"Mountian" Biking

Just thought I would post some pictures from mountian biking. Someone from down here corrected me and reminded me that there are no mountians down here, so we rode mountian bikes doing mountian biking type things, in flat west Texas. BUT, they do have a great course and it was sooo fun, and such a great workout!

Oh yeah, we got biking jerseys! Mine is not nascar (which my mom thought it was when I showed it to her on the webcam) but is Abilene Biking Club (which you have to become a member to use the course), and Marks was his Valentines day prasent, and is the Team Discovery one. He is pretty much obsessed with it, and loves how he looks in it :) Now we are just saving for some nice shorts!

(above) This is the start of the course....notice the catus on the right and the sign that says "watch for rattlesnakes", not quite like Michigan biking!

(below L) Me at the top of this drop, I was a total wuss, and needed a pep talk to get down it, but I finally made it!

(below middle) Me coming up the other side so pumped that I survived

(below R) Mark on this jump looking all cool.

Love,
Brittany
:)

"Camping" with the youth group

Monday Morning we left with seven youth for a three day long camping trip at Cedar Hill State Park. It was about three hours away (just south of Dallas). The first day we unloaded and cooked lunch and set up camp. The sun was out and it was warm and great. We walked down to the lake, played cards, went to Walmart, cooked dinner, and had a bonfire. The guys bought this new monopoly game and went to their tent and played, the girls stayed up chatting and finally went to bed. No one had any idea that it would rain, and it sure did rain! It rained all night. I woke up a few times in the night and was a little damp and cold. There were some leaks in our tent and my sleeping bag was a little wet. When the other girls were up we all pointed out all the leaks, and everyone showed how wet they were, and then I went out to go to the bathroom and noticed there was a boy laying on the picnic table bench, I thought hmm, and looked, and a boy was sleeping in a chair, and a boy sleeping on the other side of the picnic table, (photo #4). Then, I looked over at their tent, and it was completely flat (photo #5). We girls thought we had it bad, but at least our tent was still up!


Everything was covered in mud, and it was still cold and rainy, so we went to the mall to warm up and dry off. We actually had to wait in the van until the mall opened. It was actually a hit with the kids. They were all well behaved and enjoyed walking around (oh yeah, there were 4 6th/7th grade girls - and a Dick's Sporting Goods for the boys), so everyone was entertained. We then went back to the camp for lunch, it was still rainy and cold, so we made the executive decision to head back to the church and finish the camping trip there. The kids were flexible with that, and pretty much were agreeable. For dinner that night the boy leading prayer prayed "Thank you God for giving us the opportunity to come back to the church". Anyway, the kids loved running around the church. There is a gym at St. Paul's and they set up tents in there, and actually the big hit of the night was choreographing scooter routines to cheesy songs. Mark and Will (his intern) did one to "Circle of Life" and the kids thought it was hilarious (which it was).



Despite the crummy weather, the kids enjoyed their time, and I think it was a success!!

Photo #1 -Mark accidentally locked his keys in the trailer, so he and Will had to cut the lock with bolt cutters, which they obviously enjoyed.

Photo #2 - Someones muddy sleeping bag (and answers to why we had to come back to the church)

Photo #3 - Every ones hands (especially Todd's) were permanently dirty

Photo #4 - Boys sleeping under the overhang (under the sleeping bags)

Photo #5 - Boys tent (the flat one), and next to it is Will and Marks (perfectly fine)

Photo #6 - The tents set back up at St. Paul, and Lexi dance-scootering by

#1#2#3

#4#5#6

Well, that was our "camping" trip in a summery. We were both totally exhausted by Wednesday night!

Brittany

Rattlesnakes, bedspreads, and eggs :)

We thought we would just use some pictures to update you on our lives...Enjoy!

Today we went to the worlds largest "Rattlesnake Roundup" (I just wonder how many there really are to compete with), anyway, it was about an hour away (Sweetwater, TX) and we thought it would be a very Texas experience. And, let me tell you, it was. There were like thousands of snakes, and they catch them all around here (yiiiikes). They just had these big bins (like in the picture below) with about a 3 foot high wall up around them. I was wondering while the walls were so low, and thought it was a bit scary. You could hear all of their little rattlers rattling. There were tons of confederate flags, people in hideous clothes, free samples of chewing tobacco (seriously), milking and skinning stations, and lots of other fun stuff. We packed our lunch and just sitting there watching people was probably the best part.

Below is a picture of them skinning them. They lobbed their heads off right there (and the fangs kept biting after they were unattached -eeeek. It smelled hideous, and they just got all the guts out with their hands (no gloves or anything of course). It was an activity the ten-year-old-Brittany would have absolutely loved, today, not so much.

You could buy fried rattlesnake there, and so of course Mark had to get some, and of course he liked it!! I tasted a tinnnnny little bit, and mostly sat there and watched him devour it.

