1st Day of Class

Well I figure I'll update now and go ahead and tell you I do not know that I will ever update again in the next 2 weeks! HAH! Today was the first day of our two seminary classes we are taking. I think I will overall enjoy the classes, but here is a glimpse into my day:

• Class 8-12:30
• Lunch 12:45-1:30
• Study/read/do class work 2-6
• Dinner 6-6:45
• Study/read/do class work 7-10:30 

Those of you who know me well may be wondering if I am exaggerating at all...and aside from a few breaks here and there, I truly am not. I hear the first few days are the hardest, and what can I say?! I have not studied in 2 1/2 years and even then, I don't think I ever did this much work in 1 day! Needless to say, I am exhausted. I still love Jesus...but it was hard to connect with the Lord on a heart level today. I was reminded in 2 simple ways though that God is good and his grace is sufficient.

1. I looked up from my studying and saw the most amazingly beautiful Colorado sky...God is good and kind to give us creation that we can enjoy!
2. Amidst all the reading, I realized on a heart level that the Gospel frees me from having my self worth depend on my own success. Love this.

Until next time (which will probably be a while),

Kim

the dorm

We are loving dorm life! It is definitely funny to be in the dorm again. All of the people on our hall are married couples as well, and no one has been married longer than 2 years...so we are all technically considered newlyweds (I think).  We've already discussed how it could be really easy to never have intentional good time with just Brett and I since there are always people around and always things we can be doing...but this morning we spent some time together exploring Fort Collins and it was really good. The first week of New Staff Training (NST) is technically over. It was exhausting, overwhelming, fun, and exciting all mixed in to one. We have the weekend free and then we will start our 2 seminary classes on Monday. We'll take classes for 2 weeks Mon-Fri. 8-12 and then have the rest of the day to study/do whatever. I'm looking forward to a more set schedule (since I'm a planner and all).

I figured out how to upload the video, so here is our dorm tour!

Until next time,

Kim

We're finally here!

Well we are finally here in Fort Collins, CO for our New Staff Training. We have been anticipating this day loner than we anticipated getting married! Well maybe not longer than I anticipated getting married, but definitely longer than we were engaged! Here is a quick recap of our trip here...

Below is the fire in Raton, NM that caused us to have to backtrack 30 miles and go on a 2 hour detour. It was a rough trip to say the least...but we made it!

 

 

It was definitely worth the pain though because we finally arrived at this castle in Colorado Springs and had a wonderful evening eating at a little local Italian restaurant, eating delicious ice cream, and walking through the Garden of the Gods!

The Castle

Brett and I at Garden of the Gods

We were so exhausted from our travels that we went to bed at 9:30!! I mean it was 10:30 Texas time, but still. I don't remember the last time I've gone to bed that early. The early bedtime led to a 6:45 rise and shine time (I don't remember EVER getting up that early without an alarm), but it was so fun to walk around the conference center (Glen Eyrie) and then eat breakfast. We hit the road to meet up with Kelli and Teddy in Denver. I love love love to drive in Colorado. Actually, I love for Brett to drive so I can see the beautiful mountains! We ate lunch with Kelli and Teddy and then hit the road to Fort Collins!

We arrived here around 2pm, got checked into the dorm, met new people, went through registration, met new people, went to dinner, met more new people, and then went to a welcome meeting and reception. Our dorm is right next to Teddy and Kelli (yay!) and some other good friends of ours (Harris and Kristin). There are approximately 200 people joining staff this summer (hence the meeting new people 3 different times). We are excited that this next chapter in our lives is finally beginning! We will find out our official placement on June 26th!!

I tried to upload a video that Brett took of the dorm room, but I can't seem to figure it out...so here are some pictures of our living quarters :)

Our business casual clothes all set out ;)

Until next time,

Kim

yesterday

This is how I spent my day yesterday...

This was the moving team that helped Teddy and Kelli pack up

These are my best friends (yes my shirt says 'I survived Lubbock WINDS' and yes Lubbock winds deserve a shirt for surviving!)

And this is the storage unit...literally packed from floor to ceiling.

And this is what we reverted to after eating a good lunch to give us more energy

Brett

Teddy

We were playing the water bottle game. Basically it goes like this: you have to stand on one foot and try to pick up a water bottle with your mouth without putting your hands on the floor. Some might say it's impossible...but Cotter, Lori, and myself are LIVING PROOF that it is indeed possible.

Kelli and Teddy are all packed up and leaving for Colorado in the morning. We are SO excited that we will be going on this adventure of joining staff with some of our best friends.

We're getting rid of our internet soon, so I may not update until we get to CO.

Until next time,

Kim

best friends

Tonight was probably the last time that Brett and I will host people in our first home. Our house is a mess, there are boxes everywhere, we don't have any food to offer anyone, but I wanted to have people over for dinner. So...we put some charcoal on the grill and told people to bring their own meat/food. It wasn't anything fancy, but I had fun with some of my best friends. It hasn't really hit me that in less than 1 week we will no longer live in Lubbock. Two years ago, my best friends and I all talked about how we weren't going to live in the same city much longer so we should take advantage of the time we have left. Well, some people have come and gone, but 4 of us have prolonged it for two years...and now the time has really come. Megan is going to Australia to teach and she is going to be the best little teacher there is! I have been friends with Megan for a whole DECADE and I love her so much. Kelli and Teddy are joining staff with Crusade as well and will hopefully be back here at Texas Tech. Kelli became one of my best friends very FAST and I am going to miss her so much. Lori and Richard are in a transition waiting to see what happens next with Richards football career. I met Lori in college and again, became fast friends. I've already lived a season of life without her in it but am extremely sad that it has come again, and so fast. As I write this, sitting in my grungy t-shirt and athletic shorts I've had on all day, I think of how grateful I am that I didn't feel the need to change clothes. What I mean by that is this: I feel the freedom to be 100% fully myself around these people. I don't have to dress up. I don't have to do my hair or put on makeup. I don't even have to think through "what we're going to do when they come over". I cherish these things so much and take it for granted. The Lord has blessed me with great friends who love the Lord and encourage me on a regular basis. It will be sad to leave Lubbock...but lets be honest. Lubbock without the people in it is nothing special. I love you girls :)

