Christmastime is here

and so are the Luginbills :)
It's been fun hanging out with Anne's family the last few days. And they've been flex, living in an apartment with us for this time. But it's not too cramped.
So, we were going to go to a castle tonight for a Christmas eve service in German - but we opted out of that just a couple hours ago. It would take about 45 minutes - an hour to get there, would last 1.5 hours in German (not so good for some of us that speak no German), and public transportation basically doesn't run anymore past 12:30am. So, we've decided to stay here.
We just ate a yummy dinner that Anne made - black bean casserole (except it was pinto beans), thanks to Mom for the recipe. Now, I'm not sure what we're going to do - maybe watch a movie, maybe open the "family gift".
Meg has done an impressive wrapping gifts - but we're waiting to have our Christmas until the morning of the 25th. Austrian tradition is to do that on Christmas Eve.

OK, so Fröhe Weinachten to all of you!!! (Merry Christmas/Happy Christmas)

Guess Who's Coming To Town?!?!?!?!

Nope - it's not Santa. It's Bono! He and his musical gang (AKA U2) are almost for sure stopping in Vienna to put on an amazing show in the first week of July!!! I'm super excited - want to join me? It's going to be at the Ernst Happel Stadion which is only a mile or 2 from where I live!! Perfect walking distance so I don't have to try to ride the bus or something along with 50 to 70 thousand other people. 

Looky here!! It's our Christmas tree! There's even a few presents for some of our lucky viewers. All you have to do is swing by our place to pick it up. See ya then. :) 

Wierdo, I guess

Anne and I were just riding on the U-Bahn (subway). There was an older couple sitting across from us and he was looking at me in the "normal" Austrian way. Just kind of observing me - not a big deal. I was checking him out too, cause he had this interesting ear warmer thing on with a big Edelweiss flower on it. After 5 minutes or so, he said a few things to his wife which I didn't try to understand. I just noticed he had a strong Viennese dialect - which is very different than the "high German" taught in schools in Germany and Austria.
Then, 1-2 minutes before we were getting off, this guy started talking to me. Honestly, I couldn't understand really anything he was saying. Normally, I can pick up 50-75% of what people say, and at least a little if they speak the Vienna dialect. But with this guy - gar nichts (nothing at all). He started getting more and more worked up with whatever he was talking about and then was talking to me and Anne. He wasn't asking us questions, but just kept right on talking while his wife just ignored the whole situation. It became sorta funny because he just kept right on going eventhough we said nothing - just sorta nodded our head like we understood. After all that, there was a lull in his talking and it was time for us to get off the U-Bahn, so I said to Anne that we needed to get off (in German). We got off and I don't know if that guy even knew that we didn't understand what he was saying at all.
Anne and I were sorta stunned and wondered what he was saying. I told her that the only words I picked up were "explosion" and "Russia", and maybe something like "down here". He seemed pretty upset about whatever that was - maybe something to do with WWII, since Russia occupied Austria then and supposedly were not nice to the Austrians.

Maybe that whole story was boring to you, but it sure was amusing to us. :)

Why do they argue?

Those 7th graders - well not all of them... but it sure is frustrating when they do. They have little logic, and what logic they do have they over-use. Then in this case they refuse to listen and interrupt over and over. Uuuuggghh.
Ok, so that's my frustration for the day, but it's Friday and I have a couple days off! Tonight is the elementary Christmas program at VCS, and it's bound to be entertaining. Anne is leading the 3rd-5th graders in reciting Luke 2 with hand motions. :)

An Indiana Minute

Whew! I just returned home about an hour ago from spending the quickest weekend of my life in Indiana! I went home last Thursday for my friend Heather's wedding in Indianapolis. Heather and I have been friends since high school, so it was great to be a part of her big day. I stayed at my parents' house and ate a yummy Dairy Queen heath bar blizzard in my few minutes of non-wedding free time. I also hit Target, Old Navy, and the grocery for a few goodies we miss. And I saw all of my grandparents. Cool. Ooh, the blessings of America. I realized, too, how thankful I am to have the opportunity to live in Austria and teach kids, which I LOVE. Despite the things that are different and annoying, I'm excited to be back in Vienna. I think I'm moving out of the major part of the transition experience that has plagued us over this first semester. Sometimes a dose of home is good medicine. So, overall it was a great weekend, and I'm happy that I don't have to board any airplanes for a long time!

