The Joys Of Craigslist

Since we found a home for our cats Smokey and Chewy by posting an add on Craigslist we have been using the site more and more often. We have been really impressed with the responses and have been amazed at the things that can be found on there. We are now posting anything we don't want to keep on there, what an easy way to re-home our stuff.

It only took 20 minutes for someone to respond to our ad for our cats. The amazing thing was how many other ads for free cats that there were, but it was a case of perfect timing. And after all, who could resist them, they're so cute!

We didn't want to have to move our massively heavy hide-a-bed couch, so we posted it for free. Within 40 minutes several people were interested. Someone came the next day to pick it up, which saved us lots of trouble. We were amazed that there was so much interest in it because we didn't hide the fact that the cats had fun scratching on the arms.

We bought this car for cheap so we can learn to drive a manual transmission. It is a 1988 Mazda 626. In Romania the vast majority of the cars are manuals so learning how to drive them will help us out a lot. Mark is having quite a lot of fun driving this and Rebecca will be learning soon.

We picked up this laptop for Mark's Mom because she didn't have a computer and she wanted to keep up with our blog and e-mail updates when we're in Romania. It runs great and was very cheap. Now the fun part will be teaching Mom how to use it :-)

We've also been giving some things to family and friends who want or need them. Our house is beginning to look empty, especially without any living room furniture. This whole process is definitely God's timing, everything has been going so smoothly!

A Few Goodbyes

Today is the end of an era for us.  We just said goodbye to our two kitties, Smokey and Chewy. Since we are planning on moving to Romania we knew we needed to find a home for them so we've been asking around for quite a while.  Some people said we should put an ad on Craigslist, so we did yesterday thinking that it might take a few weeks to get a response.  Lo and behold we received an e-mail about 20 minutes after posting the ad.  Today we talked to the people who wanted to give our cats a loving home, and then they came to pick up our boys. We took some pictures before we said goodbye.

They definitely knew something was up, they were both slinking around and acting scared.

We'll miss you guys.

Awww!

Smokey says: I'm so cute, how can you get rid of me?

Chewy says: I don't want to go!  I'm hiding in the couch so you can't get me!

We also said goodbye to our nice car, the Camry.  We had promised Mark's brother Kevin that we would sell it to him before we left.  Kevin's car broke down and was having some serious issues so we decided to sell it to him now.  It was a great car and we really enjoyed having it.

Tulip Time

It's a special time here in West Michigan, it's starting to warm up and the sun is shining more often than not.  It feels great to feel the warm sun and to be able to go outside and enjoy the outdoors.  Last week we went to see all the tulips in Holland since it is Tulip Time there.  We have gone to see the tulips each year for the past four years and each time it is a really special treat.

The tulips were very beautiful and were blooming very nicely.  We stopped at a park to check out the multicolored assortment of tulips they had there.

We also went to the test planting park where there are fields of tulips that can be seen for free.  We didn't go to any of the larger fields like Windmill Island because they charge for entry.

We drove up and down tulip lane, following the signs is always a challenge but seeing all the tulips planted along side the road is always fun.

We posed with statues that probably look a lot like our ancestors from the Netherlands.  See the resemblance?

We could see a windmill from the test planting park, those really are tall fully grown trees all around it, that's how big it is!

We also admired some flowering trees throughout the city.  What a fun time we had.  God's creation is just so beautiful it can't be described with words!

Springtime

Spring is finally here!  It is so nice to see the sun for days instead of hours at a time.  It is great to be able to go outside and not have to bundle up.  After our record snowfall winter we've been more than ready for spring to come, and we're so exited to see the signs all around.  Flowers are starting to poke through the ground and trees are starting to bud out.  There's even a hint of green in the grass.

This week is also spring break for most of the schools around.  Last night we had a beach bash at church for kids who didn't go away for break.  There were games, contests, music, and flashing lights all around.  There was pizza, pop, candy, slushies, and popcorn to keep the kids full and hopped up on sugar. Kids could also get temporary tattoos and have their hair colored and styled. The most exciting thing for the kids was the raffle for the free iPod and Nintendo DS.  Everyone there had a blast and it was fun watching the kids enjoy themselves so much.  

The coolest thing about the event was that all of the proceeds will be donated to our mission to support us in Romania.  A LifeGroup from church came up with the idea and did all the planning and work, and they decided to support us!  A big thanks to all those who helped with this, what a great idea!

Spring is a time of new beginnings, and that is true of Mark's job situation now too.  Extol has been so slow and hurting for orders that the temporary layoff has now turned into permanent layoff.  Now we can only wait to see what God has in store for us next.  Somehow this must be part of His perfect plan, just like how He tells the flowers when to bloom, He will send us to Romania at just the right time.  We just continue to pray and try to be patient.

Back To Work

Praise God, after being temporarily laid off for two weeks Mark was called back to work this week. This is definitely an answer to prayer, thank you to all of you who prayed for us during the layoff.

