in the end…

September 25, 2015October 12, 2015 • by admin • In Choose your Lifestyle, Where We Walkers Are • 0

We lost 99.9% of our belongings, our deposit to the condo and are going to have to start over somewhere. But we are confident that there are beautiful things ahead. And are okay. Happy to be spending days with family (all of my siblings that live all across the world) and friends who we admire and are inspired by.

Cordie and Dad

“Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”

Was shared with us by a friend from Lamentations 3:23 the first week Dad went into rehab and has been a daily reminder that even though we can’t plan too far ahead in the future each new day we have someone who is extremely faithful and extends new mercy.

i cried a lot…

September 24, 2015September 24, 2015 • by admin • In How Mold Took Our Stuff, Where We Walkers Are • 0

ON that Monday we tried to get a little work done, got a storage unit to temporarily put things in as we waited to see what would happen to the rest of our things and what kind of mold we were dealing with and wait for the landlord to let us know what would be happening…

We found a hotel near by that we would camp out in and planned on living there for the time being… As we checked into our hotel, got over the fact of not knowing what we would be doing next or where, how long the removal and cleaning would take and just all of the unknowns we kind of laughed and said, “Well, at least no one is hurt, dying or really sick that we know!”

In that very moment Cordie threw my phone at me which had been missing most of the day it rang, with my mom on the other end saying, “Dad, had a stroke we are in the Emergency Room please call your siblings and let them know my cell phone doesn’t have good service..”

This picture was very hard to see when we were away – but reality that nothing is set in stone and anything can happen. See more pictures at www.prayfordon.com

Between Cordie and I we called my siblings, friends, extended family and just sat, prayed, cried and felt helpless as we waited to see if he would be okay.

Not knowing how long we could be in a hotel we decided to clean some of our things at the apartment with bleach, once again dear Becky helped us go through things and determine what is really valuable and what isn’t…Cordie wanted me to fly up right away but instead we attempted to get things together all day that Tuesday then left at 3AM Wednesday morning to drive back up to Minnesota.

Because of amazing friends in Rochester taking care of my mom and dad – visiting and showing their support the long drive to MN was easier than if we knew no one was with them… With so many unanswered questions regarding the size of his stroke, our condo in Florida – Cordie and I were just trusting that God would take care of us and as we made important life changing decisions we would be okay in Him.

Though people around us didn’t understand why we would be ‘okay’ (well no we weren’t and aren’t but are trying to stay positive and keep perspective on what really matters in life) Cordie was great at always just saying, texting or trying to reiterate even if people don’t get it that people > stuff.

Clothes, furniture, money, things, home decor, kitchen crap…. its all just temporary… will you really sacrifice your relationship with people to ‘hold onto it’?

Through these past couple of months and everything that has happened we have been able to lean on and be supported by more than amazing people, have been shown extreme generosity… my love language is to give so receiving has been very difficult for me…but I am learning. Waking up every day being grateful for where I am… where we are going even if it is still very unknown. Thank You to those of you who have fed us, fed my parents, housed us, hugged us, been with us, laughed with us, cried with us and have just been there for and with us.

Also, through this time we have seen the ‘true’ side of others.. their greed and avoidance so that they do not have to help (which we would never ask) in any way at all.

If its hard for you to let go of…excuse me but I can’t think of a better word than shit.. really just shit that sits in your closet and you never look at it.. shit that isn’t of any real value but some far off memory or moment I urge you to try and let go of it… minimize YOUR THINGS and maximize a place for people in your life… think about what is really important to you… is it taking money, ‘getting’ things from others or do you want long lasting healthy relationships?

Yes, yes, yes I know it is hard and unfortunately we learned a hard fast lesson of letting go – still have a ton of shit I don’t know where it comes from but we also have found freedom in losing things. Acknowledging we want to be around and with people…

So Cordie & I are in Rochester, MN currently until we know more about my dad’s health and condition moving forward you can read up on all the posts here: www.prayfordon.com

I am blessed with a husband who’s choice before mine was to stay and do what we can to support my mom and dad – we are not pressured, don’t feel like we have to be here but he knew before I did that he wanted to be here and serve give back to two people who have so openly welcomed him, unconditionally loved him and appreciate him for just being him and not what he does or what he has accomplished.

he told us to leave immediately…

September 23, 2015September 24, 2015 • by admin • In How Mold Took Our Stuff, Where We Walkers Are • 0

If you haven’t read the previous two posts – go back and do so now…

Three or four hours after we found the mold, called our landlord – a cleaning company arrived put in several LARGE dehumidifiers and air filtration systems… the guy installing them told us to leave immediately and to not be in our 2B, 2 Bath any longer until the air was fine for us to breathe in… with the mold being black mold we had to wait until the air was safe to be in it… (which is usually 48 hours after he put in the devices)

Yes this is not a cookie – it is black fuzzy mold.

