Roaming With the Roddens

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Sunday, April 11, 2010

One thing we have grown accustomed to since we left Richmond in June of 2008 is change. It seems every time we attempt to settle down that the Lord has something else in store for us. On Thursday Joe was informed, along with about half of the staff at his school, that he would not be returning to BCA next year. The school is going through a very rough season financially and the board has cut all electives out of the schedule for next year. Along with Joe, who teaches Bible, the drama, computer technology , business, and many other teachers were let go. Exactly half of the elementary teachers were also let go. In addition, the football, men's basketball, and women's basketball coaches were also informed they did not have positions for next year. Apparently, there are more layoffs to come.

Anyway, we had settled in to a fairly nice life here in Baytown. Joe is really enjoying coaching his team this year. He is working with Kade Johnson, who is a former top draft pick and prospect for the Milwaulkee Brewers who saw his career cut short by injuries and Joe and Kade get along very well. They are like two peas in a pod, and Lindsay often refers to them as boyfriends. The team is 15-7 and ranked in the top 10, and they are only outranked by schools much larger than them. They have beaten some of the best public schools in Houston and are heavy favorites to win a state championship next month. As much fun as the next month should be, it will be bittersweet for Joe as he knows that this team he loves and is so proud of will not be his after this season.

So, once again, Joe is searching for a job. The good thing is that he will be paid, for this year, through August, so there is no immediate need to find something quickly. He has already applied for several coaching jobs at colleges in exotic locales such as Phoenix, AZ, southern Connecticut, and Southeastern Nebraska. He also applied to a job back in Indiana, but Lindsay is really enjoying the weather in Texas and is praying that we can stay in the Southwest! There are also a couple of coaching jobs that Joe has applied for in the Houston area, so that would be nice. We really like the house we are living in and we weren't planning on moving anytime soon, but we will follow the Lord wherever He leads.

Please keep us in your prayers. We are very excited that God has something better and beyond our expectations for us soon, but Lindsay really enjoys her school and the teachers there that have became her good friends. We trust Jesus and know He is always the one directing our steps, so please remember us in your prayers. We desire to stay strong in the Lord and not waiver in our faith, knowing that it is our Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom. We will write more as we know more...

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Hadley Grace Carr is here!

Hello World!!!

Hadley Grace Carr arrived on Saturday, February 13 at 1:51 pm. She weighs 7 pounds, 7 ounces and is 20 inches long. Nichole and Hadley are doing well!

They both had a long day!

Brand new grandparents

A proud daddy

We are so excited for Kevin and Nichole and look forward to meeting Hadley someday. We are thinking it won't be until June when we finish school and head north before our summer at camp. Hopefully, we will continue to get lots and lots of pictures until that day comes! Congrats Kevin and Nichole!

Friday, February 12, 2010

New Address

We have forgotten to mention that we do have a new address. We moved to a new house right after Christmas which is in a much better location and is a much better size for us. We are still renting which is best for us at this point. Anyway, feel free to send us things in the mail! We like that!

The Roddens
1635 Manor Drive
Baytown, TX 77521

The Great Flood of 2010

A couple of weekends ago we were watching a movie in our living room when I decided to finally get up and grade some papers before school the next morning. I thought that it was odd that I was suddenly standing in water so we looked around and apparently the washing machine (that was here when we moved in and had given us no problems until this point) had been spouting water uncontrollably for the better part of an hour! There was about 1/2 inch of water in almost every room in the house! We immediately turned the water off and tried to figure out how to get it cleaned up. To make a long story short, we bought a 1.5 gallon Shop-Vac which we had to empty every minute. We returned to the store and bought the 12 gallon one which was easily filled pretty quickly several times. All of our old towels were ruined and when we finally gave up at about 1:30 a.m., 5 hours after we had begun, we planned for Joe to stay home the following day to get it all figured out.

Since we are renting this house and the washing machine belongs to our landlord, his insurance is paying for everything. All of the flooring in the house, except for our bedroom and the ceramic tile in the entry way and kitchen, was ripped up immediately the next day. For 4 days we had about 20 commercial fans and 3 huge dehumidifiers running constantly. We literally had to yell to talk to each other. Needless to say, we spent each of the next several nights at Starbucks doing work until it was time for bed. The dehumidifiers gave off hot air which meant that our house stayed at a steady 83 degrees! If it hadn't been so loud, I would have been very comfortable! Our bedroom stayed closed off from some of the noise and all of the heat which meant that it was freezing at night (well, freezing for Baytown - 60 degrees or so). Anyway, almost 2 weeks later, we are still living on cement floors. Our stuff is everywhere, stashed wherever we could put it, and it has been hard to clean as we know that the new flooring will be going in eventually - hopefully sooner rather than later.

We have been trying to roll with the punches as we know that things could be a lot worse and we are so thankful for what we have. Please pray for us though as we continue to deal with the unexpected costs, etc.

The scene of the crime - the laundry room.
Isn't that the biggest dehumidifier you have ever seen (the tall machine on the left)?
It was at least 90 degrees in this little room!

Fans were EVERYWHERE!
They were all pointed at walls to try to dry them out. Some of the walls had water 8 inches high!

Our house was a wind tunnel. We are so glad that these are gone.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Baseball season...

We have more to fill you in on about our life, but for now we want to let you know that Joe's team started their season last night with a victory. He has started a blog for the players and their parents to follow along all season, so if you are interested please feel free to check it out!

www.bcabaseball.blogspot.com

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Jake and Jenny's Wedding

Jake married Jenny on November 21, 2009. They have been together for a long time and this was a day we have all been looking forward to for years. It was fun to see them become husband and wife but it was also fun just to be reunited as a family. Joe and I hadn't seen Kevin and Nichole for almost 2 years prior to this event!