A Quality August

August flew by mercilessly, as usual. Even without school hustle and bustle, (an odd feeling, might I add) we totally lost track of ourselves for a month.

Kenyon spent the month working away, and is now oh-so-sad the Olympics are over. He watched every event for two weeks straight (you think I'm exaggerating...). With mass amounts of time to spare after its conclusion, he started reading the Harry Potter series. He's thrilled with it.

He loves his Olympics... and Hogwarts, it seems.

I've fully taken over office operations at my job. Work is long, but organized, routine and fulfilling. I've recently read too many books (the Twilight Saga and Sherlock Holmes, for those who are interested) for way too long while having lost my husband to the Olympics... but have enjoyed the respite and the imaginative endeavor. Without school, my poor brain gets so lonely.

Having finished good books and international athletic events, we celebrated another classic American pastime... grilling! With his graduation money, Kenyon bought us a grill! Here's the master at work:



So with grilling and late summer evenings in the hammock to round out our summer, Kenyon and I let August slip right on by without too much productivity.

But we decided that rest was oh-so-productive. And that's what this August has been. Restful.

Quality, wouldn't you say?

Good Week

This past Saturday night, Kenyon and I headed down to Clinton IL for Carson and Angie Cheatham's wedding. We had such a great time. For those of you who don't know Carson and Angie, they are a couple from the church in Manchester who we got to know while we were on my internship. Fortunately, Carson is actually from Clinton, so their wedding was in the midwest. Friends from NH came to the wedding, so not only did we get to enjoy their company, but we got to host friends from the church too. We had missed everyone so much, so it was GREAT to see them again!

Kilo (somehow he snuck into the wedding pictures...) is settling into life as a Knight. We're likin' him more and more each day, and he's getting used to us. It's fun.

We went to Waukegan / Kenosha last weekend for some time with friends up there and a benefit. Super fun weekend. We really enjoyed it!

Kenyon and I are both are enjoying diggin' into good books this summer. Kenyon has discovered military fiction and the Bourne books, while I have identified a keen interest in the Maccabean revolution as well as classic fiction. After having forgotten about public libraries for a couple of years, we have been reintroduced to the pubic library and are using it for all it's worth. Lovin' it. I caught myself saying to Kenyon the other night, "put down that book and come watch TV with me!" WHOA. What a role reversal. Scary.

The Cutest Kitten Ever

Meet: Kilo.

And you say, "kilo?" and I remind you that Kilo is K in the military alphabet...

I wonder who named our cat...

SO. We have a kitten. I know in many people's lives this is a very small thing, but for me, this is huge. I've been wanting a kitten pretty much as long as I can remember. So, to have one makes me so happy. And don't let Kenyon fool you, he's enjoying it too.

Kilo's loving and kind, playful and curious. Notice that brilliant wasn't listed, but he makes up for it in love-able-ness and general instinct-fullness.

We took a short video of him the other night from Kenyon's MacBook for the fun of sharing his cuteness with you all. The video's kinda funny because it's from the laptop, not from a camera, but you can still enjoy his cuteness this way.



We are working hard still and things are going well. Really, we aren't doing too many exciting things, just working hard every (and sometimes all, in Kenyon's case) day. We are enjoying the hard work though. We have realized that this is the time in our lives to hunker down and work hard, so that knowledge is making this a little easier than it might have been.

Thanks for checking in on us and caring about where we're at. We really would love to hear from you. Right now, email is truly the easiest way to track us down. We have our emails posted on our website under "contact" and would love to hear from you.

Nice Easy Landing

Good news all around:

We have settled happily in Bloomington. Kenyon and my Dad and I are cleaningout/reorganizing/redecorating his basement and it has turned into a rather comfortable place to live. We're very much enjoying it.

Kenyon has worked out everything with Starbucks and is officially on schedule. After 20-25 hours at Starbucks (enough to enjoy health, vision and dental benefits), Kenyon works about 30 hours landscaping and washing windows for C&E Landscaping. He is working so hard!

