Where have I been?!

Dear Friends,

Was it really November that I last blogged on here?! That's bad but at the same time alright. It means I've been getting on with life.

Well welcome to America, home to corn dogs and every flavoured soda you can imagine. Yes I've sampled a lot of flavours of soda but I have been doing other things with my time too. Mainly working...

I am still at Macy's but thankfully no longer selling Women's Shoes. This past March I was promoted to the Executive team. I'm now working in HR/Admin behind the scenes which I truly enjoy. It's not often people find a job they enjoy but I really do. A lot of it is similiar to what I did at Capernwray, only on a much more corporate scale. Macy's is doing really well, with profits up and continuing to expand. For those of you who like to shop...Macys.com ships to 91 countries now. I tell you all this because for me it is job security in a economic market that seems to have nothing secure about it. Most of my time is now dealing with associates rather than customers, yes they can be just as difficult, rude and awkward but most of the time I look at it like a ministry. Most of these people do not know the Lord and are unhappy with their lives. I try to bring them a smile and help them because instead of dealing with shoes I'm dealing with things that are a little more important.

Besides work there have been a few other things happening that are semi important. I decided that I'd like to go to school. It's a lot more expensive and not as easy for me here since I didn't attend school in the US but thankfully there are ways to get around that. I was planning on starting classes in July but due to my work schedule and also the sheer cost of going to school, we decided that really it wasn't the right time. I had enrolled to study Psychology and the more I think about it the less sure I am that that is truly want I'd like to do. I'll keep looking around and hopefully come the New Year have a better idea and a more financially viable way to go to school. It will work out if it's what I'm meant to be doing.

Also, I'm not sure many of you will know this or remember it but when I worked at Capernwray the summer before attending Bible School I slipped in the kitchen and landed awkwardly on my back. I didn't think anything of it at the time but over the last number of years I've noticed a serious problem. I finally, finally (!!!!) went to the Chiropractor here to see what was going on and found out that my spine is completely out of whack and not at all as it should be. It needs to be re aligned and sorted as it's affecting lots of other things by putting pressure on the nerves in my spinal chord. Once again (like the school) it's not cheap. I just pray that the Lord provides the money for it because I need it fixed but cannot afford a couple of grand to fix it. Oh America is not as cheap as I imagined. But hey, the Lord is also in charge of my health as well as my schooling. But what I wanted to say is that it's nice to finally have some answers (and x-rays) as to why my back is so bad and to know that I wasn't just imagining the pain.

Whitney is doing well. We just celebrated her 27th (even though she looks more like she's turning 21) on August 19th. We, along with her family and some friend, spent the weekend in a little town, in western colorado, called Palisade. Last year we went to the peach festival and enjoyed it so much that we went back this year and took a bunch of people with us. It was fun to go with Whitney's family and especially that her mum got to come and relax.They also have a fantastic library book sale. I got a box of books for $4...BARGAIN! We came home with 6 boxes of peaches, a box of corn, squash, potatoes and other goodies all for about half the price (or more) than what you'd pay at the supermarket. I never ever liked peaches but until you have a peach right off the tree, you've never lived! Whitney started back to work last Monday after having the month of August off and will be back working with her student next Monday. She works at the local school assisting a little girl who is going blind. This little girl has also been diagnosed with a life threatening illness that will leave her blind and suffering other ailments for the rest of her life. Whitney adores her and does a fantastic job with her but of course it is very draining to invest so much in such a difficult situation.

Honestly, besides working and doing the farm thing, we haven't had much time to do anything else. But I am glad to report I am settled in and loving my job. 2 things I never thought I'd say about living here in America...but we all know it's nothing to do with my life being in my hands.

Love to you all!

Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving...

a very american holiday that everyone celebrates. I got to experience my first thanksgiving here in America and it was very like a present-less Christmas. Some of you will know the tradition of the Queen's speech on Christmas Day that most people will watch every Christmas Day, well here in the U.S they have something similar only it's a parade that is put on by Macy's. It's televised from New York, they have celebrities and singers and lots of floats plus performances from Broadway musicals and at the end of it all Santa arrives, kickin' off the Christmas season. Then after that there is the National Dog Show. It was fun to watch and know that it's been a tradition for many years now...84 I think. Then after watching that, we got ready and headed over to a family friend's house for thanksgiving dinner, lots of food- which is always nice.

