*Hanging my Head in Shame*

Sorry everyone for not posting more consistently. I could make excuses about our busy lives, but I know the rest of the world is busy too, so I won't even try. I don't have much time left on this library computer, but I'll do my best to compress our update!

July 10-23 we had seven horses up at a huge horse show in Dorset, VT. There are 16 tents with 90 stalls each, plus truck-ins for the day, so each week there are over 2,000 horses from around the country (and some from Euroupe too) at this show. We had a lot of young ones, just getting used to the show atmosphere, as well as some more serious competitors. I showed the first week, placing 6th, 7th and 6th in three of our five classes with a horse who was just coming back to showing after a long break, so we were very happy. Galen did very well on her pony as well as several of the farm's ponies that she rode for Jamie (you have to be under 18 to show ponies). We are going back on Monday for the last two weeks, although we'll only have five or so horses there this time. You can see pictures on Galen's website - click on "Competitions" and then "Vermont Summer Festival."

My job has changed a little bit to focus less on management and more on horses, which I am very happy about. Currently I am doing 25 rides per week, which keeps me very busy, but is a lot of fun. Right now I have five young ones that I am starting. They range in age from 3-6, and none had ever been ridden before. I have about 10 rides on one, 4 rides on another, 2 rides on two more, and the last one I haven't ridden yet, as he's taking a little longer. I'm also still riding Annie and she continues to do well. We thought she was sold, but unfortunately the woman decided not to take her. :( I'm also working with a young thoroughbred mare, "Rosie," who Jamie rescued 1 1/2 years ago off the track. She's very pretty, and we took her up to the horse show so she could just learn how to deal with all the other horses and still be calm, realize she wasn't at the races, etc., and she did very well. We might show her sometime in the next two weeks. There are also several other training horses that I ride once or twice a week just to keep them in shape, and I'm enjoying and learning a lot from the wide variety of horses I get to work with.

Jamie and I also have a whole load of young training horses coming mid-August when we get back from the show, so we'll have plenty to keep us busy. Perhaps the biggest news that I can finally let out is that I'll be doing most of the riding with them, because Jamie is pregnant! She'll be 20 weeks at the beginning of September, so won't be able to ride much after that, so we'll be working together with her on the ground and me in the saddle.

Well, time to get back to the farm! I'll try to be better about updating.

Take care all,
Erin

Fulfilling my responsibilities ;)

Okay Nicole, I'm finally getting around to your tag! Sorry it's taken so long...

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW ME?

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Babysitter (imagine that! ;))
2. Horse farm worker (several different farms throughout HS)
3. Summer Missions Program Core Staff (at Gordon)
4. Barn Manager and Training Assistant

Movies I would watch over and over:

1. Out of Africa (Kenya and Meryl Streep... it doesn't get much better than that!)
2. You've Got Mail (daisies are definitely the friendliest flowers!)
3. Emma (I love the hair-dos!)
4. Hmm... it's late and I'm blanking right now. I'll come back and update when I think of something else (which will probably happen when I'm lying in bed tonight trying to fall asleep!)

Four Places I have lived:

1. Nairobi, Kenya
2. Alexandria, VA
3. Williamstown, MA
4. Ndu, Cameroon

Four TV shows I love to watch:

Hmm, this is hard since I don't watch much TV, but junior year when I lived with a bunch of other girls we enjoyed:
1. Friends (borrowing as many DVD seasons as possible!)
2. What Not to Wear
3. Cooking shows on the Food Network (I watched these a bunch while we were housesitting last summer in MT), especially Rachel Ray.
4. Yep, that's pretty much it for me. I'm not much of a TV girl...

Four websites I visit daily:

Right now? I don't even get on the web every day! At school though, these were definite dailies:

1. Exchange - the Gordon email server. This is still my top one.
2. The Generous Wife
3. Go.Gordon - the student info page
4. Blogs

Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Surfside, SC (next to Myrtle Beach)
2. England - London and Stratford-on-Avon (sort of... it was also for school, but felt like vacation!)
3. The Smokies of Tennessee
4. Shenandoah

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Cheesecake
2. My grandmother's banana bread
3. Good carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
4. Anything my mom makes (except fried okra!) - in the summer, particularly corn relish

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. In bed!
2. Anywhere in Europe (particularly Italy, England again, or France/Paris)
3. On a tropical island somewhere
4. On a fancy horse

More Pictures (Finally!)

