sunday morning during the second service at church, the pastor's wives got together to have coffee. it was good getting to meet and talk to them. after church, jim & erica and a young adult couple who we had never met before (the parmer's) and the family fusion guy carlos and his family and us went out for pizza. then, john and i headed for elizabethtown (1hr 45min west) for some surprise john had been planning for me. we first hung out with the muellers (including the newbie, sheila) and then tried to find the gosselin's (jon & kate plus 8) old house unsuccessfully then went downtown and had dinner and went to a Lovedrug show! that was the surprise part - the show. soooooo sweet and thoughtful of my sweet and thoughtful husband. :-) it made me very happy.
(by the way, the only people who will really care about this is olivia, rebecca, and david (and olivia already knows about it)...BUT a weekend or 2 ago, john and i got online to buy tickets for The Juliana Theory's reunion and final tour ever concert in philly...they were going to play the Emotion is Dead album all the freakin way through...and i'll be darned if tickets plus every other charge on the planet added up to almost $100, so we decided that was not wise use of our $$$) UGH!!!!
today i decorated john's office, we opened a bank account, and did laundry. the end.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
my first shopping adventure
 | |||||
| the phone is for a size reference |
thursday, john and i looked at more houses, and i took a nap.
friday, i shopped, took a nap, then went to the young adult bible study.
today, we looked at more houses, took a nap, then had dinner with 3 young adult couples.
o yeah - thursday my car got delivered! woo hoo! i was so excited that i even got choked up walking over to it. ha. sounds lame, but it was just so nice to see a little more familiarity - something i don't have much of right now. i'll probably get choked up, too, when all of our stuff gets delivered to whichever house we decide to purchase.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
the week of house hunting
boy, it is hard backtracking over the past couple of days now that i'm trying to think of how to recap what's been going on...
ok, here goes nothing.
monday, i slept in (again)(it's become an everyday thing), and john picked me up at 12:30 to meet with the realtor to look at more houses. so we did that all afternoon, came home, took a nap (again)(also, has become an everyday thing), and relaxed that evening. had ice cream for dinner. which, by the way, they don't have blue bell ice cream up here YET there is a town called blue bell 20 minutes down the road. unbelievable!
tuesday, i actually got up and went up to the church with john at 10. i met up with the worship guy (jim) and auditioned for the worship team. and, drum roll please...................................i made it! yay! then john and i went to lunch with him at el cactus (take a wild guess what kind of food they serve). it was very good. i was surprised, considering the lack of creativity used when naming their restaurant. :-) i, then, took the car (remember we still only have john's car - mine's supposed to be delivered tomorrow - keep fingers crossed) and went to hang out with the jim's wife, erica, and 2 year old son, judson, at their house. we visited while we waited on jim & john to get there, and FOUR hours later they mozied in. at that point, we just stayed there for 15 extra minutes then headed straight over the hange's house for dinner. they're another young adult couple that's actively involved at calvary and are fun fun fun to be around. sarah made a roast and cheesy potatoes, which is apparently a traditional lancaster county food (where she grew up - an hour to the west).
today, john got a ride to the church with jim, so i drove up there at 11 to meet with the realtor again. we looked at 5 or 6 more houses. liked 1. it's actually super old and is on the national registry for historic homes or whatever you call it. it's super cool and full of character, but it's right up on the corner of 2 roads with a 4-way stop (not too sure how busy the roads are), no garage, no sidewalks, but it does have a cool in-law suite in the back. i don't know...we'll see. and we had sonic for lunch. our realtor was like - o! this is a fun place...i've got to bring my grandkids here. and john and i were like - duh! :-)
then, we came home, and i took a nap, then we met up with jim, erica, & judson at the harleysville hotel (which i'm not even sure is still a hotel at all) restaurant for dinner and then drove down to rita's to get water ice (our first water ice experience). water ice is similar to snowballs, but the flavor is not poured over the ice like a snowball. it's already mixed in, and the fruity ones sometimes have some fruit pieces in them. it was yummy. i got chocolate.
when we got home, john and i sat down at the dining room table and sorted through all of the house print-outs and weeded out certain ones and made a list of ones to drive by tomorrow. we have a list of about 6 or so of ones that we like. all i'm sayin is this process needs to get done quick cuz i'm ready to settle into a home of my own up here. i'm starting to get kind of antsy.