Before thanksgiving though, Vandi (Whitney's mum) and I treated ourselves to a thanksgiving present...2 more dogs! We are now the owners of Bob, an Australian cattle dog and Mia, a big terrier mix. They are outside dogs and will be free to roam around the property. We got them from the local Humane Society and this animal loving family is converting me, I just wanted to adopt them all and bring them home...kittens, dogs, birds, snakes, rabbits--everything! I will try and get a picture of Bob and Mia and post it on here.

Here in america the biggest shopping day of the year is after thanksgiving and is known as Black Friday. It's similar to Boxing Day sales, people lining up from all hours of the day and night to be the first into the store. Most stores here opened at 3am/4am and well I had to work the 5am shift at Macy's and it was madness, there where bodies everywhere and shoes littering every corner of the department. It reminded me of when we'd go to Bomb clearance sales back in Northern Ireland, after some idiots blew up a shop. It was a very long day and very tiring but a good experience none-the-less and I was able to get an electric kettle (rare here) for $21.99 and some Christmas presents too!

That was my first thanksgiving week experience. So now the Fall decorations are being replaced by the Christmas decorations, thanks to my decorating loving wife. I will try and get pictures up of that too...once I get batteries for my camera.

that's the magic of Macy's...

...seriously who comes up with these tag lines?! Well, there is nothing magical about working at Macy's. I spend 8 hours a day on my feet, running back and forth getting 6 different shoes in 3 different sizes for ladies but I am so very thankful that I have a job. It's always busy in the ladies shoe department which makes for great commission and plenty of interaction. Most of the ladies are lovely but of course there will always be a couple that think it is there right to be rude to everybody that they meet--those people are the ones I pray for most often as it's clear they don't understand that fact that there is a Lord that loves them. As a friend of mine said 'Macy's is your mission field' and how true that is when on a daily basis I see people filling their lives with the material things of this world to fill a brokenness in their heart that only the Lord can fill.

The less interesting information about my job is that I work with 5 others, two of which are Christians and the rest are lovely too. I have to wear black dress trousers, a black shirt and the one tie that I own (which is red). Besides that my job is just about serving and trying to find the right shoes and praying that it's in the place it's meant to be in the stockroom!

So I'm experiencing the magic of Macy's but like I say there's not much that's magical about it.

Employed

Macy's employee of the month...well not quite yet but maybe someday.

For those of you who don't know what Macy's is, it's pretty simple, it's a department store.

I got a full-time job working in Ladies Shoes! I'm thankful for a job, but of course it's a lot different than working at Capernwray but none-the-less I am thankful.

The Update

It always takes me a while to get round to updating my blog, I apologize. Recently the internet has been having a few tissues and issues, so trying to blog wasn't high on the list of things to do on the days when the internet decided to work.

Green Card:

About 3 weeks or so ago I got my green card in the mail...finally. The long over drawn process has finally come to an end. I got a lovely letter welcoming me to the United States of America, the one and only time we've got a nice letter from immigration but none-the-less the process is finalized! It looks like a driving license only on the back it has these tiny tiny wee pictures of the Presidents...kind of a waste of ink I say.

Since getting my green card I then had to go and get my Social Security Number, probably the easiest part of this whole process, which means I can work and get my driving permit!

Jobs:

As of writing this blog, I have applied for 25+ jobs. Ranging from Bookstores to an Admin position in a nursing home for Nuns (which I would love!). I have heard back from 2 of those jobs and I'm currently waiting to hear from the rest. I did have an interview at Costco (bulk grocery store kinda deal) and they asked me back for a 2nd interview, both of them went well and I'm just waiting to hear if they'll hire me. I also have an interview Wednesday afternoon at Macy's Department Store, so we'll see how that goes as well. Of course these aren't exactly jobs that I want to spend the rest of my life doing but I am thankful that they are something for the time being.

Church:

One thing that I find myself enjoying here is church. It's called Rocky Mountain Calvary and has about 4,000 people attending weekly, so of course it's a little bigger than what I was used to in the U.K. The teaching is so incredible, very indepth yet easy to understand. The worship isn't that great but that should never be the main reason you attend a church anyway. Since the church is so large Whitney and I decided to join a small group. These groups meet 3times in a month in different people's home. The small group we joined is lead by a lovely couple called Ben and JoAnn. There are about 16 of us in the group and I must say I do enjoy their company. Whitney and I are of course the youngest couple but that doesn't matter to us. We discuss the weekend sermon, pray together and once every couple of months we'll do a community outreach project! It's been good for me especially since I don't know a whole lot of people here. It'll be here at the house in a couple of weeks, so I hope to get a picture of the group. I've also been volunteering at church in the church bookstore. They have plenty of volunteers in the bookstore so I'm thinking about looking into volunteering in another department that needs it more, so we'll see but there is no shortage of ministries to volunteer in!

