Thank You For Your Concern

I am so thankful and appreciative of all of the concern you showed after the post entitled "Survey Says."  It means a lot to know that there are so many people out there who care so much.  It's important for us when we are so far away to be able to feel all of your love.

First of all, let me say that my finger is doing much better.

It is only in a Band-Aid now, not the scary-looking gauze you saw in the post.

For those insensitive or unobservant readers who didn't ask me about the injury, I'll explain what happened.  Let me begin by saying thank you to Patty for the wonderful knife. Just a little gravity is all it takes to make a beautiful cut.  Don't worry, I just dropped it while I was washing it and it cut my knuckle.  It wasn't that bad, even though it made a bit of a mess (a bit of a squirter).  We quickly realized that we had no first aid materials anywhere in our house, so a night-time Walgreens run was in order.  I hope we didn't worry the cashier too much as Amy bought a first aid kit while I clutched a paper towel around my finger.  We got home and gauzed it and wrapped it in tape to keep me from bending my finger and reopening the cut.  Piano playing was a bit hampered, but I just needed to find creative ways around what I wanted to do.  It's doing great now, no infections, and I'm trying to bend it a little more.  I should be fully healed and digitally mobile soon.

Barbecue Bonanza!

Seeing as almost every store was advertising a Labor Day Weekend Sale, we decided to spend Saturday traveling all around the city in search of the only important furniture that we were still missing- our bedroom set. We looked on Craigslist and found a couple of possibilities but nothing we were too excited about. We found a couple of store ads in the paper that looked promising and decided to check them out.

The first stop was at SPF (not the sunscreen- it stands for "Special Purchase Furniture"). They were having a "Barbecue Bonanza" with free hot dogs and chips and so we figured we couldn't go wrong. First we went in to check out the furniture. A very helpful salesman- as they all are at these kinds of places- bent over backwards to find us a deal.

We told him our budget and that were were hoping to get a queen bed, mirror and dresser, 2 nightstands, and a chest dresser. We were kind of dreaming big, but he found us a clearance set with a king bed, 1 nightstand, and the mirror with dresser. He also found another clearance set with a queen bed that matched but it was paired with a chest dresser that did not match our other items. He said we could swap the queen bed for the king, get the mirror and dresser, and the 1 nightstand. He also checked and found a second matching nightstand in "the back." We would not have a chest dresser, but including tax and delivery everything else was still under budget.

The guy about died when we passed up the deal in order to check out a few other places. He told us, "You have one hour to go across the street and check out the two other furniture stores. If you aren't back in an hour this deal is going to be sold to someone else."

We went to another place that we had seen in the paper where we knew there was a beautiful set that we could afford to get all the pieces. We took one look and knew it was not anywhere near the quality of the other store's offer. Steve assured me that with our big closet he won't need a whole chest dresser and I even promised him a drawer or two of mine.We went back to SPF, finalized our purchase, and ate hot dogs.

The movers arrived today, set everything up, and were on their way out. As they were leaving we walked in the bedroom to see our little queen sized mattress sitting on a giant king sized frame!!! Steve ran out and stopped the truck. Thankfully it was their mistake and so they took it back and brought the other out a couple hours later. We are now settled in with our bedroom just as it should be! We have been so blessed and as soon as the piano arrives our furniture will be all set!

Getting the old frame out

One new nightstand

The new bed and nightstands! I love the curvy headboard.

Mirror and dresser :)

Here's a close-up. There aren't as many drawers as there seem to be-some are combined.

These windows are lovely but they really heat up the room...

Survey Says:

We already bought a car.
We don't need to buy a house.
Amy's already got the ring, but this purchase was about the same value.
We've been checking for Murris statues on craigslist, but they are either way out of our price range or way out of our geographical range.

WE BOUGHT A PIANO!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's not in our house yet, I still need to figure things out with the piano movers, but I wrote out the check today.  It's a 5'6" Kimball grand.  The previous owner's father bought it new in 1938 and passed it on to his son.  They are a family of musicians, so it's been pretty well taken care of.  It's in great shape.  The exterior is beautiful, the soundboard is in good shape (so the piano tech told me), it has a real sostenuto pedal (not that I have a song in my repertoire that requires one), and although they are cracked and worn, it still has the original ivory keys.  We went to his house to write the check, and tried to figure out a way to strap it to the top of the LeSabre so we could have it home today, but I'll be happy to wait and let the professionals handle it.

