A Picture Tour!

We've settled into our routine and our room is feeling like our own space. It's not decorated or anything but it sure is nice to have a chair to sit and unwind in after 8 hours of class--something neither of us are used to! 

So I thought I would take you on a picture tour of the campus that we will call for the next month. 

Here's our room! Actually, every room is sort of a suite--so we actually have another little connecting room with a bunk bed and a single bed in it. 

This is the building we are staying in. In the front are the dorms--there are 12 of us living here. On the second story are offices and in the very back of the building is our classroom. 

Looking out from our dorm--it's a really gorgeous campus! I guess I've been stereotypical in my view of Texas; I had no idea we would see this much GREEN! 

 Inside the dorm--the living room, where we hang out to to eat breakfast, do homework, computer stuff, watch TV, have worship, etc. 

Dorm kitchen:

We eat breakfast in our dorm but have lunch in dinner in a cafeteria. The food has been great! 

Cafeteria:

And here's our classroom--the international lounge. We spend a lot of time sitting in here. But we are learning a lot! :) How Mercy Ships was started, its vision, its core values, what its like to live on board, etc. The speakers have been fantastic and are always available for questions. 

BUT... as excited as we are to be a part of the Mercy Ships crew in the near future, we are WAAAY more excited to call ourselves UNCLE JORDAN AND AUNT KATIE!!! :) Congratulations Josh and Jenni!!!!!! 

Texas!

We are safely in Texas!! 

Just a quick update on what our last week was like and what we're up to now. Our last week in Ohio was a whirlwind. 

In one week: 

We sold our car;

Radar went to his new home;

Katie had her wisdom teeth taken out;

We packed our entire house and garage into boxes;

Everything was moved into storage;

We packed our new life into 4 duffel bags; and

We did an interview for our local TV! 

A lot of that has to do with packing and there is no way we could have done it without help. We spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday packing up boxes and on Thursday afternoon and evening, a ton of people came over to help me clean the house and help Jordan move all of the boxes and furniture into storage. So THANK YOU: Dad and Mom, Uncle Ray and Aunt Kathy, Mary, Daniel, Brad and Crystal (and Lillia), Josh and Jenni, Neil and Mandalyn (and Hugo), Luke, Sara, Brad and Kris (and Lyssa), Nick and Mareena (and Fenner), Tyrel, and Levi!! 

Also, MANY thanks to Sandy for letting us eat at her house all week so I didn't have to cook!  :) 

The hardest part of the week was saying goodbye to a lot of special people. We really enjoyed spending time with friends and family but we tried our best not to think about the goodbyes that were coming. 

Sunday morning at Vineyard was definitely a highlight of the week; we did not expect to receive that much encouragement! The prayers that were said at the beginning of the service So many of you made a point of waiting to talk to us, giving a hug, or promising us your prayers. Jordan mentioned this at church but we have talked about it so much amongst ourselves that I really want to say it again: We of course knew when we started all this that we would not be doing it alone; that's not the body of Christ that we know! That being said, we have been overwhelmed by how much love and encouragement has been shown us. Every person at Vineyard has said/done something and you can't imagine the support we feel knowing that our entire church body is praying for us. It really is a crazy thing to wrap our minds around and we wish you could all see it from our point of view! It seems like a very small way to give back but all we can say is:

THANK YOU. 

On Monday morning, we packed up the Camry and said goodbye to our family. I have to admit that we (somewhat seriously) joked about leaving early in the morning before anyone woke up just to avoid all those goodbyes. :(

 At least for this picture none of us look like we're crying too bad. :) 

And then... we drove.

Bye bye Ohio! 

We decided to make the trip in two days so that we could stop over in Kansas City to see my best friend, Jessica. :) It worked out really well because then we felt like we didn't have to rush the trip and it was very nice to have a fun HELLO to look forward to in the midst of all the sad goodbyes. We were definitely ready to be out of the car though! 

And now, we are safely in Longview, TX, at my parents' house. We'll hang out here today and tomorrow and head to the IOC (International Operations Center) in Lindale early Friday afternoon. It's great to see my family and to NOT be packing!! 

On Saturday, we will have registration at the IOC and we'll get settled into our dorm. And on Monday, classes start! 

One last thing: I am working on our email list for those of you who said that you'd like to receive email updates from us. If you didn't give me your email address yet and would like to receive updates, just send an email to: kaitlyn.stull09@gmail.com.