Unmet Expectations

Doesn’t that title sound very deep? Well don’t worry this post is not deep at all. Once a year I traditionally have one of these…A Caramel Apple Spice fromStarbucks. Now there are rules to this drink.The most important being that it must be at least cool outside and it must be the “Fall” season.  So far today is really the second cool day we have had. So as tradition would have it I woke up, felt the cool air and immediately craved one of these bad boys. About an hour ago I walk myself over to starbucks (Yes, there is a Starbucks in walking distance from my office, and yes it is dangerous). I proudly say “one caramel apple spice!” I expect to hear ”would you like a Venti?” but instead I hear “We are out of Apple Juice.” Now this is where it gets good, this is the second cool day so therefore the second time I have tried to have said drink, and the second time I have been told they are out of Apple Juice! Really, Apple Juice, for Pete’s sake…GO TO PUBLIX and BUY ME SOME APPLE JUICE!

Needless to say I have no warm caramel drink and Starbucks had not met my expectations.

PS: They told me they might have some on Saturday, are you kidding me!

d

Now You See It, Now You Don’t

Well we have owned the house or a little over a week now and this is what we have done.  Thanks to the help of many great friends.

When we first looked at the house we saw this “special” wall and I had to hold B back from knocking it down right then…

By the end of Day 2, it looked like this:

As if that wasn’t enough for one evening (yes this was all done after work) this started happening:

So what once looked like this:

Now looks like this:

Stay tuned for more…

d

We begin to be like Christ

We begin to be like Christ

(J. R. Miller, “The Life of Jesus”)

“I am among you as one who serves.” Luke 22:27

“He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a towel, and tied it around Himself. Next, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around Him.” John 13:4-5

Serving is not an easy lesson to learn. But it is a lesson we must learn–if ever we would become like our Master. He did not come to be served–but to serve. He served to the uttermost, just as He loved to the uttermost. Anything that needed to be done for another, He did as naturally and as simply as He breathed. He loved people, and was interested in them, and was ready always to be helpful to them. It never mattered what the service was, whether it was the saving of a soul, the curing of a grievous sickness, or the giving of a cup of water–He did the least as graciously and as divinely, as the greatest.

The washing of feet was the lowliest service any man could do for another. It was the work of the lowliest slave. Yet Jesus without hesitation, did this service for His own disciples. Thus He taught them that nothing anyone may ever need to have done–is unfit for the whitest hands. We begin to be like Christ–only when we begin to love others enough to serve them.

There is no surer test of the genuineness of Christian life, than in this matter of serving others. When we see the Son of God washing His disciples’ feet–no service is too menial for us to do. A king may do the lowliest kindness to the poorest peasant in his realm, and his honor will only be enhanced by it.

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet–you also should wash one another’s feet.” John 13:14

How to Buy a House

So in my humble opinion this is how you buy a house step by step.

1. Wake up earlier than necessary because you are so nervous and weren’t really sleeping anyway.

2. Go to the bank and get a big check. You don’t have to show them any cash just tell them what you want and they print it for you, it is so nice of them.

3. Now, this is a very important step, do not skip this one whatever you do…GO TO STARBUCKS! Get a great big yummy Pumpkin Spice coffee, and a pumpkin scone!  And read the paper as if nothing is happening.

 

 

 

4. Go to office to sign some stuff and get keys to your new house! With special blue pens.

5. Go to new house and check it out!

6. Get Thai Food and Eat it in the new house!

And that is how you buy a house! Well there might be a few more steps than that but you get the idea!

Stay tuned for what happens next!

d

And so the adventure begins…

Well, after almost 15 months of wedded bliss, we decided to join the ranks of homeowners.  After what was a very smooth process for financing and approval (interrupted by a couple of weeks of waiting and wondering), our closing went WAY smoother than either D or I anticipated.  Praise the Lord.  Upon leaving the closing office, I experienced about 15 seconds of extreme jubilation, which I would later find out was not the same experience D would have.  She would end the day exhausted from emotion!  (another example of a husband and wife complementing each other, she makes up where I lack!)

After receiving the keys to our new house, we immediately setup the water service and made our first list for Home Depot.  You’re welcome, HD, for the high quantities of cash you’re about to recieve via my debit card.  Our first day of home-ownership finished with our first meal in our new house (Thai takeout) and some drywall prep for painting in a couple of rooms.

And so began the journey… keep a look out for updates and pics from our new house!

