master in the house

last saturday

my amazing husband graduated.

 

after 10 years of traveling,

studying,

late nights,

and papers i didn't understand when i proofread,

jeff earned his masters degree from western seminary.

they also asked him to be the student speaker.

i am so proud.

 

 

(one of jeff's besties, and his seminary partner in crime, jerrod rumley, also graduated on saturday
but couldn't be at the ceremony.
it wasn't the same without them!)

the tassel 

the hood

since jeff started seminary

he has gotten married

had 3 children

moved to 2 towns

and had 3 jobs.

i remember being in the hospital after having charlotte.

she came 2 days earlier than expected

so poor jeff was trying to write a paper in the hospital.

he has worked so hard.

i already thought he was amazing

now he's just given me one more reason to sing his praise.

i love that when i hear him preach 

i learn so much.

he is one smart guy!

it was special to celebrate with friends and family.

thanks to everyone that came out to celebrate him!

jeff's parents, jim & sue

his sister, jenny, & brother-in-law, kris

my mom, suzanne, and step-dad, ron

my aunt janice & uncle roger

sweet friends from davis, the geigers

more davis favorites, the dodds

 after the ceremony, we headed over to davis

(and were surprised to see more of our davis friends!  yay!)

the dodds had a great little party at their home.

we ate dos coyotes (mmmm...yucatan chicken salad!) and the kids swam.

thank you dodds!

here are some videos from the ceremony.

jeff's graduation speech

and him getting hooded and receiving his diploma

we are SO proud of you

jeffrey owen bachman.

i know God has amazing things ahead for you.

let's hear it for master bachman! 

vermont and stratford

this is the front of my house right now.

every time i pull up, it still feels strange that we are selling our home.

when we moved into this house, i thought this was it.

i always have a hard time leaving a house.

i'm not a very sentimental person about things.

it is easy for me to 'purge' all the stuff.

but there is something about a home.

you remember the moments that happened there.

sitting at the counter with my 'baby' brother for the year he lived with us.

eating popsicles in our new backyard that we waited so long to have.

bringing charlotte home for the first time.

i stand in the hallways and i remember my children

chasing each other down them for the past 2 1/2 years

growing older every day.

this house has memories.

so i am posting pictures.

more for myself than anything.

right now, everything is coming down.

it is being packed up, 

either to be sold or travel to the new house.

but it already feels different.

i post these pictures to remember.

513 w vermont.....

you've been a good home and we will miss you.

you have been a symbol of God's provision in our lives.

He gives us so much more than we expect or deserve.

oh kitchen.  i love you.  the perfect place to bake cookies with bella or cook for a party.  i was always in disbelief that i had a kitchen quite this lovely.

they  call it the 'dream kitchen'.  they were not lying.

a pass-through fireplace means 2 mantles.  heaven.

dining room.  lots of sweet memories at this table.

oh backyard.  you are so pretty. we dreamed what you would look like for several years.  we've only had you for a few months, but we've enjoyed you so.

pretty french doors and tall ceilings with (sigh) crown molding

i heart rounded doorways.  and mantles.  but not carpet.

master bedroom.  i JUST painted this wall and added the lovely wall decal. isn't it pretty?  i wanted it for a LONG time.  i'm trying to figure out how to do this again in a portable fashion :)

my first grown-up tub.  used more by kids than me, but it was nice to have so much space, especially when i was pregnant with charlotte :)

playroom!  we've had fun in here!  we're going to miss a place that you can 'just close the door on the toys'

the caterpillar from charlotte's party is still up on the wall... going to need a ladder for that!

i loved going with fun, bright colors.  and i let the kids post their artwork on the walls.  it was busy, but kinda the only place in the house that felt that way, which made it ok with me

i love this table and family tree in our hallway

guest bathroom... makes me think of all the times i had to bug my brother to clean it :)  we miss you jakie!

jackson & bella's room. originally, this was jackson's jungle room.  but charlotte meant a shared room for the big kids.  we kept it simple with a fun, painted wall.  i enjoyed making all the 'accessories' for the room myself for pennies!

so we are sad to leave this home.

but as always, 

our God is faithful to provide for all our needs.

a week ago, i headed down to the OC to find a home for my family.

my sweet friend, cam, came with me.

we left friday and had to find a house by saturday evening.

there are lots of details i could tell you, 

but the bottom line is...

God gave us a home for our family.

again.

it is tiny but perfect.

34 stratford...

we can't wait to start making memories in you.

the living room is bright and clean with pretty laminate floors and a mantel

this bright, white kitchen makes me think of our last house.  i'm already looking forward to the things the kids and i will bake in this oven.

BACK PATIO!!!!!  this back patio is totally unheard of for the area.  every other home had a tiny concrete sidewalk for a backyard.  how much fun are we going to have back here?  art projects, campouts, bbqs... 

charlotte's new bedroom.  how cute are the shelves?  

hi, house!!!

a park next to jackson's new school 

jackson's new school!  brywood elementary.  

another park so close!  these things are everywhere!

neighborhood pool!


thank you to everyone who has helped us as we attempt to pack our home.
we are still hoping to sell 513 w vermont, but we trust that God is going to take care of all the details.

for now, we are going to take these last few days to remember the good things on vermont
and anticipate the exciting things to come on stratford.

our new address (as of august 25th):
34 stratford
irvine, ca 92620

love her already

my baby brother is almost a daddy!

jakie and his fabulous, beautiful wife, stephanie, 

are expecting a little girl next month.

i had the privilege of taking some pictures of this lovely couple.

stephanie is just glowing....

it was so fun to be a part of this special time in my brother and sister's lives.

sweet macie

we can't wait to meet you

i love you already!

more details....

before starting this, i'd like to apologize to everyone who had to hear we are moving from the blog, a friend, or facebook.  we had so many people we wanted to tell personally, and the time crunch simply did not give us the time to do that.   

we have been overwhelmed by your love, support, and encouragement as we make this huge life transition.

thank you for the calls, messages & texts...

i apologize if i have been unable to respond to them- 

it has been a crazy week.

many of you have asked for more details on our move, 

so i thought i'd share how it all happened and where we are now.