goodnight.
ok, here goes nothing.
monday, i slept in (again)(it's become an everyday thing), and john picked me up at 12:30 to meet with the realtor to look at more houses. so we did that all afternoon, came home, took a nap (again)(also, has become an everyday thing), and relaxed that evening. had ice cream for dinner. which, by the way, they don't have blue bell ice cream up here YET there is a town called blue bell 20 minutes down the road. unbelievable!
tuesday, i actually got up and went up to the church with john at 10. i met up with the worship guy (jim) and auditioned for the worship team. and, drum roll please...................................i made it! yay! then john and i went to lunch with him at el cactus (take a wild guess what kind of food they serve). it was very good. i was surprised, considering the lack of creativity used when naming their restaurant. :-) i, then, took the car (remember we still only have john's car - mine's supposed to be delivered tomorrow - keep fingers crossed) and went to hang out with the jim's wife, erica, and 2 year old son, judson, at their house. we visited while we waited on jim & john to get there, and FOUR hours later they mozied in. at that point, we just stayed there for 15 extra minutes then headed straight over the hange's house for dinner. they're another young adult couple that's actively involved at calvary and are fun fun fun to be around. sarah made a roast and cheesy potatoes, which is apparently a traditional lancaster county food (where she grew up - an hour to the west).
today, john got a ride to the church with jim, so i drove up there at 11 to meet with the realtor again. we looked at 5 or 6 more houses. liked 1. it's actually super old and is on the national registry for historic homes or whatever you call it. it's super cool and full of character, but it's right up on the corner of 2 roads with a 4-way stop (not too sure how busy the roads are), no garage, no sidewalks, but it does have a cool in-law suite in the back. i don't know...we'll see. and we had sonic for lunch. our realtor was like - o! this is a fun place...i've got to bring my grandkids here. and john and i were like - duh! :-)
then, we came home, and i took a nap, then we met up with jim, erica, & judson at the harleysville hotel (which i'm not even sure is still a hotel at all) restaurant for dinner and then drove down to rita's to get water ice (our first water ice experience). water ice is similar to snowballs, but the flavor is not poured over the ice like a snowball. it's already mixed in, and the fruity ones sometimes have some fruit pieces in them. it was yummy. i got chocolate.
when we got home, john and i sat down at the dining room table and sorted through all of the house print-outs and weeded out certain ones and made a list of ones to drive by tomorrow. we have a list of about 6 or so of ones that we like. all i'm sayin is this process needs to get done quick cuz i'm ready to settle into a home of my own up here. i'm starting to get kind of antsy.
goodnight.
Monday, August 23, 2010
first sunday at calvary
i'm sitting outside on the back porch where it is 77 degrees, no humidity, and a nice breeze. aaaaahhhhhhh. take that louisiana. haha. just kidding. but really, it's beautiful today.
yesterday, however, was rainy and kinda chilly. our first sunday at calvary went off without a hitch. we went to the young adult abf (adult bible fellowship) where we sat at a table with 3 very fun couples. i can totally see myself being friends with them. they said they are the bad kids who tend to talk when they should be listening, which totally proved true when we were assigned to read a passage, we had NO IDEA what we were supposed to be reading. the people around here are very active, too, which i think is cool. they were listing all of the events that were going on over the next few weeks, and it was like 6 things. cool stuff like rafting, tubing, picnics, pig roasts, etc.
the church service was great. saw a bunch of people we know and got to know a bunch more.
after church, we went to wawa and got lunch (i think we've eaten there every day so far). haha. i had THE BEST tuna salad sandwich i've ever had in my entire life. i mean, other than mom's. ;-) we then met up with our realtor at 1pm and drove up to quakertown and looked at 5 or 6 homes. we liked 1. then we relaxed for the rest of the evening while doing laundry and knitting.
john's about to pick me up to go look at some more houses! the never-ending process.
sorry no pics this time.
yesterday, however, was rainy and kinda chilly. our first sunday at calvary went off without a hitch. we went to the young adult abf (adult bible fellowship) where we sat at a table with 3 very fun couples. i can totally see myself being friends with them. they said they are the bad kids who tend to talk when they should be listening, which totally proved true when we were assigned to read a passage, we had NO IDEA what we were supposed to be reading. the people around here are very active, too, which i think is cool. they were listing all of the events that were going on over the next few weeks, and it was like 6 things. cool stuff like rafting, tubing, picnics, pig roasts, etc.
