New Car, New Floors, and a SNOW DAY!

It is a snow day today. I am LOVING sitting in my comfy clothes and watching the snow fall. AHHHHH. Apparently Allendale has 10 inches of snow this morning. WOW. We do not have quite that much. I’m still very thankful for this extra day to myself. Much to accomplish. I have this uncanny ability, on snow days,  to decide to do more things then I could possibly ever accomplish in one day. Although I’m fully aware of this short coming I have chosen once again to try and tackle the world. First on my list is to update our ever neglected Blog. Oh  blog do not be sad, it is nothing personal.  Next, I hope to tackle the last album from our Europe trip! I would love to get these done and ordered and possibly even back by Christmas. Lofty goal? Oh yes. Then I will clean. Have I ever mentioned my extreme aversion to house cleaning? I do it, I assure you, I do clean (do not be afraid to come to our house) I just HATE it. So, I add cleaning to my list with some disdain. I am also planning on writing our Christmas letter, beginning the Christmas Cards, finishing next weeks lesson plans, doing some online shopping, making a few returns, and being lazy. Hmmm. I wonder what I will actually do…. I’m think more excited to find out than anyone else, I think.

Soooo, on to what has been going on. Shortly after my last post Kevin was in a car accident. He is just fine, BUT sadly the Volvo perished. We were thrust in to the world of car shopping. The horrible question of new or used, new or used, new or used?????????? I, having NEVER bought a brand new car in my ENTIRE 31 years of life, naturally thought it was important to buy used. Did you know that the used car market is nuts??? I’m really wishing those clunkers that saw a premature death were still alive. Anyway, we did finally decide new. By new I mean, brand spanking new. I mean shiny. I mean, scared-to-drive-off-the-lot-because-I’m-so-nervous-my-hands-are-sweaty-and-slipping-of-the-LEATHER-steering-wheel new. Did I mention it’s new? What is it? Ahh yes the other important question, a 2010 (which its only 2009 people. We apparently bought a car from the future) Chevy Equinox. It’s “cardinal” red. I have to tell you I’m really impressed with this car. My husband, a firm believer in Volvo’s, BMW’s, Ferrari’s (that one is the ultimate dream), Jetta’s, Honda’s, and other such foreign wonders, loves this car. It helps that it has heated leather seats,  this amazing blue tooth phone thing,  a rear camera (which I have found many wonderful uses for in my travels, other than just aiding in backing up), and a really comfy seat. I’m excited for the American made car market. We drove all manner of “Cute Utes” and the best one won. Kevin is driving the red (did I mention that red is the ONE color I told Kevin I didn’t want?) Equinox today in the weather. I think he is having FUN. Here are some picts of the Volvo and the one and only pict I have of the NEW, SHINY, “Cute Ute”

That’s the latest on the car! I do get to drive the Equinox, and Kevin is driving the Grand AM. Isn’t he a good Husband? He insists I drive the new and safe car!

We have also been working on the house. One of the first changes we wanted to make when we moved in was to get new carpet and some wood flooring. It has taken us just over a year, BUT this past month, with the help of some wonderful friends and mom Sister and Dad, we put in new carpet on our main floor, stairs, hallway, and small bedroom upstairs, and put in laminate wood floor in the dining room, kitchen, hallway, and laundry room. Here are some picts…

Last weekend we decided it was time to get the tree, put up the decorations and the lights. You can see the tree in the background above! We had a ton of fun at Bosch’s Tree Nursery in Allendale getting our tree. We actually put the tree on the TOP of the brand new car. That was a stretch! For the first time we put lights on the outside of the house! I hope to get some good night time outside picts of that soon! Need to haul out the Nikon to get those shots!

Have a great Friday! I’m off to accomplish my impossible list!

And We’re Back

It has been a long time since I’ve been here to post. I’ve been thinking about what to say to

Us in Venice

 update the last, well let’s face it, year. It has been quite a year for Kevin and I. We stand in amazement of God, who He is, how He LOVES, and what He has done , and how patient He is with us, even though we are so deeply stubborn, prideful, slow to learn, and so much more. People tell me all day long that I am patient because I teach kindergarten. No I am not. My God is.

