We Set The Date!

Well, Clint and I set the date for our wedding! We are getting married on August 6, 2005! We are so excited! Now we can really start making plans and getting things in order. There is so much to be done, but thankfully I have a great Mom who is helping me! Thanks Mom! Well, I don't have much time today but wanted to let everyone know. It seems it's the easiest way to let everyone know! I hope everyone is doing well. It snowed again today but not for long. Oh, on Tuesday Clint and I are going to Dresden and taking our engagement pictures. Amy Nickerson is going to do them for us! It should be a fun day! Well, everyone have a great day!

Pretty flowers

Flowers from Clint and Amanda and Andre

On Saturday our friends Amanda and Andre came over for lunch and brought the daisies for Karen and I. They are so pretty and I was excited to have flowers in my house. Then yesterday Clint decided to bring me yellow roses! They are beautiful so I wanted to take a picture of them!

Clint and his hockey stick

Clint playing in the snow with his hockey stick

Here is a view from in front of my apartment. you can see the Sullivan's house in the background. Clint also loves to play with his hockey stick in the snow. After he breaks the icicles off my apartment with his hockey stick, he plays with the ice and tries to shoot it over the fence or in the snow somewhere. He has had lots of fun with the snow.

The attack of the giant icicles!

Icicle that Clint found outside my apartment

I thought I would post some pictures to give you an idea of how much snow we have here. It basically snowed for over a week straight. Although there were days that it only snowed lightly and didn't really accumulate that much, there were a couple of days that it snowed heavily most of the day and it has been cold enough for it to stick around. In fact, it's still on the ground. I think it started snowing on the 22nd of January and it's still around! I guess to some people it's not that big of a deal, but growing up in Oklahoma, I guess I have never seen snow last that long! :)

Clint absolutely loves icicles and so he has a good time knocking them off of my apartment. He happened to find this huge one right above my front door. Good thing he found it before it found me! But it is really safe at my apartment. Larry has been working on putting a little roof over my front door for this exact reason and he finished it last weekend.

Winter is here!

Snickers in the snow

It has been snowing like crazy here. It is really pretty. Unfortunately it is too powdery for snowballs or snowmen. It is kind of fun though. This picture is of Snickers, the Sullivan's dog. She is so funny. She loves playing in the snow. She's pretty cute too. Well, I really don't have a whole lot to say but just thought I would post this picture and let you know what was going on.

It's Friday

Well, I'm running out of clever titles to use, so sorry if they sound boring. Actually, I don't think I ever really had ANY clever titles, so I guess you're not missing anything. Well, it's the end of the week and it's been a good week. I guess it was a pretty normal week. Although, you would be proud of me, Mom, because I cleaned my apartment thoroughly and it is pretty much spotless right now. My room could still use some work, but at least you can see the floor now. I have some piles going on in some corners, but it's a lot better than what it was. It seems like basically since Thanksgiving I've been running around like crazy and I think that's why my room got so bad. Now things are slowing down and getting back to normal so my room can go back to order now.

Quote of the day: I don't know if I will keep this up, but I found some funny quotes online and maybe I will share some every once in a while. Today's quote is:

Whenever you read a good book, it's like the author is right there, in the room, talking to you, which is why I don't like to read good books. -- Jack Handey Deep Thoughts

Ok, that was pretty silly, but funny. I'm not really sure what to write about today. Sometimes it's kind of hard to really write about what I'm thinking or feeling on this thing.

Oh!!!! I'm so silly, I forgot to mention that Karen Neel is here!!! She arrived yesterday around 4:30! For those of you who don't know her, she lived here in Chemnitz for 6 years and she went back to the States for about 3 1/2 or so. She missed it so much that she wanted to come back! She will be teaching English once she is all settled and everything is figured out for her. She is staying with me right now and so it's fun to have a roommate again! If you still don't know her, her mom is Wanda Neel who works in the Business Building at OC. She most recently lived in Edmond and attended Memorial Road Church of Christ. Anyway, I met her on my first campaign to Germany in 2001, which was the same year she moved back to the States. She is a great gal and I know we are going to have fun together! Please pray that she can get all the details worked out for her plans to stay here! I'm not sure what all she still needs to work on, but I'm sure she could use the prayers!

Ok, well that was about all the news I have for now and so I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Lady In Waiting

Hi friends! Does anyone even read this?? I was just wondering. Ha ha, I have no idea. It snowed a little bit earlier, but not for long and now the sun is out and shining bright and has melted anything that even tried to stick. Larry said this is like the month of April. There is a saying that I have heard several times because of my name: "April, April der weisst nicht was er will." (I hope that is right) It means: April, April (s)he doesn't know what (s)he wants. (Technically it is in masculine form because the months are masculine. Don't ask me why.) This is in reference to the weather.

I'm reading a book called "Lady In Waiting: Developing Your Love Relationships" by Debby Jones and Jackie Kendall. I recommend it to any women who are single, dating, engaged, or even married. The main point of it is to develop your relationship with God first before your relationship with a man, boyfriend or spouse. Here are some favorite quotes from the book that I have read so far:

"Lady in Waiting is not about finding the right man, but being the right woman."