I got a job for BeautyofaSite.com which is based in Bloomington. I work from the office as an administrative assistant and webmaster/updater. I love the work and enjoy the work environment even more. It's a full time job that pays appropriately and is truly a blessing for us in this time.

We attended Eastview this morning. Being at church again made us miss MCC, but we were comforted by old friends and a familiar environment. While Kenyon's involvement will vary with his work hours, I'll be jumping into volunteering with the youth ministry to love on some teenagers for a couple of months. Maybe even teach. :o) We're currently small group shopping, and once we've settled into one, I think we'll officially feel at home.

Stuff is going so well, and we feel so blessed. God has loved on us through his move, and we are so thankful for that.

Road Trip Top Ten

The TOP TEN most important things learned from our gallant trek across the United States:

1. Be prepared to sell your right arm to afford the tolls in New York.

2. Avoid Pennsylvania at all costs, for reasons of general uncleanliness, lack of adequate gas stations, and above all, the fact that it is B O R I N G.

3. Buy a car charger. The outlets in Taco Bell aren't active. You'd have to walk to McDonald's to find a working outlet if your phone died in Ohio.

4. Without a turbo booster, a caravan and rocket launchers, never attempt Cleveland at rush hour.

5. The first exit in New York is for Canaan. We'd have never left if we'd known the promised land was oh-so-close.

6. After driving through the picturesque parts of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, Indiana has the ugliest landscape imaginable.

7. New York cops are sneaky sneaky. They don't sit on the road, they hide in the grass.

8. The Relevant Podcast has the ability to entertain even the most tired soul for hours on end. Michelle listened to it for nine of the eighteen hours.

9. If one gets on I-90 in Mass, they wouldn't have to get off of it until ILLINOIS. That's right... one road, many names, FIFTEEN hours.

10. Never leave your friends in NH. It's miserable.

Returning to Illinois!

Despite how much we have learned to love New Hampshire- the church we were a part of, the people we worked with, the family we lived with, and the great friends we had made- some unfortunate circumstances have lead us back home, to Illinois.

We are moving to Bloomington on Sunday (arriving around midnight or so) and jumping into jobs as soon as we can. Kenyon is transferring to a Starbucks in town, as well as picking up some hours washing windows. I'm still a-huntin', but have some interviews and opportunities I'll be pursuing next week, as soon as we're in state.

I don't think that either of us would say that we're really excited to move, simply because we have so much here that we've become attached to. We would say, however, that we're looking forward to what is in Illinois that we thought we'd left- the people there, Eastview, family- and enjoying a little more time with them that we weren't expecting to have.

Keep us in your prayers as we make this tough transition. Like we said, we know good will come of it, but it's a quick change and we have a lot of loose ends to tie up in a short time.

But to those of you in Illinois, we say, "see you soon!"

That's right... We graduated.

Greetings from Lincoln Illinois, where Kenyon and Michelle just GRADUATED. There's a few pictures below (we don't have the pictures with Kenyon's family yet). We'll have some even better ones shortly, but here's a couple from the big day:


Michelle's two brothers, Christopher and Kevin.
Poor Kenyon had to wear a pink tassel.


Yet another picture where we look like sisters...

Both of us felt very honored at graduation. It was noted at graduation that Kenyon would be joining the Marines, so he got a couple hoots and hollers from proud citizens in the audience. Michelle received a bunch of cool academic honors that were mentioned also. We're basically the coolest.

Kevin surprised us by showing up at graduation. He actually graduated from USMC boot camp the day before and spent his first hours of freedom at my graduation. What a brother, huh? The picture below is one from his graduation. We're so bummed we couldn't be there...



My grandmother was a Marine, so she was able to get all dressed up in her blues for the ceremony. How cool.
Kevin will be part of a Marine Corps Band and will be assigned to a general stationed in Okinawa. Even cooler.

