Good Week

This week has been a good week. First, I got offered the job at Lighthouse Christian School (praise God) and second it is Customer Appreciation Week at Chick Fil A!  This means that they are giving out free things every day Monday-Friday. Monday was a free small milkshake and Tuesday was a free kids meal with a purchase of an adult meal. Wednesday is a free 8 count nuggets. Thursday is a free Spicy Chick FilA sandwich. Friday is a free chick fil a sandwich.  I didn’t go Monday or Tuesday, but I plan on going the rest of the week-I especially want to try the new spicy chick fil a sandwich.  Oh, the small things in life that make me happy. Now if we could just hear about the house it would be a Great Week!

Still Waiting

I wish there was more that I could say, but after a long,  fun road trip we are here in CA. We are still waiting and praying to hear back on the house that we want. I sure hope we hear soon-it’s been 2 months almost!  God has answered prayer on the job front. I might possibly be teaching pre school at a small Christian school. It would be a steady job and that’s what I wanted   I haven’t been “officially” offered the job yet, but everything is leading in that direction considering that I might be starting on the 17th of August!  Soon I will be very busy and hopefully making friends.  We have tried several churches so far and like a few. It will be nice to settle down with a house, a church, and job soon enough!  I will be honest, this has been a difficult transition for me as I am far from my family and friends, but knowing that God is with me and having Andrew still in the states keeps me happy.  I just really pray that our house works out soon. Living out of suitcases for over 2 months, as most of you have done at one point or another, gets old. Thank you for praying for us. We are grateful for the safe trip to the west coast.  The only bad thing that happened to us is a little biking accident.  I hit something and ran into Andrew’s bike causing both of us to flip off our bikes. Andrew hurt his wrist, and I “bent” my tailbone. I didn’t think you could bend a bone without it being called a fracture, but that that’s what they told me—so I guess it’s the cartilage that is causing me all of the pain still???  Oh well, as long as the pain will eventually go away, I will be fine. (it’s been 5 weeks already and still not sitting or sleeping regularly). As for Andrew’s wrist, he says it’s okay, but I know it’s still sore since he can’t do push ups! Andrew is enjoying his new job and he was gone all last week in the field. He actually had fun this time and looks forward to the next exercise.  I am very glad that Andrew enjoys what he does. It is a big blessing.

Well, that is our little update. I hope to be able to update again soon IF we should get a house!  Again, thank you all for your prayers.

House Hunt Update

Well, it’s been a busy month of travel, house hunting, and moving preparations. We have less than 3 weeks until we move across country. House hunting is very competitive but something will eventually work out. We just pray that it’s sooner rather than later.

The offers we put in are either rejected, counter-offerred, or we are still waiting for a response. The favorite house has one other offer ahead of us so if it goes well for those people, we won’t get the chance on the house, but if they pull out-then we can get it. There are other houses that we like too but we have to wait for them. The process is slow. We are  excited to get out there so we can be more competitive and deal with the people head-on instead of over the phone and through faxes. I also am job hunting but that should be easier when we get out there as well.  So far, that is all I can update on. Mom and Dad are still here for a few more days and we’re trying to fit in as much as possible in spite of all the rainy days.

Either Mom or I will be posting pictures on flickr soon, I hope.

House Hunt

Well, it has been a long time since I have updated this thing. I have been everywhere lately it seems. When I got back from Kentucky, I worked and then drove back up to Maryland so I could fly out to California. I am  here looking for houses. We will be moving out here in one month so things are happening quickly. We hope to be able to find something, but we also don’t want to rush things if we don’t have to. It is a nice area and I am enjoying getting to know it already. I am hoping that tomorrow will be a more productive day compared to today and yesterday afternoon.

If I find something, I will be posting pictures (if I remember to take the camera in from the car-believe it or not…I did that many times today!)

The pictures below are of the car I am driving around CA and one view from a house/neighborhood we like.

The Latest Update

On December 8th, 2008, we got our official orders for Andrew’s next six months (training, classes…). We will both be able to move to Dam Neck, VA (VA Beach). He gets to learn and do a lot of cool things during his training, but he probably won’t be home much since they have him traveling to a few different places. I am still working on my teaching application so I hope to get that done and find a job so I can keep busy while I may be alone.  We are excited for our next stage, however Andrew does not get to go to graduation…he ‘graduates’ early because his school starts a week before graduation. That means we have two weeks left here in Stafford and almost two weeks in FL for vacation. SOOOO much to do my head is spinning, but I know we will be fine. There are just so many details to see to and important things to get worked out. But I can’t complain because I know you all have moved before and had more issues than us. It’s just our first official move and all so I guess that’s why the stress comes.

