Week 29: The Deeper Freeze!

Western Ohio has really hit us hard this week, folks! My mom sent me a screen shot of her weather app last Sunday and out of all of the options - Arizona, Florida, Alaska, Michigan, East Rochester and Wapak - we were the coldest. Now, we were not the coldest of all the places because I know it was super duper cold all over the Midwest - but it was pretty darn cold! Thankfully, we both have awesome vehicles and are the type of people who like to be prepared, so we had no problems getting to work in a warm and timely fashion! I hope everyone else had as much success as we did!

Monday was fairly cold, but not terrible. It was a busy day for me! I came home from my rotation, worked out, showered, got our dinner ready and prepared dinner for the next night before the first Girlfriends in God meeting at church. The event was really awesome and I am so thankful to be part of such an awesome church - definitely the part of Wapak we will miss the most! Jonathan stayed home and helped me out by finishing getting the dinner ready for Tuesday and tidying the house up a little bit, since it is something we both appreciate immensely! When I came home he was looking at some potential jobs and taking some notes - lots of decisions to make! We are excited to find out where he is going to work so we can find a good, central place for the two of us to live so neither of us has to drive too far!

Tuesday evenings Jonathan has Bible Study, so I just got some studying done, relaxed and watched some TV. We had ham butt, green beans and potatoes with crescents, it was super delicious! Especially since it was super duper cold outside! Wednesday was another bitterly cold day, it was also my last day of my January rotation, so we spent the evening together, looking at Jonathan's resume and linkedin account, at leftovers and played two games of 7 Wonders Duel (the game we borrowed from Steve and Elise)!

Thursday I had the day off and I always enjoy a nice day off to catch up on life, so I got a lot of studying done, played some piano and viola, made dinner, actually did something with my hair (a true miracle) and was all ready for small group when Jonathan got home! Poor Jonathan had a long day at work working on his project due on Friday, so he was a bit exhausted by the time he got home and I was quite ready for him to be home with me! Small group in the evening was great, we finally told them about my new job and the fact we are moving. They are all excited for us, but are sad for us to be leaving and, quite honestly, we are sad to be leaving them too! As much as we look forward to being closer to family (and, let's be honest, anywhere in Northeastern Ohio is closer than 2-3 hours!), we will definitely miss the friendships we have made here! Lots of prayers asking for a great church family and life-giving friendships when we move!

Friday was my first day at Mary Rutan and it was basically just an introduction day, so I got home pretty early and was able to get some laundry studied, dishes done and a solid 2 hour nap all knocked out before Jonathan got home! In the evening we went to the Wapak/Celina basketball game in Wapak with Graham and Dillon and went to Happy Daz for ice cream afterwards! Yep, we are crazy people and see no problem with going to get ice cream after a week of negative temperatures - nothing wrong at all.

Saturday Jonathan went to a gun show in Lima with the men from the small group while I stayed home and studied. He was overwhelmed, but enjoyed the time with the guys, they are super awesome and love sharing their knowledge. In the evening we went grocery shopping, ate at La Neta, played some music together and watched most of Wreck-It Ralph...unfortunately I got too tired, so we went to bed and finished it on Sunday when we got back from church and ate lunch. Yesterday was a crazy day (hence why I am just now writing!), we took our downstairs neighbor to church since his truck is being fixed, prepped meals for the next week, had lunch, finished Wreck-It Ralph and Last Man Standing, I took a nap, Jonathan worked on our taxes (bless him), we did dishes and got all ready for Graham and Nick to come over for the Super Bowl! It was so fun to watch the game with those two, lots of good humor and positive attitudes, which is always welcomed here! Ain't nobody got time for grouchy, pouter pants when everyone else it trying to enjoy the gathering! Of course, I especially enjoyed the outcome, as a Patriots fan, and Jonathan kinda did since he is a fan of a Patriots fan (a.k.a...he's a fan of me)! 

This next week is looking like a good one...though I'm not a huge fan of the rain! 

[Meals]

• Monday: Potato soup (tonight!)
• Wednesday: Chicken Quesadillas
• Friday: Beef and Noodles
• Breakfast: blueberry muffins!

Have a great week! Enjoy the warm-ish weather until it gets cold again! We love you all!

Love,

Alli and Jonathan