We've Been Busy. . .

After a roller coaster summer of packing up half our house, only to continue living in it, we've been packing in some end of summer events. A few weekends ago, we headed up to Indiana to "campout" at a friends' house where we got to be with several friends who's friendship was an encouragement to us while we were at Purdue. Originally, 4 couples (including us) were going to go camping in IL for a few days; however, it fell amidst the heat wave and decided on a Plan B.

It was great to see the Kempsons, Cardinals, Robinsons, & 1/2 of the Lamberts [the other half was home sick :(]. We got to catch up on life in the past year with everyone and see how God has been working in their lives and plugging them into their new communities (it's crazy to think that we all met in Lafayette and dispersed all about the same time!).

Steve departed from our friends' house and headed back to Tennessee while my parents picked me up so I could stay a few days with them (how could I possibly go to Indiana and not see my family?!). I stayed for about 5 days and hung out with my sisters, nieces, parents, and good friend. I kept myself busy while I was there (I don't want to miss a moment with them all!). My parents then took me back to Tennessee at the end of the week and stayed a few days with Steve and I.

Even though my parents were here less than a month ago, it was good to have both of them stay for a few days and just relax together (well, Dad didn't get to relax much as Steve and him worked on our car together). When my parents brought me back, they brought back a bonus item -- their piano! Ha ha, my dad is the only one left in the house who plays piano but he he has a digital piano and a digital keyboard. I had asked him for help on how to pick out a digital piano and he just offered for us to borrow his for awhile! I'm excited to be able to work back to the level I was years ago!

They left at the beginning of this week giving Steve and I time to recoup from the past few weeks. When we aren't traveling to see friends and family, Steve and I have been working on a few different projects. Recently, Steve has become quite the mechanic in our house. He's been doing lots of research on how to maintain and upkeep our own cars. He's done a lot of little things (like oil changes, tire rotations, checking fluids and such) and just completed a big project -- replacing the drive shaft(s) on our Honda. We had been noticing a clicking noise when turning and decided it was time to replace them. He had done most of it before my dad came but had dad double check and help finish up the project. Dad was impressed at the job Steve had done without much prior knowledge. Now Steve is talking about taking some auto classes in his free time, we'll see how that turns out ;).

I've been trying to finish up crocheting a blanket I started for Steve before we got engaged. I guess after 2 years of marriage (yes that's right, 2 years next week!), it's time to finish the blanket! I've also "dabbled" in a canning project. I had a coupon for an "intro to canning kit" and thought, why not?! My dream is to eventually have my own garden and be canning my own fresh vegetables. But as that's not possible at the moment, I started small. I made and canned some homemade salsa. It appears that it was a canning success, but I guess time will only tell (when I open up the jars!).

Up next on my "to-do" list is get our house cleaned up and readied for some company. My sister, mom, and nieces are planning an "End-O-Summer" Tennessee trip. They'll come for a few days next week before before school starts for the oldest 2 nieces. I have to juggle around some boxes in order to make room for them all to stay in the house ;).

Settling back down

Now that we know we'll be in this same house for another 5 months or so, I've gotten back into organizational and house projects. My mom and I packed up half the house back in June so our once organized office now looks like this:

Most of the stuff that is packed away consists of extra items stored throughout the house like -- dishes, blankets, bags, books, clothes, decorations, etc. Most of the items will be forgotten about until we unpack them at the new place (wherever and whenever that'll be!). Over the past week or so, I'll sometimes think of an item that would be useful in a certain situation and have to go digging through the boxes. Luckily, the items I need end up being in the top of a box that is easily accessible.

So now that all the packing materials have been stored away in the office, our house is back to somewhat normal (shelves and cabinets look a little bare). We've been noticing around dinner time that the location of our table in the kitchen always seems very warm. Since the area was surrounded by a glass door and a big window, I decided to make some curtains to hopefully keep the heat out. Here is the finished product:

I bought one package of complete curtains for the big window; however they were a tan color that blended into the wall. So then I bought 3 panels of a sheer voile and sewed 2 of the panels over the existing curtains. The third panel, I sewed together to make a little curtain cover for the door as seen in the picture. The curtains have only been up a day and I've noticed a difference (however, I think it's a mix of being all in my head & the fact that temps are down in the 90s instead of the 100s). Anyway, I like the look the kitchen now has and the whole project (including wall/door mounts was less than $40. Hopefully, these are items I'll get to use again at the next location, and if not, at least it gave me something to do!

