Some changes

I was hoping to get out to you some neat pictures that I have on the camera but I can't find my little usb cord OR flash drive to download them on the computer so once I find that I will post them! Michalea drew a picture of her friends and has been missing home a lot lately. Abby has mentioned missing home too but Michaela got a little weepy about this today so if you think about please be praying for her. She asked me today if she could save up her allowance to buy a plane ticket to go back to WA to live with Aunt Peggy and be with her cousins/friends. We had a nice chat afterward, but it was really hard for her to see WHY God would not want to let her move back to WA.

First off and something that many will get a kick out of and I was hoping to post a pic of...... John was trimming his hair the other day to see if he could get the sides trimmed closer in between trips to the barber and well, he decided that it wasn't working the way he wanted it to SO HE WENT BALD! After he shaved his head he spent about a couple hours in the sun and got a little burned...... He is not sold that he really likes it enough to keep it but at work today he got quite a few compliments!

Something that still really amazes me about this move is my continuing education in 'east coast' thinking/mentality. Everyone suspects you of being someone they don't want to know, before you even get the opportunity to open your mouth........ Almost leary and slightly "conspiracy theory" thinking in nature. WEIRD!!!! I applied and paid into a subscription to be apart of a homeschool group here in town (all groups here have a subscription fee to be apart of) and showed up to their weekly playdate this week. I'm sure I felt much like the animals at the pet store behind the glass in their cages with everyone staring, inspecting them. Basically, I had to introduce myself and butt into people's conversations in order to meet anyone. After getting the cold shoulder quite a few times I would basically just sit by someone and TRY to begin a conversation. Most didn't really notice I was there and even some I went up and chatted with turned their backs and visited with people they did know. Some were limitedly friendly but not very helpful to a newcomer. It is quite a very sad thing for a "christian" gathering, but I suppose culture is realtive! I did find one mom there who had a hubby who worked for Lee county on the road, which was nice to find something in common with someone, however, she is pretty well established with her own friends in the group, so I do not forsee much hope in that relationship. The kids had much of the same reaction as I did, so by half way through the day, when someone did try to be-friend Michaela because her mom made her come and say Hi, Michaela was weary of rejection and pretty much stayed by my side. There is one other local homeschool group that I can pay to be apart of as well so I think I will widen my variety of homeschool groups so that the kids can find some more friends. When I told the pastor's wife of my experience she suggested we have our own so when I get confident enough in my knowledge of the community, homeschool laws, events and we get another homeschooling family in our church, I just might consider doing something rather informal through yahoo much like the ones back home! I know that if I stick it out and keep putting myself out there that God will eventually place someone in my path to be-friend. I met a homeschool lady at a yard sale today that was more helpful/friendly than anyone I met the other day at the playdate, so this tells me that there are people out there that remember what it was like to be a newcomer!

On a more encouraging note, the sale on the house was finalized and we got more money than anticipated! God totally provided enough for us to pay off a credit card debt so we are no longer in bondage to that, and enough to spare to buy John a TV & a gun (because we left the other huge TV back in TC; the gun I will explain). We even have a little left over to buy me a desk too since the one we brought got distroyed in the move so this was a huge blessing! God just seems to be providing and multiplying blessings for us so we continue to pray and be good stewards of His provision!
As for the gun........ He has a dept issued gun and has one that he bought a couple years ago for personal use but he never really fired it. If you have a private weapon for personal use and want to use it to wear concelaed you have to certify with it. When he took it to the range to get certified with it, the range master had not only never heard of the brand but when John fired it he realized that it is not safe because it jams and isn't very reliable. SO, he wasn't able to qualify with it. They prefer that John carry a conceiled weapon on his time off and he can carry the dept issue Glock but it is pretty heavy and hard to conceal. So John is on the lookout for a mini-glock or something similar.
John spent the last week at the outdoor facility, which was very hot. He ended up finding an inmate that had been beat pretty badly by some other inmates and who ended up having to go to the hospital to get his jaw fixed and treated for a concusion. Today he spent time at the core facility. The guys were very personable on that squad and more welcoming than his last assignment so this made the day go much better; they even pulled a practical joke on him to see if he had a sense of humor. Luckily today, despite having to get up very early, he had one! They gave him a glass of water that had a hole in it. It wasn't until they were all laughing that John realized he was all wet......... Despite how silly this is, it was a neat way of feeling accepted since he is used to the "love through ridicule' approach from his work and church friends!!! Kind of a neat thing that reminded him of home, was when his seargent informed John that he would be cooking the squad breakfast on Sunday....... Since he is the new guy nothing was expected of him to bring (and not biscuits and gravy were expected for his wife to make), but this was neat for John to see his leadership taking an interest in the comradery and morale of his squad!
Anyways, this is what is up in our neck of the woods. Still praying for a youth leader, worship leader and where God wants us to be doing at church. Hope all is well with you and yours back home! We hope and pray that if God is leading any of you, our way, that you see all the provisions God has made in our journey and trust that God will do the same for you as well!

