We're So Close. Almost There!

Today we made the deposit for the new place. Tomorrow after work we sign the contract, pay the rent, and get the keys. So we can start moving in a few things tomorrow evening. We're still not done packing yet. Art says he can get it all done. And he'll have to. I'm not even trying not to freak out right now. I feel like the panic helps me move.

So I'll be internet-less for a while. Probably as soon as I hit "publish" on this post. Thanks for your prayers about everything. I know God is good, and that He's taking care of us, I just don't like cutting things this close!

Unnnnggh

So. Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhot.........................and hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhumid.......................

Art and I are packing. We got a lot done in 2 hours. But we still have so much stuff. And not enough boxes. And only three days left. And it's so hot.

Dinner is almost ready. After that, I'm gonna go sit in the fridge.

On Storms, Moving, and My Grandma

Today is my grandma's 90th birthday. I really can't believe she's 90. And she can still talk and see and hear (though not very well) and walk (with a walker) and make her own meals, and dress herself, and play scrabble. In other words, she has aged very well. I'm sorry that I'm not able to be there for her birthday party.

Each person at the party is supposed to give a little speech about how much they love her, or share a memory or something. My mom emailed me last night to ask if Art or I had anything to contribute, but alas, the power went out (which is a story for another paragraph), so I didn't see the email until after church today, so I didn't get an opportunity to come up with anything.

My grandma is so cute. She has written us a couple of times, and her letters are like my blogs: chronicling the every-day stuff. Except her letters are even more....mundane? That sounds like a bad thing. I can't think of a better word than "mundane" right now. You guys can suggest a better synonym.

Anyway, her letters will say stuff like, "I called your mom yesterday to ask about the vitamins, but she wasn't home, because she went to the chiropractor, so I had to try again the next day." Or, "I saw a robin today for the first time this spring, so I think I will go to the store with Auntie Lorna and buy some flowers and plant them." Except, she'll say these things in the same paragraph, with no break. It always takes me a second to realize that she's changing the subject. It's cute.

So: the power went out last night. And everybody is talking about it. Sometimes, I forget that I live on the west coast. Or rather, I forget that the west coast is different from the prairies. Apparently it's really uncommon for them to have upper 80's-90's temps, high humidity, and thunderstorms. I mean, I knew they had LESS than the prairies, but they're acting like it only happens once a decade!

We had a thunderstorm last night, and I loved it. It wasn't even that violent. Compared to what I'm used to. It was pretty good though, considering the power was out for two hours. And since we couldn't do anything (because it was late and dark) we went to sleep. At 8:30pm!!! What are we, old?? Yeah.

Of course, earlier in the day, when the power was still on, and it was still light outside, I decided it was a good time to organize and calculate 5 months of receipts. Yeah. I sure know how to party on a Saturday.

Today is a much more beautiful day. We all went to the beach, and I finally went swimming! And now I have sand/salt in my hair. It feels great. Not. I didn't roll around in the sand or anything! I was just in the ocean! But the ocean has sand. And I forgot. Because I haven't been in the ocean since 8th grade, when we went to Mexico........man, I want to go back so bad. That was a great vacation...

No word on the new place yet. Things seem to be going pretty quickly. That place has been empty for a while, so I think they're just as eager to move us in as we are. Still praying that they give us the okay BEFORE Thursday. Preferably no later than Wednesday morning. Which reminds me, I should get packing. I packed, like, two things on Thursday. Puzzles and games, and........something else? No wait.........I don't think I actually packed anything else.

I didn't realize that packing involves a lot of reorganizing. A LOT. And I like reorganizing. Except when I'm on a time crunch, and I just want to pack stuff away. But I want the same type of stuff to all go in the same boxes. That makes sense, right? But it's just not that easy. Also, we don't have any boxes right now. Mari and I picked up a lot, but they're all over at her place. I'll bring some home tonight.

The other thing that makes it a bit more difficult is that basically everything in this house is Art's. So I can't just do whatever I want with it. Believe me, I've tried. He doesn't like it when I do that. *sheepish grin*

Well, I'm gonna go wash the sand/salt out of my hair now. And then see if I can reorganize anything else, to make future packing a little easier. Fun.

Me-"I'm Trying to Come Up With a Title For This Post." Art-"Poop."

I feel like I have lots to share and talk about, but now that I'm typing these words, I can't think of what I was dying to tell you all.

7-11 has pina colada slurpees. Which basically means that they have pina coladas that are non-alcoholic. And they come from a machine. Have I mentioned I love pina coladas? You know that song? Where the chorus says something about pina coladas? That song is about me.

Actually, I have no idea how accurate or inaccurate that song is, because I don't know any other words except the first few in the chorus. Maybe I should look it up.....

I can't for the life of me figure out how to keep bananas from ripening too quickly. We bought a bunch that were slightly green like two days ago, and they went straight to brown. Completely skipped yellow altogether. Basically. Almost.

