This may be about the longest I've not written on here, but life has been awfully busy lately. With Christmas decorating, shopping, getting ready to leave for Seattle for a week, and then also being ready for Matt's fam to come stay right after we get back! Phew! I am glad for a break. Matt was also busy with making and grading final exams, getting grades in, and all that. He also surprised me by putting lights up on the house while I was gone one day :).
We had something up almost every night this past week. We had a great time at my school's staff Christmas party on Thursday night. We had a video lecture to go to on Tuesday, and a dinner on Monday night. That video thing is called "The Truth Project," and is a series of 14 video lectures put out by Focus On The Family. My school is showing them because we can get Bible credits that we need for ACSI certification by doing it. I guess it's pretty popular out here though, because several area churches have advertised it also. So we go to this once a week until we see them all, it kinda talks about forming a Biblical worldview and how we can't accept the assumptions and statements the world says when they have meanings that aren't Biblical.
The dinner we went to Monday night was at my principal's house (his wife is a jr high teacher also) with a few other couples who get together for dinner every week. We were the youngest by far, the couple who had been the youngest (it is actually the jr high teacher whom I subbed for) are in their 30s, but everyone else are more like a few years younger than my parents. It was a lot of fun though, and good for Matt to have some guys to hangout with.
We left Friday afternoon to drive to Redding, CA for the night. We ended up stopping in Sacramento to have dinner with our friend Melinda and her boyfriend on the way! We left early Saturday morning and got into rainy Seattle around 5:30, and are we ever glad to be here and relax! The drive wasn't bad though... we had good weather (aside from a bit of fog and rain) and road conditions, and Samson was an angel in the car. I learned how to crochet a flower to add to the baby hats that I make, that was exciting for me :). Samson has been very hyper since we've arrived, so we are hoping that he will get used to it here and calm down a bit!
Well, I had better take advantage of this afternoon, which is free of plans, to relax, because our next week is filing up fast!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Visitors
A few weeks ago, we had Jordan, Allyson, and Evangeline come visit for the weekend! We enjoyed having them and spending time with them so very much. Evangeline is talking so much now and we couldn't get enough of listening to her say all those sweet words. She called me "annie" for auntie and called Matt, "ma." It's so hard not being around our 2 beautiful nieces more often, but that also makes any time that we get with them so special. We drove about an hour and a half up north to an apple ranch. They had farm animals, a hay maze, an adorable playground, and train that gave rides, and of course lots of delicious treats!
Peek-a-boo!
On our way back we stopped in historic Jamestown and explored the old train station and trains.
She is pointing to me as I take her picture because I asked, "Where is Auntie?"
Sunday we hungout most of the day, playing video games and card games, eating good food, coloring, went for a walk and took Samson to the dog park.
Jordan took this, but it's super cute :).
Auntie Erica and Uncle Matt loved letting Evangeline help us with anything and everything that we were doing... making breakfast, playing ddr, coloring, playing with Samson, etc... And actually, Samson did quite well with her around too. He's great with kids, but we've never had him with any that small before. Hopefully we can keep kids around him enough that he stays that way!
We can't wait until Christmas when we get to see Lucca too, and hopefully she'll warm up enough so we can hear her sweet words as well. It's crazy that we only have 3 weeks of work before Christmas break! I have missed having a Christmas break the last couple years (although I took them anyways with vacations, but I still had to work right before and after Christmas). Although that means that I don't get paid for a couple of weeks, but oh well, we will make due.
This way, guys!
Peek-a-boo!
On our way back we stopped in historic Jamestown and explored the old train station and trains.
She is pointing to me as I take her picture because I asked, "Where is Auntie?"
Sunday we hungout most of the day, playing video games and card games, eating good food, coloring, went for a walk and took Samson to the dog park.
Jordan took this, but it's super cute :).
Auntie Erica and Uncle Matt loved letting Evangeline help us with anything and everything that we were doing... making breakfast, playing ddr, coloring, playing with Samson, etc... And actually, Samson did quite well with her around too. He's great with kids, but we've never had him with any that small before. Hopefully we can keep kids around him enough that he stays that way!Helping uncle Matt make breakfast
We can't wait until Christmas when we get to see Lucca too, and hopefully she'll warm up enough so we can hear her sweet words as well. It's crazy that we only have 3 weeks of work before Christmas break! I have missed having a Christmas break the last couple years (although I took them anyways with vacations, but I still had to work right before and after Christmas). Although that means that I don't get paid for a couple of weeks, but oh well, we will make due.Thankfulness
We had a very nice Thanksgiving with Matt's grandparents and aunts and uncles in Visalia. I feel so blessed to have family close by to celebrate holidays like this with. And it is so fun to get to know them more each time we visit, since I hadn't spent a whole lot of time with any of them before we moved here. We drove down on Thursday morning and stayed the night. It was fun to have a good sized group (about 20) of people on Thanksgiving, because I miss the big get-togethers that my family always has. My mom asked how it was compared to "our" Thanksgivings (they had almost 40 people this year), and I was like, I don't even know, I haven't been to one in 6 or 7 years! It amazes me how time goes by so fast.
On Friday we went for a hike in Sequoia National Park on a trail called Ladybug Camp, then a bit on a trail called Whiskey log after that. The ladybug trail really did have ladybugs! At the end of it, there were piles and piles of ladybugs covering the plants and leaves on the ground, what a unique thing to see! And what a refreshingly different way to spend black Friday, in God's beautiful creation (not that I'm not a little bit sad that I didn't get to do any shopping :-P).
That last picture was of some redwoods that we came across at the very end of our hike. Redwoods always make me feel so very small and insignificant, and God so very big and powerful for creating them. Thank you Lord for those humbling reminders.
I am so very thankful for the schedules of our jobs right now and the time that that allows us to spend together. When Matt was working at Costco; I would often have several days of around holidays like this, but he would usually have to work some of them. But this year we got this wonderful long weekend to spend part of with family and still had part of it left to relax and get things done at home. I, of course, busted out my Christmas decorations on Saturday. I was extra excited because my parents had bought me houses to makes a light up village for Christmas last year, and then some more for my birthday in June, but I haven't ever gotten to set them all up together yet! So yesterday I got those and the rest of my decorations set up. I feel like my mantel is lacking though, because we had a holly bush in GR that I would cut branches off of for it. Our neighbors actually do have a holly tree, but I haven't decided whether or not it's kosher to ask if I can cut branches off of it or not ;).
We also finally bought a fireplace screen (to keep Samson out) and some duraflame logs to have fires with :). Today we got our tree, which I LOVE decorating, but hate putting lights on... so we'll see if I get around to that today yet. I have to say that I am a little bit sad that we don't have family or friends nearby to have over to use my Christmas dishes with and to see our Christmas decor. Someday.
On Friday we went for a hike in Sequoia National Park on a trail called Ladybug Camp, then a bit on a trail called Whiskey log after that. The ladybug trail really did have ladybugs! At the end of it, there were piles and piles of ladybugs covering the plants and leaves on the ground, what a unique thing to see! And what a refreshingly different way to spend black Friday, in God's beautiful creation (not that I'm not a little bit sad that I didn't get to do any shopping :-P).
That last picture was of some redwoods that we came across at the very end of our hike. Redwoods always make me feel so very small and insignificant, and God so very big and powerful for creating them. Thank you Lord for those humbling reminders.I am so very thankful for the schedules of our jobs right now and the time that that allows us to spend together. When Matt was working at Costco; I would often have several days of around holidays like this, but he would usually have to work some of them. But this year we got this wonderful long weekend to spend part of with family and still had part of it left to relax and get things done at home. I, of course, busted out my Christmas decorations on Saturday. I was extra excited because my parents had bought me houses to makes a light up village for Christmas last year, and then some more for my birthday in June, but I haven't ever gotten to set them all up together yet! So yesterday I got those and the rest of my decorations set up. I feel like my mantel is lacking though, because we had a holly bush in GR that I would cut branches off of for it. Our neighbors actually do have a holly tree, but I haven't decided whether or not it's kosher to ask if I can cut branches off of it or not ;).
We also finally bought a fireplace screen (to keep Samson out) and some duraflame logs to have fires with :). Today we got our tree, which I LOVE decorating, but hate putting lights on... so we'll see if I get around to that today yet. I have to say that I am a little bit sad that we don't have family or friends nearby to have over to use my Christmas dishes with and to see our Christmas decor. Someday.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
New House Pics...
Here is a link to my facebook album with pics of our house. The first ones are from before we moved in, and then there's a bunch of new ones after that, enjoy!
Napa Valley Weekend
This past weekend, we went wine tasting! We stayed with the couple that I met on the plane on the way to Seattle in September (they also went to Calvin). They live in Fairfield, which is about 30 min from Napa. Nick and Ann have 2 adorable little kids who are 3 and 4. We brought Samson along and they LOVED him! It was so cute to watch them run around the house with Samson chasing after them... boy was it noisy with all the running and giggling :). We got there Friday night in time for a late dinner and had a wonderful evening chatting with them.
Saturday, Samson stayed and played with the kids, while we headed out on some country back roads (Nick showed us the scenic route!) to Napa Valley, wine country! It was so beautiful :). We mostly went to the St. Helena area, north of Napa. We went for one tasting, then headed to another winery for an amazing lunch of a turkey and cranberry sandwich and meatball sandwich. After that we went to a sparkling wine winery and did a tour and tasting to learn about how they make their wine. We went to one more small family winery for a tasting in what can best be described as an old farm house. Along the way we stopped at a couple of others with pretty views to take pictures.
It was a very nice day spent enjoying God's creation, wine, and my hubby :). We made it back to Nick and Ann's for another yummy dinner, and then headed out on our 2.5 hour drive home. We only bought 2 bottles of wine, and are saving them for something special! Especially considering they were quite a bit more than the normal 2 buck Chuck that we buy....
OK, blogger is STILL not letting me post pics on here for some reason. I am really sorry, I tried! Every time I select the pics and then after a few min of uploading, it says, "bad request." I will try to put them on facebook with a link soon, I guess.
Saturday, Samson stayed and played with the kids, while we headed out on some country back roads (Nick showed us the scenic route!) to Napa Valley, wine country! It was so beautiful :). We mostly went to the St. Helena area, north of Napa. We went for one tasting, then headed to another winery for an amazing lunch of a turkey and cranberry sandwich and meatball sandwich. After that we went to a sparkling wine winery and did a tour and tasting to learn about how they make their wine. We went to one more small family winery for a tasting in what can best be described as an old farm house. Along the way we stopped at a couple of others with pretty views to take pictures.
