Mom Leaves

My sweet mom that has done everything for me left on Sunday! Sad for us but I know after this crazy year we have had she is ready for a break from us and our crazy life... not a long break though because my parents come back for Christmas on the 23rd of December. We took her to the Charlston airport so we got to go to Seacoast for Church. Karoline never dreamed she was going to have to drive two hours to go to Sunday School! It was great but we were so sad to see Gammy go!!
We REALLY appriciate all the sacrifice and time BOTH our parents put into helping us move!! My dad got off kind of easy (he didn't have to drive across the country or put up with my two children in a car for 18 hours) but he still did a TON for us while we stayed with him at the hotel. Our parents made this move much better/ easier than it would have been without them thats for sure! So I say a MILLION thank you's to GiGi, PopPop, Gammy and Gandaddy!

The Story Of Our House

I don't know if I ever shared the story of how we got this house...

Do you remember reading our post about the house in California we tired to buy? If not read here and here. It was HORRIBLE and a nightmare! It went on for MONTHS and MONTHS (April to September)and ended with us not getting our loan. I cried so many times! I really just wanted to settle down, find a place of our own, and wanted to stay in El Sobrante if that is where the Lord wanted us.

The day we found out we just were not going to get a loan for the house in CA, Trey emailed TJ about us possible thinking more about coming to Myrtle Beach. We prayed for weeks and strongly felt like it was the Lord's will.

Trey wanted us to come in October and look for a place to live. Knowing our budget was going to be very small we focused on rental houses. Well, houses rent for more than we thought. We looked at renting to own too and the prices of the houses were way more than market value. I was discouraged. We planned on going house hunting one day during our visit just to see if we could find anything we could afford. We didn't even know if we could get a loan either since we could not get one in CA.

We first went to the sales office at The Farm and looked at the models but quickly figured out we could not afford to build and would have to wait but found a floor plan we LOVED! It was so perfect for our family. Our Realtor said their was a foreclosure that was the same floor plan.

We fell in LOVE! It was PERFECT. Most foreclosures are not in great condition but our house was in excellent condition. Even a LG stainless fridge and front loader washer and dryers. And the price... $65,000 less than what it was built for 1 1/2 years ago! We did number crunching and it was going to cost much less than renting the same house plan. We prayed about it that night and felt a peace about making an offer.

The next morning our Realtor said another offer was coming in on the house. It was quite the sought after property (great price and a lot of upgrades). It actually was under contract at full asking price but the buyer could not get financing... I know how he feels. Knowing there was another offer and this really was our only shot we didn't go too low but we did ask $10,000 less than asking price. We were supposed to find out in 3 or 4 days.

I had prayed many times that TJ and I would know where we were going to live by the time we came back to CA. Well, on the flight home (just one day since we put in the offer) we got the call that our offer was accepted and NO counter offer! We could not believe it. We thought for sure we would get a counter offer.

Next was getting a loan... we got a loan, with NO issues! Inspection went great and we closed on November 10th. That was our actual closing day on the contract... that's like having a baby on your actual due date!

The whole experience was amazing... I just felt like with each step God was saying that it was His will and He was going to work it out. We LOVE our new home. We could not have found a better deal, that's for sure. To GOD be the GLORY!

Home in South Carolina!

Our house...
We LOVE LOVE LOVE our new house! We have a TON of room! It's wonderful. It's a lot larger than our house in California, which we loved but outgrew after having two kids and family in town all the time. Finding this house was such a blessing! We do have an extra bedroom so come visit! Our neighborhood, The Farm, has two pools so Karoline is really excited about the summer. Every neighborhood here has multiple pools... I guess that is a big thing when you live near the beach. We are really excited about meeting our neighbors and getting to know many of the families here in The Farm. They are having a Christmas parade so we will be going to that... I think the kids will enjoy it! Anyway, here is a picture of the house...

There was LOTS to unpack. We are pretty much done unpacking all the inside boxes, now we just have to organize the garage and figure out what needs to go to the attic. I am NOT looking forward to this project. I like decorating, not organizing yucky garage stuff!

Karoline and Anderson are SO glad to be home with all their toys again... and their daddy!


So, Karoline's room is the first room that's totally done. Nothing new in the room and we even painted it the same color, Bear paint Southern Beauty. We did not put on her bed rails though and she has done great without them. I'm so glad b/c now we can use her big comforter. We are close to being finished with Anderson's room too. The downstairs is almost done too except we have to a little more painting and hang a few more pictures. We still have to hang everything in our room and the guest room and then they will be finished. It's been a LONG week but and thankfully my mom was here to help!



How do you like my purple kitchen!??? We did not leave it purple... we painted it red (I have an addiction to red kitchens!) but the primer was purple. TJ just LOVED it(not)!

