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.

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.

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!

Memorial Day Fun!

Pony Tail Fun!

Of all the toys we own, there are just too many times when nothing makes Isaiah happier than playing with Mommy's pony tail. It almost makes me want to grow one myself, or at least buy one of those redneck hunting hats with a ponytail sticking out of the back.

Mission Complete!

Just like that, four years later, we are done. It ends almost as quickly as it all began. Totally, completely, 100% done. No more tests or homework and no more papers. No more late night library sessions, group projects, or book reviews. DONE! With graduation this past Friday, our seminary experience has officially come to a close. Though I am very grateful for the influential professors, the many friends made, and the solid pastoral formation that took place here, there are no mixed emotions or bittersweet feelings on our end. We are DONE and can't wait to pack our bags and actually begin doing ministry and putting all that we have learned into practice.

We had a very nice weekend. My parents, Grandma, and Uncle came to help us celebrate this special day. These four have especially played such an integral role in getting me here. The many years of dragging me to church and elbows to the side to pay attention must have paid off. I certainly would never have been able to get to this point without them, so it was a special blessing to walk across and get my diploma with them looking up from the crowd. We had a great time with them during the graduation festivities and the couple of lazy weekend days that followed. It was nice to sit outside and relax; we won't be able to do that many more days in the sultry St. Louis summer. We ate often, enjoyed a few games, and spent a morning at Grant's Farm.

And so now begins my lazy summer days. It is wonderfully strange to wake up with nothing to do and no deadlines to worry about. Each day is about me and Isaiah, hanging out and playing outside. For the next two months (apart from the occasional need to figure out housing and mortgage loans) I get to be nothing but Daddy. This is awesome and I will be sure to soak up every minute of these next couple of months. Calie continues to work getting reading for the LCMS National Youth Gathering in New Orleans. She is our loving, humble, hard-working sugar-momma! I don't think she appreciates it when I tell her of my plans to do nothing and watch the weekdays blend together. She, more than either of us, is excited to be forever out of St. Louis--done with work and staying at home with our little guy. But bills need to be paid and her job lasts until the end of July so she continues to bring home the bacon. Of course, she has been amazing through this whole seminary endeavor and it goes without saying that I could not have done it without her. For my graduation gift, she gave me my first pastoral/ordination stole. She has been working on it for years and it is beautiful. She did such a great job, and having it made by her adds extra special meaning to it. The left side of the stole highlights our Triune God and the right side reminds me of the faithful ministry of Word and sacraments that I have been called into. We'll post a picture of it after ordination on June 13th (at my home congregation in New Jersey). Most guys get these albs as gifts, or as purchases from a catalog. Few wives take the time and have the talent and patience to do it themselves. I certainly look forward to wearing proudly in the future.

We now look forward to the next chapter of our lives, settling down and making our home somewhere in Sun Prairie, WI.

Passin' Time

Isaiah's sleeping. Calie is at a baby shower. I have homework to do. But instead, I figured it was time for a quick blog update.

Things are going peachy-kean here in the Vera household. We are in an extreme season of countdowns. Countdown to graduation (13 days). Countdown until Ordination (June 13). Countdown until Calie's done with work (July 25). Countdown to moving (July 29). Countdown to Installation and beginning ministry at Bethlehem (August 15). Countdown to vacation (????). There are still a few more countdowns in there too but that should be definitely enough for now. Obviously we will be pretty busy the next few months as we close out our time here in St. Louis. Plenty of things to do and boxes to pack. Here's a quick run through of what lies ahead for us in the next few weeks...

• Sometime soon we will head to our future home in Sun Prairie, WI. We'll get to know the area, make our first cameo at our new church, and to do some house hunting. God-willing we will find the perfect house at just the right price (FYI: we are not proud people; donations are accepted). It really is overwhelming with all that comes along with being first time home buyers--loans, down payments, realtors, mortgages, fixed rates. Ahhhh! We just really hope to find the right house and figure out some way to pay for it. We know that regardless of what happens, God will provide as He always does. He has already shown us that we will be taken care of through some of the gracious offers we've received from members of Bethlehem, our soon-to-be congregation.
• In two weeks, I will finally graduate from Concordia Seminary. Wahoo! My parents, Grandma, and Uncle will be coming out to join in the graduation festivities on June 21st with us. It will be nice to see them and great to have family around as we close out this chapter of our lives. These events are always more fun when family is around, especially since we'd never have gotten to this point in our lives without them. Four years have come and gone so quickly!
• For a week June we will be heading east to New Jersey. My ordination will take place at my home congregation on the 13th and it will be great to share this day with the congregation that has watched me grow from when I was a baby and supported me for so long and in so many ways. Then we will stick around for the following week to visit with friends and family. Of course, we'll probably have to take a day trip to the good ol' Jersey Shore one of those days. Isaiah will spend plenty of time with Grandma and Grandpa while Calie and I hopefully get a chance to sit in the hot tub and relax a bit. Maybe we'll even get a chance to have a date night or two?!?
• July will continue to be busy as I hope to head north to MN for a week of fishing at the cabin and hopefully squeeze in a Twins game and a weekend to preach at Trinity Hudson. Calie will be gone for nearly two weeks in July with the LCMS National Youth Gathering. Isaiah and I have had a lot of fun on our past 'boy's weekend' but this is a long time to be without Mommy. I'm not sure how we'll survive.

Isaiah is up from his nap so it's time to close. That's enough for now anyway I suppose. Thanks for reading and being a part of our lives even if it is from a far. God's blessings to you all as the summer roles around...