In response.......

The question was asked in a comment if I would do it all again. I would, I wouldn't change the life I am living for anything. Yes, we did go through our hard times and yes we still have our moments. But the good definitely out weighed the bad. Our first year of marriage was tough but we made it. We were married December 29, 2001. Apparently Delilah became pregnant on Valentines Day (February 14) ;-) We moved and started a new job being houseparents in the beginning of July then Jude was born November 6th. We went through so many changes during our first year of marriage. Not only were we adjusting to living with each other, we were adjusting to the wonderful 9 months of pregnancy. Oh... don't forget adjusting to having somebody else child living with us. It was all fun and never a dull moment was to be had.

It all began this day 4 years ago

It didn't actually begin this day 4 years ago but my new life with my lovely bride started 4 years ago. You see we were married December 29th, 2001. Let's take a little stroll down memory lane. It actually all began during my first day of work at Safe Landing in April of 2001. I was sitting in Joe's office doing some going through some training and in walks Delilah. She asked Joe if there were anymore positions open (she had a friend she wanted to work at Safe Landing) Joe answered "no I hired everyone I need" Delilah told Joe to fire me. So it began. I sensed a little flirtation going on and thus the challenged started. The next several months I began talking to her to and actuallay asked her out three times. Each time she turned me down with a lame excuse or another. One excuse was that she had to go home and clean her apartment because her parents were coming to visit. Cleaning consisted of putting the dirty dished UNDER the sink. Another time I asked her out and she said that she had to go home and clean up because she was having some friends over for a bachlorette party. During a missions trip to Alaska in July of 2001 I had decided I was not going to ask her out again. I had a a rule of three strikes and I'm out. Well, Delilah apparently had other things on her mind. She had told her family and several friends that she was going to marry me. WOW. After returning from the trip I had to work the overnight shift at Safe Landing. Delilah conveniently offered to call and remind me about my upcoming shift. We did not talk much because she woke me up when she called (and I am not a morning person). She also conveniently picked up an overnight shift at the girls Safe Landing at the same time I was working the over night shift at the boys Safe Landing. She proceeded to call me during our work shift and we talked and talked and talked. More than I thought it was possible to talk. I asked her out on our first date (to the Chapel, a church in Akron). As they say, the rest was history.
Make sure you read Delilahs blog (delilahmiller.blogspot.com) for more info about our actual wedding.

Resume

I am in the process of updating my resume. I know it's a great thing to do a day after Christmas, but it something I must do to get a better job for my family and our circumstances. It is hard to be working opposite shifts. For the time it is something we must do to have enough, (sometimes not enough) money to pay the bills. I have at least one job lead and this it the reason I am working on my resume. I told my friend I would make some changes to it and get it to him. Hopefully all will work out. It sounds like a great job and could have potential. There is nothing I like least then working at a job that had no potential for advancement. That is where I am at currently. I have to have some type of potential with my position or I tend to get bored with it. I hope this all making sense. I feel like I am rambling here. Have a great day.

Howdy, howdy, howdy

Well, if you've been keeping up with Delilah's blog (delilahmiller.blogspot.com) you know that we are in TN. It is nice to come down to visit and get away from the hustle and bustle being at home. It feels kind of weird being down during Christmas though. There is no snow on the ground. I have been conditioned to have or at least it being cold and or snow on the ground. A little update on being to stretched. Last Sunday, I finally made the decision to not be involved with Praiz at church. It was a tough decision to make. i enjoyed being involved and being involved renewed a hunger within me to become more involved within church (paid ministry) I talked to Delilah about it a little bit here and there. I have always enjoyed working within a church setting. I'm not sure if I will pursue it more or not.
Anyways....everyone have a great holiday, er, I mean Christmas. ;-)

Shooting Arrows

There is one question I have been asked by Delilah and now by John when I bring up about looking for another job, this question is "what do you want to do?" I simply answer that is a good question. It is something that I have been thinking about for a while for which I really don't have an answer. What do you want to do? What can you bring to the table to make a company better? These are two questions each person much ask themselves when searching for a job. A great resume can get your foot in the door for an interview, but if you are not able to lay it all out and say what strengths you can bring to position why should you be hired? Many of you know I am frustrated with my current employment. But for the time being I am stuck here because I'm not really sure what my strengths are that I can bring to the table. And furthermore, what is it that I really want to do? I feel like I am shooting arrows at a target that can not be seen.

