I'm really not very good at this blog thing. I'm sorry :/
so excited! I have been going through such a wave of emotions  the last week or so. Not sure if things are starting to "settle" or exhaustion is catching up lol. probably a lot of things combined. Hurt, anger, frustration, anxiety, discouragement and at times...pure bliss. I am trying ohhhh am I trying to stay positive. most of the time I am...but it wouldn't be without constant conversation and communication with my husband and my Lord. The last week, my body, my soul, my head-they are so tired. so weak. yet somehow, I seem to pull it together and make PROGRESS! ...so anyways back to being EXCITED! My cousin was over for a couple days this past week~so while the kids were napping, Kodey and I were able to run over to our home on 20  Mile and grab some boxes to bring back to rental for me to inventory. I had already completed inventory of our freezer in garage, and Tuesday were given inventory of cupboards, fridge and freezer done by cleaners. so we grabbed boxes with food and hygiene items so Kodey and I could have a "date" at Meijer finding replacement costs on hundreds of items. So...we get back to rental and I start hacking away box by box (kids still sleeping). Keep in mind, our home is missing 3/4 of the roof. Between all the water from firefighters and rain in the weeks since, we were told everything in basement was lost and to be written off. So you can imagine my surprise when i found laundry detergent, tons of men's deodorants, loads of bug spray i got on clearance last year, etc from my couponing "stock pile" in PERFECT condition!
For those of you who don't know us well, Kodey joined the Army at 17, was deployed to Baghdad by 18 and medically retired from Army by 21. Kodey and I were not together during his deployment, but i KNOW he was very well taken care of by his loved ones while he was there. letters, care packages, etc.  Not every soldier is so lucky. Not every soldier has a family, a friend, a church to help push them through a deployment. Kodey has known many.
...I grabbed a wash cloth and began to clean the items off 1 by 1. And I said to myself "this is ridiculous! What was I thinking?! Stocking up on this much deodorant?!" In the beginning, couponing for me was about saving money (was a huge relief to being able to take my 3 year old shopping with me and not stress about what was getting tossed in cart or waiting for a temper tantrum because we couldn't afford anything extra). I'm still a major bargain shopper, and do my best to make every dollar go further. as time went on,Kodey started receiving benefits, and we were able to start "paying it forward" through my couponing, sometimes local, sometimes through care packages. Kodey won't be going through 20+ sticks of deodorant any time soon. lol. I would normally send these items to soldiers who might need them but those we know who are currently overseas are not in need as large groups tend to send hygiene items. If there is anyone reading this who does know of a company overseas in need, please contact me! If our military isn't in need, then I would like to donate these items to a church pantry,famil(ies),etc in our community. also, bug spray might be great for like a church camp or something? will wait about a week or so and then donate if i don't hear from anyone.
 i have been holding onto clothing,shoes,etc girls newborn to 3t and boys newborn to 18 months for what seems like forever. a few weeks before our fire, our sump pump backed up and after spending a while day at the laundry mat, i decided it was time to organize clothing by sex and size in stackable plastic containers. these were eventually stacked nearly to the sealing in basement. i was holding out for someone who really needed them. someone who would appreciate them. i have always taken very good care of my kids' clothing. i don't want to hold on to anything anymore. i was absolutely devistated to think so much would go to waste. so, if anyone is interested or knows someone in need PLEASE contact me! if you know of a church pantry that is running low, contact me! the cleaner will be dropping these off to me this week...and whatever isn't gone by the end of next week, will be donated! everything...GONE :D if there is a specific size needed, it will be nice and easy to find :) PRAISE THE LORD the sump pump backed up, or all this would be wasted!

Sorry this isn't much of an "update" ...but everything is still on hold. should know more by the end of the week, as our builder has received final draft and chimney companies last chance to meet with investigators is tomorrow. I've been trying to get this post up for 3 days now. lol. :/ hopefully now that we have internet, updates will be shorter and more frequent :) oh! kodey and i will be at mary free bed all morning tomorrow. Kodey has decided he is ready to enroll in the tramatic brain injury program! please pray he goes in open minded, the appointment goes by quickly, and we are able to connect with resources not only for kodey, but also for the kids and myself.
if anyone is following this blog and not a friend on facebook, feel free to add :) facebook is a lot easier to navigate, post pics, etc.

hope everyone is having a fantastic day!

how's everyone doing? lol. wow, it's been awhile. was busy working on getting our additional living expenses into insurance before leaving hotel, and have been without internet since. yes! we are out of the hotel!!! so we are currently in a rental in sparta. whoa...sooo much better :D

internet should be set up wednesday...PTL! lol. no internet.no cable.3 cds downloaded on ipad = WAY TOO QUIET!!! ...especially when kids are gone or sleeping. i don't know about you, but i need background noise to keep me motivated ;) although, i do appreciate the extra time and snuggles with my husband and kids since leaving these luxuries behind, which we have been without for over 5 weeks now...
rather than going through everything that's happened the last 2 weeks, i will tell you where we are at now.
the fire inspector is FINALLY meeting with the owner of the chimney company tomorrow morning. so please please pray that we can get this closed, the house signed off on, and start moving forward!
other than that, the architect  is working on a revised draft for the rebuild, waiting for inspection to be competed on temporary electric post for pole barn, and waiting to hear back on estimate for rebuild ( a little nervous whether we had enough coverage or not :/ ). Have also been working on some of kodey's paper work with a great guy at the army strong community center in walker to get some of kodey's paperwork done, and we have an appointment next week to get enrolled in TBI program at mary free bed.
haven't even had a chance to get started on inventory :/

thank you for everyone's continued love, support and prayers. pleeeease know how grateful we are! so so sorry i haven't had time to start ticking away at thank you's! i want them to be personal, rather than quick and impersonal! will update again as soon as our internet is up and running. sorry this is so short :(