home.

There's no place like home.

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When we were kids, home was a very concrete place. It was that house where we spent our formative years... learning to ride bikes, getting sent to our room, decorating for Christmas, building forts... That house had a smell, sounds, textures, voices that have been ingrained into our memories.

I {Jenny} remember the winding road lined with trees that led to "the little blue house." The swing on the big oak tree, the fort in the backyard, the playhouse that my mom built, smells of playdough, making english muffin pizzas, sharing a queen size bed with Ashton, my dad's corndog and chili dinners, riding bikes to the Ciraulo's...

I {Brandon} can recall building fences, decks, and playhouses with dad, the way a crisp fall Saturday morning feels as you head out to play soccer, and the smell of mom's spaghetti filling the house as we completed homework. Summer brought us endless games of baseball and street hockey until we couldn't see the ball any longer.

It's interesting that in your 20's, home is such a fluid concept. Brandon and I have talked about how home is where we live together in a particular stage. We've yet to establish a home as in a physical address. That will come in time and probably with kids...

But for now we're saying goodbye to a place that we have known as a couple for 2 years and Brandon has called home for almost 30 years. Things will be different from this point on, but we said yes to life changing when we said "I do".

The morning of our wedding day, I {Brandon} woke up in a hotel room shared by my three brothers. I had shared rooms with brothers for the better part of 20 years. As I got dressed, it struck me that I would never start my day from that point of view again. Now I wake up to my wife greeting me with a kiss.

It reminds me {Jenny} of how quickly life changed that week. One night I was sitting as an unmarried daughter watching Father of the Bride with my parents around me, a few nights later I was driving away from our reception as a wife knowing that life would never look the same.

Past places and phases of life hold special memories, but each transition leads us closer to who we are becoming and where God wants us to be.

It's still hard, it's still painful. But we always hope.

The News

The past two weeks feel like a whirlwind! It was mostly good things though. But I feel so exhausted. I came home today, put my pj's on, heated up leftovers, and watched some Bachelorette. What is with that show anyway? You really signed up for a national TV show and competed with 24 other guys to find a wife? What?!

Anyway...

I took my Master's in Special Education Comprehensive Exam today. 15 pages and 4 hours later, it was all done. The capstone on my grad work. I'm pretty sure I passed. An 18 out of 30 is passing and I remembered all the sources I needed to remember and probably had more cohesive essays than what I had written for practice.

Rewind to that morning... I was rushing around the house repeating research study authors and publication dates to myself. Brandon was tossing coffee into travel mugs and juggling little Buhner as we were pushing ourselves out the door. I was anxious and a bit snippy about getting out the door, but stopped myself and asked Brandon to pray with me.--That happens more and more often these days, stopping in the middle of something and sometimes not in our best moments to pray--We prayed for my exam then I prayed "God I pray that I DO get that job and that I would find out today"... That felt pretty bold and pretty crazy to basically say to God, "Yeah, I want that job. Can I have it?"

So as I turned in my classroom key and finish filing some last minute paperwork, my phone rings. It was the high school principal I interviewed with offering me the position. So incredible.

I told the office staff and the principal said something to the effect of "Wow, you just turn in your key and you get a job? You're moving near your family, your husband has a job... Everything's falling in place, something must be right."

So true, but not a complete picture. It's not just dumb luck that I found a teaching job in a horrible job market for teachers or that Brandon gets to start doing what he has wanted to do for several years... God is totally in on it. And the beautiful orchestration of timing? God is just such a wonderfully creative writer.

I was talking with my lovely friend yesterday. She called to tell me about amazing things God did in her life. Complete healing and transformation. Then God told her to share what he had done.

So, in light of that conversation, I share all this not to boast, but because God wants us to share the stories of how he's blessed us! They're not just our stories to hold onto. They're part of his larger love story.

What an adventure we're on!

Last week of school quotes

Heard in the classroom this week:

"I found you on google!"

"WHAT?!?! You won't be here next year?"

"You don't love us!!!"

"I'm going to come down to California and burn it down!"

"You know what they say... Curiosity killed the... notebook."

"I'm going to stalk you with your email and look up your geotags on facebook."

And my favorite: "Mrs. Prior, I'll remember you forever."

The move has brought out a lot of emotions. Especially with my students... from threats of violence and terrorism to desperate emotional pleas. One of my students who tends to be inattentive and oblivious started crying when I told the class. If you knew the student, you'd understand why it's noteworthy. One more day with the kids. I can't believe it.

After absorbing numerous responses to our move and feeling more of the reality of it, I have started to feel it. We are starting to feel it. This week has been holding onto a rock in the middle of a hurricane.

It's passing, the sun is coming out, and there is so much hope ahead. Teaching interview next week, Master's comprehensive exam this Wednesday, Europe coming up, then, the move.

Moving alone is completely different from moving together. It's an incredibly bonding experience. On a hard day this week, Brandon and I were commiserating and he wrote the following in an email:

Home will always be together now.

Note: The photos are from our engagement photo session.

faith

"For we live by faith, not by sight." 2 Cor. 5:7

"Genuine moral fiber is developed by enduring the discipline of faith. When you have made your request to God, and the answer still has not come, what are you to do? Keep on believing His Word! Never be swayed from it by what you see or feel. Then as you stand firm, your power and experience is being developed, strengthened, and deepened." Streams in the Desert, L.B. Cowman

I used to completely underestimate faith and prayer. When someone told me to pray about something, I would feel so discouraged and wonder if they were just writing me off.

In recent years, I have learned that through prayer, I am participating in something so much bigger. I have been surprised at how often Brandon and I feel led to pray and then see God move. The faithfulness of God is a response to his love for us (everyone not just Brandon and I) and a response to the legacy of faith into which we are woven.

It was by faith that my parents, when they learned of J.P.'s disability, continued to walk and live with hope. By their faith, J.P. has grown into a remarkable young man who has exceeded expectations.

It was by faith that Brandon and I prayed for our spouses, despite discouraging prospects. And then at the right time, life situations and eharmony settings were open so that we could begin to pursue a relationship, unlike any other we had previously experienced. Even from 1,200 miles away.

It was by faith that J.P. prayed for my job, when I had been discouraged by spending a full year subbing and 5 fruitless interviews. By his faith, I received a job offer the next day.

It is by faith that Brandon and I are moving. Even though we have stable jobs and a stable future where we are, we have faith that God is calling us out of our safety into a daunting situation where there is little certainty but no limit to where he will take us.

Brandon is doing something completely new and unfamiliar. I have no job lined up. We don't have anywhere to live yet. We don't know what our income will be. There are things that we want that we will put off for a while.

Yet! I still hope. I still have faith that God will keep his promises.

"There may be a great work occurring in your life when things seem their darkest. You may see no evidence yet, but God is at work. " Streams in the Desert, L.B. Cowman

It has been in the dark nights when I have heard God's voice the clearest.

God has done it before and he will do it again. Just watch and see.

Europe Countdown

Our upcoming itinerary:

We are so excited for our trip to Europe!!! I can't believe it's finally going to be here after all this talking and planning. I've been to Europe four times before. Yeah, I know... pretty crazy. Each trip was unique and amazing. I am so grateful for those opportunities. The only thing I was missing was the love of my life. One definitely feels the gravity of singleness when you walk around Paris by yourself. The hardest was a candlelit stroll that I took solo around the grounds of the Vaux le Vicomte castle. So this trip will be unique and amazing because my husband is coming with me!!!

It is his first trip and he is so excited! He can't wait to see the Austrian Alps, the historical sights, the city of London, and the beaches of Normandy.

It will be such a great adventure for us... and a test of our ability to work together to solve problems that inevitably come up during vacations.

Here's an overview of our itinerary:

• Arrive in Frankfurt, rent a car
• Night in Heidelberg
• Stop at Rothenberg ob der Tauber
• Night in Salzburg
• Stop at Neuschwanstein
• Night in Florence
• 2 Nights in Rome
• Fly to London
• 3 Nights in London
• Night in Normandy region
• 3 Nights in Paris
• Fly home

Forgive my misspellings... I didn't feel like looking them up. :)

Opportunities

I just returned home to finish (read: start) homework for my ethics class at 1:10pm. And this entry helps me further put off that activity...

Anyway, I had an interview this morning. I know, I already was hired for a position... But I haven't signed my contract and got a call for an intriguing position. The position I interviewed for today is a transition focused position at a high school. I am interested because it would be a great learning opportunity and would help me stretch and gain experience in an otherwise daunting part of special education. The downsides are that this is a one year position and would require a lot of work, possibly late nights, etc. Ultimately I'm still fairly "green" according to my teaching resume and the guy who had the next interview was at least 20 years older than me... :)

The whole thing is truly in God's hands. I should hear back before the weekend. I know he has the ideal place for me next year, perhaps it's the job I already have or maybe it's this new one. Either way, he has answered our prayers in my job search trials before and he is doing it now. I just need to be faithful and seek his best rather than what is comfortable or merely acceptable.

So many job hopes, prayers, and decisions are turning around in the house of pb&j....

"I know the plans I have for you... plans to give you a hope and a future..." Jeremiah 29:11