I realize that my last post, however personal and intimate, did not answer many questions that you might have had...and many people have asked. So here it is, the very fluid, somewhat planned plan (you can never really plan what God ultimately decides).
We ARE finishing out this fall semester.
In the next few weeks, over Thanksgiving break, we will be traveling back to Minnesota and Wisconsin for a short visit. We'll be driving our Taurus, packed with stuff, to Jason's parents' house. As we are planning on settling, at least for the near future, around the Forest Lake, Minnesota area, we will be making quick trips to this area throughout the break to look at apartments, jobs and get a feel for the area. We will then leave our car and fly back to Colorado. This way, we won't need to drive separately when we move. We'll have one truck and a car hitched to the back.
We've picked this location because its proximity to both of our families, the great job market, and its easy trip to the Twin Cities for even more job opportunities. It is located near the boarder between Wisconsin and Minnesota, right on one of the main highways of Minnesota.
Most of the rest of the plan depends upon what we discover during our Thanksgiving trip. Our move date will depend upon the lease that we sign. If we can't move in until January then, of course, we have to wait until the end of December to move. If we can sign a lease and move in mid-December, then we will be leaving RIGHT after the semester ends.
There is a kind of job placement company that has an office in Forest Lake that Jason will be working with. When we had lived in St. Cloud, MN Jason landed a job through them. He has a great record there and is confident they will have something good for him. He is praying that he will be able to get a nice enough job that I will be able to stay home, at least most of the time.
While Jason is working we are going to continue to apply for youth pastor positions at churches in the midwest region. Hopefully we will find a great church and a great youth group! We are very excited about this as Jason has had youth on his heart for as long as he can remember. This has always been his calling and his dream. In the meantime, I have looked up a few churches in the area that we would love to check out. Once we settle in a church in Forest Lake we're going to make it a priority to be involved with the youth group. I would love to start an infertility support group or something like that.
I am planning on working part-time. There are a few coffee shops that I would LOVE to work at. And I am certain that there is a health care facility that is in need of PCAs for clients. I would love to have the opportunity to work with a few more children with developmental disabilities.
After we get the ball rolling with the foster care applications and adoption process I might have to stay home. And honestly, I really wouldn't have it any other way. I cannot imagine putting a child, who has just been through the system, into daycare where many things are not stable.
I am also planning on couponing!! Yes, I may even be on the TLC show myself. I hope to be able to feed our little family with heathly food through gardening, canning and overage through coupons. Anything extra from my couponing adventures (laundry detergent, toilet paper, food, toilettries, dish soap, etc) I hope to be able donate to a battered women's shelter or to our church for outreach.
I will also be taking over the family "business" of craigslist and freecycle deals. With me home during the week I will be available to make calls to claim possible deals and even pick up deals (in well-lit, populated places of course). I will also be able to frequent the local Goodwills for more possible deals. Jason has made so much money through these little ways that I'm sure that I would have no problem making at least a little bit here and there.
Along with laundry (with my own home-made detergent, thanks to KRISTIN), making my own soap, baking homemade bread, tending to my window garden, researching adoption and fostercare, sewing all things fabric...I should be a very busy thrifty, frugal woman!
So that's the little very flimsy "plan" for now. All we know is that we will be in Minnesota by January. And could very well be adding to our little family in as little as six months from then!
Keep reading!! Get ready for some amazing stories, adventures, blessings, tough times...it's going to be your basic after-school special meets young adult drama with a bit of Little House on the Prairie mixed in, and hopefully without any amount of The Walking Dead (except on Sunday nights at 7:00)!!
God is good!
(To my seminary friends and students: I will ALWAYS be researching and learning, especially about grief and loss; coping and healing from infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth and post-abortion. So if you ever need input, resources, referrals to good reading or websites, or an experienced perspective -- I am always happy to help! Just because I'm not going to be in school does not mean I don't want to help!)
(And a special thanks to my vintage housewife friends for helping make this transition exciting and peaceful! Can't wait to visit with you!)
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