It was a very nice day spent enjoying God's creation, wine, and my hubby :). We made it back to Nick and Ann's for another yummy dinner, and then headed out on our 2.5 hour drive home. We only bought 2 bottles of wine, and are saving them for something special! Especially considering they were quite a bit more than the normal 2 buck Chuck that we buy....
OK, blogger is STILL not letting me post pics on here for some reason. I am really sorry, I tried! Every time I select the pics and then after a few min of uploading, it says, "bad request." I will try to put them on facebook with a link soon, I guess.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Moving and Beyond!
It's been a little bit crazy around here for the last couple of weeks, hence the lack of posting. Last Saturday was our big moving day. We brought car loads over the entire week prior to that, but Saturday we did all the big stuff and the rest of the small stuff. We weren't sure how much help we would have at first, but we ended up with 2 adults, 5 high schoolers, and even a big service truck that we could borrow. God is continuing to provide for us. So that was a week ago now, and we have gotten everything except for the guest room/office unpacked and getting stuff up on the walls. We have even started painting! We can paint so long as we paint it all back to white whenever we leave. That made us think twice about exactly how much painting we wanting to do, like in our big living room. So we ended up painting one side of the living room (which includes the dining area) the same brick/barn door red that we had in our dining room/kitchen in GR, and half of the kitchen we painted a coppery orange color. The kitchen is drying as we speak. Our goal is to get the main part of the house decorated and the guest room unpacked before Jordan and Al and Evangeline come in just under 2 weeks. And that's with us being gone for at least part of next weekend too!
Samson is loving having a yard! He is getting more and more used to it and learning that he is not stuck out there forever. We're slowly building up the amount of time that he'll play out there before whining or barking at the door. But we LOVE having a yard to send him out to when we need him out of the way and not having to walk him down the street to go to the bathroom. We enjoy him so much more now :).
Our neighborhood is great! We had a next door neighbor come over and introduce herself, and then a down the street neighbor bring us food and a card and introduce herself and her kids. How awesome, we've never lived in a friendly neighborhood like this :).
This past week we went to the ACSI convention with my school, Merced Christian. We left at 5 am Thursday and got back Friday night. We learned some good stuff and enjoyed eating out at PF Changs with everyone and staying in a nice hotel :).
Things in the library are going well. I have been working almost full time the last couple of weeks, because I have been getting a lot done in the library, and I also have been getting pulled out a lot to sub or help with other things. Hopefully I can get caught up with organizing and getting all the new books inputted in our system by Thanksgiving, because after that I will be working on stuff for the school auction as well (inputting data and organizing who is donating what). Then I really will be working full time hours.
Samson is loving having a yard! He is getting more and more used to it and learning that he is not stuck out there forever. We're slowly building up the amount of time that he'll play out there before whining or barking at the door. But we LOVE having a yard to send him out to when we need him out of the way and not having to walk him down the street to go to the bathroom. We enjoy him so much more now :).
Our neighborhood is great! We had a next door neighbor come over and introduce herself, and then a down the street neighbor bring us food and a card and introduce herself and her kids. How awesome, we've never lived in a friendly neighborhood like this :).
This past week we went to the ACSI convention with my school, Merced Christian. We left at 5 am Thursday and got back Friday night. We learned some good stuff and enjoyed eating out at PF Changs with everyone and staying in a nice hotel :).
Things in the library are going well. I have been working almost full time the last couple of weeks, because I have been getting a lot done in the library, and I also have been getting pulled out a lot to sub or help with other things. Hopefully I can get caught up with organizing and getting all the new books inputted in our system by Thanksgiving, because after that I will be working on stuff for the school auction as well (inputting data and organizing who is donating what). Then I really will be working full time hours.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
La Jolla/San Diego
We had a wonderful weekend in La Jolla and San Diego. We stayed at a condo of a family at Stone Ridge. It was right on the beach and boardwalk of the bay, and absolutely beautiful. They had a tandem bike that we rode a couple of times on the boardwalk; which was a lot of fun, but hard work too. I got booted to the back seat because I couldn't steer it very well, ha ha. Matt did a much better job. We went to Mission Beach/Boardwalk on Friday and had a great time walking on the beach, putting our feet in the ocean (oh the glorious ocean!), and checking out the shops and Belmont park. I had been wanting to go to Mission Beach because I had been there in 9th grade after a mission trip... and then we realized that it was only 5 min from the condo :).
On Saturday Matt had his AP Chem conference, and I hung out at the condo and read in the sun. I picked him up when he was finished around 3 and we headed to La Jolla Cave Beach. I had also been here before on a different mission trip in high school, and remembered it being a really cool beach. It didn't disappoint. The tide was coming in and waves were crashing against the rocks. There were several tide pools to check out with sea urchins and crabs... reminded me so much of growing up in Washington. Now I need to go to the San Juans or Deception Pass to see those tide pools again! We also walked around La Jolla and got dinner at some brewery restaurant that Matt LOVED (his favorite food and drink: burgers and beer!).
We left early Sunday morning to pick up Samson and get home by afternoon. We were SO PLEASED to find out that Samson did wonderfully for Matt's aunt and uncle! What a good puppy we have :).
Here's a link to pictures from our weekend.
On Saturday Matt had his AP Chem conference, and I hung out at the condo and read in the sun. I picked him up when he was finished around 3 and we headed to La Jolla Cave Beach. I had also been here before on a different mission trip in high school, and remembered it being a really cool beach. It didn't disappoint. The tide was coming in and waves were crashing against the rocks. There were several tide pools to check out with sea urchins and crabs... reminded me so much of growing up in Washington. Now I need to go to the San Juans or Deception Pass to see those tide pools again! We also walked around La Jolla and got dinner at some brewery restaurant that Matt LOVED (his favorite food and drink: burgers and beer!).
We left early Sunday morning to pick up Samson and get home by afternoon. We were SO PLEASED to find out that Samson did wonderfully for Matt's aunt and uncle! What a good puppy we have :).
Here's a link to pictures from our weekend.
A Clean House
Well, we spent most of Saturday doing some serious deep cleaning at the new house. Let me just say that there were a lot of ants and spiders taking up residence while no one was living there. We sprayed them with cleaners, drowned them, and squished them as best we could. Matt even came across a black widow spider! He really doesn't like spiders in the first place, so he was kind of freaked out... and I don't mind normal spiders, but big ones or poisonous ones... no thank you! I wish I had a picture or video though of Matt spraying it with a bottle of 409; he had it aimed like a gun, and kept spraying until it stopped moving :).
We also found fruit trees in the back yard! We aren't positive what kinds because they aren't 100% ripe yet, but we think there's a lime and an orange tree. I feel like a true Californian now; in a stucco house, complete with fruit trees... now if only we also had a palm tree; that would be perfection.
Please pray that we will find more people to help us move our big items on Saturday, we don't have any confirmed yet.
We also found fruit trees in the back yard! We aren't positive what kinds because they aren't 100% ripe yet, but we think there's a lime and an orange tree. I feel like a true Californian now; in a stucco house, complete with fruit trees... now if only we also had a palm tree; that would be perfection.
Please pray that we will find more people to help us move our big items on Saturday, we don't have any confirmed yet.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Things are coming together!
So this part time job isn't really just working in the school library... I will be the actual librarian (and no, I will not be getting glasses or wearing a bun!). It will be part time, probably from 10-2, every day. I will be doing library for the elementary classes and organizing, cleaning, checking in and out, etc... Right now I actually have a ton of work to do in there! The old librarian organized things in a very weird and confusing way, so I am basically moving all of the books around on the shelves to make more sense. I also need to do a bit of rearranging and redecorating, so I am getting a start on all of those organizational details this week and then really taking over next week. This way too, If it's rainy or anything, I can still drive Matt to school and pick him up again. And hopefully I'll be able to find some babysitting work or something a little extra in the afternoons to bring in more money. Oh, but I will be working extra hours during the winter months to help the school get ready for their annual auction. I will be in charge of keeping records for who is bringing what and organizing all of that. It will be fun to get to know the elementary classes through this and I will be around and involved if anything else opens up. This does get rid of any chance of finding anything else in other schools for the rest of the school year, because I am committed to it for at least that long, but oh well, this feels right for now.
We are getting the house! It is the one I was describing in a previous post that we liked a lot. We went back today to check it out again. We brought Samson and he loved the yard and the wall in the back was high enough to hold him in (yes!). We are meeting the guy on Friday again to sign the lease, pay the deposit, and get the keys! He is letting us have access from then on, but we don't have to start paying rent until Nov 1st! He said he'd rather have it occupied and give us some extra time than wait until then, because we have to pay for our apartment through November 12th (we gave our 30 days notice today), but that's only 12 days of double rent, better than a whole month. So this weekend already we can start the deep cleaning. Then next week I will start bringing carloads over, and we're hoping to get some people together the weekend after that to move the big items. It's kinda tricky, because we have a convention Halloween weekend, that are busy the 2 weekends after that, so we want to get as much done as we can before then. We are SO excited!! For some reason, it is not letting me post pictures on here, so here is a link to the pictures of the house that I put on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2083730&id=15301958&l=e8bea51a4c
We are getting the house! It is the one I was describing in a previous post that we liked a lot. We went back today to check it out again. We brought Samson and he loved the yard and the wall in the back was high enough to hold him in (yes!). We are meeting the guy on Friday again to sign the lease, pay the deposit, and get the keys! He is letting us have access from then on, but we don't have to start paying rent until Nov 1st! He said he'd rather have it occupied and give us some extra time than wait until then, because we have to pay for our apartment through November 12th (we gave our 30 days notice today), but that's only 12 days of double rent, better than a whole month. So this weekend already we can start the deep cleaning. Then next week I will start bringing carloads over, and we're hoping to get some people together the weekend after that to move the big items. It's kinda tricky, because we have a convention Halloween weekend, that are busy the 2 weekends after that, so we want to get as much done as we can before then. We are SO excited!! For some reason, it is not letting me post pictures on here, so here is a link to the pictures of the house that I put on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2083730&id=15301958&l=e8bea51a4c
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The Dog Park Is Open!!!