"A woman becomes a woman when she becomes what God wants her to be."

"Happy indeed are those people, married or single, who have discovered that happiness is not found in marriage but in a right relationship with God."

"No one, not even the man you will marry one day, can make you happy--only Jesus can."

"God knows that you will never be complete until you really understand that you are complete in Jesus."

"When two 'incomplete' singles get married, their union will not make them complete. Their marriage will be simply two 'incomplete' people trying to find completeness in one another."

"If the Lord wants to give you a man, He does not need your clever 'chance rendezvous.' This is not advocating that you avoid men completely and expect the Lord to 'UPS' His choice to your front door."

"Even though Ruth was young in her faith in the God of Israel, she chose to trust with her heart for the future her eyes could not yet see."

"Datelessness is a common type of debris that irritates the 'eyes of faith,' but the eye wash treatment--quality time with Jesus and reading His Word--is always effective."

"If Jesus wants you married, He will orchestrate the encounter."

"Are the sands of singleness causing you bitterness right now, or are you allowing these trials to change you into a pearl? The Lord wants you to be a Lady of Virtue--a costly, beautiful pearl for all to admire."

"As you set your attention on developing godly character, Christ will change you into the beautiful princess He created you to be."

"Are you becoming a virtuous woman that a man may need as a helpmate? Are you using these days to develop godliness in order that, if asked, you will be ready? Whether you marry or not, every woman should seek the virtues of Christlikeness."

"God's Spirit, however, produces true inner beauty, as you confess your sin, avoid displeasing God's Spirit, obey even the slightest of His promptings, and give the Holy Spirit full control of your life. Pearls of godly character take time to develop, but how blessed is the woman adorned by them."

"When you love someone, you give them your heart, the center of you being. God asks for no less. He desires a totally devoted heart."

"Do you know God in a way that causes Him to be an intimate, personal part of your being as you may desire a husband to one day be?"

"Sin is far more repulsive to God than even onion breath is to a sweetheart."

"You are the one who determines the depth of your relationship with God."

Well, those are just some really good points that I have read so far. Maybe I can put more in as I read it. I hope they can be encouraging to you no matter what your "situation" is.

Trying to Keep Up

Lately I have begun to think about wedding plans... ahhhhh! It's so exciting and yet so overwhelming at the same time. I know that after all is said and done though, the details won't matter and the most important fact will be that Clint and I will be married! Wow, it's still amazing to think of all the things you have to do though. I'm very blessed to have a lot of good friends and family that are helping me with everything.

I've been feeling a little under the weather this week. I mostly have cold symptoms: nose and sinus congestion, sneezing, watery eyes... etc. but thankfully I was able to pick up some Claratin at the military base over Christmas so hopefully it will help me.

Just from talking to a few friends lately I realized that I had never really made an official announcement that my sister is pregnant! I know I told some friends, but it's so hard to remember who I have talked to and who I haven't when I don't get a chance to talk to all of them on a regular basis. Anyway, she is about 6 months along I believe. She is due on March 30th. They are pretty sure it is a girl and are planning on naming her Ashlyn Denese Freeman. I'm so excited to be an aunt! Anyway, hopefully that covers all my bases.

I hope you are all having a great week and if anyone has any advice on planning a wedding, let me know! I can use all the help I can get!

Our Trip to Cologne

Our trip to Cologne

Hello to everyone! I just thought I would put a short post about the trip to Cologne. Maybe some of you didn't know that I went there, I don't know. Well, on the 2nd of January after church, Clint, Ed and Courtney and I drove to Moerfelden to stay the night at Courtney's parents' house again. It's about 4 hours away but it took us a long time to get there because we were stuck in traffic jams almost the whole way there. We finally made it there and got to partake in some wonderful Mexican food that we discovered while visiting for Christmas. There is a great restaurant called Mexico Lindo and it is owned by some people from San Antonio. It is the "real thing". Here in Germany, you can't really get real Mexican. People try, but it's not the same. Anyway, the next day we got up and drove the rest of the way to Cologne, which is about 2 1/2 hours away. Well we got there and the week was really good. Jim Baird was there teaching about Apologetics. It was very interesting. I have to be honest that I didn't understand everything, especially when it came to the scientific and philosophical things, but it was very good for me. I know that I gained a lot from it. It was also a lot of fun to get to hang out with Dr. Baird while we were there. We got to look around Cologne a little bit and enjoy the other people's company. There were a lot of people that I met as well from all over the world. There were some people from Albania and Belgium as well as other places in Germany and I believe Russia as well. It was a great time of fellowship with outer Christians and I learned a lot.

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope everyone's holidays are going well. I have really been intending to write in my blog more, and so I had a lot of different things in mind to post. I would like to reflect on this past year. I think it is good to see all that has happened to us over the past year and we can focus more on how God has blessed us and helped us grow through our lives. I want to take this month by month as well as I can and talk about all that God has done for me this year.

