Suite Life

Life as we know it is quite different nowadays!

If you remember, I posted at the end of last year (link) that we would be moving from Nebraska to Pennsylvania for Dan's job. Well, that relocation is now *nearly* complete! Our house got packed up at the end of May and we made the drive across the country from Lincoln, Nebraska to Easton, Pennsylvania over Memorial Day weekend. 

However, we did not secure a home during our March house hunting trip to Pennsylvania. That means we were left with finding temporary housing until we could secure a more permanent solution. Cue "The Suite Life of the Clark Family"!

Since we arrived on May 27th, our family of 3 has shared a two bedroom, one bathroom hotel suite smaller than my and Dan's first apartment! 😂 We hope to close on a home here by the end of July but have the hotel booked until mid-August, just in case. Let me tell you, it has certainly been an adventure!

So if you ever find yourself in a hotel for a long-term stay, here are my favorite tips for loving the "suite life":

1. Don't overpack! Your room will probably end up being smaller than you think so be as ruthless as you can when packing. I'm pretty sure we all overpacked a little on clothes but thankfully the storage has helped it not be too much of an issue. 😉 I most definitely overpacked lightweight jackets and sweaters. Scour your hotel's website to see if they have a list of what's in the rooms along with diagrams of the layout. Especially if there is a kitchenette, check what they keep in it so you know what you don't have to bring. We also checked with the front desk when we found out that they have items they can lend to guests. That said…
2. Pack something that will help it feel like home. This is especially true if you are going to be there an extended time like we have been. I brought some artwork that friends had given us as going away gifts along with my essential oils (which the moving company wouldn't pack anyway) and a compact diffuser to use with them. I even packed my crock pot to make cooking meals in the room a little easier. All of these have helped bring a bit of beauty and familiarity to our temporary home.

   

   Beautiful gifts from wonderful friends

3. Unpack! Make use of all the closet and drawer space in both the bedroom and bathroom. It feels much better pulling clothes out of a drawer than it does a suitcase. Related to that…
4. Stow the luggage. Once you've unpacked, make use of every space and corner to get your luggage out of the way. Nest it inside each other and stuff it in the corner somewhere. The more you condense it, the more space you have to move around the room.
5. Don't feel like you have to get it all right immediately. Figuring out the storage situation will take time. We had things lined along the kitchen wall behind the entrance door for weeks before I figured out better places to store them.
6. Get to know the staff and make use of their resources. It has been fun getting to know the staff at our hotel. Shay at the front desk has been indispensable in helping us, Willmary in hospitality gave our munchkin crayons and pictures to color while I got done work done on the hotel computer, and Jason in maintenance helped to quickly fix some issues in our room. We figured out pretty quick that we needed more hangers and that a place setting of 4 was not enough silverware for us, even when we try to use some plastic silverware. A quick call down to the front desk landed us some extra hangers, forks, and spoons. Don't be afraid to ask! The worst they can do is tell you no or that they don't have what you need. If you're there long-term, it definitely pays to make friends.
7. Be flexible! Some things are out of your control or the staff's control! After six weeks in one room, the roof started leaking and we had to move to another room that same night. Most things that have happened are merely an inconvenience and not any fault of the staff's. The more you can roll with the punches, the less stressed you'll be about things that are outside your control anyway. Control what you can (your emotions and actions, etc) and don't stress about what is already in God's hands. As some military friends taught us, "Semper Gumby!" 

That's about all for now! It has certainly been an interesting 7 weeks so far and we probably have about 2.5 weeks left before we are fully moved out and into our new home! I know I'm definitely looking forward to having a full-size kitchen again and my own bed to sleep in! Until then, I will continue to be grateful for the ways God has provided during our stay here and pray that closing goes smoothly!!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Meghan

Six Years

This September, we celebrated six years of living in Nebraska! I love Nebraska. This is where we've spent the majority of our married lives so far. This is where my son was born, where I became first a stay-at-home wife then a stay-at-home Momma. We bought our first house here and made it a home. We've made friends and walked through pretty much every major life-changing event with them from weddings to births to funerals. I have really loved living in Nebraska.

