New Floor...

So, Shane & I have decided to enter into some fairly major home improvements. The first thing to change is the upstairs flooring - from carpet to laminate hardwood. The second thing is the addition of 2 windows in the family room. Note: this second project is considerably bigger and would require outside help. The floor seemed like an easy enough job, especially with my handy-man of a husband ;) The goal is to give the upstairs a facelift without dumping a TON of money into it... thus the laminate. Our sad carpet has become hideous due to the lack of care given by the previous owners (lots of comments I'd like to add here, but will refrain for the sake of time). What's sad is that it would look so nice had it been kept clean, though I guess that's wishful thinking at this point. We also have 2 dogs & I'd rather not have my carpet - or the rest of the upstairs - smelling like them. Sorry puppies... I love you, but I don't want your scent everywhere!

To start the project, we figured we'd start where we always start... good old Lowe's!! We've been to Lowe's about a billion times since moving here, though I think within the last week the Lowe's employees have begun to wonder about us. Our most recent visits have looked like this: we come in, go directly to the flooring department, linger for at least 40 minutes, yet never come away with ANY purchases. Tonight we were fully prepared to make our decision and BUY the flooring - but the guy Shane wanted to deal with was helping another customer. Rather than just standing around, we checked to make sure our top 2 choices were still available. And guess what?? 1 of our 2 options was not even on the shelves anymore!! So, Shane looked at me and said, "Welp... I guess that decision's been made!" We then proceeded to wait for about 40 minutes (yet again) and "our guy" was still tied up. I gave Shane the look... the one all husbands have come to despise... and he knew it was time to go. We walked out the door for the THIRD time in a row with empty hands. I guess I'll have to endure this carpet for at least another week :(

Hannah Elizabeth DeHaven

I'm finally an aunt!! Shane's sister-in-law, Danielle, gave birth to Hannah on September 9th at 7:20am. She weighed 4lbs., 8oz. and was 18 inches long - just a little thing :) She came about 3 1/2 weeks early since Danielle was experiencing preeclampsia. The doctors wanted to be sure that both Mom & Baby would be okay, so they decided to induce on Saturday afternoon. After a LONG night and a scare with the epidural, Hannah came into the world!! Corey & Danielle are now the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl. She's the first grandchild on the DeHaven side of the family so it's an exciting addition for all of us. Danielle & Hannah are both doing well and were able to go home today. Praise God for keeping them both safe through everything!

Updates

Shane started classes this past Tuesday!! He's officially a graduate student and couldn't be more excited. We went to new student orientation last week on Thursday & Friday and it was great to be a part of the activities. I just have to say that I think Asbury is a minority when it comes to spouse ministries as a major part of the school - and I am more than thankful for it! I'm able to audit classes for free (though I highly doubt I'll be attending any Greek classes!) and get involved with tons of ministries. Thursday night we went to a dinner for all the new Wesleyan seminary students and met up with a Houghton couple!! It's always fun to chat with people from your alma mater and find out what's been going on in their lives. We have found over this past week how many people are in our shoes... needing healing from the places we've come from. Someone made that statement during a couples' orientation and all I could think was, "AMEN!!" I don't think I even realized how angry and hurt I was until after we got here... and that even took a couple months of processing things. God has brought many people into my life here that have been so supportive and understanding of what I'm working through. I believe He's given me these friends quite specifically and I'm becoming more grateful each day for those He's allowed me to come in contact with. The first chapter of James has given me a ton of encouragement, as I have learned that it's necessary to go through the tough times so that God can make me more complete in Him. I ask that He will continue to shape me into the person that He wants me to become... not the person that I'd like to be.

And on another note - my brother, Tyler, had some GREAT news today!! I got a phone call this afternoon from my mom telling me that his most recent CAT scan came back showing hardly any cancer left in his body! God is certainly answering our prayers of healing... and much more quickly that I anticipated! Not to say that I didn't believe He could do it, but it's been amazing to watch the church as a whole come around my family during this time and really petition on Tyler's behalf. And to see that God is choosing to heal him is such a gift, I can't even begin to tell you. This time has brought such strength and faith to our family, greater than anything we might've had before. While God has always proven Himself faithful to us, we just didn't know if it was in His will to take this from Tyler. And we knew that no matter the outcome, He would give us the peace to walk through it. "Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds." ~Psalm 72:18