Starting The New Year!

So, the next new thing in my life is starting a new year as a married woman! I love being married. And no, I don't want to hear anyone say (or think) 'just give it a year or two'. I may be optimistic, but I don't need my bubble burst before it's time.

Happy New Year! I get to kiss my husband at midnight! I love the Roach!!

Stuff

As we have been preparing to move to Sussex we have been going through what we have collected between the two of us. We have so much STUFF!!! Most of what we have is because either Jason or I want to keep it. But, if we take time to think about it, do we really need all of the stuff we have? Then the horrible thought comes to mind: what if someone else needs this? Could I part with it? I most often don't want to part with my stuff, but if I am that attached to stuff that causes me to wonder......have I made my stuff a god? That's enough of a question to mull over for today, I think.

Family Gatherings

This past weekend I had the pleasure of experiencing a DeRoche family gathering! We all got together all day Sunday to celebrate the birthdays of Grandma & Grandpa DeRoche (each 75 this past year). There was much laughter, and ridiculous amounts of eating!!! ALL DAY LONG!!!!!!!!!! I think I gained 5 pounds after yesterday's feasting! Anyway, we had a great time.

Other than that, I've been enjoying my Christmas gifts. I finally took the time this morning to put the rest of our wedding photos together, so now I don't have to see anymore finger prints on them! It was fun to do that, remembering all that happened that day. After that all of us, mom & dad DeRoche, Jason, Jamie (Jason's brother), and I have been bumming around doing nothing and watching tv. It's a good day.

Baking & Bonding

Yesterday I spent the whole day with memere tiger (Jason's mother's mother) bonding while learning how to bake bread. Making bread is so much fun! It's an all day event, and my first batch came out pretty well. The batch I made produced 8 loaves of bread, one of which we ate for dinner yesterday....well, most of it anyway. I have much farther to go, and next time I won't have anyone there to ask questions or to make sure I'm mixing the dough right, so we'll see what happens with the next batch.

I shouldn't have been surprised by this, but I noticed how much Jason's mother is like her mother...captain obvious has entered the building. It was almost hilarious!

But today I'm back to the grind.....of doing nothing. I think I'll go have a piece of the bread I made yesterday. yum, yum!

Various Info.

If anyone would like to, for whatever reason, mail us letters or anything you can mail it to Jason's parents' address until the beginning of January at:

J&J DeRoche
2111 Route 11
New Jersey, NB E9G 2K7
CANADA

After the beginning of January we'll be at our college at:

J&J DeRoche
SPO #24
26 Western St.
Sussex, NB E4E 1E6
CANADA

Also, for those who haven't seen them yet, we have some of our wedding photos online. My brother-in-law created this website for us, and he did a lovely job. We don't have much else on the site except for our wedding photos in the gallery, but it is still great! If you want to see our pictures go to: www.judyandjason.com I've had people tell me that they can't download the pictures, or the site doesn't work for whatever reason. Keep trying if you're having troubles, it will eventually work for you.

Other than that, the only other info I would add is my husband's blog address (which most of you know): www.roachrants.blogspot.com

Another day

So, today is another restful day. I think we've finally recovered from our hours of travel, and starting to get into another routine. It's nice to be rested again.

An interesting idea that has been revealed to me is that people want to get to know me. Why should I be surprised? Well, I guess I wouldn't think that I am that interesting. I'm not always the funny guy (or person...to be P.C.), and I don't always talk very much. But, I love spending time with people, learning who they are and loving them for it. It often....well, always surprises me when people tell me they know someone who wants to get to know me. I guess that's a good thing...but then I wonder what I'm supposed to do with this newfound information! Should I be the one to initiate the friendship? Should I just sit back and wait for that person to come to me? Most times those people I hear about are shy, reserved...much like myself. Anyway, that's what's going on here. Nothing too exciting, just continuing to rest, and preparing for the coming semester in Sussex.

