our new address

www.novakellers.blogspot.com

If this is not showing up as a link for you, you are going to have to type it in your browser. Since we are no longer living in Maryland, we thought it appropriate to change our web address as well.

the next chapter

And what a great one it is going to be!

Busy week ahead. Avery's last day of kindergarten tomorrow here in VA Beach. She is sad to leave her friends (especially Sera), but excited for what lies ahead.

Thursday we drive to NoVA and meet up with Stephen and our realtor to do a walk-through of the house. Make sure no pipes have burst, no major destruction since we last saw it in October.

Friday we close on the house at 3pm.

Saturday our cable/internet/phone is installed, watch for an email with change of address and phone number. Locks changed on house.

Monday the house is getting a move-in cleaning. Avery will meet her new teacher, get to walk around her new school.

Tuesday the carpets are being cleaned.
Our POD will be delivered! I will finally be able to rotate between more than three pairs of pants!
And Avery starts her new school (I am mostly happy about the change from morning kindy to afternoon kindy, it is HARD getting all three kids dressed by 7:30 to get to the bus stop!)!

Wednesday the movers come to unpack our POD.

Thursday the empty POD will be picked up. We can start unpacking! And we officially move in (staying in a hotel up until then).

Friday all of our things in our Baltimore storage space, as well as Stephen's 'office' aka Thomas and Jenny's spare bedroom, will be moved to the house/unpacked.

As well as our 'mattress' delivery. This HAS to be the most exciting part of next week. When we moved from NC to MD we tossed our ten year old mattress and box spring. So while living in Baltimore, we slept on our trundle bed, where the mattresses, when pushed next to one another weren't the same height. We splurged on a new bed (sleep number) and are so, so excited to sleep on it. We have heard rave reviews about back pains disappearing and experiencing more restful sleep through the night.

And that weekend we will probably have an impromptu celebration, house warming, Avery's 6th birthday, a huge sigh of relief that we made it.

Some more fun while staying in VA Beach

We drove up to Williamsburg to see the Yankee Candle shop all decked out in Christmas decorations and also took some time to walk around old town.
I LOVE Williamsburg.
Thank you Dad for instilling in us the importance of American history. I am sure you heard A LOT of complaining dragging, I mean taking us from one historical sight to another when we were younger. But it paid off. I enjoy those trips now, and love dragging my kids to them:)




The token picture outside the courthouse.




Carriage ride.



Avery and I loved looking at all of the decorations. We loved this house and their use of oranges. It was very cool to think about decorating houses with things in nature, before Christmas became so, well, you know.

Tears of joy and relief

Second trust signed off on the house, we go to closing next week.
Six months of emotion is pouring out of me.
We have a home.

this is it

I mentioned in our last post that we were going up to Maryland this past weekend to look at homes.

Well, we didn't have to make the trip because Thursday night we received a call that the first trust on the short sale finally signed papers!!! Our realtor called us after dinner and said, "This is a call I have wanted to make for close to 6 months now." The papers say we will close on or before February 15th.

Can I get an AMEN??

So now we wait for the second trust to sign. Have been told it won't be long, rolling our eyes at this statement.

But we are also waiting for our mortgage to finalize. We decided to apply for a mortgage that falls under the USDA, due to our home being in a rural part of Virginia. Well, you know how long government agencies can take with paperwork...so for a mortgage we applied for in late December, we are still waiting. We have been told we will have the mortgage by the end of next week, but if not, our broker is ready to move forward with another type of mortgage. It would be FANTASTIC to get this USDA mortgage AND close by January 29th, we would be able to keep our lock-in rate from December.

But if not, who cares, we finally have a house. A home. Pinch me, it doesn't seem real.

a little update

Avery is doing well with the transition to kindergarten. Having her cousin with her on the bus and in some classes during the week has been such a blessing. Evan tells us Avery holds part of his coat as they walk down the hall together to their classrooms! She seems to really enjoy school which is great.

She is a little under the weather today, as I type she is napping.
In fact all THREE kids are napping right now, WAHOO for some peace and quiet for a few short minutes.

The news on the house...This Thursday our 45 day lock-in rate expires. So as of January 14th, there is nothing tying us down to this house in Virginia.
So we are heading up to the area this week to 1) look at rentals in VA to wait for the contract to go through on this house and 2) look at other resale homes (NOT shortsales!) including homes in Maryland. We are praying for clear signs as to where we are supposed to be, because we are DONE with this gypsy way of life.

Jackson is using lots of words. Fish, hot, balloon, jet, ball, juice, shoes. Of course to the average ear they are just sounds, but to mama's ears, he is communicating! Still carb loading and getting into lots of trouble, but cute as ever.

Another photo from our trip to the aquarium.

First day of school

We finally bit the bullet and signed Avery up for kindergarten. We are still in VA Beach so there were some extra papers to fill out regarding shared residence, but she started today and it went great!

