"normal"

normal is so relative, subjective, original, abstract, illusory, all of the above. it can change at the dawn of every day, and even throughout the day. it's one thing that i, as a somewhat letter-of-the-law person on the inside, am okay with being fluid in the area of "normalcy." i'm okay with the fact that one person's pink hair can be a completely normal thing after last month's purple shade, but for another person, only brown can satisfy them. one person can think it's okay to sleep in the day and use the night as a work day, others shun the thought of seeing the sun rise. some couples are double-income-no-kids families, and some couples are more flexible in their definition of income, living from show to show or job to job.

jed and i have recently achieved (by God's kind grace) a state of "normal" life, albeit somewhat temporary. (and when i say temporary i do speak in the term of years. i just had to say temporary for the people out there who plan in ten year segments.) it's kinda weird to be here because we've only thought about it for so long, but yes, we're here.

we both have jobs, and we live in the city we love. it's a wonderful normal for us. we're so thankful for jed's job. he's finishing two weeks tomorrow at devry college of new york as an educational advisor in the undergraduate admissions office, and monday he leaves for a week-long training session in chicago. (side note: if you want to come to the city and keep me company, you're more than welcome!!!) it's such a great job for his background, our intentions for the future, his desire to have a job that works with people, and even the field that he's intended to work in. how good God is to give him a job that is a "first choice" job and not a "settle for" job. we're amazed!

consequently, this called for celebration. (you may think we look for a good excuse to celebrate, and if you do - you're right.) we decided an afternoon in brighton beach would be the choice for this particular celebration, and wow did it end up being fun! we started out at the beach right as the sun and heat had calmed down a bit, followed it up with a delectable and fantastic russian meal at a restaurant we found on yelp called cafe glechik, enjoyed a nice time watching the moon over the ocean, and then ate skittles on the train ride home. when we celebrate, we include the commute because it's usually a good part of the trip. below are some pictures from our most recent celebrations (walk in the rain to a newly found mexican restaurant, pics of li'l russia)

the mindset formerly known as "inflexible"

at least i hope to undergo a permanent change into the "flexible" world. i read last week that being inflexible is a sign of pride because it's a demonstration of our need to control circumstances and situations, assuming that our way is indeed the best way. the funny part is i've always said "oh, i'm flexible" or "sure, whatever you think" and "i really don't have a preference." but who are we kidding? when i said those things it was more or less in the understood parameters of a certain situation, not a wide open, literal, true-by-definition flexibility. if put in a crowd of i-don't-have-a-preference people, i can easily persuade them all to have my preference. sometimes that's good (when running for a public office or following some views of parenting), but it's been something i've been pondering as of late.


maybe it's because we were vagabonds for 93 days (or was it 97?), or maybe it's because our name tags have said "hi, my name is floater" since february of this year, or maybe it's even because i'm learning that i'm not inherently entitled to a 9-5 job ("sure, my hours are flexible. what time should i come in?"), but today is a big think-it-through day. actually, the last two weeks have been big thinker weeks. it's a good thing to re-evaluate, reminisce, plan, meditate, ponder, etc. it keeps life real; it makes you aware of why you're here; and it reminds you what you're supposed to do each day.


thinking it through has meant several things for me: the fresh wound of learning true humility over and over again, breaking every single inflexible bone in my body until i'm as flexible as gumbi, remembering that happiness and joy are dead if i look for it in my circumstances, and keeping in front of my mind the love that Jesus has for me and jed. in this way, life is amazing. one part of me hates those days where tears are fresh, i feel like a wimp, and my head is a whirling chat room. but the other part of me is addicted to those kinds of days because the reality that can come from those days, by God's grace, is a fresh and fabulous reality.


thankfully, for jed's sanity and for my sanity, they don't come regularly. but when they do, i wake up to a clearer understanding of this whole big picture and man that's awesome!

summertime!

summertime in brooklyn is the best in the whole world! (except maybe the beach on a really warm day, but fortunately we haven't had but a handful of really warm days in the last 2 months) there's just not much wrong with this city as far as livin' life here goes. i know it's the same 'ol story, but we do just love it here. in the last month we've had three sets of visitors (jed's brother joe, jed's sister mel and her family, and my sister abi), made several trips to the donut shop, enjoyed fireworks on the manhattan skyline, jed has had surgery on his right knee, and we've only used our air conditioner for about 5 nights. quite a successful month!