-B

A Different Kind of Birthday Present

Dad was here this weekend and we got the chance to get into the house, take some measurements and redesign the kitchen. It was very scary and very exciting at the same time. Needless to say there are lots of decisions to make and work to be done. But I guess we should close on the house first. We should be doing that very soon, I promise to keep you updated.
After spending hours at the house Dad took B and I to Lowe’s and bought us birthday presents. He was very excited. Can you guess what they are?

That’s right a ladder, scaffolding and a bucket full of tools! Now that is a different kind of present for me, but Dad and B loved every minute of it!

D

Houses and Babies and Weddings Oh My!

Ok by now you know that we are in the process of buying our first house! We are very excited but cautious at the same time. I plan to take tons of before and after pictures and beef up the blogging with all things casa Voelker!
We are NOT having a baby!!! But we are in the process of taking MAPP classes to become emergency infant foster parents. (More about this later.)
In the middle of all of that I had the great privilege of planning a friend’s wedding.
So as you can imagine it has been a busy season. I have spent this week falling asleep on the couch and trying to make some order in our house as we begin to pack and prepare for a visit from Mom and Dad “V.”
In an effort to prepare for the big house move I have decided to take a stab at doubling some recipes and freezing half so that we can have some healthy premade meals prepared when there is no time to cook. I want to save the cash from eating it out and use it on the new CRIB!
So this is where you come in…to all my faithful readers please send me any recipes you have that you think or know freeze well, that I can make over the next two weeks. I plan to chronicle the cooking adventures here so you will know what worked and didn’t!
Our bellies thank you in advance!

57 Willow

So, for our loyal blog readers (the 1 to 3 of you who check out or blog), I thought we owed you a post of some kind, as it’s been far too long since we’ve had one.  And, as I am currently lacking any sort of creative energy, how about we show you all some fun mock layouts of the interior of our new house (well, not ours quite yet).  We found this cool website that allows you create a layout of your home, and then we used it to get an idea of how some of our proposed changes looked.  Check it out!

Here is the original layout (hardwood floors not included):

And here is our proposed layout for some time in the future (only big change is the kitchen):

And, because the software was cool, I added some more random stuff (hot tub is my fav):

HIS!

Taken from ‘My Utmost for His Highest’, by Oswald Chambers, for Sept. 4th.

“Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me.” John 17:6

The missionary is one in whom the Holy Ghost has wrought this realization – “Ye are not your own.” To say, “I am not my own” is to have reached a great point in spiritual nobility. The true nature of the life in the actual whirl is the deliberate giving up of myself to another in sovereign preference, and that other is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit expounds the nature of Jesus to me in order to make me one with my Lord, not that I might go off as a showroom exhibit. Our Lord never sent any of the disciples out on the ground of what He had done for them. It was not until after the Resurrection, when the disciples had perceived by the power of the Holy Spirit Whom He was, that Jesus said “Go.”

“If any man come to me and hate not . . . , he cannot be My disciple,” not, he cannot be good and upright, but, he cannot be one over whom Jesus writes the word “Mine.” Any one of the relationships Our Lord mentions may be a competitive relationship. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself; then, says Jesus, you cannot be My disciple. This does not mean I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be “His.”

Our Lord makes a disciple His own possession, He becomes responsible for him. “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me.” The spirit that comes in is not that of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The secret of the missionary is – I am His, and He is carrying out His enterprises through me.

Be entirely His.

Who’s on first – Computer nerd style!

You have to be old enough (I’m not) to remember Abbott and Costello, and too old to REALLY understand computers (again, I’m not), to fully appreciate this. For those of us who sometimes get flustered by our computers, please read on….

If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, ‘Who’s on First?’ might have turned out something like this: 

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: Thanks I’m setting up an office in my den and I’m thinking about buying a computer.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: No, the name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: Your computer?

COSTELLO: I don’t own a computer. I want to buy one.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: I told you, my name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: What about Windows?

COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

COSTELLO: I don’t know. What will I see when I look at the windows?

ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.

ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?

ABBOTT: I just did.

COSTELLO: You just did what?

ABBOTT: Recommend something.

COSTELLO: You recommended something?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: For my office?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.

COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let’s just say I’m sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need? 

ABBOTT: Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: Word in Office.

COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue ‘W’.

COSTELLO: I’m going to click your blue ‘w’ if you don’t start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: That’s right. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.

COSTELLO: What’s bundled with my computer?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?

ABBOTT: One copy.

COSTELLO: Isn’t it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

(A few days later)

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

ABBOTT: Click on ‘START’………….