Monday, June 29, 2009

We are in Wisconsin!

We arrived in Wisconsin last Thursday afternoon and dropped off a bunch of stuff at the house we are renting.

After that we headed to my parent's house for a few days. The trip itself was relatively uneventful (except for a vomit incident an hour from my folk's).

Now that we are here though we are roughing it (comparatively).
This is being typed on my phone...the computer isn't here.
We are sleeping on the floor because our beds aren't here.
We are getting tired of the same toys and clothes but at least we are together.

The moving company has no estimate but we have gone to the church in Dubuque and like it so far.
We took the girls to see UP yesterday (GO SEE IT) which was Lillian's first movie in a theater and Ankica's second. They both fell asleep:-)

The settling in is taking a while (the washer flooded the downstairs and there is dog hair EVERYWHERE) but I can't wait to post some pick.
It is really pretty here!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

And the answer is...


I ALWAYS check the oven when I turn it on to preheat after my sister melted a really cool tupperware container my mom had once upon a time.

This time was no exception...however, I didn't look all the way to the back of the oven. And hiding there was breakfast for the next morning...a clear plastic container of mini-apple pastries from Walmart. I can't believe that it didn't burn or stink or anything! It just melted into this mass. And I thought about it at about 11pm at night when I started thinking about breakfast the next morning. I was SOOOO disappointed...and amazed :-)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

"What is it?" Wednesday

On our way...

We are on the road on the way to our first stop (overnight in Mt. Vernon Illinois). Please pray for safe travels!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Father's Day Poem

Check out what the girls wrote for Loran for Father's Day :-)

(Okay, so I wrote it, but I knew it was what they wanted to say!)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

And the answer is...GO ILLINI!

Chief Illiniwek dancing around at half-time at a basketball game in Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois in Champaign my final year there.

The Illini played the Michigan State Spartans. That year I had season tickets on the floor right behind the players bench. Great seats but at the same time not as good as the seats I had a few years before that where we didn't have to stand the whole time to try and see the game over the 7 foot players :-)

I loved my time at the U of I. I am actually glad that we are going to be living close to Illinois because I have alot of pride for that school.

I am still probably a bigger Badger fan (even though I am not a Madison alum) simply because I grew up in Wisconsin and my daddy loves him some Badger basketball!

I told Daddy once that someday I would get us tickets to the Big Ten championship games and stay in a nice hotel and have limo service to and from the games. Now that we will be living in Wisconsin again, that seems so much more doable someday!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

And the answer is...

It is the a version of the Gadsden Flag. Loran tweaked the flag design by putting a a rifle in the middle.

The Gadsden flag is a historical American flag with a yellow field depicting a rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike. Positioned below the snake is the legend "DONT TREAD ON ME" . The flag was designed by and is named after American general and statesman Christopher Gadsden. (Wikipedia)

Monday, June 8, 2009

We have a place to live

Once again, the right thing came along at the right time. Our God is so good!

Because Loran got news on Friday that the telecommuting job he was hoping to bring with him from Georgia to Wisconsin wasn't going to work, I was getting a bit down.

I spend so much time and energy getting my hopes up for this and that and then when it falls through, I get rather depressed. It is so human and a result of all of the stress that comes with such a big move and the new job and the struggle we are having with the situation of a certain 9 year old.

Then I settle down with the help of my very practical husband (he has been through his share of stress and knows how to handle both the stress and his overly emotional wife...yet another of God's providence in my life...how long did I long for the wrong guy?).

So Saturday morning I woke up with the desire to google some rental sites. Nothing was coming up so I googled Platteville real estate companies. One of those companies had a link to their RentConnect page. All it was was an Excel spreadsheet with rentals in the area. But there it was...4 bedrooms and maybe pets just 10 minutes east of Platteville. I waited until 9am their time and called. And yesterday we signed a lease for the place!


The rent was actually EXACTLY what I had budgeted for. They are only charging a $50 refundable pet fee and ALL of the pets are acceptable to them. The house is 2600 sq ft and is up for sale so we got to see pictures of the place online before agreeing to the lease terms. Probably best of all is that the owners understand our situation and are willing to do a two month lease so that if we find a house we want to buy before school starts, we are locked into the rental. There will be a six month option after that if we so desire.

Because I am going to be a professor at UWP, the owners were also willing to take the application process on faith: no references or credit check. Not that we would have a problem with either one of those things, but it is really cool to be moving to an area where my position means something. Very different from the difficulty I had convincing businesses and schools in Columbus Georgia that my PhD meant anything at all.

