Another successful Christmas at the Chapman house. Gifts were given, food was ate, and songs were sang. Laura bought me a sweet winter coat from H&M, a domino set, and some new collared shirts. I bought Laura a sweet winter coat from H&M (not matching), and a deck of cards with custom pictures on the backs of each. Andy and Susan got a fire pit from the kids. Jon got a new charcoal grill. Mark got a new 4-in-1 printer. Kim got a "bird bag!!!" And Mina got a new chew toy.
Here are some pics and a video of our celebrations. The video is at the dinner table of our lobster dinner on Friday night . The pictures are of Laura I looking very Christmasyyy, and of Jon and I wearing our new matching collared shirts bought for all the men in the family. Merry Christmas!
Currently we are spending the month of December in Dover, OH with Laura's parents. Being from suburb SF bay area, Dover seems like an extremely small town, but not without a lot of charm.
There's appx. 13,000 people living here, which makes for little traffic and fun mom and pop businesses. For example, we have Softies a few miles down the road that offers delicious soft serve ice cream, milkshakes, and hot dogs. Softies is only open seasonally, an odd thing for a business to do coming from CA. Then we have Uncle Primos, a pristine house converted italian restaurant with some great toasted garlic bread. You wouldn't think one would need a reservation for a restaurant in a town the size of Dover, but this place is packed on Fri and Sat nights.
Finally, we have my favorite business. I didn't catch the name of the store, but the advertising on the front of the store says it all. What I'm still trying to figure out is how a store like this found a market in a county of 98% white demographics with no night clubs to speak of.
Another thing about Dover is that it's freezing cold here in the winter months. If you've been following the weather, the entire mid-west has been getting pounded with snow. Since I only see snow once every few years, and hardly ever when it's following out of the sky, I caught a quick video of the wet sticky snow coming down at the beginning of the storm.
So we are in the middle of week three with the Ohio parents. Being homeless definitely has it's perks: Susan and Andy have been feeding us tasty food (turkey sausages with sauteed onions and peppers last night), we have a x-mas tree decorated, we've made wassail, sugar cookies, and gingerbread men. Life is good.
Laura and I quit our jobs back in October and left life in San Diego to start the road to East Asia. In early November, we were able to spend some time with a Church in Oregon. Here's a pic of the family's three little girls we stayed with:
We were able to spend Thanksgiving with my parents in which we ate a delicious traditional Thanksgiving meal: Next we drove down to Phoenix to see our dear friends Vince and Verity get married. They had a beautiful outdoor wedding with some great food. Verity looked beautiful and Vince looked, eh, alright :) After the wedding we flew to Dover, Ohio where we met up with Susan and Andy (Laura's parents). We have planned a busy December and were excited to get to it. We hosted a few desserts for friends, baked cookies, and played with Mina:
We also spent time with Laura's cousin and husband Jan and Dan Landis and their weimaraner Coda. We met them up at a cabin in Seven Springs, Pa. It was snowy and cold, but tons of fun! We played games, ate tasty food, went hiking (and hunting), and enjoyed the fireplace. Dan is a stud. He cooked just about every meal--homemade chili, spaghetti with venison, and a hearty breakfast. Here are some pics of our time with them (and a fun video!):
I hope this paints a little picture of our life these past few months. Thanks for reading!
Laura and I arrived in Dover, Ohio a few days ago and are settling in nicely. Well, I have settled in nicely--Laura still has her stuff spread around the guestroom. We were greeted warmly by Mina's slobbering jowls, Andy's bear hugs, and Mom's kisses. The weather here is, eerr, a brisk 25 degrees in the middle of the day (I'm freezing!).
So we went out to pick a Christmas tree today. Our first stop was a Christmas tree farm. We walked up and down rows and rows of giant sized and greatly thinned out trees. The selection wasn't that great. But I did manage to nearly freeze out there. At one point I couldn't feel my face and at another point I'm pretty sure my eyeball froze. We headed next to a little house that rounds up trees from a nearby farm and sells them in their driveway. We found a nice big ole tree that we thought would like great in the living room, though Mama Chapman nearly crunched it as she attempted to park her car in the garage with the tree still on the roof! Uh-oh! The damage was moderate, btu I think the tree will survive...maybe. Here's a pic of the tree pre-crunch.
I unfortunately don't have a pic of the tree stuck in between the garage door and the attic, but you could imagine what it looked like as she started backing up once she realized what she had done.
Hello to all who still check this lost neglected blog! I (James) take full responsibility for the lack of substance here in the past....eerrr 4 months? Ouch, that has been a long time. Well, once again, my apologies for any of you who have been wondering where the Rosenbergs have been.
The update Laura and I have quit our jobs, sold 90% of our belongings, moved out of San Diego, and are currently living with my gracious parents through Thanksgiving in Concord, CA. It was great quitting our jobs, easy selling our belongings (thank you Craig's List and to the Iraqi guy who bought my junky car for $900), hard to say good-bye to friends (especially pregnant friends), and good to re-connect with parents.
Fund-raising As of now, we are still in the middle of support raising. Family and friends (and strangers) have been very gracious to us. We just spent a weekend up in Oregon where Brian Kruse and his Church covered all of our expenses and gave us time to speak during their Sunday morning service. Another Church here in Concord just committed to funding us at a monthly rate. Not to mention all the countless friends and family that have been so encouraging to us with their time and money. We are making a lot of progress and we look forward to meeting our goal by the end of the year.
The Plan After our time here in Concord is up, we will be heading to Phoenix for a dear friend's wedding! Vince Garvey that is! After those festivities we will be heading to Ohio to spend the month of December with Laura's family. We hope to return to CA in early January to pack up and get ready for a mid-January departure.
