One Month

So we have made it thru the first month living in CA. We have been thru no power, no keys, no food, no jobs, no tv, no phone, playing at the pool, at the beach, at the park, lots of sunscreen, 2 earthquakes (that we did not feel but some other people we know did), tears, laughter, many phone calls to parents back in Alabama, resumes, lots of applications, even more resumes being sent out, not enought interviews, unpacking the boxes, teaching the dogs not to bark at everyone, learning how to clean up after the dogs, a new church, navigating traffic, and the biggest thing.....praying more and more every day, trusting God to handle all our problems and trusting Him to take care of us every step of the way.

God has blessed us with power, keys, food, Nate a job, tv, phone, time to play at the pool, beach and park with the kids, neighbors who are quickly becoming friends, wonderful parents who call and check on us as well as pray for us, letters from home from friends and family, and peace about all the tings that are to come our way.

We are glad we moved, we know this is the best, next step for our family but it has not been an easy move for anyone. This month has been an adjustment from all things we knew in Alabama.

I just want to thank all our family and friends that have supported us in this move, whether thru prayers, phone calls, cards, letters, emails, facebook messages, text messages, money, tears, hugs, smiles, and love. We love and miss you all. We have plenty of room for anyone who wants to visit. We have an open floor space in the living room (where a couch should go).

Please continue to pray for us as I look for a job, Nate starts his job on Friday and we continue to adjust to living out here.

Answered Prayers

Nate got a job today!

We have been praying that Nate would be able to get a good serving job. He applied at a restaurant about 15min from us, Maggianos, Little Italy! He applied about 3 weeks ago and was called back on Friday for an interview. As we were sitting down to dinner tonight, the restaurant called and offered him the job. He starts this Saturday. We are so happy and thankful for this answered prayer.

When the phone rang at dinner, Nate jumped to answer it. He walked in the other room and I told the kids that we were hoping that this would be a job for Nate. Cori looked at me and crossed her fingers....I smiled and said no we need to pray. She immeditaly bowed her head and started praying out loud for Nate's job.

After Nate told us about the job, he went to tell his parents. I told the kids now we had to thank God for the answered prayers and give him the glory for the new job. So we prayed again over our dinner.

God is giving us peace thru all these trials and we are learning to lean on him more and more every day. I had an interview today and another one on Wed morning. Thank you for all of you who are praying for us. We feel your prayers and support. Please keep praying for us.

New Church

Yesterday we went to church for the first time in CA. We found a christian church in Huntington Beach about 10 min from our house. The church was nice and the time/service we went was suppose to be a mix of contemporary and traditional. When we walked in there were a bunch of people all about 70-80 years old in Hawaiian shirts. When the music started we had a wonderful light show....where we expected KISS to join the group on stage. It was just a lot different from our church in B'ham....Brook Hills.

I never thought I would be so upset to miss our church. I started crying when the first song started and could not stop crying. I had to go get a tissue and tears just kept coming all the way thru the service and on the way home. I feel bad for Nate and all my tears. I am happy to be taking this next step in our lives and feel God is leading and blessing us along the way. I just keep having these weird moments of tears that I can't control. This is so NOT me!

The service went well and the pastor gave a good message from the book of James. He talked about faith verses works. He spoke on how we as christians must not just talk about our faith but also put it into action. We can't just pray for the people in need but reach out a hand to them as well. It was a good message, even thru the tears.

Next Sunday is the 4th and most of the churches in the area are cancelling services because of the huge parade that goes all the way thru Huntington Beach. We are going to try to take the kids to the parade which is a very big deal here in HB. The next week we are going to try a church Nate's dad recommended in Costa Mesa.

Not liking the new job

I thought that I would love this new job. It had a lot of new posibilities as well as the potential money. I have worked for them for 2 weeks without much success. I have been working for 12 hours a day 6 days a week while Nate takes care of the kids, house and dogs. I have been un-happy with having to go business to business selling sports tickets and products. After much prayers, tears and hurt feet I quit my job today. So I am back on the job hunt in the morning. We will just keep praying and trusting God to take care of us.

I guess I will see what God has in store for us next. Nate said tonight that he cant wait to look back on these past few weeks and months and laugh at all we have gone thru and just say "Thanks" to God for gettingus thru. I think that same way.

Skype

I love Skype. I set up skype this week and it is awesome. I was skeptic at first as to if I would use it. I thought why skype when I can call you on my cell. Well the kids loved being able to talk to my parents and Nate's parents the first night. My mom upped her internet speed so that we dont lag on the video. Twice this week I have set my laptop on the counter and talked to my mom while cooking dinner. It was nice for me to talk while cooking and not worry about my cell phone, as well as my mom got to listen to my family interact while I was making dinner. It was fun for all. We can't wait for Nate's parents to get their camera set up so we can see them too.