2004

January started out great as Clint and I were able to make a trip to Germany and visit everyone here. We were able to go to the annual Chili cookoff at the church. It was really great and the fact that we were able to start the year out here in the place we would later be living and working for God was great. This month I also began my student teaching and was very scared and nervous about the whole thing. There was a lot of work to do and it kept me very busy, but overall God walked me through it and I had more confidence because I had Him in my life. During the school year, I studied German privately with Clyde Antwine. This was frustrating at times and very difficult to grasp all the concepts, but I am so thankful that God put Clyde and Gwen in my life to help guide me and give me help with my decisions to go to Germany. God is great! At the end of the month I was able to take part in one of my best friend's Senior Projects. April Stephens put on her Senior Project for her music degree and it was so great to be able to sing with her and two of my other best friends, Amy Bartee and Sarah Davis. God has blessed my life with wonderful Christian friends! In January was when the HIMers were officially introduced to the Memorial Road Church. This was so exciting to announce it to the whole church and to have so many people saying encouraging things about the program.

February started getting busier as I began to teach more and more. There were some stressful times, but God got me through them all. On the 14th, since it was Valentine's Day, my sweet boyfriend took me on a wonderful date to a great restaurant in OKC. It was the fanciest place I had ever been! I've said this many times before, and will say it many more times: I have the most amazing man in my life! Clint makes me feel special every day! Also in February, Clint and I were able to attend several meetings of a Marriage Matters seminar at Memorial Road. It was really great to go to and we are so thankful for the church's efforts to help people who are married get through the difficult parts and to make their marriages stronger. It gave us a lot of good things to think about for our future together. At the end of the month I had my Recital Hearing which was a very nerve-wracking thing. Basically I had to sing all of the pieces I wanted to sing for my final Recital, which I had to perform in order to graduate. Several of the music faculty attended and they critiqued me on how well I sang. If they don't think I am up to the standards, I would have to do it again when I practice more. Thankfully, although it was a stressful thing, God was with me and gave me strength and the ability to get through this and I was able to pass it!

March was full of many different activities and emotions as I was getting closer to graduating. I started out the month by helping a friend with wedding music. I recorded a song with Jason Engelke to give to my friend Kristi for her wedding. I love doing this kind of thing and have helped a couple of other friends with their wedding music as well. I love music and so anything I can do to help in that area is great! I feel this is a talent that God has given me so I want to share it with others and help others in any way that I can. The first week of March was also the last week at my first student teaching site, which meant I was teaching all day long in all of the classes. It was pretty busy, but God had really helped me be able to handle all the situations that came my way. I was also able to attend the musical that the kids were performing at the high school I taught at and it made me feel proud that I had been teaching them! It was a good feeling and made me remember why I wanted to be a teacher. I also experienced a very scary thing in March. The night Clint and I went to see Spring Sing at OC Clint drove me back to his house, where my car was. So I drove home by myself. It was about 11:00 at night but I had parked out in the dark and walked to my apartment by myself a million times so I didn't think anything about it. However, this particular evening I stepped out of my car and headed towards my apartment. Before I even reached the back side of my car I saw two guys out of the corner of my eye approaching me. Hoping they were only heading towards their own apartments I tried to ignore the nervous feeling I had in my stomach and tried to walk quickly away. The next thing I knew one of them yelled, "get her purse!" I looked over quickly just in time for the guy to grab on to my purse. At this point all I saw was a man with a white mask on his face. We immediately went into a struggle as I held on for dear life to my purse. I really am not sure why I did that, but it was out of instinct, I guess. I immediately also began screaming "no, no, no!!!" I am pretty sure everyone in that entire apartment complex could hear me. I think he got scared because I was screaming and just pushed me down and ran. He never got my purse and thankfully didn't do much damage to me besides some bruises on my hip where I fell down and some sore muscles from the struggle. I was so frightened, I just ran to my apartment and banged on the door, as I was crying. My roommate April let me in quickly and called 911. The police came quickly and I told them everything that happened. I don't believe they were ever able to find the man, especially since I didn't have a very good description of him. This was probably the scariest thing that ever happened to me. I am so blessed though that God was watching over me and made me have the instinct to scream and I know it was He who protected me from being harmed. On to better memories, I was able to attend a Mother/Daughter banquet with my mom and it was such a good time with her! I am blessed by God to have a wonderful family who are Christians. I had a very good friend of mine visit from Texas. Monica Witcher and her fiance at the time (now husband), Link Blevins, came and we were able to spend the day together. Neither one of us had ever met our boyfriends so it was great that Clint and I and Monica and Link could all get together. We also went to lunch with some other friends and it was a good time. Once again, God has blessed me with really great Christian friends. In March I also started at my second student teaching site, which was an Elementary School. I loved it a lot and had a really good experience there! God blessed me with a really great teacher that I got to work with named Marilyn Long! We have even been keeping in touch and it is great to have a friend out of that experience! The last weekend of March was my Senior Recital and I felt really good about my performance. I prayed so much that God would give me peace and joy as I tried to do the best I could with the talents He gave me and He answered my prayers! It was such a fun time which I was able to share with my family and friends!

