Updateadoodle!

Hi everyone! 

I thought it was about time for an update for ya'll. :) Things have been getting busier as summer is drawing to a close and things are starting up again over here in the US. Kids are heading back to school, high school graduates are heading to college, and Josh has officially started seminary! 

The intensive languages are over - and with all his hard work he passed the Intensive Greek course really well, and also the Introduction to Hebrew. The languages will continue as the years progress, but now he has started his other courses as well. This past week we attended the Seminary Orientation Day, which was spent with the other 'freshmen' - or first year students. So we got to know them and learn a little more about them which was great. 

There is such an amazingly diverse group of people studying in Josh's class. They come from all over the world, and from very different backgrounds. There is a brief summary of each of the students that is going to be published in the seminary newsletter soon, so I will link it through for you to read - some of these guys have experienced some pretty amazing (and humbling) stuff. It is a constant reminder to us of how privileged we are to be here. 

We also met the Professors - who are of such a high calibre - again, very humbling! They look like they are going to be excellent for Josh to learn under, and have placed an awesome emphasis on exhorting the students to keep a balance between the academics of the course (which does need to be learnt so that the students can pass) but also maintaining humility, and remembering why they are there studying in the first place. It's been very encouraging.

A couple of weekends ago Josh and I had the opportunity to go and spend some time away with another couple from the seminary. They had very kindly invited us along to spend some time with them at a resort (which sounds very fancy to us Kiwi's - and it was very nice - but it is a pretty common thing over here. Much like Kiwi's would go away to a bach for a weekend, here people go away to a resort). The weekend had been donated to them, so they very generously shared their gift with us. 

It was really cool to spend time getting to know this couple better and it was really good for both of the guys to have 'time out' after the Intensive Greek course had finished. I think that Josh's brain needed a bit of a rest! 

Pretty sunsets

Illinois - very vast, and very flat (and there's lots of corn).

At the resort they had a swimming pool and mini golf course among other activities that again, you could do for free! So it was fun - they taught us how to play Shuffleboard (Josh and I weren't the best at it, haha but we had fun), we had a round of the mini-golf, and then in the evening we played 'Lord of the Rings' Risk (and we were all still friends afterwards). :D It was a lot of fun - and we were so thankful for the opportunity to get away for a couple of nights and see a little more of Illinois. 

Shuffleboard - lots of fun! 

Mini golf can be hilarious - apparently.

We played in teams and Josh & I were the baddies so we got the cave trolls - hehehehe

On Tuesday this week was the Seminary Retreat - which was a day spent at a conference centre with all the professors and students currently attending the seminary. They had a speaker who was a graduate of the Mid-America, currently pastoring a church in Canada. He spoke really well, and had some excellent advice for the students, as well as being an encouragement. Then we all got to know each other better over some good food! It was a really fun day. 

So that's pretty much brings us up to date - hopefully more soon. In the meantime I leave you with this super cool caterpillar that we discovered the other week. Josh and I were 'ooh-ing' and 'ahh-ing' over it, and I patted it - and I think that the American people who we were with thought that we were nuts. It was really cute though - don't you think? :D It's so fluffy! 

New Tabs

Howdy everyone!

Just a quick update - before I have to pop out and pick Josh up from class (he walked over to school this morning, but it has been raining today, so I took pity on him). :)

You may notice that there are a couple of new tabs up the top of the page (just above this post), entitled 'J', 'H', and 'U S of A'. I thought I'd explain a little about what they are all about. :)

Both of us have been really enjoying getting stuck into learning more about the Bible, and Josh in particular has been finding it really fantastic to devote this time to learning more about our faith! And he has been getting a lot out of it already. I have been really enjoying working my way through some good devotional material, and reading some excellent books - and both of us feel like there are things that we have learnt and read that we would love to share with people! So the 'J' tab (as you have probably figured out by now) is for Josh to update you all on some things that he has been learning that he has found interesting. And the 'H' one is for me - sometimes there is a verse that is just too good not to share. :) 

The 'U S of A' tab is something that a good friend encouraged me to do. This country has a lot of similarities to NZ, but there are also a lot of quirky little differences that we will probably look back on in the future, and perhaps even miss! It's interesting to know what is different, and perhaps we could even learn something from it - so this is our tab of interesting uniqueness from America. :) Things that are interestingly unique to us as Kiwi's anyway (and perhaps a few things that we do that the American's think are 'interestingly unique' too). :D

Hope that all makes sense! And hopefully we can keep this updated for you all too. :) 
Til next time...

Finally, an update!

Allo everyone,

Sorry that it has been such a while since our last update - the reason being that we moved into our apartment just over a week ago, and haven't had internet! So Lord willing, we will be getting that hooked up this coming Wednesday. 

In the meantime, we have been SUPER blessed - with being able to move into our own place, get set up with a lot of generously donated (and very nice I might add) furniture and items for everyday living, and also continuing to enjoy church life and getting to know people better!

Josh has still been busy with intensive Greek. He had another big exam last week, and did well - so that is a huge blessing, his hard work is paying off. This is his last week of the course, and he has the final exam this coming Friday. 

Our fellow Kiwi's, Albert, Hanneke and their girls, are coming back tomorrow - so we are really looking forward to hanging out with them in 'real life'! Haha - up to this point we have been in communication with them via email, Skype and phone - so it will be cool to meet them. :)

I have been keeping occupied with going for walks around our new neighbourhood, bike rides, and spending time with church and seminary friends which has been really nice. Also been investing time in some cooking and baking - I made some strawberry jam last week which was lots of fun, and it even came out tasting yum. :) 

A local home-schooling group has asked me if I would be willing to take the children for some art classes, so I am also going to be busy coming up with some lesson plans for that over the next couple of weeks. Josh will have a couple of days off to recuperate from Greek, before starting a short course in Hebrew. Then I think he has a week off before the Fall semester begins. :) He is still enjoying study, although has been pretty tired just lately in particular. 

Another couple who have moved here to study at seminary too, called in on us over the weekend and very kindly brought us some house warming gifts! They gave Josh the mug pictured below - they already have him figured out. He does love his coffee. :D

Hopefully we will have our internet set up on Wednesday, and then I can be a bit more regular with our updates. In the meantime, hope you are all well. Your prayers would be appreciated for Josh as he preps for his final exam on Friday. Also he has been feeling a bit under the weather for the past couple of days, so prayer for his health would be amazing too. Thank you so much!