I guess it’s time to update. Last February Kevin and I were trucking along in our lives, planning what we wanted, and making it happen. We found out that I was pregnant. It was a little earlier than OUR  plan, BUT we were ecstatic. In a few short days we knew something was wrong with the pregnancy. After countless blood tests, ultra sounds, emergency doctor appointments… We were told that I had an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy. On March 5th I was given injections to end the pregnancy. (Please research what ectopic pregnancies are if you  have not heard of this before). We were broken and confused, we thought the worst was over, but on March 22nd my fallopian tube ruptured and I was taken to emergency surgery to remove my tube. Needless to say Kevin and I were devastated. As I sit here and reflect I’m struck again with how God was already working on our broken and shattered hearts. We hurt so much and honestly could not see how any good could come of this. We asked WHY so much. God tells us He is close to the broken-hearted. He is. Let me assure you sometimes it is a feeling, and sometimes its impossible to see, but He means what He says, and He IS close to the broken-hearted. I’m brought to tears now, even thinking about the ways He held us up. I was home a LOT recovering from surgery and reading. Just before the surgery I had been challenged to read more biographies of the heroes of  the Faith. I had gone to the store to find some. Crazy enough the book that God has used so much in my life this year was given to me years and years ago by my Grandma Ames, Corrie TenBoom’s Hiding Place, and it was sitting on my shelf at home. God encouraged my heart through her amazing story of suffering and faith. This was BEFORE the surgery and after we had lost the baby. There are so many things He has done to prepare Kevin and I just before, or during something major this year. He has NEVER left us alone. A friend and my mom suggested that we name our baby. I thought this was completely absurd, at first. While I was recovering from surgery I had an overwhelming desire to look at baby names. Strange huh? We thought so too. God worked on our hearts and soon we had a name. I had always known this child was a girl. We found the name T`ea (meaning Gift of God), Our little girl’s name is T`ea Grace – Gracious Gift of God. Her short life has never stopped being a gift. Kevin reminded me how Jesus wept when Lazuras died. Did you know that? He wept. He was hurting and sad. I believe He wept when he received our little girl in His loving arms. He does not do mean things to us. That is not God. He allows them and uses them to refine us, and show us His awesome love (among other things). T`ea’s life is a gift because with out it we would not know God how we know Him today.

In June Kevin and I finally went to Europe! We had an amazing time. It was the trip I have dreamed about for so many years! It was perfect timing. The trip was so healing for us and finally a time for us to have fun together. We started in Paris, Kevin’s sister Debi was there with us. How great it was to see Debi, spend time with her, and see the city. We went to London, Rome, Florence, and ended in Venice. I’m still speechless. I can not wait to go back. Of course we have been dreaming of our return trip for months now! I am almost done working on our photo albums (in fact I will finish up here and get back to the albums). We would love to have you over and bore you with pictures anytime. There are also a zillions pictures on my Facebook page, too.

In July we found out I was pregnant again. To some this would be good news, to us it was thrilling and terrifying all at once. Blood tests were immediately ordered. Within three days we knew this pregnancy was not going to be healthy. Once again, countless blood tests, ultrasounds, and more doctor visits. It was determined that the chances that this was once again ectopic were HIGH. On August 5th I once again, underwent injections to end our second pregnancy of the year. I’m not going to lie to you. I was MAD. The WHY question was now, HOW COULD YOU? Anguish and anger ruled my existence for many weeks. Did I mention that God NEVER leaves? It’s true. He patiently worked on my heart. As much as I tried to tune Him out and not listen He kept talking. In the midst of my anger, I kept praying that God would teach my heart. I sat up one night and couldn’t sleep. I felt like God and I were wrestling and some things needed to get worked out. I remember sitting on my bed the day we learned that I was not going to hold this baby in my arms. I remember thinking, God you promised to make everything good. I realized that “GOOD” is not always what we perceive as good. It is God’s good. Good may look different in every life as God lovingly walks with us and changes our hearts.  Anyway, back to staying up, I finally surrendered my hopes and dreams to God, and began walking down the road of accepting and wanting His good in our lives, whatever that may be. That is still very hard. I frequently find myself at a place where I must surrender again. God showed Himself and loved us in so many ways through the loss of both of our babies. He gave us friends to hold up our arms when we no longer could, friends to pray with us and over us, family that continues to pray for us daily, sisters to take care of us, hugs, meals, cards, emails, phone calls, messages, conversations over coffee, the list is endless. I think my eyes were finally open to how God’s body works, and it is beautiful. I wish I could write ALL the things I learned and all the ways God used His people to teach us, challenge us, love us. Maybe someday I will. I would love to tell you! Names: Strange but true, I know this little one is a boy, and we named him Elisha (God is my salvation) John (God is gracious), God is our gracious salvation.

