Two blessed to be stressed.

2019 has been quite the year for the Peterson Party!

After the big new year countdown I made the decision that in 2019 I was going to take time and find resources to work on becoming the best version of Brittany Peterson. Now don’t get me wrong; I know this process is going to take a whole lot longer than 365 days, but it only takes one day to make the decision that I am going to use each day ahead to actively work on being the best version of me for my husband, Gracee Rae, my family, colleagues and all those around me.

I have proudly jumped on the Rachel Hollis bandwagon after I thoroughly enjoyed reading “Girl Wash Your Face.” So when I heard that she was going to provide a monthly life coaching class for 2019, I instantly registered! This could have not come at a more perfect time as I had already decided 2019 was for working on my best and her life coaching classes have been my monthly checkpoint, as it challenges my habits, my perspective, and my health.

One practice that has changed my daily perspective is a daily act of gratitude. Rachel has a product called her “Start Today Journal“, where you start each day by writing down your big goals/dreams you are working towards, but before that she suggests writing down 5 things you are grateful for. This is a very humbling practice leaves me starting each day remembering how truly blessed I am.

I thought it would only be right to catch you up on what the Peterson Party has been up to through the first half of 2019, by listing 5 things we are COMPLETELY thankful for. 2019 has been a little bit of a roller coaster, but now looking back on the first half of the year we are BEYOND BLESSED!

#1 A healthy and happy two-year old!

Gracee Rae is two years old! Gracee – your daddy and I continue to be surprised by your developing personality. You always melt our hearts with your smile and little “love you’s”. Daddy and I catch each other’s eye when you’re playing, creating, or imagining, just to make sure each of us are watching you as your little mind works, because you always find a way to impress us! Speaking of impress us – your dance moves are the BEST! Your love for music always has us dancing to your favorites like Moana, tracks from the movie Sing, and the forever classic…Baby Shark.

We are so very blessed to have a two-year-old, who is two sweet, two funny, two independent, and who is loved by oh so many!!

#2 A little yellow house that provided us with many of our first memories as the Peterson party.

When you add a kiddo to the party, you also add all their stuff. We were quickly growing out of our first home and knew it was time to begin the search for a home where we could have some room to grow, so we listed our house at the first of the year and it was under contract within a week! This home provided us with so many memories, making this process very bittersweet.

Justin and I bought our first home in 2015, just 4 months before saying “I Do.” One of my first memories of the little yellow house was one evening, in the midst of the purchase process, I drove by the home, pulled in the driveway and began to pray. Praying and weeping over the home, asking for the Lord’s provision and blessings over the new marriage that it would help foster, for the guests who would join us, for our future family it would protect and for each moment made in the home were ones that were according to His purpose. Needless to say – He answered our prayers and then some.

Our first home provided us with some concrete Peterson Party memories that we will never forget:

• Hosting my bridesmaids for a sleepover the night before our wedding and then spending the morning drinking mimosas, singing/dancing and getting gussied up for the best day ever!
• Walking to and from Tacoma Rainiers’ games – being that we were so close to Cheney Stadium we were very convenient to pre-gaming and hosting the post game festivities.
• Seahawk games were rowdy and always watched in our living room! I know these memories will continue at our new home, but we’ll never forget the seasons that were played out here.
• Revealing that we were having a baby GIRL to our family and friends. They all stood on our front porch with either pink or blue foam fingers, as I pitched a baseball full of (pink) chalk to Justin, who smashed a home run revealing we were having a girl!
• I will cherish the monthly bump photos in front of our red door, as we counted down the days to Gracee’s arrival.
• This home holds most of Gracee’s firsts. We brought her home from the hospital to our little yellow house, we watched her crawl and take her first steps across those floors, we decorated her first Christmas tree and celebrated all of her holiday firsts.

The little yellow house will be one we drive by every once in a while just to reminisce. We will point it out to Gracee and remind her of all the memories it blessed us with. The little yellow house will always hold a BIG piece of my heart and I can only pray it continues to provide many precious memories to those that now call that little yellow house home.

#3 Our new home!

“Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18 (NKJV)

We went through quite the home selling/home purchasing process. If you haven’t heard the news lately, the real estate market in the South Puget Sound is HOT HOT HOT! Which like I said before, was great for selling our home, being that it was under contract within a week of hitting the market, but as for finding our next home it made for a trying process.

We began search with our eyes set on University Place, although it seemed as if any one was buying a house they were also looking at University Place, so if you liked a house you had to make a move. Well we weren’t finding anything within our parameters and at this point we had our house under contract – so we widened our search to include Gig Harbor.

