More Than Just Dirt

There is finally more green than brown in our yard! The grass seed has started to pop up and the trees have been planted. Jared was home for a few days this weekend, so we took some time to rearrange the landscaped plants to make them feel like ours. I've also had the last two days off and have made some major progress on the backyard. I am wanting a lush flowerful garden, but have come to realize that to make a bare yard into one overnight would cost a fortune. In an attempt to save some money for house payments =), I have been bargain hunting for plants. It's not such an easy thing to do. Lowe's sells some plants for $1-2 when they look like they are on their last leg and I found some very health plants there, the only problem with them was that all the flowers were old... I cut them off and the plants look great! I have also been able to find quite a few plants that will attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Here are some photos of a couple plants:

One of the neighbors trees hangs over the fence into our yard and is conveniently perfect for the birdfeeder. I am yet to see any birds use it (but I did only put it up today).

Signing

Jared came home early from the High School trip to Idaho so that we could SIGN ON THE HOUSE!!! It has definitely been a long time coming with quite a few bumps along the way. In just the first month, we have managed to warrent the gas getting shut off for four days, had the "appliance hospital" come by three times (and will come once more on Thursday, after which we sincerely hope that this time our dryer will finally work!), and ordered not one, but two appraisals on the house. Thankfully, God has been faithful through it all... we are alive and well, and come Wednesday the house should be ours! Amazingly enough we are both thrilled that we are about to be several hundred thousand dollars in debt... yikes!

At work I am apparently going to move into the more acute area this week. I am a little nervous as I wasn't expecting to move till next week at the earliest, but I am feeling very comfortable with the area I am in, soI guess that means it is time to move!

Jared is off on another week of fun, this time with the Middle School group on the Oregon Coast. He gets back on Firday and then should stay back for at least a couple weeks!

Hope everyone is doing well. We miss you all! You can be praying for the closing on Wednesday and for my work with the more critically ill patients. Thanks!

Our First House Guest!

Jonathan Dukes moved down from Seattle a few weeks after we did. He will be living with us for his first couple of months here in Vancouver. We are super excited to have him in town and even more thrilled that he is in our house!

The First Few Weeks

Well, we have made the move to Vancouver! We are mostly settled into our new home, which is amazing. It is such a blessing to be living in this beautiful house. Hopefully we will be hosting some missionaries and other people needing short term lodging very soon.

The House... yard coming any day now.

Jared has been busy participating in summer events at New Heights Church since day one. White water rafting, camping, rock climbing... he has quite a nice tan going. This week and next he is working with Middle school kids at a day camp, then it is off to Idaho for a week long camp for high schoolers.

While Jared is off on all these adventures I needed some company, so before he left we payed a visit to the local Humane Society. Planning on only bringing home one kitten, we stuck to that... only one kitten... but we did bring home an adult cat as well. Ooops! Actually it has been great. Samba (the one year old) has been able to show Awas (the kitten) a thing or two. It is fun to watch them play and keep each other company when we don't have time to show them as much attention as we would like.

I started work almost two weeks ago at Southwest Washington Medical Center. Just this last week I finally had my first day on the unit where I will be working, the Emergency Department! I am starting out in the lower acuity area, so I have seen a lot of people with migraines and abdominal pain, but nothing too gory. My hours are all over the place right now as I fit my schedule to a couple of different preceptors. When I finally am off orientation and on my own (probably about three months from now), I will be working 7pm to 7:30am. yikes! Thankfully that will be after the worst of the summer heat is through.

We miss everyone up in Seattle and hope that you will all stop in for a few days whenever you can. Our house is always open!

The Move South

With huge thanks to the guys that helped us load and unload the truck, we were able to move all of our belongings into our new home. Jonathan was refered to as "pilot maf" by the end of the day due to his extraordinary packing skills. I don't think it was possible to fit things into that truck anymore tightly. Robb, Joel, and Anthony decided to make the drive from Seattle to Vancouver with us to help us at both ends and to check out the house. After everything was unloaded into the garage, we moved the essentials into the living room: the couches, the table, and Settlers of Catan.

The next day we all went to church, then all the guys took off, including Jared, who had one week left of teaching back in Seattle. Thankfully I was only alone in the house for one day. Monday Jannelle came into town and helped me paint the bedroom. She stayed for a few days, then I headed back to Seattle on Wednesday to help Jared finish the deep clean of the apartment and make the final move down South.