Goin' to the Chapel...

Well, I haven't blogged in FOREVER! Sorry about that. I was busy movin' and gettin' hitched! Yep, moved on Monday, drove 9 1/2 hours on Tuesday, did last minute wedding stuff on Wednesday and Thursday, decorated and did rehearsal on Friday. Got hitched yesterday. WOAH!

Are you exhausted after reading that?

I am hoping to post some pics later - after I get some from everyone who took them. There I go being a good blogger again...taking a lot of pictures of important events!

The move went well. We got a lot accomplished in the one day we had. YAY!

So, here's the scoop on this weekend: the wedding was fan-freakin'-tastic! We laughed and cried. It was short and sweet. We had a peanut butter and jelly unity sandwich...umm...AWESOME! The reception was amazing. Great food. Dancing. Karaoke. Time spent with friends and family that I wouldn't trade for anything. The weather was gorgeous. The day was really as close to perfect as it possibly could've been.

Until...

Until my cousin's 2 kids got locked in the bathroom and couldn't get out. The lock broke. It was just turning in the door. My brother ended up hoisting my cousin in the bathroom window from the outside. Cousin disassembled the lock and saved the day.

Kids were saved. Day still perfect...and we have a funny story about how the night ended.

More to come. That's all for now. I'm exhausted!

Beginnings

So, Precious started his new job today. This company has been spectacular, ya'll. They offered him $2000 more a year than he asked for. They flew him to Ohio for an interview. They flew both of us to Ohio to find housing (and paid for meals and lodging). And today they told Precious he needed new boots with steel toes (kinda expensive, right?). They gave him a coupon for $100. He found $140 pair on sale. Using the coupon, he paid $22!

God. Is. Good.

These blessings are so undeserved. I feel like we're so unworthy, yet God just keeps pouring it out. Standing in the middle of His will is a little scary and extremely humbling.

Things I Forgot...and the Rest of the Trip

Our apartment is like across the road and a couple of blocks down from Lebron James' house. WHAT? Not kidding. Here's his gate:

And check out that beautiful sky! This was Thursday. It was an exploration day for Precious and I. We ate lunch at Blake's (that wonderful place I told you about earlier), scouted some grocery stores, found 2 comic shops, a vintage toy shop, went to Archiver's, and scoped out the arts district (Highland Square).

We found the Firefly Music School. I talked to the owner. They basically offer tons of lessons to kids after school in one general place. It reminds me of something that should be in NYC. Loved it! They even have an instructor that teaches bagpipe! :-)

While in Highland Square we found a coffee shop (that does their own roasting) and I went to the bathroom. THIS is what I found on the wall:

Today, we left and headed to Cleveland. Precious wanted to check out a comic shop and Casey wanted us to try out a place call MELT. They have grilled cheese galore!

Their menus are on the back of old record sleeves.

Precious had the Gyro Melt.

I had the Cleveland Cheesesteak Melt.

Now we're waiting at the airport for our flight. Be back in Illinois soon! Thanks for all of the prayers. It's been a great trip. Keep 'em coming. Right now it looks like we'll have to move the weekend before the wedding. EEK!

House Hunting - Day 2

So, we started off our morning at Blake's Cafe & Cupcakery. It's a "mom and pop" joint in Green, OH. They have breakfast sandwiches and wraps, muffins, scones, and cupcakes...cupcakes for breakfast, people! I had a scone. Precious had a banana and an "Elvis Cupcake" (peanut butter, bananas and it had bacon crumb toppings). He loved it. Totally going back tomorrow.

One of the ladies there gave us some info on a house. We went and looked at it, then we checked with a local realtor. Not a lot of luck. We talked a little and decided to go back to #1 from yesterday's post. We applied and waited. We went to lunch and drove around to check out the area. We found Chick-fil-A - YUM! We found a store called Mustard Seed Market. It's a lot like the co-op in Carbondale, but cheaper and with a LOT more selection. So, leasing agent from Summit Rise Apartments calls us to tell us we were approved and our credit was so good that we didn't have to pay a security deposit (woot!). Next step? Get her a money order or cashier's check for the 1st month's rent - that's what it would take to hold the apartment.