Anyway, that is a very little update on our lives.  The schools are in high demand-wanting me every day. I love it but also have not been able to shop or do important errands. Today, I got to view the Commandant of the Marine Corps house and 8th and I barracks…it was an awesome day (so worth me asking for the day off!)! My friend, Jessica, took pictures so check out her site:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessicazwehner/

Okay, that should be it…Andrew has a lot to do and catch up on since his ankle issues so we are still praying that everything works out. I would hate for something bad to happen to his ankle and then have to start everything all over again and even have to try for his intel spot all over again.  We will be so happy when all of this is over and we can move to the next phase

The rest of November 2008

I am going to add pictures to flickr of our Marine Corps Birthday Ball and Thanksgiving. We enjoyed both events and are so excited to finally know what Andrew’s job is going to be…now we just wait to get orders so we know when we are moving.

The news is in…

Andrew found out his MOS today and we are excited about it. He got Signals Intel!  You can ask questions about it, but I bet we don’t know any of the answers yet.   We will learn  more soon hopefully. I do know that after more training (about 6 months or so) we get stationed in one of TWO places….. North Carolina or Hawaii. I bet you could guess our first choice! His first choice for MOS was intelligence so he is happy to be one of few that got it. I believe about 24 out of 300 got some form of intel so I am very proud of Andrew and we appreciate everyones’ prayers.

Update

Well, tomorrow should be the big day that Andrew and I have waited for. He should find out his MOS (military occupational specialty). When we find out, I will let everyone know. Then I will be able to plan for next year…do I stay here and get a full time job or will I keep subbing if we move somewhere else?  Subbing this half of the year has been great. I continue to get a lot of calls and build up my reputation (especially since I know of  a job opening or two come January).

Andrew had the E course yesterday….it had been cancelled the last time due to rain and this time it almost snowed! But as he was running it, he collapsed again due to his ankle! He never finished. He is not sure if they will take his old score, which is a low B because of the new sprain then, or if they will let him take it again before graduation sometime.  We are hoping he can retake it since we know Andrew doesn’t get B’s….especially on physical tests! He was also supposed to march 15 miles tomorrow with the company (while wearing over a 100 pound pack). Well, he probably can’t march tomorrow because he is not supposed to be on his ankle! Andrew said the captain will march with him during another time….Andrew will march with a different company for 9 miles and then the captain would join him. Sounds like a lot of fun (sense the sarcasm?).

His prayer was that he could graduate in the top 20 of 300 lietenants. It was SO doable because he was in the top 37 and if he continued to do well (which he has) he could beat out the others that didn’t do as well.  He is bummed about the grade and ankle this week, but the good news is that he does not get held back! They are being really understanding with him.  Andrew found out yesterday that his captain (his SPC…staff platoon sgt.) had sprained his ankle 7 times during TBS and before his next training took place!  Maybe that’s why they are being understanding. His ankle is SO huge and there’s a loose bone floating around which they say will just heal fine if he can be easy on his ankle. We’ll see!  But we appreciate your prayers on this.

Trust me…as soon as we find out his MOS (should be tomorrow), I will let everyone know! Thanks again for your prayers.

Update on our life

It is now November 4, 2008. Andrew and I have been married for 5 months already! We should find out Andrew’s job and next training place very soon. We are praying about it and are excited to find out. As soon as we know anything, I will let everyone know.

I have been keeping busy subbing. I work around 3-4 days a week and then do my errands and cleaning on the other days. This week is slow but I don’t mind. I am able to catch up on things. I might even post a lot of pictures on facebook soon, so be on the look out.

Andrew is more than half-way through with TBS. They are still keeping them really busy but the mood has changed for the better. We are excited to have a four day weekend, celebrate the Marine’s birthday Nov. 10,  attend a ball in Richmond,  and then we look forward to another four day weekend for Thanksgiving.  Time is flying by, but TBS is still packed full.  I am thankful Andrew is doing well and that I have made friends while living here. We also have found a really good church to be involved in. We are enjoying the area while we can.

For those who don’t know, Andrew sprained his ankle a couple of months ago. It was getting better when it happened again. It has been healing very slowly, but Andrew is doing his best to not let it slow him down! Today he has the Endurance course to run and then several other physical tests coming up. He should do fine, but I know I am always praying for him. He would hate to get this far in the program just to be held back several months to do it all over again because of an ankle! We appreciate your prayers too.

Well, I hope to keep everyone updated more often…especially if we hear news of Andrew’s job soon!

Our Home in Virginia

It has taken me a long time to take pictures of our place and download them, but I finally have done it! We don’t know how much longer we will be here, but it is still home for a while.