a morning breath goodbye

Last night as we drifted off to sleep I heard Andy whisper, "Jesus, keep my wife safe."

We said goodbye this morning. I had morning breath and frizzy hair and day-old mascara dried up in the corners of my eyes. He held me anyway, and I buried my nose into his neck and imagined all my love for him transferring over so he would have it with him while I'm gone.

Today I have a few last minute things to do and then I'll hit the road w/ two girls from the team. We'll stay the night at my parent's house and tomorrow we'll meet the rest of our team at Dulles to fly to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, fly from there to Kampala, Uganda and then drive from Kampala to Gulu. Total travel time will be around 30 hours.

I can't believe that 24 hours from now I will be on a plane on my way to Africa! This is a dream come true for me. I look forward to telling you all about it!

"And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

weekending v.5+6

I'm back for a post or two, and then I'm off to Uganda! I can't believe the trip I've been dreaming of for so long is really happening.

Last weekend we celebrated Todd's birthday at the cabin. I read the book "Kisses From Katie" (a memoir about a girl who is ministering to people in Uganda) and received a load of incredible wisdom for my trip.

This past week was my last week at work. It didn't feel real until I cleared out my desk and went around the newsroom saying farewell to everyone. I'm grateful for the ability to not work right now and to have the time after my trip to pack up the house and then settle into our new home. Who knows what will happen next?

Speaking of homes, we drove up to Frederick yesterday morning to go house hunting. !!! 

My parents met us there to offer up advice and moral support. We had a list of 11 houses to see. Our realtor had us scheduled for viewings until 8 p.m., and I said "whoa, that can't happen... we have a dog to get home to." Little did I know how long we would take...

The first house we went to was in a rough neighborhood. We didn't even get out of the car. The next one was in a nice neighborhood and would've been a beautiful home, except that the previous owners had completely trashed it. The third was our favorite exterior we had seen online, but the interior was ancient. The fourth was one of our favorite interiors, but the price seemed suspiciously low and I didn't have a good feeling about the neighborhood. The fifth was an absolutely stunning new construction, but it was at the top of our price range and had no outdoor space. The sixth was nice on the outside and inside, but the kitchen needed some work and I wasn't "in love." The seventh was a walk in and walk right back out situation. We got back in the car and decided against going to three other houses b/c one was super old, one was in a sketchy area, and the other was a short sale. We had one left. We walked in and everyone said "Oh, wow!" My mom called my sister to tell her "we think we found the one." We went to dinner, chatted things over with the realtor, called a lender on the drive home and stayed up past midnight on the phone w/ our realtor while electronically signing a contract stating our offer.

Now we wait.

double sinks in our potential new home!

up, and out, and on; and then

ya'll, bear with me. The days ahead are packed with furious story writing, house hunting and packing, and by the end of the day my brain is too mushy to write anything of value.

Daily dawns another day;
I must up, to make my way.
Though I dress and drink and eat,
Move my fingers and my feet,
Learn a little, here and there,
Weep and laugh and sweat and swear,
Hear a song, or watch a stage,
Leave some words upon a page,
Claim a foe, or hail a friend—
Bed awaits me at the end.

Though I go in pride and strength,
I'll come back to bed at length.
Though I walk in blinded woe,
Back to bed I'm bound to go.
High my heart, or bowed my head,
All my days but lead to bed.
Up, and out, and on; and then
Ever back to bed again,
Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall—
I'm a fool to rise at all!

"Inscription for the Ceiling of a Bedroom" by Dorothy Parker

the married couple's Valentine's Day

Andy didn't rush home from work on Valentine's Day to toss rose petals over our bed and place a sparkling diamond necklace against my pillow. I wasn't apron-clad, peeking into the stove to check the temperature of a perfectly crisp roasted chicken. My legs weren't even shaved. (TMI?)

No, on the evening of Valentine's Day I was parked on the couch savoring a piece of chocolate cheesecake I had bought for myself. Andy was in Maryland and had been there since Sunday night, and I was waiting for him to come home. When he called to say he was an hour away I moved to kitchen and stared at the leftover Mexican lasagna we had in the fridge, feeling guilty that I hadn't made something new. I cut out a heart-shaped piece of lasagna, tidied up the downstairs, made a handmade Valentine, put on deodorant and waited some more.

My guy was exhausted when he came in the door. He smiled at his heart-shaped dinner and then devoured it. We exchanged cards and watched "The Voice" until Andy's eyes couldn't stay open. We fell asleep, feet entwined.

to Maryland we go

oh, friends. Is it possible to have a happy and a heavy heart at the same time? I say yes.

If you haven't seen on my facebook, we've got big news to share. We're moving to Maryland. Never thought I'd say that! (In the words of a brain-dead friend, I get to live in New England now! hehe. )

We're very sad to leave our sweet home and our wonderful community of friends. We've been in this hard place before - last November I quit my job and looked at places to live in Warrenton - but then we miraculously got to stay in Harrisonburg. For a little while, at least! I know it's been hard to keep up with all the job changes. So here's the breakdown: Andy was hired by Kellogg's in July, lived and worked in NOVA for five months, moved back home in January and worked in a new territory for the past month and a half, and is now getting ready to start a new job in Frederick on April 1st. I'm incredibly proud of Andy for getting a promotion so soon after being hired by Kelloggs. We're both blown away by how this job landed in his lap. God is good!

Neither of us know really anything about Frederick (though we've passed by it many times), but we will be an hour closer to my parents and a little less than two hours away from my family's cabin in PA. Plus, I've always wanted to explore Baltimore and Annapolis with Andy, and maybe take a weekend trip to St Michaels.

It's weird to think that a month and a half from now we'll be in a completely new home and a new city. I don't know how I feel about that! Ok, I'm mostly sad. But I'm excited, too. I'm glad that I get to share this adventure with a man I love and that we serve a God that we trust.

aaaand, if that wasn't crazy enough, I leave for Uganda TWO WEEKS from tomorrow! (If you think I'm in freak out mode, you're absolutely correct.) I went ahead and put in my two weeks notice, so when I come back from my trip I'll be able to spend the rest of March packing up the house and spending as much time with my friends as possible.

is this real life?