Packing has commenced!

It's Sunday night. We have 5 boxes packed and stacked in our living room. I know. It's amazing. We've actually started packing! Yesterday we made a list of what we would pack each day (procrastinators are great planners...it gives us more time). We're already behind, but you know...that's okay! It'll all get done by Thursday evening, when our friends are coming to help us load up.

We're also working on eating up all our food in the fridge and freezer. We've planned out meals that should take care of most everything but the condiments. Two people have graciously offered to watch Caleb on two different days. Aunt Karen will watch him tomorrow, so that will be the day we pack up the china and load up the kitchen.

And I almost forgot: we've picked up the drugs for the cats so they can take the trip to Arkansas without hyperventilating. Really. Clyde does not do cars very well. I'm not really looking forward to seeing them drunk, but hopefully it'll do the trick and then get out of their system quickly!

It's all coming together, and I've heard reports that all the updates to the new house are beautiful. Can't wait to show you pictures!

Movin' to Arkansas

So a bit back I wrote on here that we were going to check out a church in Arkansas. We had a great time, and a few weeks later we went back in view of a call. Jon was voted in and we're headed to Arkansas, so I figure I better back up and let you know some details!

The church is an FBC of a very small town. Very. Small. Town. Population 800 or so. Thankfully, it's near a larger town with a population of about 20,000. This is mighty small for us coming from Fort Worth. I grew up in small towns, but Jon has never lived anywhere smaller than Waco. Our first visit was really to assure us that Jon could live in such a small town. As we drove through the town, checked out the school, walked through the church, and listened to the crickets in the evening, I kept asking, "Jon, is this okay? Does this feel too small?" And each time he replied, "No, this is good. I like this." So, while I know it will still take quite an adjustment for both of us, we're also looking forward to the small town and slower pace of things. And healthier eating! I can count at least 10 fast food restaurants within a minute's drive of our current house, and in Arkansas we'll be driving at least 10 minutes to get to any restaurants at all!

The position is youth/education. Jon will be one of two full-time paid staff members. The pastor and his family seem to be really great. They've been at the church for less than a year and are excited about having Jon come on board. Everyone, in fact, seems very excited to have some leadership in the area of youth, especially.

One huge blessing is that the church has a parsonage for us! How rare to have two parsonages, but they do. It's a 1950s home right across the street from the church. At the moment, church members are pitching in to completely revamp it. New paint, new flooring, new cabinets and countertops.... I can't wait!

It will be nice to be so near the church; right now the minister's sons enjoy walking over from their home to practice piano, and I know Caleb and I will enjoy going to the church playground. I can imagine teaching him how to ride a bike on the parking lot (and later how to drive??). I've heard that the town is really good for riding bikes, so I look forward to doing that.

We'll ride to check our mail, visit the library, play at the park, or maybe just to ride! Speaking of mail, we are so close to the Post Office that they won't deliver our mail to us! So we have to set up a PO Box to get our mail.

Living in a small town is going to have its quirks, but I'm going to like it!

Roomie Reunion 2009!

Every year my college roommates get together. Well, it's really my roommate (who happens to also be my best friend) and her roommates that she had after I ran off and got married. We've had varying levels of success getting the roommates together, and this year it included myself, Leanna, and Karen (who happens to be my sis-in-law), and then my nephew Ian, and of course, Caleb!

I got to host this year. I was so excited, because I love Fort Worth and have always wanted to spend an evening downtown with my favorite roomies. And that's exactly what we did!

We got all gussied up, because what is getting together with girls without a makeover?

We were silly....

We took lots of pictures....

ate ice cream....


and to top it all off, went to a comedy club and got to participate on stage!

It was a great night. Jon, who was home with Caleb (Ian's grandparents were watching him that night), predicted that we would be home by ten. Well, we did leave downtown by ten, but only because it was the middle of the week and nothing stayed open later than that! I, for one, really enjoyed my girl time with no baby. It was a blast to hang out and have fun.

As for the rest of the reunion, it was spent with Caleb and Ian, so I'll put those posts up on Caleb's blog. Eventually.

