Thanksgiving

Jeremiah and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Like I mentioned in a previous post, we headed up north to the Link side of the family in Montrose, PA. We got there late Wednesday night and left this morning. Unfortunately, it took us over 9 hours to get home today because of so much traffic! Other than that, we had a blast. My side of the family came for Thanksgiving Day. It was so great to be with all of our family--laughing together, catching up, and eating delicious food. We're so thankful that this has become a new tradition for both our families. We spent the next couple days relaxing, watching Christmas movies, and eating way too much. Jeremiah's sister, Caroline, turns 17 this Thursday so we also had a little celebration for her at the Olive Garden last night. As you can see from the pictures, we also went to help the family pick out a Christmas tree. Pennsylvania was quite a change from Virginia, with temperatures over twenty degrees colder. I was loving it, and am bummed it's still in the 50s here in Midlothian.

We're now looking forward to picking out our own tree and decorating this coming weekend. We're so excited to get ready for Christmas together here in Virginia, but also can't wait to make a trip back to Pennsylvania in three weeks!

Phillies Party

In honor of the Phillies winning the World Series, Jeremiah decided to have a Phillies party in each of his classes the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. He only had a half day, and knew better than to try and teach new material. Below are the two cookie cakes I baked; however, I did not decorate both. Can you guess which one I did and which one Jeremiah did?

Church

Wanted to give everyone a quick update about church. Yesterday we tried a new church, Hope, and had a really enjoyable experience. We liked the service a lot, and we were lucky enough to come on a day that they had a lunch for newcomers after the service. At first we were hesitant, unsure of the level of awkwardness, but decided to give it a whirl. We're so glad we did because it was very informative and welcoming, and we actually met a few couples our age. We will continue to pray for where God might have us worship, and are excited about learning more about Hope.

New Job!

You read correctly, I have a new job! Awhile ago I had put in an application to Henrico County Public Schools for an instructional assistant position, but was not called in for an interview. Bummer. But I guess God's timing is everything because last week, out of the blue, the principal of Three Chopt Elementary School called me to let me know he needed an I.A. for a 1st grade classroom, and human resources had passed my name on to him. The next day I had an interview, and two days later (Friday) I received a call offering me the full-time position! I wasn't sure what to expect, since other candidates were interviewing and the only thing I knew went really well is the shared love for Penn State between the principal and me. I am so so excited about this opportunity, and it really is an answered prayer! My first day is Monday, December 8.

The unfortunate part of all this was that it came at a pretty inconvenient time in the world of Goddard. I had just taken on more hours and been placed in the baby room. All weekend I was anxious about giving my two weeks notice this morning. But here I am, alive and well to tell the story. The assistant director was very nice and understanding, which is a huge relief.

Luckily, I will still be able to watch Shep and Shane everyday after school. The school is actually only 5 minutes away from their house and I will get off just in time to make it to their house to greet Shep. Perfect!

Fun in Fairfax!

Jeremiah and I had an incredible time visiting Greg and Elise this weekend! It was so so great to get away for a day and a half and spend time with good friends. It took us two hours, straight up 95, to travel to their place. We spent most of our time laughing hysterically, eating amazing home-cooked food, and playing Rook. 

Although we got poured on at one point, we enjoyed the tour they gave us of George Mason. It was interesting to hear the ins and outs of the ministry they do for Crusade on a campus other than Penn State. Something I found particularly interesting was the attention given to the Muslim culture on campus, being that a significant percentage of students practice such religion. In their student union center (think the HUB at Penn State) they had an open, quiet meditation area with mats facing Mecca for the five prayer times throughout the day. It was eye-opening to see the differences between Penn State and Mason, and to hear the different issues students are dealing with at Mason. We're so thankful Greg and Elise are willing to serve as ministers of the gospel there!

Misc.

Can you believe it's the middle of November already?? Jeremiah and I couldn't be more excited for the holidays to be here. We are anxiously anticipating our first big holiday as husband and wife--Thanksgiving in Montrose, PA. Yep, as crazy as it sounds, we will be making the eight hour car ride up north on the biggest travel day of the year. Jeremiah teaches a half day that Wednesday so we will leave right after that, crossing our fingers that we'll avoid major traffic. My parents and brother and sister will be coming up for Thanksgiving day to feast with Jeremiah's side of the family. How amazing to be able to have everyone together! We did this last year and it worked perfectly. Debbie Link did the cooking, Debbie Koehler did the baking. Delicious!

As of next week, I will be taking on a few more hours at Goddard--in the baby room. I'm so thankful that God quickly answered my prayers for more hours, so that Jeremiah and I will have more money to contribute to his loan payments that start up at the end of the month and the rest of the debt we are trying to put a dent into. Tuesday and Thursday I'll work from 7-2 strictly in the baby room, and still hang out with the two year olds on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. The other three teachers in the baby room are great, which will be helpful in a room that I know just about nothing about. It's a little nerve-racking, but hopefully I'll get the hang of it quickly. I'm trying to remain positive, thinking that this will be good for when I become a mother someday.

Only two more weekends before the kickoff to Christmas! And as if that weren't enough to look forward to, we're going to see our friends, Greg and Elise Boros, this weekend in DC. They just moved there to work at George Mason for Campus Crusade for Christ. We absolutely love spending time with them!!

Halloween

Our first Halloween has come and gone, and what a Halloween it was. 

Unfortunately, Jeremiah was still in Baltimore for his professional development conference, so I held down the fort on my own. Let's just say there wasn't much to hold down. After carving a pumpkin the night before that would hopefully signal trick-or-treaters, I sat around for hours on Halloween night without a trace of children in costume. Bummer. Needless to say, being home alone with a jar full of M&M minis was dangerous.

Halloween afternoon with the boys did bring some fun, though. Shep came home from school so excited for the night and immediately put on his costume. As you can see, he was a nerd. Doesn't he look hilarious?