Boxes and boxes of chaos

Since this week was spring break for Evan and my dad was home all week we decided to finish off the storage unit. On Saturday we borrowed my dad's truck and went down to Salem and got our bed (finally a comfortable queen!) and a few other things. His truck isn't the biggest so we were going to have to make many trips it would seem. Tuesday we took his truck down as well, but Wednesday we decided to rent a budget rental truck and just finish the job off. Driving down to Salem everyday was too much and we had to keep having my sister and dad watch Jeremiah all day, which messed up the poor kid's routine.

So Wednesday we packed up the whole storage unit and paid the last of our dues. When we left for Yakima last year we thought all of the things we put into storage we our important, couldn't live without, belongings. Now when we look at the things we saved we just see junk. It is kind of hard to get rid of your whole life's worth of stuff, but a bit relieving as well. To come back here after a few years and to just have a few boxes in my parents spare bedroom sounds a lot nicer than boxes upon boxes of things to unpack and repack... Frankly I am tired of packing and repacking.

Anyway, we packed up everything and brought it home, to my parents house that is. My parent's living room is now trashed, I mean stacked to the ceiling, with all the rest of our belongings. We managed to give away most of our big furniture to my sister and a few things to my parents in exchange for rent, but we still have a lot. We have been going through each box and making piles of things to save, take, give away or sell. The problem is that we are doing all of this in a house that is already furnished and full. There is no room for our junk while we sort. So life is chaotic at the moment. It is also extremely hard to sort all of these things with a one year old. He can be very helpful at taking things out of boxes and putting things back in, but soon he wants to play with something from the boxes that he is not allowed to play with and a fit ensues. The poor kid has been extra emotional lately anyway I think from all the changes.

So here we are practically giving our life away for free to whoever wants our stuff. Let us know if your need anything. We probably have it and will need to part with it soon.

Let it out

I love this video! The song by Starrfadu is wonderful and the commercial makes me a little mushy inside. Enjoy.

Guest Blog: Jeremiah's First Digit

Jeremiah, our son, hit his first digit today. And since this is (at least to us) a momentous occasion, we thought that I (Evan, Jessica's husband) would have the honor of blogging his day.

The actual birthday party won't be until this Saturday, the 8th of March. Still, there are still some pretty exciting things that occurred today:

• The first thing didn't actually happen today, but one year ago on this day. One year ago at 12:35 pm in the Birthing Center of the Silverton Hospital, my son took his first breath of fresh air. At that point he was already 9 months and 2 days old (he was 2 days late) and was ready to continue his growing, but this time on the outside of mommy. And so with much joy our son went from his mother's belly to her chest. He's remained there many days since. I suppose, since he was already alive 9 months and 2 days when he was born, that means he has been alive for 21 months and 2 days. He's already an old timer.

• The second exciting thing about today again wasn't today, but a year ago. You see, our beautiful baby boy was born on a special day. A math day. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a history teacher through and through, but a little math distinction is kind of cool in my book. Jeremiah was born March 3, 2007 or 03/05/07... which are three consecutive prime numbers. And, he was born at 12:35 in the afternoon. If you divide 12 by the number of fingers (not including the thumb) on Jeremiah's left hand (four), you get 3. Then if you divide 35 by 5, you get 7. Or in other words, our son was born at 3, 5, 7 on 03/05/07.

• The third thing that I would like to share about today actually happened today. For some reason, as though his mind and body knew that today he was one years breathing, Jeremiah has made leaps and bounds in his development. Its all in the little things too. One example is that normally in the bathtub he is very docile. Not tonight! Tonight he started splashing and splashing and splashing. And when I would tap my hand on the side of the tub, he started doing it right next to mine keeping perfect time. Also, when I told him to put his toys into the tub at the beginning and to take them out at the end, he did so with such understanding and seemingly happiness. He seemed pleased to follow directions.

