pics for 'continued' post

This one was supposed to be at the bottom of the page. O well, Section 11 Party

Silly Girl!

Darling Flower Girl

Darling Husband :)

Shiny, Happy Couple

Driving from wedding. He only sleeped a little while he drived, I promise ;)

I slept most of the time

Good Morning Good Bye Party

Beautiful Edie Suiter far right

Jordy and Ross Visit Seaside

A bridge.

See the orange coat :)

This funny face rock was at the Blauvelt house. There were several others too.

A street sign

See the boundary fence to keep you safe from falling off the cliffs. See Jordan.

(whisper voice-Breaking the Rules!)

Many apologies for the delay on the pikchures friends...Another blog will be up soon of our weekend to THE City.

Off to Family Watchtower.

continued

sorry for all the punctual and grammatical errors on the last write.

Where did I leave off, oh yes, we went to sleep.

Nov. 22 we woke up and went to breakfast with fam and friends at Cracker Barrell before we had to hit the road. We got on the road at about 1:30 and drove and drove until we couldn't drive any longer. We were only about an hour from Patterson and the need for sleep forced us to snooze at a well-lit rest stop. We slept in on the 23rd and made it in to work for the afternoon. Family Watchtower was a struggle but the New Member Lecture was even harder...I was sooooo sleeeeeeepy.

That week flew by. We expected Jerr-Dan, Ross and friends for the weekend. Jamin toured them on Thursday and they went with us to the meeting. We caught up with them on Saturday. Jordan, Ross and the two of us ate at Rocco's Pizza down the road (I highly suggest the white pizza- so choice). Ross had hopes and dreams of going to Blauvelt, NY and New City. So, we went. We visited the Blauvelt house and unknowingly ripped off the owners bywalking through the miniature dollhouse exhibit. We thought we had to pay to walk around the property, not the exhibit. Oopsy! I do have to say that my life has been enhanced by peering into tiny boxes that have been so well decorated by strangers' nimble fingers and bizarre minds.

Jasmin- "Hi, it's nice to meet you, what do you do for work?"

Miniature Dollhouse rug weaver- "Oh, I'm a professional miniature dollhouse rug weaver. Each rug has 117 threads per square inch."

Jasmin- "Wow.......................(silence)..................(continued silence)........."

That's just what I imagine the conversation would be like meeting a miniature dollhouse designer/crafter. Anyway, we got a good laugh out of it.
Ross took a picture of every thing and sign he possibly could that read Blauvelt. He's writing a book. It's necessity. Thankfully he wore a really large, poofy, orange coat, otherwise we might have lost him walking the streets of Blauvelt.
Overall, it was an awesome visit with the boys. Well-needed for sure. Oh yeah, we also stopped along a scenic overlook at Bear Mountain state park. Jordan broke the rules by climbing over the fence to protect innocent and silly people from falling off the cliff into the waters below. Jamin had a cold the whole time too, poor little lamb. We slept sound that night.

That week the C.O. and his wife who sat at our table for Morning Worship had their last day. We had a goodbye breakfast party. The sis in the pics on the right is Edith Suiter. She is so beautiful and funny.

The next weekend Jamin's family came down for a visit as well. We had delicious fried chicken for lunch and Jamin toured them that Friday afternoon. We went to a local restaurant for dinner and spent the night with them at their hotel in Danbury, CT. Saturday we all went into the city. I'll describe it for you in three words- Rain. Snow. Fun. We were all zonked by the time we got back to the hotel. The fam left at 3 a.m. Crazy people! Love those people!