I've tried several different evenings to post these pictures, and the connection keeps cutting out on me. Ugh, dial up is such a pain after being spoiled by Gordon's fast connection for four years! Anyway, here are a couple more pictures from the show:

Here is Patrick, one of Jamie's ponies, wearing Luke's cowboy hat. He's only been sat on once, but came to the show to hang out and get used to things, since he'll be a fancy show pony one day.

Here's a picture of our friend Kate and her horse Ajax. It was the first show ever for both of them and they did great!

Here's another picture of pretty Annie waiting in line for ribbons to be announced.

I call this picture, "the cowboy and the equestrian." Too bad both Annie and Luke had their eyes closed! Oh well, there's always next time.

This is my favorite picture from the show - the gorgeous girl with her reserve champion ribbon and her kind eye up close. She kept moving her head around, but Galen was able to snap this shot and it's so cool!

We had a bit of a crazy weekend up here when the temperature dropped to 45 on Fri. night and it dumped rain, which wasn't in the forecast. We had a bunch of horses outside without sheets, and they were all shivering Sat. morning. When horses get cold like that it's very easy for them to colic, so we were super worried. Thankfully, we only had one horse get sick, and she wasn't too bad. She was living outside and got chilled, so had a bit of a stomach ache for a couple days, but we managed to nurse her back to health on our own over a couple days. However, it required going up to the barn every 2-3 hours on Sat. and Sun. nights, so I'm beat! But now she's better and she's been so sweet that we've decided to go ahead and saddle her tomorrow and start training her to sell.

I also had a great session with Appy this afternoon, a 3-year-old appaloosa/mustang gelding that was given to Jamie last year. I've worked with him about 7 times, put a saddle on him for the 4th time today, and he was so good that I'll ride him for the first time tomorrow! So that's exciting. Maybe we'll even get some pictures.

Well, it's starting to get late so I'm heading up to do night check and then to bed. I'll try and visit everyone else's blogs in the next couple of days, sorry I haven't been keeping up! Hope all's well with everyone; let us know how you're all doing!

Take care,

Erin

Anniversary and a Horse Show

Wow, it's hard to believe that one year ago today Luke and I got married. It's been fun remembering our wedding this morning. So far we are enjoying a quiet, restful day at home; we're hoping to head out later to do a little shopping and have a nice evening. With all the business in our lives these days, it's so nice to just take a day and relax together. We talked about making plans, or "doing" something, but decided we just wanted to spend some restful time together, which has been great.

We celebrated in a different way yesterday, a way that seems quite appropriate for us - we went to a horse show! It was our first show since we've been married, and my first time competing in over five years. I took one of Jamie's training horses, Annie, who I've been working with a lot since we've been here. She is a sweet, beautiful, Belgian-Thoroughbred mare who just turned 7 and is 16.3 hands tall (she's a big girl!). Jamie rescued her and her sister (who has since been sold) a couple of years ago, but hadn't had time to work with Annie consistently since then. She was skin and bones when she came, incredibly nervous, couldn't be caught, scared of everything, and had only been ridden a handful of times. But she's been progressing beautifully, and has wildly exceeded everyone's expectations. She's been a joy to ride.

At the show yesterday we did the walk-trot division, since we just started cantering her last week. She absolutely loved the show ring and was relaxed and unflappable all day, which is amazing for her! We did four out of the six walk-trot classes (we didn't do the halter or trail classes), got three blue ribbons, one red, and were reserve champions! So it was a great day. Here are some pictures of my wonderful girl:

Galen, an amazing young rider at the farm, took these pictures. She's a great photographer too, and I'll post some more of her pictures tomorrow. Now Luke and I are off to do night check at the barn and then head to bed. Take care and keep us posted on your lives!

WOW!

Sorry it's been so long since an update! Things have been crazy here in Hoosick. Here's a quick rundown:

We visited CBC in Williamstown last Sunday, and it was a lot of fun to see so many old friends. We enjoyed the Youth Sunday service - I can't believe how grown up all the "little kids" are now!

