change...it's inevitable.

Since Daniel and I were married over 9 months ago, I have seen a lot of changes in, through, and around me. You could say that I am not a huge fan of change, but it's time for life to start evolving again. It's hard to let go of the routine that I have grown accustomed to for the past couple of years. If I had to guess, I would say that I am on Chapter 5 of the Leslie Ann Brindley Todd story.

Chapter One: Early Life including preschool and elementary school

Chapter Two: Middle and High School Life including the good ol' days of FBCT youth group

Chapter Three: College Life including growing and learning who I am and where I fit into this world without living at home

Chapter Four: Post College Life including my entrance into adulthood by having my first job

Chapter Five: Good Ol' Married Life including the dating, engagement, and marriage of Daniel

Hey, maybe I have something here. I could write a book about my life, but how interesting would it be? hmmm...

Anyways, in Chapter 5, a lot has to happen in order to move into Chapter Six, which one day will be entitled Mommyhood including the pregnancy and birth of our children. No need to fret; I still have a lot more life to live before we move into that chapter. I guess I am somewhat in the mommyhood now with Jackson and Tyson.

my sweet boys

I think the main highlights of Chapter 5 include (other than what is mentioned above) adjusting to living with someone who will always be there...forever, house hunting and buying and now decorating, buying our second child, observing other peers growing up and growing their families, and the overall cycle of friends. So far this chapter might be the one with the most multiple life changing experiences. I think that if I hadn't been through the previous 4 chapters, then this one would be extremely difficult to go through.

I would have never guessed that life would take me where I am today. It's wonderful and I am blessed beyond belief from everything God has given me.

Welcome to the American Dream

As of 7 PM on Tuesday, May 26th, Daniel and I became homeowners. It's still hard to imagine that we have accomplished our first married goal.

This past weekend was one heck of a weekend between painting, cleaning, and moving. I don't think I could ever relive this past weekend again, because it has worn me out! I am so thankful for our family especially our dads who worked several hours a day all weekend long to make sure their kids were taken care of. It was really neat to see how each dad would switch off between working really late and getting up extra early to paint. Paul, Daniel's dad, probably could have worked through the night while my dad woke up at his usual time (around 5:30) and started the day by painting.

Saturday and Sunday nights Dad spent the night with Daniel and me at the house. It was kinda odd to have him wake us up on Sunday morning so he could finish touching up in our bathroom before the brown paint dried. I think secretly he misses waiting me up on the weekends. I am sure that is really why he did it.

With all of the help that we had, we were able to complete the painting of each room by Monday afternoon. Painting an entire house in less than 3 days is pretty impressive. Thanks to everyone's hard work! We seriously couldn't have done it without you!

Now that we are living there fulltime, it is really nice. The dogs LOVE it especially Tyson. He found a pair of tennis shoes from the previous owner in the backyard so he is having a blast eating those everytime he goes outside. He also loves to run as fast as he can from one side of the yard to the next. You can look out the window and see a bolt of brown zoom by!

Jackson loves the new house too. He is enjoying the inside more than Tyson is. As soon as Jackson is finished with his business outside, he will sit patiently by the backdoor until he is let in. He has no desire to be left outside longer than it takes for him to poop and pee. However he does like the freedom to go as he pleases.

We have made a few trips from the apartment to the house so we didn't need to hire help. We have moved all of the furniture and have about 1 to 2 more loads left at the apartment. We have made serious progress, but it takes times cleaning and organizing. When we complete the process, I will post pictures of the final outcome.

just the beginning

One third of the year has come and gone. That leaves me thinking just how fast life really does pass by us. I still can't get over the fact that I am now 25 (25! yikes!). I don't feel that old at all. Just to put it in perspective: by the time my mother was 25 she had been married for over 4 years and had had me! I can't imagine having a baby right now. It's still hard to believe that I am married!

Our prayers were answered on April 11th concerning the house. We got it! We have completed the paperwork, wrote out some more checks, and found our homeowner's insurance. Now we are waiting until the closing date, May 29th. Go check out the house at www.tradingearth.com. MLS 418943. We are pretty excited about it. We are in the process of choosing paint colors for most of the house. Daniel is anxious to put his landscaping touch to the yard. We are both excited about opening up the door and letting our furry sons use the potty outside. Now that will be nice! :)

could it get any better?

God is faithful to provide for His children so long as we obey and follow. Daniel and I have been living every day by trusting God and leaning on to His promises. He has blessed us beyond measure and provided for us when we both thought it wasn't possible. God is good...all the time.

With that being said, we have been on a house hunt for the past 4 or so months. We have stepped it up over the past month, but being able to go into houses. We spend about 4 or 5 hours every weekend by driving around. It is extremely tiring, but we know exactly what we want. Both of our tastes are very similar so we don't disagree on too many things. In fact, I can't think of one thing that we have disagreed on when it comes to the house...maybe location?

