Kitchen Progress

My kitchen is slowly but surely being redone. I decided to put up a new backsplash today. I was certain I liked it at the store several months ago, and even brought a sample home to double check. But, now that its finished, I'm not so sure. Although, maybe once I get my cabinets painted tomorrow, it won't look so bad. It's very coppery though. Anways...enjoy the pics. Hopefully by this time next week I'll have a finished kitchen to show off.

And They're Off...

...to Zambia! Matt's team left this morning at 7am for Africa. What a fun experience! The last few days have been crazy, getting him ready to go. But, when he left today, he looked excited and very much ready to lead the trip. Two adults and 13 students - what a crazy time! They will be gone for two weeks, working and teaching in Zambia. Pray for them. It will be an exhausting experience - but definitely something they will never forget.

In the meantime, I'm home. I have LOTS of plans while Matt's gone. Including, getting the kitchen cabinets paitned (some of you are saying "FINALLY!"), installing new counter tops, going to a wedding out of town, cleaning, lots of laundry - and I suppose a little shopping. Hehe.

Anybody want to come for a visit? Now would be a great time - besides, I could use some help painting.

Wild Wild Weekend

What a weekend I had! I just returned from Tennessee, visiting college friends that just had their baby. What fun! Not only did I get to spend 24 hours in a car with my college roomy, but we also were able to love on the most adorable baby I have seen in a long time. Miles Murphy Cope is yummy! We spent a few days enjoying 80 degree weather near the Smoky Mountains. And now, I'm back in Michigan, preparing for my husband to go to Zambia. It'll be a lonely couple of weeks, but very prosperous. I plan to do a lot of things that have gotten pushed to the side while playing the role of wife. Should be a grand ole' time!

Let's see...

Right now our life is filled with studying, packing, emailing, calling, arranging, preparing, worrying, laughing and MUCH MORE!

Matt leaves for Zambia next week, I'm going to Tennessee this weekend...are we crazy you ask? Probably.

And that's all we have to update you on for right now.

Oh and here's a picture of the Zambia Team t-shirt that Matt and I designed. Enjoy!

Zambia in 2 weeks

As every other teacher in the world is preparing for a relaxing week off during Spring Break, my husband is preparing to board a jet plane with 10 high school students and one other teacher to Zambia, Africa! He is really stoked about going, although the stresses of planning a trip like this can sometimes cloud the excitement - especially in the few days before the trip takes place. So, needless to say, his joy is accompanied with thoughts of responsibility. Pray for him?

Also, I'll be staying home alone during those 2 weeks. I'm planning to FINALLY finish painting my kitchen cabinets and hopefully surprise Matt with a finished kitchen when he returns. I may even venture out and get new counter tops installed...but SHHH that's between us. (He never reads this blog.)

Well, hope everyone is enjoying life. Cheer up - warmer weather is on its way!

Home and Sleepy

We're back from California and what a time we had! It was very refreshing for both Matt and I - even though I was technically there for work. Though the weather wasn't as warm as we would have liked, it was still a lot better than snow in Michigan. 60 degrees and a little breezy. The beach was gorgeous. I spent most of the week in meetings, but had a lot of time to relax. On Friday, Matt and I drove down the coastline, through Malibu and into Santa Monica. We spent much of the day in Santa Monica, on the pier and shopping near Santa Monica Blvd. It was really fun. So, now we're back to reality and 4 hours behind schedule. We're hoping to be caught up on our sleep by tomorrow. We'll see.

California - HERE WE COME

So, I'm going to our annual marketing conference in sunny Mandalay Beach, California and Matt is coming with me. Should be a good time away from the cold weather. Hopfeully I will learn a lot from our marketing company - and Matt will have some time to catch up on pleasure reading and sleep! Fun, fun - we've never been to Cali.

