Nap time is delightful!

And the wireless is working!

So, visiting churches is the topic of the day.

Our first Sunday here was the day after we moved in, so we had no time to research churches in the area. We simply went to a Southern Baptist church that we had passed by on our way in that had its worship time posted on the sign outside. We walked into this huge sanctuary…and the lights were out! After a few minutes, someone turned them on and people started coming in, but we were really wondering about the whole thing! There were about 40 people in the service, filling a very small fraction of that huge sanctuary. It was explained to us later that the church was “rebuilding”, and we think what happened is they had fairly recently had a split. It was a majority senior adults, with a few young mothers with babies. I inquired about nursery facilities (Ava was still at her Gigi’s), and they showed me a very nice nursery that had just been finished, but I quickly realized that the nursery had no workers! You pretty much watched your own baby. I’m sure if people with babies started coming, an older lady would love to work in their nursery… The service was also extremely traditional with hymns, and we read on their website later that they are of the “King James only” mindset. But the people were really nice, the doctrine seemed sound, and Josh and I agreed that, though it is NOTHING like what we would be looking for, if God called us there it would be fine. But let’s visit somewhere else, shall we?

So, by yesterday we had time to do a little more research to choose a church to visit. The one we chose has an awesome website that made it sound like a mix of progressive and traditional elements that we would like. Josh’s sister Kristy came to visit us (which was much fun) and we decided to all check it out. The service was awesome. The church has an incredible band, and the preaching was very engaging and sound. While we were picking Ava up from the nursery, we discovered that the Student Minister and his wife (and their preschool son) live in the same apartments that we do. God was answering our prayers for friends before we had time to pray them! They asked us out to lunch, and I got to basically interrogate Amanda about the church. It’s actually in a unique situation; they are seeking to sell their building and eventually build another building in the growing part of town (which happens to be the area we moved to.) After selling the old facility and before the new facility is built, they plan on renting some space for Sunday morning worship and meeting in home groups for the rest of their meetings (Sunday nights and equivalents of Discipleship Training.) Furthermore, the pastor and his wife invited us over to dinner tonight; they, too, live very near us. So I got to pick his brain about some things. We really, really like the church. However, it’s not what we thought we were looking for; we were hoping to find one with a group of young married with kids couples that we could get plugged into that has a great childcare system. It sounds like with this church there are still very few young children, so chances are we would have to do a lot of childcare providing and finding of our own childcare. However, it may be that God places us there to START a group of people in our lifestage; you have to start somewhere! It’s definitely something we will be praying strongly about! (AND they are about to start a Children’s Church program from scratch, so it may be that God has been preparing me “for such a time as this.”)

If you made it through all that, good night!

Guess I’ve been M.I.A. Although our internet is set up, the wireless is not working yet so it is currently only available in Josh’s office, which is in our loft. Which is a no baby zone. Which means I can only use it when Ava is sleeping and Josh is not on the computer. Which is why I can be on here now . (I have a desk downstairs with my lap top, so when we get wireless set up, I will not be as limited!)

So, where to start? It would be impossible to blog it all in one sitting, especially when there are still boxes that I should be unpacking, that would seem irresponsible.

The end of my job went very smoothly. I miss Cloverdale already, not because I miss the work, but because I miss having a church home. Since we haven’t found one yet here (give us a break, it’s our second week!), it kind of gives me a lost at sea feeling.

Our move went great! We had tons of help loading up the truck last Friday night. We spent the night with my parent (that way, we didn’t have to worry about lack-of-bed,) and Saturday was the fun part: moving into an upstairs apartment! It went fairly smoothly…the only injuries were all related to moving my upright piano up the stairs. Apparently, those things are pretty heavy.

Are we unpacked? That is a relative term! We still have boxes left, but our furniture is arranged, we have floor space, and I am able to cook and do laundry without searching for anything. Which reminds me, I need to switch the laundry out now.

