This is not your bachelor pad anymore!

So last night as I am getting ready for bed I hear a strange noise from the kitchen.

Oh that was just the refrigerator door opening.
(no big deal...Neile must be getting a drink before bed)

Then I hear the distinct sound of the 2-liter bottle of seltzer water open.
(nothing unusual about that)

Then maybe 3 sec. later I hear the cap being screwed back on. I wait for the sound of the trash can opening (gotta give the benefit of the doubt)...nothing except the bottle being put on the shelf and the fridge door shutting again.
(No no no he did not do what I think he did!)
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Yes! He did exactly what I think he did! Arrgghhh....


CAVEMAN!

Christmas Celebration take 1

Although I know many people that have done this, I had never done it nor had I imagined I would, but this year has changed all of that.

I have now officially celebrated 1.5 Christmases with 2 more to go!

I say 1.5 because while we were in Seattle for Thanksgiving (which was a great trip overall) we all had the pleasure of receiving our Christmas stockings early. As my mom puts it, “who doesn’t love getting presents!” So while stockings are not a full blown Christmas celebration, it was the time for us to have a mini celebration with Neile’s whole family.

This past weekend we got together with Neile’s brother and his wife. They don’t live far from us (downtown) so even though we won’t be together on Christmas day we got to celebrate with them beforehand. Neile and I drove into the city to meet up with them and go to Christkindlmarket.

Fun times! If you haven’t ever been you should check it out – it’s here until December 24th. Seeing as I used to work about 2 or 3 blocks from this I had been before and seeing as Neile and his family are in love with Germany... well we just couldn’t resist going again. It was cold, but it could have been worse (that’s probably the case for most days in Chicago – always could’ve been worse!). Mostly I just enjoyed being downtown and seeing all of the lights, which I have missed out on in the last few years. Funny how mesmerizing all those pretty lights can be…

Thanksgiving

Well, folks, we leave tonight and head to beautiful Seattle for Thanksgiving with the in-laws. Although, upon checking the weather forecast I noticed a trend in "slight rain in the morning followed by showers in the afternoon" for the entire time we are there (interesting to see how many different ways one can say "it's gonna rain all day") . Plus I think it will be kinda cold (30s-40s) compared with the in the 60s temps we are having here in Chicago, but I am still expecting it to be fun times all around. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday and have the chance to break away from the busyness of everyday life to really reflect on and enjoy all of the things we each have to be thankful for. God bless!

Home Owners?

So I’ve promised a couple people I would update them on our Homestead application process. Now for those of you that are wondering…”what the heck is homestead?” may I suggest going to Homestead. Basically though it is a program for people that fit within a certain income bracket and our interested in purchasing their first home in DuPage county. You get an amazing deal on your mortgage and of course can own a home (without this option we would probably be looking at 2 more years at least!). Pretty cool. So yes, we applied and met with someone from the Homestead program on Wednesday. The meeting went well overall and we have been placed on the “Market Ready” list. This means we can get a realtor, start looking for homes, and apply for a mortgage…with one small catch. Yes, we are in the position to go forward in the home buying process, but Homestead is not quite ready for us. Sounds like there are currently at least 50 other families on the waiting list – ahead of us, and unfortunately there is only grant money (this is why we get such an amazing deal on a mortgage) available for 20-25 of them. The good news…this grant will be made available mid-November and another one will probably be available in March. Thankfully, Homestead will call us in November to let us know where we are at with all of this. So yes, I will keep you posted. For now though, we are going to contact a realtor and see what areas in DuPage would be in our price range and also somewhere we want to live. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about that in the near future…

Challenge

September 25th marked the date for “we made it 6 months”. (Although I‘m not so sure I would put it quite like that) Really though…we have had our share of disagreements in this time and definitely some adjustments on both of our parts, but if anything had come up in the first 6-months that could make anyone call it quits…that just seems a little absurd to be.

It is hard to imagine that it has been just over 6 months. No it has not been long and unbearable…but I feel as though we have grown so much more than 6 mere months would allow. It really is just wild how we, as people, are actually given the capacity to stretch ourselves and grow. This includes other things in life than just marriage of course. The whole idea of selling ourselves short on our ability to grow has been on my mind longer than I can remember (yes I am a bit of a nerd and yes I do just daydream about things like this). Like when I was at camp over a year ago (I cannot believe it was that long ago) it seemed like the theme of my year there was challenge. Challenging others and self to think and act in different ways. Of course this challenge was all intended to help one grow spiritually and relationally as well as to encourage reflection, which unfortunately is so easily missed in our busy lives. I suppose that is one of the reasons I have started this blog. More than anything, I am frustrated that in the midst of my doing I have forgotten what it is like to really sit down and reflect.