our time hasn't been without struggle, however. amongst other trials, God has, in his wisdom, not yet given jed a job. we both wrestle with this problem in different ways, but it's a burden on both of our hearts. our minds vascillate between understanding that God is completely wise and sovereign and we have only to learn patience and endurance, to really growing impatient and discontent with the circumstance we're in. in his goodness, God is allowing us to still pay for our bills each month due to my blessing of a job, so we really have no immediate worry. life is best if tackled one day at a time, and we pray for grace to be able to do that!

here's a smattering of pics from the last month.


trip to the park


a house full of guests!


with my sister abi


jed folding laundry even in his post-surgery state




our favorite place in the city

brooklynites

it's been three weeks now that we've lived in our new home and we could not be more happy to finally be brooklynites! we're so close to a subway stop, we have a great street & neighborhood, and God has given us an apartment even a step up from our greenville apartment - we're so thankful! i continue to enjoy my job at polytechnic institute of nyu as the admissions office receptionist. though my job is entry level, the interaction with incoming students is something i enjoy very much! we've seen God's provision in a big and direct way through this job with the benefits, hours, and pay - God is good! it took two weeks of trying to get our home put together until we felt like our lives wouldn't always consist of unpacking. new york apartments are an adventure in and of themselves, with the uneven floors, aging buildings, and unprofessional contract work. i thought jed was going to have an aneurysm trying to get our bed level; but alas, after more than 10 cardboard squares and much measuring, we now have a level bed. no more high blood pressure because our feet are higher than our heads. we are storing all of our broken down boxes for jed's parents to use, so other than cramming them here and there, the apartment is 98% guest ready.

on so many levels we see God working and doing things so differently than what we would've originally thought. we were hoping jed would get a job first and then i would fill in with a part-time job, but now we see that it's actually been somewhat of a blessing that jed is still unemployed. he has established a new network of doctors here in new york, and because of poly's insanely good insurance benefits, he has been able to tap into an extremely skilled and prestigious network of doctors. after getting under the care of a chiropractor and also fulfilling the prescribed physical therapy rehab from his surgery back in january (better late than never!), he is seeing much more consistency with his back. one area where he has had significant pain for several months has been with his knee. back in august 2008, he had acl reconstruction and meniscus repair work done, but the pain on the site of the meniscus tear has continued to give him trouble, even worse after surgery than before. after meeting with an orthopedic surgeon (the chief orthopedic surgeon at Tisch Hospital - NYU Medical Center) and getting a fresh mri done, we found out that he has a radial tear in his meniscus. unfortunately this type of meniscus tear does not do well without arthroscopic surgery, so jed is scheduled to go in on june 30th. the great thing in all of this is that this surgery is MUCH less invasive (walk with a cane for the first 24-48 hours as needed and then at least 6 weeks of physical therapy) and free! our insurance is completely covering every penny of this surgery!

we've wondered many times why God would allow jed to go through many phases of interviews and remain the runner-up in several different opportunities that he would've been perfect for, but now we're seeing more and more that it's actually convenient that jed doesn't have a job right now. he is still fervently looking in between doctor's appointments, but the opportunities are still less than what we would've expected. somehow, we just have to say okay and wait to see what happens in God's plan. though our situation right now is so backwards and upside down from what our little plan had laid out for us, we find so much peace and comfort knowing that we can trust a God who is planning this perfectly. we want to continue taking it one day at a time and learn to enjoy this phase in our lives. we love being in brooklyn! though we're "in transition" still and enjoying every adventure the city offers, God continues to burden our hearts even more for the people here in new york. we just want to be a part of building his kingdom here.

as several people have requested, here are some pictures of our home. please disregard the aforementioned piles of empty boxes and corners full of junk that will not be sticking around. the invitation remains open for anyone to come visit!

office

bedroom

living room

kitchen

moving day!

