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.