packing up & moving out

we have spent the past couple of days packing up our belongings....it is tough to see how little we have, but so thankful all the sentimental things we saved.

tomorrow morning we begin our journey to visit family and friends in georgia then head out to colorado for a conference with campus crusade for Christ. we are so excited for the bi-annual conference held in fort collins,co  for all the US staff. justin and i spent our first 2 months of marriage in fort collins, such a precious time for the both of us. we are pumped to be reunited with friends who are on staff across the nation and colorado is absolutely breathtaking.

here are a few pictures from summer 2009 in colorado.

view from our dorm at colorado state.

when we got our assignment to alabama.

look at us babies...

we spent a couple days in denver.

at the conference. a little bit overwhelming.

excited to hear from campus crusade leadership as well as francis chan, david platt and others.

managing God's money

i started this book a little while ago, but justin and i have been so busy with other stuff i haven't had much time to read. i have loved it so far.

one of my favorite passages in the first section has been, in regard to the story of the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-25): "Jesus did not call each and every disciple to liquidate their possessions, give away all their money, and leave their homes. But Jesus knew that money was the rich young man's god. The principle is timeless: If Christ is not Lord over our money and possessions, he is not our Lord."

such a good reminder for me to keep my priorities in check, especially as we are beginning to make some big purchases to replace our lost items and furnish our new home. my comfort, security and identity should only come from God, not my possessions or from others.

hurricane creek.

justin somehow found this really interesting place called hurricane creek right outside of town. one morning he made asked me to go with him and Millie.

it was such a beautiful place, except for the empty cans and other litter. Millie almost died she had so much fun. there is something about a lab...she can't get enough of playing fetch and swimming. we pretty much had to force her to leave after about an hour of playing.

such a great morning with my family.

taste test.

life with the karls is always interesting.

justin loves diet sunkist...and i wanted to know if it was worth the money to buy that rather than the publix brand. so last night we decided to do a blind taste test to see if we could really taste the difference between the two.

our verdict: i liked the publix brand because it was less carbonated. but justin preferred his staple of diet sunkist.

glad we got that settled. like i said, life with is is always interesting. 

happy weekend everyone!

our home!

today our new house passed the home inspection with flying colors. ah, now all we have to do is actually close on it and the house is ours! completely surreal, but we are so thankful for God's provision during this entire process.

[excuse the oddly placed ladder on the house, i hope that was the home inspectors]

[excuse the baby pool, i hope that wasn't the home inspectors]

we fell in love all over again as we walked around the house. i would show lots more pictures, but it was packed with their belongings as they are beginning to move out their family plus you can't really see the true beauty of the house. 

we are enthralled with furnishing and decorating this house as our own. justin is already fantasizing about hours and hours of landscaping...and if you know me at all you know that yardwork is not exactly my favorite thing but i am still excited because it is our own!! 

thanks for praying and encouraging us during this process. we are closing at the end of july and moving in the first week of august.