Did I tell you that I've been watching Alias lately? Do any of you remember that show? It wasn't on THAT long ago. Okay, so I think I was in high school, which is kind of a while ago. Anyway, when it first started, I was addicted, but I didn't get to watch nearly every episode, because I have an amazing mother and sister whom I love dearly, and they love their reality shows dearly, and were always taping their shows so they wouldn't miss anything. (Yes, video tapes.) And I'm not going to point any fingers, but SOMEONE forgot sometimes to tape my show. The ONE show I wanted to watch.

Because I hate reality tv. And I just lost all my readers, except my lovely mother, who loves me, and will read this blog even if I diss her reality shows. I really hate reality shows. Because they're not real. Yeah, they're about real people, and they don't really have a script or a plot, but it's still not real. They try to set up hilarious/awkward/crazy scenarios so that the show will be interesting.

You know what a REAL reality show would look like? A video camera in my house, recording me as I do laundry, and wash the dishes, and sit in front of the laptop for hours on end, while my husband naps on the couch beside me. And NO ONE would watch it, because it's not interesting, because it's too real. They have to invent situations for "reality" shows so that people will actually watch them. Which means they're not real.

So I watch Alias online instead. But each episode is 45 minutes long, and it takes a while to load, so I watch maybe two episodes a week. Which I guess isn't a bad thing, because it means I kind of have a life. But I really wish I could just watch it all the time. I'm a little bit addicted.

I don't really feel like I have a life anymore. My evenings are just so darn short! Well, they're short if we run errands, or do ANYTHING in the city before coming home after work. Which we basically do everyday.

And lately, we've been spending time looking at houses to rent. A lot of houses. A lot of phone calls, and emails, and no responses, and me not sleeping last night, and crying and praying because we only have 9 days left before we have to be completely out of this place, and we haven't started packing yet.......

I know I said I wouldn't panic. So I'm a liar. I panicked. I'm still panicking. And I wasn't going to say anything, because I didn't want to jinx it, even though I don't believe in that, but here it goes: we might have a place. We got a key to look at it today, and I like it, and we got applications to fill out. And Art's going to hand in the applications tomorrow.

So: new prayer request. PRAY that the application process doesn't take a week. PRAY that we get it, so we can move in. Like, maybe in a few days? Because we only have a few days?

Finally, Art and I had a really fun anniversary, it was a wonderful day, and I'll have to tell you about it another time, because I'm starving! Dinner time!

Very Quick

Our first anniversary is tomorrow. We're still not sure how we're celebrating. We talked about going out for dinner tonight. Art also wants to go hiking today. And tomorrow we're going to Whistle Lake (it's about 1.5 hours away. Great for cliff jumping. If you like cliff jumping. I did it once, and I hurt my butt, so I might just swim).

Anyway, it's a beautiful weekend, so we should definitely spend our time outside. With lots of sunscreen, of course.

I probably won't blog tomorrow, so I'll say it now: Happy First Anniversary Art! I love you!

Romantic Conversations of a Young Couple In Love

**Thursday night, Art was pretty tired**
Me: "Art, I love you, but you look like death."


**Yesterday, in the car**
Art: "Jenene, I'm glad you don't tick me off. As much. Anymore."


**This morning**
Art: "Man, I am so full of goat meat."
Me: "That's interesting. You know we're eating pancakes, right?"
Art: "Duh. What do you think the main ingredient of pancakes is?"


Yeah. Life is pretty exciting over here in Newlywedland. :)

Guess I Won't Be Eating For a While

*Warning: this post jumps around a lot.*

I just dumped out some old milk. Like, weeks old. It was..........creamy. And smelled pretty amazing too, and by "amazing" I mean gross-and-a-half!

And speaking of not eating, this is my Facebook status today: "Today I learned that oranges rot from the inside. Also, I didn't eat lunch. (Do the math.)"

Yeah. All I had were oranges for my lunch. And one of them was rotten. And normally I would be eating like a normal person, but we've been severely short on groceries this week. So I bought some today. Here's hoping there won't be another surprise bill being withdrawn from our checking account like there was today! Trying not to worry about seeing negative numbers...

And thanks for all the "burn concern." It's doing a lot better. Most of it looks like a tan now, though my right shoulder is still pretty red, and I can't sleep on that side. I'm no longer in pain. But now I'm itchy, cause I'm starting to peel. Fun stuff. Just my back though. Not my face or anything. So I don't have to be embarrassed in public. I just get to be embarrassed at home, where I have my charming husband to make fun of me!

I told someone young and single this weekend that the whole purpose of being married is to keep you humble, because your husband WILL tease you 24/7. It's all in good fun though. He never goes too far, so I'm never hurt by it.

