YESS!!!!

I've been waiting for ALMOST A MONTH to post this!

The good news that we have been waiting for has finally come today! Matt interviewed with John Deere (in Waterloo) a month ago and was offered the position today!!! We are both SO excited. We have been (somewhat secretly) waiting to hear this news. Matt will be a manufacturing engineer in the "heat treat" part of the downtown Waterloo location. It has been our plan to move to Cedar Falls for a few months now, but we were waiting on this awesome news. We are currently in the process of trying to sell our house which will be the final step in our process. For now we will at least be able to drive only ONE car to Cedar Falls instead of two cars going opposite directions. Yeah for saving money on gas!

We have begun our search for a house in Cedar Falls. A few weeks ago we looked at 7 different houses around town with our realtor. We found one that we really liked, an older 2 story home with squeaky wood floors ( I always loved that sound) and a great new kitchen but 2 of the 3 upstairs bedrooms don't have closets... so we like it, but don't love it. Other than that our search didn't produce anything to our liking. We will continue to look with our realtor but have jointly decided that if we sell our house and haven't found anything that we're in love with we will A)try to rent an apartment on a month-by-month basis B) move in with good ol' pops for a while (yes Dad, that's you!) We just know that we really want to find a house that we're in love with and can stay for a long, long....long time, and not just settle on one that is "ok". (Matt has insistently told me that we will NOT be moving again soon. Can't blame him I guess. =)

It's amazing how things just seem to "pull together" at the right time. It's so hard to sit back and have faith that everything is meant to happen when it happens, but it's amazing to look back on things and realize just how perfectly God has planned things for us. Another exciting thing for us is that we just completed the membership class for Orchard Hill Church so we are now both members at that church. We are looking forward to getting involved with the church, which will be MUCH easier living in the same town. We just joined a small group of young married couples and have had a lot of fun getting that started. We also have volunteered to help with some committee"ish" things at church. Matt is looking into helping run the computers/tech stuff for one of the services and I am hoping to get on board with the wedding coordinators at the church. (I know... you're completely shocked because I really don't like weddings, ha! I love weddings and can't wait to get started!)

So that's our good news for now, hopefully the next good news is that we've got an offer on our house!

Amazing movie!

**Ok, so this isn't the original post that I've been waiting for a few days to post, but I really wanted to share this one too, so I'll keep on waiting to get the other WAY MORE exciting one up soon!**

I'm not usually a huge movie buff, but Matt and I saw an amazing movie last week that I feel compelled to share with everyone! The movie is called Fireproof, and it is a must see in my opinion. Here is the info on the movie:

Fireproof is the story of a firefighter, Captain Caleb Holt, who lives by the old firefighter's adage: Never leave your partner behind. But, after seven years of marriage to his wife Catherine, their own relationship is failing. Neither one understands the pressures the other faces. As they prepare to file for divorce, Caleb's father challenges his son to commit to a 40-day test called "The Love Dare." Caleb starts it, but more for his father's sake than for his marriage.

When Caleb discovers the book’s daily challenges are tied into his parents' newfound faith, his already limited interest is further dampened. Even though he wants to stay true to his promise, Caleb becomes frustrated time and time again. He finally asks his father, "How am I supposed to show love to somebody who constantly rejects me?" When his father tells him that this is the love God shows to people, Caleb makes a life-changing commitment to love God. And, with God's help, he begins to understand what it means to truly love his wife. But, he is unsure if it's too late to "fireproof" his marriage.

I know it sounds a little bit cheesy, but it really was awesome! The movie was produced by two brothers who are both pastors and most of the cast are volunteers from their church. It was such a good movie that Matt even went out the next day and bought the book, Love Dare (same book that the movie is based off of).

Click below to watch the trailer. I know that it is not playing in Cedar Falls yet, we actually went to Cedar Rapids to see it, but I'm assuming it will be coming soon!

patience is the key...

I promise I have a great post just waiting to be, well...posted! Just be patient my friends, I'm waiting for the "ok" sign, then I'm hoping to get it up on here in the next day or two.

Fingers crossed!

on the crazy train

I posted earlier in the summer that the teacher across the hall (Renee) and I have decided that we would get our Master's together. Our original plan was to take 2 years to complete it, like most sane adults would choose. And then we attended a meeting with the head guy of the master's program here in Iowa and he told us that if we really wanted to, we could graduate this July.

We contemplated it and then decided, SURE... WHY NOT?!? So now we are on the crazy train of classes. Taking between 2-4 classes at a time. We are currently in 2 and will be starting our research class at the end of October, which... we are both dreading. We will then have to complete our research and paper over the next 6 or so months (while taking 5 more classes in the spring), because of course we wouldn't want the normal 9 months to do it!

And on top of it, Renee and her husband Drew are expecting their second child in February, so I guess I shouldn't be the one complaining. =) All of this will lead to a week long class in July in Wisconsin (where the University is at) and graduation on July 17th, 2009. Dear lord will we ever make it....

So if my posting starts to fade to once a week (oh wait, that's all I'm finding time for now!) then you will know that I'm alive, just stuck in some corner reading or doing other crappy grad work.

Enjoy this beautiful fall weather for me... because unfortunately I'm guessing I won't have much time to enjoy it this year. $5,000 pay raise... $5,000 pay raise and a chance to move to a new position... I just need to keep the goal in mind! =)

OH, I almost forgot to share this. The house that we really wanted (the crappy boarded up one that we loved, see picture below) got an offer last week. We haven't heard if they accepted the offer or not but we're assuming it's sold. =( Only 2 tears were shed, and now we're on the hunt again. AND we have someone coming to look at our house next week, YIPPEEE!!!