Kim

business casual

So the past 2 1/2 years in ministry has taught me a lot, grown me a lot, and given me a lot in most all areas of my life..except a business casual wardrobe. We are headed to Colorado in 1 week, and on the packing list is some "business casual" clothing for when we interact and meet the President of Campus Crusade and all those sorts of people. Business casual clothing is precisely why I went in to ministry (among many other reasons of course). But the fact is...I've never needed it. I'm just casual, not business. I like to dress up for events and own a handful of dresses and heels, but I feel like that is TOO dressy. Between my clothes and my best friend Kelli's clothes (who is also joining staff) I think we can muster up a few outfits that will work. I did however buy the Old Navy Groupon the other day and today went and bought a pair of navy blue capris that I can dress up or down. I am excited about the purchase but realized I still don't have tops that are not cotton. And apparently cotton is not "business casual" (the two words that are driving me NUTS!).AGH!

Tribute to Brett's Beast

Well, we sold Brett's car yesterday! We are so thankful and blessed that we were able to sell so quickly and for a pretty decent price (considering it was in bad shape and we didn't fix anything that was wrong with it)! It is bittersweet as this was Brett's first car ever! His sweet parents bought him the car toward the end of his Freshman year of college (he didn't need a car in high school since he lived overseas). I remember before we were ever dating, Brett was so excited about the Explorer and he showed it to me after a going away party for a friend. It was getting dark outside and I asked him if the car was purple. I think he was mad :). The Beast (as we named this several years ago on a trip to Chicago) will be greatly missed. There were many good road trips including Chicago, Branson, Houston, Norman etc., LOTS of talks just sitting in the Sonic parking lot, some awesome jam sessions, PLENTY of U-turns, dead birds, some pretty good base (this came from the weird sound the engine often made), our engagement, hauling CRU sound equipment, and lots of trips out to the good old shop at 82nd and Valencia. Beast, you will be forever remembered.

When Brett's Beast was first named...trip to Chicago!

Brett sleeping while driving?...Chicago again.

Driving back from Ransom Canyon after we got engaged!

Brett at his finest :)

Lots of moving...

The End.

update

WOW...it's almost been a MONTH since I've blogged. WHOOPS! I've thought about it several times, and the more time passes, the more I get overwhelmed. Had I kept up with it....I wouldn't get overwhelmed, because I wouldn't have to be writing to update a whole months worth of life. It's the same as catching up with an old friend. The more time passes, the longer the conversation is going to be...but oftentimes no one has time for a 4 hour conversation, so you just keep pushing it off longer and longer. So needless to say, this will not be 4 hours worth of reading...I'll just be short and sweet and leave the unsaid things up for speculation.

- We wrapped things up with our job toward the beginning of May

- We had a 3 day babysitting gig for a sweet family on our staff team. It was SO exhausting and SUCH a good learning experience. My hope is that I'll get to start out the whole mom thing someday with just 1 kid at a time, not jumping into 3 :)

- We headed to Houston about a week after that to spend some time with our family. My niece is getting cuter and cuter by the minute. She is so fun now that she interacts with you and can talk. She said Brett's name twice and didn't say my name. I'm okay with it because at the end of the trip she said 'I love you' to me!

- We are currently back in Lubbock packing our apartment. It's an absolute wreck. Packing isn't a wreck...but the apartment is. I'll just have to get used to the fact that this will be life for the next week or so until we leave.

- We leave for our New Staff Training in Fort Collins, CO in about a week and a half. We are so excited/nervous. Excited to start this new adventure in life...nervous about the unknown (but that's pretty normal for me).

- We plan to have our apartment completely packed before we leave on June 13th.

- We also plan to sell Brett's car before we leave on June 13th. We've had lots of potential buyers and we are praying we can get it off our hands soon and feel good about who we sell it to and the money that we get for it! We'll only need one car for the next phase of our life...so we will save up $ over this next year and then buy one when we eventually move to our TBD location.

- When we get back from Colorado at the end of July we will move our apartment into a storage unit here in Lubbock and then move ourselves and our clothes to Houston to begin the journey of raising support for our ministry. Yup that's right...we're moving in with my parents :)

- While we are in CO this summer, we will find out our placement which will obviously determine where we will eventually move after we are fully funded. I promise, we're more eager to find out than you are....but we'll update the blog as soon as we know!

I think that is all. Not as overwhelming as I thought :) I hope to be better at updating while we are gone...but the unknown that I am anxious about might not leave me lots of spare time...we'll see.

And because posts are always better with pictures...I'll leave you with this.

Yes it's a dumpster, but the little yellow sign says cardboard only so it wasn't gross and it didn't smell. We were just using our resources to get some moving boxes!