Pack up the house!

If you haven't read Mike's blog already... the movers are coming today to pack up the house... The trip to my mom's with Iris and Lily went smoothly... I didn't have to bathe anyone when we got there... They remembered my mom's house too!
A couple more days... I can't wait... I haven't slept in probably 3 days... Good thing is I am not feeling exhausted... it's just really annoying to flop around restlessly all night. GRRR
I think my coffee is done... I am still a bit crabby, I better get a cup. Kids don't get hooked on coffee... it's hard to start your day without it!
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm cofffffffeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I'll be disconnecting comcast today... so I be back in a few days! Everyone have a great week!

3 Fun Days With Kiki

We went to Funky things today... Luke took the hats off the manequin... we got a laugh!

So did Sydney and Marie... check out the bald manequins... did I spell that right?


Kiki and Luke... snagged a photo without askin!
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Swimming with Kiki yesterday...


Luke Fishes with the Noodle


Holly and Faye by the Pool


Wednesday Night Band practice at Light of Christ.. belt it out Holly and LOC!!



Wednesday... Lunch with Grandma

Last Job In Il

Yesterday I started my last job in IL. I plan to finish today.. I know a couple weeks ago I said "Final Finish" it's true... this is more like a mural.
I can't wait to see the final product... this is the first part... I would've gotten more done.. but I had to paint the room pink first...

Last night I watched "Dan in Real Life" I really enjoyed it... I reccomend it if you weren't sure. Great Characters... cute story!

6-22-08

Yesterday morning Mike and I made a breakfast feast before he hit the road. Friday night I packed him a bag of groceries bread, peanut butter, jelly, snacks etc... after breakfast I put the rest of the bacon in the grocery bag... I told him that my mom used to make peanut butter and bacon sandwiches on toast occasionally. He did not believe that... mom if you read this tell him. I know I'm not imaginging... because I would never eat a BLT because I hate tomatoes...
Anyway as Mike pulled out of the driveway I got sad... I was worried about him driving all that way alone, and knew I would miss him and also that our lives at that moment were forever changing. I went inside and tried to call my mom... no answer, then Katie... I'm glad no one was there... I would've just cried anyways.
Then I dove back into sotr and toss... a routine I have been in for a month now... down to the nitty gritties... drawers and closets... the stuff you force yourself to forget about!
I took a trip to Goodwill to donate, then Home Depot and Menards to return never-used purchases... (interesting how I find these bags with items and receipts in miscellaneous corners...)
Then to Jewel, I picked up a frozen pizza, cookies and a bag of doritos... I snacked on junk an rented 2 girley movies, 27 Dresses, and Fool's Gold. I would never put Mike through the "misery" so I endulged myself in romance comedies for an evening.
I slept okay through the night... a couple random noises, but not creepy enough to get me out of bed to have a look around.
Today we had a phoenominal service and message. I had some lunch, and now it's time to sort, toss, weed, and put some mulch down. Tonite, I'll probably caulk and paint the final trim pieces, and either work on my painting or just veg.
11 more days for me and I'll be on my way too!

Moving is a Great time to get Organized..

Our last move was a bit chaotic... I just brought EVERYTHING... Yikes... what a mess!
This time I have decided to get organized before the move... otherwise you just don't do it!
I have spent time almost everyday sorting and tossing things that don't need to come with... these last few days it's been paperwork... in my opinion the most time consuming of all!
Right now I am waiting for the shredder to cool. I have sorted through 3 boxes of paper work... why did I save every single bill I ever paid and every paystub from every job Mike or I ever had?? This time, I have a small box of W2's and a few random sheets that we need. That's all that's coming with. It's too hard to get organized when you have an overwhelming amount of work to do!
Besides, the 8 black garbage bags of shredded paper is great packing material! Okay... maybe 6 bags... but it's still alot!

Jesus Does Not Care...

Shocking to see those words isn't it? That's kinda how I felt when I saw a billboard in Tulsa OK on our last trip that said www.jesusdoesnotcare.com . My initial thought was that someone was creating a website to slander Jesus... than I began to think about all of the many things that Jesus does Not Care about...
Here it's been several weeks since I saw it and I have finally looked it up... I was intrigued by how a group of people are trying to communicate a message.
In the video section there are three videos that are about 2 mins long. Interesting stories... however what was probably the most interesting and even a bit shocking is that there is a section where you can write what you think Jesus cares about and what Jesus does not care about. I only got through maybe 1/10 of them... there are a lot... I guess I was a bit suprised that they left ALL coments up...
But then again...

