Just a little note about the blog.

Those of you that are getting this email about our blog can also click the link at the bottom of the email to access the blog page which has pictures and eventually will have videos. Also, if you know of anyone that would want to get these emails, please send me their email address and I will put them on the list. Feel free to print this out and share it with the memebers of our family that don't have email/internet access. Thanks, Noelle.

It's leveled!

Good news. The contractor managed to get our house leveled this week! We are so happy to have that part finished. He also figured out why there was water under the house. Apparently, the house next door is rented out to a bunch of young girls, and one of them ran over the sprinkler head. So, every morning the water has been flowing in a steady stream onto our property, down the slope and under the house. So, he fixed the sprinkler head and figures that once everything dries up he might have to come out and do a few minor adjustments to the house, but that's it.

So, our next project is the windows.

We thought that the heater was broken, but apparently it's just that the gas is turned off to the house, so we might be able to save a penny or two there. We'll find out when we get to C.S. whether we'll have to replace it. The funny thing is that we could probably heat the house with a couple of space heaters which is what we were planning to do once we go there. If the heater is in good working condition we'll probably just go with window A.C. for a while so that we have enough money to fix the bathroom.

D-day is approaching, and we can tell that the Lord is preparing us for the move. Our hearts are ready, and Lord willing so will our bodies and minds. We pray nightly for our girls that they would have a smooth transition, and that they would be able to find good friends very quickly. We are also praying for a church and friends for ourselves as well. We hope that God finds that it would be good for us to have these things, and that He would give them to us.

Advent begins on Monday, and we've decided to use the Sermon on the Mount as our guide this year. We think that it is instructive to us on how to live and serve God and thought that you all might find it interesting as we make our way through chapters 5, 6 and 7 during the Christmas season.

I can't stand all this Texas beaurocracy!

I told my mom this story, and she remarked, "You make Texas sound like heaven." And frankly, I have to agree. It is heaven.

We spoke to our contractor on Friday, and he said that we needed to make sure that there was power at the house so that he could do his work. Imagine my frustration when I realized that it was too late to call the utility company, and that if the power didn't get turned on right away, it would mean a delay in the remodeling since this was the only week available to do our house for the next month. I have to admit that I fretted about it quite a bit over the weekend. A delay in the leveling would mean the house might not get finished by the time we arrived in C.S.

I woke up on Monday and immediately called the utilites company. It was 9:00 our time, 11:00 down there. The operator asked all of the pertinent questions: address, phone number, social security, mailing address, and then she asked me when I'd like service to begin. I said, "As soon as possible." Her response? "So, you mean this afternoon?" I gasped, "Um, yeah." Hehehe....read it and weep. Those of you who have ever tried to get electricity turned on and off out here in the good ol' Northwest know that it takes a couple of days. But...that's not the end of the story.

The next step was to call the contractor. Tanner apologized for the delay, but notified him that the electricity would be turned on in the afternoon. The contractor said, "No problem. I ran in to a couple of glitches with the city over the permits." Tanner groaned. Permits???? Not our favorite subject. The contractor continued, "I figure, I'll get it cleared up by this afternoon, so I should be able to start work in the morning."

Huh? that was our response. I thought, "You call that a glitch?" That's a news flash compared to what we're used to.

Later he called and apologized for causing an unnecessary delay. The permit process is rather new in C.S., and after he talked with the permit department (which consists of about 3 people) they told him that he didn't need to wait for approval, he only needed to notify them about what he was intending to do, so apparently he COULD have started today.

Huh?

I have a feeling that is going to be an oft repeated phrase for us.

Looks like we found a job!

Isn't it funny how God works? We've been praying for a job since June, and about 3 weeks ago, Tanner thought God told him to start asking everyone that we talked to in Texas for a job. My initial response? How embarrassing! I am so glad I kept my mouth shut and told my husband to go for it. If God was telling him to do it, then just do it! I can't tell you how many times I cringed when I heard Tanner talking on the phone with a realtor or a construction guy and I heard the inevitable, "So, do you have any jobs available? No? Oh, well, uh, do you know anyone that has a job available?" So many times I wanted to scream, "STOP! I can't take the embarrassment anymore." For some reason I didn't. I can't say it was because of anything special, I think I just kept chickening out. I didn't want to get into an arguement or something like that.

Well, we decided to call refrences that one of our contractors supplied. Imagine my cringing soul as I heard the conversation winding up and prepared for that all embarrassing question. I could hear the lady on the other end say very politely, "Well, no, actually I don't have any job openings. I'm sorry..." I figured that was the end of that and then she said, "But, you know, there's this company that's always hiring...it won't make you much maybe 13-18 an hour..."

I checked the company out online and became very excited when I discovered that not only does it have positions open to work in its office, but also that it had openings for at home offices! Tanner filled out the online form on Saturday and got a response this morning! So, I've filled one out and we'll see if we can't both get a job.

Trying to potty train

Reggie is almost two and showing signs of being ready to potty train. I decided to give it a try this week and so far there have been 2 poos and 4 pees. Before anyone gets too excited, they all happened on the floor not the toilet. For some reason I have feeling God is sitting up in heaven watching my gyrations and just cracking up with laughter. I think that's why it's sunny today.

We've begun the countdown.

This afternoon we ordered the PODS for all of our belongings. They'll be dropped on January 2nd in the evening, and we'll have the weekend to get them packed, and they'll be picked up on either the 6th or 7th. We're planning on taking off early on the 7th, so that we can make it through the passes during the afternoon instead of the evening. Hopefully, we'll arrive in Sacrament that evening and we'll spend it with our friends, and then head on down the next day to Disneyland. If all goes well, we'll be in College Station by the 16th. That's only 60 days to freedom!! (If you've ever been to Texas, you know what I'm talking about.)