Last weekend we took the hunting into actually putting a contract on a house. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. It was actually our 2nd pick in the neighborhood. The first pick is more expensive, but is an overall better house. In His faithfulness, the contract fell through. It was for the best. That house needed a lot of work, and we don't have that kind of money. So after looking through our first pick again last night, we have put a contract on it. We are waiting to hear if they have accepted or countered today. It will take a little longer since a relocation company is involved. (A relocation company will eventually have to buy the house if it doesn't sell within a period of time.)

We aren't in a bind yet, because our lease is up at the end of July. There is still plenty of time to look, but we have narrowed down our pickings so more houses need to be put on the market! Our choices are getting slim.

Also this past week was my birthday. I can truly say that I have some awesome family and friends. They helped make the day extremely special for me. I never knew that I was so loved. :) One person who never ceases to amaze me is my husband. He did everything he could to make sure that I had a great day. Tonight we are going to see Wicked, the musical....about the witches of Oz. I am super excited about it and have only heard great things!

I will post some pictures soon of Tyson and Jackson. Tyson is getting so big! When he stands on his hind-legs he is taller than my waist! He is starting to look like an adult. He better be getting some adult teeth too, because it seems like every day I step on at least one of his baby teeth. Let me tell you...it's not pleasant.

it's a boy

God works in mysterious ways and after seeing at least a dozen news segments about how overpopulated animal shelters are, Daniel and I became the proud parents of a boxer puppy. We have been talking about getting another dog...a bigger one...once we had moved into a house. Obviously we couldn't wait that long because we fell in love with a (around) 4 month old boxer mix. Here's the story...

Jackson had a grooming appointment at PetSmart on Saturday. Daniel dropped him off and caught a glimpse of the Humane Society pups on the way out. He wasted no time telling me that the dog that he wanted was at PetSmart. He wanted to go look at him (mistake number one). I told him that we could NOT get a dog until after we bought a house. Once we got there and opened the cage (mistake number two), Jacob (the boxer pup's name at the time) crawled up into my lap and snuggled his head into my jacket. I immediately fell in love with him and couldn't imagine putting him back in the cage and leaving him. Our next step was to see how Jackson would react to him. I didn't want Jackson to hate him, because there would be no point in even adopting the little guy. Once Jackson had finished getting groomed, he met his future little brother. he didn't seem to care either way and was ready to get the **** out of there and go home. (He tends to get stressed out in those situations.) Since Jackson didn't seem to care either way, we decided this was something that we needed to do.

Granted it seems ridiculous having 2 dogs in an apartment for the time being, but it really hasn't been that bad. We decided to name him Tyson after Mike Tyson, the boxer. It seems to fit him well, and I think he likes it. He snuggles up to me at night while Jackson snuggles with Daniel. I think all in all it will work out well. I am excited to see what his personality will be. He is already precious. I am glad that Jackson has a little (big) brother that he can play with.

Could you resist this face?

Tyson and Jackon in his HUGE box.

Tyson loves his big brother, Jackson.

in like a lion

I think I say this every time I blog, but not too much has been happening. The snow a couple of weekends ago was a nice break of the everyday apartment living. We were able to go outside for a few minutes with Jackson who frankly was a little scared of it at first. Then he LOVED being in the snow and peeing and pooping every chance he could. This might have been his first "big" snow! I think he was glad to see it leave though. He doesn't like being wet.

Jackson in the snow

Leslie and Jackson 3/1/09

Daniel and Jackson 3/1/09

take the good over the bad

Many events have been happening with the Todds since the last update. I am thankful to report that more good things rather than bad.

A couple of weeks ago, Daniel talked his step-brother into selling us his Wii for $100. You know we had to snatch that deal up; it's unheard of! The next day Daniel bought the Wii Fit. And let me tell you...it is quite depressing to hear how overweight you are and how bad your balance is. I have caught myself walking and focusing on my center of balance. This might be the first stages of becoming a Wii Fit geek.

Right after our great purchase of the Wii, Daniel took the Explorer to the shop to have it checked out since there were horrible noises coming from it. Well, let's just say we couldn't afford to repair it completely without selling both of our arms and legs. It's outrageous just how much money we have put into that beautiful "P.O.S.". After getting the news, the real fun came....searching for a new vehicle. After many stressed filled days, we bought a 2008 F-150 on Saturday. (Needless to say we didn't have a very romantic Valentine's Day.) It wasn't my first choice, but Daniel really wanted a truck and they were bascially the only cars with a big enough rebate to eat up what we owed on the Explorer. We learned some valuable (and expensive) lessons while repairing and selling the Explorer and they will not be forgotten.

Last week I went home at lunch and guess who greeted me at the door: Jackson. He had chewed and clawed his way through the thick plastic box. He made a hole big enough to crawl out and escape. Daniel calls him Convict Number .... Thanks to the sewing machine that Daniel gave me for Christmas that is still in its box, we have been able to keep Jackson from making anymore escapes. I guess he needs a metal box now.