Puddle Yuck

The snow has been melting slowly but surely this week, creating a slushy, dirty snow on the streets. Our driveway in particular has a big, muddy, icey puddle at the bottom of it. Well, Matt parked my car on the street today before he left for work. As I walked down the drive with my keys and coffee in one hand, and my purse in the other, I debated..."How am I going to cross this puddle to get to my car?" Each driveway on our street is in the same condition and the snow is piled up a few feet high on either side of the drives. So - I thought I should jump over the puddle, safely onto the street. As I made my way, it seemed very logical. Finally, I took the leap, landed on the other side...but I slipped on the ice and fell straight back into the puddle of muddy water, on my bum. As you're laughing (very hard) please know that I didn't get hurt (I'm sure you're relieved). Although, my pride was crushed. I stood up and thought "Man, now I have to go change my clothes!" But how was I going to get across the puddle again? I sat my wet, dirty, cold self down in my car, drove up the drive, and walked very calmly and cooly inside to change my clothes. I'm not sure if anyone saw me fall, but if so, they had a good laugh about it - and probably still are. Yuck!

P.S. - When I got to work, I realize that the majority of the puddle water landed in my purse. So, I spent the first 15 minutes at the office, cleaning muddy ice water out of the crevices of my wallet. Another, Yuck!

New Lights

Any of you that live in an older home understand the ancient lighting fixtures that come with the purchase. We've lived with our "vintage" lighting for several months now, but are ready for a change. Several weeks ago, when we went to IKEA, we purchased new lighting for several of the main rooms. So, finally, today we have a guy coming over to install them! The only downside is that each fixture takes a 40 watt e-12 bulb - rare. So, we'll have to go stock up. We're excited. Pictures to come.

This crazy life...

What a busy week. It seems like each day we get up, go to work, work really hard all day, and come home feeling like we accomplished nothing. Ever have those days? Well, needless to say, we're looking forward to the weekend. Any Saturday that doesn't have something planned results in a loud "HIP HOORAY" from our home! All week long we look forward to "sleeping in" - for many of you like us that only means that we get up at the same time (7am) but stay in our jammies until 10am. For some reason that feels like sleeping in. One more day left to this crazy work week and the short time of relaxation begins. I hope you're looking forward to it as much as we are.

Seussical the Musical

CSH held their second annual musical last night and it was PHENOMENAL! Matt and I were blown away by the performances of the students. The big "AHA!" moment of the year was when the Sour Karangroo (my sister Leah) entered center stage and sang a seusiccal version of Aretha Franklin's "Respect" - what a shocker! Who knew she could sing and perform like that? My other sister Sarah was one of the back up singers (she's in the middle in orange). The costumes were phenomenal, the performances were hilarious and we couldn't have been prouder of our students than we were last night. It was a fun evening. Enjoy the pictures.

Bloggers Block

Hm...so it's been a pretty standard week, nothing interesting going on...so I don't have much to write. Hopefully something eventful will happen.

Back from Ikea

Our trip to Chicago was a blast and well worth it! We had a great time going back to Moody to hear Allister Begg speak. Then we were off to Ikea in Shaumburg. We had way too much fun, if you know what I mean. :) I secured a cool chalkboard for our kitchen (only $15) and a rug for our kitchen (only $6) and best yet, we got lighting fixtures for 4 rooms (only $65!). Knowing that we would have spent double that in town made us feel justified with what we bought. It was a lot of fun - makes me glad that Ikea is so far away, so we can still enjoy it as a commodity!

Good Dog - Bad Mom

As you've probably read, we're heading out to Chicago tonight for a conference and then to shop at IKEA tomorrow. In all the excitement, I didn't even consider how Booga was going to be taken care of! I'm such a bad mom. So, after many phone calls, we decided to board her at the kennel. It's only $14 a night and they take really good care of her. Well, little did I know that Booga wasn't up to date on her shots. So, not only do we have to spend money to board her there, but we also have to pay $80 for her updated shots. This fun weekend is slowly costing us more money than we had planned on! It would have been cheaper for us to pay someone else to watch her. Oh well...the pangs of being a "parent."

Back to School...Ikea in 3 days!

