o my goodness! where do i start?! i have been overwhelmed by God's goodness and His love for us. He truly knows the desires of our hearts, and as we align ourselves with his will, He blesses His people. We prayed for quite some time for a young adult pastor job for john, a house, and a baby, but above all, we wanted God's will and His timing for it all. The waiting game was really, really hard...continually trusting day after day that God was hearing our prayers but was waiting for the right time to answer them. i caught myself a number of times doubting that God cared enough to answer. i am thankful for a husband who challenges and encourages my faith to grow deeper and stronger.
on monday, while john was at the closing, i was directing the movers where to put stuff in the house. within 30 minutes of being at the house, one of our next door neighbors came over to introduce himself and gave me a couple of flowers. so sweet!! he actually came back again that night and brought a fruit basket. jill tarr (who we were living with) came over and cleaned our 2 bathrooms, living room, and part of the kitchen from top to bottom. she was a life-saver (i'm not a big fan of cleaning). our other next door neighbor came over after her kids got home from school (they go to our church), and she gave us the spare key the old owners let them have (they'll probably be getting it back :-). she also gave us the blooming glen mennonite family recipe cookbook, which apparently is a tradition in blooming glen to give your new neighbors when they move in. so cute. john spent the evening ripping out the nasty, old contact paper out of our kitchen cabinets. we spent the night here because we had our bedroom room furniture all set up (which is now our guest bedroom furniture).
waking up tuesday morning felt like waking up on christmas morning...i was so excited to see what i could uncover (unpack). i started removing the wallpaper in the living room in between doing loads of laundry. jay, one of the guys on the senior leadership team at calvary, stopped by and gave us some cookies. so sweet! one of john's coworkers and her husband came over that afternoon to help. debbie helped me finish cleaning out the cabinets in the kitchen, and we unpacked as many kitchen boxes that we could find. it was like a treasure hunt unpacking boxes of wedding presents (mostly serving pieces) that we didn't have room for in our condo. i hadn't seen most of that stuff in almost 5 years! rick's job was to break down empty boxes and packing paper and put it all in the attic. john pulled down wallpaper in 2 rooms, which actually came down very easily. another one of john's coworkers brought us dinner, as well as another friend. like we've said before...the people here are incredible.
my goal for wednesday was to find a home for everything in the kitchen. i was successful, and let me tell you, it feels sooooo good to have my kitchen organized. it actually makes me want to cook maybe. :-) i also organized all the boxes in the dining room into categories so that i have a relative idea of where stuff is located.
thursday, we woke up to snow. it was awesome! it stuck to the ground for a couple of hours. it resembled louisiana snow. it comes down, it sticks, it melts a few hours later. we went to the grocery store to get appetizers for the thanksgiving meal that we were sharing with the Sparling family, and people were walking around in lightweight jackets while i looked like a freak in my huge down winter coat. anyway, thanksgiving dinner was great, and the Sparling family was super welcoming and friendly. the fuller rotel dip went over very well! so did the cowboy caviar dip...thanks GB! we came home, and in about 30 minutes, john had all the wallpaper in the master bedroom pulled down. i love the way he randomly gets inspired to do something and just knocks it out.
today has been relaxing so far. we got our cable and internet installed. i had lunch with sarah parmer. i, then, went 3 doors down to the ryan's house (they go to our church also!) to borrow their steamer to try that out on removing wallpaper. so, i think i'm gonna go try it out right now!!!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
awesomeness.
hey everybody! this is john. God is really, really good. i've been especially overwhelmed this past week at how perfectly He works:
emily is staying busy with pregnancy, and it's exciting! she's feeling quite good today, actually. pre-parenthood is pretty awesome, so i guess full parenthood must be even better.
friday night i had the chance to speak at the gap, a young adult bible study hosted by a family from calvary, and it was great! wonderful people. we have a great young adult community, and i'm enjoying getting to know them.
sunday, i got to teach in the main services at calvary, and it was a great experience! lots of encouragement. after church, we went to lunch with friends at a restaurant, then had dinner with friends at the home of another friend. i really love the people here.
yesterday (monday), after a week of paperwork and preparation, we completed settlement on our house, and all of our stuff arrived from the storage facility, so we are officially moved in! we spent our first night there last night. it's a wonderful feeling to be settled...now we just have to unpack everything, take down wallpaper, pull up carpet, and enjoy!
thanks for reading! we love you!