What to Blog About

My husband, who has not blogged in 7 months, tells me I need to post more often.

Ahem.

I have been reading The Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman, and it has been quite eye-opening. Though not normally attributed to a last-born like myself, I have found that I am a "frustrated perfectionist." I have in my mind the perfect way to do something, which is generally such a lofty goal that it is impossible to obtain. I therefore procrastinate on it (because I don't want to start when I know I can't finish), then other things pile up behind it, but I can't start those until I've done my first task justice, which I now realize I will never be able to do. So my life comes to a standstill and I get more and more overwhelmed about my growing list of tasks. Anybody relate to this?

Evidently the answer is to lower my goals to more realistic measures, and then GET IT DONE. Mark it off my list so I can move on! So fine. The next few posts may not be thoughtfully written or picture-laden, but they will catch you up on the things going on in our lives. Which, believe me, is enough to handle in itself without trying to put pictures to it.

I am resisting the urge to re-read this post before publishing, or even finding an image of the book I'm reading, or at least linking to it on Amazon. Let me just say it really bothers me, but you are getting a post, and that is all. The end.

:)

I Will Rise

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
[x2]

[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

Brought to you by the letters I-K-E-A

Yesterday I met up with Margie to shop the day away! It was so much fun! Margie introduced me to Sam Moon. Crazy place! I found some great buys, but it was pretty overwhelming. From here on out I think I'll stick to the smaller Compass here in my own town. Which Margie also introduced me to, now that I think about it. That girl loves jewelry.

After Sam Moon we ventured over to IKEA. What a great place! I decided to add accents of orange to my house, and had a small budget to spend that day, so it made for a really fun shopping trip. We'd scan all that we could see, and if we spotted orange, we'd go over and check it out. If it was pretty and cheap, we'd toss it in the basket. If we liked it but it took too much of my budget, I put it on a wish list to get sometime in the future. We came away with some really fun things! I haven't put them up in the house yet, because if things go the way I think they're going, we won't be living here much longer. So my new orange purchases will stay in their packages until we get where we're going.

I had such a great day with Margie. I could never have made it through IKEA by myself, and she was a good person to help me stay on my budget (mostly...) and pick fun things. Plus it was a great time for she and I to hang out, which we don't get to do enough of these days! I came home pooped, encouraged, and excited about my new orange IKEA purchases.

What to do...

I need help. As you know, I am not an organized person. At the moment, I have several things on my mind. LOTS of things. Hosting Thanksgiving, Caleb's birthday party, Christmas presents, possible move and new home decorating, birthdays, photography, designing stuff for church.....

So, how does one keep it all organized? Let's go ahead and note that I cannot keep it straight in my head, so I need another solution. How do you organized people do it??

Roadtrip to Arkansas

Just a quick note to say that we're headed to Arkansas this afternoon! There's a church there interested in Jon for a youth/education position. We've met with the committee once, and now they want us to come see the town, visit with the pastor, etc. It's not the official "in view of a call" visit, but I think it's the step before that. So, we'll see! Please pray that Jon and I (and the search committee) will get a very clear word from the Lord about His will for us.

Power to the People

If you've been to Wal-Mart lately, you've probably noticed their new branding for all their grocery items. And if you're like me, it's caused you to lose your appetite. Seriously, what focus group told them this was appealing??

You know what I think when I look in my cabinet?

"All I've got to eat is chili and refried beans, and that just sounds gross."

I can't just look on the shelves and see green, yellow and orange and think, "Oh good, I've got green beans, corn and carrots...yum!" (Not that I would ever say that about carrots, but that's beside the point.) The point is that these cans have sat untouched in my cabinet for two weeks because their contents are not easily recognizable by their can design. What does that mean? Boring meals for me, and less money for Wal-Mart. Someone was not thinking when they came up with these designs.

What do you think? I'm putting up a poll, so vote and let your voice be heard! I may not buy name-brand, but that doesn't mean I deserve bad design!

The end is near!

