Well this is my past post from "home" as I currently know it. As of tomorrow, home will be Coffs Harbour, Australia. I am so so so excited, but I won't kid around - it's hard. The worst of the goodbyes began today. Charles and I had a great day at the Genesee Country Village (a working 19th century village) with my best friend Kate and her husband. It was a hot day, but beautiful and we learned about the printing press and went through beautiful gardens and a big octagon-shaped house (and all the houses were local, which is cool) and saw a woman spinning wool and another weaving the winter coats for the men at the village, so that they won't freeze, come fall. We walked on stilts and played with chalk in the one-room schoolhouse, and the coolest thing was, we got to watch an 1880's baseball game. It was cool to see these guys playing with no mits and these cute little hats and long sleeves and pants (i felt bad for them). I felt like I had left the 21st century for a minute - especially when the umpire went up to the women in the stands and asked their permission for the men to role up their sleeves, since it was so hot. We just don't have propiety like that anymore. For either gender.
The hard part was saying goodbye. I know that 2 years isn't forever, but it seems long when you realize that your best friend's toddler will be going into kindergarden when we get home. weird. Life changes a lot in 2 years, even if it goes fast. I mean, 2 years ago Charles and I didnt' even like each other! :) However, I'm so grateful that I live in the era of e-mail. I can't imagine waiting months for a letter from home.
So thus ends this chapter of life and begins the new one. Here are some pictures to commemmorate the last day of this chapter.

Charles and I had a fun time at a playground about 5 minutes from the museum. We thought we'd kill some time since we were early. This was a little airplane and we were simulating our trip tomorrow. Hopefully we won't be quite that smooshed together! :)

Kate and I. Boy am I going to miss that girl. But we made it through the 4 years she was in the Air Force, so this should be a breeze.

Our traditional "ending of an era" pose. I must have dozens of these! Sometime I need to scrapbook them all.

Alrighty, that's all from the northern hemisphere. Next update: Oz. Woohoo!! :D

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..."

Well, almost. Just a few more odds and ends to be packed. But we're mostly done. And we have maybe almost sold our car and we have spent time will friends and family and will continue to do so the next 2 days.

2 days. That's it. It's unbelievable. I'm so excited, but the closer it gets the harder it gets. I love it here.
So my nerves have been somewhat short and it has been wicked hot, so my temper has been somewhat short -- and i think it will be good to just leave. But we have done some really fun things like Buffalo Wild Wings with my parents, I saw my roommate yesterday, we met a friend from college at Timmy HoHo's, and tonight we're hanging out with my high school gang and tomorrow going to the Genesee Country Museum with my best friend and her husband. (AND my dad is making me swiss steak for dinner! woohoo!) :) It's busy busy busy. Good thing we packed all our bags yesterday.

God has been so good to us. He's provided all the money we need, and we are even able to get into the dentist today (on 1 day's notice) for super super cheap. Which we needed desperately. He is so faithful. Looking back I'm ashamed at how much I doubted and see how silly it was. If this is God's will (which it certainly is, without a doubt), then he will provide the means (which He certainly is, without a doubt.)

We said goodbye to work on Wednesday. That was sad. The people there were wonderful and great to work with. They were so good to me (and Charles) and I'm sure going to miss working with people like that. Once again, another huge blessing in my life. They threw us a surprise good-bye party. It was a blast. But bittersweet.

Well, I think i was going to post one other quick thing, but now I can't remember. If I think of it I'll post again later. For now, it's time to go get some things done. :) Ciao.

Sunday marked one week until our departure – and what a way to spend it. We spent time with my parents canoeing Hemlock Lake and had a little gathering after church to say goodbye to everyone. But most importantly, in church we were prayed over and commissioned by the members of the congregation. We are so blessed to be backed by such support and encouragement – from both our churches. It’s such a joy to know that we are being prayed over fervently from both sides of the globe. God has blessed us so abundantly, as always – even when we don’t give Him the credit He deserves.

On a different random note, yesterday morning I was in the bathroom getting ready for church and for some reason began pondering the different clichés that people use all the time. (Don’t ask me why.) But I ended up trying to decide which ones were the true and which ones are completely off. I began contemplating the phrase “love is blind.” It sounds so nice. And I understand that if you love someone and they are in an accident or some such thing, your love can see beyond their physical deformities and you can still find them beautiful and be hopelessly attracted to them. And in that case, fine. Love is blind. But in any other sense, I think I find it to be a bunch of malarkey. Love is not blind. The blindness comes when you are in the first lovey-dovey stages of attraction or “like.” That is the time when the person you like is “oh so perfect” for you and there is nothing about them you don’t like. But as you grow to know them and grow to love them (because I don’t believe that it is something that can occur instantaneously) the cataracts fall from your eyes and you begin to see that person clearly. And no matter how wonderful that person is, because they are human and you are human, you will begin to see things that don’t fit your ideal – things that you didn’t see before, while you were in your “Like is blind” state. But love doesn’t help you ignore those things. Instead, I think love is more like glasses. It helps you see the person for who they really are – not what you want them to be, and it is what gives you the strength and the courage, not to turn a blind eye toward those things that don’t match your “ideal”, but to look at them head on, choosing to love them wholeheartedly, cherishing and accepting them as they are, and if anything, praying that God will change your heart, that you will grow to love those things about them that at one time drove you crazy.

