a quick visit...

Kristen's brother, Aaron, came down to visit us on Monday for a few hours (to drop off our mail from IN and to bring our wedding gift--thanks, A!). Even though he was only here for dinner and a walk around campus, we enjoyed the time we had with him. And, he never ceases to bring about laughter, so we were blessed by his presence!

We tried so hard to get a picture of the three of us...this one is with the camera propped up on the door of the refrigerator, supported by Viktor's foot...he's talented!

Thanks for visiting!

randomness...

Good morning...this is what we've woken up to outside of our living room window the past 2 mornings...these workmen have actually been eye-to-eye with our window as they've worked on chiseling the bricks (we're not quite sure what they were doing...but making a lot of noise). Viktor found it pretty amusing to have visitors at our window and took the opportunity to photo document it.

So we've been wanting some drapes and/or curtains to make our place a little more like home...however, on a tight budget, our options were limited. Well, a trip to Walmart hardly ever fails. I found some dark green fabric for $1/yard on sale and was able to make drapes for three windows in the living room...though the color is not our first choice, the price was worth it! Welcome to seminary life...

Here is Viktor hard at work on our stove that has been super squeaky since we moved in...I found him banging on the stove with a hammer this evening and at last he has fixed the noise! He was so proud, so I thought I'd show a picture of him hard at work!

the 4th week...

For those of you who are checking in...things are continuing to go well with us as we settle into life at Asbury. Viktor started his job this week and so far all the training has gone well. He has quickly adjusted to the schedule and is enjoying the opportunity to work. We met with Viktor's adviser today (who happens to be a former WGM missionary--small world!) and he received some good insight on scheduling and future studies at Asbury and to prepare for PhD programs. The appointment was supposed to be 20 minutes long, but lasted 1.5 hours...I guess you can say we had a good talk!

Kristen is still looking for jobs, though nothing solid has come about yet. As we talk with people more and more we're learning just how hard the job market is here...we mention a job that either of us has applied for and at least 3 other people we talk to have applied for the same position and on top of that, they know another 20 people that have applied for it too! (Ok, a little exaggeration with the 20 people...but we're not kidding about SEVERAL people we know applying for the same positions). Please pray that Kristen will not get discouraged and will have the wisdom and direction into various other possibilities in the area.

Everything else is going well and we're beginning to feel more and more a part of the community here by joining the library, visiting local parks, going on walks around to discover new things, and having people over for dinner. Tonight we were able to visit with Viktor's friend, Wes, from OCU that we randomly ran into on campus when we first moved here. Neither of them knew that the other would be here at Seminary, so it was fun to have him over and catch up on life a bit.

A little fun at IKEA in Cincinnati....



On the Purple People Bridge crossing the Ohio River...("Go Buckeyes"-Viktor)...

What can Mr. Brown do for you???

Just to update you a little bit...the job search is over for Viktor! We praise the Lord for a new position at UPS where he will be working the night shift as a package handler. Viktor is excited about this job and thankful for something that won't require too many hours, but just the right amount to work around his busy class schedule. He begins work on Monday! The bonus is a scholarship for UPS workers who are pursuing further education and full benefits for part-time employees...thank you again for your prayers and support during this week of interviews.

no news...is good news?!?!?!

Thanks for praying for us as we went for our interviews last night. Both of them went well (from what we can tell) and Viktor was even called back for a second interview tonight...so we had a quick dinner at the neighbor's and then headed back up to Lexington for his 8:30pm interview. He is supposed to get a call in a couple days. Kristen's interview went well and she will have to wait until next week for an answer as they had several other interviews to do before they make a final decision. So, we hope, as the saying goes, "no news is good news..." (does that saying work in these situations??? hmmm...) We've decided to take a break from looking, applying, and interviewing for jobs for a day and take a trip to Cincinnati with some friends tomorrow. We're leaving early, so we'll cut this short for now. Praise God for another beautiful day! We got a 1.5 hour walk in this morning and a sun-tan to show for it...but more than anything it was a blessing to be together in God's presence as we walked about the town and explored a local park.