We're still house hunting. And we could really use your prayers (even if they're just little ones) because our landlady was kind of pressuring us to give her a final answer, and she told us that if we didn't say for sure by Wed. morning, she would lock us into our lease until the end of August. So we told her yes, we're moving.

And we have no flippin' clue where we're moving to. We have three weeks to find something and get our stuff out of here. And please, don't anyone ask me what will happen if we don't find a place, because that is not an option, and if I dwell on it too much, I might explode.

Okay, I'm back from my break. (You didn't even know I was gone, did you? I totally left for an hour. And you were completely oblivious.) So we interrupt whatever I was babbling on about to tell you this: I just got my greencard in the mail today! Except it's a white card. Because not all greencards are actually green. It's just a term. And it expires in two years. So I'm a temporary permanent resident. I'm slightly confused.

What happens in two years? I become an even more permanent resident? How can you have degrees of "permanence"? I'm either permanent or I'm not. Whatever. Whatever with the government. I have the stamp in my passport and the card in my hands. Except it's not actually in my hands. It's on the coffee table in front of me.

Ooh, and I have some other cool news too: I'm off of double-checks at work now! As in, my training is done. Double-checks are basically what the sound like: anytime I entered a form into the database, I hand it off to my trainers so they can double-check my work to make sure I did it correctly. If I make a mistake, they hand it back to me, I correct it, and then I give it back to them so they can make sure I corrected it....correctly.

So anyway, I reached 95% accuracy a couple of days ago, so I'm now entering stuff all on my own! It's kind of exciting, and a little bit scary. I've been doing a lot of praying all of a sudden. Praying that I don't make any mistakes, and praying that if I do make a mistake, someone will catch it early on, and it won't become a problem later.

I think I'm going to have to do an entire post about what my job is. I mean, it's not complicated; it just takes a while to explain. Unless you know what a Purchase Order is. Then you won't need to read an essay about my work.

Anyway, I'm going now. I'm gonna finish my late dinner, and then we'll see. I've not been doing any cleaning at all, after last week's cleaning marathon, and I'm determined to hold off until tomorrow. (Geez, how many people have to hold themselves back from cleaning?)

So, if I don't check in again tomorrow (which I probably won't), have a great weekend!

America. Sunburn. Fireworks. Sunburn. Friends. Sunburn.

Did everyone have a great 4th of July weekend?

Did anyone else eat bbq'd ribs and watermelon and potato salad?

Did anyone else spend the entire day at a friend's grandparents' house?

Did anyone else watch a parade beside a friend with a toddler and a baby, and thus got a bit of candy too?

Did anyone else get to know some really cool people from Australia?

Did anyone else get to watch the fireworks from atop a windmill?

Did anyone else cling to their husband's sweater in pure delight during said awesome fireworks?

Did anyone else get the mother of all sunburns on their back and shoulders, and can now only sleep on their face and not wear a bra?

........Anyone? Just me?

Yeah, I had a great weekend, except for the sunburn part. You guys. I have basically been turned into a piece of human bacon. I don't think I've ever seen that shade of red on anyone's skin before. I'm just waiting for it to all fall off (okay, not really). And yes, we picked up some aloe vera gel. And it feels good when I put it on. But after a few seconds, I got back to that awful sensation like I have been whipped or something. I really with I could take a picture of it, because it is pretty shocking, and a little funny, but mostly excruciating.

I actually took painkillers at work this morning so I could get some work done.

But enough about that. We basically spent the whole weekend with Art's friend Cameron (who is back from China) and his whole family. He has a great family. They have a big beautiful house on a large property, so we got to blow up some fireworks there before watching the ones in town.

I feel bad that we didn't spend any time with Art's family, although his dad had to work, and Joe didn't go down to Oak Harbor at all, so.....yeah. Mom probably hung out with all her Filipino ladies, and Mari was only there for one day.

And we really did meet an Australian family with a couple of kids about our age. We basically have a great excuse to go Australia now. And after spending two solid days with them, I dreamed in Australian accent last night. It was so cool.

Hm, am I missing anything? Oh, on Sunday, after church, Cameron and two of his uncles took me and Art and the Australians out to do some shooting. As in, guns. The Australians had never even held a gun before, and since this was their first time to the US, and especially being Independence Day Weekend, well, we had to do it right. The guys shoulders are pretty sore though. Those shotguns pack a punch.

Yeah, it was a very American weekend.

And now I have to go take a shower. Which I am dreading. I'm really not sure how I am going to wash my hair without getting my back wet. And lifting my arms is kind of difficult.

Thankfully, I have a wonderful hubby who is doing the dishes for me. Because I'll be recovering from this one for a while.

God Bless the USA

I am so proud and blessed and thankful to be in America. I thank God for those men who followed the example of Christ, and were willing to lay down their lives for the sake of freedom. Not just their freedom, but the freedom of future generations. And now I get to be a part of that history.

