On the move

August 9^th we said our final goodbyes to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Edmond, OK. The day began with Adam giving his last sermon at all four services and then a potluck lunch followed. After lunch a special farewell and god speed service was held for us. The congregation shared stories from our vicarage that reached every emotion within us. We laughed and we cried. We received very nice gifts from the church and from some of the congregation members but the best gift are all the memories that we will hold close to our hearts. Adam’s parents attended all the festivities with us and helped take care of Audrey while she squirmed and ran around the gymnasium. Ellen had to return to WI but Steve stayed and helped us finish packing and helped with Audrey.

Packing seemed to take forever. What can I say; we are blessed. We picked up the moving truck on August 15 and started to load it with the help of some of the congregation. We had about 10 or so people helping pack up and the Collisons even brought lunch. We were so blessed by everyone who came to help. The truck was loaded by about 4:00pm and then the clean up began. We finally finished by about 6:30pm. We ate some dinner at good old McDonalds and started driving toward St. Louis, MO. We drove about 4 hours that night and stayed with a friend and pastor we know in Springfield, MO. Audrey pretty much slept the whole way. That was a blessing all on its own. They graciously welcomed us at 12:00 that night even though he had to get up and preach the next morning. It was nice to visit with them even though it was a short stay.

Sunday morning we had breakfast and then headed back on the road. Adam and Steve went straight to our apartment with the moving truck and Rachel drove to her parents home to drop Audrey off for a nap. The drive could not have gone better. Audrey did well and she seemed to stay in her routine pretty well. We had about 6-7 individuals-some seminary friends, some friends from our fieldwork congregation, and family come help us unload the truck into the apartment. Almost everything was out of the truck and then the sky opened up and it rained for about 30 min. When the rain broke we had our bedroom set to get inside then all was unloaded. Yeah we had moved again without breaking a thing. We are quite the moving professionals these days.

After the unloading process, we started to unpack Audrey’s room first. I figured it would give her the most stability. She really did well through the whole process and we are truly blessed that she was so cooperative. After Audrey’s room was finished, the kitchen and our bedroom were tackled. In the days to come we slowly but surely were on our way to settling in.

It really took almost the entire year to adjust to living in OK. Moving is a hard adjustment, whether you have lived there before or not. We had to acquaint ourselves with hwy 40 construction and figure how it was going to affect my commute to work. We had to relearn the operation and hours of the food bank and resale shop on campus. These are just a few of the adjustments.

Adam has been adjusting to the new schedule at Seminary. He is balancing caring for Audrey, reconnecting with fellow seminarians, and studying. Not a moment is wasted. He is enjoying the time he has with Audrey after class, but it is straight to the books as soon as she is asleep. Adam has also been finding time to play soccer and tennis this fall.

Adam has had plenty of time with Audrey but not a lot of time with me. I went back to work on September 1^st. I work at St. Luke’s Hospital as a RN on a Cardiac Telemetry unit. The only fulltime position that was available was an evening position. I leave the house at 2:15pm when Adam gets back from classes and I return around 12am. I sleep until Audrey arises and then proceed to take care of her while Adam is in classes. He gets home at 2:00 and the process repeats. On the upside, we don’t have childcare cost. On the downside there is not much family time or time for me to connect with friends. We are praying that a day position opens up so I can have more days/nights off to participate in Seminary activities as well as spend more time in the evening with Adam and Audrey.

Audrey seems to be adjusting well to the move. She is making friends and is enjoying taking walks around campus and to the park. She misses daddy when he is at school and mommy when she is at work but I think she is starting to get the hang of it all. She is still working on teething and this fall we will be starting to do a little potty training. Audrey has become more and more vocal these past two months. Her vocabulary has grown significantly and she is mimicking a lot. She is growing up so fast. She is able to climb up on the couches and she has learned to climb the steps up to our apartment. She has really grown over the past two months.

Hope this update gives you all a better perspective of how we are doing. I am sorry that it has taken this long to post but this was low on the priority list for the past couple months. Hope all is well with you and your family. God's blessings.