Thanksgiving weekend

We've had a really great guest the past couple days - Kelsey. She's a friend of ours from Bloomington and was in our Bible study. She's been a lot of fun - and we've been showing her around Vienna at some touristy things and enjoying some more western/American type things here. She's been in Romania for months and they have much much less variety and choices with food and other things there. So she's been loving things here like vegetables, beef, butter, etc. that just isn't the same in Romania. Today we went to a cool outdoor Christmas market and to the main Vienna cemetary (to look at gravesites of lots of famous people like Shubert, Beethoven, Strauss, Schoenberg, Brahms, and more).
See the picture below for visual help.

Anne and Kelsey at a Christmas market eating monster-size pretzels. I helped, too. :) 

Parent Teacher Conferences

Well, it was just on Friday that the big day happened. Anticipation was in the air. An extra pot of coffee was brewing in the staff room. Ties adorned the chests of every male teacher in the hopes of a professional display.
But theses weren't just any old Parent Teacher Conferences - many were meetings with parents of very different cultures. Anne met with an animated Nigerian father. Chris met with a father, whose children have Indian decent but have been raised in Austria. But what made this meeting that Chris had so interesting, was the non-verbal communication between Chris and the Indian man. He was asking some great questions about how I try to make the Bible interesting since he finds it hard to communicate that to his kids. As I was explaining, he was shaking his head no. The more I spoke, he would verbally affirm that he understood and agreed, and then proceeded to shake his head no.
After a few minutes of me trying to ignore his mixed up verbal and nonverbal cues, I remembered something: shaking the head from side to side meant "YES" for his culture! Oh duh, Chris. I should have remembered that from when I spoke with refugees from that part of the world. So then I found myself nodding my head up and down in agreement as he was speaking. I thought, OH NO! I'm saying "NO" to him. So I tried to stop but it was so hard. :)

Anyhow, it was really funny in my head, but the father probably had no idea what was going on for me. :)

Panel

I had a panel today for my 9th grade Bible class. It was made up of some VCS staff who answered questions that the students wrote on cards about studying the Bible. It was pretty cool, and tomorrow there will be another one for my other 9th grade class. There were some good questions asked like "Do you think it's better to use a devotional book with studying the Bible, or just the Bible?" and "How do you keep from getting distracted when you read the Bible?" and "What exactly do you do when you study the Bible?"
I think it was helpful, at least to some of the students. :) Do your work, God. I'm just your weak servant.

WOWZERS!!

An awesome thing happened yesterday!! Two students decided to commit to following Jesus with their life!! Both are new students, speak very little English (they speak German, actually), and are brother and sister. I think their nationality is Macedonian or something in the Balkans, but they are Austrian. The boy, Dejan (day YAWN) is in my PE class and his sister Sonja is in my 7th grade Bible class. I could see a difference today in the light in their faces. And I feel privileged to just be a part of their lives and exposure to Jesus - the way the truth and the life. If you remember, a few weeks ago, I mentioned Dejan (I think) as the student who said I was his favorite teacher. I think that was just because I spoke to him in German and most teachers at the school don't speak much German. He's a cool kid, just gets distracted easily. I guess that's not rare with Jr. Highers. :)

Another awesome thing is that I've been getting to know another 7th grader named Rifat (RE faht) from Bangledesh. He's in my PE and Bible class - very smart and much bigger than all the other kids. He's Muslim and has been celebrating Ramadan. But he also believes some things about Jesus and the Bible. He and I met during lunch (but we didn't eat) to talk about some questions he has. He's really feeling stuck in the middle of both religions and seems to genuinely want to know the truth.

