It's nice sometimes to just sit back and relax. Right now I'm sitting out on the back patio, the air is very cool, and there's a wonderful breeze blowing. The weather has been so blah here lately - it's been raining every day. It's been the kind of rain that you just hate to walk through; no matter which direction you walk in, it always hits you in the face, it makes your sleeves get wet enough that your shirt is just damp, and it looks so depressing. But now, the rain has let up and it's just great to sit and relax. The skies are clear, and everything just seems calm (except that little kid that I keep hearing let out a squeal every once in a while).

Mondays are so busy; I have to be at school at 8:00 for my first class, and between class and work there just isn't a big enough chunk of time to justify going home. I have Oratorio Chorus at 7:30 pm, so I'm gone from 7:00 am to about 9:30 pm. It's a great way to start off the week, just get the big day down first and then the rest of the week seems so much better. Wednesday is my early day. My last class is from 1:00-2:00, so I can go home as soon as I like after that, and it feels great to just take the rest of the day off.

I had my first guitar lesson yesterday. My teacher is a very interesting person. Actually, all of my teachers are interesting, and all of them are very funny, too. But my guitar instructor is especially neat. It's just different because he is going to be spending one-on-one time honing my skills, most likely for the next four years. I can't wait to have more lessons, though. I just love music lessons, because they force you to improve so rapidly, and it's something that you just couldn't do by yourself. It's great to have someone who knows more than you (and in this case, much, much more than you) watching over you to teach you a discipline like that.

This weekend we are coming home, but possibly for only one night. Stephanie works until 3:00 on Saturday, and she may have to work on Monday (but pray that she doesn't, so we can spend more time at home!). So we will be spending Sunday there, but that may be all. That's all I have for now.

Jesse

Thoughts from Stephanie...

It's hard to believe that we have already been here two weeks! I have adjusted incredibly well...something I can only attribute to prayer, so thank you all SO much for all of your prayers! I can't doubt this is where we are supposed to be! I thought for sure that I would break down a few times, and I even warned Jesse that I probably would, but the only time I have cried was when I found the letter my mom left me after they helped us move! It's so amazing, I love it here! I have gotten the hang of the public transportation (at least what I need to get to work), and there have been a few times at night when I just look at the city all lit up and just think "wow, this is so cool!" I like my job so far, and most of the girls that I work with. My boss (Liza) is great, really upbeat and fun, and the girls have been so helpful! I have been SO busy and I have met so many great people, and a lot of people that I think will become my regulars! One of the first questions I always ask them is how long they have lived here, it always opens up the door to conversation, and it is so interesting, some people have been here their whole lives, and then I met someone the other day who, believe it or not, has actually lived here less time than us! I have been SO busy there that one day seems to run into the next, and I just can't wait to get home at night and just relax! I usually take the bus all the way to and from work, and last night, I got off work after the last bus had run, so I had to take the el (the elevated train) all the way home...it took forever because I had to ride all the way around the loop, but the view of the city from the brown line is just amazing, it goes over the Chicago river and I just sat there looking out the window, and wishing I had my camera!

Now I am just praying for some friends here! I have been absolutely loving all the time that Jesse and I are able to spend together... we weren't able to do that much before because we were involved in so much stuff! However, there are times when guys need to be with other guys and girls need to be with other girls! As Anne of Green Gables would say, I am praying for a 'bosom friend' here...someone that I can really connect with. It would be great if we could befriend a Christian couple our age...next Thursday, the Student Wives Fellowship at Moody is having an ice cream social for all the married students and their spouses, so I am really looking forward to that!

So I was really impressed with everything that Jesse did yesterday on his day off...of course, it's not hard work to do the laundry, but it is defintely time consuming! And, he made a WONDERFUL dinner last night...and he even waited until I got home at 9:00 to eat with me, and had to heat everything back up! Before when I was working part time, I felt bad asking him to help around the house because I had extra time on my hands. But now that we are both busy full time, I am definitely appreciative of the help, especially considering that I didn't even ask him to do anything, he just said yesterday morning that he was going to do the laundry, and dinner was just made when I got home last night! What an awesome blessing of a husband I have! :)
Well, I think that's all for now, and thank you all so much again for your prayers! God bless...

Saturday

I just finished up at the laundromat, which is a first for me. Contrary to popular belief, I have washed my own clothes before; yes, it's true. However, I have never washed my own clothes at the laundromat before. A few comments about that, then we'll proceed to the good stuff.