My week of "I"

Sorry I have been silent lately. Last week I had a minor melt-down..... Lets just say it was a week of misguided focus. Misguided in the fact that I was allowing satan to play with my mind, get my focus off the Lord and instead focus more on ME......... If John's job here wasn't so great I may have tried to talk him into coming home, however, I knew in my heart of hearts that it was God's desire for us to be right where we are and He desires that we grow and flourish here. A week of remembering what we had left behind and will we ever have this kind of awesome church family again? I basicall had an "i" problem and I am sure we all have done this a time or two. God wanted me to share it though so you all could learn from my mistakes. Here is where my focus was a bit off kilter and where I began wallowing a bit.

I am lonely
I miss my house (and really don't want to sell it)
I miss my family/friends
I miss being around anyone who has something in common with me
I miss the kids & I having playdates to enjoy the company of a familiar face
I will never be able to handle homeschooling in Florida and organizing 3 kids school records
I do not even have the option to put them in ANY sort of school since I do not have 2 years worth of school records!
I hate being under a microscope
I'm not as plugged into the church as I would like to be
I miss FALL

Being that we tend to be our own worst critic I had failed even before I tried to accomplish anything last week all because of where my attitude was. In a desperate attempt to take care of one of my "woe is me" issues I met with a lady who has successfully homeschooled 6 of her kids here in Florida to see what she did to keep records. She showed me the expectations set before me in what a portfolio/record book looked like so this put that fear to rest. Chatting with a like-minded individual was a welcome time of fellowship as well!
The truth is that most of what I was dwelling on was true and in my own strength I WAS going to fail, however, due to God's gentle, patient and loving guidance he picked up my chin to look at His eyes and renewed my focus. Reminding me once again that I can do nothing without Christ who strengthens me!

On a lighter note, John started his FTO training on Sunday. His FTO officer was probably about 15 years younger than him but rather a humble guy. He was not gung ho or full of himself at all but very detail oriented in his training so this was nice! He was even a bit slightly intimidated at John's experience and told him "well I guess I will learn a lot from you this week eh?" John's first assignment was in the barricks. This is an outdoor quanza hut like facility that is planned for destruction once the new facility is completed. There is no AC in this facility and basically John's job is to stand outside it and keep the peace in the glaring hot sun. FUN! All he could think of was that something like this would never happen in WA state since it would be a PR nightmare! He was curious what happens to the officer at this post during a hurricane and, to his surprise, it was much the same. Since inmates are opportunists the job description is still the same. Stand outside and bear the elements. John at first thought the guy was joking so he began to chuckle at his response but he made sure John knew he wasn't joking.... He said "Yeah during the hurricane it is a rough ride and you definately get wet!" The good side to this is that he will not get stuck there but is just there for training since this position will no longer be available after the first of the year when they get occupancy in the new facility!