April was great because it was the month that I graduated! It was also pretty full with getting everything finished up for school though so it still had it's stressful moments. We were able to have our Germany Retreat in April which is always a great time. The campaign group that goes every summer gets together to organize everything for the trip and do some rehearsal for the singing that we do. It is always a great time to bond and to get to know each other well so that we can work together the way God wants us to. I really enjoy the way we always talk about conversion stories and what God has done in our lives. It is a great weekend. The end of April was busy with teaching and getting all the assignments in before graduation. Thanks to God, He got me through it all and on April 30th I graduated! It was such a great feeling and I know that God helped me through it all!

May was busy with preparations to move to Germany. At the very beginning of the month I started to move out of my apartment and move everything back to my parent's house. This month was also packed of getting together with all my friends and all of Clint's friends before we left. It was great to get to spend some time with them before we left and also a little sad since we knew it would be a while before we could see them again. Also in May, I went to Ohio with Clint and was able to meet his family for the first time. I had met his mom once, but the rest of his family I had never met. It was a great trip and I was also able to meet some of his good friends there. Because of all the things that Clint had to do to get ready to move, I helped him a lot at his house getting things ready. Thankfully God was able to bless Him in finding someone to buy his house quickly and everything was taken care of! I would also like to add all the blessings that I received throughout the year from different churches and friends who helped support me for the HIM Program. It was amazing how it all came together so well. I know God had everything to do with that. The week before I left for Germany, my Papa had a heart attack. It was very scary and we rushed to Texas to be with him. He was in the hospital for a few days, but he was able to go home and recuperate. I know God was watching over him. Later that week, my parents and I were already planning on going to Texas to visit all my relatives to see them before I left and so I did and I am so grateful for the wonderful family that God blessed me with.

June was the beginning of my new adventures in Germany! On the 1st of June I was able to pull off a surprise birthday party for Clint in which I invited some of his good friends to come over to my parents' house for a barbecue. It was a good time and he was surprised! On the 2nd the shippers went over to Clint's house and packed up everything that he wanted to be shipped to Germany. His house was really empty after that! On the 3rd the entire campaign group flew from OKC and made it to Germany on the 4th. On the 5th, I unfortunately missed one of my best friend's weddings. Monica had asked me if I could be a bridesmaid, but because of all the Germany plans, I wasn't able to. I am still very honored that she asked me! Also in June, Clint and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary. To read about the German Campaign you can click on the link.

July was when the camaigners left Germany and I was able to settle into my apartment in Chemnitz. I know that God has led me to this point in my life and that this is where He wants me to be right now. I started doing my first LST lessons and Bible studies in July and it was a great start. I have made so many new friends and it has been a great experience. I also started meeting with the Cantrells and Clint regularly every morning to study God's word and pray. It was such a great time of fellowship. I'm so thankful to have Ed and Courtney as friends and mentors. Clint and I were also given a surprise "welcome to Germany" party. It was so fun and wonderful to have so many people who care about us there.

August was a continuation of getting settled in Chemnitz. During this month we really started to try to get the word out to former LST readers that we wanted to continue reading with them and so we started making calls and writing e-mails. We also tried to get more involved and have more activities with the 20-something and so we did more activities such as going to get ice cream and going out to eat after the mid-week Bible study. It was great to get more involved with people and to get to know them better. I tried to do some work on the church garden and get things looking nice there. In August, Clint's grandmother got very ill and passed away. He was able to fly to see her as quickly as he heard how badly she was doing and was able to see her before she passed away. This was definitely a prayer answered and I know he was so glad to be able to see her one last time. It was also good for him to be there with his family helping out in any way that he could. The Sullivans had also arrived back from the States and I was able to spend some more time with them. I was able to participate for the first time in the traditional Saturday morning pancakes. I go over there pretty much every Saturday morning and they make pancakes. It's a great time to get to talk and enjoy each other's company. God has also blessed me with more wonderful people with which to work in the church. Clint and I were also able to enroll in our first German class that began in September.

September is when my schedule went crazy! I started really trying to get everything taken care of for my visa. I also started to get more and more LST readers. The second week of September my German class started which was 8:30-11:45 am Monday through Friday. In the afternoons I always had readers. This is when I started to get a little stressed out and overwhelmed. I was able to participate in a women's retreat in Austria that lasted for an entire week in an incredibly beautiful place in the Alps! It was such a spiritual encouragement to meet Christian women from around Germany and Austria and it was a learning experience in association with German as well as spiritually.

