St. Paul's Winter Retreat

I feel like I am finally able to exhale after quite a bit of planning for our youth group's winter retreat. *whew* The past week especially was filled completely with planning for the retreat, and being overly anxious about how it would turn out. It was such a learning experience for me and I was constantly taken back by how much time and planning goes into planning a retreat. I feel like overall the retreat was a success. Only a couple of bloody noses, no major discipline issues, and 23 tired kids on the drive home are all marks of a good weekend! It's funny, as a youth leader, you always know that people will give you a hard time for something no matter what you do, it's just that you are never sure what it will be. I have a theory that the shelf life of youth leaders is so short is because they are the easy scapegoat, they lend themselves to excellent for venting at, and perhaps most importantly they work with teenagers. So before every event, I try to prepare myself for this, but usually I am completely surprised at what becomes and issue for the students and volunteers. This time I was prepared to defend my choice of the band for the weekend, or maybe not upholding the right traditions, but I never expected to catch as much flak for forgetting mayo for sandwiches! Haha, they keep you guessing. Oh well. All in all, things went very well and the kids had a really great time. Our theme was the winter olympics. Our programming involved devotionals, teachings and small groups that were based off of the athletic metaphors that Paul used in the New Testament. Our games and activities also were loosely based on winter olympic games.

Here the students are participating in the bobsledding event. Instead of sleds and ice, we had tarps and grass.

Here is our biathlon event where we substituted phone books and dowels for skis and poles and nerf guns and a white board for real guns and targets.

Other games that we did included snowboard slalom (scooters), curling(a frisbee and a masking tape target), a snowball fight (marshmallows), skiing slalom (tying legs together with rope), and beach volleyball (not really a winter olympics event, but made a guest appearance because the weather was so mild! We also had a bon fire and midnight madness, which were game that were played in the dead of night. We played capture the flag, sardines and ghost in the graveyard out in this field of bushes around midnight. Everyone had their flashlight and it was a lot of fun!

We had three "countries" represented this past weekend. Two midhigh groups and one senior high group. The senior high group was the USSR, the first midhigh group was Jamaica, and the group that Brittany was in was Pinkolympia. They were all girls. Each team also got bandanas to help represent their teams.

This is our group enforcing "sandlot" rules while playing beach volleyball. Basically the rule is, "you hit it, you get it!" One of the students hit the ball over the fence and into a mesquite patch, so they had to get it while everyone delighted in that students pain in trying to retrieve the ball from the thorny mesquites.

This is our group from the weekend, they were great! Had such a good time!

Brittany and I have spent yesterday afternoon and evening and all of today recovering, which we really enjoyed and needed. It's good to be breathing again! We love you all so very much!

Pictures of Michigan

Okay so now I am updating about my trip to Michigan (after Mark told me that I had lied to my readers - sorry Mom). Well, once I got to MIchigan (late Saturday night), I had a GREAT time. After my plane getting cancelled Thursday AM, then again Friday AM, Saturday morning when we got rerouted all over Texas, it didnt seem so suprising. I was like "why wouldn't I be sitting in some random airport that is not along my flight path?" Anyway, Saturday my mom and sister Jenna were waiting for me at the airport, it was sooo great to see them! We went to McDonalds to get a diet coke, which I love SO much, and it was so nice to have my mom pay! Then I went home and just chatted and they fell asleep pretty quick, and I waited for Lex to get home from Gull Lake's snow dance or whatever. She came home and it was super exciting. We stayed up really late talking, and it was just so much fun. Being home just makes my heart happy :) Then Sunday church at Richland Bible was amaaaaaaaazing. People shared their testimonies, and the music was sooo good! It was really refreshing!! And Lex played violin with the praise band, which I love. I got to see lots of my small group girls and several friends, it was really exciting (yes, I realize I have only been gone 6 weeks, and so this might seem a little overly dramatic, but it is how it felt!) Then, we went home and napped in my moms bed - which is one of my alltime favorite things ever. My mom made my favorite chicken and rice dish and then Lex and I went to small groups (I co-led a group this fall that meets at the same house as Lexy's). It was fun to be back and hang out with the girls!
Monday my mom took off work for the day, and I got to sleep in and babysit Anna. We took her out to lunch and got to play with her and snuggle with her and take a nap with her, just like the old days :) She is getting HUGE, and can talk, and is so presh. I will cut myself off from going on and on about how much I love Anna, and spare you all. But it was heaven. Lex came home and played with us, and I just bopped around with the fam. Tuesday was great too! I went out to breakfast with Mandy Fernihough (who did our premarital counseling with her husband Michael). It was soo great to chat with her, and I just adore her. We went to Panera (which we dont have here in Texas, and it was tasty! Then, Lex came home from school early (she had this terrible sickness this week and just needed to hang out lots to make it feel better ;), and we went to the mall and to Olgas for lunch. We just chatted for a long time, and went and picked up Jenna, and went to Old Navy, and just goofed around. We have so much fun together and we all got along verrrry well (which sometimes doesnt happen). We got smoothies and Auntie anns and life was great. Then I dropped Lex off at muscial practice and met Bethany for coffee (aka hot chocolate). She is getting married in May, and it was fun to talk about weddings! I am glad wedding planning is over, being married is SO much better than planning the wedding! Anyway, that was super fun and she is just so great. Wednesday, I dropped my mom off at work so I could have her car, and drove up to Lansing to hang out with Ashley! It was soo great. We went running, and ate at Cancun, and just had suuuuuch a great time. Then I came home and went running with Lex (twice in one day?!) and then went to pick up Mom at work, she dropped my off at Jenna's apartment and we went to the Western basketball game. Her boyfriend plays for them, and is reallllllly good! Its fun to go to games when you know some of the people! Then we went to Applebees and got half price appitizers. Then Thursday Lex came home early again from school and we just hung out, watched some Gilmore girls and she took me to the airport. It was alittle sad, but it was such a great time at home, and I was excited to get back to my smoking hot husband, so it felt good. Everything was just so great, and I love being home - and it was so great to come back to Mark!!! We had winter retreat, which he is blogging about riiiight now! Get pumped!