With Gig Harbor comes a couple things – first, a toll as you cross the bridge every day and second, most of our family/friends lived on the other side of the bridge. We were willing to work through these factors if this is what God had in mind for us. With that said, a house came on the market in a great neighborhood, not too far from the bridge, perfect size, nice yard, just needed a little love of making it our own; this was the one. We made an offer, they accepted, so we packed and made arrangements for the 10 days in between closing on selling our old home and moving into what we thought would be our new home. Then “snowmageddon” hit the Pacific Northwest.

The Pacific Northwest was hit with over a foot of snow, which is not normal around here. We received a call the day before closing on our new Gig Harbor home, that due to the extreme cold a water pipe had burst in the home and had flooded the entire main floor. Talk about throwing a wrench in our situation. We had officially closed on our old home and didn’t know the plan on where our new home was, but we knew that He did. We pulled into the driveway of the Gig Harbor home, like I did at the little yellow house, and we prayed. Justin and I both felt a sigh of relief, when we decided to take this as a sign that this was not the house for us. It reminded me of another quote from my friend Rachel Hollis – “God has perfect timing, and it’s highly possible that by not being where you thought you should be, you will end up exactly where you’re meant to go.”

The search continued and that next weekend we looked at four different houses in University Place (where our search began). We walked into a home that reminded me of my North Tacoma roots and to quote our inspector “was a labor of love by the former owners.” This house IS everything we were asking for. The size, the yard, the hardwood floors, the finished kitchen with open floor plan, and the closets are perfect! We took Gracee through it and she walked around like it was her own – that’s when we knew this was it! After some negotiation, our offer to close quick swung in our favor and the house was ours!

We are very thankful for our real estate agent, Brandon Hjelseth, we completely appreciate his knowledge and care as he guided us through this home purchase process and would highly recommend him! Thankful for the HVAC serviceman who found the flood in the Gig Harbor home, in the nick of time before closing. Thankful for our family’s advice and for giving us a place to stay as we journeyed through this adventure (continue to the next paragraph for more). And so very thankful for God’s provision throughout the whole process. HE IS GOOD. HE IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!

#4 The village that supports us each step of the way!

It takes a village, could not be more true than throughout the moving process. This is especially true when you need to find a place to stay between selling an old house and finding a new one.

My Auntie and Uncle Jim were so very kind to allow us to stay at their home while they were away at their home in the sunshine of Arizona. When they first offered us their home as a place to stay it was for 10 days – little did any of us know this would turn into almost 2 months. Not to mention I thought we wouldn’t be at home much, because we would be out and about doing our daily routine. Then the snow hit and we were snowed in for over a week. I am forever thankful for my Auntie and Uncle Jim’s graciousness in allowing the Peterson Party to call their PNW house our home this winter. It was beyond a relief to know that when the Gig Harbor house fell through we didn’t need to worry about where we were temporarily headed next. Instead we could just focus on finding the house that was right for us. Gracee of course, was more than happy to be at Auntie Lisa’s because Auntie Lisa already had a playroom set up for her granddaughter, and was stocked full of new toys for Gracee to explore. In fact, I think her and Auntie Lisa have a new bond because of all the time she got to spend at her house. Again, so so so thankful for Auntie and Uncle Jim!

Thankful for the rest of our village (family and friends) who helped us pack boxes and move boxes across an ice rink that was our driveway at the time. Thankful for their help in loading and unloading a fully stocked POD. Thankful for our parents stashing the boxes that didn’t quite make it in the POD. Thankful in the end that we could all celebrate Gracee’s 2nd birthday and our 2nd house together! And so very thankful their time spent just hearing us talk through the next steps, crying during times of uncertainty, and encouragement when we needed it. Their support and prayers throughout this whirlwind of a process is truly what made it possible. Thankful will never do it justice.

#5 The Peterson Party

Thankful for my people – the Peterson Party. You two are what makes my world turn. Thankful that no matter what our circumstances may be, the two of you know how to make this mama smile.

Gracee Rae – thank you for being the most resilient two year old, you adjusted to every situation that was thrown your way. Whether you were knee deep in snow or traveling an extra 20 minutes to/from school with mama – you made the best of it! I don’t think mom and dad will ever top your 2nd birthday present of a new house (we got the keys on her birthday :)) but we will sure throw some great birthday parties in it.

Justin – we did it! I am so thankful to have you by my side throughout this process and throughout this thing called life. I am thankful that you are my logic in situations where I tend to rely on emotion. Thank you for taking care of and providing for your girls. You have found us a house that the Peterson Party can call home for many many years to come. We love you!

We are now at June of 2019 a good halfway check point and wow what a year it has been. As I continue on this journey of being the best version of myself, I look back on the first half of the year and am oh so thankful for God providing the Peterson Party with what is best – a healthy/happy two year old and a new home near the people we love most – for this we are BEYOND BLESSED! From a state of “feeling immensely blessed”, I am excited to see the possibilities of what the rest of 2019 holds!