Just got back from San Diego, more to come about that later... but we stopped by the dog park first thing, and it was open! Thank you Jesus!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Work
It turns out I won't be subbing for preschool this week anymore. One of the teachers who was going to be at camp with the junior highers is not needed there anymore. Bummer, but oh well. It looks like I'll be starting on some of that part time work though instead. What I can say for now is that I will be working in the school library... more details to come later. Part time hours will be a huge blessing if we end up moving in the next month!
Rental House
On our way out of town, the guy with the rental house that we looked at on Wednesday called us (the 2 we saw on Thursday were no good). He made it sound like we were approved and wanted to know if/when we wanted to put a deposit down. We are going to go back and look at it again on Monday, and bring Samson along to make sure he can't get out of the back yard. We have a few things to check out and ask questions about. But we are feeling pretty good about this house and could be moving in the next month! I also had the principal at the MCS check it out for me (since he used to be a cop and knows a lot about the safety of neighborhoods), and said it looked great! I tried to post pics of it, but the internet is slow here and it's not working. I will once we get home.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
As we continue to look Up in life, so do our circumstances...
We didn't end up finding anyone to watch Samson, and the kennel was full, but luckily, Matt's aunt, uncle, and cousin agreed to watch him for us (not sure how happy they were about it, but oh well). Next time we may just have to schedule him for the kennel ahead of time to be safe.
Yesterday we went to look at a rental house and it is a great possibility! It's 2 miles from Matt's school (still easily bikable), in an old neighborhood with mature trees lining the roads, older and newer homes with a lot of character, well maintained yards, and good neighbors. The house is a 2 bedroom with a yard, a huge living room with fireplace and built in book shelves, lots of storage space, and a one stall garage (with laundry hookups). The only problem is that the yard has a brick wall at the back that is only about 4 ft (?) tall... I don't think Samson could get out, but he might be able to peek over it. Also, we would have to buy several things: a lawn mower, washer and dryer, microwave, and some sort of butcher block table for the kitchen (there isn't a ton of counter space). We are looking at two more houses today before we head out of town, and then probably a couple more next week; all in this same area of town (but the one we already saw was the closest, some are more like 3 miles from Matt's school).
I am subbing in preschool next week! Oh how I miss preschoolers, this should be fun :). I also have a part time job opportunity that is going to be unfolding in the next couple of weeks. It's kinda under wraps at the moment, but I will explain more when I can.
I am SO excited for La Jolla! We met with the woman whose condo we are going to be staying at and it sounds amazing. She said they have a pool and jacuzzi there, and also a tandem bike that we can ride on the board walk :). Saweet!
Yesterday we went to look at a rental house and it is a great possibility! It's 2 miles from Matt's school (still easily bikable), in an old neighborhood with mature trees lining the roads, older and newer homes with a lot of character, well maintained yards, and good neighbors. The house is a 2 bedroom with a yard, a huge living room with fireplace and built in book shelves, lots of storage space, and a one stall garage (with laundry hookups). The only problem is that the yard has a brick wall at the back that is only about 4 ft (?) tall... I don't think Samson could get out, but he might be able to peek over it. Also, we would have to buy several things: a lawn mower, washer and dryer, microwave, and some sort of butcher block table for the kitchen (there isn't a ton of counter space). We are looking at two more houses today before we head out of town, and then probably a couple more next week; all in this same area of town (but the one we already saw was the closest, some are more like 3 miles from Matt's school).
I am subbing in preschool next week! Oh how I miss preschoolers, this should be fun :). I also have a part time job opportunity that is going to be unfolding in the next couple of weeks. It's kinda under wraps at the moment, but I will explain more when I can.
I am SO excited for La Jolla! We met with the woman whose condo we are going to be staying at and it sounds amazing. She said they have a pool and jacuzzi there, and also a tandem bike that we can ride on the board walk :). Saweet!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
No work is a lot of work
I haven't had any work this week, but I have actually been very busy. On Monday I was more tired and sore than if I had been teaching all day! Last week was so crazy with me not getting home until around 6 every night, that nothing got done around here. So the time at home this week is kinda nice to get things back on track. I got MANY loads of laundry done (even though our laundry room only has 1 out of 5 washers working!), did some cleaning, searched for rental houses, made lots of phone calls (and spent a lot of time on hold), ran a bunch of errands, checked out dog kennels, and have gone jogging every morning, whew! Today I even helped out with my friend Katie's kindergarten class, giving some one on one reading support. I will be doing that tomorrow as well... they are just too stinkin cute! I miss kids that age. Anyways, the rental houses are probably the most exciting part of my week so far. We have a couple of good looking prospects, actually. Prayers would be much appreciated though, that one of these will work out, and that we'll get approved, even though we may not technically have the required proof of income with me not having a permanent job. One landlord I talked to today said that should be fine to use my subbing as proof of income, so I hope so! We are going to look at one house this afternoon, possibly one tomorrow, and 2 more next week.
We are going to La Jolla/San Diego this weekend, woo hoo! We are either leaving Thursday afternoon or Friday early morning. That kinda depends on Samson.... we don't officially have someone to watch him yet... prayers needed on that one too. I looked into a kennel, but they only had one spot open yesterday, so I don't know if that will even be there still today. Hopefully we can work something out so that we can leave Thursday, get there late that night, spend the whole day Friday hanging out and having a good time, then Matt's conference is on Saturday, and drive home Sunday. Should be fun!
Oh, and the dog park is "supposedly" opening on Saturday, so we are really hoping that that is the case when we get back. Although Samson is doing much better and doesn't have too much extra energy with me being home with him.
We are going to La Jolla/San Diego this weekend, woo hoo! We are either leaving Thursday afternoon or Friday early morning. That kinda depends on Samson.... we don't officially have someone to watch him yet... prayers needed on that one too. I looked into a kennel, but they only had one spot open yesterday, so I don't know if that will even be there still today. Hopefully we can work something out so that we can leave Thursday, get there late that night, spend the whole day Friday hanging out and having a good time, then Matt's conference is on Saturday, and drive home Sunday. Should be fun!
Oh, and the dog park is "supposedly" opening on Saturday, so we are really hoping that that is the case when we get back. Although Samson is doing much better and doesn't have too much extra energy with me being home with him.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Grrr...
We went to the dog park yesterday, for the supposed opening day on October 1st.... only to approach a still locked gate with yet another sign, stating that opening day is October 10. Those schmucks! They are really creating some enemies I feel...
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Blessings
We have received many blessings in the last week! We found out for sure that we can get free dental check-ups and cleanings from a parent at Stone Ridge, Matt's school (we had heard rumors of this, but never knew for sure). Neither of us have been to the dentist in the last 2.5 years because we haven't had dental insurance of any kind and didn't want to put up the money. And Matt's insurance from work doesn't cover dental, so what a generous gift :). What a blessing, thank you Lord for providing.
The school I'm at right now (MCS-Merced Christian School) is paying for their staff to attend the ACSI teacher's convention in Sacramento at the end of October. They had offered to pay for me, and then we would just have to pay for Matt's fee and half a a hotel room. But even at that, plus food down there, we decided that things were a little too unstable with our incomes right now, and that we would hold off on that until next year. But then on Friday I was informed that some funding came in for Matt to be able to go too... so we're both covered and all we have to pay the whole time is for gas and food. Again, what a blessing, thank you Lord for providing.
I cam home to share that good news with Matt on Friday, and he informed me that Stone Ridge is paying to send us to a different conference as well. Actually, just Matt will be attending an AP Chemistry conference on Saturday, October 10. But we both get to go to and stay in La Jolla for Friday through Sunday. I've actually been to La Jolla once before in high school, it is right out of San Diego, and quite the upscale/ritzy little town. So it looks like a beach reading and strolling around town day for me while Matt is at the conference. Again, many blessings, thank you Lord for weekends away even when we don't have the means to pay for them.
I don't think I mentioned on my post about Seattle anything about my plane trip to get there... as I am putting my stuff in the overhead bin, someone asks me if I went to Calvin. I was a little weirded out until I realized that I was wearing my Calvin jacket. It turns out that my seat was right next to this awesome couple (Nick and Ann) who graduated from Calvin about 5 years ahead of me. Dutch bingo shows up in the most unexpected places! They live in between Sacramento and San Fran (moved there 2 years ago from Michigan), and have 2 little kids. He is a pastor and they were going to Seattle for a church conference that weekend. I talked to them for quite a while and got to know them a bit. That next week, Ann finds me on facebook and extends an invite to stay at their house if we ever want to take the BART into San Fran, and that they have a fenced yard, and Samson could come too. I NEVER have these things happen to me! I think our heavenly father is really wanting us to feel loved and enjoy ourselves while we're living here. We've been trying to figure out how we can do little trips and weekend excursions, but Samson really ties us down.
This week is going to be crazy. I am teaching half days, and then parent teacher conferences from 1-6ish every day. Good thing I am enjoying time at home with Matt this weekend!
The school I'm at right now (MCS-Merced Christian School) is paying for their staff to attend the ACSI teacher's convention in Sacramento at the end of October. They had offered to pay for me, and then we would just have to pay for Matt's fee and half a a hotel room. But even at that, plus food down there, we decided that things were a little too unstable with our incomes right now, and that we would hold off on that until next year. But then on Friday I was informed that some funding came in for Matt to be able to go too... so we're both covered and all we have to pay the whole time is for gas and food. Again, what a blessing, thank you Lord for providing.
I cam home to share that good news with Matt on Friday, and he informed me that Stone Ridge is paying to send us to a different conference as well. Actually, just Matt will be attending an AP Chemistry conference on Saturday, October 10. But we both get to go to and stay in La Jolla for Friday through Sunday. I've actually been to La Jolla once before in high school, it is right out of San Diego, and quite the upscale/ritzy little town. So it looks like a beach reading and strolling around town day for me while Matt is at the conference. Again, many blessings, thank you Lord for weekends away even when we don't have the means to pay for them.
I don't think I mentioned on my post about Seattle anything about my plane trip to get there... as I am putting my stuff in the overhead bin, someone asks me if I went to Calvin. I was a little weirded out until I realized that I was wearing my Calvin jacket. It turns out that my seat was right next to this awesome couple (Nick and Ann) who graduated from Calvin about 5 years ahead of me. Dutch bingo shows up in the most unexpected places! They live in between Sacramento and San Fran (moved there 2 years ago from Michigan), and have 2 little kids. He is a pastor and they were going to Seattle for a church conference that weekend. I talked to them for quite a while and got to know them a bit. That next week, Ann finds me on facebook and extends an invite to stay at their house if we ever want to take the BART into San Fran, and that they have a fenced yard, and Samson could come too. I NEVER have these things happen to me! I think our heavenly father is really wanting us to feel loved and enjoy ourselves while we're living here. We've been trying to figure out how we can do little trips and weekend excursions, but Samson really ties us down.
