Signing for a house!

Full days...my mind feels a bit overwhelmed thinking one week from today we will be in a new home. The pictures above are the official signing on Wednesday..Homeowners!!

I look around this house and many things come to mind...how much there is to pick up, how I need to fold laundry, I need to do something with the big pile of donated bubble wrap for packing, and..... how much I have enjoyed this home. This was Anderson's home for the first year of his life, the home he came home to. This was a home Deveraux and I spent many hours in playing and creating. I found myself staring out at our property this morning, the pool we have so enjoyed and the ocean across the street. My mind can often go in the direction of, "Oh no, look at all we are leaving." I stopped and thought the very heads on our hair are numbered by the God of the universe. I felt strangely comforted. I guess because we are okay no matter where we go and this just isn't all there is, we will always just be passing through this side of heaven. So we are just going to our next "passing through" place and it's okay.

Deveraux and I were driving by our old complex last night, she didn't remember our home or the many many walks around the neighborhood. It made me somewhat sad because those memories are so vivid for me and as a mom you pour so much into the moment and you are so much more aware of your surroundings as you take each walk and stop at each special spot to play. I think she will have a sense of being happy and enjoying her days but not remember the exact spot. I wonder if she will remember the home we are in now.

So this week, we will be up late, a little stressed, excited, running around a lot, weary, and through it know we will soon hear the cries, laughter, and stories of our children, our family, our friends, and one another within the new walls we will call home. I always said I wanted a place to "hang my hat", expressing the desire for a home, a sense of permanence. I didn't picture Maui, but our pictures often change. I do know I realized our places we rented became our homes and it didn't really matter that we "owned" them, we really lived in them and took them as our own. The pictures on the wall became my paint and I did hang some hats by the door. I still long for a home near family and that may never change, but for now a new adventure asks us to walk, and this week we walk!

Embarking on a new journey

So we have embarked on a new journey in the last few weeks...buying our first family home. I certainly did not set out wanting a home. I've always wanted one foot out the "Maui door" and buying a home represents stability and more of a sense of permanence. But I was willing to look and now just a few weeks later we are waiting for final loan approval, life is an adventure! In fact, from the day we looked at the house it was just two weeks later that we were walking through "our" house with a home inspector. We have decided right now it just feels we should move through this door and I am totally trusting Andrew.

I will never forget the day Andrew told me we "got" the house. We thought we had lost the house, then we were able to put in another bid, and the day we were to find out, Andrew walked in the door, got out the sparkling cider and I knew. It was a knowing moment for us...those are fewer now that we share most of our moments with two little beings aged 4 and under. It was our moment, we knew what is meant after 15 years of togetherness, it was nice to share a new moment.

So our world during the past few weekends have opened our eyes to the tall ceilings at Home Depot and Lowe's....showing us a world we had not previously stepped into. Buying our first appliances, shopping for ceiling fans, closets, and lights. Our children have been mostly patient as we try to sort through what all of this means. It is fun, exciting, challenging, scary, uncertain, and hopeful...it is good to stay in each day.

So the fast whirlwind has slowed as we wait for final loan approval and in about a week the house on Poinciana could be ours (still crazy), Deveraux calls it the "Big House", her first home was about 600 square feet. So we wait and see...

"Gifts from the Sea"

So today was Baby Beach Day. We always love a day at baby beach. You never return from the beach empty. I often wondered during my "desert" days what Maui had to offer me. I realized after having Deveraux, she was my "gift from the sea." Now I have two gifts!

Aloha

Aloha!

Welcome to our Gallagher Family Greatful Blog!

Here I am, blogging for the first time. I have to be honest, I never wanted a blog, I didn't want to seem too self important or say, "look at us". But after reading a friends blog, I was inspired. I have several reasons for wanting to do this. We live on an island, truly, and sometimes I can't bear the thought of my family not seeing Anderson walk for the first time or Deveraux sing a silly song. Through the airways is another opportunity across the miles to share those moments and daily happenings until we are together again. I also think a blog, like my journal, could be a good way to look back and a gift to our children. And lastly, as a stay at home mom, removed from stimulating college years, I want to think deeply and ponder the things of life and of God and maybe that will come in one way through this blog.

My brother in law, Brent, thought I should do a GAP Blog, as the risk of seeming too superficial, I will do a family/life blog with maybe some "GAP sightings" from time to time.

So Aloha sweet friends and family, I hope we all enjoy this together!