Anyways... It's interesting. Check out the website if you have time.

Great Friends...

The last few days I have experienced lots of hugs and laughs with great friends!
At our going away party on Thursday, it was great to see lots of different people, people I just don't get to see often enough! Friends I haven't seen in 11 years, 2 years, 5 years... family members that I grew up with seeing almost every week that I now only get to see one to three times a year. All people I love and cherish!
Last night I got to spend some qualtiy time with two dear friends Bethany and Lonna. We had a great dinner, played putt putt but didn't care who won, and enjoyed a delicious Ice Cream Treat! The whole time chatting up a storm and laughing too!
One thing I have learned from all of the great friends and family members that I definately plan to take with me .... Don't be afraid to dive into a new friendship. Building any type of relationship takes time and effort, but it's much better than being alone!
Two years into my time at Northwood University, I knew in my heart that my time there was through. It was another one of those over-night realizations... I called my parents the next day I told them ... when this sememster is over I want you to pick me up for good. They were relieved. When they came in town, I took a good-bye drive with my best friend Meg... we just cried our eyes out for 1/2 hour... then she said "It's never good bye, it's see you later" Now almost 10 years later she lives in BC Canada, I live in Il, soon to be OK... when we talk it's always 2 hours, and then "see ya later".

A relationship is what you put into it.

It's never "Good Bye", it's always "See ya Later"

Three things about yesterday...

Good ...
The plaster cracked nicely and my client was realy happy when I started glazing. So I took the tape off and cleaned up as I went along. 3/4 of the way through she asked me to darken the whole thing. I don't know if she saw the smoke coming out of my ears (note cartoon reference,) I hope not! I did so and still finished, everyone was happy!
Bad... (actually funny)
My client was actually in Palos Heights so I went home for lunch... Mike said "you have a HUGE rip in your pants!" I really did!... right in the rear. Thing is, I know I was working like that for over an hour... oops! It's okay, we can laugh now!
Sad...
Mike and I announced to CREW last night that we are leaving. Amber's tears got us both! It's okay Amber we'll get you back! Seriously... we will miss every single person... student and leader. We truely are a family and we love you guys!

Final Finish

Today I am off to a customer's home for day 2 and the last wall finish I will be doing in the chicagoland area... next week I have a small mural for an old friend.
It's amazing how fast these weeks are flying by! I am absolutely sore... I feel as though I have run 3 marathons in 2 days with all of the work we are trying to do here too to help Mike's family out! They've been great to us and we will miss seeing them as often as we do (or try to now).
An exciting thing to look forward to.... My friend Katie is most likely going to drive down to OK with me. My mom didn't want me to do the drive by myself.... It may be a bit chaotic because I will have Iris and Lily with me and they don't travel well.
A sad thing... My great aunt Mary passed away. She and Uncle art have been together for probably something like 7 decades. He is blind and alone now, they never had kids. I pray that he is comforted and does not feel too lonely.

Breaking the News...

I have to admit it took everything I had to wait until we got our of church this morning to shed tears. I am really going to miss everyone. And I know Mike is too. We have met some of the most wonderful people and made some really great friends at Stone. An encouraging thought that helps to perk me back up... these are eternal friendships!
Aside from simply being excited about this unexpected life-change, I know in my heart that this is God's will for our lives. At winter retreat this year we sang a song about going to the ends of the earth for God. Everytime we sang that song I felt really emotional and responded "yes God I will go". Then for the months to follow, Mike and I had several conversations about how all we really want to do is serve God!
When this process started we had no Idea how fast things would fall into place. But looking at each aspect of the preparation for this transition, it is not possible to have so many "coincidences". (Maybe to be outlined in another post)
What I am trying to say is that both me and Mike feel REAL good about moving to Oklahoma. God has carved out a custom made path for us and we are so grateful! We are REALLY going to miss a lot of people and there will be tears, but we KNOW we are doing the right thing!
I am also excited to see what he has planned for us once we get there. Please pray for us that we find a good church home, make some half-way decent friends (chuckle), that there will be people to treat us like family because we will be far from our own, and we will follow the path into the right ministries so that we can further God's word and bring him Glory!

Hmmm... does 100 make you cool?

Interesting to me... for months I tried to motivate Mike to get his blog going. Now he' boasting about 100 posts.
I just don't think that's right... I never knew we were keeping track? Don't I get some credit here?

we have wierd humor, I know

'Lil Sis

More Pics of Sydney, Marie, Luke and Baby Faye...