This week is going to be crazy. I am teaching half days, and then parent teacher conferences from 1-6ish every day. Good thing I am enjoying time at home with Matt this weekend!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Weekend In Seattle
I have been having a wonderful weekend visiting friends and family in Seattle, although I have been doing an awful job of taking pictures. I drove to Melinda's in Sac on Wednesday night. We had some good girl time. I got to Seattle Thursday morning and got to see Evangeline and Lucca both for several hours that afternoon. It was SO great to spend time playing with them and seeing and hearing everything that I've been missing. Evangeline says so many words now: moo, baby, mommy, daddy, cheese, apple, mema (grandma), and I'm sure there were more too! Lucca can stand on her own, but is still very apprehensive about it. I played peek-a-boo with her from behind the coffee table and got her really laughing and excited. She also showed off her fake laughing for us.
What a face!
Peek-a-boo! I love that smile!
Story time with Auntie :)
Thursday night, I brought Dan and Christina with me to my friend John's house to meet/hangout with him and his wife. They just bought a gorgeous house in Edmonds and it was great to see them.
I hungout with my mom and got some good mom/daughter shopping in on Friday. Then I went to my friend Allison's wedding that night. I had a blast seeing other friends, Brittany, Heather, Christina, and Kim there. It was a really beautiful wedding and her family made some funny and touching speeches to make the day so very special for her.
Saturday I got to see Tash! We ended up mostly just doing a lot of talking, but it was really really great. We went for a walk on the Burke-Gilman and got rained on for a while, then visited Andrea, who just had knee surgery. That night I went to see Dan and Christina's apartment near U-Village and did a lot more talking there :).
Today (Sunday) all my siblings came to my parents house to celebrate Dustin's birthday last week. We were glad to have Christina join us too. It's always so nice and special to be able to spend an afternoon with my whole family, since I don't get to see them very much. I was really missing Matt though, it would have been nice to have him there too. Especially to see Evangeline and Lucca and how big they're getting. It's funny because we used to play games between dinner and dessert, but now the babies are our sole entertainment.
This is the best pic I could get with this squirmy one...
Beautiful
I planned this trip before I got my subbing job, so I took 3 days off to do it. It's going to be a crazy week returning Monday night and working Tuesday again. Especially because I will have to get grades in and start getting ready for parent teacher conferences, but I'll also be really wanting to spend some quality time with my hubby because I miss him a lot after so many days apart! Yep, that's right, I am doing PT Conferences. That's the week following this week though, so that means an extra part or full time week of work at least :).
Snack time!
What a face!
Peek-a-boo! I love that smile!
Story time with Auntie :)
Thursday night, I brought Dan and Christina with me to my friend John's house to meet/hangout with him and his wife. They just bought a gorgeous house in Edmonds and it was great to see them.I hungout with my mom and got some good mom/daughter shopping in on Friday. Then I went to my friend Allison's wedding that night. I had a blast seeing other friends, Brittany, Heather, Christina, and Kim there. It was a really beautiful wedding and her family made some funny and touching speeches to make the day so very special for her.
Saturday I got to see Tash! We ended up mostly just doing a lot of talking, but it was really really great. We went for a walk on the Burke-Gilman and got rained on for a while, then visited Andrea, who just had knee surgery. That night I went to see Dan and Christina's apartment near U-Village and did a lot more talking there :).
Today (Sunday) all my siblings came to my parents house to celebrate Dustin's birthday last week. We were glad to have Christina join us too. It's always so nice and special to be able to spend an afternoon with my whole family, since I don't get to see them very much. I was really missing Matt though, it would have been nice to have him there too. Especially to see Evangeline and Lucca and how big they're getting. It's funny because we used to play games between dinner and dessert, but now the babies are our sole entertainment.
Showing Uncle Jordan where the cool toys are :)
This is the best pic I could get with this squirmy one...
Beautiful
I planned this trip before I got my subbing job, so I took 3 days off to do it. It's going to be a crazy week returning Monday night and working Tuesday again. Especially because I will have to get grades in and start getting ready for parent teacher conferences, but I'll also be really wanting to spend some quality time with my hubby because I miss him a lot after so many days apart! Yep, that's right, I am doing PT Conferences. That's the week following this week though, so that means an extra part or full time week of work at least :).
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A Visit from Christina!
Christina came to visit! I was just a little bit excited for this particular visit, considering I haven't seen her in over 2 years! It was fantabulous :). She arrived in Merced at noonish on Friday (I left work on my lunch to let her in our apartment :-P). It was so bitter sweet to see her then jet back to work for the afternoon. Matt and I took her across the street to the pool and we all hung out there a bit (strangely though, it was over 100 degrees that day, but the late afternoon got cloudy and cooled off a bit). We had some amazing chicken tacos with more fillings than you could imagine for din din. Then we played some games, had some wine, and cozied up for a little tv. Saturday we took our weekly run to the farmer's market (after some pumpkin pancakes), the headed to the mall in Modesto. Mostly just window shopped, and Matt got to drool all over the apple store. That night we took Samson to a big park to run around, but it turned out to be really busy, so we just walked around.
Sunday Christina and I drove to see Melinda in Sacramento. We ended up going with her and some friends to a flea market in Denios. It was pretty fun, I wish we had something like that to go to more often. Garage sale meets dollar store meets farmer's market meets market in a third world country, lol (meaning it had all of those parts to it!). It was SO nice to just spend those 2 hours each way in the car chatting with one of my best friends, and knowing we could do that all day long if there were enough time!
Christina headed back to Seattle Monday, but I will get to see her again on Thursday when I get to Seattle! This is sort of a crazy week at work, scrambling to get things graded and in order for the sub and for when I come back next Tuesday. Oh well, it's way worth it.
Sunday Christina and I drove to see Melinda in Sacramento. We ended up going with her and some friends to a flea market in Denios. It was pretty fun, I wish we had something like that to go to more often. Garage sale meets dollar store meets farmer's market meets market in a third world country, lol (meaning it had all of those parts to it!). It was SO nice to just spend those 2 hours each way in the car chatting with one of my best friends, and knowing we could do that all day long if there were enough time!
Christina headed back to Seattle Monday, but I will get to see her again on Thursday when I get to Seattle! This is sort of a crazy week at work, scrambling to get things graded and in order for the sub and for when I come back next Tuesday. Oh well, it's way worth it.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
The Merced Dog Park is Closed...
So, we have this wonderful, brand spanking new dog park just a mile down the street. It has looked finished and exactly the same and since we moved here, and yet it is still not open. Last weekend we saw someone in there, even though the gates are locked, so we thought "we need to find out how to get in there too!" We went there to see and sure enough, someone else was in there. There was a part of the fence that slides open and wasn't locked (the main gates are locked), so we went on in and had a great time. We went for several days in a row, with more people showing up every night. Then the sliding fence was locked, but someone found a small gate at the far end that had a loose lock so that you could still squeeze in. So we continued with our fellow breaking and entering friends and dogs like this for a couple more days.... until I arrived Thursday night and not only were all the gates securely locked, but there were signs posted, "The Merced Dog Park is Closed. It will be open October 1, 2009." Come on! It is completely finished and ready for dogs, why torture us with another month? We did already meet some "regulars" in our short week of fun though, and can't wait until it's open so that Samson can play with his new friends and get some more energy out!
The Rents In Town
Last weekend my parents were here. They actually came Wednesday night through Sunday afternoon, so for quite a while. Matt and I were working Thursday and Friday but they went and visited family and friends during those days. Saturday we all went to the Chaffee Zoo in Fresno. That was a lot of fun. We even got to pet sting rays! It was wonderful to have them see where we live and spend time with them. We were so happy that they could come :).
Sting rays!
Don't worry, their stingers were removed.
Mom and Pops
Sting rays!
Don't worry, their stingers were removed.
Mom and Pops
Monday, August 31, 2009
The River not so Wild
On Friday after work, we came home, packed, and headed to Sacramento to visit Melinda. We hung out with her, her roommate, and Charlie (another Calvin friend who was visiting Cali) on Friday night.
I love Melinda!
Saturday we took off early for rafting. We went down the south fork of the American River. Melinda's dad guided the boat, and her mom and friend and his parents were there too. Melinda, Charlie and her roommate kayaked.
I have to say that I was a little bit nervous to go rafting. I haven't been rafting since I went in Ecuador 2.5 years ago, and that was a rather traumatic experience. It was a much more intense river with higher class rapids... our raft went vertical into a huge hole in the rapids... I ended up under water for a very long time... and then I floated down river next to rocks and under tree branches until I finally got rescued.
Anyways... this river only had class 1-3 rapids, which weren't bad at all. And Melinda's dad is an amazing guide; he knows the river super well. It was so much fun and I was so glad to have a better experience rafting. The kayakers didn't fare quite as well, however. Melinda fell out once and her roommate several times. So each time we had to stop and help rescue them. They were pretty cold from the water, but didn't get hurt or anything.
We didn't get back to Melinda's until around 7:30 pm, and we were exhausted, so we decided to stay there another night. We went to her parents house and relaxed our sore muscles in their hot tub :). We headed out this morning and got home around 12:30. We had a lot to do today around home after our busy week and before the next one begins.
Tomorrow we're heading down to Visalia to visit Matt's g-parents and aunts and uncles.
Matt holding Mel's roommate's snake (ew!)
I love Melinda!
Saturday we took off early for rafting. We went down the south fork of the American River. Melinda's dad guided the boat, and her mom and friend and his parents were there too. Melinda, Charlie and her roommate kayaked.I have to say that I was a little bit nervous to go rafting. I haven't been rafting since I went in Ecuador 2.5 years ago, and that was a rather traumatic experience. It was a much more intense river with higher class rapids... our raft went vertical into a huge hole in the rapids... I ended up under water for a very long time... and then I floated down river next to rocks and under tree branches until I finally got rescued.
