Better late than never.............i think.

Well, I got on here to see what Andrea had been bloggin lately.... hahaha. thats funny! Not too much i guess.

Thought i'd drop a quick line to let all of you know that we are still alive and kicking.

Stuff is actually going well here. Things are still busy but I feel like andrea and I are getting into a more balance routine.

Tonight - she is having a 'pamper herself night' (im sure she'll take this off if she ever reads it). She came out with a green maskie thing a bit ago - now shes sitting eating ice cream watching some movie about the presidents daughter running away - Ha! I could never make it as a girl. She kicked me out of the living room when i was taking a break from studying. Ha!

But yeah. Things are going well. Andrea's brother Zach was here last weekend and we just had a blast with him - he was our very first visitor! We didnt do a whole lot with him but it was still super fun to just have somebody that really cares for us here! Andreas Dad & Stepmom come next weekend - so that'll be alot of fun too!

Besides that not much is up.....

LOTS of school.
Andreas been working a bunch and then working out alot at nights.
We have dinner most nights together and thats really been fun - one of my favorite things.

This weekend i have been preparing for some of my midterms that will happen next week. Ha - on one of them he is having 40% of our grade be the writing of 40 bible verses (some of which are huge) and he told us on thursday that he will count off for punctuation. Hahahah - He said - "im not going to be THAT tough i'll just count off a point or so for each comma you miss." Good times.

Also, I switched concentrations this past week. I had been praying about it and researching some different options. I switched from the theology departments "christian ministry track" to the mission departments "great commission ministries." Im really excited about it cause it will allow me more flexibility to take some courses i really want to take.
Like i really wanna take a church planting course. And i want to take a course just on apologetics. And i want to take a course just on the life of Christ. THAT would be awesome - and those are some things that I can do more of in this new concentration. And, i get out of taking the class solely on the history of the baptist denomination. hahahaha - not to say i wouldnt really like that.

Today I got up - read some.
Went to starbucks and studied (they gave me a drink for free after 6 hours i believe)
Then i came back home - took my shoes off - rolled up my jeans and walked around the campus for about an hour and a half doing flashcards......
Life is alot slower here and alot different - its weird cause its still stressful - just a really different type of stress.

We love you guys and miss you a ton.
We wont be coming home for thanksgiving so we'll be looking towards christmas!



PS. I know we left you kinda hanging on the church visiting... Here's a quick update:
(I think this is all)
Week one: HighView Baptist
Week two: Clifton Baptist
Week three: Immanuel Baptist
Week four: Sojourn Community
Week five: Crossing
Week six: Sojourn Community
Tommorrow: 9th & O Baptist

We really really liked Immanuel and Sojourn. We liked both alot but I was leaning toward Sojourn more and Andrea was leaning more towards Immanuel - we decided to just split up and go to different churches since we like different things.


jk. We went back to sojourn last week cause we thought zach would like it the best. It was their 7year anniversary. The pastor spoke about their vision and what they feel like their church exists to accomplish. It was awesome guys. It was right up our alley and exactly what we are looking for. I'd be suprised if we didnt end up there -- but who knows friends - Gods weird like that. Its cool cause its really really nontraditional in some aspects - yet pretty traditional in others. They do a benediction at the end of service - and i have really grown to appreciate it. They also do the Lords Supper EVERY WEEK - and that is something that i have really really become burdened for.... only they dont make it easy - they make you get up and take it from a person - not just from a lone bowl. The church is in a poorer rougher part of town and they do community projects literally every week of the year to try to impact within a 1 mile radius of their church - thats awesome. Anywho - check out their site if you'd like -- http://www.sojournchurch.com/ .... you could listen to last weeks sermon on there if you roll like that! Much love to you all.

OH PPS..... The first sunday we went to sojourn - the pastor was wearing shorts and..... (drumroll) CHACO'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahhaha.

Labor Day Weekend

Hello Friends and Family,

We had a nice and relaxing weekend. On Friday we went over to some friend's house, Mike and Molly, for dinner. We had a great time and they made us feel very welcome. On Saturday Chris studied and I worked out and cleaned house. On Saturday night we went out on a date. We went to dinner at Rocky's in IN. It's just about 5 minutes across the river and it had a beautiful view (see pics below), but unfortunatley the food wasn't very good. After dinner we drove around town and searched out President Mohler's house. See pics below. It was very pretty and it is located across from the seminary. We rented a movie that night and just relaxed at home.