Okay... off to relax. Tomorrow is going to be busy. We have to take mom to Charlston so she can fly home and we are going to a church there in the morning... it's like a 1 hr. and 45 minute drive so we have to get up early! The Goff family does not do well with having to leave the house early! Love to all!

We Are Here!

We arrived in Myrtle Beach late Sunday night. We went to Longhorns for dinner (I am SO excited to live near a Longhorns!) and soon went to bed. Karoline and Anderson have both been sick so it has been a little more difficult. So far we have unpacked a lot of boxes, painted the kitchen red, ran to Home Depot like a million times, and now TJ and I are on our way to the DMV. We still have a lot to do but we are really enjoying our house a LOT and love Myrtle Beach. TJ and I got to go on a date last night and we just talked about how God's has done so much for our family. We know that moving here and helping start Wellspring won't always be easy but we KNOW God wants us here and that He is going to provide and bless our family and Wellspring. God is so good! Pictures to come!

Across The Country- Our Time In Georgia

We went to Chick-fil-A to see Jackson and Pressley real quick after school. Since TJ was leaving Wednesday morning this was his only time to see them. Karoline just LOVES her cousins and they take great care of her. They played for a while and enjoyed some ice cream.



Tuesday night we had dinner with Judy, Eddie, Roy, Debbie, Kim, & Kylie. Kylie is just PRECIOUS! Karoline asked to go to bed early (she was SO tired!) so Kylie and Anderson got to play for a long time. It was so fun!


Wednesday-
We stayed at Judy and Eddie's house (Natalie's parents) and had a great time. They are like my second parents. Karoline is crazy about Judy and enjoyed "resting" with her on the sofa. Also, they have this dog statue and Karoline LOVED it. She kept calling it her dog and asked me to take a picture of her with it! So funny!




Thursday-I was HORRIBLE and I did not take any pictures on Thursday! It was a crazy day! Karoline and I got to have a fun lunch with Kim and Kylie and another good friend Sarah. It was wonderful but too short and Karoline was in quiet the mood! As a fun surprise we ran into our old pastor, Pastor Mike Woods! I was so excited because I have been wanting to call him and tell him about our new life adventure. It was so great to see him!
Thursday night we had a great Italian dinner with Juanita. It was kind of sad because Anderson got really sick and was not himself. It was still fun to catch up and hear cute stories about her grandson, Pearson. When we got back to the hotel Anderson had a 104 degree temp and slept on my chest most of the night. It was so sad!
Friday-
We drove to Griffin to see my Aunt Betty Jo and my Mama Perkins. They have never met Anderson. It was so cute because while we were driving Karoline said "I want to go see Mama Curtains and The Jo"... HAHA! We had a great afternoon with my grandmother but only got to see Betty Jo for a second. I missed my cousin's wedding last March so I got to watch the DVD. It was beautiful!



Saturday-
We spent Saturday with Brent, Leigh, Jackson, and Pressley. We had a great time playing and cooking out. It was FREEZING so they built a fire in their fire pit. Karoline enjoyed snuggling with Jackson and Pressley in front of the fire. Even though Auburn lost to Georgia, we still had a great night! Karoline and Anderson LOVE being with their cousins!






Tuesday-

Across The Country Day 7 & 8- Rayville and Birmingham

Rayville, LA
Sunday TJ lead worship for FBC Rayville, TJ's parents church, in the mornings and that night. Mom, Karoline, Anderson, and I left Ft. Worth that morning and made it just in time for the night service! We got to share our vision for Myrtle Beach and Wellspring. They were so generous and took up a love offering for our family & TJ sold many CD's. We had such a great time and we were so blessed.

After church we went home and Barna had made Anderson a WONDERFUL birthday cake. He really enjoyed it!



Before heading to have dinner in Birmingham we had to close on our house, by mail. We went to Barna and Kerry's bank and it took a little more time than we thought... so we got off to a late start! Anyway, when we came back Barna dressed Karoline up in a cute little outfit. It was precious!



Birmingham
We ended up only staying in Bham for dinner and I had wanted to be there longer. We had a great time visiting with TJ's family! They are always so fun and Ella and Karoline just had a BLAST together!

Half Way Across The Country- Day 5 & 6 In Texas

Karoline and Anderson really enjoyed spending Friday morning with GiGi and PopPop before they headed on to Rayville. TJ stayed with us and enjoyed the day! We got to see some sweet friends, April and Eric with Alli and Sam, at the Neighborhood Grill. It's one of our favorite spots in Ft. Worth. It was so good to visit with them!





Alli & Karoline


On Saturday we ate brunch with Greg, Kristin, and Maddy! I really wish we lived closer...


After TJ left for Rayville to stay at his parents we rode the little Ft. Worth train. Karoline was SOOOOO excited. I thought it was just a little 5 minute train ride and it was more like 30 minutes all over Ft. Worth! The kids had a great time!