Here she is ready to go.

 

Charlie spotting the bus as it turns toward 'home'.

 

Smile on her face getting off the bus. Her first words were "I missed you mommy" but then went into how much fun she had in gym, riding the bus, etc.

 

While Avery was at school, I ran to the post office with only two kids! It was a breeze! And then we came back to Tracy's and while Jackson napped, Charlie and I baked muffins and read stories. It was great to finally have some time just for him. I think Charlie was a little sad to have Avery at school, but we'll all get into the routine quickly and I think he will enjoy the one on one time more each day.

The hardest part is going to be getting her on the bus by 7:30 every morning!

And while I expected to be a little sad about our little girl growing up and going to school, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself excited for her! Not sad at all. Excited for the new opportunities, new friends, new experiences.

surprise party

With the holidays and homeless situation, we thought a surprise party for Charlie at the local bouncy house would be great for his 4th birthday.

He was truly surprised (as were Avery and Evan!) and so excited! We all had a wonderful time.

Charlie blowing out the candles on his monster truck cake.



Opening presents.


Taking a break from bouncing and showing us he is now four.

with all of our hearts

We wish our family and friends a very happy and healthy new year.

We look forward to 2010 and all that comes with it.

2009 was a little intense for us, but I really can't call it a 'bad' year.
What year is bad when you have family and friends surrounding you with love, support and encouragement?
Love and blessings to all of you.

visiting a family of dentists

A few weeks ago we found our dental plan had been dropped, upon changing our mailing address with the postal service. "Since you are no longer living in the area"...and not only did they just drop us with no questions asked, they told us we can't reapply for another year.
So, here we are in Virginia Beach, living with an endodontist, whose father is a general dentist. Jim has graciously allowed us to fill in appointments when cancellations have been made. We are so grateful (again and again) for all the help from family and friends over the last few months.

Christmas at the beach

The Virginia (Beach) Aquarium is one of our favorite places to visit. They have done some major renovations and now it is even better! We had a fun family day today.

Our first gingerbread house

The kids and I have never made a gingerbread house, because frankly I know I don't have the patience for it.
So this year Stephen took the job and not only did the kids have a GREAT time doing it, it came out beautifully.

Frosty in the Park

Tracy's neighborhood Ladies League hosted a Frosty in the Park night. We bundled everyone up and enjoyed treats and watched Frosty on a projector screen.

You can see Avery and Charlie's glow necklaces as they watch the movie.


Stephen and Jackson trying to keep warm.


All bundled up~

Santa

Avery's letter to Santa.

 

The Santa visit.

 

Pancake Breakfast with Santa

We have been pretty busy here in VA Beach, today we had breakfast with Santa at Evan's school. The kids loved visiting with Santa, all except Jackson. We have definitely hit the "I don't like the man with the white beard" stage.
And Avery wrote her letter to Santa, letting him know he can deliver their presents here at Aunt Tracy's.

Stephen and the kids enjoying the breakfast.

 

Avery and Charlie in front of Santa's tree

 

The powerful super hero trio with their candy canes.

 

Just some food for thought during this CHRISTmas season

LINFEN, China — Towering eight stories over wheat fields, the Golden Lamp Church was built to serve nearly 50,000 worshippers in the gritty heart of China's coal country.

But that was before hundreds of police and hired thugs descended on the mega-church, smashing doors and windows, seizing Bibles and sending dozens of worshippers to hospitals with serious injuries, members and activists say

Today, the church's co-pastors are in jail. The gates to the church complex in the northern province of Shanxi are locked and a police armored personnel vehicle sits outside.

The closure of what may be China's first mega-church is the most visible sign that the communist government is determined to rein in the rapid spread of Christianity, with a crackdown in recent months that church leaders call the harshest in years.

Authorities describe the actions against churches as stemming from land disputes, but the congregations under attack are among the most successful in China's growing "house church" movement, which rejects the state-controlled church in favor of liturgical independence and a more passionate, evangelical outlook.

While the Chinese constitution guarantees freedom of religion, Christians are required to worship in churches run by state-controlled organizations: The Three-Self Patriotic Movement for Protestants and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association for Roman Catholics.

But more and more Chinese are opting to choose their own churches, despite them being technically illegal and subject to police harassment. Christians worshipping in China's independent churches are believed to number upwards of 60 million, compared to about 20 million who worship in the state church, according to numbers provided by scholars and church activists.

House churches have been around for decades, but their growth has accelerated in recent decades, producing larger and larger congregations that are far more conspicuous than the small groups of friends and neighbors that used to worship in private homes, giving the movement its name.

Their expansion and growing influence has deeply unsettled China's rulers, always suspicious of any independent social group that could challenge communist authority. Fears that Tibetan Buddhism and Islam promote separatism among Tibetans and Uighurs also drive restrictions on those religions.