In September (9-9-09) Landon Alan Currier was born, Our amazingly wonderful, perfect nephew. Poor kid, I cry a ton when I think of him and more when I hold him. He is such a gift. Amanda and Brad are GREAT parents. We are so blessed to have this little boy in our lives. He is the slowest eater on the planet, he passes gas like a champ, he loves toys that light up,

Landon Alan

 when he cries we all laugh (he has an adorably cute and funny cry), he loves to be bounced and walked, and you had better make sure he can see the world go by or you are going to hear about it, he grunts about everything!! He is beautiful.

On November 2nd, about 1 hour before her 95th birthday my grandma Ames (the one who gave me the book) went home to be with our amazing Lord, boss Grandpa around a little, and hold and meet our babies for the first time. I’m certain she has yet to put them down and Grandpa is still taking pictures. Good thing film won’t run out in heaven, because Grandpa was not digital. What joy we have knowing that our precious children are not only with our loving God (which is more than words all by itself) BUT they have all 8 of their great grandparents loving them. How I long for that day when Kevin and I will be there too.

That pretty much brings us up to now. Last night I got home late from parent teacher conferences, Kevin and I began talking about our day. He mentioned that he had been listening to the radio, specifically Tony Evans. He was challenged, once again, as Tony talked about how God uses the trials in our lives to refine us, to teach us more about Him, to draw us closer to Himself, and to open our eyes to things we would have never thought of or seen before.  This is where we are.

Selah (my favorite group EVER, little plug get the new CD. Don’t wait, get it now. Listen to all of it, but really listen to Unredeemed, and Audrey’s song. Open another tab, go ahead, open it, and order it NOW) Anyway, Selah has a song, Unredeemed. It says that God will redeem all the hurts and yucky things that happen. Read the chorus:

Life breaks and falls apart
But we know these are
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that’s shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

We know this is true and we are watching to see what He will do, it will be amazing. Psalm 62:5 I wait quietly before the Lord for my hope is in Him.

As I said earlier God is opening our eyes to things we never thought of much before, He is changing our hearts. We still hurt, we are still afraid, we still get mad, we still LONG for a child of our own, we still struggle to keep trusting and keep waiting. God is bigger than all of that. We humbly and thankfully ask that you keep praying with us as we seek God’s will, and struggle on hard days to trust. God is opening our eyes to things we never thought of before and He is beginning to change passions in our hearts. Please also pray with us as God is working and opening our eyes.

I will try and be better about posting.

One of Four

Bathrooms, that is. We have four. We will someday feel very fortunate by the fact that we have four, especially when we have children old enough to clean them. But right now, there is no way we can even begin to use all four. I suppose one can argue that having that much variety available when nature calls can be a good thing…. We are blessed. This is what the main bathroom upstairs looked like…

Under the sea? Note the Wall PaperBathroom Before

The wall paper continued to be a bit of a problem in this room. Once again, a few hours of removal and some sweet oil based primer (which contributed to my staggering and funny vision I mentioned previously) and a new coat of paint and we have a new room.

 

Blues Clues

Back to pictures of house updating…

Whatever happened to this room?

"The Blues Clues Room"

I had promised to tell you ages ago, But I forgot and we still had to unpack most of the boxes in it. Oops! It is one of three rooms upstairs. It is the smallest and perfect for one person. Right now it just has some children’s books from teaching, that I don’t use,  some of our old toys, and an unpacked box. For old times sake. This has seemed to be our box storage room for many months!

It looks like just a new coat of paint, and in fact it mostly is, BUT there is a story (there’s always a story). That unsightly wall paper, didn’t come off all that easily. Nope. In fact it took HOURS! Kevin’s parents were troopers working to get it all off. When they were done we were left with some major wall paper glue still on the wall. I talked to several “paint and wall paper experts” in the area. They all had a different solution. Even good friend from church floated us some substance (we questions how legal it was) to get it off. “Just a few drops” we were told. In the end I went out and got some oil based primer turned on the fans, opened the windows and got to work. By the end of the night I was staggering and seeing double. BUT it worked! So far no bleeding through or dripping. We’re very pleased!