1st year of marriage done...

but still plenty more to go. Whitney and I celebrated our first (stressful) year of marriage on September 20th. We went out for breakfast at a local 50's style diner and it was lovely. Instead of buying each other gifts, we decided to make a little gift for the other person out of paper since paper is meant to represent the 1st year of marriage (or something like that.) It's been a tough 1st year of marriage because of everything to do with the immigration and moving countries, so we feel like we've done about 5 years of marriage but not the 1st year. We're looking forward to things settling down in our 2nd year!!

I've just finished reading a book on marriage called 'The Mystery of Marriage', which was given to us by our good friend Sue. It's a wonderfully indepth look at the various aspects of marriage from the point of how our relationship with our spouse is essentially a reflection of our relationship with the Lord. Here is just one of the many wonderful words of wisdom from the book:

One very important fact to know in marriage is that there is always a way out. And the way out is not divorce. No, the way out in marriage (no matter how bad things may get) is simply to put everything we have back on the line, our whole hearts and lives, just as we did the moment we took our vows. We must return to an attitude of total abandonment, of throwing all our natural caution and defensiveness to the winds and putting ourselves entirely in the hands of love by an act of the will. Instead of falling into love, we may now have to march into it.

The rest:

Besides all of the above we're just waiting for Fall (Autumn) to happen since it's still really warm out and no snow yet. Life goes on, some days it's easy, other days not so much but regardless I'm learning what it means to be content in all seasons, even when those seasons drive you mad.

Peach Festival

It's exactly what the name suggests. A festival about Peaches. Sounds silly I know but it was really fun! The peach festival is held in a little town called Palisade, which is about 5 hours away from Colorado Springs, nestled in the mountains. To get there you have to drive through all the popular ski resorts including Vail, which is pretty well known I think. Parts of the drive reminded me of the lake district in England and other parts reminded me of the mountain towns of Germany and Austria--if you can imagine those two sceneries together you've got a rather beautiful picture! As for the actual peach festival, it kicked off with a parade through the town-very american. They had the local high school marching band and different people dressed up, they even had their own Peach Princess. After catching the end of the parade we went to the local library which was having a book sale- it was great! The paperback books where 25cents and the hardbacks were 50cents--so cheap! (We all got some books--I think I got about 6) After spending some time in the Library we walked back over to the main festival events area, bought our tickets and headed in to see what peach related thing's they'd have. We sampled peach popcorn, got a free peach, had peach lemonade, peach crepes, peach mustard, peach salsa and there was even peach beer. There were lots of little stands selling local peaches and local peach products, such as peach butter, peach jam, peach ice cream topping etc. etc. everything had something to do with peaches! It wasn't super busy, so it felt nice and relaxed to not have to rush around but just take our time and enjoy the peaches and weather! Now, I was not a peach fan, as in the UK we don't really get the greatest peaches but getting to taste them fresh changed my mind. After spending time at the peach festival, we rode the school bus (yes, yellow american school bus) back over to the town and spent some time walking around and looking in the little shops- such a cute little town with cute little houses. We then headed back to get the car and drive to buy some boxes of peaches. The first place we stopped had some wonderful produce. Peaches, plums, squashs, pears and lots more. We bought our boxes of peaches there and also some pears and plums. Then we took a drive through the orchard country and stopped at another little farm where we bought some squash, tomatoes and a melon. All fresh and all rather inexpensive. It sounds kind of corny...a peach festival...but it really was a lot of fun and was nice to be able to support the local farms and buy fresh, fresh produce!

Pictures and Post

After blogging a few days ago and feeling that it was a rather a poor entry I decided to take some pictures today to try and make up for it. Also I forgot to mention that I experienced my first baseball game. Lauren gets free tickets through her work, so Whitney, Lauren and Lauren's mum went to the game! It was the local team in Colorado Springs 'Sky Sox', it's minor league baseball but it was a lot of fun. There is a great atmosphere and it isn't that boring to watch really plus I got to have funnel cake, which is just fried doughy goodness. The best part of the night though was getting a baseball that was used in the game. They kept throwing them into the crowd and not once did they throw one our way so leave the stadium as I was rather sad (sad as in like when a child doesn't get sweets) but guess what...because the car there was a baseball that had been hit out of the stadium--so I got one after all! I hope you enjoy them.