And they lived in a hotel...

For the past 4 weeks Alex and I have been living in the Hyatt Place.  Very nice hotel and must feel enough like home because after the first week ever reference I made to home referred to the hotel:)

After talking with insurance companies, finding receipts for ruined furniture, and slowly getting accustomed to the fact that it is not that difficult to live in a hotel...just takes a little imagination.  We are hoping that we will be back in our newly renovated apartment next Wednesday!  YAY!  So here's to hoping!

 Reflections after the Flood

1.  Our dining room furniture while beautiful, was too nice for any dining space we'd ever want.  And because we bought it for the flip we didn't feel justified in getting rid of it.  Well, it was the worst fairing piece of furniture in our apartment!  So we get to replace it:)

2.  We did not have to stand outside in the freezing cold for 2 hours while the fire department was dispatched for the water damage because we were snug as bugs in our beds in Wisconsin.

3.  Though furniture was damaged by the movers, we did not have to move anything out of our apartment and nor do we need to move anything back in.

4.  You are supposed to try and maintain a calm spirit during infertility...how much more calm can you be when almost every daily stressor has vanished for the past 3 weeks.  That is the only advantage to hotel living.

5.  There is a gym in our hotel which I have been dutifully walking on to try and keep off any pounds that might want to take hold due to eating out 2 meals a day.  Hoping this will continue, at our apt. gym.

6.  We loved our apartment just the way it was...but we are going to love it even more after newly painted walls, new trim, new carpet, and all new cabinets and countertops.

Now we are back in our brand new apartment...and it feels so good to be home!

Wonderment

I wonder what the hotel maid thinks.

31

look who's having a birthday today

Happy Birthday to My Amazing Husband

I love you!

Fear Not...

Last night I had the joy of attending the first meeting for our church's annual Women's Conference.  The past two years I have had the delight in serving with some wonderful women in preparation for the event.  My part, fitting enough, is to take care of organizing, ordering, and presenting...LUNCH.  I love it!

So last night we were talking about the speaker, whom I have never heard of, and the topic for the conference.   The speaker is Andree Seu and the topic is Fear.  Andree writes for WORLD magazine and has a depth about her that I am just beginning to unearth.  We were given her book of essays, We Shall Have Spring Again, and last night I stayed up reading through a few.  These are liquid gold...amazing stuff.

I'm excited to hear what she has to say, to help ready the meal, and to see the hearts of women changed as God sees fit.  The conference is April 23-24 and if you would like to help out with lunch, I love volunteers, and if not, I hope you will pray about coming.  I mean, really who doesn't struggle with fear:)

Here's a glimpse into Andree...

In her essay Trust Me, she is struggling with insomnia and calling out to the Lord to help heal her.  I'm not sure all of us struggle with this, but we struggle with other things so feel free to replace insomnia with other things such as fear, anxiety, control, obedience, love.

"This is the best I can do with unanswered prayer.  The possible answers seem to be "yes," "no," or "you have no idea what's going on behind the curtain of your sensate reality, so you best make up your mind once and for all--I love you.  Will you trust me?"

Isn't that the truth.  And following this in another essay she states...

"You can say I'm depressed.  So what?--and carry on iwth the energy God supplies.  All the while you keep in mind that your one neighbor has chronic back pain and your other neighbor has neurofibromatosis.  You are not a tragic special case, cut off by a chasm from the rest of humanity.  The condition is just what is common to man, the prescription is still faith, and the grace for it is inexhaustible."

I love her straightforward style and at the end of the day, she's right. 

"For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison" and because Christ is with us we can trust in God's word "Fear not, for I am with you.  Be not dismayed for I am your God." 

2009-Year End Review

As I thought about this new decade beginning I was reminded of the fact that the last decade marked my first 10 years of living in Minnesota...sweet memories:)

So here it is the 2009 year in Review!

January

Alex turns 30, we take a trip to FL, my in-laws celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary, and we sign the paperwork for the sale of our first flip:)

February

Alex heads out on the annual ski trip to Montana, we move back to Prior Lake, and celebrate Valentine's Day with our annual heart shaped pizza!

March

Try to acclimate back to having a commute and living down south, begin attending south campus church exclusively, and decide now is the time to start a family.

April

Attend and manage the lunch at our church's Women's Conference, begin sorting through our storage area, and become neat freaks as our house is on the market.

May

Celebrate my friend Cassie's wedding as a personal attendant, enjoy the beautiful spring weather, and begin packing and selling our stuff.

June

My step-grandfather Herb passes away, we go camping with our small group, and I start to nanny full-time for the summer.

July

Prior Lake house sells, we move to our apartment, spend a week with my family in my hometown and welcome baby Jace to the family.

August

Ran in my first half marathon and survived, said good-bye to my grandmother Ruth, and rejoice at the beginning of school and the beginning of my new schedule, and welcome baby Jack to the family!

September

Leave for our second Europe vacation this time a sabbatical, enjoy sightseeing in Paris and London, and celebrate our 3rd year of marriage!

October

Finish our very enjoyable sabbatical, pursue infertility treatments, and head to Indianapolis to accept a design award.

November

Celebrate my 29th birthday, enjoy Thanksgiving in Mexico with my parents and little brother, and attend our 3rd COTY awards and the ASID awards.

December

Celebrate the birth of our Savior with family, spend lots of quality time with family, and host 3rd annual cookie exchange and a table at our church's Christmas luncheon.

So there it is 2009 in review!

The Past Week in Pictures

Interesting start to 2010

Happy New Year!  It dawned on me that 2010 marked the end of a decade...a decade that holds so many a memory for me!  From my freshman year of college until now so many things have happened.  I'm thinking of doing a flashback through every year of the decade!  Kind of fun to record history!

Starting from the most recent to the year 2000 coming up in the next few days...stay tuned:)

This new year's was really fun!  Alex and I headed back to WI for new years and the weekend that followed and after some recent events it will probably always be a new years to remember!

We spent new years eve with my mother, sister, nephews, aunt, uncle, and second cousin.  It was so much fun.  We ate yummy food and played lots of cards and because our tv does not get any stations we rung in 2010 listening to the radio, toasting with champagne!  It was so much fun!

The rest of the weekend we sledded with my niece and nephews, cared for babies, watched some movies, read books, had a dance party, and received a not so fun phone call.  Yesterday we awoke to a message from our apartment building.  What they told us was:  "Unfortunately there has been a water leak and your apartment was affected."  Yikes!

The reason why is still under investigation but they kindly moved all of our things out of our apartment into one on the third floor because they said are things were too nice to leave there...lol!  We came back this morning and peeked into our apartment.  What we found was a larger water leak than they let on to.  Our kitchen was gone, the bathroom was gone, the front closet, and the wall with the fireplace were all removed and stripped down to the studs.  I began having flashbacks of our friends' mishap with a water leak.  Water is not fun to deal with.  So they told us it would be a couple of weeks before we can move back in to our apartment.

Now for the frustrating part.  At this point, everything they moved, they did hastily and without much care.  Our belongings are now boxed haphazardly into random boxes and nothing is easy to find.  Also certain furniture items, maybe our tv, and some other things may be ruined due to water damage and moving damage.  But our computers appear to be working which is a huge blessing and our office was relatively unaffected.

So praying they can work quickly so we can be back home soon.  Currently we are in a hotel and actually, given that if we stayed in the new apartment we would not have any luxuries like internet, tv, or phone, it's a pretty nice compromise.  It will all be okay and renters' insurance is our ace in the pocket.  If you rent and don't have it, get it quick.  You never know when something can happen!!

pictures to come!