We live in Section 11 of the Patterson Inn. On Sunday Nov. 6 we had a section party so all eight couples could get to know eachother better. We had authentic Mexican food. Two of the couples are from Mexico, one of those couples is here from the Mexico Branch. We ate and took turns telling our stories (who we are, family stuff and how we met kinda thing). It's nice to know who our neighbors are. Before the party, we only had time to quickly pass each other in the hall and say a short hi before we rushed off to Morning Worship or slipped into our rooms for the night.
All the while, I had a cold and didn't feel too great...poor little lamb ;)

This week, just like the others, has flown by. Friday night we went to our buddy's room for a little goodbye party. Saturday we went out in service and had a great morning. Jamin spoke to and exchanged numbers with a man that speaks Telugu. He is from India and is moving to Texas next week. He is an avid Bible reader and was excited to show Jamin his Bible. Jamin will ring him next weekend to get his new address to send some literature in his native tongue. I love diversity. We napped when we got home and then went over to a couple-friends' room to have some dinner and play cards with them and two sisters from our congregation.

This morning we were up later than usual (it was so exciting) to go to the ten o'clock meeting in Poughkeepsie. Jamin's pal from work asked him to fill in to give a talk he was supposed to give today. We met many new friends and had lunch with an awesome couple. They just got extended at Wallkill for four years. That couple went to Angola, Africa for a year to help build the assembly hall. They have some great experiences.
It dumped snow on us after the meeting, which made our drive home an hour and a half longer than it should have been. Icy roads and buses that slide off the road are never a good combo.
We've been boring this whole afternoon and evening.

The reality of having to come home in a month is starting to kick in :( I get that funny feeling in my stomach that you would get when summer was coming to an end and the first day of school was right around the corner...sigh...gag a little.
We are hoping and praying so much that our house will sell. We want so bad to be used as much as possible by Jehovah while we are young, have the energy and circumstances. This all has been a real treat, an experience we will never forget.


Sleep well dostos (that's 'friends' in hindi)


ok so i tried three times tonight to get my pics up for this blog and it keeps screwin' up, so before I sin, I QUIT!
good night...sigh

in 17 minutes...

eek! whew...ok, the last 3 weeks have been sooo fun and so very busy. I'm on lunch break right now, so with a quickness I will try to squeeze some tidbits in.

1. nOV 19- We drove through the night bcak to the good ol' Fort and made it in at about 5 a.m. As soon as our little melons hit the pillow we were out.

2- nov 20-Jamin was up at 8 to go to work with Justin for a little extra dough (die hard...actually, crazy) I slept till 10 got up got ready met Sammie for some errands, a tea and meaningful and long time needed chat. ANd then before we knew it, it was time for me to be across town at Maplecrest Hall for Lauren and Brando's rehearsal. Lemme tell ya friends, it was a breeze. Next the whole gang was off to Don Hall's Guesthouse for the Rockin' rehearsal dinner. Wow! Brandon's family is so talented and so fun. That night set a stellar and exciting pace for the BIG DAY. Lauren and I hit the hay at 11 p.m.

3. nov-21- Got up at 7:30, Lo went to get her hair did, while I did mine at her place. She picked me up at 11:45 and we made it to the mall for her makeup appnt. at noon. (That was fun!) (i finally got a little shneeeble from Starbucks...sooo yum) and the we were off to the Hall to get her married! yeeeeeehoooooooooo! (That was fun too!) So, we got dressed there, arranged ourselves and took some pics. Then they finally did it! Got married! Everything was on time, ahead of schedule actually, so bizarre for a wedding right!? I loved it! The reception was BEEEE-u-ti-fulll and fun...I ate like 3 plates of food and had 3 cupcakes...MMMmmm...uh oh running outta time..so anyway, we danced our little hearts out and Jamin and I cut out at 10:15-ish. Visited with his sis and bro-in-law for a couple minutes and then were off to dream land once again....sigh

to be continued

pics to be posted later

love you all


very much



more than you know



wink

I'm done :)

