Family, new truck, and house work!

These past 24 hours have been quite a lot of fun. Zach's parents and grandparents came up to Kirksville yesterday. His grandparent's hadn't seen the house yet so we gave them the tour. Afterward we ran by Wal-mart and Home Depot to pick up some odds and ends for small home improvements. Zach and I finally left the gang around 11pm--everyone was pretty tired.

Then this morning Zach and I snuck in and ate the free continental breakfast with them at the hotel... Afterward we headed back to the house and split up for different jobs. Cleaning, electrical work, oven repair...even a shopping committee. Hehe. We got a small quart of paint just to try on a part of one wall--and we ended up painting the entire wall!

Here is the Birthday boy and me painting the wall together. It was a good time :)

Wall still needs another coat but it definitley beats the bright orange/peach!


The roomies. Brad had lots of good advice :)

We went to lunch at the brand new Mexican restaurant in Kirksville. It was Zach's grandpa's birthday and so he got a song and free dessert. Brad (Zach's roomate) also came and got to see the house for the first time.

That's some serious Mexican.

The other exciting piece of news is that we got a new truck! We finally decided on one and Zach's parents drove it up this weekend. It's a small, manual Mazda truck--so I have some stick-shift learning to do. I told Zach he's going to need a long afternoon and lots of patience to teach me :)

The new truck. (Pretty much all that snow fell while we were eating lunch)

And so there is the rundown of the weekend's adventures. As I write this Zach, Brad and I are in their room watching soccer and making brownies. It was so good to see family today and exciting to start work on the house. God is so good!

Love to all,
amy

Beautiful day :)

Today Zach and I decided to get off campus for awhile. Without a car (and in need of some exercise) we hopped on our bikes and headed into town. We only had one helmet, and after a lot of grumbling I ended up wearing it. Zach claims that I needed it more than he did :)

We ate a delicious lunch at Ruby Tuesdays...much thanks to Bobbie for the gift card. After we were adequatley stuffed we rode to Wal-mart where we purchased an interesting and brief set of goods:
1-Black bike helmet for me. (not the one in the picture) It is about three times the size of my head and looks incredibly ridiculous :)

2-Two sets of string/rope for Zach and his mischevious plans... He is 19, in college, and wants a "story to tell his grandchildren." I was unable to dissuade him.

3-A key duplicate to the house.

We then biked to our house. I'm not ashamed to admit that I barely made it up one steep and very long hill. Zach was coasting along with his expensive bike and sleek helmet. While I clunked along behind with my incredibly chunky helmet. The image makes me laugh now--it didn't then :)

Love to all,
Amy

P.S. Happy Birthday to my brother Shane! I wish I could be home celebrating your 15th and eating all the delicious food I know Mom cooked up!

Oh Isuzu ...

As many of you know, the Isuzu kicked the bucket the other day. I find it quite depressing that my first blog post should have to address such a tragic event, but that's life -- I guess.

Anyway, it happened on our return to K-Ville after Spring Break. Amy, my roommate Brad, and I were heading north from Macon when the engine started making a terrible rattling. We had a few good old boys look under the hood in La Plata. They bore woeful news, saying that he end was near for the Isuzu.

After rumbling in to a Kirksville auto shop, the word of the men in La Plata proved to be quite prophetic.

Officially, the mechanic said -- after listening to the engine with the car equivalent of a stethascope -- a berring had come loose from the crank shaft. I don't know much about cars, but basically I think of it as being about what it would feel like if the kneecap came loose in someone's leg, leaving the crunching of bone on bone.

So the Isuzu, my dearest vehicular friend, died a painful and inglorious death.

But, all kidding aside, I really feel like I've learned a lot from this predicament. God has shown me what's really important in life: family, friends, my relationship with Amy. And he's used so many people to encourage me in this somewhat stressful time. Literally dozens of people have come up to me, giving sympathy but also helping in the process of living without a vehicle. As disappointing as losing the Isuzu has been, it's truly been a great joy to have this trial.

Zach

And so it begins...

Zach and I have decided to start a blog. Just a way for friends and family to pop in on what is going on in our lives. We are standing on the doorstep of starting the rest of our lives together :)

I mean really...could there be a better time to start a blog?

-Amy