We are so ready for Thanksgiving. This week has been crazy between Jack's sinusitis, both of us working, and my rehearsals every night so far (including tonight!) for the Christmas Concert.

We are so lucky to have the rest of the week off. Tim and I both have tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday off, then he has to work Saturday. Thank goodness for holidays! We definitely need this one!

Brief Update

News on the homefront:

Lisa - I have celiac disease, so I'm having to completely change my diet. It's not as hard as I thought it would be, especially since my sister was diagnosed a year ago and already knows a lot about living gluten-free. I'm also still working full-time and going to graduate school.

Tim - Just took a part-time job at our church as Associate Junior High Pastor!! He has changed his State Farm job to a part-time position, and will be working both part-time jobs for now. He is THRILLED!!! He is also seriously considering starting back up at seminary in the spring.

Jack - Hilarious kid, growing and talking more and more every day.

Mini-Van Momma

Yes, friends, it is true. We traded in Tim's Mitsubishi Galant for a mini-van - a Chevy Venture to be specific. It has no bells and whistles, I have to actually open all the doors myself and the seats do not fold into the floor. But it is a mini-van with plenty of space.

It was actually Tim's idea, too! He even drove it to work this morning (which, I must say, I was looking forward to driving it today, so I am rather jealous.)

After talking with the folks at the shop, we found ourselves in a place where neither of our cars were highway safe. And since I will be driving to Lincoln many many times in the next few years, we needed something that I would be safe driving down there. So now, we still only have one car payment that is less than $100 more than we were paying on the Galant, we are paying less in insurance, AND we have a highway-safe vehicle. Good deal all around.

My only complaint is that none of the seats in the van have arm rests!! What is up with that ??!!

Buy a house? Check
Pack up and move? Check Check
Start grad school? Check
Take care of a toddler? Check
Work a full time job? Check

All within a week of each other?

Check.


I need a vacation.

New house!

Well, we are (almost) officially homeowners!!!

We bought the townhouse, and are so anxious to move in. We will have a full finished basement with a laundry room!!! We may even get a kitten, to complete the picture :)

Hopefully we will be closing on August 8th, but it could be as late as the 15th. Can't wait!!

Here are some photos that the previous owners posted on the realtor's website:

I'm horrible at keeping up on here.

Life has just been grand lately! We just got back from a little mini-vacation at Tim's parents' house, who are in Washington D.C. right now so we had the whole place to ourselves. We spent a lot of time napping, reading and playing with Jack at the park and it felt wonderful to just be away together. We realized that it was the first time the three of us had gone anywhere over night just with ourselves - we're usually with other people. It was lots of fun.

Other fun thing is that this week Tim VOLUNTARILY quit the computer game that he had been playing religiously for a year and a half now. He decided that there is more to life than sitting in front of the computer, and I definitely agree :) He bought a brand new Taylor guitar and has been spending his free time getting back into learning songs and playing old worship tunes. (And writing a song for Jack called "Juice" - it's funny.) I am so happy for him - he is by far a happier guy these days.

Work is the same ol' same ol' for both of us. I'm getting adjusted into the Children's Department and working full-time, and Tim is still doing the same old thing. I'm trying to enjoy this last month or so before my life blows up with busy-ness with the start of my Seminary classes, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited to go back to school. (Around December I'm sure I will take that sentence back, but oh well.)

Regardless of what job I end up with (I'm still not even sure that I want the typical "counseling" job!), I think that this experience at Lincoln Seminary will be good for me in lots of ways. The people, professors, and classes will be a new environment to me and I am really looking forward to it.

We could really use some prayer, though, in deciding on where to live. We are currently renting a pretty cruddy townhouse in a pretty cruddy neighborhood in Bloomington with a pretty cruddy landlord, and I am dying to buy a house. But with Tim currently in limbo with when and where he'll want to get back into ministry, buying a traditional house would be silly. So, the ever-determined person that I am, I discovered these townhouse/condos in my brother's neighborhood that have tended to sell pretty quickly in the past. The price is in our price range, we wouldn't have to take care of the lawn, and it's in the school district that I would want Jack to go to if we live here that long. Not to mention they are fairly new and really super nice on the inside. It would also be nice to have something TO sell when the time comes to move, as opposed to what we're doing now - renting - where we'll get nothing when we move out.

So anyways, this is our current dilemma. To buy or not to buy?

I'll try to keep up more often, I promise!

Just something I read today...

I liked this:



When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean livin'.''
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect.
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain..
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou.
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace somehow!

Health insurance!

I am (almost) officially a full-time employee at Eastview!!