Schools are open today and Matt is happy to be back to school. I think he was getting major cabin fever. AND, this Friday, we're headed back to Chicago to Founder's Week at Moody. We plan to hear Allister Begg speak on Friday night, then head to IKEA on Saturday. If you don't know what Ikea is, shame on you! It's only the best place to shop for household goods without breaking the bank. I'm super stoked about going.

New Baby

Our really good friends from college, Aaron and Emily, just had their first baby! Miles Murphy Cope was born earlier this week. Isn't he absolutely beautiful? For those of you that know them from Moody, click here to see more of their pics.

2 Down - How Many More to Go?

Thanks to our trusty snow blizzard - Matt has had two days off school in a row. Yesterday, because the snow created treacherous driving conditions and today, because the wind chill is extremely LOW! I think they said the policy on cancelling due to wind chill was if it was -10 degrees or lower. So, it has to be at least -10 degrees outside. Isn't that crazy!

Needless to say, rescue missions all over the country still need to operate, rain or shine. We're kind of like the post office. Just because there's bad weather, doesn't mean we can close our doors on the homeless. I'm at work.

Still Snowed In

Day two of the blizzard and we're still snowed in. The windgusts and freezing temperatures create a very likely temptation to stay in forever. The official temperature this morning was 0 degrees. Yikes! Churches all over the area are cancelled and several shopping malls. The movie theaters even closed last night. Thanks to my brand new trusty winter boots - I'll be shoveling the drive in a few minutes. And regardless of how bad the snow gets, we'll be making the short, 10 block trek to the Littlepages to watch the Super Bowl. GO COLTS! (Rah) GO BEARS! (Matt)

BLIZZARD!

Holland is undergoing its first blizzard in 4 years and we're smack dab in the middle of it. We've been snowed in since this morning. I went out to shovel the driveway earlier. I'm not sure I even made a dent in the snow. We had drifts up to 3 feet and I think we're supposed to get another 8 inches tonight!

Matt and I ventured out earlier to get a few groceries (and snow boots - neither of us owned any!). The roads were fine on the way there, but on the way back we almost got killed. This woman pulled out in front of us - but Matt did a great job pumping the breaks without fish tailing. I think I'm more scared of the other people on the roads than I am driving on them.

My high school friend, Robin, is getting married in less than a half hour and there's no way we're going to be able to make it to the wedding. I feel so bad. But, at least she'll have a great story to tell about her wedding day.

Pray that we don't kill each other over the weekend. Matt's getting a little stir crazy! Enjoy the pictures - knowing you're not here!

My Old New Chair

Many of you know that I am famous for recovering my old chair using $6 fabric and a hot glue gun. Well, she's done it again - to the same chair. When we moved into our house in Michigan, the chair no longer matched the decor. SO - I bought fabric from an outlet store for $1.75 and used my hot glue gun once again to recover the chair. Here's the finished product and I'm quite proud of myself. At this rate, I'll NEVER have to use a sewing machine. *Note - I must credit our good friends Lee & Candace Nordine for the idea in the first place. They did this to an old chair that was Matt's parents', which then gave me the idea to do it to ours.

Busy Weekend

This weekend has been the busiest we've had since moving here. Friday was homecoming for our students. Sarah and Leah (my sisters) are seniors, so this was their big year to walk the homecoming court. We don't have football at Calvary, so the homecoming court happens between the JV and Varsity basketball games. I did Sarah and Leah's hair and makeup for the big occasion. It was an all afternoon event, but a lot of fun.

The high school votes for King and Queen, between the senior class. Sarah was crowned Queen and Paul Hontz was crowned King.

I wondered if there might be some animocity between the sisers (since they're twins), despite the looks of this picture, everything was fine! :)
Then - Saturday was a huge cleaning day, because we had students over last night to paint...

Kitchen Update & More

So, I've been asked a couple of time how the kitchen turned out. Well, the truth is, we have our new appliances in, but I've been totally UNmotivated to finish putting the cabinetry up and paint it. So, now new pictures yet. Sorry folks.

Another reason why I haven't been motivated to do work around the house is because Matt and I have started doing ebay. No, we're not hoping that make that second income in the future (way too much work/pressure), but we do enjoy buying things and then selling them for much more!

