Love Your Neighbor As Yourself...

"And the greatest Commandment is this: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Well.....it's been a hot minute since I've blogged.

Food is still awesome. Relationships are still fun/work.

If you'll indulge me, please buckle up and consume what I'm feeling.

One relationship that I never in a million years would ever expect to be difficult is the relationship people have with their neighbors.

If you've known Phil and I long enough, then you know who we are. We are kind and loving people. Literally, we'll be friends with everyone if they'll let us. We are both people pleasers. We are hard workers who have quite literally fought our entire relationship to try to feel stable. We could write a book on all the obstacles we have overcome. We are crazy budgeters. We pass zero judgements on anyone. We are not nosy, catty, or gossipy people. We love to celebrate other people and their accomplishments and are here to listen when someone is struggling. Positivity is always our ultimate goal.

We've been in our dream home for about a year and a half now and my goodness it has been anything but easy--late start date due to rains, delivering a baby in the middle of it all, issues with construction and covenants.....idk.....probably anything you could think of. I've honestly blocked most of it out because I choose joy. You get the picture. Owning two houses the last year has been the hardest for me. I felt like there were constantly major expense issues going on at the old house that took Phil's time and our money. More so than the fact that we were paying for two houses. We fully expected to sell quickly, therefore we took out the smallest loan possible. Guess what----we maxed that out pretty quickly. So we've been pinching pennies trying to get things completed around here.

THANKFULLY....we sold our house a little over a month ago and have been able to accomplish some big projects in that time! Phil.....being the awesome person that he is....is also now spending a majority of his free time helping his brother build HIS house.

He's freaking amazing....period.

We have literally been on top of the world lately. Feeling so good about everything we're accomplishing. Knowing that for the rest of our lives, we get to say that we physically built our home. No contractors. Just one kickass dude named Phil.

So, imagine our surprise when we get informed that some of our neighbors have been complaining about our house. It STUNG. I'll be honest, I didn't even understand why the things that weren't up to our neighbor's standards were an inconvenience to them. Then it hurt because here we've been pinching pennies trying to get things finished, literally never going a single day without working on the house. We were so tired, but continuing to bust our asses. Then there was a complaint about my kids leaving toys out in OUR yard and I about lost it. hahahaha.....what????! We get over things SUPER easily.....but this is just not one we have been able to let go of.

Come talk to us. Express your concerns. Ask if we need help.....We can appreciate and respect that. Passing judgment, regardless if you know the whole story or not, is just not a good vibe on anyone.

Now, we just feel unwelcome. We feel like we can't trust anyone. It kills me. We have dreamed of living here and love the community so much. Now, we just hide in our house/yard feeling like nobody in our neighborhood wants to talk to us.

Frankly, ya'll know me, I don't let negative/toxic people in my life, POSITIVE PEOPLE THAT LIFT ONE ANOTHER UP ONLY, YA'LL!

We're ready to move on and hang out with the people in our neighborhood that are positive lights, because we know there are many of them, but I felt like our feelings needed to be heard/shared.

ABSOLUTELY NO NEGATIVE COMMENTS, PLEASE! <3

As the saying goes, "In a world full of hate, be a light." God didn't put us here to judge. He wants us to love one another. So let's keep doing that, yall! The world needs it! =)