HA!

Went to bank down the street - "We're sorry, you don't have an account here. Can't help you. Go to ACME (which is a grocery store - kinda like Schnuck's)"

Go to ACME - "We're sorry, we only accept cash (which Precious and I don't have - didn't really care to take that much cash with us...hello!"

Call Discover - Nice Discover man helps me find a place to get a cash advance.

Go to place to get a cash advance (nationally recognized financial establishment). They are running a special (one that only takes place 2 days a year) where if you open a checking account you get $100 deposited into your new account. (NOTE: Precious and I had already planned to open a joint checking account this week.) So, we opened our account AND got a money order. Took FOREVER.

Lady from Summit Rise calls because she thinks we skipped town.

Go back to Summit Rise and paid for our first month. Tenant isn't supposed to move out until the end of September, but could possibly vacate early. Please pray she vacates early. There is a 5 day turn around after she leaves. Precious starts September 26th and we really don't want to have to pay for a hotel room for 2 weeks. Currently we can move in October 7th. EEK!

That's all for now. Maybe I'll think of more to tell you later. Right now? We're off to have dinner with Precious' new boss and his wife! Adios!

Housing Hunt - Day 1

So, Precious and I are in Ohio looking for housing. Day 1 was EXHAUSTING! We looked at 50 billion places. Things I am discovering: I like space - LOTS OF IT! Apartments don't really give you lots of space. However, we found a couple that might work. Here are our Top 2 from Day 1 of house hunting.

Summit Rise
This complex sits close to the freeway, but is on a hill and surrounded by trees. It's a lovely view from the patios AND it's within a couple of miles from all of the shopping I could ever want to do: Summit Mall, Archiver's, Bed-Bath and Beyond, Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Jo-Ann's Crafts, Wal-Mart, SAMS, Target, 2  Grocery Stores, a "whole foods" sort of store, and TONS of restaurants. The area reminds me of Fairview Heights.

Hunt Club
Don't get excited hunting enthusiasts - it's not that kind of rodeo.

This one is a little older, but it has extra storage space which I'm digging. This complex sits right behind Summit. Here are some really bad pictures I pulled off of the internet. The lady there talked ALOT!

Epic Failure of the Day
Timber Top Apartments. Oh. My. Goodness. Please notice the window units in the walls of the apartments. SERIOUSLY???? On top of that, the roads in the complex were nothing but hills that used to be paved but are now more like chopped up pavement. I'm sure that would be great fun in the winter. There were ant traps coming in the door of one of the apartments we looked at. It appears to be a place for area college students, but it's pretty much a dump! The end.



Come back tomorrow for more adventures of house hunting in Ohio.

Here It Comes....

Momma Update
Praise, Praise, and more PRAISE...Hey, did I mention that I have a little praaaaaaiiiiiisssse? Because I do! My mom got some really great news today. And while I don't feel at liberty to share ALL of the details, just know that it's REALLY awesome, God-intervening in the midst of cancer news. Here's what I CAN tell you: after today's treatment, we HAD BEEN looking at 12 more treatments, 1 each week for 12 weeks beginning Sept. 29. NOW we are looking at 3 more treatments, 1 time every 3 weeks beginning Sept. 29 AND 2 of the 3 lymph nodes can't even be felt and the other has shrunk by at least 60% already. The lump has also decreased SIGNIFICANTLY! WOOHOO!!!!

Moving Update
The schedule:
Tomorrow - Sub at AJ
Saturday - help mom at the house (it's her sleepy day - 2nd day after chemo, she sleeps for like 24 hours), finish packing at house, finish packing at studio, finish mom's scrapbook project (hopefully)
Sunday - Sunday School (last one as teachers *insert pout*), church service, lunch and BRIDAL SHOWER!
Monday - Fly to Ohio - Pray to Jesus for a nice place to live
Tuesday-Friday - Repeat Monday and fly back home (only I hope that we have found a place because when we come back, we need to load up and haul everything to Akron)

I plan to take pics while we're searching...we may need a little help deciding. Stay tuned.