On another note...the snow continues to fall here in Michigan. We were blessed with a very mild winter, until January hit. Now Matt truly understands what I mean when I ask him if he's ready for the "Michigan Winter." He's always colder than everyone else :) hehe...and I tell him "It's really not that cold yet."

Small groups officially started at our church this month and we're really enoying it! We meet with a multi-generational group - which we love! We're studying Galatians right now and rejoicing in the truth that we are truly FREE from sin, through the work of Christ on the cross. Isn't is such a blessing to know that we don't have to work for our salvation - but that its already finished? I find such peace in knowing and trusting in Christ as my Savior. I'm reminded each day that my good works are filthy rags - and I am only saved by Christ's righteousness. Thank you for the cross, Lord!

Kitchen Remodel

Leave it to us - we've only lived here for 6 months and we're already re-doing something. About two months ago, we got appliances given to us - a dishwasher, over the cooktop microwave and range - all white. This week we're having the appliance installed and Saturday I'm painting our wooden cabinets white. Matt's been studying a lot in the evenings, so I thought while it's cold outside, I might as well put myself to good use. So, this time next week, you'll be seeing a brand new kitchen. In the meantime, this is a reminder of what the old kitchen looks like...

It's Over Already?

I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone! Matt and I spent a wonderful 5 days in Kentucky with family and friends. It was fun to stay with his family and celebrate Christmas the Neal way - it's the first Christmas in my life that I haven't been with my family! I really enjoyed watching Daisha and Jamal open their gifts too. We were able to go to our old church on Christmas Eve. It definitely felt weird to be a "visitor" at what we still consider to be our church. They recently opened a new portion of the building, which was amazing! All in all, our trip to Kentucky was refreshing. And we promise it won't be 5 months before we visit again!

We celebrated Christmas in Michigan with my family last night. We opened presents at 5pm and then headed to Muskegon for a Fury hockey game. Going to the Muskegon Fury has become a Christmas tradition for our family. It's always a lot of fun - mostly watching Matt make a goof of himself. We love to watch the fighting (shh...don't tell dad) and the people that attend the event are also quite amusing. I didn't realize hockey was such a "hick" thing!

Enjoy the pictures!

Painting at the Neals

We had the great privilege of having three senior girls over last night to PAINT - Matt's favorite pass time.

It was Emily and Sarah's first time painting and they did a fantastic job!

Hannah on the other hand is an experienced oil painter and experimented with acryllics last night.

As you can see, it was a lot of fun!

Students Raise $1500, Teacher Shaves Head

You know the saying - "Put your money where your mouth is?" Well, you could say that Matt put his head where the money is. The Senior Class at Calvary raised $1500 through their phone-a-thon - and the reward was shaving Mr. Neal's head. Most of you know that Matt was already half way there, so it isn't too big a change.

Never Ending

School, volleybally practice, play practice, school fundraiser, quick homework, bed, school...Does anyone remember their life being this busy in high school? I mean, I guess I ran around non-stop, but I must have blocked it from my memory - because I am shocked at our busy my sisters are. I'm not sure how they do it?

Day three with the sisters

This is just a glimpse of day three with the sisters. My normally organized and neatly arranged guest room has turned into a teen sheol quite rapidly. BUT - this is not to say we're not enjoying them. Because we are. They're lively, extremely busy and way too much like me when I was 17. God help them!

Christmas Recipes

Molasses Sugar Cookie Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 3/4 cup shortening in a sauce pan over low heat. Remove from heat, let cool. Add 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup molasses and 1 egg. Beat well. Sift 2 cups flour, 2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. ground cloves, 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. salt. Add wet ingredients to dry. Chill and form into 2" balls. Roll in sugar, press down slightly onto cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Cool on pan for 1 minutes and transfer to wire rack to cool entirely.

If you bake them a little longer and allow them to sit out on a plate, they get crispy and are great with coffee!