This was the sky overhead the other day, right before a rain. I love Texas skies and their sometimes apocalyptic panoramas.

It's all cool

I'm loving my new deep freeze. We bought it on Craig's list for $50. When it came to us, it was black (someone had painted over the original white), it was dirty, and it was very very stinky.

So, I took the water hose to it and washed it three times with as many disinfecting products as I could. I also scrubbed off as much black paint as I could; some of it just peeled right up. Then onto painting it white again. I used Rustoleum Appliance Paint, and it took me almost 4 cans, 2 per coat (an additional $20). It was easy to apply, and the result is great! And I'm really enjoying all the room we have!
Caleb had mostly moved on to table food by the time we got the freezer in, but it would have been so nice with his frozen baby food that I made. Even now, I make up batches of cooked chicken and veggies and freeze those laid out flat. Once they're frozen, I break up the pieces and store them in a Ziploc, and I know I have a healthy meal on hand any time Jon and I are eating pizza or Chinese or something else that's hard to give to a baby.

Tonight I made up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough and froze the preformed cookies on a cookie sheet. When they're frozen, I'll put them in a Ziploc and we'll have a sweet snack ready in no time! I prefer the cookie dough just as it is, but Jon might pull out a couple and bake them.

How much fun to have freezer room!

Taking the plunge??

So our car has pretty much died on us. We've debated for the past week or two over what to do. It's still driveable (at low speeds), but not guaranteed to last much longer. And the cost of repairs and maintenance will most definitely be more than the value of the car, if not twice the value of the car. So...on to a new car! Woohoo!

That brings us to many questions. This next car will probably last us 5 years or so like the last one did, so what are our car needs for the next 5 years? Right now, we have one child with a honkin' big car seat. We could potentially have another child in a year or so (don't worry, no big announcements forthcoming!), so that means a four-door sedan would fit our needs, as long as it has plenty of room in the back. BUT...let's say we go crazy and opt for Baby #3 two years after #2. That means that in 3 years we'll need a new car again. Plus, even just two kids with honkin' big carseats means not much room for anything else. Think Christmas. Long trip, lots of luggage, and lots of loot coming home with us! :) Or think, "Sure, I can pick you up at the airport! Just let me find a babysitter for my kiddos so there's enough room in the car...." So...that leads us to the SUV/van category of vehicles.

We have pretty tight parameters for the mileage we'd like, the age of the car, and most importantly, the price. This is good and bad. Good because it narrows down my search to about 50 vehicles in a 50-mile radius, which is a pretty short list considering where I live. Bad because those 50 vehicles are eerily like the car sitting in my driveway right now--they do their job, but I can expect some scoffing at the mechanic any time I go. In short, they're cheap cars. But, in short, that's what we can afford. And our Hyundai has worked very well for us the last 5 years.

So we've got a list that can easily be culled through--cut the manual transmission, no cars with really bad ratings, ixnay the one with a "salvage title".... That leaves us with a couple Kia Sedonas, a Dodge Caravan, a few Chrysler Town & Countries.... Are you seeing a pattern here? They're all vans! Hm....

I've been thinking long and hard about The Van. Vans get better gas mileage than SUVs, they're generally less expensive, they drive smoother, they have family-friendly features like power sliding doors (which I completely see the usefulness of now), and they have third-row seating, which SUVs don't offer until you look at the larger ones, which are outside of my price parameter. So yes, a van is a good thing. But it's a van, and every normal person in my generation shudders at the thought of being That Mom with The Van. I think it reminds us too much of our own mothers, whom we love dearly but don't want to relate to quite that much. We don't want to admit that we are going down That Road. We didn't choose the romantic path that led us to hostels in Italy and running with the bulls in Spain. We chose the minivan path.

So, as it is now past midnight and I have cars and prices and dealerships and miles per gallon jumbling up in my head, I'll sleep on it, pray about it, and see how I feel tomorrow. I remind myself that we're looking for a 5-year car, not a 25-year car. As much as we rely on our vehicles, it's not like buying a house. It might be a chance to find something fun and unexpected (which, I agree, is most certainly not a van)! We'll see what happens, and I just might get to show you what we picked by this time next week!