But… (you knew it was coming, didn't you?)

We won't make it to 7 years. God (and GSK) has seen fit to open the door for us to relocate for Dan's job. Where you may ask?

New Jersey.

Or at least that's where Dan's office will be. God has a sense of humor because this was one state I told my husband where I didn't really want to live. I guess I've been spoiled by the slower pace of life in the cornhusker state. ;) Nevertheless, this is where our next adventure is heading.

Thankfully, we have time. With Munchkin's school year and especially the medical testing and surgeries I've been undergoing, the company is giving us some leniency in the timing of our move. We're looking at a late spring 2019 date as our departure time frame which gives us ~6-7 months right now, give or take.

So we're forming our bucket list for Nebraska alongside our to-do list for New Jersey. One of the things that's been hard for me to process is that we've already had so many “lasts” here in Nebraska and didn't even realize it. And now that I can realize it, I'm an emotional mess as we continue to experience more “lasts”.

We have truly enjoyed our time calling Nebraska “home”. We will always carry a piece of it with us, no matter where we may end up. And we will certainly always carry our friendships and the people we've met in our hearts. Thank you for being a part of our journey and this chapter of our story.

Here's to the next chapter and more adventures!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Meghan

A Room of His Own

It's been forever since I've written! We are finally getting the hang of this stage of parenting...but who knows how long that will last! In the meantime, I am trying to find some time to blog a little bit again and I'm starting with the promised nursery pictures! I've shown you the paint job, now it's time to reveal the whole room! 

Now as I'm sure you'll understand, the room has changed a bit since we actually brought our little guy home. We lived with it for awhile and discovered we could make it work better for us so we did some minor adjustments. We also received a gift for his wall that required relocating one picture.

But without further ado, here it...was!

 

Believe me, it feels like a lot has changed even though it's not terribly different...

We added a dresser that we had in another room when we realized those bins under the changing table were better for items other than clothing. The lamp and book sling/"shelf" swapped as well so that I had a table surface near the glider. The aforementioned picture moved to add another one.

So now here's a more recent look at the nursery :) (Excuse the mess. I do have an 9 month old after all.) I want to do some name art for the wall above the crib, but I'm still deciding on what exactly.

We have already enjoyed many snuggles and giggles here along with some sleepless nights and tears (from both us and Little Man). This room is already full of so many memories and I can't wait to see what new ones we will fill it with in the coming months and years!

Thank you, everyone, for your patience in getting this up and getting back to blogging! Hoping to start posting more regularly again as we continue to settle into this stage of parenthood. :)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Meghan

Moving Day!

It's the follow-up to Closing Day (finally)! :)

The day after we closed on our house, friends descended on our rental to help us move our stuff!

Our moving truck...not sure why NC is associated with Venus Fly Traps...

We rented a truck and one of our friends helped direct the loading of the two truckloads of boxes and things that we moved to the new house. We prayed the weather would hold out since it was pouring earlier in the morning, but by the time everyone had arrived, things had cleared up considerably and there was no rain the rest of the day! What a blessing! Also thankfully, we still had boxes left over from our move out here and about one-third of our stuff was still packed from that move too. :) That made it much easier to get ready for the move.

Mostly unloaded now

Our friends were such troopers! They carried boxes all over the place and no one complained when lunch was a little late (store remade a couple pizzas that got burned). They were truly a Godsend for us. Being new to an area, it can feel hard to ask for help or can feel like no one will be willing or able to help with such an endeavor. But I was praising God that day for all the wonderful friends he has provided us since we moved to Lincoln.

Goofing around :)

Thank you to everyone who came and helped us move into our first home! You made it such a smooth process and a wonderful welcome to homeownership! :) Now to just keep unpacking all those boxes!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan

Closing Day

Well, I guess I owe you, my readers, some updates. :) A ton has happened in the past couple of weeks!

On Friday, May 24th, Dan and I closed on our very first home!

