For Sale

I haven't updated in a while because well things are mostly the same. House still gutted and we are still waiting on insurance

But what is different is this...

Hubs sent me this picture earlier last week. Yep, that is a for sale sign in our yard. And yes that is our scrapped out yard in the background from the trucks that picked up the contents of our flooded home. Part of the tag line in the listing says, "flooded and gutted". 

It's a bittersweet moment. I'm happy that it's on the market and hopefully it will sell quickly but it's also sad. 

This was the home that has built me for most of my adult life. This was the home that hubs and bought right after R1 turned 1, so he has grown up in this house. This is the house that we brought R2 home from the hospital so he's grown up in this house as well. So many firsts for my boys happened in this house.

This is the house we put a swing set with a fort in the back yard so the boys could have some fun when they were little. This is the house where my father in law gave me some of the day lilies from his backyard to put in our backyard because they originally belonged to his mother. (They were beautiful) This is the house where my kids learned how to make pancakes and how to use milk instead of water to make them extra fluffy.  This is the house where they helped Hubs make his epic size portions of Chex Mix. This is the house where we have held countless BBQ's and Easter egg hunts. This is the house we have popped countless fireworks on the 4th of July and New Year's Eve. This is the house where Hubs has cooked so many wonderful steak dinners I can't even count them. This is the house where one night we all laid on the driveway and watched a meteor shower.

This is the house that we remodeled after Hurricane Ike put three trees in it.  We thought about putting it on the market then but something deep inside told us no. We liked the changes that we made so we decided to stay and continue to raise the boys in the "new" house.

Hurricane Harvey however has changed our minds. We decided together that we just didn't want to stay and remodel again. I did not want to worry every time there was a hurricane if it would come our way and flood our house again. One flooded house is one to many in my eyes. 

So we have a plan and we are hopeful that is will all work out, quickly. We hope our plan is God's plan too. But we do know that whatever the plan is, God is in control and He already knows how this journey will end. We know that whatever it is, because we have faith in God, it will be amazing!

 

It's Just To Hard

It's 10:50pm on Thursday night and I'm sitting in my nephews room because Hurricane Harvey flooded out home and we are staying with my sister in law temporarily while we wait on our insurance money to come in so we can move forward from this horrendous nightmare.  

I'm sitting here reflecting on the day. R2 had is first junior high pep rally and football game. He did great and his team won their game. 

But it's what happened between the time the pep rally was over and when his game started that I thinking about over and over. 

After the pep rally R1 and I ran by our house to check the mail. Yes the mail is still delivering out there and since we technically own the home our mail is still being sent there. Usually Hubs stops by on his way out and checks it but today he asked me too. 

So as R1 and I round the corner there is a truck sitting in my driveway with two people in it. I stop to let them and they motion me by. I point and then pretty much screamed at them, THAT'S MY HOUSE SO GET OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY! The windows in my car were up in the car so they couldn't hear me but R1 did and he knew I was mad. The truck pulled out and I pulled in. I got out of the car still yelling and screaming at them. But what I saw next did such and emotional number on me I don't think i will ever be able to go back there. 

Once again my baby's clothing was thrown all over the place, this time they were in the road. When the trash trucks made their first pass and hauled off the majority of the stuff, they dropped the rubbermaid full of their nasty baby clothes keepsake items. They were thrown all over my yard. I cried for hours as I took the time to pick them up and thrown them away for the second time.

Apparently two times was not enough because the truck that was making a second pass they ripped open the bag and again all of my baby's keepsake items were now tossed about in the street. That was more than I could bare. I started to cry and then got back in the car. I told R1 it was time to go and I just couldn't be there anymore. 

We left and headed back up to the school to watch R2 play his first junior high football game. When we got back to the school I told Hubs I can't go back to that house. It's to hard. 

It's to hard to see their baby keepsake items in the street. It's to hard to see the first house we purchased all those years ago just a shell. It's to hard to think about the life we had there and how desperately I just want to go home. It's just to hard to think about all that we have lost. It's just to hard. 

I keep thinking about the this was the house that we purchased to raise our family in. the house we brought our baby's home to. The house that helped shape our marriage and family into what it is. The house that built us. 

It's just to hard to think about all of it. It's almost like the mourning the death of a loved one but it just keeps coming back to haunt you. 

I don't think I will be able to go back to that house, at least not until we sell it and we need to get the little bit of stuff out of the attic that is still there. 

The loss is just to great and the emotional toll it takes on me, well I can't even begin to describe it.  

It's just to hard. 

Having Grace

Recently we lost our house due to Hurricane Harvey. This particular storm sat on top of Southeast Texas and dumped more than 50 inches of rain in a span of 5 days. That is a years worth of rain in 5 days.  

Let your brain wrap around that one. 

This storm ended up putting 6 feet 9 inches of water inside my home and 7 feet 5 inches outside. So needless to say we are not currently living in our home. 

We are currently living with a family member and while it's not ideal we are trying to make it work. 

Some events unfolded early in the week around our living situation that just about brought me to my breaking point. It was very difficult for me to walk back into this family members home that evening with out being down right ugly. I had to remember my emotions were raw and they would cause me to react. When we did finally see one another after a long day at work and dinner out with my family I dug down deep inside and held a polite but short conversation with her and then I promptly retired to the room we are staying in. 

I realize that she has opened her to us and I am truly grateful for that. Because lets face it, who can afford a mortgage note and apartment rent at the same time. Not to many people. 
I realize that it's just as much an inconvenience for them as it is for us.

It's so hard to see the good when the things around you are so out of control. The good right now is my family is safe and we are all together under one roof, even if it's not our roof.