next stop, 267 clifton place

today is day number 85 of our adventure. the last two weeks have been good times of adjustment and learning. it's still awesome to us how God is showing us in big and little ways that he's taking care of us. on day 78, we vagabonded once again to our fourth temporary place of abode. it's in a mission house with some friends of ours in the east village. it's fun living on the 5th floor in manhattan! there's much more noise outside our windows because of the constant traffic and excitement in the city that never sleeps, and the quaintness of the east village with all of its mini-gardens and bicycles has been entertaining and enjoyable. the only negative is living on the fifth floor. i don't care if you're richard simmons or not, walking up that many stairs with a 17.5 pound watermelon is not easy. add to that a gallon of milk and you're done.

friday ended the first two weeks of work for me at polytechnic institute of nyu. the entire package of working there continues to floor me. the benefits are crazy good, i'm already somewhat familiar with the very basics of this type of job, i get to work in downtown brooklyn, and it's in an exciting educational field! i still haven't mastered how i plan on spending my commute, though. i'm still new enough that i continue to be endlessly entertained by all that goes on in the city during rush hour. and by the way, don't ever tell me new yorkers aren't friendly. i've seen many people pry a closing subway door off of a stranger so their arm/leg/head wouldn't get caught.

jed has been workin hard at getting our addresses updated everywhere, switching to a new bank up here, transferring our medical records and getting new doctors up here, and also still looking for a job. this past thursday, he was able to get in with our new primary care. we weren't sure if the doctor would refer jed to all of the different doctors that he sees for his back, etc., but he did and jed already has 3 appointments set up for next week with some of the best doctors in the nation! with our insurance, we were able to tap into the nyu doctor system, and so far we're impressed. this was a burden on our hearts, and God has smoothed the wrinkles in what could be a very bumpy situation.

next milestone is day 93. if everything can go as planned, we’ll actually move into our new home on may 17th. with the way the timing worked out with jed's parents to get the truck, pack it, and drive it up, we're moving in sunday morning and we can't wait! not only will it be a symbol of stability in our lives, but we'll finally be able to host our friends and family that come up to see us (*hint*hint* you know who you are). we're looking forward to seeing everyone then.

ninety-three days of instability has taught us a lot - the biggest lesson being how gracious God is. in our times of recklessness, he has been our comfort; in seeing our weak and unable hearts, we have seen him strong and secure; in facing the unending unknown, we have come to know him as trustworthy and loving. our continual prayer is that somehow we will be able to be effective tellers of Christ to other people who are around us and watching or experiencing this with us.

with the people who have been praying for us and keeping up with us via phone and email, the guys who are volunteering to pack our truck for us (once back in april to move it into storage and then another time on may 14th to pack our truck), the people here in new york who have been letting us sleep in their apartments and eat their food and play their rook, and also jed’s sister and her family in pennsylvania who have taken us in for weeks at a time, we have been the recipients of so much. it’s incredibly awesome to see how God uses people to be a blessing to other people! we only hope that someday we can pass on that help to other people who will need it.

almost there

it's confirmed. i'm officially one of those bloggers that binge blogs every once in a blue moon. for awhile, there wasn't anything new so i was secretly waiting 'til something bigger happened. little did i know that everything was going to happen all at once!

on wednesday, april 15th, i had an interview with an insurance company in midtown that i was less than excited about. i was still holding out for all the red tape at polytechnic to get taken care of, so i hadn't taken my recruiters off the hunt yet. one of them got me this interview so i figured i should go with it. i interviewed on wednesday at 3pm and had an offer the next day by 3pm. it was ridiculously fast and high-pressured, which was strange and uncomfortable. i told them i needed by five at least to think about it, and my recruiter said that should be fine. i called up my would-be boss at polytechnic and showed her my cards and explained the situation to her. i asked her where they were at in the process with the hiring and she said that they were very close, but there was just one more step. the provost's signature. still without a solid offer or an answer, i called back my recruiter to let her know that i would need until tuesday to think about the job offer and look into the company some more and talk it over with my husband. that whole weekend jed and i prayed that we would get a call before tuesday from poly with a job offer so i could confidently turn this other junk job down.

