, St. Jude, the Patron of Desperate Situations and Hopeless Cases. Please pray with us, starting TODAY (30th) through AUGUST 7th.

Novena to St. Jude: (Our request will be that every bit of paper work is done and in place so that the closing scheduled for August 7th actually happens.)
Most holy Apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of difficult cases, of things almost despaired of, Pray for us, are so helpless and alone. Intercede with God for us that He bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to our assistance in this great need that we may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all our necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly -
(make your request here)
- and that we may praise God with you and all the saints forever. We promise, O Blessed St. Jude, to be  ever mindful of this great favor granted us by God and to always honor you as our special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you.
Amen

PRAYER

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the  tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.

Blessed be the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Blessed be the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Blessed be St. Jude Thaddeus, in all the world and for all 


We have truly been touched by the amount of people who have committed to joining us in prayer. Thank you so, so much. 

It's our anniversary

And even though we've had a hard few years, and been put through the ringer, I'm glad it's been with you.

Forever my friend.

Forever my love.

Happy 6th Anniversary, Jude. 

May God bless us with many, many more.

A very special Happy Birthday also goes out to my Father-in-law, Ross 

and a reminder to join us in prayer tomorrow, if you'd like!

Dear Melissa & Doug,

I love your toys, truly I do. But could you make something with just 4 pieces instead of 32,894? I'd really appreciate that.

Sincerely,

The Mom who has to pick up all your crap.

I hate to say, "I told you so..."

But unfortunately we got word today that things are not going to happen in time for the July 30th closing date as scheduled. The appraisal isn't going to come in in time, so our short sale negotiator is submitting an extension to our lender for August 7th. And hopefully the rest can be completed in time for that, because our house is scheduled to be foreclosed on August 8th. There's still a chance that our bank will not approve the short sale now because we didn't meet the original deadline, but our negotiator is pretty confident that they will.

If you care to join us in prayer, we will start reciting The St. Jude Novena on July 30th (coincidentally?) so that it ends on the ninth day, August 7th (novenas are said every day for 9 consecutive days). Our request will be that every bit of paper work is done and in place so that the closing scheduled for August 7th actually happens.

Novena to St. Jude:
Most holy Apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of difficult cases, of things almost despaired of, Pray for us, are so helpless and alone. Intercede with God for us that He bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to our assistance in this great need that we may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all our necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly -
(make your request here)
- and that we may praise God with you and all the saints forever. We promise, O Blessed St. Jude, to be  ever mindful of this great favor granted us by God and to always honor you as our special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you.
Amen

PRAYER

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the  tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.

Blessed be the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Blessed be the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Blessed be St. Jude Thaddeus, in all the world and for all Eternity.
(say this prayer, followed by theOur Fatherand theHail Mary)

source

Charlotte's Birthday Photos!

Yesterday was Charlotte's 2nd birthday and we celebrated this terribly hot summer with a popsicle themed party (nevermind that I forgot to give the guests actual popsicles from my freezer...).

the birthday girl and her accomplice 

testing out the party equipment beforehand.

It's only a popsicle party if everything's on a stick.

pretzels & marshmallows

 frozen bananas

 watermelon. obviously.

brownies meant to look like popsicles (pinterest fail)

Carmen did a great job taking these photos!

*Special thanks to those who sponsored Charlotte's party: The Whatley's, The Rodger's, & The Sander's* (If you don't have friends with bouncy houses and pools that will lend them to you whenever you want, you need new friends.)

I couldn't resist giving you this little comparison. That pool holds more than just water. Sweet memories, indeed.

As promised.

We have really beautiful girls.
And a really nice camera.
But pretty crappy water-play options in the town of Starkville.
Two out of three ain't bad.    

Professional Stalkers

I'm getting really good at it, stalking my dream home. And, I've got to say, so is Jude. He kindly drove by it this morning on our way back from the water park.

You know you're jealous.
Another post with more pictures coming soon.

