A Life That's Good

Hi, do you watch Nashville?  If the answer is no, you are missing out.  I think I watch the show more for the music which is strange for me to say because if you know me well, you know country is my least favorite music.

On the show there are two characters, Maddie and Daphne, who sing together and make me incredibly happy.  They are played by sisters Lennon and Maisy Stella.  The fact that the little one can harmonize the way she does almost makes me mad.  : )  In a good way, of course.

Anyway, they sing a song on the show called "A Life That's Good" and I love the words to it.  It is my current anthem; especially the following part:

Sometimes I'm hard on me,
When dreams don't come easy,
I wanna look back and say,
I did all that I could,

Yeah at the end of the day, Lord I pray,
I have a life that's good.

Two arms around me, heaven to ground me,
and a family that always calls me home,

Four wheels to get there, enough love to share,
and a sweet sweet sweet song.

At the end of the day, Lord I pray, 

I have a life that's good.

Jesus is all that matters to me in this world and if I keep him at the center of my life, what else do I really need.  Everything good about my life is just the overflow of his love for me:  My husband, my family, and my friends.

Life is good and here is a little update on life:

We are  s t i l l  waiting on the loan.  This time it is not anything to do with the bank, but rather with LegalZoom.  My brother told me to blame Robert Shapiro, but he is only one of the founders of LegalZoom and is too old for me to be mad at.  The whole process with LegalZoom has been enlightening and has come with an age old moral:  Don't use LegalZoom.  Clearly that is not a real saying, but you can be sure it will be in the Gray Household.  If we have gained anything out of our experience with LegalZoom it will the experience to warn others about.

We have been looking at a property that used to be an old church.  We loved it, la, la, la, but a potential problem arose when we called the City of Norman to see if we could use the property as a chiropractic office.  Apparently it is zoned as residential.  Kyle was a little bummed that this roadblock occurred, but I gently reminded him what he has told me since we began planning this adventure in November of last year:  "If it's meant to be, it will happen.  God shuts doors in order to open others."  

Yesterday, we looked at a property that we drive by all the time and that had really caught my eye when we were first looking last year.  It is closer to our house than the other.  It is on a busier street than the other.  We looked at the inside and immediately I could visualize the potential of the space.  This is normally a difficult task for me.  I am not good at looking at nothing and seeing what it could be.  The last tenants used it as a start up church and bless their hearts, should stick to ministry and not venture off into interior design.  The colors were enough to make you turn around and walk back out, but like I said, I saw the potential right away.  

This office is located right across from another chiropractor and so the ball is pretty much in his court.  The real estate agent was going to talk to the owner and ask her to contact him to see if he would have any problem with us moving in across from him.  We were told the owner would rather have a vacant space than not do right by her preexisting tenants.  We completely understand and owe him that courtesy.  We just hope he says, "Come on over!"  This is something you can say a prayer about if you are a praying person.

We have already committed to getting more involved in a church here in Norman and are already seeing the fruit of this commitment.  We met the pastors wife on Wednesday and she is ready to be our first patient!  We have actually met a few people who have told us to let them know when we open so they can come in to see Kyle.  

We joined a small group for married couples and attended the first one last night.  We sat by a really sweet couple, Erin and Bretten.  They too just moved here in January from Missouri (Springfield area) and they are just the nicest couple.  They have been married 8 years and have 2 little girls.  We talked with them and answered discussion prompts about everything from who had the most fun at our wedding to what our dream vacations would be.  We went around the circle and shared how long we had been married and what we felt our relationship was like out of five choices:  Kiddie Ride, Merry Go Round, Bumper Cars, Roller Coaster, or Tunnel of Love.  Out about 15 couples, we were the only ones to say Tunnel of Love.  We were also one of two couples without kids, so who knows?  

I am excited about this group because it is difficult to find married couples to hang out with, but also because with all the experience in the room we are bound to learn from each other.  One couple said they were Bumper Cars and that their marriage is not the best right now, which is why they were giving this group a shot.  I can only pray that it does help and that they stick together.

I also joined two other small groups that are just for women.  One is cooking/crafts and the other is just crafts.  The cooking/crafts one meets for the first time tomorrow and it will be a cooking night.  We are supposed to bring our favorite Mexican dish and the recipe.  I am bringing Green Chile Casserole. One, because it has green chile, which runs through New Mexican veins and two, because it is simple.  My anxious little heart has worried about tomorrow off and on since I found out the first meeting will be tomorrow.  This is mainly because I do not like the unknown.  

This is me really stepping outside of my comfort zone because I will be venturing to a strangers' house on my own to meet up with more strangers.  This too is something you could pray for.  I know that if I want to make friends here, I have to step out there more and not be a hermit.  Being a hermit is something that I enjoy a lot but I also enjoy relationships.  

I am meeting my parents in Las Vegas in a week to see Celine Dion with my mom.  I am looking forward to this not only because I'm seeing Celine in Vegas, but also because I enjoy getting to see my mom and dad.  The last time I saw them was good but centered around a funeral, so it will be nice to see them for a more joyous occasion.

I miss my Grandma very much.  It is the most I've missed her in all these years I've lived far from home.  I've pinpointed why I miss her so much and it is because I do not talk to her every day anymore and haven't since her memory took such a turn.  It's very difficult to have conversations with her on the phone because she cannot hear very well or really remember anything.  I miss calling her every day and hearing her say, "Hi, hun, how are yooouuu?  She's a doll and I know it's just part of life but there are definitely things you wish you could hold on to forever and she is one of them.

I am beyond ready to start a family.  I don't know if it is because of one thing or a culmination of things but I just feel so ready that I could explode.  It does not help that every one I know is pregnant.  I've always thought that children are cute; I was a nanny for a living, but more than ever I find myself staring at babies out in public and wanting one myself.  I know the time will come when God is ready and for that I am thankful because there are a ton of aspects of pregnancy/parenthood that scare me to the core.  

I was a little bummed when I was originally told that my maternity coverage would not go into affect for 12 months from when I buy the policy, but we met with our insurance agent on Sunday and she told me that a 12 month waiting period was no longer the case.  Hallelujah.  I was thrilled when she said that because just knowing I have more of an option is wonderful.  

Well, this ended up being a lot longer than I had intended and I know a certain puppy that would probably enjoy some Vitamin D.  I pray all who read this are happy and healthy.  

Xoxo,

Nicole