October continued to be just as busy. I guess by now you can see a trend in my personal schedules. I tend to make myself really busy. I guess that is the way I have always been. I think I would be bored if I didn't have enough to do though. :) The Vienna studies group came to do some mission work with us. It was a great and encouraging weekend to see them. My parents were able to visit and we had a wonderful time getting to go see the sites in Chemnitz and Dresden. They were really glad to be able to see where I lived. I also had a two week Fall Break and didn't have to go to German class. German class was frustrating at times and at others I really enjoyed it and felt like I was learning a lot. I got to see Clyde Antwine who came to Dresden for a day! All the HIMers got to get together to talk to him. We had a good time.

November started to bring a little culture shock and homesickness. I was feeling a little down at times, but God has been with me this whole time and is getting me through this transition. There were times during this month that I felt really good about my German and I'm getting excited about how much I'm learning. We have been able to spend more time going to Dresden every now and then. We got to go to a fellowship singing at the beginning of the month and it was really good to see everyone. The guys went to Bulgaria for over a week. Ed, Larry, Clint, and Guido took two vans full of winter clothes for people who needed it in Bulgaria. They had a successful trip and very many interesting experiences. I was able to experience my first Christmas market and it was great! I took a wonderful communication seminar on Thanksgiving day and it was very informative and I think it will help me in my relationships and in the work here with the church. I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with many Christians in Saxony. Thanks be to God for the brothers and sister that I have all over the world!

December has been a wonderful month so far and I know God will continue to look over me for the rest of the month as well as next year! I was able to sing and teach some songs at an English festival for a school and I got to know some cool people there. I got to celebrate Christmas in a little different way here this year and it was fun! On the 6th of December is called Nicolaus day and I got some little sweets from Nicolaus that day! Clint and I celebrated our 1 and 1/2 year anniversary by going to the Christmas Market together and I bought a beautiful Advent Star for my window. Ed, Clint and I went to another school and talked to the students about how we celebrate Christmas in the States. Then we were able to teach them and sing with them traditional Christmas songs. It was a lot of fun and we met some great people there as well. Clint and I were invited for dinner at my neighbor's house, Kathrin. I read LST with her and it was a great evening to get to know her family better. We had a great time there. We had a Christmas Coffee at the church and everyone got together and had coffee, cake, and we sang Christmas songs together. I had a Christmas party/Movie night with the 20-somethings group at church as well as other friends that I read with. Clint and I were invited to have coffee at Gisela's house. She is a really nice woman whom we met when we went to the school she teaches at during the summer. Clint and I were also invited to go to Seiffen, which is a Christmas town in the Erzgebirge area by my friend Jacqueline. It was a beautiful day and we had fun shopping for Christmas decorations and presents. We also celebrated with the Sullivans by having Fondue and opening presents. The best part of the day however, was when Clint decided to surprise me and propose! I am now engaged to them most wonderful man! Clint and I were also invited to celebrate Christmas with Ed and Courtney in Frankfurt at Courtney's parents house. Bill and Kay Weger were very kind to extend this invitation and we had a wonderful time with them. We also got to go to the American Military base there and got to have some good American food (Taco Bell) and shop for some American products. It was a great week to get to spend with them all. This week is going to be great as we will get to spend New Years with the church members.

Whew... well that was my year and I am very confident to say that God has directed and protected and guided me this year. I know that if I continue to have faith in Him and try to do what He wants me to He will continue to do those things for me in 2005 and for the rest of my life! I pray that God does the same for you and that you always lean on Him!

The ring 

We're Engaged!

Clint and I are engaged!

By now all or most of you have heard our news! Once again, here is the story.

On Wednesday night, December 22, we were celebrating with the Cantrells and the Sullivans and exchanging presents. After all the presents were opened, Larry said that there was one more present for Clint and I. I thought this was strange since we already got our presents from everyone. He informed us that we would have to go out to the workshop to get it. This was even more strange, since he usually just has tools and antiques and things out there. But, I cluelessly said ok and grabbed my camera, as they told me to take a picture of the gift and show it to them. We walk outside and I asked Clint if he knew what this was about. He said that he didn't and so we continued towards the workshop. (At this point I am still suspecting nothing). Well, we get outside and I am playing with the camera, so Clint takes it away from me. We don't even get to the workshop and Clint turns to me and takes my hands. At this point, I FINALLY realize something is going on. He continues to recite this poem (which made me cry because it was so cute and sweet) :)

Baby, me love you long time.

I hope you enjoy this little rhyme.

It started when I could hold my feelings no longer,

and I was so glad when you didn't take long to ponder.

Under the Bridge in Oelsnitz I said "I think I like you".

You quickly responded "I think I like you too".

Since that time my love for you grew and grew.

It didn't take long before my heart knew;

that baby you complete my life.

Will you make me the luckiest man and be my wife?

Then he gets down on his knee as he says the last line. (There was snow on the ground, by the way--ok some people would argue with this, but there really was some snow in the driveway). Of course I said yes and he slipped the ring on my finger. It was so perfect! We were able to go back into the house and share the news with everyone! It was so great to share it with them! I'm thankful that I'm also able to share this news with you in this way even when many of you are far away from us. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

The Germany HIM-hers

The Germany HIM-hers

This picture was taken in September right after Allison arrived in Dresden. I just thought it would be fun to share. We have actually gotten to see each other frequently. It's nice having them close by. The phrase "HIM-hers" became a joke because all but one of us on the HIM program this year were girls. So we started referring to ourselves as the "HIM-hers". Clint is still included in that since he is a "him". Also, if you read it it just sounds like "HIMers" which makes it funny too. I guess I really shouldn't have tried so hard to explain it, but oh well. Hopefully you get it and think it's funny too. If not, too bad, we do!