A very cool praise happened yesterday! We got the paperwork for the house signed so it is no longer ours! I cancelled all of the utilities today so no more bills that away either! YIPEE! God is so good to us and merciful. The paperwork showed better numbers than we were expecting so this means we will get to pay off some debt! God Bless all!

Its not easy being green!

I thought you all might get a kick out of seeing John's new uniform! Here he is all proud of his new duds with the exception of the small band above his name labeling him a trainee.

Look at the stud in his pose and cheesey grin!

He actually begins 'real work' on FTO status (on the job training) here on Sunday, so goodbye are the 8-4 hours of classwork and here we go with the 12 hour shifts again! John has been excited to get on the job because the last week of classes were very boring and basically geared toward the recruits who have never worked in law enforcement before. Today's class was pretty interesting though. They went over the internet access, programs offered and specialty positions.

The only residual effect we got from Ike was just some short bursts of rain storms lasting a total of maybe 10 minutes each and some mild wind. In Tri-cities it would have been considered a normal day with the exception of the rain. It is just kinda funny that it comes and goes so quickly! I have a feeling tonight we will be dumped on with rain as it passes by us. It has been raining for over an hour now, which is fairly uncommon for it to rain this much at one time.

Here is a picture to proove I am actually a Floridian! I guess the extra expense for this plate per year goes to ministries that support moms who are either giving up their babies for adoption or who chose to have their babies and offer support to them much like the TCPC. A worthy cause!

It seems like the loan process on the house is proceeding like planned. We got paperwork from the title and escrow company to sign, so now we just wait for the final financing details to come through on their loan and I guess we sign..... Until we sign there is still no word on a closing date yet.

New addition

I just wanted to show you the newest addition to the family....... As many of you know, we had to sell the little car before we left so this meant replacing it once we got here....... John wrestled with this one for a while because he didn't want a 'red car' but I guess after much prayer God wanted him to have a New York Giants RED car. Here she is! I guess he is going to make it more manly by getting a Corrections bureau liscense plate. I guess the extra funds collected for these plates go to widows of corrections officers who were killed in the line. Since we can't get a NY Giants plate in FLorida and they do not require front plates here in FL, he is going to try to get a NY Giants decorative plate for the front.

She is a 99 Ford Escort with less than 100,000 miles so hopefully she will last him quite a while. No motorcycles or Jeeps on the horizon just yet but if John has his way, maybe God will love him enough to allow him to purchase one in the more distant future.

Here are some pics of the unwelcomed additions to our family. This was a huge bug on my screen. He wasn't scared of me at all which is rather weird.

We are actually quite fond of these little guys. They are very quick but sometimes they let me hold them...... The smaller ones that don't know any better are sometimes more friendly!

Here is an amazing sunset taken from my front yard.

WE took a drive out to a place called Pine Island to see what was out there..... It sounded like a resort type of place since it was an island but all there was out there were a lot of Palm tree farms. We did get to smell some Ocean air at this pier which was kinda neat. The water was really nasty/brown due to the flooding that was occuring in some areas.

We have been very blessed so far to be safe from all the hurricane paths. Today they did tell John to be on alert for next week though and get his bags ready. I guess hurricane Ike is on his way into the coast and they know it is going to hit Florida but not sure which coast line. It is still pretty far off and they are not expecting him to make landfall till Wednesday next week, however, if it comes anywhere near us they will be calling John into work. He will stay at the jail till after the storm passes. This way they do not have to worry about people making it in to work AND if the power goes out and people start doing stupid things, he will be sent out on the street to do crowd or traffic control. They get paid all the time they are there which means lots of OT but I am not too sure how I feel about being left to myself during a hurricane? Hmmmm!

I wish I could have gotten pictures of him getting sworn in but none of the families were invited to attend. I guess it used to be a big deal where you bring in the family and such but due to the fact that they have been hiring so many people, it is no longer an individual thing........ he was sworn in with about 25 other officers at 7:30 in the morning. He came home that day with all new equipment, boots, class A uniform, ect. He was kinda stoked about it all!

This is all for now. I will keep you updated on the hurricane stuff as it gets closer!
HUGS ALL!