Bethel Perks

sOOOooooo...as you know I'm a housekeeper. You may think yeah, yeah so what?! But little do you know being a housekeeper at Bethel is the bomb! I pretty much go at my own pace, can take as many well-needed breaks as I want, aaaaand the best thing of all is that I get goodies from my occupants! For example- While I was training, a couple I clean for left us a bag of dark chocolate covered espresso beans just cuz of what we do for them. Another occupant left on two separate occasions Trader Joes dark chocolate bars. A sister that works on the same floor as I do called me over one day because her occupants left her some homemade cookies and biscotti. When I trained at the Inn an occupant made my housekeeper some amish bread and left us some tea bags....And the other day as I was routinely doing my door check (which means each morning and afternoon I go through each of my assigned rooms to make sure all the lights and appliances are off, no broken pipes, etc.) I walked into one of my "boys'" rooms and to my suprise found a gift bag on their counter that said "YOU ROCK". There was a sticky note with a little explanation that reads this way "Dear Housekeeper, the guys and I wanted to show your our appreciation for all you hard work and kindness", inside the bag was the cutest card with another endearing note from all three boys and there was a nice big bag of LINDT CHOCOLATES!!!!!!!!!! All for me, just for me! It was soo special and so nice. (Don't be jealous Gail, I have thought about you each time I've eaten one, so basically it's like you've shared them with me :) wink)
Housekeeping is fun too because I get to wrap the sheets and towels I deliver to the occupants each week into cute little packages and animals! They gave me a paper with towel art so I've been practicing. It's fun, it makes boring old sheets and towels special and suprising! lol I can make a flower and a rose and an elephant and a box, a swan and a twisty thingy. I will have to show you!
Another cool thing about Bethel life is that you never stop moving! When we leave in the morning for morning worship we have to climb over 100 stairs to get to the dining room and from that point on all day I am climbing stairs and moving. I work out at lunch, walk home to shower, walk back to work and then work again and then depending on what night it is I walk back to the dining room to glean and then walk home (which is about a ten minute walk each way). There is no time or room for boredom here. Jehovah keeps his people in shape and happy...uhoh I just realized what time it is, I have to go to bed now.

Sleep tight friends, see you soon

jazz and jamin

Busy Bethel Life, the best

The last two weeks have been quite a blur! Our first month at Bethel has flown by. Being so wrapped up in the schedule and excitement of everything has made our life seem like it's in hyper speed!

We have so many experiences to share with you.

First of all, I will quick tell you about the Gilead Introductions. Gilead students are couples that lovingly make themselves available to a five-month intensive study of the entire Bible and training for missionary work. The students are from all over the world (Canada, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Mexico, U.S., France... just to name a few) and are average people like you and me. They go through the course and upon graduation they receive an assignment to a foreign land. The goal is for them to live there, learn the language and give a witness for Jehovah God, teaching people from the Bible Jehovah's righteous standards and the beautiful hope he has given all of mankind. They stay in the assignment until they are reassigned, if they are reassigned. Jamin and I have enjoyed getting to know a few of these couples and hearing about some of their classroom studies. It is all very encouraging.

Many of the couples faced fierce opposition from family members when they decided to dedicate their life to Jehovah. A few of them took their stand for the Truth as teenagers, a couple others were Catholics and other various religions and learned from a study of the scriptures with Jehovah's Witnesses that what they had been taught from childhood are false doctrines and lies. There were a few tear jerkers. Listening to these friends' experiences and the trials they overcame to come to Gilead made Jamin and I take another look at our circumstances to see if we can do even more for Jehovah. It was fun to hear the wives give their side of the story. I think there were two or three that said they were very comfortable pioneering and being surrounded by familiar friends and family members, and they thought they would never go to Gilead. One sister said she never even had the desire to be a missionary. Things change in life so frequently and the realization of the urgency of the times we are now living in made them do a self examination. The sister said we need to look at our circumstances, pray to Jehovah and step out of our comfort zone to give more to Jehovah and teach people about him and his purposes before it is too late. She said if we leap Jehovah will provide the landing.

The ministry has been really fun. The friends in the Seaside congregation are so zealous, especially the young ones! The spiritual depth and understanding the young ones in this congregation have is soo refreshing and sometimes shocking to say the least. Now, when I refer to 'young ones' I'm talking ten years of age to 15 years. They come up to us to make service arrangements, are always prepared with what they are going to say and have carried us most mornings and afternoons with all of their calls! It is so cute!