It's a nice place; quiet, aside from the gentle lull of the washing machines. I read some of a book I have to read for a book report in Intro to Disciplemaking. The name of it is Know Why You Believe, and I highly recommend it. I'm only three chapters in, and it's great. It makes you think, though. How many people that you know who profess to be a Christian could really tell you why they even believe that there is any god, let alone our God. And what about Him? What is He like, and how do we know? I just love those thoughts, sorry.

But the dryers at the laundromat are kind of funny, or maybe I just don't have them down yet. You put in the number of quarters that you think they will take, judging by the time that it allows for those quarters, and once they're done you check your clothes. Still wet. A few more quarters later, the clothes are pretty dry, but not completely. So you decide that they're dry enough to fold and go on your way. It's just funny. It makes me wish I had a washer and dryer of my own again.

So I'm adjusting to school, but the so-called "syllabus shock" is intense. All of the reading is incredible! I'm trying to stay on top of things, but it seems like that odds are stacked against me! I have to read and do a report on the primeval to wilderness periods (a.k.a. the Pentateuch) for OT Survey by 9/12, which is plenty of time, but I also have to read that other book and report on it by 9/13, not to mention the reading for every class each week just to keep up on things, four to five hours of guitar practice, one guitar lesson, and three cardio workouts and two weight training workouts each week for "Lifetime Fitness," which is only a six week course (Whew!). It's just overwhelming at first. But I really do love the reading that I'm doing. My favorite class so far I think is my theology class. It's just so intriguing.

Oh yeah, so I'll tell you what all my classes are. I have The Church and Its Doctrine (theology), Music Theory, Intro to Disciplemaking, Intro to Ministry(which is a one credit hour class to supplement my PCM), Lifetime Fitness, Old Testament Survey, Oratorio Chorus, guitar lesson, and PCM.

A little more about my Practical Christian Ministry assignment - I am assigned to the YMCA in our neighborhood (how bout that?). I will go with three other students once a week for two hours and help with an after school program for 6-17 year olds. It's crazy, it's almost exactly the same thing as the Power House. I'm really excited about it, but I've never ministered to inner-city kids before, so I think I'm in for a treat. Pretty cool, though.
Also, a little more about my guitar lesson ... so I'm taking one half hour per week of lessons from a guy named Norm Ruiz. Supposedly he was invited to study under Andres Segovia. If you've never heard of Segovia, he is basically considered the father of classical guitar. He is no doubt considered the greatest classical guitarist.

I think that's about enough. I've been here way too long. It's off to the school for my forced workout routine (but I probably wouldn't do anything if I wasn't forced to), and after that I'll go home and cook dinner so Stephanie has something to eat when she gets home. I'm still getting used to this whole routine. However, I wouldn't want to be doing this any later in life. Now's as good of a time as any.

Church yesterday...

Well, the church that we went to yesterday was interesting...once we found it! We went to where we thought they met, only to find a sign to go somewhere else...of course, somewhere only a few blocks away from our house! And we got there to find a sign to go somewhere else...and we ended up at the church's annual baptism service at the park! It was really neat, four people were baptized, and baptisms always bring tears to my eyes, and I knew not a single soul there (besides Jesse)! The worship team even led worship knee-deep in the water, so that was cool! We aren't sure about it yet, though, but I think we'll try it out again next week at a 'normal' service to get a better idea.

Jesse started classes today, and it seems like everything went well. He is actually at class right now, he has a Monday evening class. He was at home probably not even an hour, long enough to eat supper and that's about it! He said he was in a few classes with a guy named Michael who was a pastoral studies major with music emphasis (Jesse is Bible major with music emphasis) whose wife is also a hair stylist! Go figure! We're looking forward to the ice cream social for the married students next week, so hopefully, we'll get to talk to them, and to other people!

Well, that's all for now...stay tuned for more! :)

One week down

So we've gotten through one week so far. Stephanie's still liking her job, and I'm done with orientation. She did have to stay home yesterday because of a migraine, or that's what we think it was. She's feeling much better today, though, and at this moment is busy at work making people pretty. She's so brave to be willing to do all this. She could say that she doesn't feel like it's best for her to be the one supporting us financially for the most part, and I think she could be right, but she's really stepping up and doing something very admirable. So cheers for Stephanie, cause she's great.
What can I say about school so far ... orientation is kind of boring, but helpful. I'm learning things about the school that are very comforting. We open every class or session with prayer. The professors have a great view of learning, and my orientation instructor made it a point to say, in short, that if we are to go there to learn and are unaffected by what we are taking in, then we are just wasting our time, and we need to seriously reevaluate what we are doing. I'm very impressed with the attitudes of the leadership, and very pleased that I am where I am. I feel like I will truly enjoy this experience, even though I know how much will be expected in terms of academics and discipline. But I am excited about it, so I'll stick with that for now.
We will be going to a new church tomorrow, a church plant near our place that was started by a Moody grad. We don't know too much about it, just that it's mostly people in their twenties and somewhat diverse. So we'll see.
Keep on checking in on us, and let us know what you're thinking, we love to hear from you! So long for now.