I love that the town (Belmont Wisconsin) has some fun summer festivities like Brass and Brats.
We will be able to see the Vietnam Moving Wall in Platteville in July.
We will be able to go on vacation with my family at the beginning of August.
I love that we will be attending GracePoint EPC on June 28th.
I love that Loran has four weeks off to help us settle in before coming back to GA to finish up his work here.
I love that we will be able to go see the Infantry Museum before we leave Columbus. (I will need some kleenex for both Loran and myself, I think...oooh I can't wait!)
I am SOOO happy to be able to see Coralie's baby before we have to leave :-)

Mostly, I love that we will have a place for the moving van to put our stuff when it arrives in Wisconsin a few days after we do. Can you say, Peace of mind?

Friday, June 5, 2009

And the answer is...

I don't have a picture of it, but it is the bottom of the ceiling fan/light fixture in our sunroom.

(I hope to have a few Wednesdays on auto-post for the weeks that we are moving and not with our own computer...we shall see if it works :-) )

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Hello, my name is Dr. Montgomery and I will be your teacher...

The other day I finally got the email I was waiting for and now I wish I hadn't :-)

I had emailed the other dairy science professor at UWP and inquired as to what classes I would be teaching so that I can start preparing (at some point) before the semester starts.

So he emailed me back and I hoped it was a joke. I have on my plate for this fall semester two of the biggest classes in the department and the most hated senior level class. I love being low man on the totem pole.

The classes are Introduction to Animal Science, Introduction to Dairy Science, and Seminar in Animal Science and Biotechnology.

The good news is that I took Intro to Animal Science when I was an undergrad and my first assignment as a graduate teaching assistant in Maryland was the Intro to Animal Science class. The bad news is that now I will be responsible for the lecture and both of the labs. There are no TAs at a teaching university like UW-Platteville :-)

The bad news is that I never actually took an Intro to Dairy Science class in my life because I was an equine (horse) science major for my undergrad. Those kids probably know more practical stuff than I do right now...yikes! The good news is no lab sections!

The bad news is that I have never taught anything like the seminar class. The good news is that I am an award winning seminar and presentation creator.

The really good news is that I am getting supremely excited about this opportunity. Is this not what I dreamed about as I sat in Dr. George's Anatomy and Physiology class at UW-River Falls my junior year in college? (The answer is yes, BTW.)

I didn't know at the time what it would take to get a Ph.D. (at the time I was gonna be a vet). I didn't know at the time that my journey would take me through Maryland, Illinois, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Georgia. I didn't know that I would fall in love over the internet and move across the country to get married with only three weeks of prep time. I didn't know that I would have two babies in rapid succession after getting married. I didn't know that I would find a church that I love so much I will be an absolute mess when I have to leave.

I didn't know that God could be so good. Praise Jesus, praise Jesus, praise Jesus. He is good and faithful and I deserve death but He is giving me this amazing life with all of its wonderful opportunities. What is there not to love about that?

We'll miss you!

Hey Laura,

Just wanted to let you know that we will miss you tons! I hope you and your family have safe travels to Washington!

Love,

The Montgomery Clan in Columbus Georgia (soon to be Platteville Wisconsin)

At breakfast just now...

The girls are sitting at their little table watching Strawberry Shortcake whilst eating breakfast while I should be getting ready to go to VBS (I am behind on reading the blogs I love). They both wanted seconds so I poured some cereal and as I was getting the milk I came back to see them holding hands, heads bowed, and as I approached with tears in my eyes they looked up, smiling, and said Amen at almost the exact same time.

I love them. Beyond that, there are no words.

"What is it?" Wednesday (on Thursday)


(Sorry...the auto-post didn't work :-)

Monday, June 1, 2009

Lost in the middle of a crowd

Have you ever felt lost in the middle of a crowd?

Have you stood around listening to a number of conversations but just didn't feel like you were part of any of them?

Have you ever felt like you were an outsider looking in? Wanting to be part of the in crowd but not feeling quite good enough?

Self-confidence is a strange thing, even among those you care about and those who care about you.

We have a date!

I just wanted to post a quick note to say that we know when we are leaving and it is THIS month!

The moving van is coming on June 23rd and we will likely head out on June 24th. It will be a two day trip and then we will be staying with my parents for a week or so until we find a place to rent in Platteville.

Loran is taking a few weeks off of his current job and then will come back for a few weeks to finish up some things and make us a little more money before I start my job. (Unless he gets a job in the meantime...he has a few irons in the fire right now.)

I am trying to take one day at a time right now. We just started VBS at church this week and it is a nice reprieve from constantly thinking about the move and stuff, and it is a great opportunity to spend a little more time at a church that I love and will really hate to leave when the time comes.