Anyways... this river only had class 1-3 rapids, which weren't bad at all. And Melinda's dad is an amazing guide; he knows the river super well. It was so much fun and I was so glad to have a better experience rafting. The kayakers didn't fare quite as well, however. Melinda fell out once and her roommate several times. So each time we had to stop and help rescue them. They were pretty cold from the water, but didn't get hurt or anything.
We didn't get back to Melinda's until around 7:30 pm, and we were exhausted, so we decided to stay there another night. We went to her parents house and relaxed our sore muscles in their hot tub :). We headed out this morning and got home around 12:30. We had a lot to do today around home after our busy week and before the next one begins.
The gang after rafting.
Tomorrow we're heading down to Visalia to visit Matt's g-parents and aunts and uncles.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Blessed Assurance
We are feeling extremely blessed these days. Things are far from perfect and paychecks couldn't come soon enough, but they are coming (2 of them!) and we are being held very snugly in the hands of our Father in Heaven. We are being welcomed, encouraged, thanked. prayed for, and told that we are appreciated daily by the wonderful community of people that both of these schools are a part of. I couldn't feel more at peace with our decision to move here (although that doesn't make me miss the many people and our church that we left any less) or in knowing that we have followed what God called us to do.
Friday went as well as it could have for being thrown into subbing after having one night to look over the information and a cram session from the normal teacher. I teach English for 6th (27 kids), 7th (14 kids), and 8th (22 kids) grades, and a basic junior high level math class. I can't wait to see how a whole week will go this week!
Also this week, my parents are coming for a visit! I am SO excited to see them and to have our first visitors to show our new little town to :). They will be driving down and getting in Wednesday night and staying until Sunday morning.
We had a unique experience this morning as we visited a small country Bible church about half an hour away from us. The pastor is the Bible teacher at Merced Christian, and I had heard great things about him and his teaching. He lived up to the rumors. Wonderful straight from the Bible, dig into God's word, kinda preaching. The church had 7 pews on each side of the center aisle, and about 3 rows of chairs behind those. I am guessing there were about 100 people, including the kids. I don't know that we will consider this church (we have a few others we would like to visit yet...), but it was very touching to visit none-the-less. The beginning with announcements included singing happy birthday to everyone with a birthday this week, and then the congregation sharing prayer requests. Since I am now working with the pastor, and Matt teaches his son (see! everyone is connected!), he gave us a public welcome and introduction during this time as well and prayed for us and God's call in our lives during his opening prayer. We sand Blessed Assurance during worship and I found that very fitting.
Samson is back to normal, plus a bunch of extra energy. We'll have to figure out how to manage his energy with us both working for a while. He has been giving us a bit of trouble lately too. He has decided that he doesn't need to listen to "come" anymore when we let him off his leash at the field across the street. He was SO well trained and all of a sudden he doesn't care (maybe partially from getting less attention lately?). This wasn't that big of a deal until Friday when he decided to bolt after something, would not listen to me, and ran straight into a busy street! I was screaming bloody murder at him and running as fast as I could after him... a car slammed on its brakes to miss him, and he then luckily ran back to me. Phew! Thank you Lord for protecting my puppy! But now we're kind of at a loss as to what to do with him... and that darn dog park down the street is STILL not open.
Friday went as well as it could have for being thrown into subbing after having one night to look over the information and a cram session from the normal teacher. I teach English for 6th (27 kids), 7th (14 kids), and 8th (22 kids) grades, and a basic junior high level math class. I can't wait to see how a whole week will go this week!
Also this week, my parents are coming for a visit! I am SO excited to see them and to have our first visitors to show our new little town to :). They will be driving down and getting in Wednesday night and staying until Sunday morning.
We had a unique experience this morning as we visited a small country Bible church about half an hour away from us. The pastor is the Bible teacher at Merced Christian, and I had heard great things about him and his teaching. He lived up to the rumors. Wonderful straight from the Bible, dig into God's word, kinda preaching. The church had 7 pews on each side of the center aisle, and about 3 rows of chairs behind those. I am guessing there were about 100 people, including the kids. I don't know that we will consider this church (we have a few others we would like to visit yet...), but it was very touching to visit none-the-less. The beginning with announcements included singing happy birthday to everyone with a birthday this week, and then the congregation sharing prayer requests. Since I am now working with the pastor, and Matt teaches his son (see! everyone is connected!), he gave us a public welcome and introduction during this time as well and prayed for us and God's call in our lives during his opening prayer. We sand Blessed Assurance during worship and I found that very fitting.
Samson is back to normal, plus a bunch of extra energy. We'll have to figure out how to manage his energy with us both working for a while. He has been giving us a bit of trouble lately too. He has decided that he doesn't need to listen to "come" anymore when we let him off his leash at the field across the street. He was SO well trained and all of a sudden he doesn't care (maybe partially from getting less attention lately?). This wasn't that big of a deal until Friday when he decided to bolt after something, would not listen to me, and ran straight into a busy street! I was screaming bloody murder at him and running as fast as I could after him... a car slammed on its brakes to miss him, and he then luckily ran back to me. Phew! Thank you Lord for protecting my puppy! But now we're kind of at a loss as to what to do with him... and that darn dog park down the street is STILL not open.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
5 Weeks of Work!
In a very confusing turn of events... I got offered a long (although shortish) term sub job! Stone Ridge (Matt's school), had their math teacher bow out this week and have a temporary sub for a couple weeks. The english teacher at Merced Christian is on maternity leave and had a long term sub during that. So Stone Ridge recruited that sub to be their math teacher... and I get to fill her place as a long term sub! It will be all the middle school english, plus one math class. And the teacher on maternity leave is supposedly still planning the lessons and doing some of the grading. I am meeting with her tomorrow to look through her lesson plans and find out more, and then I start this Friday already! The job will go for about 5 weeks. We'll be back to who knows what after that, but by then I'll have some good experience and contacts and should be a shoein if anything else opens up there. The prinicpal was very impressed with me and called me a squeeky wheel because I keep calling and emailing him about any updates... lesson learned... it definitely pays off to be persistant! Everyone is SO nice there, I can't wait :). What a huge blessing, thank you Lord for always providing.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Oh the life of an unemployed teacher...
I talked to the school that I had interviewed with, and it turns out they are now on a hiring freeze (go figure). Some kids pulled out at the last minute, bringing their enrollment and funds down, so they cannot hire anyone for that position at the moment. The principal did tell me, however, that I was their #1 choice and that they were very excited about me and what I had to offer. So if enrollment goes back up and anything changes, they will give me a call right away. But she still didn't even know/find out if I was qualified for preschool for CA... so I'm not sure if that means they would still take me anyways if it came to that? Anyways, there is no certainty in that position now, so I am moving on.
I talked to the principal at Merced Christian yesterday, and they still have no openings, but need a lot of subs... so he is going to call me back today to schedule me for some subbing. There is another preschool also that said they need subs... so that might just be what I try to fill my time with for the near future. I did apply online for a preschool position and a teacher's aide position also, but who knows if or when I'll hear anything from those.
Subbing might not be so bad, especially if I can get quite a few days in at Merced Christian (it is a really awesome school). I am still working on getting into the public schools too. It would give me a lot of flexability in time off and stuff, and probably enough income to make things work. I have to say, I haven't really minded the not-working thing at the moment :-P. It's nice to have time to unpack, settle in, go jogging, savor my coffee, do some reading, run errands and make dinner for Matt after his long day at school. I am content doing that for now until God shows me what He has in store for me next.
Speaking of Matt, he had a wonderful first day teaching yesterday! I am so proud of him!
I talked to the principal at Merced Christian yesterday, and they still have no openings, but need a lot of subs... so he is going to call me back today to schedule me for some subbing. There is another preschool also that said they need subs... so that might just be what I try to fill my time with for the near future. I did apply online for a preschool position and a teacher's aide position also, but who knows if or when I'll hear anything from those.
Subbing might not be so bad, especially if I can get quite a few days in at Merced Christian (it is a really awesome school). I am still working on getting into the public schools too. It would give me a lot of flexability in time off and stuff, and probably enough income to make things work. I have to say, I haven't really minded the not-working thing at the moment :-P. It's nice to have time to unpack, settle in, go jogging, savor my coffee, do some reading, run errands and make dinner for Matt after his long day at school. I am content doing that for now until God shows me what He has in store for me next.
Speaking of Matt, he had a wonderful first day teaching yesterday! I am so proud of him!
Acai Berries?
Has anyone else been hearing of these acai (ah-sigh-ee) berries that come from the Amazon? I've heard them mentioned a few times in the past year or two, but never really listened all that closely, just something about more antioxidants . I was browsing online this morning and clicked on some healthy living links and ended up reading about acai berry supplements. One health journal said:
"The Acai Berries are harvested from a special Amazon palm tree in the rainforests of Brazil. Acai is packed full of antioxidants, amino acids and essential fatty acids. Green tea, as we all know, is a natural fat burner. All these ingredients and their special qualities together work to (1) promote weight loss by increasing calories burned, and (2) increase energy levels and reduce fatigue."
As I read this information, I got to thinking... wait a minute! I think our native guide told us about these berries when I was IN the rainforest! She taught us all about using the different leaves and bark and berries and things for just about every health issue you could think of.... and I am pretty sure this was one of them! Berries that keep you healthy and give you energy.
So pretty much the fad is that everyone is using these supplements as dieting pills (particularly in combiniation with colon cleansers... that's a whole different topic...). However, they are all natural and really do give you those antioxidants and amino acids, along with improving your excercise by burning more calories, and boosting your energy. So I'm not really going for any sort of dieting or weight loss program, but I am working at getting in shape (I've been jogging 5 mornings a week with Samson), eating healthier, and just being healthier in general... and from what I've read from even medical professionals sounds like these acai supplements are a great way to get more energy to go exercise in the first place, and then help that exercise to be more effective. Now if only I could find some or that juice that's not super expensive and not a scam.
We also know several people in GR who sell acai berry juice in bottles like wine bottles, you're supposed to drink like an ounce or 2 a day for the energy and immune system boost. It's one of those things where you buy so many, if you sign other people up to buy them then you get a cut, and so on.
"The Acai Berries are harvested from a special Amazon palm tree in the rainforests of Brazil. Acai is packed full of antioxidants, amino acids and essential fatty acids. Green tea, as we all know, is a natural fat burner. All these ingredients and their special qualities together work to (1) promote weight loss by increasing calories burned, and (2) increase energy levels and reduce fatigue."