Valentine’s Day

Now to be really updated!

I was reading a few friends blogs and being reminded of Valentine’s days past. Kevin and I have been married for just over a year and a half. We found ourselves trying to remember all the things we have done for the last four Valentine’s days. Funny. We gapped on V.Day #2. We had to laugh. Kevin has always had a romantic side, and loves to spoil me. We have gone to fun places like, Bone Fish Grill, the Blue Water Grill etc. for V.Days before. He always sends roses and loves shopping for jewlery. A girl can not complain.

This year we went to one of our favorite places Lakeside Inn http://www.lakesideinns.com/

We went last year during my mid-winter break and Loved it. It’s so quiet there and not much to do but relax and enjoy each other, a good book, and some time together. We heard about it from our good friend Kris http://kristajean.apwphotography.com/ she shot a wedding there and stayed there.

Anyway, we ventured out on Friday and enjoyed a quiet evening. Saturday we decided to take in some of the local shops and lazy around. Then we went out for a very nice dinner at Brewsters in New Buffalo. YUMMY!  Sunday we took a walk down to the frozen lake (Michigan) and then took our time getting home and spent the afternoon being lazy and getting ready for the week.  It was a great weekend!

brrrrr

 

 

 

 

 

 

BTW, Liz, is that better?

Christmas with Grandma

Every year we (the Bechler clan) venture to Ohio to have Christmas with my mom’s side of the family. It’s fun to see my cousins and aunt and uncle, and my grandparents! This year was a very special celebration. My Grandpa unexpectedly went home to be with his Lord and Savior this past spring. My grandma’s health has been failing for some time now. We felt so blessed to have another Christmas to celebrate with her. I, being armed with my brand new camera, was there to record the event. AND of course there are some great stories about our few short hours there. Like the resident who thought she would join our party and eat some of our food, then leave! We love and cherish each visit with grandma, they are bitter sweet, and each moment we have with her is very precious to us all.

My sisters and I with Grandma!

 

I love this picture of us with Grandma! You can totally see her personality in her smile! 

Amanda & Grandma

Grandma & Mom

Sorry about the delay…Christmas

Life has happened around here. I will spend some time trying to catch up on all that we have been doing. I believe last time I posted was during the snow strom we had a Christmas. Well, all that snow melted just after Christmas. BUT before that…

Kevin and I enjoyed celebrating together and with my family on Christmas day. No Christmas would be complete with out the “kids” and their dogs going sledding down the hill in my parents back yard. I seem to recall this hill being HUGE when I was growing up. The hill has indeed shrunk, or I’ve grown. We tackled it anyway. My parents bought each of us a new sled for Christmas and we just had to try them out. We had a blast trying to get ourselves down the hill in all sorts of ways. I really wish I had gotten some pictures of this event (with my brand new Nikon D60! Thanks Kevin and Carl and Luella!)!!!!!!!!!

My Siblings!

Lily got a new necklace!

Christmas is my favorite time of the year! I love getting together with family and just being together! This year we were very exctied to have Kevin’s family come and stay with us over New Year’s. We worked really hard to get the house “done” and ready for our first over night guests! We had a great time getting everything in place and having everyone here! Carl, Luella, and Debi stayed for about three days. We tried not to tire them out too much! They had been hoping for snow to be able to go tubing, but it all melted just before they got here. They were able to see some snow the first night they were here. Not enough to tube in. Hopefully next time! Kevin and I were so excited to have them in our home!!! (We’re still really pumped that we have a house, can you tell?)