New post

Well, it seems that my blogging has gotten boring and depressing lately. I've wanted to put something new up, but don't have anything but more boring and/or depressing stuff to report. Hm...

So we'll make it quick, get it over with, and maybe I'll have something better to report next time!

House hunting is on hold while we figure out exactly if/when Jon gets a raise. Which turns out to be good, because 1) our income has not worked out as expected for the moment, and 2) our transmission went out on our car, so we'll find out tomorrow from the mechanic if we're fixing it (cha-ching) or replacing the car (mucho cha-ching). So it's a good thing we didn't use our money yet for a down payment or house repairs!

We're at a loss about what we're supposed to be doing. I've gotta admit my attitude hasn't been that great lately (as evidenced by these posts). I'm tired of not knowing what we're doing, I'm tired of seeing my husband beat down. I'm tired of guessing, "Did x happen to prevent us from doing y, which then allows us to do z? Or is x just another hurdle, but really we should push through and try to accomplish y?" Did the car break to prevent us from putting an offer on a house, which would have rooted us here in the city for a period of time? Or is it just a setback, and we should continue to house hunt when our income allows? Maybe we're supposed to keep looking for ministry positions--something we've been doing for a year now?

My mother-in-law reminded me of the story of Jonah. Despite his efforts, God orchestrated events so that Jonah made it to Ninevah. Where is our Ninevah, Lord? Because I feel like I'm getting swallowed, and all I really want is to be where You want me. I don't want to run!

We are sending Jon's resume to a church in West Texas. It certainly would not be our first choice for where God should lead us, but perhaps it's our Ninevah. And if it is, I pray for a revival such as the one Jonah witnessed!

Date night!

Jon and I had a great date night tonight! Freebirds and Julie & Julia. Uncle Dave and Aunt Karen used their aunt/uncle magic and kept Caleb happy, fed and bathed him, and got him off to bed with barely a tear! Let me tell you, that makes me quite the happy mom to come home to a good report like that. We were so grateful for the night out! And Momma, you've GOT to find a theater near you that's playing Julie & Julia. You would LOVE it!

Off to bed for now, but tomorrow I just might have to peruse some recipe books....too bad I packed most of them away in an effort to free up room in my kitchen!

More random thoughts!

Jon and I have gone house hunting with a realtor yesterday and today! We talked to the financial people today, and they're supposed to get back with us with an estimate of how much we qualify for. I have a feeling we won't qualify for much. We mentioned to our realtor that we had a nice down payment saved up and that we didn't have any debt or credit card bills and she seemed to think we'd qualify for all kinds of money. However, we're down to one income, and that one doesn't really pay that great--it's sufficient, but not great--so I'm not expecting the number to be very high. It's a little disappointing that we would work so hard on the down payment and financial responsibility and still not get the "house of our dreams." But oh, well. It's a first home, and who knows how long we'd even live there. And who knows if we'll even get a house! Mostly we were just wanting to do some fact-finding, since we don't know how the process works. And it seems to be a really good time to buy.

We'd like to get a place with enough land for Caleb to run and play. That puts us looking at houses outside of Fort Worth, and probably more expensive than we can afford. We'll just see what the financial lady says tomorrow and what our budget will allow! It would be exciting to have a house, and to know that we're actually going to stay for awhile. I gotta admit, as much as I've loved Fort Worth, I'm kind of ready to move on--just because we've been planning to move on for the last year, so mentally I've been prepared to say goodbye and go. But I wouldn't mind staying if I knew we could be settled for a little while.

Jon took a higher-paying position at his security job. He starts training soon. It's a month-long training, and he has to 1) get tazed, 2) endure some kind of pepper spray, and 3) fend off 3 people (in a controlled environment with lots of padding). I'm not looking forward to it at all! But I gotta say I think Jon is! Maybe it's the male/female difference, but I just can't see enjoying that! Once he's trained he'll start new hours at a new post. He's already worked there 4 years, so there have been hints that he'll move up in the company fairly quickly now that he's finally committed to this new position. (His boss has been wanting him to do this for months; they love him there!) So, maybe this is the stability we need for awhile. It would give Jon a chance to continue his studies; he's working on a masters in military history right now, and hoping to get his doctorate.