As I read this information, I got to thinking... wait a minute! I think our native guide told us about these berries when I was IN the rainforest! She taught us all about using the different leaves and bark and berries and things for just about every health issue you could think of.... and I am pretty sure this was one of them! Berries that keep you healthy and give you energy.
So pretty much the fad is that everyone is using these supplements as dieting pills (particularly in combiniation with colon cleansers... that's a whole different topic...). However, they are all natural and really do give you those antioxidants and amino acids, along with improving your excercise by burning more calories, and boosting your energy. So I'm not really going for any sort of dieting or weight loss program, but I am working at getting in shape (I've been jogging 5 mornings a week with Samson), eating healthier, and just being healthier in general... and from what I've read from even medical professionals sounds like these acai supplements are a great way to get more energy to go exercise in the first place, and then help that exercise to be more effective. Now if only I could find some or that juice that's not super expensive and not a scam.
We also know several people in GR who sell acai berry juice in bottles like wine bottles, you're supposed to drink like an ounce or 2 a day for the energy and immune system boost. It's one of those things where you buy so many, if you sign other people up to buy them then you get a cut, and so on.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Oh Happy Saturday :)
You wouldn't think that it being Saturday would make such a difference to me since I am not working and everyday is almost like a Saturday... oh but it does. I get to sleep in! I have been getting up around 7:30 to go jogging every morning during the week, but I give myself a break on the weekend (I know, 7:30 isn't that early compared to getting up for work, but it is when you don't have to get up for anything!). However, I still had to get up at 7:30 to take Samson out, but went back to bed afterwords. Then for some lounging in my pjs with a mug of coffee in hand :). After that we were off to the farmer's market for some fresh local fruit.
We got invited to go to a birthday party/BBQ/firepit thing tonight for a girl that Matt works with who is the same age as us. She said there would be several other young people for us to meet there. It's nice to have something social to go to.
Our kitchen table and chairs came in yesterday. Be barely fit them in Matt's car when we went to pick them up. The person helping us to our car looked at us like we were crazy to try to fit that huge box in there, but we did it! We put it together in an hour or less, and now it looks fantastic! It's pretty small, but it is solid wood and just the amount of space that we need and fits the space in our apartment perfectly.
We have been looking for dog beds for Samson lately. Now, most of them are quite expensive, especially because he needs a large one. Most that we've found and liked were $40-70... which is far more money than we have to spend on that sort of thing (especially after our vet bill this week). But I was at Ross today and happened to see dog beds, and they had one that's just like a big pillow for $12.99! Sweet deal!
So it's official... my parents are visiting us for a few days at the end of August, and Christina is visiting for a few days in the middle of September! I am SO excited for visitors! And what a great motivator to finish unpacking and start decorating.
We got invited to go to a birthday party/BBQ/firepit thing tonight for a girl that Matt works with who is the same age as us. She said there would be several other young people for us to meet there. It's nice to have something social to go to.
Our kitchen table and chairs came in yesterday. Be barely fit them in Matt's car when we went to pick them up. The person helping us to our car looked at us like we were crazy to try to fit that huge box in there, but we did it! We put it together in an hour or less, and now it looks fantastic! It's pretty small, but it is solid wood and just the amount of space that we need and fits the space in our apartment perfectly.
We have been looking for dog beds for Samson lately. Now, most of them are quite expensive, especially because he needs a large one. Most that we've found and liked were $40-70... which is far more money than we have to spend on that sort of thing (especially after our vet bill this week). But I was at Ross today and happened to see dog beds, and they had one that's just like a big pillow for $12.99! Sweet deal!
So it's official... my parents are visiting us for a few days at the end of August, and Christina is visiting for a few days in the middle of September! I am SO excited for visitors! And what a great motivator to finish unpacking and start decorating.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Jobs, Boxes, and Recycling...
Matt has been plugging away this week, with meetings each morning and getting lessons and syllabuses planned out in the afternoons and some evenings. He meets all his students tomorrow evening at "Round Up" where the kids come to sign up for classes and get pics taken and stuff. Then school starts Monday! Keep him in your prayers for his first week next week!
I had an interview on Tuesday for a part time (12:30-6) preschool position. I think the interview went really well, but they aren't sure still if I am qualified according to California regulations. This is sort of a new position, so they didn't have all the details pinned down either, but hopefully I'll hear from them soon.
Now that Samson is feeling better and not taking up as much of my time, I've been cruising with unpacking. Almost all of the boxes left are confined to the guest room/office, and all that's left is decor and office materials (books for the shelf, office supplies, files, printers...). I managed to fit all but 2 boxes of kitchen stuff in the kitchen cupboards, under the sink, on top the fridge, and in the coat closet! You've got to be creative in a small space I guess :).
Matt put the boxes that we're keeping in the shed off of our patio to store (what a blessing that extra space is for boxes, camping stuff, and car and bike stuff), and then took the rest of the boxes out to the dumpster, so now we can actually use our patio. Now, I felt awfully guilty about putting so much cardboard in the garbage and not recycling it. I'm not claiming to be super "green" or anything, but I do try to do what I can, especially in the ways that don't cost me much financially. So recycling is a big thing that I can do... but our apartment doesn't have it! Boo! And I have yet to find out where and what hours I can take it somewhere... and we really needed those boxes to go so we could use the space.
Another dilemma I've come across with waste: we don't have a house with a yard anymore, so when Samson poops, we have to pick it up and dispose of it somehow. This means we have to use plastic bags. Now, I can choose the free option and get plastic bags when I get groceries (which totally defeats the purpose of all my reusable bags that I have and are so much less wasteful), but then you have this huge bag when you really only need a small one. I went looking for some biodegradable doggy bags, but those were kind of expensive, and we're really trying to cut costs right now. So our temporary solution: store brand, fold over, sandwich baggies... they are small and less plastic in general to be wasting, but are still only like $2 for 300 of them. If anyone has a better solution, let me know!
I had an interview on Tuesday for a part time (12:30-6) preschool position. I think the interview went really well, but they aren't sure still if I am qualified according to California regulations. This is sort of a new position, so they didn't have all the details pinned down either, but hopefully I'll hear from them soon.
Now that Samson is feeling better and not taking up as much of my time, I've been cruising with unpacking. Almost all of the boxes left are confined to the guest room/office, and all that's left is decor and office materials (books for the shelf, office supplies, files, printers...). I managed to fit all but 2 boxes of kitchen stuff in the kitchen cupboards, under the sink, on top the fridge, and in the coat closet! You've got to be creative in a small space I guess :).
Matt put the boxes that we're keeping in the shed off of our patio to store (what a blessing that extra space is for boxes, camping stuff, and car and bike stuff), and then took the rest of the boxes out to the dumpster, so now we can actually use our patio. Now, I felt awfully guilty about putting so much cardboard in the garbage and not recycling it. I'm not claiming to be super "green" or anything, but I do try to do what I can, especially in the ways that don't cost me much financially. So recycling is a big thing that I can do... but our apartment doesn't have it! Boo! And I have yet to find out where and what hours I can take it somewhere... and we really needed those boxes to go so we could use the space.
Another dilemma I've come across with waste: we don't have a house with a yard anymore, so when Samson poops, we have to pick it up and dispose of it somehow. This means we have to use plastic bags. Now, I can choose the free option and get plastic bags when I get groceries (which totally defeats the purpose of all my reusable bags that I have and are so much less wasteful), but then you have this huge bag when you really only need a small one. I went looking for some biodegradable doggy bags, but those were kind of expensive, and we're really trying to cut costs right now. So our temporary solution: store brand, fold over, sandwich baggies... they are small and less plastic in general to be wasting, but are still only like $2 for 300 of them. If anyone has a better solution, let me know!
Poor Puppy
We had quite the rough last fews days with Samson. It started on Monday with a little bit of diarrhea... but that wasn't a big deal, he gets that often enough, with all the stuff outside that he is always eating. Late that night it started getting really liquidy... he woke me up whining because he needed to go at 12:30am and 2:30am. I got Matt up after the second time to hold him while I cleaned some out of his cage.... and then the vomiting began... the poor thing vomited like 6 or 8 times in half an hour! It wasn't ending and he was looking pretty awful, with red eyes and pale gums, so we looked a 24 hour vet up in the phone book and gave them a call. They said we needed to bring him in right away (which was by this point 3:30am).
So Matt brought him in, they tested him for the Parvo puppy virus, which came back negative. They weren't exactly sure then why he was sick, it could have been something he ate, or could be something obstucting his intestines. After that first $85 test, we opted for an out patient program for him. The vet pumped him full of fluids and meds because he was dehydrated (The way they do this is really gross! When they give dogs shots, it's in the back/top of their necks... so they gave him the fluids that way... and then he had this huge lump there with a quart of fluid underneath. The vet said it would settle down and work it's way into his system throughout the day, and it did, but it still looked disgusting jiggling around.) So with the ER visit, the test, the fluids, and the meds they gave us to give him at home.... it came to a whopping $330, ouch! Now we're not the type of people to pay for an expensive procedure or surgery or anything for our dog.... but he was really sick, we had to bring him in... even though that's more than double of what we even paid for him in the first place.
Samson is doing MUCH better now. The vet gave us a recipe of rice, egg yolk, and cottage cheese to feed him to go easy on his tummy.... but we're only allowed to give him a half cup every 4 hours... and now that he's feeling better, this means he is constantly hungry and scavaging around for food or crumbs. He is also supposed to lay low, but all he wants to do it play becuase he hasn't gotten to run around in days. At least he's feeling better! Thank you Lord that is wasn't worse than it was.
So Matt brought him in, they tested him for the Parvo puppy virus, which came back negative. They weren't exactly sure then why he was sick, it could have been something he ate, or could be something obstucting his intestines. After that first $85 test, we opted for an out patient program for him. The vet pumped him full of fluids and meds because he was dehydrated (The way they do this is really gross! When they give dogs shots, it's in the back/top of their necks... so they gave him the fluids that way... and then he had this huge lump there with a quart of fluid underneath. The vet said it would settle down and work it's way into his system throughout the day, and it did, but it still looked disgusting jiggling around.) So with the ER visit, the test, the fluids, and the meds they gave us to give him at home.... it came to a whopping $330, ouch! Now we're not the type of people to pay for an expensive procedure or surgery or anything for our dog.... but he was really sick, we had to bring him in... even though that's more than double of what we even paid for him in the first place.
