canopy on truck

Jonathan and I were able to purchase a canopy for our pickup on Thursday. We spent most of the weekend getting it re-caulked to be sure it would not leak. We got it mounted onto the truck this afternoon. This will make things much more convenient.

house photos- part 1

I finally got to taking some photos of the house, as it is unpacked and (mostly) organized now. The lighting is not great since sunlight was pouring through the windows toward the camera, but hopefully you will get an idea of how things are arranged.

front of house. There is a lattice screen on the porch to hide the bicycle rack.

The living room/dining room from the front hallway. the door seen on the right goes to the back porch/yard. there is a hallway to the left of the living room (at the bottom of the photo) that leads to the craft room and bedrooms.

photo of the dining area from the kitchen & office areas. The pots on the long cabinet on the left are plants. I had to bring them inside so they would not freeze. This is not Georgia anymore!

You can't see it in the photo, but the Christmas cactus (at the end of the couch) is in bloom. It started about 2 weeks ago- just covered in beautiful pink flowers.

the office area & library. The door to the kitchen is on the right, just past the hutch. Jonathan's desk (he borrowed Naomi's purple desk) is on the left side of the doorway. Becky's desk is under the right side of the window. The big black thing on the left side of the photo is the folded up treadmill. The door to the yard is just to the left of that.

photos of the house- unpacked

kitchen, note mug shelf above cupboards. This was Jonathan's idea since there was not room for our wall mounted mug rack.

pantry cupboard in the kitchen. Sink and dishwasher are to the right. Stove on opposite the pantry. Doorway is to the office (right side) and living room/dining room to the left.

craft room from the doorway. Yes, you can get into the room!!!

I have a lot of supplies for many types of crafts and a small room to put it all in. I'm just grateful I have a room just for crafts.

South wall of craft room- two filing cabinets (one if not for crafts), a bookcase for storage, pattern cabinet and heat press. The closet is to the left of the door. It is stuffed full of craft supplies.

Finals are approaching

The semester's end is in sight. Please keep all of the kids in prayers as they study for finals. Gordon's semester tests are Nov 15th. Denise has several tests in the upcoming weeks and finals are the second week of December. Jon is studying a really tough module right now and trying to work on some extra information so he can get an off-post pass for Thanksgiving. Naomi has a big test today and finals the first week of December.

Busy Times

I finished the second of the training courses towards getting reinstated as an instructor for Army Family Team Building. The next classes will be mid-November. I think it will be fun to start volunteer teaching again, and there is a shortage of instructors right now so it will be helpful to the program.

I have had a few embroidery orders lately. One was a rush order from a lady who found the business on an internet search. The other ones are from a good repeat customer. It's nice to have the craft room mostly cleaned and organized. Christmas is coming quickly and lots of project ideas are running through my head. Now to just get them into reality. :)

Jonathan and I leave on Friday to lead a marriage retreat near Denver and then immediately go to a training conference for learning two programs for leading family retreats. The conference will be in Charlotte, NC. We thought we had been bumped from the class, but apparently there were some people who had to cancel, so we are going. Charlie will go to a "doggie hotel" (aka kennel). Misty Cat and the goldfish will stay home, where a neighbor will check in on them a few times during the week.

More travels

Jonathan is currently in Orlando, Florida. He is attending the annual CEC chaplain's conference. He will return late on Sunday night.

Oct 24-29, we will both be traveling to Charlotte, NC to attend a training course for teaching family retreats. Jonathan has taken the course before, but needs to recertify since it's been too long since he was able to lead a retreat using the material. It's a great program that allows children to take part in helping the family to function well. It will be fun to work with Jonathan in leading a retreat using the information we will be learning.

Back Home

Sorry I haven't posted recently. I returned home from moving Naomi to Oregon on Friday, Sept 24th. I rode the Greyhound bus. It's a good thing I had already decided on the bus instead of driving, as on the way to Oregon the Suburban was totaled when I hit a cow at night on an open range. Nobody (except the cow and truck!) was injured. But it was an adventure dealing with the police/accident report and getting a UHaul truck to get our stuff the next 175 miles to the family farm.

I spent 2 weeks with Mom, helping to get paperwork and stuff done. This included getting Naomi registered for classes at the local community college. So I now have 3 kids in college (counting Gordon in Kenya). Denise is getting close to finishing the classes she needs to be able to apply to the dental hygiene program- all with a straight "A" grade point average.

Jon Paul in now in Alabama, starting on his EOD training. Shortly after arriving there, he lost his wisdom teeth and his girlfriend. It seems the long separation was too much for Olivia. It can be a tough thing to handle, I don't blame her for the decision.

Now that I am home, I've been enjoying a short visit from Jim & JoJene (mother & father in-law). I've also been busy unpacking and organizing. I finally have curtains up!! (Don't worry, we had privacy through mini-blinds, but curtains add a lot more warmth to the home atmosphere.)

I also completed the Army Family Team Building (AFTB) instructor training course this week. This is a program that teaches about military life. I used to teach it at Ft Bragg (NC) about 8 1/2 years ago and loved it. I had to retake the class though so that I could catch up with the changes made to the program over the last few years. I will also go though the actual classes again before I start teaching. (again, to catch up on the changes).

Jonathan leaves on Wednesday for the annual CEC chaplain's conference. I've decided to stay home this time. I've had quite enough travel for awhile and I want to be able to clean out the garage and have a sale next Saturday. Here on post, there are only certain Saturdays each month that you can have a garage sale.

I will hopefully take pictures soon of the home improvements and post them later. Still have quite a few boxes to unpack. Right now I'm tackling the office and books.

Thank you for all of your prayers and cards during these last few months. It has meant a lot to the family. Please forgive me if you haven't heard that personally- there are just so many people who have shown us love. God bless you all.