Wednesday, June 25, 2008
A New Title
Things are moving along at work...sometimes slowly. The office renovation is still taking place so Joe is still without an office. It should be completed by next week and with the new office comes a new title...Joe has officially been named the Dean of Students! As of now, this does not mean any further responsibilities but definitely does a better job of explaining what exactly he will be doing...it also commands more respect. Our department is going through a lot right now as far as personnel goes. We are obviously new to our positions, there are a few new Residence Directors on campus, and we also have a new Vice President! The current VP has taken a position teaching Biology full time here at ETBU but we have had the privilege to work with him for a few weeks. He has introduced many new phrases and ideas to Lindsay about East Texas, the South, and Texas in general...Joe just laughs in the background :) We are extremely excited about the new Vice President. He is definitely here for the students, as we are, and is all about giving Student Services a better name on campus. He officially begins on July 1 but has been in to meet with us and also to let us know that we aka Lindsay can help choose new wall and carpet colors! He wants the place to look spic and span for our new "image". We need it and look forward to being a part of it!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Life in Texas
Well, we've been here for a couple of weeks...meeting people, learning the ropes of new jobs, finding our way around (actually Joe already knew it from a few years ago). Everyone asks if we are all moved in...yes and no. Most of the boxes are unpacked and it does feel like a home (our apartment and Marshall both!) but there are still many things that are not where we'd like them to end up and there is nothing hanging on the walls. Of course, Joe could care less about hanging things up but it won't really feel like "home" to Lindsay until that is done...she'd like to get some paint on the walls too! We have already done all of the little tasks that are annoying but necessary when moving to a new place: insurance, change of address, and licenses...yes, Lindsay is officially a Texan according to her new driver's license and license plates! Joe couldn't be more proud :)
We have been at our jobs for 2 weeks now and feel very welcomed by everyone. The people that we work with are great and it really is a fun place to work. Joe feels a little left out because many people stop by, call, or email Lindsay for various reasons throughout each day...she is the "director of fun" and everyone wants to be a part of THAT! Our offices are currently under renovation as we speak. A new wall is being put in so that Joe has his own office for privacy reasons regarding student discipline, etc. He is a P.Im.P (Pretty important person..I made that up...you would be cool if you used it also) around these parts...the "Regulator" as we like to call him. He did actually intimidate some campers and their leaders a few nights ago for keeping his lovely wife awake late at night. Lets just say that the adults did not want to speak up and admit that they were leaders because they "didn't know what he was going to do to them"!
We made a trip to Dallas this weekend and saw many fun people (one "peep" in particular) and ate at several of our favorite places. It was nice to visit home, especially The Village. We are generally enjoying our time here and are surrounded by amazing people. We are more convinced each day that this is exactly where God wants us right now. Many people have asked Lindsay how it has been to be so far away from home and while it was nice to live so close to family, it has been so easy to adjust to life here. God has been so gracious to us. We are excited about all of our new friends, the jobs that don't really feel like jobs, and whatever else may come.
The plan was to post pictures of our new home, friends, town, etc. but we haven't taken any yet so be looking for those. Because we are back on a college campus full time we are also on Facebook full time :) Feel free to get a hold of us there! Well, hopefully we can get some pictures up before we leave once again. We are going to Acapulco for 9 days starting July 4th so you can be jealous/look at our pictures when we return from there!..There is a reason this blog is called "Roaming with the Roddens"!
We have been at our jobs for 2 weeks now and feel very welcomed by everyone. The people that we work with are great and it really is a fun place to work. Joe feels a little left out because many people stop by, call, or email Lindsay for various reasons throughout each day...she is the "director of fun" and everyone wants to be a part of THAT! Our offices are currently under renovation as we speak. A new wall is being put in so that Joe has his own office for privacy reasons regarding student discipline, etc. He is a P.Im.P (Pretty important person..I made that up...you would be cool if you used it also) around these parts...the "Regulator" as we like to call him. He did actually intimidate some campers and their leaders a few nights ago for keeping his lovely wife awake late at night. Lets just say that the adults did not want to speak up and admit that they were leaders because they "didn't know what he was going to do to them"!
We made a trip to Dallas this weekend and saw many fun people (one "peep" in particular) and ate at several of our favorite places. It was nice to visit home, especially The Village. We are generally enjoying our time here and are surrounded by amazing people. We are more convinced each day that this is exactly where God wants us right now. Many people have asked Lindsay how it has been to be so far away from home and while it was nice to live so close to family, it has been so easy to adjust to life here. God has been so gracious to us. We are excited about all of our new friends, the jobs that don't really feel like jobs, and whatever else may come.
