honey, if that's movin' up then I'm movin' out.

it's a billy joel song. show of hands, who else had his greatest hits album?!

this evening, we'll be going over to Woodfin to do a walk through with our tenants and get the keys from them. as a fun blast back in time, here's me when I left the house to move in with my aunt in Montrose. I'd lived there 7 years - I'd invested a lot into the place and so much went down there. this photo was taken when I thought I was leaving it forever... I didn't know I'd be buying it a couple of months later:

it's pretty wild to us that this has all worked out so fast and we choose to believe that, like most things that've happened to us since we met, God is streamlining and expediting things. it's very comforting to have enough experience barrelling down life roads and wedging myself into uncomfortable situations to see the earmarks of His timing and orchestration: things tend to fall into place very naturally and yet all of the steps to be taken are still there... nothing is missed or skipped or forced.

that was one of the most remarkable things about dating mr. bell, actually, that gave me the most certainty that this was different - with past beaus, there were hardships and frustrations and something that didn't feel right, no matter how I contorted myself or how many discussions we had. and there was a lot of impatience, uncertainty, and self-doubt on my part... I sincerely hope to encourage my daughter to be more confident than I was. but when I began dating mr. bell, these things were out of the ordinary: a) we hung out a lot and talked, but he didn't try any funny business AT ALL. which was... different. I wasn't sure that he was really interested in me, but it certainly set a slower pace from the get-go, which actually allowed us to b) pretty much lay our cards on the table, instead of my usual modus operandi of going along and thoroughly enjoying the moment and hoping the dude would like me enough to accept the important parts of me as they came up later. a little wiser in my mid-thirties, I felt the impetus to lay out the things about me that are true and fixtures in my life now up front (like God and Jesus and my church and my Saturday night meetings and salient information from my past) and give him the opportunity to walk away if they weren't things he could fully accept. c) as problems and differences of opinion arose, we would hash them out as people do and I'd sometimes get that despairing feeling of 'it's not going to work, how CAN it?!'... and yet it somehow would, and instead of the same enduring arguments or repeated unfulfilled needs there would be compromise and change and increasing acceptance on both our parts. totally grown up, right?! d) for many reasons, one of the secret desires of my heart was to share a faith with my partner, but after years of dating I had begun to believe that it simply wouldn't happen. when mr. bell and I started dating I wasn't quite sure what he was up for in terms of practicing faith, but I determined that I wouldn't force or manipulate anything into happening. today I love the fact that I get to grow in and share my faith with mr. bell and completely trust that God is the author of all of it all.

to make a shorter paragraph: I used to live in a dating world full of red lights yelling 'STOP'. with mr. bell, while there were a few yellow ones to make you slow down and pay attention, they were mostly bright green and on those wonderful timers that cause the whole road before you to say 'come on, it's clear!'.

similarly, the events leading up to this move have been remarkably smooth. even though we're going to take some time and work on the house before we start physically moving, I'm going to need to start sorting through our things and packing up, especially while I'm still feeling so good. *cue heartburn from morning egg with toast. sigh.* while the house is clean, we took a few pictures yesterday for M's dad to use to advertise 406 to whomever lives here next. it's really wild to think of the place 2.5 years ago, when I first saw it. M moved into it first in, oh, September/October?, he proposed in November, and we worked very, very hard to make it a home for us so I could move in after our wedding in April. though not the easiest or most comfortable choice, it's no doubt been an incredible blessing to us and we have a lot of good memories and invaluable life lessons to take with us. here's one of my favorite photos of us when we were working on the house:

the kitchen, renovation underway:

and after!:

those countertops are a little more cluttered now. :) while looking through old photos I also found this sweet one, taken shortly after we'd finished the library/music room. and that's Ripley in it, too!

current photos:

I still need to get current shots of the kitchen and bedrooms, but they need a little orgainizing before that commences. :)

other note-worthy images:

it was asian night at our house the other night, and M served up this action:

those dumplings and vegetables were the BOMB, people!

and just because it makes me soft inside:

I could bury my face in that space between his softsoft ears all day. this was actually taken moments before I climbed in bed and husband really felt our baby for the first time. he talked to her for awhile and the more he talked the more she kicked. as I think about it again now the sweetness is overwhelming, really.

-m.y.