Monday, August 22, 2011

Car in the shop? Go swimming..

So today we have been waiting for our jeep to get fixed by a mechanic here in Baker City. We figured that since we were stuck here for a while, we would have some fun...
Here we are at Sumpter Junction...


And enjoying the sun and pool!!



And we are on our way! Check in with us later and we will let everyone know where were are stopping for the night!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

On our way...


Today we started out on our journey to North Carolina. We started out in Longview and made it to Baker City, Oregon where we are staying the night tonight. Along the way we enjoyed some beautiful countryside and wonderfully warm weather!


We even documented our pass through the 45th Parallel halfway between the equator and the north pole...





Here is also some documentation of one of our many stops along the way to let the jeep cool down...we are having some overheating issues that we hope to see fixed easily and quickly (and cheaply) in the morning!




And some cows that seemed excited to see us...

We have been having fun on the road and remain hopeful that our technical problems with the jeep will be repaired without too many problems in the morning!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Moving and packing and changing and such...

I haven’t blogged in a while, I have a computer now so I am just going to jump right in…
As we begin this move and look forward to starting a new phase of life we are also completing a chapter in our lives. Saying goodbye isn’t always easy and although there are many who we will be missing and a home that we love that we are leaving (as well as three special dogs that we are way too attached to!) this goodbye is somewhat fun and joyful for us. We are excited to get to where we are going, to find out what new challenges we will face and begin school with a goal that marks what we have been looking towards for a couple of years now.
I have never made a move like this as a married person, we have moved across town and gone on trips far far away but we have yet to have had the opportunity to learn what it is like to move the both of us across the country. We don’t deal with change the same. I will be the first to admit that although it is a lot of work and everything, it is still fun for me. Moving brings about so many new opportunities, new friends, new cities…I love it! As excited as Doug is to go back to school, the vast amount of change happening in our lives is a bit overwhelming for him. He is adjusting but it is definitely a learning experience! As for me, the main challenge is the fact that moving is different when you are packing for two. Many of the things he thinks are necessary items I don’t think worthy of the space they will take up as I am sure there are things I am taking that he doesn’t think we need…

Things to do before we leave in ten days:

Sell the truck…this is a biggie and will pay for a big part of our trip. To get to where we are going, we need to sell that truck!

Sell a number of other small items…we are having a sale on Field Street Friday 12th and Saturday 13th to try to accomplish this task!

Finish packing…this is mostly just last minute stuff as we are only taking stuff we use all the time.

Give the dogs to their new owners…but I am not thinking about that until I have to.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

to college and beyond..

Never say never, we are headed back to college! Long story and after a long day at the computer I am so not prepared to sit and write the details BUT we will be making a big move very soon!
We are excited and finding it pretty fun to sell our stuff (big furniture and things like that) in order to pay for our move to North Carolina. We will be going to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary for us to both get our degrees and hopefully get some seminary in there too!
Look for updates whenever we can find a generous computer owner to lend us a few minutes on their laptop! (another thing we need for school!)
For now we know that we will be moving at the end of August to get there and get settled, hopefully find jobs and get some money in the bank for tuition/fees/books/etc by the time school starts in January.
Pray for us as we make this transition, some of our friends 'get it' many of them don't, so that is kind of a challenge. Pray for us as we do what we can to make and save of the money we need to make the big move across the country.

Monday, April 18, 2011

coffee shop talk...

SO, this post is less about the title...more about just getting a new post up on my blog because I feel like the blogging craze in our family is sort of fizzled and I want updates from everyone else while at the same time neglecting my blog....so totally bad grammar in that last sentence and all, I am settling in for a post.
Last week was our opening week at the Electric Bean. While this is exciting and the work is fun for the most part...it is a lot of work! I put in 70 hours last week just in time behind the bar...as in, I am not counting the hours of ordering supplies, picking up supplies and scheduling everyone for their hours for the week and for next week. (side note: it is surprising how difficult it is to nail down a schedule in a culture so set on schedules!) So, needless to say, I am pretty tired but I believe in the purpose of the place so I know it is worth it. The day to day of running a coffee shop is just as fun as I always thought it would be, even the things that go wrong are sort of fun because it is interesting to see how our volunteers react to things (or freek out...depending on their personality) The slow times are fun too, that's when we really get to know each other...and there is just something about sitting down and having coffee together that makes people share more than they normally would...so that is always fun and informative.
Biggest challenge would probably be the tiredness...which I am hoping and praying will start to subside a bit. If you have met me you know that I don't really get along with any of the AM hours so being here at 5:30 every morning sort of hurts me physically. But I am mentally and physically starting to adjust(I found that out this morning when I woke up at 4:30, still dark out and the world was frozen around me...and it felt 'normal').
So, as I get ready to sign off for now...I am going to have the rest of my coffee...and make a few for whoever comes in!
~H

Monday, April 11, 2011

Coffee, coffee, coffee...


The Electric Bean is open today! We are very excited as this is the cumulation of LOTS of work from lots of people and what feels like a long time! For those of you who are in town, we are open all week from 6am-9pm and even later on Friday and Saturday nights. Come see and taste!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

We are back...

Actually, we have been back for a while just not back into the internet world! To be honest, I don't know how much we are "back", we enjoyed our time in India and Portugal so much that we are having a hard time settling back into our lives here in the states. It has been fun to share about our time there with our church's youth group and childrens group and are looking forward to speaking to the services on Saturday night and Sunday morning (Jan 1-2). It's such an exciting thing to be able to share to a group of people about the work God is doing around the world and give them an idea of how they can be involved. We realized through conversations with many in our church that they might be willing to serve/give/go/pray...they just don't know how to get started. It is encouraging to see their excitement to get involved and willingness to be obedient as they begin to listen and trust God's plan for them...and it's fun to have others along for the ride as we do the same thing!