I got to experience so many different places with so many different people.

At the beginning of summer Kyle and I traveled to Oregon to visit our good friends from college Nate and Erin Kascel. It was SO fun. There are very few things that compare to spending good, quality time with such good friends. The visit there was good for my soul. There is nothing like friends who connect on a deep level, friends that just get you. That is how Nate and Erin are with us. I love them so much and wished they lived closer. If you want to join me in prayer that they move to New Albany with us, feel free to do so!

After Oregon we were home for a couple of weeks and then I headed to CIY. CIY is a week long conference for high school students. I was blessed to be a leader on this trip. Along with good friends, I love high school students. I love watching them and being apart of their journey when they start to hold onto the truths of Jesus and start living for HIM. This week was filled with good conversations, lots of memories, many laughs and a many, many cups of coffee. It was great!

After CIY we headed to Kentucky to celebrate the 4th of July. We went to the North American also. It was my first time and it was very eventful. Ask Kyle for more details!

When I returned from CIY the next week Kyle went to 4th and 5th grade camp. I was able to go for a couple of hours and it was great. The camp was amazing, the staff was awesome, and the leaders were so, so good. Kyle has so many funny, awesome stories from camp. There were students that week who decided to get baptized and start their journey in following Christ. I love that Kyle got to be apart of that.

After camp I went to HAITI. It was wonderful. God is so good and Haiti is so beautiful. I went with 20 high school students and 4 other adults. I was blessed by Haiti, by the students and by the other leaders. I was the team leader so there were new challenges and lots of new things learned. Haiti has my heart and I am already excited to go back. (Kyle will be going in October)

Now I am transitioning into school mode BUT summer isn’t over! Our sweet, sweet friends Matt and Joy are coming in 11 days! I can’t wait to see them! It is going to be so great. You can also join me in prayer for them to move to New Albany with us! Then a few girls from Eastview are coming. Also can’t wait for that!

God has blessed us and is still blessing us. We are so grateful for HIM and who HE is. Summer has been awesome and I’m thankful it isn’t over yet.

On Sunday night Kyle and I went to a Bed and Breakfast. It was SO awesome. Going to a Bed and Breakfast had been a dream of mine since we have gotten married and our one year anniversary was the perfect occasion. We stayed at The Columbine in Old Louisville. I really felt like we went on a vacation even though we just went across the river. I loved it.

On Monday Kyle and I did nothing at all. It was so nice. He took the day off work and since I didn’t have school we didn’t have anything to do. We just watched tv, hung out and took naps. It was really a great day and a perfect way to celebrate our first year of marriage.

Tuesday I also didn’t have class so after work I came home, started working on a paper and took a nap. It was AWESOME. I loved taking a nap.

Today ends my spring break. I have my internship Wednesday and Thursday and I have work on Friday but then we have a fun weekend planned.

School is hard and so stressful. It is so much harder than I ever imagined so I was so thankful for a break. I am close to being done for the summer.

6 weeks of Monday classes

5 weeks of Tuesday classes/internship.

Summer is going to be so SWEET! I can’t wait.

March 5th: My 23rd Birthday

March 13: Wedding

March 20th: Move to New Albany

Now a year later I think I realized how many different things all happened in one month. At that time our life was moving so fast I don’t think I really had time to reflection on and think about all of the changes that were happening, but now a year later I’m thinking a lot about these things. It’s crazy how fast a year goes.

I just had my 24th birthday (It was Dora themed thanks to my nephew, who is two, since he threw it for me). Next week we are celebrating our first year of marriage! Sometimes I think it’s been way longer and sometimes way shorter.

Throughout the past year a lot of things have changed but one thing remains the same: God is faithful.

It’s incredible to see how God has worked in the past year and how far I’ve come in the past year. I’m so thankful for God who remains faithful throughout everything else.

I do feel a little left out because I didn’t get a snow day today or tomorrow but I think it is worth it. I’d rather have school than have snow on the ground for the next weeks so I’ll take my 45 degree evening.

For you all who have the snow/ice, please be safe! We have a ton of milk, bread and eggs so come down and borrow some if needed.

We are rockin in 2011 in big ways (okay well really we are doing the same things we were doing before 2011). School is back in session. The winter break was amazing, relaxing and a lot of fun. Our best friends got married so we were able to travel back to IL for that weekend. The wedding was BEAUTIFUL and it was so great to see so many friends from Lincoln. Whenever we are all back together I realize how different our lives are because we went to Lincoln. I am so thankful for my time there and for the friendships we built while were were there.

We also traveled to Indy for Christmas day and then the week after went to Danville and Cincinnati. All the trips were a lot of fun and we got to see our family that we miss so much.

In between traveling Kyle and I got to spend a lot of time together, which was so great. Since I have started school time is such an important part of my life because there is always homework to be done, classes to attend, lattes to be made and e-mails/phones calls/interviews to be answered and conducted at Big Brothers Big Sisters. So over break it was refreshing to sit with Kyle, do nothing and not have to worry about what time it was or what I needed to get done. I realized how thankful I am for him. If it wasn’t for him I don’t think I would be able to go back to school.

