Let me start this story by telling you another story.
Growing up, I went to Mexico to do a week of mission work for seven or eight summers in a row. We went to villages, shared the gospel, helped construct buildings, handed out food, worshiped our Savior together, etc, etc, etc. Amazing experiences, pointing to an Awesome Father.
We teamed up with a ministry stationed right on the border. They act as hosts to groups and bring them down into Mexico. They give the same exact orientation presentation before breakfast on the day your trip begins. They always hand out Flexi cookies.
When you're on these kinds of trips, you never know what will happen. Your bus could get stuck in the mud. The customs cops might take away things you're bringing to give away. You might have a plain bologna (we have got to get better about our pronunciations here in America...) sandwich for every meal. Like one year, there was a drought, so we had no showers- only bathing in the river (yay, environment!). SO the last thing the group needs is for someone to be inflexible.
That first day, everyone eats a Flexi cookie (sometimes it was a piece of pop-tart, etc. one time it was an oatmeal thing- GROSS. I only PRETENDED to eat that.) which will make you have the best attitude no matter what comes along (...fail on oatmeal bar day?)...
...now sometimes, the Flexi cookies don't work with every individual's chemical makeup. So, if someone is grumbling and complaining, you just nicely stroll by and remind them to buck up by saying "flexi flexi!" Sidenote: this is the LAST thing you want to hear when you're having a bad day.
If someone has been warned several times to be "flexi flexi" and if that just won't work, then they will be given another Flexi cookie. If THAT still doesn't work, then everyone gets to circle around the non-flexible person and pray for them. That never happened on any of the trips I was on, but I would be mortified if that happened to me. Actually, I don't think anyone was ever given an extra Flexi cookie, either. Hm. I guess we just had really good teams of people.
ANYWAY. So. I think because of that, I grew to be pretty flexible. If you can be flexible, then you can think on your toes and try different things when what you've planned isn't working. Although, I got so used to doing this that during student teaching, my planning went way down to the bare minimum.... Ha.
So - back to Florida, 2011!
After our celebrating and chillaxin', we headed down to Vero Beach for Tommy to sign some paperwork things. That wasn't until noon, so we decided to make an appointment with a realtor to see some townhouses and condos at 10 that morning. We had searched online before our trip, and found out that most of the townhouses, and even regular-type houses were much cheaper than they were in Gainesville. Some houses were even less to rent than our apartment! So, we wanted to see if these places were just dumps, or if we could get an awesome deal and finally get out of apartment living.
We met the realtor at the first of three places, and the sign to the community let us know that it was for "active adults" = old folks. Thanks, Realtor, who knew we were young, for telling us this, since we only have one day down here (sarcasm). We toured the clubhouse- and what do ya know, full of old people and their activities! A full water aerobics class, several teams engrossed in checkers, and a big television in the "theater" room. Of course, we kept our comments to "oh how nice!" and "that's great!" for the realtor, but our looks to one another communicated thoughts more like "seriously??" and "nope, nope, nope." When we finally saw the townhouse, we were pleasantly surprised. A nice big kitchen, clean and open spaces, and decent sized rooms. So Tommy asked if we were even allowed to rent here, being a 55+ community. Yes, we could, and we could have pets, we just couldn't have kids. Interesting.
So we headed to the next place- another townhouse. This place had a hugely tall living room space, but a tiny kitchen and several upstairs small rooms that we didn't need and that would waste our a.c. We didn't hate it, and decided to go ahead and see the final place before Tommy's meeting.
This was actually a house. We were so excited to see it- an actual house that was in our price range!? Walking in, we realized why. Teeny tiny master bathroom, old navy blue carpet, and oddly shaped bedrooms. It certainly wasn't the worst place ever, but the other two places, though they weren't houses, were cleaner, in better condition, and had more usable space.
We told the realtor we'd call her and let her know. We weren't in love with any of the three we had seen, and were counting on returning to VB and seeing what else was available. So I dropped off Tommy, and went to a nearby Panera to drink some sweet tea and play around on Facebook....
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
May 22, 2011. One Year.
One year?!