Parenting the Sisters

We took my parents to the airport yesterday and soon inherited 2 seventeen year olds! How is it that you go from no kids (well, except for Booga and Bwana) to twins teenagers? Seems like a lot of responsibility. But, we're excited to have them around for 10 days. Now, read in my blog then and we'll see what it was really like!

Another Free Day

Matt had a beautiful day off today - a snow day! We got the news a little late, but as they say "better late than never." Too bad the corporate world doesn't have "snow days." I'm only two blocks from work, so I drove in without a problem. And Matt had the chance to study and clean for me! Nice.

BUSY BUSY CHRISTMAS

This week has been my first real taste of the "busyness" of the season - and it smacked me dead in the face! Holiday parties, house guests, Christmas concerts, heavy workload, phone calls, emails, Christmas cards...and more. So, for once, blogging isn't a chore, it's a break. A very nice, much needed time to sit down, take a deep breath and release.

Lots of Snow!

Holy Cow the snow is coming down here! The wind is gusting (is that a word?) and the snow is dropping. I would assume we'll get somewhere between 5-6" today. We had a pretty big storm on Friday too.

You know, living in Michigan, the snow comes and then the cars drive on it and it turns this ugly gray color, kind of like Chicago. So you're almost happy when it snows again - because then it looks a nice white and pretty, instead of muddy fluff on the side of the road.

Home with the Flu

Matt was home from school yesterday with the flu. So, I got to teach one of his classes. It was a nice sneak peek into his world. I felt great yesterday, until last night. That's when I was defeated by the flu. I'm home sick from work today. Thanks heavens we got our internet installed yesterday - and wireless at that. I'm able to monitor my emails at work and still lay on the couch sick. Isn't technology wonderful?

A Whole New World

The Neals have entered a new world - we have internet at home! How have we survived this long without it? Well, it's possible believe it or not. But, with Matt teaching now, he uses so many online resources, not to mention access to email. And now I can update my blog more regularly.

Family Christmas Photo

As promised, here is our family Christmas photo! Oh and a few more of the kids. :) Enjoy!

Christmas In KENTUCKY

We're coming home for Christmas! I'm so excited I can't hardly stand it. We'll be in town December 23-27th. Matt and I are hoping to hang out with friends on the evening of the 26th. So - if you're available that night, email us to find out where and when we're getting together! We hope to see all of you!

*Neal Family Christmas Picture...coming soon!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year - but different. Matt and I usually spend the holiday with his family, instead we spent it with mine. We had the traditional meal at my parents' - and of course we ate way too much! Then Matt and I got up early on Friday to shop! We spent the whole day together, chasing down deals and snagging a few. It was nice to have a study free day - spending quality time together.

ALMOST Thanksgiving

Happy Almost Thanksgiving! Matt and I are spending the holiday with my family this year. I love Thanksgiving - food, family, SHOPPING (the day after)! This year I'm making two pecan pies and a huge veggie tray. YUUUUUUMMY!

My brother got engaged a few weeks back - exciting! So, we're spending our first Thanksgiving with he and his fiance. I think it'll be a fun time for all.

What are you all doing for Thanksgiving?

Making the Switch

So, I upgraded to the new Beta Blogger. Whatever that means. Hopefully it doesn't screw up my blog site. I hardly know what I'm doing on this thing now...let alone making some huge technological switch. Oh well.

Life in Michigan is getting COLDER. It's been in the 30's all week. I keep secretly hoping it's going to get warmer, but then reality sets in and I realize I live in one of the coldest states in the Continental US. I just wish it would snow - then there'd be a reason for the cold.

Last Game

Yesterday was Sarah and Leah's last home game of the season - and by winning, they share the conference title for the Alliance League. They graduate this year, so it was an emotional time for everyone! The newspaper ran a story in today's paper. Click here to read it!

Their team will go to Districts next week and most likely will play for the finals on Friday night. It's a very exciting time for them. And I LOVE being here for it!

*The cookie says "Sarah & Leah, Congrats on a Great Season!"

