Well, it's been awhile since I've posted. A lot has happened. Sam and I have been really enjoying ourselves (for the most part). The Wheaton psychology grad program had a Wirley Ball night the day before halloween. Sam's class dressed up like the characters from Willy Wonka. Sam went as Mike Teevee (the little cowboy kid) and so I also dressed up as a cowgirl. I don't know if you can see it in the picture but Sam has a golden ticket in one pocket and a remote in the other. He was pretty cute. Some of his classmates dressed up like Oompa Loompas (or however you spell it), Willy Wonka, and Charlie. His class won for the best costume theme.

Yesterday was our anniversary. We spent the weekend in Shipshewana, Indiana. It's Amish country and it was a lot of fun. Friday and Saturday we had beautiful weather. It couldn't have been more perfect. We spent our time going to different shops, we ate some delicious pretzels, drove by lots of horse drawn buggies, ate some marvelous chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes, and learned a lot about Mennonites and the Amish. It was a very special time.

Thanksgiving is coming! I am so excited about going to TEXAS! It's kind of weird being the one traveling to see my family. I'll be a guest at my own house. lol. Only nine more days and I'll get to give my family lots of hugs.

Bunny Trail

Ok, so a few weeks ago, on a cold and rainy afternoon, Jill and I were heading to the store when Jill pointed out a really cute little bunny hopping around in the bushes outside of our apartment building.

Upon observation, we decided that the bunny was NOT a wild rabbit (the main clue was that it was white with black/brown spots, and that it casually hopped about 10 feet away when we approached it, rather than disappearing into the underbrush). We looked around and realized that no one else was paying attention the rabbit, and we decided that it had probably been let go or escaped from someone. We also surmised that it probably wouldn't last very long in the wild, so we decided to catch it and give it to someone who could take care of it.

So, about an hour later (and having used a carrot as a threatening tool rather than a temptation), we managed to trap it in a box. Then, we were like, where can we take this thing? We aren't allowed to have pets inside of our building (on pain of eviction), and we weren't sure if any of our friends would want it. Then, Jill remembered what looked like a small, private pet shop down the street from our apartment, so we took it there to see if they would know what to do.

Well, this pet shop turned out to be a huge chain that sells an astounding variety of fish and cuddly animals, and they took the rabbit off of our hands after we told them the story. The guy we gave it too (I guess he was some sort of manager) told us that he would talk to the store's breeder to see if she could take it.

Ok, so it would seem that the story ended there. But wait! We went to the pet store on Sunday to check out the animals, and what would we happen to see but a rabbit...In a cage on the floor... Apart from the other rabbits...That looked mysteriously like the rabbit that we had brought in...For FIFTY DOLLARS!!!

Is that crazy or what? I have checked out their web site, and they say that they have staff veterinarians that check out all of their animals, so it is possible that the $50 is just their having to pass on vet fees and maybe medications. But come on, who pays $50 for a rabbit? When I was in 4-H, I only paid $15 for my high-quality breeding stock rabbits, and we only managed to get $1.25 a head when we sold their prize-winning (adult) offspring! Now, this was not a special rabbit that we had found. It wasn't a lop or rex or one of the more exotic varieties of rabbit (they had mini lops in another area specifically for bunnies). This thing was just a white rabbit with some black and brown spotting (which you can pretty much make by crossing a meat-variety Californian with any dark-colored variety of straight-eared rabbit). Anyway, just had to get that off of my chest and celebrate the irony of it all!

The Changing of Seasons...

Well, autumn is a beautiful, fun season. I love the crisp air and the changing leaves. Pumpkin farms, scarecrows, and bon fires... It's just fun. It has been pretty cool here this week. It was in the 40's most of today and is supposed to get down to 28 degrees tonight. But it will warm back up and be in the 50's most of next week. Sam and I wanted to give you guys a little taste of the fall season here in Chicagoland. So, we took some lovely pictures, but they're not loading so I guess I'll try again later. If all else fails, I'll post the pictures on facebook. Love you guys!!

New Music

In case you listen to the music on this blog, you may notice that I have put the first tracks for my playlist as a bunch of existential songs that question the meaning to life. I think that this is an important thing to question. What are you living for? What is the purpose to your life?

