I have a yob!!

That's right folks, Lindy is finally employed for the long haul! I spent the past four weeks trying to woo my way into the hearts of people in Illinois. Starting Monday, I will be employed as a Whatever They Need at the Moment Assistant. The blessing lies in this... I will be averaging at least 30 hours (probably closer to 40 for awhile) which makes me eligible for the full time benefits of the company. Another blessing is that the work environment is one of the healthiest I have been a part of in five years. The commute may be what kills me in the long run as the company is located 3 1/2 minutes from our apartment!! I will need continued prayer as I set out on this journey of 8-5 life doing tasks that may not be my first love, but something I am trained well in, as I try to take on the burden as the financial means of the family, and attempt to support Brad in his studying efforts. Thank you for your encouragement! This is a gift at just the right time.

The Past in a Nutshell

So, you may be wondering what could possibly entice us from leaving the beauty of New England to live amongst the prairie of the Midwest… Shall we return to the beginning of our marriage? I’ve heard it is September 2nd, 2007 (a date I forget regularly for reasons unrelated to the fact that it was one of the best and biggest decisions of my life, so don’t be worried).

Brad and I moved into my apartment in Derry, NH following our fabulous honeymoon at Avalon Acres in Durango, Colorado. We made friends with several squirrels and cats that meandered past our generous outdoor food supply. Needless to say, we did not make friends with any of our neighbors as many of them refused to make eye contact. Only a few months later, we decorated for Christmas with a ten dollar clearance tree and partially working lights I managed to pick up for free at a yard sale. We began our marital journey simply and lightly.

For a first year of marriage, life ran rather smoothly. We awoke each morning for work, took advantage of the local library, frequented the Saturday matinee at our local theater, began attending Rockingham Christian Church in Salem, joined a wonderful small group on Mondays, spent many evenings going on “Hannaford dates” at the nearby grocery store, and nearly wet our pants with excitement when we discovered TWO Red Box locations within five minutes of our home (making a total of three boxes between my place of employment and home).

Then we got bored.

That isn’t unusual for the two of us. It began with dreaming of absurd relocations to the Northwest or putting all of our possessions in storage and cancelling our cell phones to go on several six month adventures throughout the country. Unfortunately, in the midst of our idealism we are realists to a fault. We would love to play, but we wanted to be wise.

Brad began taking online classes through Southern New Hampshire University. He had enough to increase his appetite for more, but realized that the amount would not be satisfactory in his current situation. I was on the fence with my job, knowing it was not a career I wanted, the only attachment being with people (who I miss very much!). We decided that Brad’s pursuit of finishing college was the direction we desired.

Within six weeks, he had been accepted to Lincoln Christian College, we put in our notices at work, and were packing up and heading to the Land of Lincoln! Ripping life-as-I-had-come-to-know-it like a band aid actually helped with the transition.

Brad will be studying under Michael Gowin (also our wedding photographer), and many other brilliant faculty, in the Business program. Classes begin January 15th. He has been employed part time with Fastenal, which is conveniently flexible and located only five minutes from home.

I am a professional job hunter. For the first two months I had filled my time as a temporary assistant for my friend’s grandmother (she is amazing!) and now am contracting for a month at a business conveniently located three minutes from home.

We have begun attending Lincoln Christian Church and will hopefully begin a small group after the holidays. We have been blessed by friends of my past. They have truly taken us under wing. Many of our weekends have been dedicated to traveling around the state (including Indiana) to see family and friends who have been too distant for the past five years.

So here we are at Christmas, one year later. We have a more interesting decorated tree in our two bedroom student apartment. There will be countless hours spent with family in the next couple of weeks. It is frigid.

And our life is peaceful.

Christmas Letter 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our new lives in the Land of Lincoln!

It is with great pleasure we announce the latest and greatest in our lives… The undertaking of our very own wind farm!! That’s right, upon relocating to the prairies of Lincoln, IL Brad decided that the little gusts of wind needed ownership, they needed a place to be trained, grown, and developed into the best wind the earth could ever want. This is also Phase 1 of “Going Green” for the Illinois Belleys. In Phase 2, we hope to restore the ancient Asian tradition of binding feet to reduce our carbon footprint.

Lindy has realized that the duty of a wind farmer can be quite demanding. She arises with Brad every morning to gauge the ferocity of the little wind pups. (Early on, we discovered that nurturing the wind from infancy provides greater opportunities for fine-tuning that may not be possible as say, teenage wind.) One of the hardest things to train a wind pup is how to drive rain horizontally while flicking water up and under umbrellas; similarly, driving dirt into open eyeballs is another skill quite difficult to master. Brad makes certain their training dust is always available.

It takes approximately three human months, or seventeen wind years, for a pup to reach maturity. We have yet to see a full maturation process, but the little guys have been budding into beautiful creatures right before our eyes.

You may be wondering, what’s next for the wind? Once a year, as a last hurrah, we let them run wild through a local trailer park. What they don’t realize is that it is also a final lesson in working together, forming an unstoppable force. But, the inconvenient truth is the bittersweet moment will be drawing near when we must release the wind to be harnessed by Al Gore. We know they’ll be in good hands and used to better the earth one breeze at a time.

It is our hope that this letter finds you in good health and joyful spirit for the upcoming Christmas season! And the next time you are frozen because of blustery gust of wind, ask yourself, did he have a cultivating home?

Blessings and Love, Brad & Lindy

To celebrate Brad's birthday we took
our wind to a local amusement park.

Quiet Times and Loud Moments

It seems a bit contradictory that our lives can be so still and peaceful when all signs are pointing towards chaos and busyness. Brad and I have settled into a nice routine in Lincoln. While we experience stress in small pieces we also know that where we are is where we were meant to be.

It's much like the quality of quietly falling snow which can be suddenly whipped by the violent wind. The snow remains calm in existence, it is merely the circumstances surrounding the snow that make it appear wild.

Land of Lincoln Land

Brad and I have made it a regular event to hunker down in the Warehouse for internet use and possibly to avoid the haunting responsibility of organizing the final, most abstract room in the house...the spare room. I like to also refer to it as the clutter room, the end-all room, the study room, Brad's clothing room, or the New Hampshire Room (thanks to Jeff Peterson for giving us a beautiful, green NH sign prior to our departure).

Today the air reaked of Decatur. If you've lived here, you know exactly what I am talking about. It's a sicky sweet aroma that wafts from the soybean factories of Decatur, IL. At first sniff it is almost pleasant. Then, the stench doesn't give, but gets seemingly stronger and more oppressive.

Now, it is pouring buckets outside.

Finale

Tomorrow will be my last day at work.
Only a few will understand how liberating that moment will be...

In the Midst of Packing

My husband and I have resorted to Kraft Spongebob Squarepants Mac n Cheese coupled with Pomme de Glace dessert wine from Montreal.

Yum.