Our First Home

Tuff and I married in June 2008 in Staples, MN. Immediately following the wedding, we took a ten day honeymoon throughout Minnesota.  Sounds fun and typical to honeymoon after the wedding, but what made this honeymoon different was this was our home. You see, we didn't have a home, apartment or even a location to live because Tuff was in between jobs. Just weeks before he was released from the New Orleans Saints. That means he was fired 😉.

Thus the start of our married and moving journey began. We stayed put in Staples, MN and house sat for the Erholtz's while they were on vacation. We also lived at my parents' house for a few weeks, then traveled to Spokane, WA for the Edwards's wedding where we had all intentions of house sitting while they honeymooned in Europe. However Tuff got picked up by the Tennessee Titans to play some more football. So we moved to Nashville and lived in an Extended Stay America for a few weeks followed by a fully furnished month to month rental in Green Hills, then our friends The Pleasant's home for a few weeks in between apartments, then a one bedroom basement apartment, all in Nashville. One year later we sold all our Craigslisted furniture and relocated to Pittsburgh where we lived in a 400 square foot, really cute waterfront apartment. The next year, still in Pittsburgh we lived  in an old hotel, The Allegheny, for a few months, then with our friend Maggie in between places, finding out if Tuff would get to keep his job playing football or not. When we found out he'd get to keep his job with the Steelers, we moved to an attic and third story house apartment in Troy Hill, Pittsburgh where we stayed for almost two years. Most people considered this a sketchy part of town (hence the cheap rent) but we loved it. Part of that time Tuff moved to Edmonton, Canada to play football and stayed with two other teammates in a hotel.

As if things weren't interesting enough, we left Pittsburgh and lived with my parents in Minnesota in the downstairs of their home for five months with our first baby, Grace Goodie, who was two months old at the time. Then we moved to Colstrip, MT with Tuff's cousins The Green's .  Grace slept in the office and us in the guest bedroom. A few months later we moved to the Heights in Billings, MT for six months with Tuff's cousins The Lyman's. During that time in Billings we searched for homes but didn't pull the trigger or didn't win the bids on foreclosed homes. We really weren't sure of our future plans or if we would stay in Billings.

Then came an incredible blessing. Tuff's cousins, The Caton's, needed a renter for their Billings home while they relocated with the army. The timing was a godsend and so was the past three years we rented from them.  Since living in thier house, we added a dog and two more bundles of joy.  

Fast forward to today. Today we purchased the Caton home and it is our first home. Feels weird to say we are homeowners. We don't even have to move!

We want to say thank you to all who were involved with our journey, our many past living arrangements, the help with housing us or moving us or welcoming us in your city.

Especially, thank you Caton family, for blessing us beyond measure.

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:38‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

http://bible.com/114/luk.6.38.nkjv