moving

Ah, fall. A season of change and transition. More than summer or winter, fall (and spring) really have a transitory feel to them. The leaves change and eventually fall from the trees. The weather gets gradually colder (or as has been the case here in Chicago, just sort of goes up and down but mostly gets colder) and eventually the snow will start to fall, ushering in winter. And for us, it will bring other transitions. We have made the difficult decision to leave Chicago. We will be moving to Rockford (South Beloit, to be more exact) where we will stay with Dan's parents for the next month or so. This will be a time of gathering our wits, reorganizing our stuff, and saving money while continuing the job search/waiting process. We don't know exactly what will happen at the end of one or two months, but we are hoping for the best. As much as it will be hard for us to leave the city we love and people we love, we think this will be for the best. It has been very difficult to feel like our life is scattered all over the place with some stuff in one place, some in another, mail going to multiple addresses and all of this coupled with an uncertain future. Yesterday, a friend compared this move to punting which I feel is a very apt analogy. Not what you really want to do, but it is better than doing nothing. The game must go on. Just like life.

We won't be that far away and for those of you in Chicago, we are certainly up for coming back into the city to hang out. Who knows, maybe we will even come back. We'll see what happens. In the meantime, however, we will continue to wait and hope and trust God.

new

Yes, for those of you who were unsure, we are still in Chicago. We're currently living up in Roger's Park in a lovely little studio apartment that we are subleasing until the end of October. After that, well, that still remains to be seen. It has been a crazy busy summer and it feels like fall has just snuck up on us. I mean, I like fall and everything but it came awfully quickly this year. Dan worked like a maniac all summer (for which I am exceedingly grateful) and I worked as well, though not quite as much. Now I'm back to subbing, which seemed like a great idea when I decided to do it but I'm realizing I should have stayed at my old job for a few more weeks to give CPS a chance to actually get rolling so teachers could take days off and need me to take their places. Oh well...I guess you live and learn. And I have indeed learned from it.

This whole summer seems to have been a time of learning for us. Dan has learned to embrace the title of "pastor" and I've learned that I want to be a librarian. So that's what we are pursuing. And even though it has been a very long time of waiting, it hasn't been completely awful. It's been fun to get to know new parts of the city and to experience living in Chicago away from North Park. And of course, someday when we have kids, we'll be able to tell them all about our days as nomads when we are convincing them they have nothing to complain about.

And that is pretty much where we are. I'm going to try to make an effort to post more often so this blog does not go the way of our xanga and myspace sites. here's hoping!

tea for two...

Nearly two months after our last post, it seems like a good time to update again. In some ways, life has changed a lot since May. In other ways, it's pretty much the same. We are still living in Chicago but at a new location. We have been amazingly blessed by people willing to open up their homes to us as we sit at this particular juncture. That's a great thing. We are also both working, which is also great. Dan loves working at CRiCK again this summer and my job as a CNA has been going well enough.

Life is right now. It feels like we have been at a crossroads for some time now without much definite direction. It will come in time but it is increasingly difficult to continue to be patient. I think the hardest part of all of this is the lack of a definite time line. We have a tentative one planned out, but we can't hold too tightly to it because God has this funny way of changing our plans to something better.

As I look back at this post, I realize that it sounds fairly cryptic. I personally find it difficult to be concrete when so much is unknown. I told someone today that life is "okay". I think that is a good way to describe it. It is certainly not horrible but it is not the best it could be. It is okay. And that is okay for now.

recent photos

Maybe a month ago we went for a day hike to Starved Rock State Park. It was an overcast day, but some sun shone through at intermittent times. It was a great day to shoot in black and white.
Annie took the opportunity to practice her photo taking abilities. Here are some of her shots.

While it was a pretty muddy hike, we managed to stay relatively clean and mud-free. That is until the last 5 minutes of the hike when one misstep made a big difference.

All in all we had a great day at a great park. It was good for us to get some time away and have time to reflect on life and discern where we are headed next. We still do not have any details on that part and definitely post when we do.

update, finally!

wow! It's been a bit since either one of us has posted anything. some of that is due to the site being blocked by my (annie's) workplace's filter. Not sure why I can access it now, but I'm not going to argue. It might be like that period of time when I could get to facebook from work--sometimes, around one o'clock, if I was lucky. anyway, as long as I'm here, I might as use the time wisely. [I work at a school, for those of you who don't know, which is why things like facebook are blocked]

So there isn't much new going on. We're still in Chicago, living with wonderful people who were gracious enough to let us stay with them. We're following roads as they are brought to our attention but nothing has led us far enough to settle in any place yet. It's okay. It's been a time of waiting. Of learning. We know God has a place for us and that when we get there, it will be fantastic. It's simply hard to wait for it sometimes.

