We're Moving

Did I already share about our unexpected move?  I honestly can't remember and seeing how I haven't blogged much at all I'm going to go ahead and guess that I haven't.

So here's the deal.  We'd been saving for a house for awhile and went month to month on our lease in June.  Over the summer we'd gone to see a couple houses, but more just to expose us to some neighborhoods and not necessarily because we were in a position to buy.

Well, fast forward a bit to Haiti where we get an email that the owners of our townhouse will be moving back in at the end of September.  And there you have it.  Trying not to let this incite too much panic while we were gone, we decided we needed to kick up our search a notch.

Once back we started exploring options for winter rentals while also paying much closer attention to the listings that came through our email.  I honestly felt like things weren't going to come together- time wise, financially, etc. but as always the Lord provides and I feel blessed that we're scheduled to close September 13th on a house we love and that is completely move-in ready!

Everything fell into place, the way it always does and we are getting pretty excited.  I hope to have more pictures to share soon, but for now here is our soon-to-be home from the outside!

Midweek Confessions

I'm finally ready to link up for E, Myself, and I's Midweek Confessions and it gets skipped this week! Ugh.

Well I guess in effort to prove my willingness to participate I'll just go ahead and do it... by myself.

Here it goes...

-My sister went out of the country and I had no idea!  Here I am harassing her about what to do for her birthday and all the while she is hundreds of miles away without cell phone reception.  Fail!

-WW is not going well.  I haven't gained but I'm at a standstill.  Maintaining is great- when you've hit your goal weight, but I've still got 15lbs to go!

-I love Shark Week.  I was watching it on DVR at 5am this morning.

-I've been counting down for Fall so that once Shipyard's Pumpkinhead Ale came into stock I could buy as much as possible.  Well, Fall must have come early because Jake sent me a picture of a 6 pack and I flipped.  No joke.  I called him right away and started screaming.  He bought 2 cases.

-We're buying a house.  More on that later!

More Than Names

I find it's easier to connect to a person, story, or situation when you can put a face to a name.  Here are just a few of the sweet, sweet faces from Haiti.

Let me introduce you to Oxilous, aka Freebird.  He is the second youngest camper and I pretty much fell in love with him the minute he stepped off the bus at Kaliko.  He is deaf and doesn't really speak.  He definitely understands sign language and body language but during Camp Jake we only witnessed him signing once.  He was dropped off a week before the first Camp Jake back in January and the returning counselors said his interaction this trip was world's better than the last's.  I could just eat him up.

This is Jean... another sweetheart in the group.  He is exactly what you would expect of a boy at his age, but was such a helper when given a task and a little direction.  He was eager to fit in with some of the teenage deaf boys, also content with the younger guys too.  He was so fun to be around and full of energy- I'm definitely already missing him.

photo courtesy of Howe Captivate

Marieline was born without part of her left leg and with a right club foot.  No one ever taught her how to use her prosthetic so she either didn't wear it or didn't put weight on it.  She received physical therapy from Jake daily (sometimes twice a day) and her improvements could be seen immediately.  She loved working with him and was receptive to us both early on in the trip.  She was one of the ones I was surprised to see crying through the bus window on the last day.  She has such a strong spirit that her emotion caught me off guard.

There is so much more I could write, and a lot of other campers I could talk about but it would take forever. I'm sure if I have the opportunity to talk to you personally I won't shortchange you on the details!