On Sunday we went to a church called Sojourn Community Church. I met a girl in my SWI (southern wives institute) class who attends Sojourn with her husband. We sat with them and they invited us over for lunch. We really enjoyed the church and will hopefully go back after we've vistied a couple more on the list. On Sunday day, Chris studied and I got stuff ready for the week.

On Monday Chris studied and I worked out and went grocery shopping. It was nice to have a day to relax and spend time together. You'll also see a a picture of Chris and his crushed red pepper spill. I thought it was funny....he didn't but I took a picture anyway. He had a previous experience with this in Nicaragua at Pizza Hut. For all those who witnessed this will be a flash back. We also included a picture of a super secret street entrance that all those who are spiritually seeking will want to check into......

We love you all and miss you all.

A Normal Weekend

Hello Friends!

I've decided to update once a week and I didn't have time yesterday so here we go. What's been going on??? Not much. Just doing the normal stuff. Chris studies probably 10 hours a day. I work and cook and clean and blah, blah, blah. I watch Seinfeld in the evenings and read. So, what did we do this weekend?

Friday-the school had a welcome back party. you'll see pictures below. There was free dinner, balloon rides, games for the kids, a raffle and live concert. (they did draw my name as a winner, but of course i won a free tire alignment and rotation-not the free night stay at this nice hotel downtown). It was pretty fun. We met up with our neighbor friends (Nathan and Rachel) and Darren, a friend Chris made in Hebrew class. We didn't get to take a balloon ride. It was mainly for the kids and it just went up a few feet and then back down again. However, Chris did joust with Darren and Nathan, even though the games were for kids. You'll see some pics below.

I came back and did laundry for the first time in our laundry mat. It was okay and the washers are nice. you must have a good book to read though or it gets pretty boring. I'm reading the Lord of the Rings series now. I've put it off for far too long and it's time I conquered.

Saturday-Chris studied. I cleaned and shopped for groceries. We had our gym orientation so now we can work out and use all the machines. The facility is pretty nice and it's never very crowded. Maybe everyone is running outside? Who knows. I watched a movie on Saturday night and ate my favorite meal: Kraft Mac & Chz. 3 chz shell. I have now decided that if i could pick one last meal, it would make the cut.

Sunday-We went to a new church. We really liked it. The people were kind and the preacher was passionate and humble. We are still going to try and few other ones before we decide.

Chris studied and I did a bunch of random stuff, which apparently needs to be done and fills up a whole day, but I never really remember what exactly I did. If i remembered it wouldn't be any fun to read about anyway. We had Nathan and Rachel over for dinner. I made poppy seed chicken (Maz's recipe) and no one got sick which makes it a success in my book.

Monday-Today Chris studied and I worked. Tonight I went over to a friend Jennifer's house and watched HS musical to see what all the fuss is about. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty good. Hopefully i can get the sound track and sing right along with the rest of the grade and middle school population. Also, there was a hostage situation at a bank today. it was about 5 minutes away from work and people kept giving updates every 10 minutes. The guy ended up letting the 4 women go, but then they shot the robber. This is right by the Walmart that I go to all the time. Guess I'll have to switch where i shop. Apparently it's not the best part of town. How am I supposed to know that. They should have signs up or something.

Well, that's all for now. Sorry we're not more interesting. I could have written better, however I just don't have the energy tonight. Love you all. Please be praying for us! I'm getting a little homesick. I love our family, friends, and church. Thanks for all your love and support!

Andrea

The Great State Fair!

Well, it wasn't really the great state fair. The Kentucky fair was no where close in comparison to the one and only real Great State Fair of Oklahoma. After waiting in line for 58 minutes to even enter park, we were bombarded by unhelpful people, except for the guy who tore our tickets at the entrance. We saw a lot of strange looking people, lots of skin, and lots of mullets which are apparently universal at state fairs. And just as a side note, if you are confident enough to wear a bikini to a fair, I say go for it. Embrace the fact that you are in a bikini and everyone else, well, almost everyone else, is wearing normal clothes.

We visited the buildings, the animal house, and the fair way. We stood in line for corn dogs but when I got up to the window I was grossed out by the smell and the guys working there so we left and went to another stand. We tried to see the Tiger show but we were a little late and had to stand behind these annoying people who kept yelling to each other even though they were sitting side by side.

The worst part was they didn't have cinnamon rolls. I was really, really looking forward to eating a cinnamon roll the whole day. I guess I'll just eat some ice-cream tonight to make up for it!

