I've Graduated!!

Yesterday was my graduation from McNally Smith College of Music! I graduated Magna Cum Laude with an AAS degree in guitar performance. My family and Kerri's family came up for the graduation. It was great to see them!

It's been quite a year full of sacrifices and faith! We've had no choice but to fully rely on God to get us through the last year and a half. We are so thankful for all the suppport given to us from our family and friends. Most of all, we praise God and give thanks to Him for provided our EVERY need. We've always had just enough money to pay the bills and have food on the table. God has definitely shown His faithfulness and provision to us and we are so blessed! We are very excited to see what God has in store for us now! It's always an adventure!!!!

We're Moving!!!

Today we signed the lease for a townhouse in Woodbury, MN! We're moving to Woodbury mid-January. The name of the townhouse complex is Sienna Ridge Townhomes. It's located on the very east edge of Woodbury. It definitely has a country feel yet is very close to the city. Kerri and I are SO excited to be closer to all our friends from small group.

ALSO, Kerri has officially been accepted for a 14 week long-term substitute position at New Life Christian Academy in Woodbury. She starts that on January 4th. Kerri has experience teaching at a Christian Academy so this will be an awesome fit for her. Hopefully this will open a door for her to have a full time teaching job! We're praying God will open the door for her to have her own classroom for an entire year (and more!).

Turkey Time!!!

Tonight Kerri and I are having Thanksgiving dinner with our small group from church. It should be a lot of fun! Tomorrow we're heading back to Iowa for Thanksgiving. We'll be in Cedar Rapids through Friday and head to Sumner Saturday morning to visit Kerri's family. We'll head back to Minnesota on Monday. We're looking forward to seeing everyone but all the driving is going to stink. I vote people come see us for the holidays next year!!! Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!!

Pheasant Hunting

Today is opening day of pheasant season in Iowa. I hunted with my Dad and two brothers. We hunted all day an only saw two pheasants. It was terrible! Because of all the rain Iowa has received, nearly all the crops are still in the field and there was standing water EVERYWHERE in the places we hunted. The only rooster we saw flew into a private cornfield. We never even shot at a pheasant. However, I did have a great time spending the day with my Dad and brothers! It was a beautiful, windy day and all in all we had a great time (minus the wet boots from water going over the tops of them). Hopefully the hunting will be better in a few weeks, once all the corn and beans are picked.

Update

So, it's been awhile since we've posted anything on the blog. I'm really terrible at keeping up with this. In case you're wondering what's been going on with Kerri and me lately here it goes...

I'm in the middle of mid-term week at school...of my final semester!! I can't wait to be finished. All in all, school has been great but I am so sick of riding the bus, taking tests and doing homework. Did I mention that I'm sick of riding the bus? Just making sure. I start teaching a new guitar student today! That's very exciting! I now have two students. Hopefully I can get a couple more before the end of the year. That would be awesome!

Kerri is still substitute teaching and working at Sylvan Learning Center. She's going to be filling a long-term substitute position at New Life Christian Academy after the Christmas break. Hopefully that will open a door for her into a full-time job! You never know...

Kerri and I will be making numerous trips back to Iowa between now and the New Year. Hopefully we'll get to see as much of our family and friends as possible during our visits. This next couple of months is going to FLY by! But, it's going to be a lot of fun!

1st ANNIVERSARY!!!

Today is our first wedding anniversary! This past year has been wonderful! If it's true that the first year of marriage is the hardest, then we're in for a great marriage! We are so excited for what God has in store for us in the many upcoming years.

Lost then Found!!

Earlier this afternoon I went and played frisbee golf. After only two weeks of on and off playing I must say I'm getting pretty decent at the sport. When I got home I realized I didn't have my phone on me! I dug through my bag that I carried with me but it wasn't there. So, I went to the course and looked for it and still couldn't find it. At this point I wss freaking out just a bit! I waited for Kerri to get home from teaching so we could use her phone as we walked the course. After getting through about 1/3 of the course we found it! I was so relieved! I thanked God a million times for helping us find the phone!

Back To Iowa!

Tomorrow evening we're heading back to Iowa to visit family! Kerri's sister is also graduating from college so we'll be attending the ceremony. Congrats Britnee! It's been since Christmas since I've seen most of my family so I'm really excited to see everyone! We'll be coming back to Minnesota Monday evening. It'll be great to spend a few days with the fam!