I am still working in Gurnee, I finished my nursing assistant class at the end of February and will be taking the state certification test in May. It was supposed to be April but there were some miscommunications and I got bumped. It is what it is, I suppose.

Otherwise, we live and enjoy each day as it comes.

no man's land

Sometimes, well probably always, it is strange to be in a place of transition and waiting. There is so much going on while nothing seems to be happening. I (annie) have started my CNA (certified nursing assistant) class and am in the process of changing over my career from teaching to nursing. Thus far, I have learned that it will be a huge lesson in empathy, in addition to all the skills and knowledge related to the practical aspects of the job. A good lesson to learn, but not always easy. I also spent a good portion of my day today sharpening pencils and grouping them in 10s (I averaged about 200 an hour). Always a good reminder why I went to college. :)

It's like we're in a sort of no-mans land. My drive to work yesterday struck me as a good metaphor for our current state. I was headed north on 94 and to the west of me was the nearly full moon. To the east you could see the sunlight beginning to peak over the horizon. It was getting lighter but the sun was not yet officially up. Day was beginning but night was not yet finished. That's how I feel right now. There are opportunities peaking over the horizon but we don't know much about them except that they exist. And there is nothing we can do to make them come faster but we are confident that something will pop over that horizon. The moon is the reminder that we aren't out of the unknown yet. It's a reminder of the darkness of not knowing.

It seemed apt and helped me to get a better handle on where we are. Waiting, praying, hoping. it's not such a bad place to be.

two trains of thought, each with its own track

It has been difficult for me (Dan) to interact with this blog for some time now. Last night I realized, at least partially, why. I have finished seminary classes, and while that should be an exciting fact I find myself not so because I am waiting for a call into ministry. I do not want to bore others with my worries or doubts or fears, so I am waiting to update until a time when I have "good news". Well, it has dawned on me that it is also good news to be able to express the not so good news as well. Instead of hiding in a bunker-like mentality, waiting for the potential bombs to be dropped on my head I can actually get out and move. I am trying this mentality. While not easy, I feel it will prove beneficial.

I (still Dan) have been reflecting a lot lately. As previously mentioned, or alluded to, I have some time. Specifically, my mind has settled on friendship. More specifically, I have been mourning the loss of past friendships. It seems that it is a rare thing to possess other human beings in your life that (a) intricately know who you are at a deep level, (b) encourage you to live into who you are, and (c) have spent enough time in your life that, if they decided to become utterly evil they could destroy every fiber of your being in 10 seconds or less. From the best I can tell, I have two of those friends in my life right now. There may be others who become those types of friends, only time will tell. We havent spent that much life together yet. It's simple logic really. But, I have also lost, at least (and probably only) one such friend. This is a frustrating thing. It makes me wish that I understood the importance of other people in your life at an earlier date in my life. Of course we can all say that. It is that same cliche of 20/20 hindsight and whatnot.

too busy being fabulous

once upon a time, there was a nice couple who had a blog. And occasionally, they updated this blog. Not as often as they probably should have (assuming, of course, that people read this), but occasionally. And today is one of those days.

Much has happened since the last time we posted anything. I know I promised pictures but those will have to wait since I (annie) am at work and do not have access to any. AT least as far as I know. I'll do a little research.

here are the top 5 things since the last time we updated:



1. Dan finished seminary!!! He officially has a Masters in Christian Formation and we are now looking for a call. I'm so proud of him!

2. Christmas. It was the first time that all of my family and their respective significant others (4 out of 5 my siblings have an "other") were together for the holiday. It was great to be able to see everyone and especially to spend time with Adam who will be deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan next month. We also got to see Dan's family before and after Christmas, which was a nice change of pace from my parents super-crowded house. Things are much more laid back and low-key and it's a great place to relax a bit. (the hot tub also helps with that) :)

3. Dan turned 29!

4. As previously mentioned, we're looking for the next thing. I'm not going to go into much detail since we don't even have that many details ourselves, but things are sort of churning and we hope to know sooner, rather than later.

5. I think New Years is the other bigger thing. It was fun. We got to see friends from out of town, meet new people and stay up late. What more could you want??

And that is our life lately in a nutshell. Not super detailed, but it's something. And like I said, I'll do a little research to see about pictures. I might be back later today.