Stop #3 - Jason's Parents' home

WE'RE HERE!!!!!!!! How nice it is to not have to get into our heavy-laden car and drive for hours. Our goal over the next week or so is to do as little as possible. The apartment search does continue, and we've finally decided on one apartment, close to the school, that we like. It'll be close to some other students too, which will make my days easier, considering I won't be working. Our next major decision is whether we want to let God provide the money for this coming semester miraculously (through other people) or if we want to take out a loan, and pay it off after graduation, when we are both able to work. This is an extremely difficult decision. If anyone knows of someone with a sum of money they want to bless a newly married couple with, tell them about us! haha (shameless, I know) The way I see it is if people don't know of a need they won't know how to help fill that need. So, we have a financial need.

Anyway, that's enough of my shameless pleas for money.

So, we went to church yesterday, Jason's old home church, and it was quite strange. We've become used to the easy-going, comfortable atmosphere of Watermark, and felt as though we had stepped out of a sauna and jumped into a pool of ice cold water in our underwear! Graphic, I know...but it gives the extreme mental picture I'm looking for. My attitude was wretched!! All 2 hours of the service!!!! (yes.....2 hours) It's hard to love when you feel like you're loving cardboard cut outs.

Well, it's about time I get back to doing nothing.

What to do now?

This will be a short blog, mainly because lunch is coming soon. We're visiting Jason's brother, Jamie, in Moncton, NB, on our way to Stop #3 - Jason's parents' home. It's good to see Jamie again.

The apartment hunting has been challenging, mainly because we don't want to pay as much as people are asking in this area. We thought I might have an opportunity to work here, but that door seems to be shutting on us. So, that means that we have no guaranteed income for the coming months. Now, growing in faith requires opportunities to be tested, but frankly...it sucks! We have $250 to our name, which was a Christmas present, and that's not even enough for a security deposit anywhere. Now, we may receive more money for Christmas in the coming weeks, while home visiting Jason's parents and family, but we need MUCH more than just a few hundred dollars. It's hard, and I know we'll get through it...but the how is still unknown.

Anyway, that's where we are these days. Later this afternoon we'll be travelling up to Jason's parents' home, which will be nice because then we'll not have to worry about moving anywhere for another four weeks! Have a lovely day!

Stop #2 - Sussex, New Brunswick

So, we arrived in New Brunswick after 15 hours of travel!! Sometimes, after traveling in wretched weather as we did last night and today, I wonder if the people who are to care for the roads really work. I really mean that the necessary salt for the roads was lacking for quite a long stretch of the highway. Anyway, that's enough complaining. We're exhausted after hours of travel, and look forward to the final leg of the trip which will only be 3 hours. We'll be to Jason's parents' home and be able to relax....no more traveling for a few weeks. The next blog may be a while, because of a lack of internet access, but soon enough I'll write again. Have a lovely day!

Stop #1 - Judy's parents' house in NY

The drive from Grand Haven, MI to Hadley, NY was long, and mostly uneventful. However the top of our trailer box decided to jump off sometime around 8:30 am on Saturday morning, thankfully not on the highway. A state trooper came up after us, stopped short after almost running the top over, and helped us put it back on. I was glad about that because that top is really heavy! Anyway, we had a rope in the trunk that we tied it on for the rest of the ride, but it made the last couple of hours of the ride a bit more interesting.

This stay here, however brief, will be followed by another night drive to Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada. There we'll search for a place to live, which will be interesting and hopefully not very challenging. After that we'll drive another few hours to Jason's parents' home in New Jersey, New Brunswick.

It's nice to see family and friends again! Jason and I woke up around 7:45 this morning, and the first thing I thought was: 'if we were still in GH we would have been up for about 2 hours, and been helping set up for the gatherings...' The reality of our moving is finally settling in, and this reality also brings with it sadness. I do miss the family at Watermark, however we need to look ahead to what God is taking us into next. We will forever remember our first family in GH though.

Anyway, during the next month we'll recover, prepare for Jason's final semester, and anticipate where we'll go after graduation in early May. Exciting times are coming, along with stressful classes and papers (for Jason of course). You'll find both here.