Moving Update

Still packing. I was doing a little while I was getting ready Sunday morning and I injured myself. I was trying to take a picture off the wall, dropped it and it landed on. my. face! There was blood. But it actually doesn't look terrible. Vaseline (which my mom will always swear keeps things from bruising) and an ice pack saved the day.

I took a couple of days off, but resumed packing hard core yesterday - until I ran out of boxes...need to make a Lowe's run. Saturday was spent with my mom and bro and my girls. My mom and bro and I headed to the bridal shop to meet the girls. They have pics of my dress, but I have no pics of them in theirs, so you are gonna have to take my word when I tell you they looked stunning! SILTB cried - not because my dress is the bomb (even though it is), but because we're moving. It's still all new and I don't think the full extent has sunk in yet for me. I'm so busy packing and finalizing wedding plans that I don't have a lot of time to think about it (this is on purpose people - I have to get through the wedding and the move...I'll cry while Precious is at work).

Right now, Precious and I know that we will be flying to Cleveland on September 12 and coming back on September 16. We are hoping to be packed before we go. When we return, we will hopefully have a place to call home. Ideally, we will head back to Ohio and move our stuff. SO. MUCH. STUFF. (mostly mine). Precious will start his job around the 26th and then come back for the wedding.

So, wedding plans are coming along nicely--almost done. Pray that we find an nice yet affordable place to live in Akron and that we can find a church (we have a checklist people).

Boxes....Oh The Boxes

So, today the packing began.

I packed a little at the house (pictures and my Willow Tree angel collection).

I packed stuff at the studio.

Studio packing made me a lot more sad than house packing. Perhaps that's because I was still half asleep while I was packing at the house and was too tired to think about it. Regardless, packing up the studio is hard. HARD. However, I have to keep believing that God has something as good, if not better for me in Akron. Still, it's hard to leave something behind that I've worked so hard for. And my students...I can't even think about it without crying. I have some really great students. I am going to miss them and the time that I get to spend with them each week.

Precious packed too. He boxed up quite a lot of stuff...so much so that I've had to stay away from the packing area. I was close to having an anxiety attack just looking at it.

Pray for us, people.

And I apologize now for upcoming blog content. It may involve a lot about packing and moving and enough mixed emotions that you may begin to think that I have a personality disorder.

Prayer Monday - August 22, 2011

I know that I am a blog slacker, but so much has been going on in my life. My Precious got the job that he interviewed for and while I am freaking out a little about everything we have to get done in order to move and then wedding stuff on top of that, I'm really at peace. There are so many things that just scream, "Hey, God is smack dab in the middle of this!". 

When Precious decided to go back to school, he was intending to finish a major in Physics. However, he sort of stumbled upon the Center for Advanced Friction Studies at SIU (GOD) and ended up deciding that Mechanical Engineering was the way to go (that was the shortened version). Through this, he ended up gaining experience with carbon-carbon friction materials (the CAFS lab does research for F1 racing teams) and that was exactly what Meggitt (the company Precious will be working for) was needing. Apparently, it's difficult to find someone with this experience...once again - GOD! 

I lost my job at the end of the school year. They cut the music program in Cairo. (door closed) Nothing full-time was going to be open around us until January. So, this summer I have just been drawing unemployment and teaching part-time at the studio. Precious had a friend come and tell him about this job. The friend is not a US citizen and you have to be to work at Meggitt, so the friend puts Ronnie in touch with the job recruiter. (open door).

Precious and I have just been praying that God would close doors that need to be closed and open ones that need to be open - that He would make things so abundantly clear that we made no mistake in knowing that we were in HIS will. That happened after the interview. Precious flew to Ohio and interviewed on Tuesday of last week. They told him it would be this week sometime before they contacted him because they would need approval from the higher ups. We knew that he had a 50/50 shot - only 2 people were interviewed during the 2nd round. On Thursday - 2 days after the interview - Precious received an offer. Here's where it gets interesting. They offered him $2000 more a year than he had asked for. They offered a moving package that included flying Precious and I to Ohio for 3 days (accommodations and meals included) to find housing. The recruiter said that he has NEVER seen them offer to pay for the couple to come and find housing.