Please pray for these three kids if you can. Dejan, Sonja, and Rifat. Maybe I'll get a picture of them on here sometime. :)

The best ice cream in town, in our opinion!!! 

finally

It seems like it's been forever since I've had a complete day that I feel good about. I didn't get frustrated with lesson plans, difficult students, reprimanded by Austrians ("schimpf-ing"), or just totally wiped out by a long day. I actually got home around 5pm. amazing. einfach erstaunlich.

so it seems wierd that it's election day in the US. There just isn't any hoopla about it here. Good thing - but they sure do talk about US politics here more than Austrian politics (as far as I can tell). Maybe it's more interesting or entertaining. It sells, I guess.

Anne and I went on a walk for an hour and a half or so around "the Ring". It's basically the city center that has one main street that goes all the way around it. We saw all kinds of cool restaurants, cafes, a music museum, some old churches, and of course some Leckerbissen.

What is Leckerbissen you ask? It's German for a "tasty treat" - e.g. ice cream at Zanoni and Zanoni. :) it's open 365 days a year!! see the picture above

Spotlight on the Strassenbahn

We want you to get to know a bit about something we do everyday - ride the Strassenbahn (say SHTRAHssen bawn). So the following pictures and descriptions show a little bit about what it's like. :) It's basically a streetcar - of which there are probably hundreds around Vienna going all day long on various routes. They run on electricity and there are usually two cars attached with one driver in the front. Smoking isn't allowed on them (good thing!), but eating and drinking is. You see and hear all kinds of people and can learn about the Austrian way of personal space, eye contact, right-of-way, etc. It's pretty fun if you have the right attitude! Hope you enjoy it!

The sign to look for is the one that says Strassenbahn Haltestelle. It means "streetcar stop". 

What's that off in the distance?? It's a bird. It's a plane! It's a Strassenbahn!! 

Almost here..... 

Now The Strassenbahn is here and it's time to get on! 

The entrance to the Strassenbahn. That's Lisa and Andy Larson getting on (Andy's silly). To get on, you have to push the button above the Blue sign that says "Entwerter".
 

A sign inside the Strassenbahn above the door. They basically say "Warning - keep the doorway clear - the doors close themselves" and "Want to get off? Please push the button at the right time." By the way - what is the "right time"???? Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm....... in Austria.
 

A view inside the Strassenbahn including Anne. :)
 

The 9th graders in one of Chris' Bible classes. 

But it's coooooold!!!

I just finished teaching P.E. to the middle school boys (6th-8th grade). It's a very energetic group, and not always so easy to handle. Good thing that I have a co-coach, Dan Hanna, to help me out.
So, we've been teaching American Football - totally new and confusing to some, and very familiar to others. It's been pretty fun - eventhough I'm not so good at football. Anyhow, today has been probably the coldest day here so far - maybe around 40 or 45 degrees Farenheit. And it's windy also - making for some cold little hands on those boys.
Cold weather + middle school boy hands + wind = whiny time. It was funny at times and sometimes bothersome - but we made it through. They were running around with their hands inside their shirts and sweatshirts, while still trying to catch the ball. Some of them just couldn't believe that people play that game in rain and snow and really really cold weather.
I think that will help them remember to bring their sweatshirts from now on. :)

The Staff Retreat

I'm not sure if some of you were praying for the past weekend we had at the VCS staff retreat. If you did, thank you so much! It was so great to be there. Really refreshing, some great speaking by a guy I knew from my time in Austria a few years ago, playing lots of sports, and a fun "not so talented show". I think our upcoming newsletter in the mail will have a little more details so I'll leave it at that. I feel more rested after this weekend than any yet - plus encouraged about how God is working in me to change me and use me for whatever he wants here at VCS and wherever else.

This is us and our friends and neighbors, the Hannas, overlooking the city of Vienna. 

Hey Dad!!! Does this shirt look familiar?? :) 

my fourth grade class outside VCS 

that was ME

hey...the fourth grade one was from ME...anne.
thanks!
i'm so excited to be ON THE BLOG now.

a note from fourth grade

Okay, so I never thought fourth graders could come up with questions like the ones I've been hearing over the past few weeks. Wow! One boy asked me whether all water is holy because his father's priest says it is. Another boy asked me if God created only one continent and then it split apart into seven continents years after creation. I mean, really!
I have 13 kids in my class, and I think seven nations represented. Four kids are from South Korea, one from Nigeria, one from the Phillipines, one from Pakistan, one from England, a couple from Austria, and a few from the U.S.A.
It's been so much fun for me to watch kids from all over the world play dodgeball, eat lunch, speak English, and laugh together. Kids are the same everywhere...wow.