The Bible teaches that we are created to be in a loving relationship with God. Unfortunately, everyone has sinned and created a rift that makes this relationship possible. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, was murdered by the religious leaders and government of his day, and rose from the dead so that we could come into relationship with God and have eternal life with Him. The only other alternative is eternal death and torment. For more information, check out http://followchrist.ag.org/

Sam

Good Morning Illinois

Okay....so I (Sam) realize that we haven't posted at all for the month of September, and I thought that it may be a good idea to post today, before the month runs out. Oh, and I also got a year older in September, which was nice! Jill surreptiously organized two birthday events. The first was at some new friends' house (we met them at church), and we basically had a football party. They officially made me a Bears fan with a nice new t-shirt! That was the day before my b-day. On the night of my birthday, Jill took me out to Macaroni Grill with some friends from school as well as some other new friends from church, and we had a good time. Jill also got me Risk (Vintage Edition, with wooden block armies instead of men, horses, and cannons), which we played for several hours over two days. I am very thankful to the Lord that He has blessed Jill and me with such good friends and surroundings at this time in our life.

Other than that, we have pretty much spent our time getting acclimated to the area. You know, finding out which grocery stores are best, going to the library, getting involved in church, making new friends, adjusting to the weather, etc.

On the weather note, this August and September were probably the most comfortable Summer months that I have ever experienced! We generally had weather in the 70's, with cool nights. Then, a day or two ago, we got in a little storm that blew in some cold weather, and I was wearing my heaviest coat to go outside yesterday morning! It's a little warmer now (supposed to be in the high 50's today), but I have a feeling that we will soon be getting a taste of this famous Illinois Winter!

So, that's pretty much what has been going on. We are planning on flying back home for Thanksgiving, and hopefully one of us will publish before then :-)

Good Night, Texas

Well, it became official today. Jill and I headed down to the local Secretary of State's Office and, after several lines and a written exam, traded in our Texas driver's licenses for a set of new ones...we are now residents of Illinois (registered to vote and everything). It is weird to be changing states, but we are probably going to be here for at least the next four years, so one can imagine the difficulties involved in trying to stay Texans that long!

We left Texas last week and made it to Illinois after a two-day drive. The rest of the week, as well as pretty much all of this week, has been one long vacation. The vacation ends Monday, when Jill will have to go to work, and I will have to start school. I need to find a part time job as soon as I figure out what my schedule will be like for school. There is a family style diner near our place, and I have a feeling that going back to the restaurant scene may be the best-paying part time job available to me at this time. There's been a little sticker-shock on some of the prices of goods/services, as well as some of the taxes, but that has already started going away, and we are beginning to realize that the differences are not really that great once we know where to look. Jill's parents have also been with us since we came up, and we have a new GPS for our car, compliments of Jenny O. The weather has also been very agreeable.

Well, it is about time for bed. In short, we can see the hand of the Lord in our move here, and we are happy and excited to be here. We'll try and keep you updated, especially if we start seeing any of that mythical white stuff reported by many to mysteriously fall from the sky to the earth in these parts (I have heard that this substance is frequently referred to as "snow").

The end is near... Or is it just the beginning?

Lian, Lavin, & Krissy

Us on the 4th of July


Wow... things are crazy right now. There are so many decisions to make and not enough information to make them. I guess that's just how it is when you are moving to a place that is 1,000 miles away from where you are. Right now we are trying to find the cheapest truck rental.

We took a trip up to Chicagoland last weekend. The goal was to hopefully find a job and a place to live. I had a job interview and they scheduled me for a second interview over the phone (which I just now completed). So, I think I got the job. When we were wrapping up the interview, Melinda (my possible new boss) said she was pretty confident that I would be hearing from Amanda (my other possible new boss) with a proposal of a position and pay so that we could negotiate it. I was so excited and relieved when I got off the phone. Phone interviews are so nerve racking.

And we looked at a few places to live while we were in the area. It's expensive up there! So, we just have to wait and see about the job and how much money we'll have and if someone else takes the cheap basement apartment we looked at... Maybe I'll have more info in a couple of days.

The pictures are from the 4th of July. We celebrated it with Lian & Krissy in Granite City, IL.

Well, I better get back to my school work. Adios!