If you are on skype and want to talk....my name is ValBarber32 and I would love to hear from you.

Cori was really excited today. She got a letter from a friend at school in the mail. I know with technology and email, cell phones and skype that written letters and cards are a dying art but for family and friends that live far away.....It is nice to receive letters/cards in the mail and not just bills.

New Job!

On Tuesday I went for an interview, and on Wednesday an all day second interview. I got the job and started on Thursday. I have been in training the last 3 days and get to go solo on Monday. I am working for a marketing firm in Anaheim. They sell discount packages from sport tickets to spa packages, to movie tickets and pizza. We sell door to door to the business’ in the area. I am starting in sales because the company requires all its marketing people to start in sales and work their way up to marketing so they know the business and how it is sold. This is very hard work. My feet are killing me but I am really wanting this job and wanting the marketing job so I am working hard at the selling to move up quickly. This company does the marketing for the Dodgers, Angels, Ducks, Kicks, Blockbuster, a couple of theaters and some spas in Palm Springs and they just got the account for a big casino in Vegas. Nate has some more leads but he is still looking for a job. We are praying he finds something this week.

We have unpacked almost every room in the house. My bedroom, bathroom, hall, kitchen and kids rooms are all unpacked. I will eventually get the living room unpacked. I have to wait till the landlord finishes cleaning out our garage so we can put some boxes in storage. It is starting to feel like home.

The kids are making friends fast. Last night a neighbor took the kids (along with his daughter) to the nickle arcade a couple of blocks away. They had a great time and I was happy to know they are making friends.

I have started hanging some pictures in the house. I wish I had the money to print the pictures that we took of our families at the 2 weekend goodbye parties. I have great pictures of most the family and want to put up a bunch of recent pictures. I had a TON of pictures up in the trailer but I am not doing that in the house. I am putting more recent pictures up and not so many ot the ones from years ago. I want to keep updating our pictures. I enjoy my pictures even more since I do not get to see everyone on a daily/monthy basis.

Cori got her own email so if you want to email her it is smartgirlbarber@gmail.com. I know she would love to hear from everyone. We sent out some family cards and letters this week so I hope you get them.

Beach Time

We took the kids to Sunset Beach this evening. Nate took them yesterday via their bikes but we took the car today.

The kids would run at the water and then run from the water as the waves came crashing down. There were a few "wipe outs". I sat many feet way from the water and took pictures with my very good Zoom on my camera.

While "relaxing" at the beach this evening, I got a call back on one of my resumes. I have a job interview with a marketing company in Anehiem at 10:30am tomorrow.

Nate is going to help me research the company and prepare for the interview.

Pray this all goes well.

First Week In Sunny Huntington Beach!

Well we have survived out first week in our new city.

On last Saturday night, we did not have power when we moved in. We called the power company and they were will ing to turn our power on without a deposit up front. We were very thankful.....then they said they would send someone out to turn on the power Wednesday.......5 days later. We were not very happy about this but we were glad to be in the condo.

We were warmly greeted by 2 new couples (with kids) in the complex. One girl Melissa, noticed our power was out on Sat night and offered to call the manager of the complex. The manager could not help but it was nice of Melissa to try to help. She offered us warm showers the next morning.

On Sunday morning, we had warm showers but did not know why but were very thankful non the less. About lunch time, Melissa's husband Christian asked us to turn off the breakers in our condo. Nate did and then Christian turned our power on at the meter. We were SO thankful and appreciative. We were able to meet the agent, Carla and get a gate key just after lunch. Thanksfully we can come and go in the complex now.

In the afternoon, our kids wanted to swim in the pool so badly. A guy named Mike, who use to be a lifeguard volunteered to watch the kids while Nate and I finished unloading the last of the truck. It was a help to us as well as entertaining to the kids. Later that evening, this couple (with 3 kids, 4, 6, 8) invited us to dinner. It was great since we had not bought food for our fridge yet...(since we thought it would be days before power). Later on in the afternoon, Co
Since the condo is a rental and the landlord bought it on a short-sale, there was still funiture in the condo. At least 3 pieces in each room. We were offered the furniture which we accepted 2-3 of the many pieces. It is hard to unpack and move stuff around with extra, unwanted furniture.

On Monday, we found our garage, which was also loaded with furniture. We decided to move all the unwanted furniture into the garage so the landlord can get it ALL out this next week. He has made 2 trips and still does not have it all out yet.

We spent the rest of Monday at the pool. There was a complex party and people BBQ'd and ordered pizza. It was a lot of fun to relax and meet so many neighbors.