I have yet to sign the contract, but I have been asked to take over for a retiring administrative assistant in the children's ministries department!

This is my first full-time job, complete with benefits. Very exciting stuff! I never thought I'd be so thrilled about medical insurance and 401k's!


I admit - I am a little nervous about how my schedule is going to look. That's a lot more time away from Jack. But I'm pretty sure that I'm still going to have Fridays off, so I'll still get my three-day weekends with him, which is more than regular full-time working moms can say.

I won't be starting until May 1st, so I'll have the rest of this month and April to enjoy my part time hours and a VACATION! before starting up.

This means that, come August, Tim will be able to reduce his State Farm hours to part-time status and dive into his seminary degree full time, which is awesome! I am so happy for him! And I will be able to start too! Just one night a week of class, which isn't bad at all!

I know we're going to be busy, but - it's worth it. We're going to be busy pursuing our passions, so it's all good.

Now I'm just ready to get started... I hate waiting!

I am a freak.

And this is why.


A color-coded packing list? 5 weeks in advance? Lord help us.

Big week!

This week has been a long one - work wasn't too fun because most of the people I sit by were at a conference, and all kinds of people were having problems and issues with mission trips.

Here's a breakdown of other things that happened this week:

Tim was asked to help out with the jr. highers at church on Wednesday nights.

There were more hints at work that my job will probably be going full-time, but still nothing certain.

The seminary class schedule came out, and I discovered that I can take 9 hours in the fall by only going to class one night a week.

Jack and I were invited to go to Florida in April!! (This one I am super excited about... I need a vacation very badly.)

And finally - our tax refund was deposited into our bank account this morning, so at lunch time today Tim and I are going to pay off 4 big bills, and bring our savings account up by a lot. That is such a great feeling!



So we have lots to ponder and plan at the moment - but all good things!

Perfectionist?

So tonight a mission trip leader called me, wanting to know why there was information missing on a report I created for him. Granted, there are a lot - and I mean a LOT of people going on this trip. But still, whenever people point out my mistakes it literally turns my entire day around. I go from having a good day to a bad one, in a matter of seconds.

Does this make me a perfectionist?

When someone points out something that I did wrong or missed, it makes me feel like a failure. If I could run to the church and correct the report this very second (6:26 p.m. on a Friday night), I would. Unfortunately I can't because I don't have access to a certain area of the building. It is going to drive me nuts that I made this mistake until Monday at noon, when I go to work and fix it.

I guess it would be weird if I was okay with making mistakes... so maybe it's not a bad thing that I dwell on them, eagerly looking forward to the moment when I am able to make it right.


But one could also make an argument that it is a matter of pride. Maybe I am so prideful that having someone else notice my shortcomings is more embarrassing because it is more of a shot to my pride than anything else.

I don't know. All I really care about right now is getting back to work so I can fix that stinkin' report!

A first for me

So this is the first blog/comment/whatever you want to call it that I've ever posted about politics. Normally I really don't care about government officials or even (cringe) who is running for the President of the United States (don't hurt me). I guess through my different stages of life, I've either been too caught up in my own little world to pay any attention to what's going on, or just too immature to think about the world and this country in the "big picture" perspective. Who knows?

But the burning question on my mind tonight is this - how can anyone who calls themself a Christ follower support presidential candidates who are pro-abortion/pro-choice? I've recently had a handful of close Christian friends who have expressed their support for one specific candidate who I know for a fact is all for abortion, and that completely baffles me! Killing another human being is one of the most obvious sins, in my opinion, so anyone who supports someone who wants to allow it is completely crazy!

I realize I'm on the slow train on this one - it's probably a debate that's been going on for years now. And I also know that there are hundreds of factors that are considered in who to support for President. But I feel like this is such an obvious choice for us as Christians - support the candidate who is pro-life!!

Anyway, that's what's on my mind tonight. Take it or leave it.

Seminary

Well, it's official!

Tim and I are both students at Lincoln Christian Seminary!

I got my acceptance letter just a couple of days ago, and I am so excited!! I will be getting my Master's degree in counseling, and then ultimately will get certified as a school counselor (I think). Sooooo we might be moving to Lincoln!!??

I also might be going full time at my job - or I might not. And Tim might be able to quit State Farm - and then again he might not. We don't know for sure about anything except that we are both going back to school.

Now we just wait and see how the whole plan is going to unfold...

Christmas 2007

Christmas this year was lots of fun. Jack got TONS of cool new toys which keep him occupied for hours at a time (pretty nice for mom and dad!) He got a new piano and a drum, along with a few other toys that play music and sing songs. He is going to be a musician for sure!