Still Not Dead

I'm writing this post from my new home. :oD The same house I mentioned in my last post. Long story short, we ended up buying a very cute two bedroom house. It's yellow. And it has a blue two car garage. I like yellow and blue. And I like the yard. A lot. Moving in is still going, but going well.

Neal figured out how to get the internet from his phone to my computer. When he lets me borrow it...like right now... it's pretty much awesome.

I know I never actually posted about it, because I was trying to tell some people "in person" instead of via my blog, but we're only 2-3 weeks out on baby Meyer arriving. Pretty exciting for this very pregnant mama.

I like my new job a lot. It's going well, and I get to work with awesome people.

That's about all I have in me tonight.

Not Dead

Diagnosis: Not dead yet. (I know, you were starting to wonder)

So it's been 4 months since my last post, almost to the day I think. Tons has happened since then, of course, but I can't imagine there's much worth noting that most people don't know already. I've been planning this post for a while, but it requires me getting my pictures from my camera to my computer, then getting my computer to the internet. I have the day off today (hurray!), so maybe I'll try and put that toward the top of my To Do list today. After I transplant my green peppers, but maybe before cleaning out the guinea pig's cage. We'll see.

For now I'll keep this pretty short and sweet. We're house hunting, which is the latest big development in our lives. Neal and I both have jobs in Grand Marais now--he at a credit union and me as a paraprofessional in a little charter school, which I'm getting more and more excited about. I'll get to work with an amazing teacher in a 4th-5th grade classroom, and the school is very alternative in ways that I think are pretty good. They pick a lot of their lunch food from their green house. I mean, how awesome is that? "I think a salad sounds good for lunch." "Ok, to the green house we go. " Sigh! It makes me excited for the garden I'd like to have next year.

We're looking at a few different houses right now, though one stands far above the rest in my mind. The woman who owns it is selling it herself and is very motivated to move, which is awesome in an already buyer-friendly market. We put an initial offer in last Sunday, which was too low for her, but I think we're going to go back again tomorrow during her open house and negotiate a little further after we give the house another thorough inspection. No matter what happens, I can honestly say it's a fantastic time for Neal to be working at a financial institution. The woman who would  be doing our mortgage is amazing too--she just seems to know stuff about nearly every house on the market, which = awesome insider information. For example, "Oh, that house? No, you don't want that one. The whole place stinks like cat pee. You'd have to rip everything out to try and get rid of the smell." Hmm... thank you very much for that tip.

Whenever we make it up there, you can bet that internet is going to be a priority for me. I'm hoping that I can tether my computer to Neal's phone and get it that way, which would be awesome! And then... well, let's just say my crappy phone won't be around much longer either. The style is fine and all, but now it likes to just push random buttons all the time, which mean my text messages st9armt to3 lmook l2ikeg thizs. Or suddenly it starts opening applications I don't want it too. Or I can't read my messages because it keeps sending me from my inbox to my sent box to my out box to somewhere else. Ok, enough complaining. In my fantasy world, I'll either go on a Mary Kay spree, or work a few extra Saturday mornings at Bluefin until I have specific phone money saved it (at which point I can justify an iphone. mwahaha).

Well, so much for short and sweet. It's now time for me to go and be productive doing something else. I left my coffee creamer at work yesterday, so I walked down for a cup of coffee this morning, at which point my crazy husband treated me to breakfast (he's working here this morning). It was pretty much great. So now I'm in the office, typing away, sipping on juice. It's really nice. But like I said, time to get back to reality.

Bye for now.

Dial an(d) Answer

Well, it's big news folks. I'm writing this post from my house. Wow. The internet has finally come to 51 Tofte Homestead Rd. Well, dial up has anyway. Which is painful, true. But it's affordable, and it works in a pinch--an answer to prayer. Hoo-cha!

Neal and I also had another big answer to prayer today, but I'll wait a bit to share that one. No, I'm not pregnant, just in case you were wondering.

Our truck decided to spew green all over the ground yesterday, apparently in honor of St. Patrick's Day. The water we poured in leaked right back out, so it's not just a hose. Apparently you can see a decent crack, and the previous owner had poured some leak-stop stuff in there, so I guess it's been brewing for a bit. Great. We got it towed up to Grand Marais this evening, so we're praying that won't be a massive bill.

I started an online college class this week--a Human Relations/Multicultural Education class that I need to get my MN teaching license. It's a 15 week class crammed into 8 weeks, which is fine by me. I just need to work at being on the internet and getting all of my reading done when I need to.

One of Neal's high school friends and groomsman from our wedding is coming up tonight to propose to the love of his life, so that should be exciting. And on that note, I have to work soon, so I should probably get going. Hopefully they'll come in and share the story--it sounds like it's going to be epic. Rope ladders and balconies are involved. Wow.

Pray for me and my preschool class too, if you think of it. I have a few new kids, and I've been getting really worn out in general lately. I love my jobs, but seven 4 year old children who want all of your attention ALL DAY get to be a bit much by the end when you're trying to raise them as much as teach them.

