My Life is Unfolding

Hey!!!

So, more has happened since my last post, SO MUCH more!!!

Sunday Sarah, her sister Emily and I all went to Chicago for some apt. shopping and I had an interview. We made a stop in Kalamazoo for some church and I got to meet Catlin, Sarah's Best Friend! It was so great to meet her! After church we were on our way to Chicago. On the way I got an interview for a second family and so I had two appointments that evening for interviews.

Both went really well, but the second one was the winner. It was a family that has two toddlers, age 2 1/2... they are twins. One is a girl, Hailey, and she has midrange to normal develpment. The other, a boy named Philly, has a condition where his brain did not form all the way. He is hearing, vision, motor, and speech impaired. He is not mobile and he uses a feeding machine 3 times a day to supplement his diet that he eats by mouth. He is one of 19 children in the U.S. that have this condition.
Basically at this families house they have the hub of all therapies. All kinds of therapists (OT, PT, Speech, Vision) come in every morning and work with Philly. Basically I would be a care-giver, but I would also be a part of the therapy team. With my RT background I can provide a good service to the family and sounding board as well as learn a ton of things from these other therapists. I will get to sit right along side Philly and assist in the therapies every morning! Next school year I will attend pre-school with philly which is exciting.
Along with caring for Philly I will be taking care of Hailey as well. It should be an interesting endeavor! I am so excited to learn from the other therapists and really put into practice the things I've learned in my classes while still doing something I love in a setting I feel comfortable in.

Sarah and I found a place to live in Palatine. It's north of downtown Chicago. You can see it here: http://www.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&q=300+N+Brockway&ie=UTF8&near=Palatine+IL&z=9&ll=42.108411,-88.236694&spn=0.49106,1.0849&om=0
We are calling our Apt. Complex "Tony's Palace" because it doesn't have a name and Tony is the name of our landlord/manager of our building. He is a really great guy and has been very kind to us so far. We met his fiance when we signed out lease and she was very sweet.
Our Apt. is 1000 sq. ft and very affordable for the area! We really are getting a great deal. We just got new carpet and tile and soon we will get all new appliances! The outside isn't anything fancy, but its similar to what Concord apt. in Mt. Pleasant looked like, just plain brick, no balcony. they are fixing it all up though so it should be improving! I am so excited to move in and be able to have all my stuff unpacked instead of having it all shuved in the basement in boxes.

Sarah and I are moving on Sunday and I will be starting my job on Tuesday. If anyone wants to come to chicago and help me move you are all welcome!!! Or if you just want to come visit that's ok too!!!

That's all for now!! PEACE!

Chicago Update

Ok, so here's the latest...

I am going to Chicago on Sunday for an interview with one family and I am hoping to land an interview with a second by then too. The first family has two children: Ryan Danielle-3 and Owen Patrick- 15months. Their mom seemed very kind (krista, notice the descriptive word here... I almost wrote "nice") over the phone. This would be a situation where the mom works out of the home and I would take care of the kids while she is "at work". The second family is a family with 2 year old twins, one with normal development, a little girl and a boy with developmental disabilities. All I know is he is not mobile, uses a feeding tube for nurishment, and weighs 30lbs. I think it would be sweet to work for this family, so I am praying that if it's supposed to happen that the mom calls me tomorrow.

I will drive to Chicago Sunday with Sarah and her sister Emily (Emily wants to come hang out with us and see where Sarah might live). I'll drop them off to do their 14 mile run for marathon training at the park, and then head to my interview. We are staying with Shawn (Sarah's boy) for the night and then apartment hunting during the day on Monday. Pretty much is should be a sweet time. I am excited to actually look with Sarah at places instead of her driving around and me being on the phone with her.

So, if one of these families works out, I could be moving to Chicago sooner than the 2nd. AHH!! I know the family that I am interviewing with really wants someone to start right away and are willing to house me until I can find a place to live.

I am planning on going up to Mt. Pleasant this Friday night, and hopefully staying part of the day on Saturday. I am going mostly to see my friend Jonathon play football, his team is playing Mt. Pleasant that day. BUT I am also wanting to see people before I leave! I mean, I hope you can all come out and visit me, but I want to see you still! Now you all have an excuse to come to Chicago!!! AND a free place to stay! It can be like old times, everyone can come over and I'll make you things, yummy things, and we can play games!! Aww!!!

Ok, well... that's all I know for now! I'll let you all know as soon as I hear from my interview! Pray for me!! 6:00 Michigan time on Sunday!!!

Home

Here are the pictures I promised:

This is our sign out front. I like it!











One of Matilda's Kittens. This one's my favorite.









Fred enjoying some popcorn. Basically he's just huge and he has bad breath.













Fresh Donuts!!! I know, you're jealous that I am getting fat off these and you aren't!










Stewart...










The train and slide (the big red thing in back) that the kiddies play on.










The famous Honeycrisp and a view of the inside of the store. I'd like to point out the lovely sign made by Miss Krista Griffin!!









Here we have a celebrity, Mr. Bond, James Bond.











Here he is again, trying to look manly...

Are you serious??