Roller Coaster Ride

I haven't blogged in the past few weeks for a couple of reasons. First off, life has been a roller coaster ride and if I blogged the last 2 weeks there would be 5 posts per day (that's how often things have changed for us). Secondly, because of the "roller coaster" we've been on, I haven't had the desire to blog in fear of getting my hopes up and then being crushed by the next change (which occurred anyway due to the situation). So here's an abridged version of what we've been going through (I cut out a lot of the communication between all the parties involved which is why things changed a lot).

So, let me back up in the story with a review: The beginning of this year was marked by us searching for a new house in Jackson. We spent many months searching for a house, put an offer on one that fell through, and had gotten really exited for the next phase of our life. In April, the day after we put a promising offer on a house, P&G sold Pringles (we quickly retracted our offer due to the unkowns). Steve got the option to stay with P&G meaning we will be moving out of Jackson within a year-- but we don't know "when" or "where".

So that brings us up to the past few weeks. Steve applied for a position for a P&G plant in Ohio and was even offered an interview. The job was very appealing to Steve, but the location was even more so appealing to me! We'd be about 2.5 hours away from my family (which sounds way better than the 8 hours now!). However, there has been issues over timing between P&G and Pringles. We went to the interview not knowing if timing would work out. We were even hooked up with a realtor who took us around the area. We visited my family and returned back to Tennessee without any news on the matter. Just yesterday we finally heard back on the timing situation. Even though Steve is choosing to stay with P&G he is "frozen" at Pringles until the deal is completed at the end of the year. So we finally have our answer of "when" we will be leaving Jackson-- December.

The other question we've been dealing with is "where" will we live (whether in Jackson or in another location). The lease on the house we are renting was officially up in June (Remember, we were house hunting but stopped and waited, sort of patiently, for answers on the job front). Our landlord graciously extended the lease to July but said that is all he could do because if he pushed it any farther, he would lose out on a new renter. He informed us about a week ago (same time as the interview) that he had a new renter lined up and asked if we could move out earlier in July. We had quickly decided that even if Steve had been granted permission to leave earlier, we'd still need some sort of short term housing elsewhere in Jackson.

On Thursday (2 days ago), we found a possible rental house and set up an appointment for the next day. However, Thursday night, our landlord asked us for more pictures of the house because he needed to make a new add for the house. Apparently the new renter lined up had backed out on him. Steve sent back an email with the pictures and went ahead and made an attempt for us to extend our lease another 6 months. Our landlord accepted it! He said he was too busy with work to worry about another add and finding new renters.

So within 24 hours our 3 month roller coaster ride came to an end. We have the answers we had been waiting for! They weren't exactly what we wanted, but it's not about us -- it's about God's timing. For whatever reason, we're supposed to be here in Jackson for another 5 months. So we're back to awaiting our next location, but at least now we're not living day-to-day in suspense.

Also, throughout all of this, I had 2 job offers that I turned down due to the timing of things. The first was to continue as a 1st grade teacher (like I did at the end of the year) and the second was for a history position in the next county's high school (good school system). It's been hard for me to deal with things remaining the same. I was really excited to have a new house that I could design, paint and decorate, back to being in the same house with poorly painted tan walls. I'm thankful that things have turned out the way they did (I was not excited to move our stuff into another temporary housing) in remaining in the same location -- I'm just impatient for the next chapter in our life.

Saying Goodbye

This past week, Steve and I had to say goodbye to our good friends from Jackson. Steve worked with Jake on many projects at work, while Jennifer and I bonded over house decor, shopping, and other girly things. We would try to meet up at least once a week for lunch with the husbands, and then an afternoon of chatting while the husbands went back to work.

You may remember this post when we went to St. Louis with them back in September. We also got to travel with them for a work trip to Cincinnati where I got to introduce Jennifer to the wonderful world of Ikea.

Needless to say, we have many fond memories with these two which is why I am sad to see them leave. With the selling of Pringles to a new company, they decided to pursue a different career opportunity landing them in Kentucky.

It's amazing how close Jennifer and I got in such a short amount of time. She has truly been a blessing to me while I've been in Tennessee and will miss our weekly lunches and chats. We've already made plans to go on a yearly weekend trip together (well the women have decided and the men have accepted).

Family, Fun, & Birthday

My parents came down to visit Steve and I two weekends ago. They arrived on Sunday (June 12) just after church. My dad left the next day, leaving mom to stay all week with us. During her visit, she helped me babysit, took a trip to Memphis, and started to pack up the house. It was really nice to have her here and show her what my day to day life looks like.

Everyone knows how crazy I am about my family and that I travel up to Indiana to see them quite a bit; however, this is only the 2nd time she has been to visit me in Tennessee! Who knows, it may be the last time (with our impending move ahead). It was also nice to have my mom all to myself :). We even were able to have a couple "mommy & me dates" including a lunch at Red Robin & saw "Water for Elephants".