This is a cool shirt!! It's sorta bitter-sweet though, since Fisher's amazing shot was all for naught in the end. And now he's left us for Golden State. Oh well 

Volleyball and other sports

I've started being an assistant coach for the girls volleyball team at VCS. It's pretty cool, but athletics just aren't quite as serious here as they are in the US. The school here is much smaller (200 something students) so there aren't as many interested or that are very experienced. Also, it just seems that sport in general isn't quite as big of a deal (in Austria) - especially women's sports. VCS is a little different since it's an American-International school, though. Anyhow, we practice two times a week, and I feel like I'm the mean coach - I push them more. I think that's thanks to Eugene Kim (if you know him, you'll appreciate this more) since he taught me most everything I know about coaching volleyball. And compared to him I'm a softy.

Anyhow, we have only had 2 practices so far, and we have our first game next Monday in Bratislava. That's about an hour away - actually across the Austrian border just into Slovakia. I hear that this school is even smaller than VCS, so I think we have a chance of competing and winning.

Also, I'm co-teacher of 2 middle school boys PE classes. It's pretty fun most of the time. We're teaching them basketball now, but we they can't seem to focus very well or we feel they just need a good work out - we drill them. :) We use everything from leap frog to push ups to wheelbarrow races to "up-downs" (a football drill). It's pretty fun to watch them work themselves into shape. But don't worry - they are STILL junior highers and they still go crazy, we just try to get them in shape in the mean time.

Lieblingslehrer

I'm not sure if that is the right word in German for what I want to say, but I just wanted to say that I was just called that by a kid in my PE class. It's a kid that joined school late and his name is Dejan (say day-YAWN) - he was born in Austria and speaks alomst no English. So it's good practice for my German to speak with him. He's a 7th grader I think...
And just now in PE he said that I'm his favorite teacher - that's what the subject of this was supposed to mean.
Well, time for the staff meeting. Tschuss!!

As I type

There is a Polish guy in our apartment repairing the walls. He actually speaks less German than me since he's only been here one month. But I guess he knows what he's doing - speaking the international language of wall and tile repair. :) I'd take a picture, but I don't want to freak him out. By the way, he must be 6'6" - and I'm sure he could hurt me if he wanted. But he seems really nice.
Yay for Polish repair men!!

prayer

I (Chris) could use some prayer for something....
There have been some random small things happening - like missing the train, water leaking in our apartment, pieces of furniture breaking, etc. - and those things normally wouldn't be such a big deal. But recently it has been really frustrating to me - enough that I've been struggling with just getting mad. And then getting mad that I get mad. I feel like the key is my perspective and my attitude, plus my personality that really likes to have everything organized and "all my ducks in a row." It has to do with spiritual warfare, and I also just need to learn to let go of things and not feel like everything has to be just running right and organized and controlled. Uuuuggghh.

I'd really appreciate prayer for that because it's been controlling me at times, which really effects all of life. Thanks for reading. I'm feeling humbled and very weak.

Another sort of butt shot :) 

This is a nice butt shot of Dan, our neighbor, who was helping us with the initial stages of our water leakage problem. 

3 days and counting

It's hard to believe that on Monday we'll fly to Vienna.  dangit.

THAT, my friends, is exciting. :)

Today, we're going to the Lilly corporate center, and according to Meg, "This is the Lilly Corporate Center.  You don't wear jeans."  Hmmmm, does that mean cotton shorts are ok?

I guess I'll be looking in my pile for some cotton pants so I look respectable.  Because that is what truly matters. :)

Checkitout Checkitout Checkitout

Look over to the right part of your screen.  Do you see that number one hundred??  Yeah - it's for real!  God has really provided for all we need - like I should be surprised.  But he has and we're stoaked about that.  That is such a blessing and thank you to those of you that have prayed about this. :)

Inner Torture

How could you do this to me, Lakers?? 

