West Side Story

We bought a house.  I've (Josie) never wanted to do that.  I've always wanted to be mobile, own only enough to fit in my car, and live somewhere in the middle ground between middle class and $2/day like the people in Cambodia or wherever.  But now that I'm in my 30's (so wise) and middle of three years of a graduate program in beautiful Salt Lake City, married to My Love that reveals Jesus's kindness to me, and trying to make grown-up decisions, things have changed.  We have the opportunity to live cross culturally here in Salt Lake right now.  We have the opportunity to have the authority to dictate what to do with our space by hosting.  We have the opportunity to cultivate the land in ways that honor God.  We have the opportunity to give more of ourselves.  We have the opportunity to use our gifts for God's glory.  We have the opportunity to steward our money to pay off school loans.  So many opportunities we just couldn't pass up. So we're taking it.  We bought a house.  We're moving to a 100 year old house (you could call it a fixer upper) in a Hispanic/Polynesian neighborhood.  We plan on having a friend live with us and to be open to others in need of a place to stay and be mentored (more later on Holding Out Help.)  This will definitely be an adventure and will grow our marriage even more, build our trust in God's provision and wisdom, and stretch our comfort zone.  We hope the fixing up of the house will be a means to build deeper friendships with those who are excited to help.  We'll try to document the progression.  So to begin, we closed on Wednesday 10/5/11.

Entryway Living Room

Master Suite

Master bath

2nd Bedroom old headboard shelving

3/4 Guest Bath

Office

Attic Living Area 

Attic Bathroom

Attic Bath

Back Yard (see the apples on the ground?)

Back Yard Half Fallen Apple Tree

Drive way (currently a forest) and garage

Kitchen (duh)