Rude Customer

I was just looking at my stats. There is an interesting feature that tells you what referred people to your blog, such as a google search. I was laughing because out of all of the google searches that led people to my blog, "rude customer" was by far the most. And most of those people doing the searches were from different countries. Not really sure what that means, but it is interesting. ;)

Oh, and I know it is a week past Thanksgiving and I have not posted about it yet. I am still keeping pretty busy, despite being unemployed. But I will get to it, and I will probably post it on my other blog.

What am I thankful for?

With the Thanksgiving holiday coming this week I cannot help but reflect on the year and think of what I am (or should be) thankful for.

It was one year ago that we breathed a huge sigh of relief. We were running out of money and we set the deadline for November 15th. If Josh didn't get a job by then, we would have to leave Scotland and go home. Bethany phoned Josh on November 14th offering him a position. It was at the Thanksgiving meal we hosted for our friends that we were able to announce we would be staying.

We have been through so many challenges during our time in Scotland and after our return home. After so much upheaval it is hard to think at first what I can be thankful for. Yet hard times bring us many reasons to give thanks.

I am continually humbled by the kindness and generosity of our family and friends (on both sides of the pond!). I am put to shame when I complain about something, only later to see someone give so generously to us. People in our lives have been generous with their money, time, possessions, and whatever resources they have.

Know that we are so thankful for you. Know that we have and will pass this generosity on to others whenever the circumstance allows. God has provided us with so much blessing through you.

Though I have felt lonely, I have never been without a friend.

Though I have felt pinched by finances, we have never been without food and a home.

10,000

I made it to 10,000 hits to my blog! :)

Moved

Through a whirlwind series of events the opportunity came upon us to move into our own place. And guess what, WE'VE MOVED!!

A friend of my mom's has kindly offered to let us rent from her while she is trying to sell the house. She has given us a very generous offer and with the property including woods, it is a bit closer to what we would like to have when we eventually settle and start putting down roots. I love that it is so dark at night that I have to take a flashlight outside with me and that we have to drive down a country road to get to our house! I just saw the mail truck for the first time today and it is not even a real mail truck!

A requirement for us to move was that we needed a vehicle. We found one the very day after we started looking! I never, ever thought that we would own an SUV. Yes, we bought an SUV. It is a 95 Jimmy. We felt that it was a good deal for the price. It runs good and the body is in great condition. We are happy to have it for hauling things, such as for camping trips. We will just not be able to keep it for our primary vehicle. Friends of ours have very generously offered to give us their car for next to nothing after they get their new vehicle. That will work out well as we both plan to work part-time....

Which brings me to our next need. Please be praying or/thinking of us as we are looking for jobs. Josh would like to find something to put him more in the direction of ministry. This could take a bit of time as there is not an ABUNDANCE of ministry related jobs available in the area.

Me, well, I am looking for anything at the moment, which gets a bit depressing. I have been applying for retail positions hoping to at least get some seasonal work, and maybe making my way up using my supervisory experience. At first I was limiting it to places that I enjoy shopping at myself and that might offer some kind of benefits package, but after no reply I had to expand my horizons. It felt a bit demoralising applying at ALDI. But it feels even more demoralising that they were supposed to call by today and I have not had a call yet. I guess a part of me is greatful that they have not called.

We are thankful to be in our own place and I can now think about what I am going to make for our family Thanksgiving gatherings. :)

Sweet Home Chicago!

Since we have been back we only visited Chicago for one night (the day of our arrival from Scotland) and an evening for a wedding. Oh, we DID get to walk around downtown a bit after we took my BIL and his friends to Ohare a while back.

I had been longing to spend more time there so I told Josh that I wanted to go for my birthday. He couldn't refuse that, could he? :) This sounds silly, but one of the only things I wanted to do there was go grocery shopping! I really miss the selection there. So I picked up loads of bulk spices from Pete's Fresh Market (that is a GREAT place for produce and anything Mexican) and spent a long time browsing the isles of Trader Joe's (YEAH!).

We stayed with our friends Nathan and Andrea and brought our bunnies along. They have a little girl and it was so much fun to watch her with the bunnies. She would get so excited, flap her arms around, then land one of those hands right down on the bunny's head.

Andrea took us shopping and we stopped at Montrose Harbor for a little walk (it was SOO windy!). Before we left for Scotland Andrea and I went rollar blading on the lakefront. Afterwards we snapped some pictures here but I was so sad that they accidentally got deleted. So we had to do it again. :)








I don't know if you can see it here, but there were actually flowers on some of the trees!

The next day was my birthday and I spent it with my family. It was a nice day to just relax and hang out. My mom posted some old pictures on her blog if you want to check them out.

fall back

I hope you set your clocks back before arriving at church an hour early! What a pain when you realise you could have had an extra hour of sleep.

We set our clocks back, but I didn't get that extra hour. I didn't have to get up until 7, but I was up bright and early at 5:45. I guess I was just too excited about our trip to Chicago. I told Josh that I wanted to go for my birthday since we haven't really gotten to visit. We stayed one night when we arrived from Scotland. We are going to visit our church up there and stay for 2 nights wtih friends. I am bringing my bunnies along (for anyone that might be concerned about them). There might be a couple of wee ones that would have fun petting them. :)

Back to the time change, we were having this discussion about changing the clocks with an aussie friend of ours in Scotland 2 years ago. She couldn't remember if we set the clocks forward or back. I quoted the little ditty we use to remember "spring forward, fall back." She said, "AAAAH! I never heard that before!" I was shocked that she never would have heard that! I thought everyone did! Then she reminded me that it is the opposite in Australia. Uh-huh. Shows how much I know.

hmmm...

I wonder how much emissions the emissions testing sites emit...

Long time no post...

I am sorry that my posts have been few and far between these last few months. It is not that I haven't had anything to post about. I have just had a hard time feeling motivated to actually DO it! Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated. We greatly appreciate our friends family who have been a HUGE support to us. I feel like I have been letting YOU down by not keeping in touch through my blogs.

I want to introduce a brand spankin' new blog to you. My very own mother has decided to set up her own inspirational blog. I am looking forward to her posts. Go and visit her!