The plan was to post pictures of our new home, friends, town, etc. but we haven't taken any yet so be looking for those. Because we are back on a college campus full time we are also on Facebook full time :) Feel free to get a hold of us there! Well, hopefully we can get some pictures up before we leave once again. We are going to Acapulco for 9 days starting July 4th so you can be jealous/look at our pictures when we return from there!..There is a reason this blog is called "Roaming with the Roddens"!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Come Back to TEXAS!!!
Talk about a whirlwind...this last few weeks has been it! Somehow we dodged all of the rain that has flooded what we recently called home and have begun the process of making a new home in Marshall, TX. The trip wasn't exactly what you might call perfect...actually, decent, poor, and bad don't even cut it! It was definitely an adventure beginning with the packing of the truck. Twenty-six feet may seem like plenty of room to pack all of your things but for the Roddens...well, everything got here, let's leave it at that! Mr. Dave Hunteman is our favorite Richmond native for probably 5 years, maybe 8. He and Joe packed every little inch of that truck and even when we took breaks he kept working! Thanks Dave!
Lindsay's parents joined us for the long drive...Joe in the shaky, 83-year old U-Haul (NEVER rent from them by the way), Lindsay and Becky in the Jeep, and Frank in Joe's truck with a large TV and every AM radio program as his passengers. The trip took hours longer than planned as the brake system in the U-Haul continued to malfunction at several stops....poor Joe...no cruise control, the windiest day on the road you could hope not to have to drive a 26-foot truck in, and sketchy brakes that required the determination never to turn the truck off and only to put it in neutral while gassing up.
Anyway, we finally arrived in Marshall, unloaded the valuables and essentials, and took Lindsay's parents to the Hampton Inn. Chris Chavez arrived early the next morning, Whataburger in hand, to begin unpacking the truck. He and Joe had that thing unpacked within hours...conveniently, the Carrs showed up literally as the last box was being carried in...nice timing :) A quick Wal-Mart run and lunch at Sonic motivated the fastest move-in in the history of the world. Before dinner time the new apartment already looked like a new home and the clan called it quits...a trip to Jalapeno Tree wrapped up the evening (yummy). We took Lindsay's parents to Dallas to fly back to Indiana..saying "goodbye" until Thanksgiving :( Little did we know what a fiasco THAT would be. Instead of returning to Indianapolis at 7:30 that evening they had to rent a car at 11:00 pm in Chicago due to a canceled flight and made the long journey home arriving at 6:30 am. Yikes!
So, we started work on Monday and are having a great time so far. We work 4 10-hour days during the summer and love the people that we work with. We will give more details about work and update the pictures as we get some more things put away. We are definitely looking forward to the weekend where we can finally be still...at least work at our own pace and get a little more settled. It does feel like home already and we are so excited about the coming school year. We have no idea what the Lord has in store but we are excited to find out!
We will be changing our cell phones to local numbers soon and will let you know when that happens but right now we can only give our new address . You may also want to check out our school's website.
Lindsay's parents joined us for the long drive...Joe in the shaky, 83-year old U-Haul (NEVER rent from them by the way), Lindsay and Becky in the Jeep, and Frank in Joe's truck with a large TV and every AM radio program as his passengers. The trip took hours longer than planned as the brake system in the U-Haul continued to malfunction at several stops....poor Joe...no cruise control, the windiest day on the road you could hope not to have to drive a 26-foot truck in, and sketchy brakes that required the determination never to turn the truck off and only to put it in neutral while gassing up.
Anyway, we finally arrived in Marshall, unloaded the valuables and essentials, and took Lindsay's parents to the Hampton Inn. Chris Chavez arrived early the next morning, Whataburger in hand, to begin unpacking the truck. He and Joe had that thing unpacked within hours...conveniently, the Carrs showed up literally as the last box was being carried in...nice timing :) A quick Wal-Mart run and lunch at Sonic motivated the fastest move-in in the history of the world. Before dinner time the new apartment already looked like a new home and the clan called it quits...a trip to Jalapeno Tree wrapped up the evening (yummy). We took Lindsay's parents to Dallas to fly back to Indiana..saying "goodbye" until Thanksgiving :( Little did we know what a fiasco THAT would be. Instead of returning to Indianapolis at 7:30 that evening they had to rent a car at 11:00 pm in Chicago due to a canceled flight and made the long journey home arriving at 6:30 am. Yikes!