Anyway, it was a great experience, we had fun, and it is something I am sure (or will make sure) we never do again :) We got Mark a tee shirt, and we got a cross for our cross collection (that now has two crosses in it). Yayyyy.

Here is a picture of our bed - this is the most made it has ever been. Mark did it for the picture. We are not bed makers, and we are totally okay with that - we save a lot of time :) Anyway, we just got a down comforter to go in our duvet cover! I have been keeping my eye on them, and found a great sale at Macy's. There is no Macy's around here, so I ordered it online! It was $381 originally, and then it was on-sale down to $120, then we used some gift cards and it cost us $30. I was so happy- I love good deals! And it's amazing! I love it so much, it is so cozy, and will come in very handy in Michigan!!

This little activity was Mark's idea. When Jenna was here we decided to have craft time, and colored these eggs. Mark hollowed them out, and we colored them with permanent markers. It was actually really fun, and now they are hanging in our kitchen hole (between the living room and kitchen) and are getting us in the spirit of Easter :) Jenna's is on top, then Marks, and mine is the bottom.

Mark is sitting here working on his resume (now that he has finally satisfied with his super mario game boy playing for the night), and we are working on applying for jobs for him in Detroit. I registered for my classes at Wayne, eeek, we have 6 classes this summer, starting everyday at 8am!

We love comments so please leave us comments :)

Bittersweet

Hi! Its Brittany :)

Well, we (Mark actaully) made the announcement at youth group on Sunday that we are leaving. I got into physician's assistant school at Wayne State in Detroit, and so we are moving back to Michigan. We are sooo excited that I got in, and after thinking of what is best for our tiny little family, and what will be best in the long run, we decided to move...again. This choice was not an easy one, and we truly prayed and fasted a lot about it. God is so good, and has really affirmed our decision. We feel kind of overwhelmed with everything, moving again accross the country (again), getting all our stuff back to Michigan, finding somewhere to live in Detroit, the job hunt for Mark (in Michigan's booming economy), and me starting a very challenging graduate program.

We KNOW that God will work out all the details, he already has in so many ways. Actaully, I will share some of the ways that he has, to hopefully encourage someone, orrrr for me to look back on and remember how God always provides. We got a letter from our apartment a couple days ago reminding us that our lease was up at the end of February, this did not make any sense because Mark signed a 12 month lease in September, which with moving we were planning on having to pay to break that (which was close to $1000). So the messed up and put us down for a 6 month lease, and now we get to just pay month to month for the duration of our time. Yay. Here's another way....telling the church and people down here terrified me. Literally terrified. I was so scared, these people have been so great to us, and now we are just leaving. I know we are following God, but was so scared that people would hate us (and mostly me for taking away Mark). Guess what? They didnt hate me, or Mark. Yes, people were dissapointed and sad, but loving and supportive and great overall. Priase God. I literally wanted to run away, or throw up I was so nervous when Mark told the youth he was leaving, but he did it, and some kids cried and then everyone gave him a group hug. Also, this happens to be the week that my little sister Jenna is here for her spring break from Western Michigan University (which at first I was like oh dear, this is the worst week for her to come, when we tell the church, and everyone is going to hate us) but she has been amazing. Just having her here as support and comic releif (she is hilllllllarous), has been so great. Perfect timing - Praise God. One more, my orientation for school is Monday, March 29th. The weekend before that is Lexy's musical, which I loooove watching her do her thing in musicals, shes amazing, and so I can go home and see that, go to my orientation Monday, then have a week at home to hopefully find somewhere to live and get everything settled for school, and then drive down with my mom and Lex, which the timing is perfect and they will also be able to take some of our stuff back with them.

Anyyyway, some other exciting things going on down here:

- Our neighbor from the apartment next to ours, just got back from Kuwait (he just calls it the sandbox), and came over to say that he wanted to come to church with us. Mark had invited him before he left for his tour and he always turned him down, but first thing he said when he came over was that he wanted to go. It was encouraging for us that Mark had shared with him before with seemingly no fruit, but now he is interested in Jesus. So we brought him to church with us (he came to Sunday School with me and everything) and he ate lunch at the chili cookoff at church after! He has some video game thing that Mark thinks is really cool (a PS3 maybe?) and he invited Mark over anytime to play, so I am sure Mark will take advantage of that "tool" to building their friendship.

- We colored (literally with permenant markers) eggs yesterday. Mark hollowed them out and so Jenna, Mark, and I all colored one and we are going to hang them in our apartment. Yes, we are all adults and had craft time. I will try and post pictures later!

- I bought some candels (for 75 cents from Walmart), and we put them in our fireplace (which we dont have anything to build a fire), but it looks pretty awesome! It is kinnnnda fancy looking, and I love it. It makes the black, ashy hole in the wall look much more inviting!

- I am teaching violin lessons twice a week! Yay. A little extra money and its pretty awesome. I love it!