PISTONS' GAME

History was made on Saturday. My sisters played basketball at the Palace of Auburn Hills - where the Detroit Pistons play! It was awesome! They beat the team (Algoma Christian) 58-18 and Sarah and Leah scored 30 of the 58 points. With 3 minutes left in the game, Coach Stayton told the girls she wanted them to play their hearts out - this was in fact there last 3 minutes to play at the Palace. She also said she wanted to see an NBA 3-point before the game was over. So, Sarah went in and scored TWO NBA-3 pointers before the game was over! Leah played as a scrapper the whole game - stealing the ball left and right. It was awesome to watch them play. What a cool experience during their Senior year of basketball! Any scouters out there?

POOR KITTY

My poor kitty! I picked him up from the vet this morning and he was sooooo grumpy. The lady barely gave me any instructions...she just said read this sheet, but I was late to work, so I didn't have time. She did say not to let him run around or jump on anything. How am I supposed to do that when he's home by himself all day - and he's a cat. That's what cats do! Well, the minute we got home he ran away from me and ripped open his left paw! It was bleeding all over my wood floors. So I quickly picked him up and nursed him. I resorted to locking him in the bathroom with a warm towel, his litter box, some food and water. I went home at lunch to check on him and he was so pathetic. He couldn't even walk straight. Needless to say, I'm going to baby him tonight. Poor kitty!

NO KITTIES/NO CLAWS

Bwana got neutered and declawed today. I was so sad to leave him at the Vet all by himself. He's never been to the Vet - heck, he barely even leaves the house! He sat on the armrest between the two front seats while I drove. Poor guy...he loved the car ride and the whole time all I could think about was the fact that he had no idea what was about to happen to him. His manhood being taken away...his only defense system. Hm...Am I overreacting?

Joining the Church

Matt and I officially became members at Calvary Baptist Church of Holland, Michigan! Well, I think I had become a member two or three times before, but this was his first. Here's our official membership picture.

We are really excited about God's work at Calvary. We will be signing up for a small group come November and can't wait to dive in!

SNOW ALREADY?

Ok, so I'm a little late on this news...because it happened last Thursday, but SNOW! ALREADY? Yeah, it snowed a little bit in Michigan last week. The happy summer/fall time is slowly fading away...and now we're on to the real reason Michigan exists - to TORTURE it's inhabitants with mounds and mounds of snow! Maybe it's not that bad...but the first snow always seems so horrific!

Kids at the Neals

We had 16 high schoolers in our living room last night! Boy are we glad we have a larger house than in Kentucky. Matt and I went to the girls' basketball game and then invited everyone over to our house. We thought it would be a good chance for us to start interacting with the kids ouside of the school setting. It was a lot of fun. We played "Apples to Apples" which was nothing less than chaotic. 16 different conversations, yelling, oh and trying to play an organized game! 11:50pm didn't come soon enough. Mr. Neal retreated to bed around 11:00pm. I was left to entertain and clean once everyone left. Popcorn ground into my area rug...popsicle wrappers littering the floor, empty plastic cups with remnants of Mt. Dew in them? Amazingly it only took me a concentrated 15 minutes to get my home back in order. Needless to say...it was worth it. We both woke up this morning feeling refreshed and good about what had occrred the night before. We could have never imagind that this is what God would have for us. But here we are...and we're loving it!

Back to College?

Matt has been studying quite a bit for his job as Bible teacher. He said this morning, "I feel like I'm getting my Masters in Bible Theology!" Studying is a regular part of our life. I'm typing this blog from September Woods coffee shop on the north side of Holland. They have a wonderful Christian setting and wonderful coffee. White Heather blended to be exact. Reminds us of college.

NEW POST...YEAH!

Ok, so I heard through the grapevine of comments that I needed a new post! (JEN) So here I am writing about our exciting life in Michigan. Actually, I'm having a blast here. Went to my sis's b-ball game last night. They played awesome, even though they lost by 7. They are a small private school and played a class C public school and gave them a real run for their money. But, I must tell you that Mr. Neal's wife is now known as the "screamer." I didn't realize how loud I was at the game. But I get so passionate! It's like life or death out there. I usually sit on the front row and scream at the girls, at the other team, at the refs...etc. And quite often I'm exhausted the next day - like today. I think I could have run a marathon and not felt this tired! :)

Back from Southeast Asia...On to TEACHING!

