We are back

Branson itself was a real "cultural experience" The time spent with Grandma Mary and Papa Gary was wonderful.
Pictures will follow soon. But I must share a few things I learned in Southern Missouri:

one- I don't want to live there
two- chicken fried steak and buffets offer little to know nutritional value
three- I'm so very very proud of my Grandfather and his service to this country (Korea and Vietnam).

Thank you Papa Gary and thanks to all the Little Bears that Darren and I had the privilege of spending time with this last weekend. Thank you for your selfless sacrifices to our country. We esteem and love you much!

Branson and Call Day Musings

We leave for Branson Mo tomorrow. We are going to meet up with Grandma Mary and Papa Gary. I'm looking forward to spending time with them. I'm also excited about seeing more of Missouri. We have lived here for two years and all I have seen outside of the St. Louis Metro area is what I saw out the passenger seat on our drive from California. Oh Missouri, your green, flat and unpredictably predictable.
It was call day yesterday. If we were not going to Cambridge this fall we would have gotten a vicarage call somewhere in the US. Many are going to Illinois, Iowa, or staying in good Ole Missouri (Oh Missouri).
However many of our friends are going to either coasts, or at the very least they are going to be outside of the midwest which I can say gives me hope (though unwarranted).
I watched the call service on my computer at work. It seemed to me that those Seminary students with military buzz cuts were placed in the Midwest whereas those with a more "hip" or "ragged" coif of hair got to go to the West or East. Darren must start growing out his hair, then maybe we would get Hawaii or something. In truth it does not matter where we go next year. For one we get to spend a year in EUROPE and secondly the point of vicarage is good pastoral and practical instruction for Darren and myself. If that can happen in (ug) MISSOURI, well then so be it and well I'll worry about it next year!
Call day is always emotional, more so for the those being actually called to a full time pastor position. It still boggles my mind that we are here at times and that in three years we too will get our fate handed to us by the powers at be. Ah, I suppose that's life really for anyone.. its just a bit more defined for us. I also must note that in the last two years I have grown to respect and trust the "powers at be" at the Seminary. They are far from perfect but they know that and that is a comforting thing.

Well enough ramble. I need to pack for Branson. Pictures and detailed descriptions to follow.

I googled "Missouri" and I got this:

St Louis is nice today. The sunshine is out.

We would like to be in England right now.

We want to go to Scotland and tasty Whiskeys and to all the isles. And to Ireland.
and to Spain and to southern France and to Italy and to Croatia and to Greece and to the Baltics and to Switzerland and to everywhere in Europe and the planet.

We will have a road trip to LA in August. I think we will go to the Grand Canyon. We will probably leave for England in early September-ish. I will be hard for me to be outside of the United State when the Tigers win the World Series. I will need to find a place to watch the games.

Opening Day and Chicago (not in that order)

Tonight is not opening day.. BUT the flood gates of the 2009 season doth burst forth and we celebrate the awesome power which is the great American pastime, that is why I made brats and we drank beer. Darren is simultaneously watching a game on ESPN, listening to the Tigers game online and reading baseball prospectus.





This last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Lindsay in Chicago. The Portlander was there for a book conference and I got to crash at her fancy hotel and we got to hang out like old times; sharing clothes, talking about how we rule, eating and drinking fine things and pretty much ruling. It was great fun. I like Chicago, if only the lake were an actual ocean and the climate remained temperate I would say it's the best city ever- but it's not. Although it is very very very awesome.





We leave for Branson next weekend for a fun filled adventure with Grandma Mary and Papa Gary (YESSS!!). We are very excited and can't wait to spend some time with them and see that part of Missouri.

Pray for the Tigers. Thank you.

UK OK

As many of you few and faithful (sorry) readers of this blog may know.. We are going to Cambridge! We move this September. Darren will be studying and we will be living at Westfield House for about a year. This has always been a dream of ours; not only to live abroad but also to go to Westfield (Darren applied there for seminary but we decided on the sem in St. Louis as it fit our situation better). In the last two years not a week went by with out us speculating or scheming in regards to the exchange program.. I'm an Anglophile and an obsessive CS Lewis fan in my heart of hearts and the desire to travel runs rapid in Darren's blood (it's been over two years since he left the America's and he is getting restless). We wanted to go and thank you God for granting that wish.
We are so very excited and anticipation runs high. We found out about a month ago, the same day our dear friends (Lindsay, Nich, Mike and Kelly) came to visit. We spent the whole weekend celebrating. Since finding out I have had the privilege of talking to two gracious women (sem wives) that lived at Westfield in the recent past- I took a lot of notes about living and working abroad and their wisdom has been both a comfort and a springboard of more anticipation (so much to do before we leave and when we get there).
Darren and I have bought a map of Europe that hangs above our bed and we have also spent some time mapping out travels (as we will have two months to travel while over there during Darren's breaks from school). Our families and friends have vowed to visit which if they are able to keep their promises will be so exciting! .. Really we can't wait! But first we must finish out our respective school semesters, work work work, find storage, buy good rain coats and luggage, apply for visas, be in two wonderful weddings on the west coast, go to Chicago, go to Michigan, go to Branson Mo w/ Grandma Mary and Papa Gary, plan for spring fest, buy plane tickets, save money, drive cross country to drop off our car and say good bye to our good friends in the Lou. Phew.. but hey most of that stuff will be fun. So there you have it. We hope to be more active on this blog when we are over there, for the sake of convenience we will keep the same blog (though you can't meet us in St. Louis.. but you get the idea).

And now I leave you with a few pictures of our Visit from Friends mentioned above. We did Mardi Grass on an awfully cold day but we had fun and drinking beer the size of your face always warms one up a bit. Viva la Beer!

Snow Daze

It snowed a bunch, like a foot. I went out last night in it because I had free tickets to see the Broadway rendition of Legally Blond- because you know risking your neck to see the blond show is well worth it. It was pretty fun though, better then I expected and the seats were awesome. Box seats with our own 'drink waiter'. For those wondering, no I did not drag Darren with me. I saw it with lady friends. Today was a snow day from work. I'm trying to get some homework done. My class this semester (well actually for the next few semesters) consists of 10 people working on my Professor's 2nd edition of the Media Literacy Dictionary. I'm working on the phrase- 'willing suspension of disbelief' and right now I'm willingly suspending my disbelief that I will be able to get it done in time. I'm enjoying the fantasy that Procrastination will actually write the thing for me.

I'm also really missing LA. Funny it's kind of a crap city but when you leave it, it beckons to you "COME HOME AND EAT AND BE WARM WITH YOUR FRIENDS" Ahh LA. Also compared to the Midwest anything looks shiny and exciting. I got no love for the flat part.

We will try to keep you updated on the whole England vs US thing. We have turned in the application and now we just wait and watch the snow melt and let the powers at be determine our location for the next two years. It's kind of fun- but only kind of.

LET THERE BE LIGHT (and Photos)

So we never post here anymore and never put pictures up.. I know how much you all miss that. So here you go.. Your Welcome Grandma! We have not used our camera in a while so I will need to get some pics from my mom(s) from Turkey Day and Christmas. Happy New Years!!
love
becca (and darren)