You may remember me talking about selling a lot of our stuff. That was such a busy time. I never realized it would take so much out of me to coordinate prices, meeting times, etc. But, I stuck with it and all the money I made I had set aside to use here when we settled in. So the past several weeks or so we have been able to purchase things that we needed. And it has been so nice to pay cash for things and know that I worked hard that cash!
The first thing we bought was a dishwasher. The one here on our rental did not work (I think it was older than I am!). And, although it is a considered a luxury to many people, it is a necessity to me. I have enough to do in my day besides stand at the sink three times a day and do dishes. It takes too much time, and it's hard on my back to just stand in one place for a period of time. So we were able to purchase that. We told the landlord we bought it, but that when we move out, we are taking it with us. Sorry, Charlie. I'm not that generous! (By the way, her name is not Charlie! Haha!).
Then we were on the hunt for living room furniture. The landlord had a set, but they are falling apart, pretty dirty and smelly, and I wanted my own set. So we were constantly looking at Kijiji (that's the Canadian version of Craigslist, for those of you who didn't know) for a good deal. But we weren't finding one. Either it was a great price but in not great condition, or just plain ugly that would cost a lot to recover. So, we decided to just buy new. And, with it being not too long after Christmas, there were some great deals. So off to the furniture store we went (yes, with all the kids I tow). We were there for quite some time sitting down on couch after couch. I had almost decided on a couch when all of a sudden, I walked over to another side of the store and immediately saw the one I wanted. ( I say "I" because Matt was just saying, "You get what you like. I'm fine with whatever you want." He's of the mind "happy wife, happy life." Haha! I'm so spoiled!).
I sat on the couch, loved it immediately, as did Matt. Liam even said he liked it best, so we did up the paperwork, paid for it, and it was delivered three days later! Can I just say I LOVE them! Love, love, love them! It was kinda funny at one point. We were giving the lady our info, and another worker who had also helped us was standing nearby. When they heard our last name, they both smiled and said, "Sealy - are you related to the people who make the mattresses?" (We get this question a lot!) We just looked at them and said, "If we were, we certainly would be buy a genuine leather sectional instead!" Haha!
So, we had the couches, but, now we needed a coffee table and end tables and lamps. Since this house is about 30 or more years old, there is no overhead lighting in the main rooms, so you definitely need lamps. And I sold/gave away all of mine!
That Saturday we headed off to Edmonton, the big city about an hour north of us, where there is an Ikea. I had never been to one, but have wanted to go for a long time. So, we loaded up all of us (we don't really have anyone that knows the kids well enough yet to babysit), and went to Ikea. On a Saturday. It was crazy busy, but kinda fun. And we found a coffee table, two lamps, and some Expedit bookshelves to use as end tables. I love them too! I'm quite happy with our purchases! And again, so thankful to be able to pay cash for all of it!
The next thing we wanted was a dining room table. Again, there was one here, with four chairs. So, since we had moved we hadn't been able to sit together at the table as a family. So we had been just looking for some cheap chairs. But, we would need a table when we moved from here anyway, so we again looked around on Kijiji. Well, we had emailed several people about stuff, but either it had already sold. Or we never heard back. Until one Monday night, two weeks ago. Matt found a table and six chairs set for sale for $200 OBO, so we emailed them, gave them our best offer, and by supper time the next night we were sitting at it - all together as a family! I love the table and chairs, and love that we can all sit together as a family again!I think that, for now, we are good an furniture. We still don't have beds for Liam and Leila (we have mattresses, just not bed frames) but that can wait for a while. We actually want bunk beds but I want a good, solid wood set and those are hard to find and often expensive. So we will just bid our time on that for now.
Now that holidays are over, we are settling in to our new normal. Its funny, over the last 5 months I got so used to having Matt around all the time, that its really different with him back to work. I miss him! :-) He is pretty busy, but not as busy as before. I can't tell you what a world of difference it makes with having two pastors in a church, and not just one. If you are in a church with only one pastor, I hope you pray A LOT for him (actually, I hope you pray for your pastors, no matter how many you have! :-) ). But if you have only one pastor, he has an incredible load to carry. Pray for him. Encourage him. HELP him in whatever area you can. Believe me. A little help and encouragement goes a LOOOONNNNGGGGG way.
Well, we have lots of other exciting things going on, which I plan to write all about soon. Plus, I have a big change coming up with this blog. Stay tuned..... ;-)
Until next time.....
