the story i find myself in

so after another full day, WE FOUND A PLACE!! and it is sweet! it was actually the first place we went into today, and we loved it, but figured we wanted to see what else there was out there for our day. so after about 10 apt complexes seen and right around 4.15pm we headed back to Gables Pin Oak Park. it is 950 sq ft, one bedroom, 15' valuted ceilings, tons of closet space, fireplace, built in booksheves, BIG bedroom, the whole nine. and it is approx. 10 min from the church. we love it and we definately glad to finally find a place after 4 full days of looking. it looks like we cant move in until the 12th of Aug, so pics will be at a later date. off to bed for a full day tomorrow, my first paid day on the job!! it has been a great trip and we are so excited to make our life here in houston. if we can just survive the craziness of 10 days straight of camp!!

Posted by ashdown at 7/30/2005 10:36:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

another day of no luck....we found places we like, and could be affordable, but we figure we'd rather not be putting all of our income into a sweet 2 bedroom apt downtown. so tomorrow is our last day and we are looking at 1 bed/baths now, so we can be a little closer to the church. the last day tomorrow of looking. hopefully i will have better news then...for now, its me and shiraz...

Posted by ashdown at 7/29/2005 09:48:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

so today was another long day of looking at apartments mixed with meetings at the church. we got up early and headed to FPC to plan the service for sunday, then we were back at 10.30am at the lux's to meet with our realtor, gayle. she is sweet!! she took us around town today and we pretty much found everything that we dont want. yeah. i had a meeting with HR around 2pm, other than that we looked at places all day. i am excited for tomorrow, we are heading in more towards downtown to check out some sweet loft stlye apts and lofts in general. should be fun. hopefully we will find something soon - only 2 more day left!! peace.

Posted by ashdown at 7/29/2005 12:01:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

so first, here is the pic of the house we are staying at: pretty sweet, huh! and here is the pic of the sweet ferrari we saw today: so today was filled with wrong turns and galavanting all over town...we probably looked at 15 different places today. we found some is westchase we liked and were affordable, but after talking with some people from the church, sounds like it is a little too far out. we also saw some sweet places in midtown that were in our price range, so i think we will look more in that area tomorrow. tomorrow will be crazy...i have a meeting about service on sunday at 9 am, then we are heading out to look at places with a realtor from the church from 10.30 - 1pm. then i have a meeting with HR at 2pm and an appointment at another apt complex at 3.45pm. after that i'm sure we will look at some more places until around 5 and then retire for the evening. we are also trying to decided if we want an apt style place or a loft style place. tonight we were lookin on the web and saw some pretty cool loft places...we shall see... it's late and i'm tired, i will keep ya updated as things change here...hope all is well where you are....

Posted by ashdown at 7/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

so we have made it!! thankfully no problems with flights, aka i love continental, and got the rental car and headed to stay with our friends melanie and tom lux. their house is amazing!! i will take some photos tomorrow. i took some photos on the way in to town from the airport: so great to be back in the land where this is readily available!! and here are some photos of the where the astros play. cant wait to see the inside!! and if you look closely at the far left corner of this next shot, you can see the steeple of the church where i will be working: after getting situated and eating some dinner, tom and melanie helped us look for some more apts to look at. so tomorrow will be filled with apt hunting and then a planning meeting at night. i am really hoping we find a place while we are here...wish us luck! all in all a great day - stay tuned for more updates from h-town. good night.

Posted by ashdown at 7/26/2005 11:05:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

so this week has been great to relax and enjoy time together. amanda's mom took off yesterday and since then we have been working on a lot of wedding stuff. amanda has been 2 times this week with our wedding planner wanda, we picked out tuxes today for me and the boys, we are trying to finalize somewhat moving plans/ideas and the like, and we got a printer and paper for our invitations. so needless to say we've been working a lot, but it has been so awesome. since being at matt and allie's wedding it has really made me excited for our day to come even more!! got to hang with keith and gina and alix and avery tonight, it is always such a blessing to spend time with them. they love us and care for us like no other, you can truely see Jesus in them. thank you God for them... we are heading back to Houston next tues to look for a place and finalize the job. can't wait!! be praying for us as we continue to follow God through this decision. i hope finding a place isnt to hectic, we desperately need to find something soon. welp, time for bed - talk with you all soon...

