GARAGE SALE

28 days till we move and we are just about ready. We are having a garage sale tomorrow so we spent all afternoon and night pricing things and getting things ready to go. At about a quarter to 9:00 tonight I went out to try to get some more signs and can I just tell you it was a bad idea. I was to worn out from all the mess and I knew that Home Depot would be closing soon but I went anyways. I got to one store and they didn't have any more garage sale signs that stand up so I went to another one a couple miles away which the cashier told me should be open till ten. (Thats where it began to get fun/funny/annoying.) I get to the second one 2mins. after nine and the lady at the door tells me they're closed (they close at 9:00 go figure). I explained my situation and she was kind enough to let me run in. So you probably think great you got the sign but no! they didn't have the one I was looking for (the stand up kind) so I grabbed my next best option and went home only to find that I somehow overlooked the fact that in all my tired frustration I grabbed two OPEN HOUSE signs instead. I was ticked! But what ya gonna do that's life. Hopefully we'll have better luck with the actual selling part and make some good money off of our stuff. Moral of the story when you are tired and in a hurry remember to double check what you've got before you leave the store cause there's a good chance you've overlooked some small detail. :-0

Sawgrass Students Represtenting This Week @ Student Life Camp

I went on to the STUDENT LIFE website tonight to check on our Flamingo Road Church Sawgrass High school students and I was so excited to have come across a few pics of our students representing. These students rock and how about Craig sporting the Sawgrass Volunteer shirt (you're the man Craig).

Week in Review

Here's a brief update on all the fun we've been having lately. In the past week we celebrated Father's Day twice (actually three times), had Game Night at the Kauffmans, Abel went to Middle School Summer Camp, Krystal turned 15 (it was my first Quinces!), and we got to see Celia last night! We're LOVIN spending time with our family.

Could You Survive a "Japanese Game Show"

If you have ever come across these Japanese game show videos on You Tube you might be as excited as I am about the fact that This summer ABC will be hosting "I Survived a Japanese Game Show". They will sending some poor Americans to Japan to see if they can survive the most awesome Japanese Game Show Challenges.

I can't wait to sit back with some Chocolate chip cookies & milk and laugh my head off as I watch this summer.

Another Master

Congratulations to Landy on finishing his Master's degree!! What a great example of perseverance. I don't know how you managed to do it all while working full time and raising two kids, but you and Sandra are an inspiration to us. We'll keep you in mind when life and Seminary get tough b/c I never saw either of you lose your cool. I'm not sure I would have been so nice when as sleep-deprived as you both were!

My First Post!

So you may have noticed a few changes....for starters I had to get rid of the orange and green. Sorry, but we are a house divided (go FSU!). I'm new to the blogworld so hopefully this will improve as we journey together, but I felt it was time to add my two cents in- now you'll all really see how different Abel and I are! =)

I too am VERY excited about our move to CA. I've found the way for me to have contentment in this life is to view everything in seasons...we've just passed through a season of growth and preparation. It's been a long & tough season at times, but we wouldn't be able to pursue these awesome opportunities in front of us if we hadn't followed His guidance. Sometimes it can be hard to see God at work, but I trust that He's always there. I've learned He's got even bigger and better things planned if I can just be patient and wait on His reveal.

So, I look forward to sharing this next season with you! I can tell it's going to be pretty cool already (I mean, hello...California?!?) but we are leaving behind lots of friends and loved ones- so this will be our way of staying in touch. Hope you will leave your comments when you stop by to say hello. 'Til next time.....



PS- does anyone know if sharing a blog is recommended for married couples? This may be a whole new experiment! =)

My nephew Izaac is 3yrs old and is totally attached to my wife and I. In fact he wakes up at least once a week telling his parents that he misses his Tio & Tia (uncle & aunt). So my wife and I have been trying to spend extra time with him and figure out ways to talk to him about us moving. Yesterday I went by Barnes & Nobles to try to find books that help children understand what it means to be moving because we were having Izaac spend the night and were going to try to talk to him about it. Unfortunately I had no luck except for a book that talks about dad leaving on buiseness trips which I might use to create an original book to suite our needs. So we didn't find the book but he spent the night and we had a blast. This morning we watched the disney channel and I took him to preschool. When I dropped him off at school he had a little stuffed wonder pets turtle that he convinced me he could bring to school for nap time (not true I got punked) but you know thats what being an uncle is all about "spoiling kids".
I had fun and so did he as allways but I have to say it was tough spending time with him and thinking about how much we will miss him while we are gone.

Dental Work

I've been trying to take care of a few things before Jenn and I move and one of those happens to be my teeth. As a kid I used to fall all the time and I knocked out a bunch of my baby teeth before they were ready to come out. Because of this I had a tooth that did not grow in correctly and was covered with bonding to correct it at the time. Now that I have reached adulthood the bonding and the tooth are no longer any good, in fact the tooth had a fracture beneath the bonding and the only thing that could be done would be to have a root canal done followed by capping the old tooth.
So I've had the root canal done and today I went in (and as you can see from the pictures) they took a grinder and ground down my tooth to a little nub, placed a temporary cap on it and sent out for a permanent cap to be made. Some of you out there might have had this done before and if so it's no big deal to you, but this is a first for me and I've gotta say it was an interesting and creepy experience.

Last Day As A Teacher

Today was the last day of school for me as a teacher. I have a bachelors degree in elementary education with a certification in the area of exceptional student education (ESE). After graduating 5 years ago I was hired at the school where I did my student teaching and have taught 4th grade there for the last four years. It has been a rewarding experience as well as one full of challenges and self discovery. I have learned a lot about myself as I have been able to reflect on my own childhood experiences in school and use the lessons learned to encourage, challenge, and empower kids. Today however I closed the door to that chapter of my life to continue moving towards my calling in life.

You see I went into education as a step towards becoming a pastor. I had been volunteering in the student ministry at my church when I chose education after realizing that God had gifted me to work with students and kids and felt called to ministry. At the time I was not ready to step into full time ministry so I continued as a volunteer, worked towards becoming a teacher, and then taught, knowing that eventually I would go on to seminary. So today I spent my last day in the classroom as a teacher and will soon be stepping back into the classroom as a seminary student pursuing my Masters in Divinity and continuing to do my best to be faithful to God's leading.
I will miss being a teacher and am thankful for how God has used me to minister to parents and students while teaching in a public school but I must say that I know it is time to move on and am excited about the road ahead.

Seniors

The summer is finally here which means that the class of 2008 has officially graduated. At our Flamingo Road Church Sawgrass Campus we took time to recognize our graduating seniors. We gave them each a congratulations card signed by the leaders and then we treated them to lunch at P.F. Chang's China Bistro. It was great to get to hang out with them and talk about their plans as well as reminisce on the fact that all though it seems like my Senior year wasn't long ago it has already been 12 years since I graduated from High School :( I am starting to accept the fact that I am getting old . Well we had a great time and they all enjoyed the food.