It's That Time of Year Again!

It's that time of year again... While it looks like we were putting our Christmas decorations up the same time as everyone else, I must say I joined the Christmas spirit, full energy, some time ago! I beat my family to listening to Christmas music, sorry Jen. Sadly, I faithfully bombarded Walmart and Lowe's with phonecalls of when they'd receive Christmas trees as well.

While this is a bit embarrassing, I need to share this little narrative. It began with Brenton and I sitting in our tiny apartment one evening, just as any other. Once again, Brenton encouraged me to call Lowe's, knowing how anxious I was for our tree! Little did my sweet husband know what he was in for! I did as Brenton mentioned and called Lowe's a few second's later.

"I was calling to see if you had Christmas trees?"

"Yes ma'am we do." (To my surprise!)

"Are they real trees." (A moment of silence)

"Yes ma'am they are."

"That's fantastic." (With great enthusiasm)

I hung up the phone feeling like Buddy the Elf had taken over me for a few moments. Within the hour, we were walking into Lowe's. I told Brenton to not act excited, so that we didn't give away the fact that I was the over zealous Christmas lady. However, you must agree that we picked out the best tree of the bunch!





STARBUCKS!!!

Belgian Horses

If you know Brenton, you know about his love for horses. This video is for my love. He is so proud of his grandfather and their Belgian horses. If you listen to the video you can here his grandfather and cousins having a playful conversation. Grandpa Bunnel always has a mischievious glint in his eye and a dry sense of humor. You can't miss it in this video; I thought it was fun because it is "Grandpa Bunnel" at his best.

Thanksgiving on the Farm

While I have spent Thanksgiving on the farm many years (for those of you who don't know my grandparents have a farm in NC), this Thanksgiving we were at a new farm (at least for me, Kelly). We visited Brenton's mother's side of the family in Colony, KS where his grandparents live. It's a quaint, small town where the Bunnels' have very fond memories. Brenton took me into the little coke shop downtown. His childhood hang out smelt of grease; something was sizzlin' away. Sadly, I hear it's not quite the same; not the same products, atmosphere, no movies or fountain drinks any longer, all except the lady who sold us our canned sodas for our ride home. The reality is we've simply grown up now and life changes. All I know is that we had a ton of fun. Brenton enjoyed reminiscing with his family, while we also enjoyed making new memories.

We spent most our time at the local high school playing cards, with the kids or chatting away the hours. Oh, and how did I miss the most important part. We ATE and ATE and ATE! My stomach came away satisfied.

The pictures are from the short get away we took to the Bunnels' farm where they keep their sheep and Belgian horses; might I say, beautiful horses.

First Snow

While we woke up the the usual rustic brown grass that we see every morning, we went to bed with our first light snow! We were a little sad to see the snow go so quickly, yet it was a fun reminder of yet another new season. Christmas is on it's way!

Don't worry, we didn't forget about Thanksgiving. We'll post a on that soon.

An Ocean in OK

So we found out this weekend that there is a mini ocean in OK. About 35 minutes or so from campus, is Lake Oolagah. That's right, you read correct, Lake Oolagah. That was my first impression as well when Brenton told me the name of the lake. I could not remember what sounds to make to pronounce it correctly. However, regardless of my making fun of the name, I must say I was impressed.

We visited a number of locations and were stunned with the view at each one, minus the RV park. At the RV park, we had to move our car because the deer hunters were coming in and we were in their parking spots. First off, there was no one else around and there were a number of places to park. Alongside that, we were trying to figure out where the deer were that they'd be hunting. I surely hope the deer hunters had a closer start to their destination. I'm sure they had a lovely day of hunting deer at the bottom of Lake Oolagah!

Don't worry, we didn't let the deer hunting distraction get in our way. We continued on with our good friends, the Veale's. I'll have to say that the last stop was the most beautiful of them all. It was well worth the many detours.

Family Blogs

As I have mentioned my struggle to blog regularly, I think my motivating factor is the comments...kidding. I love the chance to keep up with those of you that I so rarely keep in touch with. How sad that I don't do a better job, but this post is really to mention my excitement in that a few more of our family members have blogs. I am was so thrilled to see some great Halloween pictures of the Fords (one of Brenton's sisters) and Zach (Brenton's cousin). You can click on their names below to visit their blogs or visit our "Keeping in Touch" section to the right of our blog. We love you guys!

The Fords

Zach

Does Life Just Pass By?

How does blogging time pass so fast? It seems that I return to our blog a day later when in reality I often find a good week has passed. And so life passes by. The last two and a half years as a Resident Director (RD) have been good. Yet I notice myself, like anyone, getting so caught up in the every day flow that I barely notice change in my personal life. There have been a number of moments lately that have caused me to reflect and ponder on the many lessons, words, and memories that have shaped the last few years.

While I have lived life as an RD, life has done more than move on. By this I mean, I have done a great deal more than simply being an RD. I have gained solid life experience, Brenton and I were married, friends have come and gone, student leaders have been developed and stepped forward, and Christ has humbled me a good deal (and is still doing so). Taking the time to reflect on all these things has opened my eyes to the fact that life is a number of moments and lessons building on each other. Rather than just moving on, we are moving forward and growing up in Christ. More than simply earning the title of Resident Director, Christ has been developing my character. It is amazing to see how I can overlook all that Christ is doing in me and through me. However, it is now obvious how it is easy for myself and many other to get discouraged so quickly. Just take your eyes of the mark for a short time and all to soon you have lost your purpose.