Anticipating April

Well it's the last day of March, so it seemed fitting to write a blog post. March has been a crazy, exciting, joyful, and BUSY month!! I was so excited to start this job for many reasons, but one of the biggest ones was that I would get my weekends off. Yay for Friday actually meaning something for once! I've loved being able to see concerts,  hang out with friends, attend baby showers, and go on trips that I wouldn't normally have been able to do, but man am I tired!!

Molly and me hanging out.

We've been really blessed this month with getting to see friends from home. Our first visitor was my dear friend Molly, who I've known since right before I came to Christ. She was a great mentor for me and we became pretty good friends while I went to ISU. She was visiting her grandparents in Florida and came to see us for a night. We had a great chance to catch up and eat dinner together before Erik came home, and then the three of us went to a really great Italian ice place and had a good time. She spent the night on our couch. I hope it wasn't too uncomfortable, Molly! We were also super excited to spend the evening with Dan and Amy, a married couple who was in our wedding. Dan's family was vacationing at Disney, so we drove down there Sunday night to have dinner and hang out with Dan and Amy. We had a lot of fun, and it was fabulous seeing our friends! It was like no time had passed. =)

Dan, Amy, me, and Erik at Downtown Disney!

April begins tomorrow, and I feel so unprepared. I turn 24 seven days in, and we celebrate one year of marriage just ten days later. In addition to that, Easter falls at the end of April this year. We're kicking off the month by going on a trip with our life group to Jupiter, Florida. I'm looking forward to being close to the beach and having a big sleepover with my closest Floridian friends, but I'm a little nervous that instead of having a relaxing weekend, being around all those people will make me even more tired. Hopefully it will be just the weekend away I've been needing though. I'm also really excited about Sunday. Sometimes Erik and I get really sad that UCF's counseling program is three years (as opposed to the two years that most grad programs are), but it definitely offers some perks. For instance, we got two FREE tickets to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure for Sunday. You know what that means? WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER, HERE WE COME!!! Oh yes, I am a bit excited to finally get to see this attraction. I've pretty much been waiting for it until we moved here, and it's even better that we can both get in for freeve! The park doesn't open until 4 for us, but that is actually perfect because it leaves time for traveling back from Jupiter (that sounds funny, doesn't it?)

I hope March has been as great for you as it has for me, and that your April is even better! As always, thanks for reading!

Please Excuse my Absence...

...but there has just not been much to report. I still haven't heard about the job yet. I did e-mail the HR woman (my main contact) and all she said was that they are still conducting testing and interviewing and haven't made a decision yet. I've got no idea how much longer I can expect to wait though...sad news!

We have been connecting with some more people here, which is definitely worth reporting. A couple weeks ago we attended a gathering for newlywed couples. It was really fun! We weren't even the newest married couple either...score! We played the newlywed game and heard from two couples who have been married about 4.5 years and one who's been married 6.5. It was really fun and a great way to meet some new people and have conversations with folks we've just met once. We even met one couple, Andrew and Becky (they have been married 6.5 years), who invited us over last Thursday for a homemade dinner and Settlers. Yes, we finally got to play Settlers of Catan!! Oh and even better news...I won for the first time on my own!!! Woot woot! :o)


We even got to play with the old board!

We have finally got the apartment looking pretty good and have hung up most of the things we've wanted to. We even somehow managed to store the things we didn't think would fit anywhere! I took some photos today, so look forward to those in the next few days.

For those who feel so inclined, if you could continue to pray that I will get a job (specifically the one I have interviewed twice for, at JFP) we would really appreciate that. Bills are adding up and it's getting pretty tough with just Erik's 20-hour-a-week graduate assistantship for income. And please also pray for us as we are still transitioning with living in Florida, away from all our friends and family, and with Erik being a student again. Thank you all, and I would love to hear some updates from some of you! If any of you have blogs I don't know about, post it in the comments section...I would love to read them!

Still Struggling

Hello my wonderful blog followers! Sorry if I've disappointed anyone by not posting in a while. I guess I just haven't felt like there's a lot to share. This was a hard week. Erik started school and his 20-hour a week graduate assistantship. That means we've had a lot less time together, which is difficult after getting used to spending all day, every day with each other. Plus, I still don't have a job so this was a rather lonely week for me. Erik has his assitantship from 9-2 on Mondays and Thursdays and 12-5 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. He also has class from 6-9 Monday through Wednesday, so this means on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was really bored being home alone all day. I've been applying to jobs and even had an interview on Thursday, but so far it is not looking so good.

I received a phone call Wednesday night shortly before Erik got home from class from a gentleman over at Full Sail University, where I had applied for a job. He did an on-the-spot phone interview, which I think went pretty well. He asked if I could start Monday because they really needed people so I agreed to another interview with his bosses the next day. I went on an hour-long tour of Full Sail and then sat around for a half an hour waiting to be interviewed. At the end of the interview, they said their training course that starts on Monday is all full, but that if they decide to hire me I could start at the end of September. That's a long ways away! I didn't get that great of a vibe after it was over, so I'm not too hopeful. It could be for the best though because the hours were from noon to nine and I would have had to work some weekends, so I wouldn't have been able to continue going to our church small group and that would have meant even less time for Erik and me.