So.... I am.... uh... moving to Chicago!!!






Crazy right??

I thought you might say that! :)

Ok, so here's the deal. Last week I applied to a place called TeacherCare. The next day they called me for a phone interview. That night I was on my way to Chicago for a face-to-face interview the next day. I got offered a position and now all I am waiting for is a placement. If you want to check out TeacherCare you can at teachercare.com. Basically, it's an agency that finds "teachers" for families in Chicago who want an alternative to daycare. Right now I am waiting to hear back from the families that I looked over and sent my information to. I am working with a great gal named Stephanie and she is working her butt off to find me a placement!

Where will I live you ask? What a good question! I will live on the north side of Chicago probably very close to Arlington Heights (where the star is on the map).

Who will I be living with?? Also a very good question. I will be living with my dear friend Sarah Hoover. We met this summer at Youth Haven. We are both really excited about the move and I think we are both a little scared too. Living with her should be really good. She is a little more familiar with Chicago than I and I am a little morefamiliar with living in the real world so we should be able to support eachother. She is really great and I'd like all of you to meet her! I think though you might have to come to Chitown to do that because of how fast the move is coming.

Which brings along my next topic... when I am moving!! I think it will be around the 2nd of October or later. The availablity of apartments looks like it will take us about that long to find a place, if not a little after that date. I will keep you all updated on my next steps.

I am very excited about this opportunity to get out there and spread my wings a little bit. It is going to be an adaventure that's for sure!!

I decided I'd put in some pictures of things around here in case some of you wonder what the Orchard looks like. This is my life for now until I leave for Chicago. I am assistant manager at the store and I am in charge of a lot of things. It's going to be hard to leave my Dad knowing that he could use the help.

Fun with Granny

I got home from work today and grandma's driveway was being redone. We walked into the house (she had been out too) and I was asking her about what they were doing to the driveway. She said plainly "They are cutting out the cracks". I said, "Cutting out the cracks?!?!" It must of been the way I said it, or perhaps the loud volume because grandma started laughing so hard! She was busting a gut, she couldn't even stand up straight! I was laughing too. She came back into the kitchen where I was and tried to start talking civily about the driveway but we both had a giggle at the tip of our tounges. She said "Haven't you noticed the cracks in our driveway?" Now, there were many men standing in the driveway and so of course my mind went straight back to where it started at the beginning of the crack joke. I tried so hard to keep a straight face, but I could do it. Grandma and I started laughing again and continued on throughout our conversation. Overall, I am pleased that my grandma still thinks about scandalous jokes that include butt cracks! It started out my evening on a good note for sure!

Other than crack jokes things here are going alright. I am missing my friends a lot, but I will get to see some soon. Monday I am going to Mt. Pleasant and Tuesday I am going to Jackson.

Yesterday I got a watch the kids and that was very enjoyable. Maria and I played games and read books. Charlie and I giggled while I tortured him with tickles and kisses. It was a pretty good day. The other night Sandy, John, the kids and I all went over to the Weil's place and played a little DDR. It was a grand event! They even made a run to Qudoba! I felt like I was at home with the randomness and of course with the DDRing. I got to show off some of my skills and cheer on the newbies. It was a great time!

I am continuing my job search. Tomorrow I'll do some faxing and more searching. I am going to try and finish up my paper too. I should be doing that instead of typing this, but you know how that goes.

That's all for now!

I am feeling highly flammable. I'm not trying to be deep here, I really am flammable. Today was my first day back at home, working for my dad until I can find another job. I had to paint our new slide with oil based paint. When I was done I had to wash the equipment and myself with gasoline cause dad said it was cheaper than using mineral spirits like the paint can said to do. Basically I was a walking hazard. I took a shower, but my skin still reeks of gas smell. Something new everyday around here... I wonder what danger I'll be in tomorrow. I don't know what is much worse than the danger of having ones skin burnt off! Anyway, my dad is paying me well and I am being provided for and so for that I grateful.

So, some of you are probably wondering about my life. Well, it's been an interesting few weeks since summer has been over. I've been doing a lot of heavy lifting, painting, throwing things in the dumpster, cleaning, eating out, hopping from house to house. Overall it's been exciting, but many parts have been bittersweet. I've had to say goodbye to a lot of friends. It's crazy to think I won't be spending my everyday with my dear friends from Youth Haven. I miss all of them already and a couple I've only been away from for a day.

My plans for now are to stay here with my grandma while working for my dad until I can find a job somewhere else. I am looking into moving away with a friend... maybe to Chicago! It would be totally sweet if that worked out so I am praying for doors to open. This next week I will be finishing up my internship responsibilities by finishing my paper. As of Sept. 11th I will be done with my life at CMU and moving on to my adult life post-CMU. It seems weird to be moving away from that life, but I think I am ready. God has been preparing me for something to come. I can't wait to see what it is! I am so excited to do something sweet for Jesus.

Overall life is very transitional. It don't feel it's neither here nor there. I can say the past couple weeks with friends has been invaluable and I will treasure that time always.

So my friends, that is all for now. I will be sure to update with new news as soon as I get some!!