Things are going well here in Kentucky. I'm trying to cook more and the class that I'm taking on Thursday nights starts next week. I'm going to read the first chapter in my book "A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible" tomorrow to get a head start. I'm hoping I'll make some friends in the class. That one thing that's been a weird experience, no one knows me. I have to start out new. It'll be a great learning experience. I saw this girl in the gym when I was running this morning and I thought about if it would be weird for me to ask her to hang out sometime. Uh, yeah, that probably would have freaked her out.

We met a really nice couple, Nathan and Rachel, who live down the hall from us. We ate dinner at their apt last week and had fun. We'll invite them over soon, I just need to pick a dish to make. Seeing as I can only make a few things it should be interesting:) By the way, they make wonderful chocolate chip cookies:) Thanks friends for the gesture. Very kind and thoughtful:) (they read the blog).

Well, I guess that's all I have right now. I'm going to finish watching Tommy Boy and go to bed. We're going to visit a new church in the morning.

I'm attaching some pics from the fair tonight, along with 2 pictures from my work. It doesn't look like much but everyone is really nice. It's a local refrigeration company and I answer the phones and do basic office stuff. Just think of Pam from the office and that's me except I answer the phone and say, " Vittitow refrigeration, this is Andrea, how can I help you." And yes, I did spell refrigeration with a 'D' in it until my second day of work.

Miss and love you all! I would like to remind everyone that Chris took all the pictures at the fair:)

humbling.......

ill ask from the beggining for you to excuse the punctuation. im trying to type really softly cause im in the same room as my sleeping bride.... so im making every 'click' count. i thought i would update you real quick about some of our comings and goings..... (sorry andrea hasnt updated this yet. im trying to teach her how - we just havent real come around to it yet.)

andreas job seems to be going well. tommorrow will be her third day. she is working for a company here in louisville called 'vittitow refrigeration' - No Bennett not VANCE REFRIGERATION - Vittitow. sounds weird to have her workin there -but its really been a good getup. she is starting as a receptionist but they promote from within and a bunch of the ladies she works with are people who used to be doing her job but got promoted. they must be doing something right to keep that many employees and continue growing and expanding. cool deal. andrea likes the people she works with - and its real laid back and not stressful - which is awesome. this company hires alot of seminary wives and is real flexible with time off n such. so, its still new and fresh but i think andrea feels good about it - which means i feel good about it.

today was my first day of class...... (insert horror music here)

to say that it was intense, intimidating, and hard core would be a severe understatement. My first class is hebrew 1. which i had every intent of working on before today to prepare - but due to our hectic summer it didnt happen. first off my friend 'darren' that i thought was in my class actually wasnt (bummer). the proff came in and the first thing he said was 'everybodies heard about this class right?' and everybody shook their heads and laughed --- me being the new guy - shook my head in agreement and laughed with apprehension. he then said these words - 'this will be the hardest class you will ever take.' and he totally wasnt kidding. he proceeded to explain how it was actually 2 classes wrapped up into one. and gave us the illustration of going up against Sean Merriman everyday - day and night - for a year. he said - if you only have to take a semester of this - take somebody easier - you dont want to be in here with me. He said ' you will HAVE TO work hours everyday just to pass.' HOLY CRAP! i thought to myself. My first semester and i take this devil class. and then he concluded the class by saying - 'alright lets see what youre made of. come back tommorrow with ALL of the hebrew alphabet memorized, all the names of the letters, the phonetic values, the final forms, etc - all the vowels, names , phonetic values, and the 2 charts at the end of the chapter. i dont want you to just have looked at them - you need to have MASTERED THEM by tommorrow. Have a good day.' And that was that. in my greek class our proff gave us like 2 weeks plus to have that much work done - and he gave us less than 24 hours!

(ill speed this up)

I then went to Systematic Theology II - great class. very ministry minded professor - real smart. Then i had a short break which was obviously consumed with Hebrew before i went to New Testament Survey I. This was a great class - probably my favorite. He has assigned crap loads of work though --- and 40 verses to be memorized by the midterm along with being ready to cite specific speeches, acts, miracles, events in the gospels - he'll say beatitudes - and we'll have to give him the reference. Cool deal! I ended the day with Personal Evangelism - and well - lets just say it wasnt my favorite so far. Teacher seems real smart though - which is cool. He assigned a book report for next thursday - which means we have to read the whole book and write the paper by then (all in lue of hebrew mind you).