Employment

I have decided tonight that I must start looking for a new job. It's not that my current job as a custodian (not janitor) is hard or horrible or anything like that. It is actually a pretty easy job with great benefits. It's just that I am working 2nd shift and I don't know what school I will be in from day to day. I actually didn't think it would be that bad working opposite shifts with Delilah but I don't enjoy it one bit. I really miss be at home in the evening and putting Jude to bed.
That problem I have dealing with trying to find a new job is that I am not sure what it is actually I want to do. I have had an itch to work within a church, which I am currently doing now working with the Milestone group at Fallscreek. I haven't honestly put my best effort forward with it yet. And I am actually feeling a little bit frustrated with it. Yet, I keep plugging away at it ever so slightly because I don't want to abandon the ship. I believe there are great things on the horizon for the church an I think that Milestone can play an important role in it.
So I ask for any one that actually reads this blog to pray for opportunities to open up for me.
Thanks.

Friendlationships Part 1

Friendships and relationships can be a difficult thing for most people. Today I taught on this topic in Milestone at church. As I sit here and reflect on what was discussed during class it makes me feel good that I am married. I do not miss the confusion and anxiety often associated with relationships. I was never really good at dealing with the opposite sex when it dealt with relationships. I had a lot of friends that were females. No problem there. It was easier me to have friends that were from the opposite sex. The problem I had was going from the friendship to the relationship. During my time at Heartlight Ministries at was able to practice a couple of times trying to make that transition. (I thank those of you that gave me that opportunity, you know who you are, I doubt that you are even reading this blog, anyways....) it has made me who I am today and it made me a better person. I think. So anyways back to the whole friendlationship thing.
Often time churches take to positions on dating. 1) Dating is not relevant because it did not exist in the Bible and 2) Anything goes in a relationship as long as you don't have sex. The first position is outdated. Society equates dating with love and vice verse, so I won't even touch on that subject. The 2nd position is the position that churches need to work. There are all kinds of NO SEX before marriage programs out there. Individuals need to realize that there are many things which do not belong in a relationship until one is married. The giving of you emotional and spiritual self should not be given away freely.
I have had several relationships where I have given to much away. It makes for the break-up to be much harder than would it should be. Often times break-ups tend to be bitter and not nice at all. It shouldn't be this way, specially if you are a Christian. It is a time for a change.

Garages

So today I decided to clean out (start putting away) our belongings in the garage. Because you know that winter is just around the corner and it would be nice to be able to get one of our vehicles into the garage. I spent about 2 hours putting things away. I'm trying to put things into there place but I really need to build some shelves but I don't really want to spend the money doing it since we are renting and do not own this house. I am also in the process of replacing the bath tub spichet. It currently won't send any water out of the shower head so I have been taking baths for the last three weeks. It's not that I mind taking a bath but I puts me to sleep in the morning and I just feel like spending the morning in there.
I am going to find out tomorrow if there will be an opening at the high school. I hope there will be I am tired of not knowing where I will be working.
Delilah mentioned that she wants to go back to school and get her masters in education. I really think she do it. I think she would be a great teacher. And besides what can you do with a Psych degree?
Stay tuned for more in the future.

Days

I wish I was able to work my day shift as a permanent position. It is nice being able to be off work at 3 pm. Today I took Jude and we went to Crown Point and made a few other stops on the way back home. We were back before 6 pm. It felt nice to be able to go run a few errands and still eat dinner at a regular time.
I am looking for a part-time position somewhere. I would rather work 2 jobs and allow Delilah to stay at home with the children. It has been a hard adjustment for Jude specially when he has to wake up at 6:30 to go to the baby sitters house.

Time

It has been a while since I have last posted. It seems that every time I sit down to type I get interrupted with something. I found out today what my hourly rate will be as a custodian. I was not sure what it would because of being bumped from my temporary position. But now I know what it is going to be and now we can start to make some plans. I am extremely tired today. I think it is because I am use to staying up till about midnight but this entire week I have been starting work at 6:30 in the morning instead of at 3 pm. So I am still staying up till about midnight and waking up at 5:30 am. If you know anything about me it is that I require my 7 1/2 - 8 hours of sleep. This is a short post today, but I just wanted to do a quick update.

Smelly is gone

It's official. The smell is gone. We had to pay some guy $150 to take our freezer and the smelly meat inside of it. He was only here for no more than 15 minutes. Pretty good pay if you ask me. I don't think we had much of a choice in the matter. For now on we will buy new appliances when we need them. Besides having some type of guarantee of not breaking down they are also more efficient.

