Out for the weekend...

Friday afternoon is finally here! This has been an incredibly long week, and I feel like we simply have not stopped going since we began the moving process. Anyway, we're headed out tomorrow for a nice getaway - camping & antique shopping! We're both ready to get out of the city for a bit, and you simply cannot beat this weather for camping. Should be a good time. I'll try and get some pictures up on Monday. But until this - have a wonderful weekend!

Our Move - In Pictures

Finally, the camera & the chord have made it to the same place at the same time - and I have pictures to share! We are officially moved into our new place and stayed there for the first time Saturday night. And we love it! Of course, there is still lots to be done, but we're just taking it a little at a time and enjoying our new home and the abundance of space. Here are a few pictures from last week as we made the transition:

Please, come on in!

I decided on an apple green for our little breakfast nook. It turned out pretty bright, but I like it! (Dan was pretty proud of his work, as you can see)


Here is my wonderful new kitchen in process...it looks much better than this now! I think nearly everything has found a home in this room...which wasn't too hard with all of those cabinets, and of course...

a PANTRY!!! Okay, now you may think I'm a little over excited about a closet with some shelving, but please note the photo above. I brought ALL of this from our other place. Seriously...where did I put it all?! This continues to baffle me. I mean seriously - all of my cabinets are full, too!

Here is our lovely blue wall in the living room (with the fireplace!), as well as our new furniture. I LOVE how this color turned out - it looks even better in the daylight! Our furniture is gone now - there's a long story there involving some holes & bad packaging - but we should be getting our replacements tomorrow.

Our "master" bathroom - with a garden tub! The fact that I have to put a description before the bathroom in order to differentiate from the other 2 in the house still seems crazy to me. And I really like this garden tub, as you can see :-)

Taking a break from all of the hard work for a little treat from Sonic. We'll miss having that right across the street! But I'll definitely trade that for a Walmart AND Kroger right around the corner. Yeah!

I don't really think this one even needs a caption. Although he did want to get rid of my cowboy hat. Can we take a vote on this please?

Yes, I can sleep pretty much anywhere anytime. Even on a plastic-wrapped couch in the middle of moving chaos.

Wrapping things up at our old place. As exciting as we are about the new - it was a little sad to say goodbye to our cozy little apartment. It's been a wonderful place for us these last 2 1/2 years.

Our guest bedroom - unpacking headquarters at the moment.

I have my own washer & dryer!! We bought these from some friends of ours and were able to get them in on Saturday. If you ever want to get excited about doing laundry, just spend a couple of years doing laundry in a community laundry room, and then realize that you can do your own laundry in your own home any time you want. It's pretty amazing.

Here's a view of the living room this morning - we're getting things put together bit by bit. I'll have more updates as we progress, but for now - welcome to our new home!

October 6

October 6 is a date that has been burned into my life for 9 years now. On this date in 1999, Missouri State Highway Patrolman Robert Kimberling was killed in the line of duty...but I knew him as Bob. On this date in 1999, my Dad lost his best friend, my Mom's best friend lost her husband, and 2 of my life-long friends lost their Dad.

9 years is a long time, and a lot has changed since that fateful day. But I still think about Bob often and wonder how different life would be for the Kimberling family if he were still here. I wish he could have met Dan, and I wish I could hear he & my Dad discussing the upcoming election or Dad's layoff or laughing about some bizarre arrest they made years ago. I wish...I wish life wasn't so cruel as to allow death to sneak in and snatch away those we love.

But I do know that this world is not our home, nor was it Bob's. And I know that our precious Lord never forsakes His children, even amidst such tragedies as this. Lord, bring healing and peace to Bob's family. Be especially close to Kelly, Katie & Tobi today as they remember their husband & Dad - may they find comfort in the knowledge that You have overcome & the grave is overwhelmed!

I Will Rise - Chris Tomlin

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"


Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead


And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise


There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes


Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead


And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise


And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"


And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

From LYRICSMODE.COM lyrics archive

Song lyrics | I Will Rise lyrics

Some Random Thoughts on the Week

1. Moving in pieces is both a blessing and a curse. It's wonderful to have the time and the capability to do a little at a time, and it's much easier to be methodical about the process when you only have to do one room at a time (or one cabinet for that matter). But it's also exhausting! We've made more trips between the two places this week than I can count - and the next couple of days will probably double that number. BUT...I remember how overwhelmed I was when we loaded up the U-Haul in Iowa, knowing I had to get everything in that little trailer and it had to be packed well enough to make the trip all the way to Tennessee. Packing for a 15 minute drive really isn't so bad!

2. I don't function very well when I live in chaos. My brain has been as scattered as my possessions this week!

3. Paint really makes a place feel like your own. We've painted several walls in the new place, and I feel like it's starting to resemble our own personalities because of that. Our living room is now a beautiful colonial blue, and our kitchen is BRIGHT apple green (just one wall)...and I love it! (Pictures soon to follow...I brought my chord to work today...but forgot the camera. Once again...my brain is a bit scattered!)