One of our new pals, Michael, (he is in the middle, Steejay is on the left and Brian is on the right, not a great pic, but oh well) is ten and explained to me the reason he decided to dedicate his life to Jehovah. He says, "When my mom and Dad started attending the meetings on a regular basis, I realized very quickly that I had a choice- I could either play around, sleep and get nothing at the meeting or I could listen, learn and maybe even try out some of the things they were telling us. I decided to give it a try and give my full attention. I used some of the things I learned, it worked and I knew it was the truth. I knew I needed and wanted to serve Jehovah forever."

WHHHHHHAAAAAT! Crazy right!? He is really a smart one. He is like a little man and pretty much his comments at the Kingdom Hall are better that ours! lol

We had PJ in our group the other day, he is 11. He has the goal to be baptized at the beginning of next year, he wants to pioneer as soon as possible, go to Bethel and reach out for circuit work. He didn't tell us this with a silly 11-year-old slight, he told us with conviction and sincerity, this is what he will do if Jehovah lets him! I just, man- no words really. These kids blow me away.

Last Saturday was our Bible Study Saturday, Jamin and I were so excited! We arrived at the Kingdom Hall at 9:00 a.m. with happy, shiny faces and...no one was there. We waited and waited, waited till 9:30 and then decided to go make the calls we had. We had an awesome morning- placed two books and started two potential studies. One of the placements was with a woman we had walked past on the way to a return visit. On our way back to the car we passed her again and she asked us what we were teaching. We told her we are in a ministry teaching people good news found in the scriptures. She said she needed that because she was being evicted that day and didn't know where they were going to live. We turned to Isaiah 65 and read her some of the verses there and then showed her Philippians 4:6, 7. With a little explanation of future promises and the free Bible study arrangement, she took our number and said she would love to understand what she reads when she does read her Bible. That was really exciting! In the middle of talking to her a car group of friends pulled up and informed us that the group meets at 10 a.m. on Bible Study Saturday... whoopsy! It's ok. now we know for next time.

Our territory is so diverse. Here are some pictures of the scenery and landscape we enjoy within our territory.

Last night was really a highlight of Bethel service. Family Night! Ok, so an event that takes place once a year and pretty much falls in line with a talent show, but there isn't judging and prizes. It is brothers and sisters performing and entertaining the family. It was so cool!

It started off with a group of about eight sisters dancing Hula while a brother sang and another brother and a sister played the ukulele. There were brothers that did a Mexican snake dance with the full get up and boot tapping, a sister sang a funny German opera song, a brother played two songs on the cello (that was my favorite), a brother sang That's Life with three backup singers, two brothers sang to acoustic guitar, a brother prepared a video of 17,000 pictures that were taken of Bethel life in the different departments and was put into time-lapse photography (me thinks that is what it's called, anyway it was really rad), five brothers did a funny dance to the song Five Guys Named Moe, there was a comedy act about the observation tour here at Bethel, a sister acted out Hannah's prayer to Jehovah, there was a video interview of some of our older friends in the infirmary here at Patterson (they have sooo many years of experience), we sang number 75 from the new song book (the words were projected onto a screen that had pictures of people and things to match the words), and it ended with a production dance number with brothers and sister dressed in traditional costumes from India. It was a blast and so awesome live.

On Family Night there is a special dinner and experiences given while you eat. We had steak, chicken, kielbasa, baked potatoes, salad with raspberry vinegarette dressing, steamed veggies and hot fudge sundaes. It was delish! Brother Ralph Lindem saved us seats for both the dinner and for the program, so pretty much we had the best seats in the house. We just love brother Lindem. He is so sweet and very informative. The other night before we went to one of our buddies' room to make pizza and watch a flick we stopped by brother Lindem's to give him a bag of popcorn and a pint of lemon sorbet. He loves icecream! His freezer is literally filled with it. We ran a little late to our appointment with our friends because we had to help him with his dvd player (when we approached his room we thought he had company because it was kind of noisy inside, but when he let us in we came to find out he was rockin' out to the new Kingdom melodies, he was trying to practice number 75 for the Family Night program lol) and he made us stay for a quick libation...scotch is his poison heheh

After Family Dinner last night and before the show Jamin volunteered last minute to help the dining room guys clean up. I got some video of Jamin doing what he loves. You will see how fast everyone moves to get the job done and hear how loud it was in there. Jamin was drenched in sweat by the time he was done. Thank goodness we had to meet a a little group back at the Inn where we live before the show, it gave him a chance to cool down and dry off a bit.

