Getting Settled

Well, again it has been much too long since our last update, and there has been much going on. At the beginning of August, the whole Residence Life staff here at the college was back to start training and preparing for the arrival of students. After a week of getting to know each other, planning RA training and learning more about the job, the RA’s showed up and we were off to Alabama for a weekend retreat. We were able to meet and get to know the 35 student leaders over the weekend and Jonathan was not wanting for people to play with him…he slept well every night. After the retreat it was time for a week-long intense training with the RA’s and preparing for the arrival of new students on August 17th.

Now, as some of you may know, Covenant was building a brand new residence hall that we were going to be moving into. For the summer though, we were living in a house on campus that normally holds 9 guys during the school year. It was an incredible blessing to be in a good sized house with a kitchen over the summer, though it was tough to figure out what stuff to unpack and what stuff to keep boxed up. It worked out well, though, and one of the highlights was the bathroom remodel to better accommodate 9 college guys…

So, come 6:00pm August 16, it was time to move into our apartment, and not too soon either, as the new students were coming in 12 hours. Thankfully, Renee’s parents made the trip down to give us a hand with Jonathan as we moved and got settled in our new, fantastic apartment (pics coming as soon as we are all unpacked and cleaned up). We got settled over the weekend with the new students here, and though it has been stressful dealing with the random issues of being in a brand new building (fire alarms, leaks, elevator breaking), the building is fantastic and the students love it.

While here in Lookout Mountain/Chattanooga, we did get to give Jonathan a fantastic day…a ride on the Tennessee Valley Railroad. For those of you not in the loop…Jonathan is obsessed with trains. We took a 6 mile round trip ride on an old steam engine (like Thomas) that went over several “up-down bridges” and through one tunnel, upon which we got off, watched the engine turn around on a turntable and returned back. It was the highlight of his summer and he didn’t stop talking about it for a week.

We’re starting to get into the swing of things now, and life is starting to settle into a routine, which is good. Renee is at a job interview today for a very part-time position in a 6 bed level II nursery at a Chattanooga hospital…a much needed step down in intensity. Jonathan is attending Mother’s Day Out on Tuesdays…a pre-school type class at a local church from 9:00-2:00 and loves “going to school to play with kids.” He is a non-stop chatterbox and absolutely loves reading his books…and is to the point now that he knows the words to his favorite stories and knows when we skip parts.

Well, that’s probably it for now. I used to make promises as to when this site would be updated. I no longer engage in such foolish activities.

Coming Soon-ish

• Ken’s New Guitar
• A Potty Party!