 
I mean, come on.  I know he started in LA, but he was with the despised Kings.  And he's The Flopper!  ugh.  This photo hurts.
But, in the shadows of the hoopla in Miami with all the love going on down there, The Flopper isn't all bad.  I mean, he's old, but he can still move alright and he can definitely still pass the ball.  It might be good for me to not see Vlade fall on the ground over and over trying to stop Garnett or Miller or some other beast (heaven forbid Shaq) - and that's just another benefit of me moving to the other side of the ocean.  I'm just going to run and hopefully not feel the full brunt of the heavy blows dealt by the mocking media on my poor Lakers. 

Here's your chance, Kobe.  Please show me you're not a rapist and that you ARE a slice of Michael. 

Sorry

It's been a long time since I've done much of anything on this blog.  I haven't had much time or access to a computer since we were in NY and MI.
So, how are all of you doing today?  I hope really well.  Anne and I are going to go see Spider Man 2 today, so that should be fun.  We're also going to go on a bike ride to get ready for the Indianapolis Night Ride that we're doing this Saturday.  It's a 20 or 30 mile bike ride around Indianapolis at night.  Unique for sure, I've never done anything like that! :)

OK, I'm going to try to add something else....

Third Culture Kids

Anne and I are at Pre Field Orientation right now in Houghton, New York. Small town with Houghton College and not much else. There are people going all over the world here to teach, be administrators, counselors, and more. We're learning a TON about different things - culture transitions into the country we're going to (20+ different countries), third culture kids, getting to know the others going to Vienna Christian School also, Christian education philosophy, etc. This stuff has been much more helpful and interested than I (Chris) expected.

Third culture kids, I learned, can be kids of missionaries, military kids, kids of diplomats, or kids of international businessmen/businesswomen. There is a ton that they go through, learn, change, etc. They're part American (or western), and part Austrian (or whatever country they live in). It makes for a very interesting and unique person with unique desires and needs and perspectives.

Anyhow, I better go now because Anne is looking at the Austrian IKEA website to dream about what we can get to furnish our apartment in Vienna. I want to look too. :)
So long....

Goodbye, Old Honda

This afternoon, we're making the offical transaction of selling our Honda Civic to some friends. Such a blessing from the Lord to work this out, and at such a convenient time.
We'll miss the white paint, the nice cd player, the speediness (sortof), and the low-to-the-ground feeling while driving it. Really, I think the speediness is due mostly to the fact that the car is lower to the ground, not that is has a huge engine or anything. Imagine a Civic with a V-8 or V-12. Yikes!!!

We're really doing this moving to Austria thing! We will no longer own any cars in just a couple hours! :) Love it!

Can you say LOUD?!?!?! This was the view from our seats at the Indy 500 a few weeks ago. 

California knows how to party

What's up what's up what's up???
We're really enjoying our time here in San Celemente, especially now that I am not sick anymore - well, I'm almost all better. Yeah!
We had a really fun fiesta - got to meet some new friends of my parents, catch up with old friends, and play around with my nieces. And besides that, we've walked around town, visited some friends, etc. We saw our niece Danielle's baccalaureate, Emilee's dance recital rehearsal, played croquet with all kinds of family in the back yard, etc.
Now we're heading up to Ventura (2 hours north of here) to hang out with Garret and Sarah Hamner. Ventura Pier, here we come!

ciao for now

Almost there

Well, everything is about to start falling together. We leave tomorrow for California for 8 days, then back to Bloomington. We'll have 3 or 4 days to finish packing, and we'll leave on June 21st from our apartment for good. Driving to North Carolina, then back to Indianapolis - Anne's parents house. Then 2 days after we'll be gone for 3+ weeks of training in New York and family vacation in Michigan. Whew!

Please pray for us now - it's easy to be stressed out with all kinds of things to do. I'm feeling sick (Chris), and we don't have so much time for me to rest. Plus - we've been talking a lot about adjusting to all the changes going on and how we adjust to that. Pray for us, that we'd go to God with our struggles and anxious thoughts.