Friday, November 12, 2010
quite time for an update, i suppose :)
ok, where do i start?
um, first, the rest of the trip to germany was grand. we went to giengen to the teddy bear museum, then we went to ulm to see the tallest church in the world. getting back home to the u.s. was almost as much of a fiasco as it was getting there. our flight from stuttgart left over an hour late, which made mom & dad & me miss our connecting flights. so, i got home 2 hours later than originally scheduled, but it really wasn't THAT big of a deal.
all of our inspections and everything have gone through well on the house, so we are closing monday, november 22nd mid-morning. then, my full time job will start - removing wallpaper. haha. i think it might be fun. for the first 3 hours at least. i don't believe i'll be posting any pics of the house til i get it updated to the 21st century. :-)
and i guess the most exciting thing of all is that i found out that i am going to have a baby, which was something i was a little concerned might never happen. how little faith i had. i guess all it took was living under someone else's roof and moving over 20 hours away from all my family and friends. haha. whatever it takes, i suppose! i had my first ultrasound on tuesday and got to see the baby's heartbeating and legs flutter-kicking. it was adorable and totally surreal.
june 13th is the due date right now. i can't wait!
for the past weeks i've been feeling pretty yucky. constant nausea and very low energy. just a couple of days ago, i started feeling better. yesterday was interesting...
10:00 - bowl of fruit loops and milk
10:45 - slice of bread with butter
11:30 - 2 chocolate chip cookies
1:00 - pb&j sandwich
2:30 - 3 tomato slices with mayo
3:15 - vanilla ice cream with choc syrup
4:00 - vietnamese egg roll
i promise i won't post every day what i eat. i was just totally weirded out yesterday by myself.
so, in a nutshell, for the past couple of years, we've been waiting for a new job, house, and baby, and we have all three in a 2 month period. i feel so blessed.
um, first, the rest of the trip to germany was grand. we went to giengen to the teddy bear museum, then we went to ulm to see the tallest church in the world. getting back home to the u.s. was almost as much of a fiasco as it was getting there. our flight from stuttgart left over an hour late, which made mom & dad & me miss our connecting flights. so, i got home 2 hours later than originally scheduled, but it really wasn't THAT big of a deal.
all of our inspections and everything have gone through well on the house, so we are closing monday, november 22nd mid-morning. then, my full time job will start - removing wallpaper. haha. i think it might be fun. for the first 3 hours at least. i don't believe i'll be posting any pics of the house til i get it updated to the 21st century. :-)
and i guess the most exciting thing of all is that i found out that i am going to have a baby, which was something i was a little concerned might never happen. how little faith i had. i guess all it took was living under someone else's roof and moving over 20 hours away from all my family and friends. haha. whatever it takes, i suppose! i had my first ultrasound on tuesday and got to see the baby's heartbeating and legs flutter-kicking. it was adorable and totally surreal.
june 13th is the due date right now. i can't wait!
for the past weeks i've been feeling pretty yucky. constant nausea and very low energy. just a couple of days ago, i started feeling better. yesterday was interesting...
10:00 - bowl of fruit loops and milk
10:45 - slice of bread with butter
11:30 - 2 chocolate chip cookies
1:00 - pb&j sandwich
2:30 - 3 tomato slices with mayo
3:15 - vanilla ice cream with choc syrup
4:00 - vietnamese egg roll
i promise i won't post every day what i eat. i was just totally weirded out yesterday by myself.
so, in a nutshell, for the past couple of years, we've been waiting for a new job, house, and baby, and we have all three in a 2 month period. i feel so blessed.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
austria
the hills were alive for sure. :-)
we took a 4 hour train ride south to salzburg. the train was nice, and we had 2 sets of 2 seats facing each other with a table in between and 1 more seat across the aisle (florian went with us). we stayed in a hotel right there in the thick of things. it was perfect. we found random places to eat the whole time, all of which were very good. we explored some gardens, some really old churches, and a massive fortress at the highest point in town.
the 2nd day we were there, we took a 2 hour train ride over to hallstatt, a small town nestled in the alps. this town really just didn't even seem real. it was like it was out of a fairy tale. we took a ferry across this lake from the train track to the town. we really just walked around & ate. the scenery was gorgeous. slept on the train ride home.
the last day in salzburg, we slept in, checked out of the hotel, did some christmas shopping, took a bus to the train station, ate lunch at burger king (at my request), and took the 4 hour train ride home. florian, becca, mom, and i played kniffel for a good chunk of the time on the way home.
this morning, becca had to go teach some english classes, so we slept in then went shopping and met back up with bec. we got some chinese for lunch. i started feeling bad (and sleepy) so i took the train back to bec's while mom, dad, and bec shopped some more then took a short trip over to a big pumpkin festival. i took a 3 hour nap that was much needed. hopefully i'll be able to sleep tonight.
tomorrow we'll take a train over to giengen. teddy bears were apparently invented there by this woman, and there's a museum there (mom is a teddy bear fan).