We left Tennessee Friday morning (which also happened to be my birthday-- nothing like spending 8 hours in a car!). Unfortunately, Steve did not make the trip with us. He said he's still "carred up" from the Colorado drive. I drove the first couple hours (in the rain, which I hate) and then my mom drove the rest (I told her I'd switch back but I think she enjoys being in charge in a car).

We arrived to my parents' house were my sister and her 3 girls had decorated the kitchen (Twilight themed- no doubt) & threw me a little "surprise" party. I had already known they were coming over & planning on staying the night, the decorations were the surprise. However, I know my sister all too well & knew there would be Twilight decorations at some point over the weekend.

On Saturday, lots of people were in and out of the house. My brother & his wife dropped their baby off in the morning for my mom to babysit. Grandpa arrived at some point and we had a little cookout. After lunch, my sister, nieces, and Grandpa left, leaving the house quiet with just my parents, other sister, baby, and myself. (I told you lots of people were in and out, it gets confusing even if you were present). In the evening, my bestest friend Megan and her boyfriend Joel came over for a visit. Joel got to experience his first evening with the Willis family. He came out unscathed, so I guess it was a good evening (my family has a reputation of crazy first impressions -- go figure).

Sunday was spent honoring my dad and Grandpa. We went out to eat after church and then made a quick visit to see Pappaw in the nursing home. Once we got home, all craziness broke out. The men all huddled at the kitchen table playing computer games all afternoon (Steve was even involved in the gaming, playing online from Tennessee). I spent a few hours playing "American Girls" with my nieces in the newly cleaned out basement. That evening, we had a big cookout (In attendance: Mom, Dad, Sara, Ryan, Lori, Joe, Liz, Charlotte, Chris, Amber, Emily, Allie, Gabbie, Grandpa, and myself, whew!). After eating, we enjoyed watching the Adams girls play in the hot tub & then fool around with poppers in the back yard. Eventually, the house cleared out & I convinced Amber & girls to stay the night again (it didn't take too much convincing).

I was originally supposed to return to Jackson on Monday, but I stuck around one more day in order to hang out with my really good friend April. She and I have started a tradition of movie nights (dating back 3 years?) that usually include Chinese food.

I drove by myself back to Jackson on Tuesday. Needless to say, it was a full trip & I am now tuckered out.

Job Offer -- not what you think. . .

At this point in our situation, you'd expect a post about a job offer to be about Steve; however, it's about me. Earlier this week I got a call from Jackson Madison County Schools, asking me to stay on as a full time first grade teacher for next year. The position is at the same school that I did my 6-week sub.

It was really hard to turn down the offer. Not knowing when we are moving is killing me; however, I know without a doubt we'll be out of Jackson by November. It wouldn't be fair to have accepted the job for a few months for them to have to find someone else.

It's especially hard to turn down a teaching job when my whole year of subbing was working towards an offer for next year. After subbing all different grades in Jackson, I discovered that I truly loved working with the elementary age. Since I don't have a license for elementary, the school would have given me a temporary license and helped me achieve a permanent one.

Oh well, God has different plans for us. I just got to keep telling myself that. All in His time, all in His plan.

A New Car

After much research, many test drives, and lots of whining (on my part), we purchased our first new car! It's a 2011 Nissan Versa Hatchback SL.

We arrived at the dealership in Memphis around 5:30, and drove off the lot a little after 8. We got the car in Memphis because Steve did online research and negotiations with different dealerships. We were hoping for a different color, but we couldn't turn down the price we got with the black one.

Originally, we were going to by a Hyundai Elantra; however, over Memorial Day weekend, we test drove the Versa and fell in love. It is very spacious, huge windows (meaning huge visibility!), and easy to get in and out of. It's mpg ranges from 28-40, which sealed the deal for us.

The Versa comes in 2 different designs. You can get just the Versa which is a 4 door car with a basic trunk or you can get the Versa hatchback. I had been begging Steve for a crossover (suv style car but on a car chassis) and we felt the Versa hatchback was the best of both worlds. You get the mpg as a car, but the space and appearance of the crossover.

The inside is charcoal (or black with grey features). The seats are a durable cloth while the doors are lined with leather. We went with the SL version for it's better gas mileage, and the leather and details on the car come with the SL. I still can't get over how spacious the inside is. Everyone knows that Steve is a very tall fellow. While test driving, I sat behind his seat and still had a foot of extra leg room (something that is very rare!). The top of the car is also higher than most which allows for extra head room as well as easier access into the car.

Needless to say, I am thrilled to finally have a car I can call my own (well, Steve and I are sharing it, so technically it's not mine, but a girl can dream) and I am equally thrilled that we got the car that we did!