You've asked for an update...you've got an update! We're doing well. This past week has been busy with applying for jobs, meeting with various advisers, visiting offices at the Seminary to make sure everything has been set up for Viktor to start in the fall, and of course, having fun with our new friends and neighbors. We've met some great people since we moved in 2 weeks ago. Mark and Janie moved in just one week after we did, so we've been spending a lot of time with them as we've all been adjusting to our new home. We've been doing a lot of random activities with them from working out, going on walks around town, going to garage sales, going to High Bridge park, walking to the corner store for 25 cent ice-cream, standing at the cemetery next to our apartment building discussing the headstones for long periods of time (there really isn't a lot to do in Wilmore!), and sharing stories about our lives over coffee. They have really been a blessing to us. We have also been blessed with being able to spend some time with our friends, Nathan and Cydil, and their daughter, Ellie. We actually babysat Ellie for several hours this past weekend and had a blast. She is such a joy!
Today we are heading up to Lexington where both of us have interviews this evening. We would appreciate your prayers as we look for jobs and wait for God to show us what He has for us. Until next time...Kristen preparing pancakes for our first house guests...

Janie and Mark have arrived!
High Bridge Overlook


Mark saving Janie from a fall in the cactus!

Transitions and odd experiences at ATS

We've hit our one+ week mark of living in the good ol' town of Wilmore, KY. We've met a lot of great people and are slowly, but surely, beginning to feel like this is home. We've accomplished all the fun things like changing our address, setting up accounts, finding our way around town (and then some), etc, etc. We tried to have an uneventful weekend to just relax, but of course that didn't happen...details and pictures to follow...but we did have a nice visit at a local church, where we were more than welcomed. Kristen interviewed for a nanny position on Monday and we're still waiting to see what details that might involve, and Viktor has been diligently looking for jobs as well. We've found our way to the gym to play racquetball and do a little running on the treadmill; we've had dinner with some old friends (the Waggoners) and dinner with some new friends (the Bevils). We've had flowers, bread, fresh strawberries, and strawberry shortcake brought to our door to welcome us--what a blessing! All these things have been wonderful, and we are grateful. At times we may get discouraged as we wait for things to come together, but we're learning to take each day as it comes and to deal with each new experience one at a time. We've laughed, we've cried, we've rejoiced, we've been frustrated, we've been exhausted...but through all of this we praise Jesus for bringing us here and for all that we know He is going to accomplish during this time. We are thanking him for new opportunities and new friends, but we thank him just as much for our friends who have carried us and continue to carry us in their thoughts, prayers, phone calls, cards, etc...they have really helped us.

Ok, now on to the Saturday morning (turned into day-long) extravaganza. Kristen woke up and made her way to the kitchen to start the dishes from the previous evening (yes, mom, we let them sit overnight...can you imagine that!), but as she started the water both sides of the sink started to fill and not drain. What a joy! Remember, we had only been here for 4 days at this point and we cannot even tell you how many times we had been told that plumbing is a major issue in our apartment building and that it should be considered urgent. Now, as we consider the day of the week (Saturday) and the location (Wilmore, KY...Bettie Morrison...FOURTH FLOOR, no elevator), we knew that our odds of finding someone to help were fairly SLIM! However, being the good tenants that we are, we called the after hours maintenance number (which rang at the local Asbury Inn...) and reported our "little" problem to the desk worker who went on to tell us that it would probably be Monday before it would be fixed...we sucked up the fact that our dirty dishes would continue to sit and pile up the rest of the weekend and went about our day feeling good with the fact that we had at least done our job of reporting the problem. Two hours later there was a LOUD knock at the door and our wonderful handyman, Jay, was here to save the day. Bless his heart (he left his wife and three kids on a Saturday afternoon to come solve our plumbing problem)! After 30 minutes or so, we hear him announce, "I THINK I GOT IT!" As we come in to see what it might be (hair, food, etc, etc), he pulls out a SPOON from the drain!! Now, you may not think this is funny, but you have to understand that the holes on the drain are hard to even get a pea to go down...let alone a SPOON! We still laugh, wondering how on earth a spoon ever got down our drain to clog it. Below are some pictures of that beautiful spoon (complete with growing stuff), which Jay recommended we try and polish up for future use...however, it went out with the trash 5 minutes after it was pulled from our drain.