We Have Arrived

After 12 hours in the truck, Lindsay and I finally pulled up in front of our very own apartment, in Ithaca, New York. We have not had a place to call our own since our honeymoon, and that ended about 7 weeks earlier. We were so tired, and yet so stoked to be there.

Our faithful friends and teammates came to help us unload at 8:30pm. We had everything out of the truck and into our apartment by 10:00pm. They even setup our new bed and put on sheets for us so we could just crash! What a blessing.

So here are some photos of our apartment in, what I affectionately like to call, the 'dynamited stage'. There is just stuff everywhere, but we are slowly working on reducing it to a minimum for now. We are acquiring pieces of furniture to put some of this 'stuff' into.



This is the 14' Uhaul truck that we drove from Mankato, MN all the way to Ithaca, NY. That 2 wheeler on the back is the dolly that we used to haul Buster, my Dodge Neon the whole way. (Not really as much as a hassle as I thought, thankfully.)



Obviously, at this point we just needed to start trashing some stuff.



This is our 2nd bedroom with attached bathroom. While Lindsay spent almost the entire day in the kitchen unpacking, I primarily spent my time unpacking and braking down boxes. Yummy.



It is becoming livable, more and more each day.



This is our bedroom.



The view from the bedroom into the living room/dining room. (Or will be when we get a dining table.)



This is the living room.

P.S. Please forgive me for the poor photographs. I have a hard time posting noisy, blurry, washed out photographs. But, it is the best I could do.

We Made it to Michigan

The following are a series of photographs from August 12th through the 13th. Loading the truck all the way to driving to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I will share the rest of the story in the next post. Enjoy.



This is Marcia (Lindsay's Mom) and I, posing with our 14' Uhaul truck. We had most of our stuff from Mankato, MN loaded in the truck at this point. We left the next morning (August 12th) for Rochester, MN to load all the stuff at my parents house there.



This is Lindsay and I posing like the 'American Gothic' painting by Grant Wood from 1930. Classic.



Lindsay and I with the truck fully loaded, before we leave.



Matt driving from Mankato, MN to Rochester, MN on August 12th.



Lindsay sleeping as I drive from Mankato, MN to Rochester, MN.



Some of the classic views of southern Minnesota as we drove.



We had just arrived in Rochester, MN at Matt's parents' home.



Matt driving for copious numbers of hours in that same position.



Lindsay, a little more awake this time around. My faithful companion in the journey. The journey that in total ended up being about 23 hours in the truck from Mankato, MN to Ithaca, NY. Glad to be here!



We arrived in Grand Rapids, MI and celebrated a wedding. Lindsay and I put on our best duds. Lindsay wearing a custom made silk dress direct from Wuhan, China that her brother had made for her during his time there. And, I was a groomsmen.



This is a photo of the happy couple, J and Amy. Lindsay and I had the privilege of driving around the happy couple after the ceremony. J and I were on the Navigator EDGE Corps program together at the University of Vermont together for the last 2 years, fall 06-spring 08. We had a great time with them.

Loading the Truck

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meghanandnick/1628541174/

Well, the time has finally come. Sometimes it seemed like it would never come, so far away. But here we are at last. We are leaving for Ithaca, New York this Wednesday!

The Lord has been gracious to us and provided 67% of our budget goal so far! We are so thankful for all the folks who have prayerfully & financially partnered with us thus far. With 3% more, we will be able to minister full-time on campus for the first 6 weeks.

Please continue to pray for 100% of our budget goal by August 21st! (If not 100%, at least our 70% minimum.) Please continue to pray that the Lord would lead us into financial partnership with new churches & individuals who would catch our vision for ministry & the Gospel!

Also, please pray that we would be able to connect with potential churches and individuals by phone. As most of our fund-raising at this point will now be done by phone.

We have almost completely packed up Lindsay's things here in Mankato, MN. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we leave for Rochester, MN to load a few of my things from home. Then, Wednesday morning we will drive our 14' Uhaul, with Buster (our Dodge Neon) dollied behind it, to Grand Rapids, MI (9 hour drive) for a friend's wedding in Holland, MI. We will stay there for a few days, then Saturday we will drive the rest of the way to Ithaca, NY (9 hour drive).

We are anxious to have our own space to settle into, to unpack, relax, and begin a normal routine. We are also anxious to bond with our staff team & get acquainted with the city.

Please pray for all the details of packing, moving, and our travel to MI & NY.

This may be our last post before we arrive in Ithaca, NY. Thank you all so much for your faithful partnership in prayer for us in this challenging & exciting time of transition!

Because He is able,

[M&L]