These are not the only things that I've noticed about my son today, but they are a few of the cute things that have just warmed my heart. It is a great privilege to be a father. Tonight, watching my son play in the bathtub, it was almost as though I were watching myself. It was surreal but very pleasant. I have the joy of raising my son. In a sense, I am raising myself. That's one digit down. Let's make it to two.

News, news, news...

On Monday Evan had a Skype phone interview with the principal at the Cikarang middle school, along with the principal of the high school who was also present. It started at 8pm our time (11am their time) and lasted an hour and a half. The principal, Eric Semler, was really nice and went into a lot of detail about things. They asked a lot of questions, but Evan did an awesome job answering them and really showed his teacherly ability. By the end of the interview Eric said that Evan was just what they were looking for and was a good fit for their school and that "this is a job offer."

We were a little shocked. I figured it would be a long wait again with the constant check of emails and the daily reminder that "it is 8am in Indonesia." But there it was, a job offer. If he were to accept he would be teaching 9th and 10th grade Language Arts and Social Studies. He would probably also be involved in some after school sport as well. We told him we pretty much knew our answer, but would pray about it for a few days to make sure and then email him back. We will probably email him tonight with the answer.

INDONESIA! We knew it could really happen, but it's hard to believe it really will be happening. There are still some concerns, such as having the baby. The school can't cover us with insurance when we get there. We will either have to pay for having the baby ourselves, which might work since it is a cheaper standard of living, or me possibly staying behind and Evan coming to get me and Jeremiah and the new baby in October when they get a week break. Eric was going to find out the prices for us to have a baby there and get back to us. We have to really get going too, there is so much for us to do before we go. We need to sell everything in our storage unit, buy a bunch of stuff, do a lot of planning, sell the car... etc, etc.

The only really hard thing to think about is leaving family. Our families would be happy if we stayed here and yet we would be miserable. If we go, we will be happy and our families will be upset. My parents are having a particularly hard time with it all. My mom worries a ton about things and this is like a worry hay-day for her. Also they have had Jeremiah here for almost a year and refer to him as "my baby." They wouldn't see the new baby in person for at least a year, but possibly two. Hard things. I keep thinking about what pastor Keith has said in the past. If you are following God, sometimes those around you will have to make sacrifices and suffer for your obedience. It's true and a bit sad all at the same time.

Since this is getting long, one last thing. Today Jeremiah is one year old! Can you believe it? My baby is not a baby anymore, but a toddler. It goes by so fast.

The Waiting Game

We finally heard back from Indonesia. It was not the day after as we were hoping, but a week later. Evan emailed the principal and politely asked if we would be hearing any new soon. The principal responded saying that "staffing was a complex process" and especially since he was talking with the other schools about their positions as well and so who know how long it would be before they could nail down an offer if they had one.

Then the email came and it was not the one we wanted. "It looks like I will have to use my last expat position elsewhere and will not be able to offer you a position in Karawaci. However we feel you are the kind of teacher we are looking for within our organisation so I have passed your application on to Mr Eric Semlar the Principal at out Chikerang campus. He may well have a vacancy that would suit you."

After all the waiting and hoping it seemed like there would be no position at this school for us after all. The principal had made it seem like we had more of a chance than I guess we did. Evan emailed the Chikerang principal, but it is kind of like starting all over with another school. Application, references, interview...etc. He also might have a position available. Needless to say we were a bit upset and disappointed (he emailed at the end of the day Indonesia time which was about 12:30am here). Then a few minutes later we get another email from this principal. "Evan, sorry. I may have a position open. I'll email you tomorrow."

What? You just said there was no position. We eagerly awaited an email the next day, but to no avail. It was then their weekend so we are waiting until it turns Monday morning there to see if we might hear what position he might have available. We are both losing patience with the school and the process of job hunting. If they have a position we want them to offer it. If they don't we want them to tell us it is over so that we can move on.

All in all it looks like the waiting game will continue another week.