I think the hardest transition for us will be learning to speak slowly. Already, we've had several frustrating conversations with locals down there requesting that we speak more slowly. Sort of makes me feel like I'm from New York rather than from the Northwest. (If you've ever been to New York, you know what I'm talking about.) So, if you guys do give us a call, remember that we might be learning how to talk at snails pace.

Here's a funny story. We visited Galveston in June, and witnessed an unusual occurence: the heavens opened in a downpour. It rained for 3 HOURS! All pedestrians disappeared. The beaches were deserted. And cars ceased to exist. Tanner and I felt very odd as we drove our rental around the empty streets. We decided to stop at a dimly lit Starbucks which was the only sign of life in that town. We also figured it would be relatively safe. We thought maybe we were missing something...

We parked, ran through the downpour, and made it into the comforting, brown glow of Starbucks. I ordered the usual and so did Tanner. Everybody was talking about the rain. They were shocked that it was STILL raining. It had been raining for TWO HOURS! AND in the day time. We discovered that was the reason for the empty streets. "After all," one of the customers remarked, "it is dangerous to drive in the rain." We frowned. Cleared our throats, and said, "In Portland it can rain for a month solid." The whole room grew very quiet. Someone finally asked, "You mean it rains every single night?" We gently corrected him. "No, ALL day, ALL night, without ceasing." There was a gentle chuckle of disbelief. So we said again, "No, really, all day, all night, nonstop for about a month." Jaws dropped. Heads shook. I doubt any of them will be visiting us soon.

Looks like we found a good contractor

Well, we just hired a guy to level the house for us. That's the first major step in a big project. We've praying and asking the Lord to send us someone of good repute who could get the job done before we arrive in C.S. One of the obstacles has been that all of the good contractors have been busy because of the last couple of hurricanes, and they've all told us that it would be 6 months before they could get to the house. Today we spoke to a contractor that said that he could work on it Thanksgiving week because no one was lined up for that week. Yay! AND he gave us a quote for about $4500. It's just amazing how God is providing for us, and He uses all of these circumstances to remind me that we are indeed in the palm of His hand.

OR as C.S. Lewis put it in his book The Silver Chair: He didn't tell us HOW things would turn out. He just told us to WHAT we should do.

How much to fix the foundation?

Looks like it's going to cost a pretty little penny to get the foundation fixed. We finally got our first bid today...hehe: 10K. Not bad, actually. We got the house at such a good price that there is a lot of wiggle room when it comes to repairs.

Tanner spoke on the phone with city permits. It was probably the most eye opening experience we've had so far. College Station is considered to be one of the more "liberal" towns in the area, and very "invasive" when it comes to government control, so we were bracing for the worst when it came to what types of permits we would have to get and how much they cost. Imagine our laughter when the permit officer said, "well, it's going to be a little steep. It's $15 for the first 1K in estimated repairs and $5 for every additional 1K." Um, so that means we're looking at permit costs of...$60? Hahahahahaha! Tanner kept probing for the "hidden" cost items until finally the guy asked, "Where are you guys from?" So, Tanner responded, "Portland, Oregon." You could hear the permit officer grinning, "Oh, the left coast?" Then he proceeded to explain that they just have general permits. There's a permit called "Rennovation and Remodeling", and you just list what you're going to rennovate and remodel and they issue the permit. Yeah, it's that easy.

We have two other contractors bidding the foundation job tomorrow, so we'll be able to get a really good picture as to the price and how long it will take. Thanks for all of your prayers as we take the next steps in our Texan adventure.

So...we bought a house

Yes, we've actually done it. Of course most of you already know this, but we really, truly bought a house or, perhaps more accurately, a home. It's a major fixer upper, and I have a feeling that this blog is going to spend a lot of time telling all of you how it's going, what our next project is, and the latest "findings".

I'm excited about it because there seems to be nice sized backyard for the girls to play in, and we'll be located in a great school district, which was important to us since we won't be able to send them to a private school. And trust me...I don't think I'm cut out to actually homeschool my own kids. LOL. Kind of weird when you think about it...

So, I figured out how to post pictures of the house, including the "bathroom" which is kind of disgusting and will probably be on our priority list but will have to come after: leveling the house, replacing broken windows and doors, installing heat and a/c, fence the yard, then and only then will we work on the bathroom.

Luckily, the inspection came back that the house was mold free as far as the inspector could see. There are always small blessings that God gives us to remind us that we are indeed in His hands.

I have to admit to being sad at leaving good ol' PDX. I'm sad that Kate won't get to celebrate big number 5 with her favorite cousins. I'm sad the Reggie won't be able to see Charlie and the Georgie probably won't remember any of the family that we leave behind. I hold on to the realization that this is God's work and God's direction, and the He is faithful to give us what we need. He honors our commitment to Him and will give us every good thing. I hope that we all see a lot of visitors our way, and maybe even snag a few hearts for the best place on earth.

Welcome, Georgianna!

We welcomed Georgiann Rose into our family on September 24th. What an event. Everything went smoothly, and we came home on the 26th. So, the sleepless nights have begun, and we now know why so many people stop at having two kids. Three is just hard. No more one on one. You end up feeling slightly disconnected. I feel distinctly priviledged to have three extraordinarily different girls. Not only in looks, but in temperament and intelligence. They will be a continuous source of excitement and wonder for us. I can tell that they will challenge us to never, ever assume that they ALL like the SAME things.