Posted by ashdown at 7/22/2005 12:03:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

"It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me. " - bruce wayne wow...as a follower of Christ, it isnt who i proclaim to be, it is the person that i am that defines me. i know misinterpreted and twisted this could be an emphasis on works, but as i heard God speak to me through this quote it wasnt a works thing so that i can earn salvation and life. What i was hearing was "come be a part of my work", "join me in reconciliation and redemption of everything you are a part of", "we are partners and friends, you have a calling, do something for the kingdom". i must see this flick again...anyone in? thoughts on the quote?

Posted by ashdown at 7/19/2005 12:57:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

have been great! friday we picked up amanda's mom from the airport and headed down to costa mesa for the beginning of matt and allie's wedding!! it was great to be with mable again, she rocks! friday pm was the rehersal and dessert at BJs - way cool, then all night halo fest with the boys! yeah!! sat was filled with wedding day events from getting hair done to shopping for shirts, to pictures, to the wedding itself. the wedding went very well and i was blessed to be a part of it! and my parents are out here too so it was great to see them and we got to hang all today and we are heading up to camp tomorrow to check everything out. so other than being apart from my wonderful fiance it has been a great time off from camp and i am looking forward to what these next weeks have in store. went and saw batman begins tonight! wow!!! what a movie - i highly suggest it. a deeply spiritual movie, but that discussion for another time, it is bed time now....good night.

Posted by ashdown at 7/18/2005 01:08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

just want to say a big CONGRATS!!! to jeff and stacey for being together one year today! i admire you both and i am excited to see how God continues to grow you and how you both continue to work out your salvation. you two are a true blessing to amanda and i and we are so excited for you! so here's to YOU GUYS today, hope you had fun celebrating tonight!

Posted by ashdown at 7/14/2005 01:48:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

and we are soooo stoked!! i was offered a job this past weekend!! simply amazing - this is such a blessing, thank you Lord for your provision. we still are working out details and such, but i am hoping to start work at first pres on sunday aug 14th. we shall see, now comes the fun part of figuring out two moves and finding an apartment and all that jazz. we are heading back to h-town on tues july 26th and staying through the weekend hoping to find an apartment. thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers for us, we greatly appreciate it! on a side note - a sweet weekend comin up: matt's wedding, seeing amanda's parents, my parents are in town and a break coming!! i am looking forward to this!

Posted by ashdown at 7/14/2005 01:46:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

well we've had a great time so far!! despite our 3.5 hour delay on friday in vegas...when all was said and done i think we were back to the hotel at about 1.30 am...so friday was a long day, but we were able to sleep in on sat am and had lunch we some of our new friends, radkey and christine. after lunch we headed to church to amanda could take the tour and we could practice. after a short practice we headed to the Rice Village Shopping District and tore up the urban outfitters there!! after a mello afternoon we headed to Buba di Beppo's for dinner with William and his wife, Melissa. our conversation was great along with yummy food. we were early to bed on sat because we had to be at churcht at 8am. this morning was sooooo good. the band was great and the time of worship was so good. it was great to hear william teach as well. so now we are just relaxing and chillin out at the hotel. we are looking forward to see what God is up to, we have had an awesome time here!!

Posted by ashdown at 7/10/2005 03:57:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

fyi all is good up here at camp...this week was spectacular!! amanda's birthday was this past wednesday - we had an excellent day together. i am so blessed to be engaged to a wonderful woman!!! we could use your prayers this weekend, we are headed to houston tomorrow so that amanda can see what she thinks of this job possibility and the city of houston and also so we can have further conversations with first pres. we are soo excited!! i'm off to bed now...also saw a great show this past weekend, The Color Turning, The Statistics, and Maria Taylor (of Azure Ray). i highly recommend the Maria Taylor disc...wow....amazing... good night. will update more from houston...

Posted by ashdown at 7/08/2005 01:25:00 AM | Permalink | Comments