I love Saturdays

Well, it's another Saturday and I really enjoy them these days because it seems like the week is so busy that I have no time to relax. Normally Saturday is also a nice day that I spend the morning having pancakes with the Sullivans. Today, however, was an exception because Pam had to give a test today so there were no pancakes. My favorite part about it is that I get to meet with the Sullivans and just talk with them. It seems like all of our schedules are so busy during the week that I don't really get a chance to talk to them about how their week is going and things like that. I forgot about Pam having to give her tests today and I still went over at about 8:30 and still got to have coffee with Larry. We had a good time talking.

Now at about this time I can see some people's minds turning and I know exactly what you are thinking. Anyone who knows me is asking probably two questions right now. Number one question that I'm guessing is on your mind: "You were awake at 8:30 on a Saturday morning?" Yes, I actually usually try to be up sometime between 8:00 and 8:15 on Saturdays to have pancakes with the Sullivans. I really enjoy this time. Would I really like to sleep in and wake up at noon? Yes, but I enjoy pancake time so much that I would really hate to miss it. I find that 8:00 is a lot easier to wake up at than 6:30, which is when I usually "try" to wake up during the week for German class. It usually ends up being closer to 7:00 though. Number 2 question you are asking yourself: "You drink coffee now? I though you hated it!" Yes, you are right. I used to hate the smell and taste of it. Well, I live in Germany now and coffee is a staple in most German homes. At first when everyone offered me coffe I would just ask if they had tea instead. That usually is fine and people aren't offended at all. Then Courtney introduced me to her cappucino. Well, cappucino isn't that bad and then I started drinking that when I had guests over and if people offered me coffee. I acutally like it now and I found some good flavors. Then I upgraded to trying real coffee and it took a few times and experiments with the right amount of cream and sugar and if I have the right amount I really like it. So, there you have it... I'm now a coffee drinker. Well, I don't drink it on a regular basis and I only have it when people offer it or if the main prupose of getting together with friends is for coffee, but I'm glad that I don't think it's as nasty as I once thought.

Today I am going to Dresden for the monthly church singing fellowship. It should be pretty fun and I think I will enjoy it. Clint is pretty sick right now and he is going to stay home today. Keep him in your prayers. He thinks he has an infection. He has a lot of stuff in his chest right now. If he's not better by Monday I will try to get him to go to the doctor. Oh, also something you can add to your prayer list is that I got a letter from the foreigner authorities about my visa process and they said that I have not turned all the papaerwork that I was supposed to and I know that I have. My temporary visa expires next week and they said that if I don't get my paperwork in they will deny my visa. Courtney tried to call them yesterday because I just received this letter on Thursday. She was not able to talk to anyone and e-mailed someone about it. She will also try to call on Monday. Just keep that whole situation in your prayers.

Have a great Saturday! I know I will!

Early Christmas Present

Clint and I last Christmas in a traditional Christmas town called Seiffen

Ok, so maybe it's not technically an early Christmas present, but that is how excited I am about getting internet finally! Today was the triumphant day that I was able to connect to the internet from MY computer in My apartment in MY bedroom! Yay! Now I can really keep this thing up to date and let my family and friends know that I am still alive!

First of all I want to thank God for inventing a thing called the internet. Without it, I wouldn't be able to write life-changing blogs like this one. I also want to thank Ed for helping me sign up online and also Courtney for allowing me to use her computer in the meantime. You have been a real life saver. Of course, I have to thank my sweetheart for putting up with my complaints while I was internet-less. I must also thank T-Online for the connection that made this all possible. Last, but definitely not least I would like to thank my family and friends who have written me lots of e-mails and have supported me and encouraged me this whole time.

Ok, I am being a little silly, but really I have missed writing on this and I want to do a better job of it now that I have internet. The picture above is really a year old but I thought it was appropriate since it is December and everything. The Christmas Market is open, people have their windows all decorated with lights and I just decorated my apartment today! I actually have a small Christmas tree, and thanks to Jennifer it was all decorated and all I had to do was plug the baby in. I also put some lights around my window and have a few other German decorations inside. I have to say though, I am getting a bit homesick and really thinking about the fact that I won't be home for Christmas. But I am also excited about experiencing Christmas here. So far I have really loved the Christmas Market and all the great decorations. I have been invited to Courtney's parents' for Christmas in Frankfurt and I think that Clint and I will do that. It sounds like fun.

Well, I really need to go to bed now. I will hopefully be updating regularly now. Have a great weekend.

