Rainy here...

This wet weather makes me feel like I'm back home in Pittsburgh! That combined with the gorgeous trees changing color all over campus... I really don't feel too far away.

Mom & Dad and Ben came to visit last weekend, and I have to admit that I cried when they left. When Bethany saw "Nana", she reached for her and gave her the biggest, longest hug ever! Then she just sat in her lap and cuddled... which is NOT normal for my very wiggly child. It makes me so sad that Bethany can't go over to Nana and Papa's house every week for dinner or just for some playtime. But it sure was nice to have them here for three whole days! We toured the Mall of America, ate out, showed them around campus, watched home videos, and even played some frisbee golf. It was a GREAT weekend.

I took my completed application over to the Minnesota Department of Education today, and they said it would be 6-8 weeks before I get my certification. I can't even substitute until I get that piece of paper, so I'm back to looking for other options for the next month or two. Todd had an interview at a temp agency last week, and he is now on their roster - but they told him to keep looking on his own as well, since they can't guarantee what openings they'll have.

I also talked to the Young Life Regional Director up here, and he definitely sounded interested in getting YoungLives going. There is only one YoungLives in the whole region right now, and that one is about an hour away from me. The only catch is that YoungLives only pays if I raise the money... which also takes time. But I can't stop noticing teen moms everywhere I go, which tells me that this ministry is still definitely on my heart!!

Let's see... in other news, this past Sunday we drove 40 minutes to see our friend Nick lead worship at his (huge) church, but we were ten minutes late - and we missed the worship! They had so much else going during the service that they had had to cut worship down to 12 minutes. Hehehe... we couldn't believe it. Anyway, Nick's going to get us a copy of the worship, and we got to have lunch nearby with Todd's grandma, so it was still a great day. :-)

Todd is studying a lot now for classes, but it is SOO nice to have him home so much! Even though he is studying, he's still here, and we can talk and eat lunch together, and he can take his homework and Bethany down to the playground. I know that farther on into the quarter he will be busier than he is now, so I'm just enjoying the low stress levels for now.