I guess that’s all I have to say about that. =D

This weekend Charles and I drove down to Newburgh and New Paltz (near Poughkeepsie) for a wedding. What a weekend, let me tell you. First off, the hotel was okay. There were no bugs in the bed or old candy wrappers on the floor, but I don’t think I’ll be staying there again. One thing that really bugs me is false advertising. We picked that hotel for 3 reasons. 1) It was fairly close (1/2 hr) from the wedding site, 2) we got a pretty good AAA discount, and 3) it was supposed to be wicked hot and the hotel had a pool. Well, there was a pool alright --- with no water in it.
So the swimming did not occur.
But we still had fun. We bummed around the mall for a bit, ate dinner at Friendlys (including an incredible Forbidden Chocolate Sundae) and saw Pirates 2. Good times. We also realized right after we ate, that there was a taco bell (not listed in the yellow pages) and a dairy queen right down the road – which was what we had been craving. But it was all good.

And of course, all good weekend should have some little glitch. On the way to the wedding we stopped to get gas (which is way more expensive down near NYC) and somehow, in my trying to be helpful, my elbow must have hit the “lock” button. So we went to get in the car and were oh so happy to find the doors locked with the keys in the ignition and my purse (including my cell phone and AAA card) in the front seat. We ended up called the New Paltz police and then waited until they came to let us in. (They sure have some cool little gadgets. I want them.) In the meantime, some friends from college drove by and were like “wow – that’s the police. Oh my goodness – that’s Chuck and Cherith!!!” So they pulled in to see if everything was okay, or if we were being arrested from smuggling heroine into the wedding. ;) That ended up being nice because we went to the wedding together. And we didn’t end up being late at all. So all turned out well.

And the wedding… let me tell you. Wow. If Charles and I can ever scrounge up a few bucks for a 10 year anniversary or something, we are heading back to Mohonk Mountain Resort. It was this enormous palace-like place with extensive gardens, little benches and huts every 100 feet or so, stone trails and a lake situated at the very top of this mountain. Your bedroom window either overlooked the lake or the valley, with an incredible view of the rest of the Catskill Mts. on the other side of the valley.
The wedding itself was small, simple and beautiful. The bride was beautiful and the flowers were beautiful. The food was amazing. After the wedding (which was outside in the gardens despite the heat) there were tons of hour devours (did I spell that right?) and then a huge meal including lamb (which I had never had before and is very good). Oh, and did I mention that we got free valet parking? Talk about feeling super important! :D
The jazz band that played for the reception was really good. The singer?? Eh. Not so good. But not really terrible.
And to top everything off, an aged Tinkerbell was at the wedding, with her 2 daughters. No joke. This woman got out of the car in front of us with this blue and purple, lower cut fairy dress on. She even had sparkles in her hair. I thought she must be a teenager or something – since the girls who also got out were young (probably 13/14) and dressed the same – super short skirts, plunging necklines, etc. I figured she was just a little older than them. But then she turned around… and she was a middle aged woman (maybe late 40’s) with reading glasses. She looked like a fairy godmother. Charles and I just burst out laughing. What on earth are people thinking these days? It blows my mind.

Ending note of randomness, a friend of mine e-mailed me a link of a girl named Cherith Anne who is going to be a freshman at Houghton next year.

How bizarre is that?!

The past couple days at work we have gotten in discussions about names, and the fact that there seems to be a current craze with giving your children “unique” names. I myself have a unique name and I like it. But things are getting a little out of control. Here are some actual names (no joke) that parents have given their children. (And these were not found on the internet, either.)

Grandbear
Plush
Sir and Mister (who are twins, by the way)
Lemonjello and orangejello (siblings – pronounced lemónjello and oránjello [sort of
Italian sounding, isn’t it?])
Godlovesu (called Glu for short)
Stupid (pronounced Stupeedand my favorite...
Asshole (pronounced Asholee à Ashley)

Some parents are smoking a little too much of something when they name their children. Or they are just very, very bitter people. Or just plain dumb. It reminds me of that Johnny Cash song, “A Boy Named Sue.”

However, then there are the parents who want their kids to have unique, but happy names. And again, these are real names.

