what's going on

So the last weekend of January Erik and I headed out to Chicago to see friends, play in an alumni volleyball game at Moody and attend Founders Week at Moody.
Erik was only able to stay for the weekend but I stayed until the 6th and if you were watching the news at all you probably saw that Chicago got a slight snow storm....only a few inches shy of the record blizzard in 1967. I had never seen so much snow in one day! There were a lot of businesses closed for the day...snow was EVERYWHERE. The road I stayed on in china town was a two way road with cars parked on each side....it was now a one way with cars snowed in. CRAZY.
There is nothing you can do but go have fun, tromp around in the snow and laugh at the craziness. I had to go buy new boots because mine were soaked. So many businesses were closed or understaffed that it was very hard to find some...and now I have some new boots that I won't be using in Tucson anytime soon.

While I was in Chicago for the week I attended Founders Week at Moody which was very refreshing to just worship and soak in God's word.
I had a ton of fun hanging out with friends that I hadn't seen in about 6 years and some I hadn't seen in about 4 years. It was a very enjoyable trip...can't wait to go back.

While Erik was there I was able to give him a small tour of Chicago...the skydeck on the "Sears" tower, the Bean, the signature room in the Hancock tower, Ed Debevicks,lots of Chicago style pizza, Harvest Bible Chapel...it was a small tour but very fun.

While I was in Chicago we had a bit of a surprise in Tucson...our pipes froze...why the heck would you put pipes OUTSIDE of your house? really?! I guess that's the way they build houses down here with some pipes exposed. Anyways...at least it's a rental home.

Now that we are both back safe and sound....I was able to complete my health coach certification!! I am excited that I have this part of my education complete and I'm excited to learn more.
I also got a job at a restaurant at http://www.tohonochulpark.org/wordpress/dine/ it's a desert nature preserve park with a restaurant on the property...it's pretty nice.
I started work yesterday and so far so good...I do covet your prayers as I walk into the environment there are a lot of lost and hurting people that work at the restaurant. I think I hear the "F" word about every few mins and gossip that tears down one another all the time. It's hard not to get caught in the political side of the place...I just want to be different around them. Someone who shows them love and appreciation for who they are...love them where they are and opportunity to show them truth.

You may be wondering how Erik's job is going...well...HE LOVES IT. Which is a huge relief as we moved here with a lot of unknown. It's great to know that it can be a promising future for us here.

We are also in the process for looking for a church family. Fortunately and unfortunately there are a lot of churches down here. We have some great prospects but we are being prayerful as to where we should be. We know God has a bigger picture of why we are here so we don't want to miss where God wants us to be...in obedience.

We still feel like we are on vacation and waiting to go back to Portland...not sure when we will feel like we are home...some day.

So I think this is my longest post ever...hope you made it through my ramblings.