Tuesday thru Friday were pretty much the same....Applying in person and online to different jobs. Nate and I have both had a couple of interviews and a few leads that we are working. We just want it to work faster but God works on his time not ours. This is the big lesson of the week. TRUST GOD! He is in controll not us. Everytime I start to worry or get frustrated I stop and pray for peace. God is answering our prayers in his own and way in his own time. We are suprised daily how God is working in our lives and we have only been out here for a week.

My big answer to prayer this week ~ I have been worried about our lack of jobs and making sure we do not spend our entire surplus......I was on the phone with my mom today and I had just told her the $ amount that we needed to make at our jobs to get us thru the month. Still on the phone, I went to the mailbox and the only envelope was a check from Nate's school (part of his financial aid for living expences). This amount is almost the exact amount I had told my mom we needed for the month. GOD is GOOD All the time!

3rd and Final day of travel ~ Sat May 29th

We had a lot of different problems leading up to securing the condo. Our agent kept delaying our answers and never returned our phone calls. We told our agent 4-5 times we would be coming into town on Sat afternoon and would this be okay to move in? We wanted to make sure someone could meet us with the key. She said yes, no problem at all.

On Friday, I emailed her 2-3 times to make sure we could meet at 3pm at the condo. On Sat morning she said her office was relocating and she was not sure if she could get the keys. So we kept driving but alsodoing some massive praying to be able to get the keys.

After calling our agent, the owner, and his agent and leaving messages, we took the kids to the park a couple of blocks from the condo to wait for an answer.

After 2 hours of waiting the owners agent called me back and told me the combo to get the key out of the lockbox. The agent, Carla, never knew when we were coming. Our agent just stopped doing anything for us after we signed the lease agreement.

The problem with having only the condo key was that you also needed a gate key which we did not have. We had to wait till another car was pulling in and hurry in afterthem. We also could not leave the condo complex because we did not kow if we could get back inside the complex.
The Lord answered the prayers for getting inside the condo and for that we were grateful. When we tried to get the truck into the complex, I would drive the car to the exit gate and it would open so Nate could drive the truck in. Then we unloaded a bunch of stuff and parked the truck back outside.

We did not have power when we got to the condo on Sat night. The power company said we would not be able to get power till Wednesday. So we prayed for power but were thankful to be in our condo for the first night.

2nd Day of Travel ~ Friday May 28th

We got up early on Friday morning and headed west again. We went through Yukon, OK where Nate use to live. Then on to Tx, New Mexico.....which never seems to end, and then we stopped in Az for the night. The drive was 15 hours and we changed time zones twice. This was the hardest day of the trip so far.

Cori was getting so bored that she would call out the mile markers every 2 or 3 which was a lot since we were traveling so many miles.

Nate found out the night before that the truck he was driving did not have a/c so the entire trip in the truck Nate was hot.

The mountains in Az were beautiful and we were so glad to see our hotel. The Comfort Inn was the nicest I have ever stayed in. It was a wooded theme and rustic but with extra nice ammenities.

Day 2 completed and only 8 more hours to drive.

Leaving Day ~ Thursday May 27th

This is the first chance I have had to sit and blog about the actually move.

Wednesday night was the night to say goddbye to everyone. The kids said goodbye to friends at school as well as in the neighborhood. My parents came up in the afternoon and Nate's parents came to take us do dinner and say goodbye. It was a bitter sweet goodbye. We will miss both sets of parents very much.

We all slept in the living room Wednesday night and got up super early (4:30am) to get on the road. We left on time at 6am. My mom brought up muffins and "waves us off" after Nate prayed for the family, move, and safe trip. More tears......

Cori rode in the car with me and the dogs while Joel was in the truck with Nate. We had to stop at Acton road (30mins) into the drive because Bella got sick in the car. Thankfully that was the only incident with the dogs the rest of the trip.

For those of you who have made the drive to Oklahoma City, OK then you know it is an uneventful drive. We used Joel's walkie talkies to talk between the 2 vehicles. This was so much easier that the cell phones.

We pointed out the different landscapes and mile markers to the kids as we drove. When Joel got in my car he did not like the country music I was listening to so he put on his music in his mp3 player. Joel does not know how to NOT sing along with the music so I am listening to my music on the radio and Joel singing completly different songs next to me. He started singing "We will rock you" by Queen and started beating the dash and stomping his feet. I was laughing so hard it was hard to stay on the road.

We made it to OKC about 7:30pm on Thursday and stayed in a small suburb called Bethany. We were 5 miles from Yukon where Nate use to live. I also got to show the kids the sites in OKC and where I ran the half-marathon. They seemed impressed but they could have been humoring me. Once we checked into the hotel I went for dinner and everyone crashed very quickly.

Trip time ~ 13.5 hours, 5 states, 750 miles

The next day we head further West.