Praise
Immaculate
Wisdom
Knowledge Divine

Still weird, but it sure beats Asshole or Lemonjello. :D

My aunt Karen said that sometimes in Africa, parents will just pick an English word that they like, or the month/day of the week they were born, and that is what they will name their children.
Hmm… I’m getting some good ideas!!! ;)

Not really perplexing, but I needed a P word and it was the only thing I could think of.

Things are moving full speed ahead now.

Charles and I worked so hard on Saturday. We woke up and deep-cleaned our entire house, packed the car full of stuff, took it to my parents’ house and cleaned the old LHS, trying to make it look pretty so we can sell it. We also stayed and had pizza for Lauren’s birthday (my brother’s friend). We sat and talked and laughed and laughed. It was fun. And productive. A good combination.

Sunday we observed the Sabbath and had a whole day full of R&R (and lots of eating). As a thank-you gift to the Hoyt’s for lettings us live there so long for so cheap, we took them out to dinner in Batavia. It was a place called Alex’s and I’d never been there before. Oh my goodness was it good. Charles and I got the Baby Back Ribs early bird special which included a half-rack of ribs, soup, salad, potato, coffee/tea and 99cent shrimp cocktail. We ate so much. And Charles ended up getting a whole second ½ rack because a quarter of his was burned – so instead of giving him a quarter more, he got a whole rack. Needless to say, the food was superb, and the service was excellent. The afternoon found me reading the end of C.S. Lewis’s “The Last Battle” which makes me cry every time, and long for the day of Christ’s return, or the day I die – or whenever it is that I will leave these “shadowlands” and go to live in the presence of God forever and ever! It’s a beautiful story and I love Lewis’s view on what heaven is!
Then we sat around a bonfire with the Hoyt’s eating brownies with Andes mints melted on top (yum!), having good theological discussion and playing some badminton. Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. (Although right before bed I got really sick for no reason, and even though I was never physically ill [thank God], I slept on the floor outside the bathroom til 4:30 this morning. It was actually very comfortable and I slept quite well!

This week’s agenda includes working everyday (both of us), packing up the house and making as few trips as possible to Lima to get moved in, staying at a hotel (with a swimming pool!) in Newbourg on Saturday and going to a wedding on Sunday near Poughkeepsie. I’m excited. It should be a fun, fun time! And very busy!

Through it all, God is so good and so present in everything that we are doing! I’m excited about this new beginning which is moving toward us very quickly! :D

It seems that times when I have a lot to post about, I have no time to post. I only do now because I have to help my hubby with the phones while everyone is in a meeting. It actually gives me a minute to sit down and think, since I"ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off this week.
First things first, we got our flight arrangements today. We leave the country on July 30th. Woohoo. Things are starting to pull together. Charles and I will finish our last days at Hillside on the 26th. It's been a fun ride, but I'm looking forward to moving on. And it looks as if we may have bought a car. It's a little bigger than what I hoped for, and a little more expensive, but it's a newer model (which hopefully means fewer repairs) and this way we will have more room to take people around who come to visit us. (hint, hint!)
We're psyched.
God has been so good to us and has worked through people to bless us abundantly.
We spent this past weekend in North Carolina with Chuck's parents. I just love his family and the people at his church. On Sunday morning we went to his friend's church. It's an Episcopalian church and it's great. The rector is wonderful and I cant' get enough liturgy. There is just so much reverence for God in that setting. But they didn't neglect to talk about Jesus or the Holy Spirit. They had us come up to the front and laid hand on us and prayed.
On Sunday night we went to the Church Charles grew up in (I got to hear him preach for the first time in my life - he's good!) and they had us come up front and everyone gathered around and laid hands on us. They also took a love offering for us. They are always just so loving and caring and have done so much for us. And the people make me feel so welcome - there is no awkwardness being there. :) We stayed with some friends from church while there, had lunch with Chuck's old youth pastor and some other good friends who gave us good advice on being a couple in full-time ministry and also had dinner with another wonderful family (who also let us invade their pool all of Monday afternoon [and encouraged us to go skinny dipping, if we felt so inclined!]) They are funny! It was great and we were blessed.
My parents have also been an incredible source of encourgament and blessing. I can't imagine having any other parents in the world. I know it's time for me to totally grow up (and I"m sure my dad is glad to finally get me off his car insurance) but it's going to be tough being so far away. They have done so much for us, especially lately - letting us borrow their car until we leave (instead of having to rent one) while our car is out of commission, and letting us move into their house while they are on vacation (which will save us 40 miles of gas a day)... they have just been huge blessings. And besides the whole money thing, they have just been a constant source of support and advice and love... They're great and I love them!
And my husband has been steadily been pulling things together with the church in Coffs. He manages to stay so calm in spite of everything that needs to be done! He's great too!
Well, time's up. I gotta get back to my post! Keep praying!

I will officially live in Australia!