Samson is doing MUCH better now. The vet gave us a recipe of rice, egg yolk, and cottage cheese to feed him to go easy on his tummy.... but we're only allowed to give him a half cup every 4 hours... and now that he's feeling better, this means he is constantly hungry and scavaging around for food or crumbs. He is also supposed to lay low, but all he wants to do it play becuase he hasn't gotten to run around in days. At least he's feeling better! Thank you Lord that is wasn't worse than it was.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Life is Good When You Have Your Own Bed :)
Our truck did indeed arrive on Saturday afternoon! I cannot tell you how happy we were to have our own bed to sleep in... it felt like we were never going to get it back. We are learning that we have far too much stuff for this little space. There were so many boxes everywhere that the movers hardly had room to put our furniture back together. We are making good progress though. Out biggest space problem is in the kitchen... we could fill 3 kitchens the size of this one with all the stuff that we have... there is not much cupboard space at all. So it looks like the walk in closet in our 2nd bedroom is going to be pull of kitchen things along with everything else we were planning on storing in there. Everything seems to have made it here OK... only a couple broken glasses and a few scratches.
We tried another church yesterday, this time the baptist church that Matt's school is on the property of. We met several more people associated with the school. One of which was the volleyball coach and his wife and their 3 little kids - who invited us over for lunch. I am constantly amazed at how friendly everyone is that we've met here. Not just, "We should have you over sometime, we'll give you a call and figure it out." But, "Why don't you come over right now for lunch?"
Sunday afternoon we got a call from my friends Tyler and Gwen. They were in Yosemite over the weekend and driving through Merced on the way out and wanted to meet for dinner. So that we did! Needless to say, we didn't get quite as much unpacking done as we had hoped, but oh well.
Today is supposed to be 100 degrees! So I got a run in early with Samson. Matt started work today, mostly meetings and stuff this week. I will be the unpacking, laundry, and grocery shopping wifey :-P.
We tried another church yesterday, this time the baptist church that Matt's school is on the property of. We met several more people associated with the school. One of which was the volleyball coach and his wife and their 3 little kids - who invited us over for lunch. I am constantly amazed at how friendly everyone is that we've met here. Not just, "We should have you over sometime, we'll give you a call and figure it out." But, "Why don't you come over right now for lunch?"
Sunday afternoon we got a call from my friends Tyler and Gwen. They were in Yosemite over the weekend and driving through Merced on the way out and wanted to meet for dinner. So that we did! Needless to say, we didn't get quite as much unpacking done as we had hoped, but oh well.
Today is supposed to be 100 degrees! So I got a run in early with Samson. Matt started work today, mostly meetings and stuff this week. I will be the unpacking, laundry, and grocery shopping wifey :-P.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Moving truck, etc...
Our truck driver called this morning and said that he would be here tomorrow between 12 and 3pm! What wonderful news and a huge answer to prayer!
We took Samson to a dog park about 30 min away in a town called Turlock yesterday. He had a blast... ran all those other dogs ragged (and when I say all, I mean that he chased or was chased by just about every single one of them... he's such a friendly pup!).
Random story from driving back from Huntington Lake the other day:
So we're driving along 99 and it starts to get a little smelly. We look around to notice a livestock trailer on a truck up ahead and think, that must be the smell. We drive by, pear through those little holes, but it's empty! Then we look to the truck in front of it, which is a big semi with an open topped trailer on it, not thinking too much of it... until we see a pair of hooves sticking out over the side! EWW! As if this wasn't bad enough... that same exact sequence of 1.smell, 2.empty livestock trailer, and 3.another trailer with hooves, appeared about 3 more times! Does the one trailer bring them to get killed and the other follows along, ready to transport the carcasses? Then they travel back together again? I don't know, but it was rather gross to think about (and I'm not even a vegetarian...).
We took Samson to a dog park about 30 min away in a town called Turlock yesterday. He had a blast... ran all those other dogs ragged (and when I say all, I mean that he chased or was chased by just about every single one of them... he's such a friendly pup!).
Random story from driving back from Huntington Lake the other day:
So we're driving along 99 and it starts to get a little smelly. We look around to notice a livestock trailer on a truck up ahead and think, that must be the smell. We drive by, pear through those little holes, but it's empty! Then we look to the truck in front of it, which is a big semi with an open topped trailer on it, not thinking too much of it... until we see a pair of hooves sticking out over the side! EWW! As if this wasn't bad enough... that same exact sequence of 1.smell, 2.empty livestock trailer, and 3.another trailer with hooves, appeared about 3 more times! Does the one trailer bring them to get killed and the other follows along, ready to transport the carcasses? Then they travel back together again? I don't know, but it was rather gross to think about (and I'm not even a vegetarian...).
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Moving Update
We just got a call from the moving truck company that the truck will be leaving from Chicago tonight and that it will be here sometime this weekend. More waiting yet, but this is still VERY good news!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
I'm a Californian Now!
Well, it's official... I got my California license in the mail today! It is a little weird though, I must admit. I put it next to my Michigan and Washington ones and was blown away by how unexpectedly my life has turned out since college! Just another testimony to my life being in God's hands and not my own.
We had a nice weekend, or Sunday-Monday, at least. Matt's aunt and uncle manage a summer camp (Camp Keola) in the Sierra National Forest (Kaiser Wilderness area), at Huntington Lake. We drove up Sunday after church, and got there around 3 pm. It's a really nice camp and the lake was very nice. Matt went out on a little sailboat with his cousin, and I went in the kayaks with his aunt. I went in the lake a little and pulled Samson in with me to see how he'd do (even though he HATES water!). As predicted, he freaked out and frantically swam to the shore. But we learned that he could swim at least, lol. I wish we could have spent more time there, it was so beautiful, relaxing, and smelled amazing! Trees and campfire! After dinner we hiked to a lookout with them and you could see the lights all the way to Fresno and up 99 quite a ways! It was an awesome view.
We left after breakfast and headed down the road to go on a hike to Twin Lakes. It was a 6 mile round trip hike, mostly on a very dry and dusty trail (welcome to Cali hiking!). But there were maybe half a dozen meadow areas created from mountain streams trickling down. We reached the twin lakes, had a snack, and turned around. Samson did pretty well on his first hike. He mostly led us well along the trail... except for whenever he saw a critter to try to chase after!
We are back in Merced and enjoying the cooler weather! It's low 90s and even some 80s are coming later this week.
No, to answer your question... we still do not have our stuff. As of Friday our truck was still in Chicago. As of Sunday the company called again and said they keep trying to contact the company they subcontracted and have not received any further information. Today was the last day in the estimate window that they gave us, so they said that we would be able to file for a partial reimbursement because it is late.
On our way to the mountains on Sunday, we listened to a sermon from Ada Bible about choosing joy. Whenever we are faced with a difficult situation, we are going to choose some sort of response no matter what, so why not decide to choose joy? The problem is that this is very much a CHOICE. However, it is also a command that we by joyful in ALL circumstances. Therefore, I am praying and trying very hard to choose joy. It is SO hard not to be frustrated and upset about this situation, and I will admit that it is really no fun at all (sleeping on an air mattress going on a week now, cooking with one pot... meaning lots of pasta, a folding table and chairs as our only furniture, no where to put anything, lots of free time to start unpacking, but nothing to unpack... the list goes on...), but I am still working with all my might to choose joy and have a positive attitude! Please pray for our stuff to arrive soon and for our spirits to remain filled and trusting in our Lord.
On the job front... the principal at Matt's school asked me about teaching part time high school math because they do not have a math teacher and school starts in 2 weeks. However, I decided to say no. It would be an awfully lot of work for only part time, teaching high school, which I don't really want to do, and teaching at a much higher level than I feel capable of. I would also then be committed to the entire year, and have no options to take anything else that could come up later. There is a not quite full time (12-6pm) preschool/after hours preschool care activities director opening at an Anglican school that I applied for. I am currently waiting to hear if I am qualified to do preschool in California. I may have to take some early childhood classes if I want to do preschool. There are also a couple more preschools that I haven't checked out yet. I checked with the public schools for openings or subbing, but they have a hiring freeze right now.
Anyways... I posted a bunch of pics on facebook, if these links will work, then I don't have to repost them on here...
Huntington Lake
Welcome to Merced
The Road Trip
We had a nice weekend, or Sunday-Monday, at least. Matt's aunt and uncle manage a summer camp (Camp Keola) in the Sierra National Forest (Kaiser Wilderness area), at Huntington Lake. We drove up Sunday after church, and got there around 3 pm. It's a really nice camp and the lake was very nice. Matt went out on a little sailboat with his cousin, and I went in the kayaks with his aunt. I went in the lake a little and pulled Samson in with me to see how he'd do (even though he HATES water!). As predicted, he freaked out and frantically swam to the shore. But we learned that he could swim at least, lol. I wish we could have spent more time there, it was so beautiful, relaxing, and smelled amazing! Trees and campfire! After dinner we hiked to a lookout with them and you could see the lights all the way to Fresno and up 99 quite a ways! It was an awesome view.
We left after breakfast and headed down the road to go on a hike to Twin Lakes. It was a 6 mile round trip hike, mostly on a very dry and dusty trail (welcome to Cali hiking!). But there were maybe half a dozen meadow areas created from mountain streams trickling down. We reached the twin lakes, had a snack, and turned around. Samson did pretty well on his first hike. He mostly led us well along the trail... except for whenever he saw a critter to try to chase after!
We are back in Merced and enjoying the cooler weather! It's low 90s and even some 80s are coming later this week.
No, to answer your question... we still do not have our stuff. As of Friday our truck was still in Chicago. As of Sunday the company called again and said they keep trying to contact the company they subcontracted and have not received any further information. Today was the last day in the estimate window that they gave us, so they said that we would be able to file for a partial reimbursement because it is late.
On our way to the mountains on Sunday, we listened to a sermon from Ada Bible about choosing joy. Whenever we are faced with a difficult situation, we are going to choose some sort of response no matter what, so why not decide to choose joy? The problem is that this is very much a CHOICE. However, it is also a command that we by joyful in ALL circumstances. Therefore, I am praying and trying very hard to choose joy. It is SO hard not to be frustrated and upset about this situation, and I will admit that it is really no fun at all (sleeping on an air mattress going on a week now, cooking with one pot... meaning lots of pasta, a folding table and chairs as our only furniture, no where to put anything, lots of free time to start unpacking, but nothing to unpack... the list goes on...), but I am still working with all my might to choose joy and have a positive attitude! Please pray for our stuff to arrive soon and for our spirits to remain filled and trusting in our Lord.