On a completely unrelated note, some of you know that I finally took my cartilage piercing out last month. 16 months of trying to get that thing to heal and stop hurting, and I just didn't want to deal with it any more. So out it came! It took awhile for it to finally heal. What a relief to lay down at night and not have to protect my ear from my pillow! Two nights ago, though, I tried putting an earring in the hole on a whim, and it went through! Hole's still there, and completely healed! It felt just like my earlobe piercing. How awesome is that? So I kept the earring in for a day and a half, and it started hurting again. Poop. I remember when I got my earlobes pierced that I had to wear gold earrings for years; otherwise the holes would get infected. Maybe I'm dealing with something similar here? So, the earring is back out, and I'm giving it a little bit to heal up again, and then I'll try a gold earring instead of the silver I've been wearing.

Jon taught Sunday School yesterday, and did an awesome job as always. Our class has a teacher rotation, and I always look forward to Jon's teaching more than any other! (Maybe I'm biased, but I don't think so!) He planned a time of purification and worship, coordinated with the guy who leads music for our class. It was a very neat time. Husbands and wives washed each other's feet and prayed for each other, and then we worshiped with very good songs of dedication and sacrifice to our Lord. I'm thankful for a husband who will put so much time and effort into his teaching, not because he's getting paid for it or because he wants to look good in front of class, but because God has something to teach each one of us, and Jon wants to facilitate that in any way he can. Yeah, I know...he's awesome. :)

How do you like our family portrait that Karen took for us? Aren't we a handsome family? Jon and I are in constant awe that God would bless us with Caleb. He's such a great kid; we can't get over how much we love him!

Random Thoughts for the Day

1. My kitties are snuggled among the neatly folded stacks of laundry on my bed. They're so cute.
2. Today I scrubbed, sanded and painted a freezer we bought for $50 on Craig's list. I had to wait 'til evening when it was cool enough to paint. I got the first coat on before it was dark. It will definitely need another coat. Now I have a freezer with wet paint in my front yard. Didn't really think ahead on that one. I need to figure out a way to get it back in the garage before I go to bed, or someone else will have a freshly painted white freezer! Maybe everyone will realize it's wet paint and they won't touch it. The june bugs didn't get the memo, though. I had to pick two of them out of the paint already!
   
3. I've also been working on a ghetto cat scratcher. It's a revamp of the ghetto cat tree. Pictures to come!
4. Full-time-mom-hood has been a transition for sure, especially given the crazy last month. I'm hoping August is much calmer!
5. The beach was great. Definitely ended July on a high note.
6. Jon finally accepted the higher-pay position at his current job. He'll start a month of training in a couple of weeks. It's been kind of a disappointment for us; we were sure he would have found a job by now, and are confused about God's timing of things. However, we recognize the blessing of a job, and thank God for it.
7. Jon got pulled over on Saturday...and got off with a warning! The police officer asked him what he did for a job; Jon told him he was a security officer. The policeman told him he needed to be on the police force and even wrote down a web site for him to check out. As we drove off, we mused that perhaps this was the clear direction we'd been praying for. We'll ask God someday, "Why were You silent when we asked for Your will?" And He'll tell us, "I sent a cop and pulled you over to tell you what to do in life. What more did you need?" Despite that, we don't think the police force is in our future.
8. You cannot make chocolate milk by mixing hot chocolate mix with cold milk. The chocolate powder stays mysteriously on top of the milk, no matter how hard you stir.
9. When I was a kid I loved reading Nancy Drew books, but couldn't read them at night because they gave me bad dreams. I've been reading a mystery series lately, and found that I am still a weenie. Even my fairly docile mystery books are giving me bad dreams.
10. Nothing else to say, but couldn't leave it with just 9. Good night all!
    