Back to packing.... :)

Misi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's your birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!

The Days are Just Packed

I think that's actually a title from a "Calvin and Hobbes" book, meant to be facicous.(sp?) Actually Calvin and Hobbes are much more on the lazy side of life. But our days have actually been ganz beschaeftig (very busy). So are you ready to whet your whistle on the highlights of the last few days for us???

0.5. Bubba was here for a few days.
1. I was going to go to New Joisey to visit the Griffices, but had to change my plans to stay home, support Anne, and get stuff done for Austria.
2. I packed a bunch of boxes, brought things to Goodwill, sold some things (bike, clothes, etc.), jumped through some hoops to get paperwork for our visas to live in Austria, got help working on and replacing a bad video card for our computer, etc.
3. Drove up to Indianapolis for the weekend. Watched Shrek 2. Ran in a 4 mile run. Won a gift certificate for running shoes. Went to church. Hung out with Bob, Meg, Scott, Tom, John, and Kim.
4. Saw the Indy 500 - well, some of it. It kept raining and they said a tornado was nearby, so we left early.
5. Packed more boxes, unofficially sold our Honda Civic, paid bills, etc.
6. Drove to Indianapolis, watched the Lakers WIN, and drove the Honda back to Bloomington.
7. Anne began her last week of school and Chris went to Cincinnati to visit friends and go to a concert.

I hope you didn't drown from all of the quick facts. :)

Just call me Errand Boy

Now that I'm done with my job at IU, I've been focusing on getting stuff done. Yeah - stuff: Paperwork that is required for getting a visa in Austria, packing boxes, trying to sell or get rid of the last few straggler things we aren't taking to Austria or storing, and just doing things that Anne can't do since she's at school. Her last day is a week from this Friday. It's been a good feeling, tackling so many things in a day. It makes my sense of accomplishment move up in the rankings. That's nice, but really, I need to put my sense of accomplishment in God and the fact that he is arranging all the parts to make all of this happen. He created the universe, and he sustains it - things in nature, governments, interpersonal relationships, and even directions and steps of individual lives. If wasn't for him in my life, it would be at best, pointless. My life would be just getting by, maybe feeling good about things in life, but really, just like walking on thin ice. I am not the one that holds myself up. Even my physical body is in God's hands. Amazing, how we get so caught up in the activities of life and forget how God does things. Thanks God, for loving me, choosing me, adopting me as your child, and sustaining my life. You brought me up out of the pit of being alone and in a downward spiral, out of the miry clay.
Help me not forget.

Anyone want to buy this from me? Controller, battery, and charger included. 

Today Today Today!!!

It's my last day of work! Goodbye Indiana University School of Continuing Studies. Hello Vienna Christian School!!! I'm gettin' excited!!!!!!!! :):)

thoughts

I had a conversation recently with a friend of mine, Robert. He likes to talk deeply about life. He had been listening to a series of tapes by a guy whose name I can't remember. Anyhow, the main point that I heard from Robert about those messages was our perspective. As believers in and followers of Jesus, our perspective can be either that of an orphan or that of a son/daughter. An orphan feels like they have to do everything to take care of themselves - safety, food, where to sleep, etc. A son trusts his dad to take care of it. An orphan doesn't trust others and is very protective. A son has learned trust by seeing the faithfulness of his father. An orphan doesn't like to allow people to go "deeper" into their life because of fear (rejection, hurt, failure, etc.).

Anyhow, it was a great topic to converse about and ponder. In what ways do I act like an orphan in my relationship with God? I think it's my default sometimes, to feel like I have to do everything and do it right in order for things to go well. I think that if I don't dot all my i's and cross all my t's and take care of every detail, everything will fall apart. WRONG. I need freedom. Lord, help me truly believe in my role as being your son, your child.