going home in 2 days. i'm ready to see my john boy. :-)
we took a 4 hour train ride south to salzburg. the train was nice, and we had 2 sets of 2 seats facing each other with a table in between and 1 more seat across the aisle (florian went with us). we stayed in a hotel right there in the thick of things. it was perfect. we found random places to eat the whole time, all of which were very good. we explored some gardens, some really old churches, and a massive fortress at the highest point in town.
the 2nd day we were there, we took a 2 hour train ride over to hallstatt, a small town nestled in the alps. this town really just didn't even seem real. it was like it was out of a fairy tale. we took a ferry across this lake from the train track to the town. we really just walked around & ate. the scenery was gorgeous. slept on the train ride home.
the last day in salzburg, we slept in, checked out of the hotel, did some christmas shopping, took a bus to the train station, ate lunch at burger king (at my request), and took the 4 hour train ride home. florian, becca, mom, and i played kniffel for a good chunk of the time on the way home.
this morning, becca had to go teach some english classes, so we slept in then went shopping and met back up with bec. we got some chinese for lunch. i started feeling bad (and sleepy) so i took the train back to bec's while mom, dad, and bec shopped some more then took a short trip over to a big pumpkin festival. i took a 3 hour nap that was much needed. hopefully i'll be able to sleep tonight.
tomorrow we'll take a train over to giengen. teddy bears were apparently invented there by this woman, and there's a museum there (mom is a teddy bear fan).
going home in 2 days. i'm ready to see my john boy. :-)
Saturday, October 30, 2010
makin' it to germany one way or another
despite the fiasco getting here, mom, dad, and i are here with becca in germany, and it has been wonderful (and cold - to me). tomorrow we take a train ride over to austria for 3 days. not exactly sure what we'll be doing, but i will soon find out.
so, my flight from philly was supposed to leave for atlanta at 2pm on wednesday where i was going to meet up with mom and dad and would jump on the plane together to stuttgart at 5:55pm to arrive at 9am. seeing as how there were tornadoes in atlanta, my 2pm flight steadily got pushed back every few hours all the way back to 6:45pm (which would not have worked because the flight to stuttgart still left relatively on time - not sure how that happened???) so i'm chillin in the airport all day (alone), and i get a call from mom who had gotten on the phone with delta and switched my flight to one going to paris then stuttgart, and i only had 5 minutes to get to the right gate. anxiety! long story short, the first woman i could find gave me the wrong gate, had a guy tell me that he heard it had been switched to a completely different terminal, all the lines were long at the delta desks, call mom and tell her i can't make it, she freaks, i grab a delta guy that walked out from nowhere (i think God sent him), and he looked up the info for me, it was on a completely different end of the airport BUT i still had an hour (the lady mom had talked to had not taken into consideration our time difference). hallelujah. i call mom back, and she chills out. :-) i get to paris and have like 4 hours to blow (alone), so i knit and take a nap on my bookbag and then knit again. mom and dad get to paris and to our gate just as we are boarding (they somehow got through the atlanta airport). we get to stuttgart at, i don't know, 2pm maybe, where we realize that our luggage wouldn't make it to stuttgart until the next day. glorious! i felt like crap and looked like it too.
we were going to a young adult bible study/worship service that night (thursday) that rebecca normally goes to, so we decided that it might be a good idea to go shopping for some decent pants for myself and would just borrow a top of rebecca's. we found some pants, met up with florian (rebecca's boyfriend), went to quick dinner with him where we ate döner, went to fusion (bible study), we all were nodding off through the whole thing, so we decided to cut out early and go to bed. we slept 12 hours (except i woke up at 3am and was wide awake - thought it was time to get up - mistook the street lamp for the sun and dad getting up to use the bathroom for rebecca's roommate getting ready for work - suck).
friday we laid around the apartment until our luggage got delivered at 3pm. we showered, got dressed, ate some crepes, and went to a high point in the city with a tower that mom climbed up and took pics of stuttgart. the rest of us were chicken. then we went into town and found rebecca some boots (christmas present from mom and dad), then met up with florian again for dinner. delicious. got some gelato afterwards. also delicious.
today, we got up and caught a train over to Lahr where they have the chysanthemum festival. lots of mums! very neat little town. we walked around, took pics (dad took pics - i haven't pulled my camera out yet really), had potato soup at a cafe, slept on the train ride home (as best as i could), ate more crepes, dad bought a scarf at H&M, then went to the apartment of rebecca's friends where dad cooked bubba burgers and mom made jeanne beanies. :-) fabulous!
tomorrow, we get up early to catch a train to salzburg, austria.
the hills are aliiiiiiiiiiive with the sound of muuuuuusic, aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh...