We arrived home from Southeast Asia on August 20th and hit the ground running on the 21st. Matt started work during those weeks, preparing for his classes and meeting LOTS of new people. And today is his FIRST DAY OF CLASSES! He just called during his break to say "so far so good." I'll get the real story tonight. I'm treating him to a dinner out - mostly so he can get his mind off the first day jitters - and secondly because we need a date!

Also a busy labor day weekend for us...Matt's parents were in town with their two foster kids (Daisha and Jamal) and his sister's family of four. Busy, but lots of fun.

If you get a chance, feel free to email or call us. I'm sure Matt would love some encouragement during his first week.

HOT HOT HOT!

It's is so hot here! The temps have been up in the 90's, but the heat index is over 100 degrees. Matt and I have been staying the nights over at my parents' house (left). (We're getting our AC installed on Monday.) They are in Phoenix for the week, so we have free reign. Each day we go to our house after work to get clothes and are dripping wet by the time we leave. Thank God for parents with AC! Matt started work this week and is already overwhelmed by the amount of preparation he needs to do before school starts. I guess as a first time teacher, that can be pretty intimidating. But he seems to be taking it in stride. He's excited to continue studying the curriculum. He'll hit the ground running when we get back from Malaysia. I'm also enjoying my job. This is my first full week and I've already started quite a few projects. My first priority has been designing an invitation and corresponding documents for our Annual Banquet in October. It's been a lot of fun. I've also been slowly updating the website. Most importantly, the job keeps me busy - which I like. We leave for KY on Monday the 7th and then fly out to Malaysia on the 9th. Be praying for us! We'll return on the 20th and Matt leaves the next morning for a teacher's retreat. He's going to be exhausted and has to give a devotional. Pray that God gives him the strength (adrenaline) to make it through!

And yes, this is our "ketchup and mustard" bathroom. Fortunately, I was able to find a shower curtain that matched perfectly. I don't hate it...but we might try to work with it later on. For those of you that know us...we did so much work on our last house, that we're protesting paint, caulk, flooring, etc. for a long, long time. Hope you enjoy these pictures. Life is going well with us. We're exploring Holland and the surrounding area. We're going to our family cottage tonight for a quick "break" from life. It'll be nice to get away for a day or so. We miss you all and hope that things are well in our "old Kentucky home"!

Our kitchen. It'll do for now - but eventually we will be painting the cabinets white and possibly the rest of the kitchen red. It's definitely bigger than our last kitchen.

Master Bedroom.

Our Living Room.

Well, I'm having problems posting the rest of the pictures right now, so I'll try later. At least you can enjoy the picture of the dining room!

Yeah! We're finally in our new house in Michigan. It was a long and exhausting move...but with lots of help from friends and family, we're finally settled in. I have attached a few pictures of the new home. A big thanks to LEE & CANDACE NORDINE who not only drove all the way to Holland with us, but also helped us hang curtains and move furniture all weekend. We couldn't have asked for better friends. Enjoy the pics.

Our new house! We're busy packing our KY house right now. It's so much work. We finally had to take a break and decided to check mail at the library. Our official move date is Friday and we're starting to get really excited! We have friends from KY that are driving up with us to help us make the 6 hour trip. Isn't that awesome!? Well, as we have time, we'll keep you posted!

I know I don't get to write much on here, mostly because we don't have the internet at home and my only time to update the blog is when I have some down time at work. This is my last week at work and I’m training my replacement, so I have a little down time today.

A new development in our move is that I got a job at the Holland Rescue Mission as their Development Assistant (www.hollandrescue.org), which is only a few blocks from the house we purchased! It's quite a bit like my current job, but with more of a PR focus, which I like. I will be doing all of their events and fundraisers, plus dealing with the media.

I must say that God has been very good to us over the past few months. We have seen his hand working in every step we’ve taken towards this move. It’s not been easy by any means…But, we know that he is faithful in providing for our every need.