California living

God is good-- we're here! Currently I'm sitting in the house of Mr. John Miller, a bachelor house for 4 bachelors, while he and Phil play a computer game known as World of Warcraft. It sounds wicked, but it's just quests with not-so-great graphics. There are just some things about men living alone together that is funny. These guys have made a strong effort: real furniture; fairly tidy living space; a printed chore list posted on the wall that's been there for a while. Two of the guys are sitting on the couch watching show to show: baseball; Discovery Channel about horse-breeding; brief interest in the beginning of the Miss America pageant; now it's the 70's Show. Ah, boys.

I haven't blogged in a LONG time, so I'll give updates in as read-easy fashion as possible.

--We had a great drive out here. My parents graciously drove us halfway, and Beth graciously gave up semi-tropical spring break destinations to come along. We had a great time. From Ft. Collins, CO, Phil and I drove the rest of the way by ourselves. He led in a rented minivan, and I followed in our Honda Civic. The Japanese did not intend this cute go-forever 4-cylinder to attempt mountains. It was a little fatigued by the Appalachians on our honeymoon. The Rockies really gave it a challenge. We made it, though about a week ago our muffler went out; I really had to punch it to keep speed on those hills. The muffler is another story. Continuing our journey, we made it through the first part of the mountains and into Tahoe. It was snowing,(yeah, we didn't expect to run into that on our way to CALIFORNIA) and there was slush starting to accumulate on the roads. But it was really just wet stuff. Turns out we were just over the California border, and in California it's a law that ANY accumulation is somewhat of an emergency situation. They closed the interstate, making everyone exit into the town of Tahoe/Truckee. Not knowing that this was a temporary close just to allow salt trucks room to clear the roads, we consulted the map and decided to take a highway that bordered Lake Tahoe south to another westward highway. We started out. Snow was really accumulating, maybe 3 inches or so, which became tricky b/c the road was narrow and curvy, sometimes steep, and increasingly more remote and unplowed. We drove at about 30 mph for 50 minutes, walkie-talkie-ing back and forth, Phil checking on me and sending road condition warnings back to me as he led. I was a little concerned b/c I had seen signs on this road stating that something was closed X miles ahead... Phil didn't think it was the road we were on. But, turned out it was. After 50 minutes we arrive at a snowed-off dead-end. Closed. This is where Phil talked to some locals and we discovered that the interstate closing was temporary. To finish this story, we turned around, drove back to Tahoe/Truckee, and tried the interstate again, which was open. Great, no problem. WE didn't need chains on OUR cars; we're from Indiana! Slush is nothing! C'mon. But up the road they were stopping everyone that didn't have chains, and giving you two choices: pay $60/car to put chains on, or get off the interstate. It was about 7:30, and it was a 3.5 hour drive to Petaluma. We went back to Tahoe/Truckee. After talking, we got the last room in the nice Holiday Inn Express; the elderly lady behind the counter felt bad for us and gave us a discounted rate. It was an unexpected stop in our trip, but as Becca will appreciate, it was SPONTANEOUS and it was fun. The rest of our trip was fine.

--Our apartment is bigger and nicer than the last one, and we've been given nice furniture for it!! Our apartment complex is quiet; the whole area is surrounded by huge hills-- small, grass-covered mountains. I work at Kval in an office processing worksheets and payroll. Phil and John Miller work there as well; it's a great company.

--Our muffler got a hole from it's trip through the mountains. It wasn't til the second week of our California residence that this became apparent. It was a little noisy, nothing too bad. We decided to brave a "mountain" road one day to drive to the fog that was covering the top of a hill. We'd heard that this road was pretty bad; some erosion, broken pavement... We decided to try it. With the rain, I guess pretty bad had become really bad. During that excursion, our muffler-exhaust pipe connection hit the ground and broke. So now our car was LOUD, the muffler was dragging on the ground and the exhaust pipe was scudding on the ground. We limped back to the apartment complex with our hazard lights on, fearing a ticket for noise pollution. The cop that did tail us let us go; he realized our situation and had pity. On the way to the shop the next morning, our exhaust pipe fell off. Phil got out and put it in our backseat; I thought it was hilarious. We dropped it off at Midas, and John gave us a ride into work. Later that day during the weekly lunch prayer meeting, Phil shared (to my surprise) that it would take more money than we had available to fix the car. The elderly matriarch of the company, Mrs. Patty Kvalheim, is a believer; she sponsors the prayer meetings in her office for any of the believers who'd like to join. (Fellowship of believers is a great comfort at work.) Patty immediately expressed her concern, and told us to talk to her after the meeting. We prayed, including that concern. After the meeting, she wrote us a check as a gift, saying that when the Lord blesses, we should share. It was more than enough to cover the car cost. The Lord humbled me with that gift. As Dad said, the Lord always provides!!

Ok, so there's some of what's been going on; I hope to post more soon. It's late, and we're tired; Phil's left the computer game. The Lord is so good, and He's taking care of us! Thanks for your prayers. We love you and miss you all.