I officially started work this past Monday, although we had been around the farm all weekend. Some of the things I've done this week include: cleaning and organizing the office and tack room, creating new turnout and feed boards, revising the employee handbook, hiring and training a new worker, riding several horses and working with several young ones in the round pen, helping out with chores, taking a couple of horses home and picking up a couple loads of hay on the way back, showing visitors around the farm, correcting employee mistakes, bathing a couple of horses in preparation for shows and demos, and going with Jamie to her demonstration at Dressage at Saratoga yesterday. It's been a busy week!

Luke worked on finishing up the tack room at the end of last week. Unfortunately, he was sick most of this week with some sort of flu we think. He had a very high fever accompanied by achiness and lack of appetite for three days, and stomach pain for three days after that! He is feeling much better now, although he gets tired quickly, has lost a lot of weight (he's bony!) and feels pretty weak. So please pray that he returns to full health soon and is able to start working again.

Please also pray for our friend Jamie. She's going through some stressful health issues right now - please pray for her health and peace of mind, and pray for us as we seek to pour God's love into her life.

Well, it's time to go up and do night check at the barn, so I better close. Tomorrow starts another busy yet exciting week. While the past two weeks have been exhausting in many ways, I also feel so blessed to have a job that I absolutely love. It truly doesn't feel like I'm going to work every day - more like I get to do things I enjoy and spend time with people I love, and by God's amazing grace I get paid to do it! He's so good to me, it is truly overwhelming. I am blessed beyond measure.

Let us know also how we can be praying for you and what's going on in your lives! Although we may be hard to get ahold of right now, we still want to stay connected and look forward to hearing how y'all are doing.

Hugs,
Erin

We're Here!

Well, it was a wonderful, although incredibly wet weekend. Between Friday night and noon on Sunday, 6.5 inches of rain fell, and it was still raining when we left. A disaster has been declared in the area. My parents were staying with friends in our church, and their basement flooded - Mommy stepped down into water when she got out of bed Sunday morning. Jonathan worked an eleven and a half hour shift, and at the end a guy fainted and he had to call an ambulance. When we were coming home from church, two roads were flooded. Just as we were getting ready to leave, Luke realized he had a flat tire.

But, WE MADE IT! We're here, all our stuff is here, I graduated, am all done, and am so excited to be here. I'll try to keep updating as we figure out more of what we'll be doing, where we'll be living, etc. Take care.

ALL DONE

Yay! I finished my paper this morning, so now I'm completely done with college! I'm excited, but that excitement is tempered by the fact that the weather prediction for Saturday has gotten much worse since yesterday. Now there's a 60% chance of rain all day. NO! Not good. Ugh. Usually I love rain, but now is just not the time for it.

Tonight Luke and I are going to a goodbye party that his company is throwing for him, so that should be fun. Since I finished my paper this morning, I've been packing all day. I got all the dishes packed (and that box is heavy!), and now I'm going to go do glasses and mugs, and maybe pictures (in frames) if I have time before Luke picks me up.

It's only two days until my family gets here! We haven't seen them since Christmas, so that will be a treat.

I'm really, really hoping it doesn't rain!

MY LAST FINAL

I'm DONE with college exams! WOOHOO!!! I had my last final at 2 this afternoon, it was tough but it's done! I have one research paper to polish tonight and tomorrow morning, and then I'll be completely done with college. I can't wait! I'm going to go work on it now so I can be completely, totally, one-hundred-percent no-one-can-say-otherwise DONE!

Oh, and it's pouring buckets out right now but there's only a 20% chance of rain on Sat. (and only 10% on Sun., when we have to move all our stuff!) Yay God! Praying that the rain stays away...

Finals Time!

The NAMI walk on Sat. was great!

I'm now in the middle of studying for finals. Both of mine are tomorrow (Tues.) - one at 10:30 and one at 2. I'd appreciate prayer today and tomorrow as I'm studying and taking them... although I feel prepared and relatively confident, my body is doing it's lovely nervous-upset-stomach routine. :-P So peace and calm for both body and mind would be great!

The chance of precipitation for Sat. is down to 40%, so that's good but I'm praying it goes down even farther! Kelly, it's only supposed to be 58 degrees so I don't think we'll have to worry about folks passing out (at least not from the heat...).

