Here is the quick version of our life in the past week. We drove to MN to retrieve our belongings that have been in storage for the past 4 years. We loaded a U-Haul and brought it all back to the garage in our new house. I think that my parents were overjoyed to get a garage stall and a bedroom back!
We spent the remainder of the week picking paint colors and getting the house ready for the painting party that began today. We had a great crew that began the painting today and they have two rooms done. I feel worthless not being able to help at all, but when we stop by we are more work than help.
They will continue to paint until it's done, and we hope to be able to move in completely this weekend.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Our New House
I know....two blogs in one week. Please don't keel over! I promised pictures of the new house, and here they are.
I consider these the before pictures. Stay tuned for the "after" pictures!
I consider these the before pictures. Stay tuned for the "after" pictures!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
promises
I promised myself that I would update the blog more often, and it hasn't worked out so well for me. So here are the happenings of the Vera family in the past few weeks.
Steve has a couple of weeks and two sermons under his belt. He is connecting with the youth groups and planning for the year. He has also kept busy with shut in visits. He has also attended many meetings.
I, Calie, have been busy planning the paint colors for our new house, as well as decor. I have also kept busy trying to keep up with Isaiah, find new doctors, transfer records, and all of the fun that comes with moving! I have accomplished one of my goals, which was to finish Isaiah's scrapbook before September.
Isaiah has by far been the busiest out of all of us. His favorite things include running, jumping, talking and being cute. He is already saying three word sentences, and repeats everything that we say. He recently started singing and doing the actions to songs. He is so smart too. We were painting and he chose the blue paint and said blue. He constantly amazes me. He also likes to say cheese and then see the picture. Here are some of the pictures from our photo session tonight.
We also went to Sun Prairie's big festival, called Cornfest. There was a parade followed by a weekend of corn eating. Isaiah sat in his stroller for an hour and a half watching, waving and clapping for the floats. We enjoyed the sweet corn and bounce houses at the festival grounds. Here are some pictures.
The other big news we need to share is that tomorrow morning we will become first time home owners. I promise there will be pictures this weekend. We will need to paint the whole house and make other minor repairs, but other than that it is move in ready. We do not have a date that we will actually be living there, since we plan to paint, clean and take our time moving in. We will let everyone know our new address soon.
Steve has a couple of weeks and two sermons under his belt. He is connecting with the youth groups and planning for the year. He has also kept busy with shut in visits. He has also attended many meetings.
I, Calie, have been busy planning the paint colors for our new house, as well as decor. I have also kept busy trying to keep up with Isaiah, find new doctors, transfer records, and all of the fun that comes with moving! I have accomplished one of my goals, which was to finish Isaiah's scrapbook before September.
Isaiah has by far been the busiest out of all of us. His favorite things include running, jumping, talking and being cute. He is already saying three word sentences, and repeats everything that we say. He recently started singing and doing the actions to songs. He is so smart too. We were painting and he chose the blue paint and said blue. He constantly amazes me. He also likes to say cheese and then see the picture. Here are some of the pictures from our photo session tonight.
We also went to Sun Prairie's big festival, called Cornfest. There was a parade followed by a weekend of corn eating. Isaiah sat in his stroller for an hour and a half watching, waving and clapping for the floats. We enjoyed the sweet corn and bounce houses at the festival grounds. Here are some pictures.
The other big news we need to share is that tomorrow morning we will become first time home owners. I promise there will be pictures this weekend. We will need to paint the whole house and make other minor repairs, but other than that it is move in ready. We do not have a date that we will actually be living there, since we plan to paint, clean and take our time moving in. We will let everyone know our new address soon.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Day 1, 2, and 3
We have all started a new journey of our lives here in Sun Prairie, WI. I, a stay at home mom, Steve a pastor, and Isaiah a teething machine. I am trying to get used to the routine as a stay at home mom without a car living on 40 acres of land. Day 1 included the lesson of things we should not stick in our ears, like mac and cheese. Day two was only 2 hours of Daddy time, and day 3 is shaping up to be a day full of singing the book, Chef Creole. Have you ever wanted to hide a book? I did until Isaiah started repeating and pointing out the red beans, okra, boudin, and king cake. Watching his little mind work never gets old!
Steve is getting settled in at church, hanging some pictures in his new office as well as putting away books. He has enjoyed meeting with a few members, visiting a nursing home, and playing golf. Tough job?! The extra curricular activities have also begun with meetings every night this week. He will preach his first sermon tomorrow night (Thursday).
Isaiah is getting too used to having an indoor pool right up stairs. He loves the water, and is almost too brave (if you ask me). He also loves the Great Dane "puppy" that lives here as well. He is talking non-stop, but most of the time he walks around saying 'cute'. His other favorite thing to do is ride and drive the golf cart. He and I have spent many hours just climbing in and out and pretend driving it.
The weather here could not be nicer, and for that we are most thankful! I think that is what I missed most about living here.