So, couple cups of coffee later - here i am. taking a short break before i continue to 'master' hebrew. I know it all im just not sure im Sean Merriman ready yet.


Randoms:

Andrea and I are going to the Kentuck State Fair on Saturday - wohooo white trashfest.
Andrea and I worked out yesterday
I have got an AWESOME AWESOME wife! She has been so supportive and such a trooper through all of this.
Thank you for all of your texts and facebook messages - if i havent gotten back with you yet - please be patient with me - im sorry! I am thinking of you and missing you and loving you! Im figuring out how to balance it all.
Missing the breakfast club retreat was one of the hardest things thus far.
We've made a couple friends so far...
Nathan and Rachel, Darren, and our fam Jenny and Aaron - Holla at cha Girl!

ANDREA AND I MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

please pray for us that we remain desperatly in love with our Lord - not the thought of him, the theology of him, the writings about him, but desperately passionately pursuing him. Its weird not having 'a place' yet. I sat in four classes today and didnt know anyone - thats a weird thing. I am consistently reminded of my smallness..................

i want to meet him here.







with all our love,

Chris & My Sleeping Bride

Weird.... going to church and knowing NO ONE.

Well, quick post to just update you on whats going on here. Today we had our first sunday in Louisville so we went church visiting. We visited a multisite church here called "Highview Baptist." In light of whats going on at HHBC i thought it would be intersting to see how this panned out for just a normal - nonstaff - visitor perspective.

First off all - I got lost (idiot) and we ended up getting there about 10 minutes late (perfect we dont have to talk to anyone - right?). We slipped in and really enjoyed our time there. We met the middle school pastor on our way in and he was really nice. All of their greeters wore red shirts with the church name on it - which was actually pretty neat. And their staff members wore white shirts with their church name on it. Boring information to you probably but very interesting to me... it actually made me feel a bit more comfortable because I knew this guy approaching us wasnt as esther would say a "creeper."

The service was good - the pastor said a couple things that were just very much 'on.' We really did enjoy our time there. The music time was good. It was different but very much so good. One thing that the pastor said that i liked was that humanitarian organizations are all very good but basically all that they are accomplishing in and of themselves is making peoples journey to hell more 'healthy' and 'comfortable.' Dang! Thats intense but definitly true. Also, he was trying to make an illustration of belief - and depicted it by fully standing on a stool - saying that its not just putting part of 'your weight' on it - but its fully and completely putting all of your weight on it. I really liked it.

The invitation was neat too - he actually encouraged everybody who felt led to come up to the front and pray for a specific person that they know who isnt a believer. I really enjoyed it. I actually teared up when I saw all these people go to the front - because each and every single one of them was a represenation of a lost person....... WOW. It was a good morning for us.

We enjoyed it alot - but we definitly plan on trying out some different churches before we land on one. You can check them out at http://www.highviewbaptist.org/ . They also have a site dedicated solely to the hispanic community. Cool! I would love to go visit and see how they are reaching out to that people group!

After church we ventured to Big Lots to buy groceries and toiletries...hahaha. thats an experience in and of itself.

Then this afternoon i have listened to FOUR hours of mandatory online lectures about being a baptist. WOW. What an overload.

OH AND BY THE WAY! We switched banks right before we moved because our previous bank wasnt here. So, we switched to Chase. We got here to Louisville and a couple days ago we drove to the bank to deposit some checks. Normal business. Well, that night i was watching the news (which suprisingly is even worse than edmonds - no offense lance) - anyways i was watching the news and THAT VERY BANK THAT WE HAD BEEN AT got freakin robbed and two bank employees were shot - THAT VERY AFTERNOON! Can you believe that?

what else????

- oh yeah, one of our computers basically imploded when we got here. hahaha.

- i've been to walmart more in the past week that in the past three years (honestly).

- i bought a cacti to put on my desk to remind me of my pops.

Anyways - thought you might enjoy my ramblings. We miss you all terribly. Andreas job starts tommorrow morning - and i have one more day of freedom before class starts on tuesday.

love yall.

CHREEEOS.

and yes.... these are all my books... for just one semester.

Pictures from the move!

Well it's been fun so far! Our apartment is coming along nicely. Just a few more things to do and we'll be all set. Dennis and Marcia were a huge help getting us settled and we're so grateful that they could come and help us out. Here are some pictures of the move. We hope they make you feel like you're here with us!