Besides not making enough money to pay the bills it was actually nice having the time off from work. We got ahead on our homework for our Perspectives class, and we planned for our fundraiser that I wrote about last time. It was nice to relax and catch up on sleep and not have a schedule. The time went by amazingly fast and Mark gained new insight into what it is like to stay at home during the day.

That said it is good to be back at work again knowing that we can cover our payments now. We're very thankful to God that the people at Extol are so supportive of our ministry and that they are letting Mark continue to work even though we're going to be leaving the country soon.

The Bad Economy Takes Its Toll

Well, this bad economy has really hit home now.  Mark's work has been pretty slow for the last few weeks and it has gotten to the point that there is no new work.  So last week Mark was notified that he would be on temporary layoff for a while, starting this week.  Quite a few others from work are laid off now too, so we're all hoping that things pick up soon.

If new work does come in Mark will be called back right away because the design is the first thing that happens on a new project.  There are some orders on the horizon but no-one knows when they'll actually come in.  

We are very thankful to God that he has provided us with abundance during the good times so we can make it through the lean times.  We have been saving a little each week for an emergency fund since we got married.  So 5 and a half years later there is a good chunk of money there that we can use to cover our expenses during this layoff.

So we ask you to pray with us that God will send some work to Extol so that Mark and the others can be called back to work.  We also ask for prayers of providence for us.  Now more than ever it would be great if our house sold, as it is the only thing we owe money on.  Would you please pray with power that God will sell our house soon?  We know that he will accomplish these things and the more prayers we offer up to him the better.  Thanks!!!

Top 10 Happenings Of 2008

Happy New Year! 2008 was a year of big happenings in our lives so we decided to put together a top 10 list. I added a link to previous posts if there were any so you can read about the event. These are in order of occurrence because it was too hard to rank them by significance.

1. My sister Sandi got married to Jay and we were in the wedding.

2. We finished our basement with the help of family & friends.

3. Our friends Dave & Holly & their son Jaden lived with us for a while.

4. We went to Romania to help with summer camp for orphans for 5 weeks.

5. We celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary.

6. We put our house up for sale.

7. We were accepted to be full time missionaries to orphans in Romania.

8. We went to California to vacation, go to a wedding, and plan for Romania.

9. We joined techies everywhere by starting a blog, getting on Facebook, and buying a Macbook.

10. We went to Canada over Christmas to celebrate Rebecca's Oma's 100th birthday.


Links:
1. http://weloveorphans.blogspot.com/2008/05/sandi-jays-wedding.html

2. http://weloveorphans.blogspot.com/2008/06/wrapping-things-up.html

3. See above.

4. http://weloveorphans.blogspot.com/2008/06/our-upcoming-romania-mission-trip.html (+ 26 other posts!)

5. http://weloveorphans.blogspot.com/2008/10/very-memorable-5-year-anniversary.html

6. http://weloveorphans.blogspot.com/2008/09/missionary-application-selling-our.html

7. http://weloveorphans.blogspot.com/2008/11/it-is-official-we-are-going-to-romania.html

8. http://weloveorphans.blogspot.com/2008/11/our-trip-to-california-part-1.html & http://weloveorphans.blogspot.com/2008/11/our-trip-to-california-part-2.html

9. None really.

10. http://weloveorphans.blogspot.com/2009/01/omas-100th-birthday-celebration.html

Snow Galore

Wow, have we gotten a lot of snow in the last few days! Last Friday we got nearly 14 inches and then this morning there was another 10 inches in the driveway. It is a lot of snow to get all at once and it just keeps on coming. The next few days are supposed to bring more, so it's sure to be a white Christmas around here. I just wanted to share some pictures of the snow to show how deep it is.

It's been blowing like crazy which is why our wreath is full of snow.

There is a bush in there somewhere.

Our mailbox isn't doing so well. This morning the street plow didn't even come close to the mailbox so Rebecca had to dig it out so we can still get mail.

This is the back of our car after we went to church yesterday. Ours was one of the only churches not canceled, so we braved the weather to get there. It was a great service with the full orchestra and everything, but it was pretty treacherous getting there and back.

A Teaser Post

Wow, it's been a long time since our last post.  We have been quite busy lately, and a lot of different things have been happening.  Right now we are in Ramona, California, hanging out with some friends.  We got some big news recently too.  So when we get back home we will be posting quite a bit to catch up.  Stay tuned!

Fall Colors

This has been a beautiful fall and we have really been enjoying the burst of color in the trees. This year the reds, oranges, and yellows seem to be more vibrant than before, probably because we've had ample amounts of rain. Even though our yard doesn't have a lot of trees we are still getting quite a show.

This is the same tree as the picture above, only a week later.

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We've also been enjoying the late blooming of some of our rose bushes, it's always nice to see them come out.