More great news!

This will be short sweet and to the point since I know I am kind of a blog hog and write quite often! However, I miss you all and am so excited to share all the neat things God keeps doing! We found out today that John passed his test for certification so he will get sworn in within the next week! I will take pictures since it is a pretty big deal here! WAY COOL & AWESOME BLESSINGS here in Florida which makes the heat & humidity bearable! God has come through beyond our wildest expectations!
On a lighter note....... John got sprayed with Pepper spray in the morning and then later that day had to qualify shooting! I thought this was rather humorous since they wanted to blind him before seeing if he could shoot straight but I guess after a good shower, he had no trouble qualifying! This is in itself another awesome praise that we are so THANKFUL for! Anyone from Tri-cities want to come and join us yet?
Love to all you back home that are enjoying the beautiful signs of fall and 70 degree temps!

EXCITING NEWS!!!

THE HOUSE IS SOLD! YIPEE! We signed papers and faxed them in today!
I have shared with some of you that we were in negotiations on Saturday regarding the house in Wa state. Some folks had come to see it quite a few times and were very interested in it. They were approved for a conventional loan & I guess they went this route so that the financing would go through as soon as possible. After lots of prayer to make sure our hearts were in the right place (it is always hard to sacrifice your price on a home you worked so hard to make pretty!), several offer/counter-offers we came to an agreement on a price that God had wanted us to sell it for! They are hoping for their loan to be fully funded and be in the house in 2 weeks so we are praying that all this happens for them! Only one more house payment and another month paying bills on the house and then we will be without all those extra expenses! God is so good and has been providing all the funds necessary to make those payments thus far so the house selling this soon was just an amazing blessing that we will be able to not be totally tapped out for funds! He is a merciful God isn't he!

Today, John got to experience being tazed. Everyone had to experience it but he was volunteered for a "special example" The instructor clipped one prong to his shoulder and the other to his boot. I guess it was quite effective and definitely something John will never forget as the electro-shock reverberated throughout his body! There wasn't an explanation given to him WHY they did this in particular since you can't really manage to do this to an assailant but maybe they just were having a bit of 'fun' at someones expense?

Tomorrow he will be qualifying to shoot. Praise God that his finger is doing much better so that shooting will not be as painful as it would have been if he was still swollen and sore! We will hopefully find out tomorrow what John's score was on the test! Until then...... Thank you for all your prayers!

Confession time..... & Thank you!

I know this is terribly late and way overdue but I just wanted to throw out a BIG THANK YOU out to all of you who came to our going away gathering and put together care packages & activities for the kids.
I must confess, however, due to a miscommunication about what stays with us in the vehicle and what gets shoved back in the nether-regions of the truck and trailor all of those precious bordum busters got placed in the truck and we were unable to get to them during our journey! There were many times I was bummed about that but now I am kinda glad that it happened this way.
As time ticks away and the kids begin to miss their home, family & friends from the Tri-cities, those sweet loving genstures have become a neat reminder that they are loved and that someone cares enough about them to wish them well!

Since school started quite a bit earlier here than it did in the Tri-cities we have already begun our studies. Unfortunately there is a bit of work that we did not finish from last year so we are trying to get caught up on this right now. When we found out we were moving, while homeschooling did not completely stop it slowed down quite a bit. Now that there are not tons of folks to do playdates with I guess this will help me to buckle down and get stuff done more often! Homeschooling laws here are not more strict as far as WHO is capeable of homeschooling but it is more intense as far as record keeping. This is one thing I do not enjoy but I have to keep a portfolio of all their school work and report into a Homeschool liason from the district a couple times of year. No pressure! UGH! There is a lady in our church who has 6 kids and has homeschooled them all in the state of Florida so I really need to get together with her and pick her brain. There is an option of doing umbrella schools or charter schools as well so I need to my homework and pray about what option is going to work out for our family! Sounds a bit too much like California to me which makes me a bit nervous but as with everything else in our lives...... God will cover us where we are lacking!