I will try to blog one more time on some other little things before we head back to Fort Wayne next weekend for Lauren's wedding.

We love you all and look forward to being back home for a quick visit. Take care, much love.

jazz n' jamin

announcement!!!!!

friends, family....


log in tomorrow night....


new blog WILL be up

heeheh

many apologies...

i know it has been two weeks since the last time I posted, lots goin' on and many adjustments. I promise that this weekend I will catch up on things.

Just a preview of what I have in store for you:

Work assignment and schedule
Gilead Introductions
Morning Worship comments
Family Night
Service Highlights
Pics of new friends
Yummy Pizza
PingPong

Just briefly before I hit the sack...I'm tired! lol The Bethel schedule is very tight. My life as a pioneer has definitely spoiled me, especially in the sleep department! :) To learn and train your mind and body to wake up at 5:15, get dressed for a meeting and be attentive and receptive to what the faithful and discreet slave has prepared to feed us is very hard, but so, SO satisfying. I never thought I could do it but here I am 3 weeks into it and still alive! woot woot!
Holy Spirit goes a loooooong way.

Miss you much, love you more

goodnight

jazz

Just a post

Here are some more pictures of the land surrounding Bethel.
This is the view from the Audio Visual building...beautiful eh!

Today was a simple day:

Outside tour, dining room orientation and work assignments.

Jamin will be a part of what is called Exteriors. He will be tearing out and replacing the concrete that makes up the Central Walkway and sections of roadway. It is so nice to finally know how we will be used. Jamin met the brother at the lunch table today who services vacuums and other things that aren't functioning properly. This is the coolest vacuum ever! The brand name is Chariot. So Jamin can say that he has stood in one of Jehovah's chariots! heehee

(This one is for you Jensen! :D )

Another picture of our entrance group. This was our last day together. We hope to have a little get-together at the end of our three months to see where and what each of us will go or do.

Our address is

2891 Route 22 Patterson, NY 12563

Once Upon A Time...

Even before we arrived at Bethel this privilege of service has felt like a fairytale. Now that we are fully engaged in the Bethel schedule, training and assignments the fairytale feeling has intensified. The Bethel way of life is so amazing, so simple, so organized and suprisingly lenient. The way and reasons behind the way things are done are definitely directed by Jehovah. There are no gray areas and there is not one minute detail that has been overlooked. It's brilliant! Everything flows sooo smoothly.
Since our last blog we've experienced a lot. Friday night and Saturday were welcoming because Shawn and Trac came for a quick visit and to drop some of our things off. We spent Saturday together at a stellar outlet mall. The mall has every store you can possibly think of. We froze but enjoyed eachother's company shopping and people watching.
Sunday we went with our new friends, the Turners, to our congre-
gation meeting in Bridgeport, CT, which is an hour away. We are in the Seaside congregation. There are about 120 publishers of various nationalities and backgrounds, 16 pioneers (youngest 13, oldest 96!) and eight Bethelites. Sunday was our Circuit Overseer visit and 179 attended! It was a total blast. The congregation is so friendly and warm. The young ones in Seaside are very zealous and are fine examples for many. We had great experiences in the field minsitry as well. Our group worked in a six-story apartment building. The response of the people is so refreshing. Though they have many problems and live very demanding and harsh lives they are interested and hungry for help from the scriptures. I started a Bible study with a woman and placed several pieces of literature with two men.
Monday was another day of orientation meetings, brief lectures and paperwork. The highlight of that day was the Family Watchtower study. Jamin and I inadvertantly were surrounded by all the Gilead students! What a treat that was! There are 56 students from all over: Sweden, Germany, Japan, Spain, Canada and so on. Beautiful people. It is exciting to get to know them at the meals, each story is unique. Yesterday at lunch we ate with the couple from Canada. They told us when you recieve your invitation/call for you acceptance as Gilead students you are to start reading your Bible and have it finished by the time you arrive at Bethel to start school. They got their call about six months ago, some eight months, some three months and so forth, but one couple from Patterson recieved theirs two WEEKS ago!!!!!!!!! So two weeks to finish the Bible! Yikes eh!? :) The couple from Canada said they are doing pretty well and are about to finish. The first week they got to Daniel, they must have been cookin'!


