saying goodbye to a good man

Dellmer B. Seitter, Jr.
Born in Wilmington, NC on Sep. 2, 1926
Departed on Mar. 28, 2012 and resided in Wilmington, NC.

Dr. D. B. Seitter, Jr died March 28, 2012 at home. He was a lifelong resident of Wilmington, as were his parents, the late Dellmer B Seitter, Sr. and Loretta Seitter.

Dellmer graduated from New Hanover High School, class of 1944, attended UNC Chapel Hill and Georgetown University, and served in the Navy during World War II. He was a member of St. Therese Catholic Church, the Cape Fear Club, the Cape Fear Country Club, the Hanover Seaside Club, and the Civitans.

Surviving are his family; wife Patty Southerland Seitter, children Margaret Seitter, Tripp Seitter (wife Jenny), Jim Baldwin (wife Enan), Nancy Cramer (husband Mark), eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
A graveside service will be held, Saturday, March 31, at 11am at Oleander Memorial Gardens officiated by Reverend Jim Baldwin and Father Joe Venters. The Family will receive visitors on Friday, March 30, from 5pm to 7pm at Andrews Mortuary, Market Street.

we'll miss you Pah-Pah

starting a routine

Well we survived Elvis's first week of work! It's Wednesday which means his "weekend" has started! Although he's not that excited about waking up at 5am everyday, I love the fact that he is home before 3pm. Love it. He is getting the hang of his new job, and hopefully can grow in that company when they see his experience and talent.

This week is also my first week of classes, and I think they are going to be great: "Organizing Urban Communities for Transformation" and "Church and Mission in a Global Context." The professor for my urban communities class will be my supervisor/mentor for my World Vision internship, and he has lots of great experience working with immigrants in LA so I think I will learn a lot from him. 

On Sunday night, Elvis and i decided to take a little cruise down Sunset Boulevard after Suzy went to sleep (the neighbors had the monitor..don't worry!)....you know, a hot date to.....the ER. I had to go to the ER for the first time in my life b/c of intense stomach pain...turns out I have gastritis, which means I have to avoid coffee, soda, citrus fruits, chocolate, fried stuff, etc for a while and start practicing more relaxation techniques. So Elvis and I did yoga last night...hilarious! Even with all the parasites and bacterias and things I picked up in El salvador, I never had to go to the ER. And of course, there it would have only cost like $10! I also miss that in ES you could just go to a lab and pay $2 and get a pee or poop test to see if you had something. Or, just call Elvis's sister who is a doctor, then go to the pharmacy and get whatever we needed since every medicine is over-the-counter. Anyway, I feel better now, just trying to eat really healthy and avoid those foods that set me off. It's weird thinking that something so healthy as an orange can actually be really bad for me right now.

Anyway, that's enough of my stomach issues...here are a few more cute pictures from Anna's visit!

the post you've been waiting for...

This is it....the post where we finally get to tell you that all of the pieces of the puzzle are finally into place!! Elvis got a job today!!!!!!!! We were really bummed last week when he didn't get the dream job he was interviewing for, which included the all day interviews. There was nothing else on the horizon and we were getting worried since this process seems to take so long. The very next day, a staffing agency called him about an engineering job, interviewed him today, and they hired him today too! It's not the kind of job that he will be at his whole life, but it's only 20 min away, hopefully it will open more doors and at least pay the bills for now. It's a 1st shift job, so he will be working from 6am-2pm Friday-Tuesday. I love that we will have the afternoons and evenings together, although we aren't quite sure why God gave him a job where he can't go to church on Sundays, now that we found one we love. Just like God, to keep things interesting and make us keep wondering. The timing couldn't be better though...I had a whole quarter of classes to have Elvis at home, giving me time to get my studying done, and he gets a job the day my brother and fam leave so we could enjoy that time together.

Although we enjoyed Marty, Sara, and Anna's trip immensely, I felt this underlying worry all week because by Monday, I have to pay this next quarter's classes. Last night, our family friend that does our taxes let us know that our tax return is more than enough to cover this quarter's classes. Once again, God shows us (in his last minute, keep things interesting sort of way) that he has everything completely thought through. He hasn't forgotten about a single detail, and can answer our prayers in creative ways...even by using the US government!

Thanks for your prayers. They really work.

salsa dancing

we're having a good time!

marty and anna

elvis and suz

sweet anna

oh, just chatting in malibu

art center at the kids museum

california poppies

beach treasure

playing with uncle marty at the kids museum

Westward Beach, Malibu

lovin'

in the Prayer Garden at Fuller

macaroons! yum!

kissin' cousins

Suzy is so happy to have cousin Anna here for a visit!! (and uncle Marty and aunt Sara!) More to come soon....