Next item on the shopping list:  bookshelves.  I'll have to start unpacking all those piano books...

A Red and Turquoise Kitchen

Just a few photos of our lovely kitchen after it was all set up. Well, mostly... We are still missing a few things that we will need but we are getting them slowly but surely. Everything has a place but it may not be where we keep it forever. We are so blessed with this beautiful space to cook. We are so pleased with our color choices- the red and turquoise are classic but nice and bright. Steven is even tolerant of the few pink pieces that sneaked their way in... :) Our pantry is well stocked after a nice welcoming Sunday which included a pantry shower! Now I just have to get the hang of working with an electric stove and nice stainless steel pots and pans- luxuries we never had in the DR.

The flowers were a welcome gift that the Ladies Group at church presented us with.

Here you can see some of our favorite appliances including a dishwasher!

Here we are cooking our first real homemade dinner- Spaghetti, courtesy of a wonderful congregation!

You can see the pantry door back in the right corner.

Dinner is ready!

HOME

Everyone asks, "Are you settled in yet?" We always answer, "We're getting there," or "We're working on it." But the simple answer is no, we are not. We have gotten a lot done since we first got here (or rather Steve's dad got a lot done when they arrived with our moving van). Here are a few pictures to show our progress.

After unpacking the boxes that came in our car. The floor was just covered in packing materials.

Our first dinner at home- from the Target deli.

Our bedroom, complete with air mattress and tv trays.

The kitchen. Fairly empty but as organized as possible.

The other kitchen counter.

Our new mattress! We still have no other furniture in our bedroom but the bed is so comfy!

After Steve's parents arrived with the moving truck. It was like starting over only with a LOT more stuff than last time when we unpacked just our little car.

The guest bedroom furniture is old and it is a very small room but it is already pretty cozy. Come visit and you will stay here!

Our bedroom- filled once more with boxes.

Things have gotten better since these last pictures. As we get the house set up, I'll post pictures of the different rooms so you can get a good idea of what our house really looks like. We'll also want to fill you in soon on the new jobs and our excitement over calling a new pastor. As always, we love your comments. They inspire us to keep writing.

A Whole New World

God has blessed us so greatly! I cannot say that enough. Last June we returned from Santiago, Dominican Republic where we taught in a bilingual school. If you missed the stories of all those adventures, you should really go back and check out the previous blogs. Some crazy stuff happens when you spend a year overseas.

On July 23, not so long after getting home to the Midwest, Steven and I got married- finally! The wedding was the happiest and most beautiful of days! My brother, Seth, shared an excellent message from God's Word based on the text we chose- Ephesians 3:16-19. Everything was perfect and our fantastic photographer captured it all brilliantly. Here is just a taste of her excellent work!
The wedding was followed by a short but sweet honeymoon. We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Whitewater, but the highlights were wine tasting, a sunset lake tour cruise in Lake Geneva, and dinner at a 20's themed house-turned-restaurant with jazzed-up broadway tunes playing on the piano.
We went back to my parents' house, got a good night's sleep, filled up the car, and started the drive to Arizona. The scenery was beautiful! It took us 4 days, with stops in Omaha, Denver, and Albuquerque before finally reaching HOME. Life has been a whirlwind since- as if all that wasn't enough! We will continue to post pictures of our home and school and write about all the exciting things happening here. Welcome back!

Saying "Good-bye"

It's a long process. We've been working on it for a while now. Slowly the realization is setting in. These people are not going to be a part of our lives anymore:

My Zumba class girls- just as I was getting really comfortable with the group. (Being the only white woman isn't always easy, especially when dancing is involved!)

Our Sosua beach server. He always remembered us and even called us family.

The members of Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God), our beloved church family here.

Pastor Alex and his dear family. They have welcomed us into their home on so many occasions now!
David, the boy I tutored, and his family- such kind and genuine people.

My students. I like to think of them as my babies, but they really are second graders now. I see it every time I look at them. This one has been the hardest of them all. I pray that God continues the work he started in their hearts this year.

In today we said our last good-byes. The good-byes to all the wonderful teachers at our school. This year has been very difficult, but we have been so very blessed.