"They are so afraid of rallying points developing for gathering of elements of civil society," said Daniel Bays, who follows Chinese Christianity at Calvin College, a religious school in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

While house churches have faced varying degrees of repression depending on the region and political climate, the latest crackdown appears to specifically target the largest congregations.

Authorities want to dismantle large churches "before they grow out of total control," said Bob Fu, a former Communist Party researcher in Beijing who now heads the China Aid Association, a Texas-based church monitoring group.

At least two other large churches have recently faced similar crackdowns.

In Beijing in October, authorities locked parishioners of Shouwang house church out of the space they had rented to worship in. In Shanghai, the Wangbang congregation faced a similar lockout. Both congregations had grown to more than 1,000 members.

Shouwang and Wangbang church leaders have not been detained, but activists fear further arrests are coming.

In a brief phone conversation, Wangbang's pastor Cui Quan said worship continued in small groups while he fought to have their lease restored. He declined to give other details.

Christianity was long associated with foreign interference in traditionally Buddhist and Taoist China, and came under heavy attack after the 1949 Communist revolution.

The most onerous restrictions were lifted after the death of communist leader Mao Zedong in 1976. Although Christians still account for a less than 10 percent of China's 1.3 billion people, recent years have seen rapid growth in house churches in both cities and rural areas,

Adding to official concerns about their numbers, house-church Christians also emphasize missionary work — illegal in China — and some have even operated an underground network to help smuggle North Korean refugees and Uighurs out of China in defiance of the security forces.

The Golden Lamp Church was built by husband and wife evangelists Wang Xiaoguang and Yang Rongli as a permanent home for their followers, whose numbers had soared to more than 50,000.

The couple, administrators at the provincial teachers' college, had been preaching in the region around the city of Linfen since 1992, establishing a network of three dozen communities meeting in improvised spaces such as factory dormitories and greenhouses. They also attracted thousands to tent revival meetings.

According to Bob Fu, Shanxi authorities grumbled as the church was being built last year, but did not try to stop work and offered few, if any, signs that an impending crackdown.

On a rainy Sunday in mid-September, some 400 police officers and hired thugs descended on more than a dozen church properties around Linfen, smashing doors and windows and hauling off computers, Bibles, and church funds, according to accounts posted online by church members and their allies.

Those accounts said worshippers who resisted were beaten, with dozens hospitalized with serious injuries.

Wang, Yang, and three other church leaders were convicted on Nov. 25 on charges including illegally occupying agricultural land and assembling a crowd to disrupt traffic. Yang, 51, received a seven-year sentence, while Wang, 56, and the others received terms of three to four years. Five others were sentenced without trial to two years in a labor camp.

Other church leaders have gone into hiding.

Courts, police and government officials in Linfen refused to comment on the claims of violence and persecution. A local Communist Party spokesman said only that the case centered on the mega-church's lack of planning approval.

"We have always supported and allowed everybody to believe in religion. But the church itself is an illegally constructed building," said the spokesman, who would give only his surname, Wang.

A lawyer for Wang and Yang, Li Fangping, said the church had applied for permits to build the church from the local religious affairs bureau and the land use authority, but received no reply.

Almost three months after the crackdown, people in and around Linfen refuse to discuss the church, and police vehicles remain parked on virtually every corner of the neighborhood where the Golden Lamp is located.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579979,00.html?test=latestnews

We have been told we will definitely have a contract in hand in 10 days or less and the bank is pushing for an end of year closing. We are running around crazy getting all our last minute paperwork to the mortgage broker, so it feels like things are really moving forward!

short sale update

Trust I has given verbal approval, just waiting for written letter of approval. Negotiator is on vacation, so letter should arrive to selling agent next week.
Trust II has indicated it will be approved, waiting for approval letter as well.

Here is some encouragement from our agent. "What I like is that I am not hearing any major hedging or thoughts that we are still in a negotiating process - but rather an almost clerical process at this point. She (selling agent's office manager) also said that once we have final approval the closing period is anywhere from 2-4 weeks - which mainly depends on the buyers ability to get to the table and close the loan. SO I am hopeful that we can get approval next week (I will once again start pushing on Monday) and we can get you in the house before Christmas!"


Of course, cautiously optimistic, as verbal agreements haven't gone in our favor in the past.

And in Stephen's world, the vacationing negotiator for Wells Fargo is visiting Thailand, which will be hit by a tsunami, making Wells Fargo designate a new negotiator to our short sale process, making us start from scratch.

I seriously would not have gotten through this process without my husband's sense of humor.

Winchester

Spent a lot of time playing in the hotel.

 

And playing at Jim Barnett park.

 

 

3 counties in 3 months

We're on the move again! Surprised? No one should be at this point.

The kids and I are 'moving' to VA Beach after our trip to Philly for Thanksgiving.
There is so much that could go into this post, but won't. Just know it is a good move for us right now as we wait to hear about the short sale house.

Again, saying we are grateful for our family doesn't even come close to expressing our sentiments.