It was pretty exciting! We had to make a last minute stop at the bank on the way there, since we'd been given an incorrect amount for closing costs and had to pick up another cashier's check for the difference. Otherwise, it went really smoothly and quickly.

We spent most of the rest of the day at the new house taking care of business. Our realtor helped us get our locks re-keyed and we had to have an electrician come by to drop an extra electrical outlet in the basement (part of the inspection fixes). We also stopped by the Salvage Warehouse nearby and purchased our washer and dryer, a wonderful used pair with large capacity at the price one of them would be new and they work great! Who knew you could be this excited about appliances? ;)

So now the settling in process is in full swing! I'll draw up another post to tell you all about moving day and our wonderful friends that came out to help us. Let the adventures in homeownership begin!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan

Make Me an Offer

Friends! I am so excited to tell you that we are in the process of buying a house!!

We have been searching for months and at times I admit it was really discouraging to see multiple houses in a row that were all a bust. I specifically remember breaking down in tears in the converted attic space (1/2 story) of one house as I wondered if we would find something in a reasonable time and before our current lease ran out.

Well, we did! I even remember telling Dan the night before we saw our house that I thought it had potential based on the listing and pictures. But then we drove to it...and I realized where it was located. I began to second-guess myself. The house was fabulous...but would I be okay living on the edge of town?

I thought about it, slept on it, prayed about it. Then I Googled it. Turns out the house is no farther from anything than where we live now and it's in a more established neighborhood! It's even closer to some things that we are now. Then of course there's the benefit of it being our own home, not a rental. 

So I asked if we could see it a second time. We saw it the first time on a Tuesday (in bad weather so we couldn't really look outside) and then again on Friday. In between, it turns out someone else submitted an offer but the owners allowed us to still see it again so we could submit an offer.

So we took the plunge! We saw it again then sat in a Subway to immediately draw up the papers. We even waited in the parking lot while our realtor called the listing realtor and let her know what our offer was. With one adjustment to the closing date, our offer was accepted!

So now we are knee deep in mortgage paperwork, making insurance appointments, and attending inspections. Things are going smoothly so far and we hope it continues that way! We're pretty excited and are slowly beginning the process of packing the non-essentials. I am excited that this will hopefully be the last move for a while, Lord-willing!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan

Letting go of "Not The One"

Well, friends, our house search has been going in earnest. We've seen seven houses so far with two more on the schedule for tomorrow evening.

But today was the first time one of the houses we had seen was placed under contract. This particular house was the one we had placed at the top of our list so far but were still not "sold" so we kept looking, figuring we'd come back to it and revisit the idea if there was nothing else.

Granted this house was not "The One", but it was still the one we had seen so far that we considered a best fit for us. Not only that, but it was the very first house we saw in our search. After seeing the other six houses, we kept coming back to this one, even though we knew there were still things we wanted to change and felt (along with our realtor) that it was overpriced. It was on the older end of the spectrum and needed a little work, but all feasible.

Despite deciding that, while it was the top of the ones we'd seen, it wasn't for us, I was still slightly crestfallen when I found out it was under contract. But there have been some positives in our search. After speaking with the loan officer, we've decided to expand our search a little by raising our price limit. There is plenty of stock within our price range, allowing us choices in what to see and the ability to exclude those whose layout we have completely discounted (i.e. split foyer/entry).

So we continue to press on. It's a first, but really minor disappointment in our search. We know that God has a place out there for us, we just have to persevere in finding it.

Soli Deo Glori,
Meghan

The Hunt is On!

Let the search begin!

On January 22nd, we had our first meeting with a realtor here in Lincoln, NE. While slightly depressing learning we couldn't afford as much as I originally thought if we wanted to keep our monthly payments on target/budget, it was still a very informative meeting and a good chance to start getting to know our realtor.

We've been looking at listings he's sent us and got to see our first ones Saturday morning! We had originally picked out seven from the initial list of 28, but now two of them are under contract and one has been taken off the market to be rented. So we were able to see four different places around town. We immediately eliminated at least one of them but it was a good start to our search. :)

We are really excited to start this phase of our lives. I'm already starting to imagine painting and fixing up a place so that it suits us and becomes our home. Now just praying that God will lead us to the right home and give us wisdom as we work through the process.