Once again, thanks to all of you who have been supporting us along our journey as newly weds. We look forward to keeping this blog a lil more updated as we head overseas.
For Laura, it's jellyfish. It's the ultimate nightmarish creature. Have you ever dreamt that your limbs are impossibly sluggish and you can't outrun what's chasing you? That's how Laura feels when she sees a jelly appear in the top of a wave. She knows it's coming for her. She can't stop it. It can't stop itself. Blob bobbing, tentacles dragging... She can't get out of the water fast enough.
For James, it's hairspray. It's the only thing worse than glitter. The aerosol can comes out of the bathroom cabinet, and James is hiding under his towel and fleeing for his life. It's like a mist of stickiness you can't escape. Shudder.
Today James had an orientation for one of the security companies that have offered him a job. After watching some training videos, filling out a bunch of paperwork, picking out a suit, etc., they gave him this quiz:
What job would you like? Circle the best answer: a.) guard at a downtown apartment complex 3 pm - 11 pm MTThFS b.) guard at a downtown apartment complex 4 pm - 12 am ThFS c.) no job at all d.) stall until you're offered option e e.) guard at a pharmaceutical company 8 am - 5 pm MTWThF f.) both d & e
If you circled f, that's because you're wonderful, thoughtful, and smart like my husband!
Okay, okay! But it's no fair that James got to list his first! Otherwise, that James cleans the long blond hair out of the tub drain would've been on MY top 10 list. Haha. Here they are:
1. Cans and jars are much easier to open. 2. The top shelf has suddenly become more reachable. 3. The kitchen smells like fresh coffee every morning. 4. Showers are way more fun. 5. I get lost a lot less frequently. 6. I feel continually cared for, protected, and safe. 7. My hand never gets lonely. 8. One-man chores have turned into two-person playtime. 9. I, too, have an amazing example of Christ living with me. 10. AND, I get to spend the night with my best friend every night.
1. my clothes have gotten magically softer. 2. i have twice as many options of what soap i want to use in the shower. 3. there is always somebody to hang out with. 4. my dresser matches my wardrobe closet, which matches my night stand, which matches our bed frame, which matches our desk, which matches our dining table! i've never had so much coordination before. 5. no need to buy pre-made cookie dough to munch on. 6. food keeps mysteriously showing up in the fridge and cupboards. 7. need to vent, cry, laugh, or share with somebody? no problem, i got laura at my side. 8. i get to keep up on my plumbing skills every week by unclogging the drain of long, tangled, blond hair. 9. i have a great example of how to be like jesus living with me! 10. do i really have to say number 10?
Last weekend I was in North Carolina visiting with the Chapman girls. My little sister enjoyed James and I's wedding so much, she thought she might get married herself! (Actually, we had to talk her fiance down from proposing to her until we had our wedding out of the way, haha!)
Mom, Kim, and I planned a full weekend of dress shopping and wedding planning, but Kim had her mind made up after trying on a mere six dresses! Two hours into a four day shopping trip, she was done! The dress was ordered and the bride-to-be was all smiles! She's not messing around folks!
We still shopped, trying to find "professional attire" for my recently accepted position at a law firm. I think I'd be wearing a paper bag to the office today if it wasn't for their help picking out an outfit or two. I loved being with them. My heart ached for it! The talking especially. Face-to-face girl gabbing is so much better! I love my mom and sister dearly. They're ridiculously wonderful to me.
Nevertheless, the only good part of leaving James for five whole days was getting to come home to him! I think next time we'll have to shop on the West coast. Whataya say gals?
laura! my wife! my beautiful beautiful wife!!! where have you gone?! it's been 4 days and i am wretchedly lonely, starved, and depressed! without you here, i've had no one to feed me! to love me! look after me! i am absolutely lost without you! even the most basic of needs i cannot fulfill! i have no one to keep me warm at night! no one to help me make sandwiches to eat! no one to hand me a piece of gum when my breath stinks! no one to show me where the extra toilet paper is! seriously, where is the extra toilet paper!
has anybody seen my wife, laura? here is a picture of her: she has blond hair, blue eyes, and is about average height. she's amazingly gorgeous and has most recently been spotted on the east coast, around the carolinas, apparently with a huge new pair of shoes.
please please laura come back to me! my life is miserable without you! i need you!
laura and i have been married for 9 busy weeks now! it's amazing how fast time flies. we got married and had our honeymoon in november. then we moved across the country, quickly found an apt, started hunting down jobs and spent the holidays up north with the family in december. we dedicated january to finding a job.
well, it's the 14th now and we both found suitable jobs that can pay the bills for now. laura got an admin job downtown at a law firm. i know fancy, right? she'll be taking the trolley everyday to 5th street to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city. i got a job as a security guard and am still hunting down an EMT position. i haven't found an ambulance firm that is hiring EMTs right now so i feel like the security guard position might be useful for a month or two.
laura and i also finished our formal sending agency application. after all our references are turned in (wink wink, you know who you are), we can move forward to the next phase, orientation.
so married life has been great, way better than i ever expected. not to mention that i've been learning tons about how to love laura truly and wholeheartedly. i literally learn something new everyday. let me see, the most valuable thing i learned this week about marriage was: don't sneak pieces of cookie dough out of the mixing bowl without your wife's permission. haha, which i responded with a, "but i'm just being a good husband, don't get angry." and her response, "and i'm just being a good wife, now get out of the kitchen." haha, awesome!
being married is great, single life is for the birds.
Welcome to the ROSENBLOG! We are currently living in North Carolina, USA. We hope this blog will help you keep in touch with us and feel connected to our lives. It's just one way we're trying to reach out to those we love and miss. Please read, browse, and comment! (We review comments for security reasons, so there will be a delay between when you send it and when it appears.)
