Thanksgiving Week

We've had a rough go of it this past week! If any of you have facebook I'm sure your curious about my status update a few days ago...

First off, yes my dog got hit by a car:( We went to Soldotna last weekend to have an early Thanksgiving feast with the family (those still around, my parents and siblings had already left) before they headed to the warmth of Hawaii. We woke up Sunday morning to our dogs being let out of the garage. About an hour later, after getting ready for church, we came downstairs for breakfast (which was amazing as always Rob!) Jordan noticed our dog outside not moving, which is veeeeeeery unusual for her. He went to investigate and found blood. We have no clue what happened, but with the markings on her body and scuff marks on her ears we deduct that she got hit. The following three days she did nothing but lay around with pitiful eyes :( it was very hard to watch. When she did walk around (because she couldn't avoid it) it was mostly a hobble because she wasn't using her right back leg. The fourth day however I came home to a wagging tail! Since then she's been using her leg more and more. She was even running yesterday! We think she'll have a full recovery! Thank the Lord :D


Secondly, Jordan called me after work one day announcing that ten minutes before he was off a gas line whacked him in the face a broke one of his front bottom teeth out! How frusterating! He headed straight for the dentist and they said if he can keep the swelling down he'll only have to get a crown....prayers please! His work it taking care of the expenses :) I can't believe this is his second broken tooth in like two months!

Thirdly, we were supposed to have a sad and lonely Thanksgiving....I worked til 1, but Jeremy and Michelle (who are in town til the baby comes) called and invited us over to have Thanksgiving with them and her parents :) it was a blast! Their condo is so adorable and those boys love beating up Jordan ;) It was great to be with family.

Lastly, although we had a rough week it ended on a great note! Jordan took me to The Nutcracker last night :) It was fun to dress up and be a kid again. I hadn't been to that since I was probably ten! We walked around the town square and looked at all the lights. Thanks baby for an amazing time!

jobs

We have been toying with ideas for what to do next because Jordan's job isn't as permanent as we were hoping. He is on base now, which is a blessing in and of itself, but since there he's learned that there is not much work to do and too many guys. There is talk of more layoffs and of finishing this spring instead of two years from October. Yes I know this is a big change! We aren't too worried about it though because Jordan's extra time off has made time for him to work on this house. We were worried about not enough time to do things or to see each other, but since they've cut his hours we've has plenty of both :D The challenge now is how much longer does Jordan really have and where do we begin to look for jobs? He wants to move onto the peninsula, but not sure how to make that work.

I also am having some unrest at my job. There's talk of promoting me, but I don't know if I'll take it especially if I'm moving in the spring. I also am considering leaving Starbucks but that's hard to do when I don't know what job to move on to. A lot of prayers are being uttered these days. We know God knows and that is our greatest comfort.

The House

Well we have been in the house now for over a week and things have been going great :D
Jordan has already replaced one toilet and torn down the shower! Kiska loves the space, although she's already broken her run and is in her kennel most of the day :(

The Anchorage Grace Church youth retreat was this weekend and we got to be leaders! It was weird not going as a youth, but still fun. The kids all got along and we played lots of games.It's been great being involved with something, besides work, again.

We sold our white car :D and my parents have graciously lent us their truck for the winter.

Winter has definitely settled in around here. No snow yet, but the weather people say its coming soon!! I'm actually excited about it this year. I'm sure I'll be tired of it come January, but for now...

Fall Days

Sorry for the delay in new posts, but the last couple months have been insane! Since quitting my Orso job I feel like life has gotten busier, if you can imagine.

I helped my dad coach Grace Christian's (my old high school) cross country team. I was put in charge of the JV girls and what a blessing! They had such heart and were so sweet. I enjoyed coaching them. Unfortunately, however, I was not able to finish the season with them because a last minute trip to Oregon was planned.

I left September 13 and arrived very early in the morning to Portland. This trip was planned so that I could start the HUGE moving process to Alaska...yes our plan is to stay in Alaska until further notice :) The first couple days in Oregon were dedicated to a friends wedding, catching up with my best friend in the whole world, and coffee dates with a number of people. Jordan and I bought a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee in Salem as well, so picking that up was also on the agenda. After playtime I went through our storage unit, with the much appreciated help of Jason Bernard, and tried to figure out what was coming with me to Alaska, what I needed to sell, and what I would keep storing until trip #2. My mom arrived Friday morning and our garage sale was under way. Slowly but surely my things sold until all that was left was our couches and lazy boy recliner. God sold the chair the night before I left and the couches were sold later to an old coworker of Jordan's - thanks to Andrea and Ben for acheiving that and for letting us garage sale in their driveway. Jeri and Eric, Chelsea, Katie, and her boyfriend Nate came to help with the sale. It was so great to see them and to meet Nate! What an amazing trip! I couldn't believe I got everything accomplished that was needed. Praise the Lord!

My mom and I started up I-5 towards Chelsea's and the start of our adventure. I'll save you the details, since this is becoming crazy long, but our most memorable part of the trip I believe would be driving through Vancouver and seeing where all the winter olympic stuff will be held this February, the amazing fall colors, and silver city...an old mining town. We made it home without a hitch. Praise the Lord again!

We made it back for Regions and State XC which Grace dominated at! Both boys and girls won regions and state! My siblings rocked the house - Caleb coming in as seventh for the team and BethAnne as third for the team.

Goodness....one more BIG news is that we are finally moving out of the parents house! Don't get me wrong we are so so blessed to have been able to stay with my family for this time, but its time we went our own way again. Thanks mom and dad for all you've done for us these past 6 months. we love you and appreciate you! The place we're moving to is an old '70s house that needs fixing up in order for the current owner to sell it...that's the catch - we fix it and dont pay rent, just the utilities :) Its a 2 bed, 2 bath, loft, office, and on 2 1/2 acres! perfect for kiska! We need mucho prayer that we'll be able to balance our time and make this work while still saving a little something for our relationship.

Ok Ok I know I missed a lot, but this is as short a recap as I could muster, anymore and it would have been a novel. Thanks again for all your support and We love you all! I'll try to do better with these post.

Happy Fall!

p.s. I just got back from grizzly bear hunting.....one shot. one kill. Thanks Grandad!