We've been married a whole YEAR?!
Remember when you were in like 7th grade, and you thought- holy cow. this year will. never. end. shoot me.
Our first year was the exact opposite.
We actually got to look back through the whole thing, because one of my gifts to Tommy was a scrapbook of our entire first year (I know it's a terrible gift for a guy, but it was for future blah blah blah). We enjoyed awesome honeymoon pics, laughed at my appendicitis, remembered the snow at Christmas, talked about our wonderful church family..... I don't know who says the first year is the hardest.
So, where were we going to celebrate?? Universal Studios to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!! I was so excited. Thrilled. Jumping up and down. And it was Tommy's idea! He loves me :)
Friday after work, we drove down to Orlando. Our first night together, we stayed at a Westin in Huntsville before we went on our honeymoon. So, Tommy decided we should again stay at a Westin in Orlando, one year later!
The next day, we were at the gates when they opened, and went straight to the Harry Potter section of the park. Into Hogsmeade we stepped, sweating profusely in the Florida heat, but completely surrounded by snow-topped roofs. We passed a snowwizard (one word?) and a frozen stream, and got into line to wait for an hour and forty-five minutes for the best ride of the day. They did supply some fans and misting for the outdoor line, but most of the line wasn't anywhere near them. The line wound around the sides and back of the building, like they aren't expecting the huge crowds to last forever (sad). And most people did like us- get the new ride done first (that afternoon we walked by again. almost no line! UGH). But after we had passed the fans and mist twice, and waited in the even hotter greenhouses (yeah... they're in the books and movies... but did we really need to walk through one??) and INTO the dark and cool castle.
And let me just tell you, Tommy thought the ride would not be that great. And it WAS. Fun AND thrilling! I will not give away the secrets of the ride. If I did, you would try to imagine it and you would be wrong.
So, after the ride, we explored a little more around Harry's world. We tried the ice cold butterbeer (they're hot in the stories, but everyone would die if they tried that) and enjoyed the candy store and the post office. We thought about buying a wand so I too could be magical, but they were a little too expensive for... well... sticks.
We then explored the rest of Universal. We got to go on a Spiderman ride (pretty fun for a older 3D adventure) and toured the caverns of Poseidon (dumb.) and strolled through Dr. Seuss world (saw the Lorax!). We even got a caricature done while we waited to meet up with one of Tommy's friends from school. I think I will make that the top picture on here :)
After we had completely exhausted ourselves and had seen every part of the theme park, we went back to the hotel to clean up for a fancy date night. Tommy did the good guy thing and made reservations at a nice seafood place. I remember it wasn't too fancy/stuffy... but I don't remember what I ate for dinner because the best part was the dessert!! Warm chocolate-chip cookies and milk!!! At a fancy restaurant!! So much for acting like a mature grown-up.
Before getting to Orlando, we found out that Tommy needed to be in Vero to sign some contracts, so instead of driving back and forth for no reason, we decided to stay another night and just hang out on Sunday. We actually ended up going to Ripley's Believe It Or Not. It turned out to be pretty fascinating! We saw crazy pictures and learned that people get really bored- who builds a lifesize model of a car out of toothpicks??
Monday, we ended our anniversary weekend by driving.... to where.... the next chapter of our lives... would be... (you know what I mean.)
We've been married a whole YEAR?!
Remember when you were in like 7th grade, and you thought- holy cow. this year will. never. end. shoot me.
Our first year was the exact opposite.
We actually got to look back through the whole thing, because one of my gifts to Tommy was a scrapbook of our entire first year (I know it's a terrible gift for a guy, but it was for future blah blah blah). We enjoyed awesome honeymoon pics, laughed at my appendicitis, remembered the snow at Christmas, talked about our wonderful church family..... I don't know who says the first year is the hardest.
So, where were we going to celebrate?? Universal Studios to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!! I was so excited. Thrilled. Jumping up and down. And it was Tommy's idea! He loves me :)
Friday after work, we drove down to Orlando. Our first night together, we stayed at a Westin in Huntsville before we went on our honeymoon. So, Tommy decided we should again stay at a Westin in Orlando, one year later!