July: Cut or Keep??

Let's do a little running tally of the goings on this month.....

4th of July visit with Grandma & Grandpa: +4
One very bitter wasp: -1
Check engine light on the trip: -1
$600 mechanic bill: -3
5-day trip to visit Nana & Granddad: +4
Check engine light on the trip: -1
Mosquito making a buffet of my ankles the whole trip home: -1
Started working out: +1
Strep throat for 4 days: -4
Cancel plans to see Leanna and Mawmaw: -2
Mom comes to help out: +2
Worst rash I've ever had: -3 (potential to lose 2 more points if it's not gone before the beach on Saturday)
5 days no air conditioner: -5
Caleb gets to play with his friend Noah for 3 days: +1
Stomach bug bites Jon: -3
Stomach bug bites Caleb: -1 (so far not bad, but potential to lose more points if the bug makes it to me, and even MORE points if we're not healthy by aforementioned beach vacation)
Finally celebrate KarenN's birthday: +2
Brand new air conditioner installed: +4 (potential to gain more if it's more powerful/efficient than the last one)
Beach vacation: remains to be seen, but I'm gonna give it a +6

So how do we end up? Let's see.... Well, we're at a -1 right now. But you just never know what good things could come. :)

A not so random blip

Okay, so remember not too long ago when I got bronchitis and then had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic? Well, this past week I got strep throat. And had an allergic reaction to the new antibiotic! Only this time it's ten times worse, and I'm miserably itchy. I stopped the medicine yesterday morning, but the rash has gotten worse today and just about become one huge red mark, so I'm thinking it might be something other than the antibiotic. I've been keeping plenty of Benadryl in me, but so far it's only good for making me sleepy, which is fine, because I don't notice the itchiness when I'm sleeping.

So I'm not taking any antibiotic now, and I still have strep. My fever is still down, so that's good, but my throat still hurts. I wish there were some way I could flush whatever stuff is in me out...maybe I need a sauna to sweat it out. Or even leaches. Hm....

On the brighter side of things, our A/C went out. Yeah, okay, that's not so bright. BUT the landlord is finally biting the bullet and getting a new air conditioner! Hooray! The A/C goes out every summer, so I'll be glad to have some more reliability--and hopefully more efficiency, too!

Happy Fourth!

Today we've enjoyed an excellent 4th of July at my parents' house. Barbecued chicken for lunch, grill bratwurst for dinner...Caleb swam in a pool just his size on Grandma's back porch...now we're watching our third fireworks show of the evening on TV. They're pulling out old favorites to perform--Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond. Sadly, Barry Manilow is the only one of the three who can still sing! That was a bit of a shocker. Other than that small disappointment it's been a great day!

Oh, except for the wasp who attacked me. I got my first wasp sting ever. And then two more, just to make up for lost time I suppose. Jon tells me that if I weren't jumping up and down and screaming like a banshee then maybe the wasp wouldn't have kept stinging, but I'm not sure about that! We tried a few home remedies: ice first, then an onion slice, then back to the ice, then some pennies taped on the stings. Add some Benadryl spray, Neosporin and an antihistamine and voila! I'm in pretty good shape. :) Don't ask me what helped the most!

Hope everyone had a great 4th as well! We don't realize how blessed we are to live in this free country!

Woohoo!

We made it! Two weeks of finalizing everything at work and pushing off unnecessary tasks at home to get it all done. Throw in volunteering at VBS and Jon working on his two new classes he's started toward his second masters, and it's been a crazy time! But we made it.

I've gotten to do two things lately that I haven't done in a long time. I joined a Tuesday morning ladies Bible study at church, and we attended Wednesday evening prayer meeting tonight.

I've also attempted a couple naps, though Caleb hasn't cooperated very well with that. And I visited with a new friend today, ran errands, and tomorrow Leanna's coming over!

I'm so grateful that God has provided for us and allowed me to stay home. I know it won't be the panacea to every stress in our lives, but it is still a relief.

And look! I'm even putting up a blog post! Hopefully more to come!