After FINALLY making it to Michigan (I will write more about thattttt later), but I have some pictures to share...

Life from Brittany's perspective!

Well, Texas is still pretty great, but I had a rough little bit of homesickness last week during the week. Not quite sure what it was, I think too not having a job, or a life of my own down here is just different than anything I have ever experienced. Its up and down (mostly up!).

So, like I said I have no job...which is kind of frusterating, we are hopeful though. I have been going to a BSF (bible study fellowship) bible study on Wednesday mornings for two hours, which is really awesome. Its mostly older ladies, but I always learn a lot, and feel so great (and independent - I can get to the church all by myself!) after I go.

Like Mark said in the last post we have been going to a gym. I loooooove it. We both do. The classes are seriously so great, and its nice for someone to just tell you what to do and get a great workout without having to think too much! We go after he gets done with work (I meet him at the church) then we head over. We could never afford it on our own, so we are soaking this up while we can!!

We had a really great day yesterday! I go to Sunday school with a young adults group (without Mark, because he teaches the high schoolers), and I enjoy it, there are probably ten people, and it seems to be growing! The sermon was great yesterday too, the senior pastor Eddie talked about doing radical things for Jesus. Then we went out to lunch with people from my Sunday school class. It was soooo great spending time with young couples!! Sundays have a requirement for me for a nap, so I fufilled that duty while Mark did some work. Then after a great little nap, we went to the Borcharts (Deb works with Mark at the church, and they have two kids in the youth group, and twin 8 year old boys). We have been over for dinner before, and they are just so great to us! So we hung out with them, and watched the super bowl and ate lots of amazing food and chatted. Marks poppers turned out great (I dont actaully eat them because they are too spicey for me - but word was they were great!) and Deb is the best cook! They are so much fun, such a great family, and we really love them! Oh yeah, Deb is the one who invited me to BSF too, so she goes to that with me too.

I am going home for the weekend coming up here, and I cannot waitttt!!! I know I am leaving my husband on our first Valentines day! But he has been great, and the timing with my sisters school just worked perfect this weekend! And I am babysitting Anna all day Friday (and we all know how excited I am for that). Yayyy. So thanks mom for the ticket! I am literally counting down hours!

I should mention how much I love being married. I seriously love it. I love hanging out with Mark all the time, and I love our cute little apartment, and making food, and just everything. Mark has been so great with me, and so understanding of the homesickness that comes sometimes, and so sensitive of all the changes. We play monopoly (on our computers against eachother) and scrabble a few times each day (which officially makes us dorks), but we have a lot of fun! Monday nights Mark evvvven watches the Bachelor with me. He comments on evvvverything, and really hates the guy, but if that is not a loving husband I dont know what is! We also go to Rosas every Tuesday night after spinning class for Taco Tuesdays. They have 3 tacos with rice and beans for $3.33. Amazingggg food too! We sit there for a really long time and chat and soak up free refills. Anyway, thought I would just share what life is like down here!


Love,
Brittany

Cruise, Chaos, Cooking...

Well family and friends, it's good to be back blogging and keeping you filled in with our Texas adventure. Much like the rest of our lives, these past weeks have been chaos! I have had some tough situations to deal with at work, but I feel like I'm moving in the right direction. It's tough being the person in authority! I've been doing a lot of planning for a retreat too, it's weird being on the planning side. I'm really excited about the retreat, but please, I need your prayers! Both for my leadership and for Brittany's sanity! She is such a trooper! And is so supportive, I love her so much! (This is a picture from our honeymoon, ps.) Brittany is the cute girl in front and I'm the huge white thing in front, incase you were confused...So, we are going to a Super Bowl party and are doing are best to be real adults and bring some food to the party. Brittany made some dynamite marague(don't know how to spell is close enough for spell check to recognize it, but it's the white fluffy stuff. On second thought maybe we should have included a picture so you would know what I am talking about...) cookies, but those aren't pictured because we aren't bringing them! We are bringing these chocolate chip cookies she made though :)

And I made jalepeno poppers! I'm pretty proud of myself, they took foooooorever......... But they look awesome though.

This is me, so proud of myself :) Also, don't I look a lot less fat than my first picture on this post?? Well, thanks to the gym on my shirt (of which we are proud one month free trial members), my wife's healthy cooking, and our budget that doesn't allow us to eat out, I'm trimming up a little bit! (camera angle helps too...)

We enjoy watching our Spartans play basketball on tv, even though they are losing lately, we are Texas' biggest spartan fans! It reminds us of home, which we miss so much! Mostly you guys, not so much the snowy cold. We do hope that you are enjoying the snowy cold though ;) I'm bummed that I have to give my bride up to the friendly mitten for valentine's day, but sometimes you just have to share... We love y'all so much and Brittany says she will post soon too!