Art Night Pasadena

Last night was Pasadena's Art Night...a really fun festival in which all the art museums all over town open up for FREE and there are cultural shows and live music all throughout Pasadena.  We went down to the City Hall, which is just a couple of blocks from Fuller, to check out some of the museums and shows. Gabi and her parents went with us and the girls had a great time, especially seeing the Chinese dragon! Another really fun part was that there were food trucks parked all over town for the festival, including the Nom Nom truck which sells Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches. YUM. I had seen the Nom Nom truck on a show called The Great Food Truck Race when we were living in El Salvador, and so when I saw it here in real life, I knew we had to try it!

Elvis ordering at his 1st food truck experience

the girls and their main men

city hall

Gabi's mom, Jess...we've become great friends

Here is a video of Suzy with the Chinese dragon before they started the drumming and the parade through town...i thought suzy might be scared of it, but no! she loved it





This week is special because I am finishing up all my final papers, and then Marty, Sara, and Anna come on wednesday!!! We can't wait!

celebrate!

First of all, we are celebrating right now because I got the World Vision practicum!!! I am so excited about this opportunity which could open up some big doors in the future.

Second of all (I'm not trying rank according to importance here), we celebrated UNC's victory over DOOK!

Then on Sunday, we started celebrating our anniversary with a yummy breakfast cooked by Elvis...

Then we had a great morning at church and lunch at the Grand Central Market in downtown LA....the closest thing I have ever experienced to being in downtown San Salvador without actually being there! We enjoyed yummy pupusas for lunch.

Then, Suzy had an afternoon and evening with Kelly and Brian which was like heaven for her! They went to the nearby arboretum and Suzy got to see some peacocks upclose and personal!! Meanwhile, I was in charge of the special anniversary activity and Elvis was in charge of the special anniversary dinner. I took him to the Observatory which has the best views of all of LA (and great telescope viewing of the moon and stars at night, although we didn't stay for that). 

the Observatory

see the Hollywood sign behind us??

ah, there it is!

LA

 

Then Elvis took me to a hip Italian restaurant in downtown Pasadena. I got butternut squash ricotta ravioli (handmade pasta) with a brown butter, sage, and parmesan sauce. YUM. I'm drooling right now just remembering it. Then the restaurant surprised us with a complimentary dessert for our anniversary. That was the cherry on top of a perfect day.

Six years ago today....

...we started walking this journey together! 

Can't wait to explore together all the beauty and surprises that still lie ahead of us.

whew what a week

So, today's the day. The day of Elvis's 8 hour long interview. He is there right now, so say a little (or big!) prayer for him RIGHT NOW as you read this. Thanks.

And tomorrow is my big interview for the World Vision summer internship. I just found out that one of my friends is actually one of the other top 3, and another friend who actually got the internship last year will be interviewing me too! Weird.

I really have not had time to think about my interview, it has been such a crazy week. Yesterday, we went on a little road trip to find where Elvis's interview would be today, in Burbank. The company is exactly 20 minutes away on google maps. Well when we got about 45 minutes down the road, we realized we had missed the exit for the highway waaaay back in Pasadena. Then, when we finally got back to Pasadena and then on our way, Suzy had a maaaajor blowout which even made it's way to the carseat. YUCK. And guess who forgot to bring extra clothes? So guess which naked baby was running around a parking lot as we were trying to figure out how to clean everything up and get some sort of clothes on her? And who ran out of wipies in the process?

So we made it to K-mart and found enough cheap clothes to clothe her halfway decently, only to have her have more stomach issues. Oh man. So when we finally get home, I'm running inside with her to find yet another change of clothes and new diaper, and i realize that the carpet is.....squishy. And that my shoes are completely wet. Yes, our apartment had flooded. Both toilets overflowed at some point during the one morning we were not at home due to plumbing stuff they were working on in another apartment. Thankfully, it was clean water (my brother recently had a similar issue happen to the basement of his house and it was unfortunately NOT clean water.....) and the plumbers (which looked an awful lot like Mario and Luigi) were here to help right away, and the carpet cleaner soon after. Now, we have the carpet ripped up at the seams and these huge fans underneath the carpet, creating a rippling effect throughout the house. And a slight hum.....like a dryer. If you were INSIDE it.

I have no idea why all that had to happen right as we needed to be preparing for our interviews, taking care of Suzy, and working on my final papers. It was hard to not feel in control of all of these situations. And just as I had no idea to expect such craziness yesterday, I have no idea what to expect tomorrow, or next week, or next month.

But we survived yesterday, and I suppose we will tomorrow and the next day, whether we get the job or the internship or not. I feel pretty confident that God did not bring us here just to let us go bankrupt and have to live on the streets.

So, we will keep you updated on if the craziness continues or if it was just a "storm before the calm". Wait, isn't it supposed to be the "calm before the storm"?