It's Been Awhile

Well, it has definitely been a month since I have written anything in this blog. I guess the past month has been pretty busy. I have done a lot of things and I have no idea how I'm going to catch up. I think I'm going to try to do a very short overview of what has happened in the last month. You will more than likely be able to read more details in my monthly newsletter, which is now going to be a two month-er since I never sent one for September either! I am doing pretty bad, aren't I?

At the end of September I went to Filzmoos, Austria for a Frauenfreizeit (Ladies' Retreat). It was so much fun and quite possibly the most beautiful place I have ever seen! It was in a little village in the Alps! It was great. I am hopefully going to post pictures soon so you can see for yourself how beautiful it was.

The day before I got back from the Frauenfreizeit, the Vienna Studies group from OC came to Chemnitz and I had 5 or 6 girls stay in my apartment on Friday night without me. Altogether there were about 20 or so people, including the sponsors, the Kooi family. They were in charge of the English Bible Study on Friday night and on Saturday they helped pack some winter clothes to take to Bulgaria. Every winter the church takes a load of clothes to a church in Bulgaria for people who need some warmer clothes. On Saturday I arrived home and was greeted by the OC group and had a good time getting to talk with them.

A few days later, my parents came to visit me! It was fun but too short and they were pretty worn out with all the running around and site seeing we did. I think they enjoyed their time here and I certainly enjoyed showing them around Chemnitz and letting them see where I live. This same week, Clint's things finally arrived! It was so exciting! That means that I have the last items that I shipped along with his as well so I was just as excited!

Well, these are the big events that have been happening lately and I will put more details later. I just wanted to get back in the habit of writing. Right now I am working on getting internet access in my apartment so hopefully it will be easier for me to keep this up-to-date.

Well, I hope everyone is doing well and hopefully I will be able to write more soon.

First Biking Experience in Germany

It is finally Friday! It has been an incredibly busy week and I am very relieved to finally have a break! I definitely need to take a breather and get some rest this weekend.

German class was hard today. We have a different teacher on Fridays and she speaks a lot faster than the other teacher. She has a different teaching technique that I don't really care for. The other teacher speaks very slowly, annunciates well, is very expressive with her hands, and repeats herself a lot, as well as repeating others when they say something. This new teacher just speaks very fast, rarely repeats herself, and just is really different than the first teacher. It was challenging, but I think I still learned a lot and it was good for me. I did get pretty frustrated with her when she was going down the row and one by one we were finishing a sentence. When it got to me she said, "Frau Wooldridge... D, bitte." It was my turn to speak the answer to letter D in our workbook. Well, I have to look at it first and think about how to say it before I actually do and apparently she doesn't have very much patience so again she says, "D, bitte." I said, "Ja, ich weiss." (Yes, I know) I look back at the example and want to get my thoughts together and she gets up out of her seat to show me where we are. Again, I say, "Ja, ich weiss." Then she starts to try to help me. This was so frustrating to me. I wanted just a little time to think about it and she was pushing me to say the answer. What does she want me to do, pull some random answer out that may not be correct, or think about it and say the correct answer? I really wanted to say, "Ich denke ein moment, bitte!" (I'm thinking a moment, please!) But I know that would have been rude. Finally, I got to say the answer but not without frustration. I know that this is not going to be easy, and I will get frustrated, but it just really got to me. Well, I will get better and better with practice and hopefully won't get so frustrated. Just pray for me. :)

Today Clint and I went to go buy bikes! Ed took us to this store called Kaufland and we bought two bikes. We were really excited about it. We went out into the parking lot to look over the bikes and get ready to ride them home. There was no way to put our bikes in Ed's car so we were planning on riding our bikes home. It was quite a way back to our apartments so I was a little nervous since it has been possibly 10 years since I have ridden a bike and part of the way we would have to ride on the street where there were no bike trails. Well, when we bought them the handlebars were kind of turned in the wrong direction, so they needed to be straightened. Ed thought he had some tools in the trunk to loosen part of it so he could straighten it and then tighten it again. He didn't have a tool that was big enough however. Anyway, the thought never occured to any of us that it would be loose enough for us to just straighten it without any tools. So Ed went back home and we sat in the parking lot waiting for him to bring a bigger tool. When he got back it still wasn't big enough and then he had the idea to try to straighten it himself. Thankfully it worked and Clint and I rode around the parking lot to test them out. They are really great bikes and I wanted to post a picture, but hopefully in a couple of days I will so you can see it. This is not the end of the story, however. We start down the street and things are going pretty well. We go down a pretty big hill, so that was really easy. But then we get to a really huge hill that we have to try to ride up. It was really really hard and I was getting really tired. We stopped a couple of times to catch our breath and I think we were both a little nervous about it since we were riding on the street. We got about half way up the hill and Ed had pulled on the side of the road to check on us. When we got up to him I got off my bike and was so out of breath. I had to lean over to try to get my breath. Ed asked if I was ok and I said yeah, and I thought I just wasn't really in shape. Then I started feeling pretty sick. I had to sit down on the ground. I thought I might pass out. But then I got up and said I would be ok. Just a moment later I had to get back on the ground, this time on my knees and I felt like I was going to be sick. That is exactly what happened. The guys decided that Ed would take me home and get Courtney to drive him back and drop him off so he could ride my bike home. I was so thankful Ed stopped to check on us. I'm not sure why I got sick, but earlier in the day I had mentioned several times that I felt kind of weird. Maybe it was something that I ate, but I am feeling much better now. I think I may have been somewhat dehydrated. So I was able to eat dinner tonight and drink lots of water and am feeling a lot better.

