Goodwill Is Fully Awesome

Eric and I frequently visit our local Goodwill when we are need of an item that we think we could get used for a great deal. A few pieces of our furniture have come from there as well as halloween costumes and some of Eric's clothes. Today we visited because we decided to get a flat screen monitor to set up a desktop in our new apartment. We had seen one at Goodwill before but didn't have a chance to test it to see if it worked. It did work and it cost us $85.00. Come to find out, it's a $400 monitor! http://http//www.chicagocomputersupply.com/sosd17lcdmor.html

The next thing we looked for was a suit jacket for Eric because he is ushering at a friend's wedding this weekend and needs to have a jacket for the event. I was doubtful about this find because they all seemed to be XL or XXL. When I brought Eric over to show him the jackets, however, he put the first one on that I showed him and it fit perfectly! It also is a perfect match for his one pair of dress pants so we were excited to pay $7 for a suit jacket.

After this exciting find, I decided to go on a hunt to get him some new jeans because his have ripped. He tried on the first pair I gave him which looked great in my opinion and we both liked them a lot. I then decided to find him a polo shirt to go with his cool new jeans. He likes bright colors so we picked a green one. The jeans and polo shirt were also $7 each. Not bad! We came home and I cut his hair and then took some pictures. I think he looks pretty darn good!

Thank you Jesus that we did not have to pay $80 for a new suit jacket and we found a great monitor for our apartment.

Hotel Reinhold

Chris and I did the heavy man work but only I was sore the next day. I think it was because he wore a superman t-shirt and maybe because he is a little more manly. But it is probably just the shirt.

Moving was a lot of work and something Bethany and I were unsure if we really wanted to accomplish... but now we have officially upgraded from a one bedroom apartment to two bedrooms. We are so grateful to God for the people who came and helped us move. Most of the work was done by our pregnant friends and their husbands! Moving is such a more enjoyable experience when done with friends then when we moved our meager possessions in alone one year ago.

Here is a video showing the emptiness followed by the fullness.

We decided to move into a two bedroom apartment because of friends in GAP ministries who were paying hundreds of dollars to stay at hotels and eat at restaurants during their respite. We have worked out a deal with some house parents so they will donate to our housing costs and we will provide a place for them to stay on respite. The part of the house Bethany and I are excited about is twofold. We are excited about having a room for our instruments and computers. It also is nice to have a little more space to put stuff.

There is nothing better than cheerful help. I think Amy is holding a dozen items.

Bethany and Jenae finishing up some yummy pulled pork for lunch.

Check out this shelf. See if you can figure out how it is organized.

Praises: We were so grateful for everyone who came to help!

The Moving Begins

Today we packed. Tomorrow, with the help of many people and a truck, we will move to a new and bigger apartment.

July Happenings

After having a lot of fun traveling in June and then celebrating Eric's birthday, we settled back down into our regular work routine in the first part of July. We are very thankful to have been able to attend our church with the kids and set up our respite schedule so that we could attend our small group every week this month! It did mean, however, that we ended up working 4 respites in a row with only a day in between! On Wednesday we finished and were totally wiped!

During our days off in between work we were able to relax a bit as well as make a special purchase and figure out plans to move into a two bedroom apartment in our same complex. As you can see below, we found an 88-key digital piano on Craigslist and when we went to try it out, I was hooked almost right away. It will be great for practicing and keeping my skill level up. It also doesn't take up that much space and is light for transporting.

We also went to a Tucson Toros baseball game thanks to some friends who won the tickets and couldn't go. We didn't know that it was going to be $1 beer night so it was a little crazy and also very hot. Poor Eric didn't feel very good for most of the game so I think I enjoyed it more than him. We left before it was over but I loved watching a live game. I think our next sporting event will probably be this Sunday when the Yankees and the Red Sox play but we will watch it in an air conditioned restaurant with more beverage variety.

Our last news for July is that we are moving into a two bedroom apartment in our same complex on Saturday. The space will be nice but our main motivation is that the GAP couples don't always have a place to go with their families when they are on break and a few couples have really enjoyed using our apartment for the 5 days. Having another room will make it more practical for couples with kids and at least 2 couples have agreed to help us with rent because of our willingness to let them stay. We are sad to leave our nice quiet spot and view in the back of the complex but it's exciting to plan for more space and we will have a room for the computers and keyboard separate from our bedroom. Come visit and stay with us at Hotel Reinhold!

Praises: We have an opportunity to bless the people we work with by offering them a place to stay. We are thankful for God's provision of a good keyboard. We survived 4 weeks of respite in a row and now have 2 weeks off!

Prayers: Pray for the kids and parents as they transition back into school. Today was the first day for the kids down here. Pray that our move will go quickly and smoothly. Pray that we will be able to use our time off to invest in our developing friendships in our church and that we will be wise with our time and money as we set up a new place to live.