3 years ago, i went on a trip with our then-kids connection team of mary, brooke, & jen.

we headed down south to check out 3 different churches' children's ministries.

the first two churches were nice, but not really 'us'.

then we went to rockharbor.

after spending the morning touring their facility and meeting with their team, 

i was in love.

i remember leaning over to jen in the backseat of mary's prius and telling her,

'that place felt like home'.

it is a church that we have always admired and respected, 

and seen as a place that held tightly to god's word.

there is a very short list of places/churches where jeff & i have said 

we would be willing to move.

rockharbor was always on that list.

but even when jeff came home and told me about the opportunity there, 

i truly believed in my heart there was no way we were leaving the well.

jeff left for israel and i spent 2 weeks just trying to keep 3 kids alive.

when he came home, we immediately left for pondo camp.

while at pondo, jeff met with a few people from rockharbor.

it really wasn't until after that meeting that the possibility of the whole thing even was on the table.

that was the beginning of july.

a few weeks later, we went on a quick overnight trip down.

jeff had the opportunity to meet with some key parents 

and preach at their 7 & 9pm (so late!!) services.

we absolutely loved the people, the staff, the church.

again, it felt like home.

needless to say, this sent my little head into a total tailspin.

the how? why? no way! started screaming in my head.

but then i decided to just pray.

i prayed in the shower, as i cooked, played with my kids, drove, laid in bed... pretty much constantly.

jeff did the same.

while the obstacles still seemed overwhelming, 

my heart, my mind was all confident that God was doing something new in our lives.

so jeff accepted the position of high school pastor at rockharbor church.

he will have the opportunity to be a part of their 7 & 9 pm services 

(i'll be sleeping!)

and get to preach occasionally... which he loves to do.

(and i may be biased, but i think he's pretty amazing).

we are so excited to join this new church family.

and the amazing weather, beautiful beaches, and disneyland so close doesn't hurt!

while we are excited about the future,

this month is so hard.

we LOVE the people here.

saying goodbye is not easy.

tonight is jeff's last wsm.

he has been here for 6 years and absolutely adores his students and leaders.

this sunday is my last day with kids connection.

it is so strange to close the chapter on such a huge part of your life.

we are currently attempting to pack up our home,

(seriously... packing with 3 kids is sheer silliness.  you pack it, they unpack it....)

prepare for the biggest yard sale ever

(august 20th... we are pretty much selling EVERYTHING!)

and then loading the uhaul the evening of august 24th.

august 25th we drive to our new home.

our new church.

our new life.

right now, i am feeling a little overwhelmed with how much there is to do.

my to-do list (which i normally love)

has stretched into several pages.

there are so many people we want to have time with, but the reality is... 

we only have 9 more days (counting graduation/yard sale/etc.)

i apologize in advance if we are unable to hang out.... 

packing/sorting is a full-time job right now!

know that we love each and every one of you.

you have impacted and shaped our lives, and we are forever grateful.

we look forward to continuing relationships... just from farther away.

in the meantime, please pray that we can sell our home here!

God has graciously provided a sweet little house for us in irvine to rent.

(i'll tell you all about it tomorrow!)

 but we definitely can't afford to have a mortgage and a rent!

if you know anyone interested in buying a home, here is the link to our listing.

it is a really lovely house!

bittersweet

in the fall of 1998, i was a student at fresno state.

i was in a voice class with a friend, scottie.

he invited me to go on a retreat with his church.

the speaker on the retreat was a guy from texas, brad,

and his new wife, jen.

on the retreat, i quickly clicked with jen & another girl, stacy.

we left the weekend as fast friends.

the following summer, brad & jen moved to fresno 

to take on the college ministry at northwest.

after years of searching for a church, i finally felt like i was home.

the remnant ministry 

became college life

which eventually became the well.

jeff & i married in 2001, and 10 months into marriage felt called to ministry in davis.

but a piece of our hearts were always at the well.

in 2005, we had the opportunity to return to fresno,

and jeff got his dream job.

leading the youth ministry for the well.

for the past 6 years

(but really 12)

the well has been our home.

the people our family.

our heart lives here.

we moved into our house 2 years ago. 

 i had already figured out which rooms the kids would have when they were teenagers.

jeff was going to get old and gray doing ministry alongside his friends.

i had it all planned out.

sometimes God has different plans.

this summer, God put an opportunity in front of us.

a whole new set of plans.

a new life.

at first, i said no way.

i kicked my feet.

i said it would not happen.

but then, i decided to pray.

to still my mind and listen-

listen to the One who is truly in control of my life.

i don't know that i have ever prayed this much in my entire life,

so earnestly sought the Lord's direction.

 i am confident that He has provided that for us.

it is with a myriad of emotions that i tell you-

we are moving.

jeff has accepted a position at rockharbor church in costa mesa.

(i will post more details soon... but not today.)

i am so excited for him.

for us.

for what God is going to do.

as excited as i am for the future

is how broken-hearted i am to leave.

my church

my family

my friends

my home

my support

my heart

it is all here.

but God is calling us to go.

and i want to be faithful to where He is leading

because i know His plans are always so much better than mine.

so i ask for your prayers

as we try to sell our home

find a new one

pack up our lives

finish up two ministries

enroll jackson in a new kindergarten 

(and try to prepare him for change)

and say 'see you soon' to the people who we love so much

sometimes life is bittersweet.

but i'm thankful for a God who is faithful.

always.