on monday, april 20th, my boss at poly called to let me know that my job offer was in the mail! she wanted me to start on monday, april 27th! after much celebration and many phone calls, jed and i made plans to head back to the city on wednesday to do the apartment hunt. (note: we had spent the weekend babysitting four of our nieces and nephews in pa, entertaining them with such frivolities as bonfires and ice cream and hide and go seek in a pitch black house. only one kid cried!) jed had lined up for us to see five apartments on wednesday, so we took the early bus in on wednesday morning and hit the streets with the goal in mind of making a move on the may 1st weekend.

after the first three apartments, we weren't sure if we were going to need to settle for less than best, because after all it is new york. place number 1 had two bathrooms and two bedrooms, but the bedrooms wouldn't have been able to house an ant farm. place number 2 was nicer, but the floor in the corner of the living room went up like a pinball machine. we would've had to level our couches with phone books. place number three was similar to number 2, but no pinball affect. the hardwood floors just rippled near the kitchen sink.

then there was place number 4. awhile back, jed and i had walked through clinton hill and scouted out the area for the supermarket and hang out places, and tried to get a feel for the best area to live in the clinton hill neighborhood. one street we pined over because of the beautiful stoops and cosby-like brownstones was clifton place. if we could live on clifton place, we'd be somewhat central to where we needed to be and we would be in a safe neighborhood with a nice tree-lined street. well, place number 4 was on clifton place. it's a 16-unit building from what we can tell with four floors and pretty (but extremely worn) marble stairs. jed called the guy on tuesday about seeing a place he saw on craigslist, but that apartment had already been rented. "but," said the dude, "i do have another one in the building that i can let you see. plus, i'll offer you one month of free rent if you want to see it." so of course, we added that to our list. the reason this one hadn't gone yet was because the reno wasn't even close to being finished. we walked in and the contractor was there with a worker and we literally stepped over ladders and paint cans to view the place. but goodness, it was gorgeous! and exactly what we had been praying for.

it has a wonderful garden tub that would be perfect for jed to soak his back in, a nice master bedroom, plus a great living area that could house lots of people, host a good-sized bible study, or bunk family and friends. there's also a smaller second bedroom that for now, will be more of an office for jed, but could also be a future bedroom. the bonus is that the kitchen has about 5 times the counter space and storage i ever had in greenville. (if you visited our little greenville place, you'll realize that's not much, but still!!) we are very thankful and excited. as we walked through the apartment, the contractor told us we could let him know if there were any small changes we wanted and he would see if he could accommodate. out of that, we're getting a few light switches moved, a cabinet sink instead of a pedestal sink in the bathroom, and a ceiling fan in the living room!

we put money down on it wednesday afternoon because anyone who's anyone in new york has always told us to snatch it up if we like it. thanks to the bad economy, we got a month of free rent, no broker's fee, reno accommodations, AND we will be paying about $300 less per month than the people across the hall for a way nicer place. we got the deal of a lifetime - God is so good!

after measuring and revisiting our new home, we've made a list of things that will have to stay in south carolina. one of them is our circular dining room table that we loved so much. we did find a good home for it, but we needed a cheap replacement so today seemed like a good ikea day. we took the bus down and it was a beautiful ride! the more we're here, the more we love brooklyn. it's a wonderful home. before we left for ikea, we looked online and saw a couple of tables that we wanted to check out at the store. one of them was way way way out of our price range ($349 to be exact) but it was seemingly perfect for the space we're trying to fill but also versatile for seating about 8-10 people. when we got to the store, we went through the showroom and saw the table we loved but weren't planning on buying. until we saw the price tag. as we walked up to the table, we saw a red slash through the $349 with a $99 sign right above that. immediately, we asked an ikea worker if that was right, and she confirmed it was. holy cow. apparently, ikea chooses three items every week to go on a major sale. this week, it was our table and today was the last day. wow! we had to catch a cab home with it since there was no way i was going to be able to lift a 92 lb. box up and down subway stairs plus carry it on the walk home from the stop.