Have a safe and wonderful Independence Day everyone. And God bless America.

Wanna See a Bunch of Random Pictures?

Here they are, from late May and early-to-mid June.




A challenge from the game, Would You Rather: Joe had to wear a fake mustache and glasses made from makeup. My eyeliners were quite dull after that.


My birthday cake.







I blew out the candles in the dark, and when we turned on the lights, I realized I had blown the whip cream off the top and all over the floor.







Art. Just being his usual self.


One really warm day, probably at the end of May.


Sozan, lying on soft, plushy rocks. I asked her to come over where the sand was, but she wanted to be very much in the sun.


Trying to take a picture of myself. It was really bright out. If you couldn't tell.


My favorite mountain. I love seeing it on a clear day.


Sozan's birthday, at the beginning of June. Mari and I made this cake. I know it looks burnt around the edges, but it's not. And it was very delicious. Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. Try it.


I love this picture. I love the effect. How it looks like Mari's arm is on fire.




That's Sozan's "Oh geez" look. Wayne probably farted or something.


Wayne decorated our living room for the party. He's got some talent, that one.


My roses! Did I tell you guys? I can't remember. But one day I looked at the backyard and realized that the rosebush was blooming, and it made me happy. It's still full of blooms, but they are nearing their end.



So yeah. That's was the beginning of summer. And you'll just have to imagine the rest. Just keep thinking "beach," and you'll basically get the gist of it.

The Great Spider Migration of 2009

Also known as the day that Art and Jenene finally cleaned the carport.

I'm so glad it's all done. The whole house looks amazing, the new renter loved and wants to move in ASAP, so now we're praying that we find a place so we can let our landlady know, and move out!

But cleaning the carport. Of all the projects we had to do, this one was by far the worst. For those of you who don't know the set-up of our house, we have a carport at one end, but we don't park our car in it. The floor of it is raised ever-so-slightly, and it has carpet. So it's actually almost a sun porch.

It's still totally open the outside elements, so it gets a lot of grass and leaves and dirt in it. And bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. Especially since we just use it to store things, and then they stay in one place for a long time, and then the bugs set up home.......yeah. I pretty much had the heebie jeebie creepy crawlies all evening yesterday.

Art cleaned out a lot of stuff, for which I am very grateful. But then I had to get rid of all the cobwebs (so I ticked off a lot of spiders) and had to move other stuff that was staying in the carport (so I saw a lot of other tiny crawling things) and then I swept all the grass and dirt and leaves. Yes, with a broom. Or more like a broom head. Because my broom doesn't have a handle. I sweep on my hands and knees.

Anyway, I discovered a rather large moth among those leaves, so that freaked me out. I also found a WASP'S NEST. You know you haven't cleaned in a while when.......... For the first time in my life, I was afraid of the wasps, because they wouldn't leave me alone, and I was trying to clean but not disturb them. They eventually left, and I got rid of the nest. It wasn't a big one, but still. Wasps.

And the monster. I found out that monsters don't live under beds or in closets. They live in carports. I cleaned, I cleared, I swept, I even vacuumed, and whole carport looks amazing except for one small corner. Because I was not going anywhere near that eight-legged freak. You guys. It was huge. Very freakishly huge. And I did not have the courage to tell it who's boss. It can stay there forever for all I care. Live and let live. As long as it stays outside, and in a dark corner far away from me.

Anyway, enough about that. I wish my camera worked so I could take a picture of the perfection that was our house. Because I'm sure it will never look like that again. I mean, I like cleaning, but I won't do ALL that if I don't have to.

Geez, is there ANYTHING else I can talk about? Do I have any sort of a life anymore? I got a letter in the mail from the US government, welcoming me to the US (even though I've already been here for almost a year). It also said that I should get my actual greencard in about three weeks. I'm praying it comes even sooner than that, because that's cutting it really close if we're moving.

We're looking at houses tomorrow. And praying very hard that we find one soon. So basically I'm doing a lot of praying these days. And reading the Bible more. Which is definitely not a bad thing. I decided to start reading about the kings, so I making my way through 1st Samuel. It's pretty good so far. I remember when I used to think the Bible was boring. Then I grew up.

Are you still reading? Isn't this boring? I'm bored just typing it. I think I'm also tired. Thankfully, I have a three-day weekend, so I get to sleep in tomorrow! I like sleep. I like days off. Even if I don't get paid for them. And I got paid early this week! Yay! Then we paid rent. So now we technically have $5. I thought we were supposed to have more money now that I'm working.........I guess it's time to make a budget!

Okay, I'm ending this thing. I'm just going on and on and on. Stopping.....NOW.

P.S. Happy Belated Canada Day. We heard fireworks very close by, but we didn't watch them because we went to bed pretty early. Very pumped for July 4th. In a navy town. Okay, I'm going now for real.