Country Life - Week 1

Hello everyone!

It's us...the Tolletts coming to you from Mexia/Groesbeck Texas!

First off, you will have to excuse the title of our blog page, it should have to just read The Country Life and THIS particular blog would be week 1. So, now, this will forever be week 1. We are new at this and if ANYONE knows how to change that, suggestions are welcome!

Now, onto the REAL business. Our new life!

Week one proved to be a good week...challenging, but good. We are settling in well. We are slowly but surely making our house a home. Putting our personal touches on the house and giving it life. We definitely have found a diamond in the rough and she is gorgeous.

Our kitchen was the room completed first...imagine that. There is SO much room and we thought we will NOT fill these cabinets yet, but we were wrong. SO wrong. We still have 1 cabinet with Eric's mom's things in it, but still. We are still scratching our heads trying to figure out how we fit all the SAME STUFF in the other much smaller kitchen in Hutto.

I (Stephanie) LOVE LOVE LOVE the laundry room. It is SO big and roomy and I am enjoying the space.

We have put curtains up and some pictures and things are coming together nicely.

I was a little apprehensive on moving at the beginning, as most of you know, and God has really shown Himself in a big way that this was HIS plan and not OURS. Eric and I realize how well we work together when we are behind 4 walls and with each other ALL THE TIME. It has been a nice "vacation" I guess. :)

The boys are a challenge to say the least. They are really pushing some boundaries since we have arrived and being so close to them has been great. Honestly, we haven't seen them as much as you would think. They stay so busy with extra curricular activities and school that they barely have time to breathe. As is life of teenagers.

The first weekend away turned out to be a tough one. We left our furrkids with Eric's mom and the boys and left with the intention to give the boys the benefit to earn some money as long as our furrkids were taken care of and....well...one got lost. Shelby, our youngest, decided to take a trip in the woods for 2 days. We had to leave Austin MUCH sooner than anticipated and miss the majority of the weekend we had planned. We rushed home, searched, found nothing...day 2, woke up early to a pretty bad storm that came through and we thought that would surely bring her home. It didn't. We then hiked for 2 hours looking for our precious little pain in the butt...and nothing. Later that evening Eric saw her about 5 feet from him and called to her and she darted. Obviously scared. We put out food in the hopes she would return, it did give us comfort to know she was close by. Woke up 4:50AM or so and Eric checked on the food and it was gone. He went outside to call for her and here she came, running towards him and smiling...yes she smiles. Now, one big happy family again.

As of about 20 mins ago, I am now employed by Henderson RV Sales in Mexia and apparently got rave reviews from past employers (THANK YOU, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE). So, I start my new job on Monday and I am excited and scared all at the same time. We do ask that you keep Eric in your prayers to find work soon. Preferably with benefits since my new job doesn't offer them.

We also ask for prayers for Eric's mom who has come down with some kind of illness. Please pray for quick recovery.

Please also pray that we find a church home and that we don't limit God's plan for us by having "an idea of what WE want". We want to be where He wants us to serve. Pray for open hearts and minds for us as we "church hop".

For now, that's it from Mexia! We love you all.

God bless America and Hook'em Horns!

The Tolletts