Chicago Bound

To celebrate our one year anniversary, Which is UNBELIEVABLY on May 16th (I just cannot believe it has happened so quickly), Jon and I will be spending a weekend in Chicago. We will actually be going the weekend following our anniversary because there is a convention happening in Chicago, for what we are unsure, but it has made it quite difficult to acquire a hotel room that is affordable, but none the less we are excited! We will be staying at "The W Hotel Lakeshore" and while we are there we will be seeing "Legally Blonde" the musical, on Broadway while we are there. We are very much looking forward to our trip. If any of you have suggestions of restaurants, or sights to see while we are there let us know!

Getting Settled

It has been far too long since we have blogged, so I will give you an update on the settling process.

Jon and I are "in" our home, and it is close to being finished - we still just have to hang a few pictures and the curtains. It is soooo much smaller than our first home, so unpacking was a chore just trying to get everything to fit. We ended up leaving a lot of things packed for the next move - we are no anxious for that at all! We love the area we live in. We actually walked to dinner the other night, and have walked to the grocery store! We live close to our jobs, to my parents, and to lots of shops and restaurants - which is fun!

On the job front - Jon started Monday at Highview, and is still aching to get started! The first week has been a lot of meetings, a lot of prep work, and a lot of ordering equipment, and once the equipment gets in he will probably be busier than we anticipate. I have also found a job here in Louisville, which I started on Monday. God has had his hand in our move so much I cannot even explain it all, but here is the short version... I was riding around Thursday looking for a job when I got a call from the Southern Baptist Seminary saying that a friend, Dan Dewitt, had recommended me for a job as "Concierge" to the new welcome center called the "Sesquicentennial Pavilion". I went in to interview Friday, and then for a second interview Monday. They called Monday night and offered me the job, and asked me to start on Tuesday. Needless to say it all happened very fast, but the job is fantastic, and I love it! Plus the benefits are amazing - Jon will get to go to school at Boyce for free, and I will probably start my Master's degree - very slowly- for free!

We miss Fort Myers so much, our Family and friends, and church, but God continues to show himself faithful in more ways than I can type :) We are so glad to be following His plan!

I will post pictures as soon as I can find my camera charger (or buy a new one)!

Upcoming Events in the Life of the Malko's

Life has been so busy lately that I wonder how it can get much busier, but I know it will! Jon and I are excited that my family (minus Lauren) will be coming to visit on Saturday. It is Stewart's spring break, and my parents are bringing him with his friend Brandon, not to mention it is their last chance to come to our Florida home! Jon and I both have 1 more week of work left as of today, and then we pack for a whole week. I still have to admit that this all seems more like something we are just talking about than something that is actually going to come to fruition! Keep my family in your prayers as they drive through the night on Friday! Pictures will come soon!

Change of Plans

So... one thing I have learned with this move is that we HAVE to be flexible! Unfortunately the landlord of that cute house in the previous post went back on some of the agreements we had made, so Jon and I are actually going to move into a different place. It is still an adorable condo, with a cute courtyard, hardwood floors, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and a large eat in kitchen (no dining room). But it is really cute - I don't have a pic for now - but we will soon.

Other progress made: Got a new bank account @ Chase, and have our Penske truck reserved!

Thanks for your prayers - keep em up!

The BIG Move

So Jon and are are getting very excited details of the move solidify. This weekend I went to Louisville to find a home for us. We have decided to rent at first, so to not make a hasty decision buying, and to get financially settled at our new jobs. The difficult part was that we wanted to get a 6 month lease, so that we will be able to buy soon! I looked at SOOOO many places, and finally stumbled onto a little jewel in the Highlands. It is on Wrocklage, which is right across for the Kroger in the Highlands. It is a duplex, and Jon and I will be living on the first floor. It is so cute with hardwoods throughout - 2 bedroom, 1 bath, and we love it :) Here is a picture of the outside, and I will post more of the inside once we fill it with our things!

I had such a great time in Louisville visiting family and friends. I got to spend some quality time with everyone in my family individually, and with a few friends as well! Needless to say, I am glad to be back with my husband :) but this trip made the move seem even more realistic, and I am excited now :) It is coming so fast. My dad, mom, brother, and his friend Brandon will all be visiting Fort Myers in a week and a half for Stewart's spring break, which will make our time left here fly by. Pray for us as we make this transition!

Wordle

I've been seeing these on other blogs, and I thought they were pretty cool. You can enter your blog url and wordle will create one based on the words you have used in your blog! Try it for yourself @ wordle.net

You can click the image to make it bigger.

Change...

Jon and I are preparing to make a big change in our lives over the next few months...

A little Background: For the past 2 years Jon has been praying for opportunity to use his gifts and talents (as a video producer) to glorify the Lord and advance God's kingdom. He has volunteered his services many times in the church - and these times were some of the most fulfilling work he has ever done! I see him light up when he has the opportunity to use the creative talent that the Lord gave him to encourage believers and to see the gospel proclaimed! About a year ago Jon felt a strong calling to use these gifts in full time ministry. Over the past year the Lord had begin to develop so many ideas in Jon's mind of how video - a great means of communication in today's society - could be redeemed to reach the world with the message of the cross! Jon sought advice from older men in his life of the best way to pursue this, and through prayer and God's Word Jon knew that the best way would be to partner with a local church family. Jon began to look for churches that had this same desire, and were ready to take the next step, but there appeared to be no open doors. He and I continued to pray, but with an understanding that we were going to do all that we could to be faithful this day until the Lord brought an opportunity to us. Our specific prayer was that "If and When the Lord wanted Jon to use his gift in full time service that the Lord would open the door and we would gladly walk through it". We continued to serve faithfully here, not putting that desire aside, but trusting the Lords timing.