So, we started work on Monday and are having a great time so far. We work 4 10-hour days during the summer and love the people that we work with. We will give more details about work and update the pictures as we get some more things put away. We are definitely looking forward to the weekend where we can finally be still...at least work at our own pace and get a little more settled. It does feel like home already and we are so excited about the coming school year. We have no idea what the Lord has in store but we are excited to find out!
We will be changing our cell phones to local numbers soon and will let you know when that happens but right now we can only give our new address . You may also want to check out our school's website.
Lindsay and Joe Rodden
Box 2033
1209 N. Grove
Marshall, TX 75670
www.etbu.edu
Box 2033
1209 N. Grove
Marshall, TX 75670
www.etbu.edu
Sunday, June 1, 2008
The Busyness of Life
Holy Geez! The last few months have been insane around here! So much has happened since our last post...we apologize for the delay. Anyway, the baseball season was busier than expected and took up most of our time in the spring. When the season ended we had to make a decision about what to do next year. We felt that the Lord did not want us to stay in Richmond but weren't sure where we would end up. Joe withdrew his application for the head baseball position at Earlham College where he had been the interim for this year. Lindsay sent in her letter of resignation to Richmond Community Schools. We continued to pray that the Lord would lead and make it clear to us where He wanted us to be. Well, He has certainly done that and so much more! On Friday, June 6th we will be driving a large U-Haul truck and all of our things, with the help of Lindsay's parents, down to Marshall, Texas. We will start work at East Texas Baptist University the following week. Joe will be a Resident Director for two freshmen dorms and the Dean of Students i.e "The Disciplinarian". He is also planning on helping out with the baseball team as he has time. Lindsay will be the Director of Student Activities planning things like freshmen orientation, family weekend, and the Fall formal. We are amazed at how God provided for us in an amazing way! We look forward to being in Texas, closer to Joe's friends and family and finding out what kind of life God has for us there. We are sad to leave Richmond where we met, fell in love, and got married. We are also sad to leave Lindsay's parents and brother (we already miss her other brother and sister-in-law who will now be WAY too far away in the U.P.) but plan to travel back as frequently as possible.
Joe is currently in Belgrade, Serbia doing some work with a baseball ministry. He has been gone for almost 2 weeks already and it has not been very fun for either him or Lindsay. We have discovered more than ever that we are not meant to be apart like this. We are looking forward to Monday when we can talk again and Tuesday when we are finally reunited! With Joe being overseas, Lindsay finishing the never-ending school year, and packing up all of our things, it has been a little stressful back here at home. Joe packed up most of the house before he left which has helped to alleviate some stress. Lindsay will finish up the year with a teacher work day, aka cleaning out her classroom and saying goodbye to teaching, on Monday. Joe returns on Tuesday. We will finish packing up loose things on Wednesday, pack the truck on Thursday, and drive to the Lone Star State on Friday. Yikes! Reality hasn't really hit yet and probably won't until Joe comes home. Anyway, we apologize for the lack of communication lately...we hope you understand. We love you all and will try to keep in better touch to keep you updated on all that is to come. By the way, it has been too long since we've had a vacation....we are trying to decide where to go in July. We'll let you know....you know we can't stay put for too long ;)
Joe is currently in Belgrade, Serbia doing some work with a baseball ministry. He has been gone for almost 2 weeks already and it has not been very fun for either him or Lindsay. We have discovered more than ever that we are not meant to be apart like this. We are looking forward to Monday when we can talk again and Tuesday when we are finally reunited! With Joe being overseas, Lindsay finishing the never-ending school year, and packing up all of our things, it has been a little stressful back here at home. Joe packed up most of the house before he left which has helped to alleviate some stress. Lindsay will finish up the year with a teacher work day, aka cleaning out her classroom and saying goodbye to teaching, on Monday. Joe returns on Tuesday. We will finish packing up loose things on Wednesday, pack the truck on Thursday, and drive to the Lone Star State on Friday. Yikes! Reality hasn't really hit yet and probably won't until Joe comes home. Anyway, we apologize for the lack of communication lately...we hope you understand. We love you all and will try to keep in better touch to keep you updated on all that is to come. By the way, it has been too long since we've had a vacation....we are trying to decide where to go in July. We'll let you know....you know we can't stay put for too long ;)
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