Look for more blog posts in the future as we walk this path as first-time homebuyers! :)

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan

"NEw" Observations

Now that we've been in Nebraska for almost four months, I've learned several things about myself and my new surroundings that I thought I would share. :)

#1: I learn my way around a lot faster when the streets are in a grid system.
See all those nice roads that have numbers? They're all going north/south. See that road going east/west in the middle, labeled "O Street"? It's the north/south delineation for road names (N. 14th vs. S. 14th). I've been able to go out now without the GPS several times and know that I could find my way home. :) It's quite the feeling of accomplishment.

#2: Skunks seem to be the most common form of roadkill.
Don't know why...all I know is that I try to avoid them whenever I see them. No sense making my car smelly.

#3: If you have to go out, never leave the house until after kickoff on football game days (home OR away).
If it's a home game, then everyone is getting to the stadium. If it's an away game, everyone is out getting snacks or heading to friends' to watch the game. Either way, it's really much less crowded on the roads and in stores if you just wait until after kickoff. :) In a similar vein, make sure to be back again before the game ends.

Not our actual garage

#4: We love having a garage!
Our townhome has an attached 2-car garage and we are so enjoying the convenience and comfort of having it, especially when it snows.Makes it a lot easier when you don't have to clear off your car the next time you want to go out. We've so enjoyed it that I think it's going on the "must have" list when we start looking at homes.

#5: Hobby Lobby is A-MAZING!
Oh my gosh, I had no idea what I was missing! I had heard rave reviews from friends that had visited a Hobby Lobby before but had no clue what was in store for me when I visited for the first time. I've loved making return visits for yarn, home decor, Christmas items, and crochet supplies. I love it...and I really hope the government stops harassing it...

Well, that about sums it up for the first batch of lessons and observations from NE! :) I look forward to seeing what else I will learn in the months and years to come as we explore our new home.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan

Following A Call

When we moved out here to Nebraska, we weren't just following a job offer, we believed we were following a call. For months, we had been praying that God would show us if we were to remain where we were or if we needed to move in order to follow His leading for our lives. He made that answer pretty clear when Dan lost his job and then got the offer here in Lincoln.

And now we're taking the next (slightly scary!) step towards the life we believe God is leading us towards.

Today was my last day at my job.

Ever since before we were married, Dan and I had discussed how we wanted me to be able to stay home when we had children. But we also talked about how it would nice if I were able to stay home even before children came into the picture. And now we get to make that hope and dream a reality.

We believe this is the life God has called and led us to live. Each step has been covered in prayer, each conversation lifted up to our loving heavenly Father. God has been guiding us in this as we have sought to live by Proverbs 3:5-6:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

God has straightened this path as we've walked it in the past couple of weeks. We're excited to see what He has in store in the weeks and months to come.

So after 4 years at Booz Allen Hamilton, I guess there is only one things left to say...

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan

More USPS Fail

Some of you will remember this post from two years ago about a pretty amusing FAIL on the part of the postal service. More recently, you might recall my post about our mail situation here. Well, needless to say, they've done it again :)

The day after I posted about picking up our mail at the post office, I went in and was told they had started delivering mail to our new mailbox down the street. I was then given a letter telling me how to get my keys...

Anyone know where I can find the "reality" company? ;)

Meghan

P.S. 200th post!! :D Yay!! :D

This is the Stuff

I think it was my mom that first mentioned this song to me...

The day I actually heard it in the car I think I called her (or texted) to tell her how awesome I thought it was. It's a great song, catchy melody, and meaningful lyrics. But sometimes it goes deeper...

Last night, God brought to my mind some of the lyrics that were all too appropriate for what I've been going through lately:

"In the middle of my little mess, I forget how big I'm blessed."

And that is so true. I've realized it especially lately as we settle into life in Nebraska.