"Loaded"

My claims guy from Erie Insurance called today to let me know some information about my accident. He let me know that the car might be close to being totaled. He said that it basically depends on what Klaben finds under the hood and how much damage has been done to the engine. He didn't say how long it would take to find out. Hopefully not long. I can't wait to find out so we can have some closure on the vehicle situation. Speaking of vehicles....... I think I might call enterprise and try to get a Ford Focus to drive. I can not stand the Chevy Cavalier.

I recently worked at the high school and one of the custodians found a "loaded" condom in the wrestling room. Now, if I have to explain the term "loaded" well this will have to take place another time. I can't believe what students do today. The vast majority of students live for today and don't concern themselves about the future. I suppose I was kind of like that when I was in high school.

Rentals

Today was my first time home alone with the children while Delilah went to work. It wasn't so bad. It really helped that Elise slept till a little after 11 am. I gave her a bath (the first I have given her). I don't think she liked me giving her a bath though. She cried a little bit and looked at me like she was trying to say "Daddy you don't know what your doing do you?" I made it through the bath ok. Jude was fairly good. I was trying to get him to take a nap before Delilah got home so she could have some down time but my plan didn't work out.

I am still tired from this weekend. The move took a lot out of me. It will probably take a few days for me to recover. I got our rental car today. It is a Chevy Cavalier. I hate Chevy's. I think I might call them to try and get a different car. Maybe like a Ford Focus. They are kind of fun to drive. Up to this point I havn't heard what the total damage is to my car. It looks pretty messed up. I think I will take a few pictures of it and post it on "the Launch".

Accidents

Well it is now night 2 in our new house. Everything seems to be going well. I've been pretty much watching the children and keeping Elise from crying and Jude from whining. Delilah is doing getting a lot done. Much thanks to the moving team. With out you guys our move would have taken forever. It seems however we have lost one box somewhere. It has our alarm clocks and nightstand lamps in it. Hopefully it will show up eventually.

After church today we went to lunch with a few of our freinds. I was scheduled to show Tim and Steph's apartment today to 2 people at 2. I left the keys to the aparment back at our house. So Jude and I drove back to the house after lunch to get the keys and then go to the apartment. Well, on the way to our house I rearended a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The 3rd car in front of me was making a left hand turn and everyone checked up real quick. I didn't stop in time because I was distracted with other things. (Talking to Jude and looking in my rear view mirror). So needless to say I never made it to the apartment. I am a little sore tonight but I'm not sure if its from moving or the accident.

Pieces

So....... our adventure is coming to an end as houseparents. We've been here for over 3 years. It has had its ups and downs. Mostly ups though. I am looking forward to next Tuesday because we won't have to worry about children coming into our house. Being a houseparent has it rewards but it comes with sacrifices.

It has been rewarding to work day in and day out with my lovely wife for the past three years. Likewise it has been a blessing to watch our son grow up from birth to almost 3. I wish I would have the same opportunity with our daughter who is 4 months old. Actually, Monday will be the first time since we started dating that we will not be working together. It will take some time to get used to it specially since we will be working opposite shifts. But back to the rewards and sacrifices..... the main sacrifice (ironically) is that we have had to give up our personal time and family time.

I'm tired of packing and I haven't even packed many boxes, Delilah has done the majority of the packing. I think we are to the point that we can't pack much more until Thursday and Friday. We have large items to pack such as the computer and equipment, and the TV and accessories. We all know we can't live without the net and TV for more than a day or so, so we always try to save that for last.

The pieces are falling together with my job as custodian. I learned Wednesday night that my job is secure as the floater. I just need to wait for one job posting to be a permanent position and I will be a permanent custodian. So....... I am excited about it. It's only a matter of time for it all to fall together.

The Time is Coming........

The time is coming when Monet, my dog, will begin a new life at a new house. It hasn't really hit me until tonight when Delilah started asking if I wanted to take him to his new house or have his new owner pick him up. Monet has been a good dog but he also has been a lot of work. I knew he would be a lot of work. But since we are moving and at this point Delilah and I will be working opposite shifts it will become even more work. But it will be better off for him at his new house.... besides Jude beats up on him everyday.

Being a custodian can be a very interesting job to have. Tonight I worked at the high school and everyone I worked with was great. It's always interesting to hear stories that people share about students doing this or that. Apparently some students were crawling in the duct work in the field house. Why they were doing this, I'm not sure. They must have been trying to act like James Bond or something. It seems that students today on live for the moment. I'm sure I was the same way. But how marriage and having two children can change you. I'm still adjusting I think. Making the move to our new house has brought on some extra stress for me and unfortunately I have taken a lot of out on Delilah, I am sorry.