Yesterday and today we have been in housekeeping training and orientation. The training is for me, because that will be my assignment (I will actually be what they call a Floater, one who basically floats to whatever needs to be done for whoever at anytime! ha! Kind of a broad explanation, but mainly it's just for housekeeping assignments and occasionally for other duties like, orchard help, laundry, etc.) and the orientation is for Jamin because he will be working in construction/maintenance. Everyone has to go through housekeeping orientation to get a feel for and to build appreciation for what the housekeepers have to do. Jamin will find out his exact assigment tomorrow...I think :/
Anyhoo, there are so many things I could keep going on about, but to be honest I'm VERY sleepy. It's only 7:32 p.m. right now but I got up at 5:30 a.m. and haven't had a moment to rest or even think. So I will retire for the night.

Rest easy friends...too-da-loo

First day, long day

Ok so very quickly, this is our sweet little room. It's very well furnished and we have waay more storage than what we thought we would have..total blessing and we love it!

What a day...We had the first of our orientation meetings today and our inside branch tour of Patterson Bethel. We had a great group; two other couples that are 3-month temps, and one new Bethel bride. The instructors and guides are of course the greatest. They are Bethelites of many years. You sure can tell how the years have refined them to be beautiful and useful vessels for Jehovah. They love what they do and who they do it for! It is so wonderful to be surrounded by these gems.

I think my highlights of the day are the meals and Gilead commons area, soo rad! Jamin says his highlights are the behind-the-scenes operations of Patterson (which was basically the whole tour, ha!) and eating lunch with a sweet Brother Lindam. Lindam is 80 years old and has lived at Bethel for 40+ years and he loves the lemon sorbet and had two heaping servings of it :)

Ok, here are some pictures

View from the Clock Tower

Favorite painting

Orientation Group ('Newbies')

No Sleep till...Patterson

Well, maybe a little. We left around 9:30 last night full of Oley's Pizza and with a mind set to get to our destination with a quickness. We ended up having to catch some z's somewhere around Punxatawney, PA. The snooze did us good and we drove on in the wee hours of the morning accompanied by our masterfully crafted mixed cd gifts. We arrived at Patterson Bethel at approximately 11 o'clock a.m.

The gate watchman and the lobby attendant thought we were here for the next Gilead class because our car was so full and our welcome package was so large! It made us nervous that they were questioning our assignment, like, Did we miss something?, are we here for Gilead and don't know it?

It was spitting snow and bitter cold when we stepped out of our car, a sure way to get the blood pumpin' after such a long ride in the car. I immediately started trying to remember all the warm clothes I packed hoping that some how the thought of them would warm my shivers, but of course that was just silly, I froze.

We found our room (I'll post pictures tomorrow), unpacked as quick as possible, disposing of any remnants that reminded us that we just drove 11 hours on les than four hours of sleep, ate at the diner down the street, came back to the room and crashed.

Now we are preparing physically and mentally for our first official day as Bethelites: Sipping tea, reading over our welcome packets again, choosing our outfits (for fear of not waking up on time and being late to Morning Worship), laundry, tv, so many things.

All we can say or rather write to you at this point is that we love you and appreciate all of the support and encouragement you have given us. We are here, safe, settled and we miss our Fort Wayne people.

Good niGHt