Snow

I’m reminded of the “Snow” song in White Christmas. Love that movie. Kevin and I just watched it last weekend. I digress. SNOW that is the theme here. Yesterday at school everyone, I really mean EVERYONE was talking about the snow that was coming. And it wasn’t just at school. At the mall, at the sandwich place, on the radio, in lines, at Kevin’s office, in speeches! EVERYONE was asking how much snow are we going to get? Will they cancel school? There were lines at the grocery store, gas station, video store. OH MY GOODNESS! We live in Michigan it will snow! We did get a lot of snow today. It didn’t seem to really start until around 4 or 5 a.m. I have shoveled/snow blew 3 times (really 2 and a half times, Kevin snow blew the first time). I think this last one will stick. It’s a bit crazy. And YES they did cancel school. I am the only teacher (outside of Gwen and Martha okay so I’m one of three teachers) who wanted to go to school today! It’s Christmas party day!! Yippee!! Who would want to miss??I haven’t left the house with the exception of snow removal all day. I’m itching to get to the mall. I need out! I’m currently in the process of bribing Kevin to take me when he gets home. We’ll see how that goes. Any way…. Pictures of my world today…

This is the house across the street...Can't you tell?

 

Me... after I did ....

THIS! (for the first and a half time a.k.a 2nd time)

"Snow, Snow.." I can just hear Bing, Rosemary, Danny, and that other lady singing now. Can't you? Okay only me. That's fine...

Lily’s First Big Snow

Kevin...Digging out

Brrrrr

“Yum…Snow”

So I know that the first picture is of Kevin, Not exactly in line with the title of my post, But I’m still figuring this posting thing out! Wow the pictures give me a hard time! Anyway…I think my Title sounds like a new Children’s book. Anyway. The same day we got the tree I took Lily out to play in the snow with me and Kevin shoveled the drive. Lily loves to bury her head in the snow and push it like a shovel then come up for air and shake it all off. I thought I might be able to get a picture of that, she has not performed that when the camera is out!

Today (well today is a whole different post…) I let Lily out and she came in 20 minutes later COVERED with snow. It was packed in her paws, in her EARS, nose…I was impressed. She loves the snow.

The Tree

Our Beautiful Tree

Kevin and I went to get our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. We are those kind of crazies that LOVE to have the authentic tree cutting experience. We feel the need to go out to a tree farm a.k.a the woodlands, and cut down our very own perfect tree that we will adorn with our ornaments of years past, and will bring us joy for the next few weeks. So we borrowed our friends truck and took off. Did I mention that we got 9 inches of snow that day? Oh yea, it was snowing when we left. Anyway, I had found a tree farm in Allendale and off we went. As we were sliding…er..I mean..driving, Kevin exclaimed “These are the roads you drive everyday? I’m getting you something with all wheel drive!” So needless to say the roads weren’t that great and it really was snowing. We got to the Farm, along with three other crazy people who were out that day. Climbed out of our truck and approached the young man who was assisting. He quickly directed us to some “nice precut trees” Did I hear him right? He obviously didn’t recognize our ability and need to pick out our own perfect tree and saw it to the ground ourselves. We politely declined, quietly asked for a saw, back to the truck and into the “woods” (more like four rows of trees with unplowed driving paths in between). Kevin drove right to the Douglas Fir row and I got out. The truck was doing fine sliding along as I pointed to trees and Kevin voted from the window of the truck or got out to look. Somewhere along the way Kevin was driving and I realized that I was standing in snow up to my knees. Um…deep. Oh that’s when the truck got stuck. Oh yes…stuck. I looked around for help. I mean normally there are tons of people at these places. Nope, did I mention there were only like 3 other crazies there that day. Yep. No help.  Kevin began pushing and I began driving and just in time to save us from marital difficult God sent a man to help. He and Kevin pushed a I drove. Soon I was sliding and bouncing free and clear from the snow, Kevin was yelling behind me “DON’T STOP! KEEP GOING!!” I was left with a very difficult decision do I leave my beloved husband and risk getting the truck stuck again or do I slide and bounce out of the “woods”. I slid and bounced. Soon we were back in the parking lot. Me gripping the steering wheel, thankful to no longer be moving and Kevin huffing and puffing out of the woods. We quietly approached the young man with the trees and asked to see and “nice precut tree”.

Here she is…

 

Our Beautiful Tree

Getting trimmed

Getting starred

AND…Getting Lit…hee hee

Did I mention that the tree had been bound up until just before we got it? No? Well it’s a WHOLE lot fuller than we thought! We had to move furniture to make room for her generous gerth. We love our big tree with all it’s dropping needles. AND we think our story is pretty funny!

Merry Christmas!