Friends

This weekend was filled with seeing friends. Joel came home from Boston for the weekend, so we wanted to get together while he was home and we all go our separate ways. We had yummy tacos in our apartment, went bowling at Hudsonville Lanes, and then played Boxers and Briefs back at our apartment.

It was good to see everyone before everyone moves away. Jon and Suzy are already in Indiana, Joel's in Boston, Eric's moving to Florida, and we're going to Arizona/Detroit. We missed Nick and Kelly, but they were away for their anniversary. We did end up seeing them Sunday night though. It was a fun and busy weekend.

We had Easter dinner with my parents which was good. Yummy ham and potatoes. :) This week brings with it a lot of homework since there's only about a month of this semester left. I'll be glad to be done with my class and have a bit of a break this summer. I think Brian's looking forward to graduating from Ferris too.

Life After Arizona

Yesterday Brian and I took a day trip to New Hudson, Michigan which will be our home beginning the middle of August. Our goal was to look at different apartment complexes and see if we could possibly find a place that we would like to live once we move that way.

We started off looking at a pretty junky place and then a really nice, but really expensive place. We then went to Cummins (where Brian will be working) and signed some paperwork so that we have a contract with Cummins and UTI for his schooling in Arizona. We then went over to the nearby hospital so that Brian could take a drug test and physical. He passed both. :)

We then visited another place which we were not qualified to live in, but the woman was from Kalamazoo and directed us toward some other apartment complexes we didn't know about. We went and visited a couple of these and fell in love with the last one we looked at. We're really considering living there when we move to Detroit in August, but we've got to get a little more information from Cummins before we decide anything for sure.

The apartment complex is called The Springs and is located on the border of Wixom and Novi, MI. It's about 10 minutes from Brian's work and about 1/2 hour from Wayne State. It's a nice little neighborhood with a grocery store across the street and a park down the road. The apartments are all on little ponds and some face the woods on the other side.

We're looking at getting a two bedroom apartment again, but it'd be bigger than where we're at now. It would have a laundry room with washer and dryer which is a big plus. We'd love to have visitors when we're out there. Only two hours from GR!

We'll keep you updated on this housing situation and the one for Arizona which has not really progressed very far at the moment. But we're going because Brian has now signed papers. :)

Wheatfield, Indiana

Well, I have been corrected. We were in Wheatfield, Indiana for the weekend visiting good friends of ours, Jon and Suzy Feyen. They just moved there in January for a new job, so we thought we'd better visit them while we can. It was a great weekend filled with lots of games and food. It was good to see them again. Here's some pictures.

This is Toby (white/black on the top) and Ellie (brown/black on the bottom). They are Jon and Suzy's two dogs that Brian likes to refer to as oversized rodents. I like them even if they are small. Good Beth-sized dogs.

Here's Brian, Jon, and Suzy playing Tripoley, a game we just learned how to play. Brian beat us all on Friday night and I'm not sure who won this game.

Here's Jon, Suzy, and I playing the same game, only Brian taking the picture. I concentrate really hard when I'm trying to shuffle cards.

Here's Toby and Ellie again. They sleep in the same bed and the same crate. They're cute.

The Grandville Apartment

Well, I promised some pictures of our apartment, so here they are. Disclaimer: we just got back from a weekend in Indiana (yes, Indiana) so our place is a bit messy. We're also working on packing, so we've got piles everywhere.

Here's our entryway/closet/door. Not much happens here.

Here's our kitchen. We make food here. Usually yummy food.

The dining room. Where we eat the yummy food.

Here's our living room. There's usually plants on the now empty shelves.

The other side of the living room. The plants are soaking in the sun.

Brian's side of the office. He didn't want to be in the picture.

My side of the office.

Most of the bathroom. There's not much more.

The sign hanging in our bathroom.

Our bedroom. The bag from the weekend has not been unpacked yet.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this short tour of our apartment. Come visit if you have a chance before May 8.

Short Trip

We're off to Jon and Suzy's today for the weekend. They moved to Demotte, Illinois (I think, or maybe Indiana) in January and we haven't seen them since. We're going for the last weekend of our spring break. I've gotta wait for Brian to finish working for the day, but I'm doing the wifely thing and bringing him lunch at work since he forgot it. I'm also off to visit Oma and give her some company while she eats lunch. If I take pictures at Jon and Suzy's, I'll post some so you can see us in action.

Moving...again...and again...

It seems like we just moved into this apartment and now we're already starting to pack things up and store them at Brian's parent's house. Spring break has been a wonderful time to go through closets and take lots of bags to Goodwill.

Here's our plan for the next few months, we'll see where God takes us.

Brian and I both have to finish out this semester with school. Brian will graduate in May with a bachelor's in Heavy Equipment Management from Ferris State University. I will finish my second online class for my master's in Library and Information Science from Wayne State University.

After graduating, Brian has a job with Cummins Bridgeway based in New Hudson, Michigan (suburb of Detroit) as a Power Generator guy. I think he'll fix generators. You'll have to ask him for sure. :) With his job, the company would like him to have training in Cummins power generators which is a 12-week program in Arizona. They pay for school and housing.

Brian's last exam for the semester is May 8 and we plan to pack up that day and head to Avondale, Arizona (suburb of Phoenix) in order to be there by the morning of May 12. Brian will not get to walk in graduation because we have to leave right away to make it to Arizona in time for his class.

We will live in Arizona for 12 weeks. A friend from Brian's church now lives in Arizona and is helping us to find an apartment in a good neighborhood. Any other ideas on a place to live would be much appreciated. We both hope to find part-time jobs while we are there and hope that God provides these quickly.

Brian's training ends August 1 and we hope to see my relatives from California in the Grand Canyon for a little while on their way to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We then will have a few weeks off to move back to Michigan, find a place to live in New Hudson, take a short vacation, and move to New Hudson.

Once in New Hudson, we will stay put for a few years (hopefully!). Brian will work for Cummins and I will attend Wayne State full-time and get my master's. Once my school is done, I hope to find a job and we will see where God takes us.

Lots of uncertainties at this point, but we're looking forward to watching God reveal what he already has planned for us.

Keep checking this for updates on what we're doing and to see pictures from all these wonderful places that we will live. I'll take some pictures of our current apartment soon and post them.

Everyone else is doing it...

Well, since we're moving to Arizona in a few months and people like to keep updated on what we're doing and where we're going, we decided to start a blog. Plus, everyone else is doing it, so we thought we'd better too. We plan to post pictures from Arizona and Detroit and keep you up to date on what we're doing.