OK, that’s done! How has Ellie made the transition to being an inside dog? Remarkably well! She had three accidents on our move-in day, so I was starting to panic because I have no idea how to potty train an older dog! But she’s done great ever-since! The laundry room (which, by the way, we weren’t expecting; the apartment we looked at had a kind of laundry closet, but it turns out this one has a laundry ROOM, which is awesome!) is “Ellie’s room”, we got her a bed and that’s where her food is. She stays in there overnight and when we’re not here. Otherwise, we walk her in the morning and at night, before putting her in her room, and after taking her out of her room. Walking Ellie is a major health benefit for us, it forces us to exercise! The only problem is when I walk her, she’s pretty much walking me. She’s gotten a little better, but she’s pulling me the whole way, and can be pretty stubborn about wanting to smell something or follow a trail I don’t want to take at times. It concerns me because when Josh starts work next week, if I take her out during the day, I’m going to have to take Ava, too. Does anyone have any tips on training a large dog to walk properly? Otherwise, Ellie LOVES being an inside dog. Air conditioning I imagine is a major plus for her, and she loves being around us. Ava has adjusted to this remarkably well, she’s not afraid to tell Ellie “No!” when she starts getting on her nerves! This also means that she needs a bath every week…to start off on move day, we had her groomed professionally, but today was Josh’s first time with Ellie in the bath tub. They both survived, but I’m not sure how much cleaner Ellie was when they finished!

Ava has done pretty well, too. I’m not sure if she realizes that this is home yet, or if she misses home at all! She definitely loves trying to get into things at a new place!

Our house…hasn’t sold. Please buy it! We went back Wednesday to give it a good cleaning. Josh finally finished the bonus room (which I neglected to take a picture of, so sorry!). And we arranged to have a lawn care service cut the grass occassionally until it sells. So it is all ready for someone to move in, we just need a buyer! And I am simply trusting God to provide one.

Some things I love about my “new life” so far:

• Exercise! Not only do we have to walk the dog, but we also have to go up/down stairs every time we come/go! There are tons of PRETTY nature trails right around our apartment complex that encourage walking for the sake of walking. And we have full access to a pool and gym…that we haven’t even tried yet!
• The woods! Our apartment is right on the edge of a forest! The kind with huge oak trees that have spanish moss hanging off! Even though this is the biggest city we have ever lived in, where we live has a more rural feel! Tree frogs are EVERYWHERE, and you can always hear them singing!
• SPACE. This apartment just feels so spacious. Ava’s room is twice the size of her old room, so it won’t be a problem at all to fit her new bed and dresser in it when the new baby comes! I don’t have quite as much space in the kitchen, but that has prompted me to donate a LARGE box of kitchen things I don’t use to Goodwill….and don’t you try to stop me, if I’m not using it, I must not need it!
• Having my husband at home! Alas, this dream will end on Monday, but this week of “vacation” has been great, even though we’ve spent it unpacking!

OK, I shall close for now and become a responsible human again. But some topics for the next blog: visiting churches, my new doctor group, and visiting hubby’s new office.

Wow…in less than a week…I won’t live here anymore…

Our last Sunday at church went good. Of course it was a bittersweet type thing. I had a great lesson to end on in Children’s Church, and of course my Children’s Sermon was geared towards trusting God no matter what changes happen in your life! After the evening service, they had a fellowship/diaper and wipe shower for us to show appreciation. What a blessing! I feel like we’ve received way too much recognition at this church. It’s been great ministering there, but God is the one to be praised, not us! And we weren’t even there a year! It’s been a bumpy ride, but in the end, we’re definitely thankful to have a supportive church family sending us off.

And, although I find it hard to believe, things at church are definitely coming to a wrap-up. I must tell you about the last small miracle. I had found leaders for all of the children’s summer activities EXCEPT Wednesday nights! (Which is when church is actually in session, that’s not an extra activity like the others!) I had several adults and youth willing to HELP with Wednesday nights, but I could not find anyone willing to be the team leader. I was starting to get really discouraged about it; my Student Minister told me not to worry about it, but I just hated the thought of leaving without nailing that down! Anyway, Saturday, my Preschool Director called me to ask me some questions. As it turns out, she was having a break from her preschool duties this summer, and was interested in working with the older children for a change of pace. She said she would be willing to be the Team Leader! I was SO excited…she’s perfect for the job, I just didn’t ask her because she has so many other responsibilities. And she called me, I didn’t even have to call her!