so, my flight from philly was supposed to leave for atlanta at 2pm on wednesday where i was going to meet up with mom and dad and would jump on the plane together to stuttgart at 5:55pm to arrive at 9am. seeing as how there were tornadoes in atlanta, my 2pm flight steadily got pushed back every few hours all the way back to 6:45pm (which would not have worked because the flight to stuttgart still left relatively on time - not sure how that happened???) so i'm chillin in the airport all day (alone), and i get a call from mom who had gotten on the phone with delta and switched my flight to one going to paris then stuttgart, and i only had 5 minutes to get to the right gate. anxiety! long story short, the first woman i could find gave me the wrong gate, had a guy tell me that he heard it had been switched to a completely different terminal, all the lines were long at the delta desks, call mom and tell her i can't make it, she freaks, i grab a delta guy that walked out from nowhere (i think God sent him), and he looked up the info for me, it was on a completely different end of the airport BUT i still had an hour (the lady mom had talked to had not taken into consideration our time difference). hallelujah. i call mom back, and she chills out. :-) i get to paris and have like 4 hours to blow (alone), so i knit and take a nap on my bookbag and then knit again. mom and dad get to paris and to our gate just as we are boarding (they somehow got through the atlanta airport). we get to stuttgart at, i don't know, 2pm maybe, where we realize that our luggage wouldn't make it to stuttgart until the next day. glorious! i felt like crap and looked like it too.
we were going to a young adult bible study/worship service that night (thursday) that rebecca normally goes to, so we decided that it might be a good idea to go shopping for some decent pants for myself and would just borrow a top of rebecca's. we found some pants, met up with florian (rebecca's boyfriend), went to quick dinner with him where we ate döner, went to fusion (bible study), we all were nodding off through the whole thing, so we decided to cut out early and go to bed. we slept 12 hours (except i woke up at 3am and was wide awake - thought it was time to get up - mistook the street lamp for the sun and dad getting up to use the bathroom for rebecca's roommate getting ready for work - suck).
friday we laid around the apartment until our luggage got delivered at 3pm. we showered, got dressed, ate some crepes, and went to a high point in the city with a tower that mom climbed up and took pics of stuttgart. the rest of us were chicken. then we went into town and found rebecca some boots (christmas present from mom and dad), then met up with florian again for dinner. delicious. got some gelato afterwards. also delicious.
today, we got up and caught a train over to Lahr where they have the chysanthemum festival. lots of mums! very neat little town. we walked around, took pics (dad took pics - i haven't pulled my camera out yet really), had potato soup at a cafe, slept on the train ride home (as best as i could), ate more crepes, dad bought a scarf at H&M, then went to the apartment of rebecca's friends where dad cooked bubba burgers and mom made jeanne beanies. :-) fabulous!
tomorrow, we get up early to catch a train to salzburg, austria.
the hills are aliiiiiiiiiiive with the sound of muuuuuusic, aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh...
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
House
We made an offer on a house 2 days ago and found out yesterday that they accepted it!! Woohoo!!
We have the inspection tomorrow. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly!
I can't believe this is all happening!!!! Pray this all gets settled without any hang-ups!!
We have the inspection tomorrow. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly!
I can't believe this is all happening!!!! Pray this all gets settled without any hang-ups!!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
we have clothes!
today, john and i drove over to where our stuff is being stored and picked up our "early out" boxes, which included alllllllll of our clothes and shoes and coats and my guitar. woo hoo!!!
one of the wardrobe boxes blew out of the back of the truck as we were driving down the highway. after a momentary freakout (on my part...i was fine after i noticed it was on the side of the road), john pulled over at the next exit and ran back along the shoulder and got it. the bottom had popped open, but all the clothes stayed hanging up on the rack. we then decided that it was necessary to strap everything in (duh, right?). we got the boxes in the house and not a minute later it started raining. good timing, thank you, Jesus.
yesterday, i got my hairs cut a little bit shorter, then we looked at about 8 houses. really liked the last one we saw...an old farmhouse. i seem to be drawn to those. we'll see what happens...anybody wanna buy a condo???
one of the wardrobe boxes blew out of the back of the truck as we were driving down the highway. after a momentary freakout (on my part...i was fine after i noticed it was on the side of the road), john pulled over at the next exit and ran back along the shoulder and got it. the bottom had popped open, but all the clothes stayed hanging up on the rack. we then decided that it was necessary to strap everything in (duh, right?). we got the boxes in the house and not a minute later it started raining. good timing, thank you, Jesus.
yesterday, i got my hairs cut a little bit shorter, then we looked at about 8 houses. really liked the last one we saw...an old farmhouse. i seem to be drawn to those. we'll see what happens...anybody wanna buy a condo???
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