4. I had forgotten how much I like older Switchfoot music. Last night we had one little pack of old CD's, so we pulled out "The Beautiful Letdown" and blasted it for awhile while we packed. I'm pretty sure Dan knew every word...which seemed strange to me because I never remember listening to this together. It was a bit of a glimpse into the past - before we knew each other. That's always kind of a strange feeling.

5. God is so incredibly faithful. Packing has a way of bringing back every memory you've made in a place, so we've been reminiscing a bit about the 2 1/2 years spent at Trevecca. It's amazing to look back and see how far God has brought us! We took down the curtains last night and a wave of nausea hit me as I remembered walking into our apartment for the first time - and realizing how very alone we were in Nashville. Now we're able to think about all of the wonderful friends we never would have known, all of the incredible lessons learned, and the ways God used our loneliness to bind us together in those first months of marriage...none of which would have happened if we would not have moved here. The past has a way of reminding me that God really does know what's best for me.

6. I can't wait for Sunday when we close the doors to our little Trevecca apartment and finally have everything in one place again!

A Trip to Louisville & Our Last Supper

This will be brief, but I've already passed a week since my last post...how does that happen?! Anyway, Dan & I were able to make a quick trip to Louisville this weekend to spend some time with Kelsey & Brent, and to see Dan's sister Mandee play softball. It was short and sweet - but very worth the time. It's always good to be with family! Here are a few pics from the weekend:

And tonight we shared our "last supper" together in our little Trevecca apartment. I decided to make one of my favorite meals - Fetticine Carbonara. I don't think I had ever made it for Dan before...probably because the fat content is, well, let's just say a little "excessive"...but we enjoyed it :-)

Even more exciting that our last supper...our last round of dishes! Now I know you're probably thinking, "Um, Kali...you're still going to have to do dishes in a new place." And you're only partially right. I'll have to "do" dishes...but really, I'll only have to load them and then take them out of my new dishwasher! Dan probably has more right to be excited about this than me...he's really been my dishwasher for the last two and a half years!

After packingup the kitchen, Dan decided we needed to have one last round of cookies here, so he made some yummy no-bake cookies!

And now I'm off to tape up a couple more boxes and get a little sleep. We get the keys to our new place tomorrow evening!

Change

I've been feeling the need to be more consistent with this blog, but I have also been feeling as though I don't have much to say. Let me rephrase that - I often don't feel like I have much to say that anyone else would care to listen to. Just an assortment of rambling thoughts that carry me through my day.

One of my re-occuring thoughts as of late has been the thought of CHANGE. Dan & I have been experiencing so much of this lately - the good and bad kind. For the first time since we've known one another, neither of us is in school. It's a good change, but still a change. We are now both working full time, which means our schedules shift, our priorities change a little, and our time with each other has slightly shrunk. It also means we have 2 paycheks - a great change, one that has also brought with it lots of decisions and responsibility.

At work things have changed a lot in the last month. In short, our company is in a very tight spot financially which unfortunately led to 2 layoffs and another position that left and is not going to be filled. When you take 3 people out of an already small staff (we were at about 15), that produces some major changes in work load as well as staff dynamics. Not really the good kind of change. I was able to change offices as a result of all of this, however, and I now have an office with a window. Good change. And now I have more than a hallway for an office, which is also wonderful!

Our friendships have also changed in the last month or so. Some of our best friends here in Nashville, Tyler & Annie & son Sam, moved away in August. That was a hard change. Some of our other good friends, Megan & Alan, had their second child around the same time. Good change...except when we want to do something that isn't necessarily "kid-friendly." My best friend Shelby got married a few weeks ago, which also changes the dynamic of our friendship.

At church we finished teaching our "Kingdom Kids" group of 1st-5th graders and have switched to 2 year-olds (me) and 2nd graders (Dan). It was a bit of a wake-up call when I realized that every one of those little critters came with a diaper bag and the need to be watched every second to avoid all manner of disasters! I also realized that I like knowing everyone's name in my old class...and I liked that they remembered mine. Once again...change.

And we're moving. For some reason, changing our environment can sometimes feel like we're changing our whole world. And it's just a few miles away! I'm hoping once the actual move takes place that this part won't feel quite so overwhelming. Why does it seem to change so much to have a 30 minute drive on each end of my day instead of 8 or 10?

All of this to say, there are very few areas of my life that have remained UNchanged in the past couple of months. I feel like I'm grasping at straws sometimes as I try to find something comfortable and familiar. How very grateful I am that I serve a God who NEVER changes...who is the same yesterday, today, and forver...and who reigns forever as the Ancient of Days.

Some New Music

Today at work one of my coworkers, after listening to some of my iTunes (we're able to share in our office - which is awesome), reccommended I listen to this girl named JJ Heller. Well I did, and she's great! And then I was even more excited to look her up and find that she's giving away her album for free right now. So I just thought I'd throw this up here in case anyone is interested. She's pretty mellow - some good stuff :-)

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