Now that we've made our big move, I'm starting to think about the next steps and the next phases in life. And sometimes, I get a little ahead of myself and find myself missing out on what's happening now because of desiring things that are yet to be.

I find it's especially hard to reign this in when the things I'm desiring are called "blessings" by God in Scripture. What I'm beginning to realize and trying to internalize is that, while these things may be blessings, they are most blessed when they come in God's timing.

So while I desire what is good, I will continue to wait for God's perfect timing in choosing to bring such blessings into my life. Because "this is the stuff" He will use to continue to grow me and draw me closer to Him and I trust that He knows exactly what He's doing even if it's not what I would choose. :)

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan

Going Postal

I have really enjoyed settling into life here in Nebraska. So far, besides being in a new town, not much has been different. We still go to the grocery store on Mondays, church on Sunday, and date nights on Fridays. Saturday still usually involves one football game or another for either Purdue or Maryland. Laundry and dishes are still getting done and we are still renting our place.

But there was one thing I wasn't prepared for...

Rural mail delivery

I'm trying Mr. Mailman! I promise!

I knew we were moving into a new development but mail delivery never crossed my mind until the day we signed the lease and moved in. Turns out the builder hadn't installed the mailbox for the street yet...and the mailman had no idea when they will.

So for now, we trek down to the local post office carrier annex and wait at the service window while they retrieve our mail. It's even gotten to the point where I know the gentleman's name who is usually there and he recognizes me to the point where he no longer has to ask for my ID each time.

It looks like this will change soon since the boxes seem to have been installed at the end of the street a couple days ago. It's been quite the adventure though and has given me a glimpse into some of the differences I will continue to find as we settle into life in Nebraska! :)

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan

Road Trip!

Phew! Well, we made it! We are settling in at our new place in Nebraska and trying to find our new routine.The trip cross-country ended up being a lot of fun and we really enjoyed visiting family and friends along the way.

We started with a two night visit to the Inn at Ragged Edge in Chambersburg, PA. We had purchased a AAA deal voucher for two nights and were planning on going for Valentine's Day 2013, but that wasn't going to work out for fairly obvious reasons ;)

Beautiful exterior

Exploring the wraparound porch

The voucher included tickets to the museum at Gettysburg, so we went to check it out and do the auto tour drive around the battlefield. My history buff hubby was in his element explaining things to me and was only bummed that his torn achilles kept him from climbing the observation tours for a better look :)

Part of the Cyclorama at the Museum

Saw this gal by the Virginia memorial...she decided we weren't much of a threat :)

View from New York Memorial on Little Round Top out over Devil's Den

After two relaxing nights, we started crossing state borders!

And got to see Sarah!! She gave us a tour around Cedarville after we helped her "escape" campus for the night for dinner. ;)

From Ohio, we headed north for the weekend to Michigan where we spent some time with Dan's parents and met our friends' new baby! :)

Late birthday celebration :)

We were in town during the Midland Balloon Festival!

We went to the evening balloon glow which was awesome :)

Meeting Isaac!

All smiles :)

After a weekend with no driving, we headed south so Dan could show me around his alma mater, Purdue University.

Another state line! This rest stop had lovely, huge sunflowers!

In front of the ChemE building

The Engineering fountain

From there it was westward, ho! (I missed a couple state border photos over the course of the trip when I was driving.)

Never did see a welcome to Nebraska sign so Omaha will have to do.

And then we moved in! It was nice to finally be off the road and able to start setting up home at our new place. We are still getting settled in and waiting for the 2nd part of our household goods shipment but it's starting to feel like our home. Just still got to figure out how we want to arrange everything still ;)

My wonderful new kitchen :) It's less cluttered now than this.

Hanging the door wreath :) I changed it as soon as we found the fall one.

Taking a break from unpacking.

Thank you all so much for your prayers as we've traveled and started to settle in. It's been quite the transition and the love and support of family and friends has helped to make it a little easier.

We look forward to sharing our adventures out here in the plains of Nebraska as we explore and settle into our new town! "Adventure is out there!"

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan