packing.

Most people that have walked into our apartment to help us pack, get this glazed over look in their eye as they mutter, "Whoa..." It is unbelievable how much stuff you can accumulate and not even know it! When we pulled everything out of cupboards and closets, the reality that, "We have to pack all of this stuff into THAT trailer!?" All along I've been praying that God will make the inside of our trailer bigger than the outside... sort of like the bread and fish expansion.

Aside from the emotional and physical stress of packing up and leaving our apartment and close friends, God has really been good to us these last few weeks. Matthew being approved for permanent residency to the U.S. (his card came in the mail a couple of days ago). Our car and one truck broke down, but they turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The car part that broke was a recall, so we'll eventually get a refund check for the $300 we dropped there. The truck, well I can only imagine how much fun that would've been to break down in the middle of the desert somewhere on the way to Oregon. Yikes. But we are all set there!

Matthew and I both had our last days of work yesterday. Goodbyes are not so much fun. I find myself wanting to hold onto the 'lasts', and extend them into 'maybe not the last, even thought I know it is the last'. Last night I went into Walmart at1am to pick up my nephew Jake's birthday present (we're heading over there today) and talked to our usual, late-night cash register woman. We don't know her aside from our late night Walmart adventures we used to go on all the time (we've always had a few laughs with her). Anyways, I told her we're moving to Oregon and she got really sad. I had to actually console her by saying, "Maybe we'll see you before we leave, and we'll be back to visit." It was quite heartwarming that a Walmart cashier will miss us so much!

Our biggest task now, aside from getting the rest of our apartment packed up and cleaned, is selling our 2 remaining vehicles. Anybody know anyone that needs a '00 Ford Focus or a '96 Ford Ranger? We are currently taking offers :)

packing.

Most people that have walked into our apartment to help us pack, get this glazed over look in their eye as they mutter, "Whoa..." It is unbelievable how much stuff you can accumulate and not even know it! When we pulled everything out of cupboards and closets, the reality that, "We have to pack all of this stuff into THAT trailer!?" All along I've been praying that God will make the inside of our trailer bigger than the outside... sort of like the bread and fish expansion.

Aside from the emotional and physical stress of packing up and leaving our apartment and close friends, God has really been good to us these last few weeks. Matthew being approved for permanent residency to the U.S. (his card came in the mail a couple of days ago). Our car and one truck broke down, but they turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The car part that broke was a recall, so we'll eventually get a refund check for the $300 we dropped there. The truck, well I can only imagine how much fun that would've been to break down in the middle of the desert somewhere on the way to Oregon. Yikes. But we are all set!

Matthew and I both had our last days of work yesterday. Goodbyes are not so much fun. I find myself wanting to hold onto the 'lasts', and extend them into 'maybe not the last, even thought I know it is the last'. Last night I went into Walmart at1am to pick up my nephew Jake's birthday present (we're heading over there today) and talked to our usual, late-night cash register woman. We don't know her aside from our late night Walmart adventures we used to go on all the time (we've always had a few laughs with her). Anyways, I told her we're moving to Oregon and she got really sad. I had to actually console her by saying, "Maybe we'll see you before we leave, and we'll be back to visit." It was quite heartwarming that a Walmart cashier will miss us so much!

Our biggest task now, aside from getting the rest of our apartment packed up and cleaned, is selling our 2 remaining vehicles. Anybody know anyone that needs a '00 Ford Focus or a '96 Ford Ranger? We are currently taking offers.

Yesterday this story was printed on the front page of our local newspaper. The picture grabbed my attention for obvious reasons- come on, how often does a house just explode!?! Then I found out that this house belongs to (one of my favorite people in the world) Rachel's sister. Jenny's husband, Joe, has been renovating this house for over 2 years (living with Rachel's parents), getting it ready for the two of them and their two little ones. Unfortunately, they will never get to live in it.

Amazingly, nobody was there when the explosion occured. They were planning to move in months ago, but thankfully that hadn't happened yet. The fire department said if anyone had been in the house at the time of the explosion, it is unlikely they would've survived the blast. All of those frustrating delays seem to have been God's way of protecting that family. It really stinks that this happened at all (please pray for this family as they have to deal with cleaning up pieces of their house all over the neighborhood) ... but they are safe, and that is amazing.

Debris lines the exterior Monday of a residence along the 4500 block of 194th Avenue S.W. in Roseland after an explosion early Monday morning. The house, which was in the stages of renovation, was unoccupied at the time of the explosion.

The meeting.

So yesterday we had our marriage interrogation meeting in the twin cities- for Matthew's Canadian vs. United States paperwork. Here is what happened:

-We got up at 5:30am to make sure we'd get to the 8am meeting on time.

-The weather was terrible, so we ended up stuck in traffic, chewing off our fingers.

-Arrived, miraculously at 8:05am.

-Went through numerous security checkpoints, frantically trying to empty our pockets and get scanned, while attempting to not look like crazy people.

-Waited for what seemed like an eternity. Up until this point, Matthew chose to keep a couple of key items to himself, which would've been helpful to his ignorant wife.
A) If an 'alien' is late for this particular meeting, they can easily be deported, all paperwork thrown out. That boy would've been out of bed at 4am, sitting on the curb of that government building waiting for them to open if I'd known that!
B) It is not wise for the wife of said 'alien' to ask questions such as 'what city does your Dad live in again?" while sitting in the waiting room before this meeting that is to prove the marriage to be genuine. Apparently there are cameras situated around the waiting room.

Fortunately, an officer eventually came to collect us from the waiting room. She brought us through several doors that required her to punch in codes, then to her office where we were sworn in and asked general questions about our life together. After only about 15 minutes, she calmly says, "Well, I'm going to approve you today." We were so shocked that we asked her several times, "You mean for permanent residency?" She said, yes, and that Matthew can now travel in and out of the US as much as he wants... AHHHHHHHhhhhhh... I cannot even tell you what a relief it was to hear her say those words after 3 years of getting nowhere in his paperwork, she approves him in 15 minutes.

But the story gets even better.

She then says, "I wouldn't normally tell you this, but since I've already approved you, I'll share something with you. I'm originally from Paynesville (near our town). Last night I happened to be there with my family, and since my brother used to be involved in Youth For Christ (Matthew used to work there, and it was listed on his paperwork) I asked my family a few questions about you." Her younger brother was in Matthew's ministry 3 years ago! Matthew remembered her brother really well, so they shared a couple of stories, and that was the end of our meeting! We got it!

I love that God added that exclamation point to the end of this process. Our being late to this meeting could very well have been the end of Matthew living in the U.S., but He had other plans. We were pardoned for our lateness by an officer that just happened to be from a town near ours, who just happened to have a brother who really looked up to Matthew... I don't believe in coincidences. Our case was meant to fall into her hands... and if it took 3 years for that to happen, then so be it!

Lasts.

This morning when I woke up I realized this would be my last Saturday to sleep in while living in our apartment. With so many noisy thoughts, I couldn't fall back asleep. So I didn't really 'sleep in' by sleeping in standards. Thankfully there's still the Saturday laziness goal to achieve. It is now 11:49am and I'm sitting here in my pj's with messy hair and morning breath. When I first woke up I started in with the packing, but said to myself, "Cristina, this is your LAST lazy Saturday morning for a long time!" So here I sit.

In a couple of hours when Matthew returns from drum lessons, he and I will be off and running. We have several errands to run, then we'll head to my sister's house (see cute kid pictures from a couple of posts ago). We'll spend the next couple of days there before we have our big interview with government officials Monday morning. They will decide for us if we are married because we love each other vs. married just to keep Matthew from being deported back to Canada. We should probably make a list of things to fight about in front of the officials- they might be a bit suspicious if we are too lovey. Ideas are welcome.

It is no longer snowing. Oh wait, I haven't looked outside yet today. Hold on. Nope, no snow. Oh, I forgot to share a little story with you guys! Wednesday night when it was snowing like crazy, I decided to take Bertie out to play in the first snow of the season. Poorly dressed (wearing a t-shirt), I locked myself out of the apartment building by accident. It was so cold, and with all of the snow, I couldn't find rocks to throw at the window to get Matthew's attention. He had no clue I was even outside! Not one of my best moments.

Still snowing.

I took this picture on the steps at work this morning- I guess I spoke too soon yesterday!

Hello, Winter.

Two days ago it was in the 70's. Now it is in the 30's... and snowing.

It probably won't accumulate as much as your see in this picture, but give it a few weeks... we'll get there. The flakes look like little dip'n dot balls caught in a tornado. Despite the freezing cold wind, I am entertained by the dancing dots.

Somehow I feel to blame for today's weather. Yesterday I gave in to the urge to blast Christmas music in my office. I'm sorry, Willmar. I am not sorry, however, that I will soon be bathed in a 50-60 degree winter rather than snot freezing windchills and 5 months of snow!

(This is me enjoying a bowl of dip'n dot snow flakes)

Cherry + Cherry = Lost

Yeah, that's right. Point and laugh all you want. We fell into the deep dark 'Lost' hole and can't seem to find our way out. A week ago we started watching Lost season one, thanks to Jon and Kelli. Now, well now we have robbed ourselves of any meaningful sleep and chewed off any evindence of fingernails. 34 episodes later, we're smack in the middle of season two.

We are addicted. So um... I must go now.

time flies...

Since I last posted, Matthew and I became parents. So what if it was only for a weekend- we managed to keep three kids alive for 3 whole days! We had my sister's three kids while she and her hubby had a (long overdue) romantic anniversary weekend.

I cannot even tell you how much we love those kids. They have great personalities- so unique and full of life. Usually when we've had the kids in the past, it's just been Jake and Zoey... so throwing 1-year old Kyla in the mix was quite the adventure. Thankfully she's a really easy baby as far as babies go. I only had to gag through one dirty diaper the whole weekend!