Peter/Nashville/Plans?

A lot to catch up on! I'll rewind a little bit, back a couple of weeks ago. Ted's brother, Peter, came in from Santa Fe for 2 weeks to hang out, and it was really nice having him around. Esp. having him around for a non-holiday visit, so we could relax. At the beginning of his visit, we had over a foot of snow, and the day he left, we all took Jude strolling in the park it was so nice out. This weather is nuts. Jude had a great time hanging out with his Uncle Pete, and it was fun to watch them bond:)



Then we headed to Nashville over the weekend. With all that's going on, it was great to get away for a couple of days. I'm a big believer in getting physically away from issues to gain perspective....something about putting miles between yourself and whatever you're facing just seems to help clear your head. We went on a double date with my BFF Blair and her boyfriend Nick on Valentines Day, and took advantage of Memaw and G-daddy's babysitting services and went out for a drink downtown afterwards. Jude's 5:30am Central Time wake up call came a bit too early on Sunday!


Plans are starting to come together. Slowly. Our short-term plans are to close on our house Feb. 27, and move into an apartment in Indy. We scouted out a few complexes yesterday close to where we live now, and we'll decide this week, mostly based on price. Then Ted will get a job...not a career, just a job for the time being. Long-term plans are still TBD. We met with a missions organization called I-Teams last week (http://www.iteams.org/) to talk about potentially going overseas for a year to work with refugees. We really like the organization and left the meeting excited, so our next step is to apply and figure out where we'd like to serve. We'll find out whether we've been accepted in mid-March, and if so, we would train in Chicago and head out in June. Meanwhile, Ted has been applying to positions in different cities around here like a madman. Really, I'm impressed. He's pulled his resume together and gotten it sent to a zillion places with lightning speed! The whole process has been good for him and for us, because its forcing Ted to really consider what it is he's passionate about. Getting back into insurance in Indy would be relatively easy, but we still don't think we've been shaken all over the place and uprooted, just to run back and jump in the same foxhole.
So, while we still don't know exactly what the coming months will look like and nothing is for sure, we're getting there! Whatever happens, we consider Indy our home and want to come back for the long haul. But I guess if I'm learning anything right now, its to hold very loosely to my PLANS!
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Whew.

Lastly, Jude Hammy wakes up really early now. Now that we don't have to be up for work, Jude decided to start getting up at 6:30. Sometimes I can trick him into going back to sleep for an hour! He also found a new voice, or rather, a new bloodcurdling scream. It's not uttered when he's happy or mad, but just for fun to see what his little pipes are capable of. He does it over and over, and then calmly looks away like it never happened. He did it in a Wendy's bathroom in Kentucky on the way to see my parents, and the whole restaurant probably thought I was beating him senseless....Ted stuck his head in the bathroom to make sure everything was OK. It started Friday the 13th, now that I think about it. A horror scream, that's what it was. Besides that, he's been pretty fine. In fact, he's joined Ted and I in putting on his "game face." Everyone look out.


P.S. Body & Soul magazine published something I wrote for their Reader-to-Reader section in the March issue. I also found the link online: http://www.wholeliving.com/article/futurenatural-beauty-giveaway?lnc=6d390c8668ec9110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&page=2&rsc=articlecontent_whole-health