Life Update

Family,

Life is good...God is great. As all of you know, the past few months have been a whirlwind. It was just in April that Kristine and I were enjoying an amazing Spring Break in Mexico both excited to be on vacation but stressed about our unknown future. Now were approaching the end of summer and our lives have been flipped upside down...

First the pregnancy. Kristine and the baby are doing great. Kristine can easily feel Madison moving, and recently I have been able to feel her kicking. It's awesome. The only problem is that it seems like whenever Kristine grabs my hand and puts it on her stomach, Madison stops moving and I can't feel it consistently. I guess I have the calming touch. The only problem so far with pregnancy is the back pain she is starting to experience, but I am learning better methods for massages... Giving her the card and letting her go get one professionally! Ha

Second the house. It is amazing to me how many more expenses there is when you own compared to when you buy. Also, how much more work is required to keep up with it. As those of you have been there know, we have a big house. And although we basically hang out in only half of it, we still have to keep up with all of it, including the outside. The recent rain has brought color back to our lawn but that means I have to mow more. All in all we are in love with our house and the extra work and money is worth it. I can't tell you how much we love relaxing on the nice new couch in the basement and chilling. Once football starts, Sunday afternoons are going to be a dream.

Third the jobs. Kristine is back at work at school and assistant coaching. Her team sucks but she cares less about that as the assistant. She is having a great attitude this season about helping out but not feeling the pressure and stress she did last year. She is letting the head coach worry about more. Her new classes are great. She loves teaching and her pregnancy has not been hindering her at all. My team is not great either (currently 1-2 but have a winnable match tonight) but we are getting better. It's frustrating that I have nobody on the team that is like I was in high school. No true leaders nor people that refuse to let themselves and their teammates lose. And of course, I have started at the church. It is great. It is both easy and hard as I have complete freedom but that means I lack direction at times. Things are progressing though I just got my first commitment for an upcoming retreat. MOM AND DAD AND MATT AND COURTNEY, I would love for you to attend a retreat. I can get one scheduled for maybe even a family one. Just let me know. Follow me on Twitter: PreservesAndrew. Also go to preservemarriages.com to find more out about the ministry.

That's all for now. A complete life update. Love you all

Andrew

ODE TO VACATION

Now we are home and the busyness begins. Not only for us but also for you. For a week we were connected by closeness and closeness. Now we are separate by miles. Tell me because I need to know what your good memories are! I love you all!
MOM

From my friend's blog....

I was reading along in my friend's blog this morning, and read this section of his entry. I love this description of the way life is supposed to flow...and of how to connect with God's will for our lives (such a difficult concept!) I was very inspired by what he wrote and really connected with his words. I thought you'd all enjoy them as well!


Life is a funny thing. I believe everything in life was created with a rhythm that it needs to return to. At coffee a friend of mine asked me to explain my concept of God’s will. A huge topic that could take hours to explain, but I only had 1-2 mins, and it had to be simple. My answer was rhythm. I believe God created the world to function within certain rhythms, and the more we live into those, the more satisfied we will be that we are in God’s will. It’s less about particulars and more about living into His larger story. God created us to function a certain way within our vocations, families, the way we eat, the way we vacation, it’s safe to say…everything. The Hebrew people had maybe the best term for this called “Shalom” (Peace, completeness, whole). Christians are called to be people who try to find these rhythms within their lives and live into how God has called us to live. When we are doing so, we will see and hear the beautiful rhythmic beat. When we’re not, and we’re choosing to live into the rhythms we create or create, our ears and eyes will know that our hands are just striking the drum with no rhyme or reason while more chaos ensues.


Love,
Kristi

Brothers

This song came on my ipod today...and it made me think, obviously, of my brothers! I miss you both dearly. If I wrote a dance song about you, this would be it! Enjoy the video (CLICK HERE) and the lyrics.


Brothers, I can take it if I know I'll see my brothers
And just step back when I'm dancing with my brothers..who are dancing with me
Brothers, I would give my life for my brothers
When we're driving and its late with my brothers, they sat next to me

It's a wild love that I have for my brothers, for my brothers

Brothers, I can play 'Xbox' with my brothers
It's not about who won or lost with my brothers
We play to be free!
Brothers, I will drink my fill with my brothers,
And if one of us is ill then my brothers will watch over me

It's a wild love that I have for my brothers, for my brothers

Brothers, when will we be three again my brothers?
The way we used to be again my brothers?
Now I bounce you on my knee again, my brother
We should be together now my brothers
There's three of us and what is more my brothers, my brothers, my brothers

It's a wild love that I have for my brothers, for my brothers


See you guys in about a month!

