I have furniture!!!

Well... I have some furniture. But hey, some is much better than the none I had a few hours ago. Today Mom and I went all over Durham and Sanford looking for deals on furniture for my new home. Ugh... it's sobering to realize how little money you have in comparison to how much furniture costs! I did see a few things I liked, but I have a lot of rooms to fill, and when I started adding up how much it was going to cost to fill them with new furniture, I was really overwhelmed. But, I have a Mom with a good head on her shoulders, and a good strong faith in God's providence and timing, so I wasn't too bummed when I came home as furniture-less as when we left. Well, I took a look at craigslist.com to just see what people were selling (as I have made a daily habit of doing). I wasn't overly impressed at first. But a couple of minutes later there was a new post. Someone was selling a nice set of furniture for only $700. (That was about the cost of one new couch.) I emailed the guy right away to ask for pictures, and when he sent them back I was floored! It looked so nice! Long story short, my Mom and I trekked back to Durham (where it was being sold) at about 9:30 tonight to go see this furniture. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was right for my house!! And you can't beat the price. Turns out this couple also just bought a new washer and dryer and wanted to get rid of theirs, so I bought them too!! Crazy... crazy, I tell ya. But how exciting... furniture for my home! :) Wow, now I really need to go to bed. It's been a long (but amazing) weekend. I need to sleep and prepare for my kiddos! Thanks for checking in on me!

Here's what my stuff looks like...



Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

As for me and my house...

…We will serve the Lord!
(Joshua 24:15)

I said I was going to write more of an update – so here it is! The biggest news is that
I’m buying a house!! Yeah, crazy isn’t it? A few months ago I was freaking out at the thought of buying a car and paying it off for 5 years, and now I have a 30 year loan – whoa! Though I have my moments of freaking out, I’m really excited. I honesty believe that God called me to Durham back in the summer of 2000 (long story) and now I’m finally getting to be there whole heartedly! I already feel like my heart is there… now I can be all there. :) I want my house to really be a place where God is made known. I will be in a neighborhood where I will be the minority (by a long shot!). From my past visits to the house, I’ve noticed a lot of Mexican and Black families. Lots of kids too! I am already praying for opportunities to share Christ with them. Getting to know people’s kids is a great way to get to know them – and kids are my thing. ;) I would like for nothing more than for my house to be a place where Bible studies take place, prayers is lifted, and discipleship is happening. I know that this house is a gift from God. Too many things have “just happened” to make all of this happen. Here’s kind of how it happened…

The week after Easter I had off because of Spring Break. Monday afternoon I started tossing the idea around in my head about buying a house. I am very opposed to paying rent because I don’t think it’s a good use of money. So I just started looking online at cheap houses. Most of the ones I could afford were in really bad neighborhoods, but there was one that was in an area I knew about. So, Tuesday evening, on my way to Bible study (which was close to where the house was), I decided to just drive by the house to check out the area. I wasn’t turned off, which was a good sign… so then I went on to Bible study. When I mentioned the house, it turned out that the owner of the house where we had Bible study had looked at that house over a year ago and really liked it, but it was much more expensive then. So, after much talking, the girls all wanted to go see the house. We piled in a car and went to go see it. When we pulled up, we saw a couple looking inside the window. (“Oh no! They’re looking at my house!”) So we drove around the block a couple times and in the process, we saw another realtor sign, and one of the girls said that the realtor was from the Summit! I wrote the number down and we went to check out the house… After Bible study, I called the realtor (Pat) immediately and after talking, we agreed to meet the very next morning (Wednesday) to go see the house. At first she didn't seem as excited about it as me, and wanted to show me a couple other options... so I obliged, but the other 2 were much more expensive. So, after much talking and talking with a bank lady to see if I could be pre-approved for a loan (and I was!), it was lunch time, and Pat had to show someone else another house. So I went to lunch with a friend, and thought about the house... I felt ready to go through with the process, but needed another set of eyes to see the inside of the house and to tell me if I was being an idiot. So I called Pat again, and she agreed to go back to the house so Chris could see it too. He definitely confirmed that this little house needs some work (ok, a lot off work!), but he also pointed out the same good things that I liked about it. So... I ended up putting in an offer that same day! The next big hurdle was getting an inspection. There was a high possibility that there could be some foundational issues, so I was really nervous going into the inspection. But the inspector was even surprised to see that the house didn’t have any huge issues going on. (Oh yeah, the house is 80 years old!!) So I am buying the house! Friday, May 26th, Bonnie Boisvert will be a first time home owner – crazy, hey!? It’s cool that I’ve been able to do a lot of networking with Summit people. My realtor, insurance guy, and lawyer are all Summiteers. :) And I will probably use Summit people to do home repairs too! There are some certain perks to being at a big church. :)

Whew… my fingers are tired. I haven’t written this much in a while! I will update in a couple days about my job hunting. Oh the fun…

Thanks for checking in on me!

Bonnie B.

My To-Do List:

I know I haven't updated in a long time! So since I don't have much time, I'll just write out my to-do list and then go back and give details soon! :)

Bonnie's To Do List:

-Pray lots!
-Call Duke Power to see if they switched my electric bill into my name
-Call Durham Sewer and Water to get that bill into my name
-Save all pennies earned to go towards my closing costs on May 26th
-Call Rob, the insurace guy (from the Summit) to talk insurance details
-Call home security people for prices
-Call the home repairs guy for an estimate
-Search ads for good used furniture
-Find a roommate
-Email the lady who kind of offered me a job next year at a Childcare Network in Durham (oh, by the way, the Childcare Network that had to go into lockdown a couple weeks ago because a crazed gunman was on the loose - ah... Durham... haha!)
-Wrap Lauryn's birthday presents!
-Have lots of fun at Lauryn's 1st birthday party :-D
-Write last 2 lesson plans for my preschoolers! :(
-Buy graduation gifts for my preschoolers
-Buy some "teacher clothes" for my summer pre-k job in a public school program
-Pray lots more!

Phew! Makes me tired just thinking about it... well, I'd better get busy! I promise to write more very soon!! And I'll add pictures. :)

Love ya-
Bonnie B.

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81