The next day, we were at the gates when they opened, and went straight to the Harry Potter section of the park. Into Hogsmeade we stepped, sweating profusely in the Florida heat, but completely surrounded by snow-topped roofs. We passed a snowwizard (one word?) and a frozen stream, and got into line to wait for an hour and forty-five minutes for the best ride of the day. They did supply some fans and misting for the outdoor line, but most of the line wasn't anywhere near them. The line wound around the sides and back of the building, like they aren't expecting the huge crowds to last forever (sad). And most people did like us- get the new ride done first (that afternoon we walked by again. almost no line! UGH). But after we had passed the fans and mist twice, and waited in the even hotter greenhouses (yeah... they're in the books and movies... but did we really need to walk through one??) and INTO the dark and cool castle.
And let me just tell you, Tommy thought the ride would not be that great. And it WAS. Fun AND thrilling! I will not give away the secrets of the ride. If I did, you would try to imagine it and you would be wrong.
So, after the ride, we explored a little more around Harry's world. We tried the ice cold butterbeer (they're hot in the stories, but everyone would die if they tried that) and enjoyed the candy store and the post office. We thought about buying a wand so I too could be magical, but they were a little too expensive for... well... sticks.
We then explored the rest of Universal. We got to go on a Spiderman ride (pretty fun for a older 3D adventure) and toured the caverns of Poseidon (dumb.) and strolled through Dr. Seuss world (saw the Lorax!). We even got a caricature done while we waited to meet up with one of Tommy's friends from school. I think I will make that the top picture on here :)
After we had completely exhausted ourselves and had seen every part of the theme park, we went back to the hotel to clean up for a fancy date night. Tommy did the good guy thing and made reservations at a nice seafood place. I remember it wasn't too fancy/stuffy... but I don't remember what I ate for dinner because the best part was the dessert!! Warm chocolate-chip cookies and milk!!! At a fancy restaurant!! So much for acting like a mature grown-up.
Before getting to Orlando, we found out that Tommy needed to be in Vero to sign some contracts, so instead of driving back and forth for no reason, we decided to stay another night and just hang out on Sunday. We actually ended up going to Ripley's Believe It Or Not. It turned out to be pretty fascinating! We saw crazy pictures and learned that people get really bored- who builds a lifesize model of a car out of toothpicks??
Monday, we ended our anniversary weekend by driving.... to where.... the next chapter of our lives... would be... (you know what I mean.)
Monday, July 18, 2011
may.
I'm going to speed this up. I mean, it's JULY and I'm writing about things that happened MONTHS ago. That's no fun for you and it's just. silly. Sillyness.
This is basically how our Spring ended:
Tommy didn't hear back from Vero Beach for AWHILE. Long enough for it to get stressful. So, we tried to balance placing all our trust in our Lord, and knowing that there are many Christians suffering in our country with no jobs. We know that He wants what is best for us, and we discusssed how we were learning to be humble and patient. Tommy even went to an on-site interview in Philadelphia because he thought that VB wasn't going to pan out. (Pan Out? Who decided that was a logical saying?? I will look that up after I write all this for ya....)
I think by this point we just decided to not think about it and just to WAIT. "Wait on the Lord, be strong, and of good courage." So, we bought t-shirts to support those who were hit by tornados in Alabama, and sent gift cards to Lowe's with the Christian radio station we listened to. And waited. And prayed. I started writing my prayers. I needed to be able to look back in years to come and see what I needed, what I had actually asked for, and what God had done.
And finally. Tommy was called. From Vero Beach. They offered him a better job with a higher pay grade than he interviewed for. He accepted almost immediately. Talk about rejoicing! I was doing an observation at the time and kept getting texts of joy from my mom, his mom, our friends from church, etc, etc. I'm sure the poor lady thought I was a terrible person- I kept looking at my phone and grinning, then trying to hide the smile.
I don't want you to think that if Tommy hadn't gotten the job, we would have been angry at God. Our prayers were never "please give us this job." We only asked that He would give us the grace to accept what He planned for us, to desire what He wanted for us, to be patient and to trust. We didn't know what would be best for us, and we knew He did.