Now break is over and we’re getting into the swing of things. Homework is so hard to get back into but slowly it’s happening. Kyle is assisting coach for sixth grade boys basketball at Silvercreek Middle School. They won their first game last week! He loves it.

We’ve been married almost a year, which seems crazy. We still love it so that’s good.

School is good and hard at the same time. It’s way different than undergrad. There are about 5-6 assignments for each class, all are papers expect for a group project. I like it and am learning a lot. I LOVE my internship at Big Brothers Big Sister. The whole program is awesome and it is a way bigger organization than I ever thought it was. Check it out  Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana. I am getting to do a lot of things I enjoy.

I work at Coffee Crossing now! It’s a local coffee shop right by the church where Kyle works at. I LOVE it so much. They work so well with my school and internship schedule, it couldn’t be any better. Here’s the website for them Coffee Crossing.

Kyle and I are good. We are loving New Albany. Life here seems to be normal now, like I don’t remember not living here. Last week we talked at The Rising (the high school service for Northside) about marriage and sex. It was quite the night and a lot of fun.

Maybe we’ll write again soon…

We flew into Haiti on the 15th. We landed and Port Au Prince and then got on a bus for 9 hours! The milage was only 145 miles but it took us 9 hours! The roads in Haiti are nothing like ours. One of the greatest things about Haiti is when there is a river in the way, there’s no bridge, we would just drive right through it! It was sweet.

We stayed with Northwest Haiti Christian Mission in Port de Paix and did some work on their new campus. Then we went to Chansolme, which the Rising has developed a partnership. We did some VBS, Teen Night, Single Moms outreach and played with a TON of kids. It was great. That is where we showered in the water hole.

After Chansolme we went back to Port de Paix to regroup, shower and repack our bags. Then we heading to the orphanage. It was really tough to be there, sooo many kids with so little to do and so little shade! We were going to build bunk beds but often in Haiti things don’t go as planned so half of the wood wasn’t there and it got there after we left! We had enough supplies to build one bed.

After the orphanage we headed the bay, which was relaxing and got to the ocean! It was o, so pretty! Just plain awesome.

After the bay we headed to The Mole, which is where Northwest is planting a new mission. We got to hear the vision, go to the beach, do a VBS and hang out. While we were there we stayed in a Haitian hotel. Haley and I had a fan, pretty big deal.

After the Mole we got in a very small plane and flew back to Port Au Prince to catch our flight home. The plane was AWFUL! I got really sick, by far my least favorite part.

Overall our trip was amazing and we loved it so much. I can’t wait to go back!

Check out what Northwest is all about! They are a great missions organization! Northwest Haiti Christian Mission

Hopefully we’ll post pics soon!

He replaced his wedding ring with a tattoo that says faithful. It’s pretty sweet. The tattoo guy, Slim, did a great job. You can check out his work at Acme Ink.

Kyle said it only hurt when it was close to the edges of his finger. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy…

It has been a HUGE adjustment to working 35-40 hours a week and try to do some school stuff, plus just being married, cooking dinner, cleaning our apartment, spending time with Kyle and just busyness of life. Kyle is so AWESOME and ALWAYS helps out with the dinner and cleaning the apartment. I am so thankful for him.

So after working this much, I admire people who work full time and take care of their household and spend time with their children and do errands and do not lose their mind. When we have kids (which will not be for a long time, so don’t get your hopes up) I will not be working, right Kyle?

I have to remind myself that Starbucks is not a forever job, if it were I wouldn’t want it. I have LEARNED so much from working there. If I can please give you one piece of advice…if you are going through the drive thru, please acknowledge the person that is handing you your money and whatever you bought, please put your phone down for 2 seconds and say thank you, please don’t be a jerk, please just be nice. It drives me CRAZY when people are just jerks. But other than that, things are too bad.

We are doing well. We leave for Haiti SO soon, 3 weeks from today. PLEASE pray for our team, our travels, the people we encounter. Please pray we are open to God’s leading. We are SO SO excited. I can’t wait to be there!

Life is good. We are good. God is good.

On Thursday we traveled to Danville and hung out with Kyle’s parents. Friday during the day we headed over to Lincoln to see A LOT of people that we have missed greatly. It was SO good to catch up with all of the people we love so dearly and miss so much.

Graduation was on Saturday. After the ceremony Kyle and Serb had a graduation party at the Plumiers. It was really great, a lot of people stopped by to see them and just to hang out. Sunday AM we went to ONE at Eastview. It was great to be back there and to see people that I have missed.

Overall our weekend was AWESOME. Kyle and I both LOVED our time at Lincoln, loved the relationships we built, all of the fun things we did and all the times we spent with our friends there. I think the thing we miss most about Lincoln is not living close to all of our friends. Luckily we will see each other again in December for Joy and Matt’s wedding, already looking forward to that!