Destiny and Alex's housing story

Time to tell this awesome God story!  We moved Destiny and Alex into their new place this past weekend.   Now let me go back.  This story is going to have a lot more details than you may be interested in, but I want to write it all down for our memories. 

On Thursday, March 3rd, Destiny and Alex had a mandatory 9:00 am appointment with our county's housing authority.  They had applied months ago for low income housing and were told in early January that they were accepted.  In late February they got a letter saying they were at the top of the list and had to attend the mandatory appointment.  We naively thought that they would go to that appointment and be told that there was an apartment or house available for them.  Nope!  They were told that they qualify for Section 8 housing assistance, were given a huge list of apartment and townhome complexes, as well as realtors, and they would need to call these places to ask if they accept Section 8.  They were supposed to keep a log of all the calls and the results.  If they found an available place that accepted section 8 they would need to get the landlord to fill out papers that needed to be returned to the housing office by March 18 in order to be able to move into a place by May 1.     

Two things caused us distress right away.  Destiny and Alex would be in Lancaster some of the time before March 18, since we would be having Spring break and our Auntie Anne's store would be closed.  The May 1 move-in caused me stress.  Jeremy had gotten tickets for Dick and I to come to Portland over that time.  I did NOT want Destiny and Alex to have to move when we were away. 

Destiny got right to work calling places, almost all of which did not accept Section 8.  She needed to be at work at 12 noon, and when she left she was feeling really discouraged and overwhelmed.  

Friday morning she got up earlier than necessary and spent an hour calling places before leaving for work.   I felt so proud of her as I listened to her professional manner.  During the day at work she called other places.  There was one place that told her they have availability and they do accept Section 8 and encouraged her to come see it.  

Of course no one had office hours on the weekend, but on Monday morning (her day off) she really wanted to go see the place she had gotten encouragement from on Friday.  I went with her and stayed in the car.  It was a lovely little cluster of townhomes in a rural setting about 15 minutes from here.  When she came out to the car she said, "Well, that wasn't very encouraging after all.  They have one two-bedroom unit available, but they already have someone going through the vetting process for it.  And they have two more people on the waiting list."  Ugh.  

From there we drove to see a row home that was available through a realtor in the hilly town of Bellefonte.  She had called about this place also on Friday.  I felt discouraged when I saw the outside, but Destiny was trying to be positive.  We were driving back an ally to see the rear of the property when her phone rang.  It was the realtor telling her that they had already rented it out.  Then we were both feeling a bit discouraged.  She said, "I feel like it will be six months till we can ever get our own place."

We went to Walmart from there and were in the produce section when Destiny noticed she had missed a call.  She decided to call back even though she didn't know who it was from.  After a bit I could see her looking excited and she started jumping up and down and whispering, "Grandma, Grandma!!"  all while still talking on the phone.  When she hung up she said it was the lady from the townhome office where we had been earlier.   Apparently after Destiny left the office they had gotten a call from the person that was being vetted for the available unit.  They said they were no longer interested in it.  So the lady Destiny had talked with asked her boss who she should call next since they now had three more people interested.  The boss said, "Call all three and whichever one you get to talk with first gets the chance."  So she had called all three and left a voicemail message with each one.  Destiny was the first to call back!  

At 1:00 that day Alex and Destiny had an appointment there, and the process was begun.  They were so excited when they came home.  They said the lady was so nice and they had gotten to see the available unit and they loved it!  It would be available for move-in before May 1 if they would pay the entire rent until Section 8 would kick in on May 1.  Destiny knew that would not be a problem because she had been saving money each pay check for a deposit and first month's rent. They said that the lady would be calling me and Alex's dad, Destiny's boss, and her former landlord in Columbia for character references.  

Here are some pics she took that day and also a few from the internet. 

Later in the afternoon, as I was taking the food I had cooked over to Anthony and Lori's place, my phone rang.  I noticed it was a local number so I answered, assuming it would be the lady from that office.  I recognized the voice as the same one I had heard Destiny talking to when we were at Walmart. But I was not prepared for it to be someone I knew.  She told me her name, a woman who lives along Anthony and Lori's private road.  I said, "Ok, and why are you calling me?"  She said, "I am the landlord that Destiny and Alex met with today."  I practically screamed, "You are KIDDING!!!"  She said that when Destiny was filling out paperwork about where they now live, she noticed my name and thought,  "I know her!" But she did not let on at all that she knew Destiny's grandparents!  She said that some of the nice things Destiny said about us almost made her cry.  I told her that I have been so concerned about the possibility of them needing to move while we are out in Portland over May 1st.  I said that I had been praying, "Lord, please work it out, work it out!"  The lady said, "And look how He's working it out for you!"  