the church service was great. saw a bunch of people we know and got to know a bunch more.
after church, we went to wawa and got lunch (i think we've eaten there every day so far). haha. i had THE BEST tuna salad sandwich i've ever had in my entire life. i mean, other than mom's. ;-) we then met up with our realtor at 1pm and drove up to quakertown and looked at 5 or 6 homes. we liked 1. then we relaxed for the rest of the evening while doing laundry and knitting.
john's about to pick me up to go look at some more houses! the never-ending process.
sorry no pics this time.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
friday & saturday
yesterday, we had lunch with a couple of people on calvary's staff who are our age. we went to a hole in the wall vietnamese restaurant, which was quite tasty. we had lots of laughs. very cool people. took a nap that afternoon and then went to a young adult bible study and had fun hanging out with those people. got icees on the way home at the wawa.
today, we got up and borrowed the calvary van and drove into philadelphia to pick up some furniture that we bought from my cousin brad. mom, this is for you...
some pics from the drive...
i took another nap this afternoon, and then this evening, we had dinner with the allison's. for those of you who aren't the boudreaux's, the allison's are friends of the boudreaux's who live up here but come visit them every year in louisiana. we've gotten to know them that way, and it turns out that our temporary home is only 3 miles down the road from their house. we must take advantage of this. :-) john played with sarah (8 years old) pretty much the whole time ranging from monopoly jr. to pet shop to magic shows...
today, we got up and borrowed the calvary van and drove into philadelphia to pick up some furniture that we bought from my cousin brad. mom, this is for you...
some pics from the drive...
i took another nap this afternoon, and then this evening, we had dinner with the allison's. for those of you who aren't the boudreaux's, the allison's are friends of the boudreaux's who live up here but come visit them every year in louisiana. we've gotten to know them that way, and it turns out that our temporary home is only 3 miles down the road from their house. we must take advantage of this. :-) john played with sarah (8 years old) pretty much the whole time ranging from monopoly jr. to pet shop to magic shows...
Thursday, August 19, 2010
the happenings of our first thursday in pa
well, nothing too exciting, really...
we spent a bunch of time up at the church figuring out how to arrange john's MASSIVE desk in his office. we finally got it situated after unscrewing the 3 work surfaces from each other and reconfigured them in the most creative/welcoming/functional/space efficient way possible. i can't wait to accessorize! you know i'll post pictures once i have it beautifully decorated, but you won't get any til then. ;-)
can i just say that the staff at calvary church is AMAZING! they are so friendly and welcoming and genuine...so refreshing!! the people up here really are great (so far we haven't had any run-ins with the rude people that are rumored to be in this area of the country).
apparently, up here it is socially acceptable to eat meals from gas stations. who knew? this is one of the many wawas...
gas station...convenience store...and home of incredible lunch foods. their sandwiches in particular. i, of course, got chicken strips, but whatever. :-) you put your order in on this touch screen computer thingy, and you get your order like 5 minutes later. very cool, and like i said, you don't have to be embarrassed that you're eating convenience store food. haha.
john and i made a trip up to quakertown this afternoon to go shoe shopping and guess what we stumbled upon...???!!!!
another sonic!! it was the best oreo blast with extra oreos i've ever had, seriously!! i'm pretty sure i downed it in about 7 minutes. ok, i promise that's the last picture i'll post about sonic. but you get the point. john found some shoes, by the way. :-)
we spent a bunch of time up at the church figuring out how to arrange john's MASSIVE desk in his office. we finally got it situated after unscrewing the 3 work surfaces from each other and reconfigured them in the most creative/welcoming/functional/space efficient way possible. i can't wait to accessorize! you know i'll post pictures once i have it beautifully decorated, but you won't get any til then. ;-)
can i just say that the staff at calvary church is AMAZING! they are so friendly and welcoming and genuine...so refreshing!! the people up here really are great (so far we haven't had any run-ins with the rude people that are rumored to be in this area of the country).
apparently, up here it is socially acceptable to eat meals from gas stations. who knew? this is one of the many wawas...