Gammy and Baby Holritz 

Misi and her baby daughter 

A Proud Day for Uncle Crispy

Well, the news is that I'm an uncle again! I'll put a picture on here in a little bit, but here's the scoop. Baby Holritz (no name yet) was born on May 19th at 7:59pm. She was 22.5 inches long and weighed 9 pounds and 8 ounces!!! And even better, Anne and I will get to see her in less than three weeks!

A Proud Day for Papa

Wow, am I proud of my boys! I think I had about 5 heart attacks last night during that Spurs-Lakers game. It was probably one of the most amazing finishes to an NBA game. Just unbelievable - and I'm just so lucky to be a Laker fan because we just ended up on the winning side of a big battle that ended with 2 amazing shots. And I guess just about everyone else picked up on what Shaq said: "One lucky shot deserves another."

Amazing Photo of the Day

OK, I just couldn't pass this one up :)



recognize these "down home boys"??

Too Cool

Blogger has upgraded things and given all kinds of new templates to pick from. So here we have this new one! What do you think? I like it - different and fun. I think this blog needs to change somehow. If this is going to be a way for Anne and I to communicate to all of you while we're over in Austria, we'll need to write more about stuff that's going on, things we're thinking and feeling, things God is doing, etc.

So, I just want to let you all know that if you're reading this, we would really appreciate your prayers regarding spiritual warfare. Maybe that seems strange to you, but we're convinced that the more we follow God's leading (namely to VCS) the more resistance we get. The things that we see and touch every day are only temporal and passing away (2 Cor 4). All this stuff, including our bodies are going to pass away and disappear like a vapor. But what is unseen is eternal - and that's what we want to invest in. But satan doesn't want us to and he seems to be working more than normal in our surroundings - trying to get Anne and I mad at eachother, discouraging us at work, stressing us out with packing and other things to do, etc. We dedicate ourselves to you O Lord. We place our weakness in your strength.

All you Laker-Haters will like this one

read up!

Wowzers!

We had a great weekend!!

Wowzer #1: We ate at Yat's - which is a Creole, New Orleans-style place to eat. Very inexpensive, very good, big portions, and fun + funky atmosphere. The floors were black and red checkered, there was cool jazz for music, and random lighting. Plus it was just fun to hang out with all of the Corinth Crew.

Wowzer #2: Kelsey, our friend and Corinth Crew member, whooped up on our eardrums Saturday afternoon. We went to her graduate recital for voice - and heard songs in English, German, Italian, and French. She was amazing!!

Wowzer #3: John and Kim hosted a support raising party for us on Saturday night - S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y....NIGHT! It was a lot of fun to hang out and connect with lots of people that we knew and didn't know. And a number of people really stepped up and committed to support us in prayer and finances. (see the updates to the left)

Very cool :)

Yat's

Tonight, the Corinth Crew (AKA, our Bible study group) is going out to eat and having a last hurrah. Shaunessy is leaving to do nursing relief work in the Sudan and Ben is going to Virginia Beach and then to Florida with Campus Crusade. Then in the near future, Anne and I will be leaving, and so will Josh. I think that's all - for what is planned. So we're going to eat at this unique and new (I think) place called Yat's. Then we're going to have an all our war on the ping pong table at Shaunessy's. OK, maybe we'll just hang out and have a party. Either way, it'll be time for the cameras so we won't forget each others faces. :)

Neue Praesident

Austria has elected a new president - Heinz Fischer.
I don't know anything about him, really. But I read something interesting about the other main candidate. Benita Ferrero-Waldner gathered up 47.59% of the votes, but it wasn't enough as Fischer brought in 52.4%. During the campaign, Ms. Ferrero-Waldner (yes, Miss) stopped in the southern province/state of Carinthia where Joerg Haider is governor. Maybe you've heard of him. As a supporter of Ferrero-Waldner, Haider presented her with a live pig as a good luck gift.

Odd, strange? Seems that way to me - and I just hope he wasn't trying to hint at her hygiene or eating habits. :)

Dear Boston,

Mournfully yours,
Indiana

Subservient Chicken

Check this out, if you have a high speed internet connection. I've never seen anything like this!!! It's strange and funny. Some of my favorites are "do the worm", "pick up the tv", and "run". Tell him what to do.

