Friday Five A Day Late . . .

Here are five things the Burleys have been up to lately:

1) I have been sooooo sick. This past week has been just yucky, yucky, yucky, but I am finally feeling better. My sweet in-laws felt so sorry for me and Jason (for having to run the show while I was sick) that they took Camryn for the weekend so we could both recoup. Usually, I welcome the break when she is away for a couple of days but I MISS her this time! Our little apartment is not the same without her running around here!

2) House hunting. We are still reaching a dead end with that. Nothing new on the market that we are interested in, and we've even taken a second look at some of the houses we decided weren't for us. However, in the end, we know we would just be settling, so we are continuing to wait. And, we are continuing to be patient and thankful for all we have while we search.

3) I think we're both getting into a groove with our jobs. Jason still feels a little overwhelmed at times but is doing great. Now that school has started up, I am right in the thick of everything that's going on. When Jason called to ask how my day was last week, I said, "Great! I actually had the typical day of a school psychologist today!"

4) We have really enjoyed being closer to family. Two weeks ago, I went to visit my mom for the day. Last Friday I went to my sister's for the day, went back on Sunday to visit for a while and then went to dinner with some friends from church while she and Justin watched Camryn for us. Last night, Jason got to hang out late at his parents' house while he dropped off Camryn and then make it back home in just an hour or so. Sunday, we'll go back to get Cam and get to spend more time just hanging out. It's so nice to be closer!

5) College football!!! It's back, the Gamecocks won big Thursday night, and there have been games on our TV all day long. We're a happy family!

He's Here!!!

Elijah Allen made his debut yesterday at 12:59 pm! From all of the pictures I have seen, he is such a CUTIE! We are already in love with him! We just cannot wait to get back to Anderson in a couple of weeks to get our hands on this little boy and hug his sweet mommy and daddy!

Attitude Check

Talk about a swift kick in the pants! During my ususal lurking around on blogs, I came across this post. I felt quite ashamed after the pity party I threw about our house not working out. Although the person who wrote this post is still waiting to sell her house, and we thankfully already have that out of the way, everything else she said is applicable to our waiting process for our own house.

Morning at the Playground

We wanted to get Camryn out of the apartment for a little while this morning and get her some fresh air, so we visited the playground at the church. Everything was really wet from the pouring rain we had last night, but we just let her play through the water anyway. Here are some pictures, plus one of the ladybug we found. I think she eventually lost her life at the hands of my "gentle" 2 year old!

No House

Today we, unfortunately, had to make the sad decision to back out of the contract on the house we had planned to buy. This decision was the result of the lady we chose to do our financing seriously misleading us about the type of loan she could give us. By the time she found out she could NOT do what she told us she could and raised the payment on our mortgage by $200 a month, we had to back out. We've been fighting this financing thing all week long and as Jason and I were discussing the situation and trying to make our final decision today, he made the point that this shouldn't be this hard. He felt like if it was this hard to make it work, it may not be the right thing. Of course, the rational side of me completely understands this and knows he is right, but the irrational side of me really just wants to be in a sulky, wallow-in-my-disappointment kind of mood. For me - and maybe I was putting too much emphasis on getting a house - finally getting into a house was going to bring some normalcy back to our lives. We were finally going to be able to get truly settled and into the swing of things. Now, I don't want anyone to think for one minute that we are not overwhelmingly grateful for the place we are staying right now. But, I miss my own bed. I miss my living room couch that I could curl up on and take Sunday afternoon naps on. I miss my own cooking utensils, baking sheets, casserole dishes. I miss my bathroom towels and my sheets. My baby misses her toys, misses her own room, misses her music, and all of the things she keeps remembering from our old house and asking for. I miss having a place to come home to every day that is mine. So, now, we are just waiting again ... and that frustrates me. I'm stuck right now between wanting so badly to make something happen but also wanting so badly to wait for the right time and the right situation to come along. I am struggling with being content with what I am blessed with right now, which has always been one of my downfalls. But, that whole subject is another post for another day.

Miserable Day

Today has been a miserable day. Since Monday Jason has felt constantly nauseous. He has laid on the couch every evening, slept, and has generally felt yucky. I really thought he may have been making himself sick stressing about his new job, our house, etc. Last night I came home, made supper, and when I actually sat down started to realize I felt nauseous, too. Within about 15 minutes, I was in the bathroom and you can figure out what's been going on since then. I stayed home from work today and laid around on the couch. It's hard to be sick when you're not in your own home. Jason came home still not feeling 100% but had to turn around and go back to church for rehearsals. I am now waiting to see when this will hit Camryn, although Jason is convinced she's the little carrier and brought something home from daycare that made Mommy and Daddy sick. She's also having a hard time because she really doesn't understand us being sick. She's been so whiny and pitiful all night long because she's wanted me to play with her, but all I've been able to do is just lay on the couch. She also wants to cuddle with me and lay on the couch with me and doesn't understand why Mommy won't let her get too close. Poor baby. Right now she's watching her nightly Wonder Pets episode before bed, so she's the most settled she's been all night. I, of course, am still feeling pretty yucky and am just waiting to see how Jason feels once he gets home. What a miserable day!

