Pictures and an update!

Saying we are "ready for spring" might be a bit of an understatement!  It has been quite a winter up here!

Putting on two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, three shirts, an insulated onesie, a coat, headgear, and two pairs of gloves everyday became our routine for the past 4 months.  And I'll just say, all of that makes a bathroom trip quite an ordeal!!!!  Okay...enough complaining....look at that icicle!!

 

Lookin good Gregg! Building a handrail around the top of the vehicle connector.

 

UPDATE:  at the end of January, we got a 3 month extension (YAY!) keeping the same schedule we have had (3 days a week). So that extended us until the end of April. BUT, we got a phone call just a few weeks later letting us know that we were accepted as full time temp. Bethelites! We couldn't believe it!! Our prayers had been answered!!!

 

Here are some other cool things that have happened over the last 45 days:

2/16 - Listed our House for Sale

House Sold in 6 DAYS!!

2/22- House went under contract

3/8 - We got the privilege of seeing Gilead Graduation!!!

 

 

3/10 -3/14- Visited Atlanta, GA

3/15-3/18-Visited Columbia, SC

3/13-Received call for full time temp Bethel service

(Yes, we received the call while we were visiting our parents!  what are the odds?  It made it all the better to share getting the exciting news with them!)

3/22 Special Visitor!!!

 

3/24 - Moved to Bethel housing

3/28 - Closed Sale of House

3/30 - Sarah's Assembly part

 

Yep, so we sold the house!! How does it feel?  Happiness, relief, thankfulness come to mind.  We are truly free in every sense of the word.  But also sadness... Its just hard to believe it's gone.  We were praying for it to sell, because our goals just don't include moving back to the suburbs and settling down, we plan on staying in full time service in whatever capacity Jehovah will use us, where ever he will use us, and for however long he will use us.....so there was no reason to hold onto it. And it is clear that Jehovah played an enormous part in answering those prayers.  I mean....6 days?! No haggling on price, and the buyer even moved up the closing date 2 weeks. 

But was this easy?  No.  We are still human.  Gregg bought the house 15 years ago. We have redone every single inch of it just the way we wanted, and Gregg did most of the work himself.  

We loved that house.   

 

When I start to have those sentimental feelings, I think about a thought brought out by a  Governing Body member who was talking about the move that the whole branch is making from Brooklyn to Warwick and he mentioned the rich history we have as JW's in those buildings, and how special the Brooklyn Heights area has been to our heritage.  But no one should be looking back...only forward.  He made the point of not being sentimental very clear, and brought out that the GB certainly isn't.      

 

What we have gained is FAR richer than what we have given up. Selling the house was a GOOD thing and we are thankful to Jehovah for his help in making it happen! We still have to pinch ourselves every day , we cant believe we are really here.  Building WORLD HEADQUARTERS!  We are thankful for each day we get to be here.  Plus look at all the fun we are having!! 

 

 

My partner in crime Tristi ...always breaking the rules...one of them being, no jewelry on the worksite! haha

 

 

 

"Mega Deck" and Dining Trailer (will seat 250) should be opening soon

 

 RBC brothers from Baltimore working through the rain!

 

 

Visitor Parking Garage

 

 

 

 

 

Vehicle Connector

 

Phase #1

 

Phase #2

Phase #3

 

Phase #4

 



Where did December go?

Wow, time sure is flying by! I can't believe we have been here for almost 2 months now!  We are settling into our assignment and new schedule and absolutely LOVE working in the carpentry department.  We have done something different every day we have worked, so we are learning, keeping busy and having fun, while still getting a lot accomplished. 

Here are some pictures of the carpentry shop at Tuxedo:

 

Me and Gregg have been mostly working with a crew that works on projects at Warwick.  Everything from building stairs and decks, to constructing sheds for inspectors.  Most of the things we are building are being used for the construction going on right now, and will be gone eventually, but it all has to get done  :)  

 

 

Me, Gregg, and Tristy standing in the town inspectors shed our crew built.

 

 

  

 

 

 

We love it here!