Love,
Sisti

Updates!

It has been way too long since the last post--so I thought we'd send out an update on what is new with us.

Ryan's new job has been amazing--he loves going to work (or at least doesn't mind it), and has been kicking booty in all sorts of ways. We are continually thankful for this opportunity and very happy that he decided to make that career move.

My job is super busy--we are preparing to move into a new building that is much larger. My program (Partial Hospitalization Program) will be splitting off from our Inpatient unit to develop our own space. We will still be part of the Eating Recovery Center, but will have more freedom to develop on our own. I am excited for the move, but also feeling a little lost about my place in the career world. I really enjoy my co-workers, but there are many times that if I get asked one more time to find someone a pen, I am going to burst! I feel like I have so much to offer, but just not sure how to do that. I'm researching new jobs, although I don't know if that is the answer either. How many times have I come to this exact same place? I wonder if I missed the boat on going back to school or choosing another profession. I wouldn't change anything about where I've been or what I've done, but still....

We are amping up for a very busy summer, beginning with our trip to Michigan in just two weeks for David's wedding. I wish we had more time--I will only be there for about 72 hours! It will be a great wedding and we are looking forward to spending time with his side of the family and celebrating a wonderful couple.

We've got a couple of concerts coming up throughout the summer, a few awesome camping trips planned (some with friends, some just us), lots of visits from family & friends, our 11k race, and of course Ryan's 30th birthday! We are definitely ready for summer.

We recently purchased a little glider that sits on our front porch (Mom & Dad, you will love sitting out there now in the mornings!), and we plan to spend most of our summer nights sitting out there and reading our books, rocking away next to each other.

Well, that is a little update...we miss you all and are counting the weeks until we all are together! Also, we just downloaded Skype on our computer, so we'd like to start doing some video chats with you guys (especially with Gid & Judah & Kristine's belly!)

Love you all! Give us some updates!

Kristi & Ryan

NCAA TOURNEY WRAP-UP

Well for the first time that I can remember we had no one score any points in the final four. Maddening! So as I announced before, the winner is Kristi!!!!! A first time winner, I believe, but at least she is a Hoosier. For the final standings see the last blog because nothing changed, nor did my comments. I personally had a great time this year with all the uncertainty and upsets and I also had a good time poking fun at all your stupid picks! Unfortunately my were even worse! I at least beat Matt who out thought himself again (best player never to win the family pool yet) and our defending champ Kristine who choked on her own saliva and did not do such a good job in backing up last years performance. I guess we will see if Kristi can do any better next year and become a repeat champ like, that's right you guessed it, her DAD. I am sure if you want to start filling out your brackets for next year speak to trash talking Andrew (I thought you were supposed to win if you trash talked), because he is already working on his. What a knucklehead!
I do hope that,now that the fun is all over, we will all continue to share with each other our lives and what is going on in them. I do value your prayer concerns and how I can pray for each of you. I love you all and thank you for letting an old man ramble on. Have a great rest of the week. Pray for mom and I as we finish up the "Hole in the Gospel" this weekend and how God wants us to respond. I will be interested in your thoughts as you read it as well. One closing thought-
"if you think you are to small to make a difference, try spending the night in a closed room with a mosquito"

DAD

Done and done! The tournament is over will our blogs be done? I love looking forward to comments and stories! I love you all and look forward to hearing about your everyday life. What spoke to you today? Your dad and I went without shoes (barefoot) to highlight world poverty. This day coincided with what Toms shoes had planned. I made signs for your dad's office talking about poverty facts and why he was doing this. As today dawned I wondered how I could have an impact. I wanted to get groceries, but knew that they would not allow me in, oh, well I'll get them tomorrow with shoes. I wanted to meet a friend for coffee, not without shoes, they would not let me in, oh well, I will do it Thursday. Then I decided to exercise without shoes. I normally walk for at least an hour. I go at least at 4.2 to 4.3 mph. I managed 1 mile at 4.2. The rest of the hour were at 3.5 then 3.0. I have HUGE blisters on my feet and could not move very well. What about the people that never have shoes. I know that their feet become hardened, but do their hearts as well? How are you helping those without shoes or Christ? I ordered two pairs of TOMS. One for one. You can see about the Day Without Shoes, April 5, 2011 on their web site. I know that we are responsible for those less fortunate. Challenge: What are you doing?