Okay, back to studying, I just wanted to give a quick update. 4 days until my family arrives (Yay!), 5 days until graduation, and 6 days until we move! Whew!

Barbecue Night

This was posted by a friend of mine and it's pretty funny. Not that Luke would ever come to the conclusion at the end, but it's still a pretty good laugh. :)

Barbecue Season Is Coming!

After the long months of cold and winter, we will soon be coming up to summer and BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking as it's the only type of cooking a real man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved.

When a husband volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine...

1) The wife buys the food.
2) The wife makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
3) The wife prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces,

and takes it to the DH who is lounging beside the grill - drink in hand.

Here comes the important part:

4) THE HUSBAND PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine....

5) The wife goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
6) The wife comes out to tell the husband that the meat is burning.. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another drink while he deals with the situation.


Important again:

7) THE HUSBAND TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WIFE.


More routine.....

8) The wife prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins,
sauces and brings them to the table.
9) After eating, the wife clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:

10) Everyone PRAISES the HUSBAND and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.

11) The husband then asks the wife how she enjoyed "her night off." And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that

there's just no pleasing some women....?

;)

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!

So, today is the first day that weather.com has had a forecast for next Sat., May 13th, graduation day (see, I haven't totally forgotten about it! ;)). And the forecast says 60% chance of showers! No, no, no, this is very bad. If it's sunny, they hold graduation outside on the beautiful quad and there's plenty of room for everyone to attend. If it rains, they have to hold it in the gym, and each senior only gets a few tickets because there's limited seating. I was able to get a few extras, but I still only have six tickets. So, please pray that it's sunny everyone, so that Luke, my whole family, and my grandparents who are driving up will be able to attend.

NAMI Walks for the Mind of America

This Saturday, May 5th, rain or shine, Luke and I are participating in the annual NAMIWalks Boston, a 5k (3 mile) walk set up by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an organization which advocates for the mentally ill and sponsors programs for the mentally ill around the US. We will be going as part of a team from a nearby clubhouse (day program) for folks with mental illness, where I did a project last fall. We'd love to have some sponsors! Money raised will go to support programs for the mentally ill around MA, like Pioneer House, the group we're going with. These programs are incredibly important, as they provide support for folks with a mental illness who are seeking to find gainful employment and integrate into the community. If any of you are interested in sponsoring us, there's an easy way to do so! Simply go to: www.nami.org/namiwalks, scroll down to the US map and click on MA, then scroll down and you'll see a box on the right side that says "Support Our Walk!" - click on "Sponsor a Walker." You can then scroll down, find our names, click on them, and choose how much to donate.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support!

Grand Opening!

Well, once again we're back from a crazy weekend in NY! We arrived at 8:30 on Thurs. night and unloaded all of our stuff that I had packed the week before. We didn't stay up super late Thurs. night, but we were up bright and early Friday morning and up to the barn by 7. Luke worked on trim in the tack room while I helped get horses outside and strip all the stalls of their bedding. Then several of us started scrubbing the stalls boards to get them clean. We started at about 10:30, and didn't finish until 5pm. Yep, that's 6 1/2 hours bent over, scrubbing. I'm still sore. Luke came out about 4 and helped finish the last few stalls, while some of the other girls and I started putting clean bedding in the stalls that were done and bringing horses in. After feeding the horses we started cleaning the tack room, which was full of stain, varnish, wood scraps, sawdust, horse tack, garbage, you name it. About 9:30pm Jamie's friend Kate and I headed down to the house to start working on flyers for the Grand Opening, giving info about the farm, upcoming events (the schedule I posted last week), and a timeline of the day. We also started working on small signs with names and info to go on the stalls of the horses that were going to stay in because they are for sale or were going to be used in a demo during the day. Jamie came down about 11:00, and we wrestled with the printer for awhile. Kate left and Luke went to bed about 12:30, and Jamie and I finally headed to bed at 2am. We were up at 5:15 taking showers, went up to the barn to feed and make sure everyone had arrived there to get chores done, and then Jamie and I drove around putting directional signs up at some of the tricky intersections while Luke and Eric finished up a few pieces of trim in the tack room and everyone else got the horses out and the stalls cleaned. By the time we got back, tables had been set up in the tack room, and we all ran around putting up parking signs, grooming demo horses, assigning tasks, handing out shirts to the employees... basically whatever needed to be done. The first visitors started arriving about 10:15, and by the time Jamie's first demo rolled around at noon, there were over 85 people there watching. Throughout the day we had around 250 visitors stop by, and some stayed for a good amount of time. Kate's husband James did all the food for lunch and afternoon snacks, and it was amazing! The Grand Opening officially ended at 5, and most everyone was gone by 5:30. Then the employees and close friends all gathered for a champagne toast and celebration with more food in the tack room. It was a great evening, and the day as a whole was a huge success.