I am looking out the window at 2-3 inches of snow, and we are expecting 3 or so more inches this weekend!   We are definitely not in Georgia any more Todo! :)  We are loving it though.  Yesterday at Tuxedo, me and Gregg went hiking during our lunch break with a couple from the carpentry department.  It was beautiful!   It seems like there are hiking trails everywhere we look.
 
Here are some pictures we took while hiking and geocaching with a family from our congregation, Mike, Holly, Jack, and Kendra.
 
 

 

 

 

Looking for the geocache

 

Found it! It was a magnet with a tiny rolled up scroll of paper you wrote your name on.

 

Duke :)

Don't fall Gregg!

 

 



 

An assignment!

We got a call tonight letting us know that our temporary Bethel applications have been accepted and that there is a need for both of us at Warwick!   

All the details we know now are that we report for orientation on Sunday at 1pm., and our first day of work is Monday in the carpentry department.

We are feeling Malachi 3:10 so much in our lives right now.  When Jehovah sees you making sacrifices, he certainly blesses until there is "no more want".  The blessing and privilege of being able to work on the world headquarters project is beyond anything we thought we would ever get to do, so we are appreciative of any time we get to work there, even if it is only two months (but hopefully longer :) )

5 week update

Wow, time has flown by.  It's hard to believe we left Towne Lake over a month ago.  So what have we been up to the past 5 weeks? Well...after the Annual Meeting (which I will have to write a separate post about!  I mean...how exciting and incredible was it to be a part of history? and how much are you loving your new Bible??) and our Circuit Assembly the following weekend in Georgia, we left for a two week trip to spend time with my family before our move. 

First stop: Columbia, SC. 

 Granddad and Grandmom Arnold with me and Gregg

Granddad and Grandmom with the grandkids

 

 

We had a great time spending time with family, going out in service, and eating mom's cooking!!  No joke, I literally gained 5 pounds...and I'm not even upset about it.  It was worth every bite!

 

After we left South Carolina, we drove 9 hours down to Port Charlotte, FL to spend a week with my dad. 

 

The pier in front of dads house. 

You can actually see my dads house all the way on the left.  Not a bad view!

 

 

We went to the beach, went in service, and put his back porch to good use. :)  It was a great time! 

 

After we left Florida, we head back up to Atlanta to pack up the car.  The day we got back also happened to be our 6 year anniversary, so how sweet of Gregg's family to put together an anniversary dinner for us! 

 

That's an ice cream cake! Does my family know me or what??

Our nephew Ethan and us

 

 

It was nice to have a couple days to pack up everything.  The car filled up quick! Good thing Gregg is good at puzzles :)

 

 

So off we went on our 16 hour drive up to NJ.  We left on Friday Nov. 1, and were picking up keys to our apartment on the 2nd.  We decided to break the drive up into two days since we had been doing so much driving lately. 

 

 

 

We started getting excited when we began seeing mountains

 

 



So where are we living? Well...we scratched the whole RV idea due to the fact that a camp site cost $1,000 a month (Yup. That's right! and no...that doesn't include the camper!!) and started looking for an apartment.  I got a text from some friends we have in Bethel, and they told us about an apartment that would be available 9 miles from the Warwick jobsite, and it was fully furnished.  It was the answer to our prayers.   It was currently rented by a couple who had been accepted to Bethel for 3 months and was going to be available November 1st  (perfect timing!)  and it was around $200 less than anything else we had found. I called them right away, and via emails and texting we worked everything out.  Just one more thing that we have left in Jehovah's hands and has completely worked out...even better than we could have imagined.  So we are living in Wanaque, NJ, and I must say it is just beautiful here.

This is the road we take to the Kingdom Hall. Such a pretty drive!

The Kingdom Hall we go to.  Ringwood and West Milford Congregations meet here.

First day in service!

 

 

So, maybe you are wondering...what is our assignment? What have we been doing for the two weeks we have been here?  Well, we haven't heard anything about our temporary applications yet.  We are in the process of submitting our commuter applications, and also getting involved with the local RBC so that we can work on local Kingdom Hall builds, but in the meantime, we have been doing lots and lots of preaching.  We are enjoying pioneering together for the first time... it is truly an amazing experience.  The congregation is so loving and has been so welcoming to us, and made us feel right at home!