New Blog

My best friend, Kelli, has joined the blogging world! YAY! You can read all about her family - the AWESOME McConnells - at www.themcconnellmoments.blogspot.com

Salami Pasta Salad

2 cups uncooked small pasta shells
3/4 cup diced green pepper
3/4 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped pepperoni
1/2 cup cubed hard salami
1/2 whole ripe black olives, quartered
2 oz. provolone cheese, cubed
1/3 cup chopped onions

Dressing
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. pepper

Cook pasta, drain, and rinse in cold water. Place in a large bowl. Add green pepper, tomatoes, pepperoni, salami, olives, cheese, and onion. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the dressing ingredients. Shake well. Pour over pasta mix and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

I saw this recipe on Sarah Ellen's counter when we crashed with the Edwards family a few weeks ago and copied it down. This one is definitely a winner! It is very versatile. You can add or omit practically any ingredient for your own taste. For example, when I made it, I omitted the green peppers, used very few onions because Jason's not a big fan, sliced up deli meat salami because I couldn't find any thick enough to actually cube, and used cheese crumbles instead of provolone cubes. Really tasty and great to make and use for quick lunches all week at work (which is what we did)!

Lovin' the Olympics

My husband is sad because I am now officially in love with Michael Phelps. I love watching him on TV every night. What will I do when the Olympics are over?

Thankful Thursday

Yesterday I was pretty down in the dumps. It was my first day at my new job, I was feeling lonely and lost, I was missing my friends, missing Anderson, etc. I went to church last night and kind of got thrown into this Ladies Bible Study (funny how God puts you right where you need to be just at the right time). The study last night was on Psalm 37:4 which says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." We had some really good discussion about this verse, but what I really took away from it was when the leader of the Bible study said even when you're having a bad day or feel like everything is going wrong, delight in the Lord! Just start praising and naming your blessings. I thought, "Wow. What a timely thing for her to say when I'm having such a down in the dumps day." So, I am listing some of the many, many things I am thankful for today!

~ My incredible husband
~ My wonderful daughter
~ Hugs and kisses from the two of them
~ A free place to live until our new house closes
~ A new house that we now have under contract! (Can't wait to post some pics of that, but you'll have to wait until we close on Sept 15!)
~ Friends who love me
~ A job that allows me to have Fridays off to spend with my family
~ Being closer to family (Saturday Cam and I are going to be able to hop in the car just to drive to visit my mom for the day)
~ Comfy, hangin' out clothes
~ Camryn's new daycare
~ The Will Goodman CD Sarah Ellen let me borrow (I promise I'll bring it back, SE!)
~ Kind, encouraging people at our new church
~ An old friend from graduate school who is now one of my coworkers

Read This!

I know this is a bit self-serving, but you gotta check this out! It's all about our family and is really sweet!

Our Week By the Numbers

1 house that closed on Friday

1 night spent in the basement apartment - our temporary home - until we find a house to make our own

1 time that Camryn has cried to go "home" since we left

1 Alyssa/Camryn scrapbook Kelli made as a going away present that made me cry

2 nights spent with the Edwards family once we became homeless

2 trips we've already made to our new favorite Mexican restaurant in Lancaster

2 Sundays at our new church (which we love, by the way!)

2 Sundays missing our old church (which we'll always love!)

4 carloads full of "stuff" we moved to Lancaster

5 minutes Jason & I spent saying a final goodbye to our empty house before we couldn't take it anymore

6 hours spent with the movers

7 pages of line-by-line inventory that the movers packed into the moving truck

8 trips made between Anderson and Lancaster

10 fast food meals we've had to eat while in transition

14 houses we've looked at in Lancaster

44 boxes packed before the movers came

66 new Facebook friends for Jason - his new addiction

102.9 - the fever Camryn had before bed tonight

$161.55 spent on gas going back and forth between two towns in one week

$239 spent 2 hours before closing to fix an air conditioner we weren't even going to own anymore

592 - number of calls back and forth to our realtor within the last 48 hours before closing

$3252 estimated cost of moving expenses

10,000 the number of annoying requests/demands the buyer of our house made


Goodbye to Anderson, our sweet little Canebrake home, CBC of Anderson, pool days at the Hammetts', SE, Jeffie, Al, Kel, Lyss, Freddie, & Steph - WE LOVE YOU!

Moving "Help"

Have you ever tried packing up a house with a two year old who wants to "help?" It's crunch time for us since the movers are coming Thursday, and this is the first break from packing I have taken all day. My well-intentioned daughter has wanted to help mommy pack all day long. After a fiasco in which she almost broke almost half of my picture frames, I decided to set her up with some packing supplies and a job. I gave her a box, a sheet of bubble wrap, and her bath toys, and she went to work. She looked pretty cute packing up her bath toys. So cute I had to take pictures.

Satisfied that I had her occupied, I went back to the kitchen to pack. After a few minutes, I realized it had been a little too quiet for a little too long. I went back into the den to find she had discovered the jumbo Sharpie and had labeled several things in the room including herself. I was horrified. So horrified I had to take pictures.

She had also marked on the carpet, which thank goodness came up with carpet cleaner (the buyers would have loved seeing that on the final walk-through!). There was also a bath toy that was marked beyond recognition, so the pink bunny will unfortunately no longer be making the move with us in a few days. We'll miss him.