A Richmond Rendez-vous

This past Saturday, Adam and I had the pleasure of meeting the Bullettes, Ainsworths and McCormicks for dinner in Richmond. We had a delicious time at the Cheese Cake Factory at Short Pump, not only was the food fabulous, but the company was of course even better! We enjoyed catching up about Adam's ministry, Celeste's new photography business (which you can check out at http://www.celestial-sights.com/), the McCormick's upcoming trip to Egypt, and Chi Alpha's continued growth and new internship. We were sad we couldn't visit longer since we didn't arrive till almost 9:30 (because I had to teach acting, so we didn't get to leave VA Beach til 7:05) and then we left around 11:30 after everyone finished eating and chatting in order to get back to wake for church on Sunday.

Happy Birthday Dad

We celebrated my dad's birthday on January 13th by taking him to dinner at Macaroni Grill.

Adam and Will were working so they couldn't join us, but Anna and I had a lovely time taking our dad out to celebrate. We love you Dad! Here's to many more birthday celebrations.

Boston and Back

So last week I made a quick trip to Boston and back to tie up some loose ends.I drove to New York on Tuesday and stayed with my cousins on Long Island.

As I headed north the rain slowly turned into snow, which got heavier on Thursday as I continued on to Boston. I have to admit I did miss the snow a little, so I enjoyed seeing it. It is so much more pleasant to drive in snow flurries than in rain. Of course that changes if the roads get icy, but I wasn't too concerned because at least up north they know how to take care of the roads when the weather turns icy. I was also, however, happy to leave it behind as I headed for home.

Thursday I arrived in Boston just in time to have lunch with my friend Kim. We spent the afternoon catching up on life, friends, and GracePoint (our church in Mass.). From there I went to our old Bible study with them that evening and got to catch up with lots of old faces (well it hadn't REALLY been that long). It was so nice to see everyone and let them know how we were doing as well as how much we did miss them.
The next day I got down to business dealing with the reasons I had come to Boston in the first place. I wanted to meet our realtor because we had been referred to her when we wanted to put our place up for rent and now we wanted to not only have it on the market for rent but for sale as well. I was hoping that meeting her would prove to be productive and it was. I felt very comfortable with her right away and was happy with how she was handling things thus far, especially communication since that had been the downfall of our relationship with our former realtor. We discussed listing the condo for sale and for rent and got all the paperwork together for me to take home and get signed. Overall it felt like an extremely productive meeting and we're hoping something happens soon with our condo. It's pretty much the last loose end that needs wrapping up now that I've finally found a job (Hallelujah!)

After my appointment I headed back to the condo to pack the car with the last bits of odds and ends that had been left at the condo. Certain items stayed because I needed them while I lived there the few weeks after we packed the POD, but before I left for Virginia. Then upon packing the explorer for the final move back to Virginia, not everything fit and I knew at some point we would need to come up again hopefully for a closing so a few items were left behind in the closets like the airmattress, a few decorative pieces that I didn't want to cram in the car for fear of ruining them, some pots and pans, towels and a small TV and DVD player. Thankfully everything left fit into my little Sunfire. Now we won't have to go back for things and can handle a closing or rental from here if need be which I figured would help since I was starting a job and Adam's work schedule tends to be pretty tight.Then it was time to plant St. Joseph. This is a Catholic tradition that my mom introduced me to. They make these miniature St. Joseph statues that you plant up side down in your home's yard and it is supposed to bless your house and help it sell since he is known as the helper. So we decided, why not give it a try since it could only help. I had two statues to plant. One got planted in this house plant as pictured above...see him sticking out...

...and this was the plant and St. Joseph's final resting place in the house.

Then I headed outside to plant the second in front of the condo. It was hard to find a spot that wasn't frozen over with ice, but this is where the second statue came to rest. We'll let you know how things go with the condo in the coming weeks.My last night in Boston I met up with another close friend, Colleen, for dinner. We had a great time catching up on the latest news in both our lives from her trip to Moldova to my new job offer.

The next morning I headed out just in time to miss a huge snow storm that was headed our way. It flurried a good portion of the ride home, but nothing to worry about. Half way through the 12 hour ride home the snow turned to rain and by the time I reached the Chesapeake Bay Bridge things had finally dried up. Overall it was a productive trip that will hopefully provide great results as we hope our place gets taken care of soon. We appreciate everyone's prayers for the house sale and our patience through this process in such a tough market. Hopefully more good news will come soon!

I GOT A JOB!!!

GREAT NEWS!!

I got an official job offer from the Virginia Beach Public Schools to teach ESL full time!

I'll be teaching at Larkspur Middle at the beginning and end of each day and at Malibu and Kempsville Elementary in the middle of the day. So my position is itinerant, but I've been told that can be a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to the experience. I'm going to finally have my own classroom and I can't wait for the new challenge. My official start date is January 29th, but I have a few meetings to attend in the meantime.

This job is a HUGE answer to prayer! It was a lesson in patience, but God is SO GOOD!

Ringing in 2009

We decided to ring in 2009 with an All-nighter for our Middle Schoolers...a good time was had by all...TRUST ME...see for yourself. It was definitely a unique way to welcome 2009.Getting started...WELCOME to the ALL-NIGHTER and DON'T PLAN TO SLEEP!
Some Ice Breaker Games...this was a shoot off where the students had to aim at the alchiseltzer that was attached to their foreheads. As it got wet it dribbles all down their faces. Pretty entertaining! The girls REALLY got into it! They weren't afraid to get right up in each other's faces.Then it was a race to peel a banana...WITH YOUR FEET...and then their teammate had to EAT THAT BANANA! Fear Factor style!
There were a couple other ice breaker games including one where students had to be the first or tenth to text Adam or Jason for a candy prize. (Embracing the love of the text.)
Then it was time to hear Moon Unit play...they're a popular band with our students that actually started out of the church.

We had a couple birthdays to celebrate...so Moon Unit sang to them!

Then Jason spoke, challenging the students to live out their Christian lives in reality like playing a REAL guitar rather than superficially like playing the guitar from Guitar Hero. His challenge definitely encouraged a number of students to make new commitments for how they plan to live their lives as Christians in the New Year.My singing girls...they all sing with the Praise Band, which I head up. Love them!Free Pizza Time

Counting down to 2009! There was TONS of excitement to go around!

The countdown in Times Square to 2009

Our first picture together in 2009

Pass the Hoo-la-hoop...(only 8 more hours to go)

A midnight raffle for $50 Best Buy gift cards for those who brought a friend and the friends who visited.

An Inflatable Tournament for Itunes gift cards Two leaders going competing for bragging rights! The Middle School Pastor from Deep Creek Baptist, Jason, whose youth group partnered with ours at the event.

Other visitors who enjoyed hanging out...Moon Unit stayed and hung out most of the evening Nima came by to have some late night fun too.The biggest and baddest game of Musical Chairs EVER! A Guitar Hero tournament on the jumbo screen
DodgeballStudents vs LeadersLeaders and Moon unit that is...Trying to stay awake the last hour or so...just hanging outSome had less luck....

However, Adam and I stayed up from 8pm to 8am without batting an eye...perhaps it's because we were up the night before till 6am hanging out with Nima, Ian and Carrie. We decided it was in preparation for the all-nighter. Well that's our story and we're sticking to it...we were having way to much fun hanging out together and the next thing we knew it was morning. I guess that's what happens when you don't live close by and see each other all the time.

It was such a fun way to ring in the New Year and who knows...perhaps it will become an annual Waves function!