We had a great time during the weekend in general. We were able to see family, but more importantly, we were able to hang out with good friends. We hung out on Saturday night and laughed until we cried. It was so fun. We miss them so.

Stay tuned for more graduation pictures. We'll put an album with all the pictures from graduation on our website when I get back to New Hampshire.

Dave's Tribute to Ricky

I know many of you don't know Ricky, and this just won't mean as much to you, but to those of you who do know him, or to those of you who want to know just what it was that we loved so much about him, there is this:

http://richardjnelson.com/

This is our dear friend.

Ricky

With all that is going on in our lives, I fear we only have one thing to share tonight.

Kenyon's best friend, Ricky, was killed in Iraq on Monday.

He is one of the greatest men we will ever meet.

We love Ricky, so much. We miss him, and will never forget him.

How March Rolled on Out...

So, the major excitement of this month was having Kenyon's family come to visit. We were able to do some more of the tourist-y things that we love doing, plus were able to hang out with people we like best. Perhaps the highlight was the Fenway Tour... Tim (Kenyon's dad) was lovin it- it was neat to watch.



Kenyon's family came the week after Easter. Easter in itself was fantastic. It was neat to be a part of such an outreach-centered church on a weekend like Easter. It was tiring, but so rewarding and a wonderful experience for us. Even though, Kenyon had to work on Sunday afternoon. So sad.

We're in the season of making our final decisions right now, but more importantly... IT'S ALMOST TIME FOR GRADUATION! We're finishing up our last classes and counting down days. It's so exciting to have something on paper that says, "hey, I recognize how hard you worked... here's proof it was worth it."

So close. I'm so excited.

As we make our final decisions, we'll keep you in touch. Right now, there's just nothing to tell. We're preparing for a six-month stay in either Illinois (probably Lincoln) or a six-month stay here in Manchester. Kenyon has a job opportunity here, but we are waiting for news about what a job could look like for me here. If that doesn't work out, we will happily be spending time in old familiar places before January. Now, I say January because in May, we are only choosing where to move to for six months. Kenyon leaves for boot camp in October, but is finished in January. Now, January is when Kenyon will be doing his basic training, and I'll be able to live with him then. This all happens in Virginia.

So that's the short version. Again, nothing is set in stone yet, so there isn't much I can say for sure. As soon as we know, we'll fill you in!

Miss you all...

How March Rolled In...

Bonjour mes amies! Some exciting highlights from the last couple weeks:

1. Michelle drove in Boston. And she survived.

2. Chrispy and Sarah visited! It was so good to see them. They stayed with us in Amherst from Saturday to Tuesday. We spent Sunday in Boston doing the aquarium, Hard Rock, some shopping and Quincy Market. After they spent some more time in Boston on Monday, we had a Guitar Hero party that night and a little more time in Boston together on Tuesday for a beautiful trip. What great memories.





2. Michelle had acupuncture. (WEIRD)

3. Kenyon and Michelle received two more successful haircuts.

4. We met a sting ray.

5. We caught up on LOST!

6. >> shift to serious tone >> We have a small group that we really love. We're meeting weekly, but we're also hanging out- as good friends. The group is full of young people - our age - in our place of life - who are wonderful to grow and be stretched with. We're loving it. They will be hard people to leave if we return to Illinois in May. What a blessing.

It's been a neat month. We're finally making some progress on figuring out our futures, and we're able to just get excited about where we are at. We are growing together; we're being stretched in a new place, but we're loving it. We're excited to get settled somewhere, but we're enjoying the ride.

We hope things are well. We're looking forward to being in Illinois for graduation and seeing everyone. A couple more months!

Dad's Visit

So, I'm totally convinced that the weather in the Midwest is worse than it is here. *gloat*

Dad visited this weekend. We did all sorts of fun things:

... like snowshoeing! Super fun. Not quite Little House on the Prairie style, though. I was very sad about that, but content with the experience overall.