Anyway, I have blabbered on long enough! Just thought I would share a little (turned into a lot) of what is going on in our life. We love you!

Brittany

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!

Some reasons why I love Texas/Abilene/Being Married

Just thought that I would share some things that I love about being down here...

- Being married is literally the coolest thing ever. I totally feel like we are playing house, and its so great, its so fun that we get to hang out every day together. Loove itttt!

- The weather is amazing down here. 80s in January?? I'll take it!

- Chick Fil-A and Jason's Deli - 2 fine restaurants that have yet to grace the north with their presence.

- People are conservative down here.

- Fox news is on everywhere you go.

- Mexican food is amazzzzzing, and I have had more the three weeks I have been down here than I have in my entire life.

- Its sunny here! Remember sunshine Michigan?

- Things are close by, like the stores and restaurants are like 4 minutes from our apartment.

- Its fun decorating our cute little apartment.

- I love that Mark works at a church, full of people who are encouraging to us, and soooo kind, and that I can go to work with him, and be a part of his ministry.

- Playing scrabble every night with Mark.

- Learning to cook has been really fun. Mark has ate some pretty terrible meals (well one), and its fun to try new recipes. I am actually so surprised how long things take to make - we are learning patience :)

Anyway, I just wanted to share some things that I enjoy about being down here. I miss home, and seeing my family a lot, buuuut I enjoy it down here!

Love,

Brittany

Back in Abilene.....

WE ARE MARRIED!!!!!!

These past weeks have literally flew right past us and now we find ourselves back on the footsteps of reality, bummer! We want to start off a new year of blogging by thanking everyone for all of their prayers and support for us with the wedding and our big transition of moving to Abilene. We appreciate it so much! Our "plan" here is to really really try to update the blog way more often.

We had such a wonderful wonderful time on our honeymoon! It feels like we just bopped alllll over, and finally made our way to our new home. Here is a quick run down of our first two weeks of marriage:

We spent our wedding night in Grand Rapids at the Amway Grand, which was a lot of fun ;) Then we turned around back to Plainwell for brunch with our families and then headed for Chicago! The weather was horrrrible for the drive, the roads were so bad and it was snowing pretty hard. Usually when anyone travels to chicago from Michigan, they hope for an uneventful trip trough Indiana. That was our dream too, but not the case.... In my eagerness to get to another hotel, we got pulled over. I can honestly say though that I was innocent! While we drove by the cop, another car past us and my theory is that the cop read his speed instead of mine, because he said that I was going 72, but I know for sure that I was going 60. Then, my beautiful Bride, chimes right in and starts a long story about how we just got married (which the cop didn't believe at first because he thought I wasn't wearing my ring, but much like most of the night, he just wasn't on top of his game, because I clearly was). After a long wait in our car he finally let us off with a warning.

Well, the rest of the trip to chicago went well, I fumed the whole way about how much I hate Indiana (except for the colts). We had a blast in the windy city, and it was exactly that, windy! Freezing windy! It was sooooo cold. We ventured out a couple of times to go eat and do a little shopping, but spent the bulk of our two night trip in the hotel room, which was baller! It was so nice, our room was like two rooms put together and so nice!

We lefted Chicago and continues our trip south. We stopped in Tulsa for the night, but got there supppppper late and missed our gracious host completely! Sorry Wendy! We really appreciated the free place to stay though!

The next day we finished our trip to Abilene on Thursday, unloaded the car and just relaxed for a day. We unpacked our a little bit, but just didn't feel like that was a huge priority. We did have a little set back though, Brittany got a bladder infection:( A hundred dollars later, and a wife in a considerable amount of pain we learned some valuable lessons. We got Brittany some medical care and some meds, so she was feeling better within a couple of days. Just happy that this happened while we were in abilene and not on the cruise!

We woke up before the sun (this is highly unusual for the two of us) and hit the road on Saturday. We left at 5am and drove to Galveston for our cruise! We had a five day cruise where we stopped in Progresso and Cozumel, Mexico. We had such an amazing time on the boat! Our dinner table mates were a lot of fun. There was another young couple that was on their honeymoon too! We didn't have a whole lot in common though. There was another couple our age at our table too that was really great, we had a lot in common with them and would probably be friends with them in "real life." The fourth couple at our table was a lot of fun and was our parents age. We tried to get on the newlyweds show on the cruise, but didn't get picked, bummer! We did, however, buy drugs in mexico! When in Rome, right?? hahaha! No, we just picked up some antibiotics in case Brittany's infection came back. We thought this would be a cheeper avenue to travel than going through the minor emergency clinic again. I did feel a little rebellious buys the antibiotics though! Needless to say we didn't tell customs about that little purchase... Our cruise ended on Thursday morning and we drove back to Abilene.

Total Driving time: 2,317 miles or 37 hours in the car.

And here we are. In Abilene. Ready to go. More later.