PS. AA, thanks for the response to my frantic IM the other day. Sorry I haven't gotten back to you. My kids were putting me on the verge of a nervous break down. They all fell asleep at rest time, so I let rest time linger an extra 15...30 minutes. :o)

MK

I don't think I've posted before that at the end of last year I decided to become a Mary Kay consultant. I love the products and I really like with the company stands for. The founder--Mary Kay Ash, was a Christian woman who began her "dream company" after she retired. She wanted good products and a way for women who needed to support their families to be able to do so with some flexibility (she watched her mother support her and her constantly sick father, and her own husband died not long after they retired). Today, the company has independent consultants in about 30 markets world wide, it runs several charities for children in need in several countries and survivors of domestic abuse here in the US, it does not support animal testing, and is very environmentally-minded when it comes to product packaging and shipping. I like that.

Why am I blogging about this? I'm not really sure. I didn't have much else to say right now. But I'm sure I'll have a post about Sunday School before too long. I'm reading a lot of stuff right now. It's intersting. There's a battle building in my mind. But enough about that until I have a more complete plan.

Back home to the dog.

Matters of the Heart

My heart has been wrestling with many things lately. It's taken me a while and a few frustrating conversations, but tonight I think I've finally figured it out, and that's a pretty big deal. I have to say, I'm usually really good at figuring things out. Underlying motivations and factors aren't always easily seen--I guess that's why we call them underlying. But in myself, I tend to be pretty good at spotting them and naming them. I haven't been able to do that lately, and my poor husband has had to hear about it. Of course he wants to help, but he can't help me with something if the problem us unknown. Well, anyway, here is a semi-short version.

My heat has been unsettled. I told Neal I thought maybe we should be giving more money to our church. He said, "What do you mean? We've been giving more money every month that we've been married. It's not all going in the offering plate, but I feel really good about what we're giving." I thought it over. He was right.

I told Neal, I want to know what it is that we're going to do together for the church. He said, "What do you mean? We're teaching Sunday School, we helped lead worship last week, we're doing treats for this coming month, and we do international student ministry during the summer. If you want to do something more, then you need to tell me what you'd like to do." I thought it over. He was right.

I told Neal that I felt like we have these four "life goals" that we want to accomplish, but I want a plan for how we're going to accomplish them. He said, "What do you mean? I think we're doing a really good job of being spouses, which is something we've talked about a lot. We're not parents yet, so I'm not sure how do a good job of that. It seems as though God hasn't told us where or how to travel yet, so I'm not sure how to make a plan for that. And I think that we are doing good, as discussed in blog point number two." (Ok, I may have edited the last part a bit). I thought it over. He was right.

I told Neal that I want, I want...  ...  .........   *sigh*  I don't know what I want, and that's a problem. Neal said, "I think you miss Dubai. I think you miss people your age. I think you miss having a goal to reach." I thought it over. I told him I thought he was wrong and right. I know I've mentioned "permanent" before. I'm at the first "permanent" place I've ever been in my life. No high school to finish. No college to graduate. No two-year contact to complete. No more finish line, just a long road of marathon. It's weird. So that part was right. But no. No, I wasn't missing Dubai too badly otherwise.

Except maybe a few little things.

Well, except maybe a lot of things. Sort of.

What I think I'm missing most right now is God. When I was in Dubai, I tended to my heat very carefully. I attended a growing and vibrant church with lots of learning and growth opportunities. I met after church each week with other young adults to enjoy fantastic fellowship. I took the time to read for a while in my Bible every day, and I listened to sermons during my 2 1/2 hours of commute that I had 6 days a week. I made God my utmost priority, and took great care of the growth of my soul. Since I've been back in the states, I've neglected it and let it wither. I finally realized that today as I was preparing for tomorrow's Sunday School lesson. Whatever else may be going on with me right now, I think it's all stemming from this lack of devotion.

So, problem identified, and now it's time to work on solving it. Let the repairing begin.

Preschool Promotion

Hello again, after my months of silence. Where to begin? Preschool has been treating me well. I like my kids, and while they do frustrate me at times, I'm really enjoying preschool. The age and the workload suit me quite well. I get my Fridays off, but I'm still putting in almost 40 hours a week. I haven't worked at Bluefin for the last... 3 weeks or so. I'm not complaining. It's not bad, but if I don't have to, well... I'm enjoying investing myself other places. At the end of December I decided to become a Mary Kay consultant (friends and family get a discount!), so now I'm trying to partner with a few local resorts to offer them my services as a way to enhance their guests' experience. Apparently that's the buzzword right now. But, essentially, that is what I want to do--give them a fun experience that's particular to the resort they're staying at while also growing my business.

Things with Neal and I have been good. We're closing in on the 7 month mark. I fully believe that this "newly wed" bliss will fade, but I really am so thankful for the work that we put in before we got married. We made a solid base that we've continued to grow on and, by God's grace and His grace alone, I think we're doing extremely well. It's really in my heart for us to do everything possible to make our marriage God-honoring, and hopefully the same for our parenting, whenever that time comes around (no, this is not an online announcement).

Well, speaking of husbands, and my very sore neck, which has been bugging me for months--nothing really seems to help much, I'm going to stop slouching in this uncomfortable chair (I forgot my lapdesk...) and go see if my husband is done working for the night.