Besides... we saw a porcupine den. That's stinkin' awesome.

Oooh, and a beaver pond. A HUGE pond created by a little family of beavers chewing trees. How crazy!

The place really was beautiful. Just a forest reserve, that happens to stretch right behind my house, because we live in the most beautiful place on earth.... New Hampshire.

We spent a lot of time at home, playing some crazy Canadian card game called Kalucki (sp?). Kinda like rummy, more like Phase 10, but truly fantastic and sleep preventative.

After church on Sunday, Kenyon was able to join Dad and I and we all headed to the coast. We loved it. We drove up to New Castle, NH. It's a beautiful little spot up in Northeast New Hampshire where our friends often go collect sea glass. Oh- so much fun.

Pictures from the coast:
>> click on the photo to open a larger photo






And since those pictures were probably much more helpful than all my words, that's probably all I'll say about that.

As far as life in general, there isn't too much to report. Kenyon's up to more like 30-35 hours a week, and is gaining a lot of respect from his co-workers and shift managers. This is of course a super exciting time for him. He's SO GOOD at his job, and people are noticing!

We're still struggling with our "big decisions" that need to be made for the Spring. We're sorting through military options, volunteer options, employment options and SO MANY THINGS. Through it all, we're striving to remember that we are young, and that we have time to do a lot of the things we want to do. We just have to decide what to do first.

I hope all is well. Let us know how you're doing!

A "Squall"

I had to look up the word "squall" today on Wikipedia, because it's one of those words that you read in books... but you're not sure what it is in reality.

In the forecast for tomorrow, the little picture said, "SQUALL."

So, whatever that is, we're having one tomorrow. We live about an hour from the coast, so maybe it's some sea captain term. Either way, it means snow and wind and cold. So I say... just another day in New England...

Not much to report. I've been putting off posting because my report would be so boring. So, here's our boring report:

1. The Fulfords' cat loves Kenyon more than the Fulfords or me. I'm really bitter about the whole thing... he doesn't even like the cat. I crave its attention. Stupid cat.

2. Kenyon, the Fulfords and I are just about finished with season three of Lost. We'll start watching them on TV next week. For the record. Just so you know.

3. I really don't have anything else to say. I just felt like a number three was necessary.

4. Ok, I got one: I was able to speak in the church service last Sunday. It was neat to be given such a unique opportunity to share some insight... and from Deuteronomy no less. (Kenyon's been playing acoustic and running tech stuff... they love him. We're all over the place.)

So... we miss you guys. That's all.

Almost a Month...

So, we haven't had time to tell you specifics about how everything is going... so hopefully I can do some of that tonight.

Kenyon is working at Starbucks. He's finishing up his training this coming week, and after that his hours will be bumped up and he'll be a full-fledged barista. Hopefully, within the month the management will recognize his talent and experience and promote him to shift manager. They've already hinted at this.

I am working hard at the church. I'm in the office Monday through Thursday and get Friday off to be at home. I attend meetings to plan the services and plan the sermons, to plan teaching series and to aid the elders in translation and study. I teach classes on Sunday mornings and Monday nights. I am working on word studies, reading books, helping with the arts and Sunday programming. It's fun. My hand's in everything. I'm learning so much about everything. Love it.

Some random things:

Kenyon's telling me that you all should know that he bought a knife today. Like, a knife. We're proud.

I got my haircut today. I know this sounds small, but in my world, this is huge. Brand new place, brand new stylist, and it turned out ok. Yay.

We have decided to take up watching Lost with the Fulfords. They are huge fans, so we're picking up on all the old episodes as we go. We've watched half a season so far... only two and half more to go by Thursday!

Woot.

Welcomed by the Snow

Bonne journee!