There are a few big hurdles to overcome before my last day. This Wednesday will kick off the summer Wednesday nights, and although I have a capable team that will be in charge of it, I am going to do all the decorating for them before I go…and I’ll lead it on this Wednesday since I’ll be there and they haven’t had a chance to look over the material. We’re using Lifeway’s Club VBS: Cactus Canyon. It’s a Western theme, which is great, we have TONS of Western stuff left from Fall Festival! Much more than I need to decorate two rooms! So it won’t be hard to decorate, I just have to find the time to get up there without Ava, who is WAY too destructive right now!

On my last day of work, we’re doing our first Fantastic Friday. The theme for this one is a Progressive Park Party, and we’ll be going to four of the best parks in our city. It should be fun, and relatively low maintenance, but I still need to make up a tentative schedule, purchase snacks and drinks, etc.

Not to mention the little things: those last minute parent mail-outs about activities, Thank You notes for VBS workers, saving everything that I have on my personal computer on the server so they’ll have access to it after I leave, etc. But the big stuff is taken care of, and if I don’t finish….well, I don’t finish!

Now that we’re about to move, the mysterious activities in the Bonus Room are almost complete! Josh is installing baseboards now. As he works on that, we are also packing the room up…it is easier then moving everything from the walls, putting down the baseboards, putting everything back…and then packing it two days later! It is sad that we won’t ever get to really enjoy the room we’ve remodeled, but the house will sell much easier if it’s complete! I will still take a picture of the finished product for Xanga purposes!

So I obviously have things I could be doing instead of being on here. But several people have done this survey, so I figured it was destiny:

1. What was I doing ten years ago?

Ten years ago…I would have just turned 12…it was the summer before I went to middle school! (And I believe this time of year was when my parents and I took a big road trip out west…so I was probably in New Mexico!)

2. Five things on my list to do today:

• Buy milk
• Buy some bins for Ava’s toys during the moving process
• Get some more boxes
• Pack some boxes! (Particularly Ava’s hanging clothes and things in the kitchen we rarely use)
• Work on whatever church stuff I get a chance on!

3. Things I would do if I was a billionaire:

• Pay off all debt
• Set aside money for our children for college
• Tithe/Donate

4. Three of my bad habits:

• Not always having my quiet time as soon as I get up!
• Overanalyzing situations
• Not answering the phone when I don’t want to

5. Five places I have lived:

• Philadelphia, PA (my birthplace!)
• With my parents
• In the dorm my first year of college
• In campus housing with Josh
• Where I am now

6.Five jobs I’ve had:

1. Children’s Director
2. Camp Cabin Leader
3. Lawyer’s assistant’s assistant
4. Subway Sandwich Artist
5. Guesthouse Housekeeping

Wow! So much to do!!!

But I must pause before hitting the sack/doing more work, and announce…

We were approved and assigned an apartment!!!

Aloha!

I believe that means both “hello” and “goodbye”, and since it’s the last night of VBS tonight, it seems appropriate!

VBS has been GREAT…although having nothing to compare it to, I guess I’m not that biased! No, we haven’t had an astronomical number of children, but I feel that we have good numbers. We’ve had 4 or 5 decisions for Christ made this week, which is awesome! We’ve had a couple of crisises (mainly on the first morning when I discovered that both of my preschool music teachers thought they were just helpers and neither of them were prepared to teach and their room wasn’t decorated! Whoops, gotta work on some communication next time!), but nothing that we couldn’t work through. Of course, Ava’s schedule is completely thrown off, and right now she’s crying in her crib refusing to nap even though she’s been going to bed late all week and hasn’t had a nap in 2 days. But she’s been well-behaved in the nursery, which is where it really matters!

My workload during VBS has really been pretty minimal. My co-director told me in January that you work your tail off right up until it gets here…and then you just sit back and watch! And she’s right! Tonight is family night, so there is a few things I had to do in preparation today, but other than that, I’ve just shown up and manned the registration table!

It’s hard to believe that my last day of work is in a week and a half! With THAT in perspective, there is a whole lot I should be doing to prepare people to carry on the Children’s Ministry (particularly the summer activities) without me! Ahhhhh! But I guess the nice thing about moving is you can only work up until you do…if I was just resigning from the position and still planned to attend church there…well, there would be no end!