We all crashed in bed by 9:15, and Luke and I slept for 11 hours! We left around 10, got home at 1:30, I sang in a concert at 3, got home at 5:30 and went to bed, woke up for an hour at 8:30 for some dinner and got a little work done, then went back to bed and slept until 7:30 this morning! Now it's 10pm and I've been fading fast for the past hour, so I'm headed to bed, still sore and tired from the weekend, but very happy, pleased with how things went, and even more excited about working at HGF this coming year.

Oh, and we met a really nice Christian family and have two new leads on potential living places, so we're praising God and looking forward to seeing how He will provide for us in this new venture. There were some other exciting things that happened today, but I just don't have the energy to write about them now. Sometime soon...

Progress in NY

We got back from a crazy weekend in NY late last night and are both feeling the effects of it today! The weather was horrible, particularly so in comparison to how beautiful the previous week had been - it was cold and rainy all weekend, but that only encouraged us to stay inside and work! Luke did a lot of work on the trim and cabinets in the tack room, and I was staining and varnishing all weekend. It's really looking beautiful, with natural pine walls and cherry-stained trim.

Jamie is feeling somewhat better. It's weird, as she was just talking on the phone Wed. night when she suddenly was in agony. She's taking several prescriptions and is scheduled for some more tests to see what the problem is. Continued prayers would be much appreciated!

I finally managed to get a rough sketch of our schedule for the summer. This doesn't include any clinics by others we might go to, or even most of the shows we'll be attending, but it's a basic outline of the major events for the next few months:

April 29 - Grand Opening! (HGF)
May 13 - GRADUATION!!!
May 14 - We move to Hoosick
May 27 and 28 - Demo (Saratoga)
June 10 - Clinic (Grafton)
July 3-7 - Horse Camp! (HGF)
July 8-9 - Clinic (HGF)
July 10 - August 4 - Vermont Summer Festival Horse Show (Dorset)
September 16-17 - Clinic (HGF)

Yep, we'll be busy! But we're greatly looking forward to the summer and all the challenges and new adventures it will have to offer. Only 19 days until graduation!

Edited to Add: We also found my old chaps and ripped the zippers off of them to use on my new ones. Depending on when Luke's stamping tools get here, we're hoping to make good progress on my chaps next week, and they should definitely be done by the time we move. Yay!

Please Pray!

Please pray for our friend Jamie, who we'll be working with in NY. She went to the ER yesterday because her back and neck were fine one second, in agony the next, and her entire right hand was numb. They shot her up with morphine and she's back home now, I'm not sure what kind of follow-up she'll have. She's not one to slow down, even when she's in pain, and she obviously needs her body for work, so please pray that she'll take the time to heal and take care of whatever's going on. We're going out there this weekend, so I should have more info when we get back. Thanks for your prayers!

Am I a Poet? Or a Cook?

Got this from owlhaven's blog... yeah, the questions are a bit transparent, but I tried to mix it up a bit and it turned out fairly true to my writing style, I think (maybe I should let everyone else judge that, though!).

You Should Be A Poet

You craft words well, in creative and unexpected ways. And you have a great talent for evoking beautiful imagery... Or describing the most intense heartbreak ever. You're already naturally a poet, even if you've never written a poem.

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

I don't think my "poet side" shows up around here much... I think I tend to "craft" more when I get contemplative.

On a different note, I made a new dish tonight that was really yummy, which I was slightly surprised by! It's called "Pasta Fazul" and I got it from allrecipes... I had bought some cannellini beans the other day, curious about how they'd taste, and needed to use them up, so I made this dish with onion, garlic, carrot, tomatoes, and cannellini beans mixed with pasta (we used rigatoni), parmesan, and a little butter. We both really liked it and it was super easy, so I'm adding it to my list of "throw-together dinners" for this summer when I know I won't have any time to cook!