Fast Forward to Semi-present: About 6 weeks ago, Jon got back in touch with a church that he had talked with a year ago who had the vision to use Video Ministry int heir church, but was not quite ready to hire someone for the position. They were ready! And interviewing about 20 people. Jon and I began to pray that the Lord would put His Man in this position - whomever that may be. Jon began to go through the interview process, mostly over the phone since we were 1000 miles away! Honestly, the interview process was hard - we were very uncertain, there were times of discouragement, but our prayer became "Lord, if this is not where you want us please close the door and we will be content"; We had to lay our desires at the foot of the cross and trust the Lord! A little over 2 weeks ago this church flew Jon up to meet with the staff to see if Jon would fit as a part of the ministry team. On Jon's trip he was extremely encouraged - He was blown away by the focus this church staff had on reaching people for Christ - their dreams of a Video Ministry lined up with exactly what we had been praying for for over a year! At the end of Jon's time this church offered Jon a position to be the "Director of Video Production" We were thrilled! Jon came home, and we prayed, mostly thanking the Lord for his faithfulness, and graciously accepted the position the following day!

The Future: My last day at work at McGregor will be April 2nd. This is a bittersweet time for use right now. Fort Myers has truly become our home. Our entire dating relationship, engagement, and marriage has been here. We have made life long friends here, especially over the past 4 months in our Sunday School Class! Jon's family is here. We love the High School Student Ministry, and it is breaking our hearts to leave these students, but Ultimately we know that the best place to be is exactly where the Lord leads you. And we have full confidence that this opportunity is from the Lord! So, in mid-April we will be packing up and moving to..... LOUISVILLE! Jon's Position is at Highview Baptist Church - which many of you know is my home church. Once again, God is so faithful to give us exceedingly, abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine! Jon and I would have gone ANYWHERE that they Lord called us - what a blessing to go to a place where we already have family and friends!

Please pray for us as we began this new season of our lives - serving full time in ministry, picking up our lives and moving 1000 miles away. We are so anxious to see what the Lord has in store!

Underground and some big life changes

UNDERGROUND WEEKEND 2009 begins TOMORROW! I can't believe it is here already! For those of you who do not live in Fort Myers, Underground Weekend is a discipleship weekend for the students at McGregor Baptist Church. This year our very own Pastor will be bringing the Word, and a band from Mississippi called "Liberty" will be leading us in worship! It is going to be an incredible weekend with about 150 people participating in some way shape or form! Pray that the Lord already begins to work in the hearts of all those involved, and that His name will be lifted High all weekend! I can't wait to see all of the life change that the Lord does this weekend! Jon will be staying at the church with the High School Guys - leading a small group of 11th graders. I will being doing a lot of Administrative stuff - making sure everyone is where they are supposed to be and have what they need. I will also be bouncing from house to house - spending time with all of our amazing High School Ladies! We are both very excited!

As for the BIG LIFE CHANGES taking place soon in the life of the Malko's, I will save that for next post ;) - which will most likely be the beginning of next week - Stay tuned!

Valentine's Day

Jon and I had a wonderful Valentine's Day together - our first as Mr & Mrs. Our plans were to go to the beach and rent jet ski's, but when we arrived at the beach it was as if a cloud had planted itself right on the island! We decided that we would rather rent jet ski's on a sunny day, so we turned around and went back to our community pool where it was beautiful and sunny! We had our picnic lunch there and just relaxed in the sun all day. That night we went to dinner at Outback, and went to see the movie Taken which we highly recommend! It was a fantastic day, and such a blessing to spend it with my wonderfully sweet and attentive husband! I simply adore him :) Here are a few pictures from the day....

Before we headed to the beach (and then back home :))

Our picnic lunch - chicken sandwiches, chips, carrots, cantaloupe, and water - ohh and of course cookies for Jon.

Me excited for our day

Jon excited to be driving haha

At dinner @ Outback

Pictorial

We have been so busy over the past few weeks. What better way to update then a pictorial?

Several weekends ago I went on a girl's overnight trip to Marco Island to celebrate my friend Stacy's birthday! Here is Stacy and Holly enjoying birthday Key Lime Pie :)

On February 4th we celebrated Jon's Grammy's Birthday

She had 2 cakes (I made the chocolate 1!)

Doesn't it look yummmmy?

Last weekend our church took a group of girls to the Revlove Tour! We had a great time! Especially on the way home when I ran out of gas 20 miles from home! That is what happens when you get a bunch of girls together running their mouths! Haahaa... Here are some of the girls pretending to hitch a ride!

Maria Dow was our HERO! She was about 10 miles back and stopped to get us back! She beat AAA by a long shot!

Here are the girls in my backseat! They were so patient!!

Jon loves his hobby of Auto Cross, and is excited for me to go with him the next time. He is convinced that I should drive - I, on the other hand am not so sure... Here he is drawing a diagram of the course for me, and explaining to me when I should break or give it gas... I love his passion for everything he does :)

Monday night Jon too me to get Sushi @ my FAVORITE Fort Myers sushi restaurant, Mr. Mee's! I, of course, got the crazy roll...mmmmm I think you can almost taste it just by looking at the pic!

We have a lot more coming up, so stay tuned...