Greetings from New Hampshire, home of the snow storm, the bitter cold, and the live-free-or-die mentality. All is going well; Kenyon spent the week training for his job, I am settled comfortably in at the church, and we're as happy as ever tucked under a roof with the Fulford family.

We endured our first NorEaster (North-Eastern snowstorm) on Monday, when the Fulfords and I were snowed in from work (but worked from home). No tv-watching, snuggling-under-the-covers snow days around here. Since they happen so frequently, everyone's used to working from home. But let's be honest, work is soo different when you're in your pajamas with a kitty curled up on your lap. TOTALLY different. That was Monday for me. Kenyon plowed through the snow later in the day to get to work, though. He's such a champ.

Nothing very different this week to report... just that we're falling in love with this area of the country. People are certainly different here. There is a true spiritual vacuum... it's just not the Bible Belt mentality that we're used to. It's refreshing, almost. It's hard to find a lukewarm Christian here...

We're gearing up for another storm tonight. I need to get to work so I can get home in plenty of time. We miss you all and think about you often. Take care, dear friends!

Long Promised, Much Awaited Post

Finally, I'm making time for an overdue post.

Let me start from the beginning:

After leaving Tennessee, we had a wonderful time in Chicago. We even had time for some touristy things. To the left is Kenyon and I and the "bean" in Millennium Park on Michigan avenue.

On January 1st, we headed out for New Hampshire. In Illinois and Indiana, there was quite a snow storm, so after losing some time the first day, we didn't arrive in NH until late on Wednesday night. We were relieved to be home.

Speaking of home, here is our home:



The main house is the part off to the left, but the chunk of the house over the garage is our special place. See the two small windows between the main house and the space above the garage? That's the hall that connects their bedrooms to our suite. Our suite is LOVELY. A bedroom and storage space and a bathroom... with two sinks! My dream. Behind the two garages on the front of the house, there is a garage around back where Kenyon and I can store a car. The Fulfords take such great care of us.

The Fulford family with whom we are living resides in Amherst, New Hampshire. Wikipedia has a cute little article on it. Christine always talks about how it's similar to the little town on Gilmore Girls. Though Manchester feels more like a Chicago suburb, Amherst is very colonial, with a "common ground," a "meeting house," selectmen who serve instead of a mayor, and family owned businesses instead of big box chains. Quaint and wonderful; refreshing after a fast-paced day in town.

Work is amazing. I officially started at the church on Monday. I'm working at Manchester Christian Church, a wonderful and thriving church truly reaching people in all walks of live in the community. Feel free to check it out here. Manchester reminds me of Bloomington-Normal. All of the businesses and stores that you can think of, a great mall, a Starbucks (where Kenyon works! He starts this coming Monday), and a church that we are taken with.

At the church, I'm able to be involved in so much. I'm on the teaching team, who plans the teaching initiatives and sermon series for the church. I get to help with preliminary research and resources. Love it. I (and Kenyon too) participate in the programming team, also, which plans the artistic and logistical aspects of the Sunday morning services. Kenyon is very involved in these programs. The church even has a cool role for him to be involved in that we've never seen anywhere else. He's going to function as a "producer" for the worship team. Every week, this individual takes the service and nurtures it from creation to fruition. He takes care of the transitions, makes things work with the tech director, and directs things according to the vision and theme laid out by the other teams. SO HIM.

I feel like God formed a special little place in his kingdom with Kenyon's name on it, and then disguised it as my internship, simply to surprise Kenyon with something so wonderful! We're so excited.

Other cool things: WE WERE ABLE TO VOTE IN THE NH PRIMARY! How cool. Here's some pictures from the Obama rally we were able to attend:

Kenyon just reminded me to share that he was able to shake Obama's hand at the rally. We were so close. Cool, huh.

All in all, it's been an exciting week to be here. We are refreshed and excited; ready again to pour into ministry and learn from people of such excellent caliber. We'll try to keep you updated as we get even more settled and involved in different things, both at home and at church. We miss you all, dearly.