failed blogger again :/

Oh wow.  Here we are almost three months later.  I confess that I'm not the best blogger...especially when it comes to being consistent.  A lot has changed in the Barb household the last couple of months- including the Barb household.  Eric and I bought a house!  We had been looking since the middle of the summer- and went out probably 5-6 different times to see many homes in our area.  We actually put a rushed offer out in early August (when we found out there was another offer, so it was our only chance), but realized that we were not into playing the games that this 'for sale by owner' had.  So we kept looking....and then finally stumbled across the house that is now ours!  I like to refer to us as 'home owers' instead of 'owners' because we are far from owning this.  It's crazy when you look at the sheet with what you're actually paying out over all those years.  We even bought something at the very bottom of our price range and are actually saving money compared to what we paid in rent.  So I'll show you a picture of the little guy (on the outside) and then will hopefully get pictures up of the inside soon.  It is an old home (from the 1950's) in a great area of town that has lots of old homes with character.  It's actually on the same street as the first house we put the offer on.  We painted and got new carpet before we moved in and it seriously made a huge difference.  It has some fun features like a fireplace in the living room and built-in cabinets in the dining room.  We have moved down to only one bathroom, but the bathroom has been completely remodeled in the last 3 years and even has heated floors!  The major thing I would want to change is the kitchen.  It has green counters and an old, old green stove.  We plan to do a complete kitchen remodel somewhere down the road.  It is 1 1/2 story, Cape-Cod style.  The upstairs is really neat too- just needs a little love put into it, so that is probably in the future too!  But here it is from the front....

isn't it cute? the yard could use a little lovin' though...

We also finished our marathon last month!  It was such a great experience and we couldn't have picked better weather.  It started out around 50 degrees and was just starting to get too warm in the last couple of miles.  We also reached our goal of raising $1800 for 'His Voice Global' to go for building a 4th orphanage!  Several of our students came and watched us, so that was fun to see them at different points along the route!  I was definitely ready to be done by the end of it, and would have told you that I've completed my marathon and have no desire to do another full again.  It's funny though how you can forget those feelings- and in the back of my mind, I think I might want to do it again sometime in life.  I guess we'll see!

before the race in downtown STL

our cheering section after the race

The last thing I mentioned in my last blog was that I was going to work at the new Chick-Fil-A.  Well, about three days before we opened, I became a manager.  It has been a fun experience so far-- not that all days are easy or enjoyable, but I really like working there.  I have definitely been learning a lot about leadership and business.  It is hard work and we have been really busy.  It has also given me the flexibility to continue to work with the Student Ministry Team!  I work early in the day, so I finish early and still have the opportunity to get other things done.  I feel like I could probably blog about CFA though-- just all I have learned and experienced.  I come home and tell Eric stories everyday.  Like yesterday, for example, the outside door leading into the restaurant fell off (onto the sidewalk) at about 11am right as the lunch rush was starting.  Oh joy!

And I really do want to get better about blogging....so here's hoping that it's sooner than later :)