so my first day at work is on monday, and we're both so incredibly thankful for a great job opportunity for me! oh, one other miracle. we had 63 days before we had to pay for our cobra insurance so we would have continuous coverage, and monday happens to be day 60. usually, there is a waiting period before benefits kick in, but when i talked to the hr guy at poly, he informed me that benefits commence the first day of employment! how awesome is our God!! jed is still on the hunt with one particular lead that we're hoping will go through, but we're learning that with higher education, it takes forever. my opportunity was a fluke to happen this "fast." but now that insurance is kicking in sooner rather than later, jed will be spending time in the next few days finding good doctors here in new york.

the last couple months have felt like a series of "frowning providences" where we knew that God was there and taking care of us, but we often questioned exactly what was going on, what our place was in the whole thing, and what exactly we were supposed to be learning. i don't know if we have any more exact answers to those questions except that we know that we're doing today what we're supposed to be doing, but we sense an overwhelming presence of God's kind hand on our shoulders these last few days and we are amazed at how the details are falling into place. by God's grace and with the help of his Spirit, we are enduring, and that endurance is causing much joy to be known in seeing more and more provisions of his love.

i realize this is incredibly long, but i couldn't leave any detail out in what God is doing to further his kingdom here and in our hearts. below are some shots of the new apartment (still under construction). we truly hope you will be able to know God better and understand his love more by reading what he is doing here in brooklyn in small and big ways.

our street, clifton place

neighbors across the street

standing in our room looking out into the living room

standing in our kitchen looking into the office (2nd bedroom)

note to self

this might be a bit of an open post because i'm taking a slightly different approach. i am too lazy to keep a beautiful, leather-bound, recycled paper-filled, handwritten journal, so this whole blogging deal sometimes serves the purpose of what a journal would be. except for the "available to the whole world" thing.

since i last wrote, not much has changed. rephrase: not much with our circumstances has changed. we are both still unemployed and of the vagabond persuasion, but we're really hoping that this week will be the week. i interviewed at polytechnic for the second round of interviews on march 31st, and it went really well. i was told i would hear by the end of the week last week, but i still haven't heard anything so i'm going to give them 'til mid-morning tomorrow and then i'll give them a courtesy call. jed is still patiently waiting to hear back from berkeley college where he interviewed and was very well received by the staff he interviewed with. we're very aware of how slow the process tends to move in the educational environment, so in one sense we feel somewhat thankful that we both got through the interview process decidedly quickly comparatively speaking. one of the people that i interviewed with at poly told me that when she was hired on, it took her three interviews that were strung out from august 'til november before she was hired in december. fortunately, the positions i've interviewed for (both at poly) are empty positions that they'd like to fill "quickly."

we missed the april 1st deadline for an apartment, but occasionally there are still nice apartments available on the 15th of the month, too. should we hear back from either of the positions we're waiting on, we'll do the apartment hunt right away and see what's available for middle of the month. if we don't find one for the middle of the month, we'll wait 'til may 1st. what's another 15 days, i ask you?!

so, after that explanation, though we're progressing bit by bit, our circumstances have not exactly changed. but let me tell you, i really think we have changed. neither of us have gotten tattoos or pink hair in honor of new york culture, but the refinement of our reactions and the continual struggle of our hearts are things that i really pray will be with us forever. the things we've talked through and are learning are heavy things that we haven't faced in our young lives yet. but it's good! after enduring a day where tears felt way too fresh, i can't believe i'm saying that it's good, but i really think it is good. these trials have been instigators to conversations we might not ever have had, struggles we might not ever have felt, and lessons we might not ever have learned. because let's face it, who in their right mind would voluntarily go homeless and unemployed in this economy? if we would've known how crazy it would've been we might've waited a little longer. but we didn't, and it's been great! i probably sound sadistic, but i'm serious. and let it be put on the record, i will never ever again take for granted my silly earthly belongings. they are gifts from God, but they're sitting in storage in south carolina 'til further notice (see above paragraph).

i really thank God for this time. i won't lie to you and say i wake up every morning saying that, but in all the clarity God is giving me at this late hour of the night, i really mean it. we're very privileged to be able to learn and even suffer because it's through these sufferings that God gives us endurance, and through that endurance we build character, which in the end, after having seen the promises of God fulfilled, we possess a Spirit-given hope that cannot be shaken. i love that promise.