Beyond Friendship

Last weekend we had our first visitors at our new house. Our friends Josh, Erica, and their son Silas stopped by on their way back to Gainesville to hang out and help us with some home improvement. They actually left early this morning, but I’m still feeling sore, bug-bitten, and tired. Between Saturday and Sunday, Josh and I probably spent close to 20 hours working outside around the house.

Josh and I working on the handrails.

The only project that really needed to get done this weekend was installing handrails on the stairs to the side and back deck. That project was assigned to us by our homeowners insurance company and was required to be done 30 days from closing. With Josh’s construction experience and the couple extra hands, we were able to knock that project out on Saturday morning.

Josh, Silas, and I, hacking up some bushes.

The rest of the weekend was spent making our yard look more like a yard…and could only be classified as manual labor. We trimmed trees, dug out railroad ties and walkway planks, demolished wooden fences, and hacked out a sea of bushes. Ames and Erica were getting a lot of work done as well. When they weren’t out helping us in the yard, they were inside taking care of Silas and tearing up some wallpaper. Although Josh and I didn’t watch Silas nearly as much as the girls did, we sometimes took turns carrying him around in the “Baby Backpack”.

It was NOT an easy weekend.

There is no way Ames and I could have gotten all the things we got done this weekend if it weren’t for Josh and Erica. We really wanted it to be more like a vacation for them, but they insisted on working and really pushed us to get a lot done. After a weekend like that, you really know who your friends are.

5 comments on “Beyond Friendship

Ray says:

Okay, in the last two posts I’ve seen you in three different shirts that are quite messed up. Two of them look like a run through the washer would clean them up nicely. That last photo though… You might as well make that one a “yard shirt” if you know what I mean. I hope you’ve got a nice budget for new shirts! 🙂

Looking at the pictures above, all those t-shirts were free! The top one is a St. Patricks day shirt from the Swamp that I got for working on their website (I got a Valentines day one too..but I gave that one to Ames). The second one is a from an Indoor Erg (Rowing Machine) Race in 2000…the results are still online. The third one was from a Campus Crusade Spring Break event in Panama City Beach, FL. Our UCF Campus Crusade Band was chosen to lead worship for the event and I was an AV guy, so I got to help run sound/powerpoint and was given a t-shirt. 🙂 I have a bunch of those kinds of shirts…I hang on to them for working out in and I guess they make good “yard shirts” now too.

Dustin says:

Nice. It’s good to have friends that committed. It’s time for my wife and I to now go hit up those we’ve helped so many times. Some how our truck has been labeled the token moving truck (but we don’t mind).

Just as a matter of information, I used to lead drama/acting teams for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Sacramento State.

Nevermind all the matter, it looks like you’re getting settled in very nicely there in Gainesville. Cheers to new beginnings!

We’re starting to feel settled in Columbia, SC :). Actually, we’re going to IKEA this weekend to (hopefully) find some living room furniture. If I wasn’t involved with Campus Crusade at the University of Central Florida, I probably would have joined InterVarsity. Both are fun ministries with lots of opportunities to “get involved”.

van slykes says:

it was the least we could do….

we would still be moving in to our place if it weren’t for you two. we love you guys so much.

missed you at dinner tonight. 🙂

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