Tetelestai

Sold.

That happy moment with my dear friend and agent:)

The THREE YEAR journey was over.

In the summer of 2015, the King and I were in marriage counseling.  Daily life was a struggle, and our gorgeous home, 12 miles out of town, was a bit too big and a bit too far away.  We decided a sale would give us a fresh start, reduce our debt and move us closer to the kids’ schools and activities.

I packed all my books away in August 2015.

And life handed me lemons.  For three long years.

We listed the house for sale in October, but I moved out within days.  I asked him to come after me, and he chose not to.  I filed for divorce in November, and 60 days later, it was granted.  Five days later, the King moved to the valley, leaving behind both younger children, and the house to me.  I fired our realtor, and hired a new one.

The first offer on the house fell through in March 2016, due to the well needing to be shocked.

I received a summons for jury duty that day...

...and got fired from my job the very next day.

To the King’s credit, he paid the bills until I got another job.

But this entrepreneur couldn’t just get a job.  She had to start a company.  Ride was born two years ago, because I had jury duty in Phoenix, and rode on a golf cart in Old Town Scottsdale.

By August, our second listing of the house had ended, and we moved on to realtor #3.

Surely it would sell, right? (Please note the kittens playing in the background.  The joy they gave me during those difficult days was immeasurable!)

Money got very tight, as I worked my 40hr a week job plus struggled to pay my new company bills.  We decided to refinance the house, and took it off the market.  Amazingly, we qualified.  The next month? The King quit his job to start a new company, the very same week I quit my day job to focus solely on Ride.

I also had a first date with this guy right around the same time....

With Ride operating in Scottsdale and the King based in Prescott, we decided to “switch places.” I took over his apartment with the Commander, and he moved back into the house that still hadn’t sold.  When I’d come up for the weekend to be with the kids, he’d head back to Mesa.  It wasn’t ideal, but as always, the kids were the priority.  They loved our home, so we let them stay there.

The Princess at Cinderella’s Castle’s Wishing Well in March 2017.  When I threw in my coin, I cannot recall if I wished for my house to sell or for true love.

Kinda guessing it was for true love. ❤️ 

April was when my test of faith began, as I decided to trust God and do the unimaginable.

Can I repeat once again that NEVER, EVER in my life had I ever wanted to skydive?!?

The pure joy...!!!

It was this lesson in faith- to listening to the still, small idea to skydive that formed as I cried out in prayer-that would stand as a testament for the next year. I learned when I trusted God’s will, I had no fear.

The wonderful, wonderful cottage days began, but they’d soon too quickly end.

The peach orchard and my dictionary...Tuesday night dinners and sabbatical days.

For three months, I made new habits, broke old ones and thoroughly fell in love with one gruff, funny, outspoken and tenderhearted former Marine, the Buckeye.

June 23rd, Tombstone.  We forever laid to rest any fears in this cemetery.

And then the house again became a priority.

The King and I could no longer afford the mortgage and live in two separate locations as we had done.  While my business was slowly growing, it wasn’t growing quickly enough.  The sale became tantamount-both the King and I needed it to happen financially, and increasingly, I needed it emotionally.  I had found my match, and wanted to be tied only to him.

The storms that awaited us....sigh.

So I moved back to Prescott, and into the house I still owned with the King...and we both lived there again.  Two years after we’d packed up, we were still there.

I rented a storage unit, and took all those packed up books to there.  I began to remodel the house, and took it off the market.  Using the failed buyer’s inspection, I went through the list repairing each and every item, while painting and contracting repairs like mad.

And this?  It went to this:

And this?

To this:

And we engaged realtor #4.  Who brought us an offer, made three unforgivable mistakes, and lost the offer right after Thanksgiving.  I fired him, and brought back realtor #3.

I was so in love...surely another offer would happen right away, right?  Because by now, it was the house that was keeping us from taking the next step.

And in a leap of faith, the Buckeye threw caution to the wind, and proposed exactly one year after our first date.  He re-enacted the entire date, and proposed at dinner before we celebrated at Supercross:)

But the house didn’t sell.

We picked our location, but no date.  Couldn’t pick that until the house sold.  So we waited.

And every month, I didn’t have enough to pay bills at the beginning of the month.  By faith, I worked hard each month to make it work...and every month, I had enough money to make it.

For six months, I had enough. 

Then in May, while barely scraping by and Ride finally launching in my hometown, I crumpled.  I could no longer live with a noose around my future.

No sleep, no hikes, no future.

I asked the Buckeye to set a date, without selling the house first.  After careful consideration, we picked September 8th.  Far from jubilant; I also cried, wept, tried to hike more, prayed, worked 14 hour days and held on to hope.  One week later, we had an offer.

One week later, I had enough money to get half way through June...but not the full month.

 But this time?  This time I started packing.

And packing.

And curating....

Because in June, we were opening the GMIHC Learning & Tribute Center. 

And Ride became very popular as well, which meant someone needed to try and sabotage her.  We are at over $1000 in vandalism repairs.

So the last two weeks...it’s been a wild ride.  A successful (but expensive repair-wise) new business, packing and moving an entire home, a closing and an opening, less than 24 hours apart.

I am humbled to have been a servant to this.

Last night I saw the Buckeye before he left for the Special Olympics National Games in Seattle.  I’ll join him there tomorrow, after another busy day of making things work.

The last morning at my old house.

Three years.  Three years ago, I packed up my treasured belongings, hoping beyond hope for a new start with the King.  Now in a healthy relationship with the Buckeye, I can see with hindsight how bad my marriage was, and how unhealthy we both had become.  The King always told me I needed to change, and he was right (to a certain extent.  We BOTH needed to change.)  This three year journey has taught me many things...

1) Praying for your house to sell is like praying for your team to win.  I don’t think it works that way.

2) Don’t allow circumstances to dictate your future.  You control your future, not your circumstances.

3) Patience is exhausting.  I think it may be like exercise:  you need to exercise it frequently so it doesn’t completely wear you out in the long run.

4)  Past relationships will always affect the present one...but the effects don’t have to be damaging.  Learn from them.

5)  You don’t always feel jubilant after you get what you’ve worked so hard for.  Sometimes you just are tired.

6)  God never failed me or left me without financial support for six months.  Every month the books said there wouldn’t be enough.  Every month, there was.  The choice to walk by faith and trust God was just that-a choice to move forward.  Had I not skydived and had no fear, I doubt I could have accomplished this.

Tetelestai:  it is finished.  Paid in full.

God surely provided all my needs, according to His riches in glory.  

Thank you, God.  It is to Him all the glory and honor is due!