So, after seeing Him work, all we had to do was celebrate. And then celebrate again- for our One Year Anniversary!!
This is basically how our Spring ended:
Tommy didn't hear back from Vero Beach for AWHILE. Long enough for it to get stressful. So, we tried to balance placing all our trust in our Lord, and knowing that there are many Christians suffering in our country with no jobs. We know that He wants what is best for us, and we discusssed how we were learning to be humble and patient. Tommy even went to an on-site interview in Philadelphia because he thought that VB wasn't going to pan out. (Pan Out? Who decided that was a logical saying?? I will look that up after I write all this for ya....)
I think by this point we just decided to not think about it and just to WAIT. "Wait on the Lord, be strong, and of good courage." So, we bought t-shirts to support those who were hit by tornados in Alabama, and sent gift cards to Lowe's with the Christian radio station we listened to. And waited. And prayed. I started writing my prayers. I needed to be able to look back in years to come and see what I needed, what I had actually asked for, and what God had done.
And finally. Tommy was called. From Vero Beach. They offered him a better job with a higher pay grade than he interviewed for. He accepted almost immediately. Talk about rejoicing! I was doing an observation at the time and kept getting texts of joy from my mom, his mom, our friends from church, etc, etc. I'm sure the poor lady thought I was a terrible person- I kept looking at my phone and grinning, then trying to hide the smile.
I don't want you to think that if Tommy hadn't gotten the job, we would have been angry at God. Our prayers were never "please give us this job." We only asked that He would give us the grace to accept what He planned for us, to desire what He wanted for us, to be patient and to trust. We didn't know what would be best for us, and we knew He did.
So, after seeing Him work, all we had to do was celebrate. And then celebrate again- for our One Year Anniversary!!
getting through spring.
Let's see... what else happened at the beginning of spring...
We had our end of the year Driven party! Driven is the Bible study group of college kids and young adults. It is basically made up of our friends in Gainesville, the people we had been able to get closest to. The party was mainly to celebrate the end of their semester. I remember feeling very weird at it. At this point, Tommy and I were beginning to think that he would not be able to find a job in Gainesville, and I think my mind was first starting to feel the end of things at this party. I knew we would have about two more months, but that seemed suddenly to be very short, and that hanging out with this whole group of people wouldn't really happen again.
The party was at a house with a pool, and it was still pretty cool out, so most of us just sat around it with our feet in the water. The girls chatted at one end of the pool, and the guys went to the front yard to play bocce. We grilled out, chilled out, and... gamed out? We had cake and beans and burgers. And then we played cornhole/bags (depending on what part of the country you're from) and played with the bop-it and tossed the frisbees and footballs back and forth. It was one of those really nice times when the weather's not too hot, everyone's goofing off, and you just want to do nothing but relax.
For Easter weekend, Tommy's good friend Adam came to visit! That Saturday, we drove the almost two hours to the beach we had been to a few times before. He had come from New York, and so needed to thaw out completely. The guys played bocce (seems to be a running theme...) and I read and took pictures of them. We then drove around a little bit to find a place to eat dinner. I really, really, really wanted some popcorn shrimp. In North Carolina, you are not a real seafood restaurant without it. Apparently in Florida, popcorn shrimp are on the endangered species list.... So, no, the place we ate did not have popcorn shrimp. Dumb. But we enjoyed the company we had and gave Adam a little taste of Florida.
The next morning was Easter!! I had to leave early to practice with the praise band, and I made them little Eater baskets to wake up to! I tried to find manly baskets- dark wood and real-ish. and put gum and candy in them. To make them more...executive... I also added pens and highlighters... It's hard to be the Easter bunny!!
I'm so glad that we know the real meaning of Easter. To know that the power of sin is defeated and that the One who has that power wants to be the love of our lives- how can we live ordinary lives knowing that? Easter is such an awesome time to celebrate it. It's bizarre seeing the world try and gloss over its real meaning. But it is fun to celebrate with little gifts. And it was good to have a church family to celebrate with on that day! I'm so glad God plugged us into an awesome group of believers so quickly.