Steve and I both have new WI phone numbers, so if you haven't gotten the new numbers yet, send us an email or Facebook message and we will get them to you.
Steve is getting settled in at church, hanging some pictures in his new office as well as putting away books. He has enjoyed meeting with a few members, visiting a nursing home, and playing golf. Tough job?! The extra curricular activities have also begun with meetings every night this week. He will preach his first sermon tomorrow night (Thursday).
Isaiah is getting too used to having an indoor pool right up stairs. He loves the water, and is almost too brave (if you ask me). He also loves the Great Dane "puppy" that lives here as well. He is talking non-stop, but most of the time he walks around saying 'cute'. His other favorite thing to do is ride and drive the golf cart. He and I have spent many hours just climbing in and out and pretend driving it.
The weather here could not be nicer, and for that we are most thankful! I think that is what I missed most about living here.
Steve and I both have new WI phone numbers, so if you haven't gotten the new numbers yet, send us an email or Facebook message and we will get them to you.
Friday, July 30, 2010
We Have Arrived!
Here's a quick update to let our blog-o-sphere followers know that we have landed safely in Sun Prairie. We left yesterday (Thursday) morning and drove out of the seminary campus for the last time. No mixed emotions for us, it was Wisconsin or bust! Even Isaiah was saying, "Consin" in the days leading up to our move. After a six hour drive, we were greeted by several church members who helped us unload our U-Haul. We still do not have a home of our own, so we are staying with an extremely generous couple from our congregation. They are letting us live in their home until we find one of our own. This is especially nice because we can take our time looking for the right place at the right price.
That's all for now. We still have many boxes to unpack and several new living amenities to take advantage of and enjoy. I do not start work at the church until Sunday, August 15th so we have plenty of time to get settled in and become better acquainted with our new hometown. We will even do some more house hunting early next week. Hope you are all well and please feel free to give us a call, we'd love to hear from you.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Much has happened since our last brief Memorial Day post. This disgustingly hot and humid summer has been flying by and we now are exactly one month away from finally moving out of St. Louis. We are just about the last family from our graduating class still living on campus. Moving trucks and trailers keep coming and going while we stay here eagerly awaiting our turn. Nearly all of our friends have been gone for several weeks now. New faces and families are popping up all over campus as people begin their own 4-year tenure at the seminary with summer courses.
In early June we spent a week in New Jersey. On Sunday, the 13th, I was ordained at my home congregation in Oak Ridge, Holy Faith Lutheran Church. It was a wonderful celebration. It was such a blessing to share this day with the family, friends and members of the congregation that have helped get me to this point. It was a beautiful service and excellent time of fellowship. Beyond the Ordination Sunday, we did not do too much else while we were in NJ. Unfortunately no day trips to the Jersey Shore, baseball games, or anything like that. We just spent the week in Vernon visiting with friends and family. My parents and the rest of the family had plenty of time to entertain Isaiah despite only being there for a week. But quite honestly, Isaiah did not sleep well the entire trip so it was probably for the best that the trip was not any longer. Thankfully, as soon as we were back home and he was in familiar territory he was sleeping through the night like normal.
After we returned home to STL I had to make a trip up to Sun Prairie for a home inspection. This was the most recent of several 6-hour trips we have made up north to Wisconsin in search for our future home. We originally thought that we had found a nice home for us; we even had an accepted offer and started dreaming about what we would do first and how we could decorate. But after the inspection, for a variety of reasons, it looks like that house won't pan out after all. It's unfortunate because now we have to start at the very beginning, looking at homes and searching websites. But we do have a wonderful place to stay in the meantime so we don't have to worry about living out of our car or being homeless.
As Calie has been busy working and getting ready for the National Youth Gathering down in New Orleans in just under 3 weeks, Isaiah and I have been stuck inside. In fact, today was the first day in over 2 weeks that we have been able to spend time playing outside. The last couple weeks STL has been under serious heat advisories. The temperature was daily in the upper 90's with humidity nearing 95% most days. That meant the heat index every day was well into triple digits. Luckily, the next week looks like it will be much like it was today, so I'm sure Isaiah and I will log many hours outside on the playground and chasing after his multitude of balls. If we're lucky we'll get to the zoo a time or two also. We actually spent a couple hours there this past Saturday morning. We spent most of the time in the 'children's zoo' where they have little fountain/geysers of water that shoot up from the ground. Isaiah LOVED them! We spent almost an hour there as he would just run through them and splash, sit down in the puddles and laugh. Calie and I started to feel like he was another exhibit at the zoo as people would just walk past smiling and watch him having a blast in the water. Unfortunately, we did not have a camera but next time we will try and remember Calie's video camera as I'm sure he'll put on a similar, adorable show.