God, people. It's totally God. And it's abundantly clear that we are supposed to be serving in Ohio. Please pray for us as we attempt to find housing. Pray that it is as abundantly clear as everything else has been. We have to move everything before the wedding, so pray for Precious as he goes to live in Ohio and me as I stay here to finish up wedding plans.

Me and My Boring (Yet Busy) Life

School is starting. I'm not. It's strange. The school where I was teaching cut their music program at the end of the last school year, so I am not returning to work this year. It's weird. As far as finding plenty to do - no worries there. 

I am still teaching at my studio, but this coming week I switch to Fall schedule, so I won't work during the day. I have plenty of other things to do, though.  I have been trying to refinish a sideboard that I intend for Precious and I to use for a TV stand in our currently non-existent living room. So far, it's mostly sanded (well, about 1/2 to 3/4 - that's mostly, right?). I fully intended to work on it this morning, but I received a call from the wedding coordinator at our reception venue, so I opted to go meet with her instead. SO glad I did. She helped me to iron out minor details that were really bugging me. 

Precious and I had lunch at a place that we call Dora's (it's a little Mexican joint that used to be ran by a lady named Dora - now her kids run it and the name is actually Cerro de la Silla). We ran a few errands and I went home to try to clean and pack up a few things. EPIC FAIL! I need boxes. I have too much crap! I am refusing to clean anything else until I have boxes and can pack. It just seems stupid to take stuff of shelves to dust and clean, put it back up, only to take it back off to pack as soon as I get boxes. So, not cleaning until I pack.

This is kinda random and unrelated, but I have also been on the search for lip gloss. Please tell me I am not the only person who has WAY more make-up than I need. In my defense, I DO use it most of it, but I most certainly have my favorites. However, lip products are different. I go through phases. Sometimes I want a little color. Sometimes I just want a clear gloss or plumper like Lip Venom, but right now I need something wedding appropriate. I was looking for something that looks pretty natural with a little sheen. So, I found my perfect wedding lip gloss. 

I LOVE Buxom, but I never could find color that I was in love with. Thanks to the nice lady at Sephora who put up with me trying 15 different things, I found a Buxom color called SUGAR. It's a sheer gloss that's kind of a rosy terracotta. Super excited. Here's a photo I found showing different sheer colors:

Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment about these dreadful headaches that I can' seem to get rid of and THEN....THEN mom and I get to go see my wedding dress. 1st fitting. So pumped!

An Interview and a Suit

Precious has a 2nd interview with a prospective employer. We are excited, scared, nervous...my emotions are all over the place. This is a BIG deal for us. It would require a BIG move (him before the wedding and me afterwards). We have prayed over this situation and it just seems like this is the direction God is leading, so we are preparing for whatever He has in store for us - taking life one day at a time.

I have to be honest, though, I had to have my "kid in the cereal aisle fit". You know what I'm talking about. Anytime something comes that I am not expecting, I have to have my spoiled rotten kid moment except mine ends up looking nasty like a kid in the cereal aisle who isn't getting the cereal that they want. Sad. I know. Don't judge me!

So, Precious had an interview a few weeks ago via Skype. It went well. I was really feeling like the move was a very good possibility. We waited for a call. It never came. I finally encouraged Precious to email and we are so glad he did. They had apparently been trying to contact him (or HR was supposed to have contacted him). Either way, contact was made and the 2nd interview will take place a little over a week from now. The company is paying all expenses for the interview. Everything just seems to be falling into place.

Yesterday we went shopping for a suit. Hopefully I can get him to put it on for a photo op before he goes. He looks super dapper in it! Somehow the suit just makes it more official. We are trusting God to continue opening doors that need to be opened and close the ones that need to be closed. Please pray for us as we approach this new chapter of our life together. A new job (a LONG way from home), a wedding, a move...it's a lot, but we want God's will and if He says "GO" then we will go.