And all three of us cooked together for Easter lunch! Adam made green beans, Tommy made mashed potatos, and I stuck a pork loin in the oven- it all turned out being pretty good! Do you hear the surprise in my voice?
Adam had to drive a few hours to get to the airport that afternoon, but at least he had had a few days to relax in Florida!
And finally, Tommy got an on-site interview in Vero Beach, Florida.
I took off work that day to go with him. We had a pretty quiet ride. Tommy was mentally preparing for his interview, and I was taking in the surroundings, imagining having to take that drive to anywhere if we ended up living further south. At one point, Tommy brought up the point that he got the interview because he worked with a lady who used to work in Vero. He thought they were just giving him a pity visit and they would never seriously consider him for the position he was applying for. What do you say to that??
We arrived an hour or so early. We found a Panera nearby and after lunch, I dropped him off for a very long interview process....
We had our end of the year Driven party! Driven is the Bible study group of college kids and young adults. It is basically made up of our friends in Gainesville, the people we had been able to get closest to. The party was mainly to celebrate the end of their semester. I remember feeling very weird at it. At this point, Tommy and I were beginning to think that he would not be able to find a job in Gainesville, and I think my mind was first starting to feel the end of things at this party. I knew we would have about two more months, but that seemed suddenly to be very short, and that hanging out with this whole group of people wouldn't really happen again.
The party was at a house with a pool, and it was still pretty cool out, so most of us just sat around it with our feet in the water. The girls chatted at one end of the pool, and the guys went to the front yard to play bocce. We grilled out, chilled out, and... gamed out? We had cake and beans and burgers. And then we played cornhole/bags (depending on what part of the country you're from) and played with the bop-it and tossed the frisbees and footballs back and forth. It was one of those really nice times when the weather's not too hot, everyone's goofing off, and you just want to do nothing but relax.
For Easter weekend, Tommy's good friend Adam came to visit! That Saturday, we drove the almost two hours to the beach we had been to a few times before. He had come from New York, and so needed to thaw out completely. The guys played bocce (seems to be a running theme...) and I read and took pictures of them. We then drove around a little bit to find a place to eat dinner. I really, really, really wanted some popcorn shrimp. In North Carolina, you are not a real seafood restaurant without it. Apparently in Florida, popcorn shrimp are on the endangered species list.... So, no, the place we ate did not have popcorn shrimp. Dumb. But we enjoyed the company we had and gave Adam a little taste of Florida.
The next morning was Easter!! I had to leave early to practice with the praise band, and I made them little Eater baskets to wake up to! I tried to find manly baskets- dark wood and real-ish. and put gum and candy in them. To make them more...executive... I also added pens and highlighters... It's hard to be the Easter bunny!!
I'm so glad that we know the real meaning of Easter. To know that the power of sin is defeated and that the One who has that power wants to be the love of our lives- how can we live ordinary lives knowing that? Easter is such an awesome time to celebrate it. It's bizarre seeing the world try and gloss over its real meaning. But it is fun to celebrate with little gifts. And it was good to have a church family to celebrate with on that day! I'm so glad God plugged us into an awesome group of believers so quickly.
And all three of us cooked together for Easter lunch! Adam made green beans, Tommy made mashed potatos, and I stuck a pork loin in the oven- it all turned out being pretty good! Do you hear the surprise in my voice?
Adam had to drive a few hours to get to the airport that afternoon, but at least he had had a few days to relax in Florida!
And finally, Tommy got an on-site interview in Vero Beach, Florida.
I took off work that day to go with him. We had a pretty quiet ride. Tommy was mentally preparing for his interview, and I was taking in the surroundings, imagining having to take that drive to anywhere if we ended up living further south. At one point, Tommy brought up the point that he got the interview because he worked with a lady who used to work in Vero. He thought they were just giving him a pity visit and they would never seriously consider him for the position he was applying for. What do you say to that??
We arrived an hour or so early. We found a Panera nearby and after lunch, I dropped him off for a very long interview process....
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