I also cooked buttercup squash in a new way last night that may be old hat to many of you, but was new and yummy for us! Usually I just make a casserole with butter and brown sugar on top on the mashed squash, but last night I mixed the squash with cinnamon, nutmeg, a dash of cloves and ginger, a little brown sugar (it doesn't need much at all), and maybe 1/3 - 1/2 cup milk. It smelled heavenly - like a pumpkin pie - while baking at 350 for 30-40 minutes, and tasted yummy too (except for I bumped the ginger one too many times, so it was a little too spicy!). The satisfaction of pie in a healthy side dish! Yay!

Out of the Funk, Into the Whirlwind!

Whew! Today has been busy, but good. Last night we got our things out of storage - my barn stuff, two suitcases, and one big plastic bin - so that I could pack today. This morning I worked on laundry and packing, and got all our coats and winter blankets into one suitcase (Luke has a lot of coats! :P) and all our books (that I'm not currently using for school) plus a bunch of miscellaneous stuff into the plastic bin. I'm feeling pretty good about the packing, as pretty much all we have left are clothes, kitchen stuff, and breakables. Ugh, the fragile stuff is what I don't like dealing with... pictures, glass vases/candlesticks, mirrors, that kind of stuff I always find a pain to pack up, and I'm not really sure what to pack it in. I'm sure I'll figure something out though.

This afternoon I've been finishing laundry and homework for tomorrow. The homework's done, and I just have one load to fold. I feel like I've had a productive day! I am praising and thanking God so much right now, because the past week or so I feel like I've finally pulled out of this blue funk I've been in since the beginning of the semester. The past few months it's really been a struggle for me to get anything done. I've felt completely unmotivated towards my schoolwork, and learning has definitely been more a burden than a joy. As Luke can attest, my lack of motivation also extended to our apartment, which has been in a pretty sorry state. I wasn't sleeping well, and felt like I barely had the energy to do what it took to get by. But thank God, the past week the cloud has seemed to dissipate, and this weekend my usual motivation is back full force! I've been spending more regular time with God, enjoying the beauty of spring, and getting both school and house/moving projects done in a timely manner. It feels great to be back! :)

On that note, I'm going to go fold my last load of laundry and try to figure out if there's anything else we don't need for the next 25 days that I can pack up to take to Hoosick this weekend! There's a chance of showers, but I'm hoping at least for nice weather on the drive out so that our stuff doesn't get all wet! Once we get there it can rain if it wants to, because we probably need to stay inside and plan for the Grand Opening anyway!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday yesterday, celebrating Christ's victory over sin and death and the opportunity we now have by grace to spend eternity with Him. What a precious gift our Savior has given us!

Luke and I had a quiet day, which was nice. We had a wonderful church service in the morning, then a special lunch at home together and a relaxing afternoon. In the evening Luke worked a little more on my chaps, cutting out the yokes. Now we are just waiting for his stamping tools to arrive from Montana, as he needs to stamp the yokes before putting them on, and he can't put the belt on until the yokes go on. So we're on hold for a little while, maybe a week or so. But, Luke was able to use some of the scraps to make some nice half-chaps for himself! He is so creative with things like this, able to just look at it for a bit and figure out how to make something that will be both beautiful and functional. He truly has a gift!

This whole weekend has been very joy-filled, as one of my favorite people and good friends got married on Saturday, and the wedding was absolutely wonderful. Both the bride and groom got very emotional during the ceremony, and could barely finish their vows they were so choked up. But the groom managed to recover and surprised his bride by playing (on the piano - he's an amazing pianist) and singing Steven Curtis Chapman's song, "I Will Be Here." The whole church was filled with joy during the entire ceremony, topped off by the bride literally skipping down the aisle, glowing with happiness.

The reception was a lot of fun too. There were a lot of people from Gordon - professors, current students, and alumni - and so it was fun to reconnect with old friends I hadn't seen in awhile. I am just so excited for this wonderful couple! They are both great people who have huge hearts for serving others, and they were obviously so in love and having a marvelous time at their wedding, as were all their family members, which is so wonderful to see. So, we are praising God for this new couple and praying for them as they begin building their marriage.