So right now, here is what it looks like:
On Friday, June 20th, Josh works his last day of work. I also work my last day of work, which is conducting a Fantastic Friday, a 4 hour summer children’s event. As soon as Josh gets off we load up a moving truck. We would really like to be able to completely pack the truck that evening and go ahead and drive to my parents house to spend the night. That means we’ll need a lot of help!
The next morning, we make the final leg of the trip, and Josh’s friends (or acquaintances) that have volunteered to come help unload helps him unload the truck into our new apartment!

Of course, this depends on us getting a for-sure lease…which is still not 100% guaranteed yet!

Wiki Wiki

I learned last night in VBS that that is Hawaiin for “Quickly.” And that is how our life is moving!

We finally went apartment hunting on Saturday. Josh had done extensive research on available apartments, he had a print out for each one, and a map showing how to get to all of them the fastest. We had discussed our likes and dislikes over various ones several times, but now it came to the moment of truth: looking at them.

It was an experience. The first we saw was a townhouse that was on the upper end of our price range. It was supposed to be about the same square footage as the house we have now. Well, somebody lied! It was 3 bed, 2.5 bath (which I really don’t care to have an extra .5 bath to clean!), but it was TINY! And very old. If it had cost less, it would have been a consideration…but, um, no.

The second was a 3 bed, 2 bath apartment. The space was much more livable, and the price was great. But the neighborhood did not feel safe, and the entrance to this particular apartment was subterranean at the bottom of a dark stair case, which I really didn’t like. We also discovered there were no washer/dryer hookups…and since we own our own washer and dryer, and since young families go through a LOT of laundry…well…yeah…that one was a no. Too bad, the rent was fabulous.

Things started to look more positive at the third showing. This particular apartment was actually going to be a sub-lease with a guy that had been forced to relocate to another city, so he showed it to us personally. The rent was great and the space was great. It was an old facility and very close to a major university, which means heavier traffic and the possibility of a lot of partying students next door (although he said it was very quiet). Its stairs were also outside, but it was on the top floor, which made me feel a little more comfortable. It was the first one we walked out of feeling like, “this might work,” but we still weren’t super-thrilled.

The fourth almost bought us completely. It was actually a duplex in a brand new neighborhood. The owner had had trouble finding a renter, so his realtor had just convinced him to lower the price to what happened to be the top end of our budget. Compared to what we had seen earlier, it was SO much homier and safe feeling! The kitchen and bathrooms were beautiful! It was very small, but we decided we were willing to sacrifice some furniture to have a home that we liked so much. However, upon later inquiry, we discovered that a security deposit was going to cost as much as the rent, which would be really hard to come up with right now. Again, a sacrifice we’d be willing to make if we needed to.

The fifth was really different. We actually had an appointment and the realtor came and showed it to us. Josh didn’t even want to look at it because the square footage was small. But it was actually bigger on the inside than we thought it would be. It was a newly remodeled triplex. The house was old, but all the fixtures and floors were new. The rent was superb. It was probably a little smaller than the duplex. If it had been in a great part of town, I probably would have been sold because of the rent and how nice it was on the inside. But not too far down the road there were stores with bars on their windows, and the realtor told us that she was “not allowed to tell us anything bad about the neighborhood…” which I don’t think she would have said if there wasn’t anything bad to say about the neighborhood! It was also about a quarter of a mile from the university’s football stadium, which means during football season…well, traffic would be the pits.

After this, I think we were just tempted to “take” the duplex and go home. But we had arranged to look at some out of price range apartments so that we would have some comparisons, and we decided to go ahead and do it. In one of them, they didn’t have a 3 bedroom available for show, so they showed us a 2 bedroom so we could get an idea of what they would be like. Up until this point I had been dead set on a 3 bedroom, not even considering that a 2 bedroom could be big enough. But when we saw this one, I realized that this 2 bedroom apartment felt a lot bigger than all the 3 bedrooms we had seen! And of course the price is better on 2 bedrooms as well. We still weren’t totally thrilled with the one we were currently viewing…