P.S.

Check out Wahli's blog in the sidebar while you're at it!

As my favorite mother-in-law would say, our "new digs."

It's taken us a little while, but finally, the moment we know you've all been waiting for is here ... pictures of our new place! Try to contain yourself, I can hear you shouting for joy from here. Sorry, it's kind of messy, but we just moved in four days ago. Give us a break. Also, check out my floor plan that I drew up with Paint. Sweet. Basically, what you'll find is our office/storage space/my guitars' bedroom, our bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, and living room.

More ...

More pictures of our place.

We're here!

Hey, everyone! I can't talk long because I have to go to work soon, but I just wanted to let you all know that we are here in Chicago and we are loving it! Our apartment is just the right size for all of our stuff...we will post pictures ASAP! We don't currently have the internet at our house, so bear with us these next few weeks as we try to get that figured out, and we will post as often as we can!
Also, we have a new cell phone number, which will be our only phone, so if you need the new number, just email me at:jessesgirl73005@juno.com, because I really don't want to post it on the internet!

Our new address

We ARE moving on Friday afternoon to Chicago! Our new address will be:
1935 North Mozart Street, Apt. 2R
Chicago, IL 60647-3932

We won't have a land phone line, so we will be keeping Jesse's cell phone number for now, and we will let you know if that changes at all!

Yet another praise!!!

Another huge blessing just came in the mail today...my Illinois cosmetology license! I had been having problems getting all the paperwork through, so my boss at my new job had said that I could start out as receptionist until my license came. I was glad that it would work out, but I really love to do hair, so I was a little bummed that I couldn't right away. So I was just really excited to get my new license in the mail today so that when I start my new job on Monday, I will actually be able to do hair! We'll continue to keep you all posted!

Just in time

What an overwhelming day ... we went to the city not knowing if anything would be worthwhile or even available, and came back with a pretty sure knowledge that we have just the right lodgings lined up. We visited a handful of apartments between 10:00 and 1:00, and made a seemingly countless number of calls on others just by driving by, but our real answer came with an email that we got just before going to bed last night. The landlords at Franson-Risberg, an apartment building for missionaries and bible students, emailed us that they were full for the semester, but that some friends of theirs had a 1.5 bedroom apartment available. We had looked into this apartment at one time, but it was taken. Turns out that the people who were lined up to move in backed out, just in time for us to look at it the next day and put down a deposit. The landlord works at Moody in the Practical Christian Ministries department. Our next mission: To figure out the best possible way to get all of our stuff up there, and the best possible time to do it.
Sorry, but we totally forgot to take pictures of it, but it will look better with our stuff in it anyway. So now you can all come and stay overnight in our apartment, just not all at once.

The Great Unknown

Props to Stephanie as she ventures to a place where very few women have ever been. She will be making a trip into space this week, first stopping at the moon, then at the Russian space station, where she will hang out with monkeys (no pun intended) and eat astronaut ice cream. Pray for her safe return. I will be staying home and packing this week.

Please pray!

We are going up to Chicago EARLY Tuesday morning because we have appointments at a few apartments that day, so please keep us in your prayers on Tuesday, and in general the next few weeks as we are packing here and getting settled there! Thanks!

Aren't we a cute couple? :)

This is one of our favorite engagement pictures, taken at the Botanical Conservatory in Fort Wayne, which is where we got engaged! We'll try to post pictures of our new apartment (when we get one), and anything else we find interesting!

Our first blog!!!

Hi, everyone! This is our first blog, and we are so excited to have a way to keep everyone updated on our new lives as 'city slickers'! We are planning to move next week, probably Wednesday or Thursday, to the Windy City, so we will keep you updated on our exact moving date, new address, and new phone numbers! Please keep us in your prayers as we continue our search for the perfect apartment and as we start new jobs and classes!