The job I really want is at Campus Crusade for Christ in their Jesus Film Project department as a writer. They're taking forever though, so who knows how that will turn out. I think I am going to really pursue getting hired at Applebee's just so I can have something to do during the days and make us some money. Please pray for me, because I am really not looking forward to working there again. ::Sigh.::

We've been going to H2O every Sunday and their small groups on Friday nights. It's going pretty well, and we're starting to make some friends. We really like the services and although the Friday groups are different than what we're used to, we like the people and are starting to fit in a little more. We're actually going to hang out with a few of them in a couple of hours. I found online that Tears for Fears (you know, the popular 80s band) is playing in downtown Orlando for free tonight! We were planning on going because I enjoy their music and it would be something fun (and did I mention free!?) for us to do together. Some people from our home group were talking about it last night, so we're going to go with them. It should be a good time! I'll post some pictures later.

Speaking of pictures, the apartment is really starting to come together. I finally got some photos printed to fill the frames we got as wedding gifts. I still haven't taken pics of the apartment yet because it's not quite as "together" as I'd like, but I will get that done eventually...I promise! Thanks for reading, all!

Shivering in the Heat

With the heat index it is almost 100 degrees, and yet here I sit shivering and covered in goosebumps. Apparently, Starbuck's likes to keep their stores at the same temperature I keep my refrigerator. And of course I can't step outside for a blast of heat because it's pouring outside. Boo hoo, right? At least it won't snow in the winter. Blah blah blah.

Even though I signed up for an appointment on the 12th to get internet installed, we somehow got signed up for the 15th. That's right, they're going to install our internet on a Sunday. So much for the Sabbath, huh? At least I won't have to keep crashing coffee shops.

I've been feeling discouraged lately because I haven't heard anything about jobs. It's only been a couple days, but I'm getting antsy. I'm just really worried that I will have to work at Applebee's again. I know everyone keeps saying, "At least you'll be bringing money in!" Those people don't understand just how much I hated it there. I'm not complaining and I'm not trying to whine. Really. My job wasn't all bad, but after a year I just don't think I can continue taking people treating me like dirt. The money is so inconsistent, and I just need to find something better. Please continue to pray that I can. I've applied to a few jobs that I think I will like and am confident I will do well at. Let's just hope they think so too, and at least call me for an interview.

On to happier things...we are attending a Home Fellowship tonight for H20. I'm excited. I hope we can meet some really great people who we feel comfortable being in a community with. Maybe I'll even make some friends. =)

Thanks for reading everyone! Hopefully my next post will be from my own home with my own internet...and I'll try to make it a little cheerier, I promise. Love to all of you!

Taking a Drink

Hello everyone! Here is another update, as promised! As many of you know, Erik and I were active members of a ministry at Illinois State that belongs to Great Commission Ministiries, a global missionary organization. One of the reasons we decided/were excited to move to Orlando is that GCM's headquarters are in Winter Park...just minutes from our new apartment! We heard they had a pretty cool church called H20 in Orlando, about 15 minutes away, and we couldn't wait to check it out. We attended this Sunday's service and we were pretty encouraged by it. We were excited about attending a more community-based church. There is a wide variety of ages, and we seemed to fit in. We were introduced to one of their pastors, who introduced us to a few people before the service. The service was very similar to the ones at Cornerstone's, and the worship band was great. I can't wait to see their second band next week. There were even two baptisms after the message, which I always love to see. After it was all over, we met more people and even went out to lunch with a few couples. There is a life group (kind of like a home group, for you Cornerstoners) that meets on Friday nights for young singles and married couples that I think we will attend this week. There are other options, but we're kind of limited because of Erik's nighttime class schedule. We got to know the leaders of this life group a little bit though, and I think it will be a good place for us. I'm excited to find a community! I can't imagine it will be as great as our previous one, but all I can hope and pray for is that we find a place that will invest in us and where we will feel like we belong.

In other news, we bought a couch yesterday! We decided to get a brand new one and even got their five-year protection plan. We're so grown up! We also got a coffee table and end table at Ikea for a great price! We've still got some de-cluttering we need to do to make room for the couch, but as I think about friends who have recently moved and how long settling in can take, I think we're doing well. We're pretty much down to all the little where-should-this-go? stuff. Those things are always the worst to pack and unpack. Once we get some furniture and decorating done, I will post pictures. We still don't have internet, but I've been at Starbuck's again for a few hours (thanks to free wi-fi and a gift card we got for our wedding). I even managed to apply for two jobs. In addition to prayers about us finding a community, please also pray I can find a job that will not only provide for Erik and me, but fulfill and satisfy me.

Thanks for reading and for your thoughts and prayers! We love you all!