Frisbee Golf!!

Earlier this evening, Kerri and I picked up some frisbee golf discs at the store and played our first round! Even though we were terrible at it, we had a lot of fun! There are two courses within three miles of where we live so we'll probably play quite a bit (and it's free!). It was a beautiful night to play and we had a lot of fun hanging out with each other. It's been a while since we've gotten to spend some quality time together. By the way, the pic Kerri took of me where I look all athletic and bending way down, I actually lost my footing and fell to the ground. She captured me on the way down. It was hilarious!!

Tomorrow's Easter!!

Kerri and I just got finished prepping for our huge Easter dinner tomorrow. Unfortunately we'll have to eat all this delicious food by ourselves. Oh well... I guess that just means more for leftovers! It'll be sad not being able to spend Easter with our families but at least we'll have some really awesome food.

As an update, Kerri is still getting some substitute teaching jobs from time to time and she's still working at Sylvan. Once the school year is over hopefully she'll be able to pick up a lot more hours at Sylvan (as opposed to the 4-6 hours she averages each week now).

I have three weeks left of my second semester. Thank goodness! This semester has been very stressful! The summer will be a lighter school load and the fall will be even lighter. I'll have all my Fridays off from school during the summer semester so that will be very nice! The church position is going well. I wish I had more time in the week to be able to devote to the music ministry. There's so much that could be done if I had the time to do it. Oh well, the time will come.

We miss all our family and friends back home. We pray you all have a Happy Easter! We love you!

Small Group Trip to Lake Mille Lacs

This last weekend Kerri and I went on a trip with our small group from church to Lake Mille Lacs. Although the fishing was terrible and it was VERY cold, we had an absolute blast with everyone. It was so much fun just to hang out with everyone and get to know everyone so much better. We went fishing, watched movies, played games and hung out. I personally really enjoyed Saturday when it was just us guys out in the ice fishing house. Nothing at all against the girls but it was great getting to spend time with some awesome guys who love the Lord and like to have fun as well. We had some great conversations and a LOT of laughs! Kerri also really enjoyed Saturday as all the girls hung out at the cabin and talked most of the day. She really got to know more about the rest of the girls in small group and they got to know more about her. I guess that since this trip was such a hit with everyone that a summer trip is being planned already. We really are blessed to have such a great group of friends. Since Kerri and I live so far away from our family, it is great that we have our small group to be our "Minnesota family".

Puzzle Finished!

For Christmas Kerri got several puzzles from my parents. They are 1000 pieces each and are quite difficult. Well, Kerri started on one of the puzzles two weeks ago and finally finished it earlier this evening! She's been working a lot on it and though it was tough to do, she did it and got the puzzle done! It'll be interesting to see how long it takes her on her next puzzle.

So I Can Pack It Away...

So my wife made a triple chocolate cake a week ago today. It was the normal size of a rectangular cake. Well anyway, she did not like how it tasted so it was up to me to make sure it didn't go to waste. Well after eating away at the cake everyday, I managed to finish the entire cake this evening. I know, what an accomplishment... I just couldn't see throwing away what I thought was a perfectly good cake (and I couldn't let it go bad). And for the record, I thought the cake was delicious!

Kerri's First Time Ice Fishing

So since I am such a good husband and love my wife dearly, I purchased an ice fishing tent yesterday. Okay, so there's a bit of selfishness there but I knew that Kerri would not go with me if she had to sit outside in the elements. I got a really good deal on a two person tent and took Kerri on her first ice fishing trip this afternoon! She caught 11 crappies and 1 bluegill and I caught 11 crappies and 1 bluegill as well! We had a great time together...even though I had to take off all the fish for her. I didn't mind though, it was fun! I'm pretty sure that Kerri will go again with me in the near future! By the way, the picture of Kerri with her fish is the first fish she has ever caught through the ice!! She did it all by herself! That's my baby!!!

Fishing on Bald Eagle Lake

So today Jimmy and I went fishing on Bald Eagle Lake for a few hours. It was our first time there so that made for a learning experience. Jimmy caught a crappie, which by the way was the only fish of the day for us. Although we fished in the sleet and were pretty much the only fishermen who WEREN'T in a tent, we had a lot of fun.