Calie will be off from work on Friday and Monday for a long Independence Day weekend. No exciting plans for us though as we are going to use the weekend to pack as much as possible. The more boxes we can fill this weekend the less we'll have to worry about when Calie comes home from New Orleans. So hopefully by this time next week, we will have a corner of the house with a good junk of boxes piled up high and ready to be loaded onto a U-haul! I know that will make us both feel much better concerning our pending move. Calie will be gone for 10 days when she leaves for New Orleans! Isaiah and I have enjoyed our guys days and nights in the past, but this will be a bit too long to be without Mommy--for both of us! So while she works and sweats away in the Big Easy, the boys will head up north to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Seitzer on the farm. I have a pretty good feeling that they are super excited to spend time with their grandson, even if it does mean having me there too.
That's all for now. Oh wait, there is one other thing. For those of you that don't already know... Calie is pregnant again. Isaiah is going to be a big brother! I'm not sure that he is able to comprehend it, but he does touch Calie's stomach and say, "baby, baby". Baby #2 is due on our 5-year anniversary on November 5th. This past Wednesday we had our 20-week ultrasound, but decided not to find out the sex of the baby so it will be a surprise! In the picture to the right you can see baby's head and arm.
Hope you are all having a wonderful summer and keeping cool. Not sure when our next update will be, but we do have some pictures to share below. Enjoy!
In early June we spent a week in New Jersey. On Sunday, the 13th, I was ordained at my home congregation in Oak Ridge, Holy Faith Lutheran Church. It was a wonderful celebration. It was such a blessing to share this day with the family, friends and members of the congregation that have helped get me to this point. It was a beautiful service and excellent time of fellowship. Beyond the Ordination Sunday, we did not do too much else while we were in NJ. Unfortunately no day trips to the Jersey Shore, baseball games, or anything like that. We just spent the week in Vernon visiting with friends and family. My parents and the rest of the family had plenty of time to entertain Isaiah despite only being there for a week. But quite honestly, Isaiah did not sleep well the entire trip so it was probably for the best that the trip was not any longer. Thankfully, as soon as we were back home and he was in familiar territory he was sleeping through the night like normal.
After we returned home to STL I had to make a trip up to Sun Prairie for a home inspection. This was the most recent of several 6-hour trips we have made up north to Wisconsin in search for our future home. We originally thought that we had found a nice home for us; we even had an accepted offer and started dreaming about what we would do first and how we could decorate. But after the inspection, for a variety of reasons, it looks like that house won't pan out after all. It's unfortunate because now we have to start at the very beginning, looking at homes and searching websites. But we do have a wonderful place to stay in the meantime so we don't have to worry about living out of our car or being homeless.
As Calie has been busy working and getting ready for the National Youth Gathering down in New Orleans in just under 3 weeks, Isaiah and I have been stuck inside. In fact, today was the first day in over 2 weeks that we have been able to spend time playing outside. The last couple weeks STL has been under serious heat advisories. The temperature was daily in the upper 90's with humidity nearing 95% most days. That meant the heat index every day was well into triple digits. Luckily, the next week looks like it will be much like it was today, so I'm sure Isaiah and I will log many hours outside on the playground and chasing after his multitude of balls. If we're lucky we'll get to the zoo a time or two also. We actually spent a couple hours there this past Saturday morning. We spent most of the time in the 'children's zoo' where they have little fountain/geysers of water that shoot up from the ground. Isaiah LOVED them! We spent almost an hour there as he would just run through them and splash, sit down in the puddles and laugh. Calie and I started to feel like he was another exhibit at the zoo as people would just walk past smiling and watch him having a blast in the water. Unfortunately, we did not have a camera but next time we will try and remember Calie's video camera as I'm sure he'll put on a similar, adorable show.
Calie will be off from work on Friday and Monday for a long Independence Day weekend. No exciting plans for us though as we are going to use the weekend to pack as much as possible. The more boxes we can fill this weekend the less we'll have to worry about when Calie comes home from New Orleans. So hopefully by this time next week, we will have a corner of the house with a good junk of boxes piled up high and ready to be loaded onto a U-haul! I know that will make us both feel much better concerning our pending move. Calie will be gone for 10 days when she leaves for New Orleans! Isaiah and I have enjoyed our guys days and nights in the past, but this will be a bit too long to be without Mommy--for both of us! So while she works and sweats away in the Big Easy, the boys will head up north to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Seitzer on the farm. I have a pretty good feeling that they are super excited to spend time with their grandson, even if it does mean having me there too.
That's all for now. Oh wait, there is one other thing. For those of you that don't already know... Calie is pregnant again. Isaiah is going to be a big brother! I'm not sure that he is able to comprehend it, but he does touch Calie's stomach and say, "baby, baby". Baby #2 is due on our 5-year anniversary on November 5th. This past Wednesday we had our 20-week ultrasound, but decided not to find out the sex of the baby so it will be a surprise! In the picture to the right you can see baby's head and arm.Hope you are all having a wonderful summer and keeping cool. Not sure when our next update will be, but we do have some pictures to share below. Enjoy!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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