Bathroom sink in our Master Bath… mold doesn’t photograph well

So we went and stayed at our friends house for two nights as they were out of town…. we felt like zombies all day on the Sunday – not being in control of the situation or knowing what to do was so strange, difficult and hard to be patient. We went to see a movie, grieved ‘our things’ with the understanding from the specialists mold shouldn’t just grow that fast in 3-4 days (from the last time Becky had cleaned up the water condensation/leaks from the AC Unit) unless it was underneath the wood floors, in the walls, underneath the carpet… it would cost thousands of dollars to clean make sure that there were NOT ANY spores left in any of our belongings… unless it was glass and could be washed with bleach…

I remember saying to Cordie, “I do not know how Hannah’s family (my beautiful sister in-law who lives in Australia) went to the location of their house being burnt down and not able to save ANYTHING” Slowly, remembering everything they had or the generational things that were now gone.

We felt fortunate that would could grab a few things but very confused about what to do with the rest….we had clothes in a suitcase from our trip to MN and didn’t need to worry about them having exposure

…it was covered in MOLD

September 22, 2015September 24, 2015 • by admin • In How Mold Took Our Stuff, Where We Walkers Are • 0

I am not being over dramatic or exaggerating at all! From the floor to the ceilings to anything that was made out of wood – our brand new couch only had a teeny tiny spot on it…

I was shocked. On the verge of tears, but thought maybe we can save somethings… so I went into our bedroom and started grabbing anything I found mold on it and threw it into the living room to try and group it all….

The thing that was so shocking for us was that most people in the 1960s build building the condo was there SECOND home so if we were gone just over 10 days… how is this possible? The condensation near our kitchen floor was the cause of this? That the building manager had told us it was ‘normal’ and everyone had the same thing… so we climate controlled our place had a dehumidifier were very cautious and aware making sure water wasn’t just sitting/the doors were always closed…

We had the couple above us come down and look over it – the husband being on the board of the condo – he pointed out rust on our front door (mind you there isn’t a full wall protecting the building from rain) said that the doors need to be replaced and that our landlord should have informed us of any AC issues…

These three little bibles were the hardest for me… They were my Grandparents who have both passed away and one of the only things I had to remember them with…

….which we found out later she had had previous issues but never mentioned them….

No filter… Only read any further

September 21, 2015September 24, 2015 • by admin • In Where We Walkers Are • 0

If you won’t be offended by anything that is written below and/or in the posts that follow as this update will be spaced out over several….

Looking back at our ‘updates’ it saddens me to see that the last thing we wrote about was the 3 month wait of a silly couch from West Elm. (which we did love for the week + we had it)

Twins Game we went to while in MN with Kevin for his passed due fathers day gift.

In the middle of July we drove up to Rochester, MN for our annual visit to see family and friends. We had a WONDERFUL TIME! Cordie had a conference for golf instructors in Chicago on the way down, we stopped in Greenville, SC for an evening – hiked through Pisgah National Forest and tried to enjoy the constant slow traffic we faced the entire way home.

If you are ever in the area you must at least drive through here!

Water Falls we stopped at

I will never forget we had gotten into Jacksonville Beach, Cordie turned to me and said,

“I don’t know why you are so worried about the water Becky (our friend was graciously taking care of our plants and condo while we were gone and mentioned that just four days after we left there were puddles and puddles of water near our kitchen near our guest bathroom very far away from our glass doors that faced the ocean that she wiped up) found.”

I remember responding – we have no idea how bad it is…. If the condensation on the floor in the kitchen that was there from the moment we moved in/if our landlord knew of water issues/leaks yet didn’t disclose the information to us.

Month: September 2015