Mornin'

No matter how today is going, I choose to accept God's grace. It's truly amazing. Where else can I go, since he is the giver of life? I submit to the one and only.

German Word of the Day

der Spleen (dair SHPLEEN) - eccentricity; quirk

German Word of the Day

schlucken (shlOOken) - to swallow

Only 50 Grand for a Cat

I think this is an actual company, but it's crazy to think it's true. Click 'n Clone. Oh, and notice the company name, complete with play on words.

Hey Bob!!

This might be a good investment for you. :)

Can I get a...

Anne and I have a few big gatherings coming up where we'll talk about Austria, teaching at VCS, and asking people to consider supporting us in some way. One of those will be next Friday night in Bloomington - all the families and kids from Anne's 5th grade class from last year have been invited. That's 4/16, and it's being hosted by one of those families from the 5th grade class.
Then on Friday 4/30, our very own John and Kim (uncle and aunt) will be throwing a party for the same purpose. They've already been bathing it in prayer - daily, and we have joined in. That is so encouraging to us!
Wanna join?!? :)

German Word of the Day

felsenfest (FELSin fest) - rock-solid; adamant

Amazing "Photo" of the Day

I have a dream!!

and it might just look something like this.....

Austria

Isn't that great?!?!?!
As you can see on the left, we've added in the latest info on where we're at with support raising. It's really been great to see God provide and challenging to wait for his timing and way of doing things. We are in the process to trying to be in touch with as many of you as we can. We hope we can catch you by email or phone or in person over the next few months!
Keep checking back to see where we're at! :)

Jars of Candy

A couple days ago, Anne filled three different jars will different kinds of candy. She took them to school to have a contest for her students. These 3rd graders had the whole week to calculate and guess how many pieces were in each jar. The winner would win that jar of candy! (only one jar per child, please)

Well, yours truly thought he'd give it a go. Guess for jar #1: 260 jelly beans. Guess for jar #3: 50 chocolate eggs.
Answer for jar #1: 260 jelly beans!! Answer for jar #3: 54 chocolate eggs!!!!

OOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAH! Can you feel that???!!?!?!?!? OOOOH OOOOH! Who's your daddy!?!?!?!? (that was my victory dance)

I skipped jar #2 because I don't remember what I guessed or the actual number. But I was relatively close to that one also.

What will they think of next?

This is something new to me. Is it a guiboard? Is it a skatar? I'm not sure, but you should definitely check this out!!!

German Word of the Day #2

die Sossenschuessel (dee SOsen shoosul) - the gravy boat

German Word of the Day

verfallen (fair FALLen) - to expire, decay

Comments Please

Well, I just found out about a new dimension I can add to our Blog. And so I did! Maybe it's not that big of a deal, but it's worth a try.
It's a way for you to make comments on the posts we make to our blog. So if you want to try commenting on this, or any post, just click on the link below that says "Comment" and then a number in parentheses (which happens to be 0 right now, since it's brand spankin' new!)

So be the first! Make a comment!

Pile Number Three

Anne and I have been gradually going through our entire apartment and sorting things into 3 piles (very large piles, mind you).
Pile One - Things we are taking with us to Austria.
Pile Two - Things we aren't taking with us to Austria, but are going to store somewhere. (Our smallest pile)
Pile Three - Things we are selling.
Pile number three is definitely the biggest. So, are you interested in taking a gander at it and maybe buying a book or two, a board game, 7 oz. rubies, a table, framed pictures, or Christmas decorations? Come on over!

Get me out of here!!!

Aaawwwwwwwwww yeah! We're taking off tonight, right after work, to fly to Florida. We're excited to have some DOWN TIME. Plus it's going to be warm - instead of 20 degrees, which it is here today.
And, by the way, we'll get to hear one of Anne's favorite things to hear on an overhead speaker. As you arrive in the airport in West Palm Beach, and are waiting to pick up your luggage, you hear a deep, resonant voice announcing "Welcome to the Palm Beaches." I'll be taking in that listening bliss in - oh, say, 9 hours. :)

Amazing Photo of the Day