But that brings us to the last apartment we saw. It’s actually in the same complex that the very first one we fell “in love” with months ago is. But that one was WAY out of our price range. So we went there and inquired about their two bedrooms, and it just so happens that they are running a special on the loft style 2 bedrooms. It was still above our price range, BUT their security deposit was only $99, and the first month would be free! So when Josh averaged everything together, it would cost a little less to live there for a year than in the duplex! So then we looked at it. We failed to take pictures, but I think it’s safe to say we were both smitten. First of all, it’s an upstairs apartment, but we would have our own PERSONAL entrance on the ground floor. Much safer feeling for stay-at-home mommy trying to carry in her groceries. Then, the rooms were very spacious! Both bedrooms were the size of a master bedroom, and BOTH had walk-in closets. Storage is a very important thing in the Linker household! There was a loft room that included an attic-like storage space. The loft wasn’t huge, but it would work great for Josh’s office. And there were little things we liked, like a built-in computer desk right outside of where Ava’s room would be, which would make a great work-area for me, eliminating our need for the second computer desk. And it was just incredibly beautiful. Oh, and being an apartment complex, there were amenities…lots of areas outside and playgrounds to take Ava out to play, a pool, a work-out room…things we don’t NEED, but if it comes with something…not bad!

So, I must admit, that has become our first choice; Josh filled out an application this morning. If that doesn’t work out, we’ll definitely apply for the duplex. The only other one we’d be even willing to consider if necessary is the sub-lease. I think we finally decided for sure that, if we get approved for our lease in time, we will officially move June 21, even if the house hasn’t sold. That’s risky, but I feel like the house will sell better when it is empty, and we have to take a faith-step here, one way or the other. It’s too far for Josh to commute to work, so if we didn’t move, he would have to stay with one of his co-workers during the week. We’d both be miserable. At least this way, worse case scenario, we’ll be out of our house and can look for a renter if we have to when the money gets tight. But please, please, let it sell!!!

Sorry this was so long, it’s the first time I’ve house-hunted with a time constraint like this, and I wanted to share my experiences with somebody!

VBS started yesterday, and is going great! We’ve had minor crisises of course, but nothing we couldn’t work through. I’ll probably write an entry totally devoted to VBS soon!

Our first VBS related event is officially over! We had a Commissioning Service for the teachers/workers yesterday. Of course that’s the lowest maintenance of all the events…but it still counts for something!

It’s impossible to achieve all that has to be done in the next 3 weeks on human power.

• Wednesday is VBS Kick-Off night. In preparation for this, I must shop for and set up five – six games, and figure out how we are going to get the kids through the games in an organized fashion. There is a meal involved, too, but I was told there was nothing I have to do for that…and I’m taking their word for it!
• I’ve had several teachers give me lists of supplies that they need. I should have taken care of that a couple weeks ago…and now they’re asking for them! Ooops!
• I’ve got to make post cards and mail them to all our prospect children (and regular children) inviting them to VBS. That was supposed to be today but it’s looking like…tomorrow…
• We should really put some signs up on the road about VBS. We should really have done that a long time ago. We prepared for growth, but haven’t advertised very well. Publicity is obviously not my strength. If I ever do this again, I’m definitely delegating publicity to an organized person!
• This is technically VBS decoration week. I’m not planning on doing any decorating…keeping fingers crossed on that one…
• VBS starts Sunday! It goes until Wednesday! Ahhhh!
• I need to reserve a place for a one day day camp that our church is going to do after I leave. Again, I should have done that a long time ago…I hope that the place we want isn’t already booked for that day!
• Josh and I are going apartment hunting on Saturday. The day before VBS isn’t the best day…but there isn’t a good day! It will have to work!
• Our house needs a lot done to make it more likely to sell. Josh will pretty much be doing all of it, but I do feel a pressure to keep it a lot cleaner on a daily basis than usual…you never know when they’re going to show it. And that’s HARD with a 19 month old who can clutter a room in 30 seconds flat!
• We’re supposed to be moving in less than 3 weeks…..

With all this to do, right now I can do…well, nothing, because I’m babysitting. But perhaps this is good, it’s keeping me from going too fast. The stuff will get done…eventually!