gas station...convenience store...and home of incredible lunch foods. their sandwiches in particular. i, of course, got chicken strips, but whatever. :-) you put your order in on this touch screen computer thingy, and you get your order like 5 minutes later. very cool, and like i said, you don't have to be embarrassed that you're eating convenience store food. haha.
john and i made a trip up to quakertown this afternoon to go shoe shopping and guess what we stumbled upon...???!!!!
another sonic!! it was the best oreo blast with extra oreos i've ever had, seriously!! i'm pretty sure i downed it in about 7 minutes. ok, i promise that's the last picture i'll post about sonic. but you get the point. john found some shoes, by the way. :-)
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
our first few days
we've been keeping pretty busy since we've gotten here.
monday was john's first day in the office. we went to lunch with some of the staff and then looked at houses for the rest of the day. that evening we had dinner at the worship pastor's house. very cool people!
tuesday, john had some morning meetings, then we went to look at houses for the rest of the day again. that night seemed like a great night to relax at "home" so that's just what we did.
today, john had a meeting this morning, then he came home to pick me up (i'm still without a car). we tracked down this great place to eat lunch...
SONICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! our lifeblood. haha. sonics are few and far between up here, so we had to drive a couple of towns over to find one. but we did! and you'd better believe that they'll get to know john on a first name basis in about a month or so.
we then drove over to a city called king of prussia and went to their HUGE mall to find john some jeans. we were successful, and it was a fun day.
monday was john's first day in the office. we went to lunch with some of the staff and then looked at houses for the rest of the day. that evening we had dinner at the worship pastor's house. very cool people!
tuesday, john had some morning meetings, then we went to look at houses for the rest of the day again. that night seemed like a great night to relax at "home" so that's just what we did.
today, john had a meeting this morning, then he came home to pick me up (i'm still without a car). we tracked down this great place to eat lunch...
SONICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! our lifeblood. haha. sonics are few and far between up here, so we had to drive a couple of towns over to find one. but we did! and you'd better believe that they'll get to know john on a first name basis in about a month or so.
we then drove over to a city called king of prussia and went to their HUGE mall to find john some jeans. we were successful, and it was a fun day.
homes
our temporary home
the tarr residence...
our upstairs bedroom...
we've only hit our heads on the ceiling every time we walk through the room. :-)
not sure if you can see it behind the pillows, but that's a window a/c unit. yep, that means no central air. haha. we don't have much experience with that. it really hasn't been bad though. you just have to be strategic about it. close this door, turn on this window unit along with the ceiling fan, and then use this box fan to blow air into this room...did i mention that for the 3 days we've been here it's been in the 80s and humid? :-)
our bathroom...
we get to bathe on the beach!
house hunting
we saw 3 houses on monday and 4 yesterday.
we loved one we saw on monday. it's a 3-story 160 year old victorian on main street in telford that's owned by the bank (aka awesome selling price). it's walking distance to restaurants and the train station and a 5-10 minute drive to calvary. it's got awesome wood floors, updated kitchen, and just a cool looking house.
we loved one we saw yesterday too. it's a 2-story 50 year old house that's in a precious neighborhood in telford, as well, with a ball park across the street. the curb appeal isn't as awesome as the other one, but it's fully renovated which is highly appealing.
we'll see! we need to sell our condo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please pray!!!
the tarr residence...
our upstairs bedroom...
we've only hit our heads on the ceiling every time we walk through the room. :-)
not sure if you can see it behind the pillows, but that's a window a/c unit. yep, that means no central air. haha. we don't have much experience with that. it really hasn't been bad though. you just have to be strategic about it. close this door, turn on this window unit along with the ceiling fan, and then use this box fan to blow air into this room...did i mention that for the 3 days we've been here it's been in the 80s and humid? :-)
our bathroom...
we get to bathe on the beach!
house hunting
we saw 3 houses on monday and 4 yesterday.
we loved one we saw on monday. it's a 3-story 160 year old victorian on main street in telford that's owned by the bank (aka awesome selling price). it's walking distance to restaurants and the train station and a 5-10 minute drive to calvary. it's got awesome wood floors, updated kitchen, and just a cool looking house.
we loved one we saw yesterday too. it's a 2-story 50 year old house that's in a precious neighborhood in telford, as well, with a ball park across the street. the curb appeal isn't as awesome as the other one, but it's fully renovated which is highly appealing.