On the job front... the principal at Matt's school asked me about teaching part time high school math because they do not have a math teacher and school starts in 2 weeks. However, I decided to say no. It would be an awfully lot of work for only part time, teaching high school, which I don't really want to do, and teaching at a much higher level than I feel capable of. I would also then be committed to the entire year, and have no options to take anything else that could come up later. There is a not quite full time (12-6pm) preschool/after hours preschool care activities director opening at an Anglican school that I applied for. I am currently waiting to hear if I am qualified to do preschool in California. I may have to take some early childhood classes if I want to do preschool. There are also a couple more preschools that I haven't checked out yet. I checked with the public schools for openings or subbing, but they have a hiring freeze right now.
Anyways... I posted a bunch of pics on facebook, if these links will work, then I don't have to repost them on here...
Huntington Lake
Welcome to Merced
The Road Trip
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Arrival in Merced!
It took us exactly 2 hours to get to Merced from Melinda's, just north of Sacramento. We went straight to our apartment, signed all the paperwork, got some Jamba Juice (my fave!), and headed back to get into our apartment. There wasn't too much settling to do yet without our stuff, so we headed over to Stone Ridge Christian to meet Matt's principal, Sandra Mobley. She showed us around, and invited us to her house in a few hours for dinner :). We brought Samson along; he LOVED running around in her huge yard. We had a great time getting to know Sandra and her husband and a parent of some students, who was there also. We have been told and are seeing that this school is like a big family! Everyone is very friendly, helpful, and generous.
We also got the 20 min tour of town, and are getting to know it quite well in the last couple days already. The city is the largest in the area, but still only 80,000. It has a bit of a smaller town feel than that though even... we learned that 20-30 years ago, the population was only 25,000... so the people who grew up here all know eachother still.
We have been busy getting things set up. We spent 2 and a half hours at the DMV this morning getting our Cali drivers licenses and registering the car (BOO!). We even had to take a written test that I barely passed (I need to study up on my Cali driving laws, apparently!). Then we had to go to In-N-Out, of course, after all that waiting!
Our apartment is really nice, 2 bedrooms 1 bath, with cement patios off of the living room and off of our bedroom. The biggest downside is that there is absolutely no grass (just dirt with plants) for Samson to go to the bathroom, other than the grass strip along the street just outside the complex. However, Merced College is just across the street and has a big grassy field right there that we have been taking him to a few times a day.
We are still awaiting the arrival of our moving truck with all of our stuff. It has been one huge pain in the neck to put it nicely. We are very frustrated with the company and would not reccommend them to anyone. They gave us a delivery estimate of July 27-August 4, but then said that they would narrow that down for us when they got our stuff... and we still do not know. They also said they could track the truck... but we just keep getting passed off to another person or told that they'll call us in a few hours or the next day. So PLEASE PRAY that they will giv eus more information and that we will get our stuff soon. We really want to be able to do some unpacking before Matt starts teaching!
I don't know how much I will be posting in the next couple weeks because there are only 2 guys to install comcast internet in the area and the earliest appointment was a week from Tuesday, blah. So I am at starbucks right now to get it.
We also got the 20 min tour of town, and are getting to know it quite well in the last couple days already. The city is the largest in the area, but still only 80,000. It has a bit of a smaller town feel than that though even... we learned that 20-30 years ago, the population was only 25,000... so the people who grew up here all know eachother still.
We have been busy getting things set up. We spent 2 and a half hours at the DMV this morning getting our Cali drivers licenses and registering the car (BOO!). We even had to take a written test that I barely passed (I need to study up on my Cali driving laws, apparently!). Then we had to go to In-N-Out, of course, after all that waiting!
Our apartment is really nice, 2 bedrooms 1 bath, with cement patios off of the living room and off of our bedroom. The biggest downside is that there is absolutely no grass (just dirt with plants) for Samson to go to the bathroom, other than the grass strip along the street just outside the complex. However, Merced College is just across the street and has a big grassy field right there that we have been taking him to a few times a day.
We are still awaiting the arrival of our moving truck with all of our stuff. It has been one huge pain in the neck to put it nicely. We are very frustrated with the company and would not reccommend them to anyone. They gave us a delivery estimate of July 27-August 4, but then said that they would narrow that down for us when they got our stuff... and we still do not know. They also said they could track the truck... but we just keep getting passed off to another person or told that they'll call us in a few hours or the next day. So PLEASE PRAY that they will giv eus more information and that we will get our stuff soon. We really want to be able to do some unpacking before Matt starts teaching!
I don't know how much I will be posting in the next couple weeks because there are only 2 guys to install comcast internet in the area and the earliest appointment was a week from Tuesday, blah. So I am at starbucks right now to get it.
Driving Through the Desert Without AC!
Rewind...
On Sunday we left Salt Lake City very early to get a head start and beat some of the desert heat. And good thing we did! We drove through the rest of Utah and the Great Salt Lake Desert, which was very cool and hilarious to see all the white salt that looks almost like snow. Morton salt company and another company even have mines there and along the lake. Huge mountains of salt, how weird.
Matt REALLY wanted to stop on the side of the highway to
walk on the salt... he wanted to drive onto it too, but we didn't.
Morton Salt
The AC in the car had been going in and out since a few days before we left GR... and it was still working in the morning as we drove through that first stretch of desert. However, soon after we entered Nevada, it went out for good. Leaving us to drive through the entire state of hot Nevada in the late morning and early afternoon without AC! We figured we could deal with it, even though it was rather uncomfortable, but were a little worried about Samson in the backseat. We ended up getting a towel wet with cold water and covering him with it; which actually seemed to work quite well. Matt and I, on the other hand, were starting to feel pretty fatigued by the heat. Thank goodness for all those mountain ranges with slightly cooler air to help us out. We finally made it through Nevada, then slowly through the mountains as we entered Cali, then slower yet in a bit of Sacramento traffic, until we FINALLY reached Melinda's house in Woodland!! Scott was in town too and we all went out to a fabulous dinner at a local Mexican place. Oh how we have missed our college friends! Melinda and I practically had the giggles all through dinner, out of sheer excitement to be together :). Simply wonderful.
OH! I almost forgot... Samson had a great time playing with Melinda's dog, Kronk. He is a pit bull and gave Samson a run for his money!
On Sunday we left Salt Lake City very early to get a head start and beat some of the desert heat. And good thing we did! We drove through the rest of Utah and the Great Salt Lake Desert, which was very cool and hilarious to see all the white salt that looks almost like snow. Morton salt company and another company even have mines there and along the lake. Huge mountains of salt, how weird.
Welcome to the Great Salt Lake Desert!
Matt REALLY wanted to stop on the side of the highway towalk on the salt... he wanted to drive onto it too, but we didn't.
Morton Salt
The AC in the car had been going in and out since a few days before we left GR... and it was still working in the morning as we drove through that first stretch of desert. However, soon after we entered Nevada, it went out for good. Leaving us to drive through the entire state of hot Nevada in the late morning and early afternoon without AC! We figured we could deal with it, even though it was rather uncomfortable, but were a little worried about Samson in the backseat. We ended up getting a towel wet with cold water and covering him with it; which actually seemed to work quite well. Matt and I, on the other hand, were starting to feel pretty fatigued by the heat. Thank goodness for all those mountain ranges with slightly cooler air to help us out. We finally made it through Nevada, then slowly through the mountains as we entered Cali, then slower yet in a bit of Sacramento traffic, until we FINALLY reached Melinda's house in Woodland!! Scott was in town too and we all went out to a fabulous dinner at a local Mexican place. Oh how we have missed our college friends! Melinda and I practically had the giggles all through dinner, out of sheer excitement to be together :). Simply wonderful.
OH! I almost forgot... Samson had a great time playing with Melinda's dog, Kronk. He is a pit bull and gave Samson a run for his money!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Merced
We are indeed in Merced now. Arrived here Monday morning around 11am. We don't have internet at our apartment yet, but hopefully I can post more soon.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Salt Lake City
This morning we winded out of the mountains, headed back up to I-80, and through the rest of Wyoming. We really enjoyed the rock formations and colorful reds and browns that were striped together in the surrounding hills as we drove through Utah.
We got to Salt Lake a little after 5 pm, and got settled into our hotel. We were actually allowed to leave Samson in the room, if he wasn't barking and bothering other guests... so we gave him a sedative and tried to sneak out after about half an hour... but then he just kept whining and barking as we listened in the hallway. So for fear of him barking while we were gone and getting charged any extra fees... we took him with us. Of course, as soon as we got in the car, he gave into the drugs and was out. I had to lift him out of the car when we got to the temple square, but he perked up once we started walking, thankfully. He was a little calmer than usual though :-P. It was nice to walk around the temple square and courtyards, even if we couldn't see as much with him along. The temple itself is gorgeous and very impressive that they built that thing in 1853, using ox drawn wagons to move the granite stones!
The reflection of the temple in this cool pool just outside the gates
Oh! On our way to the temple, we saw black smoke billowing in the near distance. A police car whizzed by us and stopped just a couple hundred feet later at a van on the side of the road that was on fire! It must have just happened, and I got this amazing picture as we drove by:
We got to Salt Lake a little after 5 pm, and got settled into our hotel. We were actually allowed to leave Samson in the room, if he wasn't barking and bothering other guests... so we gave him a sedative and tried to sneak out after about half an hour... but then he just kept whining and barking as we listened in the hallway. So for fear of him barking while we were gone and getting charged any extra fees... we took him with us. Of course, as soon as we got in the car, he gave into the drugs and was out. I had to lift him out of the car when we got to the temple square, but he perked up once we started walking, thankfully. He was a little calmer than usual though :-P. It was nice to walk around the temple square and courtyards, even if we couldn't see as much with him along. The temple itself is gorgeous and very impressive that they built that thing in 1853, using ox drawn wagons to move the granite stones!Samson liked the temple!
The reflection of the temple in this cool pool just outside the gates
Oh! On our way to the temple, we saw black smoke billowing in the near distance. A police car whizzed by us and stopped just a couple hundred feet later at a van on the side of the road that was on fire! It must have just happened, and I got this amazing picture as we drove by:
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