Dear All,
I write to you from the Casa de Jennings 2.0. That's right, we are up 'n running, and actually in a house!
It has a been a whirlwind month; lots of change, lots of stress, lots of exciting things happening! Let me give you a rundown of our life over the past couple months.
Ben's been traveling a lot more for work- mainly to Pennsylvania. He's really been enjoying things lately. I really love that he loves his job- it's that much more fulfilling for us. I've been working fewer hours, but still manage to keep myself busy. I just finished teaching a week long class at one of the high schools for their end-of-summer band prep. The last couple of weeks in particular have been downright exhausting. We were really blessed in that we kind of had the run of the house before our lease actually started, so we were able to paint some and get big stuff moved in at our leisure. I can not imagine what it would have been like trying to do one big move all at once. I would have died.
I haven't exactly explained the whole house-situation to some of you; so for those of you who think, "wait, what?? They're in a house??" let me give ya the skinny. Essentially my bassoon teacher/colleague (who I studied with all throughout Middle/High School) moved to Philadelphia because of her husband's job. Through a turn of events & a lot of miraculous conversations, it turns out that Ben & I are now leasing the house! There have been countless instances where we've thought, "well... this seems impossible", but God has opened doors & paved ways, and made it abundantly clear that this is the place to be. He's provided so much, and we know it's all because of His grace, and 0% because of us. (i.e. there was a little mix-up at our apartment concerning our lease, and we were very nearly forced to hand over $1,200 in fees... essentially we were going to have to throw away over a grand because we didn't give the appropriate # of days' notice that we were moving. But it turns out the apartment didn't give us the appropriate # of days' reminder to give notice, which allowed 30 days notice sufficient... yeah, we found this out on the 30th day before we planned on moving out... thereby allowing us to keep our $1,200. Miraculous.)
All that to say, it's been quite the roller coaster. We spent a week painting, moving, getting settled, unpacking- all that jazz. THANK YOU, thank you friends & family (Mom, Dad, Aunty Ellen, Sammantha & Luke, Andrea & Tepera, Jeremy, Chad, Luke) for helping us lug all our stuff back and forth. We finally have juuuust about everything in its' place, particularly because yesterday we hosted our first ever House Warming Party! It was splendid, just splendid. Saturday was actually my 24th birthday (that means official mid-20's, right?... eesh) so Ben took me out to a surprise hotel-stay and fancy, fancy Italian Restaurant. Then we returned to our house (teehee) for a day of celebration in the home. I've told a couple of my friends: I think we're just about beat. We're so mentally incapable of having errands, details, adjustments, & to-do lists hanging over our heads; and our bodies can't take many more demands, I don't think. I seriously am concerned that I have stress fractures in my feet from jumping up and down stairs and ladders, and just standing for so many hours each day. We are READY to enjoy this home now; which, I think, yesterday really helped us jump-start :)
So, here are some official pictures of the new house. We are so excited to see what all life brings us in this new phase of life. Each night I feel like Ben or I make mention of how blessed we feel to be in this home- we can't wait to use it to host friends, family, ministry... we can't to see how God uses us through it.
(oh, forgive Brandi- she just trailed me around the house, so she's in a lot of the pictures and wouldn't get out of the way... *shrug*)
Our Front Yard!
My Welcome Sign... I don't know why the pic is sideways...
Living Room- standing in the backdoor looking in
Back Yard! Patio :)
Brandi loves her back yard
I couldn't resist O:)
Living Room
Living Room/Kitchen view
my artsy fartsy bookshelf
other wall of the Living Room... + Brandi & her big tongue
Kitchen
Dining Room (keep in mind the wall-color is the same as the Living Room; the light/flash just makes it look different in these pictures)
there are things hanging on these walls, thanks to my mom & dad :)
other wall of Dining room, next to Kitchen entry
Guest Bathroom... that's right- we have one for guests; lucky you!
Ashley's office/bassoon studio
I have already littered my desk
Ben's office/computer room- right now everything we're not sure what to do with gets thrown in here... oops :(
woohoo, USC!
(this is to give perspective- standing in kitchen, looking into dining & main front entry)
other wall of Kitchen
standing in kitchen, looking into Living Room
Master Bedroom
Still need to hand things on the walls in here...
Master Bath
Garden Tub :) yessssss
Casa de Jennings!
Ben's been traveling a lot more for work- mainly to Pennsylvania. He's really been enjoying things lately. I really love that he loves his job- it's that much more fulfilling for us. I've been working fewer hours, but still manage to keep myself busy. I just finished teaching a week long class at one of the high schools for their end-of-summer band prep. The last couple of weeks in particular have been downright exhausting. We were really blessed in that we kind of had the run of the house before our lease actually started, so we were able to paint some and get big stuff moved in at our leisure. I can not imagine what it would have been like trying to do one big move all at once. I would have died.
I haven't exactly explained the whole house-situation to some of you; so for those of you who think, "wait, what?? They're in a house??" let me give ya the skinny. Essentially my bassoon teacher/colleague (who I studied with all throughout Middle/High School) moved to Philadelphia because of her husband's job. Through a turn of events & a lot of miraculous conversations, it turns out that Ben & I are now leasing the house! There have been countless instances where we've thought, "well... this seems impossible", but God has opened doors & paved ways, and made it abundantly clear that this is the place to be. He's provided so much, and we know it's all because of His grace, and 0% because of us. (i.e. there was a little mix-up at our apartment concerning our lease, and we were very nearly forced to hand over $1,200 in fees... essentially we were going to have to throw away over a grand because we didn't give the appropriate # of days' notice that we were moving. But it turns out the apartment didn't give us the appropriate # of days' reminder to give notice, which allowed 30 days notice sufficient... yeah, we found this out on the 30th day before we planned on moving out... thereby allowing us to keep our $1,200. Miraculous.)
All that to say, it's been quite the roller coaster. We spent a week painting, moving, getting settled, unpacking- all that jazz. THANK YOU, thank you friends & family (Mom, Dad, Aunty Ellen, Sammantha & Luke, Andrea & Tepera, Jeremy, Chad, Luke) for helping us lug all our stuff back and forth. We finally have juuuust about everything in its' place, particularly because yesterday we hosted our first ever House Warming Party! It was splendid, just splendid. Saturday was actually my 24th birthday (that means official mid-20's, right?... eesh) so Ben took me out to a surprise hotel-stay and fancy, fancy Italian Restaurant. Then we returned to our house (teehee) for a day of celebration in the home. I've told a couple of my friends: I think we're just about beat. We're so mentally incapable of having errands, details, adjustments, & to-do lists hanging over our heads; and our bodies can't take many more demands, I don't think. I seriously am concerned that I have stress fractures in my feet from jumping up and down stairs and ladders, and just standing for so many hours each day. We are READY to enjoy this home now; which, I think, yesterday really helped us jump-start :)
So, here are some official pictures of the new house. We are so excited to see what all life brings us in this new phase of life. Each night I feel like Ben or I make mention of how blessed we feel to be in this home- we can't wait to use it to host friends, family, ministry... we can't to see how God uses us through it.
(oh, forgive Brandi- she just trailed me around the house, so she's in a lot of the pictures and wouldn't get out of the way... *shrug*)
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