we'll see! we need to sell our condo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please pray!!!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
moving day & the drive to pennsylvania
thursday, august 12, 2010
atlas van lines (northlake moving & storage) sent candy and andrew over to begin packing. being the good little organizer that i should be, i had purple sticky notes all over everything telling the packers to pack, not to pack, and what was "early out" stuff.
friday, august 13, 2010
yes, we decided to move on friday the 13th. we may have "paid" for it a little bit...keep reading, you'll see. :-)
john and i stayed up until 3:30am that morning trying to get last minute stuff done - loading up our car, etc. we rolled out of bed at 8:00am, and the movers arrived at 8:30. they packed all day...
i did some touch-up painting as they loaded up our 3 smartmove pods...
they took my car (it was going to be transported on a carrier) and the pods and the workers were gone by 4:00pm.
(john's dad was going to pick up the couch the next day...it was theirs to begin with)
then, as john was walking out of the condo for one of the last times...
...he noticed a trickle of water coming down the wall from where our air conditioning vent was in the ceiling...a moment later, a stream of water began pouring out of the vent...
this was john catching the water in his hand, which by the way, did not work very well. our carpet got soaked. i had thankfully stashed an extra trash bag in the pantry, so we used it to catch the water. john borrowed a screwdriver from a neighbor and took the vent cover off and water gushed out all over john, the wall, and the carpet. this was john for the next hour and fifteen minutes...
we think the water stopped dripping. we're not really sure. haha. we were DONE. DONE with everything related to the condo and anything else in covington. it was time to GO. we left and dropped off our trash at the dumpster in the complex, and as john threw one of the bags away, an empty lemonade plastic bottle fell out. he threw it really hard into the dumpster opening, and it bounced off the edge of the opening and nailed me square in the eyeball. i immediately burst into tears because (a) it hurt seriously bad and (b) the stress of the day came crashing down on me all at once. poor john felt TERRIBLE. luckily, it only took about 3 minutes to start laughing at the situation. we then had to swing by john's dad's house to give him our cable box for him to return for us to slidell since our little water issue pushed us into leaving too late to be able to return the thing. then...we FINALLY got on the road...at 6:00pm! ugh.
we made it to birmingham at 11pm and spent the night with john's good friend, steve, and his family.
saturday, august 14, 2010
we slept in and got lunch with them at panera bread and got back on the road a little before 1pm. we made it to roanoke, va between 10 and 11pm, hotel hunted, and decided on country inn and suites.
sunday, august 15, 2010
we got up, ate hotel breakfast, and got back on the road at 10:45am. the scenery for the next few hours was GORGEOUS. the pictures hardly do it justice...
it was pretty cloudy, and yes, i took these pictures as i was driving.
we finally arrived at our temporary home in harleysville, pa around 6:00pm. we stepped out of the car and it was a lovely 70 degrees outside - granted it was sprinkling - but 70! nice!
so, there ya go...there's our moving day and our drive to pennsylvania. :-)
atlas van lines (northlake moving & storage) sent candy and andrew over to begin packing. being the good little organizer that i should be, i had purple sticky notes all over everything telling the packers to pack, not to pack, and what was "early out" stuff.
 |
| after 2 hours of packing on thursday evening |
friday, august 13, 2010
yes, we decided to move on friday the 13th. we may have "paid" for it a little bit...keep reading, you'll see. :-)
john and i stayed up until 3:30am that morning trying to get last minute stuff done - loading up our car, etc. we rolled out of bed at 8:00am, and the movers arrived at 8:30. they packed all day...
then, as john was walking out of the condo for one of the last times...
we made it to birmingham at 11pm and spent the night with john's good friend, steve, and his family.
saturday, august 14, 2010
we slept in and got lunch with them at panera bread and got back on the road a little before 1pm. we made it to roanoke, va between 10 and 11pm, hotel hunted, and decided on country inn and suites.
sunday, august 15, 2010
we got up, ate hotel breakfast, and got back on the road at 10:45am. the scenery for the next few hours was GORGEOUS. the pictures hardly do it justice...
we finally arrived at our temporary home in harleysville, pa around 6:00pm. we stepped out of the car and it was a lovely 70 degrees outside - granted it was sprinkling - but 70! nice!
so, there ya go...there's our moving day and our drive to pennsylvania. :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)