Now it's back to work! I spent a couple hours this morning working with the data from my study, and have a book to read and write a paper on in the next week. It's only 26 days until graduation, and I can't wait! Thanks so much for all your prayers and support - your encouragment and love is such a blessing to us!

~Erin :)

Spring Cleaning!

Woohoo, it's sunny and 60 degreees outside! This morning I cleaned out my dreser and switched all my winter clothes into a chest and got out all my spring/summer clothes, so I feel happy and excited for the warm weather and like I have a whole new wardrobe! I love changing clothes for the seasons because I find things I didn't even remember I had and it makes me feel like I just went shopping for a bunch of great clothes! :)

There are no classes today or Monday, so I'm having a big cleaning and packing weekend. Yesterday I cleaned our bedroom and cleared off/cleaned my desk and sorted through all my old papers. If you've ever seen my dad's office, you know what a challenge that was, as I'm definitely my father's daughter! I also cleaned the living room, as there was leather spread everywhere. It smells like a tack shop in here! Luckily Luke and I both love the smell of leather.

Yes, we got the chap leather, and Luke already has the legs all cut out! Next he's going to start working on the yokes and the belt. And, I was wrong about what color I was going to get. I wanted a darker brown, but while we were at the warehouse Luke convinced me to get a gorgeous buckskin color instead. The leather is soo soft and beautiful, and I'm so excited!

This evening we're going to find a wedding present for our friends who are getting married tomorrow. They're not registered anywhere that I've been able to find, so I'm praying that we pick out the right gift!

As I was reflecting on Matthew 26-28 for an assignment, I put together a number of scriptures focusing on God's love and Christ's sacrifice for us. You can see them here, on my other blog. What a great God we have, who shares in our sorrows, taking on our mortality to offer us His life. Today is truly a Good day.

Fun Facts from Wikipedia

I saw this on another blog this morning and thought it looked fun. Go to wikipedia and type in your birthdate without the year. Then post three facts or events, two births, and two deaths that happened on your birthday, and include the year they happened.

Here are mine:

Facts:

1504 - Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Florence.

1636 - A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes the first college in what would become the United States, today known as Harvard University.

1930 - 3M begins marketing Scotch transparent tape.

Births:

1828 - Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, American Civil War soldier

1841 - Antonin Dvorak, Czech composer (d. 1904)

Deaths:

1755 - Ephraim Williams, American philanthropist (b. 1715)

1949 - Richard Strauss, German composer (b. 1864)

Here are some I picked out for Luke, since he's at work... he may come and change them later:

Facts:

1864 - Helena, Montana is founded after four prospectors discover gold at "Last Chance Gulch."

1938 - Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing a nationwide panic.

2001 - George W. Bush throws out the first pitch at Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, in what was intended to be a defiant gesture, coming just weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Births:

1735 - John Adams, American revolutionary leader and President of the United States (d. 1826)

And FIVE recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, including, most recently,
1939 - Leland H. Hartwell, American scientist

Deaths:

1912 - James S. Sherman, Vice President of the United States (b. 1855)

1968 - Rose Wilder Lane, American journalist and author (b. 1886)

I also looked up our wedding date, so here's some fun info for that day:

70 - Titus and his Roman legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem.

1851 - Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery serial, Uncle Tom's Cabin or, Life Among the Lowly starts a ten-month run in the National Era abolitionist newspaper.

1956 - Elvis Presley introduces his new single, Hound Dog, on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.

1989 - The Unknown Rebel halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Births (more than two - some of these were just too good to pass up!):

1493 - Justus Jonas, German protestant reformer (d. 1555)

1718 - Thomas Chippendale, English furniture maker (d. 1779)

1723 - Adam Smith, Scottish economist and philosopher (d. 1790)

1850 - Pat Garrett, American Western lawman (d. 1908)

1883 - John Maynard Keynes, English economist (d. 1946)

1919 - Richard Scarry, American children's author (d. 1994)

Deaths:

1916 - Horatio Kitchener, Lord Kitchener, British field marshal (b. 1850)

1993 - Conway Twitty, American musician (b. 1933)

2004 - Ronald Reagan, former President of the United States (b. 1911)

So, there are your fun facts for the day. What happened on your birthday or anniversary?