Imagine me telling that story to Lori when I got to their house a bit later.  We were both crying.

So that was not quite three weeks ago.  There has been a lot more paperwork and a lot of phone calls in the process, but on Friday morning (25th) Destiny and Alex had a 7:45 am appointment to sign the lease.  Then Destiny went to work a 12-hour shift at Auntie Anne's!

Destiny had to work an 8-hour shift on Saturday.  Alex, Dick, and I went to the storage unit and filled up Dick's pickup truck and my minivan with boxes and took them to the new house.  I was so happy to finally see the house in person!  Once unloaded we went back to the storage unit and filled both vehicles up again.  Later Dick picked up a U Haul truck, and Anthony helped Alex and Dick to load some furniture.  Destiny and a friend from work continued what I had started with unpacking kitchen stuff.  We ordered pizza for everyone.  Later in the evening Alex's dad arrived from Lancaster and the guys went for another load of furniture.  I had the job of keeping Elizer from climbing the stairs and getting into everything!

  

By the time Dick and I left for home we had the satisfaction of knowing that at least their bed was set up for them to sleep in!  We all were EXHAUSTED!!

On Sunday after church we went to their house again.  Destiny had already shopped for groceries and was starting to cook breakfast for everyone!  Alex,  his dad, and Dick went to load the U Haul truck one more time, and Anthony came to their house to help unload it.  

I took Elizer to our house for a nap.  As snug as a bug in a rug - for hours!  It was bitterly cold and windy outside! It never got above freezing all day long.  

Back to their house for the evening.  Alex's dad had headed back home, and Destiny and Alex were still plugging away at the unpacking and organizing.   I played with Elizer in his room while Dick installed safety gates at the bottom and top of the stairs.  

The view from Elizer's window.

No more monkeys falling down these stairs, haha!  

We ordered subs from Pizza Mia for our late dinner.

We were all even more exhausted than the evening before!  There is still so much unpacking and organizing to do, but Destiny and Alex had gotten the kitchen and living room looking pretty much like home by the time we left.  

Destiny has off work today again.  Dick and I will go to their place this evening so he can use his stud finder to hang the living room TV.  

This is going to be an adjustment for all of us.  They have lived here in our two-bedroom house for six months, certainly longer than any of us expected.  But we have all had grace for each other, and our love for each other is stronger than ever.  God has been so good and faithful to us!!  I'm thrilled for them to experience the goodness of God and answers to prayer!

"And all my life You have been faithful,
and all my life You have been so, so good!"

More warm days than cold ones, woohoo!

This is a rather chilly Sunday, but did we ever have some SPRING since my last post!  But first we had to have some more winter!  

On Saturday, the 12th, we had snow and wind!  Destiny and Alex were down in Lancaster for a few days because she was working down there over our Spring break, but she couldn't even go to work on Saturday.  The power at Alex's dad's place, where they were staying, was out for several hours.  They were cold and her phone was dying and her car was snow-covered and it was blowing.  Ugh!!  Things did get better later in the day.  

I stayed home all day and got lots of things done, including some pictures from inside!

We had more snow on Sunday and it was FREEZING COLD, but it didn't amount to much.  We had our service at GBRV, then afterward we decided to go to Calvary's 10:45 service for the first time since August!  It was really good to hear Pastor Dan preach in person and to see some friends we haven't seen in quite a while.  And I always enjoy the chance to be led in musical worship by someone else!

Destiny and Alex got home in the evening and we all went to bed at the regular time, but not for long.  