Well, I hope this isn't too long for you to read. I just had a lot to write about. I hope you are doing well!

German Class!

Guten Tag! My German class has been going very well! I have had to get up so early though! But, it is good for me. :) On the first day I was a little nervous, but then the teacher started and she spoke slowly and annunciated very well! I could understand everything she was saying. When we started the grammar section, however, it was a little more difficult. It will be a challenge, but I am already learning so much! I have already had a little more confidence to practice my German and to speak to some people.

There are 10 students in my class, altogether. They are from all over the world! There are students from Cuba, Thailand, Poland, Syria, Russia, Bulgaria, and Romania. The man from Romania is originally from Hungary. It is really amazing to have all of us in the class together! There are several of the students who also speak English so Clint and I have been able to communicate with them. The Russian girl is really nice. She is 20 years old and her name is Anastasia but she goes by Nastya. We have been getting to know each other and today we went shopping together. Next week Clint and I are going to go on a day trip to Dresden with her. The man from Romania has talked to us about the church and is interested in coming to practice his German. We have given him information about the meeting times and hopefully he will come soon.

So far, this week has been really interesting, full of new experiences. We will see how the rest of the week turns out!

It's September!!

I am not really sure why I make the title sound so exciting, but that was all I could think of as a title. I am actually really interested in seeing how this month goes, though. I have been told by many people that September is the best month here, weather-wise. It is supposed to be really nice during this time. I am excited to see if the first 5 days of weather will continue because so far it has definitely been up to its standards.

I really am not sure what I am going to write about today, but I noticed that I had kind of neglected my blog and I want to try to keep it more up to date and tell more things about what I am doing and thinking.

Today Robert and Brenda Stolte were at church with their kids Spencer, Alex, and Mary Ellen. They are a really nice family that have lived in Dresden for the past 4 or 5 years. They are moving back to the States in about a week. I was able to talk to Robert for a little bit this morning and it was good to talk to him about his experiences and what is going through my head right now at this point in my experience in Germany. I was really glad to get his opinion and tips as to what to expect. Pray for them as they transition into a new life in the Dallas area. I know it will be very different for them and will take a lot of time to get used to it.

Tomorrow I start my German class at the Volkshochschule. Clint and I are going to leave pretty early to make sure we can get there in plenty of time. We will leave around 7:15 to get to catch a bus by 7:22. Needless to say, I'm going to bed pretty soon so I can get some rest. I am very determined to learn German, as is Clint and so it is very exciting to us. It is however, a little bit scary. I am a little nervous about it and hope that it won't be too hard. I know it will be somewhat hard and that will be a good challenge, but I also hope that I can understand everything and learn a lot. I know it will be fine and God will get me through this challenge, but just pray from me! I would really appreciate it!

Well, I hope to let you know how our first day goes and try to keep you more up to date with everything here! I'm off to bed!

Touching Story

Ok, this isn't really my story, but I had to share it with you. At the last English Bible study, Larry gave a lesson and he told a very touching story that was very sweet. I will try to tell it as well as I can, but hopefully you can get the main concept.

Several years ago there were some people who came to do mission work in Russia. They were working in an orphanage in Russia. Larry says the orphanages in Russia are not very nice places to be and the situations there are just sad. These missionaries would tell the children stories and do activities with them. Since it was around Christmas time, they thought they would tell them the story of Christmas. They didn't really have very much material to do activities with the children, but they found all that they could in their hotel room and with what they had. They were going to have the children make their own mangers with baby Jesus in them. They found pieces of cardboard and cut them up into pieces to make the manger and they took pieces of napkins to use as a cloth for the baby. Then they found some other material to make a baby Jesus. As they were helping the children put their mangers together one of the missionaries walked over to a boy who had two babies in his manger. The man went to get a translator and asked the little boy why he had two babies in the manger. The little boy went on to tell the story that at the birth of Jesus he had gone to the stable but he told baby Jesus that he had nothing to give him. He also told Jesus that he had no where to stay and no bed to sleep in. Jesus turned to him and said that he could stay there with him and keep him warm. The boy said, I have nothing to give you but I will sleep here with you and keep you warm. The boy began sobbing and crying and telling the man his life story and how he had no parents and no home. But on this day, the boy found Jesus and found a home with him forever. Jesus was never going to leave him or abandon him and with Jesus he always had a home.

I know this is not exactly the way that Larry told it, but it was so touching to me it really just about made me cry. I hope you can remember that in Jesus you always have a friend and that you always have a home.