Our new apartment.... eventually

We traveled to Illinois this past weekend to search for an apartment!!! We are nearing our financial goal, and praying that would be moving in the next couple months. It was such an exciting time for us! After doing lots of research online we had a good idea of what we liked. We looked at 9 different places, and feel like God provided a great apartment for us! It is a newer complex, with two new buildings in process of being built. The building we will be moving into is due to be done December 1st. The awesome part is we will be on the 3rd floor with washer/dryer and lots of storage. We feel like God's hand was in the process because it is such a nice place for a cheaper price than the other apartments around the area and we secured the last 3rd floor apartment (which was cheaper)! Also, since we aren't sure as to when we will exactly be moving, we were able to put a security deposit down to have them hold our place, and we don't have to start paying rent until we actually move. They will hold the place until Jan. 1st without us having to pay rent! We thought we would share some pictures (this is what it will probably look like - remember our actual building is not completed yet)!!!

Our actual building... we think we are the top floor on the left! I love how quaint the area is - a couple ponds and a field. There is also a neighborhood a little distance away.

The living room with fireplace. The oven won't actually be in the middle of the room, they didn't install the appliances yet.

I love the kitchen!

One of the bathrooms.....


We are pretty sure this will be the actual view we have from our apartment. We love the fact that the pond is stocked with fish and they allow you to go fishing!


We are so excited and can't wait to move to the great "Land of Lincoln". We also had a great time visiting with our future Campus Crusade for Christ staff team as we went out to a local pizza joint. Another perk is that Andrea's sister lives about 50 minutes from Bloomington so we got to spend quality time with the family, too!

We went on a walk in Peoria on a bluff overlooking the Illinois River. It was beautiful, especially with the fall colors. Andrea and her sister, Jill (above) and (below) our bro-in-law Glenn and one of our niece's, Ava.

Hope everyone is having a great fall... or should I say winter.. it has been so cold! We will keep you updated on our moving plans and how God has been providing. Thanks for sharing in our excitement!

Fall Festivities!

It has been a long time since I have updated. But in recent news, we have been enjoying the joys of Fall. It has been exciting seeing the combines out in full force and the leaves starting to change colors. Today, Joe and I carved a pumpkin. We picked out the beauty at a fundraiser a ministry was doing locally. Here are some pictures from the fun!
Before carving the pumpkin....

Joe starting to carve. We decided to cut the bottom out. I had seen an article in a magazine about it. It surprisingly works really well and lots of the guts came out with it. It also made it really easy for the candle later.

Scooping out the guts... There wasn't much! Joe carving and making the final touches.

Us with the finished product. We were really excited for how it turned out! It looked really neat when we lit it up, too!