The smoke alarm fiasco

The smoke alarm in our bedroom decided to malfunction.  Between midnight and 3:00 am it went off, and I do mean went off, not just chirped, maybe every 15 minutes or sometimes five times in 15 minutes.  Because all our smoke alarms are connected electrically, if we did not wave something under ours quickly enough to get it to stop, all the smoke alarms would be going off.  We googled, we watched YouTube videos, we considered calling the fire company, we unplugged unnecessary things, we turned off the fuse for the smoke alarms in our breaker box, Dick stood precariously on our step stool and changed the battery in the smoke alarm, we prayed for God's mercy!!  At 3:00 am, after watching another YouTube video, Dick went outside in the snow to get our big, dirty step ladder from the little basement under our house, dragged it through the house to our bedroom, climbed up and disconnected the smoke alarm from the ceiling.  He brought it down, laid it on my dresser, and started collapsing the ladder, and IT WENT OFF AGAIN!!!  I grabbed a piece of clothes to wave under it, but Dick said,  "It's not up there, it's on your dresser."  Sure enough, that dang thing was going off on my dresser!  Dick grabbed it and noticed a button to press, and when he did, we could hear it making a sound like it was dying.  He took out the battery and went to bed.  I tried to go to bed too, but believe me, if that thing would have gone off one more time I was going to throw it out into the snow!!!!  I'm sure it was after 4:00 till I finally went to sleep.  And I get up at 6:15.  GRRRR.  Needless to say, Dick went to buy a new smoke alarm right after work that day!  If that ever happens again we will know that the battery needs to be removed AND the smoke alarm has to be disconnected from electricity.  

On Monday Destiny and Alex took Elizer to the doctor for his 18-month check-up.  He fell asleep on the way there and continued sleeping, even through a poopy diaper change, haha!  She sent me this picture.  I think he looked like we all felt that day!

I napped in the afternoon.  In the evening Destiny and I went for groceries and to Gabe's again.  She got some things there for their own place.  She also found the BEST new toy for Elizer at Walmart - a Baby Shark vacuum cleaner that actually runs and picks up dirt!  He LOVES it!  It has a charger for when it dies.  Look at the dirt it picked up in one day!

Tuesday morning's sunrise signaled the beginning of better days - warmer and longer!

We had gloriously warm weather the rest of the week - until today.  Elizer LOVES being outside! On one of our walks he looked up at the sun and kept saying, "Sunshine, sunshine." 

On Wednesday after Dick got home from work, he and Alex cut down all our tall grasses with the hedge trimmer.  They took at least three truck-fuls to the farm at the end of our street. 

I went to our Lenten service that evening.  When I left the church afterward, this was my view of the sunset!

This was our glorious view from the front porch on Thursday.  

Our crocuses bloomed!!!  I wanted to get down and kiss them!

I spent a lot of Thursday afternoon raking up all the stray grasses that were beginning to blow across the neighborhood.  I even raked them from our neighbors' yards!  But I realized I was also raking up leaves from our flower beds.  We do not have any trees with leaves!  So I guess we all share, haha!  Look how the weeds thrived under all those neighbors' leaves!

I took these pics on Thursday when I was sharing my 12 noon "breakfast" with Elizer.  Almost every day my breakfast consists of an English muffin and an avocado.  And every day I have an adorable little beggar that I need to share it with.  I don't mind a bit!  I'm gonna miss sharing it with him after they move. 

On Saturday we worked outside in the morning.  Elizer had the greatest time!  He loved pushing the cart with the trash bin on it.  Dick pulled him on the sled from the porch to the shed where it will stay till next winter.  Then he decided to start up his John Deere mower to take Elizer for a ride.  That was a huge hit!  The last picture below was taken last evening when Elizer crawled into the little pink wagon and Dick was pushing him back and forth.  My friend Diana dropped that wagon off the other day, filled with Duplo blocks.  He loves it!

Yesterday Lisa took her track and field team to a very important invitational.  They had great weather, unlike the two meets they had at the end of last week in rain and wind.  Sophie did fantastic yesterday!  She won the 100-meter dash by 1/100th of a second, beating last year's state champ. 

She also won the 400, which is a new race for her this year.   I just love hearing the announcers talk about her.  I get tears listening.  I'm just so proud of her.  

In spite of cooler weather, this has been a good Sunday.  I took this picture as people were gathering at GBRV.  This was our first Sunday with masks being optional.  It was nice to be able to better hear the congregation singing behind me.  But I do feel qualms because Pastor Lynn is still being treated for cancer.

At the end of the service today the children came up from children's church with the rhythm instruments they had made.  We sang, "I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart" as they accompanied.  It was really fun.  I miss singing songs like that with kids. 

After church we joined a group that was going out for brunch.  We had so much fun!!  But I didn't think of taking any pictures.  

Last time I said we were 99% sure that Destiny and Alex would be moving to their own place, now I think we are 99.5% sure.  So I'm not gonna tell the story yet, but I will give you a little glance!

That's all till next time!

Fickle March weather, FUN times!