And do you know what that man did after he passed up the house with a huge moving truck in the driveway? Made the block and pulled in behind it. We just needed to know. Were they moving out, putting it up for sale, renting it out, just moving in and planning to occupy my dream home for the next 40 years... we needed to put this to bed. End my speculation.

Jude got down and talked with the guy supervising the movers. At first, I was too scared to get down and talk. Maybe I was too afraid of their response (or of being arrested). Then I realized I couldn't pass up the only time I might ever get to peek inside.

I got there just in time to hear the man say that his friends purchased the house 6-8 months ago and were finally moving the rest of their things in, now that their old home (in Starkville) has sold.

Sad conclusions about my dream home:
This is the second house they've purchased in Starkville, and if there was any indication that they might move out of town/state, they probably would have just stayed where they were until that opportunity came to be.

They moved from an area of town that most families seem to want to live - subdivisions upon subdivisions line the main road - and chose to buy a house close to downtown. A decision I expect someone to make because they truly want to be downtown and in an older home long-term, not because it's a stepping stone to a bigger goal, like buying a fixer-upper before you purchase the 4 bed, 2.5 bath.

They bought the house to live in, not rent out. And because they both (at least one of them does) work at Mississippi State, it's probable that they'll be here for many, many years. Maybe until they're old and gray.

I'm just a little disappointed. Even though I know we're in no shape to buy and won't be for many years, and even though it makes no sense to uproot and rent a house a few blocks away that's more money with one extra bedroom and a back porch. I've still got a dream. And I think it just got a little harder to reach.

Is it apathy or peace?

If you've been keeping track, we're trying to sell a house. No easy feat for our family, over 3 years later.

And now that we're 16 days away from a closing date, you'd think we'd be full of anticipation and excitement, hope and thankfulness. But the possibility of this closing date falling through (it's the 4th closing date we've had in the past 3 years), lingers over our heads and in the back of our minds.

We're not confident it'll be over soon. And then, even if the short sale does go through, we anticipate next year's taxes being rough, being forgiven all this debt by the banks.

That being said, and as much as I want this deal to go through, we have this easy calm about everything. Whether it goes through or not, we respond like a 16 year old. Whatever.

And I can't tell if we're just too tired to care anymore and have come to expect the worst - or if we have finally, truly discovered the peace of God.

Maybe it's a little of both?
Maybe they're one in the same?

I don't know, but I'm at least thankful that the emotional roller coaster I've been on for what seems like forever, is slowing making it's way back to the loading zone so I can get off and let someone else ride for a while.

So if, in the next 16 days, something happens and the closing date is postponed or canceled, we ask God to grant us the same grace and peace we have now, knowing and trusting in His great love and faithfulness, even if it's only because we're too tired and just acting like teenagers.

Making things make life better

It always happens (conveniently) right before the bedtime routine begins. I'm not sure what the correlation is between cutting that first piece of fabric and the hustle and bustle that is teeth brushing, pajama dressing, and diaper changing, but there's definitely one... Look, you just can't cage an artist. And if my graphic designer husband has to scrub a few extra canines alone, I'm sure he'll understand. Makers Gonna Make, right Jude?

So, at 7:15 pm, this is what I came up with:

I was inspired at church, except instead of the Holy Spirit, it was a college student's neck line. God is everywhere, right?

Her dress had a beautiful V in the front and back with a bunch of fabric straps connecting them, and since I'm too terrified to sew a dress for myself, I adapted it for Charlotte.

Which she loved. Obviously.

Why else would she actually be looking at the camera, being still, and smiling? Never.Done.That.Before.Ever.

Landry Family Portraits

Grandparents, aunts, & uncles let us know which of these photos (and size) you'd like Jude and I to print for you. There were more photos taken by Monica Allen Photography, that you can view here, but we took our favorites and edited them for you right here. It'd be easiest for us if you choose from these, but if there's one in the complete album on Facebook that you'd prefer, we can do it too.