Weekend With Chris, Dee Dee, and Natalie

We spent the weekend with Chris, Dee Dee, and Natalie - Chris and Dee Dee came in from Ann Arbor for the weekend and we took care of Natalie for Ryan and Kara, who were in Florida. The five of us had a blast. Lots of Guitar Hero and Office Season 2, with a trips to Yesterdog, the beach in Holland, and church thrown in there too. So fun!

Morning Bottle

The Beach

At Yesterdog

Guitar Hero For Xbox 360!

Guitar Hero, anyone? It is perfect - a video game that has a plastic guitar for a controller! You play by pushing buttons (frets) in time with what you see on screen , and strum along. There is even a whammy bar! Josh bought this on Thursday and we have hardly been able to stop playing it since. We are rockstars these days.

Moving to a place with Chick-Fil-A!

Josh and I vistited Bloomington this past weekend for the Kelley Experience Weekend, which was for admitted students to the B-School. They did a great job welcoming us and we're excited to move down there this fall. I know the opportunities for Josh at this school will be amazing and I'm excited for where God will lead us over these next couple of years. I'm also excited for the Kelley Partners' Club - the wives/girlfriends/husbands/etc. are all really close and get together often. Josh thinks I'll be the Chair next year, organizing craft nights, book clubs, etc. We'll see.

One of the most exciting things about moving to Bloomington, however, is that they have Chick-Fil-A there! My favorite fast food. Yay!

How Exciting

Here are 3 things that have happened in the last 24 hours that I consider to be very exciting:

Josh taught me how to play poker and I beat him on my first try.
I walked into work and there was a new, flat screen monitor for me at my desk (instead of the huge old monitor I had before.)
My friend Sarah brought me a Harry Potter bookmark.

What little things excite you?

Reading List

I'm a reader. I know it is a little bit nerdy but I could really don't care. I have always loved to read and now I work in publishing and get books super super cheap. So I read more. I try and tell Josh that we're saving money, but he knows the truth. I spend way more money on books now because I get such good deals on them. While working with books I often make mental lists of ones that sound good or exciting or that I'd like to get when they come out. Oh well... there are worse things to spend money on.

With regard to what I end up reading, sometimes I like to be personally and spiritually challenged or encouraged. Sometimes I just like to read for fun. In any case, you'll probably hear a lot about books from me. I am often in the midst of 3-4 books at any given time. Here is what I'm reading now:

The Bible (NIV or TNIV) - We're reading this through with our small group this year, and although I'm enjoying it I am perpetually behind where I should be. I definitely plan to catch up a little and spend some good time meeting God in His word tonight. I'm in the midst of both Proverbs and Joshua. I'll pass along any words of wisdom that particularly stand out to me.

Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, by Ann Lamott - I don't agree with all she has to say, but I love reading her books (I read Traveling Mercies a while back and enjoyed it). She is frank and honest about her struggles, joys, and walk with God, but manages to toss in quite a bit of humor. Like me, she doesn't have everything together.

Peppermint-Filled Pinatas, by Erik Michael Bryant - This book hasn't come out yet but I started to read the advance copy I got from work. "For too long," he writes, "the world has been made aware of what Christians hate rather than whom they love; what they are against rather than what they support. " It is basically about loving people, instead of just tolerating them. Relationship evangelism. Intentionally building community with those around you, breaking stereotypes, and not being afraid to be reach out to people who are different from you. A good read. I should really finish it someday.

Walking From East To West - Josh and I are listening to this one together, having downloaded the audio book. It is the autobiography of Ravi Zacharias, a well known apologist and preacher. Josh and I have enjoyed listening to him preach, both in person a couple of times as well as via his podcast. The story of his life is fascinating. We are enjoying learning about his childhood in India, his family situation, and his spiritual journey. Surprisingly enough, this world-renowned intellectual was once considered the dunce of the family. I look forward to hearing more on our road trip to Indiana this weekend.

A Diary of Private Prayer, by John Baillie - This book was a gift from a friend and is nothing more than a collection of prayers to read on a daily basis. I sometimes use them in my times with God. When I don't know what to pray for reading these always gives me direction, encouragement, and just a renewed sense of God's presence and power. Here is how one starts: "Eternal Father of mu soul, let my first thought today be of Thee, let my first impulse be to worship Thee, let my first speech be Thy name, let my first action be to kneel before Thee in prayer." Highly recommended.

There you have it. A glimpse of the stack on my bedside table! :)

Snow After Easter = Gross

I was born and raised in Michigan. Used to snow. Not obsessed with the weather.

These things are all true of me. However, I must say that I'm disgusted to have to dig the snow scraper out of the back seat and wipe the considerable accumulation off of my car before I drive home. It is really quite depressing to me. I'm sure the slushy snow will freeze over when the sun goes down tonight, so it doesn't look like we'll make the trek up to the Telman's for LOST. Sad!

Here is a picture from our balcony.

New (and Bad) At This

Hi Everyone...

Actually, hi no one, because I'm the only one who reads my blog at this point. One of these days I'll make it known to other people that I do in fact have one.

Here is an updated picture of us, from a recent trip to California.

I'm new at this, and though a lot of things have gone on since I last posted (2 months ago), I don't know where to begin. We're still moving to Indiana this summer and will be visiting the campus next weekend already. I'm so excited for all of the opportunities we have in front of us, and little nervous, too! Next weekend we'll be shopping for apartments, meeting who will become our new friends, and getting to know the town that will be home to us for two years. Weird, exciting, scary, fun.

Tomorrow is Easter. Resurrection Sunday, as they like to call it at Mars Hill. They've encouraged us at church to leave something behind... to think about our lives and what needs to change, and then bring an object that represents this change to church tomorrow morning. We've been thinking about what we want to leave behind, and I think for both of us it is selfishness. Throughout this lent season we've been learning about the needs of this world, from homelessness to HIV/AIDS to slavery. God has put this world on our hearts and now we're looking for ways to jump in and help. We don't want to live lives that simply revolve around us. We want to be the type of people that Jesus talks about:

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Matthew 35-36 TNIV

So there is our Easter. We're excited to see what God has in store, and not at all sure what it will look like. I'm bringing a pancake casserole to my parents' house tomorrow and feel as though I should do a trial run on it today to make sure it works out. We'll see how that goes.

Blessings!