Hello from the land of fickle March!  Yesterday we had more snow than expected.  At least it's pretty and will not stay around for weeks and weeks!

Just a few days ago we had 70 degrees!  Do you see the birds in the tree on the top left picture?  They are living on the edge!  I took the other two pictures while sitting on our front porch, soaking in the sun on Sunday afternoon.  It was AMAZING!!

These pictures were both taken on the same day (last Wednesday.)  The top picture was my view of the icy top of Dick's pickup truck from the kitchen window!  The bottom picture was later in the day - our first daffodils poking through the earth!

Here are two sunrise pictures I took since I last posted. 

One evening last week Destiny and I took Elizer to the mall again.  He had so much fun at the kids' inflatables place. Afterward we went to Gabe's for the first time.  It is in the former Bon Ton space, but cannot be entered from the mall, only through their exterior doors.  We had fun browsing and getting a few things.  I cracked up when I saw the pair of shoes pictured here. They reminded me of the posts my friend Terri does each week where we pick the shoes that go best with the gown.   

Unfortunately Sophie's track meet on Friday was not live streamed, but George sent me this video of Sophie coming in first on the 100 meter dash.  She did it in under 12 seconds for the first time!  

And how about this amazing photo of the handoff in the 400 meter relay!  Sophie is the one in front. She is all muscle!

On Saturday we traveled to the Giant Center in Hershey to watch J'von's basketball team play in the District Championship.  Along the way we stopped to pick up Sammy and Bianca.  Elizer LOVED the excitement and clapped a lot!

Columbia won the game!!  So now they go on to States!

Destiny was a very proud big sister!  And of course Frank was a very proud dad!

And we were very proud grandparents.  We remember when this tall, handsome champion was an adorable baby boy in 2004!  The little picture inset is of Destiny and me talking to baby J'von.

When we dropped Sammy and Bianca off on the way home, he wanted to show me some new things in his collection.   He had gone back to the antique store since we were there a few weeks ago and bought all of the carved mug collection!  He said each one has a story.  

Like I said, we hit 70 degrees on Sunday afternoon.  Destiny and I took Elizer to Tallyrand Park in Bellefonte.  We put the leash on Elizer and he walked everywhere we went.  I think we probably walked a mile!  No stroller for this boy!  That leash is one of the best things we've gotten!

We saw a lot of dogs, and he was so excited to see them.  We had bought some "fish food" at a little shop across the street, but we didn't see any fish.  He had fun feeding it to the ducks.  We LOVE this park!

Tuesday was Hunter's sixth birthday!  In the morning Destiny and I went to Target to get his birthday gift, then went over to Anthony and Lori's place to give it to him.  We sang "Happy Birthday" to him when we walked in, and he was actually a bit shy.  That didn't last long!  The boys have off school this week because of Penn State's Spring break.  They were heading to Altoona for some fun after we left.  

The evening before, Lori had texted me to say that she couldn't remember the exact time Hunter was born.  I said, "I'll check my blog." Sure enough, there it was!!  What a time of great rejoicing!!  How we had prayed for him, and he finally was here seven years after Austin's birth.  Anthony was scrolling through pictures of that day, casting them on their TV, while we were there.  Look at that precious picture of the two brothers!  

Elizer is really learning to talk!  Each day there are new words, and it's so fun!  Last week it was "Amen" after he had watched a video of Cedarmont Kids' version of "If You're Happy and You Know It."   

YouTube is so great!  Yesterday he found (on Alex's phone) a video of "Behold, Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock, Knock, Knock."  That's one from MY primary Sunday School days!  I sang along and did the motions, which he loved, especially the knocking part.  He went right to a cabinet door and knocked on it!!  He played it over and over and over again!

Here are some cute pics from this week. We gave him an old iPhone of Dick's which just has children's games on it.

ALWAYS walking around in big shoes!

Here he had just taken Great Grandpa's handkerchief, put it around himself like a scarf, then jumped on his motorcycle, hahaha!!

These are exciting days around here.  We are 99% sure that Destiny and Alex and Elizer will soon be moving to their own house 15 minutes from here.  There is QUITE a God story to tell, but I will wait until we are 100% sure!  It will deserve a blog post of its own.

Our Auntie Anne's is closed this week during Spring Break.  Early this morning they left for Lancaster where she will be working today through Sunday.  

And now I have some major catching up to do around here!  Maybe I will even catch up on reading blogs!  I'm sorry I've been missing in action lately.